ジョン・デューイの児童観と教育理論 : 新教育としての児童中心教育の理念を焦点に

As is generally known, John Dewey, once the leader of New Education in the world, has been the most famous American philosopher of education. He asserted Child-Centered Education strongly, but there are few theses about that viewpoint. For this reason, I wrote this short paper. In Dewey\u27s theory of education, the starting point of all education is the child\u27s own instincts and powers, and the education is a constant reorganizing of experience, so we can understand that his view of the child is Child-Centered Education. The aim of education in Dewey is the process of education itself which aim is to develop the abilities of the child continuously. Therefore, his aim of education is set not by external dictation, but by the free growth of the child\u27s own experience. We can say clearly that this standpoint is the viewpoint of Child-Centered Education. And this standpoint is also carried through his theory of curriculum and method, that is, he emphasizes the subject-matter of the curriculum must link intimately together the life and experience of the child. Namely, he says the subject-matters which make up the curriculum have to be composed and reorganized from the child\u27s life and experience. According to Dewey, the method of teaching is the way that the subject-matter of an experience develops most effectively and fruitfully, and the problem of instruction is that of finding material which will engage the child in specific actvities having an aim or purpose of interest to the child. Like this, Child-Centered Education is dealt with in Dewey\u27s theory of education, the aim and curriculum and method, so we can say that his theory of education is actually New Education