TThese are all books that have made me a better teacher and thinker over the years, and they range across the disciplines of educational philosophy, psychology and sociology, with some historical perspectives.

I've included hyperlinks where possible, and update this list from time to time.

20th Century Classics

Ball, S.J. & Goodson, I. (1985). Teachers' Lives and Careers. Lewes: Falmer Press.

Bernstein, B. (1986). Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity. London: Taylor & Francis.

Bruner, J. (1966). Toward a Theory of Instruction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Carr, W. & Kemmis, S. (1986). Becoming Critical: Education, Knowledge and Action Research. London: Falmer Press.

Delpit, L. (1988). The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other Peoples' Children. Harvard Education Review, 58(2), pp. 280-298.

Connell, R.W., Ashenden, D., Kessler, S. & Dowsett, G. (1982). Making the Difference: Schools, Families and Social Division. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education. New York: Free Press.

Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. London: Penguin.

Hargreaves, A. (1994). Changing Teachers, Changing Times: Teachers' Work and Culture in the Postmodern Age. New York: Teachers' College Press.

Illich, I. (1971). Deschooling Society. London: Calder & Boyars.

Lortie, D. (1975). Schoolteacher: A Sociological Study. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Montessori, M. (1917). The Advanced Montessori Method. New York: Frederick A. Stokes.

Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas. Brighton: Harvester Press.

Piaget, J. (1928). The Child's Conception of the World. London: Routledge and Keegan Paul.

Postman, N. & Weingartner, C. (1969). Teaching as a Subversive Activity. New York: Delacorte Press.

Shulman, L.S. (1986). Those Who Understand: Knowledge Growth in Teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), pp.4-14.

Stenhouse, L. (1983). Authority, Education and Emancipation. London: Heinemann Press.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processes (14th ed.). Vambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Contemporary Classics

Apple, M.W. (2013). Can Education Change Society? New York: Routledge.

Biesta, G. (2010). Good Education in an Age of Measurement: Ethics, Politics, Democracy. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.

Biesta, G. (2014). The Beautiful Risk of Education. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.

Campbell, C. & Proctor, H. (2014). A History of Australian Schooling. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.

Cochran-Smith, M. & Lytle, S. (2009). Inquiry as Stance: Practitioner Research for the Next Generation. New York: Teachers College Press.

Hayes, D., Mills, M., Christie, P. & Lingard, B. (2006). Teachers and Schooling Making a Difference: Productive Pedagogy, Assessment and Performance. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.

Kemmis, S. & Edwards-Groves, C. (2018). Understanding Education: History, Politics and Practice. Singapore: Springer Nature.

Moore, A. (2004). The Good Teacher: Dominant Discourses in Teaching and Teacher Education. London: Routledge.

Munns, G., Sawyer, W. & Cole, B. (Eds) (2013). Exemplary Teachers of Students in Poverty. London: Routledge.

Noddings, N. (2006). Critical Lessons: What Our Schools Should Teach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sachs, J. (2004). The Activist Teaching Profession. London: Open University Press.

Schiro, M. (2008). Curriculum Theory: Conflicting Visions and Enduring Concerns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Stobart, G. (2008). Testing Times: The Uses and Abuses of Assessment. London: Routledge.