The Anthropology of Education: Classic Readings

This unique anthology outlines and reconsiders the disciplinary origins of the anthropology of education. The book is a student-oriented compilation of classic articles written by anthropologists who helped pioneer the field some fifty years ago. Their names constitute a veritable who's who in cultural anthropology: Kluckhohn, Linton, Mead, Benedict, and Redfield to name a few who, while accomplished in the general area of cultural anthropology, nevertheless gave specific attention to the developing area of the anthropology of education. Also included in the collection are contemporary classics by non-anthropologists such as Paulo Freire, James Baldwin, and Jonathan Kozol who tackle more recent issues facing education and educators. The readings are termed classic because, collectively, they represent the best of that to which today's students of the anthropology of education should be exposed for a first-rate introduction to the field. However, despite their relevance and importance, many of these articles are out-of-print, difficult to find, or otherwise unavailable. Still, there is an abiding need for the insights they provide. The need for the thinking of these pioneers is as great today, arguably greater, than when the articles were written. Their contributions and insights must not succumb to the awful tendency of our times for scholarship to be both instant and disposable.