How We Think, by John Dewey
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37423/37423.txt
This book is a discussion of “how we think” by John [Dewey. The main points are as follows
- Reflective thinking involves five steps: (i) perceive difficulty, (ii) define problem, (iii) suggest solution, (iv) elaborate suggestion by reasoning, and (v) confirm by observation and experiment.
- To foster reflective thinking, curiosity, suggestion, and the habit of ordering need to be cultivated. Schooling tends to inhibit this.
- Language is an indispensable tool for thinking. Language education should help develop thinking skills.
- [Observation and information transmission provide the basis for reflective thinking. Observation should be active for problem-solving.
- Flexibility is needed in the classroom to capture the child’s train of thought. Teachers need to have insight into children’s habits of thought.
- [It is important to have a balance between play and work, process and result, concrete and abstract, unconscious and conscious, and so on.
- It is the skill of the educator to respect the child’s free development of thought while consciously nurturing habits of thought.
As mentioned above, Dewey discusses how to foster reflective thinking from a practical perspective. Recommendations for making school education a place for the development of thinking skills are found throughout.
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