April 14, 2023
School of Education alumnus Wayne Au recently wrote a chapter about UW–Madison Professor Emeritus Michael Apple for “The Palgrave Handbook of Educational Thinkers.”
“The Palgrave Handbook of Educational Thinkers” provides a comprehensive review of major educational thinkers and their legacies, and brings to life educational theories through the lens of each thinker’s life and experiences.
The publication includes 87 entries about various notable educational thinkers.
Au earned his PhD from the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction. He currently is a professor in the School of Educational Studies at the University of Washington, Bothell. His research focuses on educational equity, high-stakes testing, curriculum theory, educational policy studies, and social studies education.
Apple is the John Bascom Professor Emeritus of Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Policy Studies in the School of Education. He has worked with governments, researchers, unions, political movements, and dissident groups in Latin America and many other parts of the world on building more critically democratic research, policies, and practices in education.
Au’s chapter on Apple begins with a biography, then moves onto discussing and introducing his influence on critical education theory as well as his legacy as a scholar. Au highlights his commitment to social and educational justice, as well as his role as one of the founding voices of critical education theory and practice.
“Michael Apple has established a significant legacy on critical education theory and practice, and, ultimately, his work places him as among a handful of foundational figures in the field of critical education,” Au writes.
He continues: “His ideas, coming on the heels of a period of worldwide political upheaval, created new and influential pathways for understanding how power manifests in educational texts, policies, and practices through a combination of cultural practices and material realities.”
Read the full chapter.
