4t Sociologia Gerard Gracià Capellades Curs 2023-24

EDUCATIONAL POLICY

1. Through these eyes

1. MACOS program Man: A Course of Study (Bruner, 1960s – 70s)

An American elementary school program from the 1970s, Man: A Course of
Study (MACOS), looked to the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic to help students see
their own society in a new way. At its core wasThe Netsilik Film Series, an
acclaimed benchmark of visual anthropology from the National Film Board that
captured a year in the life of an Inuit family, reconstructing an ancient culture on
the cusp of contact with the outside world. But the graphic images of the Netsilik
people created a clash of values that tore rifts in communities across the U.S.
and revealed a fragile relationship between politics and education. A fiery
national debate ensued between academic and conservative forces.
Through These Eyes looks back at the high stakes of this controversial
curriculum. Decades later, as American influence continues to affect cultures
worldwide, the story of MACOS resonates strongly.
▪ In the 1960s, a group of scholars developed a ground-breaking social
sciences and natural sciences one-year curriculum program aimed at
primary school students (5th grade-primary).
▪ The program was called MACOS (Man: A Course of Study). Its main
objectives were:
- To teach 5th grade social and natural sciences while developing critical
thinking, questioning, debating skills.
- To teach children about a different culture and allow them to equate their
understanding of that culture with their own – in the hope of eradicating
racism and ethnocentricity.
▪ Bruner believed that it was possible to teach children to be more humane
and eliminate racism and ethnocentrism by studying another culture closely.
▪ The idea was to use a socio-anthropological approach to develop teaching
materials featuring the Netsilik Inuit People of Pelly Bay (Eskimos in the
current Canada) and their everyday life as well as the natural life
surrounding them.
▪ The program included a kit of course materials, film cassettes, visual aids,
booklets (replacing a traditional, authoritative textbook), games, activities
and teacher guidelines.
▪ In the 1970s, the program reached 400.000 students in the US. However, by
1975 the program was dismantled.

2. Guiding questions for discussion – Through These Eyes:

▪ Why was the programme terminated?
4t Sociologia Gerard Gracià Capellades Curs 2023-24

- Las imágenes no eran adecuadas para los niños (pueden herir la

sensibilidad)
- Hacer una autocrítica de la sobreprotección de ahora con los niños.
▪ What were the forbidden/taboo debates that the programme introduced?
- El hombre blanco americano proyecta algo como lo único legítimo. 
Los indígenas se avergüenzan de ser quienes son.
▪ What were the competing views at play?
- Critican que con este modelo los niños no aprenden.
▪ How does power manifest itself?
▪ Con you think of similar experiences in your context?
- El documental enseña como vivían antes, no como lo hacen ahora.
- Los americanos siempre desprecian el resto de las culturas y
modelos educativos, no quieren ni contemplarlos.
- En España hay partidos políticos y regiones que optan por un curric-
ulum escolar que incluya elementos de diversidad sexual, mientras
que otros están en contra.
Group discusión:
▪ Can you think of an education policy (implemented in your country of origin
or elsewhere) politically charged?
- Political debate surrounding the adoption and implementation of the
policy
- Impact
- Originality/innovation ….

3. Policy, politics and educación:

The main dimesions of education policy.  Policy vs. Politics.
Education (Policy) and Politics.  “There are different and competing views
about what constitutes the good life, about human nature, about justice and
equality, about what is worth and why, and about the purposes of education in
relation to these’ (Smith, 2013, 9).