Educational pluralism and vulnerable children.

Abstract

Once again Spain has adopted a comprehensive education law. It is not my place, nor am I competent, to comment on the controversial process leading to this legislation, nor to its changes in the framework for the provision of schooling. The legislation offers an appropriate occasion, however, to seek answers to several questions relevant to every free society: What are the appropriate scope and limit of any government’s role, in a free society, in the formation of its citizens? How have these changed in a time of growing cultural conflict? What arrangements for schooling are best suited to accommodating deeply rooted cultural divisions while nurturing the qualities that citizens should possess? How can these arrangements serve as a vehicle for both freedom and justice, especially for those children who are most vulnerable?