This is a book of essays about the future roles of schools and education in society. In the debates over these roles, it has become clear that education is not just about conventional school matters such as curriculum, standards, or testing. Rather, what is done in school must be seen in the broader context of what society intends education to accomplish. The central thesis is that culture shapes the mind and provides the toolkit by which individuals construct worlds and their conceptions of themselves and their powers. The perspective of cultural psychology underlies the essays which seek to achieve a deeper understanding of the culture of education. Current conventional practices are examined and challenged as the call is made for a redefinition and better understanding of the role of education in society. Chapters are: (1) "Culture, Mind, and Education"; (2) "Folk Pedagogy"; (3) "The Complexity of Educational Aims"; (4) "Teaching the Present, Past, and Possible"; (5) "Understanding and Explaining Other Minds"; (6) "Narratives of Science"; (7) "The Narrative Construal of Reality"; (8) "Knowing as Doing"; and (9) "Psychology's Next Chapter." (Contains 324 references.) (JLS)