Public Goods, Private Goods: The American Struggle Over Educational Goals Export

@article{citeulike:4028896, abstract = {This article explores three alternative goals for American education that have been at the root of educational conflicts over the years: democratic equality (schools should focus on preparing citizens), social efficiency (they should focus on training workers), and social mobility (they should prepare individuals to compete for social positions). These goals represent, respectively, the educational perspective of the citizen, the taxpayer, and the consumer. Whereas the first two look on education as a public good, the third sees it as a private good. Historical conflict over these competing visions of education has resulted in a contradictory structure for the educational system that has sharply impaired its effectiveness. More important still has been the growing domination of the social mobility goal, which has reshaped education into a commodity for the purposes of status attainment and has elevated the pursuit of credentials over the acquisition of knowledge. 10.3102/00028312034001039}, author = {Labaree, David F.}, citeulike-article-id = {4028896}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/00028312034001039}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://aer.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/34/1/39}, day = {1}, doi = {10.3102/00028312034001039}, journal = {Am Educ Res J}, month = {January}, number = {1}, pages = {39--81}, posted-at = {2009-02-10 12:45:27}, priority = {2}, title = {Public Goods, Private Goods: The American Struggle Over Educational Goals}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/00028312034001039}, volume = {34}, year = {1997} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:4028896 L3 - citeulike-article-id:4028896 N2 - This article explores three alternative goals for American education that have been at the root of educational conflicts over the years: democratic equality (schools should focus on preparing citizens), social efficiency (they should focus on training workers), and social mobility (they should prepare individuals to compete for social positions). These goals represent, respectively, the educational perspective of the citizen, the taxpayer, and the consumer. Whereas the first two look on education as a public good, the third sees it as a private good. Historical conflict over these competing visions of education has resulted in a contradictory structure for the educational system that has sharply impaired its effectiveness. More important still has been the growing domination of the social mobility goal, which has reshaped education into a commodity for the purposes of status attainment and has elevated the pursuit of credentials over the acquisition of knowledge. 10.3102/00028312034001039 IS - 1 JF - Am Educ Res J EP - 81 TI - Public Goods, Private Goods: The American Struggle Over Educational Goals VL - 34 SP - 39 AU - Labaree, David PY - 1997/01/01/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/00028312034001039 ER -