The Theory of Stages of History-Learning in Dewey's Empiricism : A Process That The Learners Recognize Historical Others by Three Stages

Abstract

This paper analyzes longitudinally The Dewey School (K. C. Mayhew and A. C. Edwards, 1936) by focusing upon how the learners know historical people. This paper solves this problem by verifying Dewey's (1898) hypothesis of history-learning. This paper clarifies that history-learning depends upon the next two principles of how the learners know historical people. First, they, engaging in "occupations" to produce the necessities of life, they image in their mind historical people who engaged in same "occupations". Second, they learners picture historical others who were connected with the people's life, through information of history. Under the two principles, the learners image in their mind some connection with historical people beyond time and space. In Dewey's empiricism, history-learning is planned for the learners to recognize that their present life is supported by the connection. In this plan of history-learning, the learners understand some connection with historical people in the following three stages. In the first stage (at the age of six, seven, and eight), they picture occupational life of historical people regardless of any particular time or any particular place. In the second stage (at the age of nine, ten, and eleven), they image in their mind occupational life of the historical people in Chicago. In the third stage (at the age of twelve, thirteen, and fourteen and fifteen), they recognize that the occupational life in Chicago is a part of connection with historical people beyond time and space. This paper thus reveals the three stages of history-learning to be as processes whereby the learners know some connection of historical people.