The school as a community
Dr. Theodore asked the question: "Are we better prepared for living as adults
in society if we have learned how to be part of a community? Yes, I believe we
are much better prepared for society if we learn to be part of a community. Being
part of a community requires you to work together even if you don't particularly
like your neighbors or agree with them. In class on Wed our group had a discussion
about if Dewey would actually have due dates. One member felt that there would
not be due dates but some of us thought that there would have to be due dates
or completion dates. This lead us to a discussion about working together. When
you are working as a group one of the things you quickly realize is that each
member is valuable and you must complete your part for others to continue their
own work, Take the early example of the play. There
would be a performance, so that would be the final due date. all of the scenery,
costumes, props etc must be completed in order for the production to be presented.
In order to include the community you would need to let them know of a date to
come to the performance. Would the students be responsible for setting the date.
I believe that in Dewey's system they would definitely have input along with the
teacher. I believe that all of these factors make you a better member of society.
I think that this is a good example of the school functioning as a community.
This example shows the entire class
and school working together towards a common goal --- they are working to accomplish
something important. I think that is the importance of a community, or at least
a good and decent community. If everyone's thinking was solely individualistic,
then not much would be accomplished to proceed on into the future. The world would
fall apart without the cooperation of everyone working together.
Classroom environments need to make the students feel welcome to share their ideas. This should not stop at the arrangement of the desks. Dewey was meaning a little more than comfort of the students. Dewey wanted the environment of the classroom to promote peer interactions and the stimulations students get from group work. If the desks are arranged in rows, it is very military feeling. Now if students are arranged in groups, then the idea of peer interactions can take place.
Also, students should be able to move around the classroom. This is mainly for younger students, but they should be able to have room to sit on the floors for group discussions.
Peer interactions are a strong part in learning. The number one way that students learn is from peer interactions. Students can help each other. Some people may think they are cheating, but it is only cheating if a student is merely copying the paper. If there is some discussion, whether they are arguing over the correct answer or one student is explaining to another, then peer interaction is working not cheating.
The other problem with this is students may misbehave in groups. Students misbehave because they are bored. If the teacher has the students engaged in explorations, they should be too busy to misbehave.
"A society is a number of people held together because they are working along common lines, in a common spirit, and with reference to common aims" (Dewey, p.14) Dewey thought that, not only should a school teach children how to be a part of the community, but it should also be a society itself. The best example I have seen of this is the private school I went to from 1st-8th grade. We got a great education, but we were also a kind of little family. We had to all work together to raise money to keep the school open. Classes volunteered to do things for the community (i.e. collecting food for the poor, singing or making cards for people at the nursing home). Also, the students worked together to keep the school clean. Some would volunteer to clean up the grounds. Eighth graders could volunteer to be on the cleaning crew. The cleaning crew got in groups of 4 or 5 and would go in a rotation, each group staying after school and cleaning for a week whenever it was their turn. Parents got involved in school repairs by offering their services and donating tools and equipment from their various businesses. Also, students were given the opportunity to decide what they wanted to do and learn. We had extra classes (i.e. Spanish and chorus) that were optional. Plus, we did not try out for sports, so anyone could play whatever they wanted. All of these things built a great sense of community. We learned a lot, both inside books and out. We also learned to be responsible. Students treat their school a lot differently when they are the ones taking care of it. Since we knew that either we or some of our peers had to clean up after us, we respected the school property. Also, since we were the ones that kept our school running, we worked hard at whatever we did, whether it was academics or athletics. There was no point in working so hard to keep a school running and keep it looking nice if we weren't going get something out of it. This sense of responsibility was carried with us whenever we left the school. There is still a part of me that cringes when I see that someone has defaced property in some way. They obviously don't know what it costs!
Back to the John Dewey's Philosophy
of Education home page | Back to the Foundations of Education Web home page