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Fuhrman, Susan & Lazerson, Marvin. (Eds.). (2005). The Public Schools. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Pp. 388
$65.00 ISBN: 0-19-517030-XReviewed by Gina Pazzaglia
Arizona State UniversityFebruary 15, 2006
The Public Schools, edited by Susan Fuhrman and Marvin Lazerson, is part of the Institutions of American Democracy Series, a joint project of the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands and the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The Annenberg Foundation“exists to advance the public well-being through improved communication. As the principal means of achieving its goal, the Foundation encourages the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge . . . . The Foundation's focus is not on chips and wires but rather on education, particularly public school restructuring and reform in the United States.” (Annenberg Foundation: www.annenbergfoundation.org).
According to Fuhrman and Lazerson, each chapter of this book, one in a five volume series, attempts to “give voice to the ways America’s schools are linked to the preparation of citizens. They suggest the vitality of debate, the depth of concerns and disagreements, and the possibilities of improvement. They provide data and evidence on a range of activities and viewpoints that encompass the relationship between education and citizenship in the United States.”(p. xxiv)
The Public Schools is a collection of contributed articles and is divided into four sections, each of which tackles the many questions and challenges facing public education today. In the introduction, Fuhrman and Lazerson lay out the plan of the book and explicitly state the themes and challenges addressed by this collection of leading scholars, professionals, and representative of various institutions. Although the editors acknowledge the wide diversity of approaches used to address the issues surrounding public education, they poignantly state that “a common theme is the belief that public education both reflects and shapes our understanding of ourselves and of our aspirations as a nation. Whatever the future shape of public schooling, Americans are likely to insist that education be about citizenship.” (p. xxxi)
The fist section, “Education and Democracy: American Schooling in Context” provides a historical perspective of public education, describes the governance of schools, examines the conflicts and political debates in public education and finally assesses democracy and education in other countries. In Chapter One, Julie Reuben describes the historical context in which education is linked to citizenship as choreographed by various historical events. The author points out that the needs of education through the years were identified by how various historical events shaped the definition of citizenship throughout history. This historical look at how the “common school” concept developed was rich with detail and provided the reader with a foundation on which comparisons can be made with material in later chapters. Also emphasized in this chapter was the apparent need for society, at all levels, to value the connection between education and civic purposes.
In Chapter Two, the multidimensional, complex system of public school governance is examined with a focus on the public and the various federal and state agencies and local school boards. In order to understand the current evolving governance, the Thomas Corcoran and Margaret Goertz shed light on the public side of the governance equation answering the question, “What does the public want from education?” These answers are diverse, which leads the authors into a detailed explanation of how the local, state and federal education systems have met these diverse public needs. Research findings that address issues such as standard-based reforms and school choice are reviewed. Challenges such as performance problems, clear definitions of decision-making ability of lay boards and teaching staffs in schools, collective bargaining and labor agreements, and the potential of the Internet and computer technology for use by students, parents and teachers all can impact governance of public schools. The authors warn those who are responsible for the governance of public schools that time is of the essence in addressing the challenges threatening the “common school.”
In Chapter Three, William Galston examines the politics of education embedded in discussions surrounding various topics of debate within the U.S. educational system. Partisanship and organized interests, inter-institutional conflicts and the economic dimension of educational conflicts are highlighted. To illustrate the political workings in education as they are influenced by race and culture, the authors detail two cases, one dealing with racial politics and school reform in the Baltimore Public School System and the other with ethnicity and cultural conflicts and the issue of bilingual education. Overall, the authors do not give much hope as to the outcome of these conflicts given the current political climate and the opposing U.S. social realities of “deeply held principles of social equality and fair opportunity and…..the vast disparities of wealth, power, and status.”(p.79)
In Chapter Four, Bruce Fuller and Arun Rasiah examine education and democracy and how students learn about citizenship and democratic participation in various nations. Two countries, South Africa and Turkey, are analyzed in-depth; and the authors provide lessons for “American educators—concerned with the democratizing effects of education” (p.101). The authors provide a great service to the reader by looking beyond U.S. borders and exploring this issue in a more global context.
The second section, “Teaching, Learning and Working,” takes a look inside the public schools. Topics range from classroom deliberation, the value and work of teachers, and the potential for the use of media and technology, both in and out of schools. Chapter Five’s key topic is democratic deliberation. More specifically, Katherine Simon addresses the questions of how students should learn and how teachers should facilitate learning. She argues that there is a need for classroom deliberation and inquiry beyond the traditional “teacher transferring information” technique. This chapter is one of the few in this book that takes a practical approach to teaching, learning and citizenship. The value of process-learning is emphasized with the recognition that content is also very important. The chapter examines the challenges and obstacles to classroom deliberation as well as what can be done to facilitate more widespread use of deliberation as a learning method and educate our students for participation in a democracy.
In Chapter Six, Michael Johanek and John Puckett build on the discussion of what Americans expect from schools and what they expect of citizenship. The authors express the concern that in the era of standards and accountability, schools are not held accountable for civic preparation of their students. The authors direct the discussion by asking what our schools are currently doing with respect to civic education, what we want them to do, and how we can use current knowledge about citizen development to take meaningful action. Although the authors claimed to provide a “how-to” approach to significantly changing outcomes in civic education, their discussion falls short of a genuinely practical approach and merely suggests what ought to happen to improve the current status of citizen preparation in public schools.
Susan Moore Johnson’s chapter (Chapter Seven) “Working in Schools” is about teachers. While acknowledging the role of federal, state and local officials in deciding what schools teacher student, our future citizens, “It is teachers” writes the author, “who have the greatest potential influence on what and how those “future citizens” think.”(p.160) The chapter addresses the struggles of teachers both past and present. The author very effectively traces contributing factors that have often placed teachers and teaching in “subordinate status.” Efforts to professionalize teaching over the past two decades are discussed as well as a less than optimistic view of potential improvement of teacher control or status in the schools. However, the author does believe that an environment of informed debate and open discussion among key players about how to teach may lead to more effective instructional techniques.
In Chapter Eight, John Merrow examines the many sides of the media. The author contends that media, such as computers and television, can play a significant role in education and looks at how media portray youth and the educational potential of television and computers. While young people today grew up with technology and are comfortable using it, the fact that media can teach has been lost on the educational system. The media, as the author contends, “continues to be part of public education’s problems by contributing to the continuing deterioration in public discourse……Media must be part of a solution” (p. 204). The schools need to embrace technology and allow students to explore and discover learning using these high-tech tools.
Section three “Citizen Participation and Civic Engagement” focuses on how public education can shape the role of the citizen in the context of the relationships among the various players in the public school arena, such as the local community and parents. Clarence Stone (Chapter 9), Wendy Puriefoy (Chapter 10) and Matthew Hartley and Elizabeth Hollander (Chapter 11) discuss, in great depth and detail, civic capacity and civic mobilization in the context of schools. In addition, the efforts of higher education with respect to civic participation are identified. Special mention is made of the increasing work on college campuses to improve civic and community engagement, both within the campus environment and across campuses by means of, for example, service-learning. Finally, section four “Visions and Possibilities” highlights various points of view with respect to enhancing democracy in public schooling. This section addresses issues such as accountability, parental, student and teacher responsibility in education and emphasizes the importance of paying attention to the demographic changes taking place in the United States. Richard Elmore (Chapter 12) discusses agency and reciprocity as they relate to accountability at three different levels: the classroom level, the school level and the system level. He provides a detailed and thoughtful examination of how the dynamics at all three levels can work together to produce success in school. In Chapter 13, Jennifer Hochschild and Nathan Scovronick provide a recent history of U.S. demographic changes. They also propose a framework in which the public schools can work, under the ideology of the American Dream, to overcome the challenges of a rapidly changing demography, as well as capitalize on the opportunities presented by such changes. Bilingual education and inequality in public school are key issues highlighted in this chapter. Paul Dimond (Chpater 14) highlights the democratic ideal of the free common school and the concept of school choice and provides an account of what they actually mean in 21st century American schooling. The author examines this issue by looking at factors outside the schools rather than inside. Dimond’s gives the reader an in-depth look at school choice, but also provides a plan for achieving the ultimate goal offered in his original proposition, that “Every family deserves an equal opportunity to choose the publicly supported, tuition-free common school that will best serve their children” (p. 325).
Amy Gutman in the “Afterword” to this book aptly concludes, “Civic education—the aims of which include the ability to argue and appreciate, understand and criticize, persuade and collectively decide in a way that is mutually respectable even if not universally acceptable—is a central merit of schools in a constitutional democracy…. Schools that cultivate the capacity of citizens to deliberate on moral terms about their ongoing disagreements are our best hope for the future of American democracy.”(p.358)
The Public Schools is very well written for a collection of contributed chapters and provides the reader a comprehensive foundation for understanding the pertinent issues and concerns now facing public education. Overall, it accomplishes several things. First, it identifies the necessity of the connection between education and citizenship in the context of the challenges facing the nation, including but not limited to, major demographic changes, the economy, politics, and leadership. It identifies problems facing the proponents of public schooling and suggests solutions on various levels. It highlights participation at all levels, such as teacher, student, parent and school involvement, and their relationship with community and government.
The explicitly stated goals of this book were met. Each essay, in its unique way “gave voice” to the ways America’s schools are linked to the preparation of citizens. For the most part, each author provided a balanced view of the topics covered, and suggested improvements. However, the preponderance of analysis offered in each chapter leaves the reader wanting more concrete, explicit recommendations for how to improve on current situations. Chapters 5, 7, 8 and 14, however, did provide such recommendations and possible solutions to the identified problems. Sufficient data and evidence were provided in each essay to substantiate the arguments presented.
Despite the diversity of the authors’ approaches, this book managed to capture the essence of what it sought to accomplish. They identified and expanded on the key issues that face our nation (and others) within the complex context of the public education system. However, as the editors pointed out in the introduction, the variety of approaches used by the authors to discuss these issues was very evident. The organization of the book does not lend itself to a smooth transition from chapter to chapter and although each author managed to keep the common thread of citizenship and education in tact, the overall impact of the final product is fragmented. At times, this detracts from the book’s overall goals. This is not necessarily a weakness, because each chapter can stand alone, making this book a great resource for the student and advanced scholar alike.
The book’s key strengths include the detailed review of literature, comprehensive overview of the public school system, relevant case studies, current challenges and multi-layer analysis of the relationship between education and citizenship. These provide a wealth of information for future practice application and research in the area of education reform. The Public Schools would be a wonderful book for use as the basis of a graduate seminar in education. Overall, the comprehensive nature, as well as the depth and breadth of coverage of each topic make this book a valuable resource for anyone interested in public education.
Reference
Mission Statement. The Annenberg Foundation
http://www.annenbergfoundation.org/about/about_show.htm?doc_id=209617About the Reviewer
Gina Pazzaglia holds a doctorate in Nutrition Education from Penn State University and was an assistant professor and didactic program director in the department of nutrition at Marywood University, Scranton, PA for five years. Currently she is a PhD student in the College of Education, Division of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Arizona State University.
Copyright is retained by the first or sole author, who grants right of first publication to the Education Review.
Editors: Gene V Glass, Kate Corby, Gustavo Fischman
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