Social Power and Strategies for Changing Education

Abstract

Reactions to the four alternative possibilities for the future of society and education presented in the previous chapters are relatively predictable. These reactions will be largely determined by the social position of the observer and the image of the future he projects from the conditions of that social and educational situation. Some will support one future and reject others on normative grounds. There can be no consensus as to the futures to be supported, tolerated or rejected completely. Others will deny the possibility of choice on the “objective” grounds that the future is determined by factors beyond our control as individuals. However, the need to choose a desirable future to be pursued cannot be postponed, if the appropriate strategies are to be implemented in the near future.