Mass Education Making Sense of - Cambridge University Press

[Pages:12]Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-43236-9 -- Making Sense of Mass Education Gordon Tait Frontmatter More Information

Making Sense of Mass Education

Second edition

Making Sense of Mass Education provides an engaging and accessible analysis of traditional issues associated with mass education. The book challenges preconceptions about social class, gender and ethnicity discrimination; highlights the interplay between technology, media, popular culture and schooling; and inspects the relevance of ethics and philosophy in the modern classroom.

This new edition has been comprehensively updated to provide current information regarding literature, statistics and legal policies, and significantly expands on the previous edition's structure of derailing traditional myths about education as a point of discussion. It also features two new chapters on big data and globalisation and what they mean for the Australian classroom. The companion website, cambridge.edu.au/academic/masseducation, provides a revised test bank for readers.

Written for students, practising teachers and academics alike, Making Sense of Mass Education summarises the current educational landscape in Australia and looks at fundamental issues in society as they relate to education.

Gordon Tait is Associate Professor in the School of Cultural and Professional Learning at the Queensland University of Technology.

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-43236-9 -- Making Sense of Mass Education Gordon Tait Frontmatter More Information

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-43236-9 -- Making Sense of Mass Education Gordon Tait Frontmatter More Information

Making Sense of Mass Education

Second edition

GORDON TAIT

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-43236-9 -- Making Sense of Mass Education Gordon Tait Frontmatter More Information

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First published 2013 Second edition 2016 (version 3, October 2018)

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-43236-9 -- Making Sense of Mass Education Gordon Tait Frontmatter More Information

For all the students I've ever laughed with.

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-43236-9 -- Making Sense of Mass Education Gordon Tait Frontmatter More Information

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-43236-9 -- Making Sense of Mass Education Gordon Tait Frontmatter More Information

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

xi

Introduction

1

Making sense of mass education

2

Changing contexts of education

2

Some problems with modernist sociologies

3

Beyond modernist sociologies of education

4

The structure of the book

5

PART 1 RE-ASSESSING THE THREE PILLARS: MODERN AND

POSTMODERN SOCIOLOGIES OF EDUCATION

7

Chapter 1 Social class

9

Introduction

10

Myth #1 Australia is a society characterised by equality

13

Myth #2 Schooling success is only about individual ability

17

Myth #3 Social class is all about money

22

Conclusion

26

Chapter 2 Gender

28

Introduction

29

Myth #1 Sex and gender are really the same thing

33

Myth #2 Schools are passive spectators to existing gender

differences and inequalities

36

Myth #3 Boys are the latest victims of the schooling system

43

Myth #4 Sexuality is simply best ignored at school

47

Conclusion

52

Chapter 3 Race/ethnicity

53

Introduction

54

Myth #1 Humanity is naturally divided into races

59

Myth #2 We no longer discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity

64

Myth #3 Educational outcomes are unaffected by race or ethnicity

67

Myth #4 There is an `Indigenous problem' in education

69

Conclusion

75

PART 2 THE FOUNDATIONS OF AN ALTERNATIVE

APPROACH: EDUCATION AND GOVERNANCE

77

Chapter 4 Governance

80

Introduction

81

Myth #1 Society has always been simply a collection of individuals

85

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-43236-9 -- Making Sense of Mass Education Gordon Tait Frontmatter More Information

viii CONTENTS

Myth #2 Schools are primarily about education, not regulation Myth #3 The structure of the school isn't really that important

to the education process Conclusion

Chapter 5

Subjectivity Introduction Myth #1 The sole purpose of psychology is to understand

the nature of the human mind Myth #2 My conduct may be governed, but my mind remains free Myth #3 Psychology simply discovers new behaviour disorders;

it plays no role in creating them Conclusion

Chapter 6

Pre-adulthood Introduction Myth #1 `Childhood' and `youth' are facts of nature Myth #2 The categories of `childhood' and `youth' have

nothing to do with governance Myth #3 `Childhood' is characterised by its innocence,

`youth' by its natural resistance to authority Conclusion

Chapter 7

Big data Introduction Myth #1 Big data isn't that big, or that important Myth #2 The rise of big data has no implications for the

field of education Myth #3 NAPLAN is the best thing to happen to education

since the invention of chalk Conclusion

PART 3 CULTURAL CONTEXTS OF CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION

Chapter 8

The media Introduction Myth #1 We do not need pointless subjects like `media

studies' in our already crowded curriculum Myth #2 With the news media, you don't need to think, you just

need to read and listen Myth #3 The media doesn't create moral panics, but even if it does,

this doesn't affect education Conclusion

88

91 95 98 99

102 106

111 114 116 117 119

123

129 133 135 136 140

144

149 156

157

160 161

163

167

174 181

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