Critical Perspectives Series: A Book Series Dedicated to Paulo Freire – serie

OThe ethnics are comingO _and the fear of many observers is that the quality of traditional disciplines will suffer as a result. Immigrant Voices: In Search of Pedagogical Reform is a new book which shows that such fear is unfounded. Ethnic scholars of international repute come together in this new collection of essays to meditate upon the single most important social phenomena in America today: Immigration. Due to the ever increasing ethnic diversity in todayOs school populations, the need to explore this issue has become more critical than ever. Giving voice to a broad range of complex experiences, contributors from China, Taiwan, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, and Slovakia provide insight into the numerous obstacles immigrants must overcome in order to succeed in both the academy and society at large. Offering broad theoretical perspectives, as well as powerful and unforgettable personal narratives, this book serves as a invaluable resource for continued efforts toward educational equity.

As Junk Bond felon Michael Milken attempts to transform public education on the model of the HMO, he is hailed in the mainstream press as having 'done more to help mankind than Mother Theresa.' Even as BP Amoco, a notorious U.S. polluter, is charged with funding and arming paramilitaries in Colombia, it freely distributes science curricula that portrays itself as a loving protector of citizens from a dangerous and 'out of control' nature. These as well as many other examples abound as Professors Robin Truth Goodman and Kenneth J. Saltman take on the corporate educators, media monopolies, and oil companies in their new book Strange Love: How We Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Market. Saltman and Goodman show how corporate-produced curricula, films, and corporate-promoted books often use depictions of family love, childhood innocence, and compassion in order to sell the public on policies that ironically put the profit of multinational corporations over the well-being of people. In doing so Goodman and Saltman reveal the extent to which globalization depends upon education and also show how battles over culture, language, and the control of information are matters of life, death, and democracy.

Prairie Town: Redefining Rural Life in the Age of Globalization describes the contemporary rural condition and efforts to sustain rural life in one small Minnesota community at the turn of the 21st century. Like many other agricultural based towns, Prairie Town struggled for survival within the context of the on-going farm crisis, NAFTA, neoliberal agricultural policies, and growing agribusiness that negatively impacted many farmers throughout the world. The effects of globalization, the displacement of rural workers to urban areas, and the deterioration of rural life were a widespread phenomenon. In spite of these complex issues, Prairie Town worked to define a new rural— life, one which entailed a new rural literacy—a new way of reading rural life-that changed the way rural life, work, and education were realized. Prairie Town's story offers us hope as we learn that neoliberalism is not inevitable, nor is the demise of rural America. From this community, we learn that not everything can be bought and sold, and disidentification with dominant societal structures is possible within a participatory democratic society. New cultural models can be constructed that enable individuals in Prairie Town and elsewhere to actively work to construct ways of being that are consistent with their values and hopes for how they might live together.

Noam Chomsky's prolific writings have made him one of the most-quoted educators in history—the only living writer on a most-cited list that includes Plato, Shakespeare, and Freud.Yet until now, no book has systematically offered Chomsky's influential writings on education. In Chomsky on MisEducation, Noam Chomsky encourages a larger understanding of our educational needs, starting with the changing role of schools today, and broadening our view of new models of public education. Chomsky weaves global technological change and the primacy of responsible media with the democratic role of schools and higher education. A truly democratic society, he argues, cannot thrive in a rapidly changing world unless our approach to education—formal and otherwise—is dramatically reformed.Chomsky's critique of how our current educational system "miseducates" students—and his prescriptions for change—are essential reading for teachers, parents, school administrators, activists, and anyone concerned about the future.

Money, jobs, careers, training—all are topics often overheard in the conversation of middle-class Americans. One of the nation's leading critics of education, the world of work, and the labor movement, Stanley Aronowitz shows how new technologies, labor, and education all are deeply intertwined in our culture and everyday lives. This book reflects Aronowitz's thinking at a time when globalization has brought these connections to broad public attention.Aronowitz argues for the decline of "the job" as the backbone, along with family, of American society. Despite high employment, low wages and job insecurity leave many families at or below the poverty line. The career instability previously experienced mostly by blue-collar workers has spread to middle managers and high-level executives caught in the rapid movement of capital and technologies. In light of these facts, Aronowitz argues for a new social contract between employers and workers.

In Pedagogy of Freedom Paulo Freire travels ever more deeply into the territory where learning and activism are the essence of human life. This profound new book shows why an engaged way of learning and teaching is central to the creation of the individual, culture, and history.Freire finds in today's emerging global society a new context in which education cannot be indifferent to the reproduction of dominant ideologies and the interrogation of them. He argues against "progressive" liberalism and its passive acceptance of a world where unemployment and hunger must inevitably co-exist with opulence. In so doing, he shows why an acceptance of fatalism leads to loss of personal and societal freedom—and how those individuals who think without optimism have lost their place in history.This book displays the striking creativity and profound insight that characterized Freire's work to the very end of his life—an uplifting and provocative exploration not only for educators, but for all who learn and live.

Sharing Words may be an example of a new way of writing about educational theory and practice, one that results in a captivating and enjoyable experience that invites the reader to share and comment with colleagues, students, and friends.

What is at stake in compromising the Enlightenment ideals of a liberal education with new educational policies engendered by a neo-liberalized, global marketplace? Richly grounding his arguments in the social philosophy of European and American intellectuals, Raphael Sassower explores Western culture's long-standing ambivalence toward 'the life of the mind.' He shows how and why this historical legacy contributes to today's confusion over goals and values in contemporary education. He sheds new light on many of today's controversies, showing why the demands of technology and a global economy increase society's need for 'educational sanctuaries' of liberal education, intellectual 'play' and social consciousness that may better serve the diverse and often conflicting needs of a changing world.

In Pedagogy of Freedom Paulo Freire travels ever more deeply into the territory where learning and activism are the essence of human life. This profound book shows why an engaged way of learning and teaching is central to the creation of the individual, culture, and history.Freire finds in today's emerging global society a new context in which education cannot be indifferent to the reproduction of dominant ideologies and the interrogation of them. He argues against "progressive" liberalism and its passive acceptance of a world where unemployment and hunger must inevitably co-exist with opulence. In so doing, he shows why an acceptance of fatalism leads to loss of personal and societal freedom-and how those individuals who think without optimism have lost their place in history.This book displays the striking creativity and profound insight that characterized Freire's work to the very end of his life-an uplifting and provocative exploration not only for educators, but for all who learn and live.