Have a Little Faith
Religion, Democracy, and the American Public School
- Contents
- Review Quotes
Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Religion and Education: A Democratic Perspective
2 The Founding Fathers, Religion, and Education
3 Religion and the Origins of Public Education
4 Religion and Public Education in the Era of Progress
5 Religion and Public Education since 1960
6 Finding Faith in Democracy: Three Cases
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Review Quotes
Choice
"This short, well-footnoted book is particularly timely given the current clashes between liberals, who tend to endorse a one-size-fits-all approach to public education that focuses on college preparation and job-training, and conservatives, many of whom have lost faith in public education and seek various forms of choice plans from charters to private and religious schools. The book argues that while the country is composed of citizens of many religions and no religion, public schools have a role in enabling Americans of different views to come together, learn to respect competing views, and make the necessary democratic decisions. Further, the authors maintain that this process provides legitimacy to a democratic state. The record of our schools over more than two hundred years bears evidence of these legitimacy tensions. The authors examine these tensions over four historical periods through the lens of school content, purpose, control, and inclusion: the emergence of public schooling in the early days of the Republic, the early and mid-19th century, the early 20th century through the 1950s, and the modern era with its special religious tensions, deepening criticisms of public education, and emergence of competing ideas for how to structure and deliver schooling in a religiously pluralistic nation. The book ends by reiterating the severity of the controversies surrounding public education today, the lessons of history, and the contribution the perspective of democratic political philosophy can offer to our national debate. Recommended."
Walter Feinberg, coauthor of For the Civic Good
“Understanding and responding to the religious (or non-religious) other is a critical component of public education in a democracy, especially today. By neglecting religious topics, many schools miss an important opportunity to develop public reason, which requires exposure to different beliefs and ideas. With sensitive awareness to the difficulties this can present for teachers, this book offers a balanced and necessary look at the different sides of the issue, formulating a clear and convincing democratic rationale for addressing religion in our schools.”
Eamonn Callan, author of Creating Citizens
“Since its early beginnings in the nineteenth century, public education in America has been roiled by controversy over religion. The controversy is never finally resolved because it arises from conflict between values at the very foundation of our democracy, such as the individual rights of parents and children and the interest that all citizens share in how well coming generations are educated. Have a Little Faith is a provocative and utterly engrossing exploration of the abiding conundrum of religion in American education. Justice and Macleod have written a landmark study on a topic as important as any other to the future of American democracy, and they have done so with a grace and clarity that makes their argument accessible to a broad public.”
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Education: Curriculum and Methodology | Education--Economics, Law, Politics | Education--General Studies | Philosophy of Education | Pre-School, Elementary and Secondary Education
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