Dewey claimed that schools needed to be converted to a social center in order to keep individuals properly adjusted to a rapidly changing

environment. Is this valuable in todays society? Is it possible to complete this transformation? What would it look like? Society and education have vastly changed in the last 300 years. The main reasons for this are because of colonization, industrialization and technological advances. The population in the United States has had to rapidly adapt to these growing changes. Along with many education reforms, people in the U.S. have had to watch as their social and educational environment continuously engulf them. However, since Dewey wrote his article in 1902 there have been many education changes and reforms. Americans have broadened their horizons on making the school more of a community-based center while still maintaining their educational goals. This is especially true in more rural areas. Does Deweys idea of making the school a social center still apply in our modern world? Is it necessary to keep individuals adjusted to the changing environment? I believe the answer to both of these questions is yes. It is important to educate and involve all members of a community in a rapidly changing educational environment. Coming from a smaller town, like many students from Nebraska, I saw the value in having the school as a social center. The school was constantly encouraging students to bring families and friends to extracurricular activities. These activities stretched from sports to theatre along with many other education related clubs and organizations as well. Parents were invited to participate with their child to get as much as they could from the organization they were involved in. This was beneficial because it led to a cooperative learning experience for the students and parents. That is what the social center is all about, to get members of a community together to learn in a shared environment. Individuals in these environments are constantly learning whether they believe it or not.

They are learning through play and social experiences/interactions. According to Dewey, the school as a social center must interpret the intellectual and social meaning of the work in which he is engaged that it will reveal its relations to the life and work of the world (Dewey 83). Dewey means that the social center must decode the intellectual and social meanings of an individuals work in order for that individual to truly learn how their work compares to the rest of the world. By comparing how certain individuals work relates to that of others, that individual is able to absorb the positive learning effects of the social center. Many people learn as they are introduced to new concepts and they learn more effectively if there are different ideas, viewpoints, classes, races and genders. The social and educational environment is constantly changing and we have to adapt to that change. Dewey believes the best way to adapt to that change is through education of all members of a society (Dewey 83-84). I agree with Dewey in the sense that every member of a society needs to be informed and educated in order for him or her to be successful and to have his or her community flourish. Since the colonization of America, the U.S. has come a long way in its education. Education used to be all about educating whoever could afford it and who had the privilege to attend school. Parents would send their children to school and watch, as their child grew more intelligent. But did the parents really learn anything from this? Not until the late 19th and early 20th century did the U.S. finally understand the value of education and implement it into every household. This did not mean that the schools were social centers; it simply meant that education was broadly available to those who wanted it. Schools had a long way to go before Deweys idea of a social center would be implemented. Like today, the road

through education reform in the early 20th century was long. If Deweys ideas were to take any sort or grasp on society, it would not be until much later. Deweys social center had many aims as to what it could fix. He states that if a school as a social center is to succeed it must provide means for bringing people and their ideas and beliefs together, in such ways as will lessen friction and instability, and introduce deeper sympathy and wider understanding (Dewey 83). It is amazing to see what a group of people can accomplish when you bring their ideas together. If the school was to bring all types of people together, the racial and inequality barrier could possibly be broken. If people were to be brought together and learn about each other, the friction between the people in the community could eventually decrease. Dewey is looking at the big picture with his idea of the school as a social center. Reforms in the last century have been trying to do what Dewey spoke of in the early 20th century. Reformers are always looking to break the inequality barrier between people in a community. Maybe if they implemented Deweys idea of the school as asocial center, they would be more successful. After all, all that Dewey wants to do is bring people together so they can learn from each other. Not only that, but he wants to educate the adults about life and how to focus on the road ahead instead of just something that is right around the corner. The belief that making the school as a social center would be very valuable in todays society. The school is the main center of learning in every community. The school should not only be used to educate children on the basics of math, science, English and history, but to educate them for the long term of what comes after schooling and what you need to learn to be successful in society. Children do not only learn about the basics of arithmetic, but they learn how to be a functioning member of society. This

being said, Dewey wants the school to be a social center for every member of society. Including the families and friends of the society in the social center brings the community closer together and allows for a broad range of learning to take place. Completing this transformation is definitely possible. In fact, I believe that it has already taken hold in many communities. I believe that schools are trying to get the community more involved because it is important for their learning and the learning of their children. The only problem is that it may be hard to get people to willingly give up their time to invest it in their community social center. It is hard to tell exactly what a school as a social center would look like. I assume it would be the same as many schools are now but with more extracurricular and community led activities after school hours. Instead of going home and watching television every night, a family could all go to an activity at the local school instead of being couch potatoes. This would easily bring interest to others and make them more interested in their community. Educational reforms are always being passed. Maybe the next reform could have something about schools as social centers as its main focus. The learning that would and can take place is second to none. There is hardly any negative outcomes of making a school a social center so why not take the chance and see if it can be a success or not.