The Political Ethics of Bilingual Education

Type of resource
Authors/collaborators
Title
The Political Ethics of Bilingual Education
Abstract
The author addresses the question of how bilingual education can serve or disserve the cause of linguistic justice. He starts with the assumption that there are very strong reasons for children to be educated bilingually, in circumstances where this is possible. He then asks whether there can be, in certain specific contexts, considerations that defeat that very strong presumption. The author considers two such contexts. The first is that of asymmetrical bilingualism, or contexts in which the two languages in bilingual educational systems purport to educate children differ in terms of their capacity to attract speakers. The second is that of “nation-building,” or contexts in which it is deemed important that a single language establish itself firmly across an entire territory. The author argues that, in some contexts, there are valid moral considerations that tell in favor of unilingual education, even where the empirical conditions exist for bilingual education. In many contexts, the author concludes, the considerations that are put forward do not pass ethical muster.
Book Title
Handbook of Philosophy of Education
Place
New York, NY
Publisher
Routledge
Date
2022
Pages
Chapter 19
Language
en
ISBN
978-1-03-200003-9
Citation
Weinstock, Daniel W. “The Political Ethics of Bilingual Education.” In Handbook of Philosophy of Education, edited by Randall Curren, Chapter 19. New York, NY: Routledge, 2022.
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