Karl Maton - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Books by Karl Maton

Her research centres on enabling epistemological access in the sciences in a higher education con... more Her research centres on enabling epistemological access in the sciences in a higher education context, focusing specifically on curriculum structures, pedagogic practices and student learning. Recent journal publications include 'Congruence in knowledge and knower codes: The challenge of enabling learner autonomy in a science foundation course' (Alternation, 2019) and 'Legitimation of knowers for access in science' (Journal of Education, 2018).

Sociology (7th edition)

Van Krieken, R., Habibis, D., Smith, P., Maton, K., Martin, G., Churchill, B., West, B. and Hanso... more Van Krieken, R., Habibis, D., Smith, P., Maton, K., Martin, G., Churchill, B., West, B. and Hanson, E. (2021) Sociology: Themes and perspectives. Seventh Edition. Sydney, Pearson.

Academic discourse is the gateway not only to educational success but to worlds of imagination, d... more Academic discourse is the gateway not only to educational success but to worlds of imagination, discovery and accumulated wisdom. Understanding the nature of academic discourse and developing ways of helping everyone access, shape and change this knowledge is critical to supporting social justice. Yet education research often ignores the forms taken by knowledge and the language through which they are expressed. This volume comprises cutting-edge work that is bringing together sociological and linguistic approaches to access academic discourse. Systemic functional linguistics (SFL) is a long-established and widely known approach to understanding language. Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) is a younger and rapidly growing approach to exploring and shaping knowledge practices. Now evermore research and practice are using these approaches together. This volume presents new advances from this inter-disciplinary dialogue, focusing on state-ofthe-art work in SFL provoked by its productive dialogue with LCT. It showcases work by the leading lights of both approaches, including the foremost scholar of SFL and the creator of LCT. Chapters introduce key ideas from LCT, new conceptual developments in SFL, studies using both approaches, and guidelines for shaping curriculum and pedagogy to support access to academic discourse in classrooms. The book is essential reading for all appliable and educational linguists, as well as scholars and practitioners of education and sociology.

NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK, Oct 29, 2015

This tour-de-force will set the agenda for the future of the sociology of education. Maton's writ... more This tour-de-force will set the agenda for the future of the sociology of education. Maton's writing is always engaging and thought-provoking. .. a 'must-read'.

NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK! Maton, K. (2014) Knowledge and Knowers: Towards a realist sociolog... more NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK!

Maton, K. (2014) Knowledge and Knowers: Towards a realist sociology of education. London, Routledge.

‘This tour-de-force will set the agenda for the future of the sociology of education. Maton’s writing is always engaging and thought-provoking. The book offers nothing less than a new approach to the morphology of sociological knowledge itself - a "must-read".’ - Michael Grenfell, Professor of Education at Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland.

‘A truly majestic contribution that advances fundamentally the ideas of Basil Bernstein and Pierre Bourdieu. It is a formidable piece of work: imaginative, thought-provoking, intellectually out-reaching, and will surely constitute essential reading across the social sciences.’ - John Evans, Professor of Sociology of Education and Physical Education, University of Loughborough, UK.

‘For decades sociology has been the missing link in discourse analyses of social context. Maton’s inspirational volume consolidates a sociology of immense theoretical insight and undaunted analytical precision to make this blind-spot obsolete. Theory is every scholar’s best friend; social theory of this order is a very best friend indeed.’ - J.R. Martin, Professor of Linguistics, University of Sydney, Australia."""

Christie, F. & Maton, K. (2011) Disciplinarity: Systemic functional and sociological perspectives... more Christie, F. & Maton, K. (2011) Disciplinarity: Systemic functional and sociological perspectives. London, Continuum.

Maton, K. & Moore, R. (eds) (2010) Social Realism, Knowledge and the Sociology of Education: Coal... more Maton, K. & Moore, R. (eds) (2010) Social Realism, Knowledge and the Sociology of Education: Coalitions of the mind. London, Continuum.

Sociology: Themes and perspectives (5th edition)

Van Krieken, R., Smith, P. Habibis, B., Smith, P., Hutchins, B., Martin, G.. & Maton, K. (2013) S... more Van Krieken, R., Smith, P. Habibis, B., Smith, P., Hutchins, B., Martin, G.. & Maton, K. (2013) Sociology: Themes and perspectives. Fifth Edition. Sydney, Pearson.

Contains chapter on Education and Knowledge, with introductions to Basil Bernstein's code theory, Bourdieu's field theory, social realism and Legitimation Code Theory (Specialization and Semantics).

Sociology: Themes and perspectives (4th edition)

Van Krieken, R., Smith, P. Habibis, B., Smith, P., Hutchins, B., Martin, G.. & Maton, K. (2010) S... more Van Krieken, R., Smith, P. Habibis, B., Smith, P., Hutchins, B., Martin, G.. & Maton, K. (2010) Sociology: Themes and perspectives. Fourth Edition. Sydney, Pearson.

Papers by Karl Maton

Theory Informing and Arising from Learning Analytics, 2025

Education is offering evermore possibilities for generating learning analytics. However, to ensur... more Education is offering evermore possibilities for generating learning analytics. However, to ensure that patterns revealed by analysing large-scale data are meaningful for education and to determine their educational implications requires educational theories. This chapter draws on a framework already having significant impact in education: Legitimation Code Theory (LCT). Like other educational theories, LCT is limited by its reliance on time-intensive manual analysis. Unlike many other theories, LCT concepts have clear empirical referents, lending themselves to automation. In this chapter we describe a pilot study to automate theoretical coding, using a concept from LCT that explores changes in the complexity of knowledge being expressed in, for example, classroom discourse and student assessments. First, we introduce LCT and why its concepts lend themselves to automation. Second, we outline how, through manual analyses and machine learning, we iteratively trained and tested an algorithm to support research using a specific concept. Third, we discuss a prototype visualization of results offered by the resulting K. Maton (*

Blackie, M.A.L., Adendorff, H. and Mouton, M. (eds) Science Education: Exploring knowledge practices with Legitimation Code Theory,, 2023

Yu, Z., Maton, K. and Doran, Y. J. (2023) Building complexity in chemistry through images, in Bla... more Yu, Z., Maton, K. and Doran, Y. J. (2023) Building complexity in chemistry through images, in Blackie, M.A.L., Adendorff, H. and Mouton, M. (eds) Science Education: Exploring knowledge practices with Legitimation Code Theory, Routledge.

Educational Linguistic Studies, 2020

This paper introduces the concepts of "autonomy codes" from Legitimation Code Theory and illustra... more This paper introduces the concepts of "autonomy codes" from Legitimation Code Theory and illustrates their usefulness for exploring how diverse knowledge practices are brought together. It begins by highlighting three obstacles to understanding: knowledge-blindness obscures knowledge; using commonsense categories (such as names of disciplines) constructs knowledge practices as self-evident, unsituated and unchanging; and typologies create models that cannot embrace real-world data. The paper shows how "autonomy codes" overcome these obstacles. The complex and changing nature of relations among different forms of knowledge is captured by tracing shifts in autonomy codes along different "pathways", and the socially constructed nature of knowledge practices is built into a "translation device" for relating "autonomy codes" to specific empirical data. The potential of these concepts for empirical research is illustrated through detailed analyses of classroom practice in which mathematics is taught in school science lessons. These analyses suggest that "one-way trips" from one form of knowledge practice into another constrain knowledge-building while "autonomy tours" that engage with, repurpose and connect other knowledge practices support knowledge-building. Finally, the usefulness of these concepts for exploring a greater range of practices in education and beyond is discussed, suggesting the widespread implications of "autonomy tours".

Educational Linguistic Studies, 2020

Maton, K., LI Cuiying, ZHAO Wenchao and ZHANG Dongbing (2020) Seeing the world differently, Educa... more Maton, K., LI Cuiying, ZHAO Wenchao and ZHANG Dongbing (2020) Seeing the world differently, Educational Linguistic Studies, 2: 36–49.

Maton, K., Martin, J. R. and Doran, Y. J. (eds) Teaching Science: Knowledge, language, pedagogy, London: Routledge, 2021

Mathematics is a key aspect of science but how mathematics can be successfully integrated in scie... more Mathematics is a key aspect of science but how mathematics can be successfully integrated in science teaching remains a vexing issue. That students often struggle with mathematics in science lessons, even when they have little problem with those ideas in mathematics lessons, has been a long-running concern for educators. One reason this the issue remains unsolved is that existing approaches cannot systematically distinguish ‘mathematics’ knowledge from ‘science’ knowledge. This chapter introduces cutting-edge tools from the LCT dimension of Autonomy that enable knowledge practices to be distinguished without lapsing into either essentialist definitions that neglect how these bodies of knowledge differ between contexts or relativist claims that they are nothing but endless flux. The concepts are illustrated through detailed analyses of real-world classroom practices that show a key attribute of successful integration of mathematics in science teaching to be autonomy tours that shift between different contents and purposes in particular ways. The ideas outlined here are poised to have a major impact on both research and practice in education, far beyond science teaching.

Maton, K., Martin, J.R. and Doran, Y. J. (eds) Teaching Science: Knowledge, language, pedagogy, London: Routledge, 2021

Multimedia such as animations are increasingly common in science teaching. Existing research over... more Multimedia such as animations are increasingly common in science teaching. Existing research overwhelmingly focuses on developing principles for designing multimedia that support cognitive processing of information. This chapter meets an urgent need to foreground teaching and knowledge in order to develop pedagogic principles for teaching multimedia that support learning science. To do so, the chapter extends existing limited uses of the notion of ‘affordance’ to examine how the knowledge practices expressed by multimedia relate to those central to specific classroom tasks.These epistemic affordances are revealed through an innovative form of autonomy analysis that shows how the diverse elements of complex multimedia objects relate to the contents and purposes of specific classroom tasks. In-depth analyses of two contrasting examples of science teaching with animations show the pedagogic work required to integrate such multimedia and how LCT offers a way of getting to grips with these complex objects in real-world contexts.

Maton, K., Martin, J. R. and Doran, Y. J. (eds) Teaching Science: Knowledge, language, pedagogy, London: Routledge, 2021

A key aspect of science is how ideas are related to create explanations. Yet, reflecting their kn... more A key aspect of science is how ideas are related to create explanations. Yet, reflecting their knowledge-blindness, dominant approaches to researching science education neglect these relations. Maton and Doran introduce the method of constellation analysis from LCT as a way of revealing how ideas are brought together in different ways and the effects these differences have for teaching science. This innovative method is used to analyse explanations of the tides and seasons. In each case the logic of explanations presented in school textbooks is analysed and compared to how the explanation is taught in a classroom. These analyses show that explanations of seemingly similar kinds of phenomena differ in terms of how ideas are related together and that the logic of these relations impacts on how they are taught in classrooms. Constellation analysis offers a new analytic method with huge potential as a practical tool for researchers, curriculum designers, educators and students.

The Language Teacher, 2020

Martin, J. R., Maton, K. & Doran, Y. J. (eds) Accessing Academic Discourse: Systemic functional linguistics and Legitimation Code Theory, London, Routledge, 1–31, 2020

Martin, J. R., Maton, K. & Doran, Y. J. (eds) Accessing Academic Discourse: Systemic functional linguistics and Legitimation Code Theory, London, Routledge, 59–85, 2020