Source: Dewey, Democracy and Education, Chs. 8–9
Tags: aims in education, educational aims, intrinsic continuity, flexibility of aims, growth, democratic aims, externally imposed ends, Dewey, education has no aims
Dewey argues that genuine educational aims must grow from within the learning process itself, not be imposed from outside. Good aims are flexible, grounded in the learner's own activities and needs, and translatable into concrete methods. His most provocative claim: "education as such has no aims" – only individual persons (parents, teachers) have aims, and these should vary with each child and situation.
Aim (Deweyan sense)
Foresight of the end or possible termination of an activity that has a time span and cumulative growth. An aim implies ordered, progressive activity, not random or dictated acts.
Intrinsic continuity
The quality of work or activity where each step grows out of the previous one and leads naturally into the next. The opposite of a "serial aggregate of acts" with no internal connection.
Externally imposed ends
Aims set up from outside the process of action. These are rigid and have no working relationship to the concrete conditions of the situation. Failure is blamed on circumstances rather than on the aim itself.
Flexible aims
Aims that begin as tentative sketches and are revised through action. Acting on an aim reveals overlooked conditions, which calls for adjustment. The aim must be capable of alteration to meet circumstances.
"Education as such has no aims"
Dewey's claim that only concrete persons (parents, teachers) have aims, not the abstract idea of "education." Purposes are indefinitely varied, differing with different children and changing as both learner and teacher grow.
An aim requires an activity with a time span and cumulative growth. Without these, talk of aims is empty.
If every act of a pupil is dictated by the teacher, there is no genuine aim, only obedience. Equally, permitting capricious action in the name of "spontaneous self-expression" is fatal to having an aim.
An aim means foresight of results. The bee analogy: if bees could perceive the consequences of their activity in imaginative foresight, they would have the primary element in an aim.
(1) Founded on the learner's own activities and needs. Including original instincts and acquired habits. The tendency of "preparation" as an aim is to skip over existing powers and point at some remote future accomplishment.
(2) Capable of translation into method. A good aim suggests the kind of environment needed to liberate and organise the learner's capacities. If an aim cannot guide what you do in the classroom, it is not a real aim.
(3) Flexible, not rigid. The aim as it first emerges is a tentative sketch. Acting on it reveals overlooked conditions. Good aims are revised through practice; externally imposed ends are simply insisted upon.
An end established externally to the process of action is always rigid. It is inserted from without and has no working relationship to the situation.
What happens in the course of action neither confirms, refutes, nor alters an external end. Failure is attributed to "the perverseness of conditions" rather than to the unreasonableness of the aim.
By contrast, a legitimate aim lies within the process. The value of such an aim is that it enables intelligent direction of activity as it unfolds.
The aim of education, for Dewey, is to enable individuals to continue their education: the reward of learning is a continued capacity for growth.
This idea only works in a society where interaction between individuals is mutual, and where there is provision for reconstructing social habits through equitably distributed interests. That is, it requires a democratic society.
Where social relationships are unbalanced, some groups have their aims determined by external dictation. Their nominal aims become means to other people's ends rather than truly their own.
Only persons have aims. Education is an abstraction.
The aims of parents, teachers, and others are indefinitely varied, differing with different children and changing as everyone grows.
Even the most valid aim, stated in words, does more harm than good if treated as a fixed target. Aims are suggestions about how to observe, look ahead, and choose in concrete situations.
Dewey quotes a contemporary writer: "To lead this boy to read Scott's novels instead of old Sleuth's stories; to teach this girl to sew; to root out the habit of bullying from John's make-up" – these are samples of the millions of concrete aims educators actually face.
There is a temptation to take what adults value and set it up as the aim of education, irrespective of the child's capacities.
There is also a temptation to propose uniform aims that neglect the specific powers of the individual. All learning happens to a particular person at a particular time and place.
Adult accomplishments are useful as context for understanding childhood activities (e.g., adult art helps us see the significance of children's drawing), but setting them up as fixed targets without regard to the child's concrete activities is a different matter entirely.
⚠️ "Education as such has no aims" is one of Dewey's most frequently tested claims. Know how to explain it without making it sound like Dewey thinks education is aimless.
⚠️ The distinction between flexible/internal aims and rigid/externally imposed ends is central. Be ready to give an example of each.
⚠️ The connection between aims and democracy: Dewey's argument is that only in a democratic society can the aim of continued growth apply to all members. In an unequal society, some people's aims are set by others.
⚠️ Common mistake: confusing "education has no aims" with nihilism or relativism. Dewey's point is about abstraction, not about the absence of purpose.
Q: What does Dewey mean by "intrinsic continuity" in the context of educational aims?
A: Intrinsic continuity means that the activity has an internal logic where each step grows from the previous one and leads into the next. It is the opposite of a mere serial aggregate of unconnected tasks dictated by someone else.
Q: Why does Dewey say an aim must be "flexible"?
A: Because the initial aim is a tentative sketch. Acting on it reveals conditions that were overlooked, requiring revision. A rigid, externally imposed end cannot adapt to what is discovered during the process, so failure is blamed on circumstances rather than on the aim's own inadequacy.
Q: Explain Dewey's claim that "education as such has no aims."
A: Dewey means that only concrete individuals (parents, teachers, students) have aims. "Education" is an abstraction and cannot itself have purposes. Any stated aim is at best a suggestion for how to observe and direct learning in particular situations, not a universal target.
Q: How does Dewey connect educational aims to democratic society?
A: The aim of education, for Dewey, is continued capacity for growth. This can only apply to all members of a society where interaction is mutual and interests are equitably distributed. Where social relationships are unbalanced, some groups have their aims dictated by others, making genuine educational aims impossible for those groups.
Q: What is wrong with adults imposing their own valued ends as the aim of children's education?
A: It ignores the child's actual capacities, powers, and situation. All learning happens to a particular individual at a particular time. Adult accomplishments are useful context for understanding children's activities, but setting them up as fixed targets without regard to what the child can concretely do distorts the educational process.
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