Abstract:

The year 2022 marks the 70th anniversary of the death of the great American scientist, philosopher and educator John Dewey (1859-1952). His ideas are in the center of attention of the world pedagogical thought, which is due to the specifics of modern civilization with its inherent democratic values, the multidisciplinary nature of scientific knowledge, the increased role of personal experience in overcoming problematic situations. This article is of a historiographical nature, although its small size does not allow us to characterize the entire range of sources. The use of the comparative-historical method allowed us to identify the main directions of studying the pedagogical ideas of John Dewey, which are applicable in higher education. The research identified the main directions of studying the ideas of John Dewey, including the analysis of his philosophical concepts combined with his pedagogical views, applying his ideas in modern higher education, in particular, the project method. It is the project activity that is one of the leading pedagogical technologies at the Moscow Polytechnic University. The main attention is paid to historical and pedagogical research, in which the ideas of the thinker are considered in connection with his biography and in the unity of the philosophical and pedagogical concepts of the scientist. The analysis of works that consider only the philosophical views of John Dewey, which is the subject of extensive literature, is beyond the scope of this work. It is historical and pedagogical research that allows Russian authors to identify the fact of the significant influence of Dewey's ideas on the Russian educational system in the 1920s-1930s and the subsequent mutual rejection caused by political reasons. Modern pedagogical thought notes a kind of a "revival" of the scientist's ideas in both national and global pedagogy. Finally, conclusions are drawn about the reasons for the modern "renaissance" of John Dewey's ideas, which consist in the peculiarities of both the international and Russian social and scientific reality. This work may be of interest to practical teachers, as it shows the main directions of modern scientific research in relation to the ideas of John Dewey.

Keywords:

John Dewey, project activity in higher education, history of pedagogy, social pedagogy, theory of progressive education.