1. “Education is not a preparation for life; Education is life itself.”
John Dewey
“Education is not a preparation for life; Education is life itself.”

2. Biographical Information
1859 Born October 20
1875 Majored in Philosophy at University of Vermont
1879 Taught 2 years of High School in PA
1882 Studied Philosophy and Psychology at John Hopkins University
Taught Philosophy at several Universities including The University of Michigan, Columbia University, and University of Minnesota.
Founded University Elementary School (now known as University of Chicago Laboratory Schools)
1930 Retired
1952 Died June 1 at the age of 92

3. Dewey’s Ideas on Education
Learning by Doing
Engaging Education With Life Experience
Thinking as an Active Process

4. Learning by Doing
“To savages it would seem preposterous to seek out a place where nothing but learning was going on in order that one might learn”
Children learn when there is active thinking as opposed to strict memorization
Students must experience to learn

5. Engaging Education with Life Experience
“Education is not preparation for life; Education is life itself”
Teachers are responsible for bringing appropriate stimuli to the classroom by basing it on interests of the students.

6. Thinking as an Active Process
Teach children to solve problems so that when they are faced with social and moral questions they will know how to react.
The thought process is best utilized when there are problems and questions all around.

7. The 5 Step Process of Problem Solving
Occurrence of a problem
Analysis of a problem
Formulation of a hypotheses
Experimentation and elaboration of ideas
Corroboration of the ideas
(This was based on Bacon’s Seventeenth Century idea of inductive reasoning)

8. Dewey’s influences on Progressive Education
Oliver & Shaver -- Democratic decision making in the classroom
Schwab -- Using the Scientific Method
Gardner -- Experience-based learning
Taba -- Real world examples

9. A Few Famous Written Works
1887 Psychology (a textbook)
1899 The School and Society (a collection of talks to parents at University Elementary School)
1901 The Child and The Curriculum(an essay)
1908 Theory of the Moral Life (a book on ethics in society)
1910 How We Think
1916 Democracy and Education
1925 Experience and Nature
1934 Art as Experience
1938 Experience and Education

10. John Dewey

11. Dewey’s Ideas on Education
Learning by Doing
Engaging Education With Life Experience
Thinking as an Active Process