Hansen, David (dth2006)

David Hansen received his Bachelor of Arts in the history of ideas from the University of Chicago, his Master of Arts in political economy from Stanford University, and his Ph.D. in education from the University of Chicago.  Before taking up his current appointment at Teachers College in 2001, he was professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and before that a secondary school teacher and instructor in a language arts program for teachers.

Professor Hansen's scholarship has focused on the philosophy and practice of teaching and of teacher education, on moral and ethical dimensions of education, on the nature of values and inquiry, and related themes.  He draws from thinkers across the diverse fields featured in the Philosophy and Education program, including ethics, philosophical anthropology, and foundations of education.  He has studied extensively the educational thought of figures such as Plato, Michel de Montaigne, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and John Dewey.  He has focused on the relations between cosmopolitanism as an outlook on the human condition and the practice of education, and at present is drawing out the ramifications of ‘bearing witness’ as an orientation toward teaching and teachers.  Hansen is a Past-President of the John Dewey Society and of the Philosophy of Education Society. In 2013, he was named the John L. & Sue Ann Weinberg Professor in the Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Education.

** Reimagining the Call to Teach.  New York: Teachers College Press, 2021.

** “Philosophy’s voices in teaching, and teachers’ voices in philosophy.”  Educational Theory 71 (1, 2021), 5-33.

** Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and the demands of education.  Educational Theory 68 (4/5, 2018), 443-475.

** “Among school teachers: Bearing witness as an orientation in educational inquiry.”  Educational Theory, 67 (1, 2017), 9-30.

** The Teacher and the World: A Study of Cosmopolitanism as Education.   London and New York: Routledge, 2011.

** John Dewey and Our Educational Prospect: A Critical Engagement with Dewey’s Democracy and Education.  Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006.

** “A poetics of teaching.”  Educational Theory 54 (2004), 119-142.

** Exploring the Moral Heart of Teaching: Toward a Teacher's Creed.  New York: Teachers College Press, 2001.

** “Well-formed, not well-filled: Montaigne and the paths of personhood.”  Educational Theory 52 (2002), 127-154.

** “The moral is in the practice.”  Teaching and Teacher Education 14 (1998), 643-655.

** The Call to Teach. New York: Teachers College Press, 1995.

** “From role to person: The moral layeredness of classroom teaching.”  American Educational Research Journal 30 (1993), 651-674.

** “Was Socrates a ‘Socratic teacher’?”  Educational Theory 38 (1988), 213-224.