The making of digital educational futures raises pressing social justice concerns. Against this background, scholars face the challenge of bridging the tasks of investigation and critical engagement. Inspired by French pragmatic sociology, this article presents the notion of "plural school worlds" as analytical anchor point for dealing…

This paper describes how critical realism was operationalized to provide an explanatory framework for a small-scale qualitative study in the field of teacher education in a sub-Saharan African context. Critical realism combines a realist ontology (there is something to find out about) with a relativistic epistemology (different people will come to…

The research focuses on the complexities associated with contemporary rural primary school leadership. The paper draws on in-depth ethnographic research undertaken in two contrasting English rural primary schools and their surrounding community over a period of three years and in particular the experiences and perspectives of the two head teachers…

In this article, I endeavor to explore the historical dimensions of "Bildung" by first focusing on the German linguist and philosopher Wilhelm von Humboldt and his theory of "Bildung." The article then addresses the transformation of Humboldt's neo-humanistic ideal into a governmentrun institutionalized "Bildung"…

This article considers how best to conceptualise higher education curricula in a world marked by uncertainty, where knowledge and the foundations of knowledge are strongly contested. We then draw on conceptions of agency that derive from socio-cultural theorising to consider what "tools" for thinking and practising individuals may need to deploy…

Background/Context: There historically exists significant epistemological and political tension within the field of curriculum studies. Further, although there is some application of standpoint theory in educational research generally, and little used within curriculum studies specifically, much of it is undertheorized at best and, in many cases,…

In the face of what has been characterised by some as a "crisis" in curriculum--an apparent decline of some aspects of curriculum studies combined with the emergence of new types of national curricula which downgrade knowledge--some writers have been arguing for the use of realist theory to address these issues. This article offers a…

Background: In the past decade, there has been an increasing national policy push for educators to systematically collect, interpret, and use data for instructional decision making. The assumption by the federal government is that having data systems will be enough to prompt the use of data for a wide range of decision making. These policies rely…

This article takes its inspiration and method from Slavoj Zizek's work that reads and integrates social theory with popular culture through the medium of film. I use the film "The Graduate" (Nichols 1967) as a prism to illuminate the concept of reification as a fundamental, defining feature of modern societies and their educational systems. The…

Suspension increases the likelihood of a student being expelled, dropping out, and being incarcerated, a phenomenon dubbed the "school to prison pipeline". One less punitive model of discipline that is gaining popularity worldwide is "restorative justice". Though restorative justice is now being used in the US to address racial…

The present challenge for educationists and economists is to resolve pressing problems inherent in social choice and the technical framework of education. Among these challenges is the conflict between means and ends of educational production, the reliable development of human capital, and resolution to problems of social inequality. The authors…

This article explores ways of queering the youthful cyberflaneur, using the television series "Queer as Folk" as the touchstone for such explorations. The concept of the youthful cyberflaneur, as developed by Kenway and Bullen, links power, pleasure, and consumer politics to pedagogy. However, it has been criticised for its heterosexist register.…

In this article, Lewin's (1951) social field theory is used as a framework for analyzing the potential for implementing scalable and sustainable e-learning initiatives in the academy. Powerful external economic and social forces coming to bear on academic leadership decisions are considered. The impacts of the emergence of the global learning…

Models explaining timing and focus of educational reform incorporate theories of either social equilibrium or conflict at national or world-system level. The resulting four general approaches differ in basic assumptions about how education functions in political, economic, and cultural contexts but are not mutually exclusive. Contains 77…

Proposes an extended mobilization-theoretical approach for the analysis and critical reconstruction of cultural- and educational-revolutionary processes, using Cuba as an example. Explains that mobilization theory can contribute to the analysis of revolutionary processes, including in regard to the role of education. (CMK)