Hope, Wisdom and Courage

This book comprises a series of engaging and provocative essays directed towards an optimistic consideration of hope, informed by practices that can be nurtured in school education and other sites of learning and are associated with courage and wisdom. Written from a range of perspectives and experiences each essay brings to the reader a positive orientation; one that is too often lacking in today’s global era in which much attention is paid to simplified solutions, often unfit for purpose, and which engender a spirit of despondency and demoralization.

Attention has been directed to the essay form as a departure from the academic chapter or journal article, with an expectation that the book will be of value beyond the walls of academia. The genre seeks to stimulate the reader’s and scholar’s imagination and to create new mental models that can stimulate reflection and rumination. The essays are sensitive to the many global, economic, societal and environmental discourses so dominant in the public domain and so act as antidotes to the more pernicious influences that those discourses have on educational policy making and practice.

"In this volume, Groundwater-Smith brings together a diverse group of essayists willing to confront the future of education in what are globally, very difficult times. Taking their arguments seriously, Groundwater-Smith argues, demands both courage and hope on our behalf, but it also holds out the promise of greater wisdom. This is an important and challenging book; a must read for anyone concerned about the future of education in our troubling times."

—John Furlong, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of Oxford

"This volume is a provocative intellectual tonic whose intent is to reshape and reframe education practice in universities, schools and their communities. As Stephen Kemmis argues "education happens everywhere", it is ubiquitous. Groundwater-Smith has indeed engaged in a thorough experiment, the contributions of which provide validation for change and the evidence of successful practice to achieve it. It is not an easy book, but certainly a powerful one to reinstate hope and courage in the broader education project."

—Judyth Sachs, Professor Emeritus, Macquarie University