Creating Citizens: Political Education and Liberal Democracy

by Eamonn Callan

Overview

What is the role of political education in liberal democracies? This question, which is at the heart of recent debates in the US over federal funding of private schools, forms the core of this book. The problem of political education is to ensure the constitutive ideals of liberal democracy while remaining open to a diversity of conduct and beliefs that may threaten those ideals. In Creating Citizens, Eamonn Callan, one of the world's foremost philosophers of education, identifies both the principal ends of civic education and the rights that limit their political pursuit. This timely new study sheds light on some of our most divisive educational controversies, such as state sponsorship and regulation of denominational schooling, as well as the role of non-denominational schools in the moral and political development of children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198292586
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/30/1997
Series:	Oxford Political Theory
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.30(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	1480L (what's this?)

About the Author

Professor Eamonn Callan is Professor of Educational Policy Studies aty the University of Alberta, Canada. He was educated at University College, Dublin and at the University of Alberta, where he gained his Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Education in 1982. He is the author of numerous articles and books on the philosophy of education and educational policy.

Table of Contents

1. Education and the Politics of Virtue2. Pluralism and Political Liberalism3. Autonomy, Justice, and the Good4. Justice, Care, and Community5. Patriotism and Sentimentality6. The Great Sphere and Rights7. Common Schools, Separate Schools8. Virtue, Dialogue, and the Common School9. Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"This is a very good book. It is beautifully written; it contains an original interpretation of certain aspects of liberal political philosophy; and it applies some of these insights to the pressing issue of the kind of education that is appropriate for liberal citizenship...Callan is to be commended for applying a sophisticated liberal political philosophy to the difficult and neglected issues of citizenship education. He demonstrates that philosophy is capable of advancing our thinking in these areas, and generating a principled on these very thorny issues. Even when readers disagree with Callan's conclusions, they will benefit from engaging with his argument and analysis."—The Review of Politics

From the Publisher