Changing Practices, Changing Education

This book aims to help teachers and those who support them to re-imagine the work of teaching, learning and leading. In particular, it shows how transformations of educational practice depend on complementary transformations in classroom-school- and system-level organisational cultures, resourcing and politics. It argues that transforming education requires more than professional development to transform teachers; it also calls for fundamental changes in learning and leading practices, which in turn means reshaping organisations that support teachers and teaching – organisational cultures, the resources organisations provide and distribute, and the relationships that connect people with one another in organisations. The book is based on findings from new research being conducted by the authors – the research team for the (2010-2012) Australian Research Council-funded Discovery Project Leading and Learning: Developing Ecologies of Educational Practice.

1) Education: The need for revitalisation.- 2) Praxis, practice and practice architectures.- 3) Ecologies of practices.- 4) Student Learning: Learning practices.- 5) Teaching: Initiation into practices.- 6) Professional learning as practice development.- 7) Practising leading.- 8) Researching as a practice-changing practice.- 9) Revitalising Education: Site based education development.- Appendix) Analysing practices using the theories of practice architectures and ecologies of practices: An example.