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Education is not just about individual success or economic productivity; it is fundamentally about giving citizens the skills they need to participate in democratic life.

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Education in Preparation for a Democratic Society

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Education in Preparation for a Democratic Society

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The goal of education should be to develop informed, engaged citizens who are able to govern themselves.

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Education has to find a balance between preparing students for individual growth and for group engagement in a democratic life.

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To ensure that every member of the public has the means to participate, a democratic society must provide equal access to high-quality education.

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Even if achieving financial success is crucial, education also has to prepare students to participate in a democratic society in addition to helping them get jobs.

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Allen talks about how the ability of citizens to understand social intricacies, participate in debates, and make decisions is essential to democracy.

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Allen focuses on past educational perspectives, especially leaders like U.S. presidents, who saw education as essential to a functioning democracy.

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Allen makes arguments regarding systemic injustices and the necessity for educational reform to guarantee equal access to education.

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Allen argues that current education policy is shortsighted in that it frequently overemphasizes the economic benefits of education. She believes that STEM is being overemphasis, we have placed such emphasis on them that we have neglected the other areas that reinforce inequality

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Reorganizing educational systems is necessary to give civic participation and democratic readiness more weight.

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Stronger democratic institutions, higher levels of political involvement, and more equitable societies are the results of a more civically engaged society.

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Success should be measured not only in terms of financial results (jobs, income), but also in terms of how effectively students are prepared in schools to be active, responsible members of society.

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“Defending the right to civic education, and the kind of curriculum that delivers it, would benefit not only individual students but also society as a whole, advancing both political equality and distributive justice. This is an untapped source of advocacy around educational rights and on behalf of an egalitarian America"

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This leads to a Vocational paradigm, which prepares individuals to become competent skilled workers, productive workers, or self-employed. It combines learning from theory with application in everyday life. Which leads to promoting inequality and competition.

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This means that we have to come up with a solution to balance Liberal Arts and STEM. This leads to Civic agency - recognizing a problem in society and actively applying a solution - and increasing civic agency might lead to greater equality.

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In simple terms, it means having an active and collective civic agency. Education isn't just about personal achievement but also about being active in democratic life and contributing to the common good.

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"President Obama, in

his 2013 State of the Union address, announced a competition to 'redesign America’s high schools.' Rewards would go, he said, to schools that develop more classes 'that focus on science, technology, engineering, and ma —the skills today’s employers are looking for to fill jobs right now and in the future.” More recently, in his 2016 State of the Union address, the president announced a Computer Science for All initiative that would make students “job-ready on day one.”Today, these technologically oriented, vocational approaches to education and the problem of inequality leave almost no room for the civic alternative."

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Getting students ready to participate in the economic system

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A type of schooling that prepares students for specific jobs or vocations.

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The capacity to actively engage in government

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All students should have the same access to educational opportunities and resource

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A wide range of study including math, art, literature, social sciences, and biological sciences

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A method of teaching that emphasizes math, science, technology, and engineering

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White Boxes - Specific Terms Used Throughout the Essay

Red Boxes - Allen's Central Idea for Education

Purple Boxes - Claims Allen Makes that Connect to the Central Idea

Blue Boxes - Supporting Evidence to Allen's

Claims

Green Boxes - What the End Goal Could Be