The School as Life: Democracy and Education – Editions Rémanence

Editions Rémanence book reviews

Few books have shaped the modern mind as profoundly—and perhaps as controversially—as John Dewey’s Democracy and Education. Published in 1916, amidst the roar of the First World War and the rise of industrial America, it is more than a pedagogical manual; it is a manifesto for a new kind of civilization. Dewey, the father of Pragmatism, sought to dismantle the old scholastic model of education, which he viewed as a relic of a feudal past, and replace it with a system designed for a democratic future.

Dewey’s central thesis is deceptively simple: education is not a preparation for life; it is life. He argued against the "banking concept" of education, where a teacher deposits facts into the passive minds of students. Instead, he championed "learning by doing"—an active, social process where the child engages with the world, tests hypotheses, and solves real problems. For Dewey, the school should be a miniature community, an "embryonic society" where the habits of democracy are practiced daily.

The Rejection of Dualism

Philosophically, Dewey wages war on dualism—the separation of mind and body, theory and practice, leisure and labor. He argues that the traditional liberal arts education was designed for a leisure class that did not work, while vocational training was for the masses who did. In a true democracy, he posits, these distinctions must collapse. The thinker must work, and the worker must think.

There is a certain nobility in Dewey’s desire to dignify labor and to see the human person as an integrated whole. He rightly identifies that a society stratified by class cannot be truly free. However, from a traditional perspective, Dewey’s solution presents a complex challenge. In his rush to merge the "ivory tower" with the workshop, there is a risk that the contemplative aspect of learning—the study of truth for its own sake, regardless of its utility—is devalued. If all knowledge must be "useful" or "social," do we lose the capacity for silence and awe?

Growth Without an End?

The most provocative, and perhaps spiritually unsettling, aspect of Dewey’s thought is his definition of the goal of education. For Dewey, the goal of education is simply "more education." He writes, "Growth itself is the only moral end." He rejects fixed ends (teleology) and absolute truths, viewing them as rigid dogmas that hinder progress. In the Pragmatic view, truth is not discovered; it is made, tested, and remade in the crucible of experience.

Here lies the friction with the traditional worldview. While continuous growth is a virtue, the question remains: growth towards what? A plant grows towards the sun; a traveler moves towards a destination. Without a transcendent "North Star"—be it God, Virtue, or Objective Truth—education risks becoming a circular motion, a busy improvement of means with no clarity of ends. If there is no ultimate Truth to transmit, the teacher becomes a facilitator of process rather than a guardian of wisdom.

The Democratic Faith

Despite these metaphysical critiques, Democracy and Education remains an essential read. It challenges us to reconsider how we treat the child—not as a sinful creature to be broken, nor as an empty vessel to be filled, but as a vibrant participant in the human drama. Dewey reminds us that democracy is not merely a form of government, but a "mode of associated living," a spiritual communion of citizens.

In an age where education is often reduced to standardized testing and economic credentialing, Dewey’s vision—imperfect as it may be—calls us back to the vital, messy, and human heart of learning. It forces us to ask whether we are building a society of free souls or merely efficient machines.