Dr Matthew Thomas

Senior Lecturer (School of Education)

Biography

My research employs comparative and international perspectives to examine: (1) education policy; (2) teachers and teaching; and (3) higher and teacher education.

My teaching and supervision also supports these areas and I am the Programme Leader of a new MSc in International and Comparative Education.

Qualifications:

PhD, Comparative and International Development Education (University of Minnesota)

MA, International Educational Development (Teachers College, Columbia University)

BS, Music Education (Messiah College)

Research interests

See here for a complete listing of my publications.

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011

Number of items: 38.

2024

Thomas, M. A.M. and Lefebvre, E. E. (2024) Learning, teaching, and researching with Bourdieu: a collaborative reflection on Bourdieusian encounters. In: Stahl, G., Mu, G. M., Ayling, P. and Weininger, E. B. (eds.) The Bloomsbury Handbook of Bourdieu and Educational Research. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781350349162 (In Press)

2023

Thomas, M. A.M. , Serenje, J. and Mwaka Chipindi, F. (2023) (Re)considering and teaching sociologies in Zambian teacher education: seeking Mbuyi, Mulenga, and Munkombwe. British Journal of Sociology of Education, (Accepted for Publication)

Thomas, M. A. M. and Xu, R.-H. (2023) The emergence and policy (mis)alignment of Teach For Taiwan. Journal of Education Policy, 38(4), pp. 686-709. (doi: 10.1080/02680939.2022.2095036)

Chan, S. S. W., Thomas, M. A.M. and Mockler, N. (2023) Amplifying organisational discourses to the public: media narratives of Teach for Australia, 2008-2020. British Educational Research Journal, 49(2), pp. 231-247. (doi: 10.1002/berj.3840)

Thomas, M. A.M. and Boivin, K. N. (2023) Teaching and teacher education: an overview of sociological perspectives. In: Maxwell, C., Yemini, M. and Engel, L. (eds.) Sociological Foundations of Education. Series: Educational foundations (3). Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781350171022

2022

Horne, J. and Thomas, M. A.M. (Eds.) (2022) Australian Universities: A conversation about public good. Series: Public and Social Policy Series. Sydney University Press. ISBN 9781743328705

Lefebvre, E. E., Pradhan, S. and Thomas, M. A. M. (2022) The discursive utility of the global, local, and national: teach for all in Africa. Comparative Education Review, 66(4), pp. 620-642. (doi: 10.1086/721709)

Thomas, M. A. M. and Baxendale, H. (2022) Wendy Kopp. In: Geier, B. A. (ed.) The Palgrave Handbook of Educational Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan: Cham. ISBN 9783030810375 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-81037-5_208-1)

Lefebvre, E., Thomas, M. A.M. and Crawford-Garrett, K. (2022) The progressive neoliberalism of Teach For America. In: Sharma, A., Schmeichel, M. and Wurzburg, E. (eds.) Progressive Neoliberalism in Education: Critical Perspectives on Manifestations and Resistance. Series: Routledge studies in education, neoliberalism, and Marxism. Routledge: London, pp. 135-150. ISBN 9781032123059 (doi: 10.4324/9781003224013-12)

Thomas, M. A. M. (2022) Curricular conundrums: internationalising teaching and teacher education in Wisconsin. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, (doi: 10.1080/13540602.2022.2098270) (Early Online Publication)

Schweisfurth, M. , Thomas, M. A.M. and Smail, A. (2022) Revisiting comparative pedagogy: methodologies, themes, and research communities since 2000. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 52(4), pp. 560-580. (doi: 10.1080/03057925.2020.1797475)

Anderson, A. B., Thomas, M. A. M. and Brewer, T. J. (2022) Teach For America influence on non-TFA teachers in TFA-hiring schools. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 30, 98. (doi: 10.14507/epaa.30.6163)

Lefebvre, E. E. and Thomas, M. A.M. (2022) Alternative routes to teaching. In: Peters, M. A. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Teacher Education. Springer: Singapore, pp. 32-37. ISBN 9789811686788 (doi: 10.1007/978-981-16-8679-5_49)

2021

Thomas, M. A. M. and Vavrus, F. K. (2021) The Pluto problem: reflexivities of discomfort in teacher professional development. Critical Studies in Education, 62(4), pp. 486-501. (doi: 10.1080/17508487.2019.1587782)

Thomas, M. A.M. and Talbot, D. (2021) Exploring epistemologies: deepening pre-service teachers’ ways of knowing through international professional experience. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 49(2), pp. 163-176. (doi: 10.1080/1359866X.2019.1695100)

Jules, T. D., Shields, R. and Thomas, M. A.M. (Eds.) (2021) The Bloomsbury Handbook of Theory in Comparative and International Education. Bloomsbury Academic: London. ISBN 9781350078758

Thomas, M. A.M. and Schweisfurth, M. (2021) Constructivism and learner-centeredness in comparative and international education: where theories meet practice. In: Jules, T. D., Shields, R. and Thomas, M. A.M. (eds.) The Bloomsbury Handbook of Theory in Comparative and International Education. Bloomsbury Academic: London, pp. 299-312. ISBN 9781350078758 (doi: i10.5040/9781350078789.ch-017)

Thomas, M. A.M. , Rauschenberger, E. and Crawford-Garrett, K. (Eds.) (2021) Examining Teach For All: International Perspectives on a Growing Global Network. Series: Oxford studies in comparative education. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY. ISBN 9780367523879

Crawford-Garrett, K., Oldham, S. and Thomas, M. A. M. (2021) Maintaining meritocratic mythologies: Teach For America and Ako Mātātupu: Teach First New Zealand. Comparative Education, 57(3), pp. 360-376. (doi: 10.1080/03050068.2021.1885130)

Thomas, M. A.M. , Crawford-Garrett, K. and Rauschenberger, E. (2021) A growing global network: the development of international research on Teach For All. In: Thomas, M. A.M., Rauschenberger, E. and Crawford-Garrett, K. (eds.) Examining Teach For All: International Perspectives on a Growing Global Network. Series: Oxford studies in comparative education. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY, pp. 36-59. ISBN 9780367336486 (doi: 10.4324/9780429331695-3)

2019

Thomas, M. A. M. and Mosselson, J. (2019) Advancing the teaching of comparative and international education. In: Wiseman, A. W. (ed.) Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2018. Series: International Perspectives on Education and Society, 37. Emerald Publishing, pp. 89-95. ISBN 9781838674151 (doi: 10.1108/S1479-367920190000037010)

Lihwa, F., Johnstone, C. J., Thomas, M. A. M. and Krause, B. (2019) Remoteness as a gendered construct. Development in Practice, 29(4), pp. 501-513. (doi: 10.1080/09614524.2019.1577358)

2018

Thomas, M. A. M. and Lefebvre, E. E. (2018) The dangers of relentless pursuit: teaching, personal health, and the symbolic/real violence of Teach For America. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 39(6), pp. 856-867. (doi: 10.1080/01596306.2017.1311298)

Thomas, M. A. M. (2018) “Good intentions can only get you so far”: critical reflections from Teach For America corps members placed in special education. Education and Urban Society, 50(5), pp. 435-460. (doi: 10.1177/0013124517713604)

Thomas, M. A. M. (2018) Research capacity and dissemination among academics in Tanzania: examining knowledge production and the perceived binary of ‘local’ and ‘international’ journals. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 48(2), pp. 281-298. (doi: 10.1080/03057925.2017.1318046)

Thomas, M. A.M. (2018) ‘Policy embodiment’: alternative certification and Teach For America teachers in traditional public schools. Teaching and Teacher Education, 70, pp. 186-195. (doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2017.11.011)

Thomas, M. and Yehle, A. (2018) A framework for enacting the metapedagogy method in teacher education: what, why, where, when, and how? In: Lopez, A. E. and Olan, E. L. (eds.) Transformative Pedagogies for Teacher Education: Moving Towards Critical Praxis in an Era of Change. Series: Transformative Pedagogies in Teacher Education. Information Age Publishing. ISBN 9781641131094

Thomas, M. A. M. and Mockler, N. (2018) Alternative routes to teacher professional identity: exploring the conflated sub-identities of Teach For America corps members. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 26(6), (doi: 10.14507/epaa.26.3015)

2017

Lefebvre, E. E. and Thomas, M. A. M. (2017) ‘Shit shows’ or ‘like-minded schools’: charter schools and the neoliberal logic of Teach For America. Journal of Education Policy, 32(3), pp. 357-371. (doi: 10.1080/02680939.2017.1280184)

Thomas, M. A. M. and Salema, V. (2017) Learning about teaching: a collaborative research exploration of learner-centered pedagogy in Tanzania. In: Smith, C. and Hudson, K. (eds.) Faculty Development in Developing Countries: Improving Teaching Quality in Higher Education. Series: Routledge research in international and comparative education. Routledge, pp. 64-85. ISBN 9781315732312

Shah, R., McCormick, A. and Thomas, M. A. M. (2017) Shifting tides: reflecting on regional aspects of our roles as comparative and international educators. International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives, 16(3), pp. 49-68.

Thomas, M. A. M. and McCormick, A. (2017) Exploring equity gaps in education: toward unity, not uniformity. International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives, 16(3), pp. 1-4.

2014

Thomas, M. A. M. , Thomas, C. M. and Lefebvre, E. E. (2014) Dissecting the teacher monolith: experiences of beginning basic school teachers in Zambia. International Journal of Educational Development, 38, pp. 37-46. (doi: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2014.05.006)

2013

Bartlett, L., Jose Bermeo, M., Boniface, T., Mogusu, E., Ngarina, D., Rugambwa, A., Salema, V., Thomas, M. A. M. , Vavrus, F. and Webb, T. (2013) International collaboration. In: Bartlett, L. and Vavrus, F. (eds.) Teaching in Tension: International Pedagogies, National Policies, and Teachers’ Practices in Tanzania. Series: Pittsburgh studies in comparative and international education. SensePublishers, pp. 169-193. ISBN 9789462092242 (doi: 10.1007/978-94-6209-224-2_10)

Rugambwa, A. and Thomas, M. A. M. (2013) Teachers' conceptualizations and practices of inclusion. In: Bartlett, L. and Vavrus, F. (eds.) Teaching in Tension: International Pedagogies, National Policies, and Teachers’ Practices in Tanzania. Series: Pittsburgh studies in comparative and international education. SensePublishers, pp. 115-131. ISBN 9789462092242 (doi: 10.1007/978-94-6209-224-2_7)

Thomas, M. A. M. and Rugambwa, A. (2013) Gendered aspects of classroom practice. In: Vavrus, F. and Bartlett, L. (eds.) Teaching in Tension: International Pedagogies, National Policies, and Teachers’ Practices in Tanzania. Series: Pittsburgh studies in comparative and international education. SensePublishers, pp. 133-148. ISBN 9789462092242 (doi: 10.1007/978-94-6209-224-2_8)

2012

Thomas, C. M. and Thomas, M. A. M. (2012) Zambian teachers’ perceptions of expert teaching: resourcefulness, punctuality, and sobriety. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 25(5), pp. 583-600. (doi: 10.1080/09518398.2011.605077)

2011

Thomas, M. A. M. and Rugambwa, A. (2011) Equity, power, and capabilities: constructions of gender in a Tanzanian secondary school. Feminist Formations, 23(3), pp. 153-175. (doi: 10.1353/ff.2011.0030)

This list was generated on Tue Sep 26 14:57:13 2023 BST.

Jump to: Articles | Book Sections | Edited Books

Number of items: 38.

Articles

Thomas, M. A. M. and Xu, R.-H. (2023) The emergence and policy (mis)alignment of Teach For Taiwan. Journal of Education Policy, 38(4), pp. 686-709. (doi: 10.1080/02680939.2022.2095036)

Lihwa, F., Johnstone, C. J., Thomas, M. A. M. and Krause, B. (2019) Remoteness as a gendered construct. Development in Practice, 29(4), pp. 501-513. (doi: 10.1080/09614524.2019.1577358)

Thomas, M. A. M. and McCormick, A. (2017) Exploring equity gaps in education: toward unity, not uniformity. International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives, 16(3), pp. 1-4.

Book Sections

Edited Books

Horne, J. and Thomas, M. A.M. (Eds.) (2022) Australian Universities: A conversation about public good. Series: Public and Social Policy Series. Sydney University Press. ISBN 9781743328705

Jules, T. D., Shields, R. and Thomas, M. A.M. (Eds.) (2021) The Bloomsbury Handbook of Theory in Comparative and International Education. Bloomsbury Academic: London. ISBN 9781350078758

This list was generated on Tue Sep 26 14:57:13 2023 BST.

Grants

“Surveying the uses of podcasts in higher education.” (Lead PI with A/Prof Will Brehm, Dr Fatih Aktas, & Kelsey Boivin). British Association of International and Comparative Education (BAICE), £4,993.

Supervision

I welcome supervision inquiries from potential students who share my research interests, including but not limited to:

Global education policies
Teachers and teaching
Teacher education
Higher education
Comparative and international education
Sociology of education

To date I have supervised 3 PhD completions as well as 4 Masters and 9 Honours students.

KARAKUS, HATICE
Policy and political discourses

Matthew A.M. Thomas

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