John Dewey: An Ideal Educational Culture

Throughout my undergraduate career, I contemplated my prospects as a teacher, and whether or not I'd be able to create the positive classroom environment I believe students deserve, but are rarely provided. I wavered in belief of my capability to balance personal connection with educational enrichment, and to be able to be "on" everyday to affect students in a positive way. John Dewey's article, My Pedagogic Creed, sheds light on many of the ideals and thoughts that led me to continue my pursuit of a career in education, although throughout much of it I couldn't help but feel it was an idealistic picture, like the one I had painted in the past, but more recently have become aware is not entirely true.

 In the article, Dewey delves into his beliefs about the various layers of education, describing his ideas of education, of school, of subject matter, the nature of method, and school and social progress. He presents various ideals a school and the community involved in a school should uphold, from the community's investment in a student and vice versa, to building autonomy within students, to a teacher's role which shouldn't be as an authoritarian, but rather as a medium to aid students in seeking knowledge, to how to enact forms of discipline, and more. While they were all incredibly important and very legitimate ideals regarding the structure of a student's education, I definitely felt that in this day and age, with all the struggle and back and forth between policy makers, administrators, parents, teachers, and others invested in the state of education, and felt a little hopeless in some of the ideas put forth by Dewey. One idea in contrast that I feel definitely is a possibility and I think a must within all classrooms, an idea that Dewey came back to time and again, was that of making the student's education part of a larger social development, built upon making their education relevant and applicable.

"  I believe that knowledge of social conditions, of the present state of civilization, is necessary in order to properly interpret the child's powers. The child has his own instincts and tendencies, but we do not know what these mean until we can translate them into their social equivalents. " Technology plays a frequent role in the lives of students, and to neglect it in education entirely i think would be unwise as it neglects the "present state of civilization" as Dewey puts it. Although technology can become quite a distraction, we can recognize some new ways that we can connect students with the content we are teaching.

Relevancy of content and connecting things with the society we currently inhabit is an essential element of a successful curriculum, and it is necessary for teachers to reflect on how the education they are transmitting is relatable to students and their situations.