Rediscovering John Dewey: How His Psychology Transforms Our Education

415 Pages·2020·4.99 MB·English

by  Rex Li

Rediscovering
John Dewey
How His Psychology
Transforms Our Education
Rex Li
Rediscovering John Dewey
Rex Li
Rediscovering John
Dewey
How His Psychology Transforms Our Education
Rex Li
G.T. College
Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong
ISBN 978-981-15-7940-0 ISBN 978-981-15-7941-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7941-7
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To my colleagues
at
Dewey Center, Fudan University, Shanghai
and
G.T. College, Hong Kong
Preface
John Dewey: The Best Known
and The Least Understood
In the widely-acclaimed series of Very Short Introductions by Oxford
University Press, a new title on education was released a few years ago
(Thomas 2013). In it, the name of John Dewey appeared in the first
paragraph of the preface, alongside Einstein, Newton, Darwin and Marx.
While Dewey was hailed as “arguably the greatest thinker about educa-
tioninmoderntimes,”theauthorconcededthatfewlaypeopleareableto
“offeranythingatallaboutDewey”(prefacep.1).Whyisthereaparadox
that the best known becomes the least understood?
Dewey (1859–1952) started with a Christian faith and was trained
under Hegelian philosophy. However, he ended up as an atheist (by co-
signing the Humanist Manifesto in 1933) and founded a new philos-
ophy—pragmatism. His writings are as diverse as philosophy, psychology,
education, logic and science as well as democracy and local and inter-
national politics. His collected works exceeded 8 million words. He is
considered“thephilosopherofAmericanculture”,whodefines“thespirit
of America” (Shook and Kurtz 2011: 9). His view on education is such
paradigm-setting that most modern education theories start from him.
However, his obscure writing style, partly due to his Hegelian-dialectic
tradition, deters readers from understanding what he means and says.
vii
viii PREFACE
Dewey viewed philosophy as “a criticism of criticisms” (LW1: 298).
In the way he criticized Cartesian and Hegelian philosophy, Dewey
had been criticized and dismissed in contemporary analytic philosophy,
while his ideas are being simultaneously reconstructed (Tiles 1988; Fair-
field2009;Fesmire2015)andrediscovered(Tanner1997;Boisvert1998;
Tan and Whalen-Bridge 2008). Whoever studies education and philos-
ophy has something to learn from Dewey, but to evaluate him in light of
the new millennium with a global perspective is a most daunting task.
During his life time, Dewey had served as President of American
Psychological Association (1899), President of American Philosophical
Association (1905), Honorary President of American Progressive Associ-
ation(1928)andHonoraryPresidentofNationalEducationAssociation,
USA(1932).Asocietytothestudyofhisideas,JohnDeweySociety,was
founded in 1935, and he was honored with numerous honorary degrees.
After his death, his face appeared in the Prominent Americans Series on
the American postage stamp in 1968. Today, there are centers devoted
to studying him, in the USA (Center for Dewey Studies, Southern Illi-
nois University at Carbondale), in China (Dewey Center, Fudan Univer-
sity) and in Germany (Dewey Center, University of Cologne). No doubt
Dewey is an intellectual giant that deserves serious study, especially for
philosophers, educators and psychologists.
In the course of my study of John Dewey, I discover that while much
has been written about his philosophy and education, his psychology
has been largely neglected. Although he had made significant contri-
bution to psychology, Dewey was only briefly mentioned in psychology
texts. When I dig deeper in his early life, his ideas in psychology
and nineteenth-century milieu, I discover that his theory of psychology
grows to become his core concepts in education, which transforms our
present-day education practice.
This book aims to unveil a true Dewey, what his psychological and
educationalideasareaswellashisimpact.Itstartsfromhisearlyyears,his
involvement in psychology and philosophy and then his move to educa-
tion. In summarizing his early works to later works in social and intel-
lectual context, I hope to rediscover a true evolving John Dewey, what
PREFACE ix
he says and what he means. Readers will then be able to examine the
implications of his ideas in the new millennium and global culture.
Rex Li
G.T. College
Hong Kong
References
Boisvert, R. D. (1998). John Dewey: Rethinking Our Time. New York: State
University of New York Press.
Dewey, J. (1882–1953). The Collected Works of John Dewey. The Early Works,
Volume 1–5; The Middle Works, Volume 1–15; The Later Works, Volume 1–17.
Illinois: Southern University Press.
Fairfield, P. (2009). Education After Dewey. London: Continuum.
Fesmire, S. (2015). Dewey. London: Routledge.
Shook, J. R., & Kurtz, P. (Eds.). (2011). Dewey’s Enduring Impact: Essays on
America’s Philosopher. New York: Prometheus Books.
Tan, S. H., & Whalen-Bridge, J. (2008). Democracy as Culture: Deweyan Prag-
matism in a Globalizing World. New York: State University of New York
Press.
Tanner, L. N. (1997). Dewey’s Laboratory School: Lessons for Today. New York:
Teachers College Press.
Tiles, J. E. (1988). Dewey. New York: Routledge.
Contents
Part I Early Years
1 Boyhood and College Years 3
2 The Lost Years 19
3 Johns Hopkins Years 31
Part II Psychology
4 Young Dewey and Zeitgeist in Psychology 49
5 A Psychological Manifesto and Philosophic Method 75
6 Psychology, Reflex Arc Concept and the Birth
of Functionalism 99
7 Psychological Fallacy, How We Think, and Human
Nature and Conduct 135
xi
xii CONTENTS
Part III Education
8 Chicago Years, My Pedagogic Creed and Resignation 173
9 Educational Writings in Chicago Years 199
10 Educational Writings in Columbia Years 237
Part IV Involvement in Education and Impact
11 Dewey in China 275
12 John Dewey and Progressive Education 309
13 Late Writings on Education 347
References 383
Index 401