This book develops a general theory of autonomous teaching by examining a mysterious educational idea: the teachable moment. By formulating an understanding of the teachable moment as predicated upon ‘educational energy,’ this book takes up John Dewey’s view of teaching to articulate a law-like, scientifically oriented pedagogical theory. By offering a testable hypothesis about effective teaching through an innovative reading of Dewey’s law, this book also provides insights into changes in school practice and schooling policy consonant with an understanding of teaching as a science.
2020 John Dewey Society Outstanding Achievement Award recipient
Introduction: Educational Scarcity
Chapter 1: Developing a Winning Strategy for the Battle at the Ampersand
Chapter 2: Expanding the Idea of ‘Teachable Moments’
Chapter 3: Focusing on Planned Teachable Moments
Chapter 4: Creating Educational Energy
Chapter 5: Interpreting Dewey’s Law
Chapter 6: Humanizing Dewey’s Law
Chapter 7: Making Sense of a Science of Teaching
Chapter 8: Teachers Win!
Chapter 9: A Well-Functioning Ethnographic Infrastructure
Chapter 10: Teacher Professionalism and Teacher Accountability
Chapter 11: Love, Intimacy, and Tenure
Chapter 12: Teachers’ Mythography
Conclusion: Educational Abundance
Gramsci’s Razor
Democracy without Ideology
Progressivism and Educational Policy and Practice
A Bread and Butter Issue for Teachers
The Future of Dewey’s Law
References
Biography
Greg Seals is Senior Education Consultant with Rides Over Mountains, LLC in Hightstown, NJ, USA.
"Dr. Seals provides simultaneously an anchor and scaffold for the non-science-oriented educationist to grasp the conceptualization of teaching as basic and applied science. This discussion of teaching moves our thinking beyond the simplistic notion of standardized test results as evidence on which to base teaching practices that facilitate learning."
-John Dewey Society Award Committee
