Patricia Carini (1932-2021) was a progressive educator and thinker who was among the key figures of open education. This article reflects on her work, illuminating its quality as an art of listening. The idea of listening has been of primary importance within the tradition of progressive education in the United States and internationally.…

Daniel J. Boorstin was a distinguished historian at the University of Chicago from 1944 to 1969; later he served as librarian of Congress. A prolific author throughout his 89 years, Boorstin saved several unpublished manuscripts. His cogent observations on college lectures are resurrected here. For Boorstin, the widespread definition of great…

The guidelines followed by many educational boards recommend behavioristic practices for dealing with student discipline; however, Lawrence Kohlberg's idea of organizing schools as "just communities" suggests a more promising approach. It translates to the school context the core principle of Habermas's discourse ethics: "those…

In this edited transcript of the second round-table discussion convened by "FORUM", four participants explore the nature of 'progressive education' as term, idea and tradition. Robin Alexander, Paula Ayliffe, Madeleine Holt and John Yandell consider whether, in the shadow of currently resurgent traditionalist approaches to pedagogy,…

Reflections on the ways in which decisions about the foundation and organization of a small progressive public school exemplify the challenges and trade-offs of living in and with democracy. For the Mission Hill School, democracy was not only an aspiration, it was a way of conducting school life so that every community member felt a sense of…

John Dewey's lifelong quest for a worthy education was characterized by a fervor for collapsing false dualisms. One such dualism -- that between traditional and progressive education -- led him to embrace a vision of the teacher as interpreter and guide of the student. Notwithstanding Dewey's emphasis on the salient role of interpretation, there…

In this article, the author examines classroom observation reports from the careers of 5 teachers who taught in 14 different schools in a range of grade levels, subject areas, and neighborhoods throughout New York City. These observation reports provide an important primary source for understanding the teaching principles that guided the practices…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions in the educational system, placing a substantial burden on teachers. Since the onset of the pandemic, ample quantitative research has been conducted, documenting increased rates of anxiety, stress, and burnout among teachers. However, these rates do not provide an explanation for why teachers…

This paper contributes to the theorization of radical visible pedagogy by building upon Basil Bernstein's initial conceptualization and previous efforts to develop it. Alongside Bernstein's "classification" and "framing" we suggest that incorporating the concepts of "semantic gravity" and "semantic density"…

The purpose of this action research study was to expand preservice teacher perspectives on the possibilities of schooling through engagement with nontraditional and progressive learning environments. Nine preservice teachers were given the opportunity to experience schools on the learning edge and develop perspectives on what is possible in…

The Waldorf schools, founded by Rudolf Steiner, are today among the most successful alternative schools that have emerged in the context of the "Reformpädagogik" (progressive education movement). Despite the increasing number of schools being founded as well as critical comments occurring from time to time in the public, the interest in…

Andrew Monroe [pseud.] (b. 1894) was a Colorado street kid whose acts of truancy and theft landed him before the state's early juvenile courts, and his youth was marked by attempts at escape from reform school. His childhood and youth provide insights into the mechanics of how systems of juvenile corrections operated in the early twentieth…

This article details the demise of a small multicultural and democratic school in a large urban district. After a successful 25-year run, a public school built on principles of progressive and democratic education was dismantled and destroyed. The article attempts to expose the contradictions and untruths in the story of Mission Hill School's…

In this autobiographical narrative inquiry, I continued to make sense of a Deweyan-inspired narrative conception of hope (LeMay, 2014). I started with a remembered story that occurred on a First Nation shortly after I commenced working at a post-secondary institution. Following that, I shared stories that led me to wonder about a Deweyan-inspired…

The second of two volumes dedicated to this little-explored topic continues to gather international perspectives to critically assess how Waldorf education has been perceived and discussed in both public and academic arenas. Both books thereby challenge the historic concept of Waldorf education as an international movement championing…