progressivism, individualism, and the public ... - Telmarc Group

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The Telmarc Group PROGRESSIVISM, INDIVIDUALISM, AND THE PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL ""I believe that … the teacher is not in the school to impose certain ideas or to form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of a community to select the influences which shall affect the child and assist him in properly responding to these influences. I believe that education is a regulation of the process of coming to share in the social consciousness and that the adjustment of individual activity on the basis of this social consciousness is the only sure method of social reconstruction." 78 In a sense Dewey sees education as a process where we mold and control the individual, driving from them their very individuality and seeking to attain a oneness with this "society" which Dewey has abstracted. This point is further driven home by Fott: "Throughout his career Dewey insists, particularly in his works on education, that there is no conflict between the good of a fully developed individual and the good of society. The child naturally wants "to serve" his fellows in society, and educators must understand that the "law" in intellectual and spiritual affairs is "co-operation and participation". "What one is as a person is what one is as associated with others, in a free give and take of intercourse." That the activities of life are bound up with emotions appears to indicate that there is no separate inner world for an individual apart from his relations with others." 79 This is a chilling observation and it is true. Dewey saw himself and his camp followers as puppet masters, those who held the truth and those who held the strings to make society, not individuals, do what they felt was the correct thing to do. For Dewey the individual, as embodied in his view of the student and education, was a singular and immeasurable entity whose very existence depended solely upon belong and contributing to society. As Martin states: "…Dewey insisted that education be society-centered, for children are destined to become not isolated individuals but members and citizens of society. He saw and stated clearly that children's inner nature and mind grows from within but must be completed through relationships." 80 Fott states: 78 See Pestritto and Atto p 14. 79 See Fott p 36. 80 Martin p. 199. Page 76
The Telmarc Group PROGRESSIVISM, INDIVIDUALISM, AND THE PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL "…Dewey insists …that there is no conflict between the good of a fully developed individual and the good of society. The child naturally wants "to serve" his fellows in society and educators must understand that the "law" in intellectual and spiritual affairs is "cooperation and participation"". 81 Thus for Dewey the child and perforce of age the adult, is there to serve his fellow servers. The individual is there to serve the society and perforce of that has no rights unto themselves. We shall return to this later. 4.3.5 The Public Intellectual The public intellectual was a creation of the early 20th century and for the most part it was populated by academics and their fellow travelers. Public intellectuals are best characterized by the fact that they are purveyors of their ideas through the public media. Rather than publishing in academic journals, the public intellectual is generally an educated person who uses the media to present their ideas to the public. They are held in some state of high esteem perforce of their position. They have ab initio a degree of credence and respect based upon where they are employed or with what institution they are affiliated with. They are almost a creation of the times and circumstances as well of the ability of the media to reach a larger public. In addition the public intellectual relies upon a public which can read and comprehend, a rather strange contradiction to the assumptions of Dewey and his education philosophy. We also argue that Dewey and the other Progressive As Hofstadter states: "Professors in America had always had the status of hired men, but they never had enough professional pride to express anything more than a rare momentary protest against this condition. Now even though their professional situation was improving they found themselves the resources to complain against their position; not the least of their grievances was the fact that their professional affairs were under the control of the plutocracy, since boards of trustees were often composed of those very businessmen who in other areas of life were becoming suspect for their predatory and immoral lives. 82 " Indeed the movement of the public intellectual was driven by the resentment of the professors to those who fed them, namely those who controlled industries. One can see this in Dewey to some degree. It is not as if he brought in funds for research as is 81 Fott p 36. 82 See Hofstadter TAR pp 154-155. Page 77
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The Telmarc Group and the Progressi
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