Wonder or Wander

Linda Tuhiwai Smith. (2001). 4th ed. New York: Palgrave. Historically research about indigenous culture benefited those who "wielded it as an instrument" and the knowledge was not shared with the indigenous peoples. [ This reminds me of the privatization of indigenous knowledge through the patent system (Hardt & Negri, 2004) ] Under the influence of imperialism, research became institutionalized through scholary networks such as university transplantations, not through academic disciplines. The majority of researchers were rather like travelers who had curiosity toward the indigenous and spread the tales to the Western society, and moreover, knowledge gained through research was constructed around the Western bias. (pp.1-18). As one of the discourses of imperialism, the author categorizes post-colonialism or globalization as a discursive field of knowledge such that colonialism is not a finished business yet, which brings with new ways of exploration about the subject. He...

The original purpose of mass education was to train people to be able to do their job after the Industrial Revolution and this impetus obtained the public consensus in that the education gave people the equal opportunity, which still holds true in theories of education. However, critical approaches attest that the acclaimed equal opportunity only keeps the existing social structure and perpetuates class divisions because students bring different social/cultural/symbolic capitals to class (Pierre Bourdieu), which makes the starting points different, thus they argue that fairness in education has to be emphasized. In a similar context, critical education/pedagogy comes into play in the fields of education by questioning Euro-centric knowledge and education system and attempts to teach different perspectives in the main education system.