Revolutionary+Thinkers

John Dewey

Revolutionary Thinkers and Politics– A Discussion in Character (Answer these using bullet points or brief notes and be prepared to use them in your discussion – Please copy these onto your “Why Governments?” wiki page)

Who was your character and what were they known for? My character is John Dewey, he is known for many things, seen as he accomplished soo much in his life time. But his main job was a professor. Dewey focused on teaching but what he taught is a different subject. As well and an educator, Dewey was known as a psychologist, philosopher, social critic and political activist. He was widely known for being an education reformer; he believed that learning should be active, not necessarily long and restrictive. He wanted children to learn real life skills at school, and learn by doing things not just sitting at a desk listening. He thought maths could be learnt by using cooking proportions, or by measuring distance from one place to another!

Clearly explain several ways in which your character "saw" things differently than other characters, or other people during this time in history. He was widely known for being an education reformer; he believed that learning should be active, not necessarily long and restrictive. He wanted children to learn real life skills at school, and learn by doing things not just sitting at a desk listening. He thought maths could be learnt by using cooking proportions, or by measuring distance from one place to another. Include in your answer the person’s thoughts pertaining to the following categories: o What should be the relationship between individuals and society? That is: What responsibilities do we have to each other? Can we do as we please? Is society more important than the individuals that make it up? Dewey was a very individualistic man, especially because he introduced so many new concepts to America. He was very unique even from an early age, when he started attending Uni at the age of 16, and actually finished high school at 12. He was a philosopher and philosophy is very much personal opinion, so I think he focused more on individuals then the society in a whole. And yes while his philosophy on education was very unique and different, it did however intend to change the view society has on education. So a bit of both.

o What are the limits of freedom? Yes, definitely, Dewey was an activist to speak of, but he did believe in some order and control. One of his main goals was to transform the thought of education, and it worked but he still wanted children to come to school, he still wanted them to learn, and gain life skills. That is putting a limit on freedom. o Do they ascribe preference to positive over negative freedoms or vice versa? I think Dewey ascribes preference to positive freedom, mainly because It would only help develop and spread his idea of education. Where as negative freedom would restrict it. Freedom would allow him to express his ideas in many ways, but he would not take them for granted he would be humble about his philosophy. As far as I can see it seems that If it spreads it spreads.

o What ontology is this based on? I think experiencing life, and learning life skills, I mean that is the main reason why he created the philosophy of education being about learning, because he wants children to learn life skills while they learn normal school subjects.

o Is freedom of speech a good idea, or freedom of action between consenting adults? Freedom of speech is a good idea, but again with limitations. No one should be hurt in the process but people should be able to be free, and say what they want. There should still be order though.

o Should any rights should be allowed or limited? Dewey most likely believed limited, because he was a man of order, as I mentioned before just because he had a great philosophy, he still had structure in life, he still had some science, some politics, some social class and he never lost that, as his philosophy developed it changed the perspective of things, but it did not change him as a person. He wanted to change things, but he did not want human kind to become complacent, change should be slow.

o When may government act against the will of a citizen, and when should a citizen act against his or her government? Government should act against the will of a citizen when the citizens life is in danger, and not when a judgment should be made because the judgment could be completely wrong. A citizen should act against his/her govt. when you feel it is right, or when you feel it must be done, that is to a certain extent, things that cause other people unnecessary harm is not a valid reason. Or for personal enjoyment.

o What is the purpose of government? To tell us exactly what to do.

o What characterizes a good government? Allowing individuals, to be free with limitations(constitution) we should be able to make our own decisions, yet we should be taught to be wise and rational. We all have a voice, and we should be given the choice to love our own live.

o Theories of Social organization? I t is ahrd to tell whether Dewey believes in classes, he was a well educated man, and he is fair in the sense that he wants children to get a good education, but that does not allow me to judge his character fairly, I wil have to guess, and say that since Dewey made such a significant affect on society and individuals, then it seems he will be fair with classes, and treat people equally.

o Political order and organization (What legitimates leadership? What is just and what is justice?)

o Other information that aided or broadened our understanding of the importance of these ideas today.

What was the impact of these ideas then and how have they influenced the way we see things now? Dewey changed how most people, educators, students, parents, education departments, around the world saw things and he gave them the option to change how they teach. Many people I believe were reluctant to try something new, but then they soon realize that children do learn better by experiencing things. And yes, it was not adopted all around the world, but it gave us most importantly, the students, an option for better learning, and it gave educators a better lens to look through for teaching.

How were their ideas different from established ideas of the day? The ideas of Dewey are actually similar in a way instead of different, Dewey’s thoughts on education, have been adapted in many places around the world, however, they have not been set in stone. For example people do practice more doing then just sitting and listening, yet it has not changed the whole thought on education, each school, teacher, school district, educational department is different. Which means if they choose to sit and listen it is a valid decision, if they choose to do things, it is also a valid decision.

How or why did time and place bias your character’s ideas or another’s responses to their ideas? Back then, not only was education very dull and straight to the point, but most things were. For example woman had no power, everyone followed the crowd, they followed the rules, and no one changed anything, no details, it was just one society on the complete same page. Which is why Dewey’s philosophy had such a great impact on America first, because no one had ever seen come one defer from the norm, and change so many things about society, for once someone had power, and he made such a difference in education today. Because he was brave.

Would any one of these thinkers be considered the more significant than another? Give two examples of who, and why? I would not be able to give a correct and thorough answer to this until I examine the other philosophers, however, I can say that Dewey was the philosopher that had the most impart on educational thinking in the 20th century.

What present day revolutions in thinking (social, political or scientific) are taking place? How are they influencing the way we live? Will this have an effect on the way we think politics should work? Would your thinker support these new ideas? One main thing that is changing in our world today is technology use; we are using it not only for learning, but for almost everything in our daily lives. It has become partly the core for our connecting, communicating, changing, you know for many things. And I think not just mainly with politics but with everything in general, it is just too unpredictable, we never know what to expect next. Now in a way Dewey can relate to that because his philosophy was very un expected as well, however I do no believe that he would support this idea because it goes completely against his method of pedagogy, and is quite contrary to his belief system. Because we are doing the complete opposite of what he wanted, we are not moving not experiencing, not learning by doing. Or you could say that we are doing exactly that, seen, as our world will most likely be like this in the future.

Provide a summary of why your thinker is considered revolutionary. On the final note I believe that John Dewey is a very revolutionary thinker, he has changed education for all of us, whether we are students, teachers, administrators, parents, anything. We see education in a different light, and even though many people have/have not adopted this type of learning, it allows people to choose how they learn, and increases the chances of the learning being affective.