Agency in Constrained Academic Contexts: Explorations of Space in Educational Anthropology examines how social agents construct autonomous spaces in the context of neoliberal education. The contributors to this edited collection consider the ways that educators, students, and families assert agency, claim space, and thereby reshape the constraints imposed by the durability of the academic institutions of which they are a part.

Exercising Agency is a book about decision making. In particular, it looks in detail at how a very important type of organizational decision gets made: whether or not to initiate a project. Making strategic decisions of this kind can never be a wholly rational and scientific process. And Exercising Agency lifts the lid on many of the important behavioural factors that inform project decisions: power and politics, personality, the ’rules’ of an organization. Mark Mullaly draws on his research to provide practical guidance for decision makers; project shapers, approving executives and those responsible for how initiation decisions are made. By explaining the influence, value and risks associated with the elements that inform the way we make strategic decisions he will help you identify how individuals and organizations can best support the process to ensure project initiation decisions are effective and most closely underpin the priorities of the organization. If you are involved in framing or making decisions about the future of your organization; the projects that you do or don’t decide to initiate, then read this book. It won’t make the decisions any easier but it will help you improve the quality of the decisions you make and over time, the effectiveness of your organizational decision making.

This collection brings together theory and ethnographic research from a range of national contexts to offer unique insights into the nature of agency in language policy and planning. Situated within a broader sociological framework, the book explores agentive processes at work in case studies from around the world, engaging in discussions of such key themes as language and identity, language ideologies, linguistic diversity in education, and language revitalization. Each chapter examines the ways in which decisions made at both the local and national level impact language use and in turn, the dynamic relationship between language use, policy, and practice in these contexts. Taken together, this volume advances our understanding of agency in language policy and planning and directions for future research, making this key reading for students and scholars in language and education, critical sociolinguistics, and applied linguistics.

Recent worldwide education policy has reinvented teachers as agents of change and professional developers of the school curriculum. Academic literature has analyzed changes in how teacher professionalism is conceived in policy and in practice but Teacher Agency provides a fresh perspective on this issue, drawing upon an ecological theory of agency. Using this model for understanding agency, Mark Priestley, Gert Biesta and Sarah Robinson explore empirical findings from the 'Teacher Agency and Curriculum Change' project, funded by the UK-based Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Drawing together this research with the authors' international experiences and perspectives, Teacher Agency addresses theoretical and practical issues of international significance. The authors illustrate how teacher agency should be understood not only in terms of individual capacity of teachers, but also in respect of the cultures and structures of schooling.

The third edition of this innovative administrative law casebook retains and enhances its unique features: Focus on five representative agencies to provide students with a more holistic understanding of agencies and provide context. Use of a consistent unit design that maximizes student learning and facilitates the use of the book with a wide variety of teaching styles, including traditional methods and the "flipped" classroom. Incorporation of cutting-edge cases and problems that focus on the practical application of administrative law doctrines. By focusing on five important and representative agencies (the EPA, NLRB, SSA, IRS, and FCC), the book addresses two key problems for teaching and learning administrative law: (1) students' lack of familiarity with agencies and what they do; and (2) the difficulty of understanding new and different agencies and their organic statutes for each new administrative law case. Extended treatment of these five agencies, including one chapter for each agency that focuses on its use of a particular kind of agency action (rulemaking, policymaking adjudication, mass adjudication, informal action, and enforcement) provides students with a more complete picture of what agencies do and how they do it. Because the principal cases and problems involve the same five agencies throughout the book, the need to learn about new agencies and understand new organic statutes is greatly reduced, enabling students and teachers to focus on the administrative law issues in the cases. The book uses a consistent "unit" format throughout. Each unit covers a particular topic and includes (1) a clear and comprehensive discussion of the basic doctrine governing the topic; (2) a principal case or cases to illustrate the application of the doctrine and highlight key issues; (3) a discussion of related matters to explore additional issues and connections between topics; and (4) a detailed administrative law problem requiring the application of the doctrine in context. This unique structure and design facilitates the use of the book with a variety of teaching methods, including the Socratic method, lecture and discussion, and the problem method. Because it combines clear exposition, illustrative principal cases, and comprehensive problems, the book is also an ideal tool for teachers who want to flip their classrooms. This unit structure also enhances the flexibility of the book, allowing teachers easily to select topics for coverage and determine the depth of coverage they wish to provide. The third edition has been thoroughly updated to provide cutting edge treatment of emerging administrative law issues and developments, including the reinvigoration of separation of powers, the erosion of Chevron deference, and constraints on agency guidance documents. The third edition also reflects changes designed to enhance the book's effectiveness as a teaching and learning tool, such as increased use of primary administrative law materials, improvements to problems, and new principal cases.

This book provides an invaluable resource for researchers who wish to improve education by bridging students, school, family, and community resources. Based in connecting experiences in and out of school, it suggests a strategy to put students' practices, cultures, and identities in the center of a twenty-first-century education.

"The 2012 report recognized that expanding women's agency - their ability to make decisions and take advantage of opportunities is key to improving their lives as well as the world. This report represents a major advance in global knowledge on this critical front. The vast data and thousands of surveys distilled in this report cast important light on the nature of constraints women and girls continue to face globally. This report identifies promising opportunities and entry points for lasting transformation, such as interventions that reach across sectors and include life-skills training, sexual and reproductive health education, conditional cash transfers, and mentoring. It finds that addressing what the World Health Organization has identified as an epidemic of violence against women means sharply scaling up engagement with men and boys. The report also underlines the vital role information and communication technologies can play in amplifying women's voices, expanding their economic and learning opportunities, and broadening their views and aspirations. The World Bank Group's twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity demand no less than the full and equal participation of women and men, girls and boys, around the world." -- Publisher's description.