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John Dewey is widely accepted as one of the greatest educational philosophers of all time. Over 100 years ago, he warned that we must reset education. Without change, our society would suffer, and our democracy would wither.Now's the time to change. This book builds on information Dewey shared regarding the basic educational necessities and compares his findings to what is really happening in today's schools. Heart-felt experiences are woven into the chapters and make us question the purpose of school, what teachers are facing, and if children really are the center. This book is a glimpse of what Dewey might say to us today, and without change, why the future of our democracy is in trouble. Sharing real-world needs grounded in the basics, every reader will look at education like never before. United, we can finally get education moving in the direction it should have been going 100 years ago.

Authorities have set forth the belief that theory is the most practical of all things. Theory can be of paramount value to the practicing educational teacher and administrator. The contents of this book set forth the many primarily benefits of theory for education in general and professional practice specifically. In addition, the importance of including high levels of research and theory implementation in practice is supported throughout the book.

This book proposes a new way of categorizing curricula in the holistic educational traditional. This is an idea that goes back in the Western tradition at least as far as Plato, and Lao Tzu in the Eastern tradition. It is certainly present in Spinoza and Schopenhauer. It is called a “holarchy”. The idea of a holarchy gives rise to Integrative Curriculum Theory, which, with major modifications, draws on Ken Wilber's in his evolutionary model of the development of consciousness at personal, cultural and ontological realms. Integrative Curriculum Theory will: 1) Prove a useful addition to the holistic repertoire of systematic and, above all, humane terminologies and “technologies” for making and evaluating specific curricula as well as for theorizing the curriculum at a time when “scientistic,” “technist” and profit-driven views of education have commandeered the podium, policy, and praxis and 2) address some areas of concern that with certain holistic models of education, and 3) address some problems in Wilber's integral model of psychological, cultural, and spiritual evolution.

This volume offers an overview of the pragmatic understanding of knowledge and the acquisition of knowledge, and its implications for the conduct of educational research. Pragmatism and Educational Research focuses primarily on the work of John Dewey, and examines the relationship between pragmatism and educational research both in relation to research methodology and to a pragmatic educational theory. Biesta and Burbules provide examples of characteristic research questions and research methods and approaches, as informed by a pragmatist outlook. Further, they argue that the major benefit of a pragmatic approach to educational research lies in the possibility of promoting intelligent and reflective action by educational practitioners.