John Dewey

I chose to research John Dewey because out of all the people on the list his name struck me as interesting, and I did not know much about him at all. Through quick research I found out that he was a well known educator and philosopher who was very strongly opinionated about many things.
John Dewey's official story is that he was an American educator, philosopher, psychologist as well as a social critic and political activist. He was born in Burlington, VT on October 20, 1859 and spent his time growing up there and eventually furthering his own education. He attended and graduated from the University of Vermont and went on to get his PhD from John Hopkins University. After this he taught at the University of Michigan and later went to the University of Chicago and was elected president of the American Psychological Association. Dewey taught for several years and lectured in other countries. He was passionate about American social issues and was “outspoken on education , domestic and international politics, and numerous social movements”.

Education is life itself.
-John Dewey

John Dewey's educational philosophy was one that focused on students actively learning in order to better understand their environment. In my research I also found that Dewey's belief in education "must engage with and enlarge experiences" supports his ideas of active learning. His concern for student progress is also shown through his use of the Information-Process learning model from the McNergney text.
Another interesting fact about Dewey is that in his quest to pursue the further education of students, he wanted them to be taught civic education. Since he was so passionate about politics and civic engagement himself, he thought of it in students best interest to be educated about the world and government around them.

I like Dewey's ideas because they seem to promote the education of students which is obvious, but what I also appreciated was that he was so ardent about civic education and I think that this is an important issue that schools are facing still today.