This textbook provides an up to date, accessible introduction to the philosophy of education with a focus on the conceptual and normative questions raised by educational policy and practice. The key concepts explored include learning, teaching, indoctrination, knowledge, equality, intelligence, virtue, and rights. Clarifying the meanings of these terms is vital for educators to be able to explain what they do and why. Such conceptual analysis helps us to address normative questions about w...

The widespread use of the measurement of educational outcomes in order to compare the performance of education within and across countries seems to express a real concern for the quality of education. This book argues that the focus on the measurement of educational outcomes has actually displaced questions about educational purpose. Biesta explores why the question as to what constitutes good education has become so much more difficult to ask and shows why this has been detrimental for th...

This book is an edited collection of original papers which challenge in a very direct manner the dominant behviourist and functionalist views that have come to entrap those who live, work and conduct research in the areas of educational leadership, and focusing instead on the structures and processes within schools as organisations that frustrate, distort and ultimately stifle educative relationships the writers provide a much needed way of reconceptualising both thought and action in so-c...

The radical transformation that universities are undergoing today is no less far-reaching than the upheavals that it experienced in the 1960s. However today, when almost 50 per cent of young people participate in higher education, what occurs in universities matters directly to the whole of society.On both sides of the Atlantic curious and disturbing events on campuses has become a matter of concern not just for academics but also for the general public. What is one to make of the ...

Andrew Sayer undertakes a fundamental critique of social science's difficulties in acknowledging that people's relation to the world is one of concern. As sentient beings, capable of flourishing and suffering, and particularly vulnerable to how others treat us, our view of the world is substantially evaluative. Yet modernist ways of thinking encourage the common but extraordinary belief that values are beyond reason, and merely subjective or matters of convention, with little or nothing to...

Transforming Social Work Practice shows that postmodern theory offers new strategies for social workers concerned with political action and social justice. It explores ways of developing practice frameworks, paradigms and principles which take advantage of the perspectives offered by postmodern theory without totally abandoning the values of modernity and the Enlightenment project of human emancipation. Case studies demonstrate how these perspectives can be applied to practice.

This new edition of Philosophy of Education: The Key Concepts is an easy to use A-Z guide summarizing all the key terms, ideas and issues central to the study of educational theory today. Fully updated, the book is cross-referenced throughout and contains pointers to further reading, as well as new entries on such topics as:Citizenship and Civic EducationLiberalismCapabilityWell-beingPatriotismGlobalisationOpen-mindedness...

How much can we reasonably expect from education? This book, written by a philosopher of education, casts new light on this question by seeing values education, not as a separate activity within schools, but as an aspect of education that both reflects the surrounding climate of values and can help to change it. Graham Haydon argues that all of us – whether as teachers, parents, students or citizens – share in a responsibility for the quality of that ethical environment. He argues that we ...

It is often argued that education is concerned with the transmission of middle-class values and that this explains the relative educational failure of the working class. Consequently, distinctive culture needs a different kind of education. This volume examines this claim and the wider question of culture in British society. It analyses cultural differences from a social historical viewpoint and considers the views of those applying the sociology of knowledge to educational problems. The a...

Making Sense of Education provides a contemporary introduction to the key issues in educational philosophy and theory. Exploring major past and present conceptions of education, teaching and learning, this book makes philosophy of education relevant to the professional practice of teachers and student teachers, as well of interest to those studying education as an academic subject.The book is divided into three parts:education, teaching and professional practi...

This innovative introductory textbook to the growing field of cultural criminology examines the importance of understanding the cultural contexts in which crime and crime control take place. It describes and discusses the field's theoretical and methodological foundations, its links to other theoretical traditions, and its limits and criticisms. By exploring substantive areas such as crime in popular culture, deviance and social control, criminal justice and punishment, it demonstrates the...

Although we tend to associate social transformation with major events, historical turning points, or revolutionary upheaval, Revolutionary Routines argues that seemingly minor everyday habits are the key to meaningful change.Through its account of influential socio-political processes – such as the resurgence of fascism and white supremacy, the crafting of new technologies of governance, and the operation of digital media and algorithms – this book rethinks not only how ch...