Academic Mentorship Matters: The Intellectual Exchange between Harris and Young Dewey

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Friday 1:45 pm
  In Poster Session: Curricula, Culture, and Critical Pedagogy: Insights from Chemistry to Social Justice

Abstract

This study re-examines the intellectual exchange between William T. Harris and John Dewey to illuminate a pivotal paradigm shift in American curriculum theory. Grounded in historical hermeneutics, our analysis challenges traditional narratives of radical rupture within the historiography of curriculum, positing instead a dialectical “interweaving of ideas.” Through critical textual analysis (1881-1898), we contrast Harris’s Hegelian, subject-centered curriculum with Dewey’s emergent, generative, experience-based model. Findings reveal that this dialogue, particularly on interest, will, and psychology, catalyzed Dewey’s critical transcendence of Harris’s framework, forging a new curriculum paradigm. This research offers a robust historical model for understanding how curriculum paradigms are contested, evolve, and transformed, providing crucial context for contemporary curriculum debates.

Authors

• Yi-Ping Lo, Chinese Culture University

• Wen-jing Shan, Chinese Culture University