I have a deep faith in educators’ intellectual abilities. I think they are capable of engaging in sophisticated pedagogical judgments inspired by a democratic love of wisdom. Such judgments require the practice of evidence-based refl ective inquiries informed by open-minded conversations and eclectic deliberations. In short, John Dewey’s “genuine freedom” involves the integration of informed experience, conversation, and deliberation. Samuel Fleischacker (1999) linked this professional judgment to student liberation:

It may sound unexciting to announce that one wants to make the world free for good judgment, but this quiet doctrine turns out to be the most sensible, most decent, and at the same time richest concept of liberty we can possibly find. . . . A world where everyone can develop and use their own judgment as much as possible is closer to what we really want out of freedom. (p. 243)

I agree with Fleischacker that a worthy aim of education is to “make the world free for good judgment.” Consider the implications of this curriculum aim for

Genuine freedom, in short, is intellectual; it rests in the trained power of thought, in ability to “turn things over,” to look at matters deliberately, to judge whether the amount and kind of evidence requisite for decision is at hand, and if not, to tell where and how to seek such evidence. If a man’s actions are not guided by thoughtful conclusions, then they are guided by inconsiderate impulse, unbalanced appetite, caprice, or the circumstances of the moment. To cultivate unhindered, unrefl ective external activity is to foster enslavement, for it leaves the person at the mercy of appetite, sense, and circumstance.