Denise Mifsud – författare

Foucault and School Leadership Research illustrates the application of Foucauldian theory to an educational leadership research context, thus staging the ways a researcher negotiates the methodological tensions and contradictions in the conduct of qualitative inquiry within education research.The book draws on an empirical study of a multi-site school collaborative that investigates relations of power within the unfolding network among the various leadership hierarchies in school governance. The book is anchored around a narrative dramatization that the author, Denise Mifsud, crafts from her data, using the dramatic play as a medium to present her research findings so as to show rather than just tell readers about network leadership dynamics. Mifsud’s innovative use of dramatization to communicate her findings and analysis serves to problematize the representation of qualitative research, as well as to incorporate researcher interpretation and explicate the intertwining nature of theory and methodology. Through the use of Foucauldian theory, mainly his notions of webs of power, discipline, governmentality, discourse, and subjectification, the research narrative critiques and problematizes traditional understandings of educational leadership.The book focuses on and demonstrates the challenging enterprise of the art of theory application in method by outlining the epistemological, operational and analytical challenges encountered: the application of Foucauldian concepts in education research contexts; the adaptation of methodological and theoretical concerns; in addition to showing how the quality of research outcomes is shaped by social theory.

Foucault and School Leadership Research illustrates the application of Foucauldian theory to an educational leadership research context, thus staging the ways a researcher negotiates the methodological tensions and contradictions in the conduct of qualitative inquiry within education research.The book draws on an empirical study of a multi-site school collaborative that investigates relations of power within the unfolding network among the various leadership hierarchies in school governance. The book is anchored around a narrative dramatization that the author, Denise Mifsud, crafts from her data, using the dramatic play as a medium to present her research findings so as to show rather than just tell readers about network leadership dynamics. Mifsud’s innovative use of dramatization to communicate her findings and analysis serves to problematize the representation of qualitative research, as well as to incorporate researcher interpretation and explicate the intertwining nature of theory and methodology. Through the use of Foucauldian theory, mainly his notions of webs of power, discipline, governmentality, discourse, and subjectification, the research narrative critiques and problematizes traditional understandings of educational leadership.The book focuses on and demonstrates the challenging enterprise of the art of theory application in method by outlining the epistemological, operational and analytical challenges encountered: the application of Foucauldian concepts in education research contexts; the adaptation of methodological and theoretical concerns; in addition to showing how the quality of research outcomes is shaped by social theory.

This book brings together key scholars using Foucault in educational leadership to provide an overview of his methodologies, concepts, and examples of applications. Written for both those new to and experienced with Foucault's work, this book explores new avenues to understand, critique and explore relevant issues in educational leadership. The book features chapters from academics and practitioners based in Australia, Denmark, Italy, the UK and the USA, and includes chapters on global education leadership, decolonial leadership, gender, and digital education governance.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online.Discourses of social justice, equity and inclusion are often presented as given constructs to schools, with the expectation for school leaders to construct schooling provision and practices to ‘solve’ a wider societal, national, and global plaguing problem. While schools are crucial to ensure the provision of equitable education, they may also contribute, advertently or inadvertently, to the transformation of socio-economic inequalities into educational inequalities. Presenting theoretical pieces and case studies from Malta and Australia, in addition to using examples of applied social theory, such as Actor-Network Theory, Denise Mifsud unravels the conceptual confusion around the terms social justice, equity, and inclusion in relation to schooling and highlights the numerous persistent challenges faced when striving for equity in education.The critical conceptual arguments and empirical research presented in Schooling for Social Justice, Equity and Inclusion will be of interest to academics, policymakers, and practitioners in the educational policy and leadership fields internationally. Additionally, each chapter features pedagogical elements, including discussion questions and annotated bibliographies, that will help take the scholar experiment with novel methodologies and social theories and apply these to their own context while transporting them across disciplines in researching issues of social justice, equity and inclusion.

This book explores the perception, construction and performance of professional identities in initial teacher education (ITE). Drawn from a collection of narrative data from postgraduate students, the author explores these topics through school placement, career choice motivations, the attractiveness of the teaching profession, the presentation of personal and professional selves, and professional standards. The findings of this study can be applied across both European and global dimensions. The use of narrative methodology for data collection, in addition to the implementation of various theoretical frameworks, ensures that the book holds a wide appeal. Interweaving theory with personal experiences, this reflective book will appeal to students and scholars of ITE, as well as early career researchers and practitioners.

The editors and contributors cut across institutions, cultures and continents to seek to understand how women navigate the gendered process of becoming a professor, with each chapter applying a different theoretical or methodological approach to her experience.

The editors and contributors cut across institutions, cultures and continents to seek to understand how women navigate the gendered process of becoming a professor, with each chapter applying a different theoretical or methodological approach to her experience.

This edited book provides a critical re-reading of the concept of teacher education, in addition to a re-thinking of the sole focus on Initial Teacher Education (ITE), with implications for education policy, theory, and practice.

This edited book provides a critical re-reading of the concept of teacher education, in addition to a re-thinking of the sole focus on Initial Teacher Education (ITE), with implications for education policy, theory, and practice.

This book explores the perception, construction and performance of professional identities in initial teacher education (ITE). Drawn from a collection of narrative data from postgraduate students, the author explores these topics through school placement, career choice motivations, the attractiveness of the teaching profession, the presentation of personal and professional selves, and professional standards. The findings of this study can be applied across both European and global dimensions. The use of narrative methodology for data collection, in addition to the implementation of various theoretical frameworks, ensures that the book holds a wide appeal. Interweaving theory with personal experiences, this reflective book will appeal to students and scholars of ITE, as well as early career researchers and practitioners.

This edited volume focuses on the cultural situatedness of educational leadership in countries in the Mediterranean basin (Malta, Israel, Spain, Algeria, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus) featuring chapters that explore the reception of the leadership concept and its enactment in education settings within one or more countries of the Mediterranean; consider how both local and global policy discourses work on education leaders who translate this in a distinct school context; focus on the interplay of leaders, followers and context as a complex and ambiguous social construction within the Mediterranean context; study leadership via a combination of a theoretical definition and a consideration of what a particular group means by ‘leadership’, with a specific openness to local meanings; explore the unfolding of education reform as either a top-down or bottom-up process; consider the various cultural, religious, social and local factors that ‘dictate’ both leadership enactment, in addition to the power flow among leaders and followers; argue how the territorial, political and religious conflicts affect educational leadership, and thus the implementation of education reform to either conform to or converge from globalized discourses.This book is targeted for post-graduate and doctoral students, as well as scholars, interested in the study of educational leadership, policy and politics of education, Mediterranean studies, and sociology of education. It is also of interest to those who feel the need to address the ‘missing-what’ of educational leadership in the Mediterranean region, an area of study that is largely dominated by Western models.

This edited volume focuses on the cultural situatedness of educational leadership in countries in the Mediterranean basin (Malta, Israel, Spain, Algeria, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus) featuring chapters that explore the reception of the leadership concept and its enactment in education settings within one or more countries of the Mediterranean; consider how both local and global policy discourses work on education leaders who translate this in a distinct school context; focus on the interplay of leaders, followers and context as a complex and ambiguous social construction within the Mediterranean context; study leadership via a combination of a theoretical definition and a consideration of what a particular group means by ‘leadership’, with a specific openness to local meanings; explore the unfolding of education reform as either a top-down or bottom-up process; consider the various cultural, religious, social and local factors that ‘dictate’ both leadership enactment, in addition to the power flow among leaders and followers; argue how the territorial, political and religious conflicts affect educational leadership, and thus the implementation of education reform to either conform to or converge from globalized discourses.This book is targeted for post-graduate and doctoral students, as well as scholars, interested in the study of educational leadership, policy and politics of education, Mediterranean studies, and sociology of education. It is also of interest to those who feel the need to address the ‘missing-what’ of educational leadership in the Mediterranean region, an area of study that is largely dominated by Western models.

This book documents and deconstructs the concept of educational leadership within various education settings originating from diverse global environments.