Friday, March 10, 2006

Dis-educator

A new book on John Dewey, the man who probably shaped more than anybody else education in the US. The reviewer seems to miss the fact that what Dewey eliminated is not "moral" education. Our schools are full of mindless moralism. What is missing is the possibility for young people to develop critical thinking by being inserted in (and verifying for themselves) a living tradition. The tragedy of liberal education is that when you stop proposing a way to judge, you stop educating.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Intersting. I agree with the point of needing to teach the historical apsects of any subject. The points he makes about teaching morals and having ideals I'm sure are important, but he doesn't offer any convincing argument for this point.

BTW, what the hech is Townhall.com and where the heck did you find it?