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15 - Education and Democratic Citizenship: Capabilities and Quality Education

from Part Two - Philosophical and Normative Foundations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2023

By
Martha C. Nussbaum
Edited by
Julian Culp ,
Johannes Drerup  and
Douglas Yacek
Julian Culp
Affiliation:
The American University of Paris, France
Johannes Drerup
Affiliation:
Universität Dortmund
Douglas Yacek
Affiliation:
Universität Dortmund
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Summary

Public education is crucial to the health of democracy. Recent educational initiatives in many countries, however, focus narrowly on science and technology, neglecting the arts and humanities. They also focus on internalization of information, rather than on the formation of the student’s critical and imaginative capacities. This chapter argues that such a narrow focus is dangerous for democracy’s future. Drawing on the ideas of Rabindranath Tagore, the chapter proposes a three‐part model for the development of young people’s capabilities through education, focusing on critical thinking, world citizenship, and imaginative understanding.

Keywords

educationcitizenshipdemocracyTagorecapabilities
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Democratic Education , pp. 250 - 260
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

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