Obama and Education Reform

Huffington Post by Bill Ayers | Jan. 2, 2009 (Opinion)

In the realm of education, there is nothing preventing any of us from pressing to change the dominant discourse that has controlled the discussion for many years. It's reasonable to assume that education in a democracy is distinct from education under a dictatorship or a monarchy, but how? Surely school leaders in fascist Germany or communist Albania or medieval Saudi Arabia all agreed, for example, that students should behave well, stay away from drugs ... Full Story »

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by Dwight Rousu - Jan. 2, 2009

A prominent educator speaks to the role of education in a democracy, and the role of the people in a democracy. He recommends citizen activism and involvement.

Privatized education for corporate America, or public education for a diverse and informed democracy; make your voices heard. The Henry Giroux essay on "Rethinking the Promise of Critical Education" is also good.

We want our students to be able to think for themselves, to make judgments based on evidence and argument, to develop minds of their own. We want them to ask fundamental questions—-Who in the world am I? How did I get here and where am I going? What in the world are my choices? How in the world shall I proceed? - and to pursue answers wherever they might take them. Democratic educators focus their efforts, not on the production of things so much as on the production of fully developed human beings who are capable of controlling and transforming their own lives, citizens who can participate fully in civic life.

Education should be the opening of a spring, not the digging of a well.

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Dwight posted this story.