Progressive Education

Progressive Education Philosophy

The philosophy of progressive education not only emphasizes the importance of education itself but also the importance of how its subjects are taught to the students; it seeks to focus on the human experience as the basis of knowledge. Education is not only meant to set up children for a successful life in the future, but also to understand how to live in their current environments. School should enable students to be active, motivated, and learn to become problem solvers- to know and to do a subject are seen as equally valuable in progressive education.

Students in a progressive classroom are given the power to take a more active role in the learning process by

• Interacting with their environments.
• Setting objectives for their own learning.
• Teamwork.
• Learning through doing.
• Engaging in problem-solving.
• Helping to establish classroom rules.
• Evaluating & testing their ideas.

Project-Based Learning table & skills - Progressive Education

Progressive Education Society

Before the Progressive Era of the 1890s to 1920s, American society was plagued by low wages, unsafe and overcrowded factories, no standards for food safety, and no safety nets for citizens who could not find employment.

During the 1890s to 1920s, progressive movements were spreading all across the country intending to making life better. Industrialization and urbanization were widening the gap between the working poor and the rich business owners through their exploitation of labor and cruel business practices. Women were still not allowed to vote, children were working in factories rather than attending school, and families could barely make ends meet due to the pathetically low wages. The Progressive Era encouraged a change in these categories, believing that children going back to school and having access to better education would help turn society around for the better; this would be achieved by engaging students in tasks that involved real-world problem-solving.

"Young Workers League" protesting for the end of child labor (circa 1900s)

Progressive Education John Dewey

In July of 1894, John Dewey entered the city of Chicago, Illinois from Ann Arbor, Michigan. The train arrived in the city late due to the American Railway Union going on strike, as the Pullman Company had cut employee wages once again. The strike cost 30 people their lives and Dewey openly condemned President Cleveland for his suppression and disregard for the strike. Over the next few years, Dewey would contemplate all that he knew of the world around him and how he grew up; how could he make a change in the struggling society around him?

After a few years of writing, John Dewey released his book "The School and Society" in 1899. He expressed that the old model of schooling was outdated and that students should become more involved in the classroom. Due to the decline of farms with the growth of cities, Dewey knew that children needed to learn sewing, cooking, and working with metals and wood to better navigate the changing times. He didn't believe that hands-on learning should replace the old style of schooling, but rather it should enhance it. John Dewey US Library of CongressIn Dewey's classrooms, he expressed the importance of learning by doing over learning by listening.

Dewey firmly believed that cooperative learning would encourage not only a democratic classroom, but also a democratic way of life; free of elites, ethnic divisions, or economic inequalities. Dewey also believed that humans were naturally inclined to be cooperative, not selfish and destined for conflict. Democracy and scientific intelligence was John Dewey's key to reform. He believed deeply in the power of labor unions, strikes, and the redistribution of income. He is known today as the "Father of modern education".

John Dewey - Inquiry Model

Progressive Education Movement

Progressive education focused on teaching real-world problem-solving activities and provided students with everyday experiences that would be helpful (and relevant) to their daily lives rather than only focusing on rigid subject content. The outcome of the Progressive Era and progressive education consisted of

• New laws for better living conditions.
• The expansion of educational opportunities.
• The elimination of new types of criminal activity.

From the late 19th century onwards, progressive education has aimed to blur the lines that classical education had set between those of different social classes. Breaking the barriers between students and having them work on both individual and group projects helps them learn how to properly interact with each other and what is around them. This, paired with classical forms of education, not only prepares them for written tests but also for the challenges they will face in the real world. As a result, progressive education can be classified as a working model of democracy.