301. John Dewey and the New Definition of Individual Responsibility
- Author
-
Brick, Blanche H.
- Abstract
One of the most difficult areas of Dewey's thought to understand is that which deals with individual responsibility and development. As one of the leaders of the Progressive Movement in education, he was heavily identified, sometimes incorrectly, with the doctrines of individualism at the root of this movement. As Lawrence Cremin pointed out in "The Transformation of the School," he was also attacked by critics who saw his stress on social morality as a threat to the concept of individualism as it was then understood (Cremin 1964, 126). This paper will attempt to understand why Dewey's view of individualism could be viewed in both a positive and negative manner. In order to do this, it is important to consider why his view of individualism was "new" in the first part of the 20th century in the United States and how it impacted educational thought.
- Published
- 2008