Interview with Michael Apple: The biography of a public intellectual

Michael W. Apple is the John Bascom Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Policy Studies in the Departments of Curriculum and Instruction (CI) and Educational Policy Studies (EPS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education where he has taught since 1970. Michael Apple is one of the foremost educational theorists in the world and a public intellectual who is deeply committed to empowerment and transformation of people through education. Professor Apple specializes in understanding and analyzing the relations between education and power. He has made major contributions to the fields of cultural politics, curriculum theory and research, and critical teaching. He has been a tireless advocate and activist-theorist for development of democratic schools over four decades. He began teaching in elementary and secondary schools in New Jersey where he grew up and served as president of the local teachers’ union. He has spent his career working with educators, unions, dissident and disadvantaged groups throughout the world on democratizing educational policy and practice. Professor Apple’s research centers on the limits and possibilities of critical educational policy and practice in a time of conservative restoration. Michael received his BA in Education from Glassboro State College, NJ (1966), an MA in Curriculum and Philosophy (1967) and EdD in Curriculum and Teaching (1970) at Columbia University, NY. He is the recipient of many awards and honors including honorary doctorates fromMcGill University (Canada), University of Rosario (Argentina) and the Institute of Education (London) where he is World Scholar. He also received the Medal for Distinguished Academic Achievement (Equivalent of Honorary PhD) from the University of California. He is the author of many works including: Can Education Change Society? (Routledge, 2013), Education and Power, 3rd edition (Routledge, 2012), Global Crises, Social Justice, and Education (Routledge, 2010), The Routledge International Handbook of Sociology of