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Early Life of John Dewey
John Dewey was born on October 20, 1859 in Burlington, Vermont to two parents named Archilbald and Lucina Dewey. Archibald served as a Union Army soldier and then came to start a tobacco business after the war. John Dewey's mother, Lucina, was the daughter of a wealthy farmer. John Dewey attended public school in his youth with his other two brothers and always seemed to do very well academically. John Dewey enrolled in the University of Vermont at the young age of 15. -
College Graduation/First Job Teaching
John Dewey graduated the University of Vermont in 1879 and started his teaching career by teaching high school student for two years. During this time, the first major event for Dewey took place. Having held on tight to his desire for expanding on his love for philosophy, Dewey submitted a philosophical essay to the editor of the Journal of Speculative Philosophy. Dewey's essay was accepted which gave him the needed push to attend graduate school in the pursuit of philosophy. -
Post-Doctorate
John dewey graduated from Johns Hopkins with a doctorate degree in 1884. From here, he went on to accept a teaching job at the University of Michigan. He held this teaching position for ten years and authored his first two books: Psychology and Leibniz's New Essays Concerning Human Understanding. During this time Dewey also met on the most important people in his life in terms of philosophical collaborators; James Tufts. Dewey left the University of Maryland, following Tufts to Chicago. -
Chairman of Philosophy
Once Dewey accepted a position at the Univ. of Chicago as the chairman of philosophy, he began heavily introducing his thoughts on pragmatism. Dewey beloved that teaching and learning were symbiotic with the subjects being taught having practical applications in the student's lives. He believed that education was best learned through doing. This way of thinking was, at the time, not a widely accepted one for fear that students would lack basic literacy/mathematical skills. -
Chicago Laboratory School Cont..
To be able to reform education into a democracy based system, Dewey beloved that the teachers and students must be taught in a pragmatic way where the "reality" must be experienced. Only then will the education be successful for children. Dewey was attempting to reform education in a way that it removed itself from lectures and reciting information as the basis of learning. Dewey starts this school as a way for students to interact with their environment in order to grow and learn. -
Chicago Laboratory School
In November of 1894, John Dewey opened the doors to the Laboratory School. This school was meant to serve as a vessel of education that supported Dewey's learning theories. He wanted the school thought of as an experiment more than anything. He staffed the school with college trained teachers and wanted devotion to experiment and educational reform. Dewey thought of education as a way to transform society into a democratic community. -
Later Life of John Dewey
In the 1930's, John dewey retired from teaching but went on to remain an active member of many educational organizations. John dewey left massive change in his wake. He was a philosopher who questioned the very foundation of what was being taught, and more importantly how it was being taught to children. Dewey ultimately resigned from the Chicago Laboratory School but the school remains open to this day. On June 1, 1952, John dewey died of pneumonia in his New York City apartment. -
Major Works, John Dewey
Citations For Major Works: Dewey, John. Experience And Education. New York: Macmillan, 1938. Print. Dewey, John, and Findlay, J. J. The School and the Child. Blackie & son, limited,, 1907. Print. Dewey, John. Philosophy And Civilization. Kessinger Publishing, 1931. Print. Dewey, John. The School and Society. University of Chicago Press, 1961. Print. -
Dewey's Theories Illustrated
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John Dewey's Theories
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