The work presented here is a large-scale evaluation of a theory-driven school reform project in New Zealand, which focuses on improving the educational achievement of Maori students in public secondary schools. The project's conceptual underpinnings are based on Kaupapa Maori research, culturally responsive teaching, student voice, and…

When this author began to plan an introductory diversity issues course for the psychology department, she read extensively about teaching for social justice and found that instructors were often up against tremendous odds to convince students that they had absorbed biases from their culture. She read stories of negative evaluations, altercations…

As classrooms become more diverse, not only in North America, but in most Western Countries, calls for more culturally relevant pedagogies that centre the lived experiences of diverse students have taken on greater importance and significance. This is in response to the need for increased engagement and educational success for all learners. I…

In this article, David Nurenberg relates his experiences as a suburban high school humanities teacher struggling to engage students with issues of social justice. His story reveals what happens when a teacher works against the resistance of his primarily white and privileged students to reading "literature of the oppressed" on the grounds that it…

Social justice is a complex theory and practice that includes the equitable redistribution of resources and the recognition of culture. This is a report about the Tubman Theater Project, a culturally relevant drama program in which African American middle and high school students confronted racism and classism, as well as their unexamined…

There is a call for research on how to effectively foster cultural competence and a social justice advocacy orientation among counselor trainees. A multidisciplinary review of the literature reveals a body of anecdotal and empirical evidence in support of the use of pedagogical strategies grounded in critical theory to this end. Critical pedagogy…

In 2007 the University of Northern British Columbia initiated a two-year elementary teacher education program at the Northwest Campus in Terrace, British Columbia. The program was designed to meet specific community needs in the North that arise from inequities in the cultural safety of Indigenous teachers and students. The authors share three…

Learning, as Aboriginal people have come to know it, is holistic, lifelong, purposeful, experiential, communal, spiritual, and learned within a language and a culture. What guides their learning (beyond family, community, and Elders) is spirit, their own learning spirits who travel with them and guide them along their earth walk, offering them…

"If we are really serious about equity in education, what will it take to achieve improvements?" This question became the focus of a project between the Canadian Education Association and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education to foster dialogue about equity and educational improvement. Although the two countries have…

Learn how to engage and advocate for undocumented children and youth with this new resource written by and for teachers. "Teachers as Allies" provides educators with the information and tools they need to involve immigrant students and their American-born siblings and peers in inclusive and transformative classroom experiences. The…

In this article we present two programs we have developed at Bryn Mawr College designed to effect socially just change on our campus and beyond. Both programs create forums for dialogue across differently positioned community members and ensure that students assume leadership roles in these efforts. In our discussion we describe the programs,…

In this paper Nancy Fraser's conceptual tools are drawn on to theorise issues of justice in a culturally diverse primary school in Australia where approximately 30% of the student population are immigrant/refugees. The paper examines justice issues of cultural recognition in relation to refugee student identity, behaviour and assessment. Drawing…

Despite the dramatic shift in demographics occurring within public schools, there is still a dismal amount of research connecting issues of diversity and race with the curricula guiding educational leadership preparation programs. In the field of leadership preparation, little information has been offered as to how professors facilitate social…

Policy makers are looking for quick fixes to the racial achievement gap, but for the real fix we need to delve beneath the test scores and deal with the social and cultural functions of schooling. How does a student come to respect his "different" neighbours in the face of fear and apprehension about their culture? And how does a social context of…

Last February, in search of expanded thinking, the author led a group of 20 early childhood professionals on a study tour to Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). The group included two Canadians and two Aussies, with everyone else from the United States. While they knew they had much to learn from the overall system of early childhood education in NZ, the…