Chapter 12 Public Education: What Is Its Purpose in a Democratic Society?

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw- Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Chapter 12Public Education: What Is Its Purpose in a Democratic Society?

Fraser TEACH © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

What Does a Democratic Society Expect of Its Schools?• Defining democracy

– At basic level, democracy is a government based on the consent of the governed

– At larger level, democracy should be more than “informed consent” and include active involvement of all citizens in constantly recreating the good society for all


What Does a Democratic Society Expect of Its Schools?• The school’s role in a democratic society

– Expanding the notion of democracy is one of oldest and most important roles the U.S. has assigned to its schools

• Educated citizens make democracy a reality in the daily lives of the people

– New notions of democracy argue for schools that foster empowerment in its students


What About Me?

• What should a school’s role be in creating responsible citizens? What should schools accomplish?


Historically Speaking: What is the Relationship Between a Universal Education and Democratic Citizenship?

• The educational philosophy of Thomas Jefferson – Believed even the best governments had the

tendency to be “perverted into tyranny” • Best protection against this was an educated

citizenship (in this case, free white males) – Believed education and democracy were

inextricably linked



• Structuring a democratic school system – In early 1800’s, efforts began for the

inclusion of women, minorities, and poor into the public school systems

– Horace Mann argued: • For public funding of education for all (in this

case, white males and females)• Against students being separated into common

and elite schools



• Education, slavery, and freedom– First education advocates ignored the

education rights of African Americans– African American population had an active

interest and passion to educate former slaves• During slavery, literacy represented a skill that

contradicted the status of slaves– Many gains were won after the Civil War but

quickly lost thereafter



• Making democracy “come alive” in school– Progressive education was a means of

engaging more students so they would stay in school longer

– Progressive educators believed schools should be small-scale models of larger democratic societies


Join the Dialogue

• Discuss your own “Pedagogic Creed” – a statement of your basic philosophical beliefs about education.



• Education is a civil right – Victories in desegregating schools were part

of a much larger national civil rights movement

• Movement was dedicated to a more democratic system of education

– Larger goal of movement was the creation of a society that allowed all citizens full participation in democracy at all levels



• Recent visions of democratic schooling– Ann Bastian: Called for quality and equality

in schools– Rethinking Schools journal: Strong voice

for social justice in education– Deborah Meier: Works to create democratic

learning communities– Lisa Delpit: Argues for a multicultural

approach to education


How Can We Make Our Schools More Democratic?• Schools are not all equal

– Quality education for every child is far from realized

• Many schools have insufficient funding or resources, and under-qualified teachers

• Students are still excluded from school based on:– Gender– Race– Disability– Home language– Sexual orientation


How Can We Make Our Schools More Democratic?• Schools are not all equal

– Jonathan Kozol found: • Schools for poor children are not happy places• Two sets of school exist, one for well-off,

mostly white children, and another set for overwhelmingly poor students of color

• These two sets of students received profoundly different educations


How Can We Make Our Schools More Democratic? • The teacher’s role in a democratic

society– Every teacher has a responsibility to make

schools fairer for all– Those entering the profession need to be

clear about their own beliefs, expectations, and role they can play in a democratic system of education


Reading: “My Pedagogic Creed” by John Dewey• Dewey’s personal beliefs about education,

including: – “I believe that education…is a process of living and

not a preparation for future living”– “I believe that education is the fundamental method

of social progress and reform”– “I believe that the community’s duty to education

is…its paramount moral duty” – “I believe, finally, that the teacher is engaged, not

simply in the training of individuals, but in the formation of the proper social life”


Reading: “The Meaning of Education” by W.E.B. DuBois• Discusses two concepts of education

– Training for mastery of technique (craft) – Training the man who is going to exercise

the technique and for whom the technique exists (character)

• DuBois argues, “Technique without character is chaos and war. Character without technique is labor and want”


Reading: From Exploring the Moral Heart of Teaching by David T. Hansen

• Hansen writes, “Conceptions of what teaching is, and what it is for, make a difference in educational thought and practice”

• Argues that teaching must be fueled from within, and teachers must work both in well-defined roles and as idealistic practitioners

• Educators should work towards the ideal of “tenacious humility” in their teaching


Reading: “Rethinking Our Classrooms: Teaching for Equity and Justice” by the editors of Rethinking Schools

• Based on premise that schools “should be laboratories for a more just society than the one we live in now”

• School reform must be guided by democratic social goals and values

• Efforts to reform schools must be both visionary and practical in their approach

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Chapter 12 Public Education: What Is Its Purpose in a Democratic Society?