ERIC Number: EJ763370
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-May
Pages: 12
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-2004
EISSN: N/A
Human Capital and the Labor of Learning: A Case of Mistaken Identity
Sidorkin, Alexander M
Educational Theory, v57 n2 p159-170 May 2007
In this essay, Alexander Sidorkin offers a conceptual critique of the human capital theory that makes erroneous assumptions about the nature of student work and the private cost of schooling. Specifically, human capital theorists underestimate the private cost of schooling by taking low-level manual labor as the basis for estimating students' forgone earnings. This does not take into consideration the nature of students' labor of learning. In the essay, Sidorkin describes student work as a form of labor, not an investment activity, and considers the implications such an understanding of student work has for school reform.
Descriptors: School Restructuring, Labor, Human Capital, Educational Change, Theories, Educational Philosophy, Criticism, Elementary Secondary Education, Educational Principles, Education Work Relationship, Compensation (Remuneration), Learning, Costs
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A