Social criticism and ideology are not identical, but represent two moments of the same process, through which each society and each part of a society understand, perceive their conditions of existence, and choose, organize their practices.

School, as a social institution that promotes social justice by lifting the 'capable' from ignorance and poverty, is one of the multiple semantic equivalents that develop around the general idea of democracy, forming the hegemonic discourse of the modern Greek school. This discourse seeks consensus by advertising the democratic function of institutions and undertaking a kind of education of the democratic spirit of citizens.

The surveys presented in this book targeted students and educators with the primary aim of exploring their views regarding the social role of the educational institution. The main question of these surveys is twofold: do the perceptions of the social categories surveyed construct a discourse of rupture or a consensus discourse towards the official educational policy and ideology, and if this discourse is consensual, in what specific form does it express the direct or indirect consent of these categories?

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the publication]