Ronald G. Sultana (ed.), Themes in education : a Maltese reader [book review]

Abstract

Nothing could be more trivial. A simple slice of life which is repeated every day, with some variations, in the world's classrooms. It is a reality so common that it encourages an appealing naivete', a perfunctory abandonment to the visible trappings, the "reality" of the situation. Asking oneself "What is going on here?" may appear to be disarmingly simple and obvious. Yet, a critical immersion into such and similar social situations would reveal a hitherto invisible drama, a nexus of tensions, forces and contradictions which influence the structures, process and people involved. Culled with the help of an "educational imagination" (pace Wright Mills) , there is usually much more to trite social cameos than meets the eye.