Democracy and Education- Excerpt adapted from Cavicchi (2017)

John Dewey, Democracy and Education(1916)

Cavicchi, Elizabeth. "Shaping and being shaped by environments for learning science:
continuities with the space and democratic vision of a century ago." Science & Education 26, no.5 (2017): 529-556. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-017-9910-6

" John Dewey’s educational vision emphasizes the environment as a medium for education rather than a mere backdrop. Dewey argues against the traditional model of direct transmission of knowledge from teacher to student, instead advocating for a dynamic interaction between learners and their environment. He highlights that the environment should provoke and sustain active engagement, thereby facilitating self and environmental changes.
Not all environments are equally beneficial for education; educators should create environments that invite interaction and awaken learners’ capacities. 

Dewey insists that education occurs indirectly through the environment, emphasizing the importance of designing environments purposefully rather than leaving it to chance. Schools often fail to support students' active learning processes, relying on directive teaching methods, isolating school studies from everyday life, segregating students from peers, and sharply separating different study areas. Dewey suggests that schools should equip themselves with tools for cooperative activity and integrate learning with everyday life activities.

For an environment to support investigative learning, it must accommodate exploration and experimentation. Genuine investigation involves uncertainty and challenges authoritarian claims, requiring that all ideas be examined thoroughly. Dewey's vision of education aligns with democratic principles, where students engage collaboratively in mutual concerns, revise prior outlooks, and develop multiple perspectives.

This approach, also supported by contemporary geologist Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin, encourages teachers and learners to consider multiple hypotheses and remain open to various possibilities, fostering a flexible and comprehensive understanding. Authentic learning is jeopardized when schools are isolated from everyday life, which Dewey criticizes as “batch-processing” schooling. He advocates for environments that encourage construction, creativity, and inquiry.

Dewey's educational philosophy is deeply connected to spatial arrangements. Classrooms designed to confine students suppress their investigative potential. He illustrates how interconnected spaces promote learning and sustain organic relationships among school, home, society, and nature, ensuring a balance between theory and practice. Dewey opposes dualistic thinking, which divides and segregates areas, obstructing democratic and participatory education. 

Instead, he promotes continuity, integrating learning within all life processes and fostering vibrant exchanges that dismantle artificial distinctions. This holistic approach enables every learner to engage in democratic learning, free from authoritarian control and aligned with personal curiosity and experiences...