Two early childhood researchers from a local public university, have been visiting Mrs. Ball's kindergarten classroom in a small, rural elementary school in the Midwest to read books and discuss characters' identities. In this article, the authors share stories of how they laid the foundation for these conversations and others like it through…

School principals, contending with competing characterizations of parents in education policy and society, may view parents in a number of ways. Two common understandings portray parents as authentic partners or, in contrast, simply supporters of the school's agenda. This paper explores these characterizations by considering the possible link…

This paper uses a mixed narrative and quantitative analysis to examine how a graduate class of predominantly politically and religiously conservative (self-identified), elementary teachers in the South made discursive sense of gender and sexually diverse (GSD) young adult and children's literature in the context of concurrent, relevant national…

This article draws on data from qualitative research that was conducted with children between 6 and 13?years of age as a part of an 18-month project that explored respectfully engaging with cultural diversity in Australian primary schools. We used persona dolls as a research tool to enable children to explore and articulate their knowledge of…

For decades scholars have agreed that the United States is becoming a more racially and ethnically diverse society. It is projected that the U.S. will become a majority-minority nation for the first time in 2043. By 2060, people of color will consist of 57% of the total population. Given this trend, it is hardly surprising that this social…

Even before withstanding one of the most devastating economic crises in American history, families living in poverty have battled a dominant discourse that labels them as lacking personal responsibility, initiative, and the ability to make "good" choices. This discourse is reflected in the parent-involvement mandates of the No Child Left…

Research concerning children is often presented with only a brief comment on the research methods adopted. This paper takes a "behind the scenes" view and I discuss my adoption of a non-hierarchical "least adult role" adapted from Mandell's work in 1991 to undertake qualitative research in the sensitive area of children's…

The aim of this work is to raise awareness of sexual minority issues with a special focus on the primary school domain in Greece. Greece is considered a conservative country where most people regard homosexuality as taboo and non-heterosexual people as an invisible group. Research data from interviewing primary Greek teachers showed that…

This study examined dimensions of psychological disengagement as predictors of achievement and teacher-rated behavioral engagement over the course of a school year among a sample of 111 African American and Latino children in 1st-5th grades at an urban elementary school. In addition, classroom and school contextual factors were investigated as…

This article examines the complex social production of white racial identity. Specifically, the author theorizes white people's fear of people of color and make a case for conceiving of white racial identities as profoundly ambivalent. Drawing from a larger ethnographic interview study conducted in a small, rural, white community in the Midwest of…

For several years now a number of countries have been attempting to increase their numbers of male primary teachers, yet have met with little success. Feminists/pro-feminists have challenged the intentions of these male teacher recruitment drives but failed to offer any interventions that might contribute to a broadening of the primary teacher…

Illuminating and understanding the emotional abuse inflicted on many students of color is a necessity in creating conditions for their school success. However, this topic is rarely discussed among educators and those preparing educators. However, from the author's recent experiences conducting research in racially diverse schools as well as her…

This paper considers the construction and experience of racisms among a sample of primary school children in Ireland during a period of intensive immigration. Placing children's voices at the centre of the analysis, it explores how children's constructions draw upon discourses of "norm" and "other" in relation to national…