Kathleen Kesson
Gund Affiliate
Professor Emerita, Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University
BIO
Kathleen Kesson is Professor Emeritus of Teaching, Learning, and Leadership (LIU-Brooklyn). Before joining LIU in 2002, Kathleen was the Education Program Director at Goddard College in Vermont, and the founding Director of the John Dewey Project on Progressive Education at the University of Vermont, a research and policy organization. At UVM, Kathleen taught courses in critical pedagogy, curriculum theory, and educational foundations in the College of Education and Social Services. While at LIU, Kathleen served as Department Chair and helped to develop innovative programming in urban teacher education dedicated to equity and cultural pluralism. Kathleen was a founding member of a campus-wide sustainability task force. Recently retired, she designed and now directs an international program in Neohumanist Teacher Preparation.
Kathleen has written extensively in numerous academic journals about democracy and education, environmental education, teacher inquiry, unschooling, and spirituality and the arts in education. Her books include Becoming One With the World: A Guide to Neohumanist Education (2024); Curriculum Wisdom: Educational Decisions in Democratic Societies (2004); Understanding Democratic Curriculum Leadership (1999); Defending Public Schools: Teaching for a Democratic Society (2004); and Unschooling in Paradise (2018). Kathleen's current academic interests include post-Humanist philosophies, and developing theory and educational practice relevant to what some scholars have termed the “Anthropocene.” The pragmatic side of her brain focuses on the development of community schools in Vermont that could support resilience, regenerative agriculture, restorative economics, and decolonization, and the policy changes that are necessary to lead schools and communities into a “Just Transition.” She is a participating scholar in the Great Transition Initiative out of Cambridge. Kathleen serves on a number of Vermont boards, including the Institute for Social Ecology (ISE).
Area(s) of expertise
Democratic schools, environmental education, community schools.
Bio
Kathleen Kesson is Professor Emeritus of Teaching, Learning, and Leadership (LIU-Brooklyn). Before joining LIU in 2002, Kathleen was the Education Program Director at Goddard College in Vermont, and the founding Director of the John Dewey Project on Progressive Education at the University of Vermont, a research and policy organization. At UVM, Kathleen taught courses in critical pedagogy, curriculum theory, and educational foundations in the College of Education and Social Services. While at LIU, Kathleen served as Department Chair and helped to develop innovative programming in urban teacher education dedicated to equity and cultural pluralism. Kathleen was a founding member of a campus-wide sustainability task force. Recently retired, she designed and now directs an international program in Neohumanist Teacher Preparation.
Kathleen has written extensively in numerous academic journals about democracy and education, environmental education, teacher inquiry, unschooling, and spirituality and the arts in education. Her books include Becoming One With the World: A Guide to Neohumanist Education (2024); Curriculum Wisdom: Educational Decisions in Democratic Societies (2004); Understanding Democratic Curriculum Leadership (1999); Defending Public Schools: Teaching for a Democratic Society (2004); and Unschooling in Paradise (2018). Kathleen's current academic interests include post-Humanist philosophies, and developing theory and educational practice relevant to what some scholars have termed the “Anthropocene.” The pragmatic side of her brain focuses on the development of community schools in Vermont that could support resilience, regenerative agriculture, restorative economics, and decolonization, and the policy changes that are necessary to lead schools and communities into a “Just Transition.” She is a participating scholar in the Great Transition Initiative out of Cambridge. Kathleen serves on a number of Vermont boards, including the Institute for Social Ecology (ISE).
Areas of Expertise
Democratic schools, environmental education, community schools.
PUBLICATIONS
- Kesson, K. (Fall 2023). Contemplative inquiry, indwelling, and the art of understanding the child. Holistic Education Review.
- Kesson, K. & Oliveira, M. (2023). Diversifying universalism: Neohumanism, internationalism, and interculturalism in education. Práxis Educativa, Ponta Grossa, v. 18, e21500.
- Kesson, K. & Hoyler, E. (2022). Education for the end of the world (as we know it). The Journal of School and Society 8, (2).
- Kesson, K. (2021). Community Schools Blueprint: Transforming the School/Community Partnership. Commissioned by The Bay and Paul Foundations, Inc.
- Kesson, K. (2020). Three scenarios for the future of education in the Anthropocene. Journal of Futures Studies.
- Kesson, K. (July 2019). Neohumanism and higher education. Gurukula Network, issue 48.
- Kesson, K. (March/April 2004). Inhuman powers and ‘Terrible Things’: The theory and practice of alienated labor in urban schools. The Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 2, (1).