Molly Vollman Makris

Susan F. Semel

Cara Kronen

Foundations of Education: Essential Texts and New Directions helps aspiring teachers interpret the craft of teaching within the historical, philosophical, cultural, and social contexts of education, inside and outside of schools. As a traditional social foundations reader, it focuses on the origins of the social foundations’ disciplines, but it also includes contemporary pieces that directly impact students' lives today. Through these carefully curated readings, students will grasp the complexity and connection between contemporary issues in education. Part I contains "essential texts," selections from works widely regarded as central to the development of the field, which lay the basis of further study for any serious student of education. Part II looks at multidisciplinary directions of current foundations of education scholarship. An introductory essay by the editors and discussion questions at the conclusion of the text further highlight the selections’ continued importance and application to today’s most pressing educational issues. By addressing the past, present, and future of social foundations, this volume contends skillfully with ever-shifting education policies and school demographics.

Essential Texts and New Directions

Foundations of Education

Alan R. Sadovnik

Parlo Singh

For over four decades, Basil Bernstein researched the internal organisation and educational context of the school' specifically, and educational systems generally. In particular, he was interested in the powerful forms of knowledge transmitted through schooling systems; who gained access to these forms of knowledge; how they did so; and with what consequences. His research began by examining the differences between language and communication patterns in the institutions of the home/family and of the school, and extended to examining the structuring of pedagogic discourse from the level of the state to the classroom. This collection brings together chapters by researchers from South Africa, Portugal, the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia, to build on the theoretical concepts developed by Bernstein to explore issues of access and acquisition to school knowledge. In addition, contributors explore the strengths and limitations of Bernstein's work for understanding the structuring of educational institutions, as well as the potential of the theory for assisting educators to make a difference in the lives of students.

Susan F. Semel

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