Writing to Grow: John Dewey and the Creation of Social Consciousness in the Composition Classroom

Abstract

Although learning experiences may be described in isolation, education for Dewey consisted in the cumulative and unending acquisition, combination, and reordering of such experiences. Just as a tree does not grow by having new branches and leaves wired to it each spring, so educational growth does not consist in mechanically adding information, skills, or even educative experiences to students in grade after grade. Rather, educational growth consists in combining past experiences with present experiences in order to receive and understand future experiences. To grow, the individual must continually reorganize and reformulate past experiences in the light of new experiences in a cohesive fashion. This dissertation has been designed to help create social consciousness in the students' minds and hearts. In my mind, there is only one type of writing, writing to grow.