Marginality and Difference in Education and Beyond

Book excerpt: This collection brings together analyses from a range of educational contexts around the world of the ways in which notions of identity and difference, belonging and exclusion are constructed within and beyond the context of education. Three key themes link the chapters within the book: · current policy and practice in education and educational research; · educational imperialism and its legacy; · cultures and sub-cultures within and beyond educational contexts. Part One, Educational Policy and Practice: Internal Colonisations, explores what might be described as the "internal" colonization of education by a certain set of hegemonic ideas and practices--practices which the authors in this book set out collectively to resist. In Part Two, Educational Imperialism and its Legacy, the focus turns to "external" imperialism within education. In Part Three, Culture and Subculture Within and Beyond Education, notions of space, place and identity are interwoven with linguistic, symbolic and material cultural markers. The contributors are Elizabeth Atkinson, Stephen Ball, Renée DePalma, Stephen Dobson, David Gough, Ruby Greene, Jennifer Lavia, Ahmad Nazari, Carrie Paechter, Michael Reiss, John Storey, Takako Takano, Maddalena Taras, Carol Vincent and Deborah Youdell. The book is intended for academics, for students working at Masters level and above and for education professionals and policy makers and will also appeal to scholars working in education and those involved in interdisciplinary work or working in the fields of sociology, cultural studies and sociolinguistics.