Rethinking the Education Improvement Agenda : A Critical Philosophical Approach

This is an engaging exploration of the philosophies that illuminate and shape current practice to provide a fresh look at how we think about education and improvement. Offering a philosophical perspective to the educational improvement agenda, this engaging text provides a new language for research into educational improvement, bringing leading edge philosophy to current practice. Drawing on philosophical work, including that of Derrida, Foucault and Heidegger, the authors deconstruct the ethic of improvement before exploring key dimensions of education, its institutions and technologies. Each chapter draws on international case studies, provides engaging questions and makes suggestions for further reading to support the reader. Topics covered include: The Ethic of Improvement; Teacher Education; Leadership and Management; Lifelong Learning; The Rhetoric of Numbers; The governance of childhood; and, The state of education research. It is an essential text for all looking at how we think and talk about education and improvement.

Nick Peim is a Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Birmingham, UK. Kevin J Flint is Senior Lecturer in Education at Nottingham Trent University, UK.