John Dewey and Contemporary Challenges to Democratic Education

This volume reconsiders pragmatist conceptions of democratic education, especially John Dewey's. It addresses what democratic education can mean in the face of the current threats that are undermining democracy. Since the middle of the twentieth century, liberal philosophers have been skeptical of fostering values through public education. Since liberal democracy must embrace different worldviews, education, especially public education, must refrain from teaching values as far as possible. Given the recent undermining of democratic nation states and their liberal foundations, this educational abstinence can be interpreted as one of the drivers of the current crisis of democracy. This volume sketches how a renewed democratic education, in the model of John Dewey and other forms of pragmatist educational philosophy, might look today. The volume identifies the conceptual, political, and technological challenges to education and democracy, and explores how a new democratic education could translate into the classroom. John Dewey and Contemporary Challenges to Democratic Education will appeal to scholars and advanced students interested in pragmatism and American philosophy, philosophy of education, and political philosophy.