The part of these two readings that interested me the most was Dewey’s idea about the evolution of education with the advancement of civilization. At the bottom of page 7, Dewey explains how “formal education” has evolved over the course of the advancement of human civilizations. Dewey describes humans that do not utilize formal education as “savages” who learn basically by monkey-see, monkey-do. He considers formal education to be the “deliberate education of the young,” (6) and “that of direct tuition or schooling,” (7). He explains that formal education continues to become increasingly necessary as civilization advances, because “as civilization advances, the gap between the capacities of the young and the concerns of adults widens,” (8). In effect, education has evolved from the purely experiential learning of the savages to the decades of formal schooling that we have today. Dewey warns that too much formal instruction could cause students to lose interest, and states, “one of the weightiest problems with which the philosophy of education has to cope is the method of keeping a proper balance between the informal and the formal,” (9). I do not see this ever becoming a real problem, because everyone is constantly experiencing countless forms of informal education in everyday life.
Both Dewey and Cronon stress the importance of communication in education. Dewey states, “education consists primarily in transmission through communication,” (9). Cronon creates a list of ten qualities found in people with a liberal education, and most of them are tied to some form of communication. This form of education through communication would almost certainly be categorized under Dewey’s definition of informal education, and it is inevitable in everyday life. Even though people are staying in the formal education system for increasing lengths of time as civilization advances, people still communicate with each other to share experiences. As subjects advance further and ideas become more complex and abstract, people work together and collectively solve problems. Communication as a form of education prevents education from becoming purely formal. I believe communication evolves with civilization as well, and new forms of communication (i.e. email, texting, social networking, etc.) keep students from becoming too absorbed in the abstractness of formal education.
Question:
As education advances, do you think that there is a real danger (as Dewey would say) of creating an undesirable split between the informal education of everyday life experiences and the formal education of school?
I agree with your comments on communication at the end of your response. In accordance with Dewey, communication is definitely pivotal in any learning process, whether formal or informal, and like you said, communication is the gap between the two. As our society becomes increasingly complex due to technological advancements, discovers in the sciences, and the exponential increase in the total mass of knowledge continues, communication will certainly be at the core of this. People will become more and more specialized in their skills and careers; thus, communicating between fields will become a non-stop necessity. Having said this, even though formal education, like you stated, will become more prominent, this communication aspect of education, and of life itself, will bridge the gap between the formal and informal worlds - even more so than now. Accordingly, I do not think there will be a real danger of an undesirable split between the informal and formal education. People may spend more time in school, but it is what they learn in their schooling that they will take home with them and apply to the world - these application experiences in the real world will also serve as a means for the informal. Informal will always exist to some extent by itself, and will indirectly exist in more significant amounts as formal education and communication increase.
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