Dewey's Democracy and Citizenship Education: Connecting Theory and Practice in Education Today
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57125/FED.2025.12.18Keywords:
Dewey, democracy, education, citizenship, school.Abstract
The ideas of John Dewey about democracy and the school being something that forms the citizens of the future still have a significant influence, and this article brings this out by applying a critical perspective to them. Dewey saw democracy not just as a life experience but also as an opportunity for participation, which should be at the heart of education; so, he declared democracy itself a leading vehicle for education of productive citizens imbued with a spirit of activity and a sense of responsibility. In addition, education offers the space for students to nurture democracy through cultural interaction and active participation in learning activities. The article emphasizes that Dewey's strategies, including project-based learning, service learning, and dialogic dialogue, not only facilitate the democratic culture but also upgrade citizenship education in general. They are effective if education focuses on critical engagement, social and political responsibility. John Dewey, by creating classrooms as the small world of society, where students acquire the skills of cohabitation in communities different from their own and democratic skills through practice, is promoting what he terms a democratic way of life. However, the full realization of Dewey's vision is still met with several obstacles. One of the major challenges to democracy as a goal is posed predominantly by the highly centralized education systems, social, and political injustices, and the strengthening of individualism. Besides, these technologies endanger education to a great extent in that the risks caused by the use of new technologies in today's education, especially misinformation and the digital divide, will make the task of implementing citizenship education in schools more difficult. On the other hand, skillful teachers are a strong positive force for change, exhorting different groups to discuss and take part in democracy. Recognizing political education as a progressive endeavor influenced by both politics and technology leads to the final point that Deweyan democracy is the key background for education. It is main in preparing students who are knowledgeable and active as the democratic citizens of tomorrow - those who are able to bring about change through gradual progress. Future research and activism at schools should be directed by the identification and development of ways in which theory can be merged with practice to ensure the schools accomplish their role as the vehicles of democracy and social justice. Schools would thus be able to genuinely become the centers of social development within society.
References
Apple, M. W. (2018). The struggle for democracy in education: Lessons from social realities (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315194684
Banks, J. A. (2017). Failed citizenship and transformative civic education. Educational Researcher, 46(7), 366–377. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X17726741
Barišić, P. (2018). Democracy as a way of life – Philosophical credo of John Dewey. In Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy (Vol. 69, pp. 47–53). Philosophy Documentation Centre. https://doi.org/10.5840/wcp232018691538
Biesta, G. (2006). Beyond learning: Democratic education for a human future. Paradigm Publishers.
Biesta, G. (2020). Educational research: An unorthodox introduction. Bloomsbury Academic.
Biesta, G. (2023). Good education in an age of measurement: On the need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education. Encyclopaideia, 27(1S), 9–20. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1825-8670/16834
Culp, J. (2025). Multicultural education for transnational democratic citizenship. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 59(3–4), 413–433. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopedu/qhaf011
Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. Macmillan.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. The Macmillan Company.
Dewey, J. (2016). The public and its problems. Swallow Press.
Dowling Fink, A. D., Pederson, J., & Lettner-Rust, H. G. (Eds.). (2025). Experiential civic education: Encouraging student engagement using the field immersion framework (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003442400
Ellsworth, E. (2016). Places of learning: Media, architecture, pedagogy. Routledge.
Guo-Brennan, L., & Guo-Brennan, M. (2020). Global citizenship education and social justice for immigrant students: Implications for administration, leadership, and teaching in schools. In R. Papa (Ed.), Handbook on promoting social justice in education (pp. 1–19). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14625-2_40
Heilbronn, R., Doddington, C., & Higham, R. (2018). Dewey in the 21st century: Fighting back. Emerald Publishing.
Hess, D. E. (2009). Controversy in the classroom: The democratic power of discussion. Routledge.
Hess, D. E., & McAvoy, P. (2014). The political classroom: Evidence and ethics in democratic education (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315738871
Kahne, J., Hodgin, E., & Eidman-Aadahl, E. (2016). Redesigning civic education for the digital age: Participatory politics and the pursuit of democratic engagement. Theory & Research in Social Education, 44(1), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2015.1132646
Kalmes, L. E. (2024). Loosely defined: Neoliberalism, democracy, and discursive contestation in post-Brown education reform. Journal of Education Policy, 40(3), 539–561. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2024.2420325
Levinson, M. (2010). The civic empowerment gap: Defining the problem and locating solutions. In L. Sherrod, J. Torney-Purta, & C. A. Flanagan (Eds.), Handbook of research on civic engagement (pp. 331–361). John Wiley & Sons.
Mansfield, H. C., & Winthrop, D. (2000). Democracy in America (A. de Tocqueville, Trans.). University of Chicago Press.
Mendes Borges, A. C. (2020). Youth agency in civic education: Contemporary perspectives from Cabo Verde. Societies, 10(3), 53. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10030053
Midtgarden, T. (2012). Critical pragmatism: Dewey’s social philosophy revisited. European Journal of Social Theory, 15(4), 505–521. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431011432373
OECD. (2023). Equity, diversity and inclusion in early childhood education and care. OECD Education Policy Perspectives, No. 83. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/72ab31c1-en
Parker, W. C. (2017). Social studies in elementary education. Pearson.
Rapoport, A. (2024). Globalisation and education futures: Globalization and citizenship education. In J. Zajda (Ed.), Fourth international handbook of globalisation, education and policy research. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-67667-3_55
Rawls, J. (1999). A theory of justice: Revised edition. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvkjb25m
Regenspan, B. (2017). Exploring John Dewey as border-crosser between spiritual and political discourses: A social justice-focused teacher educator self-study. Journal of Thought, 39(3), 9–25.
Riddle, S., Bright, D., & Heffernan, A. (Eds.). (2023). Education, policy and democracy: Contemporary challenges and possibilities (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003451631
Rosales, J. M. (2012). Democracy as a way of life: Critical reflections on a Deweyan theme. Res Publica: Revista de Filosofía Política, 15(27), 155–165.
Sant, E., Davies, I., Pashby, K., & Shultz, L. (2018). Global citizenship education: A critical introduction. Bloomsbury Academic.
Sardoč, M. (2021). Citizenship, social change, and education. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 11(2), 97–109. https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1093
Sefton-Green, J. (2020). Educating for democracy in the digital age. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-1005
Smith, B., Neoh, J. Y., McDowall, A., et al. (2024). Preparing teachers for critical global and democratic practice: Shifting inquiries into the teaching of democracy and global citizenship in teacher education. Curriculum Perspectives, 44, 525–536. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-024-00235-0
Vázquez, G. C. (2014). Language, education and citizenship in Japan. Routledge.
Wagner, P., & Kössler, T. (2022). Moulding democratic citizens: Democracy and education in modern European history – An introduction. European Review of History: Revue Européenne d’histoire, 29(6), 859–883. https://doi.org/10.1080/13507486.2022.2133683
Waks, L. J. (1999). The means-ends continuum and the reconciliation of science and art in the later works of John Dewey. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society, 35(3), 595–611. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40320781
Westerlund, H., Väkevä, L., & Laes, T. (2020). Democracy, the arts, and aesthetic education. In M. Peters (Ed.), Encyclopedia of educational philosophy and theory. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_685-1
Westheimer, J., & Kahne, J. (2004). What kind of citizen? The politics of educating for democracy. American Educational Research Journal, 41(2), 237–269. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312041002237
White, G., Dong, D., Campbell, D. E., & Lee, C. D. (2023). The future of civic education: Implications for research, policy, and practice. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 705(1), 249–257. https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162231193538
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
