Teaching Againt Idiocy

Walter C. Parker discusses the root of the word “idiocy”. He explores the challenge that democratic societies face today. Democratic societies are trying to develop public-minded citizens. He addresses the following question: What problems do democratic societies face in developing public-minded citizens? He believes that schools can improve their efforts and achieve greater success. Idiocy shares the root idios, which means private, separate, self-centered and selfish. (Parker, pg.1) The powerful opposition in this article is the private individual versus the public citizen. Many schools are trying various ways to become democracies. They want to develop public citizens.
He marks that puberty is the transition to public life. In a democracy the people are the ones that govern. Parker notes one of de Tocqueville’s quotes, All democratic peoples face a “dangerous passage” in their history, he wrote, when they “are carried away and lose all self-restraint at the sight of the new possessions they are about to obtain.” De Tocqueville felt that getting “carried away” caused citizens to lose the very freedom they were wanting so much to enjoy. Idiots are idiotic because they are indifferent to the conditions and contexts of their own freedom. They fail to grasp the interdependence of liberty and community, privacy and puberty. (Parker, pg.2)
There is some hope in school. Schools already try to educate for citizenship, to some extent. Democracy is better than the alternatives because it can be held accountable for securing civil liberties and equality before the law. (Parker, pg.3) He states that there should be no alternative to democracy; instead it needs to reach its fulfillment. Democratic ways of living need to be created. Engaged citizens are not born capable of being democratic citizens. Being a democratic citizen is something that needs to be embedded into the human mind.
A school is not considered a private place; it is considered a public, civil place. Schools are public places where people are diverse. Parker discusses three keys. (1) Increase the variety and frequency of interaction among students who are culturally different from one another. (2) Orchestrate these contacts so as to foster competent public talk. (3) Except, teach, and model competent, inclusive deliberation. (Parker, pg.4) I agree with Parker’s proposal. I think children need to interact with children who are from diverse backgrounds. Children can learn from other children. Teachers need to promote acceptance and awareness when it comes to diversity. Interaction needs to be done in an n appropriate manner. People need to make sure they think before they speak, so that they don’t put there foot in their mouth. Things can be said as long as it’s in an appropriate manner.
A good teacher should be able to engage students in a positive way. Schools are the sites of choice because they have two important things, one being diversity and the other being problems, waiting to be solved. A proper curriculum for democracy requires both the study and the practice of democracy. Democratic societies are having trouble producing democratic citizens because they are not following the three important keys, which Parker has come up with. In many schools the diversity is present but there is still segregation, for example segregation in the cafeteria. There are many things that are hindering the further development of democracy in schools.