The development of reflective teachers in the perspective of John Dewey

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze John Dewey's philosophy and its application in the training and reflective teachers’ development, enabling learning experiences in a transforming and democratic way and stimulating students to think critically. John Dewey is considered one of the most significant philosophers of education and one of the founders of pragmatism as a philosophical approach. His progressive ideas influenced teaching-learning processes, teacher education, and educational systems in various countries. However, his theory is still weakly understood and not improperly applied in current education. This qualitative, theoretical, and exploratory article addresses the contextualization of Dewey's theory, directed toward the of reflective teachers’ development. The study highlights that democracy for Dewey is indispensable ethical in education and teaching and that progressive education and the pragmatism concepts and experience are fundamental in the teacher training process from a reflective perspective.