Public education and democracy: a changing relationship in a globalizing world

Abstract This paper analyses the traditional relationship between public schools in Australia and Australian democracy. After reviewing the challenges to democracy in a globalizing world, the paper argues for the need to retheorize the democratic purposes of public schools in ways which move beyond the discourse of nation building and which redefine the concept of education as a 'public good'. It argues that contemporary neo-liberal educational policies are destructive of these democratic purposes, and concludes by suggesting strategies to advance a progressive public education agenda.