Reviewing Policy Patriotism, Religion, and the Struggle Over Knowledge in Schools

If we were very honest with ourselves about what we know about educa-tion, one of the few things that we actually do know for certain is that there will be conflict over the curriculum. Because “official knowledge ” is always a selection from a much wider universe of possible knowledge, and because such a selective tradition is often connected to deeply held social and ideolog-ical commitments, what is legitimate for one sector of society is often illegiti-mate for another. No matter how educational researchers and policy makers might like to find technical and procedural solutions to long-standing educa-tional problems, it is nearly impossible to deal with the realities of educa-tional policy and practice without situating them within the political and valuative conflicts that are at the heart of education. After all, deliberations about schooling and about what its means and ends should be are not the equivalent of conversations about the weather. They are concerned—consti-tutively—with what we want our society to be, about the future of our chil-dren, and about deeply held values that organize and disorganize a nation. The political nature of education is not something new. Indeed, it lies at the very heart of any nation’s history, but especially at the heart of the United States. It is best to see the United States as a continuing experiment. It is in continual formation, with its people and its culture in constant flux. Suc