A Disciplined Progressive Educator (History of Schools and Schooling, V. 43) [Paperback]

J. Wesley Null (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0820469092 | ISBN-13: 978-0820469096 | Publication Date: November 6, 2003

Throughout his almost fifty–year career in education, William Chandler Bagley (1874–1946) served as an untiring fighter for liberal and professional education as well as the education of teachers. He was both a supporter and a critic of John Dewey and the complex movement known as progressive (i.e. democratic) education. During the 1920s, he insightfully critiqued the intelligence testing movement and its detrimental effects on minority children. At the end of his long career, he became known as the founder of "essentialism," a movement in educational thought that he and others sought to create in the late 1930s. Bagley is a major figure in 20th century American educational thought, whose legacy as a democratic educator and educator of teachers merits much more attention than it has received. This book argues that Bagley's tradition in democratic education should be at least as well known as the tradition put forth by John Dewey. Bagley has much to offer contemporary discussions of American education in general and curriculum and teacher education in particular.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"William Chandler Bagley was the most prominent critic of progressivism in the first half of the twentieth century, but his works have until recently been forgotten. J. Wesley Null has done the rest of us a great favor by writing a history of this important educational thinker." --Diane Ravitch Research Professor, New York University

"J. Wesley Null’s account of the life and work of William Chandler Bagley describes an educator who refused to be captured by the ideological debates of his times, was able to rise above those debates, and developed educational views that defied conventional categories. Bagley provides contemporary educationists and educators a model to emulate in their own work." --Wayne J. Urban Regents' Professor of Educational Policy Studies and Professor of History at Georgia State University

"This historical study serves as an important, thoroughly researched reinterpretation of Bagley's life. Professor Null sheds much light on his subject's very complex times and also offers much for prospective reformers today to consider about ours." --Michael Whelan Associate Professor of History Montclair State University

About the Author

J. WESLEY NULL has served as a public school history and science teacher in New Mexico and Texas. He completed his Ph.D. at The University of Texas at Austin, where he studied the history of education and curriculum. As Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, he teaches interdisciplinary courses in the university's core curriculum, as well as educational studies and curriculum in the School of Education.

Product Details

• Paperback: 341 pages
• Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing (November 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820469092
• ISBN-13: 978-0820469096
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,010,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We need to remember this guy, April 8, 2006

By 

Richard Sluman "Richard Sluman" (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Disciplined Progressive Educator (History of Schools and Schooling, V. 43) (Paperback)

This is an important book on an important forgotten educator. Don't let Wesley Null's title throw you off. Bagley was a powerful, insightful critic of "Progressive" education. Null is an educational historian, and what he means by "Progressive" is what historians mean by that term. He insightfully places Bagley's life within the context in which he lived. Bagley has a great deal to offer us today as far as a philosophy of education is concerned. He is an "Essentialist," which means, according to Null, that Bagley believed that all kids should receive a high quality academic curriculum. Bagley goes beyond grand theorizing, however. He also was a teacher educator who believed that his vision for high-quality curriculum should be realized through high-quality teacher training. He believed in teacher training that combined arts & science faculty members with education school faculty. Bagley is right on his views of teacher training. I think everybody who wants good teachers for their kids should read this book. The people who need to read it the most are the education professors. Bagley has a good vision for them.