This paper argues that Young and Muller's 'powerful knowledge' requires a more extensive conceptualization of the relation between knowledge and practice. However, rather than focus on the 'practice turn' in social theory as Carlgren has suggested, it is argued that what Rouse terms a 'normative practice' can help explicate the specialized…

Mathematics education is not mathematics, it makes a basic use of highly specialized kinds of mathematical knowledge. The modern world feels a crisis of proper mathematics education in any nation. Realistic Mathematics Education is a domain-specific instruction theory for mathematics. This paper introduces realistic mathematics education (RME) and…

The historical process of consolidation of a Latin American and Caribbean critical social theory is framed, to a great extent, in interpreting our socio-historical formation, identifying the axes that structure the great regional and national problems, with the intention of constructing analytical categories destined to contribute to social…

What are the attitudes, mindsets, and capacities that promote the full flourishing of individuals as well as our collective society? Based on a review of the literature on democratic education, the researcher posits a humble theory (i.e., a local theory in educational research) of the dispositions of democracy and then asks educators from…

Niklas Luhmann's late concept of inclusion/exclusion in world society compensates for the lack of a systems theory of social differentiation, but ultimately remains incomplete. Moreover, it is remarkable that Luhmann apparently never linked the inclusion/exclusion concept to his late theory of the education system. The following considerations…

In an effort to address the relationship between globalisation, education and Niklas Luhmann's branch of systems theory, we present his essay, published here for the first time in English translation, 'Education: Forming the life course', next to the nine contributions that compose this special issue and build on this and his other writings to…

Scholars often use Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Bourdieusian analyses with the aim of studying inequities in education. Despite their usefulness and popularity, a theoretical discourse between the two frameworks has not yet transpired and the two are sometimes constructed as incompatible, if not at odds. The argument in this essay is three-fold:…

Social acceleration, the rapidly increasing speeding up of the pace of life, has been described and theorised by contemporary social theorists including Paul Virilio, Ben Agger, Thomas Hylland Eriksen, and Hartmut Rosa. While these theorists use illustrations from education, and others such as Foucault and Adam have considered the relationship…

In this article, I pick up established critical explorations of the role and use of theory in higher education research, focusing on the theoretical affordances of the work of Bruno Latour, one of the architects of actor-network theory. Actor-network theory is increasingly widely used within education research, although Latour has moved away from…

Learning circles has a long tradition in the Nordic countries as a model for adult non-formal education, but has gained little scholarly attention and is thus sparsely theorised. The purpose of this article is to discuss the revitalisation of learning circles as highly relevant in times of what we term 'social innovation imperatives'. To…

Theories of agency are often borrowed from psychology and sociology; truly educational theories of agency are rare -- theories that not only classify and measure dimensions of agency but enable us to understand how its formation can be pedagogically facilitated. Based on Sannino's recent work on transformative agency by double stimulation (TADS),…

Inspired by the recent 21st century social and educational movements toward equity, diversity, and inclusion for disadvantaged groups, educational researchers have sought in conceptualizing fairness in classroom assessment contexts. These efforts have provoked promising key theoretical foundations and empirical investigations to examine fairness…

This essay begins with the story of Vincent Lloyd who recounts a disturbing experience he had while teaching a course to a group of students of color. What does pedagogical uptake under conditions of systemic oppression require of educators? In the first section, I explore philosopher Nancy Potter's (Nancy Potter. "Giving Uptake".…

Social reproduction theory names at least two distinct traditions, one of which has a long history in educational research. Social reproduction theory in "education" emerged out of a concern with education's relationship to capitalist inequalities. By contrast, social reproduction "feminism" developed out of feminist…

Using new materiality theory, we analyzed teachers' and administrators' descriptions of educational practices and everyday life in schools during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, the virus and the Provincial Health Authority were agential parts of classrooms that both restricted pedagogical possibilities, as well as…