Trevor Joeseph Phillips (January 26, 1927 – March 17, 2016) was a British-born educational philosopher and Professor of Educational Foundations and Inquiry at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

, Ohio. He wrote a dissertation on the philosophy

transactionalism Transactionalism is a pragmatic philosophical approach to questions such as: what is the nature of reality; how we know and are known; and how we motivate, maintain, and satisfy goals for health, money, career, relationships, and a multitude o ...

Life and work

Born in England, Phillips moved to Canada in 1947 and studied at Sir George Williams and MacDonald College. He was a teacher at Lake of Two Mountains and Sorel, Quebec, before moving with his family to the United States to pursue a doctorate at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. From 1963 until 1996, he taught

Educational Philosophy The philosophy of education is the branch of applied philosophy that investigates the nature of education as well as its aims and problems. It also examines the concepts and presuppositions of education theories. It is an interdisciplinary fiel ...

at Bowling Green State University, winning multiple awards for excellence in teaching. He served as department chair from 1991-1994 and retired from Bowling Green State University as a professor emeritus of Educational Foundations and Inquiry. Upon retirement in 1997, Phillips resided in Surrey, British Columbia, with his wife Lois. He co-founded and remained active in the member-run third age learning program at

Kwantlen Polytechnic University Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) is a public undergraduate degree-granting polytechnic university in British Columbia, Canada, with campuses in Surrey, Richmond, Cloverdale, Whalley, and Langley. KPU is one of the largest institutions b ...

. He had a son and two daughters. Throughout his career as a professor, Phillips published numerous articles, editorials, and reviews on topics related to educational philosophy including the topics of humanistic education, secondary education, and psychology: * * * * * *

Transactionalism

Phillips' 1967 dissertation ''Transactionalism'' outlined the history, psychology, philosophy, and educational roots of a philosophy known as

Transactionalism Transactionalism is a pragmatic philosophical approach to questions such as: what is the nature of reality; how we know and are known; and how we motivate, maintain, and satisfy goals for health, money, career, relationships, and a multitude o ...

. This was published as ''Transactionalism: An Historical and Interpretive Study'' by Influence Ecology in 2013. Transactionalism is a set of philosophical tools, or a method, employed to address the complexities of human social exchange or transactions. It refers to an approach rather than encouraging ''the'' philosophical position one should adopt in life. As a method of inquiry, it has been studied and applied to various disciplines including philosophy, education, psychology, political science, and social anthropology. The pragmatic approach to and application of transactionalism in Phillips' work was primarily based on the theories and writings of

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and Education reform, educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century. The overridi ...

designed to advance a democratic way of life and learning. His dissertation was a historical and interpretative study of the life-work of John Dewey substantiated by additional scholarly thought from

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, Arthur Bentley,

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C. Wright Mills Charles Wright Mills (August 28, 1916 – March 20, 1962) was an American Sociology, sociologist, and a professor of sociology at Columbia University from 1946 until his death in 1962. Mills published widely in both popular and intellectual jour ...

and several others working in the fields of philosophy, psychology, physics, and epistemology. In five chapters, Phillips gathers information scattered throughout various articles and books to provide a systematic philosophical inquiry into the origins and development of transactionalism. This philosophy continues to be missing in many schools and systems of education from formal education in Western and/or English-speaking societies to business.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Trevor J 1927 births 2016 deaths Bowling Green State University faculty Sir George Williams University alumni British expatriate academics in the United States British expatriates in Canada University of Connecticut alumni