Assignment Structure
You are required to write a Write a 1000 -1200 reflective analytical essay
about scholar views and your context entitled: "The Living Dialogue:
Education as a Democratic and Ethical Encounter at [Context]."
HED4804
Assignment 6
DUE 3 NOVEMBER 2025
2025
Assignment Structure
You are required to write a Write a 1000 -1200 reflective analytical essay
about scholar views and your context entitled: "The Living Dialogue:
Education as a Democratic and Ethical Encounter at [Context]."
0 7 6 4 0 3 1 2 2 9
, HED4804 Assignment 6
DUE 3 NOVEMBER 2025
Assignment Structure
You are required to write a Write a 1000 -1200 reflective analytical essay
about scholar views and your context entitled: "The Living Dialogue:
Education as a Democratic and Ethical Encounter at [Context]."
Education is more than just teaching facts or preparing learners for exams
— it is a living process that shapes how people relate to each other and to
the world. The purpose of this essay is to explore how education functions
as a democratic and ethical encounter, where teachers and learners meet as
equals and grow together in understanding, respect, and responsibility.
According to John Dewey (1897), education is not simply preparation for
life but life itself. He believed that learning happens through shared
experiences that help people become active, thoughtful members of a
democratic community. Similarly, Gert Biesta and Carl Säfström (2011)
argue that education should bring something new into the world —
something that helps learners act with freedom and responsibility. They see
education as a space where individuals learn how to live together in
difference and dialogue. In contrast, Hodgson, Vlieghe, and Zamojski (2017)
present a vision of education as a “post-critical” encounter, where both
teachers and learners engage openly with the unknown and trust the
process of learning as a shared human experience.
In this essay, I will compare and reflect on the ideas of these three works,
focusing on five key aspects: the aims of education, pedagogy and roles of
educator and student, educational knowledge and the curriculum, ethics in
education, and the relationship between education and democracy. I will