On powerful knowledge as a policy concept and sociological theory

This aim of this article is to analyze Michael Young’s and Johan Muller’s revisit of the origins of the concept of powerful knowledge. The background and theoretical framing of the analysis consist in an ongoing debate regarding similarities and differences between Anglophone and German-Nordic approaches to frame teaching and pedagogical practice conceptually. The methodological approach applied is hermeneutical text analysis of significant contributions by Young and Muller. The result of the analysis focus four critical issues. Firstly, emphasizing the importance of an epistemological analysis of curricular knowledge, the social realist reasoning appears valid primarily within Anglophone education research. Secondly, powerful knowledge represents instructional reductionism, separating epistemological analysis from pedagogical reflection, unlike Didaktik, which treats them relationally, considering the educative dimensions of contents. Thirdly, in comparison with Durkheim’s and Bernstein’s theories, powerful knowledge seems more like a policy concept. Fourthly, as I appreciate Bernstein’s theoretical approach to conceptualizing sociology of knowledge, I argue also that pedagogy or education requires a similar level of conceptual clarification. The conclusion of the article is that given that Education as an autonomous academic discipline, like sociology or psychology, Education requires an independent ontological and epistemological curricular base. Thus, education is not be reduced to a field of practical application, as is the case with Young and Muller.