Politics and the Past, Present, and Future of Education
Dr. Agustina Paglayan, UC San Diego, To Discuss Her New Book
Friday, March 28, 2025 · 12 - 1 PM
Politics and the Past, Present, and Future of Education
with Dr. Agustina Paglayan, UC San Diego
MAR 28 12 PM
Public Policy : 367
Nearly every country today has universal primary education. But why did governments in the West decide to provide education to all children in the first place? In Raised to Obey, Agustina Paglayan offers an unsettling answer. The introduction of broadly accessible primary education was not mainly a response to industrialization, or fueled by democratic ideals, or even aimed at eradicating illiteracy or improving skills. It was motivated instead by elites’ fear of the masses—and the desire to turn the “savage,” “unruly,” and “morally flawed” children of the lower classes into well-behaved future citizens who would obey the state and its laws. Drawing on unparalleled evidence from two centuries of education provision in Europe and the Americas, the book shows that governments invested in primary schools when internal threats heightened political elites’ anxiety around mass violence and the breakdown of social order. The objective of disciplining children remains at the core of how most public schools operate today. The future of education systems—and their ability to strengthen democracy, promote learning, and serve as "the great equalizer"—hinges on coming to terms with this troubling history.
