Some Inspections of the Correspondence of John Dewey During His Chicago Years (4) : On Some Events about the University of Chicago Laboratory School:1901-1902

The purpose of this paper is to examine John Dewey's correspondence during his Chicago years, especially from the beginning of 1901 to May 1902, focusing on his activities concerning the University of Chicago Laboratory School. In March 1901, it was officially decided that the Chicago Institute of Pedagogy and Arts, under the directorship of Francis W. Parker, would be incorporated into the University of Chicago as the University of Chicago School of Education. Consequently, it was one of the most urgent problems for the Dewey's Laboratory School whether it would be merged with the elementary school of Chicago Institute. In this paper, I intend to point out that Dewey was inconsistent as to his judgment about the merger of his elementary school (the Laboratory School) with Parker's elementary school. He approved at first the arrangements between the Chicago Institute and the University, according to which Parker would be in charge of elementary education and Dewey would be in charge of secondary education, so that Dewey's elementary school would be absorbed into Parker's elementary school. It is clear that after 1900, when The Elementary School Record, a series of twelve monographs of the Laboratory School, was published, Dewey became more interested in secondary education than in elementary education. However, when the Parents' Association of the Laboratory School strongly opposed the merger of the two elementary schools, so did Dewey. Most of the parents did not want their children to be educated in the practice school of normal school; they preferred the university experimental school. Then Dewey emphasized the significance of the Laboratory School for scientific research into education. In the event, the Laboratory School was continued