I’m currently attending a conference in Istanbul, Turkey – the 14th World Congress of Comparative Education Societies (www.wcces2010.org).

Yesterday, Michael Apple gave a keynote speech (1 of 3) – his title: Power, Knowledge & Education Reform. Speaking about education as a political act, he detailed what he believes to be the existing “power alliance” in education today. In his estimation this includes four groups: 1) neoliberals, 2) neoconservatives, 3) “authoritarian populists”, and 4) professional & managerial new middle class.

Outlining these groups in concrete detail (which I won’t go into here), he illustrated the ways in which they depend on one another and interact with each other.. even if they don’t want to. One major question is: whose voices are not heard in the current structure? Many things are taken into consideration: class systems, traditions, official knowledge, gender, agendas, priorities, hidden curriculum. In this case, who is to say what is official or otherwise? It encourages me to think (and rethink) about existing knowledge and question it, continuously.

Apple charged the group to “be the documentarian” – record your experiences and disseminate the knowledge. Acknowledgement of education as a political act serves as a framework going forward – speaking the truth about your experiences is both necessary and valuable.

PS… Istanbul is beautiful