On Feeling Good About Oneself
Practical Ideology in Schools of Choice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2544470 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robert B Everhart (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1985 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 251 |
| Publication date | 1985-10-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociology of Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-0407 • E-ISSN: 1939-8573 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2112227 |
| OpenAlex | W2070732202 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 6 |
There is probably no single concept currently generating more discussion in the field of sociology of education than ideology (Apple, 1979; Giroux, 1981; Karabel and Halsey, 1979; Sharp, 1980). Despite the currency of the concept, few terms are as inconsistently used, illdefined, and often-times vacuous as ideology. Indeed, the term has been given various definitions: (1) maps of problematic social reality and matrices for the creation of collective conscience (Geertz, 1964:64); (2) a of belief; a set of values serving mainly as a keyhole through the outside world is observed (Flakser, 1971: 11); (3) a complex of ideas serving to legitimate the existing social order (Mannheim, 1936); and (4) the ideas of the ruling class, which are the ideal expression of dominant material relations (Marx and Engels, 1964:59-60). These various definitions have led to a spate of critical studies (Flakser, 1971; Seliger, 1977; Carlsnaes, 1981), call into question the utility of the concept as it is typically defined. Studies of such macrosocial phenomena as the schooling process use the concept of ideology in a number of ways. Most often, ideology is defined as a system of beliefs and practices passed on by educational organizations, perpetuate a class-based society. For example, Bowles and Gintis (1976) integrate a wealth of data to support the proposition that the function of schooling is to reproduce the class structure that precedes schooling. Because they used a structuralist approach, however, they did not adequately consider the dynamics operating within schools, preserve, modify, or transform ideological formations (Hogan, 1982). Countering the structuralist model is a more dynamic paradigm that focuses on individuals' acquisition of ideas (Giroux, 1981). Instead of defining the school as the promulgator of objective truths, instead of viewing teachers and students as receptors of values and truths, this paradigm focuses on the manner in ideological patterns are created and re-created through ongoing social processes. In this sense then, ideology is not just a set of beliefs passed on; rather, it is phenomenological in nature, growing out of intentionality and human activity. This dynamic, more interactive paradigm, focuses on the formation of ideas as well as their structure, captures the fundamental essence of ideology-a dialectical process that produces images and behaviors related to those images. We can thus define ideologies as
Epistemology · Field (mathematics) · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Law · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.08 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1989 - 1997 (9) |
| Highly cited | No |