ABSTRACT
The perspective on schools as sites of moral regulation has opened up a broader and multidimensional view on the history of education. Schools of the past have been described as silent shells of administrative authority, the passive recipients of policies and programs of school reformers, government officials, and educational professionals. Moral regulation draws attention to how state formation is not simply about laws, roads, taxes, administration, government buildings, and so forth. It involves also, and centrally, the shaping and reshaping of political identities—often labeled as civics—and the reformation of individuals’ very conception of their role in society. Schooling is rich with personal dynamics, social relations, and individual perceptions; schooling is a fluid and complex phenomenon that bleeds inside people’s lives, affecting their sense of self and shaping both their material opportunities for the future and their personal potential.
