Michael Apple

Michael W. Apple, born on August 20, 1942, is an American educational theorist whose work centers on education and power, cultural politics, curriculum theory and research, critical teaching, and the development of democratic schools. He is John Bascom Professor Emeritus of Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education, where he taught from 1970 to 2018. Before completing his Ed.D. at Teachers College, Columbia University in 1970, he taught in elementary and secondary schools in New Jersey, where he grew up, and served as president of his teachers union. Over more than three decades he has worked with educators, unions, dissident groups and governments around the world on shifting educational policy and practice toward critical pedagogy.