I have really enjoyed reading this book, and I agree with several of the points that have been brought up in the first chapter. First, education is extremely slow in adopting any change, even though the ideas of revolutionary significance have been there since the turn of the century. Dewey definitely had the right idea that we need to focus more on our students participating in the learning instead of having them listen and learn. Maybe with the growth and expansion of technology, Dewey’s time has finally come. I liked the comparison to Da Vinci, who had the right idea for flight, just not the right materials. We now have the right materials.

Information has also become more widespread since the date of this book (1993), so the four year old who wanted to know how giraffes sleep could look it up on Google or have an adult do so. I didn’t know the answer to this question, so I googled it and found out that they sleep less than two hours a day and always by standing up.  I had always thought they slept like horses did.  When I was growing up, if I wanted to know something, I would ask an adult, and if they didn’t know, I went to the library and looked it up in the encyclopedia.  I don’t remember having something that I could not find the answer for.  We, as teachers, need to teach our students how to be researchers, too.  Kids are good at looking up what they are interested in, like cars and prom dresses, but I don’t feel like kids are good at looking up topics that would help them academically.  Not many students use the Internet for assist in homework, whereas if I were a kid, I would be finding all I could find.  I know that teachers were once good students, but I wonder where the spark for learning has gone.  I don’t see it in many of my students, probably only 10% or so.  Maybe if teachers could follow Dewey’s idea for more student-centered learning, and start with students as soon as they enter the educational system, we could gain back this spark, making it more satisfying for teachers in secondary and post-secondary education.  I see some of this change happening in our own district, but it will be several years before these kids reach high school.  Time will tell, and I hope for the best.