Law as Civic Education by Liberman, Ariel;

Short description:

This book argues that—far from abandoning the oft-emphasized, but little realized promise of civic education as a means of cultivating critical thinking skills and democratic character—we should embrace it, proposing a reimagined civic education founded in teaching students in primary and secondary school law and legal reasoning.

Long description:

If a civic education is the essential foundation for a functioning, discursive democracy, how should it be taught? This book offers an innovative solution, arguing that far from abandoning the often- grand promise of civic education as a means of cultivating reasoning skills and democratic character, we should embrace it, and proposes a reimagined civic education based on teaching students in primary and secondary school law and legal reasoning.

Drawing on a range of theoretical disciplines— law, philosophy, ethics, sociology, psychology, and moral educational and child development theory— this monograph justifies the benefits of law learning as a form of character and civic education and offers historical and comparative educational examples to show what is possible. It demonstrates how legal teaching can be incorporated into a K- 12 curriculum and argues that such training can be transformative, guiding students to become citizens capable of meeting the demands of democracy: citizens with stronger reasoning skills, a motivation to self- examine their values and beliefs and bring them into conversation with social values, and an ability to effectively navigate political institutions and participate in public discourse.

This compelling and deeply original work will be of interest to scholars and educators in the fields of civic education, character and virtue education, legal studies, and philosophy of education.

"Ariel Liberman’s Law as Civic Education is a bold, original, and deeply thoughtful first book that reimagines civic education for the modern age. Blending legal theory, educational philosophy, and democratic ethics, Liberman argues persuasively for the power of law learning to cultivate reasoning, character, and civic virtue in young students. This is a groundbreaking contribution by a rising scholar with an important voice. Both visionary and grounded, this book should be required reading for anyone invested in the future of democratic citizenship. I look forward to watching Liberman’s scholarly career continue to flourish."

- Michael J. Broyde, Professor of Law, Emory University

“An exemplary piece of scholarship, Law as Civic Education offers an erudite, yet approachable assessment of the current civic education conundrum and a novel proposition to move the discourse forward. Its scope is not fully revealed by the title, drawing on a range of disciplines – law, philosophy, ethics, sociology, psychology, and educational and child development theory – to make the case for civic educational reform based on the introduction of legal ideas and legal reasoning into students’ curricular experience, and offering historical and comparative educational examples to show what is possible.  Dr. Liberman’s engaging style makes for enjoyable reading for a variety of audiences, academic and non-academic, as his ideas deserve a wide readership as we work together consider one of today’s most pressing educational issues.”

- Charles J. Russo, J.D., Ed.D., Joseph Panzer Chair in Education in the University of Dayton School of Education and Health Sciences and Research Professor of Law in University of Dayton School of Law.

Table of Contents:

Part I: Background, Context, and Guiding Lights  1. The Current Conundrum in the Citizen Education Project  2.  Building a Cogent Educational Philosophy for a New Civic Education  3. Contextualizing a New Critical Education within the Roots of the Historic Civic Education Project  Part II: A New Proposal  4. An Empowering Civic Education through Law Learning  5. A Critical Lens: Addressing Counterarguments 6. Combatting Apathy; Combatting Fracturing