John Dewey and the Kiss of Death

[HoGraz]

Seems to me he said one thing and did another. I've read some of the things he wrote and they were great ideas. However the "Whole-word" approach over phonics seems like an obvious attempt to subvert things. I don't think that today this should be used as anti-democratic propaganda as much as it's been used. People forget that the Republicans fought to keep labor down for decades.

[jclondon17]

It is amazing that you are actually serious. I agree with Sleeper, you need to do some wider reading.

[GodGunsGutsandNRA]

John Dewey and Dr Spock were both quacks, and should have been hanged.

[anthonydefalco]

@GodGunsGutsandNRA  It is sad how uninformed or misinformed you are regarding John Dewey. This video shows the ignorance of the group who produced it. There are so many errors in it and so much written by Dewey and about him that would show the mistakes in it, As an example read Progressive = Permissive? Not According to John Dewey…Subjects ...

[sleeper2345]

Nice job being misleading with this video. Any quotes from Dewey to support your conclusions? I'm sure you can find some out of context. Those looking to change schools recognize that students are not reasoning and developing a deep understanding. For example, those experiencing the "traditional math" advocated by Hirsch can likely recite formulas for area and circumference of a circle. The problem is that they have no idea what these formulas mean. This is what Dewey discussed.

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

Just because you remember something does not mean you have no idea what it means. What a strange little sophistry. As for quotes, please also see "John Dewey and the Burden of Ideology" (a video) or Google "25: Phooey on John Dewey" (an article).

[sleeper2345]

No, but just because you remember something, it does not imply that you do know what it means. See all the research on algebra (e.g., Booth, 1983). Most students have no idea what algebraic symbols mean.

[ManchuDan22]

BruceDeitrickPrice,

Have you read "Getting it wrong from the beginning" by Kieran Egan? The unholy (and disastrous) marriage between education and psychology?

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

Thanks, I will put it on my list...I do know that the people in Education and the people in Psychology circa 1900 were quite incestuous. Often they were the same people! Great little book on this is "The Leipzig Connection." I have a review on Amazon, saying if you read only one book on education, this is the one.

[ManchuDan22]

I have ordered it from Amazon. Sounds like a good read.

[ManchuDan22]

BruceDeitrickPrice, Superb Video!

ED Hirsch has advocated a return to a Liberal Arts education, where knowledge is valuable for itself, and for no other reason, and this love of thinking, for its own sake, is the basis for critical thinking which is why we are losing it.

A foundation of basic information is the basis for more advanced education. But, you MUST have the foundation 1st, and the foundation is HARD, which is why elementary teachers often fail to get it done.

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

Exactly. Most of my work is aimed at that simple point: "A foundation of basic information is the basis for more advanced education." So obvious you just know that our elite educators will fight it tooth and nail.

[MmmMan]

In practice the results of the true john dewey experiments in education were successful JDHS in Brooklyn, NY allowed me to take 6 years of science and 2 years advanced math including advanced calculus.  This was in early 1970s, through lack of support ond overcrowding the school has becom homogenized and the ability to plan and use the facility for furthering learing has been degraded through lack of support byt he corporate model of education that has expanded under Bloomberg,

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

Thanks for commenting. Keep in mind that Brooklyn had great schools and an intellectual atmosphere. Also, you're talking about high school.

Dewey's damage was mainly in the early grades, due to his injunction NOT to emphasize reading, writing, arithmetic, etc. The Educational Establishment made Dewey into an ed god, and then used all of his quackery to dumb down the schools in Anytown, USA.

Also see: "John Dewey and the Burden of Ideology."