Reviews

Review 1

Professor Ayse Ottekin Demirbolat's recent work “The Relationship Between Democracy and Education” discusses interaction of the main concepts of politics and education by considering central social concepts; culture, globalization and citizenship. In that sense, this work will be helpful for further researches about educating democratic citizenship, and it can be a guide for rebuilding of education system on cultural democracy in near future because of its qualified context. Especially in the first chapter of the book role of education with economics, politics, family and religion emphasized and mutual interaction successfully analyzed by Professor Demirbolat. In addition to conceptual discussion, relation between educational and politics institutions analyzed by considering economics, sociologic and demographic doctrines. Although sometimes social science is overlapping and over again issue, expression and wording of the writer is explanatory and informative in this chapter.

In Micro-Macro scale, education of individual, citizenship, state culture and political culture conceptualized by considering different stand points. According to this, texture of political culture and its relation with democratic and participating education is successfully examined. Furthermore, education programs, teaching methods and context have to be restructuring on philosophy by considering anthropocentric studies. Professor Demirbolat emphasizes education system has to be more participative, promotive and student centred, in other words in order to introduce democracy culture at school, there has to be a new education paradigm. Participating decision process, individual freedom and right to legal remedies also empathic communication concepts are main themes of this chapter. Additionally, promoting freedom of expression also encouraging independently and scientific thinking are the main expectations of people from the education system. Understanding the logic behind a counter idea, reflecting and critical thinking skills are accepted as main indicators of educating a democratic citizenship by Professor Demirbolat.

In the last chapter under the title of globalization. Democracy, human rights and public freedom concepts examined in world wide aspect. Cultural identity, living together with coherence, peace in public and importance of empathy is under debate with wider point of views.

In conclusion stage, concepts that examined with main titles in previous chapters are again under debate with more genuine and scientific statement, which achieves beneficial inferences about human rights, democracy and education. I congratulate Professor Demirbolat for her contributions to the social science and intellectual readers. I will be glad to read new works at the same direction from Professor Demirbolat, by using wider databases in the sense of economics and judiciary.