Splitting hairs : a sociological approach to educational knowledge

This thesis represents a series of investigations into the sociological study of symbolic forms. It seeks to address the question as to whether, in the informational or knowledge society of late modernity, all symbolic forms are necessarily isomorphic, or whether they will correspond with the new form of the division of labour and will therefore differ in form and social distribution. The symbolic forms examined here are those integrally involved in the production and reproduction of educational knowledge, that is, the curriculum, pedagogy, and educational research for policy. In each of the chapters of the thesis a debate is staged between the former and the latter position, and each chapter attempts to show that the former position, in order to make the argument, collapses certain distinctions which I argue are not only essential to make, but more importantly, whose collapse will have unfortunate and sometimes pernicious effects especially for learners of the working class. This thesis is thus a series of explorations into the need for certain distinctions, into the nature of symbolic distinction; that is, into the nature and need of the boundary.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

School of Education

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Muller, Johan Pieter

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Snyman, Henning
• Ensor, Paula

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11214

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/11214