Apple’s Contributions to Curriculum Studies and Emancipatory Education

• In Event: Celebrating Five Decades of Curriculum Theorizing and Praxis: The Enduring Impact of Michael Apple’s Contributions

Abstract

This presentation explores the profound contributions of Apple’s work to curriculum studies and emancipatory education. Through his prolific research output, collaborations, transformative mentorship, and dedication to cross-cultural perspectives, Apple’s ideas have left an indelible mark on education.

Apple’s work in curriculum studies has been groundbreaking, challenging conventional paradigms and advocating for more inclusive and socially just curricular practices. He has explored foundational issues that are essential for a comprehensive understanding of curriculum theory, policy, and practice. These include challenging dominant ideological forms, disrupting classed, gendered, and raced relations of dominance, advocating for truly democratic curriculum and teaching, and promoting critical research on these crucial matters. By addressing these issues, Apple has paved the way for transformative educational practices and policy interventions aimed at dismantling systemic injustices. Apple’s insights have urged educators to examine critically the hidden agendas and power structures embedded within curriculum and educational practices. Furthermore, he advocates for an education that empowers students to question social norms, challenge oppressive systems, and actively participate in shaping a more equitable society. Through his work, he has encouraged educators to move beyond mere transmission of knowledge to fostering critical consciousness and active engagement among students.

As a mentor, Michael Apple has played a crucial role in supporting scholars committed to emancipatory research in education. His guidance and support have fostered the development of researchers who strive to challenge the status quo and advocate for equitable and just educational research and practices. Moreover, his theory of cultural incorporation, building upon Antonio Gramsci’s notion of hegemony and Raymond Williams’ conception of selective tradition, has inspired scholars to study how ruling powers consolidate their authority by incorporating and then reshaping the culture of subordinated groups. His guidance has been instrumental in mentoring his students in developing the skills necessary to investigate the evolution of pedagogic practices and institutions over time, as well as to examine the peculiarities of school systems in different sociopolitical settings through comparative analysis. Additionally, for scholars coming from and working within non-Western contexts, Apple has been a driving force behind the task of de-centering the West in their own research within the fields of curriculum studies and sociology of education. He reminds these scholars that critical education studies originated in western societies, and as such, its theories are inevitably circumscribed by specific sociohistorical conditions. He pushed them to explore historical cases of non-western societies and use them to interrogate, de-universalize, and reformulate existing theories, in explaining cross-societal variations in education and power.

Through his mentorship, which goes beyond his home institution at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Apple has inspired the next generation of scholars and educators to critically examine dominant educational paradigms and envision alternatives that empower marginalized communities. By working with diverse institutions, organizations, and community groups worldwide, Apple’s ideas and research impact extends beyond academia, as his collaborative efforts have bridged the gap between different cultures and societies.

Authors

• William H. Schubert, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Quentin Wheeler-Bell, Indiana University

• Ting-Hong Wong, Academia Sinica

• Kenneth Teitelbaum, University of North Carolina - Wilmington