John Franklin Bobbit was born near English,

Indiana on February 16, 1876. He was a son of

James and Martha Bobbitt. He was born of
true American stock, who believed that hard
work, study, self-discipline, religious faith, and
devotion to duty were the absolute ingredients
for survival in this life and entry into the life
beyond. He was a university professor and
author. He also taught school from 1903 to
1907 at the Philippine Normal School in
Manilla. John Franklin Bobbitt was a social
efficiency advocate who saw the curriculum as
a means for preparing students for their adult
roles in the new industrial society. His work
greatlyinfluenced the development of
curriculum by emphasizing specifications and
responses to current social needs rather than on
teaching classical subjects. In 1918, Bobbitt
authored
The Curriculum. This was the first book to focus specifically on curriculum. This
book has beenrecognized by many scholars as the beginning of structured
curriculum. Bobbitt realized that it was not enough to just develop new
curricula, but saw there was a need to learn more about how new curricula
could best be developed. This insight came through his vast experience in the
field of curriculum.
In his book, Bobbitt tells of a personal experience that caused him to look at
curriculum from the point of view of social needs rather than mere academic
study. He had gone to the Philippines early in the American occupation as a
member of a committee sent to draw up an elementary school curriculum for
the islands. With the freedom to recommend almost anything to meet the
needs of the population, the committee had the opportunity to create an
original,constructive curriculum. Originally they assembled American
textbooks for reading, arithmetic,geography, United States history, and other
subjects with which they had been familiar in UnitedStates schools. Without
being conscious of it, they had organized a course of study for the traditional
eight elementary grades, on the basis of their American prejudices and
preconceptions about what an elementary course ought to be.
A director of education in the Philippines helped Bobbitt and the committee to look at
the social realities, and they then threw out their original plan. Ultimately, they
brought into the course a number of things to help the people gain health, make a
living, and enjoy self-realization. The activities they introduced came from the culture
of the Philippines and were quite different from those found in the American
textbooks. His experience in the Philippines helped Bobbitt to see his difficulty: his
complete adherence to traditional curriculum beliefs had kept him from realizing the
possibility of more useful solutions. He had needed something to shatter his
complacency. His experiences stimulated other workers in the field of curriculum. His
book, How to Make a Curriculum, was the forerunner of others in the subject and had
great influence on school practice.
Bobbitt formulated five steps in curriculum making: (a) analysis of human experience,
(b) job analysis, (c) deriving objectives, (d) selecting objectives, and (e) planning in
detail. Step one dealt with separating the broad range of human experience into major
fields. Step two was to break down the fields into their more specific activities. The third
step was to derive the objectives of education from statements of the abilities required
to perform the activities. The fourth step was to select from the list of objectives those
which were to serve as the basis for planning pupil activities. The final step was to lay
out the kinds of activities, experiences, and opportunities involved in attaining the
objectives.
Bobbitt�s final book, Curriculum of Modern Education, shows that after three decades
in the curriculum field that he changed his position somewhat in the early 1940�s.
Ralph W. Tyler Facts
The American educator/scholar Ralph W. Tyler
(1902-1994) was closely associated with curriculum
theory and development and educational
assessment and evaluation. Many consider him to
be the "father" of behavioral objectives, a concept
he frequently used in asserting learning to be a
process through which one attains new patterns of
behavior.
Ralph Winfred Tyler was born April 22, 1902, in
Chicago, Illinois, and soon thereafter (1904) moved
to Nebraska. In 1921, at the age of 19, Tyler
received the A.B. degree from Doane College in
Crete, Nebraska, and began teaching high school
in Pierre, South Dakota. He obtained the A.M.
degree from the University of Nebraska (1923)
while working there as assistant supervisor of
sciences (1922-1927). In 1927 Tyler received the
Ph.D. degree from the University of Chicago.
After serving as associate professor of education at the University of North Carolina
(1927-1929), Tyler went to Ohio State University where he attained the rank of professor
of education (1929-1938). It was around 1938 that he became nationally prominent due
to his involvement in the Progressive Education related Eight Year Study (1933-1941), an
investigation into secondary school curriculum requirements and their relationship to
subsequent college success. In 1938 Tyler continued work on the Eight Year Study at the
University of Chicago, where he was employed as chairman of the Department of
Education (1938-1948), dean of social sciences (1948-1953), and university examiner
(1938-1953). In 1953 Tyler became the first director of the Stanford, California-based
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, a position he held until his
retirement in 1966.
Ralph Tyler's scholarly publications were many and spanned his entire career. Among
his most useful works is Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction (1949), a course
syllabus used by generations of college students as a basic reference for curriculum and
instruction development. Basic Principles perhaps influenced more curriculum specialists
than any other single work in the curriculum field. This syllabus, written in 1949 when
Tyler was teaching at the University of Chicago, identifies four basic questions which
have guided the development of untold curricula since the 1940s: 1) What are the
school's educational purposes? 2) What educational experiences will likely attain these
purposes? 3) How can the educational experiences be properly organized? 4) How can
the curriculum be evaluated? An author of several other books, Tyler also wrote
numerous articles appearing in yearbooks, encyclopedias, and periodicals.
When Tyler first went to Ohio State University in 1929 he was already formulating his
ideas regarding the specification of educational objectives. While working with various
departments at Ohio State in an effort to discover better instructional methods, he
began to solidify his belief that true learning is a process which results in new patterns of
behavior, behavior meaning a broad spectrum of human reactions that involve
thinking and feeling as well as overt actions.
This reasoning reveals the cryptic distinction between learning specific bits and pieces of
information and understanding the unifying concepts that underlie the information.
Tyler stressed the need for educational objectives to go beyond mere memorization and
regurgitation. Indeed, learning involves not just talking about subjects but a
demonstration of what one can do with those subjects. A truly educated person, Tyler
seems to say, has not only acquired certain factual information but has also modified
his/her behavior patterns as a result. (Thus, many educators identify him with the
concept of behavioral objectives.) These behavior patterns enable the educated person
to adequately cope with many situations, not just those under which the learning took
place. Tyler asserted that this is the process through which meaningful education occurs,
his caveat being that one should not confuse "being educated" with simply "knowing
facts"; the application of facts is education's primary raison d'etre.
Tyler's establishment of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences was
one of his most noteworthy achievements. His ideas for the center at the time were very
progressive and remained excellent examples for proposals regarding scholarly study
into the 1980s. Scholars visiting the center were not confined by any set routine or
schedule in regard to their research. They were free to collaborate with each other,
schedule meetings and workshops, or simply do independent research.
Tyler's involvement with the National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP) project was another momentous achievement that had far reaching
effects upon improved education in the United States. This long-term study
provided extensive data about student achievement in school. Tyler also
played a significant role in the Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development (ASCD) and its "Fundamental Curriculum Decisions." (1983).
Throughout his career Ralph Tyler demonstrated boundless energy as he served
either as a member or adviser to numerous research, governmental, and
educational agencies. Included among these were the National Science Board,
the Research and Development Panel of the U.S. Office of Education, the
National Advisory Council on Disadvantaged Children, the Social Science
Research Foundation, the Armed Forces Institute, and the American
Association for the Advancement of Science. Service on many other educational
agencies could be credited to Tyler, including his presidency of the National
Academy of Education. His retirement in 1966 as director of the Center for
Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences did not terminate his involvement
in education, as he continued to serve as an adviser to both individuals and
agencies. He died of cancer at the age of 91 in 1994.
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov Facts
The Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov
(1849-1936) pioneered in the study of
circulation, digestion, and conditioned reflexes.
He believed that he clearly established the
physiological nature of psychological
phenomena.
Ivan Pavlov was born in Ryazan on Sept. 26,
1849, the son of a poor parish priest, from whom
Pavlov acquired a lifelong love for physical
labor and for learning. At the age of 9 or 10,
Pavlov suffered from a fall which affected his
general health and delayed his formal
education. When he was 11, he entered the
second grade of the church school at Ryazan. In
1864 he went to the Theological Seminary of
Ryazan, studying religion, classical languages,
and philosophy and developing an interest in
science.
In 1870 Pavlov gained admission to the University of St. Petersburg (Leningrad), electing animal
physiology as his major field and chemistry as his minor. There he studied inorganic chemistry
under Dmitrii Mendeleev and organic chemistry under Aleksandr Butlerov, but the deepest
impression was made by the lectures and the skilled experimental techniques of Ilya Tsion. It was in
Tsion's laboratory that Pavlov was exposed to scientific investigations, resulting in his paper "On
the Nerves Controlling the Pancreatic Gland."
After graduating, Pavlov entered the third course of the Medico-Chirurgical Academy (renamed in
1881 the Military Medical Academy), working as a laboratory assistant (1876-1878). In 1877 he
published his first work, Experimental Data Concerning the Accommodating Mechanism of the
Blood Vessels, dealing with the reflex regulation of the circulation of blood. Two years later he
completed his course at the academy, and on the basis of a competitive examination he was
awarded a scholarship for postgraduate study at the academy.
Pavlov spent the next decade in Sergei Botkins laboratory at the academy. In 1883 Pavlov
completed his thesis, The Centrifugal Nerves of the Heart, and received the degree of doctor of
medicine. The following year he was appointed lecturer in physiology at the academy, won the
Wylie fellowship, and then spent the next 2 years in Germany. During the 1880s Pavlov perfected
his experimental techniques which made possible his later important discoveries.
In 1881 Pavlov married Serafima Karchevskaia, a woman with profound spiritual feeling, a deep
love for literature, and strong affection for her husband. In 1890 he was appointed to the vacant
chair of pharmacology at the academy, and a year later he assumed the directorship of the
department of physiology of the Institute of Experimental Medicine. Five years later he accepted
the chair of physiology at the academy, which he held until 1925. For the next 45 years Pavlov
pursued his studies on the digestive glands and conditioned reflexes.
Pavlov's endeavor to give the conditioned reflex widest application in animal and
human behavior tended to color his philosophical view of psychology. Although he did
not go so far as to deny psychology the right to exist, in his own work and in his
demands upon his collaborators he insisted that the language of physiology be
employed exclusively to describe psychic activity. Ultimately he envisioned a time when
psychology would be completely subsumed into physiology. Respecting the Cartesian
duality of mind and matter, Pavlov saw no need for it inasmuch as he believed all
mental processes can be explained physiologically.
Politically, most of his life Pavlov was opposed to the extremist positions of the right and
left. He did not welcome the Russian February Revolution of 1917 with any enthusiasm.
As for the Bolshevik program for creating a Communist society, Pavlov publically
stated, "If that which the Bolsheviks are doing with Russia is an experiment, for such an
experiment I should regret giving even a frog." Despite his early hostility to the
Communist regime, in 1921 a decree of the Soviet of People's Commissars, signed by
Lenin himself, assured Pavlov of continuing support for his scientific work and special
privileges. Undoubtedly, Soviet authorities viewed Pavlov's approach to psychology as
confirmation of Marxist materialism as well as a method of restructuring society. By 1935
Pavlov became reconciled to the Soviet Communist system, declaring that the
"government, too, is an experimenter but in an immeasurably higher category."
Pavlov became seriously ill in 1935 but recovered sufficiently to participate at the
Fifteenth International Physiological Congress, and later he attended the Neurological
Congress at London. On Feb. 27, 1936, he died.
Lev Vygotsky was a seminal Russian
psychologist who is best known for
his sociocultural theory. He believed
that social interaction plays a
critical role in children's learning.
Through such social interactions,
children go through a continuous
process of learning. Vygotsky noted,
however, that culture profoundly
influences this process. Imitation,
guided learning, and collaborative
learning all play a critical part in his
theory
Vygotsky's Early Life
Lev Vygotsky was born November 17, 1896, in Orsha, a city in the western
region of the Russian Empire.
He attended Moscow State University, where he graduated with a degree in
law in 1917. He studied a range of topics while attending university, including
sociology, linguistics, psychology, and philosophy. However, his formal work in
psychology did not begin until 1924 when he attended the Institute of
Psychology in Moscow.
He completed a dissertation in 1925 on the psychology of art but was awarded
his degree in absentia due to an acute tuberculosis relapse that left him
incapacitated for a year. Following his illness, Vygotsky began researching
topics such as language, attention, and memory with the help of students
including Alexei Leontiev and Alexander Luria.

Vygotsky's Career and Theories

Vygotsky was a prolific writer, publishing six books on psychology topics over a
ten-year period. His interests were quite diverse but often centered on issues of
child development and education. He also explored such subjects as the
psychology of art and language development.
Sociocultural Theory
Lev Vygotsky also suggested that human development results from a dynamic
interaction between individuals and society. Through this interaction, children learn
gradually and continuously from parents and teachers.
This learning, however, can vary from one culture to the next. It's important to note that
Vygotsky's theory emphasizes the dynamic nature of this interaction. Society doesn't just
impact people; people also affect their society.

Contributions to Psychology
Vygotsky's life was cut tragically short on June 11, 1934, when he died of tuberculosis at
the age of 37.
He is considered a formative thinker in psychology, and much of his work is still being
discovered and explored today. While he was a contemporary of Skinner, Pavlov, Freud,
and Piaget, his work never attained their level of eminence during his lifetime. Part of
this was because the Communist Party often criticized his work in Russia, and so his
writings were largely inaccessible to the Western world. His premature death at age 37
also contributed to his obscurity.
Despite this, his work has continued to grow in influence since his death, particularly in
the fields of developmental and educational psychology.
It wasn't until the 1970s that Vygotsky's theories became known in the West as new
concepts and ideas were introduced in the fields of educational and developmental
psychology. Since then, Vygotsky's works have been translated and have become very
influential, particularly in the area of education.
Educator John Dewey originated the experimentalism philosophy. A
proponent of social change and education reform, he founded The
New School for Social Research.

Synopsis
John Dewey was born October 20, 1859, in Burlington, Vermont. He
taught at universities from 1884 to 1930. An academic philosopher
and proponent of educational reform, in 1894 Dewey started an
experimental elementary school. In 1919 he cofounded The New
School for Social Research. Dewey published over 1,000 pieces of
writings during his lifetime. He died June 1, 1952, in New York, New
York.

Early Life
John Dewey was born on October 20, 1859, to Archibald Dewey and
Lucina Artemisia Rich in Burlington, Vermont. He was the third of
the couple’s four sons, one of whom died as an infant. Dewey’s
mother, the daughter of a wealthy farmer, was a devout Calvinist.
His father, a merchant, left his grocery business to become a Union
Army soldier in the Civil War. John Dewey’s father was known to
share his passion for British literature with his offspring. After the
war, Archibald became the proprietor of a successful tobacco shop,
affording the family a comfortable life and financial stability.
Growing up, John Dewey attended Burlington public schools,
excelling as a student. When he was just 15 years old, he enrolled at
the University of Vermont, where he particularly enjoyed studying
philosophy under the tutelage of H.A.P. Torrey. Four years later,
Dewey graduated from the University of Vermont second in his
class.
Teaching Career
The autumn after Dewey graduated, his cousin landed him a teaching job at a seminary
in Oil City, Pennsylvania. Two years later, Dewey lost the position when his cousin
resigned as principal of the seminary.
After being laid off, Dewey went back to Vermont and started teaching at a private
school in Vermont. During his free time, he read philosophical treatises and discussed
them with his former teacher, Torrey. As his fascination with the topic grew, Dewey
decided to take a break from teaching in order to study philosophy and psychology at
Johns Hopkins. George Sylvester Morris and G. Stanley Hall were among the teachers
there who influenced Dewey most.
Upon receiving his doctorate from Johns Hopkins in 1884, Dewey was hired as an
assistant professor at the University of Michigan. At Michigan he met Harriet Alice
Chipman, and the two married in 1886. Over the course of their marriage, they would
give birth to six children and adopt one child.
In 1888 Dewey and his family left Michigan for the University of Minnesota, where he
was a professor of philosophy. However, within a year, they chose to return to the
University of Michigan, where Dewey taught for the next five years. By 1894 Dewey was
made head of the philosophy department at the University of Chicago. He remained at
the University of Chicago until 1904, also serving as director of its School of Education for
two years.
Dewey left Chicago in 1904 to join the Ivy League, becoming a professor of philosophy
at Columbia University while working at Teachers College on the side.
In 1930, Dewey left Columbia and retired from his teaching career with the title of
professor emeritus. His wife, Harriet, had died three years earlier.
Philosophy
Dewey’s philosophical treatises were at first inspired by his reading of philosopher and psychologist
William James’ writing. Dewey’s philosophy, known as experimentalism, or instrumentalism, largely
centered on human experience. Rejecting the more rigid ideas of Transcendentalism to which Dewey had
been exposed in academia, it viewed ideas as tools for experimenting, with the goal of improving the
human experience.
Dewey’s philosophy also claimed than man behaved out of habit and that change often led to
unexpected outcomes. As man struggled to understand the results of change, he was forced to think
creatively in order to resume control of his shifting environment. For Dewey, thought was the means
through which man came to understand and connect with the world around him. A universal education
was the key to teaching people how to abandon their habits and think creatively.

Education Reform
John Dewey was a strong proponent for progressive educational reform. He believed that education
should be based on the principle of learning through doing.
In 1894 Dewey and his wife Harriet started their own experimental primary school, the University
Elementary School, at the University of Chicago. His goal was to test his educational theories, but Dewey
resigned when the university president fired Harriet.
In 1919, John Dewey, along with his colleagues Charles Beard, Thorstein Veblen, James Harvey Robinson
and Wesley Clair Mitchell, founded The New School for Social Research. The New School is a progressive,
experimental school that emphasizes the free exchange of intellectual ideas in the arts and social sciences.
During the 1920s, Dewey lectured on educational reform at schools all over the world. He was particularly
impressed by experiments in the Russian educational system and shared what he learned with his
colleagues when he returned to the States: that education should focus mainly on students’ interactions
with the present. Dewey did not, however, dismiss the value of also learning about the past.
In the 1930s, after he retired from teaching, Dewey became an active member of numerous educational
organizations, including the New York Teachers Guild and the International League for Academic
Freedom.
Birthday: October 4, 1928
Nationality: American
Famous: Quotes By Alvin Toffler American Men
Died At Age: 87
Sun Sign: Libra
Born In: New York
Famous As: Writer & Futurist
Family:Spouse/Ex-: Heidi Toffler
Father: Sam Toffler
Mother: Rose Toffler
Died On: June 27, 2016
Place Of Death: Los Angeles
U.S. State: New Yorkers

Alvin Toffler was an American writer, who wrote on futurism related to

communication, digitalization and corporate growth. He was known to be the
‘world’s most famous futurologists’ and is considered as an important influence
in shaping of the modern China. He started as being an associate editor at the
‘Fortune’ magazine and did analysis for them in the field of business and
management. Before that, he devoted some of his youth in working at the
labor’s level and then became a labor columnist, shared his experience and
analysis on the working class. His earlier writings focused on the expansion of
technology and its impact on the society which got him research works form
companies like IBM and AT & T. Toffler from there on wrote books like ‘Future
Shock’, ‘The Third Wave’, etc. in which he addressed the problems of
information overload, increasing military hardware, weapons and technology
proliferation, and capitalism. Owing to his impeccable understanding of the
future impact of the current revolutionary technological changes, he was a
member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, serves on the
advisory board of the Comptroller-General of the United States, and has been
elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
He married to Heidi Toffler, who was a futurist and intellectual in her own
right and had an active influence on Toffler’s professional growth.
Childhood & Early Life
Alvin Toffler was born on 4 October 1928, in New York City and went to the New York University where he studied
English literature and met his future wife Heidi. They both were radical thinkers and belonged to the Left Wing
ideology.
They left the university together and relocated to the Midwest of the United States, working the blue-collar jobs on
the assembly line. After five years, Heidi became a union shop steward and he became a millwright and welder.

Career
After working as a manual laborer for some time, Toffler got a job in the Washington office of a Union sponsored
paper. He used to write on the political affairs of American Congress and the White House for a Pennsylvanian daily.
He worked three years for the Pennsylvanian daily and then moved to New York City to work as a labor columnist for
the ‘Fortune’ magazine. He was later asked to write on the topics of business and management.
Thereafter, Toffler left ‘Fortune’ and joined IBM and was asked to write an essay on how computers have changed
society and organizations. While working on this essay, he came in contact with many original theorists on artificial
intelligence.
Xerox also asked Toffler to write analysis on its research laboratory and AT & T. His study revealed that that company
should have broken up more than a decade before the government forced it to break down.
In 1970, Toffler wrote his first book called ‘Future Shock’. In this book he explained the psychological changes that
come from ‘too much change in too short period of time’. The book was an international bestseller.
After ‘Future Shock’ his second big book ‘The Third Wave’ came out. It was a sequel to the ‘Future Shock’ and talked
about the transition in the developed countries from Industrial Age to Information Age.
In 1983, Toffler got one of his essays ‘Previews and Premises: A Penetrating Conversation About Jobs, Identity, Sex
Roles, the New Politics of the Information Age and the Hidden Forces Driving the Economy’ published .
Tofflers’ ‘Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century’ was published in 1990. It was
the third book in his ‘futurist’ trilogy. Around the same time, he wrote ‘War and Anti-War: Making Sense of Today’s
Global Chaos’.
Toffler co-founded ‘Toffler Associates’ along with Tom Johnson in 1996. It is an advisory firm that executes the ideas
that Toffler has written on. The firm worked with organizations in the US, South Korea, Mexico, Australia, etc.
In 2006, he published ‘Revolutionary Wealth: How it will be created and how it will change our lives’, a book that
expands on the ideas of the ‘Third Wave’. It talks about how in the future the wealth will be created and who will get
it.
Personal Life & Legacy
He met his wife Heidi Toffler, also a futurist writer, at the New York University
in 1928 and got married to her right after that. They both have a child, Karen
Toffler, who died some time back after suffering from Guillain Barre Syndrome.
Alvin Toffler died on June 27, 2016, at his home in Los Angeles.

Trivia
• He is known to be the third most significant business leader after Bill Gates
and Peter Drucker by ‘Accenture’, the management consultancy firm.
• He has been called the ‘world’s most famous futurologist’ by Financial Times
and is known to have been amongst the most important influences in
shaping modern China.
• He is the recipient of the McKinsey Foundation Book Award for
Contributions to Management Literature.
• He has the visiting scholar position from the Russell Sage Foundation.
• He also received the prestigious Officer de L’Ordre des Arts et Letters.
• Heidi Toffler, Toffler’s wife, is on the advisory council of the Center for Global
Communications in Tokyo and the scientific committee of the Piu Manzu
Foundation in Italy.
• Both husband and wife are honorary Co-Chairs of the U.S. Committee for the
United Nations Development Fund for Women
Educator John Dewey originated the experimentalism philosophy. A
proponent of social change and education reform, he founded The
New School for Social Research.

Synopsis
John Dewey was born October 20, 1859, in Burlington, Vermont. He
taught at universities from 1884 to 1930. An academic philosopher
and proponent of educational reform, in 1894 Dewey started an
experimental elementary school. In 1919 he cofounded The New
School for Social Research. Dewey published over 1,000 pieces of
writings during his lifetime. He died June 1, 1952, in New York, New
York.

Early Life
John Dewey was born on October 20, 1859, to Archibald Dewey and
Lucina Artemisia Rich in Burlington, Vermont. He was the third of
the couple’s four sons, one of whom died as an infant. Dewey’s
mother, the daughter of a wealthy farmer, was a devout Calvinist.
His father, a merchant, left his grocery business to become a Union
Army soldier in the Civil War. John Dewey’s father was known to
share his passion for British literature with his offspring. After the
war, Archibald became the proprietor of a successful tobacco shop,
affording the family a comfortable life and financial stability.
Growing up, John Dewey attended Burlington public schools,
excelling as a student. When he was just 15 years old, he enrolled at
the University of Vermont, where he particularly enjoyed studying
philosophy under the tutelage of H.A.P. Torrey. Four years later,
Dewey graduated from the University of Vermont second in his
class.
Teaching Career
The autumn after Dewey graduated, his cousin landed him a teaching job at a seminary
in Oil City, Pennsylvania. Two years later, Dewey lost the position when his cousin
resigned as principal of the seminary.
After being laid off, Dewey went back to Vermont and started teaching at a private
school in Vermont. During his free time, he read philosophical treatises and discussed
them with his former teacher, Torrey. As his fascination with the topic grew, Dewey
decided to take a break from teaching in order to study philosophy and psychology at
Johns Hopkins. George Sylvester Morris and G. Stanley Hall were among the teachers
there who influenced Dewey most.
Upon receiving his doctorate from Johns Hopkins in 1884, Dewey was hired as an
assistant professor at the University of Michigan. At Michigan he met Harriet Alice
Chipman, and the two married in 1886. Over the course of their marriage, they would
give birth to six children and adopt one child.
In 1888 Dewey and his family left Michigan for the University of Minnesota, where he
was a professor of philosophy. However, within a year, they chose to return to the
University of Michigan, where Dewey taught for the next five years. By 1894 Dewey was
made head of the philosophy department at the University of Chicago. He remained at
the University of Chicago until 1904, also serving as director of its School of Education for
two years.
Dewey left Chicago in 1904 to join the Ivy League, becoming a professor of philosophy
at Columbia University while working at Teachers College on the side.
In 1930, Dewey left Columbia and retired from his teaching career with the title of
professor emeritus. His wife, Harriet, had died three years earlier.
Philosophy
Dewey’s philosophical treatises were at first inspired by his reading of philosopher and psychologist
William James’ writing. Dewey’s philosophy, known as experimentalism, or instrumentalism, largely
centered on human experience. Rejecting the more rigid ideas of Transcendentalism to which Dewey had
been exposed in academia, it viewed ideas as tools for experimenting, with the goal of improving the
human experience.
Dewey’s philosophy also claimed than man behaved out of habit and that change often led to
unexpected outcomes. As man struggled to understand the results of change, he was forced to think
creatively in order to resume control of his shifting environment. For Dewey, thought was the means
through which man came to understand and connect with the world around him. A universal education
was the key to teaching people how to abandon their habits and think creatively.

Education Reform
John Dewey was a strong proponent for progressive educational reform. He believed that education
should be based on the principle of learning through doing.
In 1894 Dewey and his wife Harriet started their own experimental primary school, the University
Elementary School, at the University of Chicago. His goal was to test his educational theories, but Dewey
resigned when the university president fired Harriet.
In 1919, John Dewey, along with his colleagues Charles Beard, Thorstein Veblen, James Harvey Robinson
and Wesley Clair Mitchell, founded The New School for Social Research. The New School is a progressive,
experimental school that emphasizes the free exchange of intellectual ideas in the arts and social sciences.
During the 1920s, Dewey lectured on educational reform at schools all over the world. He was particularly
impressed by experiments in the Russian educational system and shared what he learned with his
colleagues when he returned to the States: that education should focus mainly on students’ interactions
with the present. Dewey did not, however, dismiss the value of also learning about the past.
In the 1930s, after he retired from teaching, Dewey became an active member of numerous educational
organizations, including the New York Teachers Guild and the International League for Academic
Freedom.