ABSTRACT
We think of education as a social and cultural phenomenon, inextricably interconnected with a society’s economic, political, and social structures; beliefs; and concerns. Situated among these relationships, education is about life. As John Dewey put it, education, “is about the making of a world” (in Purpel, 1999, p. 72). Students, educators and other individuals who are involved in the efforts of educational institutions engage in the creation, recreation, and the maintenance of our culture, soci-ety, and community. In this construction process, we all participate, in varying degrees, in the complex task of determining what type of world we want to make, what type of world we are making, and what type of world is it possible to make. Of course, educational institutions are not solely
responsible for “the making of world.” They hold a vital and central relationship with other institutions and groups to contribute to the overall process.
