The structure of education is as important as its content, and as Dewey indicated, there is a tension between traditional and progressive education, between education with a clear and strong structure and education giving the child more free rein to explore and to learn on his or her own (Dewey 17). Some combination of the two is clearly possible and probably necessary, and this may mean a structure to start the child on a subject or to shape certain elements of learning while still encouraging the chid to learn more on his or her own.
John Dewey calls for a philosophy of education to create a foundation to understand what education is, how it takes place, and how it can be facilitated. Dewey says that the only way to formulate a philosophy of education is to know what actually takes place when education occurs, and this begins with an understanding of human nature and how it operates in the face of social forces. Much of what we say to define education is self-referential--that is, we say education is what takes place when people are educated, or education is the process of being educated. This circular reasoning does not explain the matter sufficiently. Education may also be described as intellectual and emotional growth, and this growth begins with the needs and powers of the individual student. Education is a vital element in human development, enabling the human being to shape a future quite different from the past. The human being does not operate on instinct alone as do animals. The human being instead learns and grows and can reshape him or herself or his or her environment through the actions of education. How we decide these issues contributes to the sort of educational structure we develop.
This seems to hold out infinite possibilities, as indeed it does, but as Dewey points out, growth for the human being entails not only opportunities but limitations. An educational philosophy needs to be a recognition of b...