“If We Teach Today as We Taught Yesterday, We Rob Our Children of Tomorrow”: The Strange History and Modern Significance of a Deweyan Quote

• In Event: Dewey, Democracy, and School Reform

Abstract

In this essay, we examine a quote that is often attributed to Dewey: “If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.” Although widely cited by educators, students and advocates of new technology in education, this phrase was never written or spoken by Dewey. In addition to offering a troubling instance of “cut-and-paste” scholarship, the false attribution of this quote raises particular questions for Dewey scholars and teacher educators; ones about the power of Dewey’s legacy, the nature of scholarly work, and the role of the foundations of education in teacher preparation.

Authors

• Terri S. Wilson, University of Colorado Boulder

• Darryl Matthew De Marzio, University of Scranton