Dewey, John

Average customer rating:

Experience is Not Enough
Quite the "educative" experience
A 'must' for everybody interested in educational issues
not
Just a correction

Experience And Education
John Dewey
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Education | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Look Inside History Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

How We Think
Democracy And Education
Pedagogy of the Oppressed
The School and Society & The Child and the Curriculum
Mind in Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processes

ASIN: 0684838281

Book Description

Experience and Education is the best concise statement on education ever published by John Dewey, the man acknowledged to be the pre-eminent educational theorist of the twentieth century. Written more than two decades after Democracy and Education (Dewey's most comprehensive statement of his position in educational philosophy), this book demonstrates how Dewey reformulated his ideas as a result of his intervening experience with the progressive schools and in the light of the criticisms his theories had received.

Analyzing both "traditional" and "progressive" education, Dr. Dewey here insists that neither the old nor the new education is adequate and that each is miseducative because neither of them applies the principles of a carefully developed philosophy of experience. Many pages of this volume illustrate Dr. Dewey's ideas for a philosophy of experience and its relation to education. He particularly urges that all teachers and educators looking for a new movement in education should think in terms of the deeped and larger issues of education rather than in terms of some divisive "ism" about education, even such an "ism" as "progressivism." His philosophy, here expressed in its most essential, most readable form, predicates an American educational system that respects all sources of experience, on that offers a true learning situation that is both historical and social, both orderly and dynamic.

Customer Reviews:

Experience is Not Enough .......2006-11-09

Finally somebody who gets it! Unfortunately, as I read John Dewey's Experience & Education I constantly needed to remind myself that Dewey understood what education should be back in the late 1930s, and the "new" education, contemporary or "progressive" as he often referred to it reflects a new-fangled educational system that by today's standards would seem old fashioned. Regardless the times, Dewey's précis is "the rise of what is called new education and progressive schools is in of itself a product of discontent with traditional education". Though he outlines both the wrongdoings and celebrations of both traditional and progressive philosophies of education, Dewey's prescription is for a "sound philosophy of experience...not a name or slogan". The question remains nearly seventy years later, have we yet filled a prescription which lends educators the ability to look beyond the `isms' of educational philosophies and reason in terms of the greater realm of experience?

In 2006 educators are still wading through a sea of ever-changing views of education. According to Dewey, we continue to consent to struggling with new philosophies due to our disgruntlement with policies of the past. The "old" school of education was flawed because teachers were enforcers; experts of education that pushed "autocratic and harsh" arrangements upon students, withholding the undeniable experiences students sought and deserved. Traditional schooling demanded teachers uniformly enforce a "military regime of pupils who were permitted to move only at certain signals" impeding a learner's ability to experience intellectually beyond the surroundings of the habitual desks, blackboard, and meager school yard. Old schools imposed an appalling hypocrisy of memorization of facts and figures, historical dates and such all in preparation of the unknown future, with little regard to the present. Generally in an attempt to keep order, teachers failed to seek the cooperation of students in preparing the purposes of education and learning.

Therefore, in what was likely the backlash of traditionally educated pupils sprouted a generation of new-age educators referred to by Dewey as the progressive-ists. Bearing mind that progressive education realistically commenced at the end of nineteenth century, the wrongdoings of the era I shall now reflect upon, are quite a century old. While progressive education focused on the freedom of the learner, the dismissal of traditional education aroused contemporary difficulties when educators recognized that new education was more difficult than the old. Progressive schools, founded in life-experiences, were rarely well organized as few teachers truly conceptualized the discrepancies in experiences. Moreover, because children were perhaps overly indulged in the participation of learning purposes, school was an amusing fun time in which "visitors (were)...shocked by the lack of manners in students they came across".

As with all educational philosophies that withstand the test of time, the celebrations of such generally outnumber the wrongdoings. Traditional, as well as progressive schools were no exception. Traditional educators were able to keep order in the learning environment in turn providing more teachable time to study the foundations of education, upon which all future learning would take place. In addition, traditionalists valued one of the most important lessons of life: that of "mutual accommodation and adaptation" of others. Surely an adult visitor to a traditional school would be impressed with the periods of "quiet reflection" offered, even for the youngest of pupils. Progressive education was not without its celebrations. Because progressive educators emphasized the freedom of the learner, genuine education came through experience and children were allowed their natural tendencies to socialize and participate in the purposeful planning of the curriculum. New schools even offered the opportunity to study life-skills experiences such as homemaking and mechanics. Yet despite the moving-forward approach of progressivism, "we are told that our schools, old and new, are failing in...the ability to (produce students that) reason".

Experiences are not enough. Dewey reminds us in Chapter 3: Criteria of Education that not all experiences are educative and some are even mis-educative. Everything depends on the quality of the experiences, and that if experience is within and of itself a philosophy of education it requires a plan of what and how such experiences will be implemented. This plan, which Dewey submits as a "Category of Continuity" is responsible for discriminating between the experiences that are meaningful and those that are not. Educational processes must be measurable in terms of good growth, for example providing opportunities for future growth in decent directions. In what is perhaps the finest vignette of Experience & Education Dewey tells of a burglar who gains experience robbing others and as his experiences grow "the burglar may grow into a highly expert burglar" hence not all experiences constitute positive growth. Still within the principle of continuity are the outside sources (i.e. demographics such as income, neighborhood, ethnicity, etc.) and social set-up of the surroundings (equipment, books, materials of learning) that make up the experimental situation. Lastly, teachers must take into account how such experiences are going to enhance his students in the future.

Dewey suggests that educational experiences are vital as some people with little schooling have been given the "precious gift of the ability to learn from the experiences they have (had)", and certainly not all educational experiences occurred in the schoolroom. According to Dewey, good experiences (and bad) are acted upon by a single impulse. I wonder what it might feel like if I put my hand in the fish tank, a student of mine might ponder. Their purpose for choosing to act upon the impulse, which creates the experience, will end with an observation. In this case the student observes the surrounding conditions of the sensation of warm, flowing water, a rapidly moving, exotic, tropical fish, and the final numbness of the fingers when the fish confuses the daring hand with that of his food. The observations my student has just experienced will undoubtedly aid him in future situations. The knowledge of this experience may be enough to prevent future finger-numbing encounters with the tropical chiliad, as their judgment in imminent situations will be the collectivity of previous knowledge and observations.

While we can be aware of consequences through previous experiences, the goal of the educator is in finding material for creating organized learning experiences. The search for high-quality learning experiences could be in of itself a paradox to Dewey's decree that we need to get back to an education that is "pure and simple"; an education that is a reality and "not a name or a slogan". After all, the "sound philosophy of experience" Dewey seeks is in actuality a name and a "slogan" called Experiential Education, which finds its way into the progressive era, in-between the common schools movement and the eras of school reform. Therefore, in answer to my earlier question: Have we yet filled a prescription which lends educators the ability to look beyond the `isms' of educational philosophies and reason in terms of the greater realm of experience? No; because it is the very nature of educators and humans in general to philosophize a new wave of education as a result of our discontent with the current. And these waves of change are good as it defines the very character of learners; those whose experiences constantly alter the way we perceive the world.

Quite the "educative" experience.......2006-05-13

This book is possibly just as important, if not more important now as ever before. Dewey asserts that true learning occurs by experience (labs, experiments, hands-on activities) and not by fact-learning and regurgitation of statements. It is important to note that he also claims that not all experiences are "educative."

As contemporary educational philosophy shifts to more a more standardized curriculum and testing methods (i.e. No Child Left Behind) educators need to review this American philosopher's ideas because the quality of education is becoming more "miseducative." If the current trend of education continues in the same direction I can only assume that Literature classes will also be reduced to multiple-choice tests. One can only assume that Dewey is cursing contemporary education from his grave.

This is a great text for the message and philosophy contained within its pages. It is extremely concise and takes a couple of hours to read. I recommend this to all educators at every level.

Also recommended: "The School and Society & The Child and the Curriculum" by John Dewey.

A 'must' for everybody interested in educational issues.......2006-03-09

Dewey's 'Experience and Education' is a classic text, written by one of greater education expert all over the world and times. Everybody interested in education, social science and its impact nowadays should read this book. Basis of progressive schools, philosophy of education and many of the curriculi changes were outlined in thirties by John Dewey. Easy to read (even for non native english speakers like me), paperback, it is a 'must' for all the people, not only those engaged in educational issues, but also everyone who wants to learn about the recent social and cultural changes of the last century. Great book, amazing reading...!

not.......2006-02-06

The pages are so yellow and the type so jammed that I am not willing to stain enough to read it.

Just a correction.......2005-10-15

For anyone who gives a darn, John Dewey is not responsible for the Dewey Decimal System - that was Melvil Dewey and the two are not, to the best of my knowledge, related, at least not immediately related. Both are notable Americans, however.

Average customer rating:

This book was...
A milestone
Democracy and Education
Dewey Dogma
Pioneering Work of democratic Culture

Democracy And Education
John Dewey
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Democracy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Education | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Qualifying Textbooks - Spring 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Experience And Education
How We Think
The School and Society & The Child and the Curriculum
Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Mind in Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processes

ASIN: 0684836319

Book Description

It is not true there is no common interest in such an organization between governed and governors. The authorities in command must make some appeal to the native activities of the subjects, must call some of their powers into play. Talleyrand said that a government could do everything with bayonets except sit on them. This cynical declaration is at least a recognition that the bond of union is not merely one of coercive force.

Download Description

Customer Reviews:

This book was..........2006-02-21

Fantastic; a book I would recommend to just about anyone. To address some of the critics mentioned in the other reviews: RE: "Dewey Dogma" (1) There is absolutely no pretense of an application of the scientific method, hence there can be no mis-application; (2) This book strikes me personally as one of the least dogmatic things I've ever read in my life. The ideas are fresh, original, and beautiful crafted and ordered; (3) "Education is Socialization" - an equation of broadly construed "-tions" that results in a statement that one can neither agree nor disagree with.

I could be wrong, but nowhere did I read these ideas as explicit recommendations to be implemented, rather I read this book as a general exploration of educational aims and processes. Dewey (justifiably in my opinion) explores closely connected concepts which I imagine are left out of other educational texts, which is why some with pre-professional backgrounds in education count the length and depth of this book as a negative.

His writing, in my opinion, is clear and concise (at least in comparison with other great philosophers) - writing that I would personally aspire to. His ideas, and I can't say this enough, are some of the most original I've come across. We didn't really cover the pragmatists in any of my philosophy classes. Reading this makes me wish we had.

A milestone.......2004-04-06

This book is one of the great milestones of American history and philosophy and particularly education. It's as relevant today as the day it was written a century ago.

Democracy and Education.......2000-06-30

A must for any serious student of education and philosophy

Dewey Dogma.......2000-05-15

A great book for proposing social engineering in education but otherwise nothing new except mis-application of the scientific method to non-science areas. His concept of education is socialization. If there is something great is his theories it is well hidden and not supported by scientific or non scientific studies..

Pioneering Work of democratic Culture.......1999-12-29

Dewey's classic work, although tedious at times, is a cogent and landmark exposition of progressive educational theory. Democracy for Dewey was both a means and an end to the building of a good and just society. In this regard he sought to develop strategies and methods for training students through learning and discipline to become socially responsible adults and conscientious citizens concerned with the rights of others and the common good and to be equipped with the knowledge and technical skills to be productive members of society in the context of our modern industrial world. Dewey is truly a giant not only of modern educational theory but of progressive humanitarian thought generally. Those who disparage him in a knee jerk fashion out of a misguided effort to trash the "liberal establishment," like the Intercollegiate Scholastic Insititute (ISI) which named "Democracy and Education" as one of the five worst books of the 20th Century, have radically misconstrued Dewey's views which merit serious study and application in practice. Dewey was truly one of the great Americans of the last century of which all people of good will can be proud.

Average customer rating:

How we think can be "influenced" this book suggests
If you want to *learn* how to think better, read this book!
Reviewing: How We Think
Better the second time around.
Basic ideas to develop your thinking skills

How We Think
John Dewey
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Consciousness & Thought | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Epistemology | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Cognitive Psychology | Behavioral Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Behavioral Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Health Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Experience And Education
Mind in Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processes
Democracy And Education
The School and Society & The Child and the Curriculum
Experience and Nature

ASIN: 0486298957

Book Description

The dean of American philosophers shares his views on methods of training students to think well. His considerations include inductive and deductive logic, interpreting facts, concrete and abstract thinking, the roles of activity, language, and observation, and many other aspects of thought training. This volume is essential reading for teachers and other education professionals.

Customer Reviews:

How we think can be "influenced" this book suggests.......2007-01-27

John Dewey book "How We Think" concludes that we can be taught to "think well". Ways to do just that are discussed. He starts with beliefs and then considers the consequences they bring about. He suggests that knowledge is relative to its interaction with the world. He seems to conclude that real freedom is intellectual and then defines that as the ability to just turn things over in ones mind which he calls the power of thought. Thinking is according to much of what he says more important than what is being thought about.

Thinking is about cause and the effects that follow. A process is implied and likewise a connection is made to influences that have a negative influence on the process. Thoughtful conclusions are less likely when influences from unbalanced appetites, caprice or the circumstances of the moment.

The book concentrates on the influences to thought. In addition to beliefs it looks at logic, language, and simple observation.

This book is a good foundation for digging deeper into literary cannon and its interpretation.

An easy book to read. Well worth it.

If you want to *learn* how to think better, read this book!.......2006-06-21

Dewey's "How We Think" is the first book of his I have read. What a joy! I am in the "thick" of my doctoral dissertation, and am struggling to present and unfold my research work in a way that is clear to my audience (in this case, the members of my dissertation committee). Dewey's analysis of thought has helped me to consider important elements of thinking (and writing) such as: (1) the iterative "ebb and flow" between inductive and deductive thinking; (2) what is necessary to train my own mind to think "better"; etc.

Following my reading of "How We Think," I am now reading Dewey's "The Quest for Certainty" and "Knowing and the Known."

Reading "How We Think" is not difficult; however, it does require one to pay attention to what Dewey is saying to his reader audience. Now that I've read through it once, I will likely read through it again (fairly soon), as I work to tighten up my Ph.D. dissertation.

In conclusion, whether you are a student, teacher, or just plain interested in analyzing the world around you, then reading this book is very worthwhile.

Reviewing: How We Think.......2005-10-27

As a professional educator, it's always great to review and reread works by the great theorists such as Dewey. Great information for business and educators alike!

Better the second time around........1998-11-24

I had never heard of John Dewey until I took a philosophy class. When I first received the book, I read through it relatively fast. Much of the material went over my head. However, on the second reading it was as if the pages were illuminated. In this book, Mr. Dewey gives his opinion on how we humans learn. It takes every day simple actions, breakes them up into their smallest unit and discusses why we did it that way.

What have I gained from this book? Everytime I do something, I attempt to break it down into its simples being, and determining how this breakdown fosters greater intelligence within myself.

As a text book or a book one wants to learn something from, I give it five stars. For just general reading it will garner 1/2 of a star.

Basic ideas to develop your thinking skills.......1997-09-05

It is very good to see this book appearing in new editions. This is a classic book about thinking. Dewey studies thought from the psychological and philosophical points of view and derives practical ideas for education.

Reading this book, I was surprised to see the applicability of its contents to my main activity field, which is business management. Today's main effort in business research is toward innovation and learning. Thus, thinking skill is probably the most important resource of any organization.

Dewey's view of thinking is surprisingly consistent and as fresh as any of the new management theories. Just to mention one aspect, he warns about the confusion of mental analysis (looking for the general aspects of an object) with physical analysis (dissection into parts), which leads to study living objects as if they were dead. This is the essence of systems thinking, which is so fashionable today!

The ideas Dewey presents about education are very useful for today's business environment. Business leaders, consultants and scholars should look carefully at his advices! His study of work and play is a great lesson of wisdom.

Book Description

Based on John Dewey's lectures on esthetics, delivered as the first William James Lecturer at Harvard in 1932, Art as Experience has grown to be considered internationally as the most distinguished work ever written by an American on the formal structure and characteristic effects of all the arts: architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and literature.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Theorizing On Art.......2003-05-05

As a reviewer below stated, this is a very interesting book that treats art as a means of recapturing the experience of life and trasmitting that experience to the audience. He captures a number of concepts established earlier by Leo Tolstoy in his "What is Art?" and delves deeper into them, expounding on their more practical and less esoteric uses.

Dewey, however, certainly earns his title as a pragmatist. His wording is complicated and, at times, careful. It is difficult to pin specific sayings or doctrines to him. However, once the task is completed, he has a great deal of important things to say about art and artistic experience.

this book is kickin!.......2000-08-29

if you are an artist this book will blow your mind.

it is pretty theoretical, but if you can get through the first 20 pages.. and get into his vibe.. it's BEAUTIFUL.. (yum).

This is probably the most important book i've ever read. You trust katie, you! you buy! you buy!!

One of the great books on art theory........2000-04-07

Although somewhat dated in that what Dewey novelly stated long ago, we now accept as obvious, this is a great book to gain an understanding of art both as a producer and as a spectator.

The central theme is that life is an experience, and that the goal of art is to recapture that experience. Hence, a painting of a flower is only valuable in the way that it captures the essence of a flower, or the experience of viewing a flower. The viewing of a painting must also provide some of the experience of making that painting ( its process ).

Book Description

In The Public and Its Problems, a classic of social and political philosophy, John Dewey exhibits his strong faith in the potential of human intelligence to solve the public's problems. In his characteristic provocative style, Dewey clarifies the meaning and implications of such concepts as "the public," "the state," "government," and "political democracy." He distinguishes his a posterior reasoning from a priori reasoning, which, he argues permeates less meaningful discussion of basic concepts. Dewey repeatedly demonstrates the interrelationships between fact and theory.

Customer Reviews:

A Most Important Book.......2003-04-17

Derived from a series of lectures Dewey gave in 1927, The Public and Its Problems touches on virtually all the major political philosophy questions of our day. One marvels at its continued relevance into the 21st Century. Dewey, arguably the United States' greatest thinker, does an amazing job in sifting through the problems contemporary society faces when forming a polity.

The point Public and Its Problems brings up on more than one occasion is the need for political and social policy to incorporate the scientific method of testing and retesting to generate better results. Dewey refers to this as an experimental social method and surely felt corporate capitalism had used up its testing time and that a new socio-economic system should be tried. Public and Its Problems talks about how policies and theories need to be constantly in flux and not rigidly adhered. The social sciences would then work to investigate and interpret the results of the testing process.

One portion of the book gives a fascinating look at a puzzling quandary Dewey proffers: that being the contradiction of the French and American revolutions having a philosophy of individualism while being massive collective efforts. This section makes for some complicated reading but it's enthralling nonetheless because it touches on a fundamental political and philosophical question. It's in this chapter of the book where he goes on to pose one of the more audacious and profound points of political thought: the essential fallacy of the democratic creed being that it assumes free human beings can rule themselves. (He obviously does say democracy is a good thing given that it threw off a restrictive cloak.) Dewey goes on to elaborate on the point indicating that what's critically necessary is an improvement to the methods and conditions of debate and discussion. Public and Its Problems goes on to ostensibly say it's the corporate capitalist press that controls policy conduct by controlling public opinion. A most astute observation. Of course this opinion is of a public that hasn't found itself, Dewey asserts. He writes "the modern economic regime control present politics much as dynastic interests controlled those of two centuries ago. They effect thinking and desire." Here he touches on false consciousness and monopolistic control over our culture and institutions and the insidious way they thwart the public from finding itself and rallying for its concerns.

Most importantly, Public and Its Problems contends that the majority populace can indeed make wise decisions regarding our present day technocratic culture; the key is that they must have access to unbiased sources without a vested interest (commercial profit) in the issue. Only with a relatively independent conduit of information can the masses make informed decisions on complex subjects. Clearly Dewey would be quite dismayed to see the state of the mass media today, being wholly owned and controlled by big corporate conglomerates. He would no doubt find it nearly impossible for a public to make intelligent decisions when pseudo-fascists like Michael Savage, Joe Scarborough, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Pat Robertson, Laura Ingram, Rusty Humphries, Michael Reagan, G. Gordon Liddy, Ann Coulter (the proud daughter of a union buster), Mike Gallagher, Bob Grant and William Kristol; along with myriad centrist status quo apologists, set the agenda. In one paragraph of the book Dewey showed incredible foresight by remarking that society "seems to be approaching a state of government by hired promoters of opinion called publicity agents." With current political discourse being dictated by PR firms it's obvious he was right on the mark eighty years ago when he made the prediction.

Dewey comes back to an important question routinely throughout, that being what are the conditions that make the transformation possible for the "Great Society" to change into the "Great Community"? The Public and Its Problems does much to stimulate thought on this vital issue that still plagues contemporary society, especially in the United States when the state was able to wage a war on Iraq when virtually ninety percent of the world was against it!

Dewey's book serves as a tremendous introduction to history's greatest pragmatic philosopher.

Ambiguous.......2003-01-29

It was a good treatise yet after reading this, I wonder what it was that i just read. The book will be remembered for its isolated ingenius points rather than a book as a whole. I read this for a class.

Ambiguous.......2003-01-29

Beyond Alternative Teacher Education: Integrating Teaching, Community, Spirituality and Leadership

Average customer rating:

Beyond Alternative Teacher Education: Integrating Teaching, Community, Spirituality and Leadership

Manufacturer: Alliance for Catholic Education Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 0978879309

Book Description

In Beyond Alternative Teacher Education, John Watzke and his fellow contributors present a bold vision for teacher education that moves the dialogue into new realms of inquiry. Pairing teacher reflective narratives with scholarly chapters, the volume presents the case for programs of teacher formation based in the communal, social and spiritual dimensions of teaching and educational leadership. Beginning with historical tradition and program design, the book also speaks to the importance of the work of program graduates, their professional preparedness, and leadership development. Beyond Alternative Teacher Education will challenge readers to reexamine their notions of what it means to be prepared for work in education and to serve society through education.

The Essential Dewey: Ethics, Logic, Psychology

Average customer rating:

The Essential Dewey: Ethics, Logic, Psychology
John Dewey , Larry Hickman , and Thomas M. Alexander
Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Ethics & Morality | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Logic & Language | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Modern | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Essential Dewey: Pragmatism, Education, Democracy
Experience and Nature
How We Think
Experience And Education
Democracy And Education

ASIN: 0253211859

The School and Society & The Child and the Curriculum

Average customer rating:

Another Dewey classic - wait, two classics in one!
Ivory tower crackpot theories.
What to teach
Why going to school ?

The School and Society & The Child and the Curriculum
John Dewey
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Experience And Education
Democracy And Education
The Process of Education, Revised Edition
How We Think
Paideia Proposal

ASIN: 0486419541

Book Description

These two short, influential books represent the earliest authoritative statement of Dewey's revolutionary emphasis on education as an experimental, child-centered process. He declares that we must make schools an embryonic community life and stresses the importance of the curriculum as a means of determining the environment of the child. 4 halftones and 4 charts.

Customer Reviews:

Another Dewey classic - wait, two classics in one!.......2006-05-13

This great book contains two Dewey classics: (1) The School and Society; and, (2) The Child and the Curriculum. This text is like most Dewey works: concise and to the point. This text focuses on the effects and the power that teachers should have in affecting student lives. There is much discussion on Dewey's classic "educative" experiences and how education should be hands-on learning. Dewey also asserts that curriculum should emulate real life challenges and "occupations" of everyday life. Learning occurs in doing and not in repeating facts and figures on multiple-choice tests.

We wonder why the greatest young minds are thrown into math and science courses instead of being encouraged to explore the arts and music. This book continues to show why coursework should not be limited to multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and other methods of factoid memorization but rather coursework should include the exploration of skill-sets and also how the curriculum should provide a catalyst for knowledge and skill exploration.

Like most Dewey books, this should be required reading for all education programs and for all educators. Considered by many to be the only true American philosopher, Dewey once again provides a clear look at why education in America is sub-par in quality and effectiveness.

Also recommended: "Experience and Education," by John Dewey.

Ivory tower crackpot theories........2005-10-21

No intellectual can afford to be unacquainted with the immortal John Dewey and his "experimental school." Who would dare impute the legendary researcher permanently linked with the doctrine of the irreproachable "progressivism?" Somebody has to. It has to be I.

Dewey's conception of the child as learner assumes that the green mind most effectively comes to knowledge by directing its own education through spontaneous curiosity stemming from nature study. This he then expects will blossom into a more expanded consideration of the various academic subjects. The role of the teacher lies mostly in facilitating transitions and answering the child's self-posed questions along the way. The problems in Dewey's model begin with his science fair-meets-museum-meets-playground-meets-lecture hall school design: the model is untested on any significant scale and the startup plus upkeep costs are prohibitively expensive. Classes are small and require several specialists and non-reusable materials. As if kids didn't have enough problems with basic skills and content already, Dewey would have them heavily involved in shop and home economics. Even more outrageous in Dewey's model is the premise that we ought not force students to study what they do not like. Their own intellectual prejudices reign supreme and by implication, teachers are discouraged from evaluating against solid standards. Experienced teachers know that kids can easily hide their shortcomings even when required to study their weak subjects, and that remediation is hard to implement before they slip further behind. Dewey's recommendation to cater so exclusively to the child's intrinsic likes is at best a risky gamble which exacerbates low performance in students too immature to understand the value of education. It's no small wonder why the public's perception of teacher authority has dropped even in good districts with approaches like this floating around schools of education administration.

"The School and Society," like many other off-the-wall manifestos of educational theory, denies well-understood behavioral science when it glosses over psychological patterns in man. It depicts formulaic teaching and learning as fundamentally faulty and generalized curricula as harmful to student individuality. Nothing could less representative of quality research conducted, particularly Project Follow Through: the great skeleton in the student-centered advocates' closet. I for one would like to see Dewey's updated plan for seamlessly moving kids who come into class with their "natural inquisitiveness" programmed by TV, rap music, and other mass media, into colonial American history, calculations of hyperbolic asymptotes, Tennessee Williams, and the "plus-que-parfait" tense. But of course, such leaps of interest are unnecessary if we utterly throw out the "old-fashioned" academic corpus along with the old-fashioned school system.

90% of students in high schools today report that they do NOT feel adequately challenged. Maybe the answer doesn't lie in yielding to children's lack of intellectual discipline but in tapping their potential to control that uninformed caprice. "The School and Society" relies upon the circular contradiction of allowing an uneducated mind educate the teacher on its own education. The apparent absurdity of it all leads me to conclude that sane people latch onto its ideals to maintain an escapist fantasy in light of dismally high drop-out rates, lowered standards, and social discord. But a radical solution is not necessarily synonymous with a good one.

What to teach.......2002-12-13

Dewey, a profound contributor to the field of education, displays some of his beliefs of the best methods to teach children in The Child and the Curriculum. To begin Dewey's discussion, the child's world is examined. In this examining, a sense of how the child's world operates is formed. Children learn through the process of experiencing things, life. In this book Dewey, finds that the schools in which children are educated contradict their very learning style by nature. "The child's life is an integral, a total one," (p.183, 1902). The way the school disseminates the curriculum is not the most optimal method for students to learn.
A child's life collects all the experiences, thus the child learns. Dewey postulates a change in the formula for teaching children, the curriculum. Why change the curriculum? As Dewey states, children need to be intertwined in the process of doing. Children will learn by doing, making clothes to wear, furniture to sit on, and growing food to eat. The idea of the separate subject area is a key area Dewey analyzes because of how children learn. When a child wants to build a chair to sit on, they examine disciplines across the realm of mathematics, science, and language skills while building the chair. Instead of separating this activity into different disciplines, it is woven throughout the activity. Throughout this book, it is stated that their needs to be a link to what the child is learning and what the child sees as a benefit to themselves.
As an educator, it is important to be exposed to varying ideas as to how the school systems have functioned and are functioning today. There are ideas in this book that a pre-service or current educator should consider during their teaching career. Are Dewey's ideas relevant for today's society? I believe this is a question one has to answer for themselves, construct your own meaning.

Why going to school ?.......2000-09-14

From a high school student's point of view, reading Dewey couldn't provide something else than hope for educational systems, most of which, despite the efforts of making a school a more living atmosphere, organizations still remain too mechanical in learning procedures and detached from social applications regarding the capabilities they serve.

Originally from Cameroon, I've had the opportunity to explore three educational systems from different cultural influence each. It was an advantage that surely opened my mind to different perspectives by interacting with different cultures in different social contexts, but especially carried me out to realize how the so called "education" - in general, but in high school in particular - shortly addresses fundamental needs as much individually as socialy, since people tend to ignore its essential functions or misunderstand the concepts it involves, precisely because their implications are so general that they shouldn't be analyzed in separated contexts, school and society, as far as they are, with respect, one a component of the other but the other being the expression of the first one in a long term.

By observing both components as a whole, Dewey proposes a model that doesn't necessarily apply to actual issues or give factual solutions, but at least redefines "education" by integrating inherent aspects to human nature in its double acception - as a group as much as an individual -, which reveals the values traditional education still mostly hides.

I delibarately took the initiative of question what high school didn't explained to me, and probably often forget to ask itself. In what ways education serves people in the aim of blooming personally and socially ? which role schools are therefore supposed to play and in which patterns ? The questions are so simple that the answers appear obvious. In fact, they should be when the problematic is carefully put. this is the reason most people can get it wrong and sometimes don't even try to question what is already established. Dewey was an excellent starting point for my research and I recommend it to EVERYONE, not especially those concerned with education because it shouldn't be a matter of a restricted segment of people. Education is everywhere. Sorry for my english :)

The Immortal
Average customer rating:

Good Book, Mysterious Author.

A good read, but really quite ridiculous

Good Questions

This touches the soul

No Better Place To Begin And/Or End Your Journey

The Immortal
Joseph J. Dewey
Manufacturer: Great Ad Ventures
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
General | Fiction | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Metaphysical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Lost Key of the Buddha (The Immortal Series, Book 3)

Eternal Words, The Immortal Series, Book IV

The Return of Light: The Imminent Restoration of Earth <BR> and Liberation of Humanity

Christ in You

The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk About Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics, and the Miracles of Forgiveness

ASIN: 0966505301

Book Description

"Peter seeing him (John) saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?

Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me.

"Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" John 21:21-23

John, the Beloved, the Revelator, an Apostle of Jesus, perhaps the most mysterious man in history, comes alive in this book. Legend has it that John never died and still roams the earth as a teacher. John finds JJ Dewey, the main character, to teach him the Twelve Keys of Knowledge to prepare the world for the new age of peace.

The contents of this first book and additional books about The Immortal may or may not be true. It is up to the reader to decide. But whatever the opinion rendered, the story and teachings herein are worthy of serious consideration.For those who prefer to read a hardcopy, Book 1 is also available free in print for both bookstores and individuals.

Customer Reviews:

Good Book, Mysterious Author........2007-04-23

I read the book with enthusiasm and excitement. Afterwards, I wanted to find out more about the author. I knew he was former mormon, but I didn't know much about him at all. He is such a readable author, I wanted to know more before I went on to the rest of his books. After I read about the Prophet Onias, I admit, I had my doubts as to where he gets all his ideas. Nonetheless, Dewey has left it to me to decide what is true and what is not. Somehow take comfort in that statement. Whether he is brainwashing us all or not, that is another story, hehe. Good read for almost anyone though.

A good read, but really quite ridiculous.......2005-09-05

This is a novel, but the author encourages the reader to think that most of it is actually true, fictionalized only because (as the main character cynically explains) a wholly true version would "lack a certain glamour necessary to attract an audience." In other words, the teachings of Idaho businessman J. J. Dewey sell much better when presented as the teachings of a 2000-year-old teleporting crime-fighter who's good friends with Jesus Christ.

The teachings themselves vary in quality, and many of them won't be of much interest unless you believe in gods and spirits, both of which the book assumes to exist for reasons that are never made clear. Some of the claims the book makes -- such as the idea that cancer and multiple sclerosis are caused by psychological problems -- are absurd and easy to disprove. Others are a much-needed dose of common sense -- such as the section where "John" debunks the idea of synchronicity and explains that a coincidence is just a coincidence.

Overall, the writing is quite readable and holds the interest. There are a few annoying New Age verbal tics ("vibrations," needless to say, are mentioned many a time and oft), but these are easily ignored. The ideas presented are thought-provoking. It's a good read if you like that sort of thing.

Good Questions.......2005-01-17

Whether the story in this book is a fact or a fiction or a fiction wrapped around facts to make the story more insteresting reading - it is structured well and it poses engaging questions, putting you in a position to contemplate them, or at least giving your subconscious mind time to ruminate over them, while you follow along with what main characters in this book come up with through their own reasoning and contemplation. In that way, the book has interactive character and if you do sit down and cotemplate the questions (even if you already know, or believe to know the answers because you've been on a spiritual path for a very long time), they will help to bring out some spiritual realizations from within you.

This touches the soul.......2004-06-27

Reading Mr Dewey's work is literally a life changing event. The perspective he offers gives insights to many of life's experiences, and events of history. It is comparable to listening to a great work of music, it truly touches the soul. This is a gift to mankind; don't let this master piece pass you by.

No Better Place To Begin And/Or End Your Journey.......2004-06-17

Whether you are either 8 or 80; a seasoned seeker or a someone who has just awakened to this aspect of yourself, I can think of no better tool to assist you than JJ Dewey's "The Immortal"--a story of a man and his wife's quest for "the truth".

For the "beginner", this book is what I would refer to as "an easy read", and is not full of "strange language" or unfamiliar terminologies and concepts which one needs to know and/or understand beforehand. It is truth presented and laid out in a logical, easy-to-read, easy-to-understand and easy-to-follow format.

For the seasoned seeker, The Immortal provides an indepth and logically laid out synthesis of "east meets west"; to include a wealth of insightful "answers to commonly asked questions" relating to the age-old inquiries of, "who are we?"; "what are we doing here?", and "where are we going?", and the "eternal aspect" of ourselves.

The Immortal provides "the keys of knowledge" which you can use to make those decisions to end to your status as "a seeker", and begin/start "becoming" a "self-directed" active participant (versus being directed by others) in the evolution, process and progress of your "spiritual self", *and* that of *all* humanity, and learn how to do all this in a conscious and coordinated fashion.

Agreed...this is (as stated by the author) a "fictional novel". Meaning, the story may/is fictional. However, this does not mean that the truth (principles) contained within the story are.

And, as the author will admonish you...and as I admonish you: Do not take my or his word for it. You must read it; meditate on it; contemplate on it; and study it out; and then decide for or by yourself and on your own.

If you do, I promise that you will discover that there "is something there" for anyone or everyone who is sincere and approaches their reading of The Immortal with "pure and clear intent".

Getting It Wrong from the Beginning: Our Progressivist Inheritance from Herbert Spencer, John Dewey, and Jean Piaget
Average customer rating:

Beyond the obviously true

Getting it Right in Hindsight.

Getting it wrong form the beginning

Getting It Wrong from the Beginning: Our Progressivist Inheritance from Herbert Spencer, John Dewey, and Jean Piaget
Kieran Egan
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
History | Education Theory | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Philosophy & Social Aspects | Education Theory | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Pedagogy | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Education | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Qualifying Textbooks - Spring 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Educated Mind: How Cognitive Tools Shape Our Understanding

An Imaginative Approach to Teaching

Teaching as Story Telling: An Alternative Approach to Teaching and Curriculum in the Elementary School

The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics

Imagination in Teaching and Learning: The Middle School Years

ASIN: 030010510X

Book Description

The ideas upon which public education was founded in the last half of the nineteenth century were wrong. And despite their continued dominance in educational thinking for a century and a half, these ideas are no more right today. So argues one of the most original and highly regarded educational theorists of our time in Getting It Wrong from the Beginning. Kieran Egan explains how we have come to take mistaken concepts about education for granted and why this dooms our attempts at educational reform.

Egan traces the nineteenth-century sources of Progressive thinking about education and their persistence even now. He diagnoses the problem with our schools in a radically different way, and likewise prescribes novel alternatives to present educational practice. His book is both persuasive and full of promise—a book that belongs on the must-read list for anyone who cares about the success of our schools.

Customer Reviews:

Beyond the obviously true.......2007-06-21

Can't agree with the reviewer below about the dry hard-going style of the book - in fact it must be one of the most engaging academic works I've read. Took me less than a day, which is highly unusual, since too often I have hard times maintaining a critical level of concentration just to stay awake reading (dead-) "serious literature". But it doesn't have to be like that - not with reading (yes, even academic, mind you) books, nor with listening to educators, the latter being more to the point of the book. I just found it not a trivial matter that when someone is writing about the flaws of both "traditional" and "progressivist" education which thwart their attempts to engage children's minds and imagination - then he himself be able to avoid the same mistakes he critisizes. And Egan goes far beyond this. He's a great story-teller, and he has a great story to tell - about the "permanent revolution" in education that has been going on forever, but succeeded very little, and the likely reasons for this. Of course education - it's like the youth - has been spoilt since Plato, if not the upper Neolithicum. So beware - you might not be the first one to seek a cure, and you definitely wouldn't be an exception if the cure you devised - (back to the) more natural types of learning! just let the child follow her natural course of delevopment and be a support! just take off from where the child is currently situated in terms of "stages"! just let her learn how to learn (think)... any number of cliches you can come up with - would turn in results more drasically defective than the problems you began with. The point Egan makes is that these proposed progressivist solutions that he so engagingly follows from Spencer through Dewey and Piaget (for the latter two of whom I have great respect for, by the way, if a little less enthusiastic after reading this book.) to our days - are too obvious on the one hand, almost truistic, and beg the question whether what is (under a certain set of socio-cultural condiotions) "natural" to one is "natural" to another, who's the biggest expert in these questions, and no less - what is the kind of life that is most worth leading. All education comes back to these questions - how do we devise being human, and thus its becoming through education. Studies in cognitive psychology and neuroscience of learning etc. are of modest help if we're not philosophically positioned in what is unavoidably a philosophical problem. So Egan doesn't try to strike us with his "latest research findings" as to the deepseated nature of children's thinking at this or that stage and respective cognitive capacities (constraints), which have often had the appalling tendency to overlook what children CAN do (perhaps much better than adults!) in favor of what they can't (a la Piaget, a too unilinear progress that doesn't admit the losses that occur along the developmental path) anyway - but envisages his own "merely subjective and speculative" (or "not merely objective", it might be more appropriate to say in educational theory) approach to teaching as story-telling. A form of education that would incorporate motives that are quite universally "attractive" (not to say "natural" :) and important to people, make creative and intelligent use of structures present in myths and fairy-tales that that seldom fail to capture the listener. (The author himself definitely knows how to do it.)

I think with this move Egan really brings us closer to the center of problems facing us when trying to understand and improve the situation of our current educational practices. A vastly important and very accessible work.

Getting it Right in Hindsight. .......2005-02-21

This is an outstanding title for a book and I could not wait for it to arrive in the mail. The author proves to be quite witty and authoritative regarding the history of education and the way in which it has been influenced, and in turn dominated, by the progressives. His recapitulation of the career of the Herbert Spencer was quite insightful but no where is Egan stronger than in the chapter that discusses the impact that progressivism has had on the study of history and all other forms of knowledge that are not directly useful to the real world (such as Latin).

Many of his observations about progressive education are worth highlighting, but the reason I could not give "Getting it Wrong from the Beginning" a higher rating is that I did not find the book to be particularly readable. It is a dry slog that takes longer than one would expect based on its less than 200 pages. Had he included more examples from our modern public schools I would have found it more useful as a reference work. Egan's put considerable thought into his positions though so the book is definitely worth a serious skim.

Getting it wrong form the beginning.......2003-08-21

It has been a long time since I read a book that both frustrated me and at the same time challenged the most fundamental "truths" that I have been taught about education. It is easy to both love some of the insights in this book and then be left lost trying to understand the alternative. I think I would of gained a better understanding of Egan's insights if I had read the predecessor The Educated Mind. One of Egan's main arguments is that the progressive school and its theories have resulted in "the reduction of academic content in primary schools in the 20th century". All the emphasis on making learning "natural" and "play-like" has cheated American students out of acquiring "cultural-cognitive tools" which should be the basis of all education. He challenges many of the long held beliefs of education and if anything I would recommend this book as a way of reconsidering the psychological pillars of education that all new teachers are trained in.

Philosophers:

Philosophers

Philosophers