https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u Review and discussion of article en-us 2020-08-08 12:38:33 UTC 2023-03-05 02:29:19 UTC hello@padlet.com rgreathouse2 https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673120845 "I write these words in my private sanctum within the library of Ardua Hall- one of the few libraries remaining after the enthusiastic book burnings that have been going on across our land. The corrupt and blood-smeared fingerprints of the past must be wiped away to create a clean space for the morally pure generation that is surely about to arrive. Such is the theory.]]> 2020-08-08 13:51:56 UTC https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673120845 rgreathouse2 https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673129530  "while I am not a romantic of the current state of public/ secular schooling, I think that we must continue the never-ending attempts to keep alive the visions and the practices of a truly public school. In an age of privatization and market- ization, such a school is one of the last remaining public institutions. Defending it is an essential part of the defense of the public in general" (Peters, 2015, p.11).]]> 2020-08-08 14:19:19 UTC https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673129530 rgreathouse2 https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673131639 Michael Apple, in his interview with Peters (2015) argues that in an age dominated by Neoliberalism, consumer culture and "thin democracy" and where the "public is seen as necessarily bad" (p.10), that as a society we need to continue to defend the public school system. While Apple, has no illusions about the current state of public education, he presents a strong argument about the need to provide a counter narrative to that employed by the religious right, and the neoliberal business model that has taken over much of the American school system.

The public school system has been under attack from an array of interlocked yet very distinct political and economic interests. This "loss of legitimacy" that Apple (2013) speaks of has reverberations well beyond the education system; indeed, the future political and social implications of this declining status is probably still not fully felt. I fear that the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic will only further erode confidence in the public school system.

Going forward, it will be essential that as a society we find a way to create an inclusive yet diverse counter narrative to that of the religious right. In a world that is so fractured, and consumed by identity politics, it will not be an easy task to unite these disparate voices. Nell Noddings (1983) reminds us that far too often, "Students are treated as “minds” to be filled equally with the same quality material. Nowhere is there proper consideration of the persons who are, in their essential freedom and infinite diversity, central and instrumental in their own education" (p.8). We need to find a way to engage students, as whole individuals, and at the same time, put forth a new collective vision for the secular public school. This will be the task of educators for the 21st century.]]> 2020-08-08 14:25:25 UTC https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673131639 rgreathouse2 https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673142756 2020-08-08 15:00:50 UTC https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673142756 rgreathouse2 https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673143284 "I have grounded my work in the belief that it is absolutely crucial to understand the social realities of schooling" (Apple, 2018, p.2). Michael Apple is considered one of the preeminent scholars of the critical reform movement that emerged in the late 1970's. His work was grounded in the work of earlier sociologists such as Habermas and Adorno, whose ideology is firmly rooted in the critical Marxist tradition. Much of Apple's work has centered around power relations in society, and how these power relations get played out in the education system. "Because what schools teach is a political as well as an educational decision, intertwined with issues of choice or standardization are questions of the 1970s returned with greater vigor to issues of power than had been evident since the Great Depression" (Macleod, 2020, Ed6250). 

Apple's work is also in some ways an extension of the work of earlier educational reformers such as the 1930's reformer George Counts. Counts (1932) argues that Progressive Education “elaborated no theory of social welfare unless it be that of anarchy or extreme individualism”. Count's idea that schools are being driven by outside forces, and that it is essential that school's reclaim that role or they will find themselves unable to be leaders of education or for education to "progress" is echoed in Apple's work. The theorist himself, when speaking to Peters (2015) remarks that he believes that critical pedagogy needs to be lived practice. Therefore, education needs to be a part of the political, economic  and social life of the community. For Apple, education needs to engage the individual student, teacher, family and community, because if it doesn't other powerful forces will move in to take its place. 

Apple, along with other theorists such as Young (2014) have been quite critical of much of the critical and alternate curriculum theorists that have emerged over the last forty years. As a whole, curriculum theorists have provided very little of substance that would have real-world impact. In this regard, Apple states, "Too much of it is characterized by a condition of historical amnesia. It has too often forgotten the key questions about what and whose knowledge should be official… lost its ability to speak clearly about some major problems facing schools, teachers, students and communities. With neoliberal, neoconservative, authoritarian populist, and new managerial forces increasingly occupying the space of real policies and practices" (2018, abstract). ]]> 2020-08-08 15:02:34 UTC https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673143284 rgreathouse2 https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673146859 According to Apple (2018) the populist right has filled the void left behind by "postmodern abstractions". Interestingly, it has been the rise of modern technology, and the widespread use of social media among all classes and political affiliations, that has strengthened the conservative ideological movement. Now safe at home, from the forces of the public sphere, women have been able to reach out to one another through social media platforms to form learning communities, share resources, and gain moral support. While at one time home schooling would have been seen as a solitary or family affair it is now according to Apple (2013) a social movement to be reckoned with, and a powerful economic and hence political force in the wider American society. "there are many fewer children in charter schools than there are being home schooled. In 1996, home school advocates estimated that there were approximately 1.3 million children being home schooled in the United States" (Apple, 2013, p.2). Since 1996, these numbers must have skyrocketed. ]]> 2020-08-08 15:13:42 UTC https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673146859 rgreathouse2 https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673156756 It has long been argued by many theorists that education plays a normative role in society (Young, 2014). Theorist William Pinar, in the Youtube video hosted by Teaching and Learning TV (2014) argues that that this "hidden curriculum" is actually THE curriculum" (my emphasis), and schools play a role in reproducing existing structures of power and control. Of course, they also play a multitude of other positive roles, but this should not prevent us from looking critically at the roles of schools in shaping society, and in turn how powerful societal forces also shape what is taught in schools and whose voices are heard the loudest. Therefore, whomever, plays a central role in shaping curriculum, also in time, has a powerful role in creating a society to match their ideology and worldview. Kentil (2009) argues that this hidden curriculum, "is in process at all times, and serves to transmit tacit messages to students about values, attitudes and principles" (p.6). ]]> 2020-08-08 15:43:56 UTC https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673156756 rgreathouse2 https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673185199 2020-08-08 17:16:20 UTC https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673185199 rgreathouse2 https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673202849 In the home schooling tradition of the religious right, curriculum is neither teacher centered or child centred, but God centred. While it is true that the mother/ teacher with pre-packaged Christian lessons in hand, is in the leadership role, the key difference is that the curriculum itself must be based on scripture. In this framework, all knowledge stems from God, and while the mother might appear to be the source of knowledge, her knowledge is seen to be "an innate knowledge from God", and part of her divinely ordained womanly duties and "calling". According to Apple (2018) the " importance of structured educational experiences that are infused with strong moral messages is not surprising given the view of a secular world filled with possible sins, temptations, and dangers. The emphasis then on equipping children with an armor of strong belief supports a pedagogical belief that training is a crucial pedagogic act" (p.12). This type of education allows for no interpretation of what is right and wrong or what is the correct information to learn. The Bible is the basis for all knowledge, and one must turn to scripture for the answers to life's questions. No part of this process of teaching involves children interpreting what they might believe or be interested in (Apple does provide a few examples of creative and hands-on tasks that were probably chosen by the parent to appeal to their individual child's interests, but this is still not genuine choice). The curriculum is not geared towards individual self-exploration, or societal critique, but is meant to "reproduce the particular biblically based world- views of the parents" (Apple, 2013, p.11).]]> 2020-08-08 18:12:05 UTC https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673202849 rgreathouse2 https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673210216 The evangelic movement has always maintained a hierarchy between the sexes and very firm notions of "separate spheres". This notion that men and women, by God's plan need to maintain their rightful separate spheres has a long tradition in British and North American society and was probably at its zenith in the Victorian era. Victorian notions of the "angel in the house" placed an undue emphasis on women's' supposed selfless nature, and moral superiority. Indeed, for the evangelical right, the entire societal structure rests on the mother's role as "defender of one’s home, family, children, and God’s plan" (Apple, 2013, p.8). She is in essence, the glue, that keeps the private sphere together. Interestingly, in the evangelical worldview, this role also restores much of the power and status that female domestic labour has lost since the mid-20th century. By reclaiming the role of teacher of her children, the female head of the household regains status in the eyes of her circle. So in some ways, these women see themselves as "outliers" and activists- defenders of Christian society. They truly believe their way of life is under siege, and they feel a call to duty to protect it, thus extending their sphere from the private to the public sphere.]]> 2020-08-08 18:38:51 UTC https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673210216 rgreathouse2 https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673215169 2020-08-08 18:55:18 UTC https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673215169 rgreathouse2 https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673215431 Apple (2013) "I want to contribute both to our understanding of how populist conservative movements grow and support themselves ideologically, and to the complex ways in which technological resources can serve a multitude of social agendas"(p.2).]]> 2020-08-08 18:56:17 UTC https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673215431 rgreathouse2 https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673221871 According to Stevens, 2001 cited in Apple (2013) "There are in essence two general groupings within the home school movement, Christian and inclusive. There are some things that are shared across these fault lines, however: (1) a sense that the standardized education offered by mainstream schooling interferes with their children’s potential, (2) that there is a serious danger when the state intrudes into the life of the family, and (3) that experts and bureaucracies are apt to impose their beliefs and are unable to meet the needs of families and children (p.3).]]> 2020-08-08 19:18:22 UTC https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673221871 rgreathouse2 https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673227156 Thus, for all its creative uses of technology, its understanding of “market needs” and how to fill them, its personal sacrifices, the immense labor of the (mostly) women who are engaged in the work of actually doing it, and its rapid growth fostered by good press and creative mobilizing strategies, a good deal of home schooling speaks the language of authoritarian populism" (Apple, 2013, p.14). 
As Apple (2018) explains, by redefining the nature of public, "so that it mirrors the needs of conservative religious form and content" (p.6) evangelical home-schooling parents have been able to divert funds from the public tax base for their own purposes. Yet, we can't lay the blame solely at the feet of these parents. Cash strapped schools after suffering years of neglect, have found a way to strengthen their financial position, but we need to ask to what ends? What we see here is a progressive undermining of the public school system, and the secular and inclusive values that it is tasked to uphold.]]> 2020-08-08 19:35:01 UTC https://padlet.com/rgreathouse2/w5bti4w1693hfl7u/wish/673227156