A Response to "Dewey and Vygotsky: Society, Experience, and Inquiry in Educational Practice"

In the May 2001 Educational Researcher, Michael Glassman presented an interesting comparison between the theories of two towering figures in educational thought, John Dewey and Lev Vygotsky. However, Glassman, in his use of the project approach (Katz & Chard, 1989) to make Dewey's theory operational, misstates several points. This is unfortunate for at least two reasons. First, Glassman's description of "Dewey-inspired" education is problematic in that it calls into question the premises for his comparison of Dewey and Vygotsky's ideas. Second, and more troublingly, this interpretation perpetuates historical misunderstandings, misuses, and critiques of Dewey's theory and related practices.