Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material / Pauli Siljander , Kimmo Kontio and Eetu Pikkarainen -- A Modern Idea of the School / Kimmo Kontio, , Eetu Pikkarainen and Pauli Siljander -- Functions of the School / Pauli Siljander , Kimmo Kontio and Eetu Pikkarainen -- A Philosophical School for Our Time / David T. Hansen and Jessica Davis -- Axel Honneth on Role, Form and Results of Public Education Revisited / Teemu Hanhela -- What are Universities for? / Jani Kukkola -- Section II School, Learning and Teaching / Pauli Siljander , Kimmo Kontio and Eetu Pikkarainen -- Schools and the New Language of Learning / Jouni Peltonen -- The Paradox of Being a Teacher / Daniel Tröhler -- School Learning as Human Growth / Eetu Pikkarainen -- Section III School, Economics and Labor Markets / Pauli Siljander , Kimmo Kontio and Eetu Pikkarainen -- The State, Market and Education / Kimmo Kontio and Maximilian Sailer -- Productivity, Effectiveness, Efficiency Basic Concepts of the Economics of Education / Dieter Timmermann -- The Economic Payoff to Investing in Educational Justice / Henry M. Levin -- Section IV School and School Reform – National Perspectives / Pauli Siljander , Kimmo Kontio and Eetu Pikkarainen -- School in Transition / Pauli Siljander -- The Transformation of School in a Changing Society – A German Example / Wolfgang Schönig -- “It Takes a Village” – (Catholic) Education in the 21st Century / John Andreas Fuchs -- Schooling vis-à-vis Learning / Andrew Stables -- School Representation in Curriculum Policies / Alice Casimiro Lopes and Elizabeth Macedo -- Section V School, Utopias and Future / Pauli Siljander , Kimmo Kontio and Eetu Pikkarainen -- The History of Education as the History of Writing / Norm Friesen -- The Emancipation of Children / Alexander M. Sidorkin -- Tensions and Controversies of School Development – Some Remarks / Pauli Siljander and Kimmo Kontio -- Notes on Contributors / Pauli Siljander , Kimmo Kontio and Eetu Pikkarainen.

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School is one of the most focal institutions in modern society. It is largely through the institutionalized forms of education that modern society attempts to secure and maintain its social and economic well-being and its valuable cultural life forms. In addition to this, school is the essential institution through which the future of a society is defined. Thus, at least when understood traditionally as a pedagogical institution, the school stands at the center of historically and socially constructed cultural life forms and at the brink of an unknown future: the determination of that future characterizes the pedagogical task of the school. It naturally ensues then, that modern discourses of the school have always been intertwined with the critical question of how past, present and future can be linked in educational practices so that schools can foster (in ever better ways) the well-being of individuals, societies and humanity. The chapters in this volume, despite the variety of viewpoints, share this critical view. The purpose of the volume is not to offer definite answers; rather it is to stress that to understand the role and functions of school in contemporary society and to orientate its transition, a well-founded critical evaluation of prevailing pedagogical practices and policy trends is required. This evaluation is vital for the future of school and society.