Philosophy and theory of education Books

Book SynopsisArgues that schools, and children, can only be saved by radically retooling teaching methods. Based on his work on choice theory, this work offers teaching techniques which emphasize co-operation and creativity. It provides ideas for improving the success of teachers and the enthusiasm of students.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Ainsley Arment has emerged as one of the most prominent voices in a grass-roots community that, long before social distancing, decided to reject mainstream schooling and rather educate within the family…. The Call of the Wild and Free, part memoir and part manifesto, encourages mothers who are considering home-schooling and those who are ready to give up… suggesting that parents are the most intuitive educators of their kids." — The New York Times "If you’re curious about homeschooling or wondering if it’s something you might be able to do, this is a low-pressure, easy read that’s also super inspiring." — Book Riot

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Book Synopsis“Profound, vital and correct. Hirsch highlights the essence of our American being and the radical changes in education necessary to sustain that essence. Concerned citizens, teachers, and parents take note!  We ignore this book at our peril.— Joel Klein, former Chancellor of New York City Public SchoolsNow in paperback, the bestselling author of Cultural Literacy delivers a powerful manifesto on the failures of America’s early education system and its impact on our current national malaise, advocating for a shared knowledge curriculum students everywhere can be taught—an educational foundation that can help improve and strengthen America’s unity, identity, and democracy.In How to Educate a Citizen, E.D. Hirsch continues the conversation he began thirty years ago with his classic bestseller Cultural Literacy, urging America’s public schools, particularly at the elementary level, to educate our children more effectively to help heal and preserve the nation. Since the 1960s, our schools have been relying on “child-centered learning.” History, geography, science, civics, and other essential knowledge have been dumbed down by vacuous learning “techniques” and “values-based” curricula; indoctrinated by graduate schools of education, administrators and educators have believed they are teaching reading and critical thinking skills. Yet these cannot be taught in the absence of strong content, Hirsch argues.The consequence is a loss of shared knowledge that would enable us to work together, understand one another, and make coherent, informed decisions. A broken approach to school not only leaves our children under-prepared and erodes the American dream but also loosens the spiritual bonds and unity that hold the nation together. Drawing on early schoolmasters and educational reformers such as Noah Webster and Horace Mann, Hirsch charts the rise and fall of the American early education system and provides a blueprint for closing the national gap in knowledge, communications, and allegiance. Critical and compelling, How to Educate a Citizen galvanizes our schools to equip children with the power of shared knowledge.

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Book SynopsisAims to collect papers on learning declarative knowledge and problem solving skills that involve multiple representations such as graphical and mathematical representations, knowledge at different levels of abstraction. This book covers approaches to this topic from different perspectives: educational, cognitive modelling and machine learning.Trade ReviewArthur B. Markman, Department of Psychology, University of Texas ...the volume explores a wide range of important topics that deal with multiple representations, and thus provides a nice introduction to research in this area. This strength must be emphasized, as the coordination of multiple representations is topic that has not received as much attention in cognitive science as it deserves...the book will be of value for researchers who are already well-versed in general issues of representation and are interested in the state of the art in research on the role of multiple representations in education and expert performance...it is clear that expert performance requires the coordination of multiple representations and that the education of future expert performance requires the coordination of multiple representations and that the education of future experts will require understanding of how to teach people to carry out this coordination. There is clearly a gap that must be bridged between current educational systems, in which the use of multiple external representations may actually hamper learning, and expert performance, which is characterised by the ability to shift among different internal representations of a situation. This book will be a valuable resource for psychologists (and educational psychologists) who are interested in these issues. British Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 70, Part 1Table of ContentsIntroduction (M.W. van Someren et al.). Multiple Representations in Learning Concepts from Physics and Mathematics. Acquiring knowledge in science and mathematics: the use of multiple representations in technology-based learning environments (T. de Jong et al.). Reasoning with multiple representations when acquiring the particulate model of matter (M. Rohr, P. Reinmann). How beginning students use graphs of motion (E. Scanlon). Toward decision support for multiple representations in teaching early logic (M. Dobson). The role of prior qualitative knowledge in inductive learning (M.W. van Someren, H. Tabbers). Analysing the costs and benefits of multi-representational learning environments (S.E. Ainsworth et al.). Problem Solving and Learning with Multiple Representations. Problem solving with multiple representations by multiple and single agents: an analysis of the issues involved (H.P.A. Boshuizen, H.J.M. (Tabachneck-) Schiff). Accidentology: an example of problem solving by multiple agents with multiple representations (L. Alpay et al.). Perspective-taking between medical doctors and nurses: a study of multiple representations of different experts with common tasks (R. Bromme, M. Nuckles). One person, multiple representations: an analysis of a simple, realistic multiple representation learning task (H.J.M. (Tabachneck-) Schiff, H.A. Simon). Using multiple representations in medicine: how students struggle with them (H.P.A. Boshuizen, M.W.J. van de Wiel). Competence-related differences in problem representations: a study in physics problem solving (E.R. Savelsbergh et al.). A utility-based approach to speedup learning with multiple representations (M.W. van Someren et al.). General Issues and Implications for Education. Multiple representations and their implications for learning (A. Lesgold). Representation and conceptualisation in educational communication (K. Stenning).

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Book SynopsisProvides readers with an overview of the state of higher education research and its relationship to policy and practice. This work draws upon developments in higher education research in Australia, Canada, Japan and Latin America to provide a comparative perspective on the state of higher education research.Table of ContentsPart 1: Introduction. The relationships between higher education research and higher education policy and practice: the researcher's perspective (U. Teichler). Part 2: Major Issues in Comparative Perspective. Research, policy and practice: assessing their actual and potential linkages (E. El-Khawas). Higher education research, policy and practice: contexts, conflicts and the new horizon (Motohisa Kaneko). Higher education research: the hourglass structure and its implications (P.A.M. Maassen). Part 3: Experiences from Individual Countries and Regions. Higher education research and policy in Canada (G.A. Jones). Higher education policy research in Australia (M. Hayden). Recent developments of higher education research and higher education policy in Japan (Akira Arimoto). Latin America: higher education research in a transformation context (C. Garcia-Guadilla). Part 4: A Synthesis. Higher education research in the light of a dialogue between policy makers and practitioners (P. Scott). Annex 1. Higher education and the World Bank: from policy to practice. Annex 2. Academic social science research and policy-making in Chile (R. Urza).Annex 3. Select Bibliography on higher education research and policy-making.

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Book SynopsisThis book opens up new theoretical perspectives and practical possibilities to analyze the learning opportunities emerging in the transitional zones between educational institutions and workplaces. International contributors draw on a range of ideas developed within constructivistic, socio-cultural and activity theory and focus in different ways on the processes of transition, transfer and boundary crossing as central to learning, especially in vocational and professional education contexts. The book begins with four chapters which locate the renewed interest in transfer and the emerging interest in boundary crossing in the context of knowledge society in terms of the following: the historical development of learning theories, the theoretical advances made in socio-cultural approaches as regards learning, transfer and boundary crossing, and sociological approaches to links between school and workplace learning. Part II contains seven chapters that present studies on learning and transfTable of ContentsBoundary Crossing as a Theoretical Basis for Research on Transfer. Learning and Transfer in Vocational Education. Learning in Workplaces.

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Book SynopsisAn urgent manifesto for re-defining human potential in our turbulent times, from the bestselling author of The Element ''As we face an increasingly febrile future, the answer is not to do better what we''ve done before. We have to do something else . . . We must urgently re-imagine education and schools'' Imagination and creativity are at the root of every uniquely human achievement and those achievements have brought us to this present moment. As we reckon with the extractive practices that have depleted our natural resources and threaten our survival as a species, Sir Ken Robinson argues that we must also find a better way of cultivating human potential in order to navigate our uncertain future. This incisive book distills the thought and expertise that underpinned Sir Ken''s influential work as educator, speaker and adviser; grounded in his unwavering belief in the indispensable value of human potential. Imagine If . . .Trade ReviewA change-maker . . . for forty years he persuasively made the case for more creativity in teaching and the curriculum * Guardian *He makes us rethink what real schooling, learning and creativity means -- Malala YousafzaiThe world's most well-known education luminary * Forbes *

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Book SynopsisIndian parents prioritize children's education, investing heavily. Many students lack quality schooling. Y. S. Rajan calls for major education reforms to better equip students for the job market.

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Book SynopsisPhilip Kitcher''s The Main Enterprise of the World offers a sweeping vision of the goals of education. Kitcher considers the ways in which schools and universities should advance their goals, explores the social changes required to make high-quality education available to all, and argues that these reforms are economically sustainable. Kitcher build his arguments from three broad goals of education as an institution: career development and professionalization, civic participation, and human fulfilment. He shows that shifts in the workplace provide opportunities to focus on the latter two goals, and to liberate education from supposed economic constraints. By tying education to the strengthening of both individual lives and the foundations of democracy, he offers a humanistic rethinking of what education should try to achieve. Drawing on figures like Dewey, Mill, Atkinson, and others who have written deeply on education, both in theory and in practice, Kitcher offers an extensive reconsideration of how we might change our educational institutions to respond not just to the twenty-first century economy, but to the deeper need for lifelong human flourishing. The Main Enterprise of the World renews classical Pragmatism: with one eye on the ideal, and the other on the world, it presents a picture of education appropriate for our century.Trade ReviewA towering achievement, worthy of a place beside the classic works of John Dewey, J. S. Mill, and Rabindranath Tagore. Kitcher's radical and compelling idea is that contemporary societies have been designing education to suit jobs that currently exist, when instead we should be imagining an education system that serves the needs of personal fulfillment and interactive democratic citizenship, and designing other social institutions to support those goals. This is ideal theory in the very best sense: a clear-eyed road map of a difficult destination, together with practical proposals for reaching it, articulated with both clarity and an inclusive love of human beings. * Martha C. Nussbaum, University of Chicago *Philosophy of education, so vital and so neglected, receives a shot in the arm from Philip Kitcher's foundational, radical, and absolutely essential The Main Enterprise of the World. It also invigorates political theory, ethics, and wide range of other questions, as education—the building of a person—takes its place at the centre of human life. * Cheryl Misak, University of Toronto *A remarkable achievement that will attract the attention of philosophers of all stripes, including but not limited to philosophers of education, as well as economists, psychologists, and other social scientists and policy experts. Arguing for a radical reconceptualization of both educational practice and its philosophical, economic, and social underpinnings, Kitcher's Deweyan vision insists that educational activities must aim at the improvement of both individual and collective lives, and reconceives educational ideals as tools of diagnosis and improvement rather than utopian goals to be imperfectly approximated. Kitcher defends that vision artfully and brilliantly. His call for serious educational experimentation, and the several proposed experiments, are important and potentially game changing. The Main Enterprise of the World is a masterful book. * Harvey Siegel, University of Miami *Table of ContentsContents List of Abbreviations Preface Introduction Part I Chapter 1. Overload Chapter 2. Individuality Chapter 3. Fulfillment Chapter 4. Citizens Chapter 5. Moral Development Chapter 6. A Role for Religion? Part II Chapter 7. The Natural Sciences Chapter 8. The Arts Chapter 9. Understanding Ourselves Part III Chapter 10. Social Change Chapter 11. Utopia? Appendix 1 Appendix 2

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Book SynopsisPeter Elbow''s widely acclaimed and original theories on the writing process, set forth in Writing without Teachers and Writing with Power, have earned him a reputation as a leading educational innovator. For this book Elbow has drawn together twelve of his essays on the nature of learning and teaching to suggest a comprehensive philosophy of education.

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Book SynopsisIn this new book, author Russell McCutcheon offers a powerful critique of traditional scholarship on religion, focusing on multiple interrelated targets. Most prominent among these are the History of Religions as a discipline; Mircea Eliade, one of the founders of the modern discipline; recent scholarship on Eliade''s life and politics; contemporary textbooks on world religions; and the oft-repeated bromide that religion is a sui generis phenomenon. McCutcheon skillfully analyzes the ideological basis for and service of the sui generis argument, demonstrating that it has been used to constitute the field''s object of study in a form that is ahistoric, apolitical, fetishized, and sacrosanct. As such, he charges, it has helped to create departments, jobs, and publication outlets for those who are comfortable with such a suspect construction, while establishing a disciplinary ethos of astounding theoretical naivete and a body of scholarship to match. Surveying the textbooks available for introductory courses in comparative religion, the author finds that they uniformly adopt the sui generis line and all that comes with it. As a result, he argues, they are not just uncritical (which helps keep them popular among the audiences for which they are intended, but badly disserve), but actively inhibit the emergence of critical perspectives and capacities. And on the geo-political scale, he contends, the study of religion as an ahistorical category participates in a larger system of political domination and economic and cultural imperialism.Trade Review"[McCutcheon] stands in a long tradition of excellent company that goes back at least as far as classical Greek dramatists and philosphers who inquired persistently into the prevailing mythos....This book's likely to provoke very fruitful debate for many years."--Choice"...McCutcheon's book is a sharp, sustained critique of the way religion is studied in North America, with an alternative proposal for a naturalist, materialist method of studying religion."--The Cresser Trinity"McCutcheon's book is a formidable critique of its subject and should be widely read and debated. It will repay close critical attention from those interested in theory and method."--British Association for the Study of Religions"...the book is fascinating and thought-provoking."--eligious Studies Review

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Book SynopsisRethinking Music Education and Social Change asseses music education's relation to societal transformation and offers an imaginative, yet critical, vision for music education as utopian theory and practice.Trade ReviewUnlike any other author, Alexandra Kertz-Welzel has a unique, distinctive way of advocating for music education as an agent of social change that, within limits, holds the potential for developing more just and imaginative societies. Embracing philosophical, sociological, and political perspectives, the insights she presents redefine music education's goals in ways that will stimulate and challenge music educators internationally. * Gary McPherson, University of Melbourne *With this compelling, if sometimes startling, work, Alexandra Kertz-Welzel has staked her place among leading scholars internationally in calling for a reconceptualization of music education in ways that are nested in utopian thinking that is both imaginative yet honest, visionary yet realistic. It is a brilliant assessment of music's complement of social and artistic-aesthetic dimensions, and it lands squarely on an imperative for professional musician-educators to harness their utopian energies to rethink, refine and reinvent music education's societal mission. * Patricia Shehan Campbell, University of Washington *Table of ContentsPreface 1 Introduction 2 The arts and social change 2.1 What is social change? 2.2 The social impact of the arts 2.3 Music education and social change 3 The power of utopian thinking 3.1 What is utopia? 3.2 Political thinking and utopia 3.3 The arts and utopia 4 Transforming society 4.1 The sociology of social change 4.2 The politics of change 4.3 The utopian power of education 5 Music education and utopia 5.1 Utopia as method in music education 5.2 Music education as utopian theory and practice 5.2.1 Politically and socially responsive music education 5.2.2 Esthetic music education 5.3 Challenges of music education, social change and utopia 6 Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe Ideology of Competition in School Music explores competition as a structuring force in school music and provides critiques of that system from multiple philosophical and theoretical perspectives. Competition is seen by many music teachers, students, and supporters as natural and inevitable--a taken-for-granted aspect of music education or an irresistible force, rather than a choice. This book uncovers this ideological nature of competition and examines its effect on student learning, teacher agency, and equity within music education. It considers ways in which music educators might reconsider the role of competition in their teaching practice and offers alternative frameworks for organizing school music.In this book, author Sean Robert Powell views competition as a microcosm of the wider neoliberal capitalist society, in which subjects are interpolated in an antagonistic competitive field as market logic dictates a system of accountability, reduction, and audit culture. Music teachTable of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. It's Easier to Imagine the End of Music Education Than the End of Competition Chapter 3. The One-Dimensional Music Program Chapter 4. Cynicism Chapter 5. The Lost Trophy Chapter 6. Contingency | Agency | Act Chapter 7. Solidarity Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewMartin's carefully argued book is a welcome contribution to helping us reimagine the place of higher education in an increasingly unequal and fractured world. * Jennifer Morton, Jennifer Morton, Ethics *Martin's The Right to Higher Education is sure to become a touchstone text in higher education research. Though many theorists and advocates increasingly support thinking of higher education as a right, few offer arguments for this claim. Martin's careful, tightly argued book does just that. But perhaps the most significant contribution this book makes is shifting the debate in higher education away from inequality and economic mobility. Instead, Martin asks us to consider what role higher education should play in our lives. * Jennifer Morton, University of Pennsylvania *In this remarkable book, Christopher Martin argues that there is a robust, universal right to higher education and that vindicating this right requires reimagining the role of higher education in our lives. Drawing expertly on the tradition of perfectionist liberalism, Martin makes the case that the state has the authority-and the duty-to arrange higher educational institutions in a way that guarantees, to each citizen, the opportunity to live autonomously over the full course of a life. Few readers will come away unmoved by this inspiring vision of the place of higher education in a free society. * David O'Brien, Tulane University *Christopher Martin's book provides an original and comprehensive justification of higher education, which shapes a compelling vision of what universities and colleges should be doing. A major contribution to the philosophy of education, that should be read not just by philosophers, but by higher education teachers and leaders. * Harry Brighouse, University of Wisconsin-Madison *Martin's political theory of higher education introduces significant aspects that the ongoing conversations have largely overlooked. Recommended. Graduate students; faculty; general readers. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Changing the Conversation about the Value of Higher Education Chapter 1: Values and Aims of Higher Education Chapter 2: Citizenship as an Aim of Higher Education Chapter 3: Adulthood and the Right to Education Chapter 4: The Right to Higher Education Chapter 5: The Right to Higher Education and Political Authority Chapter 6: The Right to Higher Education and the Problem of Unequal Benefits Chapter 7: What Should the Right to Higher Education Look Like?

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Book SynopsisDesigned to be used as a primary text in introductory research methods courses, Music Education Research: An Introduction aims to orient even the most novice researchers toward basic concepts and methodologies. Offering sustained attention to historical, philosophical, qualitative, quantitative, and action research approaches, the book includes overviews of how to read, interpret, design, and implement research within each framework. Readers will also find advice for conducting a review of research literature, scholarly writing, and disseminating research. All in all, the book serves as an invitation to consider how conducting research can serve to satisfy curiosities while also contributing to our collective professional knowledge. Drawing from classroom-tested material and the authors'' many collective years of experience as instructors of research method courses and mentors to music education graduate students, this book is a must-have resource for masters and doctoral students in sTrade ReviewThis fresh, new book captures the remarkable diversification and advancement of music education research that has taken place over the last several years. Concise yet comprehensive, Miksza et al.'s resource should be required reading for each and every one of our graduate students. * Martin J. Bergee, Professor of Music Education, University of Kansas *Music Education Research: An Introduction is the perfect text for music educators interested in studying the important issues of teaching and learning in their classrooms. Authors in the text write in an accessible way and highlight the key concepts that relate to research design when referencing music education studies. I can't wait to use it as a text with my Summers-only Master of Music Education students who are curious and want to know more, in practitioner terms, how to design, implement, and interpret their own research projects as well as understand the research of others. * Colleen Conway, Professor of Music Education, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor *This comprehensive and approachable volume promises to be the 'household text' for the next generation of music education researchers. The book is rich with recent examples of music education scholarship from a wide range of methods and perspectives. Complex topics are presented thoughtfully and pedagogically, with ample practical applications and how-to steps for students who are new to the world of research. At the same time, the text provides such a thorough and thoughtful treatment of more recent trends in music education scholarship that it deserves a place on the bookshelf of every active music education researcher. * Karin S. Hendricks, Associate Professor and Chair of Music Education, Boston University *As the authors suggest, research moves a profession forward, but without a solid background in research methodologies, no aspiring researcher will ever be equipped to undertake studies of lasting value. Music Education Research: An Introduction provides a timely, comprehensive and authoritative resource upon which to hone one's craft as a researcher, as well as a resource that will inspire the next generation of music education researchers. * Gary E. McPherson, Professor of Music, Ormond Chair of Music, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne *I have been teaching an introductory music education research class for over 30 years, and finally my search for an ideal text is over! The authors of this excellent book clearly understand the needs of students who are learning to consume, conduct and disseminate research. Students will benefit from the balanced approach to various research paradigms, clear explanations of complex ideas, and excellent use of examples drawn from music education literature. Instructors will appreciate the action-oriented activities suggested at the end of each chapter. This text was written by a team of first-rate scholars, each with an impressive record of exemplary music education research and mentorship, through their roles as teachers and reviewers/editors for professional journals. It is no wonder that this is a high-quality book that makes a much-needed contribution to the profession. * Wendy Sims, Curators' Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music Education, University of Missouri *This book provides a comprehensive guide to research methodology and practice with particular emphasis upon music education. * Ellie Dabell, Educational Review *Table of ContentsPreface 1. The Role of Research in Music Education 2. The Typical Components of Music Education Research 3. Conducting a Review of Related Literature 4. Historical Research 5. Philosophical Researchers' Aims and Processes 6. Conducting Philosophical Research: Additional Considerations 7. Characteristics of Qualitative Inquiry 8. Common Elements of Qualitative Research Reports 9. Qualitative Case Study Research 10. Additional Qualitative Approaches: Ethnography, Grounded Theory, Narrative, and Phenomenology 11. Quality and Rigor in Qualitative Research 12. Quantitative, Descriptive, and Correlational Research 13. Experimental Research 14. Designing Experimental Research 15. Measurement 16. Descriptive Statistics 17. Correlational Statistics 18. Determining Differences with Inferential Statistics 19. Action Research 20. Scholarly Writing: Practice, Patience, and Passion 21. Disseminating Research Index

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Book SynopsisThis practical book provides researchers with strategies for conducting socially just school-based research. This comprehensive text provides a resource for those interested in conducting school counseling research within school settings. The volume includes a wealth of knowledge from expert scholars in the field to equip researchers with the conceptual knowledge and practical skills to conduct rigorous intervention research with schools. School counseling researchers, counselor education doctoral students, district personnel, and those that review research will have a deep and rich source to support their evolving collaborative research in schools. The editors organize the book to walk readers through the process of creating successful research partnerships with schools that will result in ethical outcomes from their research efforts. Readers are guided through the process of conceptualizing ethical and socially just research in partnership with schools, how to create strong research Table of ContentsChapter 1: A Framework for Conducting School Counseling Research in the Current Educational Environment Chapter 2: Access to Schools: Relationships with Stakeholders and Systems Chapter 3: Ethical Research in Schools: Navigating the IRB Process at the District and University Levels Chapter 4: Research Questions that Contribute to Sound Study Designs for School Counseling Chapter 5: Developmental and Social Considerations When Conducting Research with Children and Adolescents Chapter 6: Using Assessment Instruments in School-Based Research Chapter 7: Research Design: Quantitative Approaches Chapter 8: Research Design: Qualitative Approaches Chapter 9: Research Designs: Action Research Chapter 10: Single Case Research Design: A Practical Option in School Counseling Research Chapter 11: Program Evaluation in Professional School Counseling Chapter 12: Ensuring Treatment Fidelity and Clean Data Collection Chapter 13: Data Analysis Procedures in School Counseling Research Chapter 14: Bridging the Research to Practice Gap

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Book SynopsisSince the early Egyptians human beings have formalised the business of learning, setting up a designated environment of some form to pass knowledge and learning on to groups of students. In this second edition of his Very Short Introduction, Gary Thomas explores how and why education has evolved as it has, examining the ways in which it has responded over the centuries to various influences in politics, philosophy, and the social sciences. Focussing on education today, he considers especially the controversies over progressive versus formal teaching, and also examines education worldwide, assessing the accelerating trend on both sides of the Atlantic of the move to charter, academy, and ''free'' schools.The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically accelerated moves to online learning in schools and universities, and in this new edition Thomas looks again at curriculums and what shape they should take in a rapidly changing world. He asks why action on race, gender and social inequality has borne so little fruit thus far, questioning the oft-made claim of education to be a force for social mobility, and offering an analysis on how education may develop over the coming century.Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewIts stimulating, readable approach...make[s] sense of the principles, themes and connections in the continuing complex story of how contested ideas around education are put into policy and realised in practice. * William Scott, Professor Emeritus, University of Bath *Table of ContentsPreface 1: Beginnings 2: Oil and water: the formal and the progressive 3: The traditions unfold: ideas into practice 4: Big ideas from the 20th century 5: Analysts and theorists: what did they ever do for us? 6: The curriculum 7: School's out! References and further reading Index

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Book SynopsisOne hundred and ten years ago, Maria Montessori, the first female physician in Italy, devised a very different method of educating children, based on her observations of how they naturally learn. In Montessori, Angeline Stoll Lillard shows that science has finally caught up with Maria Montessori. Lillard presents the research behind nine insights that are foundations of Montessori education, describing how each of these insights is applied in the Montessori classroom. In reading this book, parents and teachers alike will develop a clear understanding of what happens in a Montessori classroom and, more important, why it happens and why it works. Lillard explains the scientific basis for Montessori''s system and the distinctions between practices in traditional, Montessomething, and authentic Montessori education. Furthermore, in this new edition, she presents recent studies showing evidence that this alternative to traditional schooling does indeed make a difference. Montessori is indisTrade ReviewA stimulating evaluation of Montessori philosophy and practice, exploring some of the basic principles in relation to modern scientific research. . . . In particular, anyone wanting to take a detailed and critical look at Montessori education would surely benefit from reading this book. * Montessori International *Angeline Lillard may have changed the rules of engagement for debates on educational reform. * Dennis Schapiro, Editor, The Public Montessorian *Dr. Angeline Stoll Lillard has clearly summarized the research that explains why, after 100 years, the Montessori approach to education continues to be a phenomenal worldwide success. * Tim Seldin, President, The Montessori Foundation, and Chair, The International Montessori Council *Lillard provides a visionary framework for those currently working to advance Montessori education and those committed to furthering school reform initiatives. This is an illuminating, thoughtful, and extremely important book. * Richard A. Ungerer, Executive Director, American Montessori Society *Lillard has masterfully explored the basic tenets of Montessori education and how they are validated with todays scientific findings. The result is a long-awaited and important contribution that contrasts with traditional education and offers evidence in support of a method that works. A stunning achievement! * Virginia McHugh Goodwin, Executive Director, Association Montessori Internationale, USA *Table of ContentsPreface 1. An Answer to the Crisis in Education 2. The Impact of Movement on Learning and Cognition 3. Choice and Perceived Control 4. Executive Function 5. Interest in Human Learning 6. Extrinsic Rewards and Motivation 7. Learning from Peers 8. Learning in Meaningful Contexts 9. Adult Interaction Styles and Child Outcomes 10. Order in Environment and Mind 11. Recent Research on Montessori Education 12. Education for Children Works Cited Name Index Subject Index

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Book SynopsisIt is truly an ancient debate: Is it better to be active or contemplative? With Action vs. Contemplation, Jennifer Summit and Blakey Vermeule address the question in a refreshingly unexpected way: by refusing to take sides.Trade Review"A fascinating and inspiring tour of big ideas--worth both contemplating and acting on."--Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Cafe "Action versus Contemplation brings a cooling sense of balance to a whole range of important and often highly polarized arguments about technology, work, education, and more. How liberating to discover that we don't need to choose between nostalgia and philistinism, Captain Ludd and Dr. Pangloss. Even better, the authors give us not just historical elaborations of the theoretical complementarity of action and contemplation, but actual, already-existing examples of the middle position at work today. They show us that, no matter how 'soulless' society seems to become, meaning-seeking behavior does and always will continue."--William Deresiewicz, author of Excellent Sheep "This is a very subtle and surprising book that nevertheless goes down easy because you expect it to take a side in a binary (i.e., to take your side), but instead it seeks to transcend that binary. There's great generosity of spirit in their writing and thinking, and that generosity will have a salutary effect on all those whose thinking this book will touch. Action versus Contemplation is itself a contemplative document meant to intervene in the world it addresses, to get us to rethink practical matters, and to act in ways that will promote thinking. It urges action as a way of thinking, and thinking as a way of acting, and is a model of what it advocates for." --William Flesch, Brandeis University

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Book SynopsisAddresses the question: Why should Africa be studied in the American university? Put to scholars in the social sciences and humanities, prominent Africanists who are also leaders in their various disciplines, their responses make a strong case for the research on Africa.

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Book SynopsisRaymond Callahan's lively study exposes the alarming lengths to which school administrators went, particularly in the period from 1910 to 1930, in sacrificing educational goals to the demands of business procedures. He suggests that even today the question still asked is: How can we operate our schools? Society has not yet learned to ask: How can we provide an excellent education for our children?

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Book SynopsisIn this collection, Reginald D. Archambault has assembled John Dewey's major writings on education. He has also included basic statements of Dewey's philosophic position that are relevant to understanding his educational views. These selections are useful not only for understanding Dewey's pedagogical principles, but for illustrating the important relation between his educational theory and the principles of his general philosophy.

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Book SynopsisLooking beyond the arguments over how universities should be financed, how they should be run, and what their contributions to the economy are, the contributors to this book set their sights on higher issues: ones of moral and political value. What are the proper aims of the university? What role do the liberal arts play in fulfilling those aims?Trade Review"This is an ambitious volume, providing valuable philosophical tools to tackle three critical policy questions within higher education: What should the content of curricula and pedagogies be? Who should have access to college education? And what should be the relationship between higher education and broader society?" Danielle Allen, coeditor of Education, Justice, and Democracy)

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Book SynopsisLooking beyond the arguments over how universities should be financed, how they should be run, and what their contributions to the economy are, the contributors to this book set their sights on higher issues: ones of moral and political value. What are the proper aims of the university? What role do the liberal arts play in fulfilling those aims?Trade Review"This is an ambitious volume, providing valuable philosophical tools to tackle three critical policy questions within higher education: What should the content of curricula and pedagogies be? Who should have access to college education? And what should be the relationship between higher education and broader society?" (Danielle Allen, coeditor of Education, Justice, and Democracy)

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Book SynopsisSociologist Harry L. Gracey spent two years studying an East-Coast school system, which he calls Brookview, and determined that the bureaucratic social structure of schools can have a profound and irreversibly negative effect on the creativity of teachers. This volume tells the story of the Wilbur Wright elementary school in Brookview. It examines the relationship between the educational institution as a bureaucracy and the goals of the two main types of teaching orientation found in elementary schools such as Wright. The majority of teachers are production oriented. They believe that their job is to see that the children in their charge complete as much of the standardized grade level curriculum as possible during the school year. They do achieve some success in preparing children for life in a society where bureaucracy is the dominant form of social organization. The other significant type of teaching orientation is that of the craftsmen. These instructors see their goal as the devel

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Book SynopsisAmerican education as we know it todayguaranteed by the state to serve every child in the countryis still less than a hundred years old. It's no wonder we haven't agreed yet as to exactly what role education should play in our society. In these Tanner Lectures, Danielle Allen brings us much closer, examining the ideological impasse between vocational and humanistic approaches that has plagued educational discourse, offering a compelling proposal to finally resolve the dispute. Allen argues that education plays a crucial role in the cultivation of political and social equality and economic fairness, but that we have lost sight of exactly what that role is and should be. Drawing on thinkers such as John Rawls and Hannah Arendt, she sketches out a humanistic baseline that re-links education to equality, showing how doing so can help us reframe policy questions. From there, she turns to civic education, showing that we must reorient education's trajectory toward readying students for live

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Book SynopsisThis year marks the centenary publication of John Dewey's magnum opus, Democracy and Education. Despite its profound importance as a foundational text in education, it is notoriously difficult and dare we say it a little dry. In this charming and often funny companion, noted philosopher of education D. C. Phillips goes chapter by chapter to bring Dewey to a twenty-first-century audience. Drawing on over fifty years of thinking about this book and on his own experiences as an educator he lends it renewed clarity and a personal touch that proves its lasting importance. Phillips bridges several critical pitfalls of Democracy and Education that often prevent contemporary readers from fully understanding it. Where Dewey sorely needs a detailed example to illustrate a point and the times are many Phillips steps in, presenting cases from his own classroom experiences. Where Dewey casually refers to the works of people like Hegel, Herbart, and Locke common knowledge, apparently, in 1916 Philli

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Book SynopsisWe spend a lot of time arguing about how schools might be improved. But we rarely take a step back to ask what we as a society should be looking for from education what exactly should those who make decisions be trying to achieve? In Educational Goods, two philosophers and two social scientists address this very question. They begin by broadening the language for talking about educational policy: educational goods are the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that children develop for their own benefit and that of others; childhood goods are the valuable experiences and freedoms that make childhood a distinct phase of life. Balancing those, and understanding that not all of them can be measured through traditional methods, is a key first step. From there, they show how to think clearly about how those goods are distributed and propose a method for combining values and evidence to reach decisions. They conclude by showing the method in action, offering detailed accounts of how it might be ap

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Book SynopsisPeshkin examines the role played by ethnicity in the daily life of a town he calls Riverview and its only high school. Immersing himself in the daily life of halls and classrooms of Riverview's high school and the streets of its neighborhoods, Peshkin coaxes from both young and old their own reflections on the town's early days, on the period of ethnic strife sparked by the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and on the way they see Riverview today. Peshkin strikes a hopeful cord, revealing what social encounters among ethnic groups--at their best--can be like in America.--Education Digest

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Book SynopsisAll of humanity'sproblems stem fromman'sinability to sit quietly in a room alone, Blaise Pascal wrote in 1654. But then there's Walt Whitman, in 1856: Whoever you are, come forth! Or man or woman come forth! / You must not stay sleeping and dallying there in the house. It is truly an ancient debate: Is it better to be active or contemplative? To do or to think? To make an impact, or to understand the world more deeply? Aristotle argued for contemplation as the highest state of human flourishing. But it was through action that his student Alexander the Great conquered the known world. Which should we aim at? Centuries later, this argument underlies a surprising number of the questions we face in contemporary life. Should students study the humanities, or train for a job? Should adults work for money or for meaning? And in tumultuous times, should any of us sit on the sidelines, pondering great books, or throw ourselves into protests and petition drives? With Action versus ContemplatioTrade Review“Engaging. . . . Not guidance counselors but intellectual guides, Summit and Vermeule trace their students’ predicament to the origins of Western philosophy. ‘The rhetoric of action and contemplation,’ they proclaim, ‘is nothing less than the unacknowledged medium of self-understanding in the modern world.’ In their telling, it becomes a medium in which to understand, and criticize, not just the culture of fuzzies and techies at Stanford, but the nature of stress, the appeal of cowboy politicians, the point of education, and the search for meaningful work.” * LA Review of Books *“Summit and Vermeule taught a course at Stanford on this dichotomy between the cultivation of wisdom and the demonstration of skills. Action Versus Contemplation: Why an Ancient Debate Still Matters begins with an appeal for balance rather than conflict when these two realms are juxtaposed. . . . Activity without leisure proves meaningless; downtime without engagement turns purposelessness. Summit and Vermeule, trained as literary critics, aim this brief book towards those who seek to recover a wise balance while never dismissing the life of the mind.” * PopMatters *"Though the book will be valuable to a wide readership, the recurring theme of current trends in education makes it particularly important within the academy. This engaging and clever book will generate important conversations. Highly recommended." * Choice *Shortlist * Phi Beta Kappa: Ralph Waldo Emerson Award *"A fascinating and inspiring tour of big ideas--worth both contemplating and acting on." -- Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Cafe"Action versus Contemplation brings a cooling sense of balance to a whole range of important and often highly polarized arguments about technology, work, education, and more. How liberating to discover that we don’t need to choose between nostalgia and philistinism, Captain Ludd and Dr. Pangloss. Even better, the authors give us not just historical elaborations of the theoretical complementarity of action and contemplation, but actual, already-existing examples of the middle position at work today. They show us that, no matter how 'soulless' society seems to become, meaning-seeking behavior does and always will continue." -- William Deresiewicz, author of Excellent Sheep"This is a very subtle and surprising book that nevertheless goes down easy because you expect it to take a side in a binary (i.e., to take your side), but instead it seeks to transcend that binary. There's great generosity of spirit in their writing and thinking, and that generosity will have a salutary effect on all those whose thinking this book will touch. Action versus Contemplation is itself a contemplative document meant to intervene in the world it addresses, to get us to rethink practical matters, and to act in ways that will promote thinking. It urges action as a way of thinking, and thinking as a way of acting, and is a model of what it advocates for." -- William Flesch, Brandeis University"Action Versus Contemplation grew out of an Introduction to Humanities course the authors co-taught at Stanford. They saw beneficial effects in both students’ lives and their own when that 'versus' gave way to an 'and.' They also see evidence—in student surveys, 'locavore' movements, and emerging workplace cultures—that people are searching for new syntheses of action and contemplation. They make keen suggestions throughout the study about how the university should facilitate that search." * Commonweal *"This book will surely appeal to so many categories of intellectuals, from the humanities as well as the sciences, university faculty as well as administrators, and even ordinary people who are [in] search of overcoming the uneasy features of a one-sided life." * Philosophia *Table of ContentsIntroduction1. From Action and Contemplation to Stress and Relaxation2. The Action Bias and the Human Condition3. Science and Humanities4. Work and Leisure5. Public and Private6. A Life of Meaning in a Market WorldConclusion: The University and the WorldAcknowledgmentsNotesBibliography

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Book SynopsisWhat should the civic purposes of education in a liberal and diverse society be. Linking political theory with educational history and policy, Rob Reich offers provocative new answers to these questions.Trade Review"A sensible and significant contribution to the educational controversies that occupy so many political and educational theorists - and policymakers - these days. Rob Reich has a gift for clarifying complicated matters and a talent for writing that makes reading almost effortless." - Richard Dagger, author of Civic Virtues: Rights, Citizenship, and Republican Liberalism

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Book SynopsisWhat should the civic purposes of education in a liberal and diverse society? Linking political theory with educational history and policy, Rob Reich offers provocative new answers to these questions.Trade Review"A sensible and significant contribution to the educational controversies that occupy so many political and educational theorists - and policymakers - these days. Rob Reich has a gift for clarifying complicated matters and a talent for writing that makes reading almost effortless." - Richard Dagger, author of Civic Virtues: Rights, Citizenship, and Republican Liberalism

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