# Education as Formation explained — Democracy and Education

> Chapter companion for Democracy and Education by John Dewey.

## What happens

This chapter examines Herbart's theory of education as the formation of mind through the presentation of subject matter from without, contrasting it with theories of unfolding or faculty training. It critiques Herbart's overemphasis on past content and conscious method, arguing that true formation involves the selection and coordination of native activities through interaction with the social environment.

## Themes in this chapter

### Critique of Traditional Curriculum

The chapter critiques Herbart's theory for overemphasizing the past and consciously formulated methods, ignoring vital energy and the role of novel, unforeseeable experiences in education.

### Experience and Learning by Doing

Dewey argues that true formation involves the selection and coordination of native activities through engagement with the environment, not merely passive reception of subject matter.

## Character check-ins

### Herbart

Herbart is presented as the chief representative of the 'education as formation' theory, which denies innate faculties and views mind as wholly constituted by presentations (Vorstellungen) from external subject matter.

## Key lines

> The fundamental theoretical defect of this view lies in ignoring the existence in a living being of active and specific functions which are developed in the redirection and combination which occur as they are occupied with their environment.

The main flaw in Herbart's theory is that it overlooks the active, innate functions of a living being, which grow and reorganize through interaction with the environment.

_Dewey criticizes Herbart for neglecting the dynamic, self-directed nature of human development._

> All education forms character, mental and moral, but formation consists in the selection and coordination of native activities so that they may utilize the subject matter of the social environment.

Education shapes character, but this formation involves choosing and organizing innate activities to engage with the social environment's content.

_Dewey redefines formation as an active, selective process rather than passive imprinting._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/democracy_and_education_se/chapters/i-education-as-formation
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/democracy_and_education_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/democracy_and_education_se/chapters