Curriculum does not exist in a vacuum. It is both constructed by larger social forces &, to varying degrees, it then re/constructs & re/produces those social conditions. As we consider this dimension of social reproduction, a number of sociological questions arise, including: (1) What sort of social inequities have existed in society? (2) How have social inequities changed (and not changed) over time? (3) What forces have contributed to these changes (or lack of changes)? (4) How have schools reproduced social inequities & how do they do so today?
The matter of social reproduction is not a new one. (1) What does Counts say about social reproduction & social regeneration? (2) How does Counts offer hope? (3) What is Counts’ idea of robust democracy? (4) How are his ideas still relevant today?
· DARE THE SCHOOL BUILD A NEW SOCIAL ORDER? (1932) – GEORGE S. COUNTS – (The Curriculum Studies Reader #5)
Paulo has much to offer us in his interlocking ideas of dialogue & critical pedagogy. (1) How can schools counter oppressions that exist both in the educational sphere & in society at large? (2) What is Freire’s idea of dialogue? (3) How can robust forms of dialogue be fostered? (4) What happens when dialogue is (and isn't) fostered? (5) What is Freire’s idea of mutism & why is this an important thing to think about?
· PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED (1968) – PAULO FREIRE – (The Curriculum Studies Reader #13)
In Thinking About Women: A Quarter Century’s Views, Margaret L. Anderson (2005) writes a concise description of a matrix of domination, where social forces construct overlapping forms of oppression in relation to such aspects of identity as sex, gender, sexual orientation, race, and class. Anderson argues that these forms of oppression must be considered simultaneously because they are entangled. Reflect on this as well as the following questions as you read the AAUW report: (1) What overlapping forms of domination are described in the AAUW report? (2) To what degree do you feel the issues brought up in the report are still crucial in relation to curriculum today? (3) How does the AAUW report raise the question of schools being stuck in a time loop? (4) What does the report have to say about school materials and to what degree is this still an issue nearly two decades later? (5) What does the AAUW have to say about James A. Banks’ equity continuum & Peggy McIntosh’s phase theory & how can schools benefit from these lenses? (6) What is said about cooperative learning & how do you feel about this? (7) What does the report say about heteronormativity?
· HOW SCHOOLS SHORTCHANGE GIRLS: THREE PERSPECTIVES ON CURRICULUM (1993) – AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY OF WOMEN (AAUW) (The Curriculum Studies Reader #20)
Additional books/articles on the subject of social reproduction include:
· The Child & The State (1911) – MARGARET MCMILLAN
· An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem & Modern Democracy (1944) – GUNNAR MYRDAL
· The Nature of Prejudice (1954) – GORDON ALLPORT
· Pygmalion in the Classroom: Teacher Expectation & Pupils' Intellectual Development (1968) – ROBERT ROSENTHAL & LEONORE JACOBSON
· Schooling in Capitalist America: Educational Reform & the Contradictions of Economic Life (1976) – SAMUEL BOWLES & HERBERT GINTIS
· Learning to Labor: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs (1977) – PAUL WILLIS
· Schooling & Work in the Democratic State (1985) – MARTIN CARNOY & HENRY LEVIN
· Savage Inequalities (1991) – JONATHAN KOZOL
