Working with Uncertainty for Educational Change: Orientations for Professional Practice

Working with Uncertainty for Educational Change explores the liberating possibilities for those who seek to embrace existing research into uncertainty and complexity at diverse levels in the world of education. The lives of education professionals are built upon a multitude of decision-making events that frame each working day. With a range of expert contributors, this insightful book brings together varied perspectives on the nature of complexity within educational contexts, focusing particularly on the emotional work involved in change. Organised into two major parts, its first part focuses on the intellectual challenge of thinking about uncertainty by exploring the dominant discourses of certainty in the field of education. The second part, on the other hand, considers how we can embrace uncertainty within practice by exploring conditions that support reflection, agency and acceptance of ambiguity. Presenting themes on a wide range of educational issues including curriculum, pedagogy, equity, leadership and professional learning, this book will appeal to teachers, educational leaders, practitioners and researchers as well as students on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes with an education focus.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: Perspectives on complexity within educational systems PART I: Challenging discourses of certainty 2. Research in schools and the lure of the transcendent 3. A sociomaterial approach to teacher resilience 4. School improvement as narrative: Telling tales on the road from the definitive to the provisional 5. Some glimpses into the uncertain comforts of ‘new’ educational theories and practices: Canadian reflections PART II: Conditions of possibility for practice 6. Curriculum for Wales: Learning from medical education 7. Educative leadership – prioritising learning, getting comfortable with uncertainty and privileging relationships – reflections for leaders in education 8. Navigating curriculum uncertainty for teacher agency 9. New materialist and diffractive perspectives on pedagogy and practice in early childhood science education 10. Margins of manoeuvrability for inclusive education

About the Author :
Carmel Conn is Associate Professor in Inclusive Pedagogy at the University of South Wales, UK. Bethan Mitchell is Senior Lecturer and Course Leader at the University of South Wales, UK. Matt Hutt is Head of Professional Learning in Education at the University of South Wales, UK.

Review :
“Education reform often manifests itself in ways that discount the complexities, subtleties, and challenges of change at scale. Policy solutions are sought and enthusiastically borrowed, in education, without any real consideration of the conflicting contextual and cultural influences that rage within all systems. This book uses the lens of uncertainty to critically, but powerfully, re-evaluate the deep complexities that define any system. Theoretically rich and practically grounded, this book reminds us that uncertainty and complexity are to be embraced not ignored, if meaningful educational change is the goal.” Alma Harris, Professor, Cardiff School of Education and Social Policy, UK “Education reform often manifests itself in ways that discount the complexities, subtleties, and challenges of change at scale. Policy solutions are sought and enthusiastically borrowed, in education, without any real consideration of the conflicting contextual and cultural influences that rage within all systems. This book uses the lens of uncertainty to critically, but powerfully, re-evaluate the deep complexities that define any system. Theoretically rich and practically grounded, this book reminds us that uncertainty and complexity are to be embraced not ignored, if meaningful educational change is the goal.” Alma Harris, Professor, Cardiff School of Education and Social Policy, UK