Aesthetics, Politics, and Educational Inquiry

The Author: Tom Barone is Professor of Education at Arizona State University, where he teaches courses in curriculum studies and research methods.

«This is an alchemy of moments that traces the emergence of Tom Barone as an artfully persuasive storyteller who has both the desire, and the courage, to produce socially committed literature. In a very accessible, engaging, trusting, and provocative series of essays, Barone provides a powerful critique of the educational process and offers a number of exciting challenges to qualitative researchers who wish to understand the multitude of worlds involved in schooling. For me, this book is inspirational. It has made a difference, and I am sure many others will feel the same way.» (Andrew C. Sparkes, Professor of Social Theory, Exeter University, England)
«Richard Rorty may have exhorted us to see the social sciences as continuous with literature - as interpreting others to us and enlarging our sense of community - but Tom Barone has produced many persuasive and eloquent examples of how we can (and should) act on this insight to improve educational understanding and practice. These essays amply demonstrate Barone's skills as both a socially committed storyteller and a subtle theorist of educational criticism. More importantly, he has the happy knack of generating erudite scholarly works that are simultaneously a pleasure to read.» (Noel Gough, Deakin University, Australia)
«A compelling, insightful, and powerfully engaging book. Tom Barone shares his personal intellectual journey, starting with Elliot Eisner, Norman Mailer, and literary non-fiction; through Dewey and his aesthetics of everyday life; to Rorty, Sartre, and Bakhtin. This book is a combination of forceful theoretical reflections and some of the most exquisite qualitative writing I have ever read. A must to qualitative researchers and those interested in educational ideas.» (Liora Bresler, Associate Professor, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)