John dewey (1859- 1952) is a famous philosopher, sociologist and educator in modern America. Dewey spent most of his life teaching in universities, except for a short time as a teacher in middle schools. He also participated extensively in academic and social activities outside the school, and successively served as the president of the American Psychological Association, the first president of the American Association of University Professors, the president of the People's Forum and the national president of the Independent Political Alliance.

He went to Japan, China, Turkey, Mexico and the Soviet Union to inspect the education situation and publicize the pragmatic education thought. Dewey died in new york on 1952. His representative works are: Democracy and Education (19 16), School and Society (1899), How We Think (19 10) and School of Tomorrow (10).

"Democracy and Education" comprehensively expounds Dewey's pragmatic education theory basically formed in Chicago Experimental School and the theoretical discussion of educational reform at that time, and puts forward the clear objectives and methods of building new education.

Dewey especially emphasized the practical value and humanistic value of education, attached importance to the influence of education on people's morality and social development, and made education get rid of the isolated scope of knowledge transmission, and regarded education as an important aspect of social activities, so that education gained its due position in modern social life. ?

Democracy and Education is the representative work of Dewey's educational works, which has been translated into many languages and produced worldwide influence. British and American scholars rank democracy and education as three milestones in the history of western education, along with Plato's Republic and Rousseau's Emile.