Democracy and Educational Reform in Japan: Toward John Dewey’s Theory of Public Sphere

The seminar presents an innovative vision of the democratic education and school reform by focusing on the hope for learning and living in a way that transcends cynicism in the global era. The transformation of society into a sophisticated knowledge- and information-based society that is multicultural and environmentally aware has crossed national borders and advanced globally. As the world situation changed in the 1990s, interest in the utility of public education has grown to a new context in many countries characterized by the overwhelming victory of neoliberalism. However, in that process, the school system has changed to foster inequality stemming from choice and competition. My research aims to present way to revive hope that learning that moves beyond cynicism from the perspective of John Dewey’s theory of education and democracy. Inquiry into the innovative school reform is connected to the realization of a better world by guaranteeing participation in high-quality learning to all children and fostering democracy as a way to live free and equal lives. According to Dewey’s pragmatism, the ray of hope for learning and living consists in building educational democracy and equality and enacting school reform based on innovative learning philosophy and methods.