Public education, America's civil religion
Subtitle: a social history
By: Carl L. Bankston III, Stephen J. Caldas.
Contributors: Caldas, Stephen J., 1957-
Publisher: Teachers College Press, Teachers College, Columbia University; Teachers College Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 205
ISBN-13: 9780807749470; 9780807749487
Subjects: Public schools -- United States -- History; Education -- Social aspects -- United States -- History; Civil religion -- United States -- History
Description: In this volume, the authors argue that public education is a central part of American civil religion and, thus, gives us an unquestioning faith in the capacity of education to solve all of our social, economic, and political problems. The book traces the development of America's faith in public education from before the Civil War up to the present, exploring recent educational developments such as the No Child Left Behind legislation. The authors discuss how this faith in education often makes it difficult for Americans to think realistically about the capacities and limitations of public schooling. Bringing together history, politics, religion, sociology, and educational theory, this in-depth examination: raises fundamental questions about what education can accomplish for the citizens of the United States; points out that many supposedly opposing viewpoints on public education actually arise from the same root assumptions; exposes the gaps between our pursuit of equity in schools and what we really accomplish with students; looks at ways in which education can be organized to serve a diverse population.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Religions, political, and civil; title: Before progressivism: belief in education in a divided nation; title: Public education in the progressive era; title: Public schooling between world wars:; title: After World War II: the education boom, Cold War, and growing calls for equality; title: Education for equality and education as redistribution in the sixties and seventies; title: Anxiety and standards: a nation at risk and the equity-excellence dilemma in the eighties and nineties; title: Where all the children are above average: entering the 21st century; title: Conclusion: American civil religion and the schools.