Ever since I starting studying schooling during my master's degree, I was struck by how current and essential the problematics being analyzed in this discipline were to any understanding of inequalities and dominations that are present in many societies around the world today. Yet, when reading educational research, I was almost always left wanting more, as if much of the research didn't have the theoretical rigor that I was seeking. What was missing from this research? An example of this desire for more coming from work that was just on the verge of being brilliant is the writings of Zeus Leonardo. His use of Critical Race Theory to discuss the sociological realities of racialized or White Supremacist education was certainly on point in terms of the framing and the theme he was discussing. But, his final analysis did not leave me satisfied that his approach would be all that successful at exposing the inner workings of race in education. Why?
Perhaps, one reason for this emerged yesterday in a conversation with Professor Robotham at CUNY Graduate Center. He noted that educational research has often approached these sorts of themes through the social justice and "rights" perspective. This approach is important in its own right, but it may be blind to the actual political purpose that schools play in modern societies. Without an understanding of the political motivation around public education to begin with, how can one understanding in any in-depth way the complex reasons why schooling looks the way that it does today? One framework that can remedy this may be looking at education and the State. What roles does the school play in the 21st century State, which more and more governs diverse groups of people in racial, cultural, linguistic and class terms. How does a State in the 21st century develop political stability in the context of State domination that is required of its institutional success? As we know, schooling was seen by the founders of modern day nation-states as the essential location to "make good citizens", which may be translated into loyal subjects. In national contexts with minorities in terms of class, gender and race, what purpose did education serve if these groups where often relegated into second class citizenship? Some scholars (perhaps like Mahmood Mamdani, who I need to read) have argued that for a multicultural State of be stable, it needs to recruit a certain number of elite natives onto its side. In this way, schooling is fundamental to the training of this native elite.
Could the same be said about 21st century schooling? The goal of my project is to examine the various ideological and pragmatic motivations behind schools as an institution of the State.
