John Dewey’s Democratic Education And The Problems Of Implementing Secondary School Educational Policies In Nigeria

Abstract

Education is such an indispensable tool to man and society for sustainable development. This implies that the fundamental task of education in the society is in two folds: the social process and the individual process. The latter will help in the proper preparation of the young citizens for the roles and responsibilities that they should take on when they reach maturity. Through education, society can formulate its own purpose, can organize its own means and resources and shape itself with definiteness and economy in the direction in which it wishes to move. This paper focuses on the exploration of Dewey's conception of democratic education in relation to the Nigerian context. The work highlights and categorizes the problems that work against secondary education as lack of implementation of policies and pedagogical knowledge. It is argued that Dewey’s educational ideas are relevance to the Nigerian educational system, particularly on secondary education, and a thoughtful application of ideas would, help to resolve these problems. Fundamentally, the work further suggests that the Nigerian government and educational policy makers should re-evaluate its policies and have a completely new plan for this aspect of education by adopting a democratic curriculum.