Description
Book SynopsisReclaiming Education for Democracy subjects the prophets and doctrines of educational neoliberalism to scrutiny in order to provide a rationale and vision for public education beyond the limits of No Child Left Behind. The authors combine a history of recent education policy with an in- depth analysis of the origins of such policy and its impact on professional educators. The public face of these policies is separated from motives rooted in politics, profit, and ideology. The book also searches for new insights in understanding the neoliberal and managerialist assault on education by examining the psychology of advocates who demonstrate a special animus toward universal public education. The manipulation of public education by No Child Left Behind is a case study in the general approach to public institutions taken by the politicians and theorists in these camps. K-12 education has been subjected to deceptive descriptive analyses, marginalization of its professional leaders
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction, "The Changing Vision of Education in Our Democratic Society"
Part I Mechanisms and Motivations of Education Policy
Chapter 1, "Political Advocacy and Academic Authority: Defining Educational Inquiry and Defending Public Institutions"
Chapter 2, "Policy as Propaganda: A Critical Examination of NCLB"
Chapter 3, "The Cultural Psychology of the Right"
Part II Distortions of the Advocates
Chapter 4, "The Myth of Scientifically Based Research"
Chapter 5, "The ‘Science’ of Teacher Testing"
Chapter 6, "Contested Visions of Public Schooling for a Democratic Society"
Chapter 7, "Left Back: Punditry or History?"
Part III Agenda for Change
Chapter 8, "A Renewed Vision of Good Teaching and Good Schools"
Chapter 9, "Reclaiming Public Education in a Democratic Society"
References
Index
