This article critiques the notion of individually-focused notions of leadership, instead offering an ecocritical conceptual framework that works to support education at all levels with the aim of recognizing the importance of how leaders in Western industrial culture think, act, and thus organize communities. This framework is applied to examine…

The purpose of this study was to better understand the process of engaging in critical literacy practices with kindergarteners. The researcher spent six months in a kindergarten classroom taking extensive field notes on the ways in which the teacher and students explored issues of social justice through literacy activities. Data analysis using a…

Research Findings: This qualitative case study examines Korean kindergartners' literary discussions about racial/cultural diversity during a whole-group read-aloud. Using multiple sources of data, including observations, open-ended interviews, and written materials and children's artifacts, this study found that (a) the children exhibited a biased…

Children's decisions regarding the allocation of societal resources in the context of preexisting inequalities were investigated. African American and European American children ages 5 to 6 years (n = 91) and 10 to 11 years (n = 94) judged the acceptability of a medical resource inequality on the basis of race, allocated medical supplies,…

There is a small body of work examining how picture books can be used with young children and their families to develop understandings of contemporary issues including diversity and practices towards inclusion. This article describes a study in one New Zealand kindergarten that explored teachers' interpretations of children's responses to a…

This article is set in the context of multicultural 21st-century Australia, whose diversity is marked by religious plurality as well as varied ethnic groupings. The article reports on a study of professional learning in three Australian faith-based schools (Christian, Jewish and Muslim) that investigated the role such schools might play in the…

This article details my racialized awakenings as a White kindergarten teacher after being called a racist by a parent of one of my students. I chronicle critical reflections of myself and my school in terms of latent institutional racism and actions. I share the actions that I have begun in my efforts to counter racism and move toward teaching for…

Grow Your Own (GYO) educator programs are a potential strategy for districts and universities to employ to help recruit and retain teachers of color. When designed within an asset-based framework, they emphasize equitable approaches and critical perspectives that combine the powerful roles of "homegrown" teachers, culturally-relevant…

In this article, the authors discuss and share a collection of books, for teachers and children to read together, that focus on themes of peace and social justice. This article is written as a kind of textual professional development session in which teachers and pre-service teachers might participate from their own place and context. The first…

Although teachers may agree that it is important to teach all learners equitably, it is challenging to practice social justice oriented pedagogy due to its multiplicity and complexity. This participatory action research attempted to examine student teaching practices that three teacher candidates approached to teach for social justice with young…

Compared with the former policies on early childhood education, the policies recently issued in mainland China clearly defined early childhood education as an integral part of education and social public welfare and stipulated the responsibilities of the government in its development, shifting the developmental orientation to promoting social…

This qualitative study explored the beliefs of teachers in the USA about the education of students with disabilities, focusing on their conceptualizations of inclusive education. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews with 30 teachers. The findings highlight multiple interpretations of inclusive education and suggest that teachers' support…

In this paper we report on a project integrating social justice pedagogy in a professional development program training mathematics coaches to work in grades kindergarten through eight. The goal of our research was to study the coaches' growth in understanding of and commitment to social justice pedagogy in the mathematics classroom after…

Inspired by the life of Marian Wright Edelman, a kindergarten class from Capitol Hill Day School conducted a demonstration for the needs and rights of children and marched across the brick paths of Lafayette Park in Washington, DC, directly across the street from the White House. Marian Wright Edelman was the subject of a school-wide Black History…

Much of the earlier research on women in leadership has told the stories of White women. Since there are very low numbers of superintendents of color both male and female nationwide, there have been very few stories reported of women leaders of color (Brunner & Grogan, 2007). This article describes the leadership issues involved when one Black…