Education and Equality

American education is still developing, and there is still debate over its role in society. Danielle Allen's Tanner Lectures examine the ideological impasse between vocational and humanistic approaches to education and offer a proposal to resolve the dispute. She argues that education is essential for the cultivation of political and social equality, economic fairness, and civic education, and that it must be reoriented toward readying students for lives as democratic citizens. The book offers a critical clarification of the importance of education to democratic life and a defense of the humanities.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 160 pages
Publication date: 20 February 2018
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

American education as we know it today—guaranteed by the state to serve every child in the country—is still less than a hundred years old. It’s no wonder we haven’t agreed yet as to exactly what role education should play in our society. In these Tanner Lectures, Danielle Allen brings us much closer, examining the ideological impasse between vocational and humanistic approaches that has plagued educational discourse, offering a compelling proposal to finally resolve the dispute. 
           
Allen argues that education plays a crucial role in the cultivation of political and social equality and economic fairness, but that we have lost sight of exactly what that role is and should be. Drawing on thinkers such as John Rawls and Hannah Arendt, she sketches out a humanistic baseline that re-links education to equality, showing how doing so can help us reframe policy questions. From there, she turns to civic education, showing that we must reorient education’s trajectory toward readying students for lives as democratic citizens. Deepened by commentaries from leading thinkers Tommie Shelby, Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, Michael Rebell, and Quiara Alegría Hudes that touch on issues ranging from globalization to law to linguistic empowerment, this book offers a critical clarification of just how important education is to democratic life, as well as a stirring defense of the humanities. 

Weight: 244g
Dimension: 228 x 154 x 9 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226566344