Doing Dewey

Authors

Carol Rodgers, University at Albany, SUNYFollow

Abstract

In this article, I describe and analyze my experience as a teacher of, and a teacher who does, Dewey. In the process I hope to draw a picture of what it means to strive for integrity between theory and practice. I talk about why it matters to work from a theory of education, especially in an age where “clinical practice” is vaunted and theory is viewed as expendable, even as a slightly shameful waste of time. I focus on particular Deweyan principles, primarily the principle of reflection, and illustrate how that theory manifests itself in my practice. I argue that “doing Dewey” is an enactment of philosophy. Finally, I hold that a theory of teaching cannot be separated from the self who practices it.

Author Biography

Carol Rodgers is an associate professor of education at University at Albany, SUNY. Her work focuses on reflective practice, the philosophy of John Dewey, presence in teaching, and the theory and practice of a humanizing pedagogy. Her publications include “Presence in Teaching” in Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice (2006), with Miriam Raider-Roth; “Defining Reflection,” in Teachers College Record (2002); and “A Humanizing Pedagogy: Getting Beneath the Rhetoric,” in Perspectives in Education (2012), a South African journal.

Recommended Citation

Rodgers, C. (2014). Doing Dewey. Occasional Paper Series, (32). DOI: https://doi.org/10.58295/2375-3668.1052