Learning To Divide The World: Education at Empire’s End

by John Willinsky

"The barbarian rules by force; the cultivated conqueror teaches." This maxim form the age of empire hints at the usually hidden connections between education and conquest. In Learning to Divide the World, John Willinsky brings these correlations to light, offering a balanced, humane, and beautifully written account of the ways that imperialism's educational legacy continues to separate us into black and white, east and west, primitive and civilized.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Theory, Academic

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[HyeSu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discusses how the “Western” expeditions for accumulation of knowledge had educational implications that were imperialistic. The establishment of discourse perpetuates imperialistic notions!

[Tracy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book I ever had to read for classes! The author doesn't know how to puncuate properly - drives me batty. The Canadian author continually refers to the U.S. as America. If you know anything at all about Canadians/Canada, you know this is a huge no-no. It implies that the U.S. is the only country in both Americas with a right to call themselves Americans.

Aside from those issues, Willinsky takes such a black/white view of the world that he ends up alienating readers. I had to read this for a book club and that was everyone's concensus. His occasional good points get lost in his strident writing. Unfortunate, because he does make some excellent points.

Don't read this book! There are more concise and better written articles available on Eric or Jstor!

[Miranda Tsang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lesson: Question everything you know. Everything you know is Imperialism. Capital I.