Progressives and traditionalists battled over the curriculum in the first two decades of the twentieth century (practical vs. «book - based» learning), in the 1920s (project - based, experiential learning vs.
traditional intellectual disciplines), in the 1940s (curriculum for personal adjustment vs. curriculum for knowledge and
skills), in the 1960s and 1970s (student - centered, open classrooms and inquiry learning vs. teacher - led classrooms and basic
skills), and in the 1990s (over standards, as described above).
This important and timely book reveals the changing dynamics of classroom life as it moves from more
traditional pedagogy to one that asks students to master
intellectual and practical
skills that are eminently transferable to «real - life» social settings and workplaces.