The highly successful Education, Change and Society is now in its second edition and continues its purpose to help students situate educational activity in its broad social and policy contexts. In Australia the way that schools, school funding, school markets, universities and the responsibilities of government for education are organised have all been subject to radical reform in recent decades. It has never been more important for students of education to be able to understand the connections between the local and the global in explaining contemporary educational change. Every chapter not only describes and analyses what is going on, but each interprets the evidence in particular ways. Discussion of the issues raised in this book is encouraged, and students are given every opportunity to analyse and question. Questions raised in this book include: How do Aboriginal students experience Australian schools? Who writes policy documents and for what purpose in education? Why did state, private and corporate schools emerge as they did in Australia? How do social class and gender differences affect schooling and its outcomes? What constitutes the work of teachers, and can teachers 'make a difference'? How has the role of research become increasingly significant in education and to teachers in particular? Updated and revised to incorporate the latest education policies and discussions about national education reform and to increase its contemporary relevance. New author, Debra Hayes, applies her teaching background and research into teaching practices in chapter one, 'Young People and School'. Improved pedagogy throughout: Boxes throughout each chapter with an expanded range of case studies provide evocative illustration and grounded examples of matters that the chapters discuss more generally. End of chapter focus questions help students identify key points, and provoke thought and discussion beyond the text. Suggestions for further reading for discovering the wealth of research and writing that has been done on the social contexts of education and policy studies in Australia and beyond. Suggested websites to explore relevant education policy developments.