Democracy & Education ((3 Credits))

Catalog description

In this course, students will develop an understanding of the relationship between democracy and education. What tensions arise between different conceptions of the human condition, the social contract, and the role of education in developing particular behaviors, knowledge and skill sets among citizens in a democracy? What is the role of education in a democracy, and how is this different from other societies? What can schools do- and teach -to support democratic life, especially in our own, diverse society? Students will consider major themes in democracy and education through their readings, to include: John Dewey's Democracy in Education, Amy Gutmann's Democratic Education, S.J. Goodland's edited volume The Last Best Hope: A Democracy Reader, and Walter Parker's Teaching Democracy: Unity and Diversity in Public Life. This course was previously LIB-640516.