Emerging Perspectives from Social Realism on Knowledge and Education

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.

Graham McPhail is an associate professor in the School of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Faculty of Education and Social Work, the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Richard Pountney is a senior lecturer in the Sheffield Institute for Education, Sheffield Hallam University, the United Kingdom.

Leesa Wheelahan is Professor Emerita, William G. Davis Chair in Community College Leadership, in the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, Canada.