Dewey, Pedagogy, and Psychagogy

• In Event: The Lived Terms of Dewey's Pedagogical Thinking

Abstract

Dewey often deployed terms such as “whole-souled” conduct, “soul-action,” and “soul-life.” The purpose of this presentation is to show that his view of pedagogy harbors a rich conception of psychagogy, the ancient Greek term for ‘the education of soul’. Dewey’s familiar idea of growth embodies a deepening and expansion of soul, understood as that which animates or breathes life into action. Dewey endorses a robust image of the teacher as an educator of souls, including her or his own soul through the work of teaching. I will suggest that his language of soul promises to assist contemporary educators in working against what many feel to be a ‘soul-less’ policy zeitgeist in education today.

Author

• David T. Hansen, Teachers College, Columbia University