Saltnarsh
does not constitute experience" (1916, p. 146).
Experience as a means of learning is emblematic of
pragmatism as a problem-solving mode of inquiry.
The process by which knowledge is employed in a
problem-posing process is though reflective
inquiry. "When we reflect upon an experience
instead of just having it," explains Dewey, "we
inevitably distinguish between our own attitude
and the objects toward which we sustain the attitude" (1916, p. 173). Reflective learning breaks
down the distinctions between thought and action,
theory and practice, knowledge and authority, ideas
and responsibilities. Reflection as a mode of
inquiry is central to experiential learning and is the
critical connection in service-learning between service activity and the learning associated with it.
Dewey concentrates considerable attention on
reflective inquiry in Democracy and Education
(1916) and in an earlier book, How We Think: The
Relation of Reflective Thinking to the Educative
Process (1910). The "general features of a reflective experience" were, he explained,
(I) perplexity, confusion, doubt, due to the fact
that one is implicated in an incomplete situation whose full character is not yet determined;
(II) a conjectural anticipation - a tentative
interpretation of the given elements, attributing them to a tendency to effect certain consequences;
(III) a careful survey...of all attainable consideration which will define and clarify the problem in hand;
(IV) a consequent elaboration of the tentative
hypothesis to make it more precise and more
consistent, because squaring with the wider
range of facts;
(V) taking one stand upon the projected
hypothesis as a plan of action which is applied
to the existing state of affairs: doing something
to bring about the anticipated result, and thereby testing the hypothesis (1916, p. 157).
In the reflective process, the "value of knowledge
is subordinate to its use in thinking" toward the end
of solving a problem faced in experience (1916, p.
158). Without fostering reflective thinking, learning cannot move beyond conditioning, beyond the
classroom, beyond formal education. Without
reflection on activity, the connection between
thought and action is dissipated, the ability to formulate further action is lost, and the whole philosophical scheme collapses.
In How We Think, Dewey describes reflective
thinking as "the kind of thinking that consists in
turning a subject over in the mind and giving it
serious and consecutive consideration...It enables
us to know what we are about when we act. It converts action which is merely appetitive, blind, and
impulsive into intelligent action" [1933 (1910) p.
113, 125]. Intelligent action brought together
knowledge and experience and made the connection between reflective thinking and associated
communication in the creation of meaning from
experience. Reflection allowed for an experience
"to be formulated in order to be communicated. To
formulate requires getting outside of it, seeing it as
another would see it, considering what points of
contact it has with the life of another so that it may
be got into such form that he can appreciate its
meaning" (1916, p. 8).
The essence of reflective inquiry is its ability to
make connections between all the various pieces of
information that accompany a problematic situation and to make the connection between intent and
result of conduct. First, information becomes
"knowledge only as its material is comprehended,"
wrote Dewey, "and understanding, comprehension,
means that the various parts of information
acquired are grasped in their relation to one another - a result that is attained only when acquisition is
accompanied by constant reflection upon the
meaning of what is studied" [1933 (1910), p. 177].
Second, Dewey defined reflection as "the discernment of the relation between what we try to do and
what happens in consequence." Reflection is the
"intentional endeavor to discover specific connections between something which we do and the consequences which result, so that the two become
continuous" (1916, p. 151). Finally, not only did
the "consequences of conjoint action take on a new
value when they are observed" through reflective
thinking, but the observation "of the effects of connected action forces men to reflect upon the connection itself' (1916, p. 24). In Dewey's words,
"to put ourselves in the place of another, to see
things from the standpoint of his aim and values, to
humble our estimate of our own pretensions to the
level they assume in the eyes of an impartial
observer, is the surest way to appreciate what justice demands in concrete cases" (1932b, p. 251).
Reflective inquiry is at the core service-learning,
creating meaning out of associational experience.
It is also through reflection that one can perceive a
framework in which education and service are
means toward a larger end of a just democratic
community.
Education for Social Transformation
What, according to Dewey, is the politics of service-learning? This is, perhaps, an unfair question
given that Dewey did not write out of a perspective
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