Educating for political activity: a younger generational response

Abstract

This paper is a response to Professor Chitty’s Educational Review Guest Lecture article, “Educating for political activity”. I address the three sections of his paper: a global and national‐based politics of war, corporate manipulation and parliamentary scandals. This provides a basis to draw upon empirical material from a recent critical ethnography with which I am involved, which suggests the need to redefine the politics of and within schools. A case study of the schooling experiences of Asian working‐class young men provide insightful narratives about the complexity of educating for political activity. A number of themes are identified including: different social and cultural realities; expanding the concept of politics and a younger generation’s political sensibility.

Keywords:

• politics of war
• corporate manipulation
• parliamentary scandals

Notes

1. For further discussion of the potential limitations around the internal fracturing of politics in relation to gender, sexuality and class, see Mac an Ghaill and Haywood (2007).

2. Thanks to Dave Gillborn.

3. For further discussion of young people, citizens and education, see Holder and Clough (1998), Buckingham (2000) and NFER (2007).

4. See Ranson (1988) for critique of this dominant account.

5. All names are pseudonyms.