| Chapter 18 Notes for further reading |
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Notes for further reading Teaching and teachers are inextricably embedded in society. Our work reflects the expectations, social practices and assumptions of our cultures. As we teach, we shape children’s lives and contribute to our collective futures. In a sense, we thus take ‘what is’ and build towards ‘what might be’. Education thus contributes to social change as well as personal fulfillment. Additionally, at the same time as it enhances the nation’s human resource, it also builds and distributes life-chances for individuals. It is not surprising then that issues concerning values, opportunities and priorities are often raised or that education is a frequent topic for political discussion. On the structural relationships between education and society, with fascinating comparative and historical analysis of how education systems develop and change over time, see:
A major work offering international comparisons of primary education systems and their relationships to the culture, economy and political systems within France, Russia, India, England and the USA is:
The dramatic changes in primary school practices in England as a result of public policy has been seen as a struggle over values, understanding and power. This is described in Reading 18.5. Detailed accounts of how national policy affects and is mediated by teachers and children can be found in:
A wide range of issues concerning teaching and society can be accessed by consulting textbooks from the sociology of education. The most up to date text is Meighan and Siraj-Blatchford, though there are also a number of older text-books which still have relevance:
Another excellent general source is:
Section 1: Education and society The three major societal aims for education are wealth creation, cultural reproduction and social justice. A classic text on the links between education and national productivity is by Schultz. The concern remains a major driver in the development of modern education systems and international agencies such as the World Bank.
An important manifestation of the economic imperative is a concern with international comparisons of educational performance. Reynolds and Farrell provided an influential, but widely criticised, report. More recently, the OECD has begun to publish results from their cross-national Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) (see www.pisa.oecd.org for the latest findings).
The interaction of culture, education and society has been of great interest for centuries. Sociologists often draw attention to the ways in which educational institutions contribute to the reproduction of existing social hierarchies. Bourdieu, for example, suggested that schooling contributes to the transfer of ‘cultural capital’. Apple recognises the ideological power of schooling but suggested that it can be challenged.
Socio-cultural psychologists focus on cultural adaptions, and on the ways in which learners accommodate to cultural contexts. Three examples of this are provided below. Lave and Wenger’s highlight the ways in which learners gradually accommodate to particular learning communities; Hollis shows how school practices are steeped in cultural meanings; Rogoff argues that children learn through forms of ‘apprenticeship’.
Regarding the third major educational aim, social justice, there is an enormous literature from the sociology of education focused on social differentiation processes and the issue of inclusion/exclusion. Many of the Notes for Further Reading for Chapter 15 will also be relevant here, for instance on gender, ethnicity and disability issues. Classics on class differentiation within primary and secondary education respectively include:
To explore the adoption of a more radical commitment to social justice in teaching, take a look at the following:
Committed action as a teacher obviously raises questions of values and this has to be handled with professional care and objectivity. Indeed, the growing importance of citizenship within the curriculum reinforces the importance of this stance. The major international statements on human rights provide a supportive framework. The most important of these are:
The European Convention represents a collective guarantee of rights by European states, and is backed by the European Court of Human Rights. Copies of the Convention and further information is available from the internet or from: Directorate of Human Rights, Council of Europe, F-67006 Strasbourg, France. The United Nations Convention on Children's Rights is of particular significance for teachers. For an excellent account of its implications within the UK, see:
Section 2: Classroom teaching and society At a time when many have argued that our education systems are too centralised and controlling, Stenhouse continues to have much to teach us on the role of the teacher in a democracy. He strikes an important balance between professional and personal responsibilities. See:
A more recent text showing interesting continuities with Stenhouse’s vision is:
A thoughtful book addressing the role of the teacher in relation to citizenship is:
The significance of processes of professional mediation between centralised policy and local needs and circumstances is rehearsed in Chapter 1, section 2.7, of the Reflective Teaching text. It is also described in more detail within Osborn, McNess and Broadfoot (2000) (see above). The work of Woods and his colleagues has also been striking in showing how such mediation operates. See, for example:
For child-focused accounts and guidance on human rights education see:
Section 3: Reflective teaching and the democratic process Action by reflective teachers within the democratic process calls for some knowledge of political structures and processes. For excellent introductions, see:
But how, more specifically, is education policy formed? Bowe, Ball and Gold (Reading 18.4) offer an analysis of three ‘contexts of policy making’ - macro-political influence, text construction by government agencies and actual practice in LEAs, schools and classroom. They show how policy-making is open to shaping and challenge at each stage.
For a penetrating analysis of how education policy has been used to control teachers, see:
The development of recent New Labour education policy in England can be seen quite transparently within:
For analyses of changes in the relationships of local authority policy makers, advisers and school governors respectively, see:
Very useful advice on working with the media is available from:
There are some extremely powerful theorists on the relationship between education and society. Among the most significant was Basil Bernstein, though his work is far from easy. For a synoptic work, try:
Influential general analyses of the political context in which UK education policy has been developed by New Labour are:
For more challenging material on issues raised in relation to the media, try:
Many of the books suggested as further reading for Chapters 1 and 4 will also be relevant here. |
