Religious Schooling in America: Private Education and Public Life
Near the end of the 19th century, publicly financed, publicly administered schooling emerged as the default educational arrangement for American children. But this supremacy has not gone unchallenged. The sectarian schools that in fact predate public education in America have survived, even thrived, over the past century. Multiple religious communities, including those that opposed sectarian schooling in earlier generations, have now embraced it for their children. Here, the author charts the growth of this educational strategy over the 20th century by focusing on the gradual embrace of sectarian schooling by different religious communities in America, particularly Catholics, Jews, and later, conservative Protestants (mainly in the form of homeschooling). The author also considers Muslim schools, not currently a force in private schooling or the subject of too much debate, but perhaps next in line to make their case for a place in America's educational landscape. More than a history of church schooling, this book also explores the rationale for religious schooling, not just on the part of individual families, but on the community level as a whole. The author considers the controversy religious schooling has always faced regarding the use of the schools to promote national unity. From Catholic to Islamic schools, all advocates of religious schooling have had to answer the charge that what they were doing was un-American. The author tries to make sense of that charge by tracing the history of religious schooling over the last 125 years.
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Religious Schooling in America: Private Education and Public Life
Near the end of the 19th century, publicly financed, publicly administered schooling emerged as the default educational arrangement for American children. But this supremacy has not gone unchallenged. The sectarian schools that in fact predate public education in America have survived, even thrived, over the past century. Multiple religious communities, including those that opposed sectarian schooling in earlier generations, have now embraced it for their children. Here, the author charts the growth of this educational strategy over the 20th century by focusing on the gradual embrace of sectarian schooling by different religious communities in America, particularly Catholics, Jews, and later, conservative Protestants (mainly in the form of homeschooling). The author also considers Muslim schools, not currently a force in private schooling or the subject of too much debate, but perhaps next in line to make their case for a place in America's educational landscape. More than a history of church schooling, this book also explores the rationale for religious schooling, not just on the part of individual families, but on the community level as a whole. The author considers the controversy religious schooling has always faced regarding the use of the schools to promote national unity. From Catholic to Islamic schools, all advocates of religious schooling have had to answer the charge that what they were doing was un-American. The author tries to make sense of that charge by tracing the history of religious schooling over the last 125 years.
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Religious Schooling in America: Private Education and Public Life

Religious Schooling in America: Private Education and Public Life

by Steven L. Jones
Religious Schooling in America: Private Education and Public Life

Religious Schooling in America: Private Education and Public Life

by Steven L. Jones

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Overview

Near the end of the 19th century, publicly financed, publicly administered schooling emerged as the default educational arrangement for American children. But this supremacy has not gone unchallenged. The sectarian schools that in fact predate public education in America have survived, even thrived, over the past century. Multiple religious communities, including those that opposed sectarian schooling in earlier generations, have now embraced it for their children. Here, the author charts the growth of this educational strategy over the 20th century by focusing on the gradual embrace of sectarian schooling by different religious communities in America, particularly Catholics, Jews, and later, conservative Protestants (mainly in the form of homeschooling). The author also considers Muslim schools, not currently a force in private schooling or the subject of too much debate, but perhaps next in line to make their case for a place in America's educational landscape. More than a history of church schooling, this book also explores the rationale for religious schooling, not just on the part of individual families, but on the community level as a whole. The author considers the controversy religious schooling has always faced regarding the use of the schools to promote national unity. From Catholic to Islamic schools, all advocates of religious schooling have had to answer the charge that what they were doing was un-American. The author tries to make sense of that charge by tracing the history of religious schooling over the last 125 years.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780313351907
Publisher: ABC-CLIO, Incorporated
Publication date: 07/30/2008
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 329 KB

About the Author

Steven L. Jones is Associate Professor of Sociology at Grove City College. He is co-editor of Church-State Issues in America Today (Praeger, 2007) and the author of Religious Schooling in America (Praeger, 2008).

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments     vii
Introduction     ix
Public and Private Schooling in America     1
The Place of Schooling in Religious Communities     35
Religious Schools and the Undermining of Democracy     59
Religious Schools and the Fulfillment of Democratic Freedom     87
Joining America's Civil Religion     115
Islamic Schooling in America     135
Conclusion: Moving the Debate Forward     161
Bibliography     171
Index     185

What People are Saying About This

James C. Carper

"Steven Jones's informative and engaging volume traces the development of major religious school movements and the surprisingly common controversies and criticisms that have swirled about them--whether Roman Catholic schools in the nineteenth century or Protestant day schools and home schooling in the twentieth. With the growth of Islamic schools, which Jones carefully examines, Americans will once again have an opportunity to thoughtfully ponder these matters."

James C. Carper, Department of Educational Studies, University of South Carolina

James C. Carper

"Steven Jones's informative and engaging volume traces the development of major religious school movements and the surprisingly common controversies and criticisms that have swirled about them—whether Roman Catholic schools in the nineteenth century or Protestant day schools and home schooling in the twentieth. With the growth of Islamic schools, which Jones carefully examines, Americans will once again have an opportunity to thoughtfully ponder these matters."

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