From Silent Witnesses to Active Agents

Typically viewed as 'silent witnesses' in schools in the worldwide infatuation with school reform, this book in fact reveals young people as being 'active agents' with something worthwhile to say about their schooling and what might be done to make learning more exciting and relevant to their lives and aspirations. The account foregrounds the stories of some 100 young informants (from low socioeconomic backgrounds) who had been repelled by school, but who found their way back in to learning through alternative education programs that offered them a sense of direction, hope and purpose, albeit with some tensions and dilemmas. At a time when educational policies are bearing down heavily on schools through national testing regimes, accountability standards, and other repressive measures, it is refreshing to hear from young people and 'significant others' in their lives about how schools can be made more humane and educationally rewarding places.