Education and the unity of the person

1996

The deeper meaning of education, says Dewey in his Human Nature and Conduct (1922), which distinguishes the justly honored profession from that of mere trainer, is that “a future new society of changed purposes and desires may be created by a deliberately humane treatment of the impulses of youth” (p. 69). For Dewey, “a truly humane education consists in an intelligent direction of native activities in the light of the possibilities and necessities of the social situation” (p. 70). Student impulse and interest are not to be suppressed nor continually vented in unrestrained expression. In view of the plasticity of youth, there is little danger that allowing the role of student interest will …