ABSTRACT
A humanities approach to the study of the sociocultural world of education will center on texts. It examines the forces related to the production of texts as well as the consumption or use of texts. It also examines the texts themselves using techniques of analysis, interpretation, and critique that permit us a deeper appreciation of the meaning and implications of various texts about education in today's world. Education includes learning how to participate in our community; education must reflect the culture of the community. Historically, two broadly different ideas of culture have predominated. The older concept of culture derives from the same root as the word "cultivate" and implies the improvement of a person through the careful "planting" of ideas, dispositions, and skills. To be cultured has traditionally meant to be educated in the finer things of life, such as art, literature, philosophy, and etiquette.
