Common Schools/Uncommon Identities: National Unity and Cultural Difference

How can we resolve the debates between groups such as blacks, Latinos, gays, and women who demand that school curricula recognize their particular identities and others who insist that public education should infuse children with a common American identity? Educational philosopher Walter Feinberg here takes on the debate and suggests ways to promote both cultural and national identities."Feinberg`s book addresses the most urgent questions about the future of American education, and everyone who cares about that future should read it."--Callan Eamonn, professor of educational policy studies, University of Alberta"What distinguishes this book is its quiet tone of reason and its careful effort to spell out a principled basis for rethinking public schools in a multicultural society."--David Labaree, author of How to Succeed in School Without Really Learning.

Politics & Social Sciences

Feinberg, Mr. Walter

Sociology

Yale University Press

<p>One of the most hotly debated issues in contemporary education concerns the tension between the demands of such groups as blacks, Latinos, gays, women, and the handicapped for a curriculum that recognizes their particular identity—and the competing position that the role of public education is to infuse children with a common American identity. In this book, a distinguished philosopher of education takes on that debate, indicating the underlying ethical issues on each side and showing how schools can promote both national and cultural identities.<br><br> Walter Feinberg develops a theory of education that is twofold: it is sensitive to the concerns of parents and community members who want the public schools to reinforce their particular values and group identity, and it also maintains a commitment to the "principled reasons" for public education—the general ideals that public education shares with a liberal political philosophy, particularly equality of educational opportunity, freedom of association, and individual development. Feinberg develops an understanding of basic principles that schools should use in addressing cultural differences, tests these and shows how liberalism is indeed compatible with cultural recognition.</p>

Education & Teaching

Feinberg, Walter

Schools & Teaching

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