Foucauldian critical studies are cornucopian in illustrating how policy as discourse normalizes and yields human beings into made subjects in modern societies. However, Foucault's own slide from the 'terminal stage of discourse' pays little attention to the linguistic elements, and thus weakens the theory's potency in explaining the reality.…

In this paper, we reflect on the ethico-political and epistemological implications of a critical trans pedagogy that takes as its focus the generative stance of "refusal." Our purpose is to identify and explain the significance of key axiomatic principles at the heart of our conception of such a pedagogical endeavour, which entails an…

In this article, we examine the immensely popular animated Disney film "Frozen 2" (2019) through its potential as decolonial queer pedagogy. Drawing on Indigenous educational studies, queer and feminist Indigenous theories, and research on affect and trauma, we ask how the film popularizes Sámi nature-based cosmologies, addresses and…

This essay offers a new interpretation of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's landmark work of critical social theory "Empire." It develops an account of the politics of exile by situating this political strategy in terms of Hardt and Negri's claim that it is no longer feasible to confront capitalist power head-on. It attends closely to…

The role of agency in language planning and policy (LPP) is a recent focus of scholarship. Interest in agency has seen new issues and contexts being given prominence in LPP research. In this introduction, we present an overview of theoretical definitions of agency and the ways it has emerged as a concept in LPP scholarship. We consider how…

This article presents an attempt to examine my own service-learning practices through the use of the conceptual tools of Michel Foucault, in particular his notions of governmentality and power. The article views the development of service-learning in South Africa and our current practices as operating within a regime of truth, and it considers…

Using positioning theory as a framework, this study examined two adult learners' participatory opportunities in small group interactions when they were learning English as a second language in an American university. The study finds that control over access to participatory opportunities mainly lies in how learners manage to position themselves…

This study assesses the extent to which public high schools become more or less socially mixed after families are allowed to choose schools outside their designated catchment areas in a mid-sized Canadian city. We draw on settler-colonial theory, critical human geography, and critical social theory while applying a critical mapping of school…

The first paper in this multifocal policy analysis (Young, 1999) is a traditional, quantitative policy study that tested a comprehensive framework that links teacher perceptions of leadership, autonomy, and accountability to principal, school, and teacher characteristics. The study examined the relationship between principals' instructional…

Purpose: This paper conceptualizes a just leadership learning ecology through an analysis of one nontraditional site of leadership preparation: the Highlander Research and Education Center (originally founded as the Highlander Folk School). Methodology: Drawing on cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) and institutional theory (IT), we examine…

Participation in collaborative learning environments has demonstrated significant learning advantages due to opportunities for group members to contribute to shared problem-solving processes, shared goals, and co-elaboration of knowledge. Furthermore, research has shown that higher levels of social perceptiveness are positively correlated with…

In response to the recent special call in "To Improve the Academy," we offer the following collaborative essay that describes how feminism is our characterizing perspective on educational development. The essay details various, interrelated facets of feminism that inform our work in the field: gender, intersectionality, power, privilege,…

The authors discuss how the concept of social location and tenets of intersectionality inform the understanding of power and privilege, our work with people with multiple privileged identities, and the preparation of social justice educators.

This article explores contemporary childhoods through a lens of epistemic privileges and injustices in order to consider the experiences of children whose family models may not reflect the heterosexual norm. More than 14 million children in the United States have one or more gay parents. As the legal definition of marriage in the United States now…

Education is increasingly becoming central to debates about how to promote peace in conflict-affected societies. Equitable access to quality learning, promotion of social justice through educational reforms and conflict-sensitive curricular and pedagogical approaches are viewed as peace supporting educational interventions. Drawing upon the…