Dewey

How fortunate that I mentioned Dewey and that may have nudged you to listen a little differently to the lecture!  Hope you get a chance to read him a bit too.  I see you can read Democracy and Education online at http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/dewey.html
You are certainly convincing me that you are one of those occasional (rare?) people who really gets it about the words and the tune going together!  I really enjoy how much you are writing and how well you are writing.
There was a time when how well one could teach was considered in selecting people to teach in this faculty. Now all that matters is your research potential and how much you have already published.  And there are research seminars for faculty and graduate students but rarely are there any seminars about teaching.  I did manage to get a "Teacher Education Affinity Group" going and meeting from time to time but that seems to have faded away--perhaps writing this will encourage me to try to revive it!
Thanks for brightening my day with more refreshing insights into the complexities of teaching!
Tom