A handbook for independent learners based on 100 ethnographic interviews, with guidance, how-to, and interviewee stories.

Educational policies explicitly implemented in order to reduce educational gaps and promote access and success for disenfranchised youth can backfire—and often have the unintended result of widening those gaps. In this interdisciplinary collection of case studies, contributors examine cases of policy backfire, when policies don’t work, have unintended consequences, and when policies help. Although policy reform is thought of as an effective way to improve schooling structures and to diminish the achievement gap, many such attempts to reform the system do not adequately address the legacy of unequal policies and the historic and pervasive inequalities that persist in schools. Exploring the roots of school inequality and examining often-ignored negative policy outcomes, contributors illuminate the causes and consequences of poor policymaking decisions and demonstrate how policies can backfire, fail, or have unintended success.

Stephen Ball's micro-political theory of school organization is a radical departure from traditional theories. He rejects a prescriptive 'top down' approach and directly addresses the interest and concerns of teachers and current problems facing schools. In doing so he raises question about the adequacy and appropriateness of the existing forms of organizational control in schools. Through case studies and interviews with teachers, the book captures the flavour of real conflicts in schools - particularly in times of falling rolls, change of leadership or amalgamations - when teachers' autonomy seems to be at stake.

Latin America has tremendous diversity geographically, politically, and demographically. Some countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Chile, enjoy a time of peace and growing prosperity, while other countries such as Bolivia and Columbia are struggling with government and economic issues. This volume examines the history and present educational systems, both public and private, of approximately 15 countries in the Latin American region, along with a day in the life feature that shows what the school day is like from the students' point of view.