--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The school must be \"a genuine form of…" description: "\"The school must be \"a genuine form of active community life, instead of a place set apart in which to learn lessons\".\" — John Dewey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/john-dewey-545_active_the-school-must-be-a-genuine-form-of-act_2747045.png" --- # The school must be "a genuine form of active community… ![“The school must be "a genuine form of active community life, instead of a place set apart in which to learn lessons".” quote by John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/john-dewey-545_active_the-school-must-be-a-genuine-form-of-act_2747045.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/john-dewey-545_active_the-school-must-be-a-genuine-form-of-act_2747045.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/john-dewey-545_active_the-school-must-be-a-genuine-form-of-act_2747045.png) > “The school must be "a genuine form of active community life, instead of a place set apart in which to learn lessons".” [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Education should be an active, communal experience, not isolated instruction. **In simple terms:** Learning thrives in shared, active community settings. Key Takeaway Promote collaborative, experiential learning environments. Themes education community participation Mood inspirational practical Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - classroom design - community projects - online forums Key Concepts democratic schooling active learning Questions to Reflect On - How can schools foster genuine community? - What activities best integrate learning and participation? A Different Perspective Implementing community learning can face resource limits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Learning lessons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning-lessons/) [Lessons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lessons/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) ## Related quotes > [It's really important to be active in your community, whatever community that is... find allies and find people who you relate to and who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-leclerc/it-s-really-important-to-be-active-in-your-community-whatever/) [Katie Leclerc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-leclerc/) > [There is no common understanding, and no community life. But in a shared activity, each person refers what he is doing to what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/there-is-no-common-understanding-and-no-community-life-but-in-a/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [I'm definitely active in the community down there in Charleston.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khris-middleton/i-m-definitely-active-in-the-community-down-there-in-charleston/) [Khris Middleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khris-middleton/) > [I'm active in my community. I want to help as many people as I can help. I want to utilize this platform for good.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tomlin/i-m-active-in-my-community-i-want-to-help-as-many-people-as-i-can/) [Mike Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tomlin/) > [I have always been an active part of my community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salma-hayek/i-have-always-been-an-active-part-of-my-community/) [Salma Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salma-hayek/) > [I hope people become inspired to become active in their community. That's the important thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolores-huerta/i-hope-people-become-inspired-to-become-active-in-their-community/) [Dolores Huerta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolores-huerta/) > [I think if you want to be active in the community, it's really important to understand where people come from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minkah-fitzpatrick/i-think-if-you-want-to-be-active-in-the-community-it-s-really/) [Minkah Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minkah-fitzpatrick/) > [A growing community must integrate three elements: a life of silent prayer, a life of service and above all of listening to the poor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-vanier/a-growing-community-must-integrate-three-elements-a-life-of-silent/) [Jean Vanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-vanier/) > [“The community of life that we see here at any given time isn't just a random collection. It's a collection of successes. It's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/the-community-of-life-that-we-see-here-at-any-given-time-isn-t-just-a/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [The concepts of community and community life, have since the Dreaming, always held special significance for Aboriginal people because both provided the physical, cultural,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wyatt/the-concepts-of-community-and-community-life-have-since-the-dreaming/) [Ken Wyatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wyatt/) > [The biggest thing I lost when I left religion was that sense of community and the culture. It was an unexpected kind of free-falling.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-shaffir/the-biggest-thing-i-lost-when-i-left-religion-was-that-sense-of/) [Ari Shaffir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-shaffir/) > [“MCs center their rhythms on growing in relationship with God (UP), with one another (IN), and with those they are reaching out to (OUT).…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-breen/mcs-center-their-rhythms-on-growing-in-relationship-with-god-up-with/) [Mike Breen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-breen/) > [“faith is an inauguration into a community and into a life of dying, or cruciformity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-j-gorman/faith-is-an-inauguration-into-a-community-and-into-a-life-of-dying-or/) [Michael J. Gorman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-j-gorman/) > [Community life is not easy for somebody like me, who is used to living by himself and doing what he wants. It's a demanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/community-life-is-not-easy-for-somebody-like-me-who-is-used-to-living/) [Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/) > [“We were born alone and we will die alone. But, while we are on this planet, we must accept and glorify our act of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/we-were-born-alone-and-we-will-die-alone-but-while-we-are-on-this-2/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) ## More by John Dewey > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“Empirically, things are poignant, tragic, beautiful, humorous, settled, disturbed, comfortable, annoying, barren, harsh, consoling, splendid, fearful; are such immediately and in their own right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/empirically-things-are-poignant-tragic-beautiful-humorous-settled/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/experiences-in-order-to-be-educative-must-lead-out-into-an-expanding/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A tribe, let us say, is warlike. The successes for which it strives, the achievements upon which it sets store, are connected with fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-tribe-let-us-say-is-warlike-the-successes-for-which-it-strives-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The phrase "think for one's self" is a pleonasm. Unless one does it for one's self, it isn't thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-phrase-think-for-one-s-self-is-a-pleonasm-unless-one-does-it-for/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Doctrine that eliminates or even obscures the function of choice of values and enlistment of desires and emotions in behalf of those chosen weakens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/doctrine-that-eliminates-or-even-obscures-the-function-of-choice-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [There is no such thing as educational value in the abstract. The notion that some subjects and methods and that acquaintance with certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/there-is-no-such-thing-as-educational-value-in-the-abstract-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Men live in a community in virtue of the things which they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/men-live-in-a-community-in-virtue-of-the-things-which-they-have-in/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/we-can-have-facts-without-thinking-but-we-cannot-have-thinking/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [But progress in knowledge has made us aware of the superficiality of Plato's lumping of individuals and their original powers into a few sharply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/but-progress-in-knowledge-has-made-us-aware-of-the-superficiality-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Even the alleged benefits of war, so far as more than alleged, spring from the fact that conflict of peoples at least enforces intercourse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/even-the-alleged-benefits-of-war-so-far-as-more-than-alleged-spring/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“When the organization called soul is free, moving and operative, initial as well as terminal, it is spirit. Qualities are both static, substantial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/when-the-organization-called-soul-is-free-moving-and-operative/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Since in reality there is nothing to which growth is relative save more growth, there is nothing to which education is subordinate save more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/since-in-reality-there-is-nothing-to-which-growth-is-relative-save/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Creative thinking will improve as we relate the new fact to the old and all facts to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/creative-thinking-will-improve-as-we-relate-the-new-fact-to-the-old/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) [Explore all 486 John Dewey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## More Active quotes > [Listening is a very active awareness of the coming together of at least two lives. Listening, as far as I'm concerned, is certainly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-rogers/listening-is-a-very-active-awareness-of-the-coming-together-of-at/) [Fred Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-rogers/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [We in US need active intelligence: people being on the streets, people being able to stop and ask questions of individuals that they suspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-guilfoyle/we-in-us-need-active-intelligence-people-being-on-the-streets-people/) [Kimberly Guilfoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-guilfoyle/) > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I eat healthy most of the time. Whole foods are the best for you when you are super active, so I get plenty of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witney-carson/i-eat-healthy-most-of-the-time-whole-foods-are-the-best-for-you-when/) [Witney Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/witney-carson/) > [Art shows us how to see things that are constructive and good, and to be an active part of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/art-shows-us-how-to-see-things-that-are-constructive-and-good-and-to/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [Love, like truth and beauty, is concrete. Love is not fundamentally a sweet feeling; not, at heart, a matter of sentiment, attachment, or being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-heyward/love-like-truth-and-beauty-is-concrete-love-is-not-fundamentally-a/) [Carter Heyward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-heyward/) > [Studying Sol's interior by looking for analogous patterns on its incandescent face is known as helioseismology, an active - if largely unpronounceable - research…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/studying-sol-s-interior-by-looking-for-analogous-patterns-on-its/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Science manipulates things and gives up living in them. It makes its own limited models of things; operating upon these indices or variables to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/science-manipulates-things-and-gives-up-living-in-them-it-makes-its/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [I stayed in L.A. long enough to get on my feet, and then I moved back to New York. The reason I moved here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iggy-pop/i-stayed-in-l-a-long-enough-to-get-on-my-feet-and-then-i-moved-back/) [Iggy Pop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iggy-pop/) > [The answer to any challenge you are having has nothing to do with God's willingness to help. It has to do with your acceptance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beckwith/the-answer-to-any-challenge-you-are-having-has-nothing-to-do-with-god/) [Michael Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beckwith/) > [Pete Townsend for me was a huge influence. Because essentially they were a three-piece band and the way he structured his chords and took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-lifeson/pete-townsend-for-me-was-a-huge-influence-because-essentially-they/) [Alex Lifeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-lifeson/) > [There is an enemy. There is an intelligent, active, malign force working against us. Step one is to recognize this. This recognition alone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/there-is-an-enemy-there-is-an-intelligent-active-malign-force-working/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [Few, if any, creatures are equally active all night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/few-if-any-creatures-are-equally-active-all-night/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [You need to enjoy yourself and just get into the routine of keeping fit and enjoying being active. That's always easier once you've made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-brownlee/you-need-to-enjoy-yourself-and-just-get-into-the-routine-of-keeping/) [Alistair Brownlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-brownlee/) Browse all 2,212 Active quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The school must be \"a genuine form of active community life, instead of a place set apart in which to learn lessons\".", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Dewey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-school-must-be-a-genuine-form-of-active-community-life-instead-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Active" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-school-must-be-a-genuine-form-of-active-community-life-instead-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/john-dewey-545_active_the-school-must-be-a-genuine-form-of-act_2747045.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/john-dewey-545_active_the-school-must-be-a-genuine-form-of-act_2747045.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/john-dewey-545_active_the-school-must-be-a-genuine-form-of-act_2747045.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The school must be \"a genuine form of active community life, instead of a place set apart in which to learn…” — John Dewey", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Dewey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The school must be \"a genuine...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-school-must-be-a-genuine-form-of-active-community-life-instead-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-school-must-be-a-genuine-form-of-active-community-life-instead-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```