Drawing on life history interviews, this paper seeks to explore the lives of a group of eight teachers, all with working experience in England, who self-identify as committed to a more socially just education system. Drawing on Levitas' "Utopia as method," this article examines these teachers' perspectives on and practices around social…

Curricular justice, achieved through a counter-hegemonic curriculum that serves the needs of the least rather than most advantaged members of society, plays a central role in providing more equitable access to meaningful education for all young people. We contend that the defining features of the contemporary schooling context in many parts of the…

This paper explores the emotional work involved in leading schools in marginalised communities, through case studies of Australian and English government-school principals theorised through Lynch's framework of affective justice and the embedded concepts of love, care and solidarity. Participants demonstrated solidarity in their choice of working…

This paper is concerned with the recent growth of the co-operative schools movement (CSM) in education in England. It provides a detailed description of the demography and distribution of co-operative schools and the motivations for becoming a co-operative school. Based on data provided by the Co-operative College (2014) the paper will identify…

The article builds on prior arguments that research on issues of social justice in education has often lacked constructive engagement with education policy-making, and that this can be partly attributed to a lack of clarity about what a socially just education system might look like. Extending this analysis, this article argues that this lack of…

Teaching is challenging in part because, although school structures are to some extent modelled on industrial approaches in which the "raw materials" are assumed to be very similar, human beings are endlessly diverse. Understanding the many differences amongst students, and treating these differences as teaching resources rather than…

This article considers the ways in which three alternative education sites in Australia support socially just education for their students and how injustice is addressed within these schools. The article begins with recognition of the importance of Nancy Fraser's work to understandings of social justice. It then goes on to argue that her framework…

This paper explores the decisions made by one secondary school in a major English city to become a co-operative academy. This school is located in an area affected by economic hardship and social and cultural tensions. The school, prior to its conversion to an academy, was well known in the local area for its commitment to social justice…

The affective dimension of teachers' work is a vital element in shaping inclusive, child-centred classrooms. It is particularly important for students who lack certain aspects of care and support within their personal lives. Recently, neoliberal educational paradigms of data gathering, external testing and competition have increased pressure upon…

In this paper, we draw upon the experiences of a group of young people who have been excluded from mainstream schools in two Australian states to provide an account of the ways in which they have found their way to education in educational sites that are variously referred to as "flexible learning centres", "second chance…

Various injurious effects of schooling have been documented in the literature over the years, leading some authors to characterise schooling as violence. In this article we draw together such research to present an account of the ways in which schooling in the Global North damages young people (and their teachers). The range of damage includes:…

This paper was born of the authors' discussions about the imbalance between critique and constructive thinking within the sociology of education, and work on education policy. They were concerned that their research--and the body of work to which their research contributes--is becoming increasingly irrelevant to policy and practice. For British…

This article focuses on the continuing impact of recuperative masculinity politics in the schooling of economically advantaged boys (elite and middle class); yet, it also indicates resistance to this politics. An understanding that the gender order is unstable and that variants of hegemonic masculinity continue to morph in the context of…

This article rejects the notion that schools have become excessively feminised spaces that are failing to adequately provide for the educational needs of boys. This construction of schools as feminised has provided the impetus for the development of what have become known as "boy-friendly" pedagogies. Unfortunately such pedagogies work…

This article explores the complex struggles associated with intersections of class, rurality and masculinity, and the ways in which such intersections work to preserve a gendered status quo within and beyond school communities in Australia. Drawing on the stories of Monica and Phoebe, two teachers who understand schooling as a site of…