Explain what Dewey considered to be the purpose(s) of education

Dewey’s answers to the question about the purpose of education varied through different periods.

He once said that: “Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a

preparation for life; education is life itself.” By saying that, he emphasized the notion that

education is a life-long process and should be used as a tool to serve humans in daily life,

encourage people to continually achieve and extend their capabilities via self-realization. Thus,

to Dewey, the central purpose of education was democracy. Dewey argues that educational goals

emerge from current conditions. Education is both a means and an end in itself, as it is not to

achieve any pre-determined final objective. 

According to John Dewey, the primary purpose of education should not be the learning of a pre-

arranged set of abilities, but rather the fulfillment of one's full possibilities and the capacity to

put those talents to good use. In 1930, Dewey wrote in his essay “Philosophy and Education”

that “the ultimate aim of education is nothing other than the creation of human beings in the

fullness of their capacities” (Dewey, 1930/1984, p. 289). By saying that, he wanted to imply that

the consideration of the peculiarity of childhood, as well as “natural development”, is very

important and indispensable in education. There is no possible way to establish a precise

definition for a certain kind of development since it varies from child to child, depending on the

individual differences. The distinct differences in students’ abilities and their social demands are

what educators have to acknowledge. From those, teachers have to conduct and guide students

properly. 

The purpose of education is to create social efficiency in the child, which means to create a

special environment in which students can actively participate in and contribute to every social

activity of humankind. To Dewey, school is considered to be a social institution itself. As a

efficiency is not what students achieve passively but actively make good use of their set of skills

in social activities. With the help of education, society may define its own goals, organize its

methods of achieving them, and mold itself in the direction it chooses to go in. In essence, this is

what a democratic social order is all about. Education aims to share the social experience so that

students can become integrated into the democratic community, rather than to communicate

information. (Dewey, 1987).

Culture, besides natural development and social efficiency, is also one purpose of education.

Dewey (1939/1898) wrote in Democracy and Education that, the term “culture” refers to a

complicated collection of factors through which individuals associate with one another, how they

interact, and how they live together. It focuses on developing one’s personality. If a student

becomes “cultured” or encounters cultural products of the past and can genuinely be benefited

from it, he will ultimately contribute to presence. He then will be empowered to enhance himself

and work for the betterment of his community or society as a whole. Therefore, Dewey

concludes that “social efficiency and personal culture are synonyms instead of antagonists”

(Dewey, 1916/1976)

Analyze at least three principles of Dewey’s philosophy and their influence on education

Education has undergone such dramatic leaps to be fully innovative as it is today. The 1800s

marked an important milestone in the history of education as reformers in education were

seeking methods to make education more student-centered. This period witnessed considerable

changes as education became of utmost importance and the curriculum increased. On the other

hand, schools were in a “progressive” mode that engaged students in experiential and active

learning leaving the old traditional way of education behind. Few restrictions or punishments
were imposed on children in the learning process. This was the context in which John Dewey

challenged the standards that had been widely accepted and enforced in many areas of the

Western world in the 1890s.

- Experience and growth: This principle of Dewey is also called “learning by doing” or

“experiential learning”. Every new experience is an activity of education. Children live in the

present, not in the past nor the future. Therefore, the educational process should depend on

children's current requirements and interests. Students experiencing a hands-on mode of learning

are more actively engaged in the studying process and can learn better. This can be explained as

they are immersed in what they are actually doing in the present time and not a bygone past or a

distant future. For example, when sitting for a Chemistry test, students are asked to conduct some

chemistry experiments to see chemical changes. If the result is good, they will know those

chemicals can be mixed up without a serious reaction. Otherwise, if it is bad, they will have to

solve the problem and bear in their mind that this kind of thing should never happen again. Either

result the students come up with, these experiments are carefully observed and later become

unforgettable experiences. This leads to what they call “Project-based learning” nowadays. The

projects are complex and require students to show various responses. This line of thinking has

profoundly affected the teaching and learning process. In recent years, many schools have taken

up this approach; however, the act of conducting it is still limited by the huge amount of

knowledge that students are expected to cover. Besides, there are still a lot of aspects that have

not been completely reformed, such as a preplanned timetable, a pre-determined syllabus, and

limited-time breaks. While the updated curriculum is available for most of the countries around

the world, take GCSE or IGCSE in the United Kingdom as an example, it still drifts away from

Dewey’s original thought of turning learning into experiences. 

linking various subjects. This type of curriculum allows students to pursue their personal

enthusiasm and choose freely on how to acquire information and make good use of the obtained

knowledge. The teacher’s role, in this principle, is slightly different from that in the conservative

school curriculum. Educators are now seen more as a coordinator or a promoter than just a

regular instructor. Traditionally, teachers spread knowledge by overtaking teacher’s talking time

and minimize student’s one. Students are then passive recipients and they learn little from this

process. However, things have been changed completely by Dewey’s principle. The ideal

classroom in Dewey’s philosophy will be conducted in an integrative way. An equal amount of

time is allotted for both teachers and learners. Teachers provide information, indeed, but students

are also required to discuss and work in small groups to discover new concepts of the content.

Back to the Chemistry class example mentioned above. The experiments students conducted in

this class are being visualized in Arts and then examined and calculated in Math. This entire

process helps students to recognize how things are linked. They can now connect their previous

experiences with what they learn and build a strong foundation of knowledge.

- School’s role: Dewey’s view on schools is that they are to reflect and represent typical social

life. That means schools should be a scaled-down society by which social transformation and

growth are actively promoted. Social collaboration is one of the vital elements that serve as a

helping hand to build a self-oriented child. Cooperation makes it easier for students to be self-

directed in the learning process. In the modern world’s context, schools take up this principle and

put their effort into broadly increasing student-centered classes. Many institutions decide to

maintain this philosophy as it can be clearly seen that physical punishment no longer exists in
schools. It is now replaced by collaborative working spaces in order to fully utilize the

possibilities within learners.

Assess how these principles align with the principles of an IB education

John Dewey is one of the crucial influential educationalists who have profound effects on the

International Baccalaureate (IB) mission. His key insight was the significance of comprehending

learners’ natural curiosity. IB's objective is by exploiting cross-cultural insight and appreciation,

they produce curious, intelligent, and compassionate millennials. These young people can join

hands to create a well-improved community and thus a peaceful world. IB education provides

students with several international programs which inspire them to become committed and

lifelong learners who can rationally see every aspect of a problem, and that people with different

points of view can be correct as well. This reflects exactly how Dewey regarded the democratic

nature of society. Moreover, as IB learners always strive to be critical thinkers, problem-solvers,

communicators, and risk-takers, this displays clearly Dewey’s idea about learning experiences.

The set of skills that learners develop through IB education’s programs is multidisciplinary and

also their essential set of life skills. It also means that the learning environment in IB education is

created and defined as a society where students face problems similar to those in life and thus be

trained to participate in social life effectively afterward. In summary, it is obvious that IB

education has made great efforts in implementing those principles of Dewey’s, and the

alignments between them are remarkable. 

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