ReDiscovering Dewey

by Steven Simpson

“Dewey inspired me with a grand fresh idea about teaching, and it has been a while since I’ve been inspired with a fresh idea about my teaching.  I have no interest in running for political office.  I take care of my family, I serve on the boards of a couple of community environmental groups, I write, AND I teach.  That’s what I do, and it’s what I want to do.  If a critical mass of teachers valued democracy and communication and cooperation and believed that their jobs were to create a society where friendship, beauty, and knowledge were the bywords and individual student success was the goal, I would want to be of part of that.”

John Dewey believed in education, and he believed in American participatory democracy.  Simpson uses personal anecdotes, Dewey’s extensive writings, and even Chinese legends to discuss Dewey’s ideas about teaching democracy, independent thinking, and a sense of community.  They are as relevant today as when they were written.

ISBN: 978-1-885473-61-5
SIZE: 6 x 9
PAGE COUNT: 224

Testimonial:  “If one is serious about education then one needs to be serious about understanding John Dewey. Unfortunately, Dewey’s books, although short in length, are dense and often hard to fully understand. Steve Simpson has done us all a great service by carefully explaining Dewey’s major points and how best to interpret his writing. Steve’s style is scholarly yet casual and the reader will be able to use Steve’s examples to gain a deeper appreciation of Dewey’s remarkable work. I enjoyed Simpson’s earlier book The Leader Who is Hardly Known: Self-less Teaching from the Chinese Tradition and this new work on Dewey is another great contribution from a deeply committed educator. I’m going to include this book as an assigned reading for future classes.”
—Dan Garvey, Ph.D., Faculty, Prescott College, Former President of Prescott College 2000-2010