Harry Daniels
Harry Daniels is Professor of Education: Culture and Pedagogy at the University of Bath, where he is the Convenor in Head of the ‘Learning as Culture and Social Practice’ Research Programme and also the Director of the Centre for Socio-cultural and Activity Theory Research (CSAT), dedicated to the development and application of socio-cultural and activity theory. He is Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Learning Research at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia and is also Research Professor at the Centre for Human Activity Theory at Kansai University, Osaka in Japan.
Harry’s research interests are wide ranging including Socio-cultural and activity theory, innovatory learning in the work place, special needs and social exclusion, social, emotional and behavioral difficulty and patient and carer information seeking. These interests have seen him undertake various research projects, his current project is entitled ‘Learning across Boundaries: Levering out the Findings of Research’. Other recent projects include work for Children’s Services at the Department for Education and Skill and time as Research Director and Principal Investigator on a team looking into Learning in and for Interagency Working. Harry has also worked on a similar project in Northern Ireland.
Coupled with his research, Harry is a prolific author, publishing a range of successful titles for Routledge. His latest book ‘Vygotsky and Research’ was published in 2008, while in 2009, he is writing, editing and contributing to a range of books including ‘Educational Theories, Cultures and Learning’, Knowledge, Values and Educational Policy’ and ‘Activity Theory in Practice’. He is also one of the authors of the book ‘Improving Inter-professional Collaborations’, published this month.
Over the years, Harry has written, edited or contributed to the following books from Routledge:
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Activity Theory in Practice
Promoting learning across boundaries and agencies
This ground-breaking book brings together cutting-edge researchers who study the transformation of practice through the enhancement and transformation of expertise. This is an important moment…
read moreAugust 2009 | Hardback: 978-0-415-47724-6 (Routledge)
Educational Theories, Cultures and Learning
A Critical Perspective
Educational Theories, Cultures and Learning focuses on how education is understood in different cultures, the theories and related assumptions we make about learners and students…
read moreMarch 2009 | Hardback: 978-0-415-49118-1 (Routledge)
more information about Educational Theories, Cultures and Learning
Knowledge, Values and Educational Policy
A Critical Perspective
Knowledge, Values and Educational Policy focuses on what schools are for and what should be taught in them, how learning is possible across boundaries, and…
read moreMarch 2009 | Hardback: 978-0-415-49119-8 (Routledge)
more information about Knowledge, Values and Educational Policy
Improving Inter-professional Collaborations
Multi-agency working for children's wellbeing
** Shortlisted for the NASEN Special Educational Needs Academic Book Award 2009 **
Inter-professional collaborations are invaluable relationships which can prevent the social exclusion of children…
read moreJanuary 2009 | Hardback: 978-0-415-46869-5 (Routledge)
more information about Improving Inter-professional Collaborations
Vygotsky and Research
This book provides readers with an overview of the implications for research of the theoretical work which acknowledges a debt to the writings of L.S.…
read more2008 | Hardback: 978-0-415-39592-2 (Routledge)
Knowledge, Power and Educational Reform
Applying the Sociology of Basil Bernstein
This book is made up of a selection of writings from an international team of scholars, highlighting the contribution made to the field of educational…
read more2006 | Hardback: 978-0-415-37914-4 (Routledge)
more information about Knowledge, Power and Educational Reform
Introduction to Vygotsky, Second Edition
2nd Edition
Lev Vygotsky provided the twentieth century with an enticing mix of intellectual traditions within an attempt to provide an account of the social formation of… read more2005 | Hardback: 978-0-415-32812-8 (Routledge)
more information about Introduction to Vygotsky, Second Edition
The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Psychology of Education
The editors of this essential Reader recognise the valuable and varied benefits of connecting the two fields of education and psychology, and have carefully selected… read more2003 | Hardback: 978-0-415-32768-8 (Routledge)
more information about The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Psychology of Education
Vygotsky and Pedagogy
The theories of Vygotsky are central to any serious discussion of children's learning processes. Vygotsky argues that children do not develop in isolation, rather learning… read more2001 | Hardback: 978-0-415-23766-6 (Routledge)
Special Education Reformed
Inclusion - Beyond Rhetoric?
Brings together in one volume the perspectives of teachers, practitioners, researchers and important external bodies such as the LEA, and national organisations like the RNIB.… read more1999 | Hardback: 978-0-7507-0893-7 (Routledge)
Harry’s latest book for Routledge - ‘Vygotsky and Research’ (2008) provides readers with an overview of the implications for research of the theoretical work which acknowledges a debt to the writings of L.S. Vygotsky. It introduces Vygotsky’s original thesis and discussions on his approach to research methods and this is followed by an exploration of the research practices which have arisen in fields developed on the basis of his original thesis. This includes: Socio-cultural studies with a focus on mediated action; Distributed Cognition, Situated Cognition and Activity Theory. His other work on Vygotsky includes ‘An Introduction to Vygotsky’ (2005), ‘Vygotsky and Pedagogy’ (2001) and ‘Charting the Agenda: Educational Activity after Vygotsky’ (1993).
Available this year, as part of the ‘Critical Perspective on Education’ series, Harry is editing two hardbacks ‘Knowledge, Values and Educational Policy’ and ‘Educational Theories, Cultures and Learning’. Knowledge, Values and Educational Policy focuses on what schools are for and what should be taught in them, how learning is possible across boundaries, and issues of diversity and equity. Within the volume, internationally renowned contributors address a number of fundamental questions designed to take the reader to the heart of current debates around curriculum, knowledge transfer, equity and social justice, and system reform. Educational Theories, Cultures and Learning focuses on how education is understood in different cultures, the theories and related assumptions we make about learners and students and how we think about them, and how we can understand the principle actors in education - learners and teachers. Read alongside its companion volume, readers will be encouraged to reflect on some of the key issues facing education and educationists today.
Also set to publish in 2009 is ‘Activity Theory in Practice’. This ground-breaking book aims to bring together cutting-edge researchers who study the transformation of practice through the enhancement and transformation of expertise. While essential reading for the growing international CHAT (Cultural Historical Activity Theory) research community, the book will also prove highly useful to all researchers and research students who are interested in conceptual and empirical issues in all aspects of ‘activity-based’ research.
Harry has also served on a number of editorial boards for various journals across the world. Professor Daniels is co-Editor of Emotional & Behavioural Difficulties - the official Journal of the Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties Association (SEBDA). He is also on the board for ACTIO - An International Journal of Human Activity Theory
