This major text for Education Studies students provides a critical account of key issues in education today. The text features: A critical analysis of key issues in Education Studies to encourage students’ thinking about education in the broadest terms Themed sections with introductions to link the issues discussed in each chapter Use of specific examples of educational diversity to illustrate how concerns such as ethnicity, gender and class operate in educational institutions An examination of educational issues as they relate to other phases of educational provision, such as home schooling and universities Education Studies: Issues and Critical Perspectives is an essential text for Education Studies students. It is also of value to students on QTS courses and students and professionals in areas such as sociology, childhood studies, community studies and education policy.

This engaging text examines issues in education and curriculum theory from multiple critical perspectives. Students are encouraged to look at education from the "inside" (the complex processes, methods and relations that operate within schools) and from the "outside" (the larger social, economic, and political forces that have affected schools over time). Each essay begins with "Guiding Questions" and concludes with "Questions for Discussion," "Teachers as Researchers" activities, and "Suggested Readings."

Critical Perspectives on Education Policy and Schools, Families, and Communities offers scholars, students, and practitioners important new knowledge about how current policies impact families, schools, and community partnerships. The book’s authors share a critical orientation towards policy and policy research and invite readers to think differently about what policy is, who policymakers are, and what policy can achieve. Their chapters discuss findings from research grounded in diverse theories, including institutional ethnography, critical disability theory, and critical race theory. The authors encourage scholars of family, school, and community partnerships to ask who benefits from policies (and who loses) and how proposed reforms maintain or disrupt existing relations of power. The chapters present original research on a broad range of policies at the local, state/provincial, and national levels in Canada and the USA. Some authors look closely at the enactment of specific district policies, including a school district’s language translation policy and a policy to create local advisory bodies as part of decentralization efforts. Other chapters reveal the often unacknowledged yet necessary work parents do to meet their children’s needs and enable schools to operate. A few chapters focus on challenges and paradoxes of including families and community members in policymaking processes, including a case where parents demonstrated a preference for a policy that research demonstrates can be detrimental to their children’s future education opportunities. Another set of chapters emphasizes the centrality of policy texts and how language influences the educational experiences and engagement of students and their families. Each chapter concludes with a discussion of implications of the research for educators, families, and other community partners.

Psychology and the Study of Education: Critical Perspectives on Developing Theories explores both the insights and applications that psychology can offer in a range of educational contexts. Introducing the reader to a wide variety of sources, from cutting edge research to key studies from the past, it offers new perspectives on the psychology of education. This includes re-examining core theories of learning, unpicking key learning processes and reconsidering the role of factors such as memory, creativity and gender in learning. Questioning myths and misconceptions, it challenges the reader to develop a critically reflective approach and asks them to reconsider the potential value of psychology in both understanding and influencing education. With discussion points and recommended readings provided in every chapter to enhance sessions and challenge students, issues explored include: Reconsidering what we think we know about the psychology of education. Memory: How we learn by remembering and imagining. Creativity: Creative learning and learning creativity. Reading, writing and dyslexia: Understanding the myths and exploring the challenges. Embodiment: The entanglement of brain, body and environment in learning. Social understanding: Learning to relate and its role in education. Gender: The origins of gender identity and its impact on education. Behaviourism: Taking a second look at its wider relevance to learning. Piaget: A fresh perspective on Piagetian theory and method. Vygotsky: Socio-cultural theories and collective learning. Your guide to the complex and evolving field that is psychology of education, this is an essential text for students of Education Studies, Disability Studies, Early Childhood or Childhood and Youth Studies and Teacher Education; ideal for anyone who has already been introduced to a little psychology and would like to know more, or anyone teaching psychology on an education course. Whether you are taking your first steps or looking for your next challenge, this book has something to offer anyone who wants to take their study of the psychology of education to the next level.

This book is the first edited international volume focused on critical perspectives on plurilingualism in deaf education, which encompasses education in and out of schools and across the lifespan. The book provides a critical overview and snapshot of the use of sign languages in education for deaf children today and explores contemporary issues in education for deaf children such as bimodal bilingualism, translanguaging, teacher education, sign language interpreting and parent sign language learning. The research presented in this book marks a significant development in understanding deaf children's language use and provides insights into the flexibility and pragmatism of young deaf people and their families’ communicative practices. It incorporates the views of young deaf people and their parents regarding their language use that are rarely visible in the research to date.

"Understanding Education and Economics explores the multiple ways in which the field of education and schooling has become closely aligned with economic imperatives and interests, and the impact of this on learning and teaching. In particular, the increasing influence of economic arguments, economic ideologies and government involvement in education have made apparent that there is a need to reflect and talk about economic influences and trends in education"--

In Globalization and Education: Critical Perspectives , an outstanding group of international contributors explore the increasingly important dimensions of globalization as it affects educational policy and practice in nation-states around the world. Changing conditions in a globalized world-including travel, international media, transnational capitalism, and the role of global organizations and institutions-all have profound implications for the formation and implementation of education policy. Addressing such issues as feminism, multiculturalism, and new technology, this collection of original essays will broaden the context in which educational policy decisions are viewed. Contributors: Michael W. Apple, Jill Blackmore, Nicholas C. Burbules, Juan Ramón Capella, Luiza Cortesão, Greg Dimitriadis, Patrick Fitzsimmons, Douglas Kellner, Bob Lingard, Allan Luke, Carmen Luke, James Marshall, Cameron McCarthy, Raymond A. Morrow, Michael Peters, Thomas S. Popkewitz, Fazal Rizvi, Stephen R. Stoer, and Carlos Alberto Torres.