Making Sense of Mass Education provides a contemporary analysis of the ideas and issues that have traditionally dominated education research, challenging outdated preconceptions with fundamental theory and discussion. It takes a demythologising approach in assessing these issues and their relevance to schooling and education in Australia. This text examines the cultural context of education and the influence of external media and new technologies, and highlights the many forms of discrimination in education, including social class, race and gender. It looks at alternative approaches to education, including the repercussions of gathering data to measure school performance, and considers the intersection of ethics and philosophy in classroom teaching. The fourth edition expands on these issues with three new chapters: on sexuality, children's rights, and neoliberalism and the marketisation of education. Each chapter challenges and breaks down common myths surrounding these topics, encouraging pre-service teachers to think critically and reflect on their own beliefs.
- Breadth and diversity of topics covered
- Updated to include new content on children's rights; neoliberalism and marketisation; gender and sexuality
- Accessible and engaging writing style
- Uses a myth model to explore and unpack the core theories, concepts and themes in mass education
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Reviews & endorsements
'[This book] achieved its goal of a clear, inclusive, and accessible language. It effectively summarizes complex philosophical arguments and movements, educational law, and unpacks the role of class, sex, and race in Australian education over time. … anyone interested in the context of the philosophy and structure of education in a postmodern, digital world will find a clear, accessible discussion of the value of philosophy in understanding mass education.' Amy Mandt, Technical Communication

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Product details
- Edition: 4th Edition
- Date Published: June 2023
- format: Print/online bundle
- isbn: 9781009105323
- length: 440 pages
- dimensions: 255 x 203 x 25 mm
- weight: 1.2kg
- contains: 5 b/w illus. 5 tables
- availability: In stock
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I. Re-assessing the Pillars: Modern and Postmodern Sociologies of Education
1. Social class
2. Race, ethnicity and indigeneity
3. Gender
4. Sexualities
Part II. The Foundations of an Alternative Approach: Education and Governance
5. Governance
6. Subjectivity
7. Neoliberalism and Marketisation
8. Pre-adulthood
9. Datafication
Part III. Cultural Contexts of Contemporary Education
10. The media
11. Popular culture
12. Technology
13. Globalisation
Part IV. Philosophy and Mass Education
14. Philosophy
15. Ethics and the law
16. Children's rights
17. Truth and postcolonialism
18. Alternative education
Conclusion: the central aims of this book.
Authors
Gordon Tait, Queensland University of Technology
Gordon Tait is a Professor of Education at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. He researches and teaches in the areas of the sociology and philosophy of education, ethics, legal decision-making, and qualitative research methods.
Nerida Spina, Queensland University of Technology
Nerida Spina researches and teaches at the Queensland University of Technology. Her research interests include educators' work, social justice, equity, education policy and the sociology of numbers. She has a particular interest in using institutional ethnographic research. Her research explores the everyday work of school leaders teachers and pre-service teachers, and the impact of policy on their practices and lives. In examining educators' work, she explores those practices that make a difference to the lives and long-term trajectories of young people and communities, as well as what gets in the way.
Jenna Gillett-Swan, Queensland University of Technology
Jenna Gillett-Swan is a researcher and Associate Professor at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Her work aims to understand and address inequity and threats to wellbeing in students' and teachers' educational experiences through participatory rights-based approaches to educational transformation and school improvement. She works with students, teachers, and leaders across primary, secondary and tertiary education contexts. Jenna is also the co-leader for the Voice and Wellbeing Research Program within the Centre for Inclusive Education.
Peter O'Brien, Queensland University of Technology
Peter O'Brien teaches and researches at the Queensland University of Technology. His research draws on studies of governmentality to explore the exercise of power and freedom in educational policy and practice in contemporary neoliberal polities.