Over recent years there has been widespread concern for masculinity and the education of boys in Australia. In the policy arena, this has involved a federal parliamentary inquiry into the education of boys ("Boys: Getting it Right: Report on the inquiry into the education of boys", October 2002) and a federal government response to this…

This paper considers the educational work that narrative does. Against the context of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission that examined the crimes of apartheid, it discusses the narrative implications of South African poet Antjie Krog's multi-layered text of Truth Commission testimony, and autobiographical and philosophical…

This paper takes the vigorous political debate unleashed in Germany by the results of the PISA study as a stimulus to take a closer look at the strategic aims and effects of the current education reforms, of which the PISA study is only one example. It shows that the reform measures underpin a powerful process of normalisation. In this context,…

In this article, an ESL instructor reflects on her preconceptions of power and control in the classroom. In the community-based program described, learners determined not only when and where classes would take place, but also the aims, curriculum, and content of the program. The challenges of this setting required the instructor to redefine her…

This paper is a reflective-reflexive examination of provisions of trustworthiness in critical narrative research. The author presents her understanding of provisions of trustworthiness as a science and as an art, and blurs these boundaries as she acknowledges their tension in practice. She weaves between theory and her experience in two…

This paper explores the political, social, and cultural contexts of current early literacy federal policies in the United States. Building upon existing critiques of the policy and its epistemological stances, this paper first analyses the planning and discussion surrounding the introduction of the policy to state leaders and also how it is first…

This article traces the historicization of the "pedagogue" as a social function in Graeco-Roman antiquity. The article examines the position of the pedagogue as representative of a space or interval between the varying social authorities of the family and state, as well as the early Christian church, and asks how a pedagogue identified…

Politics are a daily reality in the ministry. In order to identify how pastors develop their political knowledge, eleven pastors were interviewed using a qualitative form of the critical incidents technique. Analysis of the interviews revealed that formal education was seen as helpful, but limited in practical application for daily ministry. Four…

In a qualitative study of South Asians in education, methodological issues pertaining to the social interactions between the same-ethnicity researcher and researched are analysed and interpreted. Based on in-depth interviews with 89 South Asian school pupils and 25 South Asian parents, it was found that political ideology and shared ethnicity were…

The past decade has witnessed a remarkable explosion of knowledges across the academy, media and political discourse, generating a wide range of representations of men and masculinity. In this paper, we interrogate the failure for an accompanying understanding of the epistemological and methodological implications of the research process in this…

This paper examines the ways in which high school Canadian history textbooks authorized from 1945 to the present have represented national participation in wars and peace-making/keeping operations. I explore how national mythologies of Canada as a kinder, more tolerant, or less violent national body permeate the narratives of national history…

Departing from UNESCO disarmament education guidelines, a conceptual framework is presented in which disarmament is seen in relation to the overall question of peace, which also includes problems of development and human rights. The need for disarmament is based on arguments related not only to disarmament "per se", but also to the need for…

The research examining African American high school students' perceptions of their academic identities has been limited. Yet, multitudes of other sources have contributed to the discussion on how to reverse the perennial underachievement of many African American students. This qualitative study attempts to provide a space for African American high…

This paper explores the relationship between parents and schools. Over the last 30 years the importance attached to parents' views on education has increased significantly throughout the Western world. Policy-makers encourage parental participation and involvement through the creation of councils in which parents have a say. In Flanders in Belgium…

This paper draws on Matthew's story to illustrate the conflicting discourses of being a boy and being a student. Matthew is 12 years old and in Grade Six, his final year at Banrock Primary (a K-6 Australian State School). School is far from a happy place for Matthew--his tearful accounts of his combative relationships with his peers and his…