Contemporary Relevance of John Dewey’s Theories on Teaching and Learning

JuliAnna Ávila is Associate Professor of English, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, US. Emer Ring is Dean of Education at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland. AG Rud Jr. is Distinguished Professor of Teaching and Learning, Washington State University, US. Leonard J. Waks is Distinguished Professor of Educational Studies at Hangzhou Normal University and Emeritus Professor of Educational Leadership at Temple University.

• Section 1: Post-Standardization Approaches to Accountability Introduction to Section I 1. John Dewey and the Cult of Efficiency 2. Standardization as the ‘Unmoved Mover’ of Education: A Deweyan Perspective on Teaching and Teacher Education 3. How the High-Stakes Testing and Accountability Movement Undermines Educative Experiences 4. Applying Dewey’s ‘Both/And’ in Experience and Education to a Contemporary Critique of Standardisation 5. Becoming through Being: Dewey’s Relevance to Educating for the Future of Work 6. Rethinking Accountability: Teaching towards an Ecocritical Creative Democracy Section 2: A Deweyan Vision of Teacher Professionalization Introduction to Section II 7. Moral Literacy as Social Efficiency in Dewey: Preparing Educators for Moral Agency and Autonomy in 21st Century Schools 8. Child and the Curriculum in the 21st Century: The Relationship between Enquiry and Inquiry in the Classroom 9. Listening to the Voices of Teachers Through Dewey’s Ideas 10. Teaching in the Flow of Time: Rethinking Our Educational Narrative 11. The Challenges of Teaching for Democracy in the 21st Century: Dewey, Dialogic Pedagogy and Teacher Education in England 12. The Teacher’s Role: From Dewey’s Lab School to a Public College Section 3: Praxis for Democratic Ends in the Context of Standardization Introduction to Section III 13. Exploring Contemporary Assessment Policy and Practice in the Context of Dewey’s Philosophy of Education 14. Accountability, Data, and Social Meliorism: Can They Co-Exist? 15. Reimagining School Leaders as Stealth Democratic Actors: A Deweyan Analysis of the School Leader Paradigm 16. Self-Accountability in Teaching Against the Grain: A Dewey-Informed Approach to Professional Preparation 17. The Concept of the Child, Pedagogy, Curriculum and Accountability in Early Childhood Education for a Post-Covid 19 World: Insights from Dewey’s Philosophy 18. John Dewey on the Long Look Ahead: Reconstructing How We Approach Assessment in Teacher Education Programs Through the Democratic Cultivation of the Purposes of Education

The pandemic has disrupted education systems around the world that use standards and high-stakes tests. Can global citizens use this opportunity toenvision education models that appreciate the singularity of each child, challenge each child to develop their full potential, respect the intelligence of the teacher, and welcome the involvement of the community? Yes! Drawing ideas and inspiration from John Dewey’s philosophy, these essays arrive at the right time to show how we can educate resilient, creative, and compassionate students entrusted to rebuild the world after COVID-19. -- Nicholas Tampio, Professor of Political Science, Fordham University, author of Common Core: National Education Standards and the Threat to Democracy