First words / Thomas A. Schwandt. Pt. I. Analysis and critique of contemporary audit cultures and performativity in educational research. Measures of usefulness: a diatribe / Marilyn Strathern -- How is educational research 'being framed'?: governmentality, the (ac)counting of, and expertise in, educational research / Jill Blackmore -- 'Clarity bordering on stupidity': where's the quality in systematic review? / Maggie Maclure -- Sex, science and educational research: the unholy trinity / Ian Stronach, Jo Frankham and Sheila Stark -- Internationalisation, globalisation, and quality audits: an empire of the mind? / Noel Gough. Pt. II. Engagement and transformations: reconstructing research and theory to meet the challenges and opportunities of the contemporary world. Theorising innovation and knowledge creation in pursuit of education justice / Leonie Rowan -- Narrations on domestic accountability / Jennifer C. Greene ... [et al.] -- From 'human capital' theory to 'capability theory' as a driver of curriculum reform: a reflection on the educational implications of the work of Amartya Sen in the light of John Dewey's account of educational values / John Elliott -- Rethinking doctoral writing as text work and identity work / Barbara Kamler and Pat Thomson -- Politics, knowledge, identity and community: methodologist as hitchhiker, skateboarder ... / John Schostak and Jill Schostak -- Last words: speculative knowledge / Bridget Somekh.