Revisiting Dewey: Best Practices for Educating the Whole Child Today

"Daniel W. Stuckart and Jeffrey Glanz offer all educators bold ideas and practices inspired by Dewey's conception of progressive education, which are timely and meaningful as the national debate about the process and ends of education persist today. The book is a resource on both contemporary education and Deweyan theory, and I thank the authors for setting forth an agenda on educational policy and educational practice with focus, perspective, and insight." ---David P. Moxley, Oklahoma Health Care Authority Professor, Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work, University of Oklahoma, Norman

"What Stuckart and Glanz ask us to do is to return to John Dewey, to his ideas about children, pedagogy, and schooling in this American democracy. While this involves engaging with the past in order to understand Dewey's thinking in context, it also calls us to deepen our critical apprehension of the present accountability movements. Moreover, this book asks us to progress in Deweyan fashion forward into the future, moving with ambitious steps, a finely balanced sense of practicality, and a hopeful awareness of what frail human knowledge might contribute to professional action." ---Scot Danforth, School of Teaching and Learning, The Ohio State University

"In this impressive tribute, Stuckart and Glanz sharply reexamine and clearly illuminate the depth of Deweyan thought and incite readers to revisit his intellectual contributions and what it means to educate the whole child. One must believe that now, after coping for nearly one decade with the ruinous consequences of No Child Left Behind and its stronger accountability tenet, we might take back some control over what is happening in our schools, in Dewey's honor and for the betterment of all, above all the students on whom the future of our nation lies." ---Audrey Amrein-Beardsley, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, high-stakes testing has become a ubiquitous feature of public school children's daily rituals. Reform advocates argue that testing leads to greater alignment of the curriculum with teaching and learning, teacher and student accountability, and, in some cases, a preservation of our cultural heritage. Opponents contend that testing results in prolific cheating, higher drop-out rates, and a narrowing curriculum with emphases on teaching to the test. Moreover, some evidence suggests that a singular focus on passing the test at all costs leads to neglect in other areas, including attending to students' spiritual and ethical needs as well as helping them develop abilities to collaborate with others, communicate effectively, and innovatively solve problems. Nearly a century ago, Dewey proposed a philosophy of education addressing the needs of the whole student. He provided insights into the development of intelligence, the importance of socially useful skills, and the healthy growth of the individual. In the context of high-stakes testing and best practices, his insights may be more prescient than ever.

Daniel W. Stuckart is an assistant professor of secondary education at Wagner College in New York City and is currently serving as national program chair for the Small College and University Faculty Forum of the National Council for the Social Studies.
Jeffrey Glanz is a professor and holder of the Silverstein Chair in Professional Ethics and Values in the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration at Yeshiva University.