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The Myth of the Saving Power of Education: a Practical Theology Approach

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The Myth of the Saving Power of Education: a Practical Theology Approach University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2016 The Myth of the Saving Power of Education: A Practical Theology Approach Hannah Kristine Adams Ingram University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Practical Theology Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, and the Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons Recommended Citation Ingram, Hannah Kristine Adams, "The Myth of the Saving Power of Education: A Practical Theology Approach" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1229. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1229 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. THE MYTH OF THE SAVING POWER OF EDUCATION: A PRACTICAL THEOLOGY APPROACH __________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology Joint PhD Program University of Denver __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________ by Hannah Adams Ingram November 2016 Advisor: Katherine Turpin ©Copyright by Hannah Adams Ingram 2016 All Rights Reserved Author: Hannah Adams Ingram Title: THE MYTH OF THE SAVING POWER OF EDUCATION: A PRACTICAL THEOLOGY APPROACH Advisor: Katherine Turpin Degree Date: November 2016 Abstract U.S. political discourse about education posits a salvific function for success in formal schooling, specifically the ability to “save” marginalized groups from poverty by lifting them into middle- class success. The link between education and salvation is grounded in the historic relationship between Christianity and the establishment of public education in the United States. Initially, churches invested in schooling to form a Christian society. Today, the public institutions of education operationalize the ideology of meritocracy and promise individual success in the economic realm. Discourse analysis of political speeches and charter school programs demonstrates that education primarily offers its salvation to racial minority or working class students from communities deemed deficient because of their failure to adhere to dominant culture values. Theologically, this inadequate criterion for salvation embodies idolatry of the market and false belief in the saving power of human institutions. Depending solely on education for individual economic salvation overburdens formal schooling at the expense of considering other communal approaches to economic and social justice. An alternative theological vision seeks to free education from its role of credentialing savior to instead offer a more robust type of liberation, one that has been witnessed to throughout the history of popular education movements, and to chasten its public role as the sole path to economic salvation. ii Acknowledgements As will become abundantly clear through the pages of this dissertation, I do not believe that any of us get where we are on individual merit alone. As such, I cannot possibly list all that I am indebted to, though I must try. First and foremost, deep gratitude goes to my committee—Dr. Katherine Turpin, whom I trusted with the deepest part of my zeal for the world and who met me there every time; Dr. Antony Alumkal, who jumped aboard a speeding train with us and helped me see how big the concepts I was trying to describe really were; Dr. Judy Marquez Kiyama, my voice in the education world who always provided insightful feedback and warm encouragement. I am also grateful to the other teachers who saw something in me worth investing in, at Indian Creek, Anderson, Candler, Iliff. From the bottom of my heart, I am thankful for the friends and family that sustained me—my RPS doctoral cohort; the various iterations of writing groups; my Denver family with whom I shared weekly dinners and holidays; my sister friends spread across the country; my families of support in Anderson; the Wash Park UCC congregation; my colleagues at the DU Writing Center; my siblings Dustin, Grace, Jesse, and Jack; and my in-laws. Additionally, no one will ever know the tears, laughs, and pep talks that kept this project alive more than my loving teammate, Kyle. Finally, I am most indebted to my parents, Doug and Julie Adams, and my grandparents, Bill and Norma Adams and Richard and Carolyn Warner—who without college degrees taught me lessons of life and love that no school could. And a special acknowledgment goes to Grandma Adams, whose shared spirit for teaching and learning flows through my whole life’s work. iii Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 Methodology ................................................................................................................... 5 Snapshot of Inequality in Education ............................................................................... 7 Significance ..................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter Outline ............................................................................................................. 10 Chapter Two: Hope and Salvation in Public Discourse .................................................... 12 Scope and Evidence ...................................................................................................... 13 Federal Speeches ........................................................................................................... 15 Inequality Problem .................................................................................................... 16 Universality of Access .............................................................................................. 24 Particularity of Education ......................................................................................... 30 Charter Schools ............................................................................................................. 33 Findings .................................................................................................................... 34 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 40 Chapter Three: The Evolution of Salvific Education From 19th Century to Today ........ 43 The 19th Century and Evangelical Mission Work ........................................................ 44 The Social Gospel and the Offer of Social Salvation ................................................... 57 The 20th Century and Education for All ....................................................................... 61 Education as a Vehicle for Social Salvation ................................................................. 64 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 68 Chapter Four: The Ideological Supports of Salvific Education ........................................ 71 Robert Bellah and Civil Religion .................................................................................. 71 Pierre Bourdieu, Habitus, and Field of Power .............................................................. 76 American Dream and Meritocracy ................................................................................ 79 White Middle Class Supremacy .................................................................................... 89 Education Critique ........................................................................................................ 98 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 105 iv Chapter Five: The Idolatry of the Market and White Middle Class Culture and the Ideology of Salvific Education ....................................................................................... 107 Poverty as Sin, Success as Salvation .......................................................................... 109 Idolizing Education, a Human Institution ................................................................... 116 Reframing Salvation ................................................................................................... 120 Is Salvific Education Worth Saving? .......................................................................... 128 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 131 Chapter Six: Conclusion ................................................................................................. 133 Chastening the Role of Education ............................................................................... 135 Expanding the Role of Education ............................................................................... 138 Education in Civil Rights Movements .................................................................... 139 Freedom Schools and Free University .................................................................... 142 A Call to the Churches ............................................................................................ 143
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