A Bittersweet Appraisal of Progressive Education

After solidifying its role as a powerful innovative educational force reinforced by its alignment with mid-century concerns with preventive mental health, the progressive education movement responded to the call to improve the public education of disadvantaged children mandated by civil rights legislation. Although the ideas and tools of progressive education are relevant to this task, this challenge has been only partially met because its scope and complexity have been seriously underestimated. Further complicating the goals and agendas of education today are the massive social and technological changes, thus far insufficiently identified and understood, that affect all children.