"This Is What Democracy Looks Like": How John Dewey's Democracy and Education Lives in Education Organizing, Activism, and Opting Out

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

A century ago, Dewey’s Democracy and Education offered a vision of public education’s role in building a diverse democracy. This session explores the enduring resources—and potential shortcomings—of Dewey’s vision in conversation with democratic engagement efforts in education. Deweyan scholars undertaking research with/in communities consider the democratic aims and challenges when parents, students, and teachers engage in organizing and activism around "opt-out" movements and education justice. The session integrates diverse scholars alongside community organizers and activists to craft an interactive, media-rich symposium that takes up some of the key democratic questions involved in these movements against corporatized school reform and towards justice, as well as how research and expertise interact with the mobilization efforts of parents, teachers, and students.

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Cosponsors

• SIG-Dewey Studies

• SIG-Philosophical Studies in Education

Chairs

• Michele S. Moses, University of Colorado Boulder

• Terri S. Wilson, University of Colorado Boulder

Participants

• Terri S. Wilson, University of Colorado Boulder

• Michele S. Moses, University of Colorado Boulder

• Jessica Hochman, Pratt Institute

• Doris A. Santoro, Bowdoin College

• John S. Rogers, University of California - Los Angeles

• Veronica Terriquez, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Wagma Mommandi, University of Colorado - Boulder