John Dewey and the Concept of Education

• In Event: Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: Why Dewey Now?

Abstract

Dewey’s conception of education is misunderstood by those who champion, as well as by those who reject, his legacy. He adopted a progressive point of view to illuminate aspects of education he felt were being neglected, but he did so self-consciously and self-critically, because he also felt the need to introduce “a new order of conceptions leading to new modes of practice.” It has been argued that Dewey’s metaphor of growth is not enough on its own but that it was just part of his conceptual apparatus. I disagree, agree, and disagree. I argue that growth for Dewey was not a metaphor; that it was the foundation of his conceptual apparatus; and that it is enough on its own.

Author

• Kelvin S. Beckett, Kaplan University