John Dewey, Education and the Internet

As long as we connect to Zoroastrianism, there is no issue we can't discuss. And Education would certainly be a very Zoroastrian theme. I was shocked at hot well educated Zoroastrians were the first time I met them as a group. This is an achievement we should be very proud of, also that girls are as well eduacted as boys among Zoroastrian children.
As for John Dewey's ideas on education, he was popular in Scandinavia in academics already in the 1970s and while he was right about many things, when practiced, his pedagogics seems to have been too "sloppy" to really work on a larger scale. Schools became chaotic and less efficient and parents and politicians eventually preferred a return to a more traditional academic model with grades to the kids every semester etc.
But I guess there is now a swing back to Dewey's ideas, not necessarily though as pragmatist as the rest of his philosophy, but rather more specualtive (and interesting precisely because of that, may I add).
Ushta
Alexander/giving a keynote speech on education and technology at the Liberal World Conference in Cairo this Friday...

2009/10/26 Special Kain



Since John Dewey wrote extensively on education, wouldn't it be interesting to see where and how his thoughts could be applied to the current shift to online mass-interactivity, knowledge-sharing platforms and the new role of academics, teachers, lecturers and the intellectual elite in the netocratic global society? Or would this be too far away from the focus of Ushta and not "Zoroastrian enough"? At least, his views on education were close to Zarathushtra's approach to freedom through proto-democratic civilization as the context of interactive learning experiences.

Ushta, Dino

--- Alexander Bard schrieb am Mo, 26.10.2009:


Von: Alexander Bard
Betreff: Re: [Ushta] It's fun again!
An: Ushta@yahoogroups.com
Datum: Montag, 26. Oktober 2009, 18:54



I'm not a Randian myself but many Zoroastrians are or at least take inspiration from Ayn Rand's writings. Fine with us all!!!
But as Zoroastrians we all have to respect that when we join a 3,700-year-old tradition and culture, agreeing to disagree on many matters is key. Instead we cherish and hold our variety of ideas as sacred. So do all decent Randian Zoroastrians too.
It is the disrespect of that fundamental insight which is unacceptable. For tolerance to thrive we have to be intolerant towards intolerance. And Judy's constant attacks and labeling of "communism" anything or anybody who disagreed with her the slighest was of course totally unacceptable. Especially as she frankly did not understand what people were talking about. At the end of the day, Ushta is a Zoroastrian forum and at least a minimal interest in Zoroastrianism is of course a requirement. To be honest, we are certainly not the first internet forum to tell Judy Weismonger she had overstayed her initial welcome.
Ushta
Alexander