Democracy and Education

John Dewey's Democracy and Education addresses the challenge of providing quality public education in a democratic society. In this classic work Dewey calls for the complete renewal of public education, arguing for the fusion of vocational and contemplative studies in education and for the necessity of universal education for the advancement of self and society.

"We are apt to look at the school from an individualistic standpoint, as something between teacher and pupil, or between teacher and parent. That which interests us most is naturally the progress made by the individual child of our acquaintance, his normal physical development, his advance in ability to read, write, and figure, his growth in the knowledge of geography and history, improvement in manners, habits of promptness, order, and industry-it is from such standards as these that we judge the work of the school." John Dewey (1859-1952) was a philosopher, educational reformer, and a psychologist. The School and Society was Dewey's first published book of length on education, and it paved the foundation for his later works on this same topic. Dewey's works are a valuable source of information and anyone interested in learning more about education and child development.