Power, Politics, and the Playground

Presented as a series of case studies, this book offers the reader an insider's account of the power dynamics in Australian education and how the application of that power influences education policymaking. The authors, Adrian Piccoli and Don Carter, have been in the room when some of the biggest decisions in Australian education have been made. This book traverses various theories of power and authority to explore the selected experiences of the authors who come from opposing sides of the political spectrum (a former National Party minister for education and a former teacher, union member and left-leaning academic) to share a behind-the-scenes story of education in Australia not readily available to the public. The chapters capture their personal experiences in senior education leadership roles, where they made key decisions on diverse topics such as how to allocate multibillion-dollar education budgets, the split of school funding between education sectors, contentious curriculum decisions and other policy and political objectives. Drawing on organisational theory, international relations and education, a variety of resources such as hard and soft power, credibility, persuasion and notions of capital are used to make sense of their experiences in education. Through this, the authors explain who has the biggest influence over those decisions and why these complex power dynamics, when not used properly, can mean that the best interests of students are not always at the heart of the decision-making process. Written for teachers, school leaders and other education professionals, this book presents a rare insight into power and authority in the Australian education system.

Don Carter is an associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney and has worked in a range of positions including teaching English (government and nongovernment schools), head of department, ESL consultant, inspector of schools and teacher education academic. He has published widely on education issues including literacy, curriculum history and teacher workload. Adrian Piccoli was the New South Wales Minister for Education (2011-2017) and a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly for 19 years. As the former director of University of New South Wales's Gonski Institute for Education, Adrian led a team of researchers to address inequality in Australian education and improve access to high-quality education for school students. In 2017, Adrian was made a fellow of the Australian Council of Educational Leaders.

Introduction 1. Case study as a research methodology 2. Why getting schools right matters 3. Some observations on power and authority 4. The role of Parliament and politics in education 5. Schools, power and books 6. Being an education leader and acting like a dictator doesn't work 7. The power that comes with experience 8. Accumulating, keeping and renewing power 9. Having clear guiding principles generates its own power 10. The two faces of education