This text is a provocative investigation of the political, social, and economic factors underlying classroom practices, offering a unique introduction to the contemporary field of critical pedagogy. Life in Schools features excerpts from the author's best-selling work, Cries from the Corridor: The New Suburban Ghetto. The text provokes analytic discussion of social problems and a theoretical framework for formulating potential solutions (Parts III & IV). It also includes a new discussion of race and class, a chapter on the social construction of whiteness, and a new chapter that challenges current domestic and foreign policies of the current White House administration (including the No Child Left Behind Act) and their impact upon American public schooling.