The Search for Truth in a Democratic Society

"The Search for Truth in a Democratic Society" was a section in the report titled "Living and Learning" in The Report of the Provincial Committee on Aims and Objectives of Education in the Schools of Ontario in 1968 (?)

If the loftiest ideals of truth can be sought only in a free society, then it is exceedingly important that education, the formal cradle of truth-seekers, reflect an awareness of those factors in our society which can throttle the free flow of individual thought and action.

Democracy implies the freedom to think, to dissent, and to bring about change in a lawful manner in the interest of all. It is a flexible, responsive form of government, difficult to describe in fixed terms. Democracy does not arise as a result of imposed or structured political practices, but as a dynamic, liberating force, nurtured by the people themselves. It can thrive and flourish only when its citizens are free to search continually for new ideas, models, and theories to replace outmoded knowledge in an effort to serve an ever-increasing populace tomorrow. A true democracy is a free and responsible society, and one aspect cannot exist or have meaning without the other.

To ensure its continuity, a free society must develop and promote opportunities for science, philosophy, the humanities, and the fine arts to flourish side by side, strengthening and complementing each other in the search for truth. All aspects of learning must be given support, for great ideas are not the exclusive property of an intellectual elite. They can permeate the atmosphere of a free society, and can be grasped and acted upon by great numbers of people. What happens at the universities has significance for primary education, and the reverse is also true. Excellence in quality and humaneness of approach affect everyone in the society.

The climate of acceptance in which a child in kindergarten can ask a question springs from the same sources which make it possible for the scientist and the poet to make imaginative leaps. When mature philosophers and artists are muzzled in their forms of expression, we can expect that the child in nursery school will be inhibited in the free expression of his play activities. Freedom to search for truth at every educational level is one of the stoutest ramparts of a free society, and this defence we must never yield if we are to protect our way of life.