For far too many students, schools are "not" places of belonging. This is due, in part, to the cultural mismatch between schools and students that, despite even the best of intentions, too often leads to student harm and negative student outcomes. Gloria McDaniel-Hall and Nina F. Weisling provide insights for understanding…

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted almost all aspects of society including the United States School Systems. As we get further out from the onset of the pandemic and restrictions ease, we are beginning to see that there will be some lasting and irreversible implications in schools across the country. This research implies that teachers were…

Legacies of violence--and the exigencies of care that emerge in contexts of conflict--become visible in schools and yet often remain unacknowledged. These conflicts are often elided in educational policy making and research focused on developing best practices. I step back from research oriented toward problem solving to argue for a method…

Young people develop their value systems during their school years, offering the perfect window of opportunity for educators to challenge prejudice and promote race equality during these formative years. Yet, as teacher training is increasingly school-centred and school budgets are stretched more thinly than ever, most teachers do not feel they…

Increased attention has been given the safety of students and school staff members following highly publicized acts of violence within schools, including the mass shootings at Robb Elementary School in 2022, Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, and Columbine High School in 1999. In response to these tragic events, schools have implemented various…

Purpose: This study delves into the less-explored domain of teachers' readiness for leadership roles by investigating the direct and indirect relationships between positive school culture and teachers' readiness for leadership roles through affective-identity motivation to lead, and teacher optimism. Design/methodology/approach: This study…

This doctoral dissertation investigates the differences in perceptions of school climate among in-school stakeholders. The study focuses on how the participant's role within the school and gender impact their perceptions of school climate. Surveys were administered to students and teachers in a high school setting, with quantitative analysis…

Since the repeal of Section 28 in 2003, research and policy reform has explored how to reduce homo/bi and transphobia to make schools more LGBTQ+ inclusive places. However, heteronormativity continues to manifest in increasingly subtle ways. This article argues that teachers must remain vigilant towards the 'Panopticon of Heteronormativity' which…

Classrooms should be inviting and safe places where students can strive to achieve worthwhile goals, even as they learn that the road to improvement is not always paved. This deceptively simple guiding principle is what Ron Nash has spent four decades in education pursuing and refining. "In Praise of Foibles: The Impact of Mistakes, Failure,…

This dissertation explores the role that shame plays in schools in the United States, both historically and today. Through utilizing the Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN) arts-based inquiry method, I consider my own encounters with shame both as a student and teacher, and position these stories as a jumping-off point to further investigate the…

While the Chinese government is in full force to narrow the gap between its rural and urban areas in all facets of development, it has been suggested that there are disparities in teacher quality in the two dichotomous territories, especially in terms of promoting children's cognitive trajectory. To unpack specifically the differences of the two…

Thailand's general education policy has been intended to provide students with the necessary basic knowledge for their subsequent major studies, as well as to serve other important functions in daily life practices. The university has several reasons for requiring the general education program as part of degree completion. In this paper, I will…

Tracking is the practice of grouping students into homogeneous classes based on their perceived ability or intelligence. It is a pervasive system used by school districts across the United States and, like most widely used practices, it has its proponents and opponents. Through a qualitative case study approach, this study aims to explore…

This interpretivist study investigated the perspectives of Year 10 students who struggled with writing and who attended schools in areas with a low socio-educational index on learning environments for the English learning area. Specifically, students were asked what they believed a positive learning environment in the English classroom to be, how…

This article explores how Black teachers have used liberatory literacy practices through a lens of care when working with Black students. The prioritization of care is particularly important for Black students as they often experience a lack of care within schools due to labeling, stereotyping, and a lack of racially and culturally diverse…