Spotlight: John Dewey
What is the connection between John Dewey and EIU's Lab School?
The philosophy behind the Dewey School was a significant influence on the development of Eastern's educational mission for its Lab School. He founded the laboratory school at The University of Chicago in 1897. Dewey believed that learning was an intensely social process, and his vision was to have a place where students engaged in activities that developed creative problem solving skills. As a pragmatist he wanted children to learn how to be practical and productive citizens.
Dewey's beliefs regarding education:
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Students begin learning by experimentation and develop interests in traditional subjects to help them gather information.
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Students are part of a social group in which everyone learns to help each other.
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Students should be challenged to use their creativity to arrive at individual solutions to problems.
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The child, not the lesson, is the center of the teacher’s attention; each student has individual strengths, which should be cultivated and grown.
John Dewey: photo courtesy of The University of Chicago.
Dewey's Laboratory School Elementary Geography Class: photo courtesy of The University of Chicago.
Building upon the question of how Dewey's values influenced Eastern, the Lab School class programs encouraged community building through group activities based on practical projects that were tied to larger lessons– ranging from the mathematical to the moral. See below this 1970 article from the Charleston Times Courier, it shows how a scientific study of soil erosion transferred into a conservation project that helped the local community.
Click the picture to read the article. Photo courtesy of EIU archives.