It is argued that for the Educational Left to gain emancipatory ground present reform movements such as outcome-based education will have to be considered as hopeful democratic signs. To do this, a dialectic of social critique and democratic hope must inform policymakers. To this end, this article analyzes and critiques outcome-based education, arguing that teachers will have to take personal responsibility as to how they ground democratic hope within policy. The author suggests a transitionary democratic framework that may guide teachers, administrators, and policymakers in this endeavor.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anyon, J.
(1980). Social class and the hidden curriculum of work. Journal of Education, 162, 66-92.
2.
Apple, M.
(1988). Teachers and texts. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
3.
Britzman, D.
(1991). Practice makes practice: A critical study of learning to teach. Albany: State University of New York Press.
4.
Burbules, N.
, & Rice, S. (1991). Dialogue across differences: Continuing the conversation. Harvard Educational Review, 61(4), 393-416.
5.
Capper, C.
, & Jamison, M. (1993). Outcome based education reexamined: From structural functionalism to post structuralism. Educational Policy, 7(4), 427-446.
6.
Dewey, J.
(1916). Democracy and education. New York: Macmillan.
7.
Ellsworth, E.
(1989). Why doesn't this feel empowering? Working through the myths of critical pedagogy. Harvard Educational Review, 59(3), 29-53.
8.
Fine, M.
(1991). Framing dropouts: Notes on the politics of an urban public high school. Albany: State University of New York Press.
9.
Gaines, D.
(1992). Teenage wasteland. New York: HarperCollins.
10.
Giroux, H.
(1992). Border crossings. New York: Routledge.
11.
Giroux, H.
(1993). Living dangerously. New York: Peter Lang.
12.
Giroux, H.
(1994). Disturbing pleasures. New York: Routledge.
13.
Gordon, B.
(1995). Fringe dwellers: African American women in the postmodern era. In B. Kanpol & P. McLaren (Eds.), Critical multiculturalism: Uncommon voices in a common struggle (pp. 59-88). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
14.
Grant, C.
, & Sachs, J (1995). Multicultural education and postmodernism. In B. Kanpol & P. McLaren (Eds.), Critical multiculturalism (pp. 89-106). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
15.
Kanpol, B.
(1992). Towards a theory and practice of teacher cultural politics. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
16.
Kanpol, B.
(1994). Critical pedagogy: An introduction. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
17.
Kanpol, B.
, & McLaren, P. (Eds.). (1995). Critical multiculturalism: Uncommon voices in a common struggle. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
18.
Kincheloe, J.
, & Steinberg, S. (1993). A tentative description of post-formal thinking: The critical confrontation with cognitive theory. Harvard Educational Review, 63(3), 296-320.
19.
Kozol, J.
(1991). Savage inequalities. New York: Crown.
20.
Lather, P.
(1989). Postmodernism and the politics of Enlightenment. Educational Foundations, 3, 7-28.
21.
Lather, P.
(1991). Getting smart. New York: Routdledge.
22.
Lyotard, J. F.
(1984). The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
23.
McCall, N.
(1994). Makes me wanna holla. New York: Random House.
24.
McLaren, P.
(1991). Schooling and the postmodern body: The politics on enfleshment. In Henry A. Giroux (Ed.), Postmodernism, feminism, and cultural politics: Redrawing educational boundaries (pp. 144-173). New York: State University of New York Press.
25.
McLaren, P.
(1994). Life in schools. New York: Longman.
26.
McQuaide, J.
, & Pliska, A. M. (1993). The challenge to Pennsylvania's education reform. Educational Leadership, 51(4), 16-18.
27.
Mead, H.
(1934). Mind, self, and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
28.
Nieto, S.
(1992). Affirming diversity. New York: Longman.
29.
Oakes, J.
(1985). Keeping track: How schools structure inequality. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
30.
Peters, M.
(Ed.). (1995). Lyotard and education. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
31.
Pierce, B.
(1995). Maria's story. In B. Kanpol & P. McLaren (Eds.), Critical multiculturalism (pp. 165-176). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
32.
Shapiro, S.
(1985). Capitalism at risk: The political economy of the educational reports of 1983. Educational Theory, 35(1), 57-72.
33.
Shapiro, S.
(1989). Towards a language of educational politics: The struggle for a critical public discourse of education. Educational Foundations, 3(3), 79-100.
34.
Slattery, P.
(1995). Curriculum development in the postmodern era. New York: Garland.
35.
Stainback, W
, & Stainback, S. (1992). Controversial issues confronting special education: Divergent perspectives. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
36.
Weiler, K.
(1988). Women teaching for change. South Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garvey.
37.
West, C.
(1993). Prophetic thought in postmodern times. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press.
38.
Willis, P.
(1977). Learning to labor. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.
