THE CRISIS IN EDUCATION: DEWEY, PIAGET AND MARX

This dissertation argues that the American educational system, in reflecting the economic system, is in a state of crisis. The methodologies of two of the most important representatives of progressive, child-centered, active learning theories of education, John Dewey and Jean Piaget, have been epistemologically analyzed and found wanting as possible solutions for the crisis in education. Both theories are found to contain an excessively individualistic orientation, which leads to a "blaming the victim" ideology. The theory of organic Marxism has been introduced as a more inclusive solution to the crisis than either of the previous two theories, for three major reasons: (1) it identifies structural defects that precede and supersede individual analyses, while at the same time stressing the internal relations between individuals and society; (2) it recognizes and puts into practice the fact that human beings are fundamentally social beings and thus can best perform as part of a group that functions as an agency for political, social and economic change; (3) it recognizes that the way in which human beings can realize and cultivate themselves is by cooperating and working together in transforming nature to fit their needs. In this way they are not at the same time being transformed because they are part of nature.;The plan of this dissertation is: (1) to point out the nature and character of the crisis in education; (2) to see how Dewey and Piaget's understanding of the learning process can help solve the crisis in education; (3) to explian why these solutions failed; and (4) to suggest an alternative approach in understanding and dealing with the crisis, by first explicating a methodology and then a plan.;The similarity between Marxism and a traditional educational philosophy is merely superficial in that the conservative position, in its attempt to maintain the status quo or return to an earlier age, isolates the individual from the social-historical context. It also assumes an invariant and negative conception of human nature that requires control from above. . . . (Author's abstract exceeds stipulated maximum length. Discontinued here with permission of school.) UMI.