National Curriculum Standards and Social Studies Education: Dewey, Freire, Foucault, and the Construction of a Radical Critique

Unreached and Unreasonable: Curriculum Standards and Children’s Understanding of Ethnic Diversity in Canada

“…For many, standards are understood as “authoritative policies seeking to prescribe curriculum or content that is to determine and limit what teachers can and should teach and what students can and should learn” (Vinson, 1999, p. 298), but it seems to us most standards are too broad and complex to be used to prescribe resources, teaching and assessment in such specific ways. For example, one standard from the APEF (n.d.) for grade 6 reads, students will be able to “describe how culture is preserved, modified and transmitted” (p. 18).…”

Educating against all odds: The context and content of social work education in times of national crisis in Greece

“…Giroux, 1993;McLaren, 1999;Morrow and Torres, 2002;Power, 2011) have argued that the works of Foucault and Freire have notions of both traditions; a position we too assume. Drawing both from critical social theory and the radical Left critique (Vinson, 1999), the common ground of the two thinkers can be found in their notions of power as being both repressive and enabling, their advocacy for critical reflection, their analysis of education as a social control institution, their understanding of reality as constantly changing, and their view of history as one of possibility. In addition, their different emphases -Foucault on power relations and Freire on praxis -can be viewed as complementary because of the limitations of each body of work.…”

Civic Education in West Virginia: Guidelines and State Standards in a Case Study

“…It is critical that state documents are constructed to encourage and enhance participatory civic education through state course requirements. As standards have increased, civic education has been increasingly limited to the knowledge domain for ease of assessment (Journell, 2010;Bos, Williamson, Sullivan, Gonzales and Avery, 2007;Vinson, 1999). The skill and attitude domains, therefore, have been minimized.…”

“…The skill and attitude domains, therefore, have been minimized. Vinson (1999) argues that if "students and teachers conform, adapt their behavior-teaching and learning-to the standards, they are successful" (p. 312). Since…”

“…"Standards", Vinson (1999) argues, "provide a mechanism by which an individual or small group can impose decisions upon others, decisions made based upon their own understandings, interests and needs" (p. 312). Standards also "provide the teacher with greater guidance in terms of possible suggestions for teaching and assessing their students, and not simply what the students need to know" (Barbour, Evans, and Ritter, 2007. p. 28).…”