The School and Society

by John Dewey

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Pages: 58

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About this book

John Dewey's "The School and Society" is described on its title page as three lectures, supplemented by a statement of the University Elementary School. The first edition was printed in November 1899, and later impressions are listed.

In one passage Dewey asks his hearers to see the "New Education" in the light of larger changes in society, taking manual training as his typical example. Another describes children's work that grew out of a simple experiment into geological and geographical study, and quotes sentences that begin "A long time ago when the earth was new". He also speaks of the child's wish to tell his experiences and hear those of others. A further passage says the study of primitive life is meant to show the steps of progress, especially invention, by which man came into civilization.

About the author

John Dewey

Dewey argued that a school teaching children to sit still and repeat is training them for a society that no longer exists, and that democracy is less a form of government than a way of living together that has to be practised daily. Democracy and Education is the fullest statement of it.