Experience and Education
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Experience and Education Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 740 ratings
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Experience and Education is the best concise statement on education ever published by John Dewey, the man acknowledged to be the pre-eminent educational theorist of the twentieth century. Written more than two decades after Democracy and Education (Dewey's most comprehensive statement of his position in educational philosophy), this book demonstrates how Dewey reformulated his ideas as a result of his intervening experience with the progressive schools and in the light of the criticisms his theories had received.

Analyzing both "traditional" and "progressive" education, Dr. Dewey here insists that neither the old nor the new education is adequate and that each is miseducative because neither of them applies the principles of a carefully developed philosophy of experience. Many pages of this volume illustrate Dr. Dewey's ideas for a philosophy of experience and its relation to education. He particularly urges that all teachers and educators looking for a new movement in education should think in terms of the deeped and larger issues of education rather than in terms of some divisive "ism" about education, even such an "ism" as "progressivism." His philosophy, here expressed in its most essential, most readable form, predicates an American educational system that respects all sources of experience, on that offers a true learning situation that is both historical and social, both orderly and dynamic.

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  1. Listening Length
    2 hours and 28 minutes
  2. Author
    John Dewey
  3. Narrator
    Gary L Willprecht
  4. Audible release date
    February 1, 2013
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    University Press Audiobooks
  7. ASIN
    B00B9DC5M8
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 2 hours and 28 minutes
Author John Dewey
Narrator Gary L Willprecht
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date February 01, 2013
Publisher University Press Audiobooks
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B00B9DC5M8
Best Sellers Rank #102,088 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#624 in Philosophy & Social Aspects of Education
#696 in History of Education
#1,069 in Education (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

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The size of this book is not worth the price. If there is measurements I should’ve read them for the paperback version but for 10.99 and it’s the size of my hand… not worth it. I thought it would be a normal size but it’s extremely small and there’s only 91 pages. I recommend a different version. This one is a ripoff.
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Top reviews from the United States

Andrew Zander
5.0 out of 5 stars A great resource for parents and educators alike, and still relevant today
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2013
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Although Experience and Education is small in form and a mere 91 pages in length, it is packed with highly useful information not only for professional educators but also for parents and caregivers of children. It is bittersweet that Dewey's work remains relevant many decades after it was first published. Sadly, too little has been done to improve the quality of education in this country. Writers and educators such as Dewey have given us the tools needed to provide high quality education to the youth of our nation. Unfortunately, there appears to be little resolve to implement them on a wide scale. One of the very few positive aspects of this situation is that Dewey is still read and much is still learned from this great figure in American education.

Dewey's recipe for a successful education is clear and can even be inferred from the title of this book in which experience is placed before education. Education is a product of experience. According to Dewey, not just any experience will do. Experience must be related to prior experience and expand upon it so as to stretch the current limits of knowledge.

In order for experience to facilitate further growth in education, the educator must be a keen observer of their students, being able to monitor their current abilities. Rather than simply forcing knowledge onto students, Dewey believes that teachers should act more as group leaders. For Dewey, learning should be driven by the desires of the student with the teacher offering guidance, feedback, and structure to the activities. Dewey's approach is on that can also be used to great effect by parents when planning activities for their children. A little extra preparation time when going to a zoo or museum can turn into a richer, more memorable experience.

There is little doubt that Dewey would be disappointed by the current state of American education. As a result of education slipping as a national priority, the quality of education has been in decline for decades. In addition, as funding has declined and the population has risen, class size has increased. This alone makes giving adequate attention to each student a virtual impossibility. Being unable to engage in careful observation of students prevents the implementation of progressive education. Consequently, Dewey's methods remain relevant and would be useful reading for both educators and parents alike.
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gobirds2
5.0 out of 5 stars Education in a Democracy
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2003
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John Dewey's thesis regarding experience and learning in a democracy can be stated with some measure of accuracy with a few simple statements. However, these statements based upon layers of theoretical and philosophical writings by Dewey are a surreptitious higher exercise that tests the reader's aptitude to discern seemingly indistinguishable yet distinct concepts into a cohesive statement on the complementary nature of experience and education.
John Dewey's thesis primarily comes out of his experience with progressive schools. Progressive education is based on the idea of freedom whereas traditional education is autocratic in nature. Having analyzed both traditional and progressive education Dewey found that neither was satisfactory and thus both were inadequate in this endeavor. Dewey's main contention and cornerstone of belief is that without experience infused into education there can be no education. America is a nation based upon democracy where supreme power is vested in the people collectively and administered by them. There is no autocracy in America or room for it. America is a land of freedom and free thought. Dewey foresaw an America that will bring in all sources of experience that will offer a true learning situation both historically and socially and that will be both ordered or structured and yet be dynamic. The democracy of America provides all the elements for John Dewey's thesis to come to fruition.
Dewey saw a necessity of introducing an order of new concepts (progressivism) leading to new practices. However Dewey observed it difficult to develop a new philosophy of education because the moment traditions are departed from it makes the management of education all the more difficult and challenging. Dewey observed that because of this there would be a return to the old ways, the simpler ways - the fundamental or traditional ways. Dewey observed that mankind's thinking is traditionally set in terms of extreme opposites. Dewey found that this same thinking applied to educational philosophies as well. In theory educational systems are steadfast in their thinking and deployment but in reality their practices are compelled to compromise. Education is formulated from outside forces but undergoes development from internal forces. However, these internal forces work within the framework of standards and traditional rules that initially instituted the educational system, thus all following actions aimed to an educational end are held to a moral benchmark.
Educational philosophy, which professes to be based on the idea of freedom (progressivism), may become dogmatic as the traditional education it reacted against. Alone a progressive educational theory may become rigid, unmoving and dictatorial as the traditional theory and practice is perceived. Dewey found that tradition does not permit freedom. Tradition limited freedom and did not promote intellectual and moral development of the student. From a sociological point of view we prefer democratic and humane arrangements to those that are autocratic and harsh. Thus tradition can further be characterized by harshness, harshness imposed upon the learner. Dewey found that progressivism permits freedom, the freedom of the learner yet, freedom has a purpose and a moral structure characterized by self-control. Freedom gives the ability to control personal impulse and thus provides an environment for the educational process.
Pertaining to subject matter of facts and ideas Dewey found that these are bound up in the past. Variably Dewey found that issues of the present and future are thus not easily dealt with. Dewey's dilemma or philosophical challenge was how to connect achievements of the past with issues of the present and future. In a broad educational sense one must know where one came from in order to tell where one is and where one has the direction to go. Dewey found that progressivism rejects the past as a means to the future. However, tradition is still needed to tackle the needs of progressivism. If the one gives up the ways of the past the same problems stills confronts one in the present and future. Thus tradition can not be ignored. As Alfred Whitehead saw it the only use of knowledge of the past is to equip us for the present. The present contains all that there is. Tradition is a form of experience and can not be ignored.
Experience and education are not synonymous terms. It is very possible for experience to promote erroneous or defective education. Experience must be evaluated for its ability to enhance education. Dewey states that America needs a theory of experience that works and directs the selection and organization of approved educational methods. This theory must ultimately discriminate between experiences that are worthwhile and those that are not. There must be discrimination between education and miseducation. You can get experience in one direction and equally important open up peripheral experiences. Education as growth and maturity should be an ever-present process. Education is the business of continuous improvement. There is growth and satisfaction.
All subject matter is drawn from life's experiences. Take experience, in order to be educative it must lead out into expanding world of subject matter, subject matter of facts of information of ideas. It must be viewed as a continuous process to be successful. Experience is the means and goal of education. Given an idea you then prove it, but that means proving its worth. You prove its worth through experience. This is good for society and beneficial because of the peripheral benefits of experience. The experience is the actual life experience of the learner. There is only one subject matter for education: life. Bring these experiences freely into the classroom to promote education.
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Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars Important book on Dewey's core beliefs about progressive education.
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2018
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Although originally published in 1938, Dewey provides a fascinating account of the role of experience in education, much of which remains relevant today, almost two decades into the 21st century. Dewey's comments about the importance of continuity and interaction in experience provides an interesting perspective for thinking about how students learn. Furthermore, his thoughts on social control, freedom, and purpose are helpful in comparing the structure and effects of traditional and progressive instructional methods on student's educational experiences. This book ought to be essential reading for teachers and administrators, and will be of interest to anyone interested in philosophy of education and educational theory in general.
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Todd Martin
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Experience
Reviewed in Canada on July 3, 2021
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Shipping was fast, and product was as promised.
Overall, easy and positive experience
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Cliente do Kindle
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente conteúdo.
Reviewed in Brazil on February 1, 2021
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Livro de bolso, Papel jornal, Bem pequeno. Mas ótimo conteúdo. Vale o preço e vale como obra de extrema importância para educadores.
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Judite Bessa Valverde
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantástico
Reviewed in Spain on October 13, 2022
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Leitura obrigatória
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Alejandro
5.0 out of 5 stars Bueno
Reviewed in Mexico on January 13, 2023
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recomendable
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Subrahmanyam Muramalla
4.0 out of 5 stars One of the most important books on Education | (On delivery) Paper is of very cheap quality
Reviewed in India on February 29, 2020
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This is a short and cute book that powerfully throws light on the important topic of experience in education. It elaborates on how experience should be ordered.
I believe in experience based education since instruction that is not based on an experience just rests as series of information that we need to memorise "somehow".
Customer image
Subrahmanyam Muramalla
4.0 out of 5 stars One of the most important books on Education | (On delivery) Paper is of very cheap quality
Reviewed in India on February 29, 2020
This is a short and cute book that powerfully throws light on the important topic of experience in education. It elaborates on how experience should be ordered.
I believe in experience based education since instruction that is not based on an experience just rests as series of information that we need to memorise "somehow".
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