PRAGMATISM ON EDUCATION Pragmatism believe that aims are always determined by individual not by organization or any structure.

The best statement of what might be the educational aims of pragmatism can be found in the writings of John Dewey: The aim for education is to teach children to be comfortable in their learning environment to an extent that children are living their life. Dewey believed in this type of environment that is not considered a preparation for life, but life itself. He believed that educators should know the things that motivate and interest the children and plan accordingly. Dewey believed that aims should grow out of existing conditions, be tentative and have an end view. In Democracy and Education, he wrote, Education is the reconstruction or reorganization of experience which adds to the meaning of experience, and which increases the ability to direct the course of subsequent experience. The aim that might be deprived from the foregoing definition of education would include the helping of the child to develop such a way as to contribute to his continued growth. CONCEPT OF STUDENT The student is an experiencing organism capable of using intelligence to resolve its problems. He learns as he experiences. As a thinking organism, his experiences and his reflections upon these experiences became a part of him determining his likes, dislikes and the future direction of his learning. The pragmatist view of student as a whole organism constantly interacting with the environment designed to provide the best possible educative experience to the learner. The whole organism, which is the child, consists of biological child, the psychological child and the social child. The experiencing organism that is the learner brings to school with him all the meaning, values, and experiences that constitute his personality: his self. CONCEPT OF TEACHER The teacher, for pragmatist, is a member of the learning group who serves in the capacity of helper, guide, and arranger of experiences. Thus, the pragmatic teacher does not abdicate responsibility.

CRITICAL APPPRAISALS OF PRAGMATISM 1. Weak Ontology It has been argued that the whole structure of the pragmatic position is relatively unstable due to its lack of sound ontological base. Because of their general orientation, the pragmatic movement has emphasized concerns of an epistemological nature. 2. Anti-Intellectualism Another criticism is that pragmatic movement is essentially anti-intellectual. It is true that the main area of concern for pragmatists is the marketplace of daily life. Thus, those philosophies oriented toward a rather rationalistic priority type of thought will find the pragmatists empirical and anti-intellectual. 3. Theory of Truth If truth is seen as constantly being changed and tested, rather than as a stable body of knowledge, the whole stability of the universe is previous experience, which has been oriented toward finding and cataloguing such truths, will go for naught. 4. School as Instrument of Social Change The school and the whole process of education should be an instrument of social change and social improvement. Not only students should be taught factual materials, they should deal with social problems. More conservative schoolmen will argue that this is not the function of the school and that if the school and the classroom become instrument of inquiry and social change, we are moving away from stability and toward anarchy. 5. Cult of Personality This cult of personality and hero worship, coupled with the failure or inability of many progressive educators to either read or understand the thinking of the educational theorist, too often led to a warned over form of laissez-fair freedom in the classroom. Pragmatism reminds teachers to individualize their instruction to meet the needs of each learner. One must remember to keep old traditions but incorporate new idea. Reference: Bansal, Maheshwari Et Al. DIMS, Meerut India, 2005 Olaya, Mark Stephene C. III-11 BSE English