“Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself.”

—  John Dewey

The quote "Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for l…" is famous quote attributed to John Dewey (1859–1952), American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer.

Last update April 18, 2023. History

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John Dewey photo
John Dewey 62
American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer 1859–1952

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John Dewey photo

“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”

John Dewey (1859–1952) American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer

This is a paraphrase of an idea that Dewey expressed using other words in My Pedagogic Creed (1897) and Democracy and Education (1916); it is widely misattributed to Dewey as a quotation.
Cf. James William Norman, A Comparison of Tendencies in Secondary Education in England and the United States (New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1922), [//books.google.com/books?id=qrmgAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA140 p. 140] (emphasis added): "...there has for years been a strong and growing tendency in the United States under the leadership of Dewey, and more recently of Kilpatrick, to find an educational method correlative of democracy in society with the belief that education is life itself rather than a mere preparation for life, and that practice in democratic living is the best preparation for democracy."
Misattributed
Variant: Education is a social process; education is growth; education is not preparation for life but is life itself.

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi photo

“It is life itself that educates.”

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827) Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer

Das Leben bildet.
Schwanengesang [Swan Song] (1826)

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“Education prepares the next generation for life and debt.”

Ron English (1959) American artist

Ron English's Fauxlosophy (2016)

Maria Montessori photo

“To stimulate life, leaving it free, however, to unfold itself, that is the first duty of the educator.”

Maria Montessori (1870–1952) Italian pedagogue, philosopher and physician

Source: The Discovery of the Child (1948), Ch. 8 : The Exercises, p. 141
Variant translation:
This then is the first duty of an educator: to stir up life but leave it free to develop.
Context: This is our mission: to cast a ray of light and pass on. I compare the effects of these first lessons the impressions of a solitary wanderer who is walking serene and happy in a shady grove, meditating; that is leaving his inner thought free to wander. Suddenly a church bell pealing out nearby recalls to himself; then he feels more keenly that peaceful bliss which had already been born, though dormant, within him.
To stimulate life, leaving it free, however, to unfold itself, that is the first duty of the educator.
For such a delicate mission great art is required to suggest the right moment and to limit intervention, last one should disturb or lead astray rather than help the soul which is coming to life and which will live by virtue of it's own efforts.
This art must accompany the scientific method, because the simplicity of our lessons bears a great resemblance to experiments in experimental psychology.

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“All of life is a constant education.”

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States

Source: The Wisdom of Eleanor Roosevelt

Mata Amritanandamayi photo

“To be prepared against surprise is to be trained. To be prepared for surprise is to be educated.”

James P. Carse American academic

Source: Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility

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