The sociology of education has been at the forefront of new developments in sociological theory. This book examines and criticizes a number of these new developments and discusses some empirical work on issues of current concern. One of the few books that integrates radical and critical sociology into the field of education, it deals with the resultant difficulties. The topics covered include cultural deprivation, ideologies in education, classrooms, the teaching profession and the history of women’s education.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its publication, Michael W. Apple has thoroughly updated his influential text, and written a new preface. The new edition also includes an extended interview circa 2001, in which Apple relates the critical agenda outlined in Ideology and Curriculum to the more contemporary conservative climate. Finally, a new chapter titled "Pedagogy, Patriotism and Democracy: Ideology and Education After 9/11" is also included.
With the current conservative emphasis on cultural literacy, this revised paperback edition of a path breaking statement serves as a reminder that our educational practices and policies are never neutral.
Teachers of the urban working class, especially in inner city areas, have always been regarded as strategic agents in processes of social and cultural formation. In the Victorian era, seen as 'The Teachers of the People', 'Pioneers of Civilization' and 'Preachers of Culture', their role in gentling and controlling the urban masses was crucial. They have always been at the centre of confrontation and struggle - in a classroom sense, in a cultural sense and in a socio-political sense. In contemporary inner city schools such confrontation and struggle remain a reality. Teachers, Ideology and Control is one of the first attempts to examine this important social and occupational group by locating contemporary sociological research in an historical framework. As such it will be of interest not only to students of sociology and education (especially urban education) but also to social historians. Its relevance to those who either administer or teach in urban schools will be clear. The author shows the ways in which contemporary inner city schools are caught up in an ideological struggle in education. He explore the nature of constraint and control in urban education with reference to existing constructs of the 'good teacher'; the demands of the teacher's work situation and the reality of autonomy. He suggests that, viewed historically, the relative autonomy of teachers has increased as a result largely of socio-political and institutional crises. At the same time however there have been important changes in the modality of social control, changes from more explicit to more implicit features. What it is to be a 'good teacher', the effects of day-to-day 'immersion' in school life and the ideology of professionalism- -these are all seen to be important constituents of a network of implicit control in contemporary education.
Africa and particularly South Africa is in a stage of creating an inclusive education system. It is a necessary starting point to first recognize the voices of those who are excluded and marginalized, and then to develop strategies which will ensure their inclusion.
This book provides a systematic and detailed analysis of class relations in advanced capitalist societies as a basis for understanding both class differences in educational practices and the relative effects of class and other social background factors on public attitudes toward education. Secondly, the book offers an empirically-grounded summary of the contending educational ideologies in advanced capitalism, through a discourse analysis of the public statements of spokes-persons for major class groupings. Thirdly, using the data from several public opinion surveys in Ontario, profiles of public attitudes on critical education issues are interpreted in terms of the actual effects of class and other social background factors, as well as the mediating influences of contending ideologies. Finally a general approach and array of tactics for creating practical alternative educational and social futures are illustrated through the book.
For more than three decades Michael Apple has sought to uncover and articulate the connections among knowledge, teaching and power in education. In this collection, Michael brings together 13 of his key writings in one place, providing an overview not just of his own career but the larger development of the field.
