The writings of Lester Frank Ward (1841-1913) on education over the last two decades of the 19th century were almost lost until they were brought to the attention of John Dewey (1859-1952). Ward had prophesied that the 20th century would require three universal curriculums to meet the American democratic prospect. Ward acknowledged that nobody…

Irving Babbitt and E.D. Hirsch defended the humanistic curriculum at both the beginning and end of the twentieth century, respectively. Both claimed that a set of specific knowledge needed to be passed from one generation to the next. Both found this knowledge primarily, though certainly not exclusively, through the classical Western tradition.…

A survey of the past 100 years of curriculum development in the United States reveals a series of changes in curricular practice and philosophies. This document reviews those trends in curriculum change, according to historical time periods. Discussed in the section covering 1880-1910 are the Herbartian and Romantic philosophies, the Baltimore…

It is one thing to lament the financial pressures put on universities, quite another to face up to the poverty of resources for thinking about what universities should do when they purport to offer a liberal education. In "Powers of the Mind", former University of Chicago dean Donald N. Levine enriches those resources by proposing fresh…

John Dewey was one of the most significant figures in the history of the Chinese people. When he and his first wife visited China from May 1, 1919 to July 11, 1921, delivering lectures on the philosophy of education, social and political philosophy, ethics, experimental logic, art, and other topics, Dewey was met by the people of China with open…

This book reviews the history of the University of Chicago Laboratory School established by John Dewey in light of the current resurgent interest in the ideas and work of this educator. Chapter 1 deals with two lessons: the social nature of learning and developmentally appropriate practice. Chapter 2 examines the laboratory school idea as…

What is the method by which the elementary school can be brought up to twentieth-century standards? The answer is "a complete administrative and curriculum reorganization of the elementary school." The efforts of John Dewey in his highly socialized experimental school in Chicago, of Merriam at Missouri University, and of William Wirt at…