Discipleship or Pilgrimage?: The Educator's Quest for Philosophy

This interpretive history and critique of educational philosophy offers a reexamination and reconstruction of John Dewey's vision.

Discipleship or Pilgrimage? is an interpretive history of the field of educational philosophy-what it's been, where it is now, and what it ought to be. Implicit in Johnson's analysis is the belief that educational philosophy will not survive much longer. For educational philosophers to become significant players in the reconstruction of our educational system, they must focus on the classroom, both as instructors in the university classroom and as members of teams preparing prospective teachers. By focusing on the educational philosopher as pilgrim-as an educator engaged in an unending quest for meaning-the author suggests that it is not too late to reconstruct the field.

Tony W. Johnson is Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations and Director of the Teachers Academy at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.