Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) can result in positive "side effects," such as concentration and individual well-being, highly desirable to schools operating within a neoliberalist agenda emphasizing performativity. However, employing a critical literature review, we argue that adverse side effects also occur, though…

Effect size is the basis of much evidence-based education policymaking. In particular, it is assumed to measure the educational effectiveness of interventions. Policy is being driven by the influential work of John Hattie, the Education Endowment Foundation, and others, which is grounded in this assumption. This article demonstrates the assumption…

Recently, the new global policy framework for implementing education for sustainable development (ESD) -- "ESD for 2030" -- was launched officially. Drawing on Foucauldian theory, this paper explores biopolitical elements in "ESD for 2030." The paper contributes to previous research on ESD policy by employing a biopolitical…

In responding to John Raven's critique of the current situation in education and the role of evidence-based interventions, there are a number of observations that Steve Higgins makes, but he starts by supporting Raven's key argument about the damage that high stakes accountability has done to the system of teaching and assessment in schools. This…

Drawing on the aesthetic theory of Jacques Rancière and the Lacanian conception of lack, this paper offers an intervention into the notion of subjectivity which can be applied in critical studies of education. Critiquing the progressive and knowledge-oriented ideology of neoliberal systems, Rancière depicts a world in which politics turns out to…

The need to find ways of ameliorating a number of what seemed to be gross abuses of 'science', logic, and authority in relation to educational policy emerged as a priority whilst revisiting writings on early childhood and elementary education. In the current paper, it is argued that many of these abuses stem from the uncritical acceptance of…

The requirement to assure the teaching of critical thinking put the school in front of its own weaknesses. A profound criticism highlights limitations, hindrances and obstacles that are difficult to pass without the personal efforts of the teachers. Following criticism, one can identify a set of requirements that would allow for improvement and…

A response to the critique of where social work research currently stands, as put forth by Garrow and Hasenfeld, and their position that social work research should be undertaken from a feminist perspective. It is important to remember the origins and foundation of feminist thought and to approach research and practice with a full understanding of…

In this article, I make a response to Lewin's insightful and judicious contribution to the Gearon-Jackson debate. I address the central and important arguments made by Lewin in relation to three aspects of my theoretical orientations on religion in education: (1) what Lewin rightly identifies as my "propositional" interpretation of…

In this article, I discuss implications of the discourse and rhetoric of dyslexia advocacy and of recent state policies for the preparation of literacy professionals. I then synthesize reflections on my experiences teaching and learning about dyslexia and reading difficulties within university-based schools of education, and in trainings offered…

This paper addresses one of the challenges in human rights education (HRE) concerning the conceptualization of a pedagogical orientation that avoids both the pitfalls of a purely juridical address and a "cheap sentimental" approach. The paper uses as its point of departure Richard Rorty's key intervention on human rights discourse and…

Caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder are vulnerable to overstated benefits of interventions, and such overstatements are common with interventions involving animals. This response to Wright, Hall, Hames, Hardmin, Mills, the Paws Team, and Mills' (2015) article, "Acquiring a Pet Dog Significantly Reduces Stress of Primary…

Pessimistic discourses about crises in youth and children's well-being, mental health and vulnerability permeate English educational policy and practice. These generate vague and slippery elisions of wellbeing and mental health, and the related rise of an ad hoc, confusing market of psycho-emotional interventions promoted by new types of…

While contemplative practices have emerged from wisdom-traditions, the rhetoric surrounding their justification in contemporary public educational settings has been substantially undergirded by the scientific evidence-based approach. This article finds the practice and construct of "attention" to be the bridge between this peculiar…

Although the aims of literary study have often been spelled out in ethical terms, scholars have tended to discuss the how of literary interpretation in more ethically neutral terms. Reading pedagogical enactments of two predominant theories of literary interpretation--New Criticism and reader response--through the lens of Rancièrean ethics, I…