社会民主进程中的学校重建——杜威教育思想中的一个核心主题

社会民主与学校重建的关系是杜威教育思想中的一个核心主题。工业革命以及随之引起的在科技、交通、政治、经济、文化等社会诸领域的全面变革,对美国民主构成了严峻挑战。从哲学高度,深入反思学校如何重建和变革,以在美国社会的民主进程中扮演更为积极、有为的角色,成为一个重大而紧迫的时代课题。杜威从教育的角度,重构了民主概念,主张学校应超越旧个人主义的狭隘性,通过主动作业培养未来公民的民主意识和社会精神。20世纪20年代前后,杜威的教育思想发生转向,对制度化教育在社会民主进程中的功能的有限性的认识更为清晰,但终其一生,杜威都未曾放弃对学校重建问题的关心。杜威有关民主和学校重建关系问题的思想十分深刻,超越了杰斐逊和贺拉斯·曼等前人,影响了克伯屈和拉格等社会改造主义教育家。在美国教育史中,杜威是一位继往开来的大师。     

John Dewey and the Artful Life

REPRESENTATIVE AMERICAN SPEECHES: 1952–1953. Edited by A. Craig Baird. New York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1953; pp. 199. $1.75.

IT TAKES TIME: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION. By Marie I. Rasey. New York: Harper &; Brothers, 1953; pp. 204. $3.00.

YOUR VOICE AND SPEECH. By Letitia Raubicheck. New York: Prentice‐Hall, Inc., 1953; pp. 376. $4.05.

HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL EMCEE. By Le‐Roy Stahl. Minneapolis: T. S. Denison and Co., 1953; pp. 200. $2.75.

GROUPS IN HARMONY AND TENSION. By Muzafer Sherif and Carolyn W. Sherif. New York: Harper &; Brothers, 1953; pp. 316. $3.50.

EFFECTIVE READING. By Lawrence H. Feigenbaun. New York: Globe Book Company, 1953: pp. 224. $2.00.

READING SKILLS. By William D. Baker. New York: Prentice‐Hall, Inc., 1953; pp. 120. $1.50.

WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD DICTIONARY. Cleveland and New York: World Publishing Co., 1953; pp. xxxvi+1724. $5.00 plain edges, $6.00 thumb‐indexed.

THE ROMANCE OF THE ENGLISH THEATRE. By Donald Brook. (Revised Edition). London: Rockliff (Macmillan), 1953; pp. 222. $4.50.

REPRESENTATIVE AMERICAN PLAYS, FROM 1767 TO THE PRESENT. Edited by Arthur Hobson Quinn. (Seventh Edition). New York: Appleton‐Century‐Crofts, Inc., 1953: pp. 1248. $6.50.

APPROACHES TO POETRY. By Walter Blair and W. K. Chandler. (Second Edition). New York: Appleton‐Century‐Crofts, 1953; pp. 734. $3.90.

POEMS FOR STUDY. By Leonard Unger and William Van O'Connor. New York: Rinehart, 1953: pp. xxi+743. $4.75.

THE BURLESQUE TRADITION IN THE ENGLISH THEATRE AFTER 1660. By V. C. Clinton‐Baddeley. London: Methuen &; Co., 1952; pp. xvi+152. $4.00.

THESAURUS OF ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES. Revised from Peter Roget by D. C. Browning. New York: E. P. Dutton &; Co., Inc., 1953; pp. 572. $3.75.     

杜威职业教育思想述评

杜威在20世纪初就已提出很有价值的职业教育思想,对职业教育的重要性、理想的职业教育计划以及职业教育的实施措施都提出了许多独到的见解。这些思想和见解对当代世界职业教育尤其是对我国当前和今后的职业教育仍具有重要的启发意义。     

Scapegoat: John Dewey and the character education crisis

Many conservatives, including some conservative scholars, blame the ideas and influence of John Dewey for what has frequently been called a crisis of character, a catastrophic decline in moral behavior in the schools and society of North America. Dewey’s critics claim that he is responsible for the undermining of the kinds of instruction that could lead to the development of character and the strengthening of the will, and that his educational philosophy and example exert a ubiquitous and disastrous influence on students’ conceptions of moral behavior. This article sets forth the views of some of these critics and juxtaposes them with what Dewey actually believed and wrote regarding character education. The juxtaposition demonstrates that Dewey neither called for nor exemplified the kinds of character-eroding pedagogy his critics accuse him of championing; in addition, this paper highlights the ways in which Dewey argued consistently and convincingly that the pedagogical approaches advocated by his critics are the real culprits in the decline of character and moral education.     

Of Frogs & Rhetoric: The Atrazine Wars

In a scientific dispute over the effects of atrazine on amphibians, chemical industry–funded and publically funded scientists present stunningly contrasting constructions of atrazine's environmental concentrations, persistence, and potential to harm. Considerable scientific uncertainties and variable ranges allow authors to construct preferred versions of the story of atrazine. These incommensurate rhetorical constructions, more the result of competing economic and environmental interests than of any paradigmatic misalignments, have prolonged the dispute not only over atrazine's effects but also over whether its sales should be banned.     

约翰·杜威的职业教育思想

约翰·杜威(John Dewey,1859-1952)是美国著名的哲学家、教育家,他所处的时代正值美国由农业社会向工业社会的转型时期。杜威出生后不久,美国就爆发了南北战争,战后加快了工业化发展进程,到1900年,美国一跃而成为世界第一经济大国。工业经济的发展吸引了大量农村劳动力和新移民,他们定居在城市,加快了美国城市化的步伐。于是,美国产生了一种全新的文明——城市工业文明。在社会转型的背景下,美国涌现出了大量的问题,教育就是其中的一个重要方面。美国经济的迅猛发展,虽然为19世纪末20世纪初的教育提供了良好的物质条件。然而,面对新形势,美国传统教育的弊端不断暴露出来:学校与社会脱节,课程与现实生活脱节,教学模式呆板……杜威在对美国社会转型对教育提出的新要求进行深思熟虑的基础上,以实用主义哲学为基础,结合自己的教育实践,提出了实用主义教育思想,形成了实用主义教育理论体系。其中,职业教育思想是实用主义教育思想的一个重要内容。     

从杜威看教育理论的原创建设

研探杜威教育理论的创新思路和特点。认为在理论建构上,杜威着力打造其理论的核心概念——“经验”,用辨证的方法透视现象,立足解决教育的现实问题;其理论来自美国当时的教育实践,而不是实用主义理论在教育领域的逻辑推演;从实践中来,到实践中去应该是教育理论产生重大影响的基本前提。这对我国教育改革和教育理论创新也有所启示。