The thesis of this volume is that the fields of scholarly enquiry of Education — internationally as well as in South Africa in particular — despite being fields of virile scholarly activity and output, are in need of a major overhaul. In this collected work this want in research is encapsulated in three words: relevance, rigour and restructuring. Research in the scholarly field(s) of Education is predominantly of small scale, non-accumulative, widely condemned as not of a comparable standard to research done in other social sciences, much less upon a par with research in the natural sciences, and lacking structure in the sense of being anchored in a firm theory. To make matters worse, scholars in Education internationally and in South Africa have till very recently eschewed discussion as to the packaging or structuring of knowledge produced by Education research. The book consists of chapters containing original research unpacking these desiderata from a variety of angles. The authors had them served by a variety of methods, from deductively argued position papers, to empirical research, the latter both quantitative (survey research) and qualitative.

While much has been written about South African education, now, for the first time, gathered in one collection are glimpses of South African curriculum studies described by six distinctive points of view.

Maringe ought to be commended for putting together an invaluable contribution to our understanding of research into a complex education system in South Africa. This volume provides a useful foundation to the current state of education quality in South Africa including the impact of interventions. It also brings to the fore challenges still facing education transformation. The evidence presented which, taken together, lays out a coherent view of how improvements could be made. Albert Chanee Head of Planning, Gauteng Department of Education For too long the weight of educational scholarship produced in South Africa has been limited to that simple and standard form called the literature review. Now, for the first time, education researchers are provided with an African-based text on the concepts and methods of conducting systematic reviews. In this exceptional work of editorship, Felix Maringe brings together some of the leading researchers on South African education to model and demonstrate how to review a significant body of research on a chosen topic which is adjudicated strictly on the basis of the quality and efficacy of the evidence in hand. I have no doubt that this remarkable book will become a standard reference for educational researchers in and beyond the African continent. It will also lift the quality of educational inquiry by equipping a new generation of scholars with the capacity for doing evidence-based research that compels the attention of policymakers, planners and practitioners alike. Prof Jonathan Jansen Stellenbosch University

This book explores the evolution and current state of the scholarly field of comparative and international education over 200 years of development. Experts in the field explore comparative and international education in each of the major world regions.

Education studies: History, Sociology, Philosophy addresses the study of education and its foundations. It is the first textbook in South Africa that introduces education students to the scholarly fields of education. The approach is consistent with recommendations in the Policy for the Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education and covers the following modules within Education Studies courses: History of Education Comparative Education Sociology of Education Philosophy of Education Diversity and pedagogy Education Studies adopts a scaffolded learning approach to guide and support students while developing their conceptual framework. It contextualises knowledge for students, explaining the relevance of South African history, sociological issues, and philosophy to understanding current South African society and the school system. The book includes a variety of pedagogical features that make the text accessible to undergraduate students.

Drawing on the South African case, this book looks at shifts in higher education around the world in the last two decades. In South Africa, calls for transformation have been heard in the university since the last days of apartheid. Similar claims for quality higher education to be made available to all have been made across the African continent. In spite of this, inequalities remain and many would argue that these have been exacerbated during the Covid pandemic. Understanding Higher Education responds to these calls by arguing for a social account of teaching and learning by contesting dominant understandings of students as decontextualised learners premised on the idea that the university is a meritocracy. This book tackles the issue of teaching and learning by looking both within and beyond the classroom. It looks at how higher education policies emerged from the notion of the knowledge economy in the newly democratic South Africa, and how national qualification frameworks and other processes brought the country more closely into conversation with the global order. The effects of this on staffing and curriculum structures are considered alongside a proposition for alternative ways of understanding the role of higher education in society.

The book focuses on the ways in which gendered and sexualised systems of power are produced in educational settings that are framed by broader social and cultural processes, both of which shape and are shaped by children and young people as they interact with each other. All these nuanced features of gender and sexuality are vital if we are to understand inequalities and violence, and fundamental to our three-ply yarn approach in this book. Focusing on the South African context, but with international relevance, the authors adopt the metaphor of the three-ply yarn (Jordan-Young, 2010): these being the cross-cutting themes of gender, sexuality and violence. Subsequently, the book illustrates the intimate ties that bind gender and sexuality with the social and cultural dimensions of violence, as experienced in educational settings.