Dewey Study Questions for Week 3

I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend! Here are some questions for us to discuss next week. Please write out your answers so that you can refer to your notes during class.

chapter 8
1. In light of Dewey's discussion of aims, how would he respond to the current demand for "outcomes-based" education? If we take away the notion of preparing for a "real life" after graduating school, what aims/ends/results are worth our consideration, and how should we provide for students' achievement in these areas?

chapter 9
2. On p.112 Dewey quotes Rousseau in suggesting that we receive education from three sources: Nature, Men and Things. Explain these elements of education, with particular attention to the governing importance of Nature. Provide an example to support your interpretation.

chapter 10
3. Why do you think Dewey focuses so much attention on the words we use to discuss education in the beginning of Chapter 10? How do we discuss education in 2007, and how do the terms we use influence how we perceive education?

4. The word discipline connotes external enforcement of desirable behavior; how does Dewey define discipline and its relationship to interest and an educational aim?

chapter 11
5. It has often been said that we learn from experience. Would Dewey agree? Why/why not? What is the role of reflection in the relationship between experience and learning?

chapter 12
6. What are the essential elements of stimulating thinking through instruction?

chapter 13
7. What difference does it make whether subject matter and method are unified? Why shouldn't I teach social studies the same way I teach biology?

8. Think of a case-study example through which you could teach students a lesson in your field. How does this experience compare with using a textbook, or using assessment to drive instruction?

9. According to Dewey, what are the attitudes that "are central in effective ways of dealing with subject matter" (p.173)? To what extent do you agree and/or use these values in your teaching?

chapter 14
10. Create a performance evaluation form that incorporates Dewey's description of the educator's task.