The History & Future of Progressive Education
Progressives have always been at the forefront of educational reform. A retrospective on where Progressive education theory has been can also shed light on where we now find ourselves, and where we have yet to go.
Overview
The Progressive education movement began as a reaction to what was conceived as the narrowness and formalism of a traditional education, which was thought to focus too narrowly on intellectual development alone. By contrast, 18th and 19th Century Progressives wanted to expand the scope of education to include emotional and physical development as well. In addition to such novel educational ends, a further emphasis of Progressive education derived from a theory concerning the best means of education: it was thought desirable for the student to become an active participant in his or her own education, and that learning by doing was therefore a key approach. In the 20th century, American philosopher John Dewey added to this mix of concerns the objective of preparing the student for participation in a democratic system of governance.
Historical Origins
Progressive educational theory is often traced to the "novel-as-treatise" Emile, written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and published in 1762. Rousseau took exception to the rationalism of the Enlightenment, believing that human nature is fundamentally good at the outset, but that it is typically made perverse by social corruptions which are the outcome of desires for power and wealth. Rousseau believed that these desires provided the impetus to the arts and sciences, which themselves then became corrupting.(Though he was anything but a critic of the arts and sciences, an otherwise quite similar perspective arose independently in China in the thought of Mencius.)
These ideas were to prove influential, and resulted, by the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in experimental schools in Germany and Switzerland. From the beginning of the 20th century, in part through the influence of Dewey, the European and American movements fused, resulting in such schools as A. S. Neill's Summerhill, Dewey's own Laboratory Schools at the University of Chicago, and Maria Montessori's schools in Italy. These schools, however, didn't share Rousseau's hostility to rationalism.
In the US, following the death of Dewey (in 1952) and the onset of the Cold War, there arose a wave of social conservatism hostile to the aims of Progressive educators, and the movement lost direction to some degree. The torch was picked up again by American philosopher Mortimer Adler in the early 1980s and given impetus by his manifesto 'The Paideia Proposal'. Adler's key thrust was reminiscent of that of earlier Progressives, who resisted the division of educational opportunities into vocational education for most, and a higher quality of education for a very few.
The Situation in the US Today
Dating from the presidency of Ronald Reagan (1980), the "social contract" so fruitfully developed during the Progressive political era has come under ever more virulent attack. While often paying lip service to the importance of education, the reality under nominally Conservative (but actually plutocratic) political domination has been nothing short of dismaying. The wealthy do not send their children to public schools, but rather educate them at expensive, elitist private academies, resulting in an attitude of class-centric social detachment, or even outright class hostility, in the most politically influential circles. Nominal reforms, such as charter schools have been attempted, but lack the sort of coherent educational focus that only a clear-headed educational philosophy can bring to the table. Moreover, all such reforms presently operate in a political landscape that is dominated by other preoccupations, most notably the creation or expansion of transnational economic empires, with the consequence that funding for education in the United States remains grossly inadequate. What this implies is clear: genuine reform, and a rebirth of real commitment to a high quality of public education will have to await a definitive rejection of all things plutocratic. (With breath-taking hypocrisy, George W. Bush campaigned on a promise of being the "education president", when in fact nothing could have been farther from his true concerns.)
Yet a reaction of this nature would provide only the preconditions for real improvement. Educational theory in the US currently lags far, far behind contemporary social and economic realities, the best insights of philosophy and psychology, and the best examples, as provided by the Nordic countries, particularly Finland. In the next section we'll have a look at some of these realities. Later we'll consider what they imply for the direction of future educational reforms.
Some Contemporary Realities
The way of life most familiar to Americans, and now widely emulated throughout the world, relies upon a resource-intensive form of capitalism (corporate capitalism), with an implicit model of endless growth. This way of life is on the brink of total collapse. The inherent weaknesses of the model have been brought out in part by climate vandalism, in part by the approaching exhaustion of oil reserves, and in part by the devastation of habitat for wildlife. However, as if all of this wasn't bad enough, the flaws of this approach are being further exacerbated by an ever-increasing global population. There are more than seven billion of us now, and there will likely be an additional four billion by 2050. Given that a human population of approximately two billion is the maximum that can be sustained on a truly living planet, there is much to concern us.
Coming at precisely the wrong point in human history, an extremely dangerous contemporary reality is an historically unprecedented concentration of wealth, and hence political power, in the hands of a tiny handful of individuals. Due in part to such fundamentally anti-democratic/anti-family institutions as the World Bank, the WTO and the IMF, and a subversion of the aims of the United Nations by the US plutocracy, a high quality of life for all globally is an even more elusive goal now than before the Reagan presidency. Within the US, the "American Dream" has simply collapsed under Republican misrule. Symbolic of this is the fact that Wal-Mart, among the worst US employers, is also the single largest.
If education is viewed solely as a preparation for worklife, an elementary school education would suffice for the sort of dreary, low-pay/low-skills jobs to be found at Wal-Mart or McDonalds. The still-subsidized offshore outsourcing of good jobs can only exacerbate this situation, as will virtually all other aspects of economic globalization.
Even before Reagan, the early manifestations of this economic reality contributed enormously to the disintegration of the American family. In the US of the 1950s, single-income families were almost universally the rule rather than the exception, and a stay-at-home parent could devote much of the day to caring for children. The sort of unstable, low-skills, low-benefits work that has become ever more common in the wake of the decline of unionization has resulted in a situation in which most mothers have been pushed into the workforce, which in turn has resulted in children who are being raised in day care centers of dubious quality.
More employees in the workforce has also meant an increase in the labor supply, and a corresponding reduction in labor demand — and therefore stagnant wages. A scourge of the American family from its very inception (and still a scourge today), the National Association of Manufacturers had already adopted resolutions by 1904 aimed at subverting a “family wage” (that is, an income sufficient for the purpose of one parent providing the financial means for an entire family). With a concern for "equality of employment opportunity" serving as its moral smokescreen, NAM contended that “No limitation should be placed upon the opportunities of any person to learn any trade to which he or she may be adapted.”Too, anemic salaries and insufficient time to devote to family life has resulted in social bonds of much lower quality.
Above and beyond trends of this nature, children (and adults) are receiving most of their understanding of the world via television, yet the far-from-mainstream mass-media are largely owned by the hyperwealthy, who use news programs as tools of corporate propaganda. Politically distorted, these programs are also nearly barren of news from most of the rest of the world, and present a grossly skewed view of reality.
On the Relevance of Psychology and Philosophy
Our system of public education has so far largely failed not only to respond to the implications of new social, economic, and environmental realities, it has also failed to integrate numerous advances in educational psychology and philosophy with our educational curricula. We know vastly more now about how learning takes place than we did 20 years ago, and this body of understanding could be incorporated into schools in classes that would teach the students how to learn (an understanding that could be communicated to parents to further aid in that process). So far, however, little of this understanding has reached the classroom.
Even the modest, though crucial points in Adler's educational manifesto have not yet been implemented in the vast majority of schools, whether public or private. Among the most important of these is recognition of the fact that rote learning, typically communicated in textbooks and lectures, must not be the only objective of educators; nor must textbooks and lectures be the only means of education. He points up, quite rightly, that many skills can only be taught by coaching, exercises, and practice, among them problem-solving and the exercising of critical judgment. More critical still is education by means of "maieutic" or Socratic questioning and active participation. It is by means of this sort of active engagement that the student comes to learn how to think for him or herself. It is also the process by which the individual arrives at a true understanding of values. For these reasons, Socratic questioning should be regarded as the most critical means of educating; yet at present, nearly none of this takes place. Classroom sizes alone prohibit the very possibility.
Curiously, Adler, a professional philosopher, made no mention of the teaching of philosophy itself in the classroom. It may be that he regarded it as a subject for which High School students lacked sufficient intellectual maturity, or perhaps he regarded it as being too controversial a subject for many school districts. Whatever the case may have been, Progressives would do well to cultivate an appreciation of the key place an understanding of philosophy could play in the life of any genuinely educated individual.
Some Needed Reforms Within and External to Educational Institutions
The reforms most urgently needed for schools must begin outside of the schools with the re-establishment of stable families (with inexpensive health insurance), and at least modestly affluent incomes. Economies may, and hopefully will, grow; nevertheless, all economies are zero-sum games. When a tiny handful of individuals receive most of the income (whether in the US or elsewhere), and own most of the wealth, there simply isn't enough left over for the rest of the populace to live fully human lives. With severe resource limitations just around the corner, the world no longer has sufficient economic capacity to tolerate an economic elite, if indeed it ever did. And because wealth translates all too readily into political influence, gross extremes of wealth invariably run directly counter to democratic systems of governance.
Globalization exacerbates and accelerates gross disparities of income. There was never a plausible justification for this process; the time is now long past for anyone, except for corrupt economic elites, to embrace it. (And, in the long run, even they are not well served by the process.)
Extremes of wealth and poverty were dealt with with some success over the course of the Progressive era in the US, and provide a good model for the reforms needed now.
However, even with less grossly unjust disparaties of income achieved, and with the economic roots of families thereby better secured, US schools would remained mired in a cultural malaise. To decisively overcome this malaise, Americans must overcome the two most fundamental obstacles imposed by the culture war: hostility to religion on the part of some sectors of secular society, and hostility to reason on the part of some religious leaders. Few individuals can achieve a well-informed, rational value system on their own, which speaks to the need for rational religion. The few individuals who are able to achieve a good value system on their own still need institutions for the realization of good values in their societies, which again speaks to the need for religion within the bounds of reason. On the other hand, few religions offer truly rational value systems, which speaks to the need for rationalism. Lastly, rationalism alone doesn't provide a value system, which speaks to the need for philosophy.
With economic injustice overcome, and good value systems in place, Americans, and indeed the human race, would still face some very serious institutional obstacles. The entire system of corporate capitalism, from resource extraction and the organization of labor to the management of wastes, is grossly inefficient, polluting, and unjust, and ultimately needs wholesale reform. (Other resources at this website outline another form of capitalism, Mondragon capitalism, as perhaps the best successor.) We also need to reduce our collective populations -- not just to replacement levels (i.e., two children per family) -- but to reduction. Tackling this issue in a serious way would have far-reaching economic consequences (as will the failure to tackle this issue in a serious way).
Finally, even with all of the above achieved, far-reaching reforms of the mass media would still be needed. In the US, the mass media comprise the fourth branch of governance. For so long as a commercial ethos dominates, the media cannot and will not carry out their function properly. To begin with, all of the media cartels should be dismantled. Ultimately, perhaps the best model would be for all of them to be transformed into publicly owned cooperatives. (With advertising for political campaigns provided for free.) Certainly, the term of broadcast licenses should be limited to some reasonable span of time - perhaps 30 years or so.
What does all of this imply for Progressive education in the 21st century?
First of all, a Progressive education certainly doesn't imply either pessimism or despair. Many of the most pathological agents in human society have now painted themselves into unviable corners. In the US, the political trend initiated by Reagan (or rather by those whose tool he was) now stands revealed for what it is: selfish, greedy, exclusively self-interested, and therefore unfit for any role in American public life. Only a George Bush could view the aftermath of a storm like Katrina and fail to draw the obvious conclusions about global warming and the limits to what we can do to our environment. Decades after globalization was first preached as an economic panacea, it has failed to deliver anything but failure and has now eaten so deeply into the economic fabric of America that its promulgators are beginning to look less like saviors than the sort of crooks featured on America's Most Wanted. The greed and corruption of grossly overcompensated CEOs has unmasked all the talk about a "meritocracy" for what it always was: a moral fig-leaf for avarice. And the basic irrationalism of the fundamentalists has become increasingly self-destructive.
Indeed, everything points to an America, and indeed even a planet, poised for massive change.
The challenge facing contemporary Progressive educators then is that of giving students the tools to effect positive change, as opposed to random change or, worse, destructive upheaval. What they will first of all need are the facts; and this can only mean the unvarnished facts. They will also need an education in values and in character. Humanity, or some elements within it, have always been its worst enemy, and a more fully cultivated humanity is the only remedy for this.
Finally, students will need all of the solutions, and all of the tools for implementing these solutions, that we can collectively conceive.
The world needs saving badly, so we had better get good at it fast.
Conclusion
It is no exaggeration to say that the challenge facing Progressive educators is among the most deeply meaningful and important of any that has ever confronted our species. Change is on its way, and given the scope and pace of that change there will be much potential for destructive upheaval. There will also be much potential for inaction and for equally unhelpful pessimism. The best solution for all of these things is to channel change in constructive directions, and this Progressive educators are ideally positioned to do. Conservatives, by temperament and cultural bias alike, tend to be both unprepared for change and unsuited to lead it.
The challenge becomes all the more important because most American institutions will likely not serve as effective agents of change. It would be professional suicide for any politician to state baldly that the rich are much too rich and will have to make do with vastly less. Even now, it will be difficult to pitch environmentalism to oil CEOs and the many other business "leaders" who have resisted environmentalism at every turn. Wall Street doesn't want to hear that its most cherished dream, globalization, must die, and die rapidly. And many fundamentalists, preoccupied primarily with making hay on wedge issues of their own, will be difficult to convince of much of anything.
This means that those who have the intelligence and vision to see what must be done will have to take action on their own initiative. (They can still prod the putative "leaders" of society to lead, but their efforts cannot end there.) In the case of educational institutions, Paideia schools provide the most promising means of providing an education in world saving. With respect to the development of courses and course content, much will have to be "home grown", at least initially, though more material is becoming available every day.
There is, however, no alternative — except a dead planet and the collapse of civilization itself — and that means we don't have a moment to lose.
Further Reading
For further details concerning Progressive education, continue to this link.
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