Josiah H. Brown

Practically Idealistic blog

The title for this blog originated with use of the term “practical idealist” in this 1996 opinion piece, which asked: “To what kind of work should a practical idealist aspire?” A century and a half earlier, Emerson, in his 1841 essay Circles, wrote: “There are degrees in idealism. We learn first to play with it academically. . . . Then we see in the heyday of youth and poetry that it may be true, that it is true in gleams and fragments. Then, its countenance waxes stern and grand, and we see that it must be true. It now shows itself ethical and practical.” John Dewey and Mahatma Gandhi embraced practical idealism in the 20th century, as did UN Secretary General U Thant. Al Gore invoked it in a 1998 speech. In the context of this blog, the term is meant to convey idealism tempered but not overwhelmed by realism: a search for the ideal on a path guided by common sense.

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Saturday, May 26, 2012

Literacy Forum

The New Haven Independent published my account of a recent Literacy Forum.

8:59 am edt

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Teacher Appreciation

Teacher Appreciation Week begins tomorrow.

A May 2011 post contained related information, as did March 2012 (March 17) and February 2012 (February 19) posts.

See also yesterday’s post on Taylor Mali – a poet, teacher advocate, and former teacher.

Last week, public school teachers participating as 2012 Yale National Fellows began their work together with Yale faculty members in this year’s national seminars.

8:20 am edt

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Taylor Mali: "What Teachers Make"

This morning, I heard a radio interview with Taylor Mali on Bob Edwards Weekend. Taylor Mali, who worked for a dozen years as a teacher and is also a poet, has written a book called What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World.

11:16 pm edt

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