Chapter 13: The nature of method

Nothing has brought pedagogical theory into greater disrepute than the belief that it is identified with handing out to teachers recipes and models to be followed in teaching (p. 140).

In chapter 13, Dewey provides a rationale for an approach to professional development that, in the National Writing Project, for example, is called teachers teaching teachers.

Principle #1: Teachers share what has worked for them in the classroom...
Dewey recognizes that we tend to disassociate method from subject matter (the how from the what) in any discipline, including teaching, as a matter of convenience--an efficient way to describe and examine process. In actuality, however, "Experience...is not a combination of method and subject matter, but is a single continuous interaction of a great diversity (literally countless in number) of energies" (p. 138). Sharing our own experience--subject matter in the context of method--brings the energy of one practitioner's activity to others.

Principle #2: A bit o' theory has its place...
Dewey also recognizes that there are general processes (e.g., the inquiry cycle) that, once they are crystallized, can be more readily used in different contexts. In addition, understanding how and why something has worked for one teacher helps others to make it their own and transfer it to their own circumstances.

Principle #3: Time for talk is time well-spent...
Finally, Dewey recognizes that general processes and the experience of others is a beginning, not an end. Teaching (and learning, too) is "an art"--not in the sense of "extemporized inspirations" but in the sense of seeing and making the leap from what has gone before to something new that suits present conditions as well as the needs and interests of the individuals involved.