Penn GSE News
Democratic Education in a Time of War
In her recent book, Penn GSE Research Associate Sigal Ben-Porath considers how democracies can preserve civic education in times of war.
An examination of civic education, the culture of war, and the quest for peace, Ben-Porath's book, "Citizenship under Fire: Democratic Education in Times of Conflict," draws on examples from Israel and the U.S. to understand how ideas about citizenship change when a country is at war - and what educators can do to prevent some of the most harmful of these changes.
The most worrisome trend Ben-Porath identifies is the growing emphasis in schools on social conformity, on tendentious teaching of history, and on drawing stark distinctions between them and us.
As she writes, "The varying characteristics of citizenship in times of war and peace add up to a distinction between belligerent citizenship ... and the liberal democratic citizenship that is characteristic of more peaceful democracies."
While various theories of education - peace education, feminist education, and multicultural education - speak to the challenges of wartime, Ben-Porath argues that they prove unsatisfactory.
She proposes instead an alternative theory - "expansive education" - which she believes holds more promise of widening the circles of participation, extending the scope of debate, and diversifying the questions asked about the opinions voiced.
According to Stanford University Professor Rob Reich, "This book has all the ingredients of a classic text: it opens a new line of scholarly inquiry that, afterwards, seems hard to believe hadn't been opened before. Ben-Porath's main theme - civic education during wartime - has never been addressed in as comprehensive and inventive a manner."
"Citizenship under Fire" is published by Princeton University Press, 174 pages, hardcover, 0-691-12434-5, $29.95.
CONTACT: Nancy Brokaw, 215-573-0591, nbrokaw@gse.upenn.edu
An examination of civic education, the culture of war, and the quest for peace, Ben-Porath's book, "Citizenship under Fire: Democratic Education in Times of Conflict," draws on examples from Israel and the U.S. to understand how ideas about citizenship change when a country is at war - and what educators can do to prevent some of the most harmful of these changes.
The most worrisome trend Ben-Porath identifies is the growing emphasis in schools on social conformity, on tendentious teaching of history, and on drawing stark distinctions between them and us.
As she writes, "The varying characteristics of citizenship in times of war and peace add up to a distinction between belligerent citizenship ... and the liberal democratic citizenship that is characteristic of more peaceful democracies."
While various theories of education - peace education, feminist education, and multicultural education - speak to the challenges of wartime, Ben-Porath argues that they prove unsatisfactory.
She proposes instead an alternative theory - "expansive education" - which she believes holds more promise of widening the circles of participation, extending the scope of debate, and diversifying the questions asked about the opinions voiced.
According to Stanford University Professor Rob Reich, "This book has all the ingredients of a classic text: it opens a new line of scholarly inquiry that, afterwards, seems hard to believe hadn't been opened before. Ben-Porath's main theme - civic education during wartime - has never been addressed in as comprehensive and inventive a manner."
"Citizenship under Fire" is published by Princeton University Press, 174 pages, hardcover, 0-691-12434-5, $29.95.
CONTACT: Nancy Brokaw, 215-573-0591, nbrokaw@gse.upenn.edu