2. 1- Renewal of life by Transmission
Living being is one that subjugates and controls for its
own continued activity the energies that would
otherwise use it up
Life is a self renewing process through action upon the
environment
Living maintain themselves by renewal
Living can be crushed by a superior force, it none the
less tries to turn the energies which act upon it into
means of its own further existence and if it can’t do so
then it will lose identity as a living thing
3. We use the word “life” to denote the whole range of
experience, individual and racial
Life covers customs, institutions, beliefs , victories and
defeats, recreations and occupations
The continuity of any experience, through renewing of
the social group, is a literal fact
Education is the means of the social continuity of life
Every one in any social group is
born, immature, helpless, without a
language, beliefs, ideas, or social standards.
4. Birth and death of social group’s members determine
the necessity of education
With the growth of civilization, the gap between the
original capacities of the immature and the standards
and customs of the elders increases
Deliberate effort and the taking of thoughtful pains are
required to reproduce the life of the group
Society exists through a process of transmission quite
as much as biological life. This transmission occurs by
means of communication, and without this
communication social life couldn’t survive
5. Renewal is not automatic, and unless pains are
taken, the most civilized groups will relapse into
barbarism and then into savagery
If human young are left without guidance, they
couldn’t acquire the abilities necessary for physical
existence
6. 2- Education and communication
Teaching and learning is necessary for the continued
existence of a society
Schools are important method of the transmission
which forms the disposition of the immature
Society exist in transmission, in communication
In order to form a community we must have common
aims, beliefs, aspirations, and knowledge. These
common things are passed through communication
Within even the most social groups there are many
relations which are not as yet social
7. Social life is identical with communication and all
communication is like art and its educative
Social life demands teaching and learning for its own
permanence and the process of living together
educates
8. 3- The place of formal education
There is a difference between the education which we get
from living with others and the deliberate education of the
young
Dealing with the young is an important human fact, and
training them to accomplish change in their attitudes and
habits is too urgent
In undeveloped social groups we find very little formal
teaching and training.
As civilization advanced, the gap between the capacities of
the young and the concerns of the adults widens
9. Without prior education and training, the ability to
share effectively in adult activities will be limited and
it’s not possible to transmit all the resources and
achievements of a complex society
In an advanced culture much which has to be learned
is stored in symbols
Philosophy of education must maintain a balance
between the formal and informal, the incidental and
the intentional, modes of education
10. 1. The Nature and Meaning of Environment
Education is a fostering, a nurturing, a
cultivating, process, and it implies attention to the
conditions of growth
the environment consists of those conditions that
promote or hinder, stimulate or inhibit, the
characteristic activities of a living being
Beliefs and aspirations cannot be physically extracted
and inserted, but they are communicated
11. The words "environment," "medium" denote
something more than surroundings which encompass
an individual. They denote the specific continuity of
the surroundings with human active tendencies.
2. The Social Environment
Activities and associations with others are the social
environment for beings
The social medium shapes the external habits of
action, and human actions are modified according to
the social environment
12. Some times, altering the external habit of action will
also alter the mental disposition concerned in the
action
We have to differentiate between training and
education
Many times, the activity of the immature human being
is simply played upon to secure habits which are useful
the social medium neither implants certain desires
and ideas directly, nor yet merely establishes certain
purely muscular habits of action
13. Knowledge is gained by shared activities, common
experience, and actions, and not by language
The use of language to convey and acquire ideas is an
extension and refinement of the principle that things gain
meaning by being used in a shared experience or joint
action
3. The Social Medium as Educative
Social environment forms the mental and emotional
disposition of behavior in individuals
Association does not create impulses or affection and
dislike, but it furnishes the objects to which they attach
themselves
14. Individuals can be affected by conscious deliberate
teaching and by unconscious influence of the
environment which effect can be marked in three
areas: The habits of language, manners, and good taste
and esthetic appreciation
the things which we take for granted without inquiry
or reflection are just the things which determine our
conscious thinking and decide our conclusions
15. 4. The School as a Special Environment
Controlling the environment in which the immature
act, and hence think and feel, is the only way to
control their education
We never educate directly, but indirectly by means of
the environment
Community must rely upon the set agency of schools
to insure adequate transmission of all its resources
Schools are instituted to care for our activities and
energies which make up the social intercourse
16. The mode of association has three functions:
1. A complex civilization is too complex to be assimilated in
total. It has to be broken up into portions
2. It is the business of the school environment to
eliminate, so far as possible, the unworthy features of the
existing environment from influence upon mental
habitudes
3. It is the office of the school environment to balance the
various elements in the social environment, and to see to
it that each individual gets an opportunity to escape from
the limitations of the social group in which he was
born, and to come into living contact with a broader
environment.
17. Each different group exercises a formative influence on
the active dispositions of its members
The complexity of modern societies demand for an
educational institution which shall provide something
like a homogeneous and balanced environment for the
young
The school has the function also of coordinating
within the disposition of each individual the diverse
influences of the various social environments into
which he enters
18. Dewey states that the young student is not naturally
inclined to align themselves behaviorally with the
culture or group at large; therefore they must be
guided towards fitting the group at large in order to
benefit society as a whole greater function.
19. Dewey addressed three forms of education in terms
of function:
First is the idea of control. Dewey makes the case
that control is in fact a two way street where outside
forces are accepted as necessary by those who choose
to conform otherwise they would not do so.
-In fact, control can be both directed by outside powers and
driven by internal forces that seek to guide one’s self to
some form of satisfaction.
Guidance is the mode of assisting a learner through
cooperative processes.
Direction can be viewed as guidance which is more
heavily regulated.
20. To understand how Education can act as direction one
must understand the factors that can play into the
directive process. What drives direction?
Environment may impact direction according to the
fashion by which one’s environment moves our
impulses. Our environment drives direction by first
adding outside stimulus that demands some sort of
response; and second, by using these responses to bring
the forefront tendencies already living within the
individual
21. People can also be driven towards “the groups in which
the exist,” through social direction.
- Setting social norms in order to identify
disobedience.
-Use of the social environment; how things are use
in social interactions. It then becomes just as
important to display how things are not to be used.
(For example) A chair is properly used for
sitting, a table may be properly used for a
number of things.
22. Direction through Imitation
The key to social control lies upon the instinctive
needs of people to imitate or copy others.
Dewey uses the example of a child rolling a ball back
and forth with an adult. If another child were to
watch, eventually the second child too, would want to
have the ball rolled to hem and roll it back.
From a young age, every child sees and reacts. It is the
basic instinct to belong and please one’s self that leads
to such imitations.
23. Setting an emphasis on imitation. Set the example that
should be followed and the student will eventually
follow it.
At very least one would hope a young leaner will
become aware of expectations and having a proper
grasp of right and wrong through imitation.
Give the attention to positive behavior more than to
negative behavior.
24. Why does one society civilize itself while another
does not?
Any society will be formed, in large part, through it’s
environment and the direction in which said
environment sends it.
Are social norms well established and proper?
Do the youth imitate that which is civil and just?
Is direction clear cut and orderly?
Through the process of adapting our young to these
concepts through the generations, we can now
properly direct our young from early ages.
25. Closing quote:
“The basic control resides in the nature of the
situations in which the young take part. In
social situations the young have to refer their
way of acting to what others are doing and
make it fit in. This directs their action to a
common result, and gives an understanding
common to the participants” (Dewey, 1916,
p.39).
26. Dewey lays out how education is a strong tool for
personal and emotional growth. In order to direct our
students towards positive growth social impact must
be considered. Immaturity, which plays into
plasticity, which is needed to form habits must be
present and understood in order to obtain full
educational development.
27. Society needs positive growth since it is our future
generations that will be most impacted by positive
or negative growth.
Growth can be most directly impacted be one
internal factor: immaturity.
For growth to occur some level of immaturity must
be present.
For this example, Dewey makes clear immaturity is more
correctly defined as the capacity to grow and develop
than it is as some negative term demeaning ones current
development, behavior or understanding.
A danger can arise when viewing immaturity in the scope
of adult versus child.
28. When viewed as something that is gained in
adulthood, maturity then becomes a negative asset
in children. Also, once obtained a person can reach
a position in which no growth is further needed.
Dewey views both of these as possible hinders in
education processes.
When viewed as the capacity to grow, maturity then
becomes a force of positive momentum which can
be adequately gaged person to person, learner to
learner.
29. An important point on education as a tool for
growth would be human processes and behaviors
will be adopted by those under adult tutelage. An
example of this would be adults who are self
absorbed will most likely have children and
students who are self absorbed.
As in chapter 3, set the example and, even sub
consciously, the example will be followed.
An underlying goal should be to move from
immaturity to maturity, regardless of ‘starting point.”
30. Plasticity, “is essentially the ability to learn from
experience; the power to retain from one experience
something which is of avail in coping with the
difficulties of a later situation” (Dewey, 1916, p. 44).
Can one roll with the punches? Can one adapt and
change? Does a person modify actions according to
prior experiences?
Once plasticity (The ability to learn and adjust with
experience) is in place, habits will begin to form.
31. Since one must be able to adjust to surroundings and
new findings, eventually habits will form according to
past experience.
These habits then lead to a growth of
thought, invention, intuition and maturity.
Positive habits can be viewed as an expression of positive
growth.
Negative or bad habits can often be viewed as an
outward expression of a lack of positive growth.
32. The underlining notion of this chapter seeks to bring
about understanding of key concepts of how people
grow so that they can be applied to education.
Understanding how maturity is not to be measured
against desirable adult like traits can open doors for
applying instruction to more than just making adults out
of children.
Understanding plasticity leads to the development of
habits can help educators present new challenges at
appropriate times.
33. Developing positive habits can help thought, invention
and intuitive processes. Applying and helping the
development of habits that benefit the educational
experience rather than those that oppose it can help
with individual growth and personal growth.
The educational process is continual and unending;
therefore a learner continually
adjusts, rebuilds, reforms and transforms.
34. Dewey, J. (n.d). Democracy and Education. Project
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