Current ideas of what makes a school “good” are rooted in past anxieties about America’s place in the global economy, argue Jon Valant. These anxieties have led to the prioritization of knowledge and skills needed for workforce success, with little attention to what is needed to build a cohesive society and stable democracy. Valant argues that schools should begin to prioritize digital and media literacy, social skills, and compassion.
BowmanC.D.HunterJ.D.DillJ.S.Juelfs-SwansonM. (2012). Culture of American families: Executive report. Charlottesville, VA: Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture.
2.
BoxellL.GentzkowM.ShapiroJ.M. (2020). Cross-country trends in affective polarization (NBER Working Paper 26669). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
3.
BreakstoneJ.McGrewS.SmithM.OrtegaT.WineburgS. (2018). Why we need a new approach to teaching digital literacy. Phi Delta Kappan, 99 (6), 27–32.
4.
BrenanM. (2020, June15). U.S. national pride falls to record low. Washington, DC: Gallup.
5.
ChinnC.A.BarzilaiS.DuncanR.G. (2020). Education for a “post-truth” world: New directions for research and practice. Educational Researcher. Advance online publication.
6.
Civiqs. (2020, September2). Report: Americans pessimistic on time frame for coronavirus recovery. Oakland, CA: Author.
7.
KoretzD. (2017). The testing charade: Pretending to make schools better. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
8.
LabareeD.F. (1997). Public goods, private goods: The American struggle over educational goals. American Educational Research Journal, 34 (1), 39–81.
9.
LabareeD.F. (2018). Public schools for private gain: The declining American commitment to serving the public good. Phi Delta Kappan, 100 (3), 8–13.
10.
Pew Research Center. (2014, June12). Political polarization in the American public: How increasing ideological uniformity and partisan antipathy affect politics, compromise and everyday life. Washington, DC: Author.
11.
Pew Research Center. (2019, April11). Public trust in government: 1958-2019. Washington, DC: Author.
12.
PorterT.SchumannK. (2018). Intellectual humility and openness to the opposing view. Self and Identity, 17 (2), 139–162.
13.
SanthanamL. (2020, January21). American voters worry they can’t spot misleading information, poll finds. PBS NewsHour.
