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RESEARCH PRODUCT

John Dewey’s notion of social intelligence

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This chapter focuses on Deweyan understanding of intelligence as fundamentally social. This understanding differs from the common conceptions of intelligence as a feature of an isolated individual and/or as a possession of an elite. Starting with a look at the relevance of reconceptualizing intelligence, the chapter continues by describing how, according to Dewey’s theory, intelligence forms, manifests and cumulates in interactions. It then discusses the presumable implications of Dewey’s theory in terms of the contextuality of intelligent action, the importance of taking relevant experience-based information into account, the use of a particular method of inquiry, and modification of educational settings. In conclusion, it contends that the Deweyan notion of social intelligence provides an additional conceptual angle to address some of the challenges related to understanding contextualized citizenship and its learning. peerReviewed