Dare the School Build a New Social Order? (Arcturus Paperbacks, No. AB 143) [Paperback]

George S. Counts (Author), Wayne J. Urban (Preface)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1978 | ISBN-10: 0809308789 | ISBN-13: 978-0809308781

George S. Counts was a major figure in American education for almost fifty years. Republication of this early (1932) work draws special attention to Counts’s role as a social and political activist. Three particular themes make the book noteworthy because of their importance in Counts’s plan for change as well as for their continuing contem­porary importance: (1) Counts’s crit­icism of child-centered progressives; (2)     the role Counts assigns to teachers in achieving educational and social re­form; and (3) Counts’s idea for the re­form of the American economy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Certain to give hope to all who be­lieve educational reform is still possible.”       —Change

About the Author

Wayne J. Urban is Associate Profes­sor, Department of Educational Foun­dations, Georgia State University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 72 pages
• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press (November 1, 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809308789
• ISBN-13: 978-0809308781
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 4.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #201,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teacher's Role in the "Social Order", December 11, 1999

By 

Andrew N. McKnight - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dare the School Build a New Social Order? (Arcturus Paperbacks, No. AB 143) (Paperback)

Count's brief book on the role of teachers in the shaping of society's values is a must read for future teachers and anyone interested in the social foundations of education. By positing that teacher should champion classroom discourse that focuses on issues of democratic living, he places the emphasis of the curriculum where it should be - issues of social justice. Likewise the implementation of this ethically conscious curriculum is left in the hands of those who, if empowered, could have the greatest impact concerning issues of equity in American society - classroom teachers. The relevance of Count's criticism of racism, rote education and of the dangers of unchecked capitalism are such that this work could have just as easily been written in our present.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Raging Leftist POV, August 3, 2011

By 

BeakerRose (Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dare the School Build a New Social Order? (Arcturus Paperbacks, No. AB 143) (Paperback)

I was disgusted by this book! To suggest that our role as teachers is to build a social order is fundamentally WRONG. I had to read this book and hated ever moment of it. How is it possible that there is a class of people out there who think it is their JOB to value and promote a certain ideology...TEACH, people, that's your JOB!

Oh, and my job too! I am a teacher; a proud teacher who doesn't teach my students WHAT to think, I teach them HOW to think.

You want to raise your blood pressure? Read this book.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, a must read for teachers, December 5, 2002

By 

F. Mercer "bibliophile" (Phoenix, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dare the School Build a New Social Order? (Arcturus Paperbacks, No. AB 143) (Paperback)

I found this book to be inspiring. While I am mired in the realities of grad studies in education--lesson plans, theory, pedagogy, etc.--this book helped remind me of why I wanted to pursue teaching in the first place. Counts calls for teachers to become leaders, not just in their schools or local communities, but as an effective, powerful political force. We are the ones in the trenches, aren't we the experts on education in America? Shouldn't we know how to fix it? Shouldn't we try?

The book is a bit dated--I couldn't help by shake my head in disgust when I read Counts ideas of what a teacher's union could and should do and compared it to my limited experience with those organizations. He presents an idealized movement where social problems that are the root of educational problems are addressed/eliminated, where teachers are respected leaders and seen as the professionals they are, and where our schools, in the end, effectively serve more students than they currently do.