Since the Human Genome Project mapped the gene sequence, new biological sciences have been generating a raft of new knowledges about the mechanisms and functions of the molecular body. One area of work that has particular potential to speak to sociology of education, is the emerging field of epigenetics. Epigenetics moves away from the mapped…

Taking inspiration from Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed," I propose to work through some of the features of "false generosity" that arise in education and specifically in moments of acute crisis. This inquiry, which begins with (and was sparked by) events following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, continues…

In this essay, Doris Santoro examines the discourse of "fidelity of instruction" to show how it is doublespeak for teacher compliance that is incompatible with democracy and education. Analyzing the distorted use of the term "fidelity" by market-based reformers, Santoro illustrates how it can be used as a weapon against teacher…

This paper revisits the current policy assumptions on youth entrepreneurship and their possible implications on entrepreneurial learning in nonformal settings. Based on secondary literature analysis, it interrogates the nonformal learning practices that promote entrepreneurship and calls for entrepreneurial learning to incorporate higher awareness…

This article is an exploration of the problem of theorizing gender and sexuality of people who Raewyn Connell might describe as coming from the global periphery, but whose lives and futures are also enmeshed in the politics, policies, and pedagogies of the metropole. Elizabeth Povinelli has done extensive research on Indigenous people in the…

It has become increasingly clear that education is a site of conflict. This essay examines the ideological positions that now dominate educational reforms and suggests a number of roles that critically democratic educators should play in confronting these reforms. It then details the contributions that the authors included in this special issue…

This paper briefly examines the epistemic orientation of the Politics discipline in South Africa, and specifically in "formerly white universities". The focus is to expose the disparity between this epistemic orientation and the South African locale that it finds itself in; that is, a locale whose history is different from its…

The eight presidential addresses included in this essay, delivered between 1923 and 2009, focus wholly or partly on education politics and policy. Although they reflect their different intellectual and social times, they share a dominant theme in documenting the shifting and uneasy relationship between research and education policy. Presidents…

Background/Context: This essay takes up McClintock's (2004) critique of educational discourses as overly dependent upon a distributive model of justice and largely ignorant of the formative assumptions that ground educational policy and practice. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The question that McClintock's analysis begs is…

Background/Context: Over the last two decades, youth involvement in policy advocacy has increased sharply, through youth councils, organizing coalitions, and new media forums. Currently 12 states and 140 American cities have youth councils or commissions established to advise policymakers on the impact of their legislation on youth. Despite their…

This article is the next chapter in the conversation about doctoral physical education teacher education (D-PETE) programs. The author challenges PETE faculty members to continue the dialogue started in this special issue about D-PETE programs.

This study examines to what extent there is a sort of "political appropiation" by political parties when they seek to set a discourse about the Spanish PISA outcomes. We have consistently found that programs for assessing the competencies of students, especially PISA, have become tools of rationalization and the legitimization of…

New public management and knowledge economy have become watchwords in the governance of higher education. The university's role has rapidly changed toward regional development. The aim of this article is critically to highlight the basic rationale of this reorganization and to examine what this can mean in a Swedish context. This rationale is…

This article provides the history of Catholic state-aided schooling in Zambia for over a century. It notes how the Catholic Church came to view its school to be a pivotal means of church development. By cooperation with the state it entered more fully into the nation's future by offering high-quality state-sponsored schooling. This proved to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on the policy and practice contexts for school autonomy and twenty-first century learning in Canadian provinces. Design/methodology/approach: This paper reports on an analysis of policies in Canadian provinces (particularly the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan). The authors review policies…