Abstract

A democratic pedagogy that is informed by Friedrich Nietzsche's writings and reinforced and supplemented by contemporary radical democratic educational reformers is defined and elaborated. First, the conventional image of Nietzsche as an anti-democrat is explored so as to leave the way open for a democratic Nietzsche. Second, a democratic Nietzschean pedagogy based on the categories of individualization, generativity, literacy, and health is described. This pedagogy culminates in amor fati as the norm of individualized education. Third, the democratic Nietzschean perspective is used to guide the reading of the democratic reformers so that their observations on current schooling/educational practices and their possible transformation reinforce and supplement the democratic Nietzschean perspective through adding a political, and a technological, and an augmented social dimension. Freire, Illich, Kozol, Postman, and Nietzsche are shown to comprise what Michel Foucault calls a "discursive formation"--sharing a common grid of concerns and defensive/offensive arts