Gramsci and the politics of education

Abstract

This paper deals with aspects of Antonio Gramsci’s thinking on education and related cultural work, highlighting issues such as those of effective curricula, different forms of educators/intellectuals, work-oriented education and popular education which have resonance with contemporary debates in the field. Gramsci’s ideas provide insights for an effective contemporary socialist pedagogical politics that are based on the principle of critical access to ‘powerful knowledge' and experiences that promote critical thinking, in formal educational institutions and other learning settings.