John Dewey  

• Developmental Democracy
• Most influential American philosopher of the 20th century
• Believed children were actively curious and social by nature and given meaningful task, they would become active problem solvers seeking to carry out their own purposes
• Believed that schools penalized the children for behaving in accord with these facets of their nature
• Believed activities should be selected by teacher and student on the basis of the
• students’ interests
• Believed that working together, students could cooperatively solve problems thinking critically about the causes and consequences of things they were interested in, thus growing intellectually
• Believed classroom was not preparation for life, but life itself
• Opposed educating for vocation

 

---

Charles Eliot  

• Social Efficiency
• Spokesman for the replacement of traditional education goals by four new ones-social stability, employable skills, equal educational opportunity, and meritocracy
• As numbers and ethnic diversity of his school students increased, he became an advocate of vocational education
• Had distinct prejudices against students not from “pure American stock”
• Thought school should prepare student for the workplace
• Believed society was divided into 1) the managing class 2) the commercial class devoted to buying and selling 3) skilled artisans 4) “the rough workers”
• Believed that the school system should train students for the vocation to which they are clearly destined
• Saw schools as factories to shape the raw materials
• Believed equal opportunity meant that students would receive different kinds of education, but all student would have “equal opportunity” to receive the education appropriate for them
• Used IQ tests to identify the most qualified