The University of Alabama

Abstract

Anti-progressivism in Education: Past and Present

Abstract

This essay takes a look at what I call anti-progressivism in education or, more particularly, criticism of progressive education that was so vocal and visceral that it earns a label, at least initially, of anti-progressivism. After a brief introduction discussing the terms in general, I look at three instances of anti-progressivism in the 1950s and 1960s, in works by Arthur Bestor , Jr. published in 1953., and by Richard Hofstadter and James Bryant Conant, both published in 1963. My analysis of each reveals them to be works produced as part of a larger battle over the control of teacher education at American universities. Also, I argue that these works were by authors operating at least somewhat within a progressive tradition, rather than by outsiders to the tradition. The contours of this inter-academic progressive criticism of progressivism are then elaborated on and I close with a look at how this all relates to the contemporary situation in American teacher education

Keywords

• academic disciplines, anti-intellectualism, anti-progressivism, teacher education