Knowledge, knowers, and power
Understanding the ‘power’ of powerful knowledge
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21345752 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Daniel Talbot (0000-0002-5505-4474, Educational Research, Lancaster University, Lancaster, England, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 633-645 |
| Publication date | 2023-11-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Curriculum Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-0272 • E-ISSN: 1366-5839 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00220272.2023.2256009 |
| OpenAlex | W4386924584 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 40 |
This article seeks to contribute to recent theorizing around the concept of powerful knowledge. I begin with a discussion of the current use of the term in both academia and the wider institutional environment of schools. I then give a detailed account of its origins in social realism before exploring different iterations of the concept in recent academic work. The second half of the article seeks to develop the idea of ‘power’ in powerful knowledge by engaging with the criticisms of philosopher John White. I do this by bringing in the philosophical work on the concept of power offered by Peter Morriss. I conclude that Morriss’ analysis of power can help reveal why ‘power’ is best seen as a disposition to effect certain ends. I suggest that this helps resolve some of the concerns of White and provides a template for how to think about powerful knowledge going forward
Critical realism (philosophy of perception) · Epistemology · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Realism · Social power · Sociology · White (mutation) · Work (physics) · Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Law
Powerful Re-/Connections
Recontextualising powerful knowledge within an ‘organic unity’ of vertical and horizontal knowledge
Complex outcomes of recontextualised history
From powerful knowledge to powerful thinking
Connecting disciplinary knowledge content and students’ lifeworld experience
Situating potentially and kinetically powerful knowledges
Impetus on subject-specificity
Empowering young people
Power
Knowledge, power and powerful knowledge re‐visited
Knowledge and control
Power
Trajectories of powerful knowledge and epistemic quality
Towards powerful educational knowledge? Addressing the challenges facing educational foundations, curriculum theory and Didaktik
A pedagogic compact
Powerful knowledge, educational potential and knowledge-rich curriculum
Powerful knowledge and knowledgeable practice
Powerful educational knowledge through Subject Didactics and General Subject Didactics. Recent developments in German-speaking countries
The Genealogy of ‘Cultural Literacy’
Basil Bernstein
Three Educational Scenarios for the Future
On the powers of powerful knowledge
Knowledge and racial violence
Social Realism and the problem of the problem of knowledge in the sociology of education
How competency‐based training locks the working class out of powerful knowledge
The Growth of Knowledge and the Discursive Gap
Powerful knowledge, transformations and Didaktik /curriculum thinking
The politics of knowledge in education
Achieving Human Potential Through Geography Education
Reproduction in education, society, and culture
Steven Lukes on the Concept of Power
The Elementary Forms of Religious Life
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 8 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |