Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: democratic ideals and educational effects

Abstract

Abstract abstract The resurgent optimism concerning the future of democracy, and the long established tradition of pairing democracy and education, both with regard to ends and means, suggests the need to review the educational effects of that relationship in the past. For that purpose it is necessary to identify representative constituent principles of the democratic mode, principles which can be seen to have had significance for educational prescriptions, so that predictions of probable future effects can be informed by past experience. In this study the conceptual ideals expressed in the revolutionary slogan, ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’, have been used to assess some significant educational effects of their adoption by educational authorities. In several cases that adoption has resulted in a lesser level of achievement than might have been attained by some suggested alternative educational means.