Philosophy Now Forum

Christina Easton asks if a liberal education can be forced on non-liberal communities.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/123/An_Education_In_Diversity

Here is the conclusion of the essay:
"Whatever view we take, reflecting on this case helps us realise that liberals need to be more cautious in making claims to neutrality, and more honest about where they fail in this aspiration. We must also make sure that our arguments attend to the reality of the situation. Both the Millian and Rawlsian arguments invoked the importance of diversity, yet the modern High School is not simply a melting pot of different ways of life and an impartial reflector of all values. Rather – as Chief Justice Burgerpointed out – High Schools tend “to emphasize intellectual and scientific accomplishments, self-distinction, competitiveness, worldly success, and social life.” Moreover, peer pressure, and, particularly amongst teenagers, the need to conform, are likely to promote homogenisation of views. So if liberals are to be able to consistently defend compulsory attendance in state-provided education, school culture would itself first have to undergo some dramatic changes. Schools would need to both exhibit and actively promote a diverse range of ways of life, as well as provide opportunities for majority values, such as individual self-achievement, to be questioned. The challenge for head teachers and policy-makers is to implement strategies that protect minorities from extraordinary pressure to conform without them having to resort to separation." (Emphasis added)
A danger is that a "compulsory state-provided education" will actually be a state approved orthodoxy and propaganda.

The charter schools are a better provider of education than the usual "public schools system." They are publicly funded, but they are more flexible because they are subject to less regulations and are not unionized. My grandson attends the Nova Classical Academy, a charter school. He is receiving "a liberal education."

Regarding "a liberal education", President Trump, a businessman, did not receive one. He was never educated in the meaning of being a gentleman, nor, obviously has he been educated in the virtues

forced indoctrination to a particular mindset is quite liberal

-Imp