Deschooling Society: Re-Examining Ivan Illich's Contributions to Critical Pedagogy for 21st Century Curriculum Theory

This paper re-examines Ivan Illich's ideas as expressed in his seminal work "Deschooling Society" from a 21st century point of view. It explores the validity of his ideas for our current education system. Illich's work was published at the time of a paradigm shift in curriculum theory which resulted in the development of Reconceptualization and Reproduction Theory. Therefore, the paper examines Illich's influence on Critical Pedagogy as the major theory of this paradigm shift. The purpose of this paper is to determine which aspects of "Deschooling Society" and Critical Pedagogy are useful for curriculum theory today and how they can be applied. The methodology used is theoretical analysis. The findings will show that all of Illich's concerns are still valid today, some so with increased urgency. However, they cannot be remedied today in the ways suggested by Illich when the work was originally published. The paper concludes by applying Illich's underlying notions of humanism and responsibility for oneself and others to curriculum theory today.