(1) Education is growth. Dewey believes that children's psychological development is basically a process of continuous development and growth of natural functions such as emotion, impulse and wisdom with instinct as the core, and the purpose of education is to promote the growth of this instinct. On this basis, Dewey put forward the famous "child-centered" educational principle. Dewey criticized traditional education for ignoring children's inherent instinct and tendency, forcing them to learn from adults' experience from outside, and education became an "external pressure". He clearly put forward the idea of taking children as the center of education.
(2) Education is life. Dewey, starting from the relationship between education and social life, put forward that the essence of education is life. In Dewey's view, the existence of everything is produced by the interaction between man and environment. People can't be divorced from the environment, and schools can't be divorced from the immediate life. Therefore, education is life itself, not preparation for future life. According to "education is life", Dewey put forward a basic educational principle ―― school is society.
(3) Education is the constant transformation of experience. Experience is the core concept in Dewey's pragmatic philosophy and pragmatic education system. He believes that education is a continuous process from known experience to unknown experience. This process is not to teach children existing scientific knowledge, but to let children constantly increase their experience in activities. The acquisition of experience is inseparable from children's personal activities, so Dewey put forward another basic principle of education-"learning by doing", which he believes is the central principle of teaching.