ABSTRACT
Drawing on Habermas and Dewey, this chapter argues that education can pave the way for more democratic ways of living together that are more just, more caring and more supportive of difference and equality. The argument is that it is important to study the contested purposes of education and connect that debate with notions of the ‘public sphere’. Education studies programmes should be interested in the debates that take place in society about important issues. These conversations take place in the public sphere which is a space in society for open, free debate about matters that start as private concerns and which are subsequently brought to the attention of politicians. Expressions of public opinion inform public policy and legislation in democracies. Education studies programmes help understand these issues and focus on the relationship between education – with open free discussions – and democracy. Increasingly, complex knowledge is required today in order to discuss issues such as climate change, rapidly changing technological advances, global migrations and growing inequalities. All of this is the domain of education studies.
