Democracy Dewey's Way

http://mises.org/etexts/classical.pdf

I found this article about democracy. I know that my week is not until April, but I thought this might help some of us understand where Dewey is coming from and where his thoughts on democracy find their home. Even if you just read the first page, you will know Dewey a little better. Yes, he is an optimist and that is why I like him. The original plan for American Democracy has failed to live up to the originators expectations and we are left to pick up the pieces and wonder why our legal, social, and education systems are failing. Think about your active part in the community. Think about your active part in our democracy. Are you taking your job of being "the people" seriously or are you complacent like most of middle class America? I will be honest. I cry every time I hear our National Anthem play. Heck, I am tearing up right now thinking about it. Laugh, its okay. I laugh at myself too. But we do live in a country that is famous for its radical thoughts and actions in the past centuries. However, we have not been radical as a people, for a very long time. Dewey would be outraged and writing every day about the state of affairs of our nation. I will hop off of my soap box for today. Thanks for laughing with me.... Billie

The Hobart Shakespeareans

Rafe Esquith became famous due to his Shakespeare program, which has attracted some acting luminaries:



There are plenty of other Esquith videos on YouTube!

Rafe Esquith Links:

All-
I know Dr. Pope will post more about Esquith's book, Teaching Like Your Hair's On Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56,but I had heard of this book before on NPR. Below are links to an article/book excerpt and a 7 minute interview. As we said at the end of class, it's tough trying to find your place as a teacher/artist/mediator with all of the state/federal mandates that can, at times, stymie creative approaches.

As a former 5th grade humanities teacher, I concur with Esquith's teaching methodologies - inspire your students by exposing them to a varied and advanced curriculum that challenges them and you as a teacher. And going back to Dewey, I don't think reflective practices are considered enough by teachers with regard to their teaching and ways to refine their practices. On my 5th grade team, my mentor would always tell me, "Why re-invent the wheel, Lauren?" Well, sometimes we need to break out of old methods that simply aren't working. Teaching is hard work and while the courses we are taking and the materials we are learning are so beneficial, there's nothing like your first week/month/year in the classroom. I have many, many stories! Sadly, from some of my experiences, teachers are often burned out after 5-10 years in the profession. It's refreshing to see folks like Esquith who have such a sustained passion and love of teaching. I'd encourage you to listen.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6939776

Interview: http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=6939776&m=6939842


Lauren

A Little Thought on The Reading

Since I will not be in class to discuss I thought I would just put some input on here, even though my input in class is sometimes not that much and this article in Dewey was tougher than they have been lately, but I am going to refer to this question and expand upon it somewhat.

Dewey-On page 357 2/3rds of the way down the 1st column, Dewey said that “Justice Holmes has generalized the situation by saying that the whole outline of the law is the resultant of a conflict at every point between logic and good sense”. Do you agree? Why or why not?

I agree with this statement of Dewey, because when we talk about law and logic it is hard to draw that line between the two, what may seem logical in a situation may not be the correct law to follow. It is somewhat related to morals and ethics when you start speaking of logic, but if we keep going to page 359 where Dewey starts to talk about "Courts not only...until all the way until he says it will indicate a rule for dealing with similar cases in the future" (which is about in the middle of the 2nd column on that page). I agree that we do reach decisions in law based upon justifying reasons, even if we say somone commited murder, but cannot give enough reasons or evidence the person is most likely not convicted. I do like where he says we reach these decisions so that in other cases we have something to base it on. This relates back to the zero tolerance in a way because we don't give the children a basis or a reasoning, which Dewey suggest that we do need reasoning behind law, but even if we give a reasoning it may not always be logical. We know it would be logical to find a murder that says they killed someone guilty, but without enough reasoning we cannot find them truly guilty. I hope that makes sense. I did find this section a little difficult because it is hard to take logic, and law seperately, becuse they are so closely related. I do like how I now see where all our other class discussions are falling together with the teaching in the democracy because this article puts us more back to laws, and the fact that laws cannot be broken, but justifying even the law may not always be logical. Sorry I missed the discussion, but this was some of my input in it!

Hayley

Logic vs. "Common Sense" as seen through "The Big Bang Theory"

This is a clip I found that I thought relates to the Dewey reading and the idea that many who are full of logic, lack the idea of "common sense." In this clip one of the scientists from the show who is socially awkward believes he found an algorithm to making friends. Enjoy!

Progressive Education Film from the 1940's

Outline for "Logical Method and the Law"

This week's essay is, I think, one of the more difficult (sorry George!). So here's a brief outline of what I intend to talk about during class tomorrow. I'll work it in and around our discussion and come back to it at the end; hold me to this if something doesn't get covered to your satisfaction.

Dewey's Dichotomy: Logic vs. "Common Sense"

1. Logic (Standard View)

• Universals/Principals/Major Premises
• Particulars/Facts/Minor Premises
• Conclusion
  

2. Experimental Logic (Dewey's View)

• Universals
• Particulars
  
• Conclusion
• Inquiry
• Judgment & Justification
  

3. Relevance for Teachers

• Are teachers technicians? Judges? Experts?
  

Questions and articles for Wed Feb. 24th.

Hey Guys,
Read these two articles and the Dew miester on page 357.
The questions are below and don't forget to eat some chocolate before class to promote some active conversations.
George : )


1. In the first article, what similarities do you see in the credit card laws and the ban on advertising smoking to children? Is this a good thing?

2. What do you think Dewey would say about this change in credit card laws and do we have flexible laws that protect children? Does this relate to the Ch.3 Strike article that mentions if it is appropriate to protect the immature for their own good?

3. Dewey-On page 357 2/3rds of the way down the 1st column, Dewey said that “Justice Holmes has generalized the situation by saying that the whole outline of the law is the resultant of a conflict at every point between logic and good sense”. Do you agree? Why or why not?

4.In the second article, What effect does the ruling have on free speech for children and how will this effect teachers, principles and children going forward.

5. In the second article, do you agree that it was an overreaction by an administrator? Would Dewey be pleased with this outcome?

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/college-student-credit-cards-new-law-1279.php

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/ptech/02/16/facebook.speech.ruling/index.html?iref=allsearch

Twitter in the Classroom

These are the links I had posted on our Technology blog that I thought Dr. Pope would like to see. Ashley watched the video from the University of Texas and commented on her change of heart about Twitter in the classroom, maybe you will too!

History Professor Uses Twitter in the Classroom at the University of Texas at Dallas
http://tinyurl.com/ml3pcp

Below is a link to a youtube news video about how high schools are incorporating twitter into their classrooms

http://tinyurl.com/daf8u2

The Wilderness of Childhood

I'm a big fan of Michael Chabon. He's written a bunch of novels (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay was his breakthrough), but I found this piece he published last year in the New York Review of Books to be very relevant to our discussions about children, parents, and what's changed. Enjoy.

Dewey/ Strike Readings for 2/17

Hi everyone,

I am attaching an additional article to go along with the readings and will also send it by email:

http://aands.virginia.edu/x6397.xml

Some questions to consider:

1. Dewey discusses nature, social efficiency, and culture as aims of education. Each of these aims holds relevance for education, however do you feel that a particular one of these aims is most applicable to today's classroom?

2. In the Social Efficiency section Dewey asserts that one of the "most educative experiences of life" is for an individual to be able to earn a living for themselves and their family, and also points out one's ability to do this (or lack thereof) affects everyone around them. Taking this into consideration, do you think schools should put more emphasis on giving students real and usable skills that will enable them to earn a successful living once their formal education is over? Do schools also have a tendency to push certain individuals towards a particular path regardless of their innate abilities because of their perceived demographic?

3. In the attached article psychologist Angeline Lillard studied Montessori schools and found that children from lower socio-economic backgrounds did much better in these schools as compared to traditional schools. What factors might Dewey suggest play a part in this?

4. Can you recall an incident similar to the case study of the high school student intent on publishing a potentially harmful story in his school's literary magazine? Where do your rights of free speech end as a student?

5. Do you agree with John Stuart Mill (Strike Ch 3) that those "not legally competent" should not have the same rights and freedoms as adults and at times "must be protected against their own actions"? Where can you draw the line on this as it is evident that those at every age have vastly varying degrees of maturity?

Looking forward to discussing this on Wednesday!

Feedback Wanted

We're about a third of the way through the semester and I wanted to hear from you all how the course is going. Is the discussion format working for you? Do I need to explain things more/better with a more traditional lecture? Is it too much Dewey? Do we need more of something else? Are the expectations clear?

Feedback on anything or everything is welcome at this point. Now's the time to right the ship if things aren't working out.

You can post your feedback in the comments. You can also email it to me directly if that's more comfortable. If you want to give me anonymous feedback, that's fine as well. Just leave a note in my box in 204.

Thanks in advance!

Dewey -- "The Moral Training Given by the School Community"

Here are some further thoughts and questions to add to Amy & Meredith's good stuff below:

This short piece touches upon a significant Deweyan theme we have seen before -- continuity. This time, Dewey's complaint is against the artificial separation between the moral life of the community and the moral life of schools. One should determine the other :"Apart from participation in social life, the school has no moral end or aim." (247) What happens in the school should mirror and prepare students for what happens outside the school, helping them form their social identities and the obligations such identities entail. These identities (parent, voter, worker, community member) constitute our social identity as adults; schools should inculcate the associated sense of identity with students. Note, however, that such inculcation ought to be liberating, not restricting. Such moral training should allow the student to eventually take charge of himself and give him the ability to change his environment (see end of 1st paragraph, 2nd column, page 247).

Housekeeping and A Research Link

I'm sorry we didn't get to fully discuss the Strike chapter last night. I've talked with Lauren; she will start our next class with her remaining Strike questions, then we will move on to the new stuff. Bring your Strike book!

Also, I ran across The International Portal of Teacher Education today. It's a clearing house for ed research related to teacher education. You can find summaries and abstracts of research articles, but then have to track down the full text articles yourself (but there's often a link). I thought it may be useful as you look for additional articles for class or for other research.

Assignments due on February 10, 2010

Hello Everyone,

For February 10th, please read Dewey and these two additional articles attached (also sent through email).

An Education in Ethics

For More Schools, Teaching Morals is Right

Questions:

1. According to author Steve Johnson, research in self-esteem proved, "... that chronic criminal offenders tend to have high self-esteem, whereas many of the most altruistic and productive members of society show low self-esteem." PG2 Does this fact shock you? What can we as educators do to help build self-esteem for all students- even those who are very anti-social and have no great role models at home?

2. Over the past 40 years, character development in schools has almost disappeared. Dewey believed that schools have a moral responsibility to society. What can educators do to improve character education over a short time period?

3. Has Dewey's vision of school having the social responsibility of children's morals been realized?

4. Lets assume that everyone agrees that children must be taught proper moral behavior. Lets also assume that everyone agrees that good morals and values are formally taught to children, not learned instinctively or informally. If these assumptions are correct, why then has formal moral or character education been almost eliminated from the public schools and relegated solely to the home, church, and parochial schools?

5. In regards to our youth and their evidence of anti-social behavior, why do you think this is such a problem in today's society?

6. Do you believe that moral education is best left to the individual child's family and religious institution? Or is it something that needs to be addressed in the classroom?

7. What role do you believe the media plays in moral education or lack there of? Does this new "anti-social" behavior that many children are displaying today have a lot to do with the effects of the media on our children?

Thanks,

Meredith and Amy

Ways of Thinking About Educational Quality

I just want to say that this is an excellent article. Does being educated mean you are a better person? Does education always make us better? For some people it can be worse. We need to respect our students' intelligence and question ourselves as well as authority...Really why are they learning this? What is the history and policy behind this information being learned? Can we relate it to other subjects so the students can understand why it is important? Do we as teachers even think it is important? If we are not convinced about the validity of our subject matter, students will pick up on it. Because I said so doesn't work in the parent-child relationship. It absolutely will not work in the teacher-student relationship. Has it worked for anyone anywhere besides Hitler and Stalin?

The Intellectual Lives of Teachers

Is there one?

I am not suggesting that teachers are not smart people, but I know that teaching can be extraordinarily dull, intellectually speaking. There's an irony here, as many people go into teaching because they love a certain subject and want to share it with others.

This blog post from Social Issues ostensibly talks about why teachers would want to contribute to an open access curriculum wiki when they have so much else to do. I think the argument Waks gives, however, says a lot about the intellectual life of teachers.

What do you guys think?