Right To Education: Difference between revisions
| Line 717: | Line 717: | ||
====Current Utilitarianism==== | ====Current Utilitarianism==== | ||
====Transcendentalism==== | ====Transcendentalism==== | ||
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a philosopher from Massachusetts, involved with the branch of philosophy which is known as transcendentalism. Transcendentalist philosophers believed that “the basis of Transcendentalist thinking is the idea of a metaphysical correspondence between nature and spirit, as chiefly expressed by Emerson” (Williamson & Null, 2008, 387). Transcendentalists believe that humans and nature are very closely intertwined with one another. These philosophers were largely from New England. | |||
Emerson’s view on education that he is most well known for is his strong belief that cooperative education is the most beneficial type of education for the student. Emerson believed that a teacher’s job was more than just giving students information, he believed that “they should provide a learning environment that is conducive to creativity and fostering the individual interests of students… Emerson realized that teaching should be engaging not only for children, but for teachers as well” (Williamson & Null, 2008, 382-383). To Emerson, education was something that should equally involve both the students and the teachers. | |||
The American Scholar, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, was a speech that was later published as a book, in which Emerson discusses being a scholar in relation with his transcendentalist views. In this book he writes that a scholar is educated “by nature, by books, and by action” (Emerson, 1837, 84). Emerson believed that a well educated individual, a scholar, learned best, not by attending a traditional school, but rather by becoming educated through nature, books, and doing. | |||
In line with traditional transcendentalist beliefs, Emerson thought nature was one of the best ways for people to receive an education. To philosophers like Emerson, nature is full of lessons to be learned, “The natural world, combining the flowing rivers and steady stars, is a mixture of lessons about stability amid careless fluidity” (Warnick, 2007, 99). Emerson believed that there were four main ways for people to learn from nature. The first way is that “nature offers the possibility of solitude and, with this solitude, comes silence. The silence allows for the emergence of ‘voices’ that are otherwise marginalized in the dominant technological society” (Warnick, 2007, 95). Being in nature and away from society which is becoming more and more technological allows for people to be educated through the silence and solitude that is provided in nature. The second way Emerson outlined that people can learn from nature is by the “unique possibilities for the development of moral thought through distinctive nontechnological metaphors” (Warnick, 2007, 95). Being in nature, away from technology, allows people the opportunity to develop their moral thoughts without having any interferences. The third way is that “nature forces us both to see difference and to develop our sense of ‘worship,’ that is, it promotes a feeling that there is an Other, a ‘not-me,’ who is worthy of respect” (Warnick, 2007, 95). Similarly to the first two points that Emerson makes, this reason shows that being in nature and learning from nature gives people the chance to realize that there are other beings in the universe, aside from humans, that are also worthy of receiving respect from humans. Finally, the fourth way that Emerson says that people can learn from nature is “a proper educative relationship with nature allows us to escape the ethical dissonance that can come from being complicit in the destructive forces of modern economies, and, at the same time, to develop our talents as human beings” (Warnick, 2007, 95). Here, Emerson is saying that living in nature and learning from nature allows people to escape from typical society and develop themselves and their talents as humans. Once again, he continues making his point that, when in nature, people have the opportunity to connect more deeply with nature and with themselves. Through these, he is asserting that people have the right to receive an education, even if not necessarily through the traditional means of a classroom education. Emerson was an enthusiast of both nature and education, so it makes sense that he believed that nature is one of the best ways for a person to become educated. | |||
Emerson once spoke about the rights that he believed women should have access to. Emerson, “called openly for women to receive their ‘one half of the world,’ their ‘full rights of all kinds,- to education, to employment, to equal laws of property, equal rights in marriage, in the exercise of the professions, and of suffrage.’” (Harvard Square Library). Emerson believed that women, like men already had, should have equal rights to these things, including the right to an education. He was a believer that both men and women should have equal rights to these important things, including education. | |||
Henry David Thoreau was also a transcendentalist philosopher from Massachusetts that held strong beliefs on educational matters. After graduating from Harvard, Thoreau found himself working as a teacher and eventually, his brother, John Thoreau, began running the Concord school, so Henry came along with him to work as a teacher there (Ryan, 1969). Thoreau thought that schools should focus more on how to live a fulfilling life, rather than merely teaching students how to make money and make a living. Of Thoreau, it has been said that, “Often he returns to the theme that the schools teach how to make a living, and not how to live… Thoreau wanted an education ‘rooted’ to life, an education that would school man to nature, for there man would find himself” (Ryan, 1969, 55). Despite his thoughts on what the state of schooling was during his lifetime, he still knew that schools were incredibly important and did not think that they should be closed, rather that they should be structured differently. | |||
The majority of Thoreau’s life as a philosopher was involved with education. In his book Walden, he writes about his time working as a teacher, “As I did not teach for the good of my fellow-men, but simply for a livelihood, this was a failure” (Thoreau, 1910, 111). Of this Walden quote, “Although Thoreau is characteristically deceptive about his ideals here, the passage does indicate his conviction that he was not cut out for institutionalized teaching, Nevertheless, the education of man was one of the focal interests of his life from his college years to his last days” (Ryan, 1969, 54). Thoreau was dedicated to education, although not in the traditional sense of education that takes place in a typical classroom environment. | |||
Thoreau also advocated for the right to education for adults. He wanted there to be more educational opportunities for adults, rather than discontinuing education once students graduate from high school. In Walden he says, “It is time that we had uncommon schools, that we did not leave off our education when we begin to be men and women. It is time that villages were universities, and their elder inhabitants the fellows of universities, with leisure-if they are indeed so well off-to pursue liberal studies the rest of their lives” (Thoreau, 1910, 171). Thoreau wanted there to be better access to educational institutes for adults that have already completed their traditional years of education. He began referring to the schools that he wanted to be implemented for adults as ‘uncommon schools’, in a reference to Horace Mann’s common school movement. On the matter of the lack of adult learning institutions, “Thoreau was deeply concerned with the lack of educational opportunities available to adults… He was enraged by Concord having spent sixteen thousand dollars on a new town hall, ‘a hall for our political meetings mainly, and nothing to educate ourselves who are grown up.’” (Ryan, 1969, 56). Thoreau wanted more town money to go towards educating the adults in our society, rather than spending money on things like new government buildings. | |||
Thoreau also refused to implement any form of corporal punishment in his classroomm which often came under criticism from other educators, and eventually led to him leaving education because “he was unwilling to punish pupils by whipping” (Wilson, 1962, 19). During Thoreau’s time, it was almost expected that students would receive a whipping as a form of corporal punishment when they misbehaved. Thoreau, however, did not believe in the use of corporal punishment in the classroom. | |||
When speaking of rights, Thoreau believed that the rights of the people were more important than the rights of the government. Thoreau believed that “the power of government used by politicians for ends which were usually deplorable. Since its power was derived from individuals originally, their rights were of necessity superior to those conceded to the state” (Madison, 1944, 115). It was Thoreau’s belief that the rights of the people, such as the right to education were more important in comparison with the rights of the government. Furthermore, Thoreau, “In denouncing the state he aimed not at its destruction but at its improvement: he magnified the rights of the individual in the hope of assuring him the freedom to which he was entitled” (Madison, 1994, 122). He believed wholeheartedly that the rights of individual people were more important than those of the government. | |||
Louisa May Alcott, famously known as the author of the novel Little Women, was also a transcendentalist, and advocate for the importance of education. Her father, Amos Bronson Alcott was also a transcendentalist and a teacher, who passed many of his beliefs down to his daughter. Both Louisa and Bronson were influential transcendentalists who had impacts on education as we now know it. Both Alcotts “were red-hot abolitionists as well as feminists. They were outspoken and unwavering in their belief that men and women, regardless of race, deserved equal rights and opportunities” (Seiple, 2019). The Alcotts were very liberal and open minded, believing that everyone regardless of their race or their gender should have access to the same opportunities, and these beliefs extended to the realm of education as well. | |||
Louisa’s real life transcendentalist views on education often translated over into her fictional works, “Her father’s ideas on schooling very tangibly influenced Louisa Alcott, as we can clearly see in her children’s stories, for education is one of her favorite themes” (Hamblen, 1970, 84). Her transcendentalist views on education never strayed far from her in her writing, whether it be her writing for adults or for children. In fact, her most popular book, “Little Women, with its emphasis on growth and development shows clearly the distinctive Alcott thinking” (Hamblen, 1970, 84). The Alcotts had a view on education that was fundamentally different from many other philosophers of the time. | |||
Amos Bronson Alcott believed that “Pleasure should be associated with learning, Alcott said, and lessons should be drawn from the everyday lives of the boys and girls. The teacher must teach from the heart, must be patient, genial, gentle. ‘Affectionate and familiar conversation is the chief avenue to the infant mind,’ he wrote” (Hamblen, 1970, 82-83). Alcott was ahead of his time with very modern views on education and how teachers should be teaching. | |||
Amos Bronson Alcott was one of the first educators to introduce things like music and field trips into schools, which we still see widely in schools today. He “was singular among the Transcendentalists in boldly embodying his ideals. In his schools he introduced art, music, nature study, field trips, and physical education into the curriculum, while banishing corporal punishment” (Brown, 1999). He was similar to other transcendentalists in that the majority of them supported the end of corporal punishment being used in schools. Alcott utilized these ideals during his career in education, which began in 1828 in Boston, Massachusetts, when he opened an infant school. In this school, “he used tangible objects to teach addition and subtraction, encouraged marching and dancing to music” (Stiem, 1960, 8). Many of the teaching techniques that he implemented in his classroom are the basis of modern education practices today. | |||
During his career as an educator, he also served as the superintendent of the Concord school district, and later he went on to found the Concord School of Philosophy, both in Concord, Massachusetts. He was also the founder of the Temple School in Boston, Massachusetts. Alcott, like other transcendentalists of his time, undertook education as something that not only children needed the right to, but also adults. Thus, the formation of the Concord School of Philosophy, which served as an institute for adults to be educated. This school allowed the attendance of any adult who wanted to attend, “The circular further announces that ‘No preliminary examinations are required, and no limitation of age, sex, or resident in Concord will be prescribed’.” (Warren, 1929, 202). This meant that any adult who desired to receive an education at the Concord School of Philosophy would be allowed to do so. | |||
Sources: | |||
Amy Williamson and J. Wesley Null, “Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Educational Philosophy as a Foundation for Cooperative Learning” American Educational History Journal 35, No. 2 (2008) 381-392 | |||
Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar, New York: The Laurentian Press, 1837 | |||
Bryan R. Warnick, “Emerson and the Education of Nature” Ohio Valley Philosophy of Education Society 38, 2007 95-103 | |||
Harvard Square Library, “Ralph Waldo Emerson and Women’s Rights: Legacy of Emerson Series” https://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/emerson-and-womens-rights/ (accessed 01 March 2022) | |||
Kevin Ryan, “Henry David Thoreau: Critic, Theorist, and Practitioner of Education” The School Review 77, No. 1 (March 1969) 54-63 | |||
Lawrence Wilson, “Thoreau on Education” History of Education Quarterly 2, No. 1 (March 1962) 19-29 | |||
Henry David Thoreau, Walden, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & co. Publishers, 1910 | |||
Rick Anthony Furtak, “Henry David Thoreau”, 2019, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/thoreau/ (accessed 25 February 2022) | |||
Charles A. Madison, “Henry David Thoreau: Transcendentalist Individualist” Ethics 54, No. 2 (January 1944) 110-123 | |||
Abigail Ann Hamblen, “Louisa May Alcott and the ‘Revolution’ in Education” The Journal of General Education 22, No. 2 (July 1970) 81-92 | |||
Samantha Seiple, “How Louisa May Alcott Landed on the Front Lines of the Civil War”, 2019, Literary Hub, https://lithub.com/how-louisa-may-alcott-landed-on-the-front-lines-of-the-civil-war/ (accessed 04 March 2022). | |||
Amy Belding Brown, “Amos Bronson Alcott”, 1999, Virginia Commonwealth University, American Transcendentalism Web https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/alcott (accessed 07 March 2022). | |||
Marjorie Stiem, “Beginning of Modern Education: Bronson Alcott” Peabody Journal of Education 38, No. 1 (July 1960) 7-9 | |||
Austin Warren, “The Concord School of Philosophy” The New England Quarterly 2, No. 2 (April 1929) 199-233 | |||
====Marxism==== | ====Marxism==== | ||
====Early Sociology==== | ====Early Sociology==== | ||
Revision as of 13:32, 29 March 2022
History
What is the oldest source in any country that mentions this right?
In 1814, in a letter to Peter Carr, Thomas Jefferson speaks about the right to education. In a letter titled “A System of Education, dated September 7, 1814, Jefferson writes about his plans for an education system to Peter Carr. In this letter, Jefferson writes, “It is highly interesting to our country, and it is the duty of its functionaries, to provide that every citizen in it should receive an education proportioned to the condition and pursuits of his life” (Jefferson, 1814). Jefferson believed that every citizen had the right to an education, but each citizen had different needs when it came to being educated.
Jefferson goes on to discuss the two classes that citizens would be divided into and educated based on, the laboring class and the learned class. Of this, he writes, “The laboring will need the first grade of education to qualify them for their pursuits and duties; the learned will need it as a foundation for further acquirements” (Jefferson, 1814). In his detailed educational plan, Jefferson determines two categories that the majority of citizens can be split into, and establishes an educational route for both groups of students.
Source:
Jefferson, Thomas. “A System of Education” to Peter Carr, Monticello, September 7, 1814, Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library (https://web.archive.org/web/20110221115646/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=JefLett.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all)
What is the oldest written source in this country that mentions this right? BUILD IN COLLAPSE EXPAND TOGGLE
Afghanistan
The Afghanistan Constitution of 1964 is the oldest written source in Afghanistan that mentions the right to education. It grants all citizens the right to education, saying “Education is the right of every Afghan and shall be provided free of charge by the State and the citizens of Afghanistan… Primary education is compulsory for all children in areas where facilities for this purpose are provided by the State” (Afghanistan Constitution, 1964, Article 34).
Source: Afghanistan Constitution, 1964, Article 34).
Albania
According to scholars, through the 1933 Royal Constitution in Albania, “‘primary education for all Albanian citizens is compulsory and free of charge’” (Kola, 2014, 424). Today, Article 57 of the Albanian Constitution states, “Everyone has the right to education” (Albanian Constitution, 1998, Article 57).
Source: Bedri Kola, “Development of Education During the Years 1944-1948 in Albania,” Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 5, No. 4 (March 2014), 423-428
Algeria
Algeria became a country in 1962, and the year following its founding in 1963, it included the right to education in its constitution, making it the oldest written source in Algeria that discusses the right to education. Article 18 of the Algerian Constitution states, “Education is obligatory; instruction is offered to all, with no discrimination except those resulting from the aptitudes of each individual and the needs of the collectivity” (Algerian Constitution, 1963, Article 18).
Source: Algerian Constitution, 1963, Article 18
Andorra
The oldest source in Andorra that mentions the right to education is their constitution. Article 20 of the Andorra Constitution states, “All persons have the right to education, which shall be oriented towards the dignity and full development of the human personality, thus strengthening the respect for freedom and the fundamental rights” (Andorra Constitution, 1993, Article 20)
Source: Andorra Constitution, 1993 Article 20
Angola
The Constitution of Angola, written in 2010, states “The fundamental tasks of the Angolan state shall be …To promote policies that will ensure universal access to compulsory free education under the terms defined by law” (Angola Constitution, 2010, Article 21).
Source: Angola Constitution, 2012, Article 21
Antigua and Barbuda
The Education Act of 2008 is the oldest written source in the country of Antigua and Barbuda that mentions the right to education. It grants all citizens of Antigua and Barbuda the right to education, stating, “Subject to available resources, all persons are entitled to receive an educational programme appropriate to their needs in accordance with the provisions of this Act” (Education Act of 2008, page 23).
Source: Education Act of 2008, page 23
Argentina
The first source in Argentina that mentions the right to education is the National Education Law of 2006. Article 14 of this Law states, “ El Sistema Educativo Nacional es el conjunto organizado de servicios y acciones educativas reguladas por el Estado que posibilitan el ejercicio del derecho a la educación”, which translates to, “The National Educational System is the organized set of educational services and actions regulated by the state that enable the exercise of the right to education” (National Education Law of 2006, Article 14).
Source: National Education Law of 2006, Article 14
Armenia
The Armenian Constitution is the oldest written source in the country that mentions this right, written in 1995, four years after the country was founded, it states, “Everyone shall have the right to education. The programs and duration of compulsory education shall be stipulated by law. Secondary education in state educational institutions is free of charge” (Armenian Constitution, 1995, Article 38).
Source: Armenian Constitution, 1995, Article 38
Australia
In 1972 Australia signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, making this the first written document in Australia that mentions the right to education. Article 13 of this document says, “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to education… They further agree that education shall enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups, and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace” (International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, Article 13, 1972).
Source: International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, Article 13, 1972
Austria
There has been no written source in Austria that mentions the right to education.
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan’s Constitution, written in 1995 is the oldest written document in Azerbaijan that mentions the right to education. Their Constitution gives its citizens the right to education in Article 42, which states “Everyone has the right to an education. The State guarantees the right to free compulsory secondary education” (Azerbaijan Constitution, 1995, Article 42).
Source: Azerbaijan Constitution, 1995, Article 42
The Bahamas
The 1962 Education Act in The Bahamas is the first written document in this country to mention the right to education. This Act states, “It shall be the duty of the parents of every child of compulsory school age to cause him to receive full-time education suitable to his age, ability and aptitude, by regular attendance at school or otherwise” (Education Act, 1962, page 17).
Source: Education Act, 1962, page 17
Bahrain
There has been no written source is Bahrain that mentions the right to education.
Bangladesh
The Bangladesh Constitution is the oldest written document in Bangladesh that discusses the right to education, stating “It shall be a fundamental responsibility of the State to attain, through planned economic growth, a constant increase of productive forces and a steady improvement in the material and cultural standard of living of the people, with a view to securing to its citizens- (a) the provision of the basic necessities of life, including food, clothing, shelter, education and medical care” (Bangladesh Constitution, 1972, 15).
Source: Bangladesh Constitution, 1972, 15
Barbados
The oldest source in Barbados that mentions this right is the Education Act of 1983, which says “The function of the Minister are…(e) to contribute toward the spiritual, moral, mental, physical, social, cultural, and economic development of the community by ensuring that efficient education is available to meet the needs of Barbados” (Education Act, 1983, page 8).
Source: Education Act, 1983, page 8
Belarus
The Constitution of Belarus is the oldest written document in Belarus that mentions the right to education. Article 49 of the Constitution states, “Everyone shall have the right to education. Accessible and free general, secondary and vocational and technical education shall be guaranteed. Secondary specialized and higher education shall be accessible to all in accordance with the capabilities of each individual. Everyone may, on a competitive basis, get appropriate education at state educational institutions free of charge” (Belarus Constitution, 1994, Article 49).
Source: Belarus Constitution, 1994, Article 49
Belgium
The oldest written document in Belgium that mentions the right to education is their Constitution. Article 24 of the Belgium Constitution states, “Everyone has the right to education with the respect of fundamental rights and freedoms. Access to education is free until the end of compulsory education. All pupils of school age have the right to moral or religious education at the community’s expense” (Belgium Constitution, 1831, Article 24).
Source: Belgium Constitution, 1831, Article 24
Belize
There has been no written source in Belize that mentions the right to education.
Benin
The first mention of the right to education in Benin is in its constitution. Article 12 of the Benin Constitution states, “The State and public authorities shall guarantee the education of children and shall create conditions favorable to this end” (Benin Constitution, 1990, Article 12). Article 13 of the Constitution of Benin continues granting citizens the right to an education, “The State shall provide for the education of the youth by public schools. Primary education shall be obligatory. The state shall assure progressively free public education” (Benin Constitution, 1990, Article 13).
Source: Benin Constitution, 1990, Article 13
Bhutan
The first mention of the right to education in Bhutan is their constitution, which states “The State shall provide free education to all children of school going age up to tenth standard and ensure that technical and professional education is made generally available and that higher education is equally accessible to all on the basis of merit” (Bhutan Constitution, 2008, page 20).
Source: Bhutan Constitution, 2008, page 20
Bolivia
The first mention of the right to education in Bolivia is in Article 9 of their constitution. This article states, “The following are essential purposes and functions of the State, in addition to those established in the Constitution and the law: … to guarantee access of all people to education, health and work” (Bolivia Constitution, 2009, Article 9).
Source: Bolivia Constitution, 2009, Article 9
Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the first written document that mentions the right to education. Under Article II, “Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms”, Section 3 Enumeration of Rights, it states, “All persons within the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall enjoy the human rights and fundamental freedoms referred to in paragraph 2 above; these include: … l) The right to education” (Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1995, Section 3).
Source: Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1995, Section 3
Botswana
There has been no written source in Botswana that mentions the right to education.
Brazil
Article 208 of the Brazilian Constitution is the first written document in Brazil to mention the right to education. This article of the Constitution states, “The duty of the State towards education shall be fulfilled by ensuring the following: I- Mandatory basic education, free of charge, for every individual from the age of 4 (four) through the age of 17 (seventeen), including the assurance of its free offer to all those who did not have access to it at the proper age” (Brazil Constitution, 1988, Article 208).
Source: Brazil Constitution, 1988, Article 208
Brunei
There has been no written source in Brunei that mentions the right to education.
Bulgaria
The Bulgarian Constitution, written in 1991 is the first document in Bulgaria that mentions the right to education. Article 53 outlines the right to education in Bulgaria, “Everyone shall have the right to education” (Bulgaria Constitution, 1991, Article 53).
Source: Bulgaria Constitution, 1991, Article 53
Burkina Faso
There has been no written source in Burkina Faso that mentions the right to education.
Burundi
The first mention of the right to education in Burundi is in Article 53 of the Constitution, which states, “Every citizen has the right to equal access to instruction, education, and culture” (Burundi Constitution, 2005, Article 53).
Source: Burundi Constitution, 2005, Article 53
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
The first written source in East Timor that mentions the right to education is its constitution, written in 2002, which states, “The state recognizes and guarantees that every citizen has the right to education and culture, and it is incumbent upon it to promote the establishment of a public system of universal and compulsory basic education that is free of charge in accordance with its possibilities and in conformity with the law” (East Timor Constitution, 2002, Article 59).
Source: East Timor Constitution, 2002, Article 59
Ecuador
There is currently no document that mentions the right to education in Ecuador.
Egypt
The first written source in Egypt that mentions the right to education is the 1971 constitution, which states, “Education is a right guaranteed by the State. It is obligatory in the primary stage and the State shall work to extend obligation to other stages” (Egypt Constitution, 1971, Article 18).
Source: Egypt Constitution, 1971, Article 18
El Salvador
The 1983 constitution of El Salvador is the first written source that mentions the right to education in El Salvador. This document states, “The State shall protect the physical, mental, and moral health of minors, and shall guarantee their right to education and assistance” (El Salvador Constitution, 1983, Article 35).
Source: El Salvador Constitution, 1983, Article 35
Equatorial Guinea
The first written source that discusses the right to education in Equatorial Guinea is their constitution. Written in 1991, the constitution states, “Education is the primordial duty of the State. Every citizen has the right to primary education, which is obligatory, free, and guaranteed” (Equatorial Guinea Constitution, 1991, Article 24).
Source: Equatorial Guinea Constitution, 1991, Article 24
Eritrea
Article 21 of the 1997 constitution of Eritrea is the first written document in the country that mentions the right to education, stating, “Every citizen shall have the right of equal access to publicly funded social services. The state shall endeavor, within the limits of its resources, to make available to all citizens health, education, cultural, and other social services” (Eritrea Constitution, 1997, Article 21).
Source: Eritrea Constitution, 1997, Article 21
Estonia
The 1992 constitution of Estonia is the first written document that mentions the right to education in Estonia. Section 37 states, “Everyone has the right to education” (Estonia Constitution, 1992, Section 37).
Source: Estonia Constitution, 1992, Section 37
Eswatini
The first written source that discusses the right to education in Eswatini is Section 29, entitled “Rights of the Child” of the Eswatini constitution, written in 2005, which states, “Every Swazi child shall within three years of the commencement of this Constitution have the right to free education in public schools at least up to the end of primary school, beginning with the first grade” (Eswatini Constitution, 2005, Section 29).
Source: Eswatini, 2005, Section 29
Ethiopia
The first mention of the right to education in Ethiopia is in the Ethiopian constitution, which states, “To the extent the country’s resources permit, policies shall aim to provide all Ethiopians access to public health and education, clean water, housing, food, and social security” (Ethiopian Constitution, 1995, Article 90).
Source: Ethiopian Constitution, 1995, Article 90
Fiji
The constitution of Fiji is the first written source that mentions the right to education in the country. It states, “1. Every person has the right to- a. early childhood education; b. primary and secondary education; and c. further education” (Fiji Constitution, 2013, Section 31).
Source: Fiji Constitution, 2013, Section 31
Finland
The 1999 constitution of Finland is the first written source in this country that mentions the right to education, stating, “Everyone has the right to basic education free of charge. Provisions on the duty to receive an education are laid down by an Act” (Finland Constitution, 1999, Section 16).
Source: Finland Constitution, 1999, Section 16
France
The first mention of the right to education is in the 1791 French Constitution, which said, “Public instruction for all citizens, free of charge in those branches of education which are indispensable to all men, shall be constituted and organized, and the establishments thereof shall be opportuned gradually, in accordance with the division of the kingdom” (French Constitution, 1791, Title I).
Source: French Constitution, 1791, Title I
Gabon
The constitution of Gabon is the first document in this country that mentions the right to education. It states, “It is the State’s responsibility to organize public education based on religious neutrality, and according to its means, provide it freely to the public; awarding the diploma rests a right of the state” (Gabon Constitution, 1991, Article 1, Section 16).
Source: Gabon Constitution, 1991, Article 1, Section 16
The Gambia
The oldest written source in The Gambia that mentions the right to education is its constitution, which was written in 1996 and states, “All persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities and with a view to achieving the full realisation of that right- a. basic education shall be free, compulsory, and available to all” (The Gambia Constitution, 1996, Section 30).
Source: The Gambia Constitution, 1996, Section 30
Georgia
The first mention of the right to education in the country of Georgia is in the constitution, which states, “Everyone shall have the right to education. Freedom of choice in education shall be guaranteed” (Georgia Constitution, 1995, Article 35).
Source: Georgia Constitution, 1995, Article 35
Germany
Ghana
Article 25 of the Ghana constitution is the first written mention of the right to education, which states, “All persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities and with a view to achieving the full realization of that right- a. basic education shall be free, compulsory, and available to all” (Ghana Constitution, 1992, Section 25).
Source: Ghana Constitution, 1992, Section 25
Greece
The oldest source in Greece that mentions the right to education is the constitution, which states, “All Greeks are entitled to free education on all levels at State educational institutions. The State shall provide financial assistance to those who distinguish themselves, as well as to students in need of assistance or special protection, in accordance with their abilities” (Greek Constitution, 1975, Article 16).
Source: Greek Constitution, 1975, Article 16
Grenada
The Education Act of 1976 in Grenada is the oldest written document in this country that mentions the right to education, “According to the Education Act, public education is free and all children are required to attend school until age 16” (United States Department of Labor, 2015).
Source:
United States Department of Labor, 2015 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2015 https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2015/Grenada.pdf (accessed 07 March 2022)
Guatemala
The earliest source that mentions the right to education in Guatemala is the constitution. Written in 1985, Article 71, entitled “The Right to Education” states, “The freedom of education and educational (docente) criteria is guaranteed. It is the obligation of the State to provide and facilitate education to its inhabitants with any discrimination whatsoever. The foundation and maintenance of cultural education centers and museums is declared to be of public utility and necessity” (Guatemala Constitution, 1985, Article 71).
Source: Guatemala Constitution, 1985, Article 71
Guinea
There has been no written source in Guinea that mentions the right to education.
Guinea-Bissau
The earliest mention of the right to education in Guinea-Bissau is the constitution, which states, “All citizens have the right and duty to education” (Guinea-Bissau Constitution, 1984, Article 49).
Source: Guinea-Bissau Constitution, 1984, Article 49
Guyana
The first mention of the right to education in Guyana is their constitution. The constitution says, “Every citizen has the right to free education from nursery to university as well as at non-formal places where opportunities are provided for education and training” (Guyana Constitution, 1980, Article 20).
Source: Guyana Constitution, 1980, Article 20
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Republic of Ireland
Israel
Italy
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Federated States of Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
The first mention of the right to education in Namibia is in the constitution, written in 1990, which states in Article 20, “All persons shall have the right to education” (Namibia Constitution, 1990, Article 20).
Source: Namibia Constitution, 1990, Article 20
Nauru
The Education Act of 2011 in Nauru is the first mention of the right to education in this country. It states, “every child has the right to education” (Education Act 2011, 2011, 7).
Source: Education Act 2011, 2011, page 7
Nepal
The 2015 constitution of Nepal is the first mention of the right to education in Nepal. It states, “Every citizen shall have the right to access basic education” (Nepal Constitution, 2015, Article 31).
Source: Nepal Constitution, 2015, Article 31
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The first document in the Netherlands that mentions the right to education is the Compulsory Education Act of 1969. This act makes education compulsory for all children in the Netherlands, stating “The person who exercises authority over a young person, and the person who has taken charge of the actual care of a young person, are obliged, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, to ensure that the young person is registered as a pupil at a school and that this school is regulated after registrations” (Compulsory Education Act of 1969, 1969, Article 2).
Source: Compulsory Education Act of 1969, 1969, Article 2
New Zealand
The first document that mentions the right to education in New Zealand is is the Education Act 1989 which states, in Section 3, that “Except as provided in in this Act, every person who is not an international student is entitled to free enrollment and free education at any State school during the period beginning on the person’s fifth birthday and ending on 1 January after the person’s 19th birthday” (Education Act 1989, 1989, Section 3).
Source: Education Act 1989, 1989, Section 3
Nicaragua
The first mention of the right to education in Nicaragua is in its constitution, which states in Article 58, “Nicarguans have the right to education and culture” (Nicaragua Constitution, 1987, Article 58).
Source: Nicaragua Constitution, 1987, Article 58
Niger
The earliest document that mentions the right to education in Niger is its constitution, which states, “Each one has the right to life, to health, to physical and moral integrity, to a healthy and sufficient food supply [alimentation], to potable water, to education and instruction in the conditions specified by the law” (Niger Constitution, 2010, Article 12).
Source: Niger Constitution, 2010, Article 12
Nigeria
The first mention of the right to education in Nigeria is in their constitution, which states, “Government shall strive to eradicate illiteracy; and to this end Government shall as and when practicable provide (a) free, compulsory and universal primary education” (Nigeria Constitution, 1999, Chapter II Section 18).
Source: Nigeria Constitution, 1999, Chapter II Section 18
North Korea
In North Korea, the oldest written source that mentions the right to education is their constitution, which states, “Citizens of the D.P.R.K. have the right to education. Elementary education is universal and compulsory” (North Korea Constitution, 1971, Article 18).
Source: North Korea Constitution, 1971, Article 18
North Macedonia
The Constitution of North Macedonia is the oldest document in the country that mentions the right to education, stating, “Everyone has a right to education. Education is accessible to everyone under equal conditions. Primary education is compulsory and free” (North Macedonia Constitution, 1991, Article 44).
Source: North Macedonia Constitution, 1991, Article 44
Norway
The first mention of the right to education in Norway is in Article 109 of their constitution, which states, “Everyone has the right to education. Children have the right to receive basic education. The education shall preserve the individual’s abilities and needs, and further their respect for democracy, rule of law and human rights” (Norway Constitution, 1814, Article 109).
Source: Norway Constitution, 1814, Article 109
Oman
The first mention of the right to education in Oman is in Article 13 of the constitution, which states, “Education is a cornerstone for the progress of the Society which the State fosters and endeavors to disseminate and make accessible to all” (Oman Constitution, 1996, Article 13).
Source: Oman Constitution, 1996, Article 13
Pakistan
The first mention of the right to education in Pakistan did not come until 2010, when, “On April 19th 2010, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan guaranteed Free and Compulsory education for all 5-16 year olds as a Fundamental Right via Article 25 A” (Taimur, 2017).
Source:
Sadaf Taimur, “Article 25-A, Transition from Law to Implementation- 7 Years Down the Road, where do we stand?” 2017, The Right to Education Pakistan https://rtepakistan.org/blog/2017/04/24/article-25-a-transition-from-law-to-implementation-7-years-down-the-road-where-do-we-stand/ (accessed 18 March 2022).
Palau
The first mention of the right to education in Palau is in the constitution. In Article VI, it says, “The national government shall take positive action to attain these national objectives and implement these national policies… provision of public education for citizens which shall be free and compulsory as prescribed by law” (Palau Constitution, 1981, Article VI).
Source: Palau Constitution, 1981, Article VI
Panama
Article 56 of the Panama constitution guarantees the right to education, stating “The State shall protect the physical, mental, and moral health of minors and shall guarantee their rights to support, health, education, and social security. In an equal manner, the elderly and the sick who are destitute shall have the right to this protection” (Panama Constitution, 1972, Article 56).
Source: Panama Constitution, 1972, Article 56
Papua New Guinea
There is currently no right to education in Papua New Guinea.
Paraguay
According to the 1992 constitution of Paraguay, “All persons have [the] right to [a] complete and permanent education, which [,] as a system and [a] process [,] is accomplished within the context of the culture of the community” (Paraguay Constitution, 1992, Article 73).
Source: Paraguay Constitution, 1992, Article 73
Peru
Article 6 of the Peru Constitution states, “The national population policy aims to spread and promote responsible parenthood. It recognizes the right of families and individuals to decide. In this spirit, the State guarantees suitable education and information programs and access to such means, provided they do not harm life or health” (Peru Constitution, 1993, Article 6).
Source: Peru Constitution, 1993, Article 6
Philippines
The Philippines constitution is the earliest mention of the right to education, stating, “The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all” (Philippines Constitution, 1987, Article XIV).
Source: Philippines Constitution, 1987, Article XIV
Poland
The 1997 version of Poland’s constitution is the first mention of the right to education in Poland, stating, “Everyone shall have the right to education. Education to 18 years of age shall be compulsory. The manner of fulfillment of schooling obligations shall be specified by statute” (Poland Constitution, 1997, Article 70).
Source: Poland Constitution, 1997, Article 70
Portugal
The first mention of the right to education in Portugal is in their constitution, which states, “The freedom to learn and to teach shall be guaranteed” (Portugal Constitution, 1976, Article 43).
Source: Portugal Constitution, 1976, Article 43
Qatar
The first mention of the right to education in Qatar is in its constitution, which states, “Education is a right to every citizen. The State endeavors to achieve compulsory and free public education, according to the rules and laws in force in the State” (Qatar Constitution, 2003, Article 49).
Source: Qatar Constitution, 2003, Article 49
Romania
The first time the right to education is mentioned in Romania is in the constitution, which says, “The right to education is ensured through compulsory general education, high school and vocational education, higher education, and other forms of instruction and advanced training” (Romanian Constitution, 1991, Article 32).
Source: Romanian Constitution, 1991, Article 32
Russia
Article 43 of the Russian constitution is the first mention of the right to education in Russia, stating “Everyone shall have the right to education” (Russian Constitution, 1993, Article 43).
Source: Russian Constitution, 1993, Article 43
Rwanda
The first mention of the right to education in Rwanda is in the constitution, which says, “Every Rwandan has the right to education” (Rwandan Constitution, 2003, Article 20).
Source: Rawandan Constitution, 2003, Article 20
Saint Kitts and Nevis
The first mentions of the right to education in Saint Kitts and Nevis is in the Education Act of 2005, which says “Subject to available resources, all persons are entitled to receive an educational programme appropriate to their needs in accordance with the provisions of this Act” (Education Act of 2005, 2005, 12).
Source: Education Act of 2005, 2005, page 12
Saint Lucia
The Education Act of 1999 is the first mention of the right to education in Saint Lucia. This Act states, “Subject to available resources, all persons are entitled to receive an educational programme appropriate to their needs in accordance with this Act” (Education Act of 1999, 1999, 22).
Source: Education Act 1999, 1999, page 22
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
The first document that mentions the right to education in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is the Education Bill of 2005. This bill states under the section “Division 1 Students’ Rights and Responsibilities” that one of the rights of the students is the “right to education” (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Education Bill 2005, 2005, 2).
Source: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Education Bill 2005, 2005, page 2
Samoa
There is currently no mention of the right to education in Samoa.
San Marino
There is currently no mention of the right to education in the country of San Marino.
São Tomé and Príncipe
The São Tomé and Príncipe constitution is the first mention of the right to education in the country. Article 55 of the constitution states, “Education, as a right recognized to all the citizens, strives for the whole formation of man and his active participation in the community” (São Tomé and Príncipe Constitution, 1975, Article 55).
Source: São Tomé and Príncipe Constitution, 1975, Article 55
Saudi Arabia
The oldest source that mentions the right to education in Saudi Arabia is the constitution, which states, “The State shall provide public education and shall commit itself to the eradication of illiteracy” (Saudi Arabia Constitution, 1992, Article 30).
Source: Saudi Arabia Constitution, 1992, Article 30
Senegal
The first document that mentions the right to education in Senegal is the constitution, which states, “The Republic of Senegal guarantees to all citizens the fundamental individual freedoms, the economic and social rights as well as the collective rights. These freedoms and rights are notably: … the right to education” (Senegal Constitution, 2001, Article 8).
Source: Senegal Constitution, 2001, Article 8
Serbia
The oldest document in Serbia that mentions the right to education is their constitution. Article 71 of their constitution states, “Everyone shall have the right to education. Primary education is mandatory and free, whereas secondary education is free. All citizens shall have access under equal conditions to higher education” (Serbia Constitution, 2006, Article 71).
Source: Serbia Constitution, 2006, Article 71
Seychelles
The constitution of Seychelles is the first mention of the right to education, stating, “The State recognises the right of every citizen to education” (Seychelles Constitution, 1993, Section 33).
Source: Seychelles Constitution, 1993, Section 33
Sierra Leone
The first mention of the right to education in Sierra Leone is in their constitution, which states “The Government shall direct its policies towards ensuring that there are equal rights and adequate educational opportunities for all citizens at all levels” (Sierra Leone Constitution, 1991, Section 9).
Source: Sierra Leone Constitution, 1991, Section 9
Singapore
There is currently no mention of the right to education in Singapore.
Slovakia
The constitution of Slovakia is the first document that mentions the right to education in this country, which states “Every person shall have the right to education. School attendance is compulsory. Length of attendance shall be fixed by law” (Slovakia Constitution, 1992, Article 42).
Source: Slovakia Constitution, 1992, Article 42
Slovenia
The first document that mentions the right to education in Slovenia is the constitution, stating “Freedom of education shall be guaranteed. Primary education is compulsory and shall be financed from public funds. The state shall create the opportunities for citizens to obtain a proper education” (Slovenia Constitution, 1991, Article 57).
Source: Slovenia Constitution, 1991, Article 57
Solomon Islands
There is currently no mention of the right to education in the Solomon Islands.
Somalia
The constitution of Somalia is the first document that mentions the right to education, stating “Education is a basic right for all Somali citizens” (Somalia Constitution, 2012, Article 30).
Source: Somalia Constitution, 2012, Article 30
South Africa
Article 29 of the constitution of South Africa is the first written document in the country mentioning the right to education, stating “Everyone has the right- a. to a basic education, including adult basic education; and b. to further education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible” (South Africa Constitution, 1996, Section 29).
Source: South Africa Constitution, 1996, Section 29
South Korea
Article 31 of the constitution of South Korea is the first mention of the right to education in the country, stating “All citizens shall have an equal right to an education corresponding to their abilities” (South Korea Constitution, 1948, Article 31).
Source: South Korea Constitution, 1948, Article 31
South Sudan
The South Sudan constitution of 2011 is the first document in this country that mentions the right to education. It says, “Education is a right for every citizen and all levels of government shall provide access to education without discrimination as to religion, race, ethnicity, health status including HIV/AIDS, gender or disability” (South Sudan Constitution, 2011, Article 29).
Source: South Sudan Constitution, 2011, Article 29
Spain
The first mention of the right to education in Spain comes in its constitution, which says “. Everyone has the right to education. Freedom of teaching is recognized” (Spain Constitution, 1978, Section 27).
Source: Spain Constitution, 1978, Section 27
Sri Lanka
The earliest mention of the right to education in Sri Lanka is in the constitution, which says “the complete eradication of illiteracy and the assurance to all persons of the right to universal and equal access to education at all levels” (Sri Lanka Constitution, 1978, Section 27).
Source: Sri Lanka Constitution, 1978, Section 27
Sudan
The constitution is the first document in Sudan that mentions the right to education, stating “Education is a right for every citizen. The state guarantees access thereto without discrimination on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity, gender or disability” (Sudan Constitution, 2019, Section 62).
Source: Sudan Constitution, 2019, Section 62
Suriname
The earliest mention of the right to education in Suriname is the constitution, which states “Everyone shall have the right to education and cultural expression” (Suriname Constitution, 1987, Article 38).
Source: Suriname Constitution, 1987, Article 38
Sweden
The constitution of Sweden is the earliest mention of the right to education in the country, stating “All children covered by compulsory schooling shall be entitled to a free basic education in the public education system. The public institutions shall be responsible also for the provision of higher education” (Sweden Constitution, 1974, Article 18).
Source: Sweden Constitution, 1974, Article 18
Switzerland
The earliest document that mentions the right to education in Switzerland is the constitution, which says “The right to an adequate and free basic education is guaranteed” (Switzerland Constitution, 1999, Article 19).
Source: Switzerland Constitution, 1999, Article 19
Syria
The earliest mention of the right to education in Syria is in the constitution. Article 29 says “Education shall be a right guaranteed by the state, and it is free at all levels. The law shall regulate the cases where education could not be free at universities and government institutes” (Syria Constitution, 2012, Article 29).
Source: Syria Constitution, 2012, Article 29
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Is there another noteworthy written source from the past that mentions this right?
There are many noteworthy written sources from the past that mentions the right to education. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document produced by the United Nations in 1948, explicitly states in Article 26 that all people have the right to education, and lays out guidelines pertaining to the education people have the right to. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a document that grants all people in the world thirty rights that they are entitled to, one of these being education. According to this document, elementary education is to be free, and higher level and technical education should be accessible to all (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, page 7). This document is still in effect today, granting all people the right to education.
Given that the right to education largely deals with the rights of children, it is often intertwined with the legal system. The case Wisconsin v. Yoder deals with the compulsory school attendance law for children in Wisconsin, a law that requires every child to attend school until at least age sixteen. An Amish family in Wisconsin withdrew their children from school after the eighth grade because they did not believe it was necessary for the children and claimed that the Amish community continued to educate their children outside of school in order to prepare them to live in an Amish community. Amish parents are generally in favor of compulsory elementary education for their children, but not high school education, as during high school, the Amish believe that children are taught things that go against Amish beliefs and values (Wisconsin v. Yoder, 1972). In the end, the courts sided with the family, and ruled that on the grounds of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, the state could not force Amish parents to send their children to school until age sixteen (Wisconsin v. Yoder, 1972, 234).
While these children had the right to education, this case brought into question whether or not the government has the power to force children to attend school until they graduate. In line with children having a right to education, Wisconsin v. Yoder states “Finally, the State, on authority of Prince v. Massachusetts, argues that a decision exempting Amish children from the State’s requirement fails to recognize the substantive right of the Amish child to a secondary education” (Wisconsin v. Yoder, 1972, 229). Here, the court is recognizing that if the Amish children are not required as per the state requirements to attend school, they are being kept from having an equal right to receive an education, in this court case, the children in question are being kept from receiving a proper secondary education.
Furthermore, in Wisconsin v. Yoder, “The dissent argues that a child who expresses a desire to attend public high school in conflict with the wishes of his parents should not be prevented from doing so” (Wisconsin v. Yoder, 1972, 231). While this case ruled in the favor of the parents allowing their children to stop attending school, it created the basis that children should be allowed to attend school if they so choose to, regardless of what the parents beliefs are or what the parent wants for their child. This creates a child’s right to education in the sense that it creates the precedent that neither a child’s parents nor the courts have the power to restrict children from accessing an education.
Another landmark court decision regarding the right to education was the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka et al. Supreme Court case. This case was a compilation of five similar court cases, all regarding segregation of schools, that the Supreme Court decided to hear at once, Briggs et al. v. Elliot et al. in South Carolina, Bolling v. Sharpe in the District of Columbia, Davis et al. v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia, et al. in Virginia, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in Kansas, and Gebhart et al. v. Belton et al. in Delaware. All of these cases involved segregated school districts in which white children had access to more funding and overall better schools than African American children did. In all of these cases, the defendants reported that their schools did not have “playgrounds, ball fields, cafeterias, libraries, auditoriums, and other amenities provided for white children in newer schools” (Delinder, 2004). While the students in these school districts did have the right to education, they were not being given the right to equal, unsegregated education. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.The ruling in Brown v. Board of Education paved the way for students of all races to receive equal treatment in schools, thus giving all students an equal right to education.
The Brown v. Board of Education court case states, “In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms” (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954). In this portion, the court is asserting that a child needs to receive an education in order to be successful in life, and also that when the state is providing education for students, every child must have equal access to this education.
Sources:
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka et al. No. 1, 1954 (Supreme Court of the United States)
Jean Van Delinder, “Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka: A Landmark Case Unresolved Fifty Years Later”, Spring 2004, National Archives Prologue Magazine Vol. 36, No. 1 (https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2004/spring/brown-v-board-1.html#:~:text=On%20May%2017%2C%201954%2C%20the,schools%20in%20twenty%2Done%20states)
United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, December 1948
Wisconsin v. Yoder, No. 70-110, 1972 (Supreme Court of Wisconsin)
Is the identification of this right associated with a particular era in history, political regime, or political leader?
There are a few political leaders that are associated with the right to education. One of these is Horace Mann, an education reformer from Massachusetts who is often credited as being the father of the public school (Finkelstein, 1990, 7). Mann was involved with Massachusetts' politics for most of his career, and in 1837 he was appointed as the Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education. As Graham Warder says, “Mann argued that the common school, a free, universal, non-sectarian, and public institution, was the best means of achieving the moral and socioeconomic uplift of all Americans” (Warder, 2019). The common school was the basis for today’s public schools. It was Mann’s belief that everyone had the right to not only an education, but a free public education.
In the article Horace Mann on the Economic Productivity of Education by Maris A. Vinovkis, he says, “There have been many attempts to categorize Mann’s arguments for education. One useful summary presents the following seven categories… (6) It is the natural right of all individuals” (Vinovkis, 552). Mann’s beliefs on education can be broken down into seven main points, point six being that every individual has the right to an education. This belief was core to Mann, and would lead to the eventual creation of the public school, which, now, every child in the United States has access to.
Another formative leader in education reform was John Stuart Mill, a philosopher from England. Mill was very passionate about mandatory education, and the creation of a national education system. Bruce Baum, in J.S. Mill’s Political Thought a Bicentennial Reassessment, states, “Mill’s chief reformist liberal proposals to equalize opportunities across generations are a heavy progressive inheritance tax, taxation of unearned land rents, and publicly supported general education” (Baum, 2007, 110). Mill supported public education as a way to ensure that people had the same opportunities as one another. The right to education is one of the first steps in ensuring that all individuals have the same access to certain opportunities in life, such as getting better jobs after leaving school.
In his book, On Liberty, Mill states “Were the duty of enforcing universal education once admitted there would be an end to the difficulties about what the State should teach, and how it should teach” (Mill, 1859, 97). It was Mill’s belief that education should be made universal, and by doing so, the issues surrounding teaching and education would be lessened. Universal education would grant more children the right to education, as it would be universally implemented, rather than left up to individual school districts to decide how to run their education system. This would also allow a greater number of people to have the right to education.
When discussing Mills’ beliefs on education, Wendy Donner states “In On Liberty, for example, Mill argues that the process of development of the human capacities requires that the groundwork be laid in childhood education. Hence his argument that children have a right to an education” (Donner, 2007, 261). Mill was an early believer that all children have the right to an education.
Sources:
Mill. John Stuart. On Liberty, 1859, Kitchener, Ontario: Batoche Books Limited, 2001 edition
Warder, Graham. “Horace Mann and The Creation Of The Common School”, 2019, VCU Libraries Social Welfare History Project, (https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/education/horace-mann-creation-common-school/)
Urbinati, Nadia and Zakaras, Alex, eds. J.S. Mill’s Political Thought A Bicentennial Reassessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007
Vinovskis, Maris A. “Horace Mann on the Economic Productivity of Education.” The New England Quarterly 43, No. 4 (Dec. 1970), pp 550-571
What specific events or ideas contributed to its identification as a fundamental right?
The publication of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was an event that contributed to the identification of education as a fundamental right. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a document that grants every citizen of every country thirty rights which they cannot be denied. This document was originally written in an effort to try to prevent the events of World War II from happening again. Thus, the United Nations and their Commission on Human Rights created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights drafting committee, chaired by former First Lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt. The group met for the first time in 1947, and by December of 1948, the document was published, giving all citizens thirty undeniable human rights.
Article twenty six of this document grants all citizens the right to education. This article is broken down into three main parts, the first of which gives everyone the right to free and compulsory elementary education, and equally accessible professional and technical education. The second part of article twenty six says that education should “promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, 7). With this part of the document, the United Nations is aiming to promote peace and greater understanding between groups of individuals through granting everyone the right to education. The third, and final, part of this article gives parents the power to choose the type of education that their child will receive. This gives the parents the right to make certain decisions regarding their child’s education, such as whether or not they attend a public or private school, or if they choose to home-school their child.
In addition to this, the ideas of Horace Mann and John Stuart Mill contributed to the identification of education as a fundamental right. John Stuart Mill was an early believer that children have the right to an education. As Wendy Donner writes about Mill, “he distinguished himself by fighting not only for women’s suffrage but also for the universal right to schooling in the era before these rights to education were widely accepted … Hence his argument that children have a right to an education” (Donner, 2007, 261). Mill was ahead of his time with his beliefs on many things, including education. Mill wanted schooling to be universal as he thought that all children have the right to be educated.
Horace Mann, often referred to as the father of the public school, referred to as the common school during his lifetime, was another figure in education reform whose ideas contributed to the identification of education as a fundamental right. Mann had many beliefs surrounding education, which can be broken down, according to Maris Vinovskis, into seven categories. The sixth of these categories states that education is “the natural right of all individuals” (Vinovskis, 1970, 552). It was central to Mann’s beliefs that everyone had the right to an education and that this education should be received through a school that was funded by tax dollars, and thus free for the student to attend.
Sources:
United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, December 1948
United Nations. “Universal Declaration of Human Rights: History of the Declaration,” https://www.un.org/en/about-us/udhr/history-of-the-declaration (accessed 01 February 2022).
Wendy Donner “John Stuart Mill on Education and Democracy” in J.S. Mill’s Political Thought: A Bicentennial Reassessment. edited by Urbinati, Nadia and Zakaras, Alex, 250-274, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007
Maris A. Vinovskis, “Horace Mann on the Economic Productivity of Education” The New England Quarterly 43, No. 4 (December 1970), 550-571
When was it generally accepted as a fundamental, legally-protectable right?
The right to education was generally accepted as a fundamental human right in 1948 with the publication of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The legal protection of a person’s right to education came at different points for different states. Massachusetts was the first state to recognize the importance of education as a fundamental right, in 1852, when it made education compulsory, the first state in the United States to do so. It was not until 1917 that every state had passed a law making school attendance mandatory. These laws make it mandatory that every child attend school, asserting their right to an education.
Sources:
FindLaw. “Compulsory Education Laws: Background,” 2016. https://www.findlaw.com/education/education-options/compulsory-education-laws-background.html (accessed 01 February 2022).
United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, December 1948
What historical forces or events, if any, contributed to a widespread belief in its importance?
While it is a widespread belief that the right to education is an important right, it is hard to pinpoint this to any particular historic forces or events.
Legal Codification
Is this right protected in the Constitutions of most countries today?
Is it contained in the US Constitution?
The right to education is not contained in the US Constitution.
Has it been interpreted as being implicit in the US Constitution?
Although the right to education is not granted to United States’ citizens through the Constitution, multiple court cases have cited the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in regards to education, asserting that one cannot be denied the right to an equal education based on things such as their gender or race. According to the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause, it is unconstitutional for a state to “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” (United States Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment, 1868). The courts have, on multiple occasions, interpreted this clause to protect a person’s right to an equal education. Some scholars have even further interpreted other amendments and clauses from the Constitution as granting people the right to education. In “Theoretical Foundations For a Right to Education Under the US Constitution: A Beginning to the End of the National Education Crisis”, Susan Bitensky states, “an unenumerated positive right to education arises from the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause and the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and, indirectly from the Constitution’s references to elections and voting” (Bitensky, 77, 1992). In Bitensky’s article, she demonstrated multiple different ways that the United States Constitution can be interpreted as giving people an implicit right to education.
One of these court cases is Plyler, Superintendent, Tyler Independent School District, et al. v. Doe, Guardian et al. This is a Supreme Court case which focuses on the education of undocumented children in Texas who have immigrated from Mexico with their parents. The question at stake with this case was whether or not the state of Texas was obligated to provide these children with an education. Prior to this case, the state of Texas would not provide undocumented children with a free education. In order for these children to be educated, Texas charged their parents tuition for the otherwise free schools, which most of their parents were unable to pay. This case not only uses the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, but also the due process clause, which can be found in both the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. The due process clause states that no one in the United States can be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” (United States Constitution, Fifth Amendment, 1791). In regards to this case, the due process clause was used to argue that these children could not be deprived of their right to receive an education, even though they were not citizens of the United States.
The case went on to say that denying a child the opportunity to an education “takes an inestimable toll on the social, economic, intellectual, and psychological well-being of the individual” (Plyler v. Doe, 203, 1981). While the Constitution never granted people in the United States the right to an education, the courts have testified to the importance of children having access to a proper education, as they did in this case.
Plyler goes on to say that “by depriving the children of any disfavored group of an education, we foreclose the means by which that group might raise the level of esteem in which it is held by the majority” (Plyler v. Doe, 222, 1981). Depriving a minority group of an education will only serve to keep them a minority group in our society when the opposite should be true. Everyone should have an equal access to education which would then serve to allow them to better themselves in the same way that majority groups are able to.
On the matter of the children at question in this court case being undocumented, the case states, “the undocumented status of these children vel non does not establish a sufficient rational basis for denying them benefits that the State affords other residents” (Plyler v. Doe, 203, 1981). In this scenario, the benefit is the right to an education. The due process clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments can be applied to all people who are in the United States, not just citizens of the country. On this, the court states, “Aliens, even aliens whose presence in this country is unlawful, have long been recognized as ‘persons’ guaranteed due process of law by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments” (Plyler v. Doe, 210, 1981). Even though the children in this court case are not United States citizens, they are still people, therefore they still have the right to due process as is outlined in the Constitution.
Another Supreme Court case that deals with the Fourteenth Amendment in regards to education is United States v. Virginia et al. This case deals with the Virginia Military Institute which was an all male military college. A young woman wanted to apply to VMI, but was not allowed to on the basis of her gender, which prompted her to file a complaint with the Attorney General. The filing of this complaint then led the United States to sue the Commonwealth of Virginia, as well as VMI. The first issue in this case was whether or not “Virginia’s exclusion of women from the educational opportunities provided by VMI … deny to women ‘capable of all of the individual activities required of VMI cadets,’ … equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment?” (United States v. Virginia, 530, 1996). The second issue at stake in this case was “if VMI’s ‘unique’ situation, id., at 1413- as Virginia’s sole single-sex public institution of higher education- offends the Constitution’s equal protection principle, what is the remedial requirement?” (United States v. Virginia, 530-531, 1996). In the end, the Supreme Court found that it was indeed unconstitutional for the Virginia Military Institute to have an admissions policy that only accepts men. In their decision, the Supreme Court stated that they “therefore affirm the Fourth Circuit’s initial judgment, which held that Virginia had violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause” (United States v. Virginia, 534, 1996). This meant that the Virginia Military Institute would become a co-educational school, and began accepting women into their program in 1997. Under the Fourteenth Amendment, it was found unconstitutional for the school to only admit men as there was no female alternative that was equal to the Virginia Military Institute. Once again, despite the fact that there is no mention of the right to education in the Constitution, the Fourteenth Amendment was interpreted here in order to ensure that both men and women were receiving equal educational opportunities.
Similarly to the case regarding the Virginia Military Institute, the Supreme Court case Mississippi University for Women vs. Hogan deals with a single gender institute, this time an all women’s university in which a man is seeking admission into. In this case, the Supreme Court held that “MUW’s policy of denying males the right to enroll for credit in its School of Nursing violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment” (MUW vs. Hogan, 1982). Joe Hogan was a registered nurse who wanted to further his education by receiving a baccalaureate degree in nursing from the Mississippi University for Women’s School of Nursing. Despite meeting all of the qualifications to gain admission to this program, Hogan was denied on the basis of his sex, leading to this court case.
The Supreme Court decided that they “conclude that the State’s policy of excluding males from MUW’s School of Nursing violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals” (MUW vs. Hogan, 1982). Once again, on the basis of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the court ruled that it was unconstitutional for a single sex university of this nature to exist, asserting that a right to education does exist in the United States even though it is not explicitly outlined in the Constitution.
In regards to elementary education, the court case Horton v. Meskill, which was argued in the Connecticut Supreme Court, held that people do have a right to an education. This case was a compilation of three court cases based in Canton, Connecticut in 1974, which all dealt with the same issue. Plaintiff Horton was a kindergarten student at Canton Elementary School, plaintiff Barnhart was a sixth grade student at Canton Middle School, and plaintiff Grace was a seventh grade student at Canton High School. The plaintiffs brought about this lawsuit because schools in Connecticut were funded based on property taxes. This meant that students in lower income towns were receiving worse educations because their properties generated less money via taxes, while students living in higher income towns had access to better educations because their properties generated more property tax.
The court held that “in Connecticut the right to education is so basic and fundamental that any infringement of that right must be strictly scrutinized” (Horton v. Meskill, 1977). The court found that students in Connecticut do have the explicit right to education. In Connecticut, “The constitutional provision ultimately adopted by the convention reads as follows: ‘There shall always be free public elementary and secondary schools in the state. The general assembly shall implement this principle by appropriate legislation’.” (Horton v. Meskill, 1977). The Constitution of the state of Connecticut explicitly states that all children in the state have the right to receive not only an education, but a free elementary and secondary education. The Supreme Court of Connecticut upheld this belief by ruling that “without doubt the trial court correctly held that, in Connecticut, elementary and secondary education is a fundamental right, that pupils in the public schools are entitled to the equal enjoyment of that right” (Horton v. Meskill, 1977).
The court went on to say that, “The right of our children to an education is a matter of a right not only because our state constitution declares it as such, but because education is the very essence and foundation of a civilized culture…it is as necessary to a civilized society as food and shelter are to an individual” (Horton v. Meskill, 1977). The court upheld in this case that all individuals in Connecticut have the right to receive an education.
Sources:
Horton v. Meskill, 172 Conn. 615, 1977 (Supreme Court of Connecticut)
Mississippi University for Women vs. Hogan, No. 81-406, 1982 (Supreme Court of the United States)
Plyler, Superintendent, Tyler Independent School District, et al. v. Doe, Guardian et al, No. 80-1538, 1982 (Supreme Court of the United States)
Susan H. Bitensky, "Theoretical Foundations for a Right to Education under the U.S. Constitution: A Beginning to the End of the National Education Crisis ," Northwestern University Law Review 86, no. 3 (1991-1992): 550-642
United States v. Virginia et al, No. 94-1941, 1996 (Supreme Court of the United States)
Are there any exceptions in American law to this right?
No, according to the Equal Educational Opportunities Act that was passed in 1974, every child in the United States has the right to an education. This Act days that “all children enrolled in public schools are entitled to equal educational opportunity without regard to race, color, sex, or national origin” (Equal Educational Opportunities Act, 948, 1974). This means that states do not have the power to deny anyone their right to receive an education, and everyone must have access to the same educational opportunities.
Source:
Equal Educational Opportunities Act, H.R. 40, 93rd Congress (1973-1974)
Is this right enshrined in international and regional human rights treaties?
Philosophical Origins
What have religious and philosophical traditions contributed to our understanding of this right?
Buddhism
Platonism
Aristotelian thought
Ancient Chinese Philosophy
Stoicism
Early Indian Philosophy
Miscellaneous Hellenistic Schools (epicureans, academics, skeptics, etc.)
Roman Legal and Political Thought
Early Christianity
Thomism and medieval Christianity
Medieval Islamic Thought
Medieval Judaism
Early Modern Rationalism
Absolute Idealism
Reformation Christianity
Hobbesian Thought
Lockean Thought/English Empiricism
Physiocrats
Scottish Enlightenment
Modern Capitalism
Rousseau's Thought
Kantianism
German Idealism
Benthamite Utilitarianism
Millian Utilitarianism
Current Utilitarianism
Transcendentalism
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a philosopher from Massachusetts, involved with the branch of philosophy which is known as transcendentalism. Transcendentalist philosophers believed that “the basis of Transcendentalist thinking is the idea of a metaphysical correspondence between nature and spirit, as chiefly expressed by Emerson” (Williamson & Null, 2008, 387). Transcendentalists believe that humans and nature are very closely intertwined with one another. These philosophers were largely from New England.
Emerson’s view on education that he is most well known for is his strong belief that cooperative education is the most beneficial type of education for the student. Emerson believed that a teacher’s job was more than just giving students information, he believed that “they should provide a learning environment that is conducive to creativity and fostering the individual interests of students… Emerson realized that teaching should be engaging not only for children, but for teachers as well” (Williamson & Null, 2008, 382-383). To Emerson, education was something that should equally involve both the students and the teachers.
The American Scholar, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, was a speech that was later published as a book, in which Emerson discusses being a scholar in relation with his transcendentalist views. In this book he writes that a scholar is educated “by nature, by books, and by action” (Emerson, 1837, 84). Emerson believed that a well educated individual, a scholar, learned best, not by attending a traditional school, but rather by becoming educated through nature, books, and doing.
In line with traditional transcendentalist beliefs, Emerson thought nature was one of the best ways for people to receive an education. To philosophers like Emerson, nature is full of lessons to be learned, “The natural world, combining the flowing rivers and steady stars, is a mixture of lessons about stability amid careless fluidity” (Warnick, 2007, 99). Emerson believed that there were four main ways for people to learn from nature. The first way is that “nature offers the possibility of solitude and, with this solitude, comes silence. The silence allows for the emergence of ‘voices’ that are otherwise marginalized in the dominant technological society” (Warnick, 2007, 95). Being in nature and away from society which is becoming more and more technological allows for people to be educated through the silence and solitude that is provided in nature. The second way Emerson outlined that people can learn from nature is by the “unique possibilities for the development of moral thought through distinctive nontechnological metaphors” (Warnick, 2007, 95). Being in nature, away from technology, allows people the opportunity to develop their moral thoughts without having any interferences. The third way is that “nature forces us both to see difference and to develop our sense of ‘worship,’ that is, it promotes a feeling that there is an Other, a ‘not-me,’ who is worthy of respect” (Warnick, 2007, 95). Similarly to the first two points that Emerson makes, this reason shows that being in nature and learning from nature gives people the chance to realize that there are other beings in the universe, aside from humans, that are also worthy of receiving respect from humans. Finally, the fourth way that Emerson says that people can learn from nature is “a proper educative relationship with nature allows us to escape the ethical dissonance that can come from being complicit in the destructive forces of modern economies, and, at the same time, to develop our talents as human beings” (Warnick, 2007, 95). Here, Emerson is saying that living in nature and learning from nature allows people to escape from typical society and develop themselves and their talents as humans. Once again, he continues making his point that, when in nature, people have the opportunity to connect more deeply with nature and with themselves. Through these, he is asserting that people have the right to receive an education, even if not necessarily through the traditional means of a classroom education. Emerson was an enthusiast of both nature and education, so it makes sense that he believed that nature is one of the best ways for a person to become educated.
Emerson once spoke about the rights that he believed women should have access to. Emerson, “called openly for women to receive their ‘one half of the world,’ their ‘full rights of all kinds,- to education, to employment, to equal laws of property, equal rights in marriage, in the exercise of the professions, and of suffrage.’” (Harvard Square Library). Emerson believed that women, like men already had, should have equal rights to these things, including the right to an education. He was a believer that both men and women should have equal rights to these important things, including education.
Henry David Thoreau was also a transcendentalist philosopher from Massachusetts that held strong beliefs on educational matters. After graduating from Harvard, Thoreau found himself working as a teacher and eventually, his brother, John Thoreau, began running the Concord school, so Henry came along with him to work as a teacher there (Ryan, 1969). Thoreau thought that schools should focus more on how to live a fulfilling life, rather than merely teaching students how to make money and make a living. Of Thoreau, it has been said that, “Often he returns to the theme that the schools teach how to make a living, and not how to live… Thoreau wanted an education ‘rooted’ to life, an education that would school man to nature, for there man would find himself” (Ryan, 1969, 55). Despite his thoughts on what the state of schooling was during his lifetime, he still knew that schools were incredibly important and did not think that they should be closed, rather that they should be structured differently.
The majority of Thoreau’s life as a philosopher was involved with education. In his book Walden, he writes about his time working as a teacher, “As I did not teach for the good of my fellow-men, but simply for a livelihood, this was a failure” (Thoreau, 1910, 111). Of this Walden quote, “Although Thoreau is characteristically deceptive about his ideals here, the passage does indicate his conviction that he was not cut out for institutionalized teaching, Nevertheless, the education of man was one of the focal interests of his life from his college years to his last days” (Ryan, 1969, 54). Thoreau was dedicated to education, although not in the traditional sense of education that takes place in a typical classroom environment.
Thoreau also advocated for the right to education for adults. He wanted there to be more educational opportunities for adults, rather than discontinuing education once students graduate from high school. In Walden he says, “It is time that we had uncommon schools, that we did not leave off our education when we begin to be men and women. It is time that villages were universities, and their elder inhabitants the fellows of universities, with leisure-if they are indeed so well off-to pursue liberal studies the rest of their lives” (Thoreau, 1910, 171). Thoreau wanted there to be better access to educational institutes for adults that have already completed their traditional years of education. He began referring to the schools that he wanted to be implemented for adults as ‘uncommon schools’, in a reference to Horace Mann’s common school movement. On the matter of the lack of adult learning institutions, “Thoreau was deeply concerned with the lack of educational opportunities available to adults… He was enraged by Concord having spent sixteen thousand dollars on a new town hall, ‘a hall for our political meetings mainly, and nothing to educate ourselves who are grown up.’” (Ryan, 1969, 56). Thoreau wanted more town money to go towards educating the adults in our society, rather than spending money on things like new government buildings.
Thoreau also refused to implement any form of corporal punishment in his classroomm which often came under criticism from other educators, and eventually led to him leaving education because “he was unwilling to punish pupils by whipping” (Wilson, 1962, 19). During Thoreau’s time, it was almost expected that students would receive a whipping as a form of corporal punishment when they misbehaved. Thoreau, however, did not believe in the use of corporal punishment in the classroom.
When speaking of rights, Thoreau believed that the rights of the people were more important than the rights of the government. Thoreau believed that “the power of government used by politicians for ends which were usually deplorable. Since its power was derived from individuals originally, their rights were of necessity superior to those conceded to the state” (Madison, 1944, 115). It was Thoreau’s belief that the rights of the people, such as the right to education were more important in comparison with the rights of the government. Furthermore, Thoreau, “In denouncing the state he aimed not at its destruction but at its improvement: he magnified the rights of the individual in the hope of assuring him the freedom to which he was entitled” (Madison, 1994, 122). He believed wholeheartedly that the rights of individual people were more important than those of the government.
Louisa May Alcott, famously known as the author of the novel Little Women, was also a transcendentalist, and advocate for the importance of education. Her father, Amos Bronson Alcott was also a transcendentalist and a teacher, who passed many of his beliefs down to his daughter. Both Louisa and Bronson were influential transcendentalists who had impacts on education as we now know it. Both Alcotts “were red-hot abolitionists as well as feminists. They were outspoken and unwavering in their belief that men and women, regardless of race, deserved equal rights and opportunities” (Seiple, 2019). The Alcotts were very liberal and open minded, believing that everyone regardless of their race or their gender should have access to the same opportunities, and these beliefs extended to the realm of education as well.
Louisa’s real life transcendentalist views on education often translated over into her fictional works, “Her father’s ideas on schooling very tangibly influenced Louisa Alcott, as we can clearly see in her children’s stories, for education is one of her favorite themes” (Hamblen, 1970, 84). Her transcendentalist views on education never strayed far from her in her writing, whether it be her writing for adults or for children. In fact, her most popular book, “Little Women, with its emphasis on growth and development shows clearly the distinctive Alcott thinking” (Hamblen, 1970, 84). The Alcotts had a view on education that was fundamentally different from many other philosophers of the time.
Amos Bronson Alcott believed that “Pleasure should be associated with learning, Alcott said, and lessons should be drawn from the everyday lives of the boys and girls. The teacher must teach from the heart, must be patient, genial, gentle. ‘Affectionate and familiar conversation is the chief avenue to the infant mind,’ he wrote” (Hamblen, 1970, 82-83). Alcott was ahead of his time with very modern views on education and how teachers should be teaching.
Amos Bronson Alcott was one of the first educators to introduce things like music and field trips into schools, which we still see widely in schools today. He “was singular among the Transcendentalists in boldly embodying his ideals. In his schools he introduced art, music, nature study, field trips, and physical education into the curriculum, while banishing corporal punishment” (Brown, 1999). He was similar to other transcendentalists in that the majority of them supported the end of corporal punishment being used in schools. Alcott utilized these ideals during his career in education, which began in 1828 in Boston, Massachusetts, when he opened an infant school. In this school, “he used tangible objects to teach addition and subtraction, encouraged marching and dancing to music” (Stiem, 1960, 8). Many of the teaching techniques that he implemented in his classroom are the basis of modern education practices today.
During his career as an educator, he also served as the superintendent of the Concord school district, and later he went on to found the Concord School of Philosophy, both in Concord, Massachusetts. He was also the founder of the Temple School in Boston, Massachusetts. Alcott, like other transcendentalists of his time, undertook education as something that not only children needed the right to, but also adults. Thus, the formation of the Concord School of Philosophy, which served as an institute for adults to be educated. This school allowed the attendance of any adult who wanted to attend, “The circular further announces that ‘No preliminary examinations are required, and no limitation of age, sex, or resident in Concord will be prescribed’.” (Warren, 1929, 202). This meant that any adult who desired to receive an education at the Concord School of Philosophy would be allowed to do so.
Sources:
Amy Williamson and J. Wesley Null, “Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Educational Philosophy as a Foundation for Cooperative Learning” American Educational History Journal 35, No. 2 (2008) 381-392
Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar, New York: The Laurentian Press, 1837
Bryan R. Warnick, “Emerson and the Education of Nature” Ohio Valley Philosophy of Education Society 38, 2007 95-103
Harvard Square Library, “Ralph Waldo Emerson and Women’s Rights: Legacy of Emerson Series” https://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/emerson-and-womens-rights/ (accessed 01 March 2022)
Kevin Ryan, “Henry David Thoreau: Critic, Theorist, and Practitioner of Education” The School Review 77, No. 1 (March 1969) 54-63
Lawrence Wilson, “Thoreau on Education” History of Education Quarterly 2, No. 1 (March 1962) 19-29
Henry David Thoreau, Walden, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & co. Publishers, 1910
Rick Anthony Furtak, “Henry David Thoreau”, 2019, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/thoreau/ (accessed 25 February 2022)
Charles A. Madison, “Henry David Thoreau: Transcendentalist Individualist” Ethics 54, No. 2 (January 1944) 110-123
Abigail Ann Hamblen, “Louisa May Alcott and the ‘Revolution’ in Education” The Journal of General Education 22, No. 2 (July 1970) 81-92
Samantha Seiple, “How Louisa May Alcott Landed on the Front Lines of the Civil War”, 2019, Literary Hub, https://lithub.com/how-louisa-may-alcott-landed-on-the-front-lines-of-the-civil-war/ (accessed 04 March 2022).
Amy Belding Brown, “Amos Bronson Alcott”, 1999, Virginia Commonwealth University, American Transcendentalism Web https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/alcott (accessed 07 March 2022).
Marjorie Stiem, “Beginning of Modern Education: Bronson Alcott” Peabody Journal of Education 38, No. 1 (July 1960) 7-9
Austin Warren, “The Concord School of Philosophy” The New England Quarterly 2, No. 2 (April 1929) 199-233
Marxism
Early Sociology
Pragmatism
Weberian Thought
Process Philosophy
Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism was a philosophical field of thought that “believed that the processes of natural selection acting on variations in the population would result in the survival of the best competitors and in continuing improvement in population. Societies were viewed as organisms that evolve in this manner” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2021). William Graham Sumner, from the United States, and Herbert Spencer, from Hebert Spencer from England, were the two most prominent philosophers of social darwinism. Of these men, Herbert Spencer was most involved with the right to education. Two of Herbert Spencer’s books, Man Versus the States and Essays on Education and Kindred Subjects touch on the topic of education.
Tienken, in his article “Neoliberalism, Social Darwinism, and Consumerism Masquerading as School Reform”, writes “In education policy social Darwinism is visible through the use of one-size-fits-all mandated curricula standards and the use of results from mandated standardized testing to make important decisions about children and teachers” (Tienken, 2013, 305). Because of ‘survival of the fittest’ being one of the main points of social Darwinism, these philosophers often want to see what happens when students are all given access to the same schooling and curriculum and who comes out on top after that.
Spencer, in his book, Man Versus the State, writes “There is a rising demand, too, that education shall be made gratis (i.e., tax supported), for all. The payment of school-fees is beginning to be denounced as a wrong: the State must take the whole burden” (Spencer, 1916, 22). During Spencer’s lifetime there was a push to make education free for all, by making it be funded by tax dollars. This would, in turn, ensure that more children would have the right to an education.
In Essays on Education and Kindred Subjects, Spencer writes, “The notion that an ideal humanity might be forthwith produced by a perfect system of education, is near akin to that implied in the poems of Shelley, that would mankind give up their old institutions and prejudices, all the evils in the world would at once disappear” (Spencer, 1911 86). Social Darwinists believed in ‘survival of the fittest’, a term originally coined by Spencer himself. Thus, these philosophers believed that it was possible that the ideal version of society could be created via the use of education.
Sources:
Herbert Spencer, The Man Versus the State, Truxton Beale, ed., New York, 1916
Herbert Spencer, Essays on Education and Kindred Subjects, London & Toronto, 1911
Encyclopedia Britannica, “social Darwinism”, 2021, https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-Darwinism (accessed 22 March 2022)
Christopher H. Tienken, “Neoliberalism, Social Darwinism, and Consumerism Masquerading as School Reform” Interchange (March 2013) 295-316
British Idealism (19th cen.)
Continental Philosophy/Frankfurt School
Behaviorism
Feminist Thought
Three of the most well known feminists that have beliefs on the right to education are Mary Wollstonecraft, Catharine Macaulay, and Margaret Fuller. Mary Wollstonecraft, a philosopher and writer from the United Kingdom, was largely involved with feminism and the right to education, specfically women’s right to education during the 18th century. Her two most well-known books are Thoughts on the Education of Daughters and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. In both of these novels she discusses women’s rights alongside education while making her argument that women should be seen as equal to men. In A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, “Wollstonecraft argued primarily for the right of women to be educated. She believed that through education would come emancipation” (Lewis, 2021). Wollstonecraft’s main belief was that education was the means through which women would be able to finally be seen as equals to men.
Wollstonecraft lays out the main argument of her philosophy on education in the beginning of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, writing “my main argument is built on this simple principle, that if she be not prepared by education to become the companion of man, she will stop the progress of knowledge and virtue; for truth must be common to all, or it will be inefficacious with respect to its influence on general practice” (Wollstonecraft, 1792, xxvi). Wollstonecraft believed that in order for a woman to be a good partner to a man, women must have the same access to education as men do. At the time of Wollstonecraft’s life women were only educated in matters of the home, “such as sewing and water color painting rather than the development of any cognitive skills” (Roberts, 1997, 3). This was true for both upper class and lower class women of the time. All young women received the same education, content wise, but for upper class women, they would receive it in an expensive boarding school. Wollstonecraft fought for the right for women to receive the same education as their male counterparts.
In Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, Wollstonecraft writes, “The wide difference which education makes, I should suppose, would prevent familiarity in the way of equality; yet kindness must be shewn, if we are desirous that our domestics should be attached to our interest and persons” (Wollstonecraft, 1787, 120). She is firmly acknowledging that education is necessary for the advancement of women in our society.
Wollstonecraft, “believed that if women were not educated to become independent, their actions would be based on other persons’ wills, not their own. Wollstonecraft not only perceived this as being destructive to women, but also detrimental to their families. They would become tyrants with their homes, poor mothers, and unable to cope if widowed, since they have never practiced independent thought” (Manus, 1993, 9). By granting women the right to be educated in the same fashion as men, she is arguing that this will, in turn, uplift the entirety of their families and children. Women are the backbone of the family in a traditional sense, therefore their education is of utmost importance.
It is clear that while reading Wollstonecraft’s work, “one discovers that Wollstonecraft’s argument for the emancipation of women is based on the right to education” (Manus, 1993, 15). She is a strong advocate of the right to education for women, so that women and men can become equals. Education is the means by which women and men will become equal to one another.
Catharine Macaulay is often linked with Mary Wollstonecraft when discussing feminism and the right to education. As Macaulay says in her book, Letters on Education: With Observations on Religious and Metaphysical Subjects, “The situation and education of women, Hortensia, is precisely that which must necessarily tend to corrupt and debilitate both the powers of mind and body” (Macaulay, 129). Catherine Gardner discusses this concept, stating, “the moral education must be the same, and it is clear that by this Macaulay means a general principled education rather than the sexes sharing a moral education but having a separate general education” (Gardner, 1998, 125). She believed that both men and women should receive the same general education as one another.
One of Macaulay’s central arguments is that men and women need to have equal access to the right to an education. Gardner writes that, “Macaulay intends to connect the development of moral excellence with the need for the equal education of women. Moral excellence, because of the form of the mind, can be produced only through a consistent education grounded on immutable principles; and any attempt at producing this moral excellence will invariably entail a call for equality of education” (Gardner, 1998, 126).
In Macauley’s eyes, “Lack of education, she argued, made impossible any real political equality” (Hill, 1995, 184). She held that, in order for men and women to be seen as equals, they must have access to the same education. Macaulay, along with many other feminists of her time, believed that if women had the same right to an education as men, the two sexes could become equals. Macaulay often criticized the state of female education during her lifetime as it was not comparable with the education received by men. She was one of the few feminists of her time tha twas bold enough to speak out against this injustice. The education received by women could be described as ‘useless’ and “it was a damning indictment of female education. Daringly Macaulay advocated co-education for children, for the separation of their education sprang from ‘the absurd notion, that the education of females should be of an opposite kind to that of males’.” (Hill, 1995, 186). The origins of education believed that both men and women should be educated differently, as well as educated on different topics. Macaulay fought this notion and wanted both men and women to receive the same education.
Margaret Fuller was a philosopher known for both her work in the transcendentalist movement, as well as her work as a feminist. Fuller is known as one of the first feminists in the United States. She was a firm believer that women deserved to have the right to a proper education. She “was interested in a wide range of social topics. She believed in social reform from women’s rights to the prison system. In particular, she believed women had a right to a full education” (Few.org, 2016). One of the core beliefs that Fuller held was that all women had the right to receive an education, the same as men do.
Margaret Fuller had an unusual relationship with education for a woman living during the 1800s, starting from a young age. As a child, her father decided that she should receive the same education that a young boy would, so he ensured this would happen. Fuller’s father was “disappointed that his first child was a girl, determined that Margaret should receive a boy’s education. Margaret Fuller’s education formed and defined her in ways that fundamentally affected the course of her life” (Tangorra, 2010, 47). The fact that she, as a young girl, was able to receive an education traditionally meant for young boys, molded much of her adult life, as she focused on the value of education for most of her career. She would continue to advocate that men and women should receive the same education for the entirety of her life.
Fuller wanted “a world where people are free and empowered, regardless of gender, race, or class” (Howe, 2021). In order to work to achieve this goal, Fuller held a number of “conversations” in Boston, which fellow women would attend and discuss predetermined topics. The main goal of these discussions was to give women a place to learn about and discuss things that they did not have the opportunity to learn in a traditional educational setting at the time, such as “fine arts, history, mythology, literature, and nature” (Norman, 2022). This gave women of the time a unique opportunity to become educated in the same subjects as their male peers, that they had not had the opportunity to before. This era of history was “a period of rising educational levels and correspondingly raising expectations- a period also rife with men’s advice about women’s roles- Fuller’s proposal struck a chord, and the ‘Conversations’ continued as long as she was in Boston” (Robinson, 1982, 90-91). These Conversations served as a way to provide women in Boston with extra educational opportunities so that they could receive education on the same topics that men were being educated on. Fuller was working to create an equal right to an education for both men and women. Similar to Macaulay, Fuller wanted men and women to have access to the same types of education.
Fuller’s fellow philosophers believed that “an equal distribution of materiality and spirituality in the private realm will ultimately bring justice in the public sphere… Fuller through aesthetics and active involvement in educational issues” (Alfonso, 2016, 79). During her lifetime, Fuller was entangled with both prominent transcendentalist philosophers, as well as prominent feminists. The main way in which Fuller believed that society would eventually have justice in the public world is through the use of education.
Sources:
Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, London: Walter Scott, 1792
Mary Wollstonecraft, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, London, 1787
Bary Burke, “Mary Wollstonecraft on Education”, 2004, The Encyclopedia of of Pedagogy and Informal Information, https://infed.org/mobi/mary-wollstonecraft-on-education/ (accessed 08 March 2022)
Leonard H. Roberts, “Mary Wollstonecraft’s ‘Rational Education’ Agenda and the Status of Women in Eighteenth Century England” U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) (November 1997) 2-8
Jone Johnson Lewis, “What Was the Main Goal of Mary Wollstonecraft’s Advocacy?”, 2021, Thought Co. https://www.thoughtco.com/mary-wollstonecraft-vindication-rights-women-3530794# (accessed 09 March 2022).
Alice L. Manus, “Visions of Mary Wollstonecraft: Implications for Education” U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) (April 1993) 2-26
Catherine Gardner, “Catharine Macauley’s ‘Letters on Education’: Odd but Equal” Hypatia 13, No. 1 (1998) 118-137
Catharine Macauley, Letters on Education: With Observations on Religious and Metaphysical Subjects, Dublin, 1790
Bridget Hill, “The Links between Mary Wollstonecraft and Catharine Macauley: new evidence” Women’s History Review 4, No. 2 (1995) 177-192
Karen Green, “Catharine Macaulay”, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/catharine-macaulay/ (accessed 11 March 2022).
“Margaret Fuller- Working Towards Women’s Equality”, 2016, Few.org, https://www.few.org/2016/08/01/margaret-fuller-working-toward-womens-equality/ (accessed 09 March 2022)
Daniel Howe, “Margaret Fuller”, 2021, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/fuller-margaret/ (accessed 10 March 2022)
David M. Robinson, “Margaret Fuller and the Transcendental Ethos: Woman in the Nineteenth Century”, Modern Language Association 97, No. 1 (January 1982) 83-98
Jeremy Norman, “Margaret Fuller Holds the First of her ‘Conversations,’ Considered the First Book Club in the U.S.”, 2022, History of Information https://historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=5473 (accessed 15 March 2022)
Ricardo Miguel Alfonso, “Margaret Fuller and Education: Between History and Aesthetics” Revista de Estudios Norteamericanos 20 (2016) 67-85
Gina C. Tangorra, “Margaret Fuller the Reformer: A Transcendentalist in the Era of Reform” Illinois Wesleyan University 11, No.1 (2010) 46-75
Postmodernism
Are there any philosophical or moral traditions that dispute the classification of this right as a fundamental right?
What do the major legal theories (positive law, natural law, critical legal studies, etc.) say about this right?
The major legal theories, including positive law, natural law, and critical legal studies all have different takes on the right to education. The natural law legal theory sees the right to education as a natural right that all children have. As Albert Grande states, “every child has a natural right to education that will enable him to perform all domestic, social, civil, and moral duties. Education is as natural to the child as breathing and seeing: ‘a child without education is poorer and more wretched than a man without bread’” (Grande, 2006, 70). This branch of legal theory holds that children have a natural right to receive an education, and that an education is one of the most important things that a person can receive in life. The right to education is the basis for many things, and it is through receiving an education that an individual will be able to better themselves and create a better life.
In the area of who is responsible for accessing a proper education for their children, natural law holds that it is the responsibility of parents to ensure that their children are being educated via their right to an education. As Melissa Moschella says, “from the natural law perspective, parents legitimately claim that they are the ones primarily responsible for the education and upbringing of their children, and thus that they have the authority to make decisions about how best to carry out their task” (Moschella, 2014, 199). The natural law area of legal theory sees that the right of education for children is in the hands of their parents. We can see this belief upheld in the Wisconsin v. Yoder Supreme Court case, which Moschella also discusses in her article. This case involved an Amish family in Wisconsin in which the parents did not want to send their children to school past the eighth grade, despite the state’s compulsory education laws, because the parents claimed that an education past the eighth grade went against their religious beliefs as an Amish family. The court ruled in their favor, and allowed the parents to keep their children out of school. This ruling falls in line with the beliefs of natural law in relation to education because the courts ultimately let the parents make the final decision about what educational decision was the best choice to raise their children. Regarding the outcome of this case, Moschella says, “parents are the ones with the authority to make controversial decisions about what type of education is in the best interests of their children” (Moschella, 2014, 218). This belief system gives parents, rather than the state, the ultimate authority to make decisions for their children, including when it comes to making decisions about education. In this way, parents are responsible for whether or not children have the right to an education.
The natural law legal theory is also the basis on which Horace Mann, one of the most well known education reformers, derived his beliefs about education. However, Mann did not hold the belief that the right to education and schooling fell into the hands of parents, he believed that the burden of education fell on the state. Mann has been dubbed the father of the public school because of his beliefs regarding the right to education. He believed that school should be both free and public which came from natural law, “his passionate belief in the common school movement rested upon natural law, which compels the state to provide schools that prepare individuals to perform all the duties essential to citizenship” (Grande, 2006, 69). Horace Mann’s take on the natural law legal theory and education is that it is the responsibility of the government to provide a free education for people. This leads into his belief that the government should be responsible for providing a free education for its citizens.
Andrei Marmor talks about the social thesis that exists within the realm of legal positivism, “according to the social thesis, law is a social phenomenon, it is a social institution, and therefore, what the law is, is basically a matter of social facts” (Marmor, 2006, 686). Legal positivism sees law as being related to social facts and society. The right to education is a core part of society.
When it comes to positive law legal theory, also known as legal positivism, H.L.A. Hart is one of the leading legal philosophers in this field. Hart held that, “legal positivism, as a general theory about the nature of law, is basically descriptive and morally neutral” (Marmor, 2006, 684). Marmor provides a definition for this, “by ‘descriptive’ I mean that such an account does not purport to justify or legitimize any aspects of its subject matter. By ‘morally neutral,’ I mean that the theory need not take a stance on any particular moral or political issues, nor is it committed to any moral or political evaluations” (Marmor, 2006, 683). By these definitions, it means that legal positivism does not exist to have distinct opinions on any particular things or ideas, including rights.
One of the few mentions of the right to education within the field of positive legal theory comes in H.L.A. Hart’s essay “Between Utility and Rights”, when he writes, “Why should there not be included a basic right to the positive service of the relief of great needs or suffering or the provision of basic education and skills when the cost of these is small compared with both the need to be met and with the financial resources of those taxed to provide them?” (Hart, 1979, 835). Hart believed that people should have access to basic services and things that would allow them to create a better life for themselves.
Sources:
Grande, Albert. “Education as a Natural Right” Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development 21, No. 1 (Fall 2006) 53-72
H.L.A. Hart. “Between Utility and Rights” Columbia Law Review 79, No. 5 (June 1979) 828-846
Andrei Marmor. “Legal Positivism: Still Descriptive and Morally Neutral” Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 26 No. 4 (2006) 683-704
Moschella, Melissa. “Natural Law, Parental Rights, and Education Policy” The American Journal of Jurisprudence 59, No. 2 (2014) 197-227
Culture and Politics
Is this right interpreted and exercised in different ways in different countries? Focus on particular countries in which the right is interpreted distinctively
Is this right exercised in different ways depending on the political governance regime in place (democracy, autocracy, hybrid regime)?
Is there general and widespread belief that this right is a fundamental right that should generally be protected (and that exceptions should be rare)?
Does public polling reveal insights about the right as experienced in different countries?
Conflicts with other Rights
Are there other specific fundamental rights that tend to conflict with this right? Can you identify specific examples of this?
When it comes to the right to education, it can oftentimes overlap with and conflict with other fundamental rights. Through court cases, we have seen it conflict with both the right to freedom of religion, as well as freedom of speech.
The case Wisconsin v. Yoder deals with freedom of religion in conjunction with a child’s right to an education. The state of Wisconsin had mandatory school attendance laws, meaning that parents were legally obligated to send their children to school until the age of sixteen. A set of Amish parents argued that this law was an infringement on their religious beliefs, as they were Amish and higher level education went against their religious beliefs, and did not want their children to be in school past an elementary level. The children in this case were sent to school until they finished the eighth grade, and then the parents decided it was against their Amish religious beliefs to continue to send their children to school. The court found that, “the Wisconsin compulsory school-attendance law ‘does interfere with the freedom of the Defendants to act in accordance with their sincere religious belief’.” (Wisconsin v. Yoder, 1972, 213). This case found that the parents’ right to freedom of religion allowed them to refrain from complying with the compulsory school attendance law.
Although the court did rule in favor of the parents to keep their children from finishing school in Wisconsin v. Yoder, “the State, on authority of Prince v. Massachusetts, argues that a decision exempting Amish children from the State’s requirement fails to recognize the substantive right of the Amish child to a secondary education” (Wisconsin v. Yoder, 1972, 229). Despite their ruling, the court is still acknowledging that these children do indeed have the right to finish their secondary education. The court continues on to say that the state “fails to give due regard to the power of the state as parens patriae to extend the benefit of a secondary education to children regardless of the wishes of their parents” (Wisconsin v. Yoder, 1972, 229). This means that had the children in the case had opposing views to those of their parents and wished to finish their education, they would have had the right to do that, despite their parents beliefs keeping them out of school.
Another court case, Tinker v. Des Moines, deals with the intersection of the right to education and one’s freedom of speech and expression. This case dealt with students who were going to wear black armbands to school as a way of protesting the Vietnam War. In response to this, the school board decided to ban students from wearing these armbands. Upon this ban, students took it upon themselves to wear the armbands to school anyways, which led to the suspension of four students. In response to this, the court said, “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate” (Tinker v. Des Moines, 1969, 506). This statement created the precedent that the right to education and freedom of speech must be allowed to exist at the same time. Just because an individual is within the confines of a school, that does not mean they drop their First Amendment right to the freedom of speech and expression.
The court case Morse v. Frederick, similar to Tinker v. Des Moines, deals with freedom of speech in a school environment. In this case, a student hung a banner that read “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” at a school event. In 2002, the Olympic Torch Relay passed by Juneau-Douglas High School, and students were allowed to participate in the relay. When it was time for the relay, along with camera crews, passed in front of the school, Joseph Frederick and his friends unrolled the banner that read “Bong Hits 4 Jesus”. When the principal saw this, she told the students to take the banner down, however, Frederick was the only one of the students that did not comply with her instructions, leading to his suspension from school. Although the banner was not explicitly telling minors to do illegal drugs, the principal argued that it could be implied that Frederick’s banner was encouraging minors to participate in illegal activities.
Frederick sued claiming that his First Amendment rights were violated when his banner was confiscated and he was suspended. When this case first went to the court system, “The federal district court held for the defendants, holding that they had qualified immunity and that the suspension did not violate the First Amendment” (Cordes, 2009, 669). However, when the case went to the Ninth Circuit, the decision was reversed and the court held that the suspension actually was a violation of his First Amendment rights. Ultimately, this case went to the Supreme Court for a final judgment. While still upholding the precedent set in Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court held that “the school officials in this case did not violate the First Amendment by confiscating the pro-drug banner and suspending the student responsible for it” (Morse v. Frederick, 2007, 5). Again, quoting Tinker’s famous line, the court states that “‘the nature of those rights is what is appropriate for children in school’ (Morse v. Frederick, 2007, 11). Being that this case involved a substance that is illegal for minors, making Frederick remove the banner from a school event was not an infringement on his First Amendment rights.
A recent court case regarding the freedom of speech in a school setting is the Supreme Court case Mahanoy Area School District, Petitioner v. B.L., A Minor, by and Through her Father, Levy, and her Mother, Betty Loud Levy, which took place in 2021. This case involved a student at the school who made vulgar statements towards the school on her social media, which led to the school suspending her from the cheerleading team for the school year. However, the student’s actions took place after school and off of school grounds. The court argued that “the school violated B.L.’s First Amendment rights when it suspended her from the junior varsity cheerleading squad” (Mahanoy v. B.L., 2021, 2).
This court case also brought into question how far the “schoolhouse gate”, as established in Tinker extends. As Ilya Shapiro said, “‘I think of [Mahanoy] as the inverse of the Tinker case,’... ‘Here the activity at issue was off campus, not at a school-supervised event, and not on a school website’ … ‘The legal issue is how far does the school’s supervisory authority extend’” (Beam, 2021). With the rise of virtual schooling and classes taking place remotely, the area between what is under a school’s authority and what is not has become hazy. Ultimately, the courts ruled in favor of B.L., saying that her speech was protected by the First Amendment.
Sources:
Wisconsin v. Yoder, No. 70-110, 1972 (Supreme Court of Wisconsin)
Tinker et al. v. Des Moines Independent Community School District et al, No. 1969 (Supreme Court of the United States)
American Civil Liberties Union. “Tinker v. Des Moines - Landmark Supreme Court Ruling on Behalf of Student Expression” https://www.aclu.org/other/tinker-v-des-moines-landmark-supreme-court-ruling-behalf-student-expression (accessed 03 February 2022).
Deborah Morse, et al., Petitioners v. Joseph Frederick, No. 06-278, 2007 (Supreme Court of the United States)
Mahanoy Area School District, Petitioner v. B.L., A Minor, By and Through Her Father, Lawrence Levy and Her Mother, Betty Lou Levy, No. 20-255, 2021 (Supreme Court of the United States)
Alex Beam, “It’s ‘Bong Hits 4 Jesus’ all over again’” 2021. Boston Globe, https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/04/05/opinion/its-bong-hits-4-jesus-all-over-again/ (accessed 03 February 2022)
Mark W. Cordes, "Making Sense of High School Speech after Morse v. Frederick," William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal 17, no. 3 (March 2009): 657-714
Are there other specific rights that are critical to the exercise of this right? Can you identify specific examples of this?
When it comes to the exercise of one’s right to an education, the right to freedom of speech is critical. If students are not allowed to exercise their freedom of speech in a classroom, it can be argued that they are not being granted their proper right to an education. As Roy Harris says, “From the ‘Aristotelian’ perspective on education, freedom of speech is essential, because if there is any prohibition on discussing or presenting in public any set of topics, that automatically imposes limits on human knowledge, and to that extend cripples education” (Harris, 2009, 199). Following this point of view, freedom of speech is inherently important in ensuring that one gets a proper education. Harris continues on in saying,“if we are pursuing either a ‘Socratic’ or an ‘Aristotlian’ philosophy of education, the requirement of freedom of speech is paramount” (Harris, 2009, 124). In this regard, one cannot fully exercise their right to an education unless they also have freedom of speech within their educational environment.
Harris continues on with this topic by saying, “Where there is no freedom of speech, there can be no guarantee that the education being provided is itself conducive to freedom of thought” (Harris, 2009, 125). Freedom of speech goes hand in hand with freedom of thought, which is critical for all individuals to have. In order for people to properly engage with their right to an education, they must also have access to proper freedom of speech within a classroom or other educational setting.
While it is true that freedom of speech is extremely important in an education as Harris argues, there are some limits to this as a classroom needs to be an environment that is conducive to learning. From the Tinker v. Des Moines Supreme Court case, the substantial disruption test was created, based off of the Burnside v. Byars cases which was argued in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, stating that symbols, such as the armbands seen in Tinker or the pins seen in Burnside, “cannot be prohibited unless it ‘materially and substantially interfere[s] with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school’.” (Tinker v. Des Moines, 1969, 505). The substantial disruption test was also brought up in the Morse v. Frederick case when the Ninth Circuit Court said that there was a “First Amendment violation because the school punished Frederick without demonstrating that his speech threatened substantial disruption” (Morse v. Frederick, 2007, 1). While the Ninth Circuit court came to a different conclusion than the Supreme Court did, it is important to note the mention of the substantial disruption test in this case as well.
Sources:
Roy Harris, “Freedom of Speech and Philosophy of Education” British Journal of Educational Studies 57, No. 2 (June 2009): 111-12
Tinker et al. v. Des Moines Independent Community School District et al, No. 1969 (Supreme Court of the United States)
Deborah Morse, et al., Petitioners v. Joseph Frederick, No. 06-278, 2007 (Supreme Court of the United States)
David L. Hudson Jr. “Substantial Disruption Test,” 2018, The First Amendment Encyclopedia. https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1584/substantial-disruption-test (accessed 08 February 2022).
Is there a perception that this right is above or higher than other fundamental rights, or in general, that it has a particular place in a hierarchy of rights?
What specific examples of hierarchies, manifestos, constitutions, or prioritized descriptions of rights cite this right’s high status? Low status? No status at all?
How does federalism change, if at all, the exercise or application of this right? What examples of this can one point to?
Limitations / Restrictions
What are the typical exceptions or limitations placed on this right?
Under American jurisprudence, what permissible exceptions exist?
Under international human rights laws, what permissible exceptions (often called derogations) exist?
Have political theorists or philosophers discussed the permissibility of exceptions to this right?
Should this right be limited when limiting it would jeopardize democratic norms?
Is this right often perceived as threatening to government authorities?
Is this right often curtailed by government authorities for reasons other than those which are generally viewed as permissible?
Is this right at times curtailed by private actors?
Is this right subject to specific limitations in event of emergency (war, brief natural disaster [weather, earthquake], long-run natural disaster [volcano, fire, disease])? Can such limitations be defined in advance with reference to the disaster in question?
Utilitarian / Fairness Assessments
Is there a cost attached to protecting and enforcing this right? What kinds of costs are implicated?
As of 2022, the United States spends $586.4 billion dollars on K-12 education, which equates to about $14,455 per student (Education Data Initiative). This cost covers the cost of paying teachers and other school staff, as well as textbooks and school supplies. This money helps to provide the resources necessary to ensure that all students can receive the right to an education. Other costs that may be associated with protecting and enforcing the right to education are court costs. When cases go to court regarding the right to education, such as Wisconsin v. Yoder, there are court costs associated, such as the cost of lawyers and judges, to protect the right to education.
Sources: Melanie Hanson, “U.S. Public Education Spending Statistics” Education Data Initiative, https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics (accessed 28 March 2022).
Short-term economic cost in general
The short-term economic cost of the right to education is the cost it takes to run a school on a daily basis.
Long-term economic cost in general
The long-term economic cost of the right to education is the cost that it makes to run a school on a yearly basis, and beyond that.