For our week one current connection, our group was responsible for finding current connections between the John Dewey Article, “My Pedagogic Creed” and articles published within the past two years that correlate and connect to the ideas developed in the Dewey article. In my research I was able to find two articles that connected to the creed, or beliefs, of John Dewey in a modern way that raised questions that are still applicable in today’s education system.
The section of “My Pedagogic Creed” I was responsible for finding connections and insights to was the first article, called “What Education Is”. My first instinct was to take a minute and ask myself, what is education? The answer I was able to come up with was that education is a building block in human success and is here to help orchestrate the growth and abilities of societies while teaching students how to become active members of their societies and to shape them into the people that the future needs. According to the article, Dewey says that in his mind, the purpose of education is so people can “come together in the intellectual and moral resources which humanity has succeeded in getting together” and it is something that makes us “members of unity”. He also deems “knowledge of social conditions of the present state of civilization” as another important purpose of education.
From this article, as readers we are able to see that Dewey believes education is founded on the basis of psychological and sociological development. He defines the psychological aspect of education as “barren and formal” and elaborates on this definition in saying that this is essential to understanding our mental powers and abilities. In terms of sociological development, Dewey defines it as exposing students to “preconceived social and political status” which is necessary in order to be a functioning member within a given society.
After articulating Dewey’s thoughts on education to the different learning communities, I asked my classmates which one they found to be more essential to a student’s growth and success and the answers varied. Some of my peers were quick to say psychological, some took a stance to say sociological and some argued that both were equally valuable and important to the education process. I think raising this question caused me to stop and reflect on what I thought about both of these developments and how essential they are to the growth of today’s students.
An article I found in relation to the Dewey article was an article written on ThoughtCo, a site for educators and resources, by Melissa Kelly in 2019 called “The Many Purposes of Education”. In reading, analysing and reflecting on this article I was able to make many parallels between the two articles. Within her article, Melissa Kelly provides a list of the purposes for education which includes, creating thoughtful citizens, learning how to learn, teaching students how to live, and creating lifelong habits that fit their specific needs. As I read deeper into each of these reasons, I was able to categorize each of them under either psychological or sociological. This shows that even though these ideals were created a little less than 100 years ago, our society is still basing educational developments off of the same elements because they have been proven effective in the lives of students.
I was also able to make another connection with a different article that I located within the classroom database. This article suggested similar purposes to education to the ones previously stated however, this article raised an interesting insight and that was the impact of technology on today’s learners and educators. So, I asked my classmates what they believed the impact of technology in the classroom looked like and again, I found some of my peers believe it has had a negative impact, some believe it has had a positive impact, and some argued that it had both a positive and negative impact. When orchestrating this question and conversation with them it was very interesting to hear each person’s perspective and opinion based on their previous educational experiences. For example, some of my classmates had a one to one device program at their high schools while some did not and I find that influences how technology is viewed.
I was able to connect this article and the impact of technology in the classroom to Dewey and his believed educational developments. Today more than ever, technology is at our fingertips and it has aided the success of human kind and our capabilities but if it is too heavily relied on than our developmental human skills might be compromised. For example, so many students today are taking online classes or online educational programs, while this may seem like a smart option because it is convenient and can be done from home, it may have an impact on our mental or social state. If as students we are raised through technological education, how are we supposed to develop the ‘mental basis’, or adequate social skills that Dewey deemed necessary in becoming an effective member of a society. If psychological and sociological skills are not there, then we as humans are doing something wrong. If we are not educated properly then it will change the game in regards to how humans will develop and interact with one another. Like anything, technology in moderation is good, but when reflecting on the ideals of John Dewey, one may say the less technology in education the better.
Works cited:
Kelly, Melissa. “The Many Purposes for Education.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 7 July
2019, http://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-the-aim-of-education-8417.
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