{"product_id":"the-learning-of-liberty-the-educational-ideas-of-the-american-founders","title":"The Learning of Liberty: The Educational Ideas of the American Founders","description":"\u003cp\u003eAmerican schools are in a state of crisis. At the root of our current perplexity  beneath the difficulties with funding  social problems  and low test scores  festers a serious uncertainty as to what the focus and goals of education should be. We are increasingly haunted by the suspicion that our educational theories and institutions have lost sight of the need to perpetuate a core of moral and civic knowledge that is essential for any citizens education  and indeed for any individuals happiness. Mining the Founders rich reflections on education  the Pangles suggest  can help us recover a clearer sense of perspective and purpose. With a commanding knowledge of the history of political philosophy  the authors illustrate how the Founders both drew upon and transformed the ideas of earlier philosophers of education such as Plato  Xenophon  Milton  Bacon  and Locke. They trace the emergence of a new American ideal of public education that puts civic instruction at its core to sustain a high quality of leadership and public discourse while producing resourceful  self-reliant members of a uniquely fluid society. The Pangles also explore the wisdom and the weaknesses inherent in Jeffersons attempt to create a comprehensive system of schooling that would educate parents and children and offer unprecedented freedom of choice to university students. An original closing section examines the Founders ideas for bringing all aspects of society to bear on education. It also shows how Washington  Jefferson  and Franklin presented their own lives as models for the education of others and analyzes the subtle  provocative moral philosophy implicit in the self-depiction of each. The Learning of Liberty is historical and scholarly yet relentlessly practical  seeking from the Founders useful insights into the human soul and the character of good education. Even if the Founders do not provide us with ready-made solutions to many of our problems  the Pangles suggest  a study of their writings can give us a more realistic perspective  by teaching that our bewilderment is in some measure an outgrowth of unresolved tensions embedded in the Founders own conceptions of republicanism  religion  education  and human nature.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44964219486261,"sku":"ByrdShop_0700607463","price":28.81,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780700607464.jpg?v=1770453129","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-learning-of-liberty-the-educational-ideas-of-the-american-founders","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}