Bridging Liberalism and Multiculturalism in American Education

TLDR

The book is written in clear, accessible language and is intended for political theorists, philosophers, educators, policymakers, and teachers. The study asks what civic purposes education should serve in a liberal, diverse society, whether cultivating citizenship conflicts with respecting diversity, and how parental and state authority should be bounded. The author develops a liberal theory of multicultural education that prioritizes cultivating individual autonomy in children. Reich links political theory with educational history and policy, offering new answers, exploring homeschooling implications, and critiquing vouchers, charter schools, and the small school movement with pedagogical recommendations that challenge prevailing multiculturalist views.

Abstract

What should the civic purposes of education be in a liberal and diverse society? Is there a tension between cultivating citizenship and respecting social diversity? What are the boundaries of parental and state authority over education? Linking political theory with educational history and policy, Rob Reich offers provocative new answers to these questions. He develops a liberal theory of multicultural education in which the leading goal is the cultivation of individual autonomy in children. Reich draws out the policy implications of his theory through one of the first sustained considerations of homeschooling in American education. He also evaluates three of the most prominent trends in contemporary school reform - vouchers, charter schools, and the small school movement - and provides pedagogical recommendations that sharply challenge the reigning wisdom of many multicultural educators. Written in clear and accessible language, this book will be of interest to political theorists, philosophers, educators, educational policymakers, and teachers.