Democracies Always in the Making

Democracies Always in the Making develops Barbara Thayer-Bacon’s relational and pluralistic democratic theory, as well as translates that socio-political philosophical theory into educational theory and recommendations for school reform in American public schools. John Dewey warned us long ago that a nation cannot hope to be a democracy someday without paying attention to how it educates its young future citizens. Democracy is a goal, an ideal which we must continually strive for that can guide us in our decision-making, as we continue to live in a world that is unpredictable, flawed, and limited in terms of its resources. There are key political philosophers of education who we can turn to for help. They offer us important ideas that will help us re-check our assumptions and critique our daily practice. Existing school models also offer us important examples of how to structure schools as well as various methodologies and curriculum that we can elect to use to help us move closer to the ideal of a democracy.

Table of Contents:
Dedication Acknowledgments Preface Approach The Intended Market Outstanding Features of the Book Introduction Democratic Theory: Out From Under the Yokes of Locke and Rousseau Classical Liberal Assumptions Assumptions for Democracies Always in the Making Conclusion Notes Chapter One Learning to Trust Students: Rancière and Montessori on Democracy Jacques Rancière and The Ignorant Schoolmaster Maria Montessori and La Casa dei Bambini Democracies Depend on Relationships of Equality Rancière and Democracies-Always-in-the-Making Notes Chapter Two Connecting the Home and School to Society: La Casa dei Bambini and the Chicago Lab School Maria Montessori’s Private Story Maria Montessori’s Casa dei Bambini John Dewey and the Chicago Lab School William Heard Kilpatrick Montessori and Democracies-Always-in-the-Making Conclusion Notes Chapter Three Trying to Get Social Justice and Love Together: Highlander Folk School and Central Park East Highlander Folk School Getting Theory and Practice Together Living What You Believe Notes Chapter Four The Teacher as a Revolutionary Leader: Freire, McLaren, hooksand the staff at La Escuela Movimento de Cultura Popular Peter McLaren and the Jane-Finch Corridor Bell Hooks, Booker T. Washington and Crispus Attucks Centro Educativo Ixtliyollotl (La Escuela) Conclusion Notes Chapter Five Celebrating the Passions of Pluralism Through the Arts: Maxine Greene, the Center for the Arts, Social Imagination, and Education, and Young Warriors High School Maxine Greene and the Center for the Arts, Social Imagination, and Education Young Warriors High School The Indians’ Hole in Their Hearts and the Importance of Shared Identities Through the Arts Conclusion Notes Chapter Six Implications for Schools in Democracies-Always-in-the-Making: Conclusion Theoretical Lessons Learned Practical Lessons Learned Conclusion References Index About the Author

About the Author :
Barbara J. Thayer-Bacon is professor of philosophy of education in the Cultural Studies of Education masters program and the Learning Environments and Educational Studies doctoral program at the University of Tennessee. Her primary research areas as a philosopher of education are pragmatism, feminist theory and pedagogy, and cultural studies in education.

Review :
In this provocative new book, Thayer-Bacon (Univ. of Tennessee) aims to dislodge democratic theory from its reliance on the extreme individualism of John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau and in its place construct a transactional view of democracy that emphasizes epistemological and cultural pluralism and a relational view of selfhood. Drawing from a variety of feminist and postmodern perspectives, she makes a convincing case for a view of democracy that is always incomplete and unfinished, yet nevertheless provides the best orientation for educational (and other social) institutions. Thayer-Bacon accomplishes this by linking critical investigation of key theorists (Jacques Rancière, John Dewey, Paulo Freire, bell hooks, and others) to descriptive analysis of actual school projects, some of which are based on firsthand experience. Her treatment of Myles Horton and Maxine Greene are especially noteworthy. In her effort to canonize some theorists while demonizing others, however, she makes the occasional heavy-handed caricature. The historical record makes it very difficult to see Maria Montessori, for instance, as someone animated by a purely egalitarian spirit. Moreover, Thayer-Bacon's sharp, nearly ad hominem critique of Peter McLaren's work will likely raise eyebrows. Still, it is this contentiousness that will generate good discussion in graduate seminars. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Undergraduates, all levels, and above. One of the great mistakes of our time is thinking we know the fixed and final form of democracy for all people, epochs, and places. Another mistake is thinking we have all the democracy we require. Barbara Thayer-Bacon draws on her background as a philosopher of education and her work as a cultural studies scholar to challenge narrow liberal democratic notions of rigid rationalism, atomistic individualism, and static universalism with her own contextual and transactional description of selves-in-relation-with-others. She shows that democracies and democrats are always-in-the-making. Following her career-long commitment to examining the relationship between school, education and democracy, Thayer-Bacon once again brings her feminist insight into a contemporary critique of democratic classical liberalism. Drawing upon philosophers from Socrates to Rousseau to Dewey to Noddings, hooks and Greene, Thayer-Bacon argues that democracies, as ever incomplete, must turn from Rationalism, Universalism, and Individualism to Shared Responsibility, Authority, and Identity, as the guiding factors in our creation of a more humane and public democracy. Thayer-Bacon offers a careful critique of the educational ill-effects of rationalism, universalism, and individualism. Informed by a wide range of progressive educational thinkers, Democracy Always in the Making offers many useful examples of engaged, relational education. Barbara Thayer-Bacon provides strong arguments for revising classical liberal conceptions of democracy and coming to view humans—not as isolated individuals—but as beings-in-relation to others. Moreover, she combines philosophical argumentation with lessons learned from specific schools that recenter an ethics of sharing and interdependence. The combination of philosophical and pedagogical discourses make this book especially helpful.