The paper considers the broader policy context in which English Post Compulsory Education and Training (PCET) is placed, examining the model of class implicit within policy documents and particular currents within new Labour thinking. It notes that class relations and patterns of inequality have deepened. Class as a structural feature of the…

Reviews the life and work of R.F. Mackenzie, radical and child centered educator. Assesses his views of Scottish education as the protector of the Establishment and of schools as loveless agents of control with no respect for the individual, his criticisms of the curriculum, and his rejection of the examination system. (SV)

In this response to commentaries by Ali Sammel, Jhumki Basu and Alberto Rodriguez, I present my perspective on three important issues raised by the commentators. These issues relate to the role of a researcher in her field settings and society, the critique of science and science education as oppressive dominant discourses, and co-opting…

It is essential, in analyzing the significance of Spain's Organic Law of Education (2006), as well as its associated measures, to be conscious of the lines of broad, hegemonic ideology that pervade Spanish society and the European Union. The market reforms to which the education system is currently subject leads it to incorporate in an…

A teacher discusses the negative effects of collective socialization on students in government controlled public schools. Suggested ways to deconstruct mass schooling include requiring educators in nonteaching positions to teach, simplifying the curriculum, making student learning relevant, keeping schools small and independent, getting rid of…

Traces current educational philosophy and practices to 19th-century philosophers who proposed the "mudsill theory," the notion that ordinary children could not be intellectually successful and must be coerced and prepared for work by compulsory schooling. Points to the success of relatively underschooled self-sufficient Lancaster Amish…

Addresses the need for culturally relevant education on the Navajo Nation and explains why educational standards proposed in 1984 by the Navajo Tribal Council have failed to preserve Navajo language and culture. Outlines models based on the Dine Philosophy of Education and describes related educational practices for both preservice teacher…

The four papers in this document are centered around several themes in education reform: (1) the need to reimagine and recreate strategies; (2) the need to approach familiar obstacles innovatively; (3) the need to utilize all available resources; and (4) and the need to engage in this work cooperatively and with courage and vision. In the first…