Such societies were found to be democratic in quality, because of
the greater freedom allowed the constituent members, and the
conscious need of securing in individuals a consciously
socialized interest, instead of trusting mainly to the force of
customs operating under the control of a superior class. The
sort of education appropriate to the development of a democratic
community was then explicitly taken as the criterion of the
further, more detailed analysis of education.
II. This analysis, based upon the democratic criterion, was seen
to imply the ideal of a continuous reconstruction or reorganizing
of experience, of such a nature as to increase its recognized
meaning or social content, and as to increase the capacity of
individuals to act as directive guardians of this reorganization.
(See Chapters VI-VII.) This distinction was then used to outline
the respective characters of subject matter and method. It also
defined their unity, since method in study and learning upon this
basis is just the consciously directed movement of reorganization
of the subject matter of experience. From this point of view the
main principles of method and subject matter of learning were
developed (Chapters XIII-XIV.)
III. Save for incidental criticisms designed to illustrate
principles by force of contrast, this phase of the discussion
took for granted the democratic criterion and its application in
present social life.
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