John Dewey

Education is life itself.

- John Dewey
Philosophy
Mr. Dewey believed that the core curriculum should encompass the students interests.
John Dewey approached education with a hands-on, cohesive philosophy, rather than teaching isolated
topics which prevented learners from grasping the whole of knowledge.
Pragmatism
Pragmatism is the philosophy of considering practical consequences or real effects to be vital
components of both meaning and truth.
One important aspect is fallibilism
Fallibilism is the philosophical doctrine that all claims of knowledge could, in principle, be mistaken.
Some fallibilists go further, arguing that absolute certainty about knowledge is impossible .
Wikipedia (2009)
Pragmatism - Instrumentalism
Dewey did not consider himself a pragmatist, but rather referred to his philosophy as Instrumentalism.
Instrumentalism: concepts and theories are measured as useful, not by whether they are true or false,
but by how effective they are in explaining and predicting phenomena
Wikipedia (2009)
Philosophy
Students need to learn practical, pragmatic daily-life skills in order to build a better society.
Dewey wanted students to learn through experience and to think and reflect critically on their
experiences.
Examples
Math could be learned by cooking, traveling, building things
History could be learned by experiencing field trips, museums, replicas
Reading can be learned through independently-selected literature
Current Day Evidence of this Theory
Vocational Technical School
Use of Scientific Method in classrooms
Kinesthetic Learning (role playing, non-traditional learning techniques)
Integrating Technology into lesson

1. PRAGMATISM 3 Pragma from Greek word means ACTION truth of an idea had to be tested to
prove its validity a process where theory is extracted from practice impractical ideas are to be
rejected
2. PRAGMATIC THINKING 4 Result Action Speculative ThoughtRecognizea Problem
3. PROPONENTS OF PRAGMATISM 5 Founder of Pragmatism Illustrations of the Logic of
Science (1878) To determine the meaning of any idea, put it into practice, and whatever
itsCharles Sanders Peirce consequences prove to (1839 1914) be, these constitute the meaning of
the idea
4. PROPONENTS OF PRAGMATISM 6 Popularized the term pragmatism. Essays in Philosophy
An idea is true if it works: it is true if it satisfies, is verifiable if it verified in experienceWilliam
James(1842 - 1910)
5. PROPONENTS OF PRAGMATISM 7 Democracy in Education Students need to learn practical,
pragmatic daily-life skills in order to build a better society. He wanted students to learn through
John Dewey experience, and to think(1859 1952) and reflect critically on their experience.