The concept of progressism in John Dewey's philosophy of education

Philosophy of education is a philosophical discipline that deals with the basic concepts of education and tries to produce solutions to existing problems. The problems addressed by philosophy of education are mainly education-related problems such as 'what is education?', 'what is knowing?', 'what are the differences between learning and teaching?' rather than traditional philosophical problems. John Dewey is a thinker who tried to apply the pragmatist approach to the philosophy of education. According to him, education is a lifelong activity and therefore the most effective learning is the one gained by doing and experiencing. The aim of this thesis is, in general, to examine and interpret in detail the basic principles of educational philosophy in the light of John Dewey's views. Specifically, our aim is to evaluate the place and importance of the concept of progressivism, which has an important place in Dewey's philosophy, in terms of educational philosophy. In the first part of the study, Dewey's understanding of education will be discussed and the basic concepts of educational philosophy will be emphasized. Additionally, thinkers who influenced Dewey's views will be included. In the second part, information will be given about the process of John Dewey's invitation to Turkey and the content of the report he prepared about the Turkish Education System will be analyzed. The similarities and differences between Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's educational philosophy and John Dewey's educational philosophy will also be discussed. In this section, the concept of progressivism, which is the main subject of our thesis, will also be discussed in detail in the light of the interpretations of the thinkers who adopted and applied this concept. Our aim in the third and final section is to discuss the place and importance of the principle of progressivism in terms of educational philosophy. For this purpose, contemporary and traditional education approaches will be compared and an evaluation will be made regarding the principle of progressivism.