John Dewey On Play - Theory and Pedagogy - Leonard J. Waks

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel

Leonard J. Waks discusses philosopher John Dewey’s work on children’s play, focusing on Dewey’s theory and pedagogical guidelines formulated between 1896 and 1900 and later influential for major play theorists. The article argues that existing play literature has largely neglected Dewey and fails to account for his early, important contributions. After an introduction to Dewey’s background and the Laboratory School, the text outlines core questions about play theory and explains Dewey’s distinct emphasis on social contexts and immediate motor and emotional components.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

What Is a Theory of Play?

Dewey’s Influence

Vygotsky and the Russian Pedagogues

John Dewey On Play Theory and Pedagogy • Leonard J. Waks The author discusses American philosopher, psychologist, and educator John Dewey and the Laboratory School he founded at the end of the nineteenth century at the University of Chicago, where he conducted important studies of child development. The author notes the influence of Dewey’s theory of (and pedagogical guidelines for) children’s play, which he initially formulated between 1896 and 1900 and which subsequently influenced such play theorists as Lev S. Vygotsky and Loris Malaguzzi. However, the author asserts, the literature on play has largely neglected Dewey and contains no account of his important and influential early works about play, a gap he intends this article to fill. Key words: John Dewey; psychology of play; playfulness; theory of play Introduction John Dewey is among the most important philosophers, psychologists, and educators in American history. He lived a long and productive life, from 1859—before the Civil War and the election of Abraham Lincoln, the year Charles Darwin published The Origins of Species—to 1952, when James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA and Dwight Eisenhower won the election for president of the United States. Dewey is celebrated for his instrumentalist or pragmatist philosophy, his functionalist psychology, and his leadership in progressive education. After graduating from the University of Vermont in 1879, he taught physics in highschool for two years, then attended graduate school in psychology and philosophy at Johns Hopkins University, studying under, among others, G. Stanley Halland Charles Sanders Peirce. After completing his doctorate at Johns Hopkins in 1884, he first taught at the University of Michigan and in 1894—after a brief period at the University of Minnesota—joined the University of Chicago faculty 10 American Journal of Play, volume 16, number 1 © 2024 by The Strong Contact Leonard J. Waks [at ljwaks@yahoo.com](at ljwaks@yahoo.com) as professor of philosophy, psychology, and pedagogy. He was honored by election as president of the American Psychological Association in 1899 and the American Philosophical Association in 1905. At Chicago Dewey founded the famous Laboratory School in 1896, and there he conducted studies of child development and children’s play. His early works on child play, which I discuss in more detail, were published by 1900, with some of his 1900 works included as additional chapters in future editions of The School and Society, which originally contained only three lectures delivered in 1899. Dewey left Chicago in 1904 for the philosophy department at Columbia University in New York and remained there until his retirement in 1930, after which he continued to lecture and write until his death in 1952. In later works, he continued also to reflect on the attitude of playfulness and its contribution to science and the arts (for a summary of Dewey’s life work, see Hildebrand 2021) . What Is a Theory of Play? Before discussing Dewey’s theory of play, I begin by asking what is a theory of play? Although many researchers have argued that play itself remains difficult or impossible to define, three reviews by Takhvar (1988), Mellou (1994), and Elkonin (2005) have identified the more important theories, and from these surveys of such essential theories and their authors, we can gather the main questions they have addressed. I find seven questions laying at the heart of a theory of play. First, what is play—what is the conceptual definition of play? Second, why do children play—what explains their play; for example, does some biological instinct drive play, or is it driven by cultural factors? Third, how do children play at different ages—when did they start the characteristic activity of play, and at what point in their development does play begin to disappear as a primary activity? Fourth, how does play contribute to cognitive, social

FAQs

What gap does the article aim to address about John Dewey’s play research?

The article claims that scholarship on play has largely neglected Dewey and provides no account of his early and influential works on play. It sets out to fill this gap with a systematic presentation of Dewey’s theory.

How does the article describe Dewey’s approach to play?

It argues that Dewey’s account rejects an exclusively intellectualist view and emphasizes that play actions must be understood in social contexts, including immediate motor and emotional components.

What major questions form the center of a theory of play in the article?

The article lists seven foundational questions: defining play, explaining why children play, how play changes across ages, how play supports cognitive/social/emotional growth, whether play is universal across cultures, the role of play in adult life, and how educators should use play in schools and colleges.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel