Abstract

Although the early history of progressive education is often associated with John Dewey in America, the author argues convincingly that the pedagogues in the elementary schools in the big cities of Imperial Germany were in the avant garde of this movement on the European Continent. Far more than a history of ideas, this study provides the first comprehensive analysis of the culture wars over the schools in Germany in the 1920s. Going up to the Nazi seizure of power, the author's narrative sheds new light on the courageous defense of the republican state by the progressive educators in the 1930s and the relationship between the traditionalists' opposition to school reform and the attraction of certain sections of the teaching profession to the Nazi movement.

"This monograph has first-class credentials ... it is an excellent book for the specialist in search of a wealth of source material ... which is virtually inaccessible outside specialist libraries."  · German History

"This ... forcefully argued book ... furthers our understanding of the history of educational politics in the Weimar Repulic in a number of important ways."  · American Historical Review

"The strengths of this [fine] carefully researched and written book are many ... [It] should prompt international comparisons of progressive education and contribute to thinking about the contested role of public education in democratic, diverse societies."  · History of Education Quarterly

"... an important and highly accessible contribution to the history of education in Germany and to the study of political culture, as well as grass-roots politics, in Weimar Germany. It is the only monograph on the topic in English and a must for research libraries."  · History: Reviews of New Books

Marjorie Lamberti is Charles A. Dana Professor of History at Middlebury College. Her publications include State, Society, and the Elementary School in Imperial Germany.