Leonard Waks

Temple University, Educational leadership and Policy Studies, Emeritus

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Dr. Leonard J. Waks is Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership at Temple University, USA and Distinguished Professor of Educational Studies at Hangzhou Normal University.. Waks attended the University of Wisconsin (B.A philosophy, 1964
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Papers by Leonard Waks

Cosmopolitanism and Citizenship Education

BRILL eBooks, 2008

New metropolis

Policy Futures in Education, Feb 23, 2022

An old, retired professor is urged by a younger ex-colleague to visit a new consolidated metropol... more An old, retired professor is urged by a younger ex-colleague to visit a new consolidated metropolitan school district to learn about new school policies and new technologies. He discovers extensive regional-area use of high-speed trains and autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, and 3D printing. The new transport technologies allow all students within a 50 mile radius to get to any school or learning center in the district, optimizing integration by race and class. The AI devices include emotion detecting headbands and new mind-reading headbands in Beta mode, which facilitate rapid advances in learning as well as issues with security and privacy. Extensive use of Internet resources enables the personalization of curricula. Rapid and inexpensive 3D printing supports the rapid and inexpensive building of new tailor-designed facilities. The old professor is both impressed and troubled by what he sees and is surprised to find that his reservations are not shared by the progressive administrators, teachers, parents, or young learners.

Globalization, At-Risk Students, and the Reconceptualization of Technological Literacy

IGI Global eBooks, Jan 18, 2011

The problem of technology has, since 1970, been radically altered by the global spread of market ... more The problem of technology has, since 1970, been radically altered by the global spread of market economies and networked computers. As a result, the notion of technological literacy education that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s must be re-constructed. After reviewing the impact of globalization and the spread of communications networks on the world occupational structure, and the consequent new risks borne by low-tier routine and informal workers, I offer a revision of the concept of technological literacy education that assigns important new roles to non-governmental organizations serving low-tier workers, and that places the hands-on use of networked computers at its core.

Review Essay: Appiah's Reconstruction of Philosophical Liberalism

Education and Culture, 2005

is an unapologetic liberal individualist, and in this new book aims to lay the groundwork for a n... more is an unapologetic liberal individualist, and in this new book aims to lay the groundwork for a new version of liberal theory adequate to the challenges of our time. Liberalism, Appiah states, is an evolving tradition of concerns for certain values (e.g., limited government and basic rights, equality, autonomy, dignity, tolerance and individuality) as well as concerns for arguments about their meanings, justifications, and proper applications. Succeeding generations of liberals have made important contributions-Locke on limited government, Kant on autonomy, the French revolutionists on equality, Mill on individuality. Combining, but also critiquing, the elements that constitute their common heritage, liberals reconstruct liberal theory to protect and advance their values in the unique conditions of their own times. Appiah's attempt to reconstruct liberalism calls to mind John Dewey's project a century earlier. The word "identity" in his title gives a broad hint about how Appiah sees current challenges. Liberal ethics and politics have tended to make use of a particular abstraction: the rational, autonomous, individual self. They have inquired about the rights and obligations this thinly conceived self possesses, and the challenges it faces in realizing its individual potential. Liberals have not denied that actually existing people are more than the "thin" individuals of liberal theory, that they are "encumbered" with various ethnic, religious, professional, and community identities that are replete with special obligations and value commitments. But until recently liberals have not attended to how recognition of such identities might qualify the received wisdom of liberal theory. Issues of identity have, however, forced themselves upon the public attention in recent years, due to the civil rights movement, the influx of immigrants, and the re-emergence of religion in civic life. Claims regarding identity have, as a result, have generated a large body of scholarly literature, much of which has been devoted to showing how attention to identity undermines not only received

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What Are MOOCs?

Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks, 2016

The large MOOC platforms were introduced against the background of the occupational and education... more The large MOOC platforms were introduced against the background of the occupational and educational crises after 2008. The first Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, were introduced in 2007 and entered the higher education scene and attracted immediate attention after the large platforms entered the scene after 2012. MOOCs had their origins in distance education, e-learning and open education. This chapter critically examines the meaning of the MOOC acronym, explains the vision and aims of the MOOC founders and charts the spread of MOOCs around the world and across the spectrum of learning situations after the launch of the big U.S. MOOC platforms.

The creative process laboratory : theory, design, and content analysis of participant logs

John Dewey and the Cult of Efficiency 1

Routledge eBooks, Oct 26, 2021

John Dewey’s Philosophy of Democratic Education

Waks, Leonard J., "Reid's Theory of Curriculum as Institutionalized Practice," Journal of Curriculum Studies, 32(July-August, 2000), 589-598.*

Massive Open Online Courses and the Future of Higher Education

Springer eBooks, Nov 9, 2018

In this chapter, I examine potential contribution of massive open online courses (MOOCs) to unive... more In this chapter, I examine potential contribution of massive open online courses (MOOCs) to universities and their students. Rather than speaking about MOOCs in the abstract, I examine actual MOOCs that point to future developments. I locate three areas where MOOCs can make positive contributions: return on investment, new revenue streams, and revolutionary new course and credential formats. The first two contribute to university students, faculty, and administrative leaders within the entrenched university. The new formats indicate a shift from that paradigm to a “Higher Education 2.0” paradigm—the revolution of access to online learning where outcomes can be documented through badges, certificates, and nanodiplomas. Higher Education 2.0 offers a pathway to employment that by-passes conventional universities and their degree programs.

The Economic Crisis and the Rise of MOOCs

When the major MOOC platforms were established in 2012, the economy and higher education were in ... more When the major MOOC platforms were established in 2012, the economy and higher education were in crisis as a result of the 2008 financial collapse. Also, due to the long-term shift from industrial to information society, the nature of work, the skill base and organization of the labor force, and the production and utilization of knowledge were all changing. Middle-class jobs were disappearing and middle-class wages were no better than stagnant, while college tuition and student debt skyrocketed. Students found themselves paying more in tuition for fewer benefits in expected pay-offs. Thus, starting in 2011 American college enrollments began to decline, and some colleges were driven to insolvency. MOOCs gained rapid visibility by promising to resolve the high education crisis by making free, ‘world class’ higher education available for all.

Response to Crompton review by Leonard Waks

Other Education, Jul 31, 2015

I want to thank Dr. Helen Crompton for her review, and the editor of Other Education for inviting... more I want to thank Dr. Helen Crompton for her review, and the editor of Other Education for inviting me to reply. Crompton agrees that our current educational arrangements are in need of fresh thinking, and finds my account of the evolution of the American schools and their current predicaments useful. She says that American education is full of contradictions, but claims that my proposals are too. While she doesn’t actually identify specific “contradictions,” she does offer a number of harsh criticisms, and I want to focus on the most important of these. An important complaint of Crompton throughout her essay is that my account is America-centric. My book, however, is about American high schools...

Re-reading Democracy and Education Today: John Dewey on Globalization and Democratic Education

Education and Culture, 2007

This article provides a close reading of Democracy and Education, situated in the context of Dewe... more This article provides a close reading of Democracy and Education, situated in the context of Dewey's work prior to and during World War I, to illuminate the close tie between Dewey's overriding concerns during this period and today's educational concerns. The analysis suggests two projects for contemporary democratic educators.

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Technological Literacy. Proceedings of the National Science, Technology and Society (STS) Conference (2nd, Washington, D.C., February 6-8, 1987)

Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 1987

This document contains 59 papers presented at a recent national conference dealing with the relat... more This document contains 59 papers presented at a recent national conference dealing with the relationships among science, technology, and society (STS), with a particular emphasis on technological literacy. The papers deal with such topics as: (1) the concepts and frameworks of technological literacy; (2) STS and technological literacy at the higher education level; (3) STS and technological literacy in K-12 education; (4) technological literacy and women; (5) innovations in educational technology; and (6) challenges and critiques of STS and technological literacy. Introductory remarks by George Bugliarello and Rustum Roy, and an afterword by Leonard J. Waks are included. (TW)

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The Educational Situation 1901-2001: From Industrial Nation-State to Global Network Society. Symposium

Journal of curriculum and supervision, 2002

Technology's school: The challenge to philosophy

This third supplemental volume in the series Research in Philosophy and Technology deals with tec... more

Intuition in Education: Teaching and Learning Without Thinking

Philosophy of Education, 2006

Albert Einstein once said that intuition is "the only truly valuable thing," claiming that only "... more Albert Einstein once said that intuition is "the only truly valuable thing," claiming that only "intuition resting on sympathetic understanding of experience" can apprehend the elementary laws of the universe. He also felt that, even in everyday activities, people should emulate the instincts of animals by being "more intuitive-they should not be too conscious of what they are doing while they are doing it." "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, while the rational mind is only its faithful servant," he cautioned, "but our society honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." 1

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Dewey's Theory of the Democratic Public and the Public Character of Charter Schools

Educational Theory, Dec 1, 2010

In this essay, Leonard Waks reconsiders the issue of the public character of charter schools, tha... more In this essay, Leonard Waks reconsiders the issue of the public character of charter schools, that is, schools funded through public taxation but operated by non-state organizations such as nonprofit and for-profit educational corporations and nongovernmental public interest organizations. Using John Dewey's conception of a democratic public as a framework, Waks examines the following questions: (1) Are schools chartered and funded by government, but operated by nonprofit nongovernmental organizations, ever appropriate instruments of a democratic public? (2) If so, what criteria might distinguish those that are appropriate from those that are not? (3) How might public education be re-institutionalized so as to include the charter schools that are appropriate? Waks concludes that Dewey's theory of democratic publics can play a useful role in thinking about how to balance the democratic benefits of charter schools for the various subcommunities of our society with the democratic requirement of broad public discourse and intergroup education.

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Ivan Illich’s Philosophy of Technology: Introduction

Ivan Mich — philosopher, historian, educator, and social critic — was born in Vienna, Austria, on... more Ivan Mich — philosopher, historian, educator, and social critic — was born in Vienna, Austria, on September 4, 1926. In the Fall term of 1990, the Penn State Science, Technology, and Society Program organized a symposium on Illich’s thought to celebrate his fifth year as our colleague and in anticipation of his sixty-fifth birthday in 1991. Rustum Roy put the idea in motion by urging several members of the STS faculty and invited guests to prepare informal talks on the key books in the Mich corpus and the major themes explored in them.