Mark Twain, John Dewey, and the image of the teacher: A case for the interpretive study of narratives within educational discourse

Narrative is a powerful qualitative tool for teachers. Narrative images have traditionally helped to shape the societal image of the teacher as well as teachers' images of themselves. Many of the non-discursive narrative texts of Mark Twain shed light on the image of the teacher. These images are illuminated by John Dewey's discursive texts regarding the philosophy of experiential education. Yet the narrative, because its information cannot readily be generalized, has traditionally been marginalized in educational research.;This study bridges the disciplines of literature, educational philosophy, and history of education. It is an interpretation of the image of the teacher that explores Mark Twain's voice as an educational connoisseur and critic as it emerges through interplay with John Dewey's philosophy. Both Twain and Dewey situate the image of the teacher in opposition to the 19 th-century common school teacher, who often utilized a transmission model to promote passive, rote learning with a didactic, authoritarian style. The image of the teacher, for Twain and Dewey, is one that recognizes that knowledge is constructed and reconstructed by the learner, views meaningful learning as being experiential and engaged, and fosters experiences within a learning community. A paucity of research suggests that Twain's educational ideas have not been thoroughly explored. Many of Twain's texts construct the image of the teacher, including the topics of analysis for this study: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and selected essays. Within these works, Twain posits examples and counter-examples of teachers that attest to his adherence to Deweyan principles of experiential education. Analysis of Twain's texts indicates that he promotes a prescient, remarkably contemporary image of the teacher as an artist and navigator of educational experience that aids our understanding of past and present images of the teacher.