JOHN DEWEY: PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION 1
John Dewey: Progressive Education and Inclusion
Angela J. Tippett
School of Education, Liberty University
JOHN DEWEY: PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION 2
Abstract
Philosopher and educator John Dewey changed the face of education in America and around the
world in the late 19th and early 20th century. From his Calvinist beginnings in Vermont to his
lecture tour in 1930s China and Russia, Dewey challenged the accepted tenets of traditional
education. Championing experience over historical instruction, Dewey led the progressive
movement of education, introducing the idea of collaborative and project-based learning in an
inclusive setting, allowing students to learn from each other’s experiences as well as their own.
His motivation was producing citizens who were life-long learners, ones who would lead the
way to a better, more equitable, truly democratic society; a society that did not segregate
individuals based on color, gender, or background. Though his ideas were not always popular
with the general public or political leaders, Dewey’s philosophy of progressive education still
influences the educational landscape of America today. Though inclusion of students with
learning challenges was not part of his original vision or mentioned in his writings, his
progressive ideas for inclusion of all individuals into a classroom experience helps to change the
way the previously marginalized students are educated in the general education classrooms of
today.
Keywords: John Dewey, inclusion, pragmatic philosophy, progressive education, social
reform, experiential learning
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John Dewey: Progressive Education and Inclusion
Education in the 21st century looks much different than the educational system in the late
19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the changes through the last century can be attributed to
the writings and pragmatic philosophies of John Dewey, considered to be the father of the
progressive education movement. Raised in the reconstruction era of post-Civil War America,
Dewey saw education as a vehicle for purposeful, lasting democratic changes in society
(Hildebrand, 2023). His opposition to segregation was not based on concern for mentally
challenged or disabled individuals, but his philosophies have benefited these members of society,
nonetheless (Ornstein et al., 2017). While working and writing at a time in American history
when equality and inclusion were not a part of the national education system, John Dewey
provided the groundwork for change in mainstream instructional practices which is allowing
inclusion of all students, even those with special needs, in the general education classroom a
century later.
Background and Cultural Context
Born in 1859 to a strict Calvinist mother and father who loved classic British literature,
John Dewey grew up in a nurturing, academic environment with one brother. After his father
returned from serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, the family enjoyed prosperity
due to his father’s new business venture. This allowed Dewey to receive an education and enroll
in the University of Vermont at age 15 (Hildebrand, 2023). While at university, Dewey became
well-read and influenced by the philosophers of his day.
After graduating and teaching high school for 2 years, Dewey decided to pursue a degree
in philosophy from Johns Hopkins University in New York. While there, he became a follower
and friend of William James, and together they would go on to found the pragmatic school of
JOHN DEWEY: PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION 4
philosophical thought. His progressive, child-centered philosophy of education went on to span
the globe, with Dewey even lecturing on social reform through education in pre-communist
China and Stalin-led Russia before his death in 1952 (Biography, 2023).
Philosophy of Education
Studying under the tutelage of G. Stanley Hall, founder of the child-study movement, at
Johns Hopkins University, Dewey began to develop his own philosophy of education (Smith,
2020). His progressive ideas were shaped by the pragmatic and progressive movements of his
contemporaries, including James and Pierce, both instrumental in the pragmatic movement and
Immanuel Kant, whose ideas Dewey studied and then reversed, establishing his society before
individual view of education (Hildebrand, 2023). He and his wife were close friends with Jane
Addams during their time at the Lab School in Chicago (Hildebrand, 2023). He contributed to
her work at Hull house both financially and through his public speaking engagements.
Dewey believed education should be experiential, not the traditional listen and repeat
instruction in most American classrooms of his day. Learning history for the sake of history held
no interest to Dewey. He believed all people, regardless of background or race, should be able to
experience learning in a community of learners, drawing on one another’s experiences to
progress the good of society as a whole (Gibbon, 2020). According to Dewey (1916), education
was not just a classroom-based experience, but a life-long learning experiment, where truth was
determined by the encounters that form its reality.
The purpose of education, according to Dewey, was to allow experience to shape and
reconstruct the mind in preparation for the next experience (d’Agnese, 2019; Dewey, 1916).
Children are born with no knowledge or information, and their education begins with their first
experience in life. Each subsequent experience, guided by parents, family, and educators along
JOHN DEWEY: PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION 5
the way, shape the child into an adult who is a product of these experiences, always changing
with new encounters and increasing in knowledge and insight (Dewey, 1916). This school of
thought is very beneficial to marginalized communities, including those isolated due to race,
gender, or ability level.
Problem solving and group collaboration are at the heart of the pragmatic theory of
education (Smith, 2020). The way problems have been solved in the past and traditional ways of
solving problems are rejected in favor of students facing challenges with no historical context,
leading them to develop critical thinking skills and always finding new ways of solving
problems. Project based learning and the relatively new phenomena of makerspaces, where
individuals learn to solve problems using group methodologies and collective knowledge, are
visible representations of pragmatics at work in education and society.
Theory to Practice
Dewey and his wife, an educator he met while at the University of Chicago, held similar
views about the best practices for educating children in the classroom. To test their ideas, the
Dewey’s founded the Lab School at the University of Chicago, testing their methods in small,
selective classes for more than a decade. Dewey believed that creating realistic, life-based
problems for students to solve, was a far more effective way of education than to place them in
traditional classrooms with a teacher, memorizing facts, historical events, and mathematical
algorithms (d’Agnese, 2019).
He wrote and lectured extensively throughout the world on his theories regarding
philosophy and education, following the release of one of his greatest published works,
Democracy and Education. While not affiliated with the socialist movement, Dewey had a great
influence on the educational systems in pre-communist China and Soviet Russia. His ideas on
JOHN DEWEY: PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION 6
social consciousness and educating young people to be part of a collective, truly democratic
society, were very popular in Asia, and are even having a resurgence in recent decades
(Hildebrand, 2023).
Considering his agnostic beliefs espoused later in life, as well as his rigorous defense of a
possible purely democratic society, in which all are equal participants and benefactors, it is not
surprising his views were met with some opposition and open disdain in America in the early
part of the 20th century but were more accepted overseas. His writings and ideas gained a more
popular following in the late 1950s and early 1960s in America with the beginnings of the civil
rights movement (Mohamed, 2019). His ideas of inclusive education and all individuals having
an equal right to collective learning made him both a hero and a villain during those decades.
Perspectives on Diversity
Dewey was driven by the idea of a better democratic society, one accepting of all human
beings. In a time when blacks and women were just beginning their fight for equal rights,
Dewey was a part of that charge, believing that education could be the vehicle to bring about that
necessary change. He marched in parades for women’s rights, supported the movement which
brought about the NAACP, and all the while, lectured around the world on experiential learning
and social democracy (Gibbon, 2020). He pressed for relational learning environments, where
teachers were facilitators, allowing all students to pursue their interests in the cause of learning
(Holdo, 2023). This idea of inclusion came to represent those with learning disabilities and
mental challenges in the mid-1970s (Murdock et al., 2020).
Critical Analysis
Dewey, through both his pragmatic philosophies and progressive education theories of
hand-on, experiential learning, represented a stark contrast to the traditionalist views of
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education that had been followed in America and Western Europe since the early 1700s. As
education became more commonly available for families, and not just a system for the elite,
Dewey’s methods and ideas of education created a great divide in the educational system in
America. There were many who openly challenged his ideas, including Thomas Bobbitt, a self-
proclaimed education expert who created a new curriculum and education system designed to
streamline education and cost the public as little as possible (Mohamed, 2019). His idea of
cookie-cutter education and standardized assessments did little to improve the educational
opportunities of marginalized populations, including those with disabilities or from different
ethnic backgrounds. Dewey’s ideas were not well-accepted in the south either, where traditional
education still centered around white males only.
While beneficial to many as a model of inclusion, Dewey’s methods of instruction were
not ideal on every level, or for every subject. Subjects such as history and mathematics are more
difficult to teach using group-instructional methods, as well as the difficulties of advanced
mathematical equations are impossible to teach through project-based learning. Some direct
instruction is beneficial for students as well. While traditional classrooms are not necessarily the
best setting for students with special needs, neither is exclusively collaborative learning, which is
something that Dewey does not address.
From a Christian standpoint, Dewey did not take a Biblical worldview of education.
Tradition was an important part of instruction and education for children in the Bible, which was
not in agreement with Dewey. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 are the words of God to Moses, “AndGthese
words that I command you today shall be on your heart.GYou shall teach them diligently to your
children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and
when you lie down, and when you rise.”(English Standard Bible, 2016). Direct instruction has
JOHN DEWEY: PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION 8
its place in the classroom. Instruction cannot be all projects and collective learning. Dewey’s
rejection of absolute truth goes contrary to the Word of God as well. “Jesus said to him,G“I
amGthe way, andGthe truth, andGthe life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”(English
Standard Bible, 2016, John 14:6). This scripture from John clearly details that Jesus is truth.
There is really no experiential way to define this as anything but an absolute.
Implications and Conclusions
There is little doubt that the philosophies of John Dewey, both from his writings and his
practical endeavors, changed the face of public education in America at the beginning of the 20th
century. While Dewey presented valid arguments to support his rationale for collaborative
learning and progressive education, his ideals centered around a perfect democratic society,
inclusive of all learners regardless of race, religion, gender, or financial standing; ideas that not
all Americans were ready to embrace. (Ornstein et al., 2017). In reality, not all Americans are
ready to embrace his ideals today either. The challenges that still face African Americans and
students with special needs in the general education classroom reflects the unwillingness by
many in positions of authority to embrace democratic philosophies regarding life and education.
The rise in popularity for project-based learning initiatives in the past two decades points
to a change in the status quo for traditional education (Murdoch et al., 2020). While many of
these initiatives are relegated to charter and private schools, without significant allocations of
state and federal funds, Dewey’s influence in American education lives on, offering hope that
other ideals from his theories will begin to gain popularity as well. Inclusive education, from
Dewey’s perspective, gave racial and gender equality to all learners.
Education in today’s society is just starting to resemble what Dewey envisioned:
classrooms with racially and ethnically diverse populations learning together, sharing cultures
JOHN DEWEY: PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION 9
and ideas. With continued efforts, students with learning challenges are being included as well.
While all of Dewey’s ideas and theories were not Biblically sound, inclusion was one of his
ideas that Christians can support whole-heartedly.
Inclusion is one of personal significance. Working with those who have learning
disabilities and challenges is incredibly rewarding and also a struggle. Too many barriers still
exist for general education classrooms to be a place of learning for all students. While Dewey
had some excellent ideas, there is room for improvement and more work to be done. Absolute
truth should be a part of educational initiatives again. God should have never been removed
from the classroom. His absence is felt in all areas, but in the area of inclusion maybe most of
all. Tolerance for those who are different suffers without a Biblical foundation of truth on which
to base a defense. Teacher training, funding for necessary equipment and specialized
instructional materials, and an open-minded approach to inclusive education by administrators
and parents are still necessary as well for inclusion to be a democratic, and educational, success.
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