Barry Down

Biography

After 10 years teaching in schools  Barry Down joined Edith Cowan University, South West campus as a lecturer in social studies education in 1987.  He held a number of teaching and administrative roles as Head of School and Associate Dean  before taking up the position of inaugural City of Rockingham Chair in Education at Murdoch University between 2005- 2014. His research interests focus on the links between educational disadvantage,  student engagement in learning and school-community renewal. His recent books include: (with Smyth, J., Angus, L., & McInerney, P.) Critically Engaged Learning: Connecting to Young Lives (New York: Peter Lang); Activist and Socially Critical School and Community Renewal: Social Justice in Exploitative Times (Rotterdam: Sense Publishers); (with Smyth, J. & McInerney, P.) ‘Hanging in With Kids’ in Tough Times: Engagement in Contexts of Educational Disadvantage in the Relational School (New York: Peter Lang); (with Smyth, J. Eds.) Critical Voices in Teacher Education: Teaching for Social Justice in Conservative Times (Dordrecht: Springer); and (with Smyth, J., & McInerney, P.) The Socially Just School: Making Space for Youth to Speak (Dordrecht: Springer).

Research Interest

 Barry Down research interests include: student (dis)engagement educational policy ethnography vocationalisation youth and popular culture narrative inquiry critical pedagogy teachers’ work social science education social justice