Education Equality

American education, guaranteed by the state to serve every child in the country, is still less than a hundred years old. As a result, there is still a lack of agreement as to exactly what role education should play in our society. In her Tanner Lectures, Danielle Allen examines the ideological impasse between vocational and humanistic approaches that has plagued educational discourse, and offers a compelling proposal to resolve the dispute.

Allen argues that education plays a crucial role in the cultivation of political and social equality, as well as economic fairness. However, she believes that we have lost sight of what that role is and should be. By drawing on thinkers such as John Rawls and Hannah Arendt, she outlines a humanistic baseline that reconnects education to equality, and demonstrates how doing so can help us reframe policy questions. She also emphasizes the importance of civic education, advocating for a reorientation of education's trajectory to prepare students for lives as democratic citizens.

The book is deepened by commentaries from leading thinkers Tommie Shelby, Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, Michael Rebell, and Quiara Alegría Hudes, which touch on issues ranging from globalization to law to linguistic empowerment. This offers a critical clarification of the crucial role education plays in democratic life, as well as a stirring defense of the humanities. Overall, Allen's lectures bring us much closer to understanding the role of education in society and offer a path forward for resolving the ideological divides that have plagued educational discourse.

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