Dewey, in his analysis of democracy and education, brings out a vivid picture of a society that is mostly utopic in most of its ideas. He tries to relate the various concepts in the world today to their reality. Additionally, the terms most the views of school and democracy as elusive, majorly based on the idea that they are neither here nor there. He terms democracy as a good thing that has barely been worked upon, and according to this analysis seems to bring out various sides of reality, claiming that the things that ought to happen hardly happen.
Essentially, education is a means by which children may learn and develop their cognition, and also adults may be able to improve their knowledge. On the other hand, democracy involves the ability of people to do what is right for them and their lives. This fact is as concerns governance as it is by the people and for the people.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Analysis
Adequately, Dewey places the individual as the unit that gives the society its realization. Arguably, the individual is an intricate part of society, and hence to understand the community, it is essential first to understand the individual. The critical things to understand is how an individual lives their lives and the meaning of their lives which reflect what the society thinks. Fundamentally, Dewey believes that the community, in most cases, lives by beliefs and ideas that are inexistent. Hence, there is a need to analyze democracy and education as two different ideas. These ideas are conjoined through the effects of one to the other.
Democracy
Significantly, Dewey asserts that "the greatest mistake that one can make is to see democracy as being an idea or thing that is constant." ( Garrison et al., 2015 ). This fact means that democracy, according to Dewey, is not final in its inception. Significantly, democracy is dynamic, and therefore there is an excellent necessity to keep exploring the possibilities of the future concerning equality.
Significantly, counts suggest that "the democratic-revolutionary tradition by people like Abraham Lincoln the relative equality of conditions and mode of life in the new world." ( Tanner, 2015 ). Counts assert that culture, which is subject to development with time, dramatically affects our views of social aspects such as democracy. Arguably, according to counts, democracy is, in this sense, not fixed at all since situations around human beings keep changing.
Importantly, there have been various changes in the world, and hence, the current society may not understand democracy as the past societies did. With the continued development of structures such as the government, democracy needs to be revised to ensure that people do not revert to the earlier ideas of governance. Mostly, this statement may be referred to be the true reflection of the fact that as things change; hence, they become the same ( Garrison et al., 2015 ). Arguably, democracy is a thing that needs to be learned and revised regularly to ensure that improvement is made in regards to changes occurring in the needs of people and how such requirements are met in the society.
Additionally, Dewey explains that democracy is radical. This concept may be explicitly defined by understanding the differences between social ideas, capitalistic views as well as liberality among the people being governed. Essentially, there is the assertion that "the so-called democracies of the world have only managed to achieve bourgeois democracy." ( Garrison et al., 2015 ). Essentially, while we might want to understand that democracy is a government of the people, and the people lead that. The truth may be far from it.
Significantly, democracies like Germany are describable as saying one thing but meaning the other. For instance, democratic systems, despite being initially put in the hands of the people, are controlled by the few who have the means. While the description may be a socialistic approach, the end becomes capitalist. Therefore, there is no way that the poor masses are in charge of the systems and the means. Hence, this description of democracy is utopic mainly and exists in the minds of the masses but does not necessarily exist as prescribed.
Fundamentally, to understand that democracy is not only about its end but also primarily about the means of its achievement. Democracy is a process that begins with its inception and goes through to its establishment and the results of its establishment. Hence, democracy cannot be seen only to be a means to achieve security for individuals. Still, a means for everyone, including those that are seen as economically and socially weak. This idea, therefore, brings in the sense that there is a need for liberalism. Significantly, "there is no need to save the word liberal." ( Garrison et al., 2015 ). The society should, therefore, avoiding the denunciation of liberalism to eclipse the means and goals of democracy.
Education
In the analogy of the existence of the ideological schools, Dewey dwells on the idea of the learning existing in mind. This fact alludes to the importance of attitude, which further ensures that there is no fear but only the need for improvement. However, this is absent in the present schools since "they had some difficulty in ranking attitudes in particular orders of significance since the preoccupation is in developing capacities." ( Garrison et al., 2015 ).
Significantly, the current education system fails to develop the personal ability to build knowledge and find one's path. In essence, this is as opposed to the possibility of understanding and learning by creating attitudes. These attitudes enable a child to see things in their way and develop their ideas.
Further, human beings learn things by being practically involved. This kind of learning is progressive learning, which means that children need to engage more in doing something as opposed to being told. Essentially, this is pragmatism, which advocates that the reality is only learned through one's own experience.
Relationship Between Democracy And Education
Education and democracy may be integral as both affect each other in their different ways. School is responsible for teaching sociopolitical aspects such as nationalism, which may affect how people view elements such as nation and national. Despite being similar in some way, these two words are different. Therefore, the responsibility of education is to ensure that there is a sense of nationalism which represents pride and patriotism as opposed to the view that one nation is superior affecting relations in the international sphere. Similarly, democracy is affected by education since the formation of such patriotism may mean that one may incline towards responsibility to change one's nation positively through individual and reservedly liberal contributions
Significantly, both George counts, and Dewey presents arguments that support progress6ive education. Through the advocacy for the ability to develop attitudes that are bent on the experience of a child, liberalism occurs. Therefore, it is only valid to say that the ability to choose and make a decision on account of their own experience may help to achieve a better education.
According to Dewey, "the public supported by public taxation is unreasonable in the advancement of the assumption that human beings are born with democratic aspiration.' ( Garrison et al., 2015 ). In essence, the school plays an essential role in imparting the sense of social life in children arguably, through subjects such as social studies and history, politics of the past and present is taught.
Importantly, there is a need to address the issue of democracy through education since schools play an essential role in ensuring that ideas are taught. Virtually schooling as it presently exists ensures that there is the offering of direction to children. Without the ability to direct their knowledge, children are guided on what they need to believe ( Tanner, 2015 ). However, the school does not impart the necessity for social action, and hence, children only understand the political history and social life without a particular attachment to social work.
Further, this view alludes to the need for attitudes in the process of learning. Rather than creating knowledge without the ability for them to choose what to make of it, education should encourage personal views. This fact is to mean that through the encouragement of the formation of attitudes, one can express themselves intelligently ( Garrison et al., 2015 ). Hence, children may be able to understand social action and that individuals are directly responsible for \the occurrences around them.
Further, there is the assertion that the definition of education presently is barren and formal. Culture gives the idea of the ability to develop mental powers or skills. However, the school, on the contrary, does not tell one how to use the skills. In a nutshell, therefore, education only provides the knowledge but does not go further to grant one the power to manipulate the experience and use it by one's ability.
In conclusion, democracy and education are inseparable in the sense that one affects the other. For instance, the school may ensure that individuals not only acquire knowledge of history and social studies but also that there is an inclination towards social action. Essentially, there is a need for the development of attitudes that bring about liberality through encouraging personal experience.
References
Garrison, J., Neubert, S., & Reich, K. (2015). Democracy and education reconsidered: Dewey after one hundred years . Routledge.
Tanner, D. (2015). Crusade for Democracy, Revised Edition: Progressive Education at the Crossroads . SUNY Press.
