Author: admin

I came across the above term while speaking with Akesha, a friend of mine and fellow education academic. I was really intrigued by the idea, and I think it has some relevance to my own work. Ultimately, educationalisation is the idea that schools are becoming more and more involved in curing various social ills. For…

I wrote a post a couple of days ago about bushfires and politics. It got more views than my usual posts (not that that’s saying much – this is for myself as much as it is for anyone else) but I realised that I hadn’t shared my own personal views about the fires – my…

So, it’s not even summer yet, and already Sydney is ringed with flames as dozens of bush fires – many of them still out of control – burn through the scrubs and valleys. More than 200 homes have already been lost, and support appliances are coming in from South Australia, Queensland and even New Zealand….

Greater Western Sydney is often maligned in the press or in popular culture. It is seen as the home of the ‘bogan’ – the male, blue-singlet-wearing, ute-driving, beer-swilling denizen of the Western Suburbs. Sometimes referred to disparagingly as a ‘Westie’, the bogan is seen as poorly educated, most likely employed in some kind of manual…

I’ve been reading a lot of the work of Jennifer Gore and Carmen Luke after my supervisor recommended that I engage more with other variants of what might be called radical (in the sense of challenging dominant discourses) pedagogy as I try to position my work and theory building amongst these different schools of thought….

So I recently met with my supervisor for the doctoral process for him to review what I’ve written so far. I’ve been pretty pleased with how the writing has gone, but these conversations are valuable because he provides me with such great feedback, as well as identifying new directions for the writing to head in….

Started watching ‘The Newsroom’ recently. It’s good stuff – written by Aaron Sorkin who did the West Wing as well. I watched the West Wing for the first season, back when it first came on television, and then George W Bush was elected, and the show seemed to lose all relevance in the farcical drama…

As part of the ACEL Conference, I attended a presentation by Dr Phil Browning about the importance of trust in school leaders. Basically, I found this interesting for three main points: 1) Trust and transformative schools are closely linked. 2) Trust in the head is linked to trust in the whole school. 3) Trust is…

I’m currently sitting in the National Convention Centre in Canberra as I write this post. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been invited to present a session about active global citizenship education at the Australian College for Educational Leadership Conference. It’s the first time I’ve been to the ACEL Conference (at about $800 per delegate,…

This might seem a little bit late but for good reason: I finally feel ready to think reasonably objectively about the 2013 Federal Election and what went on there. Perhaps because of my doctoral studies, or maybe just the age that I am, I really think that I’m developing more of an understanding of the…