Prelims

Half Title Page

SCHOOLING FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Endorsement Page

This important book interrogates key educational concepts of social justice, equity and inclusion through a thought-provoking and novel approach. Drawing on Actor Network Theory, Bacchi’s post-structural analytical approach to policy, and empirical studies of Malta and Australia, it raises crucial questions and insights for theorizing and conceptualizing some of the most major but intractable issues in schooling today.

Jane Wilkinson, Professor of Educational Leadership, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia

This book is essential reading for researchers and practitioners of social justice, equity and inclusion in education. It draws on insights and analysis from two of the critical field’s leading thinkers and researchers to interrogate and trouble assumptions that are commonly held or deployed about leading for social justice and equity in schools. This vital book represents a significant leap forward in our understanding of how schools work when they aim at practice and outcomes which are socially just and inclusive. The book is exemplary as a critical text in its expert theorization of the landscape, mechanisms and outcomes of schooling – and leading – for social justice. Its dual, comparative focus on the cases of Malta and New South Wales, Australia is illuminating and incisive, and points the way to new ways of thinking internationally.

Steven J. Courtney, Professor of Sociology of Education Leadership, Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK

Title Page

SCHOOLING FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

Problematizing Theory, Policy and Practice

By

DENISE MIFSUD

University of Bath, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL.

First edition 2024

Copyright © 2024 Denise Mifsud.

Chapter 4 © 2024 Richard Niesche and Chapter 5 © 2024 Ira Bogotch.

Published under exclusive license by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83549-761-6 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83549-758-6 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83549-760-9 (Epub)

Dedication Page

I would like to dedicate this book to all those who have suffered any form of injustice throughout their lifetime as students and/or education practitioners at various levels in compulsory schooling, and simultaneously to those who strive to bring about more socially just education systems.

I have been inspired to write this book by my various experiences of social injustice in education that I have either lived directly or witnessed at the triage of theory, policy and practice as a student, teacher, educational leader and academic.

Contents