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This book is a critical commentary on eleven works published between 1999 and 2008. The central concerns that inform the body of work are the processes of human interaction in school and the effects and implications for teaching and learning. Two main strands are explored within these general overarching concerns: first, the personal, social and emotional aspects of education and second, teachers learning through engaging with and in research. The publications discussed are qualitative research studies, usually conducted in partnership with practitioners, critiques of policy and the development of tools to assist thinking. The main themes which are explored are: the affective aspects of education; relationships in education; the inclusion of vulnerable children in mainstream schooling; the conception of what it is to be a teacher; and teacher learning.

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Colleen McLaughlin is Professor of Education and Head of the Education Department at the University of Sussex, UK. Prior to that she was at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education; a psychotherapeutic counsellor; school teacher and an advisory teacher. She has researched and written about the human aspects of education for over forty years

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