民主、民主国家及其教育理想——兼论杜威的教育民主思想

Democracy%2C Democratic Country and Its Educational Ideal:John Dewey's Thoughts of Democratic Education

：“民主”是西方主要政治学概念，理解民主需要将其置于西方文化语境之中。柏拉图及其后世一些著名哲学家均探讨过民主制度及其学校教育理想，但杜威却是其中之翘楚。在杜威看来，学校是培养人之理性之场所，学校教育是推动民主社会进步的重要工具，其内容是科学知识，其教育方法是“探究”。民主社会的学校教育理想是旨在为民主国家理想之建立与维护筑起一道堤坝，并通过学校教育造就推进和捍卫民主国家和民主制度的卫士。

Democracy， democratic country and school education are closely related. Democracy is a concept of Western politics， and thus understanding of democracy needs to be placed in the context of Western cultures. Since Plato， some famous philosophers have explored the relationship between democracy and education. Dewey is among the best. According to Dewey， school is a place to foster individuals， rationality， and school education plays important role in promoting the advancement of democratic society， with the content of scientific knowledge and the educational approach of ＂inquiry＂. The educational ideal in a democratic society is to build a dam for the establishment and maintenance of the ideal of democratic country and to foster defenders who can facilitate and defend democratic country and democracy.