Curriculum is a Means, Not an End

“Curriculum is a means, not an end.”  In other words, covering the curriculum should not be the ultimate goal in education.  Instead, we should engage students in productive activities.  Dewey talks about the need for students to gain more experiences from the classroom.  He states that the classroom is designed for students to listen, but not work.  Individuals respond to their environment, the classroom should be a workroom for students that they can enjoy.  The classroom should be a place where children really live and get their life experiences from, it should not just be about the amount of knowledge a child could acquire.  Dewey goes on to describe activities in which children could really benefit from and how teachers should incorporate more productive activities in their classroom.  He took one activity that could be expanded into multiple activities, creating an integrated curriculum, which I believe could be very useful to bring into my classroom.