What is Education for? by Jayden Podchlebnik

Creating the "ideal ordinary citizen"

jp2366 — 2024-10-02 15:21:27 UTC

In her essay, Allen mentions the "ideal ordinary citizen". She describes a person as being just as informed about politics as a politician would be, allowing them to participate politically and civically. This citizen would have received the necessary tools to do so in their education, starting in Kindergarten. Throughout her essay, she heavily emphasizes this theme, labeling it as "civic agency", which can be achieved through three tasks: (Allen 12)

"disinterested deliberation around a public problem" (Allen 11)

jp2366 — 2024-10-02 15:27:33 UTC

When a person focuses on disinterested deliberation, they put aside their biases and pay attention to the more objective sense of right and wrong. Take a town hall, for example. A group from the same community comes together to discuss a specific problem's impact on their lives and what they propose to fix it, all while critically listening to others' input to go to an unbiased final solution.

"Prophetic work" (Allen 11)

jp2366 — 2024-10-02 15:31:21 UTC

When a person is deeply passionate about a certain aspect of society, whether that is a law, politician, movement, or policy, and attempts to shift the mindset of the people to achieve a certain goal. Allen brings up figures such as MLK jr and Harriet Beecher, who successfully brought hundreds of thousands of citizens together to establish much-needed change within their societies. A person who takes on prophetic work can persuade others with their messages, and initiate change. Allen calls this "frame shifting". The mindset of a whole group has shifted.

"fair fighting" (Allen 11)

jp2366 — 2024-10-02 15:31:53 UTC

Rather than having a large group impacted by a certain problem come together to find a solution, an individual (politician) will speak on behalf of the masses. It is important to note that this is different from prophetic work in that the politician adopts a cause rather than establishing one of their own. Although a politician invokes passion through their campaigns and messages, they are more of an actor than frame shifter

Liberal Arts

jp2366 — 2024-10-02 15:32:12 UTC

Through subjects like English, history, and government, students are encouraged to question how different components of their society impact them and how they can impact those same components as well.

STEM Subjects

jp2366 — 2024-10-02 17:41:43 UTC

(STEM - Science Technology Engineering Math)

Although students cannot debate whether a hydrogen atom has only one electron, through discussing their analyzed data students are encouraged to think critically about their observations and debate one another to come to a solution they all agree on. Having both strong STEM and liberal arts curriculums are important.

Citizenship

jp2366 — 2024-10-02 18:30:25 UTC

Meaningful citizenship: contributing to the betterment of society

Public Education

jp2366 — 2024-10-04 15:50:27 UTC

Equality

jp2366 — 2024-10-04 16:00:39 UTC

In an ideal society, children entering the public education system from a wide range of financial backgrounds receive an education that allows them to fight for the same competitive, high earning jobs

Becoming civically agent

jp2366 — 2024-10-04 16:02:23 UTC

Civic Education

jp2366 — 2024-10-04 20:03:01 UTC

An education that aims to create active and productive members in democracy

Vocational Edcuation

jp2366 — 2024-10-04 20:03:11 UTC

An education that prioritizes creating America's future blue collar workers. More practical skills are taught