Educators today are faced with learning to implement the Common Core Standards in Language Arts and Math. Administrators are requiring grade level general education teachers/special education teachers to meet in Private Learning Communities in order to discuss the best ways to implement the CCS as well as to discuss best practices for writing…

Developmental Work Research (DWR) is a methodology for simultaneous research and innovation in workplace settings, developed by Finnish researcher Yryo Engestrom. This interventionist approach builds on the principles of cultural-historical activity theory, articulated by developmental psychologists L.S. Vygotsky and A.N. Le'ontev. The article…

The purpose of this paper is to philosophically explore a "realization-focused" capabilities theory of social justice, as articulated by AmartyaSen and Martha Nussbaum, as foundational to a theory of critical peace education. Paulo Freire's philosophy of critical pedagogy has had and continues to have a profound influence on the theory and…

This essay contributes to the construction of a critically informed toolbox of diverse concepts for education policy analysis. Focusing on the context(s) of practice of the policy cycle, the article outlines an interpretative framework to grasp policy enactment across different localities, the influences bearing upon those enactments as well as…

Increasing globalisation is concomitant with a growing lack of uniformity in the world. Hardly any satisfactory concepts are available which grasp both of these tendencies within the scope of a single model. While processes of becoming globally alike are central to world system theories, comparative research into institutions has identified a…

In their opening comments to this special issue on data use, Coburn and Turner point to "one of the most central questions in social theory: the interrelationship between macro-social structure and micro-level action." Questions about data use--which entail social phenomena that range from federal policy to moment-to-moment interactions…

Catharine Macaulay and Mary Wollstonecraft are linked by intellectual and political bonds; for both, education is a philosophical and political preoccupation in its own right, and also interacts with philosophical questions of morality, social power, theology, truth and human action. Macaulay's philosophical and political engagements with Hobbes,…

Academic research in the areas of educational technology and media is often portrayed to be limited in terms of its use of theory. This short paper reports on data collected from a survey of 462 "research active" academic researchers working in the broad area of educational technology and educational media. The paper explores their use…

A growing literature exploring large-scale, identity-based political violence, including mass killing and genocide, debates the plausibility of, and prospects for, early warning and prevention. An extension of the debate involves the prospects for creating educational experiences that result in more sophisticated analytical products that enhance…

In this theoretical essay, my primary task is to develop a methodology for engaging the conceptual normativity, or common sense ideas, at work in the popular discursive practices of modern society. To do so, I will draw upon theories associated with continental philosophy, Deweyan pragmatism, and sociological theory that trace their lineages to…

Thayer-Bacon uses this opportunity to further explore Ranciere's ideas concerning equality as described in "The Ignorant Schoolmaster" and their connection to democracy, as he explains in "Hatred of Democracy". For Ranciere, intelligence and equality are synonymous terms, just as reason and will are synonymous terms. Ranciere recommends the only…

This paper explores the dimensions of change experienced by a specialist primary science teacher in Australia as she attempted to embed an interactive whiteboard into her practice as a tool to enhance interactive teaching and learning. This paper uses the theoretical frameworks of activity theory and the stages of concern to understand the…

Action Research (AR) is recognised as an effective way for language teachers to extend teaching skills and gain more understanding of teaching, learning and the classroom environment (Burns, 2010). It can also be a useful but challenging experience for trainee language teachers. This paper reports on the experiences of Malaysian trainee primary…

In this essay, Richard Smith observes that being a parent, like so much else in our late-modern world, is required to become ever more efficient and effective, and is increasingly monitored by the agencies of the state, often with good reason given the many recorded instances of child abuse and cruelty. However, Smith goes on to argue, this begins…

This article discusses critical issues related to the development and practice of inclusive education of young children, from the perspective of Bourdieu's conceptual lenses of habitus, capital and field. The target question is: How can Bourdieu's lenses of critical social theory be applied to the development and implementation of early childhood…