Routledge Research in the Sociology of Education – serie

This book explores a new repertoire for critique in the sociology of contemporary education, focusing on emerging social theories that respond to contemporary challenges in education, education policy and governance.Presenting a variety of approaches in the sociology of education including pragmatist critical sociology, neo-Marxism, post-digital sociology, new materialisms, affirmative critique of education, and post-colonial studies, the chapters in this book engage in a novel, collective dialogue and reflection on the affordances, limitations and challenges of emerging social theories in contemporary education. The book further justifies this novel approach through inclusion of a series of interviews with leading scholars and thinkers from within and outside the field of education on the subject of critique in contemporary society and education. The book offers relevant global and decolonial perspectives to study current transformations, drawing on innovations in theorizing and empirical illustrations from different countries.Highlighting alternative visions of these transformations in an era of globalization, fragmentation, and growing nationalism, this cutting-edge book will be of great interest to researchers, academics and postgraduate students in the fields of the sociology of education, the philosophy of education, social theory, political science and comparative policy and politics more broadly.

This book explores a new repertoire for critique in the sociology of contemporary education, focusing on emerging social theories that respond to contemporary challenges in education, education policy and governance.Presenting a variety of approaches in the sociology of education including pragmatist critical sociology, neo-Marxism, post-digital sociology, new materialisms, affirmative critique of education, and post-colonial studies, the chapters in this book engage in a novel, collective dialogue and reflection on the affordances, limitations and challenges of emerging social theories in contemporary education. The book further justifies this novel approach through inclusion of a series of interviews with leading scholars and thinkers from within and outside the field of education on the subject of critique in contemporary society and education. The book offers relevant global and decolonial perspectives to study current transformations, drawing on innovations in theorizing and empirical illustrations from different countries.Highlighting alternative visions of these transformations in an era of globalization, fragmentation, and growing nationalism, this cutting-edge book will be of great interest to researchers, academics and postgraduate students in the fields of the sociology of education, the philosophy of education, social theory, political science and comparative policy and politics more broadly.

This book critically interrogates the function of schooling in the United States of America using the writings of sociologist Zygmunt Bauman. Asking whether the function is to produce citizens, workers, a combination of the two, or something altogether different, it argues that the designs of schooling are part of a carefully crafted ordering, illustrated via an analysis of the ways in which schooling introduces students to various forms of coercion and seduction that socialize students in particular ways: ways that support an order.By engaging with the prolific and insightful works of one of the most prominent social thinkers of the 21st century, this book considers schooling and its contributions to order. Be they solid or liquid modern ordering mechanisms, ordering through repression and seduction, or supporting ordering through the creation of boundaries separating an “orderly inside” from its “disorderly outside,” schools imperfectly support the construction of order and in doing so, privilege some representations and individuals over others. To order is to harness ambivalence and steer it in directions that privilege the “in” group at the expense of the “out” group; and schools, from the curriculum they teach to the values and ideas they promote, are desirable captive marketplaces instrumental in steering this ambivalence.The author ultimately suggests that the function of schools, whether recognized or not, are not so much to educate students to be free thinkers, but rather to be orderly cogs in a particular functional social machine. As such, the book will be of interest to faculty, scholars, and postgraduate-level students with interests in the sociology of education, schooling, sociology, and social theory.

This book critically interrogates the function of schooling in the United States of America using the writings of sociologist Zygmunt Bauman. Asking whether the function is to produce citizens, workers, a combination of the two, or something altogether different, it argues that the designs of schooling are part of a carefully crafted ordering, illustrated via an analysis of the ways in which schooling introduces students to various forms of coercion and seduction that socialize students in particular ways: ways that support an order.By engaging with the prolific and insightful works of one of the most prominent social thinkers of the 21st century, this book considers schooling and its contributions to order. Be they solid or liquid modern ordering mechanisms, ordering through repression and seduction, or supporting ordering through the creation of boundaries separating an “orderly inside” from its “disorderly outside,” schools imperfectly support the construction of order and in doing so, privilege some representations and individuals over others. To order is to harness ambivalence and steer it in directions that privilege the “in” group at the expense of the “out” group; and schools, from the curriculum they teach to the values and ideas they promote, are desirable captive marketplaces instrumental in steering this ambivalence.The author ultimately suggests that the function of schools, whether recognized or not, are not so much to educate students to be free thinkers, but rather to be orderly cogs in a particular functional social machine. As such, the book will be of interest to faculty, scholars, and postgraduate-level students with interests in the sociology of education, schooling, sociology, and social theory.

This edited collection investigates, from a sociological perspective, what it means to create an autonomous individual through a novel exploration of three central fields of sociology: education, mental health care, and parenting.By linking these three aspects through their contribution to the building of an autonomous child, the volume analyses the intersecting roles of parent, teacher, and caregiver as well as the transformations in identities of child, pupil, and patient to understand the construction and repair of autonomy. Using a comparison of various case studies across Scandinavian, English-speaking, and French-speaking countries, chapters explore why personal autonomy is so important in many societies and demonstrate the conceptual and practical challenges the idea brings. Ultimately, the book provides an innovative contribution to the fields of educational sociology and the philosophy of education, as well as parenting studies and the sociology of mental health by making the case for taking autonomy, and its paradoxes, seriously.This cross-disciplinary volume will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and postgraduate students working in sociology and the philosophy of education, parenting, mental health, and child development more broadly. Those with a focus on the study of individualistic societies will also find the volume of use.The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

This edited collection investigates, from a sociological perspective, what it means to create an autonomous individual through a novel exploration of three central fields of sociology: education, mental health care, and parenting.By linking these three aspects through their contribution to the building of an autonomous child, the volume analyses the intersecting roles of parent, teacher, and caregiver as well as the transformations in identities of child, pupil, and patient to understand the construction and repair of autonomy. Using a comparison of various case studies across Scandinavian, English-speaking, and French-speaking countries, chapters explore why personal autonomy is so important in many societies and demonstrate the conceptual and practical challenges the idea brings. Ultimately, the book provides an innovative contribution to the fields of educational sociology and the philosophy of education, as well as parenting studies and the sociology of mental health by making the case for taking autonomy, and its paradoxes, seriously.This cross-disciplinary volume will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and postgraduate students working in sociology and the philosophy of education, parenting, mental health, and child development more broadly. Those with a focus on the study of individualistic societies will also find the volume of use.The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

This book brings the key ideas and concepts of social realism to bear on current debates in the fields of knowledge and curriculum.The key concern of this collection is to highlight matters related to knowledge and the influence these dimensions have on the formation of curricula, pedagogy, identity, and equity in educational contexts. Presenting new perspectives on the place of various types and forms of knowledge in contemporary education, this book explores two central questions, ‘what type of knowledge is most important to include in a curriculum?’ and ‘what is meant by disciplinary knowledge?’ The chapters use empirical examples to illustrate how the issues play out on a global stage, interweaving the social justice concern of equitable access to disciplinary knowledge throughout. In particular, the authors address the emerging theorisation of issues related to the decolonisation of curricula, the recontextualisation of ‘non-traditional’ knowledge into the curriculum, and teacher education.Offering new philosophical and theoretical perspectives, this book will be of interest to researchers, scholars, and students examining the fields of knowledge and curriculum, and the sociology of education more broadly.

This book brings the key ideas and concepts of social realism to bear on current debates in the fields of knowledge and curriculum.The key concern of this collection is to highlight matters related to knowledge and the influence these dimensions have on the formation of curricula, pedagogy, identity, and equity in educational contexts. Presenting new perspectives on the place of various types and forms of knowledge in contemporary education, this book explores two central questions, ‘what type of knowledge is most important to include in a curriculum?’ and ‘what is meant by disciplinary knowledge?’ The chapters use empirical examples to illustrate how the issues play out on a global stage, interweaving the social justice concern of equitable access to disciplinary knowledge throughout. In particular, the authors address the emerging theorisation of issues related to the decolonisation of curricula, the recontextualisation of ‘non-traditional’ knowledge into the curriculum, and teacher education.Offering new philosophical and theoretical perspectives, this book will be of interest to researchers, scholars, and students examining the fields of knowledge and curriculum, and the sociology of education more broadly.

Focusing specifically on educational contexts, this volume sheds light on how the increasing inequalities and issues of social exclusion found in the processes and systems of Nordic welfare states have a detrimental impact on the well-being and development opportunities of children and young people.Presenting a broad range of empirical and theoretical research conducted within a variety of institutional contexts – such as day care, school, and leisure pedagogy, as well as in more domestic, disadvantaged settings – chapters analyse problems and issues which foster inequality within pedagogy and education in predominantly Danish, and more broadly Nordic, welfare state contexts. Using insights from various scientific disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology, the volume discusses how these processes are acted out not only within welfare education systems but more broadly within social and educational policy legislation, directly affecting decisions made for children and young people. Ultimately the volume looks to the wider international context to argue that inequality cannot be analysed solely in relation to income and discusses different forms of inequality stemming from liberal, conservative, and social democratic welfare state regimes in order to recommend implications for future research.This book will be of interest to researchers, academics, and postgraduate students in the fields of sociology of education, childhood education, and social inequalities within education more broadly. Policymakers in these fields will also find the book useful.

Constructed around powerful stories of maternal agency, care and emotion, this novel volume conceptualises the primary homework experience as a social and relational practice and act of mothering, thereby raising wider questions about parental involvement in education, families’ agency in school practices, and the broader implications for policy.Using data gathered through repeat interviews, videos of mother-child primary homework interactions, and stimulated reflections, chapters present a series of unique maternal portraits that reflect various dimensions such as class, ethnicity, and parenting children with additional needs. The book demonstrates how practices from the educational sphere bleed into family relations, and how in return, mothers shape educational processes through their mothering. Contesting prevalent deficit discourses about mothers, the book highlights their relational skills and investment in their children's education. Chapters contextualise parent involvement and the international reach of primary homework practices, as prompted by neoliberal discourses of parental responsibilisation, and the globalisation of educational approaches.This book will appeal to researchers, academics and postgraduate students interested in parent involvement and engagement, homework and primary education. The book will also be important for those researching mothering, parenting and gendered practices.

Disrupting the individualism of much conventional psychological research into learning, this book presents a situated, practice-based understanding of learning, based on the theories of situated learning and practice architectures, conceptualising learning as ontological transformation.While accepting that learning is consequential for learners, this book explores how learning matters for and in the world. The authors present a view of learning not just in the context of the lives of learners and those around them, but as part of the dynamic and organic site-ontological processes of world-historical and ecological change. While learners may be stars in their own lives and learning, they are also living, agentic beings who are part of Earth’s community of life and who respond to the changing world in ways that are consequential beyond their own lives. The book explores the place of learning from the point of view of the world as much as from the point of view of the learner. Distinctively, the book conceptualises learning as a social accomplishment and as a process that changes the worlds beyond individual learners.A groundbreaking contribution from the leading scholars in the field, this book will be of great interest to scholars, researchers, and post-graduate students of education, social science, and philosophy, and the specific fields of professional practice, practice theory, learning sciences, and sociology.

Disrupting the individualism of much conventional psychological research into learning, this book presents a situated, practice-based understanding of learning, based on the theories of situated learning and practice architectures, conceptualising learning as ontological transformation.While accepting that learning is consequential for learners, this book explores how learning matters for and in the world. The authors present a view of learning not just in the context of the lives of learners and those around them, but as part of the dynamic and organic site-ontological processes of world-historical and ecological change. While learners may be stars in their own lives and learning, they are also living, agentic beings who are part of Earth’s community of life and who respond to the changing world in ways that are consequential beyond their own lives. The book explores the place of learning from the point of view of the world as much as from the point of view of the learner. Distinctively, the book conceptualises learning as a social accomplishment and as a process that changes the worlds beyond individual learners.A groundbreaking contribution from the leading scholars in the field, this book will be of great interest to scholars, researchers, and post-graduate students of education, social science, and philosophy, and the specific fields of professional practice, practice theory, learning sciences, and sociology.

This volume presents the first-known investigation of the so-called diversity paradox, positing that diversity has become a tool for distinguishing and legitimating the concept of educated Western elites, and arguing for a major reconceptualisation of diversity in different social and cultural contexts within international education.Drawing on extensive theorising and empirical studies of international school leadership, international school parents and pupils, institutional faculty, online sources and the author’s own wealth of experience teaching and leading in international contexts, the book investigates how this vision for education has emerged, contrasting it to both how education is seen in other parts of the world and how it has been conceptualised at other historical junctures. Exploring the positioning of teachers, academics and educational leaders in this discursive shift, chapters examine specific aspects of diversity, demonstrating how they have become areas of social conflict, serving to legitimise privilege in Western educational contexts while excluding other understandings of social cohesion and social inequalities. The book offers a novel approach to the analysis of international education by combining sociological and linguistic elements on which to base the argument.Ultimately critiquing diversity as a rhetorical device that perpetuates structural and systemic inequalities, the book explores how diverse perspectives can be brought to the discussion of diversity itself and will therefore appeal to scholars, postgraduate students and researchers in the fields of the sociology of education, international and comparative education, and higher education.

Contributing to the body of literature that applies Bourdieu to the study of educational institutions, this novel volume considers how elite schools could successfully incorporate inclusive equitable sex and relationship education (RSE) within the existing mechanisms of continuing professional development (CPD), to provide a programme based on the needs and discomfort of both students and teachers.Using a case study approach focusing on elite schools, the book considers the socio-political nature of sex education in England from a Bourdieuan perspective, while also incorporating aspects of Foucauldian normative power into political analysis to give broader international appeal. The book demonstrates how Bourdieu and his toolkit can be used to consider the sociological structures that allow for the construction, and thus deconstruction, of social norms within elite education. Chapters provide insights gathered from an understanding of the social fabric of elite schooling and the traditional, heteronormative ethos of such schools. As a result, recommendations are put forward regarding the development of CPD, supporting the successful implementation of inclusive and comprehensive sex education in elite schools.Calling for schools to develop cultures of conversation and dialogue rather than pedagogies of exposure and discomfort in the context of both sex education and teacher training, this book will benefit academics and postgraduate students in the fields of sex education, research methods in education, and secondary education more broadly.

Knowledge Production, Policy and Practice in Education: Social Realist Explorations of Curriculum, Teaching and Research brings together theoretical and empirical enquiries into curricula, pedagogy and assessment, informed by the influential traditions of social realism and Basil Bernstein’s sociology of education. The edited volume provides tools for understanding persistent educational inequalities and approaches to inclusive educational systems.The book is an edited collection of chapters by scholars of the sociology of education who focus on knowledge, curriculum, and pedagogy working in Africa, Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America. Each chapter extends scholarly debate around knowledge production and exchange, knowledge and the curriculum, and knowledge and professional practice. Collectively, the chapters offer an insight into the dynamic relationships among educational systems, policies, teacher education, and teaching practice. Ultimately enabling readers to see how social realist ideas around knowledge can be employed across different scales and contexts of educational practice, this book will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and postgraduate students in the fields of the sociology of education, social realism, and curriculum studies. Education professionals, including teacher educators, and those working in policy will also benefit from this book.

This research monograph explores the complex resistance to integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) within higher education institutions. Despite the significant potential of AI to enhance education, faculty adoption remains inconsistent and is often met with skepticism.This book investigates key factors contributing to this resistance, such as leadership deficits, funding barriers, cultural inertia, and faculty attitudes toward technological change. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative empirical data, case studies from U.S. and international institutions, and theoretical analysis, the book uncovers underlying concerns about job security and professional identity.It points to actionable strategies for overcoming these barriers and will be relevant for scholars, researchers, advanced students, and educators grappling with issues navigating technological integration in academia and with interests in the sociology of education, educational technology, and higher education administration.

This eminently timely volume offers a critical examination of the educational experiences of white working-class boys, interrogating the impact of neoliberal education policies, hegemonic masculinity and the increasing influence of digital culture on how they engage, or disengage, with schooling. Foregrounding the voices of young men compiled over five years through participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and a novel reflexive ethnographic data saturation cycle, the book challenges dominant narratives surrounding young, white working-class boys in education, positioning their disengagement as an outcome of intersecting structural inequalities, policy frameworks and shifting cultural narratives. As a result, the book explores how emerging hyper-masculine digital subcultures and a lack of school engagement have led many to seek status outside of formal education. Particularly focused on policy recommendations, the book speaks to international debates such as those in Australia, the United States and parts of Europe, around neoliberalism, educational exclusion and marginalised youth, offering comparative insights and global relevance despite its English empirical setting. Offering a fresh, intersectional analysis of masculinity, class and educational inequality, the book will be of direct relevance to scholars, researchers and postgraduates in the field of the sociology of education, research methods in education, neoliberalism and education policy more broadly. Policy makers concerned with the influence of social media on young men in schools will also find value in the volume.

This eminently timely volume offers a critical examination of the educational experiences of white working-class boys, interrogating the impact of neoliberal education policies, hegemonic masculinity and the increasing influence of digital culture on how they engage, or disengage, with schooling. Foregrounding the voices of young men compiled over five years through participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and a novel reflexive ethnographic data saturation cycle, the book challenges dominant narratives surrounding young, white working-class boys in education, positioning their disengagement as an outcome of intersecting structural inequalities, policy frameworks and shifting cultural narratives. As a result, the book explores how emerging hyper-masculine digital subcultures and a lack of school engagement have led many to seek status outside of formal education. Particularly focused on policy recommendations, the book speaks to international debates such as those in Australia, the United States and parts of Europe, around neoliberalism, educational exclusion and marginalised youth, offering comparative insights and global relevance despite its English empirical setting. Offering a fresh, intersectional analysis of masculinity, class and educational inequality, the book will be of direct relevance to scholars, researchers and postgraduates in the field of the sociology of education, research methods in education, neoliberalism and education policy more broadly. Policy makers concerned with the influence of social media on young men in schools will also find value in the volume.