School Autonomy Reform and Social Justice in Australian Public Education

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Amanda Keddie (Deakin University) Katrina MacDonald (Deakin University, Australia)

School Autonomy Reform and Social Justice in Australian Public Education

Amanda Keddie (Deakin University), Katrina MacDonald (Deakin University, Australia), Brad Gobby , Jill Blackmore

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Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Routledge
30 September 2025

Social issues & processes; Social work; Educational strategies & policy; Organisation & management of education; Medicine

Series: Local/Global Issues in Education

This book explores the social justice implications of school autonomy reform within the context of public education in Australia. It is situated within and framed by global concerns about how public schools are navigating their ‘autonomy’ within increasingly marketised education systems.

Drawing on extensive interviews with stakeholders and five in-depth case study schools, the book calls attention to the ways in which the intentions of school autonomy reform to offer schools more freedom to make their own decisions and manage their own responsibilities have become increasingly contained by the market imperatives of economic efficiency, competition and public accountability driving state and national education systems. We build on and enrich existing research in this area that highlights how market imperatives continue to exacerbate inequality within and between schools and their systems.

An essential read for researchers, policy makers, principals and teachers worldwide, the book provides insight into how education systems can better support public schools to mobilise their autonomy in socially just ways.

By: Amanda Keddie (Deakin University), Katrina MacDonald (Deakin University, Australia), Brad Gobby, Jill Blackmore, Jane Wilkinson (Monash University, Australia)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781032676630
ISBN 10: 1032676639
Series: Local/Global Issues in Education
Pages: 268
Publication Date: 30 September 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Amanda Keddie’s research examines the broad range of schooling processes and conditions that can impact on the pursuit of social justice in schools including student identities, teacher identities, pedagogy, curriculum, leadership, school structures, policy agendas and socio-political trends. Katrina MacDonald’s research is in social justice, educational leadership and the sociology of education through a practice lens. Her research has focused on principals’ social justice understandings and practices, and the impact of school reform policies on just public schooling and the principal and teacher workforce. Brad Gobby's research interests include education policy, governance and politics and their implication for schools, teachers and principals. His specific research focus is using Foucauldian and critical scholarship to investigate how policies and policy discourses transform the school education domain, including teachers and school leadership. Jill Blackmore’s feminist research interests include education policy and governance; international and intercultural education; educational restructuring, leadership and organisational change; spatial redesign and innovative pedagogies; teachers’ and academics’ work, health and wellbeing all with a focus on equity. Jane Wilkinson's research is in educational leadership for social justice, with a focus on refugee education, issues of gender and ethnicity; and theorising educational leadership as practice/praxis. She is a lead developer of the theory of practice architectures. Scott Eacott’s research is concerned with the organisation of education and advocacy for the pursuit of equitable excellence in school provision. He is widely published with research interests in educational administration. His current projects focus on housing affordability and the teacher workforce. Richard Niesche’s research is in educational leadership, the principalship and social justice in education. He focuses on critical perspectives in educational leadership to examine the work of school principals in disadvantaged schools and how they can work towards achieving more socially just outcomes.

Reviews for School Autonomy Reform and Social Justice in Australian Public Education

This book provides a comprehensive and nuanced account of the realities of leading Australian schools today under autonomy reforms. The social justice lens within this book provides an important and often overlooked perspective on issues of equity affecting students, communities, and educators. This book, while focused on Australia, is an important resource for educators and researchers worldwide who are interested in global issues of school autonomy, social justice, and equity in education. - Amanda McKay, Griffith University, Australia