Abstract
This study explores the role of John Dewey’s educational philosophy before and after World War I. Before World War I, Dewey’s educational philosophy emphasized individualized and socialized development for learners, importance of children’s education, and encouragement of diverse and creative educational measures. Although these views did not change significantly after World War I, Dewey reflected on the connection between education and social life to allow teachers to fulfill their social responsibilities and to integrate various social issues into teaching regimes to inspire children and create a habit of exploring experience. This study concludes that a democratic education allows children to participate in the problem–solving process, that continuous use of real social issues enhances democratic literacy for children, and that the quality of children’s education depends on teachers’ commitment to social responsibility.
Introduction
John Dewey’s philosophy of education reflects a collaborative relationship between people and the environment. Dewey believed that children must be taught to understand social issues sensibly and not be required to face social problems prematurely, unlike college students or adults. He proposed a balanced and integrated relationship among different aspects of children’s individual development, family function, and social needs. Despite various social problems after World War I (1914–1918), he advocated that children should be encouraged to seek contact with real life (Dewey, 1923).
Before World War I, Dewey’s educational philosophy (1900, 1901, 1902a, 1915, and 1916) focused on the nature of education in terms of “education as growth” and “education as life.” Dewey studied children’s psychological and social development in terms of the interaction between children and their environment. He studied their attention, interests, habits, games, and imagination in the learning process and links between their lives and the learning content. These aspects combine psychology and sociology and are described in The School and Society (1900), Educational Lectures before Brigham Young Academy (1901), The Child and Curriculum (1902a), and Schools of Tomorrow (1915).
After World War I, Dewey began to focus on the significance and value of a democratic society, practice of cultural life, and content and methods of old and new educational practices. He linked his own experience and theory to cultural life to cultivate the ability to solve current and future problems and abandoned old educational practices by treating education as science. This philosophy promoted freedom for children and encouraged them to use their experience to learn various principles and gradually connect with the experience of scientific inquiry (Dewey, 1929, 1938). Dewey produced numerous educational works on patriotism, American history, democratic development, ethnic and class issues, state–to–state relations, freedom and culture, schools’ democratic role, and teachers’ professional roles and social responsibilities (Dewey, 1923, 1933b, 1933c).
Studies on Dewey and children’s education have mostly focused on children’s experience and the school education content. For example, Sousa (2000) noted that Dewey’s experience theory helps us realize the reconstruction of children’s experiences. Thorburn (2018: 307) indicated that Dewey’s experience theory emphasizes that a personalized view of habit and the embodiment of children’s health can enhance health and well–being. Luff (2018: 447) noted that Dewey’s work has been recontextualized and proposed as a basis for contemporary early childhood education for sustainability, such as experiential learning, curiosity and critical thinking, children’s experiences in nature, democracy and participation, and the classroom as a community. These views, however, respond to Dewey’s pre-World War I views and less directly to his later views of democratic education. In studies related to children’s education, the professional roles and social responsibilities of teachers in democratic education are rarely explored; for example, Meadows (2006: 4) described how Dewey thought about educators and creating a living democracy through the cultivation of curiosity, open–mindedness, and reflective and active thinking. In addition, few studies have assessed the development of Dewey’s educational philosophy; for example, Fallace (2012: 13) discussed changes in Dewey’s vision for a democratic curriculum around 1916.
Given the aforementioned studies on Dewey and children’s education, the present study describes the development of Dewey’s educational philosophy during/after World War I and its implications for children’s education. The development of Dewey’s educational theories from 1896 to 1916 is detailed, and changes in Dewey’s educational philosophy after 1918 are described. These involve the use of social issues, intellectual activities, and life experience to influence children’s education. The implications of these philosophies for children’s education and the relevance of Dewey’s educational philosophy in today’s democratic society are also detailed.
Before World War I: Natural child–centric education
Dewey’s philosophy for children’s education was initially formed in the mid–1890s, which was a period of school reform that saw the establishment of experimental schools. Dewey also applied the results of his studies to educational practice and contributed to the theory of children’s education. In general, from the 1890s to 1916, Dewey’s core claims for children’s education can be summarized as follows:
Psychological and social orientation interaction in children’s behavior
In “Kindergarten and Child–Study” (Dewey, 1897f), Dewey applied psychology to kindergarten practice to explain children’s activities. In his Ethical Principles Underlying Education (1897b), Dewey described a social purpose in children’s behavior. This completely rejects faculty psychology and advocates that human behavior has two major aspects: sociology and psychology. Psychological and social orientation interact with each other in children’s behavior. In The University School (1896d), Dewey described schools as a special community for children for the following reasons: School education must replicate the basic activities of the entire social life, including those elements of life with which children come into most frequent contact: family, shelter, art decoration, and food supply. Using this handmade, active content, children become more familiar with the operational structure, content, and patterns of larger communities. Children then learn to express themselves by understanding those situational behaviors and gradually developing self–control. By learning from social life, children gain social experience. Around this natural center, knowledge is transmitted to children. In summary, Dewey valued the learner’s self–development and adaptability and advocated suitable activities for rational development, rather than forcing numerous requirements on a school (Dewey, 1896b, 1896c).
Experience of child development has a unique educational value
In Criticisms Wise and Otherwise on Modern Child–Study (1897a), Dewey noted that “only the general theory and facts about children cannot be substituted for insight of children.” In The Psychological Aspect of the School Curriculum (1897g), Dewey used geography as an example to demonstrate how the learner must first feel and think before the knowledge of a subject is organized systematically. He believed that the development of children’s existence and instinctive experience is not the same as that for adults.
In Democracy and Education (1916), Dewey noted that the process of child development involves interrelation and interdependence; thus, the growth of children is not an isolated or static system. Educational activities cannot be separated from an environment that is closely related to life. Dewey also noted that the experience of adults cannot be equated with that of child development (Dewey, 1897f) and that inappropriate educational methods have a depressing effect on children’s interest and intellectual development (Dewey, 1933a).
In The Child and Curriculum (1902a), Dewey contradicted the popular psychological theory of that time in describing children’s experience as the final form of growth because children’s experience is mobile. In the process of change, the child’s experience of oversimplification or idealization is a fallacy, and accordingly, it must be valued. This includes growth processes, the living environment, and psychological factors (Dewey, 1902a). In terms of the choice of teaching materials, psychological factors pertaining to children must be considered, along with those that are related to their growth experience (Dewey, 1902a). Teaching must prioritize child development. The development of the learner’s originality and potential depends on the teacher’s rational use of textbooks that pertain to objective experience and consideration of the psychological factors and environmental conditions of individual learners to devise practical teaching methods (Dewey, 1902a). The experience of child development has a unique educational value.
Children’s education: Theory and practice
Dewey advocates that schools should provide a true social life and assess the psychology of individual children. Therefore, school activities should allow children to express their abilities, tastes, and needs appropriately (Dewey, 1895a, 1895b, 1897e).
A school must enable children to learn to interact with peers and to familiarize them with the concepts of civilization. When children observe and understand the content of human life around them, they can use these ideas as tools for thinking. These ideas are expanded and enhanced at different stages of school life and depend on the content of courses that they study (Dewey, 1898).
In 1898, Dewey agreed with W. T. Harris’s (1898) Psychologic Foundations of Education in that psychology should ignore transcendental words and use ordinary and specific words to explain psychological problems. Dewey sought to integrate empiricism and rationalism by using the platform of biology, physiology, or pathology with children’s studies. Research on children is beneficial to educational theory and practice (Dewey, 1898).
Child–centered educational content
The content of school education cannot use scattered trivial symbolic learning. It was generally believed that children enter the symbolic learning stage at the age of seven, at which time they were required to learn to read, write, and count. Dewey (1898) hypothesized that this approach only allows children to recognize tattered and individual things or objects and does not allow a comprehensive understanding of the relationship or causality of things because it is not child–centered.
Dewey (1896a) first described a child–centered environment in 1896 in Interpretation of The Culture–Epoch Theory. Chapter 2 of The School and Society (1900) emphasizes that education must be child–centered, and child–centered educational content must be developed (Dewey, 1900).
In the Interpretation of the Theory of Cultural Generation, the child–centered concept from Dewey’s biological perspective is compared with the social culture and historical educational practices. He noted that the current educational content should be tailored to children’s psychological level and that this was more critical than the preservation of old educational methods. The focus of education should not be subject knowledge but children (Dewey, 1896a). He argued that the educational content must activate children’s lives and enrich their interest in life rather than treating children as passive recipients or static objects (Dewey, 1900). He also noted an increase in problems for children, family, and society in the 1897 Report of the Committee on a Detailed Plan for a Report on Elementary Education. Therefore, in terms of educational methods and content, families and schools had a role in guiding children’s lives (Dewey, 1897d).
Finally, the child–centered philosophy is closely related to the idea of a democratic society. Democracy in Education (1903) notes that “emancipating personality does not mean liberating intelligence” (Dewey, 1903). Unless children actively share their problems and participate in problem–solving, they cannot truly liberate the mind.
In summary, before 1916, Dewey (1896d) advocated that school education should play a key role in social reconstruction and that schools should replicate the basic activities of social life to develop a prototype for democratic social life and to foster democracy in children.
This section pertains to child behavior, child development experience, child research, and child–centered educational content as the basis of Dewey’s children’s educational perspective. Subsequent changes pertain to the development of a truly democratic life that is integrated into school education and in the face of dramatic changes in social life and changes in the role of teachers.
After World War I: Rethinking the task of children’s education in a democratic society
After World War I, changes in social, political, economic, and international relations caused Dewey to realize that many factors affect education. Education must integrate various social issues to continue to affect social reconstruction. Mere copying of the basic activities of social life in school education does not allow children to engage in these social issues.
World War I re–defined Dewey’s ideas. Rapid changes in various fields of society continued to influence the content and methods of school education; thus, various social issues had to be integrated into educational activities more effectively and scientifically. After World War I, Dewey (1923, 1930a, 1930b) began to think that the professional development of teachers is not linked to social responsibility; thus, their professional status cannot be improved. The development of the progressive education movement was out of touch with social issues, and child–centered connotations were overinterpreted, which resulted in many negative reviews. Dewey’s education–related work after World War I did not focus on child–centered methods as much as in the past: it became more concerned with the impact of social changes on education at that time.
Formation of educational purposes is related to the development of children’s social intelligence
In My Pedagogic Creed, Dewey speaks of “education as life” and regards education as a product of the social environment and the mutual construction of its members. It is impossible to set other goals or standards in addition to the educational process and purpose, and separation from the educational process and purpose only creates educational issues due to an inappropriate external stimulus (Dewey, 1897c).
In Democracy and Education (1916), Dewey notes that the educational process is continuously reorganized, reconstructed, and transformed and that the purpose of education is construction (creation) that is constantly in progress; thus, there is “no purpose beyond the educational process.” Just like F. W. Parker (1837–1902) advocated the personality traits of nature education in that the natural environment has considerable educational significance (Dewey, 1902b).
Dewey (1951) also noted that the most authentic and valuable feature of the progressive education movement is that it changes everything in the classroom and off–campus and that learning creates vitality and interest in children. Until the 1930s, Dewey (1930b) also noted that the progressive education movement ushers in the pursuit of more freedom and diverse education, such as music, painting, drama, and literature.
However, the progressive education movement did not consider social issues or develop teaching and leading. It promoted only vague ideas about school education, making it challenging to evaluate schools with different characteristics. In other words, the idea of educational freedom that was pursued by the progressive education movement failed to take account of the unique needs of children or to consider various social factors or forces that influence social development. This made it difficult to establish foreseeable goals; thus, it was viewed as an indulgence (Dewey, 1930b).
Dewey’s statement that “there is no purpose beyond the educational process” was a philosophical reflection. However, the progressive education movement used this as the only principle of teaching, thereby ignoring interaction with society (Cremin, 1961; Dewey, 1930b: 319–325). After 1916, the distinction between internal and external perspectives disappeared. Dewey (1917) stated in The Need for a Recovery of Philosophy that educational practice should consider the temporal and spatial context of experience and social conditions as well as individuals’ abilities and habits and then take appropriate actions to increase the likelihood of achieving the stated purpose. The development of an educational purpose relies on the development of children’s social intelligence (Dewey, 1917, 1930b).
Teaching profession and social responsibility in children’s education
After 1916, Dewey concentrated on the development of the educational purpose in the role of social intelligence and proposed that teachers’ professional authority in class is directly related to the freedom of values, cooperation, and individual needs in a democratic society (Dewey, 1938). He concentrated on social consciousness in terms of teacher organization and the teacher’s role as a leader of social activities and proposed that school education should guide children to focus on fundamental factors that drive public unity and cooperation in various public lives (Dewey, 1923).
In terms of the challenge of democratic education, Dewey (1937) defined many social expectations in the role of teachers, such as whether teachers should allow each child to assess themselves in how they can improve society after receiving school education. Dewey (1930a) noted that the development of the professionalism of teachers is closely related to whether the professional autonomy of education is adequate, whether school education “can be implemented,” and how to teach political and economic issues. Criticism of the current social order is also a crucial element and whether children can participate effectively in social life after they have experienced school education is important. The development of professionalism also depends on whether the teacher realizes his or her social responsibility. Because “education has no external purpose,” it can focus on the growth of learners to encourage flexible and creative education (Dewey, 1930). As is the philosophy of the progressive education movement, the social nature of education is not fully linked to the social nature of education because it is challenging to gather the common, infectious, and positive power of an experience.
Dewey (1930a) questioned whether current school education encourages personal success and personal competitiveness. An emphasis on individual competition may not be consistent with the concept of democracy. School education allows children to think about various goals that affect mutual cooperation in democratic societies, such as labor relations, unemployment, government taxation and the redistribution of national income, family relations, war, and equality.
Generally speaking, the learning content for experience must connect with children’s lives. If school education requires children to cultivate independent and critical thinking habits, it should also teach them critical thinking and transform social issues into thinking materials to inculcate in them the habit of critical thinking (Dewey, 1930a).
In addition to the relationship between education and a democratic society, Dewey (1930a) considered whether the educational system limits the free development of teachers in terms of standardized tests, which encourage teachers to strive for uniform test results, and how to enhance their creativity using the education system. In Dewey’s times, teachers did not benefit from professional autonomy. The status and power of teachers were inseparable from the power of educational administrators; thus, teachers become passive, mechanically acceptable recipients. Dewey proposed that teachers assume their own social responsibility, actively demonstrate the relationship between school and life and between school and society, and strive for professional autonomy to enhance children’s learning outcomes. In other words, teachers have a professional and social responsibility for children’s education.
Art of children’s learning in relation to science and democracy
After World War I, Dewey (1937) focused on understanding and using science and technology to combine the functions of democratic life and school education in terms of discovering the power to shape society as well as organized social action. Science should involve problem solving through continuous inquiry (Dewey, 1933a), which includes children’s thinking and questioning, inquiry and practice, and other learning skills and attitudes (Dewey, 1928).
In the 1933 version of How We Think, Dewey (1933) added that the original 1910 version did not elaborate on the function of scientific thinking and methods in learning. The art of thinking was specified as a guide for the art of learning. The art of learning starts by guiding children to use the learned ability to explore things in the past to deal with new problems and, through the process of practice, to discover new ideas from familiar old things to cultivate originality. Children should also focus on learning the content rather than the correct answer or the answer that is expected by the teacher or others.
Teachers should promote discussion among students to enable them to integrate the content of thinking, thus gradually expanding the scope of knowledge, acquiring knowledge, and devising efficient inquiry methods. This process echoes Dewey’s experience and the idea of education as growth.
Questions must be periodically reviewed to determine the meaning of the learning content and previous discussions using secondary, experimental topics. This method focuses on learning content so that what is learned can be used for new learning content.
Educational content should not blindly integrate social issues into school education: it should be organized into various social issues scientifically and through inquiry, discussion, and criticism in the educational context (Dewey, 1915). This allows children to think through various learning experiences and promotes in them the democratic literacy of intellectual freedom. This process is also known as “learning by doing” (Dewey, 1915, 1938).
Close connection between children’s education theory and social life
Dewey (1916: 341) noted that educational philosophy must allow people to adopt the correct psychological and moral habits when faced with the difficulties of contemporary society. He defines philosophy as the general theory of education (Dewey, 1916: 338). After World War I, increasingly complex social problems meant that these practices only regarded society as a whole, thus ignoring various special problems in society. The organization and construction of a school’s educational content are also affected by complex forces in social life beyond the school. Therefore, educators should be fully aware of social changes and their impact on schools (Cremin, 1961; Dewey, 1934).
The rapid development of industry and commerce in the United States after World War I and the economic depression in the late 1920s resulted in conflicts for the development of educational concepts. Many schools still concentrated on the training of educated gentlemen, which hindered advances in science and technology. If a school’s educational theory pertains to a formal and oversimplified social image, it does not reflect real social life (Dewey, 1933b). Dewey (1933b) noted that educational theory has two functions: any educational philosophy essential to American education must be an expression of social philosophy, and the theory and concept of society and education must be salient to current needs and issues. These needs and issues differentiate the family, economic, and political lives of a generation. Educational theory has both critical functions and constructive functions. It can not only help people face the contradictions, conflicts, deficiencies, and abnormalities of the current society but also help them foresee that these problems form new models or discover effective new power; educational theory must also help children to recognize the division of their lives because of the lack of identity and can be used to shape a purpose of uniting beliefs and actions (Dewey, 1933b: 46). We can see the close connection between children’s education theory and social life in Dewey’s works.
Children’s education in the future: The perspective of Dewey’s educational philosophy
Dewey defined children’s educational thoughts in terms of “intelligence” and “experience.” These elements have complex and diverse connotations in terms of this educational philosophy. “Intelligence” involves a child’s participation in problem solving and engagement in intellectual activities through reflection, inquiry, and cooperation. “Experience” involves the interaction between organisms and the environment, implying a continuity of means and purpose. A strategy of continuous reflection, criticism and discussion, inquiry, and judgment is used for democratic social problem solving and enhances democratic literacy and the cultural cultivation of children.
Increasing significance of democratic education in the problem–solving process for children
Before World War I, especially in the 1890s and 1900s, Dewey opposed the educational philosophy of metaphysics and abstract knowledge that was a feature of many educational works. Psychology and sociology would be used to cause scientific and technological innovation and develop a pedagogy to adapt the needs of children and teaching methods to the needs of a democratic society, thereby allowing children’s personalities to fully develop to take advantage of future opportunities, develop talents, and benefit the public.
After World War I, Dewey reanalyzed his thoughts. In terms of his philosophy of education, reflection involved less discussion of the content of functional psychology. He focused on the behavior of human beings (conduct); thus, he became less interested in things that are beyond the human experience such as human consciousness and spirit. His work concentrated on habits, interests, impulses, thoughts, and imagination. The development of these aspects is conducive to children’s development, teaching, techniques of psychological testing, relationship between children’s thinking and behavior, and effective organization of educational content.
A democratic society that emphasizes science must encourage participation in problem solving. However, education now regards problem solving as a personal ability and not something that relies on democratic literacy and attention to the social environment. For example, the Visible Thinking approach developed within the Harvard Graduate School of Education Project Zero can improve children’s thinking conceptions (Salmon and Lucas, 2011: 364). However, Dewey hoped that the ability of problem solving relies on the interaction between people and the social environment, democratic literacy, rational reflection, and technology. For example, it was not until 2015 that the Programme for International Student Assessment emphasized that “collaborative problem–solving competency” is two or more agents attempt to solve a problem by sharing the understanding and effort required to come to a solution and pooling their knowledge, skills and efforts to reach that solution. (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 2017: 6)
However, personal abilities are not limited to a specific form of scientific inquiry. Democratic education is crucial for the problem–solving process in children. Chevalier (1998: 48) helped children develop more social competence required for a democratic society through social studies and curriculum planning and described the antisocial behavior of several difficult students.
Use of social issues to promote democratic literacy in children’s education
Prior to World War I, Dewey (1896d) viewed the school as a special community with the development of children’s personality development as the principal goal. In other words, copying the basic activities of social life and making school life similar to the family life of children allows children to thrive in a warm and accepting environment, in which they can gradually become familiar with social mechanisms and cultivate sensory perception, manual labor, self–expression, and autonomy. However, this is an oversimplification of a complex social environment.
After World War I, Dewey (1925a) realized that a simplified social environment is completely different from real social life. Simplifying a complex social life in school education was contrary to his own empirical theory. Education should be devoted to the emancipation and expansion of experience (Dewey, 1933a). Carlson et al. (2002: 39) (ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America, 2002) indicated that “child and adult citizens are both capable and deserving of assuming deliberative roles in the democratic functioning of their communities and nations.”
In the face of complex social issues, teachers must allow children to experience and think about a social life that is changing, which increases children’s democratic literacy (Dewey, 1925b: 17). Social issues can be used to promote democratic literacy in children’s education. For example, the United Nations (UN) (1989) Convention on the Rights of the Child also advocates that children’s education should be combined with various social issues, such as respect for human rights and the natural environment; respect for their cultural identity, language and values; and the preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all people, ethnic, national, and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin. (United Nations, 1989)
Quality of children’s education is related to teachers’ commitment to social responsibility
Prior to World War I, Dewey’s view of teachers’ work and professionalism focused on understanding and exploring the psychological and social needs of children but did not discuss much on how school education implements the values and ideals of a democratic society and its effect on the professional development of teachers and the significance of teachers’ roles. Although Dewey (1908) said that “the conscience of social responsibility will be organized in a free and effective way,” at the time, he had not actively dealt with this issue in his works.
Whether teachers can inculcate the value of a democratic society in school education is critical to children’s views and experiences of democracy and their participation in everyday school life. Empirical research also indicated that educators may become obstacles and limitations to the democratization of school (Thornberg and Elvstrand, 2012: 44).
After World War I, Dewey’s study of the teaching profession, teacher unions, and progressive education campaigns was linked to teachers’ social responsibility and sensitivity to social issues. By strengthening the close relationship between school education and social life, it is natural and ethical to emphasize the interaction between organisms and the environment. The teaching profession relies on the influence of the social environment. Later studies proposed terms such as “shared responsibility” and “collective inquiry” for this view (Pamental, 2010). Regarding the social responsibility of teachers, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (1966) also emphasized the need to encourage teachers to participate in social and public life.
Recently, many opinions have advocated that democratic politics should be introduced early in children’s education. In other words, every educator, parent, and member of society related to children’s education should share the responsibility of school education, and children should be able to participate in the decision making of crucial matters related to their learning environment (Moss, 2011: 3).
In My Pedagogic Creed, Dewey (1897c: 94–95) said that teachers should integrate science (such as psychology and sociology can be used for educational purposes) and art (such as the art of making everyone’s personality fully developed and contributing to society) so that children can find a meaningful role in the society. These ideas are detailed in Freedom and Culture (1939), which proposes that science and technology are required for intellectual activity, ethics, and aesthetic values and are the media used to explore the world (Dewey, 1939).
Dewey (1897c: 95) believed, in My Pedagogic Creed, that education had a great effect on social reform. He noted that teaching is not just about educating people; it involves taking responsibility for shaping social life forms, maintaining social order, and developing society. He realized the limited function of education after World War I—it was obvious that the increasingly complex social issues and conflicts had to be actively responded to by educational workers. Integrating social issues into school education, expanding sensitivity to the social environment, deepening the ability to reflect and criticize, and fostering attitudes and methods of inquiry are especially crucial for teachers.
Governments should improve the social status of teachers, but teachers must also actively assume social responsibility and enhance the quality of children’s education. The quality of children’s education is related to teachers’ commitment to social responsibility. Eriksen (2018) stated that early childhood education and care underlines that “teachers’ responsibilities for providing an environment for children’s opportunities to exercise democracy” and emphasizes that “teachers must focus on children in vulnerable situations if they want to develop democratic practice for all children” (p. 11).
Conclusion
This study notes changes in Dewey’s educational philosophy before and after World War I. The role of sociology in school education before World War I was simplified and idealized and created a micro–democratic society that was similar to children’s lives. This educational content was recommended to be integrated with the development of children’s minds and bodies using psychology, and democratic education should be centered on children.
After World War I, Dewey reflected on the ideas that “school is a simplified special community” and that there was “no purpose beyond the educational process.” The impact of war on human life, the rapid development of industry, and the Great Depression meant that school education traditionally involved a culture of cultivating educated people. Dewey concentrated on how real and diverse social issues are useful and close to children’s lives and how the achievements of science and technology can drive innovation in school education and be used to teach children how to learn.
School education must incorporate social issues in teaching to meet the individual children’s development needs. The critical and constructive functions of educational theory also play a role in reconstructing society and the individual’s pursuit of self–identity. Dewey’s educational theories involve “intelligence” and “experience.” In terms of children’s education today, democratic education is vital for children to engage in the problem–solving process. Social issues must be used to promote democratic literacy in children’s education, and the quality of children’s education is related to teachers’ commitment to social responsibility.
Dewey’s educational philosophy still has great significance and value in children’s education in today’s democratic society. Dewey noted that the concept of democracy is a form of continuous construction in concrete practice. This process cannot be perfect.
Footnotes
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
