Historical Context of Work

Born: 1859

Died: 1952

John Dewey held several titles, some of them including and influential educator, philosopher, and psychologist.  He and his works made a vast impact on American education and education around the world. 

Education and Influences

As a child, Dewey attended the public school in Burlington, Vermont.

At the age of fifteen, Dewey attended the University of Vermont, where he studied psychology, religion, and particularly, philosophy. 

Dewey graduated second in his class from the University of Vermont, at age nineteen.

After graduation, Dewey taught high school for two years, and then pursued further education in philosophy as a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he eventually earned a doctorate degree.

People that influenced Dewey include:

1. George Sylvester Morris, a German philosopher
2. G. Stanley Hall, a well-known American psychologist at the time.   
3. Charles Darwin, an English naturalist

Work Life

Dewey taught two years of high school, before pursuing his graduate degree.

After earning his doctorate degree, Dewey joined George S. Morris at the University of Michigan, where he also taught.

In 1894, Dewey went to Chicago, where he became the new head of the philosophy and psychology department. 

In 1904, Dewey joined the team at Columbia University where he continued his teaching profession.

Dewey became part in the development of the League for Independent Political Action, in 1929.

Dewey was also an editor of the New Republic magazine, and he helped found the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Association of University Professors.

After World War I, Dewey traveled and lectured in Japan and spent two years teaching at universities in China.

Dewey retired from teaching in 1930, but he did not stop publishing works.

Impact on Best Practices

Problems or Failures

Other Interesting Facts

In the early 1900s, with his wife, Dewey started an experimental school, called the “Dewey school,” in order to test his educational theories.  However, due to a disagreement with the school’s president, William R. Harper, who tried to fire Dewey’s wife, Dewey resigned. 

Impact on Others

Dewey’s belief that students should be actively engaged and involved in their own learning is still a philosophy being carried out in many classrooms today.  Additionally, his thought of making concepts relevant to each students psychology, physical development, and personality is very similar to today’s practice of “differentiation.”  Dewey greatly impacted several other writers, philosophers, and psychologists.  Some of them consist of:  Richard Rorty and Jurgen Habermas, two pragmatic writers, Sandra Rosenthal and James Edie, American phenomenologists, and philosopher, Hilary Putnam.

References

Dewey, J. (1897) My pedagogic creed. School Journal, volume 54.  Pp. 77-80.

Encyclopedia of world biography:  John dewey biography.  2011.  Retrieved on May 29, 2011. 

http://www.notablebiographies.com/De-Du/Dewey-John.html