Experience and Education
by John Dewey
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1938
- Form
- Essay
- Language
- English
- Length
- Short · 90 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendExperience and EducationFree Press, 1997The short standard reprint of the Kappa Delta Pi lecture.
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A late, short book in which Dewey answers both the traditional schooling he had spent thirty years criticising and the progressive schools that claimed him. Neither imposing subject matter from outside nor simply following the child's impulses will do. What is needed is a criterion for which experiences educate, and Dewey offers two: continuity, meaning an experience must lead somewhere further, and interaction between the learner and the conditions around them. From these he derives an account of freedom, of the teacher's authority, and of why subject matter still has to be organised.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Experience and Education are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.