The Child and the Curriculum

The Child and the Curriculum looks at the process of education from both perspectives - child and curriculum. Dewey leads the reader to view the curriculum, what the child must learn, from the child's present state of mind. He also considers the teachers point of view as the vehicle that imparts and delivers the curriculum. Dewey understood that the structure of a child's mind is far different from that of an adult. John Dewey knew from both the personal experience, and active research, that the curriculum and the child must meet on the child's terms. This book explains how and why curriculum must provide the opportunity to explore, experience, and connect information, so the child truly understands and internalises the abstract principles, the logical classifications, the space and time, constructing the worldview that is specified by the curriculum. These philosophical educational doctrines that he concisely expressed in this book shaped the direction of American education. John Dewey was born on October 20, 1859, in Burlington, Vermont. He taught at universities from 1884 to 1930. An academic philosopher and strong proponent of progressive educational reform, in 1894 Dewey started an experimental elementary school. In 1919, he cofounded The New School for Social Research. He published over 1,000 pieces of writings during his lifetime. Growing up, John Dewey attended Burlington public schools, excelling as a student. When he was just 15 years old, he enrolled at the University of Vermont, where he particularly enjoyed studying philosophy under the tutelage of H.A.P. Torrey. Four years later, Dewey graduated from the University of Vermont second in his class. Dewey's philosophical treatises were at first inspired by his reading of philosopher and psychologist William James' writing. His philosophy, known as experimentalism, or instrumentalism, largely centered on human experience. He believed that education should be based on the principle of learning through doing