affinity groups, 78
after-school activities, 80–84, 192n2
Althusser, Louis, 115
amenable and fixable subjects, 111–14, 135–38, 191n1; assembling affinities and divisions among, 119–28; conditions of sanctioned nonconformity, 131–35; crossing boundaries, 128–31; identities-in-practice and, 114–19, 191n2; school lunch periods and, 117–19; semiautonomous worlds of, 115–16
Americans with Disabilities Act, 189n11
Ames, Morgan G., 32
“ample production of hope,” 90
antipolitics machine, development industry as, 12, 169–70
assembling of affinities and divisions, 119–28
attainment, educational, 36–38
autonomy for accountability exchange, 42
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, 71
Becker, Howard, 14, 15, 19, 39, 186n12
beneficial experiences, designing of, 90–94
Berger, Bennett, 99
Bloomberg, Michael, 43
Bourdieu, Pierre, 6, 8, 115, 168, 186n6
Bowles, Samuel, 115
Brown, John Seely, 13
Bryant, Kobe, 126
capitalist societies, 115
Carnegie Foundation, 43
“Children First” initiative, 43
Christensen, Clayton, 29
communities of practice, 9
community fixations, 139–43, 161–62, 192n1–2; on admissions process, 156–57; being involved and, 143–49; fueling fears of imminent collapse, 149–58; idealizations and conditions of community involvement and, 158–61
compulsory schooling, 115
concerted cultivation, 77
conditions of sanctioned nonconformity, 131–35
connected age, 29
connected space, imagining and producing, 77–84
creative class, 20, 32; choosing cutting-edge alternatives, 68–77
Creative Commons, 111
crisis of authority, 14–15, 28, 34, 186n12
crossing of boundaries, 128–31
Cuban, Larry, 27, 33, 77, 94, 171
Cubberley, Ellwood P., 33
“cultural dopes,” 171
curriculum domains, 92
cyberculture, 187n6
cycles of disruptive fixation, 24–30, 53–55, 58, 140–41, 164–77; designing progressive alternative in, 45–53; failure as regenerative force in, 39–45; translating the political-economic into the technical in, 30–39
Department of Education (DOE), New York, 56–57, 60, 99; racialized and classed geographies and, 61–64; school choice and, 64–68
DiMaggio, Paul J., 16, 18, 98, 172
Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, 28
disruptive fixations, 4–5, 8, 11–17, 111–12, 141; beneficiaries of failure in, 165–68; cycles of, 24–55, 58; designing progressive alternative in, 45–53; failure as regenerative force in, 39–45; historical examples, 27–28; translating the political-economic into the technical and, 30–39; unraveling, 183–84. See also reform, educational
Downtown School for Design, Media, and Technology, 1–4, 13, 14, 16–17; admissions process, 156–57; after-school activities, 80–84, 192n2; designing beneficial experiences at, 90–94; harnessing of transformative power of technology, 47–48; idealism and, 17–20, 28–29; idealizations and conditions of community involvement in, 158–61; introductory event, 31; less-privileged students of, 26, 57, 61–64, 82–83, 123–25, 187n2; Level Up period, 103–5, 175; media attention on, 24–27; moral imperative, 53; new strategy for, 177; overflowing and retrofitting, 94–99; parents’ choice as cutting-edge alternative, 68–77; Parent-Teacher Association (see Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)); powerful actors and, 29–30; privileged students of, 25–26, 61–64, 80–81, 123–25, 143–49, 187n2; as progressive alternative, 45–53; project-based learning, 52; promotion ceremonies, 163–64; racialized and classed geographies of New York City and, 60–64; resilience of techno-idealism and, 163–77; sanctioned counterpractices and, 19–20; school choice and, 64–68; School Leadership Team, 144, 145; School Support Organization (SSO), 98–99; space, 56–60; support for, 39–40; use of social media, 49–50, 59–60, 78–79
educationalization, 168
edutainment, 190n1
End of College: Creating the Future of Learning and the University of Everywhere, The, 28
entrepreneurial reformers, 14–15, 170; from the business world, 14; failure as regenerative force and, 39, 40; moral entrepreneurs as, 14; pedagogic fixations and, 106; role in cycle of disruptive fixations, 15, 55; yearnings and ideals of, 167, 172, 174
epistemic frames, 188n26
ethnography, 8, 179–84, 193n1–2; unraveling fixations in, 183–84; use of pseudonyms in, 182–83, 185n2
failure: beneficiaries of, 165–68; as regenerative force, 39–45
fears of imminent collapse, 149–58
Ferguson, James, 7, 8, 12, 38, 165, 168, 169, 171, 186n7
“Five New Basics,” 42
fixations. See amenable and fixable subjects; community fixations; disruptive fixations; pedagogic fixations; spatial fixations
formal versus informal learning, 189–90n15
Gates Foundation, 43
gendering, 61, 80–83, 97, 116, 123–27, 136–37. See also social division
geography, residential, 60–64, 83. See also spatial fixations
Gintis, Herbert, 115
goal-driven problem spaces, 50
Gramsci, Antonio, 14
Hart, Gillian, 9
Hertz, Garnet, 32
high-stakes standardized testing, 43, 187n15
idealism, 17–20, 28–29, 34, 54–55, 155; experiencing and sustaining, 168–76; repairing, 99–102
idealizations: and conditions of community involvement, 158–61; of institutionalized education, 167–68
identities-in-practice, 114–19, 191n2
informationalization, 168
Irani, Lilly, 32
journalists. See media, the
Knox, Vicesimus, 28
Lareau, Annette, 77
Latour, Bruno, 39
Lave, Jean, 8–10, 116, 185, 185n1, 190n15, 191n3
Lessig, Lawrence, 111
less-privileged students, 26, 57, 61–64, 82–83, 187n2; crossing social boundaries, 128–31; parental involvement of, 147–49; social worlds of, 123–28
Li, Tania Murray, 9, 12, 13, 38, 171, 186n12
Lindtner, Silvia, 32
lived fictions, 10–13, 27, 29–30, 186n9
local contentious practices, 9
Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs), 1, 28, 165
media, the, 24, 39; on amenable and fixable subjects, 130; on ethnographic fixations, 181; on pedagogic fixations, 105–6; on resilience of techno-idealism, 175; sanctioned counterpractices and, 105–6, 130–31
meritocratic idealization of education, 167–68
mimetic isomorphism, 16–18, 98–99, 172
moral entrepreneurs, 14, 40–41
moral grounds, 40
moral imperative, 53
National Academies, 33
Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, A, 33, 41–42, 44
Neff, Gina, 70
networked society, 29
New York Times Magazine, 3, 24
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 43, 188n19
nonconformity, sanctioned, 131–35
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), 166, 167, 177
Nye, David, 191n11
Obama, Barack, 34
Open Society Institute, 43
Papert, Seymour, 28
parents, 16, 20–21, 25–26, 49, 57, 74–79, 82; being involved in schooling, 142–45, 148, 174; beneficiaries of failure and, 165–68; choosing extra-curricular activities, 80, 83–84; choosing schools, 43–44, 57, 65, 69, 148
Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), 56, 73, 139, 142–49
participation gap, 79
participatory cultures, 78
Passeron, Jean-Claude, 115, 186n6
pedagogic fixations, 87–90, 108–10; clock time and, 97–98; curriculum domains and, 92; designing beneficial experiences in, 90–94; overflowing and retrofitting, 94–99; problematization and, 89; repairing idealism, 99–102; sanctioned counterpractices, 102–8; school routines and, 91–93; social practice theory and, 89
peer groups, student, 117–19, 191n1
philanthropic foundations, 2, 3, 24, 39, 49–50; moral sensibility and, 185–86n3; pedagogic fixations and, 90; powerful influence of, 39; school design and, 166; spatial fixations and, 79; withdrawal of funds from digital media projects, 177
philanthropism versus humanitarianism, 185–86n3
political-economic issues in educational reform, 30–39
Powell, Walter W., 16, 18, 98, 172
privileged students, 25–26, 61–64, 80–81, 187n2; crossing social boundaries, 128–31; parental involvement of, 143–49; social worlds of, 123–28
problematization process, 13–17, 40–42, 46–47, 89, 112–14, 116–17, 141, 169, 172, 180. See also fixations; rendering technical process
progressive alternatives, 45–53, 187n13
project-based learning, 52
racialization, 16, 57, 60–64, 66, 71, 72, 76, 119, 137, 140, 151, 160. See also social division
racialized and classed geographies of New York City, 60–64, 93, 187n2
reductive idealizations, 13
reform, educational: beneficiaries of failure and, 165–68; cynics and optimists about, 5–7, 170–71; designing progressive alternative in, 45–53; experts, 13–15, 55; failure as regenerative force in, 39–45; high-stakes testing in, 43, 187n15; historical views on innovation and, 32–33; idealism and, 17–20, 28–29, 54–55; maintaining idealism in, 17–20; political-economic issues in, 30–39; progressive, 45–53, 187n13; role of techno-scientific innovations in, 6–7; sanctioned counterpractices in, 18–20; small school movement, 43–44; stalemated debates around, 6; STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), 30, 34, 41, 44; techno-philanthropism and, 4, 8–11; tunnel vision in, 55; will to improve and, 12; yearning for, 4, 5, 13, 27, 164–65. See also disruptive fixation
“Remix Culture,” 111
rendering technical process, 13–17, 20, 21, 30, 38, 58, 169, 172; amenable and fixable subjects and, 112, 114, 117, 118, 120; community fixations and, 140, 141, 145; defined, 13; designing as progressive alternative and, 46–47, 53; failure as regenerative force and, 39, 41; A Nation at Risk and, 41; pedagogic fixations and, 89, 110; Rising Above the Gathering Storm and, 44; school-based games, 51; spatial fixations and, 76, 80, 85
richly designed problems spaces, 50
Rising above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future, 33, 44
Ross, Andrew, 70
safe corridor, 57
sanctioned counterpractices, 18–20, 132–38, 157, 175–76; pedagogic fixations and, 102–8
social class, 26, 60–65, 119, 136, 152, 160. See also less-privileged students; parents; privileged students; social division; spatial fixations
social division, 14, 61, 64, 66; gender and, 61, 81, 97, 136; racialized social class and, 60–64, 93; school reform as solution for, 12, 13, 17, 157; spatialization of, 18, 60–66, 73–76, 81–82, 84–85, 101, 160–61, 174–75; technology as solution for, 78, 84, 165, 169. See also spatial fixations
social media, 49–50, 59–60, 78–79, 124; safety and civility with, 131
social practice theory, 8, 89, 116
social reproduction theory, 6, 115, 186n6
social worlds: assembling affinities and divisions in, 119–28; conditions of sanctioned nonconformity in, 131–35; crossing boundaries of, 128–31; peer groups in, 117–19
spatial fixations, 56–60, 84–86, 88–89; choosing a cutting-edge alternative and, 68–77; and imagining and producing connected space, 77–84; racialized and classed geographies of New York City and, 60–64; school choice and, 64–68
state simplifications, 13
STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education, 30, 34, 41, 44
students. See amenable and fixable subjects
subject fixations. See amenable and fixable subjects
Suchman, Lucy, 13
systems thinking, 51
Takhteyev, Yuri, 32
techno-idealism, 163–65; beneficiaries of failure and, 165–68; experience and sustaining idealism, 168–76
technology: creative class and, 30, 32; design (see problematization process; rendering technical process); engendering feelings of awe and belonging, 191n11; historical views on education and, 32–33; imagining and producing connected space using, 77–84; participation gap, 79; political-economic issues and, 30–39; social media, 49–50, 59–60, 78–79, 124, 131; STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education and, 30, 34, 41, 44; systems and design thinking and, 51; transformative power of, 47–48; video game, 28, 50–51, 92, 120–22
techno-philanthropism, 4, 8–11; beneficiaries of failed interventions and, 165–68; crisis of authority and, 14–15, 28, 34; failure as regenerative force in, 39–45; fears of imminent collapse in, 149–58; figured worlds and, 8–10; fixable subjects and, 113–14; idealizations and conditions of community involvement in, 158–61; lived fictions and, 10–11; local contentious practices and, 9; moral entrepreneurs in, 14; sustaining idealism for, 168–76
TED talks, 111
testing, high-stakes standardized, 43, 187n15
Thorne, Barrie, 130
Tsing, Anna, 9
Twitter, 124
unraveling of fixations, 183–84
video games, 28, 50–51, 92, 120–22, 190n17, 192n5
virtual reality, 28
Wajcman, Judy, 137
Weber, Max, 172
Wikipedia, 59
Willis, Paul, 7, 8, 20, 115, 117, 186n7
will to improve, 12
YouTube, 31, 49, 59, 87–88, 193n1