One of the leading educational philosophers of the twentieth century, Theodore Brameld helped pioneer the idea that education can be used to transform society for the better. He believed that schools should help the individual not only to develop socially but to learn how to be responsible citizens as well.

In this classic work, first published in 1965, Brameld presents three "explosive ideas" that should be at the very center of the school curriculum: culture, class, and evolution. With wars waged today over bilingual education, lack of resources in poor school districts, and the teaching of evolution in schools, Brameld's book is once again a timely exploration of how to foster democratic principles through education and how schools can be a driving force for both social and political change.