Pledging Allegiance

Pledging Allegiance
Author: Joel Westheimer
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2007
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0807775533

What does it mean to be “patriotic” in the United States after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001? And how have the prevailing notions of patriotism—loudly trumpeted in the American media—affected education in American schools? In this spirited book, renowned educational leaders and classroom practitioners answer these questions with insights, opinions, and hard facts. They focus on critical issues related to patriotism and democracy in education, including the social studies curriculum, military recruitment in schools, and student dissent. Contributors: Bill Ayers • Michael Bader • Robby Cohen • Sharon Cook • Louis Ganzler • Gerald Graff • Diana Hess • Joseph Kahne • Robert Jensen • Gloria Ladson-Billings • Deborah Meier • Ellen Middaugh • Pedro Noguera • Cecilia O’Leary • Diane Ravitch • and Joel Westheimer; Commentators: Bill Bigelow • Héctor Calderón • Edwin C. Darden • Peter Dreier • Delaine Eastin • Chester E. Finn • Jr. • Dick Flacks • Maxine Greene • Joan Kent Kvitka • James W. Loewen • Walter Parker • Charles Payne • Cindy Sheehan • Karen Emily Suurtamm • Studs Terkel • Denise Walsh. “What does it mean to be a democratic citizen? And what kind of education produces one? For the past two decades, Joel Westheimer has been one of North America’s most knowledgeable and able guides to these critical issues. Along the way, he has forced us to reconsider the larger goals and purposes of our public schools. His book will provide an invaluable roadmap for anyone who asks the big questions, no matter what they think of his answers.” —Jonathan Zimmerman, New York University “The essays in this book come at a critical moment and should be welcomed by anyone who is concerned that the values of peace, of democracy, be held high by the coming generation.” —From the Foreword by Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States “A valuable sourcebook for those who are uncertain about what patriotism is and, even more, for those who are certain that they know.” —Howard Gardner,author of Five Minds for the Future “By bringing together diverse and often divergent perspectives of patriotism, Pledging Allegiance opens to critical scrutiny the very idea of loyalty to a country. In doing so, it not only offers a useful educational resource but also performs a valuable political service. I can’t think of many books more likely to stimulate deep reflection and spirited discussion, and these activities, after all, are integral to democracy itself.” —Alfie Kohn, author of What Does It Mean to Be Well Educated?

Patriotic Education in a Global Age

Patriotic Education in a Global Age
Author: Randall Curren
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2018-04-30
Genre: Education
ISBN: 022655242X

Should schools attempt to cultivate patriotism? If so, why? And what conception of patriotism should drive those efforts? Is patriotism essential to preserving national unity, sustaining vigorous commitment to just institutions, or motivating national service? Are the hazards of patriotism so great as to overshadow its potential benefits? Is there a genuinely virtuous form of patriotism that societies and schools should strive to cultivate? In Patriotic Education in a Global Age, philosopher Randall Curren and historian Charles Dorn address these questions as they seek to understand what role patriotism might legitimately play in schools as an aspect of civic education. They trace the aims and rationales that have guided the inculcation of patriotism in American schools over the years, the methods by which schools have sought to cultivate patriotism, and the conceptions of patriotism at work in those aims, rationales, and methods. They then examine what those conceptions mean for justice, education, and human flourishing. Though the history of attempts to cultivate patriotism in schools offers both positive and cautionary lessons, Curren and Dorn ultimately argue that a civic education organized around three components of civic virtue—intelligence, friendship, and competence—and an inclusive and enabling school community can contribute to the development of a virtuous form of patriotism that is compatible with equal citizenship, reasoned dissent, global justice, and devotion to the health of democratic institutions and the natural environment. Patriotic Education in a Global Age mounts a spirited defense of democratic institutions as it situates an understanding of patriotism in the context of nationalist, populist, and authoritarian movements in the United States and Europe, and will be of interest to anyone concerned about polarization in public life and the future of democracy.

Constructing Patriotism

Constructing Patriotism
Author: Mario Carretero
Publisher: IAP
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2011-03-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1617353418

Memory construction and national identity are key issues in our societies, as well as it is patriotism. How can we nowadays believe and give sense to traditional narrations that explain the origins of nations and communities? How do these narrations function in a process of globalization? How should we remember the recent past? In the construction of collective memory, no doubt history taught at school plays a fundamental role, as childhood and adolescence are periods in which the identity seeds flourish vigorously. This book analyses how history is far more than pure historical contents given in a subject matter; it studies the situation of school history in different countries such as the former URSS, United States, Germany, Japan, Spain and Mexico, making sensible comparisons and achieving global conclusions. The empirical part is based on students interviews about school patriotic rituals, very close to the teaching of history, specifically carried out in Argentina but very similar to these rituals in other countries. The author analizes in which ways that historical knowledge is understood by students and its influence on the construction of patriotism. This book--aside from making a major contribution to the cultural psychology field--should be of direct interest and relevance to all people interested in the ways education succeeds in its variable functions. As a matter of fact, it is related to other IAP books as Contemporary Public Debates Over History Education (Nakou & Barca, 2010) and What Shall We Tell the Children? International Perspectives on School History Textbooks (Foster & Crawford, 2006).

Why Learn History (When It’s Already on Your Phone)

Why Learn History (When It’s Already on Your Phone)
Author: Sam Wineburg
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2018-09-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 022635735X

A look at how to teach history in the age of easily accessible—but not always reliable—information. Let’s start with two truths about our era that are so inescapable as to have become clichés: We are surrounded by more readily available information than ever before. And a huge percent of it is inaccurate. Some of the bad info is well-meaning but ignorant. Some of it is deliberately deceptive. All of it is pernicious. With the Internet at our fingertips, what’s a teacher of history to do? In Why Learn History (When It’s Already on Your Phone), professor Sam Wineburg has the answers, beginning with this: We can’t stick to the same old read-the-chapter-answer-the-question snoozefest. If we want to educate citizens who can separate fact from fake, we have to equip them with new tools. Historical thinking, Wineburg shows, has nothing to do with the ability to memorize facts. Instead, it’s an orientation to the world that cultivates reasoned skepticism and counters our tendency to confirm our biases. Wineburg lays out a mine-filled landscape, but one that with care, attention, and awareness, we can learn to navigate. The future of the past may rest on our screens. But its fate rests in our hands. Praise for Why Learn History (When It’s Already on Your Phone) “If every K-12 teacher of history and social studies read just three chapters of this book—”Crazy for History,” “Changing History . . . One Classroom at a Time,” and “Why Google Can’t Save Us” —the ensuing transformation of our populace would save our democracy.” —James W. Lowen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me and Teaching What Really Happened “A sobering and urgent report from the leading expert on how American history is taught in the nation’s schools. . . . A bracing, edifying, and vital book.” —Jill Lepore, New Yorker staff writer and author of These Truths “Wineburg is a true innovator who has thought more deeply about the relevance of history to the Internet—and vice versa—than any other scholar I know. Anyone interested in the uses and abuses of history today has a duty to read this book.” —Niall Ferguson, senior fellow, Hoover Institution, and author of The Ascent of Money and Civilization

How to Educate an American

How to Educate an American
Author: Michael J. Petrilli
Publisher: Templeton Foundation Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2020-02-24
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1599475707

In the years after A Nation at Risk, conservatives’ ideas to reform America’s lagging education system gained much traction. Key items like school choice and rigorous academic standards drew bipartisan support and were put into practice across the country. Today, these gains are in retreat, ceding ground to progressive nostrums that do little to boost the skills and knowledge of young people. Far from being discouraged, however, conservatives should seize the moment to refresh their vision of quality K–12 education for today’s America. These essays by 20 leading conservative thinkers do just that. Students, according to this vision, should complete high school with a thorough understanding of the country’s history, including gratitude for its sacrifices, respect for its achievements, and awareness of its shortcomings. They should also learn to be trustworthy stewards of a democratic republic, capable of exercising virtue and civic responsibility. Beyond helping to form their character, schools ought to ready their pupils for careers that are productive, rewarding, and dignified. Excellent technical-training opportunities will await those not headed to a traditional college. Regardless of the paths and schools that they select, all students must come to understand that they can succeed in America if they are industrious, creative, and responsible. Anchored in tradition yet looking towards tomorrow, How to Educate an American should be read by anyone concerned with teaching future generations to preserve the country’s heritage, embody its universal ethic, and pursue its founding ideals.

The End of Education

The End of Education
Author: Neil Postman
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2011-06-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0307797201

In this comprehensive response to the education crisis, the author of Teaching as a Subversive Activity returns to the subject that established his reputation as one of our most insightful social critics. Postman presents useful models with which schools can restore a sense of purpose, tolerance, and a respect for learning.

The Schoolhouse Gate

The Schoolhouse Gate
Author: Justin Driver
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 578
Release: 2019-08-06
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0525566961

A Washington Post Notable Book of the Year A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice An award-winning constitutional law scholar at the University of Chicago (who clerked for Judge Merrick B. Garland, Justice Stephen Breyer, and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor) gives us an engaging and alarming book that aims to vindicate the rights of public school stu­dents, which have so often been undermined by the Supreme Court in recent decades. Judicial decisions assessing the constitutional rights of students in the nation’s public schools have consistently generated bitter controversy. From racial segregation to un­authorized immigration, from antiwar protests to compul­sory flag salutes, from economic inequality to teacher-led prayer—these are but a few of the cultural anxieties dividing American society that the Supreme Court has addressed in elementary and secondary schools. The Schoolhouse Gate gives a fresh, lucid, and provocative account of the historic legal battles waged over education and illuminates contemporary disputes that continue to fracture the nation. Justin Driver maintains that since the 1970s the Supreme Court has regularly abdicated its responsibility for protecting students’ constitutional rights and risked trans­forming public schools into Constitution-free zones. Students deriving lessons about citizenship from the Court’s decisions in recent decades would conclude that the following actions taken by educators pass constitutional muster: inflicting severe corporal punishment on students without any proce­dural protections, searching students and their possessions without probable cause in bids to uncover violations of school rules, random drug testing of students who are not suspected of wrongdoing, and suppressing student speech for the view­point it espouses. Taking their cue from such decisions, lower courts have upheld a wide array of dubious school actions, including degrading strip searches, repressive dress codes, draconian “zero tolerance” disciplinary policies, and severe restrictions on off-campus speech. Driver surveys this legal landscape with eloquence, highlights the gripping personal narratives behind landmark clashes, and warns that the repeated failure to honor students’ rights threatens our basic constitutional order. This magiste­rial book will make it impossible to view American schools—or America itself—in the same way again.

The Teacher Wars

The Teacher Wars
Author: Dana Goldstein
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2015-08-04
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0345803620

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A groundbreaking history of 175 years of American education that brings the lessons of the past to bear on the dilemmas we face today—and brilliantly illuminates the path forward for public schools. “[A] lively account." —New York Times Book Review In The Teacher Wars, a rich, lively, and unprecedented history of public school teaching, Dana Goldstein reveals that teachers have been embattled for nearly two centuries. She uncovers the surprising roots of hot button issues, from teacher tenure to charter schools, and finds that recent popular ideas to improve schools—instituting merit pay, evaluating teachers by student test scores, ranking and firing veteran teachers, and recruiting “elite” graduates to teach—are all approaches that have been tried in the past without producing widespread change.

Exploring Textbooks and Cultural Change in Nordic Education 1536–2020

Exploring Textbooks and Cultural Change in Nordic Education 1536–2020
Author: Merethe Roos
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2021-02-22
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9004449558

This volume explores Nordic textbooks chronologically and empirically from the Protestant reformation to our own time. The chapters are written by scholars from Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, and deploy a wide range of methods, representing different academic fields.