American education as we know it today—guaranteed by the state to serve every child in the country—is still less than a hundred years old. It’s no wonder we haven’t agreed yet as to exactly what role education should play in our society. In these Tanner Lectures, Danielle Allen brings us much closer, examining the ideological impasse between vocational and humanistic approaches that has plagued educational discourse, offering a compelling proposal to finally resolve the dispute. Allen argues that education plays a crucial role in the cultivation of political and social equality and economic fairness, but that we have lost sight of exactly what that role is and should be. Drawing on thinkers such as John Rawls and Hannah Arendt, she sketches out a humanistic baseline that re-links education to equality, showing how doing so can help us reframe policy questions. From there, she turns to civic education, showing that we must reorient education’s trajectory toward readying students for lives as democratic citizens. Deepened by commentaries from leading thinkers Tommie Shelby, Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, Michael Rebell, and Quiara Alegría Hudes that touch on issues ranging from globalization to law to linguistic empowerment, this book offers a critical clarification of just how important education is to democratic life, as well as a stirring defense of the humanities.

This book debunks the argument that quality in education can only be achieved by limiting, or trading off, equality. The quality of schooling is a major issue for Third World nations across the globe. However there is no single measure which is universally accepted. Whether it is, as some economists might argue, an issue of the number of desks per classroom or one of national sovereignty is widely disputed. Defining equality in education becomes increasingly difficult in an era of globalization in which there exists a wide gap between rich and poor, both within and between nations. In the context of an international move towards New Right politics and neo-liberal economic ideologies, both the quality and equality of education are imperiled. This book argues that any worthy definition of quality education must include the interests and participation of the underprivileged.

The movement to broaden access to public universities, the dominant strategy during the 1970s and 1980s, has largely shifted to enable the marketplace, rather than the government, to shape the contours of higher education. Government funding is being reduced, affirmative action and other programs designed to ensure broader access are in decline, and personal fulfillment is replacing a public good designed to ensure greater equality of opportunities. This book explores the impact of diminishing government resources and expanding market forces in developing and developed countries to either foster or lessen equality of opportunities in higher education for different racial, ethnic, religious, and gender groupings. What are the consequences of a market-driven higher education for student access, teaching, and scholarship? Through case studies, this book explores issues such as access of minority groups within the larger societies, the place of foreign students in a national system, and access for students with mental health difficulties, and evaluates the success of funding schemes designed to expand opportunities and access. The research provides an interesting contrast of the diversity and uniqueness of higher education in the United States, France, Australia, India, Israel, South Korea, the Netherlands, Ghana, and several other countries, while at the same time revealing surprising commonalities. These studies reveal worldwide trends in higher education, including a cutback in government financing, a decline in access, and a recession of affirmative action. This book is an important addition to the literature on higher education during the age of globalization and the decline of government funding of higher education. The studies provide important data about the current situation in higher education in countries around the world. Book jacket.

"Equality in Education: Fairness and Inclusion is a scholarly call to action. As the book reminds us, governments come and go and in doing so they busy themselves with policy to mark their patch. Inequality and exclusion remain stubborn foes that are proving to be somewhat impervious to glossy policy pronouncements. The change that Hugo Claus calls for requires careful analysis and bold actions. The editors have assembled a collection of insightful essays that assist in that project. Professor Roger Slee, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia This book attempts to consider the notion of fairness and inclusion in the context of education from different national perspectives, which is a laudable undertaking. The Editors have managed to put together a diverse, informative, and interesting account of equality and fairness that transcends international borders. The Editors are to be commended on their remarkable achievement in bringing together so many authors to discuss such an important subject, yet producing a cohesive collection of chapters that elucidate the diverse nature of equity in education. Professor Divya Jindal Snape, University of Dundee, UK"

This book presents a major report that has evoked extensive controversy and initiated extensive policy debate on equality and achievement in education. It examines the concept of equality of educational opportunity and the relations between equality and achievement and between families and schools.

Considers the philosophical debates surrounding equality and education. >

Tinkering with the current educational system from within has not provided a just and equitable education for all children. In this book, acclaimed education theorist Joanne Larson poses basic questions about the nature and purpose of schooling. Proposing that what is needed is a new purpose that is more consistent with contemporary knowledge production processes—one that moves beyond the either/or binary of preparing workers/citizens in a competitive global economy or a democracy, Larson argues that the only real solution is to start over in U.S. education—the purpose of schooling should be to facilitate human learning, meaning making, and knowledge production toward just and equitable education for all. Radical Equality in Education offers a new ontological starting point and a new theoretical framing that would follow from it; articulates theoretical, curricular, pedagogical, and assessment principles that frame a real plan for fundamental change in American education, and presents examples of what these ideas might look like in schools and communities.