Dewey and Education in the 21st Century: Fighting Back - Hardcover

Ruth Heilbronn

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1787436268 ISBN 13: 9781787436268

Publisher: Emerald Publishing, 2018

Synopsis

This book makes a strong case for the abiding relevance of Dewey's notion of learning through experience, with a community of others and what this implies for democratic education in the 21st century. It's first section addresses the experience of today's generation of so-called 'digital natives' in terms of how we should now understand 'knowledge' and how their online experience creates opportunities and challenges for the curriculum, such as schools linking internationally to study classical texts; an exposition of why makerspaces, hackerspaces and Fab Labs might support Dewey's democratic communities in our time, with on-line affordances of 'a commons', a space to use imagination and invent and share with others.
The book's second section is original in its focus on the central Deweyan idea of 'embodiment' with chapters on Dewey and the Alexander technique and on experiences of Afro-American students, in public schools, especially those situated in multi-racial, multi-ethnic countries like the U.S. with deep, racial divides and tensions. The section ends with a chapter on the somaesthetic, educational value of learning outside of buildings.
A third section on experience related to democracy and education, has chapters on Dewey and the democratic curriculum, experience as a preparation for democracy, communication and the critique of individualism. Dewey's notion of interest is analyzed and questioned as to whether it is a sympathetic notion for educational development.
With contributions from Spain, Cameroon, the US and the UK the book ranges across varied curricular and policy contexts to explore what reading Dewey can contribute to contemporary education studies.

About this title

About the Author

Ruth Heilbronn is a Lecturer in Teacher Education and the Philosophy of Education at the UCL Institute of Education, UK.
Christine Doddington is Emerita Fellow of Homerton College, Cambridge, UK.
Rupert Higham is a Lecturer in Educational Leadership at the UCL Institute of Education, UK.

Review

Based on a conference to mark the centenary of the publication of John Dewey's Democracy and Education in Cambridge, England, in October 2016, this volume brings together 10 essays by education and other scholars from Europe, the US, and Cameroon, who outline his philosophy of education in the 21st-century context and its emphasis on education for humanistic rather than economic purposes. They draw on his philosophy to expand their idea that commitment to fighting back against a technicist view of education is necessary, focusing on the areas of technology, embodiment, and democracy and development. They address issues and controversies related to digital technologies in education, including the fear the young people are spending too much time on social media, the value of makerspaces in learning, and the study of classic texts using the internet; how to understand lives as embodied, with discussion of the Alexander Technique, the somatic experience of African Americans in schools, and changing the physical environment to emphasize outside learning; and how a broader and forward-looking understanding of the curriculum can develop students' motivation to learn and the social bonds needed for a healthy democracy, with discussion of the role of educators' dispositions and mental processes, the concept of interests, communication, and the democratic curriculum. --Annotation ©2018 Ringgold Inc. Portland, OR (protoview.com)

About this edition

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1787436268
• ISBN 13: 9781787436268
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 248
• Editor: Ruth Heilbronn, Christine Doddington, Rupert Higham