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This volume gives educational theorists the chance to let rip and say what they really want to say. In doing so it sends a blast of fresh air through the dusty halls of academe. The vast majority of the literature in education theory and philosophy follows the conventions of academic writing, and rightly so. Yet its formal, abstract and objective style, which focuses on the careful presentation of theoretical and philosophical arguments, doesn't always give us insights into what motivates and drives the authors-while for academic neophytes it can be dense and arcane.

Here, those same theorists and philosophers have been given the chance to expound at length on the topics that most exercise them. What concerns them, what gets them up in the morning, and what really matters most to them? Readers will discover what happens when these thinkers are explicitly invited to go beyond academic conventions and experiment with form, style and content. Featuring collected essays from leading educationalists from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the USA, Canada, Israel Germany, Belgium and the UK, these essays provide vital insights into their work as well as being a compelling introduction to contemporary attempts to make sense of education through theory and philosophy. All these authors have made key contributions to the field, and their unique 'manifestos' make a fascinating read for any student or practitioner in education.

Making Sense of Education: Fifteen Contemporary Educational Theorists in their own Words

Preface.- Introduction, Gert J.J. Biesta.- In Pursuit of Respectful Teaching and Intellectually-Dynamic Social Fields, Frank Margonis.- Education: Understanding, Ethics, and the Call of Justice, Clarence W. Joldersma.- Exercising Theory: A Perspective on its Practice, Christiane Thompson.- Lived Relationality as Fulcrum for Pedagogical-Ethical Practice, Tone Saevi.- Edwin & Phyllis, Lynn Fendler.- Philosophy of Education is Bent, Cris Mayo.- Philosophy of Education in a Poor Historical Moment: A Personal Account, Ilan Gur-Zeev.- What I Talk About When I Talk About Teaching and Learning, Carl Anders Säfström.- Nurturing a Democratic Community in the Classroom, Barbara J. Thayer-Bacon.- The Educational Thing, Thomas Aastrup Romer.- Going to the Heart of the Matter, Sharon Todd.- Two Educational Ideas for 2011 and Beyond, Charles Bingham.- On the Essence of Education, Alexander M. Sidorkin.- Experimentum Scholae: The World Once More ... But Not (Yet) Finished, Jan Masschelein.- Coming Into the World, Uniqueness, and the Beautiful Risk of Education: An Interview with Gert Biesta by Philip Winter.