What are the origins of educational systems? What principles shaped the "disciplines" and the "grammar of school"? How are the relationships of "power-knowledge" delineated in the field of education? What ideas influenced and shaped the pedagogical "discourse" and educational "practices"? What is the role of education in modern "knowledge economies and societies"? How is the contemporary framework of "competencies" for students and "qualifications" for educators defined? What are the contemporary "discourses" and "practices" that characterize the school as an "organization and as a community of learning"?

The above are some of the key questions that run through the chapters of this book. The authors' aim is to analyze the transition from the archaeology of education to the genealogy of the educational institution. The book presents detailed theories and policies that influenced the formation of the pedagogical "discourse" and educational practices during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Emphasis is placed on the analysis of the "power-knowledge" relationships within education, and on the relationship between the educational "discourse" and social practices. The impacts of "globalization" and the "knowledge society" on the educational institution are examined. Contemporary "knowledge policies" linked to new theories and learning processes are analyzed, including the transition from knowledge-centered to "competency-centered" models of learning, the changing role and qualifications of educators, the transformation of the school into an "organization and a community of learning," the transition from "disciplinary societies" to "control societies," and the prospect of an entirely pedagogically educated society.