Systemic institutional racism in schools engenders different and difficult educational experiences for students of Color. Relatedly, there is an enduring divide between home and school that often influences school curricula, teachers' pedagogies, and students' educational progress. Considering this preclusion to learning, this case study gleans…

Teacher wellbeing has gained increasing attention in recent decades, intricately related to the problems of teacher retention, attrition and shortages. In some respects, the emerging debates have been fundamentally disconnected from the everyday lives of teachers, schools and school communities. Teacher wellbeing is repeatedly foregrounded as a…

This paper explores how school community collaboration is given meaning by municipally employed coordinators whose task is to organise collaboration between schools and other actors in urban areas in Sweden. Inspired by Carol Bacchi's theorisation of the constitutive aspect of discerning problems, it examines how coordinators give meaning to the…

Many district and school leaders have leveraged instructional leadership or social justice leadership to advance student achievement for minoritized students. While research has examined these approaches separately, we identify a potential gap at the nexus between instructional and social justice leadership. In particular, we find a need for…

In recent decades, school choice has become a characteristic feature of urban school systems and, like students, teachers must choose among schools with various characteristics. Such decisions become new sites for teachers to enact their professional identity. This study uses qualitative data to explore the identity negotiations of 26 teachers…

Drawing on ethnographic data of an urban school, this paper contrasts how two White female teachers take up the idea of 'teaching for social justice.' Fourth-grade teacher Maestra Rachel enacts a superficial understanding focused solely on curricular topics, while third-grade teacher Maestra Jennifer roots her teaching in an understanding of how…

School counselors serve students' academic, career, and social/emotional needs through a comprehensive school counseling program, and center their work on concepts of equity, advocacy, social justice, and systemic change, to remove barriers and increase opportunities for all PK-12 students. Charter schools are also unique public school settings as…

This research examines how a student voice experience--Social Justice Youth Summit--developed youth capacities as transformative school leaders. We engaged a youth development framework situated in school- and community-based youth leadership literature to analyze a diverse group of urban youth's experiences and sensemaking of the youth voice…

There are complexities in how care in schools is perceived by students and how achieving culturally relevant caring necessitates a deeper level of engagement. This case study delves into the perspectives of thirteen Black and Latiné students attending a justice-themed high school, focusing on their perceptions of caring orientations within the…

There is a growing emphasis on social justice pedagogy as a predominantly White teacher labor force infiltrates classrooms in urban schools. Using "critical race theory" (CRT)--and the construct of interest convergence--this study examines how White teachers working in an urban school apply and enact teaching for social justice during…

The role of the principal includes various obligations and responsibilities, including leading the school's special education (SPED) program. Many aspects inform how SPED students respond to the curriculum, including their learning needs, race, socioeconomic class, and other aspects that intersect and make their needs more complex. The researcher…

Discourses of social justice are becoming increasingly prevalent in educational spaces, with rising numbers of teachers and teacher education programs expressing their aims to teach towards social justice. Yet, recent scholarship has documented the contested meanings of social justice in contemporary educational contexts. This qualitative case…

Many district and school leaders have leveraged instructional leadership or social justice leadership to advance student achievement for minoritized students. While research has examined these approaches separately, we identify a potential gap at the nexus between instructional and social justice leadership. In particular, we need further research…

This study examines the culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy (CRTSE) of graduates from an undergraduate Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) program focused on social justice issues. We examined experiences that facilitated CRT and the areas alumni felt most efficacious. Graduates (n = 43) of a PETE program completed the CRTSE Scale…

As part of a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project to create culturally responsive curriculum that uses critical spatial thinking and geospatial technologies to address spatial justice in urban neighborhoods, students from a predominantly African American inner-city public high school in Toledo, Ohio participated in two summer workshops…