It will be argued in this chapter that the modern school isn’t just about ‘education’ in some abstract, humanist sort of way. Rather, schools have an essential role to play in how we govern our society. It is tempting to think the process of teaching children has always been pretty much the same, and that mass schooling emerged as a result of greater concern for the wellbeing of the young. The evidence paints a somewhat different picture, whereby mass schooling formed a crucial component of a new form of social regulation, based upon an increasing focus on individuality, where the school subtly conforms to the requirements of the state and the disciplinary management of the population is made possible through continual surveillance, as well as through the close regulation of space, time and conduct.
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