Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Redefining School Curriculum Through Dewey

My presentation will focus on the following: Are schools really in need of massive changes? If so, what can be practically and realistically be accomplished by turning a well-oiled machine (such as our schools) inside out and at what cost to students who have only a few years to prepare for a lifetime of work and becoming productive citizens? Other questions then rise to the surface such as: What should be taught in schools and who will make these decisions?” For example, in my ideal democratic school: What does the role of the teacher look like? How do I envision the role of the student? Of what does my ideal curriculum consist? And finally, what is the milieu of my ideal school? From my perspective, schools are narrowly designed in nature. I believe part of this design is intentional serving to continue the subjugation and marginalization of numerous students with minority backgrounds. By conducting research on this topic of the nature of effective schooling, I hope to bring additional debate and attention to the injustices inherent within our schools of today. By examining John Dewey’s ideas and thoughts on the way children learn, I expect to engender additional transformational discussions in educational arenas required to bring about significant change for students- especially for those who continue to be marginalized and set up for failure through harmful measures by government schools that further polarize students socio-economically when compared to students from wealthy white families.