Globalization, Technological Change, and Public Education

Globalization, Technological Change, and Public Education documents the dramatic changes taking place in public education through the incorporation of new information technologies. These additions to the public school environment have generally been seen as enabling tools to help students and nations compete in the global marketplace. Yet a closer look at the interplay of technological change and organizational restructuring suggests the emergence of new, less promising power relations. Through detailed ethnographic research and interviews in the Los Angeles public school system, Torin Monahan reveals how, with few exceptions, these changes to the educational process are forcing both students and workers to adapt to systems that are ever more rigid and controlling.

Torin Monahan is Assistant Professor in the Department of Justice and Social Inquiry at Arizona State University

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Politics of Space 2. Just Another Tool? 3. Technological Cultures 4. Fragmented Centralization 5. Policy Games 6. Flexible Governance 7. Future Imaginaries 8. Neoliberal Orders Appendix: Acronyms and Abbreviations Endnotes References