Democracy and Education Chapter 4

Summary:

 Though adulthood is seen as the endpoint of growth for children, adults

would object to the inference that adulthood is the end of all growth.
Children are seen as dependent, a word with negative connotations.
However it is their dependency that enables them to learn and develop
socially. By being dependent upon adults children are able to focus on
the complex task of learning. Lower life forms, though much more
capable and independent at birth, lack the plasticity that gives
children their potential. Basically, although human infants start out
with much less than other animals, they contain the potential to
achieve so much more. Dewey goes on to say that life is growth - we
never ever stop developing. Education is "supplying the conditions
which insure growth....irrespective of age." (51) Therefore, education
is a part of growing and since growth has no end, education has no end.
Because growth is necessary to life, education is, by default,
necessary to life.

Key Passages:

 The primary condition of growth is immaturity. This may seem to be a

mere truism- saying that a being can develop only in some point in
which he is undeveloped. But the prefix "im" of the word immaturity
means something positive, not a mere void or lack.
 In the first place, a habit is a form of executive skill, of efficiency
in doing. A habit means an ability to use natural conditions as means
to ends. It is an active control of the environment through control of
the organs of action.
 Our net conclusion is that life is development, and that developing,
growing, is life. Translated into its educational equivalents, that
means (i) that the educational process has no end beyond itself; it is
its own end; and that (ii) the educational process is one of continual
reorganizing, reconstructing, transforming.

Important Terminology:

 Growth- In regards to education, the cumulative movement of action

toward a later result.
 Capacity- The ability or power to be receptive; receptivity. "Like the
capacity of a quart measure."
 Potentiality- A capacity to become something different under external
influences.
 Immaturity- The primary condition of growth. The possibility of growth
due to the ability to develop. The power to grow.
 Plasticity- Constituted by the specific adaptability of an immature
being for growth. The ability to learn from experience and the power
the modify actions on the basis of the results of previous experiences,
or to develop dispositions.
  Habit- An ability to use natural conditions as mean to an end. Active
control of the environment through control of different elements of
action.
 "Bad" Habit- Habits so severed from reason that they are opposed to the
conclusions of conscious deliberation and decision.
 Inclination- Marked by a habit, an active preference and choice for the
conditions involved in its exercise.
 Development- The formation of habits involving executive skill,
definiteness of interest, and specific objects of observation and
thought.

Democracy and Education Chapter 5

Summary:
1. Education as Preparation:
This section is about the educative process and how growth is continuous. This thought is opposite
several ideas such as the idea that education is a process of preparation, and children are candidates for
the future and adult life is on hold for another life. There are negative consequences from this thinking.
For example, the loss of stimulus. Having children think in the present should not be escaped, but should
be mastered. A child's nature is to think in the present times, so it is important to focus on that and if
the environment at their school and home is appropriate for their development, their future is set. One
must not focus on the future for the child, but instead focus on the present. It is important the
immature take the present as important and not just the future.
When the future is detached from the possibilities from the present and lacks a stimulus, something
must be attached to make it work such as promises of threat or reward. The stimulus is in the situation,
but if the child does not pay attention to the situation, he or she must be told something bad could
happen if not attentive; however, Dewey says that if the present is genuine, that is a reward itself.

2. Education as Unfolding:
According to Dewey, there is a theory of education that is based upon on the idea of development.
Development is explained as the unfolding or growing in stages toward an absolute goal, which is
perfection. Every person has internal capabilities that do not develop all at once, they must unfold from
within. They are developed at certain stages of life. For example, a baby learns to crawl before it learns
to walk. The idea of education is to bring out a persons internal capabilities so that the goal can be
achieved. Since the goal of perfection as a standard for development is unattainable, some
representative standard must be established as a substitute for the ideal end. This way it is possible for a
teacher to judge whether a student is developing, or unfolding, properly.
There have been two philosophic attempts to provide practical representatives for the absolute goal.
Froebel and Hegel were two philosophers that tried to measure development of a person capabilities on
the way to a goal. They both however, have different views about the route that is take to achieve the
outcome. Froebel believed that the driving force is a presentation of symbols, largely mathematical,
corresponding the essential traits of the goal. For example, the group circle in kindergarten classes is not
used for convenience as a way of working with children. Froebel believes that the circle is the symbol of
the collective life of mankind in general. Froebel was more interested in the final product than in the
development and growth itself in the individual.
Hegel used the institutions of humanity as a substitute for the ideal goal. His philosophy was the
summation of a group of German writers; Lessing, Herder, Kant, Schiller and Goethe. To Hegel, the mind
was not the possession of an individual. He believed that the institutions of language, government, art,
and religion influences the formation of individual minds. Personal development consists of the
assimilation of these institutions. The problem of this to Dewey, is that, against these institutions,
individuals have no spiritual freedom.

Summary:
This section sums up everything that has been said in the entire chapter. The thought that the result
of education is capacity for more education is contrasted with some other ideas that have greatly
influenced practice. The first thought contrasting this point is that or preparing for a future privilege.
This attracts attention away from taking advantage of the present. The thought that education
unfolds from within is more like the conception of growth that has been set. But the theories of
Froebel and Hegel involve ignoring the present interactions with the present environment. Growth is
not an end in itself but it just makes explicit what is already implicit. According to Froebel the
symbolic value of certain objects stands for the Absolute Whole which is in the process of unfolding.
But according to Hegel, existing institutions are its effective actual representatives. Emphasis on these
diverts perception from the growth of experience in learning.

Key Passages:
"Children proverbially live in the present; that is not only a fact not to be evaded, but it is an
excellence."
"The future prepared for is a long way off; plenty of time will intervene before it becomes a present.
Why be in a hurry about getting ready for it? The temptation to postpone is much increased because
the present offers so many wonderful opportunities and proffers such invitations to adventure.

"The future having no stimulating and directing power when severed from the possibilities of the
present, something must be hitched on to it to make it work. Promises of reward and threat of pain
are employed. Healthy work, done for present reasons and as a factor in living, is largely unconscious.
The stimulus resides in the situation with which one is actually confronted. But when this situation is
ignored, pupils have to be told that if they do not follow the prescribed course penalties will accrue;
while if they do, they may expect some time in the future, rewards for their present sacrifices

"Unless we set up some definite criterion representing the ideal end by which to judge whether a
given attitude or act is apporximating or moving away, our sole alternative is to withdraw all
influences of the environment lest they interfere with proper development."

"By 'suggestive questioning' or some other pedagogical device, the teacher preoceeds to 'draw out'
from the pupil what is desired. If what is desired is obtained, that is evidence that the child is
unfolding properly. But as the pupil generally has no initiative of his own in this direction, the result is
a random groping after what is wanted, and the formation of habits of dependence uopn the cues
furnished by others. Just because such methods simulate a true principle and claim to have its
sanction they may do more harm than would outright 'telling,' where at least, it remains with the
child how much will stick."

"To regard things known as symbols, according as symbols of the latter. To regard known things as
symbols, according to some arbitrary a priori formula-and every a priori conception must be arbitrary-
is is an invitation to romantic fancy to seize upon any analogies which appeal to it and treat them as
laws."

"It indictaed a genuine advance beyond Rousseau, who had marred his assertion that eductaion must
be a natural development and not something forced or grafted upon individuals from without, by the
notion that social conditions are not natural."

"Some of Hegal's followers sought to reconcile the claims of teh Whole and of individuality by the
conception of society as an organic whole, or organism."

"A trained person is one who can do the cheif things which it is important for him to do better than he
could without training: "better" signifying greater case, efficiency, economy, promptness, etc." (page
61)

"There are implusive tendencies of the eyes to follow and fixate light; of the neck muscles to turn
toward the light and sound; of the hands to reach and grasp; and turn and twist and thump; of the
vocal appartus to make sounds; of the mouth to spew out unpleasant substances; to gag and curl the
lip, and so on in almost indefinite number." (page 63)

“According to the orthodox theory of formal discipline, a pupil in studying his spelling lesson acquires,
besides ability to spell those particular words, an increase of power of observation, attention, and
recollection which may be employed whenever these powers are needed. As matter of fact, the more
he confines himself to noticing and fixating the forms of words, irrespective of connection with other
things (such as the meaning of words, the context in which they are habitually used, the derivation
and classification of the verbal form, etc.) the less likely is he to acquire an ability which can be used
for anything except the mere noting of verbal visual forms.” (Page 64-65)

“Going to the root of the matter, the fundamental fallacy of the theory is its dualism; that is to say, its
separation of activities and capacities from subject matter. There is no such thing as an ability to see
or hear or remember in general; there is only the ability to see or hear or remember something. To
talk about training a power, mental or physical, in general, apart from the subject matter involved in
its exercise, is nonsense.” (Page 65)

“It is consequently futile to set up even the ulterior development of faculties of observation, memory,
etc., unless we have first determined what sort of subject matter we wish the pupil to become expert
in observing and recalling and for what purpose. And it is only repeating in another form what has
already been said, to declare that the criterion here must be social. We want the person to note and
recall and judge those things which make him an effective competent member of the group in which
he is associated with others. Otherwise we might as well set the pupil to observing carefully cracks on
the wall and set him to memorizing meaningless lists of words in an unknown tongue—which is about
what we do in fact when we give way to the doctrine of formal discipline.” (Page 66)

Important Terminology:
Impetus: impetus is a stimulus that is needed involving the present conditions.

Accrue- Education happens naturally as an outcome. Accrue means to happen and here Dewey talks
about how education happens as an outcome because energy and attention go to the present
Proverbially-Proverbially means naturally, in reference to Dewey meaning children naturally live in the
present.
Leverage-leverage in this case means power. Dewey puts it as if one
is getting ready for something such as the future and he or she does not
know why, it is losing the power that exists and gaining it in an unclear chance.
unfolding: growth or development of a person which is a process towards a set goal. a child needs to
learn and develop before they can achieve a goal. every person is born with capabilities so, it is a
process of unfolding from within.
suggestive questioning: when a teacher tries to get a certain answer from a student by giving them
hints to the answer they want to hear, according to Dewey, this does not always work because a child
has no initiative of their own
a priori: before the fact, a goal that is set up ahead of time, everything leading up to the goal is a stage
toward achieving the goal, this is important because a child can take steps towards achieving a set
goal rather than just random groping at something that is unattainable
Coordination: the bringing together of different factors of response is very important in order to train
impulsive activities. This is very important for specialized training, or just training in general. Without
this you couldn't train any part of your mind.
Dualism: the separation of the actual activities from the subject matter it pertains to is a big fault in
Locke’s theory.
General Education: this describes a broad, overview of topics instead of specifically honing in on
certain aspects of the mind. This is the part of education that Dewey disagrees with, favoring
specialized education instead.
Conformity: Dewey uses this word to describe the essence of education, instead of transformation.
This is important to understanding education
Utilization: The responses being used in reaction to stimuli. Dewey states that this can be the general
reactions of the body, instinctively or specially adapted, and this helps training occur.
Organism: Dewey uses an organism to state the coming together of all different organs that makes up
a human being. He also says that because each human is different, they are made mentally for
different things, such as statesmen, doctors, scholars and so on.