This past summer, New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote that education is the biggest issue facing the country today.

And yesterday afternoon, Penn President Amy Gutmann echoed this view in a conversation with the students in Education, Culture and Society, a Graduate School of Education course taught by Assistant Professor of Education Sigal Ben-Porath.

Ben-Porath invited Gutmann to the class discussion after her students read some of Gutmann's works. She said she hoped students would greatly benefit from the opportunity to discuss diversity and democratic education with one of the nation's most influential scholars on the subject.

"[Students] found her vision of democratic education greatly relevant to their work as teachers in the Philadelphia public schools," Ben-Porath wrote in an e-mail.

Gutmann opened an hour-long discussion by highlighting the importance of the value of education and its effect on democracy.

She urged students to break down the barriers in education by visiting poor and divided places where there are more opportunities available for change.

She also discussed the importance of diversity in education.

Gutmann presented her background as an example to the class. Growing up in a small town in New York as the only Jewish girl, she was offended when her textbook mentioned the Holocaust in only one paragraph.

"I thought it was a way of disrespecting history," Gutmann said.

She added that appreciation, understanding and evaluation are essential factors in helping students exercise rights as responsible citizens.

"You cannot maximize democratic education without diversity in the classroom," said Gutmann.

After her talk, students shared their reactions, questions and concerns.

Brandon Miller, a second year graduate student in Educational Leadership, wrote in an e-mail that Gutmann's work "shows a strong understanding of the need for the inclusion of many different voices in the discourse of progressing education and a commitment to the inclusion of those voices."

Students appreciated the opportunity to speak personally with Gutmann.

"I think [Penn] should try to facilitate more small seminar settings for these types of interactions and discussions to take place," Miller added.