This open access book, originally published in Portuguese in 1988 and now available in English for the first time, describes the Brazilian educator, Antonio Leal's, experiences teaching so-called "unteachable" children in Rio de Janeiro's favelas. A Voice for Maria Favela tells the story of how Leal considers what the children bring to the class, gradually engaging them in developing a narrative about Maria Favela, a single mother and housemaid. Leal uses the sounds within the story to draw out the students' abilities to see enunciation and articulation as a process of becoming literatized. A contemporary and admirer of Paulo Freire, Leal nevertheless recognised that his students' needs could not be theorized along Freirean lines of oppressor/oppressed. He devised an emancipatory approach that is more focussed on the individual child and their capacity for self-expression than those often found in critical pedagogy. The book puts forward a unique type of radical pedagogy and philosophy of education, developed through direct classroom observation. The book includes a substantial introduction written by the translator Alexis Gibbs (University of Winchester, UK) and preface by Inny Accioly (Fluminense Federal University, Brazil). The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

Drawing upon the long tradition of recalcitrant thought in Western humanist scholarship, this book rethinks education and educational research at a time of intense social transformation. By revisiting a range of post-foundational ideas and developing their own methodological experiment, Stephen Carney and Ulla Ambrosius Madsen reimagine the possibilities for the comparative study of education. Exploring the experiences of young people in Denmark, South Korea and Zambia, this book illustrates how these very different contexts are increasingly connected by common narratives of purpose, as well as overheated promises of success. Focusing on the writings of Jean Baudrillard, the authors examine them in the context of works by other theorists of modernity, to explore processes of simulation and disappearance that are shaping life worldwide. In the process, the authors paint a rich portrait of education and schooling as a site of joy, hope, pain and ambivalence. Encompassing both theoretical and methodological innovation, Education in Radical Uncertainty provides inspiration for scholars and students attempting to approach the fields of comparative education, education policy and youth studies anew.

Compiling extensive research findings with real insights from the business world, this must-read book on performance appraisal explores its evolution from the classic appraisal to its current form, and the methodology behind its progression. Looking forward, Aharon Tziner and Edna Rabenu emphasize that well-conducted appraisals combine a mixture of classic and current, and are here to stay. The book first presents a primer to performance appraisals, covering the role of management, the appraisers, and external and political influences. The authors then present ways to improve the appraisal system through training, methodology and diversification. Consequently, they outline the key questions and opportunities facing the research and business communities, including the rapidly developing technological and democratic workforce. In particular, the authors highlight the need for the creation of a ''climate of performance'' and innovation in research, for the betterment of both the individual employee and society as a whole. Improving Performance Appraisal at Work is a comprehensive guide for researchers in business and management, human resource management and organizational behavior. The authors cover an extensive array of issues relating to the role of employee performance appraisal, making this book an excellent advisory text for those in professional human resource roles.

As a predominant teaching paradigm, foreign language learning has increasingly been one of the crucial elements that leads to career accomplishments for students. Due to this, foreign language assessment has emerged as a major topic in the field of foreign language learning. The Handbook of Research on Perspectives in Foreign Language Assessment examines perspectives on language assessment through reflections on classroom applications and makes recommendations to strengthen quality language assessments by drawing on a variety of research methodologies. It also provides a foundation as to why foreign language assessment as a discipline should be refocused with caution, what sort of theoretical and practical implications should be in place for foreign language teachers, and in what ways it may be possible to provide futuristic perspectives on foreign language assessment for test developers and users involved in language assessment. Covering key topics such as testing, literacy, and language teaching, this major reference work is ideal for industry professionals, policymakers, administrators, researchers, academicians, scholars, practitioners, instructors, preservice teachers, teacher educators, librarians, and students.