The Hallmarks of a Democratic Citizenry: Dewey's Shared Concerns and Liberation of Greater Diversity

• In Event: Philosophical, Historical, and Global Understandings of Citizenship Education

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to revisit Dewey’s (1916) social imaginary of democratic society and its citizenry set forth in Democracy and Education as well as his other works in consideration of responding to questions pressing on society and its educational systems as well as to address problems confronting the public today. Specifically, the paper will focus upon the increasingly complex nature of educating students today, and the challenges of standards and accountability, increasing diversity, issues of social justice, shifting demographics, and a myriad of social issues that make hallmark the public’s distancing from schools and the distancing of democratic practices from education.

Author

• Patrick M. Jenlink, Stephen F. Austin State University