The Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that, ‘more than any other American of his time, Dewey expressed the deepest hopes and aspirations of his fellow man’. He has had a greater influence on modern education than perhaps any other thinker.
Dawson, however, ‘one of the principal social thinkers of our age’ (Russell Kirk), is largely unread today. Does any teacher training course reference him? I doubt it. Even Norms and Nobility, perhaps the most famous recent defence of classical education, doesn’t mention him.
What follows is an imaginary discussion on education between Dewey and Dawson, using their own words where possible. I believe it is the heart of the crisis of Western education and Western culture.