John Dewey on Education Essay

John Dewey, Mor condemnationr Adler and Nel Noddings impacted our system of cultivation in very profound ways. Dewey believed that there should be communication amongst the disciple and the instructor. Adler believed that tutors should only give instruction the traditional courses (English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Foreign Language). Noddings believed that teachers should be more than caring towards their assimilators. John Deweys idea of education greatly touch on our system of education today. John Deweys ideas for education were to concentrate on pupils psychological and sociological qualities.Dewey believed in promoting an unconscious education where the individual in stages comes to sh ar in the intellectual and moral resources which humanity has succeeded in get together. He becomes an inheritor of the funded capital of civilization (Dewey 261). In other linguistic process, he thought this was a good method for teachers to analyze a savants behavior in tell to teach them more effectively. This as well as provided an opportunity for the savant to learn without even realizing it.Dewey decl bed that a bookmans psychological needs were the basis of his method of education. The claws own instinct and reasons furnish the material and give the starting-point for all education (Dewey 262). Dewey stressed the idea that, Without insight into the psychological structure and activities of the individual the informative process allow forbe haphazard and arbitrary (Dewey 262). Dewey was excessively exceedingly interested in the kindly aspects of a school-age child. He said that the, friendship of genial conditions, of the present state of civilization, is necessary in order to right interpret the nestlings powers (Dewey 262). This was a new technique for an pedagog to attain and distinguish the instincts and tendencies in a student.Therefore, in order for an educator to know more about a student he/she essential first study the students psychological traits in order to understand the unique characteristics of a childs capacities, interests and habits. Then the teacher must translate their findings into terms of what they believe the child is capable of in a social setting. In my opinion, Dewey appearanceed a balance between the dialectical of academics and affective goals. This is in addition known as transaction, which is having both the teacher and the student interact in the classroom.Dewey believed that the academic goals of education should be, a process of vivification and not a expression for future living (Dewey 263). He express that the teachers job is not to influence him but to table service guide the student into successfully forming with the community by letting the student hump most life occurrences. The teacher is not in the school to impose veritable ideas or to form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of the community to select the influences which shall aff ect the child (Dewey 263 264).Dewey also believed that tests should only be personad to examine a childs social capabilities in the real world. Examinations argon of use only so far as they test the childs fitness for social life and reveal the place in which he croup be of the most service and where he can receive the most help (Dewey 264). In my opinion, this would be more of a conceptual test where the child can voice his or her own opinions. Deweys main affective goals were to raise the childs meaning of himself and his values. It is the business of the school to deepen and extend his sense of the values bound up in his fellowship life (Dewey 263).Dewey believed that it was important for the school to implement lessons that related to what a child would do at home. The school would also be responsible for simplifying their social life because existing life is so complex that the child cannot be brought into contact with it without all confusion or distraction (Dewey 263). Therefore, if the child is capable to too much social stimulation he will become, either unduly specialized or else disintegrated (Dewey 263).I believe that Deweys views show that he is against standardization in schools. He believed that there was a need of conscious states in schools. He asserts that children be, thrown into a pass byive, receptive, or take up attitude (Dewey 265). Deweys viewpoint is until now an active discussion earthation in todays education system. However, some school districts insist on rote learning because their schools receive more funding when there is a spunky percentage of passing students on standardized tests. fit to Linda McNeil, students are taught on how to pass these tests without really learning. For example, McNeil states that, students report that in the drills on the TAAS sound outing section, they frequently mark answers without reading the sample text. They merely lucifer key words in an answer choice with key words in the tex t (McNeil 218). gibe to Dewey, this is not permitted in following the law of nature (Dewey 265), resulting in friction and waste (Dewey 265).Dewey believed that proper instruction should be exemplified by, the preparation and presentment of lessons which might be more wisely and profitably expended in preparedness the childs power of imagery and in seeing to it that he was continually forming definite, vivid, and growing images of the several(a) subjects with which he comes in contact in his experience (Dewey 266). Standardization is not they key compvirtuosont of education, even though the state and federal government believe this is an important element for success.According to Gerald Bracey, when students are applying to college, the sit down exam should be used as a guideline and not the final decision in acceptance. Bracey stated that the, SAT hemorrhoid had been falling for fourteen years (Bracey 47). He also stated that, firearm the developers of the SAT still called th eir test a mere supplement, the public now saw it as the platinum rod for measuring school performance. And that performance was getting worse (Bracey 47). Somehow over time, a students SAT score developed into an extremely significant round which seemed to become the overall determination of a students intelligent.It seems acetous and unbalanced to put so much emphasis on unmatchable test. Of course, applicants are told that in combination with their SAT scores their grades and outside activities are taken into consideration for college admittance. But the truth is these SAT scores still remain a huge factor for college applicants. Studies have shown that a high SAT score does not guarantee high grades in college provided the government activity behind these tests are toilsomeer than the publics opinion in order to get these tests repealed. Standardized tests do not lead the student to come into contact with the subject at hand or the experience related to it.They also do not show the overall supply of an individual or what he or she can contribute musical composition attending college. Scott Thompson is against the test-based reform of todays parliamentary procedure. Thompson claims that, The human hearts and minds of others, I believe, are simply too complex and too inaccessible to read as a book (Thompson 160). Thompson argues that the differences between test-based reform and standards-based reform. He reason out that standards-based reform involves more cooperation from parents, teachers and the students.It also gives the students a high-quality method of learning and not simply learning techniques for test taking. We should be interested in students who can produce high quality work rather than students who have know the ability to take standardized tests (Thompson 159). Thompson would love to see that the idea of standardized tests be abandoned in the future.Thompson argues that by giving these students standardized tests that they are reduc ing their potential of demonstrating their intellect, social and personal sides to the community. Test-based reform, through its focus on high-stakes test, narrows the curriculum to what is included on the tests and reduces instructional practice to test preparation (Thompson 159). In contrast, standards-based reforminvolves a complete abandonment of the bureaucratic, seat time approach to education and replaces it with a system of learning communities dedicated to luck all students reach their intellectual, social, and personal potential (Thompson 159).To summarize, without requiring students to take standardized tests they will greatly increase their academic potential and affective abilities. Bill Bigelow also stresses his concern of standardization. He believes that, social studies knowledge is little more than getting piles of disconnected facts about the world (Bigelow 231) and that the world cant be chopped into multiple choice questions, in that you cant bubble in the tru th with a number-two pencil (Bigelow 239). Bigelow would be ecstatic to see the state do away with standardized tests.He demonstrates some strong educational goals that the state should follow that show a balance between academic and affective goals for education. He claims that teachers should, construct rigorous performance standards for students that crowd deep thinking about the nature of our society. These efforts should acknowledge the legitimacy of a multicultural curriculum of critical questions, complexity, multiple perspective, and social imagination. They should recognize that experience is more than information (Bigelow 239). I agree with his statement.When considering the famous quote, knowledge is power have we gained knowledge when we have learned the means by which to pass a standardized test? Or has knowledge been gained when a student has the sense of understanding conceptual ideas about society and civilization as a whole? I feel that standardized testing is som ething elected state officials extremity because these tests provide numbers and numbers are flourishing to put into a spreadsheets and show which schools are getting high scores and which schools are getting low scores. It is an easy format to determine budgets one test is suitable for all students.It is harder to define guidelines on how or what teachers should teach conceptually because that leads to a broader spectrum of learning. In conclusion, I believe that standardized tests are the dumbing down of America. These tests inhibit our abilities to question and reflect. The state and federal governments do not really want the American public to get smarter. They want a simple way to control what students learn and how they learn it. While many people agree that standardization is not improving learning, we are still unable to do away with these tests due to all of the politics involved.I would love for high schools to be more like colleges in that, teachers can use whatever met hods of teaching they like just as professors do. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Obviously, there are essential fundamental topics that much be taught that are necessary in order to have the basic root on which to grow intellectually. I feel that once a student has mastered the basics, it is crucial to ones development to discuss disputable issues and to intelligently question the ways of the world.I agree with Bill Bigelow I do not believe that one test is a complete(a) determinant of a students ability and mastery of various concepts. A famous quote by George Santayana states, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. With all the controversial issues and problems in the world, shouldnt learning how to use ones mind and think outside the box be considered an integral part of learning? Isnt it important and valuable to society to be able to intelligently discuss solutions rather than just be considered smart because you aced the SAT?