"Change Matters," written by leading scholars committed to social justice in English education, provides researchers, university instructors, and preservice and inservice teachers with a framework that pivots social justice toward policy. The chapters in this volume detail rationales about generating social justice theory in what Freire calls "the…

Does the unequal participation of non-traditional students in higher education indicate social injustice, even if it can be traced back to individuals' choices? Drawing on luck egalitarian approaches,this article suggests that an answer to this question must take into account the effects of unequal brute luck on educational choices. I use a…

The "Dowa" (Human Rights) education program has become an effective method of changing concept and situations of "Burakumin," a group of people that has been discriminated against in Japan. One educational strategy was to speak out their personal stories, which has become a trigger to some sexual minority teachers to come out,…

Purpose: This purpose of this paper is to describe a collaborative project from the University of Waikato, Hamilton New Zealand, in which the authors used process drama to engage final year teaching students with complex issues of cultural diversity, enabling them to "grow into" different kinds of leadership positions in an imagined…

This paper analyses patterns of participation on a voluntary anonymous Web-based discussion forum, open to students and faculty in one UK university, concerning sexualities equality in schools. Analysis revealed that participants often rejected the security of anonymity and strategically embodied themselves and others (as gay, straight, parents,…

The paper addresses a number of issues concerning policy and curriculum in post-compulsory education and training (PCET). Firstly, it seeks to locate PCET within its socio-economic context as it is this that frames curricula within the learning and skills sector and serves to legitimate its particular form. Secondly, the paper addresses the manner…

Background Context: There has been much recent discussion on the role of spirituality in higher education, and much emphasis in the past 20 years on the importance of attending to diversity and equity concerns, though for the most part these discussions have been separate. This paper takes up the suggestion of scholars such as Barbara Wallace who…

Background/Context: Responding to the challenges of the demographic imperative and calls for greater program coherence, social justice teacher education programs aim to integrate social justice in the professional preparation of teachers. Such programs intend to improve the preparation of teachers to teach students from diverse backgrounds, and in…

Alexis de Tocqueville's concept of the "tyranny of the majority" can benefit social justice pedagogies owing to its capacity to illuminate the silent, invisible character of hegemonic power. As many critical pedagogues have pointed out, this silent and invisible power seeps not only into the public spaces of education, but also into the…

In the United Kingdom, a hegemonic view of the purpose of educational leadership is summarised by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) as "transform[ing] the quality of learning for all pupils." School leaders are assumed to be committed to this aim, leading to a view of schools, embedded in preparation programmes, as benign…

This article will attempt to sketch what are considered to be the necessary conditions for the advancement of democratic citizenship in society today. The pivotal role that education plays in this process will be examined and, for that purpose, particular reference will be made to two very influential educationalists, who have written extensively…

Emphasis on educational efficiency, or accountability, with all its claims towards institutional improvement, has left the question of educational equity unanswered. Contemporary policy, particularly in Western nations, focuses largely on raising aggregate test scores while the greater society sees a steady increase in economic inequality. It is…

This arts-based research invites the reader to consider the complex learning that emerged when a group of pre-service teachers collectively developed a play about anti-bullying as part of a teaching practicum. To capture the learning that emerged during the collective writing and rehearsing, the author engages in an artistic process by writing the…

This article focuses on how spirituality connects to cultural identity and how it relates to culturally responsive teaching in higher education. It focuses on the development of a culturally responsive epistemology that suggests research and teaching is both a spiritual and intellectual pursuit. For critical multicultural teaching to have…

SOPHE leaders continue to challenge us to be true to the call for an "open society." SOPHE has supported the Healthy People 2010 goal of eliminating health disparities through its Strategic Plan. SOPHE held an Inaugural Health Education Research Disparities Summit, Health Disparities and Social Inequities: Framing a Transdisciplinary Research…