Dewey argues that the quality of an educational experience is critical and stresses the importance of the social and interactive processes of learning.

[2] Dewey conceptualizes education as being focused on bodies of information and skills that are passed from one generation to another.

Dewey does not put traditional vs. progressive education against each other; instead, he is critical of teaching methods that are "static"[3] and not incorporating enough experiential learning, which he notes young learners are more accustomed to.

Enjoyable experiences may be mis-educative if they are disconnected and promote dispersive, disintegrated and centrifugal habits.

In Chapter 4, Dewey argues that the teacher in a traditional classroom, by nature of the social setting, was concerned mainly with "keeping order."

Allowing students’ freedom of intelligence gives them the power to frame purposes, judge wisely, and evaluate their desires.

Cultivating this freedom of intelligence or power means allowing students ample opportunity to reflect on their natural impulses by “stopping and thinking.” In Chapter 6, Dewey maintains that students must feel a sense of purpose in their learning to avoid mental slavery.

An experience-based model of education implies students learning new material must find a way to ground unfamiliar concepts and ideas within the scope of ordinary life-experience.

It is his/her responsibility to organize learning experiences to allow assimilation of new material in a context appreciable by and beneficial to the student.

The difficulty in this challenge lies in continually adapting subject matter to the growing sphere of individual experiences as students progress.