1. Civic Education
1.1. Allen advocated for education that prepare students not just for vocational skills, but also civic participation. She highlights that the public school education should start teaching and providing students with the adequate skills in order to function as an active member in democracy. Things such as undersanding ballot propositions, attending events, and voting.
1.1.1. Allen emphasizes the need for education systems to go beyond just vocactional skils to promote democratice engagement. In other words, a type of powerment especially civic empowerment.She writes," Democracies are healthy only if citizens are able to think critically, make sound judgements, and participate in decision making processes" This shows that the only way for democracy to work effeciently are if the people are well informed enough to make proper,well rounded decisions. But the fact that our system is based off vocational education, students do not get this exposure in order to be apart of civic society.
1.1.1.1. Key term : Civic empowerment refers to the process of equipping students with the knowledge,skills, and values needed in orer to be a ative citizen in democratic society. Allen argues that civic education is beyond just simple techniques taught by teachers; it is also about helping create the critical thinking skills necessary for students to be able to participate in democracy. Civic empowerment is essential to the argument as it is the building blocks of her claim. Without this she would not be able to prove her claim that democracies risk weakening. By ignoring civic education ideas, societies produce citizens who are unprepared to fulfill essential roles in democracies.
1.1.2. In discussing the history of American education, Allen says that early education in the Americas was deeply correlated with civic responsibility, citing the founding fathers belief that " education should prepare citizens not to just work but also to govern themselves". This shows how, histroically, civic education was considered an essential piece to what people learned. However, Allen now argues that over time, the education system has shifted away from this model, in turn focusing more on vocational training and economic outcomes. Consequently, weakening the cultivation of civic virtues necessary for sustaining a healthy democracy.
1.1.3. Allen provides data on civic engagement, noting "Countries with stronger civic education curriculam tend to have higher voter turnout rates and greater political particpation" This links the fact that education directly to participation in the democracy. The more you teach your studnets about civic engagement and empowerment, the higher participation you will have. The more participation is the better as democracy is about the people. In contrast, if your education is based stricly on vocational education, this type of participation will plummet, leading to the democracy not being able to work well. hence, why Allen is pushing for civic education to become focused on.
1.2. Implication: Neglecting civic education poses a democratic crisis, as it leaves citizens without the knowledge needed to effectively participate in democratic processes. Allen then suggests that this type of neglect threatens the actual idea of democracy. as fewer people have the education/skills to now participate in the essential civic duties.
2. Vocational education
2.1. The vocational paradigm focuses on training students to be competitive in the economy. Basically setting up the students to be workers. This is the dominant policy approach, which priotizes stem careers over humanities, with the final goal of reducing the inequalities over the world. They teach skills that align with the current economic demands in order to prep these students to be ready for the demands of the world.
2.1.1. Allen then Mentions economic benefits of vocational training, pointing out that " voocational education leads to lower youth unemployement rates in Countries like gernay, where apprencticeships are integral to the education system" This demonstrates how vocational education is aligned with market demands, which then improves employement outcomes. Also, pushing the concept of the economic benefits given by having a vocational education, basically showing why education systems are pushing to keep this type of education alive.
2.1.2. Allen discusses how some governments try to priortize vocational education through different policies such as funding STEM and trade programs, aiming to" prepare students to be competitive in a global economy". These policies focus on economic outcomes, which then prepare students for jobs and markets. Also known as Vocational parardigm. In contrast than concentrating on citizenship. It makes sure that the people are ready to go into job markets and improve the economic efforts.
2.1.2.1. Vocational paradigm is what Allen critiques over the course of the passage. This model "vocational parardigm is a model of education system where it prepares students to be employement. She then argues that this approach emerged in response to competition all over the world, but in turn has it's negative effect where education is narrowed down to just the basic employement skills.
2.1.3. Allen critiques the way vocational education is now primarily focused, emphasizing the ability for job readiness above the infamous civic engagement. Although Allen acknowledges that vocational education meets economic demands, Allen believes it narrows students mind/ free thinking by ignoring the growth of critical thinking skills and democratic involvement. Allen quotes " when education is over vocationalized, it narrows students horizons and reduces their capacity for civic engagement" This suggests that vocational education may limit students overall development of their mind, becoming tunnel-visioned on economic roles. Leading back to the point, that the world is being too focused on making workers instead of people.