Democracy and Education

The American philosopher John Dewey transformed how people around the world view the purposes of schooling. In Democracy and Education (1916), Dewey opposed the model of education in which adults lecture at students and students follow strict rules. Instead, Dewey called upon schools to provide children with experiences such as gardening, sewing, building structures, conducting experiments in laboratories, and performing in school plays. For Dewey, democratic education teaches young people to become creative individuals who contribute to society.

This edition makes Democracy and Education come alive for a new generation of readers. The editor’s introduction explores the main themes of the book and how Dewey’s ideas contribute to debates about education standards, testing, accountability, school choice, free school lunch, recess, student discipline, and education technology. Each chapter begins with a brief overview clarifying the argument and its present-day relevance and ends with questions to prompt conversations and research papers. Drawing on more than a century of secondary literature on Dewey’s philosophy, this new edition will become the standard for scholars, teachers, and students.