“Ideology and Curriculum, Second Edition” was written by Michael W. Apple. This book is a second writing on the pretense that within the world we live, education is caught up in the shifting and unequal power relations. The theories, policies, and practices involved in education are not technical. They are inherently ethical and political, and they ultimately involve – once this is recognized – intensely personal choice about what Marcus Raskin calls “the common good”.
“Ideology and Curriculum” is the first in a series of three books. The two that follow are “Education and Power” and “Teachers and Texts”. All three books point to two specific questions. ‘What is the relationship between culture and economy?’ and ‘How does ideology function?’ It is the intent of the writer to have the reader question what is being taught within the school systems and why.
I found this book to be rather upsetting. As I read through the information, I became more and more enlightened on how society’s values and political trends influence and have influenced the courses and content taught within the curriculum of our school systems. The significance of this revelation has caused me to reflect upon my experiences as a student and as an educator. I look back at my high school education and I felt it was appropriate at the time but upon entering college, I found my knowledge base to be very narrow. When I began to notice the discrepancies, I rationalized that being from a small town, I just didn’t get the amount of education taught in the bigger schools.
As my education continued into my MA and Ed.D programs, I still had significant holes in my knowledge and really didn’t put a reason to why. Then, I read this book and stopped to think about why my education seemed so perforated. When you bring the concept of political beliefs into society values, it makes sense why my early education did not seem to be complete. The value system of a small rural community, that’s economic base was agriculture, did not put importance on cultural diversity and the expansion of philosophical beliefs. All the school system was doing was giving us adequate education to survive and move forward in a rural setting.
Currently, I look at the school system that I teach within. Again I see political and social values guiding the curriculum. With the “No Child Left Behind” mandate, importance is put on what the Federal Government feels is important. It’s not that I disagree with the general philosophy I disagree on how students are being funneled into learning only what is needed to pass the standardized tests with blinders on to anything outside of that funnel.
By politicians controlling the way society looks at and feels about education, hegemony is achieved. This gives us a more thorough understanding of how institutions of cultural preservation and distribution create and recreate forms of consciousness that enable social control to be maintained without the necessity of dominant groups having to resort to overt mechanisms of domination. Somehow, enough individuals need to understand what damage this type of control emulates. It promotes the “rich get richer and the poor get poorer” without retribution from society. The lack of confronting this issue relates directly to societies inability to understand and their conditioning to what place they hold in society. This lack of knowledge helps the politicians to proceed with an ideology where the current culture and economy are reproduced.
The reading of this book has made me more aware of how the economy controls everyday school life. It also has given me a clearer view on curriculum history and the social control that has happened within the school systems. Now that I realize the extent to societal and political trends influencing curriculum, I find I feel uncomfortable with that idea. It tells me that not everyone has had an equal education. Not just from area to area but from generation to generation. With political influence, curriculum can virtually change every four to eight years with the change of presidents.
I foresee my using this knowledge to spur debates within a school system that I am involved. I will use my knowledge to look through educational material to ensure several points of view are expressed and used within the classroom.
I feel strongly that students need to have a diverse multicultural education. I do not believe that politicians have the right to inflict their beliefs within the school systems. I see it happening today with President Bush’s push for “NCLB”, his religious conviction, his opinion on war, his openness with physical contact with members of the opposite sex (kissing of the individual who took of the educational department along with other incidents), his opposition to same sex relationships, etc.
Reference:
- www.associatedcontent.com/article/875563/claiming_the_contested_ground_of_educational
- www.associatedcontent.com/article/409281/the_educational_system_school_districts.html
- www.associatedcontent.com/article/75005/trends_in_education_lifelong_learning.html
