Can Education Change Society

In this groundbreaking work, Apple pushes educators toward a more substantial understanding of what schools do and what we can do to challenge the relations of dominance and subordination in the larger society.

Despite the vast differences between the Right and the Left over the role of education in the production of inequality one common element both sides share is a sense that education can and should do something about society, to either restore what is being lost or radically alter what is there now. The question was perhaps put most succinctly by the radical educator George Counts in 1932 when he asked "Dare the School Build a New Social Order?", challenging entire generations of educators to participate in, actually to lead, the reconstruction of society. Over 70 years later, celebrated educator, author and activist Michael Apple revisits Counts’ now iconic works, compares them to the equally powerful voices of minoritized people, and again asks the seemingly simply question of whether education truly has the power to change society. In this groundbreaking work, Apple pushes educators toward a more substantial understanding of what schools do and what we can do to challenge the relations of dominance and subordination in the larger society. This touchstone volume is both provocative and honest about the ideological and economic conditions that groups in society are facing and is certain to become another classic in the canon of Apple’s work and the literature on education more generally.

In this groundbreaking work, Apple pushes educators toward a more substantial understanding of what schools do and what we can do to challenge the relations of dominance and subordination in the larger society.

The highly successful Education, Change and Society is now in its second edition and continues its purpose to help students situate educational activity in its broad social and policy contexts. In Australia the way that schools, school funding, school markets, universities and theresponsibilities of government for education are organised have all been subject to radical reform in recent decades. It has never been more important for students of education to be able to understand the connections between the local and the global in explaining contemporary educational change.Every chapter not only describes and analyses what is going on, but each interprets the evidence in particular ways. Discussion of the issues raised in this book is encouraged, and students are given every opportunity to analyse and question. Questions raised in this book include:* How do Aboriginal students experience Australian schools?* Who writes policy documents and for what purpose in education?* Why did state, private and corporate schools emerge as they did in Australia?* How do social class and gender differences affect schooling and its outcomes?* What constitutes the work of teachers, and can teachers 'make a difference'?* How has the role of research become increasingly significant in education and to teachers in particular?

Located in the domain of cultural politics, the book with rich ethnographical data from Mizoram, a lesser known and understood state, brings the community, state and culture to centre-stage, along with family and stratification of the sociological discourse in education. The book argues for a re-look at school education in Mizoram, besides providing critical insights into the North East region as a whole. It also points to the dilemmas of development in that region and suggests possible ways out of the impasse. Marking a significant departure from conventional thinking on education as 'human capital' as reflected in North-East Vision: 2020, the book strongly advocates the need for critical pedagogies based on learning from conflict; inculcating the values of tolerance and compassion as a precursor to peace; reconceptualising `development, not merely as 'economic' but as indicator of national happiness and valuing lives equally besides respect for traditional institutions, thus marking a break from the much resented paternalism that underpins all state interventions in education. One of the first studies of its kind regarding experience and practice of education, the book makes an important contribution to the role that education can play to usher in peace and promote respect for differences.

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.

International statistical comparisons of nations have become commonplace in the contemporary landscape of education policy and social science. This book discusses the emergence of these international comparisons as a particular style of reasoning about education, society and science. By examining how international educational assessments have come to dominate much of contemporary policymaking concerning school system performance, the authors provide concrete case studies highlighting the preeminent role of numbers in furthering neoliberal education reform. Demonstrating how numbers serve as ‘rationales’ to shape and fashion social issues, this text opens new avenues for thinking about institutional and epistemological factors that produce and shape educational policy, research and schooling in transnational contexts.

Technology has become an integral part of our everyday lives. This trend in ubiquitous technology has also found its way into the learning process at every level of education. The Handbook of Research on Education and Technology in a Changing Society offers an in-depth description of concepts related to different areas, issues, and trends within education and technological integration in modern society. This handbook includes definitions and terms, as well as explanations of concepts and processes regarding the integration of technology into education. Addressing all pertinent issues and concerns in education and technology in our changing society with a wide breadth of discussion, this handbook is an essential collection for educators, academicians, students, researchers, and librarians.