Constructive and Reconstructive Political Education

Abstract

It is a recurrent feature of the history of political thought that thinkers have turned their attention to education. Some have been concerned with the reproduction of a political culture through education. Others have sought to redress the failings of present generations by re-educating future citizens. A broad distinction is drawn between 'constructive' political education which takes human nature as given and aims to redirect pupils to new priorities and 'reconstructive' education which tries to effect a transformation of the mind-set and produce new persons. Constructive theories include early utilitarians, conservatives such as Oakeshott and modern democratic realists. Examples of reconstructive theories are communitarians, such as Rousseau and participatory democrats, including J. S. Mill and Dewey. The article concludes with a discussion of attempts, such as that by Rawls, to educate for political neutrality.