JOHN DEWEY'S HIGH HOPES FOR PLAY:DEMOCRACY AND EDUCATIONAND PROGRESSIVE ERA CONTROVERSIES OVER PLAY IN KINDERGARTEN AND PRESCHOOL EDUCATION

Abstract

Exploring John Dewey's hopes for play reveals much about the key role he thought it played in education in a democratic society. PlacingDemocracy and Educationin the context of Progressive Era controversies over play in the kindergarten movement and preschool education illustrates Dewey's view that teacher-guided free play could reconcile the dilemma of the need for individual agency and social discipline. Dewey built upon and critiqued the scripted play pedagogy of kindergarten founder Friedrich Froebel. Drawing in part from progressive kindergarten teachers, Dewey constructed his own notion of play that he argued fostered experiential learning, voluntary participation, and social order. For Dewey, play and work were naturally linked in ways in which the needs of the child and society coalesced. Analysis of sources from the kindergarten movement and the Sub-primary Department at the University of Chicago Laboratory School provide background for interpreting some of Dewey's writings on play, which influenced modern contests over how young children learn and should be taught.