Everybody will not argue that the most effective way to make improvements in a society is through education. Researchers and scholars in their areas have tried and always will try the best they can to improve the quality of education. Two compelling scholars who made efforts to reform education were John Dewey and Milton Friedman. This paper compares and contrasts the ideas of these two scholars, taking into account their different backgrounds, different views, and different eras. Therefore, the paper will address: 1) how Dewey and Friedman saw the role and functions of education, 2) their strategies for improving the education of American youth; and 3) their views on test-based accountability, which dominates the current era.
Dewey’s and Friedman’s Views on Public Education
Both Dewey and Friedman agreed that everybody should have an adequate education. Dewey asserted that the government should increase educational opportunities for all, and the best way to do it is through public schooling. In line with Dewey, Friedman proposed the idea that most children should have a minimum degree of literacy and knowledge.
The idea of improving access to education for citizens is important because education contributes to the development of democratic citizens. Friedman (1962) stressed that education brings a stable and democratic society. Dewey also agreed that a better education creates democratic citizenship. Education is to prepare students to be good citizens (Dewey, 1902-1903).
Another similar idea of Dewey’s and Friedman’s in regard to the education concept is that education provides common sympathies, common values, and common understandings, which eventually create a stable democratic society. A stable and democratic society is impossible without a minimum degree of literacy and knowledge on the part of most citizens, and without widespread acceptance of common values (Friedman, 1962).
Now, if they both emphasized commonality in their idea of citizenship, common values, and equal to education then how did these two distinguished scholars see the role of government in education? Dewey saw that education is so important to the development of the society, and therefore the government should stand in the front line to fund, support, and administer education (especially public schools) so that eventually education will be seen as a public good. Unlike Dewey, who saw education as a public good, Friedman had a more controversial view of public education. Friedman argued that education should receive less intervention from the government. According to Freidman, putting education as a private good benefits society in achieving more quality and choices. At this point, Friedman used the term “neighborhood effects”, to give a solution on educational funding in which he introduced voucher systems. Furthermore, the community will have more freedom to choose: public or private, religious or secular, near or far, - what works best for them.
Strategy for Improving the Education of American Youth
Dewey’s idea of schooling as a social center (to make school as a center of full adequate social service) is for me the most compelling idea for improving the education of American youth. This is important because in Dewey’s era, the role of family education was somehow declining, as an impact of the progressive era, urbanization, and technology- is still relevant to the current social media era. Dewey’s dream was to prepare active citizenship for the future, by 1) connecting children to the world of authentic ways, 2) child-centered curricula, and 3) solving problems. The outcome of school as a social center is that the American youth become more creative, problem solver, and active citizens.
Relevancy to the Todays Test-Based Accountability
Unlike Friedman, Dewey will have trouble with the idea of testing. Standardized tests, like the ones in No Child Left Behind has created a shift of teaching, from teaching that sparks creativity, activeness, problem-solving and democratic citizenship, to test-based teaching. How can a teacher teach his/her students to solve the problem, if the students merely rely on solving questions on the test? How can a school enact a “Child-Centered Curriculum” if the teachers become more teacher-centered in order to prepare students for the test? And how can students be active democratic citizens, if they have never been taught to apply democratic practices?
In conclusion, both Dewey and Friedman had similar ideas of preparing students for a democratic society, as well as for giving students minimum standards of education. However, both Dewey and Friedman had different views on education as a public or a private good. Last but not least, the implementation of test-based accountability obviously undermines the idea of Dewey on education reforms.
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