Risk, Education and Culture

Book excerpt: In recent years education has become increasingly perceived as an area of risk. A number of highly publicized incidents have heightened awareness of the potential dangers to be found in teaching institutions. Although there is now a substantial conceptual literature on risk and the meaning of the risk society, such ideas have not to date been rigorously applied to the educational sector. The authors of this innovative volume address this gap, discussing the relevance of risk discourses to educational processes. They recognize that risk discourses themselves (both academic and political) do not necessarily relate to actual dangers within education and they examine the differences between the risk narratives of expert and layperson, teacher and student, practitioner and academic. This book will greatly interest both sociologists and educationalists interested in the interaction between education and contemporary trends in society.