When a music teacher is named Teacher of the Year for an entire state, one just know a special story awaits. The narrative of Heidi Welch, director of music at Hillsboro-Deering High School in New Hampshire, does not disappoint. Welch, who grew up in abject poverty and was often homeless, developed her love of music through memorizing and singing…

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of trauma-informed care, specifically the application of a "identity-safe environment" in order to promote identity development in adolescents. Of specific interest to the researcher were the theories of adolescent development and techniques that serve to improve adolescent learning…

In this selection, the author provides a re-representation of data that honors the voice of participants, allowing readers the opportunity to draw their own interpretations about what the participants' lived experiences mean. Developed from a study designed to explore the lived experiences of 18- to 25-year-olds transitioning from high school…

This paper reports from a case study of a "talent class", a special development programme for talented pupils, established in a Danish municipality. It analyses student backgrounds and motives for joining this talent class programme, which is seen in relation to ordinary schooling in Denmark. Drawing on Bourdieu, the paper links social…

Hoshen, the Hebrew acronym for "Education & Change", is a nonprofit, nationwide education and information center for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Israel. The main educational method Hoshen uses is the personal story told by volunteers. The present study aimed to examine whether this activity,…

In this article, the authors discuss how one public high school became a site for socio-politically relevant pedagogy for immigrant and refugee youth, building on the concept of culturally relevant pedagogy that has been discussed in educational scholarship (Howard, 2001, 2003; Ladson-Billings, 1994, 1995a, 1995b). By exploring newcomer youth's…

Having his mother serve as superintendent of the junior and senior high schools the author attended in Illinois affected how people treated him. He realizes today that people, at times, like to put blame on others when something else is really what's at fault. That makes the children of the school district's top decision maker an easy target. He…

"Sketches of Democracy" is a captivating book that chronicles the first year in the life of a new urban high school. Based on journal entries and educational literature, this book traces the author's challenging journey toward creating a democratic community of learners within a tangle of socio-economic and political issues. An experienced public…

The research aimed to understand the way in which high school principals' perceptions of social justice (SJ) are implemented in their daily educational work. A qualitative study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews to collect the narratives of two high school principals in Israel--one Arab-Muslim and one Jewish. The interview transcripts…

This study draws on in-depth interviews in which Jared, a queer trans man and high school arts teacher, grappled with what it means to him to be an activist to explore how his conceptualizations of queer activism have been supported and limited by LGBT-inclusive and queering discourses and to consider other discourses that might better represent…

Many California public school students lack exposure to any formal, academic curriculum that emphasizes environmental awareness and activism. This may result in a population of adults who believe they know more about the environment than they actually do, lack the skills to compete in an expanding green job market, lack creativity and the ability…

This qualitative study considered how a high school in the south central United States serving predominantly immigrant students from Mexico and Central America made use of older Hispanic or Latino staff members as surrogate or stand-in grandparents (fondly called "abuelitos" by the students). The caring, intergenerational relationships…

Expressive writing or values narratives are a promising addition to school social workers' toolkits of intervention strategies for distressed youth and prevention work to reduce mental health problems in schools. Narrative can promote resilience among students who have been exposed to adversity and promote healthy development among those who have…

Coming to understand how cultural differences influence interactions between educators and students and their parents is a complex and perhaps life-long discovery. Culture helps to define groups' belief systems and expectations for appropriate behavior, often at a hidden level. Pre-service teachers need multiple opportunities to interact with…

The gendered and racialized narrative of Black male adolescents in urban spaces is one often fraught with deficit-based assumptions and presuppositions about their abilities, competencies, and proclivities with regard to schooling in general and mathematics in particular. Yet despite these conventional beliefs, compounded by the dearth of Black…