Attack on the US Capitol: A Failure to Educate?

As the details about the violent and seditious breach of the US Capitol on January 6 are slowly revealed, there are no shortage of prognostications about the why and the how of our present moment and no shortage of culprits-- the media, economics, politics, and race. It has prompted educators to reflect about role of schools, colleges and universities in the face of the present challenges to democracy. Did the riots result, in part, from a failure to educate? Is our nation finally paying a price for more than a century of anti-intellectualism?

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If teaching and learning are dedicated to helping students wrestle with big ideas to discover truth, then educators have a role in helping to correct the challenges that we are facing in a post-truth nation.

Yale historian Timothy Snyder, writing in the New York Times, says post-truth is a form of pre-fascism.  "Without agreement on some basic facts, citizens cannot form the civil society that would allow them to defend themselves."

All around the country, the reactions of educational leaders have proclaimed the need to address these issues head-on with students. 

Kentucky Education Commissioner Jason Glass said "the acts of insurrection and sedition from January 6 are complex, uncomfortable and may evoke emotional and deeply personal responses. These are the exact kinds of issues our students will need to be able to process through and successfully navigate when they assume the mantle of citizenship."

Andrew Delbanco, the president of the Teagle Foundation, which promotes liberal arts education, told Inside Higher Ed that an educated citizenry is the only force in society that can save democracy.  "The only protection against demagoguery is education," he said.  "Ideological indoctrination, not technical training, but humane education that helps people grasp the experience of others different from themselves. This kind of education has a name," Delbanco said, "the humanities."

A statement from the American Association of College and Universities, said "the task of an education is not simply to help students gain knowledge and skills.  It also assists students in forming the habits of heart and mind that liberate their thinking and equip them for the creation of a more just and inclusive society through civic involvement"

Dan Domenesch, executive director of AASA the Superintendent's Association, made the connection between the events of January 6 and the movement for racial equality and social justice, calling for a curriculum that recognizes inequality and truth.  

These words are not mere platitudes.  Research this fall from Anthony Carnevale, at the Georgetown University Center for Education and the Workforce, demonstrated the role of the liberal arts in mitigating authoritarian preferences and attitudes. Among his findings: authoritarian preferences and attitudes are weaker among people with higher levels of educational attainment -- particularly those with a bachelor’s degree or higher, and especially if they have training in the liberal arts.

Our founding generation as well as early advocates of public education knew this. The expansion of free compulsory education for everyone in American society by the early 20th century through the mixing of classes and ethnicities was considered the crown of society and republican democratic ideals.  

As our democracy confronts challenges that did not seem possible 10 years ago, the American high school, still among the most democratic institutions in our land, occupies an important position by which we can take back our education system and our country. While colleges and universities have long been the custodians of liberal education, the events of January 6 lead me to think that the role of humanities in high school should be elevated.  

The challenge in our age of “college and career readiness” and test-based accountability’s focus on basic skills have pushed subjects that matter for the future of our democracy—history, economics, sociology, the arts and music—to the back shelf in many high schools with a focus on narrow curriculum and vocationalism of a career based education at the expense of the humanities. 

Michael Roth, the president of Wesleyan University, is one of the most eloquent defenders of a liberal arts education. His argument that a “pragmatic liberal arts education” matters now more than ever is perhaps as applicable to American high schools as the university.

The humanities teach the correct description and analysis of human life. History helps students understand decisions of the present in the context of the past. Philosophy challenges students to think about ethics and morality. Theatre, literature and film put students in the mindset of others. In difficult times people turn to the humanities to understand adversity. Their souls require fortification and the wisdom that only the humanities can provide. 

The more we learn about the isolation, rage, and disillusionment of the Capitol mob, the more we begin to understand the importance of many of the most intangible and unmeasurable aspects of a liberal arts education-- real connection.  The social capital starting in family life and extending to what sociologists call the “missing middle of our social lives” is in decline everywhere. It comes from church and school to the neighborhood and community. This is not just a political extremist problem, it is a societal problem. And, in some ways, the future of our democracy may depend on our ability to restore these social connections. Unfortunately, high schools are not effective institutions to meet the needs of young adults today. The emphasis on maintaining an orderly environment has negated their ability to help students navigate the change from the structured world of school to the adult world. 

By following E.M. Forster's injunction in Howard's End "only connect" the humanities are about gaining the power, wisdom and freedom to connect. The ability to take part in rational discussion, to disagree using facts, communicate respectfully, be exposed to multiple viewpoints, and a diversity of ideas and people in a time of such polarization are critical to the future of our democracy. 

The last two years of high school should be more completely integrated with the first two years of general education at the college level to develop young people to fully engage with the most important issues of the day so they can be a more informed and enlighten citizenry.  

The issue is not so much a failure to educate, but rather, a failure to allow schools to educate by promoting a narrow curriculum that is too often politically white washed.  Rather than allowing students to intellectually struggle, debate, and discern truth, teachers face the pressure to teach to the test and minimize political pushback that could come with teaching any ideas that may be perceived to be controversial. 

The bachelor's degree serves as the demographic line of demarcation on so many of the issues that divide the nation today--economics, politics, race, and fact-based truths.  Can the benefits of the general education that come to many with the bachelor's degree better intertwined into upper secondary education to reach everyone?

In looking at more than three centuries of history of US schooling, the main tenant where there is wide agreement is the role that public education plays as a “public good” in promoting and fostering our free and democratic society.  Developing citizens needs to be at the top of the list and humanities are the vehicle to accomplish it. Without it, we are heading for a kakistocracy-- rule by the least suitable or competent citizens of the state.