Democracy and Education · Chapter
The Democratic Conception in Education explained
This chapter explores the relationship between democracy and education, arguing that a democratic society requires a deliberate and systematic education to foster mutual interests, free interaction, and continuous social readjustment.
What happens
This chapter explores the relationship between democracy and education, arguing that a democratic society requires a deliberate and systematic education to foster mutual interests, free interaction, and continuous social readjustment. Dewey examines the implications of human association, the need for a standard to measure social life, and critiques three historic educational philosophies: Plato's class-based ideal, the Enlightenment's individualism, and the nineteenth-century institutional idealism. He concludes that democratic education must liberate individual capacities and promote shared interests across all groups, both within and between nations.
Themes in this chapter
Democracy and Education
Dewey argues that democracy is more than a form of government; it is a mode of associated living requiring education to create voluntary disposition and interest, and to break down barriers of class, race, and nationality.
Social Function of Education
Education is presented as a social process that varies with the quality of community life; a democratic society must educate for personal initiative, adaptability, and shared interests.
Critique of Traditional Curriculum
Dewey criticizes traditional ideals of culture and subject matter that perpetuate class divisions, advocating for modifications to retain all youth under educational influences until they are equipped for economic and social careers.
Characters to notice
- Plato
Dewey discusses Plato's educational philosophy, noting that Plato saw education as discovering aptitudes and training them for social use, but limited his view to a fixed number of classes and capacities.
Key passages
“The devotion of democracy to education is a familiar fact. The superficial explanation is that a government resting upon popular suffrage cannot be successful unless those who elect and who obey their governors are educated. Since a democratic society repudiates the principle of external authority, it must find a substitute in voluntary disposition and interest; these can be created only by education.”
Democracy's commitment to education is well-known. On the surface, it's because a government based on popular vote needs educated citizens. But more deeply, because democracy rejects external authority, it must rely on education to cultivate voluntary attitudes and interests.
Dewey distinguishes between the superficial and deeper reasons for democracy's reliance on education.
“A democracy is more than a form of government; it is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience.”
Democracy is not just a political system; it is fundamentally a way of living together through shared experience and communication.
This is a core definition of democracy in Dewey's philosophy.
“The two points selected by which to measure the worth of a form of social life are the extent in which the interests of a group are shared by all its members, and the fullness and freedom with which it interacts with other groups.”
The value of any society can be judged by how widely interests are shared among its members and how openly it engages with other groups.
Dewey proposes these two criteria as a standard for evaluating social life.