In his 1891 Talks on Pedagogics, one the most important thought leaders of the progressive education movement, Colonel Francis Wayland Parker, asserted, “Observation as a mode of attention, its relations to the central subjects of study, and its place in teaching, has significant educational value” (p. 107). A foundation to progressive philosophy and pedagogy — careful and first hand observation of self, society, and the natural world — is critical to a meaningful education. After all, explained Parker (2001), the motivation for lifelong learning “can only come to the one who gains some apprehension of the boundless knowledge and the depths of truth by actual personal experience” (pp. 128-129).
Only By Wrestling with the Problem First Hand, Does a Person Learn to Think: Reflections on a Pedagogy for Philosophical Inquiry
The spirit of Dewey is alive and well as we enter the sixth week of the University of Hawaiʻi’s Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy program! Engaged in coursework, which requires participants to generate their own questions as a starting point for inquiry and learning--the thinking that has emerged from this first cohort of students has brought to the surface some of the biggest problems facing education in our time and have provided an incredible window into the ways progressive educators are well-poised to engage in tough work to address each issue.