Creative Democracy: How Democratic Education Can Restore and Enrich Democracy

A good case can be made that a necessary precondition to heal both society and schooling is democratic education — the process by which people develop with full recognition of their individual backgrounds, beliefs, and needs to become critical, socially engaged citizens who can participate productively in the transformation of their world. This article examines education by democracy, for democracy, and of democracy. It extends Lincoln’s formulation to consider a fourth relation, education with democracy, using examples of students engaged in work regarding fair trade, urban planning, and American history.