Dewey and Democracy

emerging social situation in full bloom

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“A democracy is more than a form of government; it is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience. The extension in space of the number of individuals who participate in an interest so that each has to refer his own action to that of others, and to consider the action of others to give point and direction to his own, is equivalent to the breaking down of those barriers of class, race, and national territory which kept men from perceiving the full import of their activity” (p. 93).

“A society which is mobile, which is full of channels for the distribution of a change occurring anywhere, must see to it that its members are educated to personal initiative and adaptability” (pp. 93-94).

I think you made a really great overview of Chapter 7.    Modern technology has given a new spin to the citations above.   What we are doing here is an example of "conjoint communicated experience".   

And perhaps Verizon could use the second citation:  "A Society which is mobile....."   

These are things I think about that show me the enduring application of Dewey ideas.   He wrote in  a way that lets you create your own relevance in your own time.    Which is, interestingly, a mark of good teaching in general.   There are meanings .  And then there's how you help those meanings become relevant.  Otherwise your  meanings appear as facts to the students.     Regarding facts, the same can be said of them as truths:  "A number of things, I think, are true."   We are compelled to select and facilitate through living communications which could be called "continuous reconstructions in experience".