Introduction: What We Call Knowledge Is Complicated and Harbors Profound Consequences

This book looks at these issues from numerous perspectives, in the process taking the reader into a world of knowledge production that is rarely discussed on the public stage. Literally, there is no area of Western and increasingly international society that is free from the damage caused by a distorted politics of knowledge. This issue should be on the front burner of our consciousness, a central part of any curriculum, and a subject discussed and debated in the political process. Yet, it seems strange to many individuals to raise these issues, as the purpose of say, becoming educated, is to simply commit knowledge to our mental filing cabinets. The idea that a central purpose of a democratic curriculum might involve exploring where knowledge comes from, the rules of its production, and the ways we can assess its quality and the purposes of its production often doesn’t resonate with individuals living in an era of standardized tests and student/school rankings. Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction explores the diverse and often hidden locales where these knowledge issues operate. In the process we explore alternatives to the “knowledge status quo.” It is a fascinating and complex story that must be understood if just social change is to take place in the coming years.