Culture and Pedagogy

Against the background of globalization and campaigns to provide basic education for all the world's children, "Culture and Pedagogy" compares primary and elementary schooling in England, France, India, Russia and the United States. It explores the ways in which children's educational experiences are shaped not just by classroom circumstances and the decisions of the teacher, but also by school values and organization, by local pressures, national policies and political control and - suffusing all these - by culture and history. "Culture and Pedagogy" combines comparative and historical enquiry with intensive analysis of school and classroom life to present a novel and illuminating account of pedagogy.The book also transfers into the international arena themes for which the author's earlier work is well known: the interplay of policy, politics and practice; the quest for resilient models of teaching and learning the subtle dynamics of schools and classrooms; and the rich learning potential of talk between teachers and children. "Culture and Pedagogy" is clearly structured around three levels of analysis: systems, school and classrooms. Extensively illustrated with figures, tables, photographs, lesson summaries and teaching extracts, the book is an essential resource for those who are committed to understanding pedagogy, exploring culture, and improving primary education.

ISBN 0631220518   Pages 664 ISBN13 9780631220510 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd   Weight (grammes) 1233 Imprint Blackwell Publishers   Published in Oxford Format Paperback   Height (mm) 247 Publication date 19 Jan 2001   Width (mm) 173 Library of Congress 00057908   Spine width (mm) 36 DEWEY 372   Academic level Undergraduate, Professional / Scholarly, Postgraduate DEWEY edition DC21

Liset of Plates. List of Figures. List of Tables. Acknowledgements. Note. Introduction. Part I: Settings: 1. The Comparative Context. Part II: Systems, Policies and Histories: 2. Primary Education in France. 3. Primary Education in Russia. 4. Primary Education in India. 5. Primary Education in the United States of America. 6. Primary Education in England. 7. Primary Education and the State. Part III: Schools: 8. Buildings and People. 9. The Idea of a School. 10. Beyond the Gates. Part IV: Classrooms:11. Comparing Teaching. 12. Lesson Structure and Form. 13. Organisation, Task and Activity. 14. Judgement, Routine, Rule and Ritual. 15. Interaction, Time and Pace. 16. Learning Discourse. Part V: Reflections: 17. Culture and Pedagogy. Notes. Bibliography.Index.

'A magnificent book...A fresh charter for comparative studies in education...Rich analyses of classroom discourse illustrate the subtle ways culture and discourse come together as pedagogy...Nobody interested in the meaning of education in different cultures can ignore this book.' Professor Jerome Bruner, NYU 'This eagerly awaited study of pre-adolescent schooling will surface quickly as a distinguished, ambitious, comparative analysis of core classroom and instructional issues. There exist few genuinely comparative educational studies, because such work is so challenging and expensive. It is rare for a scholar to take Professor Alexander's posture towards international work and pursue so successfully a set of common questions in pressing for comparable understandings in a diverse group of nations.' Michael W Sedlak, Michigan State University 'This book is unique in offering thick descriptions of education in five countries combined with a sophisticated analytical framework. The uniqueness and boldness of this project thus lies not only in the fact that the author is dealing with five very different education systems, but that he aspires to use these five cases to generate some basic laws or principles of pedagogy which transcend culture and at the same time are intricately tied up with culture.' Joseph Tobin, University of Hawaii 'Robin Alexander's vast and wonderful book ... should instantly become the property of every primary school in the land. Every page of this strikingly well-written, pungently critical and generously humane study testifies to the author's stamina as well as to his intelligence. A work certain to become canonical in many fields'.Book of the Week citation in the TES 'This is an unusually stimulating, well-argued and comprehensive book, and it deserves a very wide readership. It goes far beyond the realm of interest of comparative education, and in fact uses the discipline of comparative studies to express a detailed, cogent and striking critique of the theory and practice of primary education in England, while painting a convincing and knowledgeable picture of primary schools in Michigan, India, France and Russia. Schools in all five of these parts of the world illuminate and are illuminated by each other. The research on which the study is based is truly massive: substantial videotaping of lessons and exhaustive and perceptive analysis of what went on, interviews with practitioners and educationalists, study of a bibliography of about a thousand items. Most striking of all, the presiding intelligence of Professor Alexander provides a strong, but immensely complex attitude, a standpoint from which the data are analysed, and a series of authoritative conclusions which merit very close consideration. 'This is a gloriously opinionated book. It subjects the whole world of education theory, ideology and practice to a withering analysis. No reader comes out without having his cherished ideas questioned, or even, perhaps, mocked. For this reason, the book would be immensely useful to any thoughtful teacher and any trainee-teacher - and not only in the primary field, either. Alexander's devastating remarks about certain writers and activists make enjoyable reading.'J.Y.Muckle, University of Nottingham, Education in Russia, the Independent States and Eastern Europe, Vol. 19, No. 1, Spring 2001. 'This innovative, important book is on the cutting edge of comparative education research. Highly recommended for the intelligent general reader as well as advanced students and professionals.' Choice, September 2001, Vol 39. 'The book is beautifully written...a fascinating read.' Colin Richards, St. Martin's College, Journal of Education for Teaching, Vol. 27, 2001 "Robin Alexander's aspirations for this long book are monumental [...] his work contributes to our better understanding of the nature of teaching and learning, and it should be welcomed in that regard." Marlaine Lockheed, Manager, Evaluation Group,

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