C.S. Lewis’s, “Democratic Education,” is story that exemplifies our democratic government and how it is to be preserved through education. He gives an account of a school system where all children had equality. The equality was not that of “they were getting taught and treated the same”, but equality of the inner being. Every child should feel the same about where they are intellectually and no person should feel more or less educated and smart than the other. The account gives propositions of what society would be like in different situations depending on the other interpretations of democratic education and what prompts the positivity or negativity of having democratic education.
This analysis will explore why there is strong hint that there are negative connotations about a democratic education system when the text seems to be for this particular idea. C.S. Lewis has a distinctive style of sarcasm that is found within the piece and he uses this style to make the reader realize why the idea represented is one of stupidity. He explains what would have to happen in school systems, the sources of equality, how this type of equality and democracy do not relate, how the examples given are actually not examples of democracy, and what would happen if democratic education system (despite everthing) would, in the end, hinder the boy rather than help him.
Lewis begins by stating, “Until we have realized that the two things [democracy and education] do not necessarily go together we cannot think clearly about education.” Here he is bluntly stating his point of view before we even get into the argument. He then, spends the next three to four paragraphs of the text giving examples of how people may think democracy and ...
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... If someone is in a high position that they are not qualified for then it will fail. If we promote democratic education in order to preserve political democracy then these people may find themselves in a position that they are not qualified for because they were lied to and as a result we still have not preserved our original goal of political democracy.
Lewis is pro political democracy and therefore, against democratic education because it covers up an initial problem in order to make someone feel more superior and better about themselves for the time being. Later on there will be consequences and Lewis is trying to prevent those consequences.
References
Lewis, C. (n.d.). Democratic Education. . Retrieved April 2, 2012, from https://mycampus.umhb.edu/ICS/icsfs/Democractic_Education_(Lewis).PDF?target=bccee72d-d8f9-45bc-985d-dd7a86b570ad
In addition, the Progressives were absolutely correct to improve society by education because by having an education, it will prepare an individual to earn a living, but also to prepare the student to play a useful role in a democratic society. With e...
The speakers in the film believe that the purpose of education is to create a public where democracy can thrive. This means creating a new generation of young adults that are highly knowledgeable and are able to make informed decisions about political subjects and can make their votes count when they are able to vote. They have the knowledge about how the government works and what they can do as an individual to make a difference in their community. They have the knowle...
Similarly, in This is Water, David Foster Wallace argues a real education as offering people the choice of what to think about in life. He states that “a liberal arts education is not so much about filling you up with knowledge as it is about ‘teaching you how to think’, but rather about the choice of what to think about” (1). After getting educated, students obtain the basic knowledge among many subjects, but with all the information and facts being offered, people may lose conscious of what to think about. Schooling may cause students over-think things which are unnecessary because it may take over what you actually notice and care. Wallace insists “learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and
...ens and nothing more or they may choose to oppose the game itself" (Page 11) It’s Shorris’s belief that with this accumulation of knowledge and exposure to new ways of thinking, that these students are prepared to enter the public world, communicate with the privileged world, and question the controlling world. His key claim is that education is a powerful weapon. It can be used as a form of attack (i.e. to uses their newly learnt knowledge to catch up to today’s political society) or defense (to protect themselves from the forces that make them poor), but beyond that it is a tool of hope. Instilling self-esteem, hope, and comprehending (all of which Shorris witnessed his students gain in just a few short months from October to May) through a liberal education, would be more of an advantage for the poor as a whole, then any other kind of learning one could provide.
In “Idiot Nation,” Michael Moore discourses on the collapse of American education system and the three main reasons behind it: politicians’ ignorance, shortage of teachers, and the rise of Corporate America. Moore first points out how ignorant the President and politicians are by stating that the President cannot simply identify whether Africa is a nation or a continent. Next, Moore attributes the lack of funding in education to the fact that politicians prefer to build bomber than to improve our education system; this leads to shortage of resources, overpopulated classrooms, and decrease of books available for students. He then notes that the low salaries of teachers, which are caused by the insufficient funding of education, result in shortage of qualified teachers, leading to the failure of the education system. In addition, Moore discusses about the rise of Corporate America, which is another factor corrupting the education system. To get funding from Corporate America, schools diminish the time students have in class, by making students watch advertisements from businesses and help businesses conduct research during class time. Throughout his excerpt, Moore uses exemplification, surprising statistics, rhetorical questions, and simple but clear reasoning to effectively express his ideas and convince readers of his arguments.
Labaree discusses how the United State’s education is in a school syndrome, as people in America want schools to teach society’s ideals as well as let people express their individuality. These two demands are polar opposites that cannot be achieved. As the focus goes towards balancing these in hopes of improving society as a whole, the bettering of actual student learning is put on pause. Labaree talks about the beginning of education reform, in the 19th century, being the most successful in developing society; however, as education reform continued throughout time, its effectiveness wore off. He then addresses how the desire for education reform is more about improving society than it is about learning. He finishes his argument by providing possible solutions to fixing this problem, but states that fixing this problem will never happen because no one is willing to give up both demands. Overall, Labaree goes in wonderful detail explaining the problems of education reform. What made me choose this article was that he addressed the desire that people have on school systems in promoting both society normality and individuality. This correlates well with my topic in whether public school systems promote conformist ideals or individuality.
Cronon writes of liberal education in modern society and what it means him. He tries to condense liberal education down for the reader, as he thinks that society has let it become too broad of a term. Making "lists" for a person's education can make them forget the real purpose that it is to "nurture human freedom and growth." (p.113) He then makes a list of his own ideals of what liberal education should provide the student the student with. (of what qualities they should pocess after being liberally educated) He deems liberal education in society today as having had become too broad and that the real purpose has been forgotten.
The ideology of education as the great equalizer rests on several assumptions. The first, as stated by bell hooks, is the idea that, "To educate as the practice of freedom is a way of teaching that anyone can learn" (hooks, p.13, 1994). hooks expresses well the understated notion that, education as a democratic practice, available for all, is based on the assumption that all children, all people, are capable of learning. Another assumption is that children have different needs, and at its best, aims to provide resources according to need. Most importantly, naming this ideology "the great equalizer" in itself assumes that education has the potential to be the key force to counter inequality in society. Though a powerful assumption to make, it can fail to acknowledge the need to reconstruct all other institutions affecting children.
...portance of a quality education. However, according to the democratic principle, their children should be able to receive the same small classes, up to date textbooks and motivated teachers as offered by private schools.
I believe that schooling should enable its students to identify the flaws in society and seek to take action to address these flaws. While I do not believe that society, as is, is terrible, I do acknowledge that there are clear flaws in many social and political systems in this country. Thus, I believe that schools should serve as the educational means for identifying these issues. I believe that society and schooling depend heavily on each other. Schooling should not serve as a mechanism to maintain the current social order – in fact, it should do the opposite. Society should look to schooling to fix its flaws, and schooling should view society as a permanent work in progress. Schooling cannot act as a politically neutral entity, meaning that school should act to advance the political views of its students. Schooling can interrupt social reproduction by being politically explicit and enabling its students to think about these social systems which may oppress certain groups. As Bourdieu
Mann believed “people were created and brought into life with a set of innate, organic, dispositions, or propensities (Mann 1969, pg. 125) and Thomas Jefferson gave the idea of an assigned nature where he believed schools function was for the select, superior people with gifts of virtue and wisdom. He also thought that education could improve a person’s endowment, but gave the failure to provide educational opportunity as it does create abilities or talents (Jefferson (1944) 430-431). These ideas gave a realization of what are associated with our present day education of Equality of Educational opportunity in today’s school system and a remedy for socioeconomic inequality to include education for the poor as well as the rich.
This Is sown by telling stories. While it may put you in a better mental state if you tell yourself that the guy who cut you off on the highway could be rushing his kid to the hospital, which would mean, in Wallace’s words, “he’s in a bigger, more legitimate hurry than I am: it is actually I who am in HIS way,” what if they aren’t? What if that guy who cuts you off on the highway really is just being a jerk? If you force yourself to believe otherwise, can that still be considered a genuine or appropriate interpretation and response?He argues that the ability to choose what to think and how to perceive, coupled with an allergy to the automatic responses to our daily annoyances, inform the sympathy and awareness that are the purpose of a quality education. The main message from the speech to me is the way he can look past things and come to conclusion within himself. David Foster Lewis says “The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day.” This quote really explains how people get so caught up in
Schools are the basic foundation of knowledge, which is imparted to children. They give a chance for children to gain knowledge in various fields such as humanity, literature, history, mathematics and science. By obtaining knowledge, they are in a better position to know the world around them. A school is a society where faith and other values are developed. Schools also play an important role in a democratic social set up. Students of today are the citizens of tomorrow. Schools are the backbone of a society, where children interact with other children and develop certain social skills. Education in schools opens doors to various opportunities that would not be possible if it had not been for the knowledge one gained at school. However, in the articles, “Idiot Nation” by Michael Moore and “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto, the authors express their concerns about the degrading quality of education. There are many problems the education system is facing today, and several of them are having negative effects on the quality of the education that the students are receiving which are highlighted aptly by the effective use of rhetorical strategies by Moore and Gatto.
Nussbaum, Martha C. "Chapter 10 Democratic Citizenship and the Narrative Imagination." Why Do We Educate?: Renewing the Conversation. Ed. David L. Coulter. Comp. John R. Wiens and Gary D. Fenstermacher. Chicago: National Society for the Study of Education, 2008. 143-57. Print.
The ideas of democracy and social reform are repeatedly discussed in the long 26 chapters of Democracy and Education. In the opening chapters, Dewey introduced the concepts that he would employ throughout the enquiry that the importance of schools not only as a place to gain content knowledge, but also as a home to learn how to