in American schools, and many progressive schools across the country were already firmly established. Criticism of Progressives is still highly prevalent and continues to oppose Deweys Democratic ideals. There are many claims that Progressive education is at fault for the decline in our educational systems in America, blaming it on an "anti-knowledge mind set". Opponents claim that too many "cooperative projects" and touchy-feely" experiences leave little time to teach our students hard-core "real" academic standards of reading, writing, math and science skills. In addition, since Dewey was considered an Evolutionist that derived much of his thinking from the work of Charles Darwin, many religious conservatives oppose his methods. Since strict Christians embrace a creationist view, they largely blame Dewey for the acceptance of Darwins Evolution theory into our public schools and even claim that our public schools lack of emphasis on religion has created a moral decline of our schools.Rediscovering Dewey in the 21st CenturyToday, educators (just like us in ED605!), are rediscovering Dewey's work and exploring its relevance to a "postmodern" age, an age of global capitalism, increased immigration and extensive cultural diversity. Deweys ideals start to really make sense in an age in which the ecological health of our planet itself is now seriously threatened. Activist educators in inner cities have advocated greater equity, justice, diversity and other democratic values through the publication Rethinking Schools and the National Coalition of Education Activists, which glean much from Dewys ideals. Educators are finding that although Dewey writings are now almost a century old, his insights into democratic culture and meaningful education suggest many hopeful alternatives to the banality of standardization and mechanization that threaten to continue to permeate throughout our schools. ...
