Individual Writing #1

Vanessa Marcotte

Department of Education, McGill University

EDEC 260-003

Professor Jason Lister

October 4th, 2020

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Individual Writing #1

First, Dewey begins by explaining the differences between traditional and progressive education

and how they are built on an “either-or” philosophy meaning opposites. For Dewey, traditional

education stems from what has already been learnt in the past. Moreover, he states that traditional

education is based on three characteristics. These characteristics being, the subject-matter, the

general pattern of school organization and the developed standards and rules of conduct.

However, Dewey is highly critical of the structure and organization of traditional education and

believes the philosophy can be renewed. Indeed, he later explains the idea of progressive

schooling. This is a form of education in which the belief is that students will learn more

effectively through experiences rather than being taught by an authoritative figure. This being

said, he also questions as to where the place and meaning of subject-matter and of organization is

within experience and therefore wonders how the subject-matter can function. So, his solution

would be for teachers to transfer knowledge as with traditional education, but in a way where the

methods of transmission would be modified so that students can be more active participants in the

process of learning.

Then, Hannah Arendt talks about a current crisis happening in our education system. In fact, she

brings up the connection between education and politics and how the two should not be

mixed. Moreover, she brings up colonialism and immigrants and how on a land where education

is related to politics, education only exists to Americanise the children and tarnish the opinion of

the oppressed. She then goes on by making three assumptions which she goes on and critique all.

First, she says that there exists a child's world formed among children that are autonomous.

However, she goes on and argues on that assumption, arguing about equity. Then, she explains

how pedagogy was developed into a science of teaching. However, she uses the counter argument
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of teachers not understanding their own subject-matter which would be ridiculous. She then

finishes with the role of experience. She starts by saying how this idea is taken to the literal and

although the idea is good, she explains that it fails to take into account how in this process,

special importance was attached to obliterating as far as possible the distinction between play and

work. She sums up saying that the problem of education is that it cannot forgo either authority &

tradition, but must be proceeded in a world structured by neither.

Finally, Freire compares banking education with problem-posing education. The banking concept

of education consists of treating students like slaves of knowledge. Therefore teachers “fill” the

students with knowledge as the are simple “receptacles”. Freire continues by explaining the

negative aspects of this concept, how it negates education and knowledge as processes of inquiry

and projects an absolute ignorance to others. This idea of oppression illustrated in banking

education compares human to manageable beings and shows a critical consciousness not

developed. He then so critiques the banking concept saying it does not admit the partnerships of

learning which, in other words, means that teachers can also be students and students be teachers

and how they both should collaborate. Therefore, Freire is an advocate of education as the

practice of freedom where dialogue between teacher and student is vital. He critiques that people

should develop the power to critically perceive their position in the world and that with this

freedom provided through education, people can come to see the world as not a static reality but

rather one in transformation. To sum up, his opinion is that “problem-posing” education is

needed to let people acquire their freedom and own critical mind.
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To begin with, Dewey, Arendt and Freire are three authors that were way ahead of their time.

Indeed, Dewey is an extremely influential educational and social philosopher, who wrote his

article in the beginning of 20th century. Plus, his ideas, which were once considered radical are

now commonplace or at least common enough that he’s no longer considered a radical and are

still being used and developed as of today. Toward this same idea, Arendt, who published this

article around 20 years after Dewey, has as main idea to “divorce” the realm of education from

the political one. She, in fact, posits that the United States was founded as a "political utopia” and

education was wrapped up in this political world, but should not have. Then, Freire, who

published his works around 1960-1970, was more concerned with marginalized populations. He

wrote strong critiques of the “banking” mode, making strong links between literacy and

knowledge. While also considered radical in his time, his ideas have become both accepted and

extremely important when considering both the role of the school and the role of the curriculum.

Therefore, I admit that these three readings undoubtedly helped me shape my way of thinking in

relation to the education sector. Indeed, by reading “Experience and Education” by John Dewey,

it helped me understand more the way I want to teach to students, how and what I want them to

learn. For instance, I know that my way of teaching will clearly be more progressive than

traditional. However, as Dewey suggests, I would want to be the kind of teacher who uses the

traditional way of teaching to present the content of the class but use more progressive ways to

make students understand the knowledge in question.

Therefore, I find very important the three characteristics he mentions such as the subject-matter,

the general pattern of school organization and the developed standards and rules of conduct. In

fact, in my opinion, the subject-matter is essential for a teacher as it concerns skills that have
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been worked on in the past. So, using these already learned skills is a useful way to make

students make connections in their head so they understand more easily the current subject. Thus,

on the same subject, as a teacher, I would, for example, do a recap of what last class was about

and then do an interactive activity to make them work on the content they saw a week ago so it

does not disappear from their brain.

On another subject, I find very important to keep in mind Arendt’s ideas about teaching. Indeed,

she expresses how politics should not intervene in education and despite agreeing on that point, I

also find necessary to inform students of a current crisis, even adopt our own critical opinion on

the matter and suggest to students to do the same. It is not because politics should not appear and

change knowledge that it should not be discussed and critiqued in class. For instance, when I

become a teacher and have my own class, I would even consider take a small 5 minutes before

class and discuss with my students on what recently happened that appeared in the news.

Including our current reality in activities can also be informative for students and not only help

them learn grammar, for example, but also make them aware of what surrounds them.

Then, considering Freire’s ideas, I know that, as a teacher, banking education is not the way to go

for me. Indeed, teaching is, in my opinion, about sharing and mutually learn from each other even

though the teacher is considered as the one sharing knowledge. I strongly believe that I will learn

from my students even when it will have been five years I’ve been teaching. Education is a vast

subject and everyone is somehow currently learning even the ones that are not in school.

I trust that Dewey, Arendt and Freire also had that similar idea of education and life in general

which is why they somehow all propose a shared way of learning, despite the different terms they

give them. To sum up, from my standpoint, education is a system that has originally been put up

for us, as humans, to share our knowledge and always be able to learn in a free way.
References

1. Barrow, R., Woods, R. 2006. “An Introduction to Philosophy of Education, 4th Edition”.

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN : Routledge.

https://mycourses2.mcgill.ca/d2l/le/lessons/466872/topics/5109740

2. Dewey, J. 1986. “Experience and Education”. The Educational Forum, 50:3.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00131728609335764

3. Arendt, H. 1954. “The Crisis in Education”.

https://mycourses2.mcgill.ca/d2l/le/lessons/466872/topics/5109748