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.
","abstract_html":"<p>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.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ingram, Hannah Kristine Adams"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Katherine Turpin, Ph.D.","Antony Alumkal","Judy Marquez-Kiyama","Edward Antonio"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:02:03Z","subjects":["American dream","Higher education","Meritocracy","Public theology","Social class","Sociology","Practical Theology","Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion","Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1229","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Katherine Turpin, Ph.D.","Antony Alumkal","Judy Marquez-Kiyama","Edward Antonio"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ingram, Hannah Kristine Adams"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-02-17T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["American dream","Higher education","Meritocracy","Public theology","Social class","Sociology","Practical Theology","Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion","Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1229"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["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.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Myth of the Saving Power of Education: A Practical Theology Approach"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Katherine Turpin, Ph.D.","Antony Alumkal","Judy Marquez-Kiyama","Edward Antonio"],"dc:creator":["Ingram, Hannah Kristine Adams"],"dc:date.available":["2017-02-17T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.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.
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1229"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
"],"dc:subject":["American dream","Higher education","Meritocracy","Public theology","Social class","Sociology","Practical Theology","Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion","Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education"],"dc:title":["The Myth of the Saving Power of Education: A Practical Theology Approach"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:02:03Z"}