Rethinking what it means to be a progressive teacher: Key ideas from social realism

Abstract

This paper outlines a recent development in thinking about educational futures from within the sociology of education. This development, which has its roots in the philosophy of critical realism, and the sociology of Durkheim and Bernstein, has very practical implications for educational policy and practice expressed through a broad sociological project termed social realism. Social realism has been adopted by scholars and teachers who are seeking a resolution to the tension in the on-going and tired debates between traditional and progressive traditions in education. Moreover, the approach has as its underlying aim a social justice agenda centred on students' rights of access to knowledge. Social realism provides a powerful argument for enabling the move beyond entrenched positions of established 'traditions' to look afresh at a 'mixed' philosophical and pedagogic approach for education. Moreover, these ideas provide a means to think about and link the process of education philosophically, politically, and at the practical level of the classroom.