This is a book about the education America owes to its children, why its education system is in poor condition, and what might be done to give that system both energy and quality. In diagnosing the current practices and priorities of American education, the book presupposes a collective public interest in creating a well-educated next generation. While focused on public schools, the book addresses the education of all of America's children: What should well-educated future citizens learn in school?

The central conflicts of the world today are closely related to cultural, traditional, and religious differences between nations. As we move to a globalized world, these differences often become magnified, entrenched, and the cause of bloody conflict. Growing out of a conference of distinguished scholars from the MiddleEast, Europe, and the United States, this volume is a singular contribution to mutual understanding and cooperative efforts on behalf of peace. The term paideia, drawn from Greek philosophy, has to do with responsible education for citizenship as a necessary precondition for effective democracy. The problems discussed here are crucial, but not simple. How can we find shared ethical principles on which to build international consensus? How can religious tolerance make inroads in societies accustomed to restrictive fundamentalism? What might bring about de-dogmatization of education in the Middle East as a necessary condition for free and rational inquiry and the broader vistas required by democracy? All of these issues highlight the underlying question, "What is education really for?" Finally, the volume confronts the promises and perils of economic globalization. Noting that one third of the world's population lives in abject poverty, business has become a battlefield where ethics and trust are clearly at stake.

The central conflicts of the world today are closely related to cultural, traditional, and religious differences between nations. As we move to a globalized world, these differences often become magnified, entrenched, and the cause of bloody conflict. Growing out of a conference of distinguished scholars from the MiddleEast, Europe, and the United States, this volume is a singular contribution to mutual understanding and cooperative efforts on behalf of peace. The term paideia, drawn from Greek philosophy, has to do with responsible education for citizenship as a necessary precondition for effective democracy. The problems discussed here are crucial, but not simple. How can we find shared ethical principles on which to build international consensus? How can religious tolerance make inroads in societies accustomed to restrictive fundamentalism? What might bring about de-dogmatization of education in the Middle East as a necessary condition for free and rational inquiry and the broader vistas required by democracy? All of these issues highlight the underlying question, 'What is education really for?' Finally, the volume confronts the promises and perils of economic globalization. Noting that one third of the world's population lives in abject poverty, business has become a battlefield where ethics and trust are clearly at stake.

This is a book about the education America owes to its children, why its education system is in poor condition, and what might be done to give that system both energy and quality. In diagnosing the current practices and priorities of American education, the book presupposes a collective public interest in creating a well-educated next generation. While focused on public schools, the book addresses the education of all of America's children: What should well-educated future citizens learn in school?