Hendley argues that philosophers of education should reject their preoccupation of the past 25 years with defining terms and analyzing concepts and once again embrace the philosophical task of constructing general theories of education.
Exemplars of that tradition are John Dewey, Bertrand Russell, and Alfred North Whitehead, who formulated theories of education that were tested. Dewey and Russell ran their own schools, and Whitehead served as a university administrator and as a member of many committees created to study education.
After providing a general introduction to the present state of educational philosophy, Hendley discusses in detail the educational philosophies of Dewey, Russell, and Whitehead. He sees in these men excellent role models that contemporary philosophers might well follow. Hendley believes that like these mentors, philosophers should take a more active, practical role in education.
