This carefully structured reader provides a focus for thinking about education in the context of a society that now--in the final years of this millennium--is faced with a range of critical, sometimes catastrophic, issues and problems. These include: poverty and growing social injustice, racism and sexism, and other forms of exclusion; the depersonalization of social and political life; the moral and spiritual decay of the culture; and the ecological deterioration of the planet. Although this volume focuses on American society, there is also concern with the larger global community. The book is intended to work on two levels. First, it helps readers develop an awareness of how education is connected to the wider social structures of social, cultural, political, and economic life. Second, it encourages not only a critical examination of our present social reality but also a serious discussion of alternatives--of what a transformed society and educational process might look like. The editors' goal in this text is to deliberately engage readers in connecting the work of teachers to an ethically-committed, politically-charged pedagogy.

Table of Contents:
Contents: S. Shapiro, Preface. Introduction. Part I:The Future of Capitalism: Contradiction and Crisis. C. Derber, Killing Society: The Ungluing of America. R.A. Brosio, End of the Millennium: Capitalism's Dynamism, Civic Crises, and Corresponding Consequences for Education. S. Shapiro, Clinton and Education: Policies Without Meaning. P. Slater, Learning the Ropes. D.C. Korten, Sustainable Livelihoods: Redefining the Global Social Crisis. Part II:Social Justice: Promises and Despair. C.E. Sleeter, C. Grant, Illusions of Progress: Business as Usual. J. Oakes, Tracking, Inequality, and the Rhetoric of Reform: Why Schools Don't Change. S. Karp, Money, Schools, & Courts. H.L. Hodgkinson, What Should We Call People? Race, Class, and the Census for 2000. M.J. Stern, What We Talk About When We Talk About Welfare. Part III:Marginality and Difference: The Fractured Community. H.A. Giroux, The Politics of Insurgent Multiculturalism in the Era of the Los Angeles Uprising. J.R. Martin, Becoming Educated: A Journey of Alienation or Integration? J.T. Sears, The Impact of Culture and Ideology on the Construction of Gender and Sexual Identities: Developing a Critically Based Sexuality Curriculum. S. Shapiro, A Parent's Dilemma: Public vs. Jewish Education. R. Blomgren, Special Education and the Quest for Human Dignity. D. Macedo, English Only: The Tongue-Tying of America. Part IV:Curriculum and Teaching: Dangers and Dreams. D. Carlson, Education as a Political Issue (I). P. McLaren, Education as a Political Issue (II). E.F. Provenzo, Jr., Educational Computing as a Value-Laden Technology. N. Noddings, Care and Moral Education. D. Huebner, Education and Spirituality. C.M. Shea, Critical and Constructive Postmodernism: The Transformative Power of Holistic Education. D.E. Purpel, Social Transformation and Holistic Education: Limitations and Possibilities. Part V:Toward the 21st Century: Global Catastrophe or Social Transformation? D.E. Purpel, S. Shapiro, Beyond Liberation and Excellence: A Discourse for Education as Transformation.