John Smyth’s remarkable body of writing, research and scholarship has spanned four decades, and the urgency of our times makes it imperative to look in some depth at the breadth of his research and its trajectory, in order to see how we can connect, extend, build and enrich our understandings from it. Possibly the single most unique aspect to Smyth’s version of critical research is his passion for living and ‘doing’ what it means to be a critical pedagogue. For him, ‘doing’ is a verb that ...

How might educational leaders and teachers improve literacy achievement in schools serving communities experiencing high levels of poverty? This question is the focus of this book. Drawing on long-term case studies of four primary schools located in these communities, this book describes the difference between what is commonly practiced and those practices that have a greater chance of supporting young people’s literacy learning.In this multi-layered analysis of the effects of poli...

In this edited book we argue that we are now involved in a struggle over the soul of educators and that means resisting the neoliberalizing policy regime that mostly governs through asserting a narrow, technicist, and individualistic definition of what it means to be a good teacher. The book represents the recent scholarship of the Pedagogies for Justice Research Group at the University of South Australia. The research reported is framed up by a critical sensibility that ...

Resisting Educational Inequality examines poverty, social exclusion and vulnerability in educational contexts at a time of rising inequality and when policy research suggests that such issues are being ignored or distorted within neoliberal logics.In this volume, leading scholars from Australia and across the UK examine these issues through three main focus areas:Mapping the damage: what are our explanations for the persistent nature of educational ...

Extended critical case studies provide a tangible working expression of the labour process of teaching, showing how teachers are simultaneously experiencing significant changes to their work, as well as responding in ways that actively shape these processes. For teachers and researchers, this book shows what processes are at work in the global economy which impact on, and sometimes control, the role of the teacher. It also reveals how teachers accommodate, resist or redefine their working ...

This state-of-the-art, comprehensive Handbook is the first of its kind to fully explore the interconnections between social justice and education for citizenship on an international scale.Various educational policies and practices are predicated on notions of social justice, yet each of these are explicitly or implicitly shaped by, and in turn themselves shape, particular notions of citizenship/education for citizenship. Showcasing current research and theories from a diverse range...

Reconciliation is one of the most significant contemporary challenges in the world today. In this innovative new volume, educational academics and practitioners across a range of cultural and political contexts examine the links between reconciliation and critical pedagogy, putting forward the notion that reconciliation projects should be regarded as public pedagogical interventions, with much to offer to wider theories of learning.While ideas about reconciliation are proliferating...