Is a friend.

Some thoughts on John Dewey and Maria Montessori

John Dewey was quite the progressive educator. His premise was that children learn by doing; his views, while not embraced during his lifetime (the height of the Depression and WWII), have nonetheless influenced public school education today. He wanted children in our schools to be taught critical thinking skills and to learn to reason. He opposed the memorization of dry facts without context. Like Montessori, he believed education was best when it was child led.

And he detested the Montessori method.

On the surface, it appears that the Dewey progressive method and the Montessori method would be happily compatible. Dewey, however, was critical of Montessori's approach, categorizing it as repressive, inhibiting creativity, and did not socialize children adequately.
(But why would I want my children to be socialists? - My handy answer to the Big S question)

In reality, the difference is so fundamental that the two methods cannot be reconciled.

Dewey's progressive education has given us guidance counselors at every school; he believed kids should learn more than academics and also learn the skills to be integrated into society. In practice, this leads to educating children in order to join the workforce and be good employees, and thus contributing members of society.

Dewey, in short, believed that a person's worth must be viewed within the context of the society in which he or she lived; conversely, a society only existed insofar as it was realized and experienced by individual people. To him, school was a social institution.

Montessori, a faithful Catholic, believed each person had an intrinsic worth and dignity, that did not change in relation to their society but was God-given. She was an advocate for the dignity of the child, because they are made in the image of God. She believed children should be taught practical life skills, but because she believed in educating the whole child. She lamented the separation of school and home; in a perfect Montessori world, the two would be seamlessly integrated.

Dewey was a self described instumentalist; that is, theories and concepts are useful and have worth if they can predict outcomes; whether they are true or false is meaningless. (Notice any similarity to 'situational ethics' here?) This quote from Wikipedia sums it up:

"He also held, unlike James, that experimentation (social, cultural, technological, philosophical) could be used as a relatively hard-and-fast arbiter of truth. "

Leaving aside the practical problem of experimenting with philosophy to determine truth (can you imagine what the hypothesis alone would look like?); the fact is an experiment cannot determine truth; it can only prove physical realities.

He also seemed to believe that education should prepare a child for living, but should not take place in the real world (a child can't handle it.)

"I believe that the school, as an institution, should simplify existing social life; should reduce it, as it were, to an embryonic form. Existing life is so complex that the child cannot be brought into contact with it without either confusion or distraction; he is either overwhelmed by multiplicity of activities which are going on, so that he loses his own power of orderly reaction, or he is so stimulated by these various activities that his powers are prematurely called into play and he becomes either unduly specialized or else disintegrated."
John Dewey, My Pedagogic Creed

Read the whole thing here:
John Dewey's Pedagogic Creed

In addition, he thought children should all be graded against the same standard; Montessori schools do not give out letter grades but rather send home reports detailing what the child is doing in the classroom.

Dewey was a sort of amoralist; school was not for teaching morals, character, or discipline:
I believe that the teacher's place and work in the school is to be interpreted from this same basis. The teacher is not in the school to impose certain ideas or to form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of the community to select the influences which shall affect the child and to assist him in properly responding to these influences.

"I believe that the teacher's place and work in the school is to be interpreted from this same basis. The teacher is not in the school to impose certain ideas or to form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of the community to select the influences which shall affect the child and to assist him in properly responding to these influences."
John Dewey, My Pedagogic Creed

Montessori believes these are of primary importance; she not only taught manners explicitly, she also advocated children be self disciplined with a strong conscience, guiding them to right and wrong. She called the process "normalization".

I would encourage you to read through Dewey's creed. It is quite eye-opening, especially in light of the fact his ideals have gained wide spread respect and influence in our public schools. If your children are in public schools (and many private schools, as well), as some of mine are, it is important to know the background of instructional methods and philosophies so that you can discern the good and the bad. If your children are homeschooled, as others of mine are, you should still be aware of the underlying principles that their future spouses, coworkers, employers and customers are being educated with. Plus, it will probably strengthen your resolve to continue homeschooling!

Labels: education, Montessori Mondays