For the first time, Walter Benjamin's critical comments on educator and philosopher Rudolf Steiner are examined in depth. In particular, Benjamin detected protofascist themes within Steiner's seemingly progressive notion of child-centered, arts-based, developmentally appropriate early childhood education. But this does not mean that Benjamin…

Patricia Carini (1932-2021) was a progressive educator and thinker who was among the key figures of open education. This article reflects on her work, illuminating its quality as an art of listening. The idea of listening has been of primary importance within the tradition of progressive education in the United States and internationally.…

Daniel J. Boorstin was a distinguished historian at the University of Chicago from 1944 to 1969; later he served as librarian of Congress. A prolific author throughout his 89 years, Boorstin saved several unpublished manuscripts. His cogent observations on college lectures are resurrected here. For Boorstin, the widespread definition of great…

The guidelines followed by many educational boards recommend behavioristic practices for dealing with student discipline; however, Lawrence Kohlberg's idea of organizing schools as "just communities" suggests a more promising approach. It translates to the school context the core principle of Habermas's discourse ethics: "those…

Reflections on the ways in which decisions about the foundation and organization of a small progressive public school exemplify the challenges and trade-offs of living in and with democracy. For the Mission Hill School, democracy was not only an aspiration, it was a way of conducting school life so that every community member felt a sense of…

This paper contributes to the theorization of radical visible pedagogy by building upon Basil Bernstein's initial conceptualization and previous efforts to develop it. Alongside Bernstein's "classification" and "framing" we suggest that incorporating the concepts of "semantic gravity" and "semantic density"…

Similar to ongoing discussions about the existence of Filipino philosophy, questions remain whether there is indeed a Filipino philosophy of education or not. Several scholars have sought an authentic Filipino philosophy of education that is untouched by colonization, while others have acknowledged that foreign influence cannot be taken away from…

Andrew Monroe [pseud.] (b. 1894) was a Colorado street kid whose acts of truancy and theft landed him before the state's early juvenile courts, and his youth was marked by attempts at escape from reform school. His childhood and youth provide insights into the mechanics of how systems of juvenile corrections operated in the early twentieth…

The notion of learning context has been central in the research related to the socio-cultural turn that has been carried out in the field of Education during the last decades. Context is a fundamental element in the learning process-aprocess that must be understood in relation to the context in which it occurs. In this article we show…

A retired public school teacher recollects and reflects upon her collaboration with Patricia F. Carini, founder of the Prospect School and the Prospect Center for Education and Research. The recollections synthesize her participation in annual Prospect gatherings with an eclectic group of like-minded educators and caretakers from all over the…

In his acceptance speech of the National Academy of Kinesiology's (NAK) 2008 Hetherington Award, Daryl Siedentop (2008) humbly declared: "I have had the privilege for many years to play a small role in the development of research in the field now universally referred to as sport pedagogy" (p. 10). That declaration encapsulates the manner…

In 1940, John and Morag Aitkenhead set up Kilquhanity School in rural Galloway, inspired by the writings of A.S. Neill and the practices at Summerhill School. In 1962, Aitkenhead wrote that he had swallowed 'hook, line and sinker' Neill's theories and that 'but for him and his example, there could never have been this free school in Scotland'.…

Recognizing the importance of information literacy in defining the primary focus of library instruction, this paper suggests the potential utility of a complementary principle of information creativity. Employers and educators now increasingly stress creativity's value and teachability; this paper turns to the work of John Dewey to suggest that…

Many schools today are driven by metrics intended to quantify student achievement, ostensibly in the interest of ensuring quality and accountability in public schools. In practice, this emphasis on performance over experience narrows schools' potential to foster student growth toward democratic citizenship. This article offers a constructive…

This article discusses the work of Susan Isaacs (1885-1948), the IOE's (Institute of Education), first director of the Department of Child Development. In addition to introducing child psychoanalysis to the UK, Isaacs was instrumental in mapping out the basis for a conceptual understanding of the role of aspects of imagination (which she termed…