Pedagogy of the Dead: K-12 Teaching & Learning Inspired by the Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead showed us the world crumbling around us and gave us lessons on how we may one day rebuild it. The Grateful Dead were much more than a rock and roll band, a fact hard to relate to those unfamiliar with their work and the large subculture created by it. Indeed, their continuing legacy has inspired scholars across disciplines. This paper explores what Grateful Dead scholarship can offer to K-12 education and offers a conceptual pedagogical framework that K-12 teachers can utilize to envision an innovative educational model for the future of K-12 education.