New Disciplinary Perspectives on Education

ISSN: 2297-718X

Educational theory has always been framed within a wider context including philosophy, psychology, sociology and history. In the last ten years, educational discourse has been characterized by the emergence of a more managerialist paradigm and increased emphasis on the delivery of particular educational ‘outcomes’. This has taken place in the context of the huge expansion of tertiary education from the national level, a process in which education has come to be understood as a lucrative global commodity. But alongside these developments, there has also been a resurgence of interest in the educational insights provided by the disciplines of education: for example, renewed emphasis on enquiry-based approaches to learning (Dewey), social constructivist pedagogy (Vygotsky), educational critique (Bourdieu, Freire), new inter-religious pedagogies (Grimmit, Jackson) and fresh perspectives on the ‘spiral’ curriculum (Bruner). Much of this work takes the form of a critique of the instrumentalism of outcome-driven approaches. As the debt-laden student emerges as a political subject, educational discourse has come to represent a particularly contested terrain. The book series New Disciplinary Perspectives on Education seeks to explore how these debates within the resurgence of the disciplines of education relate to wider political and economic conditions, creating new critical understandings and possibilities within educational theory and practice. It welcomes both theoretical and empirical studies, alongside mixed-methods approaches, and publishes disciplinary studies within philosophy, psychology, sociology and history as well as encouraging cross-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary work.

15 publications

Documentary Film Cultures

ISSN: 2504-4834

This series provides a space for exploring the development of documentary film cultures in the contemporary context. The series takes an ecological approach to the study of documentary funding, production, distribution and consumption by emphasizing the interconnections between these practices and those of other media systems. It thus encourages new ways of understanding documentary films or practices as part of other, wider systems of cultural production. Volumes may focus on specific sociopolitical environments, such as that of a nation or region. Alternatively, they may explore specific themes or production practices, such as new wave documentaries, environmentalism or indigenous film communities. Studies of shared technological platforms, including films that make use of embodied technologies or using emergent distribution platforms, are also welcome. The series reflects not only the maturing of literature on documentary film and media production studies over the last two decades but also the growing interest amongst nonacademic and professional audiences in documentary texts as they occupy an increasingly hybrid cultural space: part journalism, part art cinema, part activism, part entertainment, part digital culture. Editorial Board: Jouko Aaltonen (Aalto University), John Corner (Liverpool University, UK), Yingchi Chu (Murdoch University, Australia), Jonathan Dovey (University of the West of England, Bristol), Susanna Helke (Aalto University, Finland), Anette Hill (Lund University, Sweden), Bert Hogenkamp (Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision), Ilona Hongisto (Macquarie University, Australia), K. P. Jayasankar (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India), Susan Kerrigan (Newcastle University, Australia), Richard Kilborn (University of Stirling), Erik Knudsen (University of Central Lancashire, UK), David MacDougall (Australian National University), Anjali Monteiro (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai), Pablo Piedras (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina), Agnieszka Piotrowska (University of Bedfordshire, UK), Laura Rascaroli (University College Cork, Ireland), Belinda Smaill (Monash University, Australia), Inge Sorensen (University of Glasgow, UK), Bjørn Sørenssen (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway), Malin Walhberg (Stockholm University, Sweden), Deane Williams (Monash University, Australia), Yingjin Zhang (UC San Diego, USA)

6 publications

Digital Formations

Digital Formations is the best source for critical, well-written books about digital technologies and modern life. Books in the series break new ground by emphasizing multiple methodological and theoretical approaches to deeply probe the formation and reformation of lived experience as it is refracted through digital interaction. Each volume in Digital Formations pushes forward our understanding of the intersections, and corresponding implications, between digital technologies and everyday life. The series examines broad issues in realms such as digital culture, electronic commerce, law, politics and governance, gender, the Internet, race, art, health and medicine, and education. The series emphasizes critical studies in the context of emergent and existing digital technologies.

181 publications