The main objective of this book is to describe how educational initiatives are emerging that are hopeful in terms of strengthening democracy in a real way in a convulsive world like the current one. Recently, some of the neoliberal educational reforms that have been implemented in many countries have fostered, in a macro-systemic way, the weakening of democratic practice in various ways. It is also true that bureaucratization of public school in modern states has also tended to defeat the purpose of community and family participation in schools. But there is evidence of schools and educational contexts that have been able to institutionalize participation mechanisms in which students, families and the community have a voice and participate actively in the majority of the decisions of the centres. The contributors of this book highlight the challenges and the opportunities democratic education faces while commemorating the centenary of John Deweys contributions.

Jordi Feu is professor of Education Policy at the University of Girona. His scholarly work focuses on educational reform social movements, their influence in education policy and how democratic participation takes place in different educational settings. Òscar PrietoFlores is an associate professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Girona. His research focuses on the social inclusion of ethnic minority and immigrant populations in education.