Wasted - by Frank Furedi (Paperback)

About the Book

Furedi turns his attention to the education system, skilfully analysing current processes and providing a way forward.

Book Synopsis

Never has so much attention been devoted to education. Everyone - government ministers, social commentators and parents obsess about its problems. Yet we rarely ask why? Why is education a source of such concern? Why do many of the solutions proposed actually make matters worse?

Tony Blair's 'education, education, education' slogan placed education at the forefront of political agendas. But, perhaps the 'policisation' of education is part of the problem. Today, education is valued for its potential contribution to economic development, but it is no longer considered important for itself. Increasingly, the promotion of education has little to do with the value of learning per se or with the importance of 'being taught' about societies' achievements, so future generations have the intellectual ability to advance still further. Education has been emptied of its content.

This book is a brilliant piece of analysis. It peers into the hollowness of the education debates and, drawing on thinkers from the ancient Greeks to modern critics, it sets out what we need from our schools.

Review Quotes

Furedi build his case methodically and argues it carefully, if not elegantly. He supports it with quotes (shrewdly selected, sometimes repeated) from politicians and educationalists ... the analysis rings true, as does Furedi's defence of a subject-based curriculum and a philosophy of education that recognises the duty of one generation to impart a canon of knowledge to the next.--Sanford Lakoff

A thought provoking read.--Sanford Lakoff

Author article, February 2010.--Sanford Lakoff

Frank Furedi holds forth with passion and wit--Sanford Lakoff

Recommended by New Statesman--Sanford Lakoff

There is a lot of sense here, and anyone who teaches traditional subjects at A-level or lectures at a university will recognise the phenomenon of students who are exemplary in their work-related personal skills, conscientious in their environmentalism and tolerance of diversity, sensible in their eating, drinking and non-smoking - but also utterly uninterested in intellectual debate and incapable of seeing the point of simply knowing more. Furedi makes his case well.--Sanford Lakoff

Well researched ... Interesting content, persuasive arguments ... Good to get the cogs in the brain ticking over--Sanford Lakoff

A thought provoking read.--,

Author article, February 2010.--,

Frank Furedi holds forth with passion and wit--,

Recommended by New Statesman--,

A thought provoking read.--Morning Star

Author article and title mention, alive! February/March 2010

Author article in The Australian, January 2010 and Title Mention

Author article in Times Educational Supplement, November 2009.

Author article, February 2010.--The Australian

Frank Furedi holds forth with passion and wit--Times Higher Education

Recommended by New Statesman--New Statesman

Reviewed in Contemporary Review

Same mention in Herne Bay Gazette, Faversham News and Kentish Gazette, October 2009

Title mention from author article in The Australian, August 2009.

About the Author

Frank Furedi is Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent at Canterbury. He is the author of numerous books including Culture of Fear, Invitation to Terror and Paranoid Parenting, all published by Continuum.