Turns out that Giroux is within six months of my age, which means we share a past as students in a particular era. He makes a big deal about the social but he didn't develop it within his own historical context. So I'll add it.
The most important components of my education were the student cultures I encountered. It was there that many of the best books were read and discussed, the best painting reviewed, the most interesting stories about writers and artists were exchanged. It was there that a political life was to be seen, talked and lived.
While these cultures were derivative of the colleges and universities I went to, the institutions themselves would have been near meaningless without their student scenes. These came about from the history of the places, so that is where to begin to apprehend the best of an education, and in tangent that must be were to set the battle