Dewey and DuBois

John Dewey

John Dewey was born on October 20, 1859 in Burlington, Vermont. His oldest brother died when he was just a child, but Dewey attended public schools with his three other brothers. Dewey graduated from the University of Vermont in 1879. Dewey’s three other brothers attended the University of Vermont as well (I.E.P., 2007, para. 2).

After he graduated from college, Dewey became a high school teacher for two years. Eventually, Dewey turned his interests to philosophy and stopped teaching. He borrowed two thousand dollars from his aunt and enrolled himself in graduate school. Dewey received his Ph.D. from the School of Arts & Sciences at Johns Hopkins University in 1884. He became part of the University of Michigan faculty after he received his Ph.D. In 1894, Dewey joined the faculty at the University of Chicago. This is where Dewey first started to form his belief in pragmatism. People who believe in pragmatism are people that “consider practical consequences or real effects to be vital components of both meaning and truth” (Wikipedia, 2007, para. 1).

Dewey had the belief that learning should be something that is active. He believed that school was unnecessary for children, too long and restrictive. He thought that children should be involved in real-life experiences and challenges. He had the idea that children could learn math, for example, in everyday tasks, such as cooking. Or, children could learn history by understanding how people lived during a certain period of time (Wilderdom, 2005, para. 1).

Dewey was an incredibly influential philosopher and educational reformer, not only for his time period, but also for many time periods after his, all the way up to the present day. Dewey was a professor of philosophy at both Columbia University and Teachers College, Columbia University, until his death on June 1st, 1952 (Wikipedia, 2007, para. 2).




W.E.B. DuBois

W.E.B. DuBois (William Edward Burghardt Du Bois) was a very prominent African American civil rights activist. DuBois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts on February 23, 1868. DuBois did not have contact with his biological father, and he blamed his maternal grandparents for his father leaving, because they did not like his father. DuBois did not feel different from the rest of his classmates while he was in school because he was black. After he graduated, DuBois was enrolled in Fisk University in 1888. By 1890, DuBois received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College. After, he became a student at the University of Berlin, and traveled all over Europe (Wikipedia, 2007, Childhood para.).

In 1895, DuBois was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. at Harvard University. DuBois established the department of sociology at Atlanta University, which is now called Clark Atlanta University (Wikipedia, 2007, University Education para.)

DuBois was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (America’s Library, para. 1) DuBois believed that African Americans should not fight for political power, civil rights, and higher education. He believed that African Americans should focus on “industrial education” (Hynes, Easing on Down the Road). DuBois had the idea of the “Talented Truth,” who, according to DuBois, could use their knowledge to lead the rest of the African Americans into a higher civilization (Hynes, Easing on Down the Road).

DuBois moved to Ghana in 1961, and became a citizen of the country in 1963. After his health declined in 1962, DuBois died on August 27, 1963, one day before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech (Wikipedia, 2007, Later Life para.)



Sources:


John Dewey

Fishman, Stephen M., and Lucille McCarthy. John Dewey and the Challenge of Classroom Practice. New York, NY: Teachers College Press, 1998.

http://www.iep.utm.edu/d/dewey.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey

http://wilderdom.com/experiential/JohnDeweyPhilosophyEducation.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatism



W.E.B. DuBois

Provenzo Jr., Eugene F. Dubois on Education. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMire Press, 2002.

http://www.duboislc.org/html/DuBoisBio.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/dubois