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Education, School, and Learning: Dominant Perspectives

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Laboring and Learning

Part of the book series: Geographies of Children and Young People ((GCYP,volume 10))

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Abstract

Education has come to be synonymous with childhood. In policy and public discourse around the world, education is presented as a basic human right and the appropriate site for children’s learning. The vision of universal basic education, long articulated within international and much national policy, is approaching reality. Despite persisting inequalities, the majority of children experience some level of formal education during their childhood. This chapter examines three significant and interrelated representations of education that are central to global discourse: education as a right, education as a means of empowering girls and women, and education as a pathway out of poverty. The chapter then examines the narrowing of knowledge that has occurred in the drive for measurable outcomes and comparable assessments of student achievement. The chapter finds that while substantial evidence points to the positive outcomes that education can achieve, claims that education will necessarily empower women and provide a pathway out of poverty for poor children are – at best – contestable. While global policy rhetoric around Education for All uses universalized and universalizing language, the context in which education occurs and the nature of education matter greatly to the outcomes achieved.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Sharon Bessell

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  1. Sharon Bessell
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Correspondence to Sharon Bessell .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education and Lifelong Learning, Norwegian University of Sciences and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Tatek Abebe

  2. Department for Continuing Education and School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

    Johanna Waters

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Bessell, S. (2017). Education, School, and Learning: Dominant Perspectives. In: Abebe, T., Waters, J. (eds) Laboring and Learning. Geographies of Children and Young People, vol 10. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-032-2_4

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