Argument Map by Imania Mohamed

The vocational paradigm (the system of education enforcing the learning of technological and STEM skills) has dominated education without solving inequality.

itm15 — 2025-02-24 19:11:50 UTC

"...French economist Thomas Piketty writes, "....the principal mechanism for convergence [of incomes and wealth] at the international as well as the domestic level is the diffusion of knowledge. In other words, the poor catch up with the rich to the extent that they achieve the same level of technological know-how, skill, and education" " (Allen, 2016, p.10).

itm15 — 2025-02-24 19:13:28 UTC

itm15 — 2025-02-24 19:15:51 UTC

“The 1983 Reagan administration report A Nation at Risk deepened the country’s anxiety… the commission that produced the report held hearings on "Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education" and “Education for a Productive Role in a Productive Society," but none concerning the humanities, social sciences, or civic education. (Allen, 2016, p. 9).

itm15 — 2025-02-24 19:45:40 UTC

In the text surrounding this quote, Allen says that after the US economy's advance toward technology, economists found less jobs available to people without technical skill. Their proposed solution is to make vocational training and education more available to people affected by inequality. (Allen, 2016).

Allen deconstructs the idea that vocational education alone can achieve equality, and goes on to highlight how the one cannot change the systems perpetuating inequality (disability, racism, sexism) with only vocational skills.

itm15 — 2025-02-24 19:50:37 UTC

itm15 — 2025-02-24 19:54:33 UTC

Allen later reveals that the the policy paradigm (the systems that make eduction less about learning and more about advancing in society) is linked to more funding for STEM education and less for the humanities.

Education should be focused on preparing students to actively participate in their politics and their communities.

itm15 — 2025-02-25 01:44:40 UTC

“…the link between education and equality begins with the recognition that fair economic outcomes are aided by a robust democratic process and, therefore, by genuine political equality... education focused not merely on technical skills, but also on what I call participatory readiness, provides a distinct and better way to promote equality through schooling" (Allen, 2016, p. 9).

itm15 — 2025-02-25 01:45:45 UTC

Allen emphasizes how a participatory approach to education demands focus on the humanities and social sciences (Allen, 2016).

itm15 — 2025-02-25 01:48:17 UTC

Throughout the passage, Allen takes the stance that education focusing on participatory participation will be an impetus for students to take action in their communities, and advance toward equality.

itm15 — 2025-02-25 01:50:31 UTC

Civic agency benefits society as a whole as it promotes equality and building towards a better future.

itm15 — 2025-02-25 02:18:45 UTC

“...data suggest that the work of the humanities and social sciences on verbal empowerment and social analysis is intrinsically related to the development of participatory readiness…Such equality as the world has managed to achieve—whether political or economic— can often be traced to the operations of these human capacities" (Allen, 2016, p. 13).

itm15 — 2025-02-25 02:20:42 UTC

“we need to aim our pedagogic and curricular work at: ....the idea of civic agency as the activity of co-creating a way of life. This view of politics supports all three models of citizenship because it nourishes future civic leaders, activists, and politicians. Such an education ought also to permit a reintegration of these roles" (Allen, 2016, p. 12).

itm15 — 2025-02-25 02:26:11 UTC

itm15 — 2025-02-25 02:27:00 UTC

“Citizens must judge whether their governments meet their responsibility, spelled out earlier in the sentence, to secure rights. If a government fails in its core purposes, it is the job of the citizen to figure this out and decide how to change direction. This requires diagnosing social circumstances and making judgments about grounding principles for the political order… (Allen, 2016, p. 12). ”

Disinterested Deliberation

itm15 — 2025-02-25 02:37:35 UTC

Ability to think about issues in an objective way; to detach from but still be able to have discourse about them

Prophetic work causing “frame shifting”

itm15 — 2025-02-25 02:38:20 UTC

an idea that in order to reach a full truth in society we should advocate and build towards a future that doesn’t exist yet

Transparently interested “fair fighting”

itm15 — 2025-02-25 02:38:58 UTC

when a person adopts a cause and devotedly pursues it with passion, not disinterest

Education should expand to a broader, more civic scope, which will result in creating more active citizens, more equality, and a better society.

itm15 — 2025-02-25 02:44:43 UTC