ENG 420: 4.2 Dewey, Pragmatism, Gatto, and The Paper

Today’s Plan:

  • Outline expectations/constraints for the upcoming paper
  • Discuss: Dewey
  • Read: Gatto

What is Education?

Here is the original description on the website:

At the conclusion of the historic stage of readings, I will ask you to compose a 1000 word essay that offers a purpose for higher education. This essay will draw upon readings from the course to support its definition.

Now, in my postpedagogical spirit (itself somewhat indebted to Dewey), let me elaborate a bit. Your paper has to:

I have a loose, general expectation for the paper. The paper should offer a theoretical definition that answers my prompt: what is education? Of course, in doing so, you will have to explicate my question (do I mean “what is education for an individual? What is education for a society? What is the best way to education people? What can educated people do? What should educated people know? Etc, etc, etc. No, I will not answer these question for you. Yes, I will provide some kind of response to your answer. Yes, my goal will be to frustrate you a lot, unless you are hopelessly lost, in which case my goal will be to make you comfortable enough that I can frustrate you more. I wrote an article about this approach that just so happens to explicate Dewey’s concept of experience.

In addition to offering a theoretical definition, and drawing upon sources to justify this definition, the paper should also put this theory to work somehow; it should apply the theory in the examination of some proposal or problem or person. Show us how/why if we accept your theory we should appreciate a specific policy, or oppose a specific policy, or appreciate a specific program, or oppose a specific program. How might we change an element of contemporary education to match up with your definition, etc, etc.

These papers will be due February 14th.

Dewey

Questions for today:

  • Traditional vs. Progressive Education
  • Explicating key terms: “experience,” “continuity,” “habit”
  • Intertwining Politics and Teaching

Gatto’s “Against School”

I have paper copies to hand out, but here is a link to a digital version.

Homework

I will admit that there’s quite a bit of reading for next class, though this is the last reading in this first set:

  • Read the Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed chapter
  • Read the Nicholson, “Postmodernism, Feminism, and Education” essay
  • Read the Lorde, “Poetry is not a Luxury”
  • Print Friendly, PDF & Email
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