This article describes the process taken by members of a seminar course on radical geography in a primarily quantitative geography department. This course was taught during tumultuous times necessitating the need to explore radical topics and abstract conceptualizations of space and place. We offer our experiences and lessons learned while…

This paper critically evaluates societal reactions to integrating LGBTQ+ content into the Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum in England and Wales. Utilising Stanley Cohen's theory of moral panics, it examines the roles of media, moral entrepreneurs, authorities, and the public in shaping debates around educational reforms. The paper…

Since the publication of the first edition of "Understanding Academic Freedom," the never-ending struggle to defend academic freedom has entered a demonstrably new phase. Legislation determining what can and cannot be taught in schools in Florida, Texas, and other states has intensified governing board activism that impinges on widely…

Public education reflects the ideas that various stakeholders hold about relationships between schooling and society and the forms of knowledge that are deemed most socially valuable (Kliebard, 2004; Spring, 2016). Public education can be used to support human flourishing and the cultivation of skills needed for civic participation in democratic…

Recognizing that the American right, and specifically the Christian right, has achieved disproportionate power over shaping the landscape of education policy and political culture, the following engages in a twofold analysis of schooling in the United States. We consider the structural transformations that are being enacted as a result of the…

This study explores possible reasons for cancel culture in higher education in the Arab world. Specifically, through Q methodology, it investigates the perceptions of twenty-one academics of different nationalities and from different backgrounds working in various universities in the Arab world as to the causes and their professional experiences…

Katie Milton Brkich et al., "The Rejection of the NGSS in Georgia: Social Covenants as Contextually Mitigating Factors," offers a compelling critical analysis that highlights how social-political influences, introduced as covenants, shape curricular decisions that may limit science literacy within the curricular landscape of science…

In this brief essay, I respond to four critics of my most recent book, "Teaching Honesty in a Populist Era: Emphasizing Truth in the Education of Citizens" (Oxford University Press, 2024). I attend to their concerns regarding who is included in the "we" of the fundamental civic question, "What should we do?" That…

Although popular discourse around environmental issues - including environmental education (EE) - is often dominated by the idea that politically progressive places are pro-environment and politically conservative places resist environmental protection, the reality is more complex. This research, which is grounded in interviews with 31…

Effective social studies education involves inquiry into and discussions of controversial social and political issues and difficult topics. In the current polarized political climate, exemplified by the emergence of divisive concepts legislation, the ability of social justice-oriented social studies teachers to provide highly effective instruction…

Although teachers make frequent decisions about whether and how to address difficult topics, they typically do so with minimal support. This article reports a case study of an inquiry community of 20 educators who engaged in practitioner inquiry as professional learning for addressing the difficult topics that they teach within their curricula or…

This paper is a reflective response to Tena Thau's suggestion -- in her 2024 piece 'Moral Philosophy as War Propaganda' -- that philosophy has little to teach about the war in Gaza (and, by extension, similar cases of widespread, horrific human suffering). I first reconstruct one of the arguments that Thau makes in her piece. I then show that her…

This qualitative interview study examines challenges college students may experience in extracurricular dialogues on contested sociopolitical issues. It also discusses approaches that students claim support them through the challenges of contested issues dialogues. This study found that college students encountered challenges including difficulty…

Polarization in the United States and controversy over the teaching of content some deem "divisive" has resulted in the enactment of restrictive legislation in many states. Such constraints contribute to a fraught environment in schools today and significantly impact the work of teaching. Utilizing frameworks of "ambitious…

This article utilizes narrative inquiry and a Black feminist lens to explore the political and social justice orientation of Black women educators and their commitment to students in urban schools. Three Black women teacher leaders explain their pedagogy and leadership during a period of heightened sociopolitical tension, including racial violence…