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Considering how practices and processes of research and education can create fundamental, radical social change, Democracy, Education and Research assesses the meaning of ‘public impact‘ by rethinking what is meant by ‘public‘ and how it is essential to the methodologies of education and research.Focusing on empirical illustrations of the use of research and educational processes in contemporary and emergent forms of social organisation, this book: Covers the traditional forms to be found in education, health systems, community, business and public institutions, as well as emergent forms arising from innnovation in technologies. Explores the forms of learning and knowledge creation that take place across the everyday interactions in places of learning, communities or workplaces Discusses how learning and knowledge can be intentionally shaped by individuals and groups to effect social and political change Considers the research strategies required to forge new practices, new ways of working and living for a more socially just world Including practical examples of research that has created real change, Democracy, Education and Research will be a vital resource to professional researchers in their roles as teachers, educators and activists as well as students of education, sociology, politics, cultural studies.

Fieldwork in Educational Settings is widely recognised as part of the essential reading for the researcher in education. It instructs those new to qualitative educational research how to find interesting research sites, collect great data, analyse them responsibly, and then find the right audience to hear, use, and build upon their findings successfully.The revised and updated third edition includes the latest developments in authoethnography, data collection, analysis and dissemination, and is illustrated throughout with up-to-the minute examples of real world research. It embraces both sociological and anthropological approaches to qualitative educational research, using case studies from the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as well as the UK. ‘Education'is treated broadly, including higher education and non-formal settings as well as schools. Threaded throughout the book is updated content on: the internet and virtual worlds as sites for ethnography, the ethical aspects of ethnographic research, the strengths and weaknesses of autoethnography, the debates about representing data, the impact of technological innovations in all stages of qualitative research. An indispensable introduction for students and novice researchers alike, the new edition continues to illustrate and sustain the increasing popularity of qualitative methods in educational research over the past thirty years, addressing the technological and digital changes that have occurred.

What is educational research? What are its current approaches, methods and methodologies? How should existing literature be reviewed and evaluated critically? What are the key philosophical debates in and on educational research? How should research in education be conducted and how should it be presented? And what is the value of such research?With this extensively revised edition of a much-admired and engaging guide, Jerry Wellington provides clear and constructive answers to these questions, complete with detailed advice on methods such as interviewing, surveys, documentary research and the use of focus groups. Thoroughly overhauled and updated, this edition includes new case studies, helpful'theory summary'boxes, and a range of activities or'points to ponder'to foster engagement with current issues. Retaining the clarity and concision of the previous edition, and its approachable and practical style, Jerry Wellington provides an invaluable text for all those engaged in educational research.

Set against the current proliferation of global'difference'and economic realignment, Critical Dispositions explores the notions of'evidence'and'expertise'in times of material scarcity. Both have come to the forefront of national and international debate in education as'evidence'and'evidence-based'research and pedagogical practices continue as major trends in educational policy. Author Greg Dimitriadis maintains this debate is best understood as part of a broader rise in professional and managerial discourses in various aspects of educational research and practice. Each aims to control and contain some aspect of research and practice in ways that are increasingly specific and targeted. As demonstrated through examples from critical intellectuals and artists outside the field of education, this current proliferation of specific, autonomous fields of inquiry and practice marks a much deeper ambivalence about our contemporary moment and how we understand it. Following Bourdieu and other theorists, Dimitriadis argues that educational researchers and practitioners today must be increasingly self-reflexive about the positions they take up in various fields of inquiry, what they allow us to see and to understand, what they blind us to. This kind of self-reflexivity, however, is becoming increasingly difficult today as material demands and dislocations are forcing educators to occupy particular fields in more specific ways. Unpacking this tension and offering alternative'thinking tools'is at the core of this volume.

How can educational research have more impact? What processes of knowledge exchange are most effective for increasing the uses of research results? How can research-produced knowledge be better ‘mobilized'among users such as practicing educators, policy makers, and the public communities?These sorts of questions are commanding urgent attention in educational discourses and research policies now circulating around the world. This attention has been translated into powerful material exercises that shape what is considered to be worthwhile research and how research is funded, recognized, and assessed. Yet precisely what activities constitute effective knowledge mobilization, or even what is meant by ‘moving knowledge', remains unclear. What politics are at play in determining knowledge ‘impact'across radically different contexts? Who determines what counts as impact, and for what purposes? How are ‘results'of educational research separated from its participants and processes? In addition knowledge mobilization also invokes debates about the languages through which knowledge is constructed, policy processes are enacted, and research unfolds. This volume is unique in bringing together these wide-ranging issues of knowledge mobilization in education. The volume editors critically analyse these complex issues and also describe various efforts of knowledge mobilization and their effects. While the contributors themselves speak from diverse material, occupational and theoretical locations. Leading scholars in Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia bring disciplinary perspectives from law, digital media studies, museum studies, journalism and policy-making as well as fields of education. Some speak from Anglo-‘Western'perspectives but others such as Phan Le Ha (Vietnamese), Rui Yang (Chinese) and Dolores van der Wey (Haida/West Coat Salish First Nations) speak from Asian, Indigenous and diasporic locations.