For Goodness Sake: Religious Schools and Education for Democratic Citizenry

by Feinberg; Walter

• ISBN13: 9780415953795
• ISBN10: 0415953790
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781136282409
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2006-03-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

While the question of religion in public schools is often a matter of fierce debate, few Americans consider the implication of religious education on moral education and liberal democracy more generally. When it comes to religious education, many assume that only those within a given religious community have any serious interest in the religious content of education, and in the moral education of children in religious schools. This important book seeks to change that perception, demonstrating that what happens within religious schools and the education available to all children, regardless of the school they attend, are public issues. It opens up a critical dialogue in liberal, democratic societies. Drawing on examples from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim schools and on topics from sex education to creationism, Walter Feinberg illustrates from a secular point of view the important role religious schools play in the formation of a democratic citizenry.

Author Biography

Walter Feinberg is the Charles Dunn Hardie Professor of Philosophy of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
Chapter 1 Religious Instruction and Moral Education	1	(16)
Part I Back to School: An Ethnography
Chapter 2 The Construction of Religious Communities	17	(28)
Chapter 3 Criticism and Commitment	45	(40)
Chapter 4 Faith and the Pedagogical Limits of Critical Inquiry	85	(22)
Part II The Nature of the Public Interest in Religious Education: A Critical Analysis
Chapter 5 Safety and the Question of Educational Negligence	107	(18)
Chapter 6 Intellectual Growth, Autonomy, and Religious Education	125	(28)
Chapter 7 Religious Chauvinism and the Democratic Citizen	153	(18)
Part III The Reconstruction of Religious Education: A Pragmatic Framework
Chapter 8 The Challenge of Religious Education for Pluralism	171	(18)
Chapter 9 The Challenge of Religious Education for Liberalism	189	(26)
Notes	215	(10)
Works Cited	225	(4)
Index	229