Experience, Interaction, and a New Direction for Education Reform

• In Event: Dewey and Philosophical Inquiries in Democracy

Abstract

It has been nearly 80 years since John Dewey’s prolific work, Experience & Education, was first published. Dewey postulated a theory about experience in this book, claiming that experience was the cornerstone of learning and that experience should be given more attention in schools. Dewey’s work provides a theoretical framework centering around the importance of experience in education that can connect to practice for teachers and schools. This paper argues that the modern education reform movement has generated negative results for students, and that by adopting Dewey’s theory of experiential learning through continuity and interaction, together with taking seriously his claim that quality experiences in education are essential for the education of young people, our public schools would change positively.

Author

• Dustin Hornbeck, Miami University - Oxford