John Dewey

John Dewey is recognized as one of the founders of the philosophical school of pragmatism (the philosophy of considering practical consequences or real effects to be vital components of meaning and truth) (Wikipedia.com). it is concerned with interaction, reflection and experience, and interest in community and democracy.
What I like about Dewey is that he is most famous for hands-on learning. This is also known as experimental education. If I become a teacher, this is a philosophy that I will definitely practice. I think that people learn best by using their senses. Some teachers focus on lecturing and delivering knowledge. What Dewey focused is to actually understand a student’s actual experiences. When I was observing I noticed that the 5th graders dreaded going to social studies class, and loved science class. The main reason was that in science they got to do experiments and observe what they were learning as opposed to social studies where the teacher lectured and read from the book most of the time. Although it is difficult to do hands on learning in every subject, doing a hands on project for every chapter can give the students a better chance to understand the material. And in science the experiments are necessary for the students to grasp and understand the concepts of the lecture. This really works and students learn better and become more interested in the knowledge that they are acquiring. It should be practiced more by teachers and schools.
I found this quote on Wikipidia.com that sums up Dewey’s educational theme: "What nutrition and reproduction are to physiological life, education is to social life. This education consists primarily in transmission through communication. Communication is a process of sharing experience till it becomes a common possession”.