| Several
European philosophers influenced the development of American pragmatic
thought. Francis Bacon was considered a modern realist. He
emphasized the inductive approach, and placed emphasis on the scientific
method, which is important to the pragmatic philosophy. The inductive method
implies beginning the problem solving process with observations and then
reasoning to arrive at laws or principals. John Locke was considered
a realist, but his ideas have influenced pragmatism as well. He believed
that as people have more experiences they have more ideas to relate. Some
of these ideas can be incorrect, but the way to verify them is through
experience. The idea of a computer that needs to be programmed to produce
information seems to be an excellent analogy for this philosophy. George
Herbert Mead concluded that children do not learn to be social, but that
they do have to be social to learn. This implies that the mind is not some
inner thing hidden from view. William James applied the inductive
method tor religious and moral implications and thought that religious
beliefs had value only if they provided suitable consequences. Jean Jacques
Rousseau noted that civilization had harmed individual development because
it led them away from nature. His important contribution was the connection
he made between nature and experience. He felt that this affected
the way that people looked at children. They were not mini adults, but
examples of organisms going though natural development. An example of his
thinking was that it was unnatural for a child to sit for long periods
of time. Rousseau believed in a child centered curriculum, and suggested
that a child’s interests should guide his education. He developed three
sources of education. They were nature, human beings, and things or personal
experiences that are associated with material objects. Additionally, Rousseau
felt that children should be educated naturally in their formative years.
Charles Darwin offered great controversy in publishing is book on the Origin
of the Species, which suggested that species in the environment live or
die depending on the presence of certain conditions in the environment
and the organism’s ability to adapt to them. He noted that characteristics
that allow a species to survive will persist, while other characteristics
that do not ensure survival will not. This theory developed the idea that
the universe itself is in development and opposed many of the ideas supported
by Plato. These concepts were important to education because they led to
the belief that a person’s education as “tied directly to biological and
social development”, according to Orzman.
American Pragmatists
Charles Sanders Peirce
(1839-1914)
His
ideas were important because he believed in the necessity for testing ideas
in experience. He felt that ideas had practical consequences and that they
could not be separated from human conduct.
William James (1842-1910)
William
James’ philosophy can be related to one of his statements that “the proof
is in the pudding”, meaning that to tell if pudding is good, you must taste
it. Individuals experience things that may be true for them, but
not for others. He therefore did not believe in universal truths. His ideas
were often referred to as radical empiricism. William James is responsible
for making pragmatism popular.
John Dewey (1859-1952)
Dewey
liked to work with real life problems and the practical consequences of
ideas. He felt that humans could work toward a more satisfying life
by using processes that would help mankind. We begin to think, according
to Dewey, because of a problem. By dealing with the problem we are beginning
to think creatively. Dewey felt that each situation was unique and should
be dealt with by experimenting with various solutions, meaning that one
solution did not fit all problems. He felt that experience and nature could
not be separated because nature was what a person experienced. Dewey felt
that a child should not be taken out of their social environment when being
educated meaning that he considered social relationships important in the
education process. He would not appear to have been a proponent of home
schooling. He believed in testing ideas on an experimental basis with regard
to the results of their successfulness. Method, rather than abstract answers
was very important. Dewey also believed that learners would be most motivated
to study organized knowledge when they could relate its usefulness to the
present. This seems to be a very appropriate concept for today.
Dewey thought
that industrialization had depressed individuality and that the individual
and social aspects of children could be nurtured through democratic experiences
within the school. Individuality was important because if individual choices
were made intelligently, then people had greater control over their destiny.
Dewey felt strongly that individuals must be educated within a group because
of the necessary interplay of the two. Individuals and society support
each other. In fact he felt that this social life was the job of the school.
This duality of coexistence supported Dewey’s views on religion, holding
to the idea of a connecting link between individuals and society. Each
action was judged as moral according to its affect on society. In Democracy
and Education, Dewey felt that the gap between what children needed to
know and what society had learned from its first lessons would continue
to grow. This meant that just knowing the basics, although a formidable
task would not be sufficient to ensure the continuation of a species. The
only way to span the gap of that knowledge was through education. Dewey
felt that a considerable effort needed to be made to see that this transmission
of knowledge was thorough and complete or human kind as we know it would
return to its barbaric beginnings. Dewey did not necessarily say that “teachers”
would have to teach this information, but the word community appears to
come in quite a bit. However Dewey’s definition of a community appears
to be difficult to live up to. A community according to Dewey must have
a common end with all groups regulating their activities to meet that common
end. Dewey felt that giving and taking orders did not create a community,
communication and sharing of purposes created a community. That communication
process was what Dewey considered to be education. He noted however that
the sharing of information in savage communities was completed by children
interacting with adults, doing the same kinds of activities, but this process
would become more difficult as more specialized activities developed in
a culture. And so it would not be possible to transmit all resources and
achievements without formal education. The problem here is that the formal
education has a tendency to become rote and out of context of need for
learning the information. The result would be that the social context of
the learning, the common purpose for using the information, or the communication
of the common reason would be lost. Keeping this balance between acquiring
needed information combined with information gleaned through the development
of character formation is very important. |