Published in 1995, this book comprises a group of original studies in education. It includes detailed empirically-based accounts of a variety of educational settings which are under represented in the sociological literature, for instance special schools, psychiatric adolescent units, further education colleges and government policy settings. Studies of other neglected issues include teachers' understandings of subject, the promotion of cross curricular themes and pupils' acquisition of knowledge about menstruation. Ethnographic fieldwork in Maltese classrooms and a study of Asian pupils in a Welsh school provide an international dimension to the volume. Most contributions draw on ethnographic approaches and by using close observation and / or in-depth interviews they capture the internal workings of a classroom, institution or culture.

This collection, written by researchers in the field, looks at how gender issues have affected educational policy in recent years. It explores how attempts to improve equal opportunities in education have fared and examines the tensions and contradictions in recent policies. The book is aimed at students on masters courses in education, and undergraduates on social policy and sociology courses.

Gender equality has been a major educational theme for the past two decades and has become interwoven with other policy themes, including those of marketisation and managerialism. Contributors to this strong collection are key researchers in their fields and seek to address the following questions:
* What patterns are discernible in the educational attainment of girls and boys over the past two decades?
* To what extent are changes attributable to gender equality policies?
* What form have gender equality policies taken in different parts of the UK?
* What has been the impact of European equality policies?
* How have gender equality policies been experienced by particular groups including pupils from ethnic minority and working-class backgrounds?
This book aims to take an overall look at how significant have been the changes in experiences, aspirations and culture of girls and boys and male and female teachers. It explores how attempts to improve equal opportunities in education have fared and examines the tensions and contradications in recent policies.

Academic Working Lives: Experience, Practice and Change examines the ways in which lecturers and their roles have developed in the modern academic workplace. The book offers insights into changing occupational roles, institutions and the adaptations around flexible and mobile working in everyday professional life. The editors have drawn together an impressive range of research perspectives and themed topics that cover the key aspects of academic professional identity and relationships, as well as reflecting experiences of learning and development at work in today's academy. The contributors explore lecturers' everyday working experiences in the light of the impact of policy changes, and the modes of academic leadership and management in contemporary higher education. Contributions reflect situations and contexts from across the UK and internationally, in taking account of the changing workforce, evolving pedagogies and new technologies in the working lives of today's educational professionals.

Published in 1995, this book comprises a group of original studies in education. It includes detailed empirically-based accounts of a variety of educational settings which are under represented in the sociological literature, for instance special schools, psychiatric adolescent units, further education colleges and government policy settings. Studies of other neglected issues include teachers' understandings of subject, the promotion of cross curricular themes and pupils' acquisition of knowledge about menstruation. Ethnographic fieldwork in Maltese classrooms and a study of Asian pupils in a Welsh school provide an international dimension to the volume. Most contributions draw on ethnographic approaches and by using close observation and / or in-depth interviews they capture the internal workings of a classroom, institution or culture.