When we discuss education in America, we almost invariably refer to schools. But Americans have always been ambivalent about whether parents or a formal teaching establishment should ultimately be responsible for the education of the rising generation. That ambivalence itself offers a key to understanding America’s endless education debates. Guest Rita Koganzon joins us to discuss the history of these two educational traditions — institutionalized schooling and self-education — and how they might shape the future of American education.

Rita Koganzon is a professor of politics and the associate director of the program on constitutionalism and democracy at the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on the themes of childhood, education, and the family in political thought.  

This podcast discusses themes from Rita’s essay in the Spring 2021 issue of National Affairs, “A Tale of Two Educational Traditions.”