This anthology introduces some of the most influential literature shaping our understanding of the social and cultural foundations of education today. Together the selections provide students a range of approaches for interpreting and designing educational experiences worthy of the multicultural societies of our present and future. The reprinted selections are contextualized in new interpretive essays written specifically for this volume.
Bradley A. U. Levinson is assistant professor of education and adjunct assistant professor of anthropology at Indiana University.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Acknowledgements Chapter 2 Introduction Part 3 The Symbolic Animal: Foundations of Cultural Transmission and Acquisition Chapter 4 The Impact of the Concept of Culture on the Concept of Man Chapter 5 Culture is Ordinary Chapter 6 The Education of the Samoan Child Chapter 7 Stalking Stories Chapter 8 Education and the Human Condition Chapter 9 The Nature of Education Chapter 10 Why Do Frenchmen? Chapter 11 Becoming a Marihuana User Part 12 Culture, Modernization, and Formal Education Chapter 13 The Shaping of Men's Minds: Adaptations to Imperatives of Culture Chapter 14 Formal Schooling and the Production of Modern Citizens in the Ecuadorian Amazon Chapter 15 Transmitting Traditional Values in New Schools: Elementary Education of Pulap Atoll Chapter 16 The Cultural Transformation of Western Education in Sierra Leone Part 17 School Practice and Community Life: Cultural Congruence, Conflict, and Discontinuity Chapter 18 What No Bedtime Story Means: Narrative Skills at Home and School Chapter 19 Understanding Cultural Diversity and Learning Chapter 20 Formation and Transformation of Funds of Knowledge Among US-Mexican Households Chapter 21 Habitus and Cultural Identity: Home/School Relationships in Rural France Part 22 Cultural Production and Reproduction in Contemporary Schools Chapter 23 Ability Grouping as a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: A Microanalysis of Teacher-Student Interaction Chapter 24 Beneath the Skin and Between the Ears: A Case Study in the Politics of Representation Chapter 25 Moments of Discontent: University Women and the Gender Status Quo Chapter 26 Class and Gender Dynamics in a Ruling Class School Part 27 New Directions and Approaches to Culture, Learning, and Education Chapter 28 Those Loud Black Girls: (Black) Women, Silence, and Gender Passing in the Academy Chapter 29 Tying Things Together (and Stretching Them Out) With Popular Culture Chapter 30 Fieldwork in the Postcommunity Chapter 31 The Fax, the Jazz Player, and the Self-History Teller: How Do People Organize Culture? Chapter 32 Afterword: Implications for Policy and Practice
"Schooling the Symbolic Animal" is the definitive collection exploring the social and cultural foundations of education in pre-modern, modern and "global" societies. — Hugh Mehan
Kathryn Anderson-Levitt
Nicely balances classics, many judiciously trimmed, with well chosen new pieces....It promises no easy fixes for educational problems-- just a way of seeing that can change everything students used to think about learning and schooling. — Kathryn Anderson-Levitt
Amy Stambach
Beginning and advanced students alike will find much to learn from this rich and stimulating collection of essays. Written by many of the most articulate and visible scholars in the field, the twenty-four essays and five thematic chapters in "Schooling the Symbolic Animal" are testament to the vigor, diversity, and critical thinking of anthropological and sociological thought on education. — Amy Stambach
Henry Trueba
Extraordinarily stimulating and refreshing with its unique feature of bringing giants in the field of educational anthropology and sociology to dialogue with our contemporary scholars on issues that transcend time, disciplines, and national boundaries. This book offers one of the best introductions to the contributions of social science to the study of education. — Henry Trueba
