John Dewey, Participatory Democracy, and University-Community Partnerships
John Dewey, Participatory Democracy, and University-Community Partnerships
The educational philosophy of John Dewey and the contemporary constructivist learning theories that have evolved from his pragmatist perspective provide a foundation for guiding efforts to introduce higher education reforms that harmonize the three global missions of the university: teaching and learning, research and scholarship, and service to communities and society. A broad principle of Dewey’s perspective is that useful knowledge is the unity of abstraction and application (i.e., praxis). Useful knowledge is constructed in communities of inquiry when learners in classrooms and participants in university-community partnerships engage in dialog to solve meaningful problems. Core concepts and practices consistent with pragmatism and constructivism are explored (e.g., participatory democracy, dialogic discourse, project-based learning, service learning, participatory research) in the context of efforts to enhance the quality of communication across cultural barriers in both the classroom and the community.
Keywords: dialogic discourse, inquiry, participatory democracy, participatory research, problem-based learning, service learning, useful knowledge
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