Pluralism and American Public Education
Pluralism and American Public Education

Author: Ashley Rogers Berner

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-11-11

Total Pages: 191

ISBN-13: 113750224X

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This book argues that the structure of public education is a key factor in the failure of America's public education system to fulfill the intellectual, civic, and moral aims for which it was created. The book challenges the philosophical basis for the traditional common school model and defends the educational pluralism that most liberal democracies enjoy. Berner provides a unique theoretical pathway that is neither libertarian nor state-focused and a pragmatic pathway that avoids the winner-takes-all approach of many contemporary debates about education. For the first time in nearly one hundred fifty years, changing the underlying structure of America’s public education system is both plausible and possible, and this book attempts to set out why and how.

Educational Pluralism and Democracy
Educational Pluralism and Democracy

Author: Ashley Rogers Berner

Publisher: Harvard Education Press

Published: 2024-05-23

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1682538966

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A revolutionary proposal for a conceptual and organizational framework for US public education that benefits all citizens.

Educational Pluralism and Democracy
Educational Pluralism and Democracy

Author: Ashley Rogers Berner

Publisher: Harvard Education Press

Published: 2024-04-30

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781682538951

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A revolutionary proposal for a conceptual and organizational framework for US public education that benefits all citizens. In Educational Pluralism and American Democracy, education policy expert Ashley Rogers Berner envisions a K-12 education system that serves both the individual and the common good. Calling for education reform that will enable US public schools to fulfill the longstanding promise of American education, Berner proposes a radical reimagining of both the structure and content of US public school systems. She urges policymakers to embrace educational pluralism, an internationally common model in which the government funds diverse types of schools that deliver more universal content. Providing an incisive assessment of democratic education throughout the world, Berner argues that educational pluralism can build students' exposure to diverse viewpoints and shared knowledge within distinctive school communities. She shows how pluralism steers a middle path that enables equitable access, promotes academic excellence, and avoids the zero-sum games that characterize US education policy. Pluralism, she observes, will ultimately serve democracy by defusing polarization and increasing social mobility, political tolerance, and civic engagement. In this thought-provoking proposal, Berner lays out a roadmap for big-picture reform, expertly delineating the mechanisms through which educational norms can change. A practical conclusion describes concrete moves that advocates can pursue to garner support and advance new legislation.

Democracy and Education
Democracy and Education

Author: John Dewey

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 1916

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13:

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. Renewal of Life by Transmission. The most notable distinction between living and inanimate things is that the former maintain themselves by renewal. A stone when struck resists. If its resistance is greater than the force of the blow struck, it remains outwardly unchanged. Otherwise, it is shattered into smaller bits. Never does the stone attempt to react in such a way that it may maintain itself against the blow, much less so as to render the blow a contributing factor to its own continued action. While the living thing may easily be crushed by superior force, it none the less tries to turn the energies which act upon it into means of its own further existence. If it cannot do so, it does not just split into smaller pieces (at least in the higher forms of life), but loses its identity as a living thing. As long as it endures, it struggles to use surrounding energies in its own behalf. It uses light, air, moisture, and the material of soil. To say that it uses them is to say that it turns them into means of its own conservation. As long as it is growing, the energy it expends in thus turning the environment to account is more than compensated for by the return it gets: it grows. Understanding the word "control" in this sense, it may be said that a living being is one that subjugates and controls for its own continued activity the energies that would otherwise use it up. Life is a self-renewing process through action upon the environment.

Democracy and Multicultural Education
Democracy and Multicultural Education

Author: Farideh Salili

Publisher: Information Age Pub Incorporated

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 9781607524236

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A volume in Research in Multicultural Education and International Perspectives Series Editors Farideh Salili and Rumjahn Hoosain, The University of Hong Kong Democratic political systems and the democratic way of life is aspired by most people around the world. Democracy is considered to be morally superior to other forms of political systems as it aspires to secure civil liberties, human rights, social justice and equality before the law for everyone regardless of their gender, culture, religion and national origin. Enshrined in democracy is separation of religion and state, fair and competitive elections of leaders according to a country's constitution which in turn is based on democratic ideals. Democracy aspires for people of different backgrounds to live together with their differences intact, but all contributing towards a better life for all. In today's increasingly pluralistic societies many people of different cultural and national backgrounds are brought together. Many have migrated from countries with autocratic political systems. Some with religions that require them to behave in different way, others with cultures teaching them values of harmony, collectivism and conformity as opposed to the culture of their host country emphasizing individualism and cherishing differences. Hence, in multicultural societies development of pluralistic democracy, a democracy which includes respect for diversity is essential. A truly multicultural education which is based on the assumption that different cultures will be equally represented in education goes a long way towards education for democratic citizenship. Such an education would make students aware of issues of human rights and justice and encourage them to define their own values and ways in which they could contribute to a better world. The aim of this volume is to provide a forum for discussion of how multiple social perspectives and personal values can be brought together on common grounds around matters related to democracy. Contributions from research, and scholarly theoretical work as well as presentation of existing creative models of democracy education will be included. Authors from the major democracies will comment on the models and practice of multicultural education in their respective countries, to facilitate discussion and learning from each others' experiences.

What Universities Owe Democracy
What Universities Owe Democracy

Author: Ronald J. Daniels

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2021-10-05

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1421442698

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Introduction -- American dreams : access, mobility, fairness -- Free minds : educating democratic citizens -- Hard facts : knowledge creation and checking power -- Purposeful pluralism : dialogue across difference on campus -- Conclusion.

Patriotic Pluralism
Patriotic Pluralism

Author: Jeffrey Mirel

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2010-04-30

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 9780674046382

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In this book, leading historian of education Jeffrey E. Mirel retells a story we think we know, in which public schools forced a draconian Americanization on the great waves of immigration of a century ago. Ranging from the 1890s through the World War II years, Mirel argues that Americanization was a far more nuanced and negotiated process from the start, much shaped by immigrants themselves.Drawing from detailed descriptions of Americanization programs for both schoolchildren and adults in three cities (Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit) and from extensive analysis of foreign-language newspapers, Mirel shows how immigrants confronted different kinds of Americanization. When native-born citizens contemptuously tried to force them to forsake their home religions, languages, or histories, immigrants pushed back strongly. While they passionately embraced key aspects of Americanization—the English language, American history, democratic political ideas, and citizenship—they also found in American democracy a defense of their cultural differences. In seeing no conflict between their sense of themselves as Italians, or Germans, or Poles, and Americans, they helped to create a new and inclusive vision of this country.Mirel vividly retells the epic story of one of the great achievements of American education, which has profound implications for the Americanization of immigrants today.

Teaching Democracy in an Age of Uncertainty
Teaching Democracy in an Age of Uncertainty

Author: Gilbert Burgh

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-11-29

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 1000474186

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The strength of democracy lies in its ability to self-correct, to solve problems and adapt to new challenges. However, increased volatility, resulting from multiple crises on multiple fronts – humanitarian, financial, and environmental – is testing this ability. By offering a new framework for democratic education, Teaching Democracy in an Age of Uncertainty begins a dialogue with education professionals towards the reconstruction of education and by extension our social, cultural and political institutions. This book is the first monograph on philosophy with children to focus on democratic education. The book examines the ways in which education can either perpetuate or disrupt harmful social and political practices and narratives at the classroom level. It is a rethinking of civics and citizenship education as place-responsive learning aimed at understanding and improving human-environment relations to not only face an uncertain world, but also to face the inevitable challenges of democratic disagreement beyond merely promoting pluralism, tolerance and agreement. When viewed as a way of life democracy becomes both a goal and a teaching method for developing civic literacy to enable students to articulate and apprehend more than just the predominant political narrative, but to reshape it. This book will be of interest to scholars of philosophy, political science, education, democratic theory, civics and citizenship studies, and peace education research.

Democracy's Schools
Democracy's Schools

Author: Johann N. Neem

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2017-08

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1421423219

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The unknown history of American public education. At a time when Americans are debating the future of public education, Johann N. Neem tells the inspiring story of how and why Americans built a robust public school system in the decades between the Revolution and the Civil War. It’s a story in which ordinary people in towns across the country worked together to form districts and build schoolhouses and reformers sought to expand tax support and give every child a liberal education. By the time of the Civil War, most northern states had made common schools free, and many southern states were heading in the same direction. Americans made schooling a public good. Yet back then, like today, Americans disagreed over the kind of education needed, who should pay for it, and how schools should be governed. Neem explores the history and meaning of these disagreements. As Americans debated, teachers and students went about the daily work of teaching and learning. Neem takes us into the classrooms of yore so that we may experience public schools from the perspective of the people whose daily lives were most affected by them. Ultimately, Neem concludes, public schools encouraged a diverse people to see themselves as one nation. By studying the origins of America’s public schools, Neem urges us to focus on the defining features of democratic education: promoting equality, nurturing human beings, preparing citizens, and fostering civic solidarity.

Beyond Liberal Democracy in Schools
Beyond Liberal Democracy in Schools

Author: Barbara J. Thayer-Bacon

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13:

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In this unique union of philosophy and ethnographic research, Barbara Thayer-Bacon explains how the individualist legacy of liberal democracy, as conceived by Locke and Rosseau, ignores and excludes the needs of American students raised in cultures with strong communal traditions. Drawing upon her experience with the educational methods of other cultures as well as the work of modern educational philosophers such as Dewey, Barber, Young, and Mouffe and Laclau, Thayer-Bacon shows us how our current vision of the democratic process as revealed in school practices routinely fails minority students. She offers recommendations to help us develop learning environments for students that are culturally aware, anti-racist, and relationally focused. This radical reimagining of American schools will be beneficial to researchers and practitioners alike.This book illustrates how current educational theories marginalize students belonging to a variety of minority populations (Native American, Mexican American, African American), offers a new theory of educational philosophy that values both individuals and communities and makes room for emotion and intuition as learning tools, and envisions new ways of teaching based on the author's experiences studying and observing schools in other cultures.