Pragmatic Philosophy and Education for Developing Countries

• In Event: Threats to the Discipline: Problematizing Progress

Abstract

Lawrence Cremin claimed that Boyd Henry Bode turned Ohio State University into one of the foremost centers of educational reform. Beginning in 1921, Bode expanded the meaning of Dewey’s phrase that democracy had to become a way of life. For Bode, this required people to reconstruct their beliefs, attitudes, and institutions in ways that accorded with the Golden Rule. This paper will show how Pedro Orata applied Bode’s philosophical views to the work of a school principal for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, to programs of adult education for UNESCO, and to rural barangay high schools in the Philippines. In these activities, Orata tried to teach people how they could improve their living conditions while retaining their traditional values.

Author

• Joseph L. Watras, University of Dayton