Abstract
A polarized and volatile political climate has dominated the American consciousness in recent decades, and in turn, democracy has buckled. This paper argues that education is key in re-identifying the values necessarily upheld by all members of the populace to ensure a functioning democracy. Without a shared objective for public schools and a method for how to best nurture a rising generation of citizens, it is certain that a shared goal of the larger democracy is unobtainable. The current trajectory of democracy is ineluctable without a radical overhaul of the American education system. To best determine what such reforms would entail, this paper returns to the original pillars of democratic society as intuited by the ancient Greeks and the types of independent and moral values most conducive to its enduring prosperity. Outlined in this paper is a historical timeline of the abandonment of such values in favor of more invasive measures to influence the nation’s most pliable minds; assimilation, religion, and labor. In an effort to return schooling to its purpose of promoting original democratic values such as creativity, collaboration, and communication, this paper advocates for the adoption of a pedagogy that values democracy in theory and praxis, utilizing schools as stages for democratic simulations. This civic-wisdom-pursuant education allows students to apply academic and social-emotional knowledge in lifelike democratic settings. The skills that students obtain throughout this process are those which inform their personal sense of morality and identity, as well as aid them in learning how and where to situate themselves in the larger society.