Democracy and Education · Chapter
XIX: Labor and Leisure explained
This chapter explores the historical and social origins of the opposition between education for useful labor and education for a life of leisure, tracing it back to ancient Greek class divisions.
What happens
This chapter explores the historical and social origins of the opposition between education for useful labor and education for a life of leisure, tracing it back to ancient Greek class divisions. Dewey argues that this dualism is not intrinsic but reflects a divided society, and that in a democratic context education should unify practical and liberal aims, making thought a guide for free practice and leisure a reward for service.
Themes in this chapter
Division of Labor and Leisure
The central theme of the chapter: the historical and social opposition between education for useful labor and education for leisure, reflecting class divisions and the need for democratic unification.
Critique of Traditional Curriculum
Dewey critiques the traditional curriculum for perpetuating the split between liberal and utilitarian studies, leading to compromises that reduce educational efficacy.
Social Function of Education
The chapter emphasizes that education should unify society by overcoming the dualism between labor and leisure, making thought a guide for free practice and service.
Characters to notice
- Aristotle
Aristotle's psychology and political theory are cited as the most adequate formulation of the division between reason (leisure) and appetite (labor), justifying class-based education.
- Plato
Plato is mentioned in the context of deprecating the learning of geometry and arithmetic for practical ends, reflecting the ancient Greek view of liberal versus utilitarian education.
Key passages
“The separation of liberal education from professional and industrial education goes back to the time of the Greeks, and was formulated expressly on the basis of a division of classes into those who had to labor for a living and those who were relieved from this necessity.”
The split between liberal and vocational education originated in ancient Greece, reflecting a class divide between those who worked for a living and those who did not.
This establishes the historical and social roots of the educational dualism.
“The problem of education in a democratic society is to do away with the dualism and to construct a course of studies which makes thought a guide of free practice for all and which makes leisure a reward of accepting responsibility for service, rather than a state of exemption from it.”
In a democracy, education must eliminate the opposition between labor and leisure by designing a curriculum that integrates thinking with practical action and treats leisure as a reward for service, not as an escape.
This is Dewey's central prescription for reforming education in a democratic context.