Dr. Jeffrey Glanz, Raine and Stanley Silverstein Chair in Professional Ethics and Values at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration and senior fellow at the Institute for University-School Partnership, has co-authored a book titled Revisiting Dewey: Best Practices for Educating the Whole Child Today (Rowman & Littlefield Education).
In the past half century, education reform in the United States has been predicated on the notion that graduating students often lack the skills necessary for competing economically in contemporary society. Since the 1980s, a spate of educational programs and laws have attempted to bolster education by stressing higher academic achievement levels. One of the consequences of this emphasis on attaining higher achievement has been the neglect of subjects in the arts, music and physical education, among others. Nearly a century ago, John Dewey proposed a philosophy of education addressing the needs of the whole student. He provided insights into the development of intelligence, the importance of socially useful skills and the healthy growth of an individual. His insights are more prescient than ever. The book, co-authored by Daniel Stuckart, examines ways Dewey’s insights inform and reform educational practice today.
Glanz has authored, coauthored, and co-edited 21 books and has many published numerous peer-reviewed articles.
“Given that many of our schools, public and private, are not progressively minded, Deweyan thought is particularly enlightening in order to help reframe our thinking to a focus on teaching the whole child,” said Glanz. “This book is a valuable and scholarly resource for those interested in learning how to educate the whole child today.”
The book outlines ways to create a curriculum for teaching the whole child; changing demographics and its impact on democracy, education and students; supervisory and administrative strategies to enhance the teaching the whole child; ways to address the needs of exceptional children in schools today; ways to enhance our ethical responsibilities and sensitivities as educators; strategies to reform schools in America; NCLB and its impact on education and the child; and ways to combat poverty in light of the attack on Deweyan democracy.
