Deweyan Transactionalism in Education: Beyond Self-action and Inter-action

Philosophers of education are unaware of Dewey's concept of transactionalism, which offers a new way of understanding teaching and learning, the individual and sociocultural dimension of education, and educational research. This book shows how transactionalism can help us to see beyond false dualisms and binaries and introduce key critical ideas such as emergence, living in a world without a within, and the temporally and extensionally distributed nature of meaning, mind, and self.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 24 August 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Philosophers of education often overlook Dewey's concept of transactionalism, which permeates much of his philosophy, both educational and otherwise, from the late 1890s onwards. This book, written by scholars from Belgium, Italy, Norway, Sweden, and the USA, presents a compelling case for how transactionalism can offer a fresh and innovative perspective on teaching and learning, as well as the individual and sociocultural dimensions of education, and educational research. The contributors demonstrate how the concept enables us to transcend numerous false dualisms, such as mind versus body, self versus society, and organism versus environment, as well as an equally extensive array of binaries, such as inside-outside, presence-absence, and male-female. They introduce the fundamental critical ideas that transactionalism encompasses, including emergence, living in a world without a within, the temporally and extensionally distributed nature of meaning, mind, and self. The development and refinement of transactionalism are firmly rooted in philosophical inquiries and empirical analyses of practices in formal and informal settings, encompassing areas such as values education, early childhood education, biology education, museum education, coding and computer science, oceanographic and atmospheric study, policy reform, play, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350233355