Schools are ideal sites for democratic citizenship education (Revise)

“Schools are ideal sites for democratic citizenship education” –Walter C. Parker (Pg. 3)

The quote form Teaching Against Idiocy by Walter C. Parker hits on so many points. The quote is trying to say that schools are great for social equality. Parker says that the interaction in schools can help children enter social consciousness of puberty and develop the habits of thinking and caring necessary for public life. I feel that this is true because it enlightens a child to different cultures, races, and genders that they might have not seen before. This also helps students with their social interactions as well.

Parker states that there are three keys to do this. First, to increase the interaction of students who are culturally, linguistically, and racially different from one another. Second, orchestrate these contacts so as to foster competent public talk. Third, clarify the distinction between deliberation and blather and between open and close deliberation. (Parker, pg. 4) By doing this I feel that it will help children become more diverse and could help expand their horizon of the world around them.

When I was growing up I was the only white student in mostly all my classes till I got to college. By learning how different races and cultures function always amazed me. In college, I started to see ethnic groups outcast other ethnic groups members. Some schools are not so much culturally diverse. I support this quote because when kids grow up, and are sheltered in their own world (Our homes) and school is a portal to expand ones knowledge of the different races, genders, and cultures in our lives. This is why schools are the Mecca for democratic citizenship education. I am a strong believer in diversity among students.
-Richard Liptak