Peerless Educator
Peerless Educator:
The Life and Work of Isaac Leon Kandel
by
J. Wesley Null
With a Foreword by Diane Ravitch
Isaac L. Kandel (1881-1965) was a major figure in educational philosophy and comparative education for much of the twentieth century. As a professor of education at Columbia University’s Teachers College, Kandel almost single-handedly created the field of comparative education. He also was an unparalleled critic of Progressive educational philosophy. As the definitive biography of one of the twentieth century’s most brilliant writers on education, this book presents Kandel as a democratic traditionalist. Consistent with his views of democracy, Kandel tirelessly advocated the ideal of liberal education for all. This book tells the story of Kandel’s life and the many obstacles that he faced because of his faith and his political views. The philosophy of democratic schooling that Kandel embodies is crucial to the reconstruction of American education today. Peerless Educator should be of interest not only to scholars of education, but also to practitioners who want to improve education in the twenty-first century.
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“Wesley Null’s engaging intellectual biography analyzes Isaac L. Kandel as a ‘democratic traditionalist’ who provided American educators with a viable alternative to the progressivism that dominated educational theory in the 1930s and 1940s. A pioneer in developing Comparative Education in the United States, Kandel rejected progressivism’s cultural relativism by placing schools into a broader framework of humanist philosophy. Kandel’s emphasis on human rights was a stirring reiteration of Comenius’ educational ecumenism.”
–Gerald L. Gutek
Professor Emeritus, Educational Foundations
Loyola University Chicago
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“Professor Null recovers the forgotten achievements of Isaac Leon Kandel, one of the bright lights at Teachers College during its golden age. Null reminds readers why Kandel’s critique of progressive education and his early influence on comparative education, among many other contributions, matter today. Historians, philosophers, curriculum specialists, and teachers have much to learn from this insightful book.”
–Donald Warren
Professor, History of Education and Policy
Indiana University
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“In this fascinating biography, Wesley Null guides us through the public triumphs, private struggles, and thought-provoking arguments of Isaac Kandel, an advocate of universal democratic education. Null deftly places Kandel’s remarkable life, ideology, and political views within the changing cultural landscape of the Progressive Era. Null also provides an entertaining and persuasive case for Kandel’s life as the embodiment of teacher education.”
–David M. Callejo-Pérez
Associate Professor, Curriculum & Instruction
West Virginia University
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“Wesley Null’s latest biography introduces the thought and work of Isaac L. Kandel to a new generation of readers. This volume, like Null’s earlier A Disciplined Progressive Educator: The Life and Career of William Chandler Bagley, brings to light the vibrant but often ignored debate that took place during the first half of the twentieth century surrounding progressive education. Peerless Educator is an important contribution to educational history.”
–Alan W. Garrett
Professor, Educational Foundations
Eastern New Mexico University
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“Wesley Null’s Peerless Educator represents biography ‘in the service of the betterment of education.’ In so doing, he introduces a thoughtful, complex, and contradictory academic who confronted the true issues of yesterday and of today. Null’s portrayal of Isaac Kandel causes us to reconsider our efforts to improve liberal, comparative, and teacher education.”
–Craig Kridel, E. S. Gambrell Professor of Education and Curator, Museum of Education
University of South Carolina
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J. Wesley Null is a curriculum theorist and historian of education at Baylor University. At Baylor, he holds appointments in the School of Education and the Honors College. Null teaches curriculum and foundations of education in the School of Education and interdisciplinary courses on social science and great texts in the Honors College. Null is co-editor, with Diane Ravitch, of Forgotten Heroes of American Education: The Great Tradition of Teaching Teachers (Information Age Publishing, 2006). He is also the editor of The Pursuit of Curriculum: Schooling and the Public Interest (Information Age Publishing, 2006). Null is the author of A Disciplined Progressive Educator: The Life and Career of William Chandler Bagley (Peter Lang, 2003), and has published widely on curriculum theory and educational history. Null also is Editor of the American Educational History Journal.
New York: Peter Lang, 2007
Paperback ISBN:
ISBN-10: 0820474584
ISBN-13: 978-0820474588
Hardback ISBN:
ISBN-10: 143310041X
ISBN-13: 978-1433100413
336 pages