This article draws on social realist approaches in the sociology of knowledge and in light of them constructs three scenarios for the future of education in the next decades. The primary focus of the article is on one of the most crucial questions facing educational policy makers — the relationship between school and everyday or common sense knowledge. The different possibilities for how the school/non‐school knowledge boundaries might be approached are expressed in three scenarios —‘boundaries treated as given’, ‘a boundary‐less world’ and the idea of ‘boundary maintenance as a condition for boundary crossing’. The curriculum implications of each are explored and the article makes the case for the third scenario. The factors likely to make one or other scenario dominate educational policy in the next 20–30 years are also considered.

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The aim of this paper is to explore and clarify the idea of 'powerful knowledge' as a sociological concept and as a curriculum principle. The paper seeks to clarify its conceptual basis and to make its meaning and the arguments it implies, less ambiguous and less open to misunderstanding. This will enable us to suggest some of the research and policy options that it opens up. The paper begins with a brief discussion of the origins of the contemporary usage of the concept in the sociology of education and its explains its roots in the often neglected sociology of knowledge of Emile Durkheim. We draw from Durkheim the idea that 'powerful knowledge' is differentiated and specialised knowledge and trace this argument through the work of Vygotsky and, in more detail, of Basil Bernstein. Following Bernstein's analysis of the different forms that specialised knowledge can take, we consider the curriculum implications of the view that some forms, the STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects, are 'intrinsically more powerful than others'. We indicate the limits of this argument and in the final section suggest how the idea of powerful knowledge can be more broadly conceived to include the arts and humanities.

RESUMO:A questão "para que servem as escolas?" expressa tensões e conflitos de interesses na sociedade mais ampla. O autor ressalta que existe uma ligação entre desejos emancipatórios associados com a expansão da escolarização e a oportunidade das escolas em oferecer aos alunos a aquisição do "conhecimento poderoso". Discute a "diferenciação do conhecimento" como um modo de distinção entre conhecimento escolar e não-escolar. As formas contemporâneas de avaliação tendem a diluir as fronteiras entre conhecimento escolar e não-escolar, uma vez que inibem um currículo mais acessível e mais relevante economicamente. O autor baseia-se na análise de Bernstein para sugerir que seguir esse caminho pode equivaler a negar as condições para adquirir "conhecimento poderoso" para os alunos que já são desfavorecidos pelas suas condições sociais. Resolver essa tensão entre demandas políticas e realidades educacionais é uma das maiores questões educacionais do nosso tempo.Palavras-chave: Função da escola. Conhecimento escolar. Diferenciação do conhecimento.

Do video games show demonstrable relationships to academic achievement gains when used to support the K-12 curriculum? In a review of literature, we identified 300+ articles whose descriptions related to video games and academic achievement. We found some evidence for the effects of video games on language learning, history, and physical education (specifically exergames), but little support for the academic value of video games in science and math. We summarize the trends for each subject area and supply recommendations for the nascent field of video games research. Many educationally interesting games exist, yet evidence for their impact on student achievement is slim. We recommend separating simulations from games and refocusing the question onto the situated nature of game-player-context interactions, including meta-game social collaborative elements.