Abstract

BUZIN, Karina dos Santos de Moura  and  FAVORETO, Aparecida. John Dewey: interest and effort under debate. Acta Educ. [online]. 2022, vol.44, e62320.  Epub Aug 10, 2022. ISSN 2178-5201.  https://doi.org/10.4025/actascieduc.v44i1.62320.

The intention of this study is to introduce reflections about pedagogical categories “interest” and “effort” that were discussed by the American philosopher John Dewey (1859-1952), which had a huge repercussion in educational debates in Brazil. Regarding Deweyan thought, it is emphasized that, in Brazilian educational historiography, there is no agreement among his educational and social perspectives. In relation to pedagogical categories, specifically “interest” and “effort”, there is no convergence on their meanings and dispositions in the educational act. Moreover, a bibliographic research was carried out prioritizing the descriptors: “interest”, “effort” and “John Dewey”, which made it possible to select articles, dissertations and theses on the subject. In this part, in a descriptive analysis, the intention was to point out the different readings on such categories. Then, based on the works Vida e Educação (1978) and Democracia e Educação (1936), the aforementioned categories are discussed based on Dewey's contributions. Observing this American intellectual in relation to his context, it is noteworthy that he intended to correct the problems of bourgeois democracy through an educational project. Therefore, the pedagogical categories “interest” and “effort” were not understood as stagnant, but interrelated - with each other and with other pedagogical categories -, composing a broad education project that presupposed a planned and teacher-oriented environment. In this way, Dewey aimed to form new reflexive and social habits in individuals, believing that they could develop a more evolved and democratic society.

Keywords : historiography; experimental pedagogy; democratic society.

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