John Dewey’s quote on learning: Why children learn best through meaningful experiences

John Dewey has been the single most influential figure in modern education. In an era of memorisation, strict discipline, and one-way teaching, Dewey argued that education should be active, meaningful and closely connected to real life. His ideas changed classrooms across the globe, inspiring teachers to swap rote learning for curiosity, problem-solving and hands-on experiences.John Dewey was born in Burlington, Vermont, on October 20, 1859. He was raised in post-Civil War America, a country experiencing rapid industrialisation and social change. He graduated from the University of Vermont, and after teaching school for a time, studied philosophy at Johns Hopkins University, where he earned his doctorate. Dewey later taught at the Universities of Michigan, Chicago and Columbia, where he spent most of his career. His work was not limited to philosophy, but also extended to psychology, politics and education.