From the standpoint of the child, the great waste in the school comes from his inability to utilize the experiences he gets outside the school in any complete and free way within the school itself; while, on the other hand, he is unable to apply in daily life what he is learning at school. That is the isolation of the school — its isolation from life.
John DeweyKnowledge is no longer an immobile solid; it has been liquefied. it is actively moving in all the currents of society itself
John DeweyOne of the saddest things about US education is that the wisdom of our most successful teachers is lost to the profession when they retire.
John DeweyEvery one has experienced how learning an appropriate name for what was dim and vague cleared up and crystallized the whole matter. Some meaning seems distinct almost within reach, but is elusive; it refuses to condense into definite form; the attaching of a word somehow (just how, it is almost impossible to say) puts limits around the meaning, draws it out from the void, makes it stand out as an entity on its own account.
John Dewey