The unit examines a range of issues that may influence the effectiveness of teachers and their work in Australian schools, including school climate; school systems and policies; curriculum reforms; how well schools respond to issues of equity, justice, diversity; and, the economic, social, cultural and technological changes that confront schools in society. In taking a broad view of diversity and challenges confronting teachers and schools the unit examines youth culture, ethnicity, social class and gender. Against backdrop of change, the unit also examines some traditional images of teaching and considers their appropriateness to contemporary forms and knowledge of work.   The unit also reviews how teachers, as key contributors to the social institution called ‘schooling,’ are intimately involved, not only in the instruction and care of young people, but in the politics of education – locally and globally.