Progressivism

PROGRESSIVISM
A theory of education that is concerned with learning by doing that children learn best when pursuing
their own interests and satisfying their own needs. (Foundations of American Education)
The Progressive education philosophy was established in America from the mid 1920s through the mid
1950s. John Dewey was its foremost proponent. One of his beliefs was that the school should improve the way
of life of our citizens through experiencing freedom and democracy in schools. Shared decision making, planning
of teachers with students, student-selected topics are all aspects. Books are tools, rather than authority.
Progressivists believe that education should focus on the whole child, rather than on the content or the
teacher. This educational philosophy stresses that students should test ideas by active experimentation. Learning
is rooted in the questions of learners that arise through experiencing the world. It is active, not passive. The learner
is a problem solver and thinker who makes meaning through his or her individual experience in the physical and
cultural context. Effective teachers provide experiences so that students can learn by doing.
Characteristics of progressivism:
* Education based on needs and interests of students
* Students learn by doing as well as from textbooks
* Teaching through field trips and games
* Emphasis on natural and social sciences
* Experiential learning
* Grouping by interest and abilities
Purpose of Schooling
Progressivists believe the purpose of schooling should be not about competition, but about being able to
cooperate. Being able to develop problem-solving and decision-making skills is a major part of progressivism
and what progressivists believe.
Dewey envisioned such a democratic community to be pluralistic in nature and include moral, economic, and
educational goals. - Taylor Manderfield)
Curriculum
Lerner described the curriculum as child centered, peer centered, growth centered , action centered,
process and change centered, equalty centered, and also community centered. This would make the student learn
in a different way and they would experience science by exploring their immediate physical world. All students
would learn in a "social" kind of way.
Curriculum content is derived from student interests and questions. The scientific method is used by
progressivist educators so that students can study matter and events systematically and first hand. The emphasis
is on process-how one comes to know.
Classroom Setting
Though each teacher should arrange his/her classroom according to their students interests and needs, each
progressive classroom should provide the following:
- A democratic, safe environment where students feel understood, appreciated and supported.
- A small student/teacher ratio
- A physical environment that allows group work
- An area where students could show the product of their work
- Resources for students to use in their projects
COMPARISON BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND PROGRESSIVISM
Traditional
Progressive
School is a preparation for life.
School is a part of life.
Learners are passive absorbers of information and
Learners are active participants, problem solvers, and
authority.
planners.
Teachers are sources of information and authority.
Teachers are facilitators, guides who foster thinking.
Parents are outsiders and uninvolved.
Parents are the primary teachers, goal setters, and

planners, and serve as resources.
Community is separate from school, except for
Community is an extension of the classroom.
funding.
Decision-making is centrally based and
Decision-making is shared by all constituent groups.
administratively delivered.
Program is determined by external criteria,
Program is determined by mission, philosophy, and
particularly test results.
goals for graduates.
Learning is linear, with factual accumulation and skill
Learning is spiral, with depth and breadth as goals.
mastery.
Knowledge is absorbed through lectures, worksheets,
Knowledge is constructed through play, direct
and texts.
experience, and social interaction.
Instruction is linear and largely based on correct
Instruction is related to central questions and inquiry,
answers.
often generated by the children.
Disciplines, particularly language and math, are
Disciplines are integrated as children make
separated.
connections.
Skills are taught discretely and are viewed as goals.
Skills are related to content and are viewed as tools.
Assessment is norm-referenced, external, and graded.
Assessment is benchmarked, has many forms, and is

progress-oriented.
Success is competitively based, derived from recall
Success is determined through application over time,
and memory, and specific to a time/place.
through collaboration.
Products are the end point.
Products are subsumed by process considerations.
Intelligence is a measure of linguistic and
Intelligence is recognized as varied, includes the arts,
logical/mathematical abilities.
and is measured in real-life problem-solving.
School is a task to be endured.
School is a challenging and fun part of life.
STRENGTHS OF PROGRESSIVISM:
* All children are worthy as individuals
* Progressivism is an agent of change
* The standards are forward thinking and must support preparation for challenging work in college and beyond
changing the world
WEAKNESSES OF PROGRESSIVISM
* Teachers must be purposeful in their preparation, cunning in their methods and steadfast in maintaining the
values and expectations of the school
* Teachers must have their opportunities to expand their classroom practice.
* Willingness to take responsibility to oneself and to the world seriously.
DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM
Dialectical materialism (sometimes abbreviated diamat) is a philosophy of science and nature, based on
the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It was inspired by dialectic and materialist philosophical
traditions. The main idea of dialectical materialism lies in the concept of the evolution of the natural world and
the emergence of new qualities of being at new stages of evolution.
"Engels made constant use of the metaphysical insight that the higher level of existence emerges from and
has its roots in the lower; that the higher level constitutes a new order of being with its irreducible laws; and that
this process of evolutionary advance is governed by laws of development which reflect basic properties of 'matter
in motion as a whole'." - Z. A. Jordan
Dialectics
Dialectics is the science of the general and abstract laws of the development of nature, society and thought.
In Dialectical Materialism, the laws of dialectics developed with a materialist point of view.
Materialism
Materialism is a realist philosophy of science, which holds that the world is material; all phenomena in
the universe consist of matter in motion according to natural laws. Materialism asserts the primacy of the
material world: matter precedes thought. Thought is a reflection of material world.
The ideal is nothing else than the material world reflected by the human mind, and translated into forms of
thought. Karl Marx
In simplified form, Dialectical Materialism states that ideas and thoughts of human changes in a dialectical
process due to the movement and existence of the matter. Dialectical Materialism is not only a philosophy but
also a complete way of thinking to explain the reality.
Dialectical materialism as a heuristic in Science
Dialectical materialism is not, and never has been, a programmatic method for solving particular physical
problems. Rather, a dialectical analysis provides an overview and a set of warning signs against particular forms
of dogmatism and narrowness of thought. It tells us:
* Remember that history may leave an important trace.
* Remember that being and becoming are dual aspects of nature.
* Remember that conditions change and that the conditions necessary to the initiation of some process
may be destroyed by the process itself.
* Remember to pay attention to real objects in time and space and not lose them in utterly idealized
abstractions.
* Remember that qualitative effects of context and interaction may be lost when phenomena are isolated
* Remember that all the other caveats are only reminders and warning signs whose application to different
circumstances of the real world is contingent
(Richard Lewontin and Stephen Jay Gould)
IMPACT OF DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM ON THE THEORY

AND PRACTICE OF EDUCATION
AIMS OF EDUCATION
a. Physical Aim
Education is to maintain and improve physical health of the individual and make him an efficient
citizen. Education is to use the physical means and physical environment to bring about the highest wellbeing of
citizens. There is no contradictions between the individual and the society. The education of the individual being
proceeds through the collective, and the collective grows and becomes stronger through education of each of its
members.
b. Intellectual Aim
Education aims at creating conditions which may prove useful in creating a congenial and intellectual
environment and society. Intellectual development takes place in experiential terms through practical application
of ideas, theories and plans in social practices.
c. Cultural and aesthetic aim
Schools aim at teaching that true culture is inherent in work in a classless society and people themselves
are the producers, retailers and consumers of culture.
d. Moral Aim
The old morality founded in the Commandments of God is regarded as fraud designed to dull the minds
of workers and peasants. School teaches new standards in belief and conduct suiting the new society in which
there will be no exploitations of human being by his fellowmen.
e. Science and technology aim
Progress and invention in the fields of medicine, armament production, space travels and research is meant
to prove the superiority of the communist way of life over the capitalist one.
f. Self-sufficient aim
Give children education to make them self-sufficient so that they become productive and thus responsible
citizens. The aim of education is to familiarise the child with the basic principles of production processes and to
teach him the skills of handling the instruments of production.
g. Promotion of communist ideology
Disseminate and promote communistic ideology to produce active builders of communism.
h. Development of harmonious personalities
All children have the right to education. Education must produce harmoniously developed personalities.
Children must be physically strong, intellectually enlightened, morally pure and spiritually wealthy. Education
must develop cognitive abilities through scientific knowledge.
CURRICULUM
a. Scientific and mathematics
Emphasises specialized knowledge of science and mathematics. It does not put emphasis on
humanities and social sciences
b. Physical education and work experience
Physical education and work-experience are equally important in the curriculum
c. Language, literature, art and music
The knowledge of language of local language, literature, art and music also finds a place in the
curriculum
d. General knowledge and technical subjects
Innate capacities are to be translated into action with the help of general knowledge, technical and
vocational subjects.
e. Labour
The central pre- occupation of the school and a subject has to be studied in all economic, social
political, aesthetic and scientific aspects
f. Social change and revolution
Techniques and social change and revolution, from that form of society in which one class can
exploit another class to a thoroughly the school and college years
g. History of class struggle
Dialectic material and history of class struggle are similarly, spread over the curriculum is one
form or another.
METHODS OF TEACHING
a. Productive Activity
Productive activity is the basis of all teaching and every subject is taught through correlation with
productive activities
b. Work and play
Work is not only a subject matter but a method. According to Marx, by work is meant real workwork that results in the production of real goods. Emphasis is placed on the industrial output as well as on the
humanisation of mind and the refinement of man carried out by work.
Vocational and cultural aim is realised through the method of work. The work is alternated with
ample play.
DISCIPLINE
Concept of discipline is based on collectivism and mutual assistance. Everyone has mutual respect
for each other considering everyone a friend and brother. Children act on the principle of one for all and all for
one. Since dialectical materialism has given birth to communism, as such children have freedom within a certain
frame work. Communist ideology is held supreme and adherence to it is of supreme importance. It conditions the
individual behaviour and allows freedom within its framework.

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PROGRESSIVISM

COMPARISON BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND PROGRESSIVISM

School is a preparation for life.

School is a part of life.

Learners are passive absorbers of information and

Learners are active participants, problem solvers, and

Teachers are sources of information and authority.

Teachers are facilitators, guides who foster thinking.

Parents are outsiders and uninvolved.

Parents are the primary teachers, goal setters, and

Community is separate from school, except for

Community is an extension of the classroom.

Decision-making is shared by all constituent groups.

Program is determined by mission, philosophy, and

particularly test results.

goals for graduates.

Learning is linear, with factual accumulation and skill

Learning is spiral, with depth and breadth as goals.

Knowledge is constructed through play, direct

experience, and social interaction.

Instruction is linear and largely based on correct

Instruction is related to central questions and inquiry,

often generated by the children.

Disciplines, particularly language and math, are

Disciplines are integrated as children make

Skills are taught discretely and are viewed as goals.

Skills are related to content and are viewed as tools.

Assessment is norm-referenced, external, and graded.

Assessment is benchmarked, has many forms, and is

Success is competitively based, derived from recall

Success is determined through application over time,

and memory, and specific to a time/place.

Products are the end point.

Products are subsumed by process considerations.

Intelligence is a measure of linguistic and

Intelligence is recognized as varied, includes the arts,

and is measured in real-life problem-solving.

School is a task to be endured.

School is a challenging and fun part of life.

IMPACT OF DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM ON THE THEORY

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