Can Schools be Communities? The Tension between Shared Values and Inclusion

This article considers a central dilemma associated with school communities, the tension between the need for shared values that are constitutive enough to serve as the basis for community and the premises of liberal inclusiveness. The author evaluates 3 candidates for school-community values—comprehensive doctrines, caring, and democracy—and concludes that, if a value is a constitutive one, then it cannot be consistent with liberal inclusiveness. He suggests a middle ground based in variants of these values that are thick, but vague, and more freedom of association within the public school system around these values.