The reception of Dewey’s thought in Italy

The case of Democracy and Education

Abstract

The reception of Dewey’s thought in Italy was assimilated within a cultural and political project aimed at “renewing” Italian culture by means of a thorough transformation of educational models and practices. This project was initiated during the process of the post-war reconstruction of the country, after the establishment in 1946 of the democratic republic. Within this framework the democratic ideal described in Democracy and Education was inspirational for the advocates of educational reform, understood as the key to advancing cultural, political and social democracy. Nonetheless, this political focus has, to a great extent, diverted Italian scholars from the core meaning of Dewey’s masterpiece, which is deeply theoretical. It is therefore important to implement a theoretical reading of Democracy and Education in order to discover its implications for the construction of a democratic theory of education.