Curriculum and the Labor Process

7/29/2019 Curriculum and the Labor Process

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Curriculum and the Labor Process: The Logic of Technical ControlAuthor(s): Michael W. AppleReviewed work(s):Source: Social Text, No. 5 (Spring, 1982), pp. 108-125Published by: Duke University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/466338 .

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Curriculumnd the LaborProcess:The LogicofTechnical ontrolMICHAELW. APPLE

INTRODUCTIONIt is becoming ery lear that hepace of state nd industrialntrusionnto ducation s

increasing.' eitherideoftheAtlantic asbeen mmuneothe ressuresobringchoolsmoreclosely nto ine with economicneeds." In England heGreatDebate and theGreenPaper-both ofwhichwere art f strategyohavegovernmentalducationalolicy romlementaryschools o universitiesorrespond ore losely othe deological nd"manpower" equire-mentsf ndustry-stands remarkabletatementsothe bilityfcapitalntimes f conomiccrisis omarshalltsforces. n theUnited tates,where overnmentalolicies remorehighlymediatedya differentrticulationetweenhe tate, he conomy,ndschools, hiskind fpressurexistsas well. Often heworkingsf industryre ust as visible. Chairsof FreeEnterpriseevoted o economic ducation re beingfounded t universitieshroughouthenation.Programs-such s theRyerson lan-have been establishedysome of themajorcorporationso haveteachers orkwith orporate anagementuringhe ummerothat heymay earn the true toryf Americanusinessnd . . carryhemessage o theirtudentsndtheir ellow eachers."2The movemento"teachfor heneeds f ndustry"asgrown apidlyenough orequire clearing ouse, ppropriatelyamed he nstituteorConstructiveapital-ism, stablishedt theUniversityf Texastomakematerialmore vailable.3We shouldnotminimize he mportancef suchattemptst influencingeachersndstu-dents.However, ykeepingurfocus nly n these vert ffortstbringingchoolpolicy ndcurriculumnto loser orrespondenceith ndustrialeeds nd deologies, emayneglect hatishappeninghatmay e ust s powerfult the evel fday-to-daychool ractice.nessence,want o rgue hatdeologiesrenot nly lobal ets f nterests,hingsimposed"by negroup

MICHAEL W.APPLEs professorfCurriculumnd nstructionn he chool fEducation,heUniversityfWisconsin-Madison.He isthe uthorfCurriculumnd deologynd,most ecentlyulture, lassand the tate, oth ublished yRoutledgendKeganPane.I This ssay xpandsn commentsublishedn he ournalf conomic nd ndustrialemocracy, ugust 981. t sbased on a larger nalysisnMichaelW. Apple,Culture, lass and theState:Reproductionnd ContradictionnEducationBoston:RoutledgendKeganPaul, 1982). I would ike othank ean renkman, ichaelOlneck, hilipWexler, nd GeoffWhittyor heirommentsnd criticismsnprevious rafts.2 "TheRyersonlan:ATeacherWork earn rogram," hicago:Joseph. Ryersonnd on, nc.,nodate. wish othank inda McNeil forbringinghismaterialomy ttention.3 See, for xample,Diane Downing, Soft Choices:TeachingMaterials orTeaching reeEnterprise," ustin,Texas:The InstituteorConstructiveapitalism, heUniversityfTexas, 1979,mimeo.

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CurriculumndLabor 109on another. heyare embodiedn our common ensemeaningsndpractice.4fwe want ounderstanddeologytwork n chools,we shouldook s much tthe oncretef lementsay-to-dayurricularndpedagogicife satthe tatementsndplans f pokespersonsf he tate rindustry.5I am not mplyinghat he evelofpracticen schools s fundamentallyontrollednsomemechanistic ay by private nterprise. s an aspectof thestate, he school mediates ndtransformsn array feconomic, olitical,nd cultural ressuresromompetinglassesandclass segments.6et we tend oforgethat hisdoes notmean hat he ogics,discourses,rmodes fcontrol fcapitalwillnothave n ncreasingmpactneverydayifenour ducationalinstitutions,speciallyntimes f "the fiscal risis fthe tate."'This mpact,learly isiblentheUnited tatesthought sbecomingmore revalentnEurope ndLatinAmerica swell), sespeciallyvidentncurriculum,nthe ctualmaterialhat tudentsnd teachersnteract ith.Inthis ssay, willbeparticularlynterestedncurricularform,ot urricularontent.Myfocuswillnotbe on what s actuallyaught,uton themannernwhicht s organized. s anumber f Marxist ulturalnalysts aveargued, heworkingsfideology an be seen mostimpressivelyt the evel of form s well as what heform as in it.8In order o understandartof what s occurringn the school and the deological ndeconomic ressures eingplaced upon t,we need to refer o certainongterm rendsnthecapital ccumulationrocess nd see itsrelationochangesnthe abor rocess.Recentlyhesetrends ave ntensifiedndhavehada rathermajormpact n a varietyfareasof social ife.Among hese rendswe can identifyertain endenciesuch s:

the oncentrationnd entralizationf apitals;he xpansionf abourrocesseshat rebased nproduction-lineechnologiesnd ormsf ontrol;he ontinuingeclinef heavyndustry"nd hemovementfcapitalntomodemlighter"ormsfproduction,ost otablyheproductionfconsumerurables;ndmajorhiftsn he ompositionf abourower-theecularendencyo de-skilling,"he eparationf"conception"romexecution"nd he reationfnew echnicalndcontrolkills,he hiftf abour ut fdirectroductionndntoirculationnd istribution,nd heexpansionf abour ithinhe tate.94 RaymondWilliams,MarxismndLiteratureNewYork:Oxford niversityress,1977)and MichaelW. Apple,Ideology ndCurriculumBoston:RoutledgendKeganPaul, 1979).- This s not odeny he mportancefanalyzingfficial ocuments,speciallyhose roduced ythe tate. or anexcellentxample f he ower fdiscoursenalysis,ornstance,nunpackinghat hese ocuments ean nddo,seeJames onald,"GreenPaper:Noiseofa Crisis,"ScreenEducation 0 (Spring 979), 13-49.6 Fora more xtensive iscussion fthis, ee MichaelW. Apple,Culture, lass and the tate:ReproductionndContradictionnEducationBoston:RoutledgendKeganPaul, 1982). Furthernalyses f therelationshipetweeneducation,he tate, nd lassdynamicsan befoundnRoger ale, "Education nd heCapitalisttate: ontributionsandContradictions"ndMartin arnoy,Education, conomynd he tate,"both fwhich re nMichaelW.Apple,ed.CulturalndEconomic eproductionnEducation: ssaysonClass, deologynd the tateBoston:RoutledgendKeganPaul, 1981).7 James 'Connor,TheFiscal Crisisofthe tate NewYork:St. Martin's ress, 1973).8 See for xample, redric ameson, arxismnd Form Princeton:rincetonniversityress,1971)and MichaelW. Apple,"Ideology ndForm nCurriculumvaluation,"nGeorgeWillis, d. QualitativevaluationBerkeley:McCutchanublishingorp., 1978),pp. 495-521.9John larke, CapitalandCulture: he Post WarWorking lassRevisited,"nJohn larke,Chas CritcherndRichard ohnson,ds.Workinglass Culture: tudiesnHistoryndTheoryLondon:Hutchinson,979),p. 239. SeealsoHarry raverman,aborandMonopoly apital NewYork:MonthlyeviewPress,1974) ndMichaelBurawoy,"Toward Marxist heoryf theLaborProcess:BravermanndBeyond,"Politics ndSociety (number-4 1979),247-312.



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110 AppleThe developmentf newforms f control, heprocessofdeskilling,heseparationfconceptionromxecution,re not imitedofactoriesnd offices. hesetendenciesntrudemore ndmore nto nstitutionsike he chool. n order ounpackhis,weshallhave o xamine

thenaturefthe ogicofcorporateeskillingnd control.DESKILLING AND RESKILLING

Incorporateroduction,irmsuy he apacityne hastodoworknd, bviously, ill ftenseek oexpandhe xtractionf hatabor omaketmore roductive.heresanoppositeide othis.With he urchasef abor ower oesthe right" ostipulatewithinertainimits) ow tis to be used,withoutoomuch nterferencerparticipationyworkersn the onceptionndplanningfthework.o10ow thishas beenaccomplishedasnot tayed he ame,ofcourse.Empirically,here as beena changingogicof control.Threekinds fcontrol avebeenemployedohelp xtractmorework-simple, echnical,andbureaucratic.imple ontrols exactlyhat, implyellingomeone hat ouhavedecidedwhat hould oonandtheyhould ollow r else. Technicalontrolsre ess obvious.They recontrolsmbeddedn the hysicaltructurefyourob. A goodexamples the seofnumericalcontrolechnologyn themachinendustry,here workernsertscard nto machinend tdirectshepace and skill evel of theoperation. hus,theworkers meant obe simplynattendanto themachinetself.And,finally,ureaucraticontrolignifies social structurewhere ontrols less visible ince heprinciplesfcontrolreembodied ithinhehierarchicalsocialrelationsftheworkplace.mpersonalndbureaucraticules oncerninghe irectionfone'swork, heproceduresor valuating erformance,nd sanctionsndrewards re dictatedbyofficiallypproved olicy."I achofthesemodes fcontrol asgrownnsophisticationvertheyears, houghimple ontrol as tendedobecomeess mportants the ize andcomplexityofproductionas increased.The ongperiod fexperimentationy ndustrynthemost uccessfulmodes fcontrollingproductionas ed to a numberf conclusions. ather han imple ontrolpenlyxercized ysupervisorsr persons n authorityand henceopento subversiony blue or white ollarworkers),ower ouldbe"made nvisible" y ncorporatingt nto he erytructuref heworkitself. hishas meant hefollowing hings. hecontrolmust ome fromwhat eemsto be alegitimateverall tructure.tmust e concerned ith he ctualwork,notbasedonfeaturesextraneouso t likefavoritismnd o on). Perhapsmostmportantly,heob, theprocess, ndtheproducthouldbe defineds preciselys possible n thebasisofmanagement's,ot heworker's,ontrolver he pecialized nowledgeeeded ocarryt ut.12Thisoften ntailedhedevelopmentftechnicalontrol.Technical ontrolnddeskillingend ogohand nhand.Deskillingspart fa longprocessin whichabor sdivided ndthen edividedo ncrease roductivity,o reduce inefficiency,"and tocontrol oth he ost and the mpact f abor. tusually as involvedaking elativelycomplexobs mostobs aremuchmore omplexndrequiremore ecision-makinghan eoplegivethem redit or),obs which equire o small mountf skill nddecision-making,ndbreakinghem own nto pecifiedctionswith pecifiedesults o that ess skilled ndcostly

10 Richard dwards, ontestederrain: heTransformationf heWorkplacen theTwentiethenturyNewYork:Basic Books,1979),p. 17." Ibid,pp. 19-21.12 Ibid,p. 110.



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Curriculumnd Labor 111personnelanbeusedor othathe ontrol fwork aceand utcomesenhanced. heassemblyline s,ofcourse, neofthe rchetypicalxamples fthis rocess.At tsbeginnings,eskillingtended o involve echniquesuchas Taylorismnd various ime nd motion tudies. houghthese trategiesor hedivisionndcontrol f aborwere ess than otallyuccessfuland n factoften eneratedsignificantmount fresistancendconflict),'3hey id ucceednhelpingolegitimatestyle fcontrol ased nlargepart ndeskilling.One ofthemore ffectivetrategiesas beenthe ncorporationf controlnto heactualproductiverocesstself.Machinerynfactoriessnowoften esignedo that hemachinistscalledupontodo littlemore han oad andunload hemachine.n offices,wordprocessingtechnologys employedoreduce abor osts nd deskillwomenworkers.hus,managementattemptso control oth he aceoftheworknd he kills equired,omore ffectivelyncreasetheir rofitmarginsrproductivity.nce again,as thehistoryf formal ndinformalaborresistanceocuments,his ind f trategy-theuildingf ontrolsnto he erywarp ndwoofof theproduction rocess-has been contested.'4 owever, hegrowing ophisticationymanagementnd state ureaucratsn theuse of technicalontrol roceduress apparent.'5Whenobs aredeskilled,heknowledgehat nceaccompaniedhem, nowledgehatwascontrollednd used by workers n carryingut their ay-to-dayives on theirobs, goessomewhere. anagementttemptswith aryingegrees fsuccess) oaccumulatendcontrolthis ssemblagef kills ndknowledge.tattempts,nother ords,o eparateonceptionromexecution. he control fknowledgenablesmanagementoplan;theworkerhould deallymerely arryhese lans uttothe pecifications,nd at thepace,setbypeople wayfromheactualpoint fproduction.Butdeskillings accompanied ysomethinglse, whatmight e calledreskilling. ewtechniquesrerequiredorunnewmachines; ewoccupationsre createds the edivisionflaborgoes on. Fewer skilled raftspersonsreneeded nd their reviousargenumbersrereplaced ya smaller umberf technicians ith ifferentkillswhooversee hemachinery.Thisprocess fdeskillingndreskillingsusually pread utover he andscape f neconomyso it sratherifficultotrace ut he elationships.t snot ftenhat ou ansee tgoing natalevelofspecificityhatmakes tclear, incewhile negroupsbeing eskilled notherroup,often eparated ytime ndgeography,s beingreskilled.However, ne particularnstitu-tion-the chool-provides nexceptionalmicrocosmor eeing hese inds fmechanismsfcontrolnoperation. iven he elativelyutonomous ature fteachingonecanusually loseone's door andnotbe disturbed)ndgiven he nternalistoryf thekinds f controlntheinstitutionpaternalistictylesf dministration,ftenntheU.S. based ngenderelations),heschoolhas beenpartiallyesistanto technicalndbureaucraticontrol,t the evelofactualpractice, ntil elativelyecently.his "relativeutonomy"may ebreakingown oday.16 orjustas theeverydayiscourse ndpatternsf interactionnthefamilyndin the media re

'3 See DavidNoble,America y Design:Science,TechnologyndtheRiseofCorporate apitalismNewYork:Alfred . Knopf, 977) ndBurawoy,p. cit. have eviewed gooddeal of he iteraturenresistancettheworkplaceinApple,Culture, lass andthe tate,op. cit.,especially hapter .'4 StanleyAronowitz,Marx,BravermanndtheLogicofCapital,"The nsurgentociologist (Fall 1978),126-146.15 Edwards,p. cit.16Dale, op. cit.



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112 Appleincreasinglyeing ubtlyransformedythe ogic ndcontradictionsfdominantdeologies,'7so too sthe chool sitewhere hese ubtledeologicalransformationsccur.As weshall ee,these ogicsofcontrol an havea ratherrofoundmpact nday-to-daychool ife.CONTROLLINGCURRICULARFORM

The bestexamples f the encroachmentftechnicalontrol roceduresre foundntheexceptionallyapidgrowthntheuse ofprepackagedetsof curricular aterials.t is nearlyimpossible ow towalk nto n Americanlassroom, or nstance, ithouteeingboxesuponboxes ofscience, ocialstudies,mathematics,ndreadingmaterials"systems," s they resometimesalled) lining heshelves nd in use.'" A schoolsystem urchases total et ofstandardized aterial,sually ne which ncludestatementsfobjectives,ll of the urricularcontentndmaterialeeded, respecifiedeacherctions nd ppropriatetudentesponses,nddiagnosticndachievementests oordinated ith hesystem.Usually, hese estshavethecurricularnowledgereduced"to"appropriate"ehaviorsnd kills. his mphasisnskillswillbecomeratherignificantater n inmydiscussion.Letmegiveoneexample, ctuallyaken romne ofthe etterfthewidely sedcurricularsystems,fthe numerousetsofmaterialshat rebecominghe tandard are nAmericanelementarychools. t staken rom oduleOneofScience:AProcessApproach. he notion fmodule s importantere. The materials prepackagednto ardboard oxes with ttractivecolors. t sdivided nto 05separatemodules,achofwhichncludes set fpregivenonceptstoteach.Thematerialpecifiesll ofthegoals. It includesverythingteacher needs" toteach, as the edagogical teps teachermust ake oreach hese oals lready uiltn, ndhasthe valuationmechanismsuilt nto t as well. But that s not ll. Notonlydoes tprespecifynearly ll a teacherhouldknow, ay, anddo, but f oftenaysout theappropriatetudentresponseso these lementss well.To make thisclear,here s one sequencetakenfrom he materialwhich ays outtheinstructionalrocedure,tudentesponse,nd evaluativectivity.t concernsolors.

Aseach hild rrivest chool,astenred, ellow,rblue aperectanglen he hild's hirtrdress.. Commentn he olor f he apernd sk he hild o ay he amef he olor e r he swearing..Put hirtyellow,ed,nd lue aper quaresn large ag r mall ox. how hehildrenhreepaper lates;nemarkeded, neyellow,nd neblue.SeeMaterialsoruggestionsnmarking.)These olorshouldloselymatchhosen he ag.Ask hehildreno ome orward,fewt time,and et ach hild ake ne quareromhe ag nd lacet n he latemarkedithhematchingolor.[Apicturef his ithchild ickingut aperrombox nd uttingt n plates nsertederen hematerialo thato eacher ill et he rocedurerong.]s ach hild akes coloredquare,skhimtoname he olor f hatquare.fthe hild esitates,ametfor im.'9~7See ToddGitlin, Television's creens:HegemonynTransition,"nApple, d. Culturalnd Economic epro-duction n Education, p. cit., and Todd Gitlin, Prime Time Ideology:The Hegemonic rocess n TelevisionEntertainment,"ocialProblems 6 (February979),251-266. PhilipWexler'swork n the commodification"fintimateocialrelationss importantere. ee especially isCritical ocialPsychologyBoston:RoutledgendKeganPaul,inpress).18This snot nly nAmericanhenomenon.heforeignubsidiariesf he ompanies hopublishhesend imilarmaterialsre ranslatingndmarketingheir roductsn the hird orld nd lsewhere.nmanyways t s similar o theculturalmperialismfWaltDisneyProductions.ee, for xample,ArielDorfmanndArmand attelart,owtoReadDonald Duck NewYork: nternationaleneral ditions, 975).19 cience .. A ProcessApproachI, Instructionalooklet:ModuleOne Lexington: inn ndCo., 1974),pp.3-4.



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Curriculumnd Labor 113Inthe urricular aterial,verythingxcept hebagorboxis included-all theplates ndcolored aper.Thecost s $14.00 for heplanand thepaper.I noted hat ot nlywere he urricularndpedagogicallementsrespecified,ut llother

aspects fteachers' ctionswere ncluded s well.Thus, nthe Appraisal"ofthismodule, heteachers told o:Ask ach f ix hildrenobringbox f rayonsnd it ogether...Ask ach hildopointohisred rayonhen ou ay heword ed.Repeathis orll ix olors. sk ach hild omatchne rayonwith ne rticlef lothinghatomeonelse swearing.. Beforeach roupf hildreneaves heactivity,sk ach hildndividuallyo namendpointothe ed, lue, ndyellow rayon.20

Evenwithhismount fguidance,t sstill essential" hatwe know or achchildwhetherhe orshe has reached he ppropriatekill evel.Thus, s thefinal lement,hematerial ascompetency easuresuilt nto t. Here he pecificationeachestsmost xact oint, ivingheteacher he xactwordsheorsheshoulduse:Task1: Show he hild yellowube nd sk,Whats the olor fthis ube?This sdonefor ach color.Then, fterrrangingrange, reen,ndpurpleubes n frontfachild, hematerialoeson:Task : Say,Putyour ingern the rangeube.Task : Say,Putyour ingernthe reenube.Task : Say,Putyour ingern the urpleube.21I havegoneonat ength ere o that oucanget picturefthe xtento which echnicalcontrol nters ntothe ife of the school. Little n whatmight e metaphoricallyalled the"production rocess" is left o chance. In manyways,it can be considered picture f

deskilling.Mypointsnot oargue gainsthe pecificurricularrpedagogicalontentfthis ind fmaterial,houghnanalysis fthis ertainlyould e nteresting.22ather,t s tohaveusfocusontheformtself.What s this oing? hegoals,theprocess, he utcome,ndthe valuativecriteriaor ssessinghemredefinedspreciselyspossible ypeople xternalothe ituation.Inthe ompetency easure tthe ndofthemodule,his xtends othe pecificationfeven heexactwords he eachers tosay.Theprocess fdeskillings also at workhere.Skills hat eachers sed toneed,thatweredeemed ssential o the craft fworking ith hildren-such s curriculumeliberationndplanning,esigningeachingnd curriculartrategiesor pecific roupsnd ndividuals asedon intimatenowledgefthesepeople-are no longer s necessary.With he arge nflux fprepackaged aterial,lannings separatedromxecution. heplanningnvolvesheproduc-tion fthe ules or seofthematerialnd hematerialtself. he executions carried utby heteacher.n theprocess,whatwerepreviouslyonsidered aluable kills lowly trophyecausethey re ess often equired.2320 Ibid, . 7.21 Ibid.22 See, for xample,my nalysis fscience urriculanApple, deologyndCurriculum,p. cit.23 I do notmean oromanticizehe ast,however.Many eachersndoubtedlyimplyollowed he extbooksefore.However,he evelofspecificitynd he ntegrationfcurricular,edagogical,nd valuativespects fclassroomifeinto nesystemandthe eductivemphasisncompetencyndbehaviors)smarkedlyifferent.he use of he ystembringswith t muchmore echnical ontrol fevery spect fteachinghan reviousext-boundurricula. bviously,some eachers illnot ollow he ystem'sules.Given he evel f ntegration,hough,twillbe muchmore ifficulto



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114 AppleButwhat bout he lementfreskillinghichsessentialounderstandingow deologicalforms an penetrateo the heart f institutionsike the school?Unlike heeconomywheredeskillingndreskillingre notusually ound peratingtoneandthe amemoment ith ne

and the samepeople, n theschool this eemstobe exactly hecase. As theproceduresftechnicalontrolnternto he chool nthe uise fpre-designedurricular/teaching/evaluation"systems," eachers rebeing eskilled. ettheyre alsobeing eskilledna way hatsquiteconsequential.We can see signs f this t teacherrainingnstitutions,n nservice orkshopsandcourses,ntheournals evoted oteachers,nfundingnd nrollmentatterns,nd not heleast nthe ctual urricular aterialshemselves. hile he eskillingnvolveshe ossof raft,the ngoingtrophyf ducationalkills, he eskillingnvolves he ubstitutionf he kills ndideological isions fmanagement.hegrowthfbehaviormodificationechniquesndclass-roommanagementtrategiesnd theirncorporationithinurricular aterial nd teachers'repertoiresignifyhesekinds f alterations. s teachers ose control f the curricularndpedagogic kills o largepublishingouses, hese kills rereplaced y techniquesorbettercontrollingtudents.This snotnsignificantn ts onsequencesor oth eachersnd tudents.ince hematerialisoftenrganizedroundpecifiedutcomesndproceduresndthese rebuilt nto his ind fmaterialtselfwith tsmanyworksheetsndfrequentests), t s "individualized"nmanyways.Studentsanengagen tthemselves ithittle vertnteractionnthe art fthe eacheroreachother s they ecomemore sed othe rocedures,hich reusually ighlytandardized.The students'rogresshroughhe ystemanbe ndividualized,t east ccordingospeed; ndthisfocus n individualizinghe peed usually hrough orksheetsnd the ike)at whichstudentroceeds hroughhesystems becomingven more ronouncednnewer urricularsystems.incethe ontrolstechnical-thats,managementtrategiesre ncorporatednto hepedagogical/curricular/evaluativemachinery"tself-the eacherecomes omethingfman-ager.This is occurringt the ametime hat heobjective onditionsfhisorherwork rebecomingncreasinglyproletarianized"ueto the urricularorm'sogic f echnicalontrol.Asthe iteraturenthe abor rocess emindss,the rogressiveivisionnd ontrolf aboralso has an mpactt the evel f socialrelations,n how he eople nvolvednteract. s in theworkplace,he mpactmayhavecontradictoryesultsnthe chool.With he ncreasingseofprepackagedurricularystemss thebasic curricularorm, irtuallyo interactionetweenteacherss required.fnearly verythings rationalizedndspecified efore xecution,hencontactmong eachersbout ctual urricular atterss minimized.24Ifsuch echnicalontrolseffective,hats, if eachersctually espondnways hatcceptthe eparationfplanningromxecution,hen ne would xpect esults hat o beyond his"mere" separation. newould xpect, t the evelofclassroomractice,hat twillbe moredifficultor eacherso ointly ain nformalontrol ver urricularecisions ecauseoftheirincreasingsolation.feverythings predetermined,here s no longer nypressing eedforignoret incemanyuch ystemsonstitutehe ore ronly rogramn he ntirechool rdistrict.hus, ccountabilitytothenext rade evel or to administratorsakes thardero gnore. shallreturnothis oint ater n.

24 Thismaybe similar owhat appenedn the arlymills n NewEngland,when tandardizedroductionrocessesdrasticallyeducedhe ontactmongworkers.eeEdwards,p.cit.,p. 114.ArecenttudyyAndrew itlin, owever,points ut hatnsome ettingsnteractionncreases ut t salways ver he echnicaluestionsaised y hematerial.Thus, ssues forganizationalfficiencyake recedencever ther onsiderationsueto he onstraintsf he urricularformtself.ee Andrew itlin,UnderstandingheWork fTeachers," npublishedoctoralissertation,niversityfWisconsin,Madison,1980.



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Curriculumnd Labor 115teachernteraction.eachers ecome nattachedndividuals,ivorcedromoth olleaguesndtheirctualwork.However,ndhere spart fwhat mean y contradictoryffect, hile hismay ean accurate stimationfoneof he esultsf echnicalontroln one evel, tforgetshatmost ystemsfcontrolmbodyontradictionsithin hemselves. or nstance, hiledeskill-ing,forms ftechnicalontrol,ndthe ationalizationfwork ave reatedsolated ndividualsin,say,officesndfactories,istoricallyhey ave often eneratedontradictoryressuresswell. The use oftechnical ontrol as often roughtnionizationn tswake.25 vengiven heideologyfprofessionalismanideologyhatmightmake tdifficultor ollectivetrugglesoevolve)which ends odominateertainectorsf he eachingorce,thertate mployees hointhepasthavethoughtfthemselvess professionalsavegained greaterollectiveense nresponseo similarmodes fcontrol. hus, he oss ofcontrolndknowledgen one arenamaygenerateountervailingendenciesnanother.ACCEPTINGTECHNICAL CONTROLThusfarnthis ssay, have ooked tteacherss if heyreworkers.have rguedhatheprocesses hat ct on blue and white ollarworkersn the arger ocialagendawill and areenteringnto he ulturalormshat re onsideredegitimaten chools.Yetschools, ecause ftheirnternalistory,redifferentnsomeverymportantaysfrom actoriesndoffices,ndteachersrestillvery ifferentrom therworkersnterms f theconditionsf theirwork."Products" renot s visibleexceptmuchater n nthe ough eproductionf labor orce,nthe roductionndreproductionf deologies,nd nthe roductionf he echnical/administra-tiveknowledgerequired"byaneconomy)26s inofficesnd factories. eachers ave whatErikOlinWright as called a "contradictorylass location"--thats, they re structurallypositionedetweenapital nd abor,with nterestsometimesllied oboth,nd remembersfthenewpetty ourgeoisie-andhencecannot e expected o react n the samewaysas theworkersndemployeesf arge orporations.27urthermore,here re hildren ho ctbackonteachers nwaysan automobile n an assemblyine or a paperon a desk cannot.28inally,teaching oes not akeplaceon a line,butgoeson inseparate oomsmore ften hannot.Allofthese onditionso notmean hatchools re mmuner utonomousrom heogicofcapital.The ogicwillbe mediatedinpart ue to the chool'srole s a state pparatus);twillenterwheretcan npartial, istorted,r codedways.Given he pecific ifferencesf schoolsfromtherworkplaces, primemomentn itsentryan be found ess at the evel ofovert rsimple ontrolsdothis ecause say o) or atthe evelofbureaucraticormbecause ndividual

25 Ibid, . 181.26 Apple,Culture, lassand the tate, p.cit. ndApple,deologyndCurriculum,p.cit.One could lso claim hatschools perate oproduce use value" not"exchangevalue." ErikOlinWright,ersonal ommunication.27 See ErikOlinWright,lass,Crisis ndthe tateLondon:NewLeft ooks,1978),pp.31-110 for more xtensivediscussion f thenature fcontradictorylass ocations. hevery act hat eachers ave contradictorylass ocationmeans hat,nparticularituationsnd atparticularistorical oments,tmaybe possible o "win them ver" to aprogressiveoliticalnd ulturalosition. his uccess snotguaranteed,utmerelyointsothe tructuralossibilitiesthat xist.Thispossibilityas beentoo ong gnored y overly eterministicarxistheorists hoassume-withoutseriousnvestigation--thato action n schools anbe successful.28Therefore,nyoutcomes f schoolingmustbe analyzed s theproductsf cultural, olitical, ndeconomicresistancess well s sets f"determinations."ee PaulWillis, earningoLabourWestmead,ngland:axonHouse,1977).



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116 Appleteachersanstill erelativelyree rom hose inds fencroachments).29.hese ontrols illgoon,ofcourse; ut heymaybe lessconsequentialhan he ncoding f echnicalontrolnto hevery asisof he urricularormtself. he evel f urricular,edagogic,nd valuativeracticewithin he classroom an be controlledytheforms ntowhich ultures commodifiednschools.Howarewetounderstandhe cceptancendgrowthfthis rocess f ontrol?heseformsenter nto schoolsnotbecause of any conspiracyn thepartof industrialistso make oureducationalnstitutionserve heneeds fcapital, ut n arge art ecause chools rea ratherlucrative arket. hesesetsofmaterialrepublishedyfirms ho ggressively arket heretheres a need,orwhere hey an create eeds. t s simply oodbusiness racticen terms fprofitmarginso marketmaterialf this ype, specially ince theoriginal urchase f the"systems" r setof modulesmeans ncreasing urchasesver heyears.Thepurchasef themodulesthough ertainlyot heap),withheirets f tandardizedisposablematerial, eansthat ne"needs" to continueopurchasehework ndtest heets,he hemicals,he orrectlycolored ndshaped aper, hepublishers' eplacementsf outmodedmaterialnd essons, tc.Profitsreheightenedith very eplacementhats bought. incereplacementurchasesreoften ureaucraticallyentralized,ecauseofbudget ontrol,n the ffice f the dministrator,the dditionalmaterials usually ought romheproduceroftent exorbitantosts)notfromone's local store.Yet thenotion f ggressivemarketingndgoodbusiness ense sbut partialxplanationfthisgrowth.n order o fully omprehendheacceptance f technical ontrol roceduresembodiedncurricularorm,weneedto know omethingf thehistoryfwhy hesekinds fmaterialsvolved n thefirst lace.

Theoriginalntroductionfprepackaged aterial as stimulatedya specific etworkfpolitical,ultural,ndeconomic orces,riginallyn the1950s nd 1960s ntheUnited tates.The views facademics hat eachers ere nsophisticatednmajor urriculumreas necessi-tated" he reation fwhatwas calledteacher-proofaterial.30 he coldwarclimatecreatedand timulatedy he taten arge art)edto focus n the fficientroductionf cientistsndtechnicianss wellas a relativelytableworkforce;hus, he guaranteeing"fthis roductionthroughhe chool urriculumecame f ncreasingmport.31ntop fthiswas thedecision fthe ducationalpparatusfthe tate, nderheNational efense ducation ct, oprovideheequivalentfcash redits o ocal school istrictsor he urchasefnew urriculareatedy he"private ector" to increase his fficiency.t the sametime, he nternalynamics ithineducationlayed part incebehavioralnd earning sychology---onhose ositivisticrinci-29 I do notwant o gnorehe uestionfthe elationshipetweenapitalismndbureaucracy. eber ndothers erenotwrongwhen hey oted hathere reneeds or ationalizationpecificobureaucraticormshemselves.owever,neither hewaybureaucracyas grownncapitalistconomies or ts effects ave been neutral. his is treatednconsiderably oredetail nDanielClawson,"Class StrugglendtheRise of Bureaucracy," npublishedoctoraldissertation,tateUniversityfNewYork, tony rook, 978.See alsoWright,p.cit. ndMichaelW.Apple, State,BureaucracyndCurriculumontrol,"Curriculumnquiry,npress.30 The ssue fgenderscritical ere. incemost lementarychool eachers ereand re)women,he erceptionfthese eacherssunsophisticatedannot eseparatedrom elationsfpatriarchalominationn ociety. ompare ere owhatshappeningowomen fficeworkersnJane arker ndHazelDowning,WordProcessingnd he ransforma-tion fPatriarchalelations, unpublishedaper, entre or ontemporaryulturaltudies, niversityfBirmingham,

1979.31JoeSpring, heSortingMachineNewYork:DavidMcKay, 1976).



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Curriculumnd Labor 117plesso much fthese ystemsely-gained ncreasingrestigen a field ike education herebeing een as a sciencewas criticallymportantothforfundingndto deflect riticism,32therebynhancingts egitimacyithinhe tate pparatusndto thepublic. n themore ecentpast, hencreasingnfluencef ndustrialapitalwithinhe xecutivend egislativeranchesfgovernment,swell s inthe ttendantbureaucracy,33s no doubtnessentiallement ere incethere s recent vidence hat he federal overnmentas backedawayfromhewidespreadproductionnddistributionf arge calecurricula,referringo stimulatehe privateector"toenterven moredeeply nto uchproduction.34Thisgivesus a briefense fhistory,utwhy he ontinued ovementoward his oday?Akey lement ere s seeing he chool s anaspect fthe tate pparatus.or he tate'sneedforconsents well s controlmeans hathe orms fcontroln choolwillbe encodednparticularways.35Thestrategicmportf the ogicoftechnical ontrolnschools ies n ts bilityo ntegrateinto ne discoursewhat reoften eenas competingdeologicalmovements,nd,hence, ogenerateonsent rom achof them. he needfor ccountabilitynd controlyadministrativemanagers,he ealneeds fteachersor omethinghats "practical" ouse with heirtudents,the nterestf the tate nefficientroductionnd costsavings,36he oncerns fparents or"quality ducation" hat works" a concernhatwillbecodeddifferentlyydifferentlassesand classsegments),ndustrialapital's wnrequirementsor fficientroduction-all anbejoined. It is hereagainthat ne can see howtwoimportantunctionsf the state an beaccomplished.he state an assist n capital ccumulationy attemptingo provide moreefficientproductionrocess" nschools.Atthe ame ime,t an egitimatets wn ctivityycouchingts discourse n language hat s broad nough obe meaningfulo each ofwhat tperceivesobe importantonstituencies,et pecificnough ogive omepracticalnswersothosewho, ike eachers,require" t.The fact hat he ormaken y hese urricularystemsstightlyontrolledndmore asilymade"accountable,"that t is usually ndividualizedanimportantdeologicallementn he ulturef henewpettyourgeoisie),hattfocuses n skillsin a timeof perceived risis n theteaching f "basic skills," etc., nearly uaranteestsacceptabilityoa widearray f classesand nterestroups.Thus, heogic f ontrolsbothmediatedndreinforcedy heneeds f tate ureaucratsoraccountablendrationalroceduresndbythe pecific exus f forcesctingn the tatetself.The curriculumorm ill ake nthe spectswhich renecessaryoaccomplishoth ccumula-

32 I have discussed his nmoredetail nApple, deologyndCurriculum,p. cit.33 See O'Connor, p. cit.,andManuelCastells,TheEconomic risis ndAmericanocietyPrinceton:rincetonUniversityress,1980).34Among hereasonsforthe factthat hestatehas slowlybutsurely ackedawayfrom uchproductionnddistributions the ontroversyhat assurroundedMan: ACourse fStudy," neof he ederallyponsoredurriculumprojectshats a favoriteargetfrightistroupsn theUnites tates. ee MichaelW. Apple,"Politics nd NationalCurriculumolicy,"Curriculumnquiry (number 1977),351-361. t salso mportantorealize hat here as beencontinuingrendncapitalistountriesn which orporationsill et he overnmentocialize he osts fdevelopment,butwouldpreferopackage nddistributeurricula or hemselves.35Donald,op. cit.,44.36 This snotmeant o mplyhat he tate lways irectlyerves heneeds fcapital. t nfact oeshave significant

degree frelativeutonomynd sthe ite fclass,race, ndgenderonflicts well.See Donald,op. cit.,Wright,p.cit.,andDale, op. cit.



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118 Appletion nd egitimation.37s Clarkeputs t: "Even where nstitutionseet logicrequired ycapital, heir orm nddirectionre never he utcomefa simple nidirectionalmpositionycapital.They nvolve complex oliticalwork f concession ndcompromise,f nly osecurethe egitimacyf the tate npopular pinion.'"8Thissexactlywhat asoccurredntheuseofthiskind f curricularorm.THEPOSSESSIVENDIVIDUAL

So far haveexamined he ncroachmentnto hework fteachers f the echnicalontrolsystemsmbodiedncurricularorm. et,teachersrenot he nly ctorsnthe etting herewefind hismaterial. here re the tudentss well.A numberfwriters ave noted hat achkind f socialformationrequires" particularkind f ndividual.Williams ndothers avehelped strace he rowthf he bstractndividualas itdevelopedwithinhe heoretic,ultural,ndeconomic racticesfcapitalism.39hese renot imply hangesn definitionsf the ndividual,ut mply hangesn ouractualmodes fmaterialndculturalroducing,eproducing,nd onsuming.obe an ndividualnour ocietysignifies complex nterconnectionetween urday-to-day eaningsndpracticesnd an"external"modeofproduction.While do notmean o imply simple ase/superstructuremodel ere,t sclear hatn omeverymportantays heres a dialecticalelationshipetweeneconomic nd ideological orm.As Gramsci nd otherswouldput t, deological egemonysustains lass domination;ubjectivitiesannot e seen as unrelatedo structure.he schoolprovides critical oint t which ne can see these hingsworkingut. As Richard ohnsonnotes, It is not omuch questionhat chools . are ideology,more hatheyrethe iteswheredeologies reproducedn theformfsubjectivities.'"40Butwhatkindof subjectivity,hatkindof ideology,whatkindof individualmaybeproduced ere?The characteristicsmbodied nthemodesof technicalontrol uilt nto hecurricularormtself re deallyuited oreproducehe ossessivendividual,vision foneselfthat ies at the deologicalheart f corporateconomies.As WillWright as demonstrated,importantspects four ulturalpparatusepresentworld nwhich he ociety ecognizesachmembers an ndividual,ut hat ecognitionsdependentlmostntirelypon echnicalkills.At the ame ime,whileheighteninghevalueof technicalompetence,hese ulturalroductsdirect he ndividualoreject he mportancef ethical ndpolitical alues hroughheir orm.They ortrayn ndividualism,ituatednthe ontextf corporateconomy,nwhichrespectandcompanionshipre to be achieved nlyby becoming skilled echnician." he individual37We should emember,owever,hatccumulationnd egitimationay e n onflict ith achother t imes. ordiscussionf these ossible ontradictionsndfor nargumentbout he mportancefunderstandingheway he tateand bureaucraciesct back on "economicdeterminations,"ee Wright,p. cit.Though havenot pecificallyoted t n this iscussion,he ransformationfdiscoursenthe tate s similaro, ndpart f the amedynamicf,thereductionfdiscoursenthe ulturalphere opurposive/rationalormsnalyzed yHabermas. havedealtwith he ransformationf thical ndpoliticalanguagesnto echnicaluestionstmuch reaterlengthnApple, deology ndCurriculum,p. cit.38 Clarke, p cit.,p. 241.39 RaymondWilliams, heLongRevolutionLondon: hatto ndWindus, 961) ndC. B. Macpherson,hePoliticalTheory fPossessivendividualismNew York:OxfordUniversityress,1962). See also,John renkman,MassMedia: FromCollective xperienceotheCulture fPrivitization,"ocial Text1 (Winter 979),94-109.40 Richard ohnson,ThreeProblematics:lements fa TheoryfWorkinglassCulture,"nClarke, ritcherndJohnson,p. cit.,p. 232.



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Curriculumnd Labor 119accepts nd does anytechnicalob that s offerednd has loyaltyoonlythosewith imilartechnicalompetence,otprimarilyto anycompetingocial andcommunityalues.'"4'Anexaminationfthese urricularsystems" lluminateshe xtento which hiskind fideologicalmovementsoccurringn ncreasinglyominanturricularorms. ere, herate twhich studentroceedssindividualized;owever,he ctual roducts well s theprocess obeaccomplishedre pecified y hematerialtself.42hus, t s not just" the eacher hofacesthe ncroachmentftechnicalontrol nddeskilling.he students'esponsesre argely re-specifieds well. Muchof thisgrowingrray fmaterialttemptss preciselys possible ospecifyppropriatetudentanguagend ctionswell, fteneducingt o hemasteryf ets fcompetenciesr skills.Thenotion freducingurriculumoa setof skills snotunimportantince t spart f thelarger rocessby whichthe ogic of capitalhelpsbuildidentitiesnd transformsulturalmeaningsndpracticesnto ommodities.43fknowledgenall its spectsofthe ogical ype fthat, ow,orto--i.e., information,rocesses,nddispositionsrpropensities)s broken ownandcommodified,ike conomic apital tcan beaccumulated.hemark fa goodpupil sthepossessionnd ccumulationfvast uantitiesf kills n he ervice f echnicalnterests.nthelargerociety, eopleconsume s isolated ndividuals. heirworthspartlyeterminedythepossession fmaterialoodsor,as WillWrightoted, ftechnicalkills.Theaccumulationfsuchgoodsor ofthe cultural apital"oftechnicalompetence-heretomistic its f knowl-edge and skillsmeasured n pre-testsnd post-tests-is technical rocedure,ne whichrequiresnly hemasteryftheprior ecessaryechnicalkills ndenough ime o follow herules, t one'sownpace,to theironclusion.t sthemessage fthenewpettyourgeoisie ritlarge nthe deological errainfthe chool.Infact, nemight ypothesizeustthis, hat hiskind fmovementpeaks othe ncreasingimportancenthe ulturalpparatusf the deologies fclasssegments ith ontradictorylasslocations,nparticularhat have alled henewpettyourgeoisie-thoseroupswhomake pmiddlemanagementndtechnicalccupations.44heparticularind f individualism e arewitnessingere s an nterestinghiftromn deologyf ndividualutonomy,here personshis or her ownboss andcontrols is or herdestiny,o a careeristndividualism.ere theindividualismsgeared owardsrganizationalobilitynd dvancementyfollowingechnicalrules.As EricWright uts t,for henewpetty ourgeoisieindividualismsstructuredroundtherequirementsfbureaucraticdvancement."45 Itmay lso be a coded"reflection"f theincreasingroletarianizationfwhite ollarwork. or,while reviouslyndividualismignifiedsome eriousense f utonomyverhow neworkedndwhat neproduced,or large ortionof white ollar mployees utonomyas been rivialized.46he rate twhich ne worksmaybeindividualized,ut heworktself, ow t s accomplished,ndwhat he xact pecificationsfthefinal roduct illbe, areincreasinglyeing pecified.When echnicalontrolmeans hathe orm hat he urriculumakes shighlypecified,hat

41 WillWright,ixgunsndSocietyBerkeley: niversityf Californiaress,1975),p. 187.42 Bernstein's ork n class and educationalodes is interestingere.As he notes, The pacing feducationalknowledges classbased." It is based on "middle-class iewsofsocialization."BasilBernstein,lass, Codes andControl,Volume (Boston:RoutledgendKeganPaul, 1977),p. 113.43 See StanleyAronowitz,alse PromisesNewYork:McGraw-Hill, 973),p. 95.44 E. O. Wright,p. cit.,p. 79.45 Ibid,p. 59.46Ibid,p. 81. See also Braverman,p. cit.



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120 Appleit s individualizedo such nextenthathereslittleequirednteractionmonghe tudentsothat achactivitys bynecessityiewed s an individualntellectualct ofskill, hat nswersoften ake he ormf imple hysicalctivitiesaswe saw n hemodulediscussedarlier),hatanswers re itherorrectr ncorrectasedon the pplicationf echnicalules,nd his ind fformswhat nefollows hroughoutne'selementarychool ife,whatmpact oes t haveonthe eachersndstudents ho nteract ithtat the evelofpracticeachday?We do have vidence osuggest hat roceduresfthis ype otoworkersn ndustrynd noffices.n many ases, evengiven hedevelopmentfcomplexwork ultures hat rovidegroundingorcultural orms f resistance ormanymen andwomenworkers,47ncreasingrationalizationnd a more ophisticatedevel of control vera long period f time end oencourage eopletomanifestn interestingrray f traits: "rulesorientation,"hat s, anawareness frules ndproceduresnda habit ffollowinghem; reaterependability,hats,performingjob ata relativelyonsistentevel,being eliable,ndgettingheob done evenwhen uleshave o be modified bit omeet hangingay oday onditions;nd, he internal-ization f he nterprise'soals ndvalues,"thats,conflictsminimizednd, lowly ut urely,there ends o be a homogenizationfovert nterestsetweenmanagementndemployees.48Willthishappennschools s well? Thisclearly oints o the ignificancefengagingnanalyses f what ctually appenswithinhe chool tself. o teachersnd tudentsccept his?Willthegradualntroductionfthe ogicoftechnicalontrol enerateesistances,fonly naculturalevel?Willclass,gender,nd work ulturesontradict,ediate,r even ransformheexpected utcomes?t is tothis hatwe shallnowturn.RESISTANCES

I havenot resentednoptimisticppraisal ere.As the ctivitiesf tudentsre ncreasinglyspecified,s the ules, rocesses,nd tandardutcomes re ntegratedhroughndrationalizedbythematerialshemselves,o too are teacherseskilled,eskilled,ndanonymized.tudentswork n materialwhose form oth solates ndividuals rom ach other nd establishes heconditionsfexistence or he ossessivendividual;he ormfthematerialndthe mbeddednature f the technical ontrol rocessdo nearly he samefor heteacher. urroundedyaspecific ogicofcontrol,heobjective orce fthe ocialrelationsmbodiedntheform tselftends obe quitepowerful. et I amnot rguingor crudekind f functionalisterspective,whereverythings measuredy,or s aimed oward,ts bilityoreproducenexistingtaticsociety. he creation fthekind f deological egemonycaused" bythe ncreasingntroduc-tion f technical ontrols not naturally" re-ordained.t s somethinghats wonor ost nparticularonflictsndstruggles.49One theonehand, eacherswillbe controlled. s one teacher aidabout set ofpopularmaterial venmore ntegratednd rationalizedhan he nes havepointedohere, Look, Ihaveno choice. personallyon't ikethismaterial,ut veryonen thedistrictastousethisseries. 'll try odo otherhingss well,butbasically urcurriculumillbe basedonthis."47 Apple,Culture, lass andthe tate, p cit.,especially hapter .48 Edwards, p. cit.,pp. 150-151.This does notmean hatmportantesistancesnd ountervailingracticeso orwill notoccur.Butthey sually ccur nthe errainstablishedy capital.49Richard ohnson,Histories fCulture/Theoriesf deology:Notes nan Impasse," n MicheleBarrett,hilip

Corrigan, nnetteuhn, ndJanetWolff,ds., deologyndCulturalroductionNewYork: t.Martin'sress, 979),p. 70.



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CurriculumndLabor 121On the other and,resistances illbe there. his sameteacherwhodisagreedwith hecurriculumutused t, lsowaspartiallyubvertingt n nterestingays. twasemployednlythree ays week nsteadfthe ive ayswhichwere pecified. s the eacherut t, Listen, fwe workedhard we'd finish his stuffn two or threemonthsndbesides t's sometimesconfusingndboring. o I tryogobeyondt softenspossible, s long s I do not eachwhatis n hematerial obe covered y his eriesnext ear."Thus, s we can seefromhis astpart fher omment,nternalonditionsmake uchovert esistancemoredifficult.Yetthese nternalonditionseednot recludeeachersnd tudentsrom lsomakinghesecommodifiedultural orms heir wn,togenerateheir wncreative esponseso dominantideologiesndcommodifiedulture. roups an transformndreinterprethe roductshey uyand useso that hey ecame oolsfor he reation f alternativeocketsf resistance hich reintegratednto heir wn ived ultures.50tudentsndteachersmay lso findways f reativelyusing hese ystemsnwaysundreamedfbystate ureaucratsrcorporateublishing,hough

with ontradictoryesults.This astpointbout he ontradictionf ived ulture eeds obestressed. ne would xpectresistancesothe deological racticeshavediscussednthis ssay n the art f he tudentsswell as teachers,esistanceshatmaybe specificorace,gender,ndclass. The earlier uotefrom ohnsonscorrectere.Theformationf deologies--evenhose f hekind f ndividual-ism have xaminedn his nalysis-isnot simplectof mposition.t sproducedy oncreteactors ndembodied n livedexperienceshatmayresist, lter, r mediate hese ocial mes-sages.5'That his s often he ase is documentedn a numberfrecentthnographicnvestiga-tions.Theseanalyses learly howthat tudents otonlyreproduceut ctagainst ominantideologiest one andthe ame ime. tudents romarticularegmentsf heworkinglass,forinstance,ftenxpressly eject he ndividualisticormsnd formal urricula fthe chool.Thus, sPaul Willis's tudyfthe hildrenfparentsmployednthe gingndustriallantsin the"midlands"ofEnglandndicates,he urriculaonsideredegitimateythe nstitutionbear ittle esemblanceo theactualworld fwork, o the ifeon thestreet,o the facts fgeneralizedabor hatmany fthese tudentsxperiencehroughheirarents,riends,nd heirownpart imeobs.They ismiss he chool sbasicallyrrelevant.yrejectinghe legitimate"culture ithinhe chool,by affirminganualwork ndphysicality,he tudentsffirmheirown ubjectivitynd tthe ame ime ct n waywhichonstitutesrealisticssessmenthat,sa class, schoolingwill notenable hem ogo much urtherhan hey lreadyre.52Thispartial penetration"s paradoxical, owever.By rejectingchoolknowledge,hestudentsre nessencerejecting entalabor.They hus ardenhedistinctionetweenmentalandmanualabor.While heyreaffirmingnd ctingn the trengthsfparticularspects flivedworkinglassculture,heyre aughtn real tructuralontradictiony trengtheningneofthemajor rinciplesuidinghe rticulationf he ocialrelationsf apitalist roduction.ntheonehand, hey relearningo "workthe ystem" y developingather reativewaysofdealingwith hedemands f the chool o that hey angetoutofclass,meet s a groupandtherebyndercut he ndividualisticmphasis f theschool), njecthumor nto theformalcurriculum,ontrolhepaceofschoolwork, nd so on. While hiswillpreparehem ohavesomepowerntheworld fworkndrepresents"penetration'nto he ealityf heworkhese

50 PaulWillis,Profane ultureBoston:RoutledgendKeganPaul, 1978).~' Johnson,ThreeProblematics:lements fa Theory fWorking lass Culture," p. cit.52Willis,Learning oLabour,op. cit.



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122 Applestudentsillprobablyace, nthe ther and,treproducesn an deologicalevel he ategoriesrequiredo maintain ork s it s.Other tudies n the United tates how similar hings. orexample,Robert verhart'sethnographyf unior igh chool tudents hose amilies ere lightlyhighern the ccupa-tional cale" than hosen Willis's nalysislluminatesowthese redominantlyorkinglassyouthpend large mount ftheir ime goofing ff" andrecreatingultural orms hat ivethemomedegree fpowernthe chool etting.3While hese tudentso not otally ejectheformalurriculum,heygivethe schoolonlythebarestminimum ork equiredndtry ominimizeventhose equirements.hesestudents,ikethose nWillis'swork, esisted. heygave onlywhatwasnecessaryo not ndangerhepossiblemobilityomeof themmight ave.Yet,they lready knew" ata culturalevel that hiswasonly possibility,ne thatwasnotguaranteedtall. Most ofthemwould, nfact, emainwithinhe conomic rajectoriesstab-lished ytheir arents.

Similarnvestigationsfworkinglassgirls ndblack ndbrown outh isclose xactlyhesamethings.54akentogether,hey how a clearpattern.deological eproduction,hen toccurs, s nottheresult f a simplenternalizationfdominantdeologies.Oppositionalndalternativeeaningsndpracticesrow ut f hese ituationss well. nmore heoreticalerms,the ulturalphere as some serious egree f relativeutonomy.Inadditiono hese ppositionallementseneratedut f he lass,race, ndgenderulturesofstudents,ther spects fthe nvironmentayprovidehe itefor ifferenteaningsndpracticesoevolve, venwithin he xistingurriculumormtself. heremaybeprogressiveelements ithinhe ontentf he urriculumhatontradicthemessagesf he orm.55heveryfacthatndustrialistsre nterestedncontentpeaks othemportf ontentsa contestedrea.And t s inthe nteractionmong he ontent,he orm,nd he ived ulturefthe tudentshatsubjectivitiesreformed. o elementnthis et ofrelationsanbe ignored.REMEMBERINGOBJECTIVE CONDITIONS

The foregoingiscussion f resistanceshouldnot blindus to thefact hat he currentsituationnmany choolswill notnecessarily rovidedeal conditions or uchresistancesogrowortobe politicized.Norshouldwe expect, s mytreatmentf theculturefstudentsindicates,hat heseresistancesndcontradictionsill inexorablyead toprogressivends.Instead, heywillbe filledwith oth otentialitiesnd imitations.53Robert verhart,he n-Between ears:Studentife na Junior igh chool SantaBarbara:Graduate choolofEducation, niversityfCalifornia,979).54Especially mportantereare AngelaMcRobbie,"Working lass Girlsand the Culture f Femininity,"nWomen's StudiesGroup, d. Women ake ssue (London:Hutchinson,978),pp. 96-108 and MikeBrake,TheSociology fYouth ulturend Youth ubculturesBoston:RoutledgendKeganPaul, 1980).55An ideological reading"ofanymaterials no simplematter,fcourse.To adequatelyxamine hepossiblecontradictionsetween ormndcontentnthese rothermaterials e wouldberequiredounpackwhats "present"andmissing ithinhe ontenttself,what tructuresrovideheparametersor ossible eadingsf t,what disson-ances" andcontradictionxistwithin t that rovide or lternativeeadings,ndso on. In doing his,we need torememberhatny ontentis itself art f nactive rocess f ignificationhroughhichmeaningsproduced."JohnHill,"Ideology, conomynd he ritishinema," nBarrett,t l., deologyndCulturalroduction,p.cit.,p. 114.See also ColinSumner: eading deologies New York: AcademicPress,1979)andTerry agleton, riticismnd

IdeologyLondon:NewLeft ooks,1976). havediscussed hisngreateretailnApple,Culture, lassand the tate,especially hapter .



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Curriculumnd Labor 123Taketeachersgain,for xample.While echnical ontrolsosternionization, ost esis-tances hat ccurwithin he choolwillbeon an ndividual ot collectiveevelbecauseoftheveryocialrelationseneratedythe urricularormtself.56ere, oo, he ffectsanbe rathercontradictory.emust emembers wellthat, s I mentionedarlier,hesemore invisible"modesofcontrolmaybe acceptedfthey reperceiveds coming rom legitimateverallstructure.he fact hat urriculumelectionommitteesiveteachers say nthe urriculumtheywill mploymeans hat ome f he rioronditionsor he onsent ecessaryor his ind fcontrolo be successful avealready een aid. The choice s made, npart, ytheteachersthemselves. et this s notnecessarily nlya negative oint.Sincethe state pparatus asexpanded herangeofparticipationn curriculumecision-makingyselection ommittees(whichometimes ow nclude arentss well steachers),he tatemay ossibly eopeningpnewspacesofopposition.57hegrowthf thediscoursefrightsf selectionsobjectivelytoddswithhe conomic ontextn which he tate indstself. iven he iscal risis, he ighto

select annot eacteduponbecause fthe ost fnewmaterial. ence, he tatemay ltimatelytransformhe ssue nto potentiallyoliticallyolatile ne.58Thesepotentialonflicts, owever,maybe mitigated yrather owerfulconomic ndideologicalonditionshatmay eem ll tooreal omany f he ndividualsmployed ithinhestate.Andthevery amepressuresmayhave importantnd similarmplicationsor hoseteacherswhomay nfact ecognizehe mpact hat ationalizationndcontrolrehaving nthem. or his snot good ime,deologicallyr conomically,or eachers ho ngagenovertresistance. ivena difficultdeological limate ndgiven heemploymentituationmongteachersoday-with housandsavingither een aidoff r ivingwithhe hreatf t-the ossofcontrol anprogressna relativelynthreateneday. Deskillingndreskilling,rogressiveanonymizationndrationalization,he ransformationfeducational ork, omehow eem essconsequentialhan uch conomic oncernss ob security,alary, tc.,even houghheymayseem to us toclearly e part fthe amedynamic.When ll this ssaid,though, e must ecognizehat hese owerfulocialmessages,whileembeddednthe ctual xperiencesf teachers nd studentss they o about heir ay-to-daylives nclassrooms,rehighlymediatedy ther lements. he fact hatndividualeachers,ikemost ther orkers, ay evelop atternsfresistanceo hese atternsf echnicalontrolt heinformalulturalevel lters hesemessages. hecontradictorydeologiesf ndividualismndcooperativenesshat renaturallyeneratedutofthe rowded onditionsfmany lassrooms(you an'tbe an solated ndividualll the imewhen here re20to30 other eople roundwithwhom neteachermust ope)alsoprovide ountervailingossibilities. nd astly,ustas blueandwhite ollarworkers aveconstantlyoundwaysto retain heir umanityndcontinuallystruggleo ntegrateonceptionndexecutionntheir orkifonly orelieve oredom),o toowillteachersnd studentsindways, nthe racks o tospeak, o dothe amethings. he realquestions notwhetheruchresistancesxist,butwhetherhey recontradictoryhemselves,whetherheyeadanywhere eyond hereproductionf the deological egemonyf themostpowerfullasses in oursociety,whetherhey an be employed orpolitical ducationndintervention.

56 Edwards, p. cit.,p. 154.7 Green, p. cit.58 Theconflictetween hatmightecalled person ights"nd propertyights" hichies t he eart f his ssue

isnicelyaid out nHerbert intis, CommunicationndPolitics:Marxism nd he Problem' f Liberal emocracy,"SocialistReview10 March-June980), 189-232.



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124 AppleOne task sfirstofindhem.We need omehow ogive ife othe esistances,he truggles.What havedoneheres topointothe errain ithinhe chool the ransformationfwork,hedeskillingndreskilling,he echnicalontrol,nd so on) overwhich hese truggles illbe

fought.he resistances aybe nformal,ot ullyrganizedreven onscious; et his oesnotmeanthat heywillhaveno impact. oras Gramsci nd Johnson59emind s, hegemonysalways ontested.rogressivelyrientedcholarshipn ducationhould elp n his ontestationandpoint oplacesfor ctive ngagement.POLITICAL ACTION

My analysisof theprocessthrough hich echnical ontrol nters he schoolthroughdominanturricularorms ighlightsnumberfthese trategiesor ction.Theexpansionfparticularogicsof control fthe aborprocess reates ontradictoryffectsndprovidespotentialor uccessfuloliticalwork. haveclaimed hat,with he ossofcontrol,ne shouldexpect ncreasingnionizationf eachers.hisprovidesn mportantontext.While hehistoryofunionizationas inpartbeen thehistoryf economistic emandsandthis s notalwayswrong),tthe ame ime t snotnaturallyreordainedhat alaries nd o onare he nly hingsthat anbe placedon the genda.Thegrowing proletarianization"f stateworkersnd therapid ecreasen heirbjectivetandardf ivingndobstability ay,nfact,make t asier orthe formationfcoalitions etween eachers nd otherworkersn similar onditions.f theargumentsfCastells nd others re correct-thatltimatelyhe onditions illworsen-thencuts n publicservices,welfare, ducation, ealth, nemploymentenefits,nd so on willbecomencreasinglyxtensiventhe oreseeableuture.60hiswillhave tendencyoplacetheinterestsf school mployeesnthemaintenanceftheirrogramsndobson the ame ide asthe arge umberfpeoplewhowillhave ofightoretainhe rograms,ervices,ndrightsheyhave won after ears fstruggle.Thistendencyscoupledwith omethinglse. Therapidityfthepace nwhich roceduresare introducedo rationalizeeachers'work nd to control s many spects feducationspossible s having n impact imilar o whathappenedwhenTaylorismwas introducednindustry.tsultimateffectmaynot etotallyuccessfulontrol,houghne should ot ismissitspower ndsophistication.ather,nthe ongrun,tmaydiscrediteachers'rganizationftheir wnwork o that he ctivities ecessaryor erious ducationogo on, activities hatteachers avedeveloped utof their wnexperiencesnd work ulture, illbe labeled s theeducationalquivalentf"soldiering"when heyre not xpresslyinkedotheproductionftheknowledgendagentsneededbyan economy.Needless o saythiswould have a trulydestructiveffect n any ystemf education orthts name.Enablingeachers o see the mplicationsfthis ndhaving oth hemndother lue,pink,andwhite ollarworkersecognizehe imilaritiesf heir ollectiveredicamentsan mportantpolitical tep. fthey o infact ccupy contradictorylass location,hen significantathtowardsoliticalducation anbetraveled. his s somethinghat rogressivelements ithinteachernions nd feministeacherooperativesntheUnited tates, anada,LatinAmerica,England, ndelsewherenEuropehaverecognizednd on which hey reacting ow.

59Antonio rarsci,Selections rom he risonNotebooksNewYork: nternationalublishers,971) ndJohnson,"Histories fCulture, heories f deology,"op. cit.60 Castells, p. cit.



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Curriculumnd Labor 125Ofcourse,muchmore ouldbe said,especiallybout henecessityor rogressivection ochange urdominanttrategiesfteachingndcurriculum.6'gain,my laim snot hat twillbeeasyto establish uchprogressiveoalitions rtoengagen eitheroliticalducationmong

stateworkersrcurriculumeform. ivencurrentconomic onditionsndgiven heright'sskillfulntegrationfpopular emocraticnd orporatelaims nd heirncorporationfpopulistthemesnto he hetoricf n ncreasingpherefcapitalistocialrelations,he mplicationsreexactlyhe pposite.t spossible, ot asy.However,t s onthe errainhat have dentifiednthis ssay hat gooddeal of he truggle illbeworked ut.Theterrainffersotust ncreasingincorporation,ationalization,nd control utopportunitiess well.61 See, for xample,raSchor,Critical eaching ndEvervdayife Boston: outhEndPress,1980).

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Curriculum and the Labor Process