Equality and Social Policy

Politics & Social Sciences

Feinberg, Walter

Social Sciences

University of Illinois Press

Common Schools/Uncommon Identities: National Unity and Cultural Difference

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. 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.

Education & Teaching

Feinberg, Mr. Walter

Schools & Teaching

Yale University Press

Japan and the Pursuit of a New American Identity is a fascinating account of America's obsession with Japanese education and industry and the effects of this obsession on American schools, work, and national identity. By assessing the limits of American individualism and Japanese collectivism in an increasingly multicultural age, Walter Feinberg explodes the popular notion that Japan can serve as a proper model for American society and, more specifically, the American educational system. He then goes on to articulate some of the challenges and possibilities that multiculturalism presents for American education. He concludes that the role of education in renewing the the ideals of democracy is pivotal if America is to reestablish its identity and chart a course for educational reform in a multicultural age.

Japan and the Pursuit of a New American Identity: Work and Education in a Multicultural Age (Critical Social Thought)

Routledge

While the fierce debate over religion in public schools receives ample media attention, we rarely consider the implications of religious schools on moral education and liberal democracy. In this groundbreaking work, Walter Feinberg opens up a critical new dialogue to offer a complete discussion of the important role religious schools play in the formation of a democratic citizenry. Feinberg, a leading philosopher of education, approaches the subject of religious education with a rare evenhandedness, drawing on examples from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim schools and exploring topics as disparate as sex education and creationism. For Goodness Sake provides a much-needed take on a controversial topic, demonstrating that the relationship between religion and schooling is not simply the exclusive concern of members of a given religious community, but a relevant and vital issue for everyone who cares about education.

For Goodness Sake: Religious Schools and Education for Democratic Citizenry (Social Theory, Education, And Change)

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

While the fierce debate over religion in public schools receives ample media attention, we rarely consider the implications of religious schools on moral education and liberal democracy. In this groundbreaking work, Walter Feinberg opens up a critical new dialogue to offer a complete discussion of the important role religious schools play in the formation of a democratic citizenry. Feinberg, a leading philosopher of education, approaches the subject of religious education with a rare evenhandedness, drawing on examples from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim schools and exploring topics as disparate as sex education and creationism. For Goodness Sake provides a much-needed take on a controversial topic, demonstrating that the relationship between religion and schooling is not simply the exclusive concern of members of a given religious community, but a relevant and vital issue for everyone who cares about education.

For Goodness Sake: Religious Schools and Education for Democratic Citizenry (Social Theory, Education and Cultural Change)

Why teach about religion in public schools? What educational value can such courses potentially have for students? In For the Civic Good, Walter Feinberg and Richard A. Layton offer an argument for the contribution of Bible and world religion electives. The authors argue that such courses can, if taught properly, promote an essential aim of public education: the construction of a civic public, where strangers engage with one another in building a common future. The humanities serve to awaken students to the significance of interpretive and analytic skills, and religion and Bible courses have the potential to add a reflective element to these skills. In so doing, students awaken to the fact of their own interpretive framework and how it influences their understanding of texts and practices. The argument of the book is developed by reports on the authors’ field research, a two-year period in which they observed religion courses taught in various public high schools throughout the country, from the “Bible Belt” to the suburban parkway. They document the problems in teaching religion courses in an educationally appropriate way, but also illustrate the argument for a humanities-based approach to religion by providing real classroom models of religion courses that advance the skills critical to the development of a civic public.

For the Civic Good: The Liberal Case for Teaching Religion in the Public Schools (The New Public Scholarship)

Layton, Richard A.

Religious Studies

University of Michigan Press

Why teach about religion in public schools? What educational value can such courses potentially have for students?
In For the Civic Good, Walter Feinberg and Richard A. Layton offer an argument for the contribution of Bible and world religion electives. The authors argue that such courses can, if taught properly, promote an essential aim of public education: the construction of a civic public, where strangers engage with one another in building a common future. The humanities serve to awaken students to the significance of interpretive and analytic skills, and religion and Bible courses have the potential to add a reflective element to these skills. In so doing, students awaken to the fact of their own interpretive framework and how it influences their understanding of texts and practices. The argument of the book is developed by reports on the authors’ field research, a two-year period in which they observed religion courses taught in various public high schools throughout the country, from the “Bible Belt” to the suburban parkway. They document the problems in teaching religion courses in an educationally appropriate way, but also illustrate the argument for a humanities-based approach to religion by providing real classroom models of religion courses that advance the skills critical to the development of a civic public.

Understanding Education: Toward a Reconstruction of Educational Inquiry

Cambridge University Press

In this defence of affirmative action, Walter Feinberg moves the debate beyond the inadequate framework of economic issues to develop a theory of affirmative action that allows for a more refined understanding of its uses and misuses. He shows that affirmative action has three morally defensible goals. First, it seeks to correct systematic ruptures in the exercise of the principle of equal opportunity. Second, it seeks to advance the standing of groups whose members have been discriminated against because of certain ascribed characteristics such as sex or skin colour. Third, it attempts to address a historical debt.

On Higher Ground: Education and the Case for Affirmative Action

Teachers College Pr

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Feinberg, Walter. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Feinberg, Walter

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Feinberg, Walter. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Equality and Social Policy

Common Schools/Uncommon Identities: National Unity and Cultural Difference

Japan and the Pursuit of a New American Identity: Work and Education in a Multicultural Age (Critical Social Thought)

For Goodness Sake: Religious Schools and Education for Democratic Citizenry (Social Theory, Education, And Change)

For Goodness Sake: Religious Schools and Education for Democratic Citizenry (Social Theory, Education and Cultural Change)

For the Civic Good: The Liberal Case for Teaching Religion in the Public Schools (The New Public Scholarship)

For the Civic Good: The Liberal Case for Teaching Religion in the Public Schools (The New Public Scholarship)

Understanding Education: Toward a Reconstruction of Educational Inquiry

Understanding Education: Toward a Reconstruction of Educational Inquiry

On Higher Ground: Education and the Case for Affirmative Action