Jonathan Paul Loomis
November 2, 1998
Schools and Society
Professor Laughlin
Review of Experience & Education, by John Dewey
After reading this book, I have come to conclude that people who write textbooks like this are terrible. Why didn't he just write the book in a nice linear argument so that I could have read it and enjoyed his thoughts, perhaps even been swayed by them? But no, he had to have chosen to formulate, of course after much careful and by no means unnecessary concentration of thinking as to the mentioned subject, it so that it might appear to be on par with other leather-bound collections of thinking that were upon the stands of book collections of his day. See what I'm getting at? This kind of writing just plain sucks, and I'm sick of having to read it. What the hell was Dewey thinking? Did he think I was going to regimentally fall in line with the Deweylovers just because I read the first page of his little book and didn't understand a think, thus concluding that he must be brilliant? Nonsense.
I did agree with many of his points, no matter how difficult to decipher they were. I agreed that it is important to try to integrate learning into life as much as possible so that students have an understanding of why the items they are learning are important. However, I don't think that one needs to throw out the old school setting all together.
I did not agree with much of what he said. Dewey seems to think that the traditional school has no concern for students. That they developed only with overbearing adults in mind. Is he so blind to the fact the in order to make students learn one has to teach to the particular students in question. If the ancient Romans had been ignoring the students all along, there probably wouldn't have been any educated Romans. I am more inclined to base my philosophy of education in the traditional model, with my own adjustments, than do as Dewey did and throw out that model all together. I will rely on the march of history to make most of the perfections for me.
I would like to learn more about Dewey's struggles to make his schoolwork. What parts of his philosophy changed after he operated his school?