John Dewey: The Philosopher who taught Ambedkar

In June 1913 Ambedkar stepped in the liberal environment of Columbia University as a young and eager scholar. Among the great university intellectuals John Dewey (1859-1952) left a lasting impression on him. This study on the one hand explores Deweys way of thinking and his approach to education and on the other the impact he made on Ambedkar as his teacher. Their approaches were similar but also different. Dewey was proposing ways to adjust education for a child as an individual in an industrial society whereas Ambedkar was working to adjust education in a society to combat caste system. Despite this difference both agreed that scientific education was of key importance for a happier future of humankind. Prof John Dewey who was Dr. Ambedkar’s teacher is a celebrated American philosopher of the twentieth century. In the time when he grew up USA had turned into an industrial society. He was a cultivated teacher in the rural schools in Vermont and Pennsylvania for two years. A doctorate which he earned in 1884 from Johns Hopkins University enabled him to teach in universities of Minnesota Michigan Chicago and Columbia. Yet he kept alive his interest in children’s education in school. That Dewey was a polymath is attested by Bertrand Russell. Besides being an able philosopher he had innovative ideas on pedagogy and psychology. His instrumentalist approach to education was well received in Turkey and USA. But Dr. Ambedkar did not mindlessly follow Dewey. He was eager to open up western education for the down trodden is evident in his slogan: “Educate Organize Agitate”. In Bombay Legislative Assembly he argued for alleviating the standard of teaching rather than creating tough curriculum for students. He was looking forward to meet John Dewey on his visit to the US in June 1952. While transiting in Rome he was informed that Dewey his teacher and philosopher had died of pneumonia.Like John Dewey his mentor Dr. Ambedkar was interested to promote education among the masses. But unlike Dewey he neither developed any method of teaching nor any theory of child psychology; rather he was interested to make the government responsible to educate people. Granted that Dr. Ambedkar was inspired by Dewey but he did not blindly imitate him. Dewey’s philosophy and thinking emerged from his concern to appropriately adjust education for the upcoming generation to cope in the industrial society and make them fit to struggle and survive in the real and natural world. Whereas Dr. Ambedkar was concerned to educate masses to intellectually enlighten them so that they could free themselves from superstitions and have rational resources to combat the oppression of caste system.