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Schooling and the Struggle for Public Life: Democracy's Promise and Education's Challenge. 2d ed. Henry A. Giroux. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers. 2005. 253 pages. Hardback $69.00; paperback $23.95.
In Schooling and the Struggle for Public Life, Giroux claims U.S. schools are one of the last realms where students can procure the skills necessary to be engaged, critical citizens. Giroux believes critical pedagogy is a fundamental component of a vibrant democracy. This edition is an update of Giroux's 1988 book, in which he is critical of conservative attempts to dilute and disband critical pedagogy policies. According to Giroux, in the current era of neo-liberalism, the politics of teacher authority and the importance of student voices are under attack. In the book's introduction, Giroux pulls no punches expressing his disdain for George W. Bush's imprint on education. Giroux contends the Bush administration is gutting civil liberties, substituting blind faith for critical reasoning, and serving up creationism instead of science. He believes the Bush administration's attempt to standardize curricula, privatize public schools, and shun critical pedagogy reduces education to menial job training, rote learning, and a form of warehousing for the poor. In the end, militarism has become the new public pedagogy replacing democracy, public participation, and critical citizenship.
Giroux maintains that educators embracing critical pedagogy as a moral and political practice is the solution to the current education problems. Educators must design classes that facilitate student resistance to the dehumanizing forces of the current political culture. Giroux believes the proper function of education is to teach critical skills, emancipation, the promotion of equity and social justice, and the desire for a quality public life for all citizens. Education is a political process in which students need to understand how knowledge and experience shape their...