Article
John Deway and the Significance of Peace Education in American Democracy
The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
(2017)
Abstract
As 2016 is the centennial of Dewey's most famous work, Democracy and Education (1916), it is imperative to consider Dewey's role as a public intellectual. In reflection of how he framed his most famous work—as an instrument for helping people think about democratic reform—the authors examined John Dewey's beliefs about the importance of peace as applied to the American view. This essay journals Dewey as an important contributor to the American peace movement in terms of both thought and activity, especially in the post-World War I period. Dewey argued that the responsibility of schools in a democratic society is to teach cooperation and understanding and not simply rely on notions of patriotism and allegiance as often presented in schools. His World War I experience alerted him to the need for transforming schools as seminaries of patriotism into instruments for global understanding. The authors also offered specific examples as to how his instrumentalist philosophy, including his involvement in the Outlawry of War campaign in the 1920s, has been a cornerstone of peace education efforts in the United States over the past one hundred years and what has been their effectiveness.
Keywords
- john dewey,
- peace education,
- democracy and education,
- world war one
Disciplines
Publication Date
October, 2017
DOI
10.1017/S1537781417000330
Citation Information
Audrey Cohan and Charles F. Howlett. "John Deway and the Significance of Peace Education in American Democracy" The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era Vol. 16 Iss. 4 (2017) p. 456 - 472 ISSN: 1537-7814 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/audrey-cohan/28/