"Preparation" is a treacherous idea. In a certain sense every experience should do something to prepare a person for later experiences of a deeper an… - John Dewey

"Preparation" is a treacherous idea. In a certain sense every experience should do something to prepare a person for later experiences of a deeper and more expansive quality. That is the very meaning of growth, continuity, reconstruction of experience. But it is a mistake to suppose that the mere acquisition of a certain amount of arithmetic, geography, history, etc., which is taught and studied because it may be useful at some time in the future, has this effect, and it is a mistake to suppose that acquisition of skills in reading and figuring will automatically constitute preparation for their right and effective use under conditions very unlike those in which they were acquired.

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About John Dewey

John Dewey (October 20 1859 – June 1 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer. A major figure in the Pragmatist school of American philosophy, his work has been influential in a wide range of fields.

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Also Known As

Alternative Names: Dewey
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For in spite of itself any movement that thinks and acts in terms of an ‘ism becomes so involved in reaction against other ‘isms that it is unwittingly controlled by them. For it then forms its principles by reaction against them instead of by a comprehensive, constructive survey of actual needs, problems, and possibilities.

Intellectual progress usually occurs through sheer abandonment of questions together with both of the alternatives they assume — an abandonment that results from their decreasing vitality and a change of urgent interest. We do not solve them: we get over them.

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To find out what one is fitted to do, and to secure an opportunity to do it, is the key to happiness.

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