Authors: Joel Spring
ISBN-13: 9780805838824, ISBN-10: 0805838821
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Taylor & Francis, Inc.
Date Published: June 2001
Edition: 1st Edition
This is the first book to explore the meaning of equality and freedom of education in a global context and their relationship to the universal right to education. It also proposes evaluating school systems according to their achievement of equality and freedom.
Education in the 21st century is widely viewed as a necessary condition for the promotion of human welfare, and thus identified as a basic human right. Educational rights are included in many national constitutions written since the global spread of human rights ideas after World War II. But as a global idea, the meaning of educational rights varies between civilizations. In this book, which builds on the concept of the universal right to education set forth in Spring's The Universal Right to Education: Justification, Definition, and Guidelines, his intercivilizational analysis of educational rights focuses on four of the world's major civilizations: Confucian, Islamic, Western, and Hindu.
Spring begins by considering educational rights as part of the global flow of ideas and the global culture of schooling. He also considers the tension this generates within different civilizational traditions. Next, he proceeds to:
*examine the meaning of educational rights in the Confucian tradition, in the recent history of China, and in the Chinese Constitution;
*look at educational rights in the context of Islamic civilization and as presented in the constitutions of Islamic countries, including an analysis of the sharp contrast between the religious orientation of Islamic educational rights and those of China and the West;
*explore the problems created by the Western natural rights tradition and the eventual acceptance of educational rights as represented in European constitutions, with a focus on the development and prominence given in the West to the relationship between schooling and equality of opportunity; and,
*investigate the effect of global culture on India and the blend of Western and Hindu ideas in the Indian constitution, highlighting the obstacles to fulfillment of educational rights created by centuries of discrimination against women and lower castes.
In his conclusion, Spring presents an educational rights statement based on his intercivilizational analysis and his examination of national constitutions. This statement is intended to serve as a model for the inclusion of educational rights in national constitutions.
Explores the meaning of equality and freedom of education in a global context and their relationship to the universal right to education, and proposes evaluating school systems according to their achievement of equality and freedom. Considers educational rights as part of the global flow of ideas, then examines the meaning of educational rights in Confucian, Islamic, Western, and Hindu civilizations. A conclusion presents an educational rights statement based on intercivilization analysis and on examination of national constitutions. This statement is intended to serve as a model for the inclusion of educational rights in national constitutions. Spring is affiliated with the New School University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Preface | ||
1 | Global Education and an Intercivilizational Analysis | 1 |
Illustrating the Growing Uniformity of Global Education: "Not One Less" | 2 | |
An Intercivilizational Approach to Defining Equality and Freedom of Education: Confucian, Islamic, Western, and Hindu | 3 | |
Universal Declaration of Human Rights as an Intercivilizational Document | 5 | |
Human Rights in the Global Flow and the Global Culture | 7 | |
The Intercivilizational Character of Global Education | 10 | |
Human Rights Statements on Equality, Freedom, and the Right to Education | 14 | |
2 | China: Confucius, Mao Zedong, and Socialist Modernization | 20 |
The Confucian Tradition | 23 | |
Equality in Confucian Education | 24 | |
The Litigious Versus the Self-regulated Society | 27 | |
Confucian Educational Ideal | 28 | |
Freedom of Speech, Scholars, and the Good Society | 30 | |
Inequality and the Oppression of Women | 32 | |
Chinese Nationalism: "Western Function, Chinese Essence" | 34 | |
Chinese Constitutionalism: Equality of Pleasure and Pain | 36 | |
Mao Zedong: Thinking Equality and Freely Expressing Truth | 39 | |
Socialist Modernization and Human Rights | 46 | |
Equality, Freedom, and Socialist Modernization | 48 | |
Gender Equality and Inequality | 52 | |
Conclusion: The Contribution of Confucius, Mencius, Mao Zedong Thought, and Socialist Modernization to Ideas of Equality and Freedom in the Global Flow | 53 | |
3 | Equality and Freedom in Islamic Education | 57 |
Qur'anic Arabic: The Language of Islam | 58 | |
Islam and the West | 59 | |
Islamic History and the West | 61 | |
Education, Pan Islam, Arab Nationalism, and the Islamic State | 65 | |
Equality and Freedom in Iran's Constitution | 68 | |
Islam and Women's Rights | 71 | |
Equality of Educational Opportunity in Iran | 74 | |
Equality and Freedom in Islamic Constitutions | 74 | |
The Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights and the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam | 78 | |
The Reality of Educational Opportunity in Islamic Nations | 80 | |
4 | Natural Rights and Education in the West | 89 |
Western Concepts of Equality and Freedom | 90 | |
Equality and Freedom in the Western Enlightenment | 92 | |
Equality and Freedom in the United States | 98 | |
Equality, Scientific Racism, and Educational Discrimination | 99 | |
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the Bill of Rights | 102 | |
Equality of Opportunity | 103 | |
Equality Before the Law | 105 | |
Equality of Educational Opportunity as a Human Right in the West | 107 | |
Freedom and the Right to Education | 111 | |
Freedom of Choice and the European Union's Right to Education | 111 | |
5 | India: Education, Human Rights, and the Global Flow | 115 |
Anglicized Leadership and the Struggle for Freedom and Equality | 116 | |
Inequality Based on Caste and Gender | 119 | |
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar: An Untouchable in Search of Equality | 122 | |
Ghandhi and Theosophy in the Global Flow | 128 | |
Gandhi: Education in the Global Flow | 131 | |
Gandhi: Equality and the Reform of Hinduism | 135 | |
Nehru | 140 | |
Constitutional Provisions for Education | 145 | |
The Pursuit of Equality in Indian Education | 147 | |
The Case of the Missing Women | 149 | |
Conclusion: The Lessons of India | 149 | |
6 | A Constitutional Provision for Educational Rights | 152 |
Notes | 163 | |
Index | 177 |