First published in 1938, Experience and Education is the fullest expression of John Dewey’s educational theory. One of the most influential American philosophers of the early 20th century, Dewey was a prominent advocate for progressive education, delivering hundreds of lectures on the topic throughout the world and appearing in popular media to discuss new pedagogical approaches. Experience and Education reflects Dewey’s background as a trained philosopher as well as his interest in reaching a general audience.

In this brief, theoretically dense philosophical treatise, Dewey argues in favor of education based on lived experiences of individual learners. Dewey highlights two core principles: (1) the continuity of experience and (2) interaction between internal (mental) and objective (external) conditions of learning. He discusses issues of social control and freedom, and how teachers can help students form clear learning purposes. Dewey also recommends an approach to developing progressive curriculum. This study guide references the 2015 Free Press edition.

Plot Summary

Dewey begins Experience and Education by cautioning against blind adherence to any movement. He notes the tendency to think in terms of absolute opposites and the unhelpful propensity to define theories by reversing the tenets of rival approaches. This general warning delivered, Dewey contrasts the older traditional approach and the newer progressive approach to education. Traditional education proceeds in a top-down manner, with teachers clearly distinct from students in learning environments. Traditional education conveys knowledge and skills determined in the past via textbooks and teacher-centered lectures. Students in this older model of school are passive and obedient. Traditional educators focus on controlling external conditions of learning and enforcing external forms of order, and are not concerned with internal (mental) learning factors.

Unlike traditional education, easily justified with reference to heritage and orthodoxy of practice, the newer progressive form of education must proceed from intelligently planned educational theory. Dewey supports a theory of progressive education based on consideration of individual student experiences. Dewey’s theory of education from experience rests on two main principles. First, the principle of continuity states that all past, present, and future experiences of an individual exist in a nested relationship. Each experience shapes the kinds of experiences learners encounter and their attitudes toward new experiences. Second, the principle of interaction recognizes the equal importance of considering internal and external conditions of learning.

Not all experiences are of the same educational quality. Certain experiences, such as the drills used in traditional schools, may bore students or make them less open to new experiences. Also, not all learning comes directly from subject matter; it can include attitudes and perspectives picked up incidentally to direct education. Dewey calls this collateral learning. Learners grow through experiences, but not all growth is healthy, as a person might develop their abilities in socially harmful directions. The progressive educator’s role is to consider the learning trajectories of each individual student, aiming to help pupils gradually broaden and deepen knowledge in useful domains. Progressive educators have more difficult jobs than traditional teachers because they must think about how the past, present, and future experiences of each student should align. People might think progressive education, rejecting the disciplinary rigor of traditional education, allows students do whatever they want with little adult intervention. Dewey says this is wrong, that progressive educators need to be more, not less, actively involved with student learning experiences.

Progressive education foregrounds students as active participants in learning and allows greater personal freedom. Dewey discusses issues of freedom and social control. He argues that not all social control comes from without and above, as teachers relate to students in traditional schools. He gives the example of a game, where all participants agree on the rules, without which it would not be the same game. Dewey envisions progressive education as proceeding from cooperatively developed purposes and approaches, with teachers acting within the group, more mature than young pupils but not separate from them in the construction of learning experiences. Dewey also contends that barriers to freedom come from within as well as from without, since unchecked impulses may interfere with clarity of purpose. Self-control is thus one of the main goals of education.

Students must develop the ability to act from clear purposes. Dewey discusses the nature of purpose. Purpose begins as an impulse that, when interrupted, becomes a desire. At this stage, it is necessary to gather information about the objective conditions of the situation, interpret what these conditions mean, and consider consequences of potential courses of action. Traditional education ignores student impulses, but it is not the case that progressive education simply allows learners to follow each impulse without input from teachers. On the contrary, progressive educators must encourage students to delay acting on impulses and desires, help them make relevant observations, judge empirical evidence, and intelligently plan courses of action that allow the achievement of specific, articulated purposes.

Dewey states that one of the greatest criticisms of progressive education is its lack of subject-specific curriculum. He says it is understandable that there is not yet a progressive approach to curriculum organization, as the progressive education movement is new. Certain people think educational curriculum should proceed from the most basic articulations of logic or first principles in the philosophical sense. Instead, Dewey believes in the application of the scientific method, forming and testing hypotheses based on empirical observations. He refuses to allow the possibility of a uniform curriculum for all progressive schools, as this would violate the core value of education based on the experiences of specific learners. Not yet mature adults, students cannot master the skills and knowledge employed by experts. However, expert-level abilities in specific fields represent end goals toward which progressive educators can direct learning. Starting with basic skills and knowledge, progressive educators can plan increasingly challenging lessons that prepare learners to become future experts. Dewey says science can reference everyday objects, and educators can approach math as an applied rather than abstract subject.

Dewey ends Experience and Education by stating confidence in the educational philosophy outlined in the book. However, he delivers two final warnings. He repeats the point that simply following one polemic or labelling practices as progressive is not enough. His intention is to figure out a sound basis for education overall. Dewey also cautions against the tendency to think that if traditional education depended on formal structures of control, progressive education can just be a matter of improvisation. Progressive education is not easier than traditional education.