| Abstract: | The democratization of schools is becoming the most embracing question in Australian education. Contrary to popular belief, lay and professional, incidental learning within schools is more potent than the intended cognitive outcomes of learning, that is, the principal function of schooling is latent rather than manifest. The social relations of schooling within a bureaucratic system, together with the general prevalence of a subject-divided curriculum, teacher-focused classrooms, and competitively oriented grading, condition the young as future jobholders and as citizens of a mass-technocratic society. Schools need to be transformed into autonomous lifelong learning centres to foster the correlative, democratic values of individuality and community. |
