John Dewey's laboratory school experiment: A philosopher's statement on the communal democratic ideal

The purpose of this study was to examine, through historical and Critical Enquiry, the efforts of John Dewey in designing an educational system which purported to inculcate the democratic ideal in the classroom. This system, in effect the Laboratory School of the University of Chicago, lasted only six years. In the short duration of the school Dewey was able to experiment with the rudimentary structure of a 'student centered' education meant to promote an enthusiastic participator in the democratic process. Much has been researched regarding the Laboratory School and its educational elements, less about the lost opportunity of an incomplete experiment.;If Dewey had applied his communal democratic principles over the full extent of the child's school years, then these students should have develop as individuals who, accepting the need to be involved and responsible for their community, emerge as the essence of a democrat---one who knows that only through a cooperative communal existence can true democracy emerge.;The study has as its focus the writings of John Dewey which pertain to the Laboratory School experiment, and the communal democratic ideal that he hoped would result from his child-centered education. Dewey's stand on the importance of education was the development of an active citizenry and American schools could benefit by introducing Dewey's democratic ideal into the pubic schools.;The link we have with our past is no better than the ability of one generation to teach its children the lessons of the past and to pass on the vital characteristics it hopes to preserve. The current public school system, which has witnessed countless attempts at reform, has retained a popular perception of failing schools. Dewey's school, though abandoned in practice, its various pieces absorbed into the educational fabric, might provide a vision for the future of American schools.