Matthew Clarke is Professor of Education in the School of Education at York St John University, UK.Anne Phelan is Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, in the Faculty of Education at The University of British Columbia, Canada.

• 1. On the power of negative thinking in and for teacher education: An introduction 2. Policy’s excess: professional alienation and sublimation 3. After Effects: Knowledge and impotentiality 4. Assuming subjectivity: Desire, ethics and agency 5. Tragic pursuits: Embracing pluralism and legitimising dissent 6. Conclusion: ‘Between the road of yes and the road of no'

"In this impressive compelling book, Clarke and Phelan demonstrate the unlimited (im)potential of negative thinking in teacher education today. Negating conjured crises, false consensus, standardized curriculum, and teaching as policy protocols, this book - like the Warburg library - is organised by affinities, allowing for the re-education of teachers toward ethical self-formation and political agency. See for yourself." —William F. Pinar, Professor and Canada Research Chair, University of British Columbia, Vancouver"Too much recent writing by teacher educators about the state of their trade is irredeemably pessimistic and defeatist. While equally critical of the superficial 'positivity' of dominant reform discourses, this clever new book suggests that some forms of 'negative thinking', drawn from contemporary social theory, may actually help protect the progressive spaces that recent reforms are seeking to close down."—Geoff Whitty, Research Professor in Education, Bath Spa University

Matthew Clarke is Professor of Education in the School of Education at York St John University, UK.Anne Phelan is Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, in the Faculty of Education at The University of British Columbia, Canada.

• 1. On the power of negative thinking in and for teacher education: An introduction 2. Policy’s excess: professional alienation and sublimation 3. After Effects: Knowledge and impotentiality 4. Assuming subjectivity: Desire, ethics and agency 5. Tragic pursuits: Embracing pluralism and legitimising dissent 6. Conclusion: ‘Between the road of yes and the road of no'

"In this impressive compelling book, Clarke and Phelan demonstrate the unlimited (im)potential of negative thinking in teacher education today. Negating conjured crises, false consensus, standardized curriculum, and teaching as policy protocols, this book - like the Warburg library - is organised by affinities, allowing for the re-education of teachers toward ethical self-formation and political agency. See for yourself." —William F. Pinar, Professor and Canada Research Chair, University of British Columbia, Vancouver"Too much recent writing by teacher educators about the state of their trade is irredeemably pessimistic and defeatist. While equally critical of the superficial 'positivity' of dominant reform discourses, this clever new book suggests that some forms of 'negative thinking', drawn from contemporary social theory, may actually help protect the progressive spaces that recent reforms are seeking to close down."—Geoff Whitty, Research Professor in Education, Bath Spa University

Matthew Clarke is Professor of Education in the School of Education at York St John University, UK.Anne Phelan is Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, in the Faculty of Education at The University of British Columbia, Canada.

• 1. On the power of negative thinking in and for teacher education: An introduction 2. Policy’s excess: professional alienation and sublimation 3. After Effects: Knowledge and impotentiality 4. Assuming subjectivity: Desire, ethics and agency 5. Tragic pursuits: Embracing pluralism and legitimising dissent 6. Conclusion: ‘Between the road of yes and the road of no'

"In this impressive compelling book, Clarke and Phelan demonstrate the unlimited (im)potential of negative thinking in teacher education today. Negating conjured crises, false consensus, standardized curriculum, and teaching as policy protocols, this book - like the Warburg library - is organised by affinities, allowing for the re-education of teachers toward ethical self-formation and political agency. See for yourself." —William F. Pinar, Professor and Canada Research Chair, University of British Columbia, Vancouver"Too much recent writing by teacher educators about the state of their trade is irredeemably pessimistic and defeatist. While equally critical of the superficial 'positivity' of dominant reform discourses, this clever new book suggests that some forms of 'negative thinking', drawn from contemporary social theory, may actually help protect the progressive spaces that recent reforms are seeking to close down."—Geoff Whitty, Research Professor in Education, Bath Spa University