CHAPTER FIVE
2.3 DEWEY’S EDUCATION THEORY: EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION (1938)
2.3 DEWEY’S EDUCATION THEORY: EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION
directed to the end of growth and development. It is, therefore, the role of the teacher to shape and direct experiences along this continuum. This is the temporal or linear dimension of experience and the learning derived from the continuity of experiences (Dewey, 1938). The principle of interaction is the lateral dimension of experience, where the internal and objective aspects of experience interact to form a situation (Dewey, 1938). This means that learning results from a transaction
between the individual student and the environment.
For Dewey, these two principles interact and unite to form the longitudinal and lateral aspects of experience. The implication of these principles for education is that for knowledge to be usable through recall and application, it has to be acquired in a situation. Otherwise it is segregated from experience and is forgotten, or not available, for transfer to new experiences. This means that acquisition, as well as application of knowledge is dependent on the context, a key element of which is the interaction in the situation.
The purpose of the interaction is to derive learning from experience through reflective thinking which leads to inquiry, or what Dewey called the scientific method. As Dewey noted in discussing how both ideas and evidence came into play while thinking: “Reflective thinking impels into inquiry” (1933, p. 7.) Dewey’s definition of reflective thinking is: “Active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends…” (1933, p. 7).
2.3.1 The Nature of Knowledge in Dewey’s Views
Another element of Dewey’s ideas about learning and knowledge that is relevant to theorizing about how learning occurs in CBSL is his idea of reflective thinking (Giles & Eyler, 1994). It is interesting to note that Dewey uses the term ‘reflective thinking’ to connote a type of thinking and he uses the term ‘reflective activity’ to mean the complete set of activities related to reflection. It seems that Dewey places specific emphasis on reflective thinking, whereas he uses the term reflective activity in a more general, and possibly less precise, way (Giles & Eyler, 1994). What is central for Dewey, however, is that thinking and action are inextricably linked. He states that: “…reflection includes observation…” (1933, p. 102) which is the empirical basis of knowing and also the link between what is experienced and how that experience is processed to produce learning. He enlarges by saying: “Data (facts) and ideas (suggestions, possible solutions) thus form the two indispensable and correlatively factors of all reflective activity” (1933, p. 104).
According to Giles and Eyler (1994), the community was a core concept of Dewey’s social philosophy as he believed that communal association gave rise to the moral, intellectual and emotional aspects of life, as well as being the foundations of democracy. This view strongly influenced Dewey’s idea of organizing schools to resemble a “miniature community” (1916, p. 418). Dewey envisioned that “…the school itself shall be made a genuine form of active community life, instead of a place set apart in which to learn lessons” (1916, p. 418). It is thus obvious that Dewey’s basic theory of CBSL, involving interaction of knowledge and skills with experience, is the key to learning. Students learn best not by reading ‘Great Books’
in a closed room, but by opening the doors and windows of experience. Learning
starts with a problem and continues with the application of increasingly complex ideas and increasingly sophisticated skills in solving increasingly complicated problems (Lazarus, 2005b). Education is grounded in community experience.
2.3.2 Implications for Teaching-learning Process
Dewey (1859-1952) rejected teaching practices that positioned students as passive receptacles, such as the rote learning of isolated facts, advocating instead for a pedagogical approach that involved students' active engagement with each other and with the world. Dewey emphasized the importance of active social learning
environments rather than one-sided lectures. He argued that learning involves the active construction of knowledge through engagement with ideas in meaningful contexts, rather than the passive absorption of isolated bits of information.
Freire (1972) maintained that education must engage with the language and experiences of students drawing upon their thematic universes, learning must takes place within meaningful contexts that allow students to build upon the knowledge they already have. Dewey (1933) asserts that teachers need to understand the experiences and world views of their students in order to successfully further the learning process. Moreover, associate learning is associated with critical reflection, with actively seeking after truth and applying it to future problems. As such, Dewey encouraged educators to implement real-world practical work-shops as well as to provide students with opportunities to reflect upon their experiences and to express their thoughts (Dewey, 1913; 1916; 1933).
Reports by Fletcher (2005) suggest that most teaching, particularly at the level of higher education, still involves the teacher as the authority and the dispenser of knowledge and the students as passive recipients. Perhaps the most obvious marker of experiential education is the shift in roles required for both teachers and students.
Teachers who utilize experiential education become facilitators and, in doing so, engage their students in some of the decision-making and problem solving that have in the past been the sole responsibility of the teacher (Fletcher, 2005). In addition, teachers facilitate the transfer of learning from the experiential activity to the real world, structure the process of reflection for the students in order to derive the most learning from the experience and ensure that the learning outcomes are reached.
Some teachers call this shift a move toward student-centred teaching, or a child- centred curriculum (Fletcher, 2005). Overall, it means that the students are placed at the centre and the teacher's role is to develop methods for engaging the students in experiences that provide them with access to knowledge and practice in particular skills and dispositions (Dewey, 1938).
The role of the student is transformed in relation to the role of the teacher.
Therefore, the students become more active and involved, with additional responsibility and ownership in the process of learning. Whether in an outdoor educational programme or a CBSL programme, the student's role is one of
engagement and deliberation , a continuous cycle of action and reflection, or praxis, as defined by Paulo Freire (Fletcher, 2005).