Dewey viewed the curriculum as the framework relevant to students' experiences and lives and as a site where these students enjoy more autonomy and learn by experimenting and doing rather. john dewey was a pragmatist, progressivist, educator, philosopher, and social reformer. john dewey’ s democracy and education dewey’ s democracy and education is the touchstone for a great deal of modern educational theory. it pdf covers a wide range of themes and issues relating to education, including teaching, learning, educational envir- onments, subject matter, values, and the nature of work and play. 1952) was america’ s foremost philosopher and public intellectual during the first half of the 20th century. he felt strongly that people have a responsibility to make the world a better place to live in through education and social reform ( gutek, ). dewey’ s theory has also been extended to the problem of enhancing student engagement. john deweyrobert b. his career spanned three generations, and his voice could be heard in the midst of cultural controversies in the united states ( and abroad) from the 1890s until his death, at the age of 93, in 1952. bowie state university john dewey ( b. westbrook1 john dewey was the most significant american philosopher of the first half of the john dewey pdf twentieth century. some strategies that have been found to increase student engagement and that align with dewey’ s concept of aesthetic experiences include: • engaging students in deeper perception - going beyond the simple recognition of objects to look.