Grace Abbott's courageous struggles--to protect the rights of immigrants, to increase the role of women in government, and to improve the lives of all children--are filled with adventurous tales of the remarkable human ability to seek out suffering and to do something about it. "A Prairie Childhood" is an excerpt from the Grace Abbott biography…

In today's results-based classrooms, student engagement and fulfillment are too often left behind as teachers strive to meet external standards. This innovative book explores best practices and projects designed to meet the literacy learning needs of a diverse range of students. It is committed to connecting student knowledge, experience, and…

This paper describes the challenges and benefits of an action-research project with a Nashville-based nonprofit human service organization. In our view, outmoded human service organizations are in serious need of innovation to promote psychological and physical wellness, prevention of social problems, empowerment, and social justice. This project…

Since the mid 1990s "boys" as an equity concern have come to dominate the gender and education agenda in many countries. This has been particularly the case in Australia where substantial funding has been invested in research to investigate boys' issues, into a federal parliamentary inquiry into boys' education and into schools that have…

Paulo Freire and Lorenzo Milani are considered as key figures in a number of Southern European countries for providing signposts for a critical approach to education. In this paper I will view their ideas and biographical trajectories comparatively to glean some important insights for a critical pedagogy. The common theme throughout this…

In their call for proposals for this themed issue, the editors maintain that higher education institutions should graduate future P-12 teachers who think globally, have international experience, demonstrate foreign language competence, and are able to incorporate a global dimension into their teaching. In contrast, the authors argue that future…

The Multilingual/Multicultural Teacher Preparation Center (M/M Center), a teacher preparation program offered by the Bilingual/Multicultural Education Department (BMED) at California State University, Sacramento, is entering its third decade of operation. The M/M Center was established by a group of progressive teacher educators, most with a…

This study discusses my attempt to improve educational experiences of fifth-grade students living in public housing. The context of a social justice-oriented classroom is revealed through reconstruction of my thought processes while teaching and learning with students. The narrative portrayal that emerges demonstrates the impact our theorizing…

This paper shows how Koranic Law was enshrined in the Moroccan Family Code (the "Mudawwana") in its first draft between the years 1957 and 1958. The changes that were included in 1993 and especially in 2004 partially modify the philosophy of Islamic resources and give more freedom of action to women. At present, the "Mudawwana…

The author came to the United States when she was seven years old from Amman, Jordan. She entered public school and within two years had mastered the language and excelled in school, as did all her siblings. When she was in the third grade her teacher told her she was spelling and pronouncing her name wrong. Her name is "Laila" and that is how it…

The claim that the character education policy of a school board in Ontario, Canada supports citizenship education is examined. 181 documents were analyzed to determine the ways the policy supports and/or undermines citizenship education's goal to prepare students to become "knowledgeable individuals committed to active participation in a…

This study proposes an empirically based model with a strong theoretical foundation in higher education and social psychology to better understand how the college experience influences the development of attitudes of acceptance towards lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) persons. Our results demonstrated that students develop more accepting attitudes…

The direction quality assurance and its ancillary practices is taking in the transformation process in South Africa is discussed in this article. The article argues that it is incorrect to suggest that the higher education system has been captured by managerialism. While efficiency is an important driver of the system, the imperatives of redress…

This qualitative research, conducted in a teacher education course at an urban Jesuit university, examines the concerns voiced by preservice teachers when they are challenged to define and embrace a vision of "teaching for social justice" in a methods course utilizing instructional methods based on theories of critical pedagogy and Ignatian…

In addressing the issue of educational inequality and achievement gap, this research article demonstrates that critical implications could be gleaned from listening to the authentic voices of students by using a social justice lens. A social justice perspective in educational leadership is essential in evaluating the impact of race, ethnicity,…