Susan Groundwater-Smith – författare

Questioning the Language of Improvement and Reform in Education challenges the language used in education by linking the language of both the public and professional domains with the changing intentions of the governance of education. Exploring various issues, which embody the many manifestations of the manner in which strident, conservative language has captured the public view of education, the book covers topics such as the importance of language in the context of educational practice, the media's portrayal of teachers globally, the role of students in the face of curriculum reform and the language used in educational policy worldwide.The book addresses the ways in which the words ‘improvement’ and ‘reform’ have been appropriated and hollowed-out by policymakers in order to justify globalised education policies. Using international case studies and reports, the authors argue that the employment of specific words masks the reality that new educational policies are regressive and require re-examination, while perpetuating the illusion that progressive educational practice is being brought to the fore.Questioning the Language of Improvement and Reform in Education is a fascinating and original take on this topic, which will be of great interest to educational practitioners, policymakers and linguists.

Practice based research is burgeoning in a number of professional areas. An Ethical Approach to Practitioner Research covers a comprehensive range of issues and dilemmas encountered in practitioner and action research contexts. While principally focused upon practitioner inquiry in education it takes account of, and acknowledges that others engaged in professional practice such as in legal, nursing and social care contexts, face similar issues and dilemmas. It aims to stimulate ethical thinking and practice in enquiry and research contexts.Following moves to promote professional learning and development in the workplace, there is an increase in the number of practitioners engaging in action or inquiry based learning in the workplace supported by university staff or consultants, as evidenced in the emergence of professional learning communities and learning networks. There are many tensions inherent in relationships between practitioners and academics in terms of the setting of the research agenda, the policy implications that may flow from it and the right to publish outcomes. Negotiating that relationship requires ethical probity where each party recognises, understands and respects mutual responsibilities. The book explores this through a wide variety of roles from those of academic researchers, consultants and teachers to professional practitioners as researchers and, importantly, students and children. It therefore illustrates a number of differing perspectives about ethics and research which are allied to those rolesDrawing on the expertise of international researchers and academics from America, Australia and Europe, the book provides invaluable support to the novice researcher and illuminates some of the more intricate issues for the more experienced research practitioner.Packed with detailed and thought-provoking examples this book contains both theoretical analyses of ethical matters and offers practical advice to practitioner and action researchers across the fields of schools hospitals and community and family settings.

Practice based research is burgeoning in a number of professional areas. An Ethical Approach to Practitioner Research covers a comprehensive range of issues and dilemmas encountered in practitioner and action research contexts. While principally focused upon practitioner inquiry in education it takes account of, and acknowledges that others engaged in professional practice such as in legal, nursing and social care contexts, face similar issues and dilemmas. It aims to stimulate ethical thinking and practice in enquiry and research contexts.Following moves to promote professional learning and development in the workplace, there is an increase in the number of practitioners engaging in action or inquiry based learning in the workplace supported by university staff or consultants, as evidenced in the emergence of professional learning communities and learning networks. There are many tensions inherent in relationships between practitioners and academics in terms of the setting of the research agenda, the policy implications that may flow from it and the right to publish outcomes. Negotiating that relationship requires ethical probity where each party recognises, understands and respects mutual responsibilities. The book explores this through a wide variety of roles from those of academic researchers, consultants and teachers to professional practitioners as researchers and, importantly, students and children. It therefore illustrates a number of differing perspectives about ethics and research which are allied to those rolesDrawing on the expertise of international researchers and academics from America, Australia and Europe, the book provides invaluable support to the novice researcher and illuminates some of the more intricate issues for the more experienced research practitioner.Packed with detailed and thought-provoking examples this book contains both theoretical analyses of ethical matters and offers practical advice to practitioner and action researchers across the fields of schools hospitals and community and family settings.

How might inquiry enhance the professional practice of student and practising teachers, teacher educators and other practitioners? What effect might this have on the learning of young people in and outside of the classroom?Based on the findings of an international colloquium and drawing upon a range of practices from the UK, USA, Canada, Europe and Australia, this book is designed to make explicit the connections between Practitioner Inquiry and Teacher Professional Learning in Initial Teacher Education and Ongoing Teacher Professional Development.Considering issues such as the relationship between practitioner inquiry and pedagogical content knowledge whether it is possible to scale up from small local and intensive innovations to more broadly-based inquiry inquiry’s role in professional identity, both individual and communal prevailing socio-political contexts and consequences for social policy formation.It brings together writers who work in designing teacher education courses, and those who are practice-based researchers and policy makers. Crucially, many of these writers inhabit both spheres, and their accounts of how they successfully combine their multiple roles will prove vital reading for all those involved in examining and improving practice leading to enhanced teacher professional learning.

How might inquiry enhance the professional practice of student and practising teachers, teacher educators and other practitioners? What effect might this have on the learning of young people in and outside of the classroom?Based on the findings of an international colloquium and drawing upon a range of practices from the UK, USA, Canada, Europe and Australia, this book is designed to make explicit the connections between Practitioner Inquiry and Teacher Professional Learning in Initial Teacher Education and Ongoing Teacher Professional Development.Considering issues such as the relationship between practitioner inquiry and pedagogical content knowledge whether it is possible to scale up from small local and intensive innovations to more broadly-based inquiry inquiry’s role in professional identity, both individual and communal prevailing socio-political contexts and consequences for social policy formation.It brings together writers who work in designing teacher education courses, and those who are practice-based researchers and policy makers. Crucially, many of these writers inhabit both spheres, and their accounts of how they successfully combine their multiple roles will prove vital reading for all those involved in examining and improving practice leading to enhanced teacher professional learning.

Facilitating Practitioner Research: Developing transformational partnerships addresses the complex dilemmas and issues that arise in practitioner inquiry. It recognises that facilitating practitioner research is far more than providing advice about method adoption, important as that contribution is; or even modelling research practices and drawing attention to appropriate resources and theories. It also requires the evolution of strong reciprocal partnerships that will contribute to professional knowledge formation in both the academy and the field.When such engagement is undertaken then matters associated with authentic ‘praxis development’ for field based and academic practitioners emerge. The authors explore: how praxis, as practice that can always be judged in terms of ‘what is’ and ‘what ought to be’, can be analysed in terms of functional and substantive rationality as well as life, world and system issues. how a transformative partnership requires particular professional attitudes of practitioners and academic the underlying potential of practitioner inquiry where agency is afforded as a democratic principle to all who participate, including the consequential stakeholders; the students in our schools and universities. It draws upon extensive case studies from The Netherlands, Sweden and Australia which not only illustrate and illuminate, but also highlight contradictions and tensions. The case studies exhibit issues related to the quality of the partnerships between the academy and the field and the ways in which quality impacts upon practice. Additionally, the varying social geographies allow a discussion of different intellectual traditions, belief systems, problem settings, questions, and discourses.Facilitating Practitioner Research: Developing transformational partnerships will appeal internationally to academics involved with practitioner research. It will also prove useful to practitioners across the education sectors, including researchers, teachers and those involved in education policy.

Facilitating Practitioner Research: Developing transformational partnerships addresses the complex dilemmas and issues that arise in practitioner inquiry. It recognises that facilitating practitioner research is far more than providing advice about method adoption, important as that contribution is; or even modelling research practices and drawing attention to appropriate resources and theories. It also requires the evolution of strong reciprocal partnerships that will contribute to professional knowledge formation in both the academy and the field.When such engagement is undertaken then matters associated with authentic ‘praxis development’ for field based and academic practitioners emerge. The authors explore: how praxis, as practice that can always be judged in terms of ‘what is’ and ‘what ought to be’, can be analysed in terms of functional and substantive rationality as well as life, world and system issues. how a transformative partnership requires particular professional attitudes of practitioners and academic the underlying potential of practitioner inquiry where agency is afforded as a democratic principle to all who participate, including the consequential stakeholders; the students in our schools and universities. It draws upon extensive case studies from The Netherlands, Sweden and Australia which not only illustrate and illuminate, but also highlight contradictions and tensions. The case studies exhibit issues related to the quality of the partnerships between the academy and the field and the ways in which quality impacts upon practice. Additionally, the varying social geographies allow a discussion of different intellectual traditions, belief systems, problem settings, questions, and discourses.Facilitating Practitioner Research: Developing transformational partnerships will appeal internationally to academics involved with practitioner research. It will also prove useful to practitioners across the education sectors, including researchers, teachers and those involved in education policy.

Big Fish, Little Fish: Teaching and Learning in the Middle Years provides pre-service and early career teachers with a pathway to understanding the needs of students as they make the important transition from primary to secondary schooling. The book explores contemporary challenges for teaching and learning in the middle years, with a focus on student experience, identity, engagement and resilience. Key issues, such as teaching academically at-risk students, the impact of education policy on middle years students, and teacher preparation and identity, are given comprehensive coverage. Unique to this text is its focus on and analysis of the history of middle-years education, as well as its in-depth discussion of the experiences of young Indigenous and Māori students. Drawing on the wide-ranging expertise of its contributors, Big Fish, Little Fish prepares pre-service teachers to best meet the needs of students as they enter the challenging middle years of their education.

From Practice to Praxis is an exploration of the development of ethical practice as it applies to the meaning of quality within the tradition of practitioner inquiry and participatory research. Chronicling some of her most important works, this is a compelling overview of Susan Groundwater-Smith’s contribution to the evolution of the nexus between thinking and theory as it stands between the academy and the field. It traces the steps between instrumental reasoning towards a more liberatory and challenging stance.The book selects from a number of publications, each representing the genesis of the nascent ideas that have informed Susan’s practice as a scholar and researcher. Taking a praxis stance draws attention not only to procedural concerns, how things are done; but also substantive issues that are associated with different forms of dialogue and trustworthiness, why things are done. In addition to the assemblage of articles and chapters, the book is prefaced by a long essay that reveals those features of the writer’s self-understanding as it is illuminated throughout the selection. The work is situated within a professional life-history, as well as relating to extant writings on theory and practice within a complex cultural and ever-changing professional educational environment. From Practice to Praxis will appeal to initial teacher education students in both primary and secondary settings, as well as post-graduate students with an interest in action research/participant research with both practitioners in the field and young people.

From Practice to Praxis is an exploration of the development of ethical practice as it applies to the meaning of quality within the tradition of practitioner inquiry and participatory research. Chronicling some of her most important works, this is a compelling overview of Susan Groundwater-Smith’s contribution to the evolution of the nexus between thinking and theory as it stands between the academy and the field. It traces the steps between instrumental reasoning towards a more liberatory and challenging stance.The book selects from a number of publications, each representing the genesis of the nascent ideas that have informed Susan’s practice as a scholar and researcher. Taking a praxis stance draws attention not only to procedural concerns, how things are done; but also substantive issues that are associated with different forms of dialogue and trustworthiness, why things are done. In addition to the assemblage of articles and chapters, the book is prefaced by a long essay that reveals those features of the writer’s self-understanding as it is illuminated throughout the selection. The work is situated within a professional life-history, as well as relating to extant writings on theory and practice within a complex cultural and ever-changing professional educational environment. From Practice to Praxis will appeal to initial teacher education students in both primary and secondary settings, as well as post-graduate students with an interest in action research/participant research with both practitioners in the field and young people.

Questioning the Language of Improvement and Reform in Education challenges the language used in education by linking the language of both the public and professional domains with the changing intentions of the governance of education. Exploring various issues, which embody the many manifestations of the manner in which strident, conservative language has captured the public view of education, the book covers topics such as the importance of language in the context of educational practice, the media's portrayal of teachers globally, the role of students in the face of curriculum reform and the language used in educational policy worldwide.The book addresses the ways in which the words ‘improvement’ and ‘reform’ have been appropriated and hollowed-out by policymakers in order to justify globalised education policies. Using international case studies and reports, the authors argue that the employment of specific words masks the reality that new educational policies are regressive and require re-examination, while perpetuating the illusion that progressive educational practice is being brought to the fore.Questioning the Language of Improvement and Reform in Education is a fascinating and original take on this topic, which will be of great interest to educational practitioners, policymakers and linguists.

Teacher Professional Learning in an Age of Compliance: Mind the Gap examines ways in which practice-based inquiry in educational settings, in a number of different countries and contexts, can transcend current ways of working and thinking such that authentic professional learning is the result.The authors contend that education policy, under pressure from a number of quarters, is retreating into a standardized, audited, and backward-looking arena, with the advances of more progressive educational philosophy being rolled back.In an age where practitioner inquiry and action research have often been ‘hijacked’ for the purposes of broad-based policy implementation, this book offers a rationale for reclaiming the critical edge so fundamental to inquiry-based professional learning. It examines the potential of inquiry-based forms of teacher professional learning to contribute to the growth of professional knowledge for and about teachers’ work.The authors intend that the book will assist in building new forms of professional knowledge that go beyond the current compliance model – engineered from less enduring materials – to inform a new model with its foundations in a strong ethical and moral framework. They also believe that this new model, if implemented, will help to reverse today’s conservative educational trends and make teacher professional development a force for genuine progress once again.They have consciously moved away from the celebratory tone of much of the academic reporting of teacher professional learning, adopting instead a genuinely critical edge. In covering a wide range of policies and practices from across the international spectrum, they have allowed themselves the freedom to engage in serious epistemological arguments about the nature of professional knowledge, as well as how it is constructed and employed.

This book sets out a clear framework for conducting participatory research with children and young people within a discussion of the rights of the child. Through extensive case studies and a close review of contemporary literature, in relation to early childhood through to late adolescence, the book serves as a critical guide to issues in participative research for students and researchers.The book includes chapters on:Designing your research project Ethical considerations Innovative methods Publication and dissemination.

This book sets out a clear framework for conducting participatory research with children and young people within a discussion of the rights of the child. Through extensive case studies and a close review of contemporary literature, in relation to early childhood through to late adolescence, the book serves as a critical guide to issues in participative research for students and researchers.The book includes chapters on:Designing your research project Ethical considerations Innovative methods Publication and dissemination.

This book comprises a series of engaging and provocative essays directed towards an optimistic consideration of hope, informed by practices that can be nurtured in school education and other sites of learning and are associated with courage and wisdom. Written from a range of perspectives and experiences each essay brings to the reader a positive orientation; one that is too often lacking in today’s global era in which much attention is paid to simplified solutions, often unfit for purpose, and which engender a spirit of despondency and demoralization.Attention has been directed to the essay form as a departure from the academic chapter or journal article, with an expectation that the book will be of value beyond the walls of academia. The genre seeks to stimulate the reader’s and scholar’s imagination and to create new mental models that can stimulate reflection and rumination. The essays are sensitive to the many global, economic, societal and environmental discourses so dominant in the public domain and so act as antidotes to the more pernicious influences that those discourses have on educational policy making and practice."In this volume, Groundwater-Smith brings together a diverse group of essayists willing to confront the future of education in what are globally, very difficult times. Taking their arguments seriously, Groundwater-Smith argues, demands both courage and hope on our behalf, but it also holds out the promise of greater wisdom. This is an important and challenging book; a must read for anyone concerned about the future of education in our troubling times."—John Furlong, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of Oxford"This volume is a provocative intellectual tonic whose intent is to reshape and reframe education practice in universities, schools and their communities. As Stephen Kemmis argues "education happens everywhere", it is ubiquitous. Groundwater-Smith has indeed engaged in a thorough experiment, the contributions of which provide validation for change and the evidence of successful practice to achieve it. It is not an easy book, but certainly a powerful one to reinstate hope and courage in the broader education project."—Judyth Sachs, Professor Emeritus, Macquarie University

First Published in 1988. Throughout this book 'enquiring teachers' is taken to mean those who are students on courses, successful completion of which depends in part on their undertaking one or more enquiries into their own practice or that of their colleagues. This Introduction presents some definitions and then discusses the implications for teachers who become students on enquiry-based courses, for the schools and colleges in which they teach and for the colleges, polytechnics, universities and teachers' centres which mount and teach the courses.

This work interrupts the current “consulting students” discourse that positions students as service clients and thus renders more problematic the concept of student voice in ways that it might be sustained as a democratic process.

This work interrupts the current “consulting students” discourse that positions students as service clients and thus renders more problematic the concept of student voice in ways that it might be sustained as a democratic process.

Teacher Professional Learning in an Age of Compliance: Mind the Gap examines ways in which practice-based inquiry in educational settings, in a number of different countries and contexts, can transcend current ways of working and thinking such that authentic professional learning is the result.The authors contend that education policy, under pressure from a number of quarters, is retreating into a standardized, audited, and backward-looking arena, with the advances of more progressive educational philosophy being rolled back.In an age where practitioner inquiry and action research have often been ‘hijacked’ for the purposes of broad-based policy implementation, this book offers a rationale for reclaiming the critical edge so fundamental to inquiry-based professional learning. It examines the potential of inquiry-based forms of teacher professional learning to contribute to the growth of professional knowledge for and about teachers’ work.The authors intend that the book will assist in building new forms of professional knowledge that go beyond the current compliance model – engineered from less enduring materials – to inform a new model with its foundations in a strong ethical and moral framework. They also believe that this new model, if implemented, will help to reverse today’s conservative educational trends and make teacher professional development a force for genuine progress once again.They have consciously moved away from the celebratory tone of much of the academic reporting of teacher professional learning, adopting instead a genuinely critical edge. In covering a wide range of policies and practices from across the international spectrum, they have allowed themselves the freedom to engage in serious epistemological arguments about the nature of professional knowledge, as well as how it is constructed and employed.