KeziaStephanie

EDUC203IntroductiontoEducation
Dr.BoermanCornell
November9,2015
MichaelApple
MichaelAppleisaleadingeducationaltheoristwhospecializesontheinteraction
betweenpolitics,educationandcurriculum.HeisalsocurrentlytheJohnBascomProfessor
ofCurriculumandInstructionandEducationalPolicyStudiesinUniversityofWisconsinin
Madison.Applehasalsoreceivedhonorarydoctoratesfromvariousuniversitiesaroundthe
world such as Canada, Argentina, England and China. With such outstanding accolades,
Appleactuallycamefromveryinterestingbeginnings.
Applewasbornintoafamilywithtwoverycontrastingidealogies.Hismotherwasa
Russianimmigrantwithacommunistbackground.Hisfather,ontheotherhand,wasaprinter
andasocialist.Thus,hegrewupinahouseholdthatwasaggressivelysecularanddistrustful
towards rightist religious movements. His parents was also very active in working with
CongressofRacialEquality(CORE),withhismotherspecificallybeingoneofthefounding
membersofthePatersonchapter,andwasanactivistinthepoorandBlackcommunities
there.Therefore,Applewassubjectedtothestruggleovereducationandpowersincehewas
young.HisparentswereelatedwhentheyfoundoutApplewantedtobeateacherasitwas
honoringthefamilyinclassterms,politicaltermsandinintellectualterms,asteachingwas
aboutcriticalliteracy,aboutgivingpeoplepowertounderstandtheworldandmaybeto
changeit(Peters108).
HebecameateacherwhenNewJerseywasfacingashortageofteachers,especially
in areas of minority students (Torres, Apple, and Morrow 273). There was really low

standardsinbeingateacherandhewasconstantlybeingplacedinAfricanAmericanand
Hispaniccommunitiesandbecameincrediblypoliticized.Thoughhewasntreallytrainedas
a teacher, he described himself as being deeply involved in political, cultural and
educationalstrugglesinthesouthintheU.S.(Torres,AppleandMorrow274).Thiscaused
himtobesubjectedtopoliticsofliteracyandpoliticsofaccessearlyonandthuspropelled
himtoviewingeducationinapoliticalperspective.
When he became a teacher, Apple became increasingly angry with what he was
seeing schools were failing, values and ideas from the minority life and history were
noticably absent, racial politics influencing everything that he do. He believed that
curriculumistobeproducedoutofthecultural,politicalandeconomicconflicts,tension
andcompromisesthatorganizeanddisorganizepeople(Apple1993).Tohaveschoolsthat
purposefullyneglectandignoreculturalideasfromtheseminoritiesanddecidetodefinea
specificgroupsknowledgeasofficialknowledgeindicatesexactlywhichgrouphaspowerin
thesociety(Apple1993).ThiscouldbeseeninexamplessuchastheracistphrasingofThe
DarkAgesinsteadofTheAgeofAfricanandAsianAscendancy.Thisimpliesthatall
studentsaretaughthowaspecificgroupofpeopleviewstheworld.
Each group of people has an agenda on how they want education to be and in
consequence,howthatwouldbestbenefitthem.Theycompetewitheachotherontheirideas
of legitimateknowledge andwhatcountsasgoodteachingandlearning,andwhatisa
just society (Apple 2003). There are authoritarian populists who are very religiously
conservative,believingintraditionalideassuchasmenindominantpositionsofauthority
andthatreligiousauthorityshouldsupercedeanyotherauthority.Problemsmayariseifthey
are inpower,suchas purgingcurriculum ofanysociallyliberal positions andofany
elementsthatarenotbiblicallybased(Apple2001).Theyhavebeenquiteeffective,as

curriculahastriedtobemoreconservativeandteachershaveselfcensoredthemselvesin
fearsofconflictoroffendingthisgroup.
Thentherearetheneoliberalswhobelievesthateducationalpolicyshouldrevolve
aroundtheeconomy.Studentsaredrivenbyperformanceobjectivesandaretrainedtofulfill
labor needs. Neoconservatives on the other hand, are a return to a totally romanticized
versionofschoolingwithateacherdominated,highstatusknowledgeconcept.Eitherway,
eachgrouphastheirownagendaandAppleremindsustobewaryonhowtheirowngoals
couldaffecthowwedevelopcurriculum.
Thus,Appleiscriticaloverideasofnationalcurriculumsasitwoulddefinitelybring
inachievementtesting.Thesetestswouldrequireteachingofrigorouscontentandteachers
wouldneedtodeepentheirknowledgeofacademicsubjectsandchangetheirconceptionsto
adjustaccordingly.Thiscontenthowever,shouldbeputintoquestionastowhodetermines
whatcountsasknowledge,thewaysinwhichitisorganized,whoisempoweredtoteachit,
whatcountsasanappropriatedisplayofhavinglearneditandjustascriticallywhois
allowedtoaskandanswerallofthesequestions(Apple1993).Furthermore,hebelievedthat
the only reason fora national curriculum would justbe a debate onwhat knowledge is
importantateverylevelfromlocalschoolstocitiestostatestoregions(Apple2001).For
groupstodebateonwhichknowledgeismoreimportantthantheotherwouldultimately
resultinalienationanddiscriminationofspecificgroupsknowledge.
Thiswouldcreateproblemsasthentheeconomicandculturalelitewoulddominate
andpushesdownthepoorandtheminorityevenfurther.Thenationalexaminationsresults
thencouldbeeasilypredicted,andcouldbeusedtojustifycostcutting.Thiswouldleadtoan
increaseinprivatizationofschoolsandaweakeningofpublicschools.Thericherparents
wouldrefusetopaytaxessupportingthepoorcommunitiesandmovechildrenoutofthe

underfundedpublicschoolstoprivateschools(Apple2001).Thiswouldthenincreasethe
educationgapbetweentherichandthepoor,ultimatelymakingthepoor,poorerandtherich,
richer.
Applebelievesthatteachingandlearningshouldbemoreactiveandinventiveand
that students, teachers and administrators should be more thoughtful, collaborative and
participatory.Textbooksshouldbeavoidedasitisstultifying,boringanduncriticalandthat
again,textbooksarestandardizedandmaycontainmaterialthatalienatesknowledgefrom
other culture. Apple believes in negotiated curriculum which is built byteachers and
students in direct response to local community problems (Apple 2001). This creates a
dynamicprocessthatisconstantlychangingandnonconservative.
Conclusively,Applepointsoutthatthereisasignificantpowerstruggleinthedebate
ofwhattosetinourcurriculums.Thisdoesnotmeanthatweshouldnothaveanycurriculum
orstandardizedcurriculumandtesting,butthatweneedtobewaryofwhatwechooseto
includeandexcludeandhowthatreflectsinourinclusionofdiversepeoplegroups.Apple
believesinadynamicnegotiatedcurriculumthatisrelatabletothestudentsandencourages
themtodiscoverandapplytheirknowledgetotheirownenvironment.

WORKSCITED
Apple,MichaelW.'Competition,Knowledge,AndTheLossOfEducationalVision'.
PhilosophyofMusicEducationReview11.1(2003):322.Web.
Apple,MichaelW."EducationalandCurricularRestructuringandtheNeoliberalandNeo
conservativeAgendas:InterviewwithMichaelApple."InterviewbyMichaelF.
Shaughnessy,KathyPeca,andJannaSiegel.CurriculoSemFronteiras2001:IXxvi.
Web.4Nov.2015.
<http://www.curriculosemfronteiras.org/vol1iss1articles/appleeng.pdf>.
Apple,MichaelW.'THEPOLITICSOFOFFICIALKNOWLEDGE:DoesANational
CurriculumMakeSense?'.Discourse:StudiesintheCulturalPoliticsofEducation
14.1(1993):116.Web.
Peters,MichaelA.'InterviewWithMichaelApple:TheBiographyOfAPublicIntellectual'.
OpenReviewofEducationalResearch2.1(2015):105117.Web.3Nov.2015.
Torres,CarlosA.,MichaelW.Apple,andRaymondA.Morrow.Education,Power,And
PersonalBiography.NewYork:Routledge,1998.Print.