Power, Politics, and the Playground

Perspectives on Power and Authority in Education

Don Carter,Adrian Piccoli

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2024
• ISBN:
  9781040046517
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Política educativa

Presented as a series of case studies, this book offers the reader an insider's account of the power dynamics in Australian education and how the application of that power influences education policymaking.

The authors, Adrian Piccoli and Don Carter, have been in the room when some of the biggest decisions in Australian education have been made. This book traverses various theories of power and authority to explore the selected experiences of the authors who come from opposing sides of the political spectrum (a former National Party minister for education and a former teacher, union member and left-leaning academic) to share a behind-the-scenes story of education in Australia not readily available to the public. The chapters capture their personal experiences in senior education leadership roles, where they made key decisions on diverse topics such as how to allocate multibillion-dollar education budgets, the split of school funding between education sectors, contentious curriculum decisions and other policy and political objectives. Drawing on organisational theory, international relations and education, a variety of resources such as hard and soft power, credibility, persuasion and notions of capital are used to make sense of their experiences in education. Through this, the authors explain who has the biggest influence over those decisions and why these complex power dynamics, when not used properly, can mean that the best interests of students are not always at the heart of the decision-making process.

Written for teachers, school leaders and other education professionals, this book presents a rare insight into power and authority in the Australian education system.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• How this book began
• About the book
• How this book is structured
• 1 Case study as a research methodology
• 2 Why getting schools right matters
• 3 Some observations on power and authority
• 4 The role of Parliament and politics in education
• Analytical contemplation: the role of Parliament and politics in education
• 5 Schools, power and books
• Analytical contemplation: schools, power and books
• 6 Being an education leader and acting like a dictator doesn't work
• Analytical contemplation: being an education leader and acting like a dictator doesn't work
• 7 The power that comes with experience
• Analytical contemplation: the power that comes with experience
• 8 Accumulating, keeping and renewing power
• Analytical contemplation: accumulating, keeping and renewing power
• 9 Having clear guiding principles generates its own power
• Analytical contemplation: having clear guiding principles generates its own power
• 10 The two faces of education
• Analytical contemplation: the two faces of education
• Conclusion
• Afterword
• References
• Index