A teoria educacional de John Dewey e sua relação com a pedagogia socialista soviética de Anton Makarenko: diferentes epistemologias, possíveis interações

Abstract

This thesis, defended within the Graduate Program in Education at the Federal University of Pelotas, in the Research Line of History and Philosophy of Education, aims to investigate elements derived from Deweyan epistemology present in the Soviet socialist pedagogy of Anton Makarenko. In the first chapter, the study seeks to present cultural connections, highlighting John Dewey as a conceptual character. The first section addresses the initial movements of the reform of the Russian school system and its cultural ties, analyzing the foundation of the system and the reception of foreign projects; the first Russian translations of John Dewey's works; The School and Society as a theoretical foundation for Russian education reform plans; as well as Dewey's impressions of Bolshevik Russia and its influence on his educational thought. The second section focuses on the conceptual developments of Soviet pedagogy, investigating the convergences and divergences in the objectives of Soviet education, as well as the innovative methodologies adopted during the transition period, including the complex system, the Dalton Plan, and the Project Method. In the second chapter, the study delves into Anton Makarenko's pedagogical experimentalism and the construction of the new Soviet man, using character education as the central analytical thread. In the first section, the role of parents in shaping the character of the new Soviet family is examined through the categories of authority and obedience, regime and discipline. The second section investigates the principles for forming the new man within Soviet socialist society, analyzing creative work as moral education and the educational collective as a living organism of democratic society. Ultimately, the research findings indicate that John Dewey, by distancing himself from pedagogical traditionalism, expanded the boundaries of educational thought and paved the way for Soviet pedagogy to move from practice (liberal social action) toward praxis (communist revolutionary action). It was observed that these two pedagogical approaches—Dewey and Makarenko—present educational perspectives in which children are guided through forms of development grounded in practical-theoretical determinations that manifest in their praxis. The study concludes that Dewey’s psychology, anchored in education as social action, his instrumental approach to educational practices, and his moral perspective on building a sense of collectivity, are key elements that, in some respects, may be aligned with the efforts of socialist educators during the educational reforms of Soviet Russia.