Thinking in the Midst

David Sobel and Patty Bailey dive into the intriguing realms of place-based and nature-based education. David, a professor emeritus and author, shares how local experiences shape learning, backed by personal stories in geology. Patty, an early childhood education expert, emphasizes nurturing development through immersion in nature. They discuss the importance of practical steps for educators, balancing risk with growth, and integrating standards while ensuring meaningful connections to the environment. Their insights inspire a vision of education rooted in community and nature.

Naoko Saito, Jim Garrison, and Vincent Colapietro sit down with Cara and Derek to talk through Dr. Saito's General Session paper at PES 2025. The paper itself will appear in an upcoming issue of Philosophy of Education, but for more of Dr. Saito's related work (mentioned in the episode), see her recent American Philosophy in Translation. For Garrison's very important essay (also mentioned in the episode), see "A Deweyan Theory of Democratic Listening."And for Colapietro's recent work on relationality, see his "Relations, Ruptures, and Rituals," as well as his "Quotidian Tasks."Use this form to recommend future topics and guests!

Our second and final recording of a PES session, this episode features Paul Geis, Brad Rowe, Natasha Levinson, Christina Donaldson, and Cara Furman reflecting on mentorship in our field and in academia more broadly. This PES panel discussion was sponsored by the Committee on Mentoring.To recommend future guests and topics, use this link!

Ariana Zetlin and Vik Joshi join Cara and Derek to talk about the 2024 Northeast Philosophy of Education Society meeting and the way it assisted the fantastic work that they share with us here. For more info on Project Belonging, click here.For the 2025 NEPES call for papers, click hereAs always, recommend future topics and guests here.

In a special hyper-alliterative episode, Claire Katz, Cristina Cammarano, and Clarissa Thompson join Cara and Derek to talk about philosophy in summer camp settings.For scholarly work on philosophy camps in general, click here and here.For information on Claire’s camp, including how to sign up for this year’s offerings, click here.To request information and reserve a spot in Cristina’s camp, click here.And see these links for Clarissa’s organization and camp.As always, use this form to recommend future guests and episodes!

Tristan Gleason and John Mullen sit down with Cara and Derek to talk about a wide range of matters, from science education to ecology to climate and beyond. For more of John's work, click here, here, and hereFor more of Tristan's work, click here, here, and hereAnd for an incomplete bibliography of what we discussed in this episode, see all of these several links.And as always, use this form to recommend future guests and topics!

This episode presents a panel from PES 2025 entitled "Philosophy, the Coming of Age, and the Future of the Future," and consisting of papers by Barbara Applebaum, Barb Stengel, Deborah Kerdeman, and Nicholas Burbules.To recommend future guests and topics, please use ⁠this form⁠!

Meredith Broussard and Sasha Sidorkin sit down with Cara and Derek to talk about what artificial intelligence can be, how it works, what it’s for, and what it all means.For Meredith’s books on the subject, click here and here.For Sasha’s latest books, click here and here (and for an AI-generated podcast about the most recent book — WHAT ARE CARA AND I EVEN DOING ANYMORE — click here).To recommend future guests and topics, please use this form!

Cam Scribner and Kathleen Knight Abowitz join Cara and Derek to discuss a topic arising out of Scribner's contribution to Concordia University's fall institute on “Political Challenges of/for/in 21st Century Schools: Addressing Polarization in the Classroom.” There's a lot of talk about "small-c conservatism" in this one.For more of Cam's work, click here, here, and here.For Kathleen's work. click here, here, and here.Use this form to suggest future topics and guests!

Nicholas Tampio and Kathy Hytten join Cara and Derek to talk about Dewey, political saturation, democratic habits, and how expensive youth hockey is. For Kathy's works, click here and here For Nick's edition and intro to Democracy and Education, click here. And for his Common Core book, click here. And for public-facing work on Dewey, click here. And use this form to recommend future guests and topics!