Dewey Thoughts Of Vocational Education

John Dewey, a very important but controversial figure in the history of American thought, appears in his extensive writing of education,philosophy .religion , art and political science. He has inspirited extremes of devotion or opposition in most of the many books and articles written about him.Vocational education is one of the most important part of his thought. In his opinion, the status of vocational education in democracy and its effect are the focuses of the debate of varies philosophical schools. The thesis now we are reading calls our attention to John Dewey's opinion of vocational education.The thesis is consisted of five parts:First, the history environment of America when Dewey formed his thoughts of vocational education: the great change that had happened in America society after the civil War, the rising of pragmatism which believes that the truth or value of a conception or something depends upon its practical bearing .upon human interests , and the widely receiving of the thought of labor education coming from Europe.Second: Dewey's philosophy which worked as the basis of his education theory and the curriculum theory of his 8 years' education experiment in Dewey Primary school.Third: the main contents of his vocational theory: Dewey argued that vocational education was one of the best tool which helped to found a democracy and push it forward, with the development of the industrial society,the reform of vocational education became more and more important,meanwhile in school system, the connection and cooperation between vocational education and general education became more and more necessary.Fourth: the influence of Dewey's vocational education theory upon other countries in the world, among them, we would like to discuss about America and China.The last: Try to give a balanced assessment of opinions about Dewey's vocational educational theory.Form 1919 to 1921,Dewey visited extensively in China and lectured at national universities at Peking and Naking. His pragmatism had great influence on China, especially on the pedagogical aspects of education. So it may have great point to study his thought.In conclusion, though we always have great different opinions about Dewey's education theory ,we can still say that Dewey's vocational theory is the focus of his pragmatism. It's still valuable to study it.