A Thinking American's Guide to the Classroom Culture Wars

FAIN: FZ-300457-24

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela
New School (New York, NY 10011-8871)

Research and writing leading to a book on the history of conflicts over public education and public school policies in America. 

The book I propose builds on my scholarly and journalistic work on the school culture wars and American political culture. Drawing on academic research, journalism, and archival sources, I will offer an accessible, synthetic account of the school culture wars that have long divided us, although rarely along the lines that our current discourse about “polarization” presumes. Divided in six thematic sections–Race, Faith, Feelings, Skills, Nation, and Accountability–this book will explain why bitter conflict over how we educate children has proved as enduring as the school system itself, and in marshaling the past, will offer educators, parents, and students fresh insights on how we arrived at the present–and how to shape our future.