Educational Theory: Dewey Vs. Eliot the Contrast Term Paper

Educational Theory: Dewey vs. Eliot

The contrast between the contemporary educational theories of John Dewey and Charles W. Elliot cannot be subsumed under the dichotomies of 'right and wrong' so much as the two men's different sociological contexts, although the two men expressed contempt of one another during their respective lifetimes. Overall, Dewey stressed the idea of education through one's pursuit of a vocation and Charles W. Eliot's stressed the need for education for education's sake for the vocations. Dewey believed education was a constant process, and that life was an education, while Eliot saw a strong dichotomy between university life and professional life, as well as those who were fit to become a part of the system of higher education and those who were not.

Dewey was a Midwesterner. He strongly believed in the democratic need for education. He advocated the end of entrance exams as necessary to enter colleges, stressing that a high school diploma was proof enough of a student's fitness for such a policy. The Eastern-educated President of Harvard Charles W. Eliot was strongly opposed to school accreditation as a replacement for entrance exams, although he acknowledged the need to eliminate the requirements of Greek and Latin for entrants to college. Higher education was not for all, Eliot believed, and exams provided a necessary proving ground that one was fit enough to enter into preparation for the rigors of the university, and finally educated and professional life.

To Dewey, Eliot's educational concepts were anathema to his ideal of the democratic idea of education: "higher education, as well as the three R's, is of and for the people, and not for some cultivated classes." Dewey knew that the vast majority of Americans had to work for a living, thus education should prepare them for their professions and hopefully their education within the context of their lives and professions would elevate them mentally and spiritually above the education received by their fathers. In other words, education was a constant endeavor, not something…