John Dewey's Ideas

Education is the golden key that unlocks the door to changing the world, and we have come a long way since the 16th century when education first began.Throughout the years there have been many theories and ideas associated with education, including those of John Dewey, and Ernest Boyer. The two philosophers have similar views on some subjects, and very opposite views on others. Upon reading the material, I have found that I lean more towards the ideas proposed by Ernest Boyer. Although Dewey made some great points in his articles, I found myself disagreeing with some of his assertions. Meanwhile, I agreed almost completely with the ideas of Boyer. Boyer believes that there are two essential realities of life, the first being that every child is unique. He states that it is crucial for educators to affirm the characteristics that make each student unique. He goes on to say, “We must create in …show more content…
students complete in order to receive their diploma. (R & C, 2015, p.268). As an effect of this system, “Education is measured by seat time, not time for learning.” (R&C, 2015, p.268). Students have been conditioned in a way that by the time they get into high school they stop asking questions out of sheer curiousity, but rather begin to ask questions such as, “Will this be on the test?” (R&C, 2015, p.268). As a result, students are spending more time focusing on rote learning, which is usually not as meaningful and impactful. Boyer has eight commonalities that bind each and every single person together. The eight are as followed; the life cycle, language, the arts, time and space, groups and institutions, work, natural world, and search for meaning. On the other hand, John Dewey, in My Pedagogic Creed, splits it into five separate articles which focus on the following; what education is, what the school is, the subject-matter of education, the nature of method, and the school and social