Education and Capitalism: Struggles for Learning and Liberation

by Jeff Bale (Editor), Sarah Knopp (Editor)

Overview

Educators examine the state of public schooling, confront the anti-union stance of policymakers, and offer a bold new direction in this essay anthology.

A conservative, bipartisan consensus dominates the discussion about what’s wrong with our schools and how to fix them. It offers “solutions” that scapegoat teachers, vilify unions, and impose a market mentality on education. In Education and Capitalism, teacher-activists expose the damaging limitations of this elite consensus and offer an alternative vision of learning for liberation.

Co-editors Sarah Knopp and Jeff Bale presents a powerful defense of public education. Other contributors offer historical analysis of school reform with a focus on civil rights and union-led movements. Arguing that today’s schools are designed to serve the needs of capitalism rather than students, this volume offers an action plan for positive change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608461646
Publisher:	Haymarket Books
Publication date:	06/04/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	220
Sales rank:	1,029,665
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Sarah Knopp is a public high school teacher in Los Angeles. She has been teaching economics and government for eleven years. A frequent contributor to the International Socialist Review, Knopp also has written for Rethinking Schools, CounterPunch, and United Teacher. She is an activist with United Teachers Los Angeles, a union co-chair at her school, and a dedicated participant in the movements for public education, immigrants rights, and social equality.Jeff Bale is assistant professor of second language education at Michigan State University. He teaches and writes about the history and politics of language education in US schools, and about language policies targeting immigrant youth in Germany. His work has appeared in International Socialist Review, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics and Tertium Comparationis. In addition, Bale taught English learners and German in urban public schools for a decade. In District of Columbia Public Schools, he was a building representative for the Washington Teachers' Union. While teaching in Tempe, Arizona, Bale was active in school-based and community organizations challenging anti-bilingual education policies in that state.

Table of Contents

Foreword Adam Sanchez Interviews Bill Bigelow ix

Preface A Defense of Public Education and an Action Plan for Change Sarah Knopp Jeff Bale 1

1 Schools, Marxism, and Liberation Sarah Knopp 9

2 The Struggle for Black Education Brian Jones 41

Focus on: The Indian Boarding Schools Michele Bollinger 70

3 Linguistic Justice at School Jeff Bale 77

4 Obama's Neoliberal Agenda for Public Education Gillian Russom 109

Focus on: Students, Parents, and Teachers Nationwide Protest Gutting of Public Education Rose Aguilar 135

5 Teachers' Unions and Social Justice Jesse Hagopian John T. Green 141

Focus on: The Madison Protests Dan Trocolli Sarah Knopp 176

Focus on: Teachers' Struggle in Oaxaca, Mexico Jessie Muldoon 182

6 Pedagogy and Revolution: Reading Freire in Context Adrienne Johnstone Elizabeth Terzakis 187

Focus on: The Freedom Schools Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor 211

7 Literacy and Revolution Megan Behrent 217

Acknowledgments 243

Notes 245

Index 275

About the Authors 285

Editorial Reviews

This book is a breath of fresh air! The chapters take on central issues in education with a clear vision of what could be.”
—Jean Anyon, author of Marx and Education

“Education and Capitalism clears the path for new understanding of the current assault on public schooling and points towards important directions if we are to save it.”
—Peter McLaren, author of Che Guevara, Paulo Freire, and the Pedagogy of Revolution

“Education and Capitalism is a timely and decisive book that provides a framework for those of us engaged in the fight for better schools, stronger unions, and increased standard of living for all.”
—Jesse Sharkey, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union

“A must-read for anyone interested in understanding the fundamental injustice of the corporate reform of public education in the United States.”
—Wayne Au, editor of Rethinking Schools

From the Publisher