with a tradition of hatred and an unequal distribution of wealth, extend from the vision of education as a democratic practice where there is "a struggle for both change and the freedom to change" (Irwin, p. 51, 1991). The change is about transforming an exclusive, often oppressive and disempowering system into a more inclusive, equal, and equitable one that is accessible to children from all neighborhoods. Simply, the goal of education is to realize learning environments that foster and nurture the inherent potential of all students, regardless of the class and race privilege they do or do not hold outside of school. National polls suggest that 62% of Americans commit to this goal on an ideological level (Gallup, p. 125, 1993). This sentiment however has scarcely led to action from those with power and resources. Furthermore, this value is countered by the practices of the ideology of education as a gatekeeper.The disputing force mirrors the striations in society where only those born into privilege have access to quality education and life opportunities, while those born into groups excluded from privilege are given subordinate access to equivalent life opportunities, or occlusive access to mediocre ones. In school systems where urban schools are considered breeding grounds for workers of the wealthy, roles and privilege in society are maintained, not challenged, and gates are kept instead of doors opened, all in the spirit of reflecting a larger game of "just the way life is"--a game where only the so-called fittest survive and the "fittest" have a head start. As long as education lives under a gatekeeping system, society remains unchanged as its children learn-rather than learn to change-dominant, White hegemony. Overwhelmingly, this notion is rooted in a historically oppressive society where those who have the power to judge merit, and hence to discriminate, are most often White, wealthy, and male. In other words, the system...
