Experience is Not The Whole Story: The Integral Role of the Situation in Dewey's Democracy and Education

The central objective of Dewey's Democracy and Education is to explain ‘what is needed to live a meaningful life and how can education contribute?’ While most acquainted with Dewey's educational philosophy know that ‘experience’ plays a central role, the role of ‘situations’ may be less familiar or understood. This essay explains why ‘situation’ is inseparable from ‘experience’ and deeply important to Democracy and Education’s educational methods and rationales. First, a prefatory section explores how experience is invoked and involved in pedagogical practice, especially experience insofar as it is (a) experimental, (b) direct, and (c) social‐moral in character. The second and main section on situations follows. After a brief introduction to Dewey's special philosophical use of ‘situation’, I examine how situations are implicated in (a) student interest and motivation; (b) ‘aims’ and ‘criteria’ in problem‐solving; and (c) moral education (habits, values, and judgements). What should become abundantly clear from these examinations is that there could be no such thing as meaningful education, as Dewey understood it, without educators’ conscious, intentional, and imaginative deployment of experience and situations.     

The Struggle over Arabisation in Medieval Arabic Christian Hagiography

The process of Arabisation and Islamisation that began shortly after the Muslim conquests in greater Syro-Palestine was still in full swing well after the ‘Abbāsid revolution. One of the neglected sources for unravelling the nuances of the cultural transformations that were taking place is the Christian hagiography of the period. This article argues that the contrast between Byzantine and Arab Christian hagiography from the late eighth through the ninth century provides an important window in the process of Arabisation and Islamisation in the Early Islamic period. In particular when the Byzantine account of the Twenty Martyrs of Mar Saba is compared to the Arabic account of the Martydom of Raw[hdot] al-Qurayshī, an Arab Christian, many of the significant features of the process of cultural change come to the fore.     

Can Autonomy Counteract Extremism in Traditional Education?

The very purpose of traditional—especially religious—education is to induct the young into a unique vision of reality. When the compelling religious vision conflicts with other visions, extremist confrontations may result. This paper explores ways to 'square the circle' of the educational conundrum of how to educate for fervent commitment to tradition without precluding autonomy and diversity, both within the tradition but especially vis-à-vis outsiders. Some liberal educators see educating for autonomy as an antidote to extremism, but such an approach is found wanting both ethically and empirically. Reinforcing the roots of toleration within religious traditions is offered as a more effective alternative.     

Basic Counselor Skills Training and Counselor Cognitive Complexity

This study examined the relationship between basic counselor skills training and cognitive complexity levels in counseling trainees. Data from graduate counseling trainees enrolled in basic skills training courses and a control group were collected (N = 72). Cognitive complexity levels were measured using the traditional 2‐person form of the Role Category Questionnaire (B. R. Burleson & M. S. Waltman) in a pre‐ and posttest design. Participants exposed to the basic skills training course showed a significantly higher cognitive complexity level than the control group when posttest means were compared.