When schools fail to improve, it is because educators do not think innovatively. What they do is largely a reflection of what they grew up with or what they were taught. Rather than do new things, they focus on working harder at the things that have produced limited success. That used to be the case at Holloway High School in Murfreesboro,…

This article examines the role of the state and of education in relation to globalisation and argues that it is not a question of globalisation "or" the nation-state, but of globalisation "and" the nation-state. In order to understand how globalisation might be represented as having both positive and negative effects on states, two forms of…

In this paper I explore the process of subjectification (sometimes also called subjectivation, or simply, subjection) through which one becomes a subject--a process that Butler describes in terms of simultaneous mastery and submission, entailing a necessary vulnerability to the other in order to be. I examine the conceptual work Butler has…

Academics, although committed to quality in research and teaching, continue to resist quality assurance processes within their universities. This apparent paradox reflects a series of disputes surrounding issues of power, definition and efficacy. This article reports on a study of 30 academics from 10 Australian universities and details their…

Rule-breaking behaviour of students is a common disciplinary problem in schools. Employing the constitutive perspective, which posits that every social phenomenon is co-produced by several constitutive units in a COREL (constitutive interrelational) set, this article presents the findings of a qualitative study of the phenomenon. Eleven…

This article presents a brief critical commentary on Martin Carnoy's presidential address from Robert F. Arnove, Nelly P. Stromquist, Christine Fox, Henry M. Levin, Vandra Lea Masemann, and Erwin H. Epstein. Among other things, Arnove finds particularly useful Carnoy's recommendations on ways to engage in comparative education research, from…

Our discussion of social justice begins by embracing both "distribution" and "recognition" aspects of social relations (Vincent, 2003). The first aspect considers the way that goods, knowledge, skills, rights, etc. are distributed among social groups; the second aspect focuses on aspects of society structuring social encounters…

Effective leadership begins with positive relationships and a healthy organizational culture. How well do professors of educational leadership model such leadership ideals within their own universities, departments, and work environments? This article addresses the critical need for professors of educational leadership to look within and determine…

Effectively teaching college students about social class stratification is a difficult challenge. Explanations for this difficulty tend to focus on the students who often react with resistance, paralysis, or rage. Sociologists have been using games and simulations as alternative methods for several decades to teach about these sensitive subjects.…

This study investigated the proposal that social dominance goals are an important, but overlooked, aspect of social goals for young adolescents' academic adjustment. Self-reports of social goals (dominance, intimacy, and popularity goals) early in the school year were used to predict subsequent engagement (self-reports and peer nominations of…

In this article I use a double theoretical lens of Bourdieuian (1985, 1991) and Bakhtinian (1981, 1986) perspectives on social space and the dialogism of everyday literacy events to analyze and discuss a classroom literacy event. In this event, which takes place in a diversely populated classroom with a social justice language arts curriculum,…

Teaching about "race" and racism to a diverse student group can lead to some very interesting exchanges. Some of these moments are much to do with the subject content. Learning about racism often pulls on our emotional strings: black students sometimes express their hurt and anger, while white students sometimes remain silent or express…

This essay looks to varied conceptions of resistance with the aim of explaining how resistance might be incorporated into a notion of educator professionalism in the most effective way. The author contends that high-stakes accountability policy poses a complicated set of power relations for professional educators. Both students and educators are…

Building a dynamic international distance education program can be a complex operation. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a model for global learning that utilizes a blended learning approach. This paper will describe how a blended learning approach was implemented in an international instructional technology Master's program to the benefit…

The aim of this article is to develop the foundations of a socio-cultural approach and to determine how this shapes our perception of a newcomer's construction of identity in two different workplaces: a high-technology delivery ward with newly employed midwives and a real estate agency with newly employed real estate agents. We explore how…