Nearly one hundred years ago America's foremost philosopher of education, John Dewey, set in motion the progressive education movement an effort to enhance both child and community by establishing schools that would focus on the needs and interests of children, thereby turning out more productive citizens. To what degree did these ideas actually change the day-to-day lives of school children? What can the progressive education movement teach us about the conditions that facilitate and impede the implementation of new ideas about schools?
Through a focus on actual classroom practices in...