Dewey's Dream: Universities and Democracies in an Age of Education Reform, Civil Society, Public Schools, and Democratic Citizenship
"One of the most startlingly impressive aspects of the ... text is that the authors have recast Dewey's work by a close reading and re-analysis of his legacy. In so doing, they have re-energized the progressive intent in his original work and provided a contemporary focus for a renewal of the progressive agenda in education. I found the argument compelling and exciting and, in my view, the authors have fully succeeded in identifying key tasks for a role for education in promoting participatory democracy." Henry Louis Taylor, Jr., Director of the Center for Urban Studies, The State University of New York at Buffalo "Dewey's Dream's strength is its contribution to a re-visioning of higher education's democratic commitments...Perhaps the most important less from [Dewey's Dream] is that it is the generation of new knowledge that fundamentally demands engagement in the 21st century...This is Dewey's dream fulfilled." The Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning "Dewey's Dream is both a tribute to the philosopher and a critical assessment of his work...For any university educator or administrator interested in facilitating collaborative community problem-solving projects part 2 should be required reading for its presentation of concrete strategies...This book could serve as a short, focused (albeit biased) introduction to [Dewey's] philosophy of education, and it would certainly provoke in-class debates about the extent to which Dewey's influence can still be found in public school classrooms today." The "Journal of Educational Research" review read, "Dewey's Dream is intellectually refreshing, provocative, persuasive, jargon free and downright practical. The authors organized the text to model for readers how to intertwine theory and practice to reveal ways that schools can promote participatory democracy. And John Dewey would be proud." The Journal of Educational Research "[The authors] offer their book as 'a democratic manifesto'...[T]he authors quote Dewey and secondary sources at length to explain Dewey's ideas about participatory democracy and the unfulfilled role of democratic schooling in its realization. Their aim...is hortatory." Political Science Quarterly "[A] short and lively book...I have great respect for the practices, sites, and thinking of Harkavy, Benson, and Puckett. A particularly crucial contribution in this work and earlier writings is to raise the centrality of living places to civic attention." The Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement "Dewey's Dream is, they disarmingly say, a manifesto, aiming to be 'agenda-setting and movement-initiating, not thesis-proving,' and draws on the wealth of practical experience building community school partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania...The second part [of the book] is a fascinating discussion of a particular model for this [community school] movement, concentrating on the West Philadelphia community schools project, of which these authors are legitimately proud. There are particularly interesting brief discussions of the way university and school teaching, research, and community engagement can complement one another in programs on nutrition and health care." Perspectives on Politics "Dewey's Dream has great merit. It provides an engagingly written overview of the educational philosophy and action of John Dewey...It also places the current movement of academic civic engagement...into proper historical and intellectual perspective... It should be read by all those interested in the role of higher education in modern society - and by those who should be." Education, Citizenship, and Social Justice "[A] thoughtful and engaging collaborative manifesto...which [seeks] to bring Dewey's thought to bear on the current problems facing the academy and the good society." Gregory A. McBrayer -The book was also the basis of a symposium in The Good Society journal, vol. 17, No. 2, 2008 "Lee Benson, Ira Harkavy, and John Puckett have provided us with a provocative discussion of a significant issue... One likely benefit of Dewey's Dream will be that more people will come to realize the need to challenge the unquestioned assumption that Dewey's views are unassailable... For no reason other than the challenges that are leveled against Dewey's views, Dewey's Dream should be read by university reformers, educational philosophers, and teacher educators." - The History of Education Quarterly, February 2009