Chapter Three: Criteria of Experience

Dewey begins his discussion of the criteria of experience by defining what he calls the category of continuity:

Category of Continuity or Experiential Continuum- "This principle is involved...in every attempt to discriminate between experiences that are worthwhile educationally and those that are not" (33). This discrimination "is made between the inherent values of different experiences" (35).

Looking at this principle more closely, Dewey recognizes that this idea rests upon the characteristics of habit. As he describes, "the basic characteristic of habit is that every experience enacted and undergone modifies the one who acts and undergoes, while this modification affects, whether we wish it or not, the quality of subsequent experiences. For it is a somewhat different person who enters into them" (35). From this perspective, the experiential continuum/principle of continuity literally means that every experience draws upon those that have preceded that moment and influences those that come after.

The important point to note here is that this is a universal principle, and it does not discriminate among experiences of educational value and those without. What separates the two is the question of whether an experience promotes education in general, creates conditions of further growth, and does not cut off an individual from opportunities in which they may continue to grow in new directions (36). For an experience to be educational, it must foster continuing growth (36).

In summary:

1) Every experience affects positively or negatively the conditions (attitudes, preferences, etc.) that inevitably determine the quality of future experiences, as well as the conditions under which these future experiences come to pass (37).

2) This principle is applied in various manners based upon the present experience (37). As Dewey so elegantly states, "If an experience arouses curiosity, strengthens initiative, and sets up desires and purposes that are sufficiently intense to carry a person over dead places in the future...that experience is a moving force" (38).

In terms of what all of this means for the educator, it is threefold:

1) An educator must evaluate the experiences had by their students.

2) An educator must then judge and direct these experiences toward a desired end (arranging conditions).

3) An educator must draw from their own prior experiences (38).

After investigating the experiential continuum, Dewey also argues that there is a second criteria of educational experience: interaction. In his words, "every genuine experience has an active side which changes in some degree the objective conditions under which experiences are had" (39). This requires interaction, or the interplay between external (environment= "whatever conditions interact with personal needs, desires, and capacities to create the experience which is had" p. 44) and internal conditions.

Thus, these two factors (experiential continuum and interaction) work together to articulate truly educational experiences. Situation after situation occurs, and an individual carries over something from one experience to the next (continuity). As this happens, that individual's world grows bigger, drawing more contact with a wider range of individuals/experiences (interaction).

In the end, the role of the educator must be to understand the capacities of their students and adapt the experiences they create to those individuals' needs at the present time. With each passing period of time, these experiences must be reevaluated to fit the new needs of the individual.