What is valued knowledge and where does it live?: Educational consciousness and the democratisation of education

Abstract

This chapter argues that education must be recognised as permeable if it is to be more democratically re-oriented in the 21st century. It introduces the theorisation of ‘Educational Consciousness’, a concept of the perceptions held by the public of a contextually bound body of knowledge and of teaching and learning. A public pedagogy project situated in Footscray, a post-industrial working-class suburb of inner urban Melbourne, Australia, facilitated and examined the responsive engagement between community, place and educational consciousness. It surfaced and reinforced Footscray’s vibrant, situated, specific knowledge and expertise. Of significance in the broader project of democratising ed..