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What Is John Dewey Doing in To Kill a Mockingbird?
- Education and Culture
- Purdue University Press
- Volume 31, Number 1, Spring 2015
- pp. 45-59
- 10.1353/eac.2015.0006
- Article
- Additional Information
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Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird is taught in countless public schools and is beloved by many teachers and future teachers. Embedded within this novel—interestingly—is a strong criticism of an approach to education mockingly referred to as the “Dewey Decimal System.” In this essay I explore Lee’s criticism of progressive education and argue that it tells us something interesting about the novel and about approaches to education inspired by John Dewey.