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Freyani Patrice

Democracy in Education

Very much like John Dewey, I believe in a democracy like teaching style. I remember being a student and always feeling like nothing interested me because nothing was current or relevant to my experiences or me. The fact that John Dewey places this great emphasis on the idea of using experience as a primary way of learning speaks to me on so many levels. Oftentimes, because I am a Dance teacher I find it difficult to bring real world experiences and issues into the space because of the certain guidelines I must follow. However, I do find myself often asking my students “Do you like this? Where do you think this piece should go next? Find a reason why this could be important to you or anyone watching?”

Like Dewey, I believe that students should learn through doing. It is okay to feed students information but what is its use if students do not use, connect or experience  it. The importance of doing something then learning what it means to fail and succeed, that is where real active learning occurs for me. It was awesome to know that someone before thought the same. This idea of doing is described by McCutchen where she writes, “Show it, tell it, do it all in the same lesson” (2006, p. 95). She placed emphasis on allowing students to do all in the same lesson of you explaining things because it is important that students get to experience what concept it is you are trying to pass on to them. This is interesting because as dance teachers, the majority of what we do is experiential learning. In order, for students to grasp, connect and create they have to see what is being done and do it with you. Unlike core subjects, where the principal is yes experience but less physical and in my opinion creative. As dance teachers we place huge emphasis on the process of learning through physical interpretation and experience.

However, what stood out to me the most was this need to explore the human experience in Dewey’s philosophy of art and teaching.. “The real work of art is the building of an integral experience out of the interaction of organic and environmental conditions and energies,” (Dewey, 2005, p. 67). If the value of both art and education is measured by experience, then I find that as an educator it is important for students to have choice and discover their own experiences in the space. Being a dance educator I find makes this thought process much easier and practice. It is imperative that students understand that it is not radical to think that they should not have autonomy over their learning but even over their creativity and how they connect. I have always taught in urban school settings so a lot of the time I have to listen to what they want to experience to help jog their creativeness. Which is a lot of what Dewey speaks of. This idea of using the environment and how they interact in learning.

Dewey’s perspective on teaching and learning encourages a teaching as inquiry mindset. His principles for teaching and learning suggest that teachers should cultivate an energetic openness to possibilities alongside a commitment to reflectively learning from experiences, be willing to experience, broaden and use problems as an opportunity to get deeper into an understanding of self, students, the subject and the context.

He had a need for creating a universal education and through that as humans we could abandon habits and learn how to think more creatively. This stood out to me because sometimes we do not experience art or our creative artistic sides because of our lack of the experiencing aspect in this matter. I believe dance expands this and allows people to learn to think differently and broaden minds, which is interesting because Dewey was saying this in a reference to general education. John Dewey does an excellent job of bringing up this idea of “distinctions between what is done and how it is done” (2005, 114). This is in essence what this paper and ideology is about. The idea about what is done, how it is done and where it is presented or viewed. The truth is there is a distinction, but the distinction is reflectant upon what is happening externally rather than the internal experience. Personal experience has shown me that how things are done is important to show and put value on a piece of work.

Dewey's philosophy of education highlights the importance of imagination to drive thinking and learning forward, and for teachers to provide opportunities for students to suspend judgment, engage in the playful consideration of possibilities, and explore doubtful possibilities. I find that in my classroom the place where students get to question me and question how this is relevant to them is where the most success are made. It is where students break off and create really great work.

My 8th grade class is currently creating work for their winter showcase and I gave them a prompt to really evaluate the “architecture” of their dance works. I drew connections between how cars create their own “floor plans” based on the direction they need to go, how people move in train stations based on the platform they are trying to build and even how they would like to build the message and how the audience would see it. The goal was to create a space where they could trust each other enough to discuss the similarities and world around them, to then create an experience as a community that would engulf the audience in their worlds. Williams states in an article on Dewey’s educational philosophy that he focus on “By creating a community with a climate of trust, students will feel comfortable taking risks and trusting their classmates, all of which work toward the goal of promoting a positive social-emotional setting which will result in increased academic achievement” (95).

It was through this inquiry when it came time to share, I saw the creative breakthrough with my students. That led to deep conversations of why they decided to architecturally design their work the way they did. Conversations about having to walk to school because they did not have enough to take public transportation, the disconnect as human beings that is shared because unless we know someone we are emotionless and middle school being the first time they move from class to class.  There was a deep sensitivity to where people came from and what they were willing to share.

I find that the feel of dance is really the keystone to the democratic sense of education that Dewey talks about.

References: 

Dewey, J. (2005). Art as experience. Perigee Books.

McCutchen, B. (2006). Teaching dance as art in education. Human Kinetics.

Williams, M. K. (2017). John Dewey in the 21st century. Journal of Inquiry & Action in Education, 9(1). 91-102.

Hi Freyani!

Thanks so much for sharing this with me!

I really appreciate learning new ideas. I attended Teachers College in New York and John Dewey was long a member of the TC community. To this day there is a Dewey bust and an inspirational quote as people enter the building. His influence persists there and across education.

I had never thought to connect dance/dance education with Dewey and the turn toward democratic education. I hope you continue to explore democracy in dance and across the other classrooms where students are so lucky to have you.

My biggest suggestion would be to add more Dewey references across your text. It feels like there are some parts where this is missing.

Finally, thanks so much for persevering during such a personally difficult time. You will get through this. I hope you eventually use it as a reservoir of strength during other challenging parts of your life.

Thanks again!

Dino