Education for “Citizenship” and Education for “Nationality”:

John Dewey’s Conceptions of Education and Nationalism

Abstract

This paper clarifies John Dewey’s thought about the relationship between education and nationalism, by comparing his “citizenship education” and “national education.”

  Previous research on Dewey’s nationalism has focused on his support for the American entry into World War I. However, such studies have insufficiently examined the concept of “national education,” which aims to emphasize nationality, that he developed during this period. This paper focuses on the relationship between “national education” and “citizenship education.” By considering the similarities and the differences between them, I reveal the significance of nationalism in Dewey’s theory of education. On the one hand, Dewey presents a perspective that goes beyond nationalism in his “citizenship education,” on the other hand, he asserts that public school plays a key role in national integration through “citizenship education” as well as “national education.” Dewey also argued for the unity of “citizenship education” and “vocational education,” but the latter was dependent on American values, which rejected German ones. In short, in his conceptions of both forms of education, democracy is inextricably linked to nationalism. This paper discusses its possibilities and limitations.