In this edited transcript of the second round-table discussion convened by "FORUM", four participants explore the nature of 'progressive education' as term, idea and tradition. Robin Alexander, Paula Ayliffe, Madeleine Holt and John Yandell consider whether, in the shadow of currently resurgent traditionalist approaches to pedagogy,…

The second of two volumes dedicated to this little-explored topic continues to gather international perspectives to critically assess how Waldorf education has been perceived and discussed in both public and academic arenas. Both books thereby challenge the historic concept of Waldorf education as an international movement championing…

"The Oxford Dictionary of English" defines authoritarianism as the enforcement or advocacy of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom, as well as a lack of concern for the wishes or opinions of others. In this paper I argue that there are growing signs of a move towards more authoritarian practices and structures…

In a rapidly changing context, US institutions of higher education are struggling amidst myriad pressures related, for example, to funding, accountability, standardisation and technology. In particular, pressures on 'progressive' or non-traditional colleges are immense. These schools, which have historically emphasised individualised,…

This study examines the purpose and practice of "adjustment rooms" established in special education classes in Los Angeles public schools in the early twentieth century. The establishment and practices associated with adjustment rooms are a local example of broader international trends related to the classification and streaming of…

Any enthusiast of classical liberal education will be much dismayed at the current state of education in America, both in K-12 schools and our colleges and universities. In this article, the author highlights how critics of American education have neglected the issues of procedure and pedagogy--the "hows" of schooling--and he argues that…

The present study is a descriptive research conducted with the quantitative research method and aimed to determine and analyze the educational philosophy trends among pre-school teachers and the effects of various variables on their educational philosophy orientations. The study was conducted with 381 pre-school teachers attending Inönü…

Afghanistan's public education system has been victimized by the brutal oppression of the Taliban Regime. Schools were destroyed, teachers were executed, and women were prevented from receiving an education. However, the situation has improved in recent years. Public school enrollment rates and educational access for females have substantially…

In this essay, Jal Mehta examines the challenges faced by American schooling and the reasons for persistent failure of American school reforms to achieve successful educational outcomes at scale. He concludes that many of the problems faced by American schools are artifacts of the bureaucratic form in which the education sector as a whole was…

For the past 35 years, the prevailing narrative about America's public education system is that it is "broken." Reform efforts have failed to find a fix because they fundamentally misunderstand this reality: the system is not broken. It is doing exactly what it was designed to do--educate the masses in a standardized fashion that…

Games have played an important role in modern educational methodologies. Beginning with the work of luminaries like Froebel, Montessori, and Dewey and continuing through the Cold War, the counter-culture movement of the 1960s and '70s, and into the present day, shifts in educational practice can be traced historically using the lens of games,…

In this article, progressive education in New Zealand is examined across three eras. The "revered past" (1870s-1960s) focuses the influence of progressive ideas on the early childhood movement from the establishment of the first kindergarten in 1889 and on the schooling sector from the 1930s to the 1960s. The "contested…

In "The School and Society" John Dewey noted new tendencies in education, e.g., manual training and nature study. He raised two related questions: (1) how are we to "understand the" new educational trends as reflections of the "social context"--as an "inevitable" effort to bring education into line with the broader pattern of change in industrial…

Investigating the content presented at annual national conferences is regarded by many as a valid means for revealing patterns within a given professional organization concerning their interests, issues, concerns, priorities, and research foci, which collectively present an opportunity to provide future direction for the organization. As a result,…

Combination classes are often created out of financial necessity rather than a desire to engage students in multiage learning. Teachers assigned to these classrooms come from the general teaching pool and may not have specialized training around the intricacies of multiage teaching. A review of the literature indicates that the United States has a…