Class Notes

Class notes for 3/25/08

Introduction

-Hermeneutics – science of interpretation
-It is a branch of philosophy that argues that assumptions are unfounded and unconscious – something has to shine light on thought process to make us aware.
-Interpretation – has to be founded on data of some sort ….video tapes of behavior being repeated over and over.
-Hermeneutics says that there are some interpretations that are better than others. The ones that derive from evidence (texts) are better. Ex: interpret Huckleberry Finn being about Mark Twain’s fear of space aliens. This would not be a good interpretation-because it has some textual evidence. It has other things in text that would go against it. Other texts would counteract.
-Certain interpretations are more plausible than assumptions.

Background

-Dewey’s Democracy and Education (1917) is his robust book (sparked progressivism) – talks about how education is the socialism of children.
-What sort of socialization are we engaging in?
-Democracy is not just a system of judgment. Democracy is a way that we live together. It is not just a way we govern our self….we are free to associate with one another which is key to both social and individual growth.
-We have experiences together and we communicate them to one another.

- Educational Method – how the interest of the child is important – what children are interested in, what they need.
-Schools should take that into account. It embarked on letting kids do whatever they want. If they want to study math let them, if not don’t worry about it.
- Experience and Education (1934) – written 17 yrs. later.
-Dewey’s attempt to rest his ideas that ran in the wrong direction (Dewey’s followers were doing wacky stuff)
-Dewey critics said that his ideas were “silly” – not educational at all.
-He says that those people didn’t read him closely and if they had then they would know about traditional and progressive education.
- Almost every piece of Dewey’s work talks about either/or (his attempt to resolve some sort of dichotomy) against seeing things in terms of one or the other.

Chapter 1:

This chapter shows Dewey’s attempt to lay out Dualisms that are involved in debate about education and the beginning of trying to resolve them.

Dualisms:

Traditional / Progressive
External / Internal
Mature / Immature
Control / Freedom
Text / Experience
Static / Flexible
Experience / Relevant Experience
Product / Process
Past / Future
Culture / Nature
Teacher / Student
Positive / Negative (Standard / Reactionary)
Dull / Exciting
Passive / Active

Traditional: Subject matter is settled, and school is a different type of social thing than other sorts of social institutions.

Progressive: the complete opposite of the traditional school.

*Dewey is engaged in an attempt to define some principles that define these dualisms.

Experiences

-According to Dewey we must determine first and foremost what experience is and what we mean when we say it.
-We then see the distinction between educative and mis-educative experience.
-Not all experience is educational.
*Dewey is against Dogmatism – the acceptance of beliefs without critical examination of them and continuous critical examination.
-Dewey believes in Pragmatism – ideas have consequences and every idea needs to be examined and reexamined in light of its consequences.
-Dewey is steering things away from the traditional theory of education –like a good pragmatist – can’t afford to take things as given, but reexamine to make sure they still work like we want them to , if not we need to stop and fix them.

Chapter 2

-In this chapter, Dewey attempts to layout how experiences are either educated or not educated.
-Experiences are not educative when they do not help us grow or by learning to do something that is morally wrong.
-By engaging in illegal activities you are cutting off social ties (experience is social)
*Continuity is key to Dewey’s idea of educational experience.
-Idea of Relevance- one way experiences are connected is if we see them as relevant
-Experience is built on the experiences that we have already had. This leads to the Idea of Habit (Key concept for Dewey)

Habits

-We cannot function without habits. They allow us to have activity without thinking and we can’t think about everything all the time.
-This is important for Dewey because it is the ultimate expression of continuity.
-The way we arrive at habit is through reflection and repetition.
-Problems are also important for Dewey. We only think when we have a problem, otherwise we are just functioning according to habit.
-Basic habits are intellectual habits (language). “An experience we do and undergo.” We engage in an activity and undergo the consequences.
-When we have done the activity enough where we can anticipate the consequences, then it is a habit.
- Full prediction and control is never possible because the environment changes constantly.
-When we act and undergo we change the environment that we operate in.
-We transact with our environment and change our environment to suit our ends.
-As human beings we have radically changed our environment (roads, ridges)


-Civilized people record their experiences for other people to use (don’t have to reinvent the wheel)
- Continued growth is possible because we have funded experiences . People have done stuff before so we don’t have to undergo stuff for ourselves. (Role of teacher)
Teachers are sources of funded experiences for students (resource, not source) and a provider of problems

What is an experience?

-People think that all learning is subjective.
-Dewey says an experience is not subjective, but objective. Every genuine experience has an active side. -An experience is a transaction between self and world in which both are changed (situation).
- Our experiences are shaped and molded by the conditions in which we act they are not just our own.
*For Dewey all experience is SOCIAL.
-Language shapes every experience that we have.
-An experience becomes an experience when it is communicated to others.
-Experiences should enable students to have other experiences in the future beyond the classroom.
-It’s not just about environment, because experience is not just about environment. The environment cannot be selected unless you know something about who you are selecting it for (students)
- You must understand to the degree that it is possible. The background that students bring into the classroom, because then you can modify the environment such that the transaction will be more fruitful for the students. (This makes the job of the teacher most difficult)