Today I am speaking with Michael FD Young, Emeritus Professor of Sociology of Curriculum at the UCL Institute of Education. Michael has been a towering figure in the field of Sociology of Education for over five decades. He has written and edited many books throughout his career, including Knowledge and Control (1971), Bringing Knowledge Back In (20080) and Knowledge and the Future School (2014) - to name just a few. You may have noticed a theme in those book titles - Michael writes about knowledge a lot. Hence the title of the podcast.

A few weeks ago I met Michael for an enjoyable lunch in Russell Square, sitting under the trees with a lasagne and a beer and discussing life, the universe and everything. To my delight, Michael agreed that it would be a good idea to join me for an extended conversation about his remarkable career to date.

As always, this was an absolutely fascinating conversation. It’s also a conversation that I think many people will find surprising - both the hard-line traditionalists and the hard-core progressives among you. You know who you are. I look forward to hearing what people make of it - please do let me know what you think.

LINKS:

MIchael’s 2018 article in Impact: A knowledge-led curriculum: Pitfalls and Possibilities:

https://impact.chartered.college/article/a-knowledge-led-curriculum-pitfalls-possibilities/

The Nature article MIchael mentions, by Paul Nurse - ‘Biology must generate ideas as well as data’: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02480-z

Mighty Network Welcome Video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=47xZ73YPTNs&t=3s

Rethinking Education Campfire Conversations playlist: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ…WX9gMBCQJtHxoGNh2

The Rethinking Education Mighty Network: www.rethinking-education.mn.co/feed

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