1st Edition

John Dewey and Contemporary Challenges to Democratic Education

Edited By Michael G. Festl Copyright 2025
194 Pages 4 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

194 Pages 4 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

194 Pages 4 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

This book reconsiders pragmatist conceptions of democratic education, especially those of John Dewey. It addresses what democratic education can mean in the face of current threats that are undermining democracy. Since the mid-twentieth century, liberal philosophers have been skeptical of fostering values through public education. Since liberal democracy must embrace different worldviews,... Read more

1. Introduction Michael G. Festl

Part 1: Dewey’s Theory of Education: Then and Now

2. John Dewey’s Method of Intelligence is Often Threatening, but Is It Objectionable? Why Schools Need to Address Fear of Change if We Hope to Renew Democracy in Our Time Jeff Frank

3. John Dewey, Jane Addams, and the Pragmatist Road to Democracy Maura Striano

4. Education, Text, and Context. Between John Dewey and Stanley Cavell Filippo Sanna

Part 2: Dewey and Contemporary Challenges in Education: Political and Technological

5. Populism, Democratic Education and a Look at the Ukrainian War Jürgen Oelkers

6. Worldview, Democracy, and Education. Lessons from Poland: Practice and Theory, the Past and the Future Agnieszka Hensoldt

7. Deweyan Democracy and Education in a ‘Society of Broadcasters’ Julian Culp

8. Democracy without Autonomy? Information Technology’s Manipulation of Experience and Morality David L. Hildebrand

Part 3: Applying Dewey’s Theory of Education Today: Novelties and Reenactments

9. Philosophy for Children as a Via Media between Democratic and Anarchist Education Maria Miraglia

10. The Economy and Democracy as a Way of Living. How to Create Democratic Attitudes Within Economic Ethics Bettina Hollstein

11. Art Education and Democracy: John Dewey and Contemporary Art Education Practice Leonard J. Waks

Biography

Michael G. Festl teaches philosophy at the University of St. Gallen. He has been a guest researcher in Salzburg, Chicago, and Melbourne. He wrote, among others, a book on justice and edited a handbook on pragmatism. He lives with his wife and his four children near Lake Constance.

"Michael Festl has edited a stimulating and wide-ranging collection of essays on the relevance of John Dewey’s philosophy of education, which should engage anyone with a stake in Dewey’s social and political philosophy, the philosophy of education, and what are nervously packaged as ‘current challenges’ to democracy."

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews