This article discusses the importance of teachers validating a student's feelings and helping them find a voice to express those feelings. When teachers play that role, they are offering that student the chance to cultivate deeper social-emotional skills and close the gap between the intent of their words and actions and the resulting impact on…

Public schools are currently at the center of a set of multifaceted culture wars around questions about who decides the purpose of and sets the agenda for what should be taught in our nation's schools. Although culture wars are not new, today's conflicts are distinguished by their intensity and hostility directed toward marginalized and…

This paper puts in conversation Martin Heidegger's concept of "Stimmung" (mood or attunement) with Raymond Williams' notion of 'structures of feeling' to theorize 'mood work' in peace education. It is argued that the perspective of mood provides new insights in peace education that might be harder to grasp through the lens of affect or…

Cultivating inclusive classrooms, where all students are heard, affirmed, and validated, is an equity issue. As an instructional coach and a supervisor of coaches, the author has a moral obligation to work against the system that was designed to and continues to oppress some students and benefit others. This work often brings up difficult…

In this practice paper I examine the evaluation of one project and ask whether or not the evaluation failed. I suggest that because I was unaware of the larger connections between the grant agency and the grantee I made tactical errors in the presentation of findings, which resulted in not simply disagreement but anger and resentment. I conclude…

"The Kite Runner" is a representative novel by Afghan-American writer Khaled Hosseini. In this novel, Hassan's loyalty moved countless readers while Amir's betrayal shocked and even angered many readers. In the researcher's view, all behaviors of the protagonist, Amir, such as his betrayal, guilt and redemption, are closely related to…

The role of research administrator requires highly efficient and collaborative project management to develop competitive, compliant and properly targeted applications for sponsor support. When problems arise, stress and time pressures may lead to maladaptive forms of manipulation and micromanagement between research administrators and principal…

As a Mad person affiliated with Mad/psychiatric survivor/disability movements, participating in pedagogical partnerships over the past four years has been confusing and ethically fraught. Through engagement with the scholarship on Students as Partners (SaP) practice in higher education, the emerging discipline of Mad(ness) Studies, and my own…

We propose a new instructional theory, the Domain of Validity (DoV) Framework, which offers a new way forward for designing teaching for conceptual change, while also resolving conflicts between existing theories related to common, difficult-to-change conceptions students have about particular scientific topics. We propose that knowledge consists…

Research on educational activities generally focuses on the importance of positive emotions in the interaction between teachers and children. This article will focus on the challenging emotions that can arise when kindergarten staff interact with the children. The empirical material has been collected from a qualitative study of conflicts between…

The coronavirus is a pandemic, meaning that it affects the whole world, and as such it has made everyone into disaster responders. Pandemics typically last 12-18 months (Crimando, 2020a), so SARS CoV-1, and the disease that it causes, COVID-19, will probably continue to affect society in general and education in particular well into 2021. The…

Research in school discipline suggests that punitive and exclusionary sanctions have adverse effects on students and are disproportionately administered to students of color and low-income students. School-based restorative justice practices have recently gained attention as an alternative disciplinary approach that emphasizes the reparation of…

Youth in pain often show self-defeating and destructive patterns of behavior which should be seen as calls for help and positive support. Instead, deep-seated brain programs and cultural beliefs about discipline can trigger angry or avoidant behavior by adults who deal with these young people. This brief introduction to the Conflict Cycle…

Predominantly White Educational Institutions often fail to meet the needs of gifted African American students. Racial discrimination, lack of teacher cultural competence, and deficit ideologies create barriers impacting student academic success, emotional well-being, and sense of belonging. School counselors are in optimal positions to assist…

In this article, I describe a recent scandal involving collusion between officials at the American Psychological Association (APA) and the U.S. Department of Defense, which appears to have enabled the torture of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The scandal is a relevant, complex, and engaging case that teachers can use in a…