Democracy and Education · Chapter
IV: The Social and the Moral explained
Dewey argues that morals are as broad as all acts concerning our relationships with others, and that the moral and social quality of conduct are identical.
What happens
Dewey argues that morals are as broad as all acts concerning our relationships with others, and that the moral and social quality of conduct are identical. He criticizes narrow views of morals that separate school from life, and insists that education itself is a moral life. The school must be a genuine community life, continuous with out-of-school experience, to develop social spirit and effective moral training.
Themes in this chapter
Social Function of Education
Dewey asserts that the measure of a school's worth is the extent to which it is animated by a social spirit, and that education is not a mere means to social life but is itself such a life.
Critique of Traditional Curriculum
Dewey criticizes the isolation of the school from life, the separation of town and gown, and a narrow moralistic view that limits morals to a list of acts, arguing instead for a curriculum embedded in shared community experience.
Education as Life and Growth
Dewey states that discipline, culture, social efficiency, and character are phases of growth in capacity to share in balanced experience, and that education is such a life—a continual beginning afresh.
Key passages
“Discipline, culture, social efficiency, personal refinement, improvement of character are but phases of the growth of capacity nobly to share in such a balanced experience. And education is not a mere means to such a life. Education is such a life.”
All educational aims—discipline, culture, social efficiency, character—are aspects of growing one's ability to participate in a rich, shared experience. Education is not just a tool for that life; it is that life itself.
Dewey synthesizes his view that education is inherently moral and social, not merely preparatory.
“The moral and the social quality of conduct are, in the last analysis, identical with each other.”
Ultimately, the moral quality of behavior and its social quality are the same thing.
This is a key thesis of the chapter, linking ethics directly to social interaction.
“The school must itself be a community life in all which that implies. Social perceptions and interests can be developed only in a genuinely social medium—one where there is give and take in the building up of a common experience.”
The school must function as a real community. Social understanding can only grow in a setting where people actively share and build experiences together.
Dewey emphasizes the necessity of a social environment within the school for moral and social development.