Educational Policy: FIND books

What would the civic relationship between citizens in a socially cohesive society look like? What models might we use to educate young people to support developing these bonds? Do these different models have different implications for how we structure the bonds that support a civic relationship? Philosophical Perspectives on Social Cohesion challenges the basis of how we characterize civic bonds and how we best organize schools to encourage and develop them. Mary Healy argues that metaphors and social imaginaries often give a framework for considering our interrelatedness. She re-examines the metaphor of fraternity, used as a precursor to elements of the 'Big Society', arguing that such attempts to align fraternity with liberty are mistaken and that equality plays a vital role. At a time of increasing diversity of school provision, this pertinent book indicates the connection between how we organize school structures and the models of citizenship we value.

A 2021 SPE Outstanding Book Award Winner American public education has been under assault for the last few decades as a "broken" system that needs a complete overhaul. In large part, these opinions are offered by people and organizations who know little about schools. But who are these influencers? This book is about conservative philanthropies, the organizations and individuals within their networks, and the strategies they use to shape educational policy and practice in K-12 and higher education. Each chapter examines a philanthropy, philanthropic network, or corporation focused on pushing an agenda of individualism, privatization, and conservative ideologies. Based in extensive research, including the tax filings of specific philanthropic foundations, the authors demonstrate how the philanthropic elite work within federal, state, and local governmental contexts to influence policy and practice. Within a global context of increasing wealth inequality, the authors question the motivations of these privileged few to withhold tax dollars from the US treasury where duly elected representatives can determine how tax dollars are used to benefit society. By allowing these philanthropic organizations tax exemptions under the guise of assumed benevolence, are citizens giving up their ability to hold these organizations accountable for how the money is spent? This book, aimed at a general audience of educators, provides the in-depth knowledge necessary to understand and resist private control of public policies and institutions.

What does it mean to say that a person has been educated? This question forms the basis of global education policy debates; from the way governments establish funding for national school systems, to the way children are treated in the classroom. Should there be a common ethical core to such polices? What kind of educational process should aboriginal groups in Labrador, Canada, have a moral right to, and should this process be different from what children in New York's boroughs have claim to? Should a school-based curriculum, such as the UK's National Curriculum, make well-being a central concern or are there other ethical dimensions to be addressed? Christopher Martin explores these questions and argues that the best way to consider them is to view education as a matter of public moral understanding. He brings together traditions of thought central to philosophy of education, such as R.S. Peters, and connects this tradition to the moral philosophy and critical theory of Jurgen Habermas, whose theory of Discourse Morality has previously been given little attention in education circles.

The industrial monoculture spreading across the globe is highly competitive, greedy and egotistical; in the shaping of educational policy, global communities have accepted a model based on science and technology, which lacks aspects that should be addressed in the goal of education. The book Timeless Teachers and Ethical Visions is a historical inquiry of educational concerns that have developed through the centuries. It is a systematic discussion of prominent educators, including their theories and experiments: St. Thomas Aquinas, Al-Ghazali, Ibn Khaldun, Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, John Dewey and Paulo Freire.In addition, the inquiry investigates the strengths and weaknesses of the neoliberal educational policy, the suggestions to construct an educational policy considering the common good, criticize uncontrolled individualism while emphasizing the goal of education that enhances community consciousness to the learner. Finally, the aim of this book is to propose an alternative educational policy that is beneficial to the global community.

The potential for research evidence to improve educational policy and practice is immense. Yet internationally, research used by teachers and governments is currently sporadic rather than systematic. In response, this book brings together seven chapters that encompass a range of research projects and ideas in relation to evidence-informed policy and practice (EIPP) in education. These projects and ideas all share a single overarching purpose: providing insight into how EIPP in education can be achieved.  Underpinning each chapter is the notion that the world is complex. If we are to introduce change in any meaningful way into it, we therefore have to understand and respond to this complexity. This means then that we cannot simply assume that, because it seems rational or common sense for teachers and policy-makers to use research to help improve their decision making or acts of praxis, that they will do so.  Correspondingly, the book represents a holistic journey of discovery and experimentation: of an engagement with the work of thinkers and authors from Eco to Flyvbjerg, via Habermas, Foucault and Aristot≤ of ideas ranging from phronesis to trust and social relations; and with diverse research methodologies, including social network analysis and decision tree predictive modelling.  The result is both descriptive and prescriptive: as well as outlining the research and its findings, practical suggestions and strategies for achieving evidence use both in educational policy and practice are provided throughout.

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.

The varying concepts of organizational development are relevant to everything done administratively in educational practice. Organizational development centers on the concepts of schools as social organization, and like all other social systems, schools have structure, power, values, assumptions, conflicts, ongoing changes, and issues that exert strong influences on human behavior. The interplay between the organizational, human, and social environments combines to influence relationships, roles, attitudes, and program outcomes. The often-heard statement that 'schools are people' and that the human component is our greatest asset are discussed in-depth throughout the book. The book focuses on the concepts of organizational development and the matter of on-going change. The significant concepts and contributions historically that have served as foundations for contemporary administrative practices are underscored. Guidance is given to administrative leaders for dealing with ongoing organizational changes is an important focus of the book. School leaders and school personnel must work in changing internal and external environments. Organizational culture and climate as they influence school practices are discussed in-depth. Contemporary applications of organizational development and a look to the future are projected for the guidance of all school personnel.

A poorly designed system produces poor results. Problems with the public education system are reported every day in periodicals and books. Improving student achievement is too important a societal issue to continue stumbling along the same unending path of let's try this educational fad and then move to the next proposed solution. The uniqueness of this book is that the myths surrounding education and learning are exposed; it's like cleaning the lenses of your glasses so you can get a clear view of the world. Once myths are moved aside, reality can settle in, and a practical model for improving education can be developed.

The discussions that have ensued between veteran women and those new to the field inspired us to develop a book that situates women in leadership exactly where we are today (and reports the status of girls who are positioned to continue the "good fight" that began many years ago) and that both highlights the changes that have occurred and reports any stagnancy that continues to threaten women's positionality in educational leadership literature, practice, and policy. It forefronts the voices of women educational scholars who have (and are) interrupting, disrupting, and revolutionizing educational policy and practice. Our book reports women's leadership activities and knowledge in both the k-12 and university settings and concludes with chapters ripe with ideas for pushing for change through policy, advocacy, and activism. The final chapter presents themes that emerged from the individual chapters and sets forth an agenda to move forward with the study of women in leadership.