| In this dissertation, I explore the topics of curriculum, teaching, and the purpose of schooling in the philosophies of John Dewey and Mortimer Adler. The work evaluates the educational philosophies of these two prominent thinkers for internal consistency, and then evaluates the two philosophers from a Christian perspective. This study also seeks to incorporate their views on curriculum, teaching, and the purpose of schooling within a Christian educational philosophy. Finally, the project includes a practical, forward-looking aspect that connects the study to contemporary topics in curriculum, teaching, and schooling in the United States. The thesis of this dissertation is that the philosophies of John Dewey and Mortimer Adler with regard to curriculum, teaching, and the purpose of schooling cannot be integrated fully into each other, but some of their views can be incorporated within a Christian philosophy of education. This dissertation does not attempt to synthesize the philosophies of Dewey and Adler as a whole; Dewey's pragmatism and Adler's Neo-Aristotelianism are rooted in opposing as well as irreconcilable metaphysical, epistemological, and axiological conceptions. These differences render impossible any attempt to synthesize their views into one another. Both thinkers, however, promote specific ideas regarding curriculum, teaching, and the purpose of schooling that can be incorporated into Christian education. Thus, this study will first evaluate these conceptions from a Christian perspective and then will include only those aspects of Dewey's and Adler's views that are compatible with Christianity. |
