Criticism and Perception

"One may even reverse the statement and say the value of ideals lies in the experiences to which they lead" (p. 335). 

In our society teachers must be able to understand and ultimately evaluate the learning of their students.  In this respect the teacher acts as a critic of the student, and although Dewey's discussion of the role of the critic is with regard to the arts, I think it parallels this aspect of the teacher's responsibilities.  Its interesting then to read through Dewey's discussion of standards in cirticism, given the current "standards based" approach to education. "...standards, prescriptions, and rules are general while objects of art are individual" (p. 313).  And so it is with students and their work.  "In order to get concreteness, they have to be referred for exemplification to the work of  'the masters.' Thus in fact they encourage imitation."  I think, that in teaching music, or really in teaching anything which involves creativity (and really every subject should involve some creativity) that a bit of imitation is ok, although imitation should act as a stepping stone towards more original creativity.  So in this regard, standards could serve as something of an elementary starting point (but not an intellectual or artistic ending point.) 

Later in the chapter Dewey writes that standards are unambiguous, quantitative measures, and while they may be used to measure things -"the yard is a yardstick, and the meter is a bar deposited in Paris" (p. 319  reminds me of Wittgenstein)- they are not values.  "Standards define things with respect to quantity. To be able to measure quantities is a great aid to further judgments, but it is not itself a mode of judgment" (p. 320).   This encourages the position that in education standards are not to be used as goals for achievement, as ultimate judgements of students, but that they help to measure specific things which in turn can help to make academic judgments.  We as teachers can use standards to measure the guidelines in which the content of experience could be framed, and that would allow the music teacher up the street to teach a reasonably equitable curriculum as me, understanding full well that "equitable" is not "the same."  Some form of measurement must take place to allow for that to happen.  But too heavy a focus on the standards, in an environment which values standards as achievement goals, places its ideals on measurement and not on quality, and will lead to experiences not fit for our students.  Again, "the value of ideals lies in the experiences to which they lead."