The theory about the essence of education is the core of Dewey's whole education system. He criticized the traditional school education with the weapons of philosophy, ethics, sociology and psychology, and put forward such viewpoints as "education is growth", "education is life" and "education is the reorganization and transformation of experience".
Dewey believes that "school is society" does not simply reproduce social life on campus, but should have certain functions: educating the existing society; Simply sort out various factors that affect the development trend; Create a broader and more natural balanced environment for children to contact.
Nowadays, most schools ignore the principle that this is a form of social life, and only regard the school as a place to impart knowledge, so that children can finish their homework, form certain habits and store a lot of knowledge. Finally, we will find that children's social skills are often inversely proportional to their knowledge. A child who does well in school may seriously lack social skills.
Education is a part of life. If education and life are separated, children's learning and life needs will not match. As a part of the society, if the school is divorced from the society, children's social skills will be seriously lacking, which is very unfavorable to their later life.
Dewey believes that the main task of moral education is to coordinate the relationship between individuals and society. He advocated the new individualism of cooperation with others and attached importance to the role of reason. In the implementation of moral education, he advocated the implementation of moral education in social situations. Dewey demands that school life, teaching materials and teaching methods permeate social spirit, and regards school life, teaching materials and teaching methods as "the trinity of school morality", which are all important ways of moral education.