What is Education For?

1. There should be a balance between vocational and civic education.

2. Vocational education isn't as flexible as it seems: it only teaches you how to be valuable to society by making money, not through ethics (Allen, 9-10).

3. Vocational education only takes economic equality into account, not other forms of equality (Allen, 10).

4. Terms

5. Paradigm

6. Economic

7. There's more to civic education than meets the eye.

8. Meaningful civic participation requires 12th-grade level reading and math skills (Allen, 9).

9. Civic education allows one to find a different way to comprehend the link between education and equality (Allen, 9).

10. Civic education not only supports political equality but also economic fairness (Allen, 11).

11. A paradigm is a true or ideal representation of something. By describing vocational education as a paradigm, Allen claims that vocational education is something that society strives for or represents.

12. Contributing economically is something that modern society finds very important, and it's a point repeated throughout the passage.

13. As Judge Leland DeGrasse claims, civic participation includes making sense of complex ballot propositions and to follow DNA evidence at trial (Allen, 9).

14. Inequality

15. The text mentions different forms of inequality, such as economic inequality and political inequality. Inequality is often brought up in relation to how economic inequality is the main issue that society focuses on.

16. Benefits of Civic Education

17. Skills/Resources Needed for Civic Education

18. Preparing for civic education's participatory paradigm requires more resources than vocational education (Allen, 9).

19. This may be one of the reasons why vocational education receives a greater priority than civic education: it requires less resources. Vocational education is perceived to have a higher chance of allowing one to contribute to the economy, in turn paying back for those resources (Allen, 9).

20. *Weaknesses of Vocational Education *

21. *Weaknesses of Civic Education *

22. As of the article's publication date, most employers are looking for more vocational-oriented skillsets, STEM skills (Allen, 10).

23. This is further enforced by incentives and rewards, as demonstrated by President Obama's competition to redesign school curriculums to accommodate more STEM skills (Allen, 10).

24. Glaeser, Ponzetto, and Shleifer came up with three hypotheses for how education is a source of participation: through indoctrination, through the cultivation of skills that facilitate participation, and through the increased benefits of participation. The second hypothesis was supported, demonstrating that civic education prepares individuals for democratic engagement. The aforementioned skills, such as reading, writing, and collaboration, are the basic instruments of politics (Allen, 11).

25. Contrary to what people think, only having vocational education isn't enough to be successful in your career. It doesn't train you with dealing with people. Allen brings up an example about how Congress is getting lower approval ratings in a time where civic education isn't prioritized (Allen, 12).