John Dewey

Description

Bertrand Russell's History of Philosophy refers to Dewey as 'generally admitted to be the leading living philosopher of America'. This honourable mention lay partly in his pragmatic theory of meaning, through which so many baffling philosophical problems were claimed to have been solved - as well as educational ones. It is in connection with his educational ideas, however, that Dewey became either famous or infamous. In the United States he had been seen both as saviour of American education by those who welcomed a more child-centred curriculum, and yet as 'worse than Hitler' by those who saw his ideas as undermining traditional education - an accusation shared by his detractors in Britain. This account seeks to bring together Dewey's educational thinking and its frequently forgotten foundations in a pragmatic theory of meaning. In so doing, the book seeks to show that John Dewey is 'a philosopher of education for our time'.

Richard Pring retired from being the first Professor of Educational Studies, and Director of the Department, at the University of Oxford, UK, in 2003 after 14 years. After retirement he was Lead Director of the GBP1 million Nuffield Foundation review, whose report Education for All: the future of education and training for 14-19 year olds was published in 2009. His most recent book, Life and Death of Secondary Education for All, has followed up the review.

Its greatest success is in bringing the lens of Dewey's philosophy to current educational problems. Through Pring's studied lens we see two images clearly: the piteous one a society that neither respects nor even particularly likes children and a hopeful one of a pair of educational philosophers, Pring and Dewey, who do. * Theory and Research in Education * It is difficult to underestimate the importance of this book. Professor Pring has illuminated the character and complex structure of John Dewey's thought within a clear, sophisticated and comprehensive framework of analysis. Pring's sympathy with Dewey's different accounts, especially on the nature of inquiry and what Dewey meant by interests, gives teachers and students access to a thinker whose work sometimes seems impenetrable. Pring's great advantage here is that he writes from a different tradition, giving the book exceptional balance. The description of how Dewey might assess 21st century education should give every politician, administrator and parent reason to pause and reflect on how the education ideal has been corrupted. This book is therefore of immense value for any student who needs to, indeed should, master the work of one of the most penetrating and imaginative educators and philosophers of modern times. * Hugh Sockett, Professor of Education, George Mason University, USA *