Publication Date: August 17, 2018
Pages: 224
In the Shadow of Authoritarianism explores how American educators, in the wake of World War I, created a student-centered curriculum in response to authoritarian threats abroad. For most of the 20th century, American educators lived in the shadow of ideological, political, cultural, and existential threats (including Prussianism, propaganda, collectivism, dictatorship, totalitarianism, mind control, the space race, and moral relativity). To meet the perceived threat, the American curriculum was gradually moved in a more student-centered direction that focused less on “what to think” and more on “how to think.” This book examines the period between World War I and the 1980s, focusing on how U.S. schools countered the influence of fascist and communist ideologies, as well as racial discrimination. Fallace also considers this approach in light of current interests in the Common Core State Standards.
Book Features:
Thomas D. Fallace is a professor of education at William Paterson University in New Jersey. He is the author of Race and the Origins of Progressive Education, 1880–1929 and Dewey and the Dilemma of Race: An Intellectual History, 1895-1922.
“a thoughtful, clearly written work that historians of education may enjoy reading…Fallace's book offers an interesting reflection upon the history of ideas from twentieth-century education.”
—History of Education Quarterly
"Does a healthy democracy require an authoritarian enemy? In the face of overseas challenges like fascism and communism, American educators sought to teach the skills and habits of democracy: reason, tolerance, and especially critical thinking. But as Thomas Fallace shows, when the Cold War came to a close, overtly economic goals replaced democratic ones. Perhaps the recent rise of new authoritarian threats--not just abroad, but also at home--will rejuvenate our long tradition of democratic education. Schools have served as the bulwarks of democracy before. Let's hope they can do so again, guided by this smart little book."
—Jonathan Zimmerman, University of Pennsylvania
“Fallace offers a fresh, provocative history of democratic education as it has been practiced in the United States.”
—Walter Parker, University of Washington
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: How to Think, Not What to Think
Chapter 1. In the Shadow of Prussianism
German Influence on U.S. Education
Anti-Prussianism and the World War
The Americanization Campaign
The Americanization of John Dewey
Chapter 2. In the Shadow of Propaganda
Mobilizing Students for War
Propaganda Anxiety Arises
Postwar Disillusionment
Educators Against Propaganda
Chapter 3. In the Shadow of Collectivism
American Educators on Soviet Russia
American Educators on Fascist Italy
Education for Social Planning
Chapter 4. In the Shadow of Dictatorship
Collectivism Reconsidered
Naturalism under Attack
Propaganda Analysis
The Paradox of Race
Chapter 5. In the Shadow of Totalitarianism
Science and Democracy
The End of Ideology
Teaching How to Think
Dewey on the Defensive
Chapter 6. In the Shadow of Mind Control
The Culture of the Cold War
Mental Hygiene
Life Adjustment Education
Educational Brainwashing
Chapter 7. In the Shadow of Sputnik
The Rhetoric and Reality of School Practice
The Two Cultures of Social Science
The Structure of the Disciplines
Academic Professors to the Rescue
Out with the New
Chapter 8. In the Shadow of Moral Relativity
The Fall of Consensus Liberalism
The Affective Revolution
What to Think
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
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