DIALOGICAL EDUCATION IN THE THOUGHTS OF MARTIN BUBER AND JOHN DEWEY

Abstract

Education is not just about learning to excel in examination and acquire a good source of livelihood. Education is more about character development and acquiring the right principles or dispositions that would permit one as individual to relate well with others in the society and contribute positively to the development of the society. The big question is: how can education be used to attain such lofty goals? Martin Buber and John Dewey propose dialogue as the right answer to the interrogative. Education founded on dialogue is the platform character formation and societal development, both argue. The article studies dialogue, a core value in the philosophies of John Dewey and Martin Buber. He recognizes that both philosophers agree in more areas than not in their philosophies of education. Beyond this, it finds that there are some manner of continuity between the propositions of both philosophers. It suggests that Buber’s philosophy of education founded on the principle of I-Thou is a blueprint to resolving the problems which Dewey spots in the society arising from the poor system of education in vogue. Hence, while both scholars share a close affinity; Buber’s ideas on education are more practical and may be projected as the definitive end to Dewey’s.