The Dilemma of American Education

Abstract

American education is in a dilemma. At least three distinct schools of thought can be recognized. At the extreme right is oldfashioned idealism, embedded in the classical tradition and carried forward largely by inertia. At the extreme left is newfangled pragmatism in its many manifestations, all indigenous to America. The third distinct group, the realists, challenge both the traditionalists and the activists. Floating hither and yon on the sea of controversy are the vast majority of American school teachers, open to attack from all sides.