The unseen half : theories for educational practices

    Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperChapter

    Abstract

    Although diversity is apparent in all educational settings, it is often undervalued, positioned as deficit or difficult, and rendered invisible (Mills & Keddie, 2012). Thus, diversity within an educational community, or a particular aspect of diversity, may be metaphorically understood as constituting an ‘unseen half’. This metaphor is central to this chapter and in less explicit ways is a concept depicted throughout this book. It carries multiple meanings. It refers to the individuals or communities who are present in educational settings but are rendered invisible by the day-to-day practices of schooling. Thus, the unseen half reflects the diversity of children and families who are in many ways insufficiently catered for by educational, curricula, institutional and government policy, teacher pedagogies, and classroom, centre and playground practices. These individuals are marked by their ‘difference’ from the ‘mainstream’ and, as such, are often constructed as problematic. Ironically and contradictorily, despite being overlooked, their difference from the socially constructed norm renders them visible in particular ways, scrutinised and under surveillance. As they consciously or unconsciously challenge, contradict or resist society’s taken-for-granted truths about who and what one should be, how one should act and what one should think, they are positioned by others as problems requiring policing and regulation.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationUnderstanding Sociological Theory for Educational Practices
    EditorsTania Ferfolja, Criss Jones-Diaz, Jacqueline Ullman
    Place of PublicationPort Melbourne, Vic.
    PublisherCambridge University Press
    Pages1-20
    Number of pages20
    ISBN (Print)9781107477469
    Publication statusPublished - 2015

    Keywords

    • critical pedagogy
    • culture
    • feminism
    • feminist theory
    • poststructuralism
    • race discrimination

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'The unseen half : theories for educational practices'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this