Book Review: Education and Social Justice in a Digital Age by Rosamund Sutherland

LSE Review of Books - February 20, 2014

Reviewed By Claire Forbes

Against the backdrop of an education system in constant flux – between a wistful nostalgia for the rigour of the three Rs, Latin, and Classics on the one hand, and a bright eyed optimism for technocratic project-based learning on the other –  the publication of Rosamund Sutherland’s Education and Social Justice in a Digital Age could not be more opportune. Sutherland’s initial inspiration for this book was to highlight the ‘persistent and pervasive’ injustices (p.1) within the English education system; namely what she sees as the divide between the private and state education sectors. In challenging current policy and practice, Sutherland argues that to achieve a ‘socially just’ system of education, curricula should focus upon formal knowledge, rather than be purely skill-based. As such, she questions both the role and value of high stakes testing and purports the need to integrate digital technologies more fully within the classroom to enhance learning and cognition. Her view is one of ‘shared responsibility for the education of all young people in order to build a stronger and more just society’ (xii), a notion which permeates her narrative as she puts forth her vision of an education system enabling equity for all.

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