美國語言學家惠特尼 (William Dwight Whitney) 曾提出一種觀點：語言是一種社會制度。英國教育社會學家伯恩斯坦 (B. Bernstein) 更從語言哲學面向看到在教育體系中語言更深一層的內涵，他讓人們了解到學業成就原來不單單是學習者的問題而已，它還涉及到更複雜的社會文化、我們使用的語言類型、教科書內容的編訂…等等因素；事實上，學校教育不單單是在傳承文化、傳授知識，當它在進行文化傳承、知識傳授的同時，它也在塑造某種社會結構與社會形態。簡言之，學校教育就是一種文化再製的工具。本文從知識與權力的這個角度來反思當代教育，希望透過這樣的反思，讓每一位老師都能了解什麼才是稱職的教師。

United States linguist William Dwight Whitney has made a point of view: language is a social system. United Kingdom educational sociologist B. Bernstein expounds language at a deeper level of implication in the education system from language philosophy views, he makes us understand that academic achievement in original is not just a matter of learning, it also involves more complex social and cultural matters, language types we use, textbook content compiled ... and so on. In fact, the school education is not just passing on culture, transfer knowledge, it also shaping a social structure and social forms. In short, the school education is a tool of culture and system . This article reflects on contemporary education from the dimension of knowledge and power. With this reflection, we hope each teacher will be able to understand what competent teachers are.