John Dewey Education Is Life Itself Analysis

Education is life itself.

- John Dewey

Over the years, several philosophers in Education have emerged to address issues plaguing the education system in society. One such philosopher is John Dewey; he is known as one of the greatest American Modern Thinker's in education. The above mentioned quote by John Dewey suggests that education is life itself. The writer supports this quote because as we go through different life experiences new knowledge y is being obtained each day which serves to further educate us. Furthermore, in defining education Dewey said that it is the “development of all those capacities in the individual which will enable him to control his environment and fulfill his possibilities". This process is said to take place

His notion was that children went to school to do things and live in an environment which gives them real, guided experiences that should foster their capacity to contribute to society. For example, Dewey believed that students should be involved in real-life tasks and challenges. Cherian Biju (2010) As a result he developed three main tenets of education. The first tenet is that of Individualism. According to Dewey, individualism is the notion that it is up to the individual child, with guidance from the teacher, to make sense of his/her own experience and readiness to learn. Likewise, the idea behind individualism is that children should themselves carry on the educational process, aided and guided by the teacher. John Dewey

Dewey’s tenet on individualism is that of a learner-centered approach which the writer thinks would afford the learner to be actively involved in their education. Attention is placed on the child and not the teacher. Learner-centered learning suggests students engage actively as doers in education settings. These learners should be empowered to decide on what, when, where, and how to learn. Subsequently, “Learner-centered teachers teach students how to think, solve problems, evaluate evidence, analyze arguments, generate hypotheses—all those learning skills is essential in mastering material in the discipline”. In addition to mastering the material the learner, develop other essential skills that will help them to become more rounded individuals. For example, the teacher wants to teach the student about germination would guide the students in the steps to planting and nurturing the seed then ask them to write each day on what they see happening. The writer agrees with this view because real life experiences can build further individualism within children which would help them to make life connections as they