Derry, J; (2017) What is educationally worthwhile knowledge? Revisiting the case for powerful knowledge. In: Guile, D and Lambert, D and Reiss, M, (eds.) Sociology, Curriculum Studies and Professional Knowledge: New Perspectives on the Work of Michael Young. Routledge: London, UK.

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Abstract

For all the talk of ‘the Knowledge Age’, the nature of knowledge in the context of formal education remains a neglected area. Michael Young is one of few sociologists who responds to this neglect and puts the question of knowledge squarely back into discussions of why formal education matters. In the context of ongoing disputes around the curriculum, concerned with factual knowledge and access to multiple ways of meaning making as means for individual realisation, attention to the question of knowledge is ever more urgent. Young asks, “What is educationally worthwhile knowledge?” His response goes to the heart of what is distinctive about humans. Drawing on the work of Durkheim and Vygotsky, Young provides a rich account of ‘powerful knowledge’. This chapter combines his insights with developments in contemporary philosophy. It aims to respond to misconstrued readings of Young’s work which takes his emphasis on ‘powerful knowledge’ to be at odds with a concern for pedagogy and human flourishing.

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