Why do America's public schools seem unable to meet today's social
challenges? As competing interest groups vie over issues like
funding and curricula, we seem to have lost sight of the democratic
purposes originally intended for public education.
Public schools were envisioned by the Founders as democratically
run institutions for instilling civic values, but today's education
system seems more concerned with producing good employees than good
citizens. Meanwhile, our country's diversity has eroded consensus
about citizenship, and the professionalization of educators has
diminished public involvement in schools.
This volume seeks to demonstrate that the democratic purposes of
education are not outmoded ideas but can continue to be driving
forces in public education. Nine original articles by some of
today's leading education theorists cut a broad swath across the
political spectrum to examine how those democratic purposes might
be redefined and revived. It both establishes the intellectual
foundation for revitalizing American schools and offers concrete
ideas for how the educational process can be made more
democratic.
The authors make a case for better empirical research about the
politics of education in order to both reconnect schools to their
communities and help educators instill citizenship. An initial
series of articles reexamines the original premise of American
education as articulated by important thinkers like Jefferson and
Dewey. A second group identifies flaws in how schools are currently
governed and offers models for change. A final section analyzes the
value conflicts posed by the twin strands of democratic
socialization and governance, and their implications for education
policy.
Spanning philosophy, history, sociology, and political science,
this book brings together the best current thinking about the
specifics of education policy--vouchers, charter schools, national
testing--and about the role of deliberation in a democracy. It
offers a cogent alternative to the exchange paradigm and shows how
much more needs to be understood about an issue so vital to
America's future.
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