ABSTRACT
The fact that schools normally seem neutral and are usually overtly insulated from political processes and ideological argumentation has both positive and negative qualities. The insulation has served to defend the school against whims and fads that can often have a destructive effect upon educational practice. The concept of hegemony implies that fundamental patterns in society are held together by tacit ideological assumptions, rules if people will, which are not usually conscious, as well as economic control and power. These rules serve to organize and legitimate the activity of the many individuals whose interaction makes up a social order. This chapter presents lenses that are alternative to those that normally legitimate many of the activities and encounters curriculists design for students. Without an analysis and greater understanding of these latent assumptions, educators run the very real risk of continuing to let ideological values work through them.
