This book is an appeal to those directly and indirectly involved in education reform to reconsider the very nature of education as a process of transformation and not, as the neoliberal corporate model insists upon, as a product. By using Paulo Freires fundamental principle of understanding education as the  practice of freedom, and expanding upon it with bell hooks own spiritual understanding of that principle, this book offers readers the opportunity to rethink what education is, and what it is not.  Utilizing the work of diverse thinkers and critics, the book lays out a criticism of neoliberalisms profound influence on education reform and our culture generally. It reaffirms the political and ethical import of education for individuals and for our nation as a whole.

Ron Scapp is Founding Director of the Graduate Program in Urban and Multicultural Education at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, USA, where he is also Professor of Humanities and Teacher Education. He is author and editor of numerous books on education, politics and culture. He is Fellow at the National Education Policy Center and former President of the National Association for Ethnic Studies.

Chapter 1: The Culture of Reform.- Chapter 2: Getting Down to Business.- Chapter 3: The Product: Education.- Chapter 4: More than Competition, More than Information.- Chapter 5: Becoming Knowledgeable and the Search for Wisdom.- Chapter 6: Politics and Education.- Chapter 7: Education as the Practice of Freedom.- Appendix: They Skool: The Anti-Urban Bias in Urban Education.