John Dewey: education as a process of reconstruction of experiences

Abstract

John Dewey was considered one of the most important philosophers and educators of the first half of the 20th century. His ideas were also developed in philosophy, psychology and pedagogy, and many of them are still current nowadays.

This article invites the reading of a set of his books. It also takes up some specific concepts from his pedagogical perspective and focus special attention on the notion of experience that, in some way, summarizes his educational thinking. The text tries to recognize the elements that, according to Dewey, allow to build an experience in its vital and reflective mark.  In order to reach this point, first reference is made to the author's sense of philosophy, and then the main features of the New School movement to which he belonged are described.

Dewey's texts were reinterpreted according to different reading horizons. Here it is argued that their ideas are still valid and that they are relevant to place themselves around the features that our time requires and so, they can provide new meanings to education.