Discontinuity in Learning
Dewey, Herbart and Education as Transformation

Argues for the educational value of discontinuous experiences such as doubt and struggle, based on fresh readings of John Dewey and J. F. Herbart.

Andrea R. English (Author)

9781107025219, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 29 March 2013

206 pages, 1 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.48 kg

'… hugely enjoyable, well researched, well informed, well written and deeply provocative in the way it compellingly exhorts our attention to examine our core beliefs as educators and to urgently address the future direction of education in the world today.' Gifted Education International

In this groundbreaking book, Andrea English challenges common assumptions by arguing that discontinuous experiences, such as uncertainty and struggle, are essential to the learning process. To make this argument, Dr English draws from the works of two seminal thinkers in philosophy of education - nineteenth-century German philosopher J. F. Herbart and American pragmatist John Dewey. English's analysis considers Herbart's influence on Dewey, inverting the accepted interpretation of Dewey's thought as a dramatic break from modern European understandings of education. Three key concepts - transformational learning, tact in teaching, and perfectibility - emerge from this analysis to revitalize our understanding of education as a transformational process. Dr English's comparative approach interweaves European and Anglo-American traditions of educational thought with a contemporary scholarly perspective, contributing to a work that is both intellectually rewarding and applicable to a classroom setting. The result is a book that is essential reading for philosophers and scholars of education, as well as educators.

Prologue. Why Herbart and Dewey?
Part I. Education, Discontinuity, and Transformation: 1. The moral dimension of education
2. The problem of continuity, the need for struggle, the role of tact
3. Discontinuity and educational openings in learning
4. Teaching in the openings of learning
5. Conclusion: morality, democracy, and pluralist society
Part II. Teaching and Learning Forgotten?: 6. Revisiting 'learning in-between' and umlernen
7. Pedagogical tact: learning to teach 'in-between'
8. Perfectibility and recognition of the other for education
Epilogue. Should teachers think? Re(dis)covering the meaning of philosophy for the education of teachers.

Subject Areas: Educational psychology [JNC], Education [JN], Cognition & cognitive psychology [JMR], Psychology [JM]