“Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.” ― John DeweyJohn Dewey

 Born in Burlington, Vermont  Attended local schools  University of Vermont  Doctorate from John’s Hopkins University

Dewey’s educational theories broke new ground and continue to wield influence at the dawn of the twenty-first century. As an alternative to the drill-and-recitation methods of the nineteenth century, Dewey’s School and Society (1899) espoused the notion that ideas should be grounded in experience. In Experience and Education (1938), he argued that education should be based on the child’s psychological and physical development, as well as the world outside the schoolroom.

CONTAINER PICTURE OF DEWEY CORRECT ANSWERSINCORRECT ANSWERS John’s Hopkins UniversityExperimental Education University of VermontDrill and recitation Experience

We must understand the nature of how humans have the experiences they do, in order to design effective education. Dewey's theory of experience rested on two central tenets – continuity and interaction.

refers to the notion that humans are sensitive to (or are affected by) experience. In humans, education is critical for providing people with the skills to live in society. Dewey argued that we learn something from every experience, whether positive or negative. Thus, every experience in some way influences all potential future experiences for an individual. Continuity refers to this idea that each experience is stored and carried on into the future, whether one likes it or not.

builds upon the notion of continuity and explains how past experience interacts with the present situation, to create one's present experience. Educators can't control students' past experiences, they can try to understand those past experiences so that better educational situations can be presented to the students. Ultimately, all a teacher has control over is the design of the present situation. The teacher with good insight into the effects of past experiences which students bring with them better enables the teacher to provide quality education which is relevant and meaningful for the students.

CONTAINER CorrectIncorrect continuitymemorization interactionDecisions by categorization Testing new situationsintuition

CONTAINER CONTINUITYINTERACTION

“There is an intimate and necessary relation between the processes of actual experience and education.” –John Dewey

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