Read the essay critically, consider its writing technique, and d

Read the essay critically, consider its writing technique, and discuss the following questions in groups of three or four.（文章详见教材P45页Essay 2）
Jennings reports in details how the conclusions about the basic mission of public education have emerged from different citizens’ forums. What is his purpose in doing this? In what way is it related to his making the claim?
【正确答案】：The purpose is to show that the conclusions about the basic mission of public education are not personal or out of the void. Rather, they are based on a fully formed public opinion, accomplished by communication among citizens, experts, religious leaders, business people and many others.
Such a process of formulating a public opinion through communication among diverse groups of citizens actually reflects how democracy works and how citizens act as responsible members of a democratic society. This is what students can learn from civic education and also what is neglected in American public education according to the author.
Students are encouraged to read John Dewey’s Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education (1916) to know more about the issue.