Originally published in 1916, John Dewey’s seminal book Democracy and Education was not translated into French until 1975, thanks to the work accomplished by Gérard Deledalle. Welcomed by a relative indifference on the part of French philosophers, the book only received attention from a few intellectuals, working in the field of educational sciences. But this has not always been the case. The main purpose of this paper is so to study the various ways according to which Dewey’s work has been (...) read and used over the last century. Based on a comprehensive review of French literature concerning Dewey, it underlines two mains moments proposing divergent interpretations and uses of his ideas, with the decade following its original publication; and, its translation into French. The relevance and the topicality of such a historical work appears to be all the more important as the beginning of the 21st century is marked by a rediscovery of Deweyan thought by the French audience, with the noticeable reprinting of Democracy and Education. In so doing, we shall thus point out the moving and transactional character of a book still to be read, pragmatically. (shrink)

The question “Is Hegel a pragmatist?” has been the subject of much debate among specialists in Hegelian philosophy and pragmatism. In this article, I intend to clarify the terms of the problem, and to assess the strengths and weaknesses of two ways of answering this question: the first is to make explicit pragmatic themes in Hegelian thought, and the second is to identify a minimal and negative criterion of rapprochement between Hegelianism and pragmatism. In light of this critical examination, it (...) appears that any general approach to this question is doomed to failure. (shrink)

John Dewey talks about child as an «agency of doing» which, by its action, strives to create meaning. From this view, Dewey offers new teaching principles focusing on learning in a context of free activity rather than in a context of restrictive discipline. The child is no longer just invited to represent the phenomenon to understand, it is somehow invited to meet it, to experience it, experience being defined as a transaction between the human being and physical and social environment. (...) Dewey also said that the lack of continuity in the experience marks the beginning of the learning process, he called inquiry, no longer described as essentially individualistic, which bases his epistemic perception of democracy. After briefly describing our meeting with Dewey’s educational thought, we will try to establish, from his conception of action, inquiry and democracy, how his thought can be considered as a foundation for a major innovation educational innovation symbolizing education reform in Quebec of the 2000s: the project approach. (shrink)