Project 2: What is Education For? by Sowjanya Vinodh

Allen's main claim is that true education creates citizens who are prepared to engage in democracy.

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Civic Education

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Participatory Readiness

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Students have the right to learn the skills necessary to participate as civic participants, capable of voting and serving as part of a jury and should be put to a much higher standard if we want to progress society.

CFE

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CFE (Campaign for Fiscal Equity) argues that the purpose of education is to develop not only vocational capacities, but also civic agency.

The State

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The State argues that children already receive the adequate civic education needed, which is an 8th grade level, for minimum wage labor.

The Judge

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Judge Leland DeGrasse finally ruled that in order to be meaningful civic participants, prospects need 12th grade level skills. However, not real action was taken partly due to the Great Recession.

The Main Problem

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The main problem, however, was not just the inadequate funding for public schools, it was the vocational/STEM approach.

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The vocational model views education mainly as job training, emphasizing economic outcomes and technical skills. While that is important, Allen argues that focusing only on workforce preparation undermines civic readiness.

The Cold War's Role

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This sense of "superior" importance is traced back to the Cold War, when the U.S. prioritized STEM to compete technologically with Russia.

Distributive Questions

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Questions about fairness, opportunity, and how educational resources are shared.

Equality vs Equity

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Liberal Arts Approach

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Teaches important critical thinking skills reasoning and understanding different perspectives. Allen states in her essay that studying humanities helps students connect ideas and better understand the world around them.

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However, a combination of both approaches is what creates well-rounded individuals.

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These types of questions help our education systems progress and continue to improve. They also lead us to differences in "fairness" or equality and equity.

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Equality --> giving everyone the same thing

Equity --> giving people the support they actually need to succeed

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Allen says that real democracy depends on equity, because treating everyone the same is not fair when people start from different places.

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When schools focus on equity, they help create educated citizens who can actually take part in improving their communities.

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"Through the acquisition of participatory readiness, a great diversity of citizens could tap into the power to challenge oligarchical social and political arrangements" (Allen 13).

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"The Soviet launch of Sputnik, the first satellite, provoked a sense that the United States was falling behind in a Cold War scientific contest" (Allen 9).

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"When we think about education and equality, we tend

to think first about distributive questions—for example,

how to design a system that will offer the real possibility

of equal educational attainment, if not achievement, to all

students" (Allen 9).

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"My work there has led me to understand linguistic equality as a precondition for the economic and political equity that Allen seeks" (Allen 17).

Example

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The MIT-Haiti Initiative shows how teaching in Kreyol can make education fairer and more equal, helping raise the language’s status and improving opportunities for its speakers.

Other Practical Examples

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Need-based aid given for college tuition
Offering extra tutoring to low-income students
Allowing employees with disabilities to have accomodations