An Education in Democracy

I believe that the democratic process of our country- as vulnerable and flawed as

it is-is our best hope for creating a society in which power and resources are equally and

equitably distributed amongst The People. I also believe that schools have a formative

role to play in the development of socially engaged, democratic citizens. I find it deeply

troubling that while our nation professes to be a democratic society, the institutions

to which we have entrusted our children, are failing to prepare them for democratic

citizenship. I believe this to be the underlying reason why the American population as a

whole has become so thoroughly disengaged with the political system.

To give evidence of the failure to educate our nation on the workings of our

supposedly democratic government, I refer to a study by the National Constitution

Center, which found that a mere 38% of respondents were able to name all three branches

of the US government. Considering this study, it is easy to see how oligarchs have been

able to wrangle and construe our democracy into a self-serving plutocracy. The very

structures of our government that were originally put in place to ensure that power did

not become concentrated and corrupted are both unbeknownst and underutilized by the

majority of American citizens.

More than a century has passed since Theodore Roosevelt openly acknowledged,

“Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no

allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.” If Roosevelt’s analysis

of the US government is accurate, and I believe that it is, then there exist some conflicts

between what we as a nation have declared to be a representative democracy, and the

system of government we find ourselves subject to. I have heard George Carlin say it best.

\"Politicians are put there to give you the illusion of freedom of choice. The real

owners of this country are...the big wealthy business interests that control things

and make all the important decisions...they own and control the corporations,

they’ve long since bought and paid for the senate, the congress, the state houses, and

city halls...they don’t want a population of...well informed, well educated people

capable of critical thinking.\"

Carlin asserts, that it is by design that our educational system has abandoned

curriculum aimed at teaching the democratic principles and processes of our society.

It is my resonance with this assertion that leads me to the position I take on what the

current role of public education in modern society needs to be. In the article Teaching

Democracy: What Schools Need to Do, Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer states my

position precisely.

During a time in which corporate lobbyists are spending hundreds of millions

of dollars, many ordinary citizens are passive and apathetic when it comes to major

issues that affect their lives. If policies regarding the environment, taxes, military

spending, and health care are to reflect public sentiments rather than the interest

of well-financed lobbyists, they require the attention of ordinary citizens...making

democracy work requires that schools take this goal seriously: to educate and

nurture engaged and informed citizens.

This reflects the sentiment widely shared by Bill Moyers who has said, “The fate

and character of our country are up for grabs...democracy only works when we claim it

as our own.” For more than two centuries, the fundamental principal that drove public

education was the notion that schools should inform students about the issues of their

time, and prepare them for life within a participatory democracy. It seems to me that

this fundamental principle has been displaced and supplanted by a principle motivated

primarily by academic achievement. While I find no inherent faults with this objective,

the existing disparities in power and wealth means that this objective has a tendency to

perpetuate societal issues such as poverty. This narrow objective results in a select few

who actually benefit from higher academic objectives. The select few being those that

already possess a higher amount of human and cultural capitol due to their inherited socio-
economic status. In the article, No Rich Child Left Behind, Sean Reardon explains,

\"I found that the rich-poor gap in test scores is about 40 percent larger now than

it was 30 years ago...The academic gap is widening because rich students are

increasingly entering kindergarten much better prepared to succeed in school...this

difference in preparation persists through elementary and high school... early

childhood experiences are central to winning a lifelong educational and economic

competition.\"

These findings conclude that all the reforms aimed at standardization and academic

achievement do nothing to close the achievement gap or address the overall health of

our society. Quite the opposite, the reforms have actually widened the educational and

economic divide between the rich and the poor.

As I mentioned, the national dialogue on education, including all educational reform

efforts, have galvanized around the achievement of higher, more globally competitive

mathematic and literacy scores. While I do not intend to devalue these crucially important

aspects of education, I again agree with Kahne and Westheimer’s assertion that “...from

the standpoint of supporting a democratic society, academic subject matter, when

disconnected from its social relevance, is insufficient.” In his work, Moral Principles

in Education, Dewey examines the consequences of separating knowledge from social

action, “What the study of number suffers from...is the radical mistake of treating

number as if it were an end in itself, instead of the means of accomplishing some end.”

For instance, what is the purpose of understanding mathematical equations if these

equations cannot be used to redistribute the sum total of our world wealth in a more

equitable fashion?

I believe that participatory democracy is the only available venue through which

The People can improve the legislative policies that dictate societal norms, subsequently

improving the condition of their lives. I also believe that it is the obligation of modern

day public education to serve as a social tool through which people can develop the

agency and skills needed to exert decision making power over the policies that shape

their lives; like wealth disparity stemming from the lack of equitable education. Some

examples of that power would be the ability to identify their political frontline, organize

and collaborate across the political spectrum, file grievances with the leaders who purport

to serve The People, or engage in direct action to demand change. To do this, Kahne and

Westheimer suggest that students need to have:

Opportunities to connect academic knowledge to analysis of social issues...have

knowledge of democratic processes, of particular issues...know how to attain and

analyze information...are able to examine the structural causes of social problems

and seek solutions...be informed by their knowledge of social movements and

various strategies for change.

While I recognize that there is a wide spectrum of ideas and beliefs

surrounding the of purpose of public education, I believe that this unique time

in our political history necessitates that we prioritize the reclamation of our

democracy, and reestablish a government of The People, by The People, for The

People.

Works Cited

• Kane, Joseph, and Joel Westheimer. \"Teaching Democracy: What Schools Need

to Do.\" Phi Delta Kappan 85.1 (2003): 34-67. Print.

• Reardon, Sean F. \"No Rich Child Left Behind.\" Opinionator No Rich Child Left

Behind Comments. The New York Times, 27 Apr. 2013. Web. 1 June 2014.

<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/27/no-rich-child-left-behind/?

_php=true&_type=blogs&ref=opinion&_r=0>.

• Dewey, John. Moral Principles in Education. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1909. 41.

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