The authors of this article report on a qualitative study of Australian community-based natural resource management groups known as Landcare groups. They discuss how four Landcare groups contributed to sustainability practices and how a policy change implemented in 2003 influenced the efforts of the groups to remain active in their activities.…

Freire advanced critical consciousness as a tool for the liberation of oppressed communities. Based on his ideas, scholars of theory and practice from myriad disciplines have written about how to advance critical consciousness (CC) among oppressed peoples. We reviewed CC theory and practice articles in scholarly journals with the goal of…

The National Social Work Voter Mobilization Campaign, also known as Voting is Social Work, involved social work faculty, field educators, practitioners, and students in a nonpartisan voter engagement drive. Following the 2018 elections, researchers surveyed Campaign participants in social work schools and agencies to document their voter…

This chapter explores the creative ways in which WE LEARN (Women Expanding Literacy Education Action Resource Network) empowers women's full participation in community across all literacy levels.

Grounded in critical policy theories and democratic conceptions of research, case studies of three community-based organizations, one in Canada and two in the U.S., were analyzed to determine if and how the groups engaged with research in their efforts to influence education policy. The findings demonstrate that the community-based organizations…

This essay provides an overview of the huelga schools established in Houston, Texas, in 1970. For 2 years, from 1970 to 1972, the Mexican American community opposed the Houston Independent School District's plan to integrate the schools by pairing so-called White Mexican Americans with African American students. While they protested this decision,…

Oklahoma implemented universal pre-K in 1998. It is one of only five states that has or is implementing universal preschool, and for several years has served more four-year-old children than any other state. The organization, Community Action Project (CAP) Tulsa, occupies a unique position in this work. As one of the largest anti-poverty agencies…

An ongoing, innovative youth worker professional development is described in this article. This initiative began as youth worker professional development and then transcended to personal and organizational development. It grew from a moral response of Saint Paul Parks and Recreation staff and two faculty members of Youth Studies, University of…

CADRE, an organization led by Maisie Chin, is a Human Right to Education Campaign. Between 2005 and 2013, CADRE played a lead role in using grassroots organizing and leadership development to create a seismic shift in public policy, debate, and narrative around school discipline, racial disparities, parents' roles, school climate, and closing the…

Research suggests that trust can be a foundational element for the success and sustainability of multi-organizational partnerships focused on advancing education equity in a particular neighborhood or region. As these place-based strategies gain popularity in the U.S., collaborators are increasingly required to navigate relationships where racial…

Programs in which youth work collectively on an environmental stewardship project may provide social learning opportunities that support social-ecological system resilience and the development of social ties. However, few empirical investigations document the social learning processes that actually occur in these programs. This paper presents a…

This article emphasises two major themes that address the influence of the Asian American Movement: (1) encouraging students to broaden the discourse on race and ethnic relations by redefining categories and challenging prevalent assumptions; (2) an increased tolerance and frequency in course offerings that examine and centralise the histories,…

Our century has unprecedented new challenges, which need creative solutions and deep thinking. Contemplative, deep thinking became an "endangered species" in our rushing world of Tweets, elevator pitches, and fast decisions. Here, we describe how important aspects of both creativity and deep thinking can be understood as network…

Studies of the human mirror neuron system demonstrate how mental mimicking of one's social environment affects learning. The mirror neuron system also has implications for intercultural encounters. This article explores the common ground between the mirror neuron system and theological principles from the Tower of Babel narrative and applies them…

The value of sport as a vehicle for social development and progressive social change has been much debated, yet what tends to get missed in this debate is the way education may foster, enable or impede the transformative action that underpins the social outcomes to which the "sport for development and peace" (SDP) sector aspires. This…