Educational authority is an issue in contemporary democracies. Surprisingly, little attention has been given to the problem of authority in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "Emile" and his work has not been addressed in the contemporary debate on the issue of authority in democratic education. Olivier Michaud's goals are, first, to address both of these…

Rob Reich's claim that fruitful discussions about the balance among state, parental, and children's educational interests would benefit by contemplating the widespread phenomenon of homeschooling is a welcome suggestion. His policy recommendations, however, place an unjustified burden on parents to show the adequacy of homeschooling arrangements…

This article analyzes Dale's attempt to reconstruct a classical version of Marxist ideology and finds its onesided. Dale replies in an immediately following article. (MT)

Lawrence Dennis' fascist views of education are reviewed. Political, economic, social, cultural, and historical circumstances which have stimulated some significant fascist elements in American life and schools are traced. (MT)

The focus of this essay is the social functions of educational reform as part of the social and political outcomes of schooling. It argues against change which looks at particular events without considering issues that tie schooling to questions of history and power. (MT)

"Illiterate America," a book by Jonathon Kozol is used as a platform to propose an alternative model of functional literacy which does not adjust the disadvantaged to the status quo, but enables them to acquire intellectual access to their world and their place within that world. (MT)

Argues that performative pedagogy depreciates teachers' authority in planning and developing knowledge for learners and that this authority is a constitutive good of teaching practice and thus is constitutive of performance pedagogy. The paper distinguishes between teachers' educative and pedagogical authority, noting the necessity of teachers'…

The author proposes a theory of power which explains important features of social and political life from the point of view that a more democratic and equalitarian organization of society is possible and desirable, and that education can play a role in attaining that kind of society. (MT)

Explores how discursive, political, and cultural aspects define the experience of teacher emotion, comparing Raymond Williams' concept of "structure of feeling" with Foucauldian poststructuralism, especially the notions of discourse analysis and power relations. The paper theorizes about the development and definition of emotional rules…

The article examines Basil Bernstein's research on power relations in education, discussing class formation, class essentialism, and changing nature. It describes new ways of approaching relationships between culture and power, noting the neo-Marxist-oriented sociology of education, and stressing the importance of keeping class relations in the…

Analyzes the interplay of power and knowledge within the contemporary university. Based on the work of poststructuralist thinker Michel Foucault, the paper examines two paradigms (disciplinary and pastoral) for defining power relations within major institutions. (SM)

In this essay, Morwenna Griffiths considers the effect of feminization on the practices of education. She outlines a feminist theory of practice that draws critically on theories of embodiment, diversity, and structures of power to show that any practice is properly seen as fluid, leaky, and viscous. Examining different and competing…

A definition of profession incorporates two fundamental characteristics: (1) It is a self-regulating and self-disciplined voluntary association; and (2) it is based on a scientific framework. Discussions of the teaching profession are not addressing the matter of legal authority implicit in the concept of professionalization. (MT)

The development of the new technology in the U.S. adds to the notion that history is irrelevant and that futurists have nothing to learn from it. Public school pedagogy plays a strong role in perpetuating the hegemony of the social and economic elite. (JN)

Two perspectives on the sociology of education were identified and related to general sociological perspectives. The theme of constraint and construction was considered in relation to the institution of education and its role in capitalist society. (JN)