The Dewey School: The Laboratory School of the University of Chicago 1896-1903

by Anna Edwards

Overview

This book talks of perhaps one of the greatest education experiments in the history of America. In 1894 John Dewey moved his position as Chairman of the Philosophy Department at the University of Michigan to assume the position as Chairman of the Department of Philosophy, Psychology, and Pedagogy at the University of Chicago. He would remain there until 1904, his departure prompted in great part by his dissatisfaction regarding his wife's treatment by the administration in her role of principal of the Laboratory School. At this time Dewey was anxious to translate his more abstract ideas into practical form and he saw the position at Chicago affording him a rare opportunity to do this.

The school itself was conceived by Dewey as having an organic functional relation to the theoretical curriculum. Just as Dewey was anxious to merge philosophy and psychology and to relate both of these disciplines to the theoretical study of education, similarly he saw the school as a laboratory for these studies analogous to the laboratory used in science courses. This effort to merge theory and practice is perhaps the major characteristic of Dewey's entire professional career. In the opening sentence of Dewey's remarks in his essay in this volume, "The Theory of the Chicago Experiment," we see the extent to which this problem preoccupied him: "The gap between educational theory and its execution in practice is always so wide that there naturally arises a doubt as to the value of any separate presentation of purely theoretical principles."

This book is an accurate and detailed account of one of the most interesting experiments ever undertaken in America. It provides the reader with the complexity of John Dewey's abstract philosophy experimentalism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780202308746
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	01/15/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	508
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

Katherine Camp Mayhew was an active leader in the development and administration of the Dewy School, taught at this school, and later gave a full account of the remarkable experiment that was the Dewey School that is enclosed in this book.

Anna Camp Edwards was an active leader in the development and administration of the Dewy School, taught at this school, and later gave a full account of the remarkable experiment that was the Dewey School that is enclosed in this book.

Table of Contents

I: Historical Development and Organization; I: General History; II: Experimental Basis of Curriculum; II: The Curriculum-Social Occupations; III: Experimental Practices Developing the Curriculum; IV: Household Occupations; V: Social Occupations Serving The Household; VI: Progress Through Invention and Discovery; VII: Progress Through Exploration and Discovery; VIII: Local History; IX: Colonial History and The Revolution; X: European Background of The Colonists; XI: Experiments in Specialized Activities; XII: Experiments in Specialized Activities; XIII: Experiments in Specialized Activities; XIV: Principles of Growth Guiding Selection of Activities; III: Educational Use of Scientific Method; XV: Experimental Activities Developing Scientific Method and Concepts; XVI: Experimental Activities Developing Origins and Backgrounds of Social Life; XVII: Experimental Activities Developing Skills in Communication and Expression; IV: Personnel—Organization—Evaluation; XVIII: Teachers and School Organization; XIX: Parents and Children; XX: Evaluation of Principles and Practices

Editorial Reviews

A full account of the Dewey School has been needed and awaited for… Unfortunately the experiment was short-lived, 1896-1903, but its influence is inestimable, since John Dewey worked on all sorts of problems in this school community during the years when he was beginning to clarify psychological principles to build a philosophical system and to shape the theory of democratic education… The records of this school are of special value now, because they reveal unmistakably the social orientation of that early experiment, thus contradicting the impression that “progressive education” is rooted in individualism… Teachers will enjoy this book because it is rich in details of school procedures called “progressive” today; specialists in subject matter will discover that pupil activity is no enemy to rich content; and administrators will find examples which reveal the philosophy that is gradually shaping public education in the United States.” —Journal of Educational Sociology “The Dewey School gives detailed information as to just what was taught there and how, and answers most of the other questions that come crowding to mind when that early effort at progressive education is mentioned. The authors of this unusually competent volume, former staff members of the school, have done the education world a great service by putting the results of Dewey’s experiment on record for our own and future generations… Because of its clear description of social processes, The Dewey School contains a wealth of material for educational sociologists.” —Willard Waller, American Sociological Review “Mayhew and Edwards’ The Dewey School is an account by former staff members of Dewey’s experimental laboratory school at the University of Chicago, 1896-1904… It provides us with a graphic and stimulating look at the pioneering educational experiment in which Dewey’s ideas were first tested under his direction. It is a book of the very greatest importance.” —Thomas B. Colwell, Jr., History of Education Quarterly

From the Publisher