Some blog followers might be interested in a recent discussion-list post “Martin Bickman on the Needless War Between Traditionalists and Progressives” [Hake (2012)]. The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: University of Colorado English Professor Martin Bickman at his website http://bit.ly/MUXUgx states (paraphrasing): “While my book Minding American Education [Bickman (2003)], see http://bit.ly/OSYLdc, won a national academic award, I soon discovered that meaningful educational change happens primarily at the local levels, working student to student and teacher to teacher.”
Bickman drew from his book in a piece in the Los Angeles Times which he had meaningfully titled “The Needless War Between Traditionalists And Progressives And How To End It,” but which was changed by an editor to the snappy but senseless “Won't You Come Home John Dewey?” [Bickman (2004) at http://bit.ly/OF7DWF - scroll to the APPENDIX]. Therein Bickman wrote [paraphrased for brevity; bracketed by lines “bbbbb. . . . .”):
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
One of the reasons this continuing conflict between traditionalists and progressives is so heartbreaking is that, around the turn of the last century, John Dewey was able to create resolutions both in a philosophic and practical sense. He looked out on an educational landscape torn between similar apparently competing philosophies:
(a) that centered on the notion of “child-study” and the person of G. Stanley Hall http://bit.ly/NBfLEK, with a Rousseau-like sentimentality about nature and children, more concerned with what it saw as health and wholeness than with intellectual growth; and
(b) that centered on high academic achievement as defined and organized by curricula and textbooks, led by William Torrey Harris http://bit.ly/OoqXag, more concerned with the standard curriculum - arithmetic, geography, history, grammar and literature - the “five windows of the soul,” as Harris called them - that rescued the young mind from its immediate narrowness.
Instead of enlisting on one side or the other, Dewey in a crucial 1902 article, “The Child and the Curriculum” at http://bit.ly/QsVuHi, conceptualized each position so that it would no longer seem a matter of the child versus the curriculum. [My italics.]
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
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To access the complete 19 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/Pup0Nb.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to SDI Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Academia: http://bit.ly/a8ixxm
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
Twitter http://bit.ly/juvd52
GooglePlus: http://bit.ly/KwZ6mE
“Education must be conceived as a continuing reconstruction of experience; that the process and the goal of education are one and the same thing.. . . .[[page 434]]. . . . [It does not mean, as it is often misunderstood,] that we have no choice save either to leave the child to his own unguided spontaneity or to inspire direction upon him from without. But [it recognizes] that no such thing as. . . . . insertion of truth from without is possible. All depends upon the activity which the mind itself undergoes in responding to what is presented from without.. . . . [[page 357]]. . . .”
- John Dewey (1974) - as quoted by Ansbacher (2000)
“. . . .there are several ways to distinguish those who advocate a concept-driven reform curriculum from those who remain defenders of a skills-oriented traditional curriculum. . . . . .They represent different value systems. I believe that rational, reflective discussion and exploration of these issues can bring the two sides closer together. . . . . . . I am told that California schools educate one-seventh of the students in this country. There is too much at stake to continue the fighting, to take a chance on sacrificing the mathematical education of our children by not reaching some agreement on what that education should be.”
- Judith Sowder (1998)
“An exclusive focus on basics leaves students without the understandings that enable them to use effectively. A focus on 'process' without attention to skills deprives students of the tools they need for fluid, competent performance. The extremes are untenable. So, why have so many people taken extreme positions, and why are things as polarized as they are? More important, what might be done about it?. . . . . . . I remain convinced that there is a large middle ground. . . . . . .One way to reclaim the middle ground, suggested by Phil Daro (2007), is to define it clearly-to specify a set of propositions that will call for some degree of compromise from reformers and traditionalists alike. That middle ground would be broadly encompassing, containing propositions that most people would find reasonable (or at least livable). The short-term goal . . . must be to capture the middle ground for the majority. Efforts must be made publicly to identify the extremists for what they are and to marginalize them. The math wars have casualties-our children, who do not receive the kind of robust mathematics education they should.”
-Alan Schoenfeld (2004)
REFERENCES [URL’s shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 29 August 2012.]
Ansbacher, T. 2000. “An Interview with John Dewey on Science Education,” Phys. Teach. 38(4): 224-227, April; online to subscribers at http://bit.ly/InrLvJ. A thoughtful and well-researched treatment showing the consonance of Dewey’s educational ideas with the thinking of most current science-education researchers (as quoted straight from Dewey's own writings, not from the accounts of sometimes confused Dewey interpreters).
Daro, P. 2007. “Math wars peace treaty,” online at http://bit.ly/OJD8Pf.
Dewey, J. 1974. John Dewey, On Education: Selected Writings, edited and with an introduction by Reginald D. Archambault. University of Chicago Press, publisher’s information at http://bit.ly/QT9ipb. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/Ubf75G, note the searchable “Look Inside” feature.
Hake, R.R. 2012. “Martin Bickman On The Needless War Between Traditionalists and Progressives,” online on the OPEN AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/Pup0Nb. Post of 29 Aug 2012 10:41:56-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Schoenfeld, A. 2004. “The Math Wars,” Educational Policy 18(1): 253-286; online as a 164 kB pdf at http://bit.ly/OIljxk.
Sowder, J.T. 1998. “What are the ‘Math Wars’ in California All About? Reasons and Perspectives,” Phi Beta Kappa Invited Lecture; online as a 98 kB pdf at http://bit.ly/O6R9If , thanks to Professor Bowen Brawner of Tarleton State University.
Showing posts with label John Dewey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Dewey. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
U.S. Colleges Put Low Priority on Student Learning
Some blog followers might be interested in a recent discussion-list post “U.S. Colleges Put Low Priority on Student Learning.” The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: Norman Stahl of the LrnAsst-L list pointed to Julie Mack’s report http://bit.ly/Jy1RT9 “U.S. colleges put low priority on student learning, say authors of ‘We're Losing Our Minds’.” Mack writes that Richard Hersh, co-author with Richard Keeling of We’re Losing Our Minds http://bit.ly/IOE8wU commented at a recent Educational Writers Association convention: “Higher education really needs to question its priorities, rewards, structures, principles and values. Learning itself must become a primary touchstone for decision-making.”
Among other recent books critical of higher education are: (a) Higher Education?: How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids - and What We Can Do About It (Hacker & Dreifus, 2010) http://amzn.to/bunggt; (b) Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses (Arum & Roksa, 2011) http://bit.ly/gPYBHj, and (c) College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be (Delbanco, 2012) http://bit.ly/LzpMny.
Richard Wolin http://bit.ly/LO1EAC, in his insightful review http://bit.ly/KMwcOb of Delbanco’s book, has this to say about the current state of higher education: “America's most prominent philosopher of democracy, John Dewey, devoted a considerable portion of his oeuvre to reflecting on the methods and goals of public education. . . . . In his view, the pedagogical key to cultivating the virtues of active citizenship lay with the antiauthoritarian, dialogic approach of the Socratic method: Dewey believed that democratic education, instead of acquiescing to the mind-numbing requirements of rote instruction, should focus on honing critical thinking, thereby nurturing autonomy. . . . . . . although contemporary educators might agree about the indispensable value of liberal learning, if directly challenged to define its content and purport, they become stricken with paralysis. . . . The end result has been the confused intellectual smorgasbord that defines undergraduate study today. . .[My italics.]. . . Regrettably, one of the major casualties of the restructuring of undergraduate education along vocational and pre-professional lines has been Dewey’s ideal of liberal study as training for democratic citizenship.”
**********************************************
To access the complete 19 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/KU0UEy.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
rrhake@earthlink.net
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to SDI Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
Academia: http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/rrhake
“The academic area is one of the most difficult areas to change in our society. We continue to use the same methods of instruction, particularly lectures, that have been used for hundreds of years. Little scientific research is done to test new approaches, and little systematic attention is given to the development of new methods. Universities that study many aspects of the world ignore the educational function in which they are engaging and from which a large part of their revenues are earned.”
- Richard M. Cyert, former president of Carnegie Mellon University, quoted in Tuma & Reif (1980):
REFERENCES [All URL’ shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 25 May 2012.]
Hake, R.R. 2012. “U.S. Colleges Put Low Priority on Student Learning,” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/KU0UEy. Post of 25 May 2012 16:57:20-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are also being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Tuma, D.T. & F. Reif, eds. 1980. Problem Solving and Education: Issues in Teaching and Research, Lawrence Erlbaum. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/jcAK2d.
**********************************************
ABSTRACT: Norman Stahl of the LrnAsst-L list pointed to Julie Mack’s report http://bit.ly/Jy1RT9 “U.S. colleges put low priority on student learning, say authors of ‘We're Losing Our Minds’.” Mack writes that Richard Hersh, co-author with Richard Keeling of We’re Losing Our Minds http://bit.ly/IOE8wU commented at a recent Educational Writers Association convention: “Higher education really needs to question its priorities, rewards, structures, principles and values. Learning itself must become a primary touchstone for decision-making.”
Among other recent books critical of higher education are: (a) Higher Education?: How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids - and What We Can Do About It (Hacker & Dreifus, 2010) http://amzn.to/bunggt; (b) Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses (Arum & Roksa, 2011) http://bit.ly/gPYBHj, and (c) College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be (Delbanco, 2012) http://bit.ly/LzpMny.
Richard Wolin http://bit.ly/LO1EAC, in his insightful review http://bit.ly/KMwcOb of Delbanco’s book, has this to say about the current state of higher education: “America's most prominent philosopher of democracy, John Dewey, devoted a considerable portion of his oeuvre to reflecting on the methods and goals of public education. . . . . In his view, the pedagogical key to cultivating the virtues of active citizenship lay with the antiauthoritarian, dialogic approach of the Socratic method: Dewey believed that democratic education, instead of acquiescing to the mind-numbing requirements of rote instruction, should focus on honing critical thinking, thereby nurturing autonomy. . . . . . . although contemporary educators might agree about the indispensable value of liberal learning, if directly challenged to define its content and purport, they become stricken with paralysis. . . . The end result has been the confused intellectual smorgasbord that defines undergraduate study today. . .[My italics.]. . . Regrettably, one of the major casualties of the restructuring of undergraduate education along vocational and pre-professional lines has been Dewey’s ideal of liberal study as training for democratic citizenship.”
**********************************************
To access the complete 19 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/KU0UEy.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
rrhake@earthlink.net
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to SDI Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
Academia: http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/rrhake
“The academic area is one of the most difficult areas to change in our society. We continue to use the same methods of instruction, particularly lectures, that have been used for hundreds of years. Little scientific research is done to test new approaches, and little systematic attention is given to the development of new methods. Universities that study many aspects of the world ignore the educational function in which they are engaging and from which a large part of their revenues are earned.”
- Richard M. Cyert, former president of Carnegie Mellon University, quoted in Tuma & Reif (1980):
REFERENCES [All URL’ shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 25 May 2012.]
Hake, R.R. 2012. “U.S. Colleges Put Low Priority on Student Learning,” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/KU0UEy. Post of 25 May 2012 16:57:20-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are also being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Tuma, D.T. & F. Reif, eds. 1980. Problem Solving and Education: Issues in Teaching and Research, Lawrence Erlbaum. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/jcAK2d.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Re: Growing Inequalities
Some blog followers might be interested in a recent discussion-list post
“Re: Growing Inequalities.” The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: H.G. Callaway, in his Dewey-L post “Growing Inequalities,” pointed to “The Great Divergence” (Smith, 2012) at http://bit.ly/KdKesH]. Smith wrote: "Timothy Noah (2012) writes in his essential new book The Great Divergence http://bit.ly/Kgex2i, “the US has a level of inequality greater than found in Nicaragua, Guyana, or Venezuela, nations that most Americans would be ashamed to consider competitors. How did this happen? How did America end up with Third World levels of inequality?”
What all this got to do with John Dewey? I think Dewey would be appalled by “The Overriding Influence of Poverty on Children's Educational Achievement” (Hake, 2011b) at http://bit.ly/tUU65W that currently plagues the U.S.
******************************************************
To access the complete 9 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/JVmTOi.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
rrhake@earthlink.net
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to SDI Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
Academia: http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/rrhake
". . .let's not pretend that family background does not matter and can be overlooked. Let's agree that we know a lot about how to address the ways in which poverty undermines student learning. Whether we choose to face up to that reality is ultimately a moral question."
- Helen F. Ladd & Edward B. Fiske (2011)
REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 23 May 2012.]
Hake, R.R. 2012. “Re: Growing Inequalities,” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/JVmTOi. Post of 23 May 2012 12:50:17-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are also being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Ladd, H.E. & E.B. Fiske. 2011. “Class Matters. Why Won't We Admit It?” New York Times Opinion Piece, 11 Dec.; online at http://nyti.ms/vx3nub.
“Re: Growing Inequalities.” The abstract reads:
******************************************************
ABSTRACT: H.G. Callaway, in his Dewey-L post “Growing Inequalities,” pointed to “The Great Divergence” (Smith, 2012) at http://bit.ly/KdKesH]. Smith wrote: "Timothy Noah (2012) writes in his essential new book The Great Divergence http://bit.ly/Kgex2i, “the US has a level of inequality greater than found in Nicaragua, Guyana, or Venezuela, nations that most Americans would be ashamed to consider competitors. How did this happen? How did America end up with Third World levels of inequality?”
What all this got to do with John Dewey? I think Dewey would be appalled by “The Overriding Influence of Poverty on Children's Educational Achievement” (Hake, 2011b) at http://bit.ly/tUU65W that currently plagues the U.S.
******************************************************
To access the complete 9 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/JVmTOi.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
rrhake@earthlink.net
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to SDI Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
Academia: http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/rrhake
". . .let's not pretend that family background does not matter and can be overlooked. Let's agree that we know a lot about how to address the ways in which poverty undermines student learning. Whether we choose to face up to that reality is ultimately a moral question."
- Helen F. Ladd & Edward B. Fiske (2011)
REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 23 May 2012.]
Hake, R.R. 2012. “Re: Growing Inequalities,” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/JVmTOi. Post of 23 May 2012 12:50:17-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are also being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Ladd, H.E. & E.B. Fiske. 2011. “Class Matters. Why Won't We Admit It?” New York Times Opinion Piece, 11 Dec.; online at http://nyti.ms/vx3nub.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Remediation for Remedial Math #2 - Response to "Haim"
Some blog followers might be interested in a recent discussion-list post “Remediation for Remedial Math #2 - Response to ‘Haim’ ” The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: In response to my post “Remediation for Remedial Math #2” [Hake (2012)] at http://bit.ly/KZafu5, Math-Teach’s “Haim” wrote (paraphrasing) http://bit.ly/JbPAHM:
“Dewey (1899) (yes, that would be the 19th century) wrote http://bit.ly/JvR3cG: ‘I may have exaggerated somewhat in order to make plain the typical points of the old education: its passivity of attitude, its mechanical massing of children, its uniformity of curriculum and method. It may be summed up by stating that the centre of gravity is outside the child. It is in the teacher, the textbook, anywhere and everywhere you please except in the immediate instincts and activities of the child himself.’ In that one passage is every hoary idea that still animates the undead cadaver of education theory: discovery learning, relevance to the life of the child, child-centered education, active learning, etc. Richard, you complain of inertia? As well you should. But it is not exactly what you think.”
“Haim's” impoverished understanding of education dates at least back to Hogarth’s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hogarth “Scholars at a Lecture” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hogarth_lecture_1736.jpg of 1736 (yes, that would be the 18th century). “HAIM,” YOU COMPLAIN OF INERTIA? AS WELL YOU SHOULD. BUT IT IS NOT EXACTLY WHAT YOU THINK.
#######################################################
To access the complete 9 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/KtQ4c0.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
rrhake@earthlink.net
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to SDI Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
Academia: http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/rrhake
REFERENCES [All URL’s shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 16 May 2012.]
Hake, R.R. 2012. “Remediation for Remedial Math #2 - Response to ‘Haim’ ” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/KtQ4c0. Post of 16 May 2012 11:54:37-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are also being transmitted to several discussion lists.
#######################################################
ABSTRACT: In response to my post “Remediation for Remedial Math #2” [Hake (2012)] at http://bit.ly/KZafu5, Math-Teach’s “Haim” wrote (paraphrasing) http://bit.ly/JbPAHM:
“Dewey (1899) (yes, that would be the 19th century) wrote http://bit.ly/JvR3cG: ‘I may have exaggerated somewhat in order to make plain the typical points of the old education: its passivity of attitude, its mechanical massing of children, its uniformity of curriculum and method. It may be summed up by stating that the centre of gravity is outside the child. It is in the teacher, the textbook, anywhere and everywhere you please except in the immediate instincts and activities of the child himself.’ In that one passage is every hoary idea that still animates the undead cadaver of education theory: discovery learning, relevance to the life of the child, child-centered education, active learning, etc. Richard, you complain of inertia? As well you should. But it is not exactly what you think.”
“Haim's” impoverished understanding of education dates at least back to Hogarth’s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hogarth “Scholars at a Lecture” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hogarth_lecture_1736.jpg of 1736 (yes, that would be the 18th century). “HAIM,” YOU COMPLAIN OF INERTIA? AS WELL YOU SHOULD. BUT IT IS NOT EXACTLY WHAT YOU THINK.
#######################################################
To access the complete 9 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/KtQ4c0.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
rrhake@earthlink.net
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to SDI Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
Academia: http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/rrhake
REFERENCES [All URL’s shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 16 May 2012.]
Hake, R.R. 2012. “Remediation for Remedial Math #2 - Response to ‘Haim’ ” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/KtQ4c0. Post of 16 May 2012 11:54:37-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are also being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Friday, April 27, 2012
John Dewey Lives - A Dialogue
Some blog followers might be interested in a recent discussion-list post “John Dewey Lives - A Dialogue” [Hake (2012)]. The abstract reads:
***********************************************************
ABSRACT: Kevin Stacey in an AERA-C post titled “Bill Ayers ‘exhumes’ John Dewey for a conversation on progressive education” pointed to an article “John Dewey Lives - A Dialogue” [Ayers & Schubert (2012)] at http://bit.ly/Jp4bxF]. This is an edited transcript of a conversation between educators William C. Ayers (WCA) and William H. Schubert (WHS), with the latter, WHS, former president of the John Dewey Society http://bit.ly/JrxTlF, playing the role of John Dewey (JD).
In one exchange WCA asks WHS (JD) to respond to Glenn Beck's assertion that Dewey thought “Teachers aren't there to tell a child if he or she is right or wrong … they're there to help the child through a touchy-feely period of self discovery.”
WHS (JD) responded that in Experience and Education Dewey (1938, 1997) had written that “in considering the difference between traditional and progressive education, we shouldn't just take one side or the other, but we should look at a deeper level where they can both be integrated.” And in Democracy and Education Dewey (1916; 1997) had written that “education is reconstruction and reorganization of experience which adds to the meaning of experience, and which increases ability to direct the course of subsequent experience. . . . so it's not just a catering to interests.”
For another exhumation of John Dewey see Ted Ansbacher's incisive "An Interview with John Dewey on Science Education" [Ansbacher (2000) http://bit.ly/I89zmr (click on “articles in pdf” at the top of the page)].
***********************************************************
To access the complete 13 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/IFtcED.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
rrhake@earthlink.net
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to SDI Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
Twitter http://bit.ly/juvd52
"The belief that all genuine education comes about through experience does not mean that all experiences are genuinely or equally educative."
John Dewey (1938; 1997, p. 25) Experience and Education
“. . .the organized subject matter of the specialist represents the goal toward which education should continuously move.”
John Dewey (1938; 1997, p. 83) Experience and Education
REFERENCES [All URL’s shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 27 April 2012.]
Hake, R.R. 2012. “John Dewey Lives - A Dialogue,” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/IFtcED. Post of 27 Apr 2012 15:16:58-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are also being transmitted to several discussion lists.
***********************************************************
ABSRACT: Kevin Stacey in an AERA-C post titled “Bill Ayers ‘exhumes’ John Dewey for a conversation on progressive education” pointed to an article “John Dewey Lives - A Dialogue” [Ayers & Schubert (2012)] at http://bit.ly/Jp4bxF]. This is an edited transcript of a conversation between educators William C. Ayers (WCA) and William H. Schubert (WHS), with the latter, WHS, former president of the John Dewey Society http://bit.ly/JrxTlF, playing the role of John Dewey (JD).
In one exchange WCA asks WHS (JD) to respond to Glenn Beck's assertion that Dewey thought “Teachers aren't there to tell a child if he or she is right or wrong … they're there to help the child through a touchy-feely period of self discovery.”
WHS (JD) responded that in Experience and Education Dewey (1938, 1997) had written that “in considering the difference between traditional and progressive education, we shouldn't just take one side or the other, but we should look at a deeper level where they can both be integrated.” And in Democracy and Education Dewey (1916; 1997) had written that “education is reconstruction and reorganization of experience which adds to the meaning of experience, and which increases ability to direct the course of subsequent experience. . . . so it's not just a catering to interests.”
For another exhumation of John Dewey see Ted Ansbacher's incisive "An Interview with John Dewey on Science Education" [Ansbacher (2000) http://bit.ly/I89zmr (click on “articles in pdf” at the top of the page)].
***********************************************************
To access the complete 13 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/IFtcED.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
rrhake@earthlink.net
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to SDI Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
Twitter http://bit.ly/juvd52
"The belief that all genuine education comes about through experience does not mean that all experiences are genuinely or equally educative."
John Dewey (1938; 1997, p. 25) Experience and Education
“. . .the organized subject matter of the specialist represents the goal toward which education should continuously move.”
John Dewey (1938; 1997, p. 83) Experience and Education
REFERENCES [All URL’s shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 27 April 2012.]
Hake, R.R. 2012. “John Dewey Lives - A Dialogue,” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/IFtcED. Post of 27 Apr 2012 15:16:58-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are also being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Keynes & Hayek (was “Re: History of regulation of finance”)
Some blog followers might be interested “Keynes & Hayek (was ‘Re: History of regulation of finance’)” [Hake (2011)]. The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: In my Dewey-L post “Re: History of regulation of finance” [Hake (2011c)], I responded to Celinda Scott’s (2011a) comments regarding Nicholas Wapshott's (2011) book Keynes Hayek: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics, and attempted to inject some humor into Dewey-L by pointing to the rap parody video “The Fight of the Century” at http://bit.ly/uWBBP2 .
In response, philosopher H.G. Callaway (2011d) criticized my post for diverting the discussion away from the Dodd-Frank act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd_Frank_Act which he thinks should be the centerpiece of serious discussion on the Callaway-initiated thread “Re: History of regulation of finance.”
Callaway’s complaint could probably have been avoided if I had had the good sense to simply title my post “Keynes & Hayek (was ‘Re: History of regulation of finance’).” Then more Dewey-L discussion might have turned towards consideration of the clash of Keynes and Hayek that, according to Wapshott, “defined modern economics.”
Of course, modern economics has had a crucial impact on social conditions and education - see e.g., Hake (2011a,b) - matters of concern to Dewey and therefore properly within the province of Dewey-L, perhaps even more so than the Dodd-Frank act.
On a related matter, I completely disagree with Callaway’s (2011d) assertion that “Re: Castles in the Sky #2” [Hake (2009)] at http://bit.ly/rBPxls was “loaded with doubtful comments and links” and “made little or no sense.” That post concerned the sky-castle building of traditional economists such as Alan Greenspan and Lawrence Summers, who seem to regard the economic system as divorced from the ecosystem, a standpoint roundly criticized by ecological economists such as Herman Daly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Daly.
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To access the complete 15 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/vkKmaw.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References
which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
rrhake@earthlink.net
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi
http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com
http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
“Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates to invention. It shocks us out of sheep-like passivity, and sets us at noting and contriving. Not that it always effects this result; but that conflict is a sine qua non of reflection and ingenuity.”
John Dewey, Morals Are Human, Dewey: Middle Works, Vol.14, p. 207
REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 09 Nov 2011.]
Hake, R.R. 2011. “Keynes & Hayek (was ‘Re: History of regulation of finance’), ” online on the OPEN! Dewey-L archives at http://bit.ly/vkKmaw. Post of 9 Nov 2011 10:23:43-0800 to Dewey-L. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.
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ABSTRACT: In my Dewey-L post “Re: History of regulation of finance” [Hake (2011c)], I responded to Celinda Scott’s (2011a) comments regarding Nicholas Wapshott's (2011)
In response, philosopher H.G. Callaway (2011d) criticized my post for diverting the discussion away from the Dodd-Frank act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodd_Frank_Act which he thinks should be the centerpiece of serious discussion on the Callaway-initiated thread “Re: History of regulation of finance.”
Callaway’s complaint could probably have been avoided if I had had the good sense to simply title my post “Keynes & Hayek (was ‘Re: History of regulation of finance’).” Then more Dewey-L discussion might have turned towards consideration of the clash of Keynes and Hayek that, according to Wapshott, “defined modern economics.”
Of course, modern economics has had a crucial impact on social conditions and education - see e.g., Hake (2011a,b) - matters of concern to Dewey and therefore properly within the province of Dewey-L, perhaps even more so than the Dodd-Frank act.
On a related matter, I completely disagree with Callaway’s (2011d) assertion that “Re: Castles in the Sky #2” [Hake (2009)] at http://bit.ly/rBPxls was “loaded with doubtful comments and links” and “made little or no sense.” That post concerned the sky-castle building of traditional economists such as Alan Greenspan and Lawrence Summers, who seem to regard the economic system as divorced from the ecosystem, a standpoint roundly criticized by ecological economists such as Herman Daly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Daly.
*************************************************
To access the complete 15 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/vkKmaw.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References
which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
rrhake@earthlink.net
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi
http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com
http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
“Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates to invention. It shocks us out of sheep-like passivity, and sets us at noting and contriving. Not that it always effects this result; but that conflict is a sine qua non of reflection and ingenuity.”
John Dewey, Morals Are Human, Dewey: Middle Works, Vol.14, p. 207
REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 09 Nov 2011.]
Hake, R.R. 2011. “Keynes & Hayek (was ‘Re: History of regulation of finance’), ” online on the OPEN! Dewey-L archives at http://bit.ly/vkKmaw. Post of 9 Nov 2011 10:23:43-0800 to Dewey-L. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Off Topic: Gerald Grow’s Remarkable Photoillustrations
Some blog followers might be interested in a discussion-list post “Off Topic: Gerald Grow’s Remarkable Photoillustrations” [Hake (2011)].
The first sentence reads:
“Although ‘Off-Topic,’ the remarkable photoillustrations of Gerald Grow (2011) at http://bit.ly/oPgN0n may interest some Academic Discussion List (ADL) subscribers.
To access the complete 3 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/peeQ6I .
P.S. “Off Topic”?? In the signature quote John Dewey speaks to the concerns of Marion Brady http://www.marionbrady.com/ - see e.g., What's Worth Learning [Brady (2010)].
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
rrhake@earthlink.net
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi
http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com
http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
“This situation in education represents the divisions and separations which obtain in social life. The variety of interests which should mark any rich and balanced experience have been torn asunder and deposited in separate institutions with diverse and independent purposes and methods. Business is business, science is science, art is art, politics is politics, social intercourse is social intercourse, morals is morals, recreation is recreation, and so on. Each possesses a separate and independent province with its own peculiar aims and ways of proceeding. Each contributes to the others only externally and accidentally.”
John Dewey (1916) in Democracy and Education
REFERENCES [URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 10 July 2011.]
Brady, Marion. 2010. What's Worth Learning. Information Age Publishing, publisher's information at http://bit.ly/fAaI6Z. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/hV9irc. An expurgated Google book preview is online at http://bit.ly/hWpklM.
Dewey, J. 1916. Democracy and Education, Chapter 18 “Educational Values," online at http://bit.ly/r1Vruu thanks to the Institute of Learning Technologies. Scroll down to part 3, “The Segregation and Organization of Values.”
Grow, G. 2011. “Gerald Grow's exhibit of photoillustrations,” JourNet post of 9 Jul 2011 06:49:31-0400; online at http://bit.ly/rs0slb.
Hake, R.R. 2011. “Off Topic: Gerald Grow's Remarkable Photoillustrations” on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/peeQ6I. Post of 10 Jul 2011 07:32:56 -0700 to AERA-L, and NetGold. The abstract and link to the complete 3 kB post are being transmitted to various discussion lists.
The first sentence reads:
“Although ‘Off-Topic,’ the remarkable photoillustrations of Gerald Grow (2011) at http://bit.ly/oPgN0n may interest some Academic Discussion List (ADL) subscribers.
To access the complete 3 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/peeQ6I .
P.S. “Off Topic”?? In the signature quote John Dewey speaks to the concerns of Marion Brady http://www.marionbrady.com/ - see e.g., What's Worth Learning [Brady (2010)].
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
rrhake@earthlink.net
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi
http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com
http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
“This situation in education represents the divisions and separations which obtain in social life. The variety of interests which should mark any rich and balanced experience have been torn asunder and deposited in separate institutions with diverse and independent purposes and methods. Business is business, science is science, art is art, politics is politics, social intercourse is social intercourse, morals is morals, recreation is recreation, and so on. Each possesses a separate and independent province with its own peculiar aims and ways of proceeding. Each contributes to the others only externally and accidentally.”
John Dewey (1916) in Democracy and Education
REFERENCES [URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 10 July 2011.]
Brady, Marion. 2010. What's Worth Learning. Information Age Publishing, publisher's information at http://bit.ly/fAaI6Z. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/hV9irc. An expurgated Google book preview is online at http://bit.ly/hWpklM.
Dewey, J. 1916. Democracy and Education, Chapter 18 “Educational Values," online at http://bit.ly/r1Vruu thanks to the Institute of Learning Technologies. Scroll down to part 3, “The Segregation and Organization of Values.”
Grow, G. 2011. “Gerald Grow's exhibit of photoillustrations,” JourNet post of 9 Jul 2011 06:49:31-0400; online at http://bit.ly/rs0slb.
Hake, R.R. 2011. “Off Topic: Gerald Grow's Remarkable Photoillustrations” on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/peeQ6I. Post of 10 Jul 2011 07:32:56 -0700 to AERA-L, and NetGold. The abstract and link to the complete 3 kB post are being transmitted to various discussion lists.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Is Physics Difficult?
Some blog followers might be interested in a post "Is Physics Difficult? [Hake (2010)]. The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: Robert Kaiser of the Physics First List wrote (paraphrasing): "Why are we still asking the silly question 'Should children learn some physics ideas in the 7th, 8th or 9th grade?' OBVIOUSLY THEY SHOULD. We have English reading, writing story analysis, etc., from 1st grade to 12th grade. Same for History and Math: children start with almost nothing, but with many years of exposure, they slowly build up skills. Why should science be the one subject in which children (realistically) get almost nothing, and then are thrown to the wolves for 11th grade physics."
The same point was made by Ken Ford (1989) in his Guest Comment "Is Physics Difficult." Ford wrote: "Six-year-olds write English and . . . Jeremy Bernstein writes English. What separates them? A long, gradual incline of increased ability, understanding, and practice. [But for Physics] we have fashioned a cliff. There is no gradual ramp, only a near-vertical ascent to its high plateau."
See "Physics First: Opening Battle in the War on Science/Math Illiteracy?" at http://bit.ly/bEEwBa for cartoons which contrast Lederman's 9th grade physics cliff (page 2) with Ford's P-12 science/math ramp (page 4).
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To access the complete 10 kB post please click on
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
rrhake@earthlink.net
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi
http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com
http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
"For most men, save the scientific workers, science is a mystery in the hands of initiates, who have become adepts in virtue of following ritualistic ceremonies from which the profane herd is excluded".
John Dewey (1927) in The Public and its Problems
REFERENCES [URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 17 November 2010.]
Dewey, J. 1927. The Public and its Problems, a 1954 edition is available from Swallow Press. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/cIW7hf, note the searchable "Look Inside" feature.
Hake, R.R. 2010. "Is Physics Difficult? (was Why are we still asking silly questions?)" online on the OPEN AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/9F2jMJ. Post of 17 Nov 2010 13:11:56-0800 to AERA-L, Net-Gold, & Physics First. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to various discussion lists.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Re: Castles in the Sky #2
Some blog followers may be interested in a recent discussion-list post of the above title [Hake (2009a). The abstract reads:
ABSTRACT: H.G. Callaway, in his Dewey-L post “Castles in the Sky” referred to an article reporting that Alan Greenspan had defended his record as Fed Chairman and stated that "speculative excess" is inevitable in long periods of prosperity. Callaway then suggested that:
“the answer to excessive speculation is empiricism and the introduction of a more scientific attitude. Surely, the attitude of the scientific thinker, the orientation to facts, experiment and attempts at falsification is important in our attempts to control the excesses of philosophical speculation and the related tendency toward, let us say, 'castles in the sky'.”
But philosophers are not the only ones who build “castles in the sky.”
The sky castle building of traditional economists such as Alan Greenspan and Lawrence Summers, who seem to regard the economic system as divorced from the ecosystem, has been roundly criticized by ecological economists such as Herman Daly.
Mihai Sarbu, in response to Callaway, opined that “ 'castles in the sky' could be a timely conversation topic, given the seriousness of the current environmental challenges and the upcoming meeting in Copenhagen: how can John Dewey's theory of inquiry be applied to educating for ecological responsibility?”
I think education in Dewey's inquiry mode plus e.g., Daly & Townsend's "Valuing The Earth: Economics, Ecology, Ethics," and Tim Jackson's “Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet” might help.
To access the complete 19 kB post please click on http://tinyurl.com/yjtasfm.
REFERENCES [Tiny URL's courtesy http://tinyurl.com/create.php .]
Hake, R.R. 2009. “Re: Castles in the Sky #2,” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://tinyurl.com/yjtasfm . Post of 28 Nov 2009 11:42:22-0800 to AERA-L, Dewey-L, Net-Gold, Phys-L, and PhysLrnR. The abstract only was sent to several discussion lists.
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