To be educated in a world that is shared with others

Abstract

This article’s overall purpose is to contribute to the discussion on the relevance of Democracy and Education (1916) a hundred years after its publication. It is first and foremost John Dewey as a political thinker, whose philosophy was determined by a commitment to the values of community, public life, and shared experience, that stands in focus. The aim is twofold; to begin with the article sets out to discuss the concept of democracy and its roots in Dewey’s early writings and simultaneously a foundation for conceptualizations in later works. Democracy and Education is thus interpreted at the intersection of early findings and future work. Secondly, in the light of reading Democracy and Education between his past and future writings, the article sheds light on the shortcomings of the present educational debate and argues for the importance to re-think the social function of education amidst the private and the public sphere.