Pragmatism—John Dewey

Abstract

Pragmatism (or Instrumentalism or Experimentalism) has been described as `an attitude', `a theory of the nature of ideas and truth', and `a theory about reality'. In this chapter, Pragmatism, both in its wider sense, as a `theory of truth', and in its narrower sense, as a `method', are explored. The chapter begins by looking at the origins of Pragmatism---as envisioned by Peirce---and reviews both Peirce's and Dewey's interpretations of terms such as inquiry and experience. The chapter then moves on to examine the meaning Dewey attached to the term `Pragmatism'. Dewey's revolutionary view of the structure of knowledge as an action `which modifies what previously existed' (rather than as a static, unchanging system) is explained through a discussion of the ways in which meaning (the precursor of knowledge) may be activated---i.e. through the processes of experiencing, thinking, and communicating, we interact with our environment (to change it, be changed by it, and…come to understand it). Links are made between Pragmatism, as a philosophical `movement', and Dewey's ideas on experience and inquiry as forming the basis for undertaking research. I reflect on the impact Pragmatism has had on teaching and learning science in schools, with particular emphasis on Inquiry-Based Science Education (as set out by publications such as Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards, 2000; Next Generation Science Standards, 2013). The chapter closes with the implications Pragmatism holds for what Dewey calls the educative process.