Knowledge, Values and Educational Policy : A Critical Perspective

Knowledge, Values and Educational Policy focuses on what schools are for and what should be taught in them, how learning is possible across boundaries, and issues of diversity and equity. Policies and practices relating to schools are also considered.

Within this volume, internationally renowned contributors address a number of fundamental questions designed to take the reader to the heart of current debates around curriculum, knowledge transfer, equity and social justice, and system reform, such as:

• What are schools and what are they for?
• What knowledge should schools teach?
• How are learners different from each other and how are groups of learners different from one another, in terms of social class, gender, ethnicity, and disability?
• What influence does educational policy have on improving schools?
• What influence does research have on our understanding of education and schooling?

To encourage reflection, many of the chapters also include questions for debate and a guide to further reading.

Read alongside its companion volume, Educational Theories, Cultures and Learning, readers will be encouraged to consider and think about on some of the key issues facing education and educationists today.

Harry Daniels is Professor of Education: Culture and Pedagogy, Head of the Learning as Cultural and Social Practice Research Programme, and Director of the Centre for Sociocultural and Activity Theory Research at the University of Bath, UK.

Hugh Lauder is Professor of Education and Political Economy, and Head of the Policy and Management Research Group, at the University of Bath, UK.

Jill Porter is Senior Lecturer in Research Methods and Special Education at the University of Bath, UK.