Contemporary Issues of Equity in Education
Contemporary Issues of Equity in Education argues that equity and social justice must be brought back to the centre of discussions about education. It traces international, system-wide and local effects of policies that increase marketization and competition between students, schools and systems, whilst erasing wider considerations of the socio-cultural contexts that shape educational experiences and outcomes. Leading researchers interrogate the design of educational systems for social justice, fairness and inclusion at multiple levels from classrooms and schools through to universities and initial teacher education. Chapters trace the ways in which gender, ethnicity, class, and refugee experiences intersect with indices of socio-economic disadvantage in ways that directly impact on young people’s learning and on the pedagogical work of teachers. The book demonstrates collaborative and inclusive approaches for researching schooling in disadvantaged communities. It offers strategies and practices for reimagining schools and universities in ways that enable young people in high poverty and culturally and linguistically diverse communities to effectively engage with education.
Associate Professor Susanne Gannon is Equity Program Leader in the Centre for Educational Research at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. She researches in diverse areas, including gendered subjectivities and place in education, writing pedagogies in English curriculum, and the career trajectories of beginning teachers.
Professor Wayne Sawyer is Director of Research in the School of Education at the University of Western Sydney and a member of the Centre for Educational Research. He currently researches in the areas of secondary English curriculum, curriculum history, effective teaching, literacy policy and pedagogy in low-SES schools.
“Contemporary Issues in Equity in Education is an authoritative and wide-ranging collection of research-based papers that—while focusing specifically on the Australian context—addresses issues of general concern and contemporary relevance. All the papers are theoretically grounded, clearly focused and accessible. The contributors include internationally recognised researchers and scholars whose work has been influential in guiding national and international policies relating to education, equality and schooling. It is a book that will be of interest to educational professionals, policy makers working within the field of education, and educational researchers and scholars whose work focuses on equity issues.”
—Jon Nixon, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Continuing Education Research and Development, Hong Kong Institute of Education
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