ABSTRACT
One specific ‘false dualism’ which gained John Dewey’s attention was that between ‘traditional’ and ‘child-centred’ learning. On the one hand, he was highly critical of curriculum (and the dispensing of it) which made little or no connection with the experience and ways of thinking of the learner. On the other hand, he was equally critical of curriculum which, focusing on the interest of the learner, failed to show how the inherited wisdom embodied in the different subjects informs and enlightens those interests. The experiential learning of the pupils was most important, but so was the contribution of the teacher drawing on the inherited wisdom of the past. Teaching gardening provides an example of the practical basis of successful learning.
