Abstract
There has emerged, since the turn of the century or so, a cohesive body of work centred on theorising education as practice. These practice theories come from a range of theoretical and philosophical traditions, but collectively they draw attention to the sociality of practices, and the ontological nature of practice. A ‘practice turn’ also emphasises the ‘happingness’ of education and the need to consider teaching and learning as they unfold in particular sites within local conditions. In this chapter we provide an overview of practice theory in relation to education, and outline how these theories can provide a critical perspective of education across a range of settings and systems. We also provide an argument and illustration of how developing a communicative space is foundational to developing educational practices under diverse and contested practice arrangements .
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Notes
- 1.
Kemmis, Wilkinson, Edwards-Groves, Hardy, Grootenboer and Bristol in their 2014 book ‘Changing Practices, Changing Education’ describe the interconnected and multidimensional practices of education. They identify these education practices as being student learning, teaching, leading, professional learning and researching, pronouncing them as the ‘complex of education practices’ (p. 50).
- 2.
Here we use the plural “theories” to denote the multiplicity of theories of practice described as a practice theory, that although distinct and distinctively different from one another have a primacy of practice.
- 3.
We draw on Nicolini’s comprehensive and historical account of a range of practice theories; for more detail, see Nicolini (2012).
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Grootenboer, P., Edwards-Groves, C., Choy, S. (2017). Practice Theory and Education: Diversity and Contestation. In: Grootenboer, P., Edwards-Groves, C., Choy, S. (eds) Practice Theory Perspectives on Pedagogy and Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3130-4_1
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