This thesis articulates a critique of scientific naturalism from the perspective of John Dewey. Scientific naturalism can be defined by two explicit, metaphysical commitments, one ontological and one epistemological. Implicit to these commitments is a further commitment concerning the nature of human experience. This understanding of human experience can be described as epistemic reductionism because it reduces the whole of experience and all empiricism to epistemology. Scientific naturalism is the orthodox position for most contemporary, Anglo-American philosophy. Many philosophers within this tradition are dissatisfied with scientific naturalism and attempt to critique scientific naturalism from the perspective of "liberal" naturalism. One major objection from the liberal perspective concerns the ontology and placement of moral qualities: where are moral qualities to be placed in a scientifically naturalistic ontology? However, due to the fact that liberal naturalists share with scientific naturalists a commitment to an epistemically reductionistic understanding of the nature of human experience, liberal naturalism fails to adequately address the placement problem.

Tematiskt arbete är en ämnesintegrerande arbetsmetod som blir allt vanligare i den svenska skolundervisningen. I denna studie undersöks hur pedagoger och elever arbetar med metoden samt deras syn på densamma. Syftet med denna undersökning är att få en bild av hur pedagoger och elever upplever tematiskt arbete med fokus kring matematiken. Undersökningen har skett genom intervjuer med fyra pedagoger som alla har erfarenhet av tematiskt arbete samt fyra elever från årskurs fyra som nyligen deltagit i ett tematiskt arbete som vi själva genomförde under en treveckorsperiod. Där gavs tillfälle att på nära håll kunna följa arbetet och se dess konsekvenser. Denna studie visar att både pedagoger och elever är positivt inställda till tematiskt arbete som undervisningsmetod. Pedagogerna är dock överens om att det är ett tidskrävande arbete som kräver mycket planering, men fördelarna överväger nackdelarna. Detsamma har konstaterats genom det egna arbetet.

Larsson, Linda (2012) Erfarenhetslärande i skolan: - Belyst genom en kvalitativ fallstudie av en studieresa. Examensarbete på avancerad nivå i pedagogik. Akademin för utbildning och ekonomi. Lärarprogrammet på högskolan i Gävle. Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie är att undersöka erfarenhetsbaserat lärande i skolan. För att göra det har jag valt en skola som har infört en tradition att deras niondeklassare får arbeta fram pengar och åka på en studieresa till Auschwitz i Polen. Denna upplevelse har varit utgångspunkten för min studie. För att kunna genomföra undersökningen har jag genomfört öppna intervjuer. Jag har intervjuat rektorn, två pedagoger en manlig och en kvinnlig samt att jag valt att intervjua sex elever från olika år och klasser jag har även där haft en jämn fördelning mellan flickor och pojkar. Jag har sedan kopplat samman min undersökning med John Deweys teorier om erfarenheter och lärande. Min undersökning visar att samtliga av informanterna är positivt inställda till erfarenhetsbaserat lärande i skolan. I resultatet av undersökningen jämförs de svar jag får av pedagogerna med de svar jag får av eleverna. Det som framkommer är att såväl lärare som elever är väldigt positivt inställda till denna form av undervisning. Båda parter tycker att kunskapen når fram till fler elever samt att den befästs djupare liksom Dewey skrivit om.

This thesis examines the rhetoric of Louis D. Brandeis in light of pragmatism-specifically, the philosophical pragmatism of William James and John Dewey. While a number of scholars claim that pragmatism has nothing to offer politics, rhetoric, or decision-making, this thesis argues that Brandeis's method of acting politically, speaking publicly, and solving problems exemplifies the pragmatic political style-a style of political operation that is characteristically pragmatic, a direct extension of James and Dewey's philosophy. This thesis illustrates Brandeis's pragmatic political style through an analysis of his rhetoric prior to taking his seat on the United States Supreme Court, his rhetoric while on the Supreme Court, and his rhetoric as one of America's most prominent Zionists. This thesis shows that pragmatism (at least William James and John Dewey's classical American pragmatism-the pragmatism Brandeis exemplifies rhetorically) can be a fruitful part of political operation.

As multimodal composing plays more prominent roles in academic, professional, and public life, writing centers are challenged to take on multiliteracy work, and some have even gone so far as to redefined themselves as multiliteracy centers. However, writing centers that take on this work will find process theory, which has dominated writing consulting since the 1970s, inadequate for the task. A study of the history of the higher- and lower-order concern prioritizing strategy demonstrates the shortcomings of process pedagogy-based tenets of writing center practice. They represent historical vestiges of the field’s struggle for disciplinary legitimacy rather than a response to exigencies of composing. Teaching multiliteracies instead demands a rhetoric-based approach. This project explores what such an approach would mean for the writer/consultant interaction, consulting staffs, the writing center’s institutional identity, and centers' role in the public sphere. I redefine the role of writing consultant as rhetoric consultant and propose a writing/multiliteracy center-specific pedagogy of multimodal design. The focus then turns to finding definitions of centers that can shape their evolving identities and construct multiliteracy work as integral rather than an add-on. Drawing upon Kenneth Burke’s frames of acceptance, I examine the limitations of the field’s defining mythologies and propose a way forward in identity formation, shaping definitions of writing/multiliteracy centers that are at once stable and flexible. Finally, this project argues for a fresh interpretation of the center’s core identity as a democratizing force. John Dewey's definition of publics helps to define the field's democratizing mission as a project of extending access to education to diverse groups of people. Projected growth in the number and diversity of higher education enrollments offers writing/multiliteracy centers important opportunities to shepherd underrepresented groups through college. However, a more ambitious democratizing mission stands within reach: the changing landscape of composing challenges centers to support composers who want to take active roles in the public sphere. This project proposes pedagogical shifts that make public work possible. / text

Higher education is at a crossroads. In the U.S. especially, the question of what role education should play in greater society continues to come up. Should education be about fundamentally developing the predispositions or skills of an individual so that he or she can be a more effective citizen later in life? Or should education merely function as a box to check off, a kind of rite of passage that, regardless of quality or content, is required of an individual on the way to becoming part of some “real world?” These issues are quickly moving to the forefront for students and scholars alike; no longer relegated behind closed doors at faculty meetings, these issues are coming to define the very institutions that question them. It is the goal of this thesis, then, to address these shifting goals for, and horizons of, education through a rhetorical lens. From this perspective, education functions as the text under consideration. Rhetoric as it is understood for the majority of this project can be seen in the social interactions that take place, typically between the individual student and his or her educational environment. The core theme that runs throughout this thesis is that learning is not something that solely takes place through formal education, nor is it about acquiring mere common sense; rather, it is a natural extension of human curiosity to wonder about and explore the world of which we are all a part. It is the responsibility of schools and universities alike to facilitate students in developing who they are as a part of this bigger picture. To this end, I introduce the term “inhabited learning.” Inhabited learning elaborates on why one’s learning experience in formal education is still so important: In an age of information we all need some way of making sense of the myriad facts and figures we encounter in our everyday lives, with the hope of being able to make better sense of ourselves in the process. / text

While there have been numerous studies regarding television and its influence on modern life conducted in the past sixty years, there has not yet been a critique of television grounded in the work of John Dewey. John Dewey died when television was still a new technology; however, I believe that Dewey would have been critical of television had he lived to further experience it. One need only look to Dewey’s writings regarding mass communication and media to see that he was critical of how communication technologies influence human society. Television programming is nearly ubiquitous today and it requires ongoing inquiry as its influence is widespread and continues to grow. This dissertation extends television studies by developing a Deweyan critique of the medium. I assert in this dissertation that Dewey’s philosophy, especially his notions of experience, knowledge, and democracy can inform a current critique of television.

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) has existed since the early 1500’s and research points to it being a successful pedagogy, so why do so few educators use it? One reason may be the confusion found in the literature encountered by educators. In light of this confusion, how teachers defined and implemented IBL in diverse, 21st Century classrooms was investigated. Looking at whether IBL was, or could be, an inclusive practice was also researched. Furthermore, the possibility that inquiry-based learning (IBL) encompassed differentiated instruction (DI) in its implementation and could therefore be used as a process to incorporate both was explored. To investigate these ideas, current literature was reviewed; including the works of John Dewey and Lev Vygotsky, and a qualitative research project was conducted using a phenomenological method. The research consisted of observations and interviews in the natural setting, of an inclusive elementary classroom.

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) has existed since the early 1500’s and research points to it being a successful pedagogy, so why do so few educators use it? One reason may be the confusion found in the literature encountered by educators. In light of this confusion, how teachers defined and implemented IBL in diverse, 21st Century classrooms was investigated. Looking at whether IBL was, or could be, an inclusive practice was also researched. Furthermore, the possibility that inquiry-based learning (IBL) encompassed differentiated instruction (DI) in its implementation and could therefore be used as a process to incorporate both was explored. To investigate these ideas, current literature was reviewed; including the works of John Dewey and Lev Vygotsky, and a qualitative research project was conducted using a phenomenological method. The research consisted of observations and interviews in the natural setting, of an inclusive elementary classroom.

The argument of this dissertation is that the full and continued importance of evolution to the foundations and practice of American philosophy has not been fully recognized. The years surrounding the first appearance of the theory of evolution on American shores were full of scientific uncertainty and philosophical excitement. William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, and John Dewey responded to this uncertainty and excitement with a unique interpretation of evolution that recognized the deeply constructive and interactive nature of all living beings. This living idea of evolution fed back into many aspects of their mature philosophies. The early historians and commentators of this period, such as Herbert W. Schneider, and Phillip P. Wiener, whatever their view of evolution, did not fully understand the change that had just taken place in philosophy and biological science. They missed the radical change in the causal structure of science and philosophy implied by evolutionary philosophy. Later commentators on this period, with a few notable exceptions, have continued this trend. This has contributed to a disconnect of James, Peirce, and Dewey from the larger narrative of evolutionary philosophy. In this dissertation I reconnect James, Peirce, and Dewey to this larger historical narrative. I show how the narrative they began is still vitally important to our understanding of American philosophy and the philosophy of evolution.