The paper will address John Dewey’s theory of 'learning as aesthetic experience' as a condition for the possibility of democracy. A key aspect to be discussed is the indispensable role of learners’ experiences of limitation which opens up a realm of uncertainty in which the learner is between right and wrong, ability and inability. Using this lens, I will show how Dewey’s theory of learning as aesthetic experience illuminates how uncertainty plays an educative role in teacher-learner interactions in the classroom: it guides teacher self-reflection in ways that are critical to supporting the learner’s aesthetic — that is, embodied, reflective, transformative — learning experiences, which in turn support the learners’ ability to become critical thinkers. The theory developed counters contemporary trends to deskill teachers and/or view teachers as replaceable with digital technology. Instead what is put forward is an idea of teaching as a reflective practice, and the teacher as having necessary social-moral capacities that support their ability to respond to the uncertainty in learners’ experience, so that it becomes productive. In conclusion, it will be argued that this theory of teaching that fosters uncertainty in learners’ experiences, rather than shutting it down, is critical for the continued development of democracy as a way of life.

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