School Reform in an Era of Standardization explores how teachers and school-based administrators navigate the processes of accountability and standardization in schooling systems and settings. It provides clear insights into how the work and learning of teachers and students in schools have been dramatically reconstituted by increased pressures of external, political scrutiny and accountability. The book reveals in detail the nature and effects of standardization processes upon schools and schooling systems. Specifically, it shows how curriculum development, teaching and assessment practices have all been recalibrated under conditions of increased external scrutiny of teacher and student work and learning, and how such processes are manifest in curriculum dominated by attention to literacy and numeracy, more 'scripted' pedagogies and standardized testing. However, the research not only elaborates the detrimental effects of such processes, but also how those responsible for educating in schools - teachers, heads of curriculum, deputy-principals and principals - have responded proactively by interpreting, interrogating and challenging these conditions. In this way, it provides resources for hope - evidence of what are described as more 'authentic accountabilities' - and at the same time it provides a clear portrait of the difficulty of fostering substantive curriculum, teaching and assessment reform during an era of increasingly reductive accountability processes. It will be an invaluable resource for understanding and enhancing practices in schools and school systems in the decades to come, and for giving hope to educators in the ongoing work of rebuilding trust in public education.

The Politics of Teacher Professional Development: Policy, Research and Practice provides innovative insights into teachers' continuing development and learning in contemporary western contexts. Rather than providing a list of "how-tos" and "must dos," this volume is premised on the understanding that by learning more about the current conditions under which teachers and other educators work and learn, it is possible to understand, and consequently improve, the learning opportunities teachers experience. Teacher professional development is not simply construed as an isolated series of events, such as day-long workshops marking the beginning of each school year or term, or individualistic "one-off" activities focused on new teaching approaches, curricula or assessment strategies. Rather, through application of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's understanding of social practices as contested, teacher professional development is revealed as a complex social practice which exists as policy, as a research product and process, and as an important part of teachers' work. The book reveals how PD as policy, research and teachers' work are inherently contested. An extended series of case studies of teacher professional development practices from Canada, England and Australia are employed to show how these tensions play out in complex ways in policy and practice.

School Reform in an Era of Standardization explores how teachers and school-based administrators navigate the processes of accountability and standardization in schooling systems and settings. It provides clear insights into how the work and learning of teachers and students in schools have been dramatically reconstituted by increased pressures of external, political scrutiny and accountability. The book reveals in detail the nature and effects of standardization processes upon schools and schooling systems. Specifically, it shows how curriculum development, teaching and assessment practices have all been recalibrated under conditions of increased external scrutiny of teacher and student work and learning, and how such processes are manifest in curriculum dominated by attention to literacy and numeracy, more 'scripted' pedagogies and standardized testing. However, the research not only elaborates the detrimental effects of such processes, but also how those responsible for educating in schools - teachers, heads of curriculum, deputy-principals and principals - have responded proactively by interpreting, interrogating and challenging these conditions. In this way, it provides resources for hope - evidence of what are described as more 'authentic accountabilities' - and at the same time it provides a clear portrait of the difficulty of fostering substantive curriculum, teaching and assessment reform during an era of increasingly reductive accountability processes. It will be an invaluable resource for understanding and enhancing practices in schools and school systems in the decades to come, and for giving hope to educators in the ongoing work of rebuilding trust in public education.

The Politics of Teacher Professional Development: Policy, Research and Practice provides innovative insights into teachers' continuing development and learning in contemporary western contexts. Rather than providing a list of "how-tos" and "must dos," this volume is premised on the understanding that by learning more about the current conditions under which teachers and other educators work and learn, it is possible to understand, and consequently improve, the learning opportunities teachers experience. Teacher professional development is not simply construed as an isolated series of events, such as day-long workshops marking the beginning of each school year or term, or individualistic "one-off" activities focused on new teaching approaches, curricula or assessment strategies. Rather, through application of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's understanding of social practices as contested, teacher professional development is revealed as a complex social practice which exists as policy, as a research product and process, and as an important part of teachers' work. The book reveals how PD as policy, research and teachers' work are inherently contested. An extended series of case studies of teacher professional development practices from Canada, England and Australia are employed to show how these tensions play out in complex ways in policy and practice.

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.

Set against the backdrop of globalization and global philanthropy, this book offers new perspectives on the sociological dynamics and governance implications of 'social entrepreneurial' policy in education. It examines the spatialities, relationships and culture that powerfully mediated the making and localisation of 'Teach for Bangladesh'. This globalised and philanthropy-backed reform model is based on 'Teach for America/All' (TfA) which promotes social entrepreneurial solutions to educational problems across continents. The authors demonstrate how TfB's policy model travelled through networks of diaspora, finance, technology and media and became established in Bangladesh through complex policy work. The book documents empirical research from Bangladesh to draw out broader implications in relation to education policy-making and policy content in today's globalizing world. The book also contributes to ongoing debates in contemporary comparative education about North-South dialogue, policy mobility and transfer, philanthrocapitalism, and international teacher 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.

There are probably just about as many opinions about how to hit your golf ball further as there are golfers in the world but the reality is most of them either don't work or if they do they only add a little distance and generally create massive slices for most golfers When most golfers want to hit the ball further they do things that instinctively seem like they would work like; Tensing up and getting all 'manly and aggressive' ready to hit the ball so hard that if the cover stays on it - it's going to be hit into next week sometime Then as they have heard that the best way to hit the golf ball further is to get the club moving faster, their entire swing gets faster The last thing they do is another thing that you would think was instinctively right They take the club further back than normal on their backswing the idea being that the further it has to come back to the ball - the more time they will have to generate speed and therefore hit the golf ball further Seems logical right? It doesn't actually work like that How to drive the golf ball as far as you possibly can - without buying a new driver or doing any exercises Is a simple easy to follow step by step guide which will allow you to develop your driving by firstly providing you with an understanding of just what you need to do, then giving you a bunch of different experiences to apply to your game, all of which will allow you to develop your ability - to drive the golf ball as far as you possibly can And before you start thinking this is all about elite level golfers who can already hit the golf ball 'for miles' and just want to hit it further again That's not entirely correct either As in actual fact, the golfers who can benefit the most from driving the ball as far as they possibly can are the golfers who hit the ball a relatively short distance compared to other golfers, consider a golfer that currently hits the ball 80 yards off the tee and then has a fairway wood distance of 60 yards Let's imagine that over the period of a few weeks our intrepid golfer, takes the information inside this book, works on it a bit and manages to add 20 yards to their drive It's not as difficult as you may think Also bear in mind that the 20 yards they add to their drive should also directly add (you'll understand why that happens when you read the book) another 10 yards to their fairway shot What difference do you think that can make to their game? A couple of shots better a round, maybe three or four at best? You'd be wrong if you guessed that low and even if you went way out on a limb and said a stupid number like say 10 shots - you're still going to be too low How about 22 shots better per round? Impossible? No, it's actually quite easily achievable as you can read about in the book The mind-set of trying to drive the golf ball as far as you possibly can, not only helps the elite golfer score a few shots better a round - it can dramatically transform any golfer's game - even if they are what would be considered to be a short hitter to begin with So is this all about elite golfers, testosterone, manliness and ego? In actual fact those are the golfers that will get the least help from this book The golfers who are going to get the best outcome from following my advice are those who don't hit too far for a start and it makes no difference whether you are old or young, new or experienced, male or female Everyone can change their game and scores by driving as far as you possibly can by following the six main basic points that the book covers then blending them with some controls and fine adjustments that will allow you to keep the golf ball on the golf course while you are driving it much further, as well as few other handy ideas that will then allow you to really take your new found distance and turn into a major advantage to your game on the golf course Better golf performance as a result of driving the golf ball as far as you possibly can Now that's a good outcome

Set against the backdrop of globalization and global philanthropy, this book offers new perspectives on the sociological dynamics and governance implications of ‘social entrepreneurial’ policy in education. It examines the spatialities, relationships and culture that powerfully mediated the making and localisation of 'Teach for Bangladesh'. This globalised and philanthropy-backed reform model is based on 'Teach for America/All' (TfA) which promotes social entrepreneurial solutions to educational problems across continents. The authors demonstrate how TfB's policy model travelled through networks of diaspora, finance, technology and media and became established in Bangladesh through complex policy work. The book documents empirical research from Bangladesh to draw out broader implications in relation to education policy-making and policy content in today’s globalizing world. The book also contributes to ongoing debates in contemporary comparative education about North-South dialogue, policy mobility and transfer, philanthrocapitalism, and international teacher education.