Teaching in the Now: John Dewey on the Educational Present

John Dewey’s Experience and Education is an importantbook, but first-time readers of Dewey’s philosophy can find it challenging andnot meaningfully related to the contemporary landscape of education. Jeff Frank’s Teachingin the Now aims to reanimate Dewey’s text for first-time readers and anyone who teaches the text or is interested in appreciating Dewey’s continuing significance by focusing on Dewey’s thinking on preparation. Frank, throughclose readings of Dewey, asks readers to wonder: How much of what we justify aspreparation in education is actually necessary? That is, every time we catchourselves telling a student you need to learn this in order to do something else we need to stop and reflect. We need to reflect, because when we always justify the present moment of a student’s education in terms of what will happen in the future, we may lose out on the ability to engage students attention and interest now, when it matters. Dewey asks his readers to trustthat the best way to prepare students for an engaging and productive future is to create the most engaging and productive present experience for students. We learn to live fully in the future, only by practicing living fullyin the present. Although it can feel scary to stop thinking of the work of education in terms of preparation, when educators reclaim the present for students, new opportunities for teachers, students, schools, democracy, and education emerge. Teachingin the Now explores these opportunities in impassioned and engaging prose that makes Experience and Education come alive for readers new to Dewey or who have taught and read him for many years.