John Dewey and the Decline of American Education (review)

Henry T. Edmondson's John Deweyand the Decline of American Education is a bold indictment of one of the fathers of modern educational thought and practice. Throughout this terse treatise, Edmondson places the blame for nearly every problem he perceives in today's schools on John Dewey. Edmondson believes that problems such as low literacy rates, teacher burnout, and the loss of traditional values in education can be linked to John Dewey's influence over schools in the United States.¹ Edmondson refutes Dewey's conceptions of religion, education, and democracy in his attempt to illustrate that education has been in decline for the last fifty years because of Dewey's influence. Edmondson attempts to lead students and teachers toward his goal of "disinheriting Dewey."² While Edmondson targets Dewey, a critical reading of this book reveals that Edmondson's argument is another conservative attack on education in the United States. Edmondson's critique of Dewey is in the vein of conservative scholars such as Allan Bloom and Diane Ravitch, who have voiced similar concerns regarding the loss of tradition in education.³ It is clear that Edmondson also believes that education can regain prominence only by abandoning Deweyan progressivism and embracing traditional Western values.

Edmondson chooses to begin his critique of John Dewey by condemning Dewey's rejection of organized religion. Edmondson asserts that Dewey, who was in fact a practicing Christian until his mid-thirties, wrongfully eschewed the mythology and ritualism of dogmatic religious practices such as Christianity. Edmondson argues that Dewey's enmity toward organized religion has been absorbed in American education and states, "Nowhere has genuine faith been more scorned, both by condescension and hostility, than in the halls of the educational establishment."⁴ To Edmondson, John Dewey's rejection of religion has been adopted by the educational establishment and has led to the deterioration of morality and traditional values in education. Edmondson views this decline of morals in education as giving rise to many of the current problems that are plaguing modern schools. It is interesting to note that Edmondson begins his critique of Dewey not with an examination of Dewey's educational philosophy, but rather with a detailed characterization of Dewey as an avowed secularist.

Edmondson's chief argument against Dewey's pedagogy is in regard to Dewey's privileging experimentation over ritual and routine. Edmondson criticizes Dewey's natural empiricism, arguing that classroom experimentation carries with it the risk that students will "suffer the experimenter's mistakes."⁵ Dewey believed that ongoing inquiry would lead to new possibilities and that mistakes were opportunities for further growth through educative experiences.⁶ In contrast, Edmondson argues that Deweyan experimentalism turns students into "lab rats."⁷ Edmondson claims that Dewey's classroom experimentalism has led to the erosion of teacher authority as well as the deterioration of a traditional standards-based curriculum. It is Edmondson's contention that Dewey has replaced the traditional academic canon with a progressive pedagogy based on experimentation. According to Edmondson, Dewey's experimentalism leaves students and teachers mired in uncertainty and erodes the moral fabric of human existence.

Throughout the midsection of the book, Edmondson further critiques Dewey's progressivism by condemning Dewey's various revolts against traditional education. Among the Deweyan revolts that Edmondson highlights are Dewey's belief in student-directed activity, his eschewing of strict textbook learning, and his belief that education is primarily a social endeavor. Edmondson indicts Dewey for engaging in "a revolt against a canon of learning, a revolt against tradition, a revolt against moral standards, a revolt against logic—even a revolt against grammar and spelling."⁸ To Edmondson, Dewey's inclusion of individual student interests in the shaping of class activity is a revolt against the moral authority of the teacher. Dewey's privileging of emergent activity over the study of textual information is a revolt against the...