This research paper explores the effects of promoting empowerment in the key stage three history curriculum. For this research the term 'empowerment' relates to engaging pupils, enlightening them to the world around them and encouraging them to use their voices. Through applying an empowering approach to the history curriculum we can teach pupils…

From the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor to the attack on Asian Americans in Georgia to the police shooting of Daunte Wright, the instances of traumatic events recently are too long to list, but the almost daily trauma is impacting our classrooms through the lived experiences of those who are a part of this living, dynamic system. Within…

This paper examines how neoliberal multiculturalism and racialized emotions function to inhibit racial justice in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. To do so, I trace how the proliferation of the discourse of anti-racism in education alongside the rise in popularity of anti-racist books, contributes to a racial project that embraces…

General and strategic management courses frequently provide external analysis tools through which students identify, classify, and assess how changes in the general external environment impact industries and firms. In this exercise, we facilitate analysis of the general environment through a popular song from the 1980s. Through analyzing an event…

The purpose of this article is to provide guidance for instructors who wish to develop a course associated with student participation in the College Fed Challenge (CFC), an academic competition designed to test students' knowledge of current economic events and monetary policy. We eschew a lecture-only methodology and use small-group and…

What role does literature for children and young adults have in the present environmental crisis and in the context of climate change? To answer this question, I propose to analyse Ted Hughes's narrative "The Iron Woman" (1993) which, despite being written almost thirty years ago as a sequel to "The Iron Man" (1968), reads as…

Instructors from K-16 incorporate current events and contemporary media in their courses in a variety of ways and with different educational objectives. Here, I present strategies for selecting and framing current events in high school and undergraduate biology courses and an example assignment, all explicitly tied to science practice skills and…

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…

Schools have a vital role to play in helping young people understand and engage with the pressing issues of our time. More effective and engaging climate education can help prepare them to play their part in combatting climate change. Practical science activities, such as those promoted in the CREST Awards hydrology resources described here, can…

On December 3, 2024, the U.S.-Mexico Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson Center's Mexico Institute hosted the fourth edition of the Convocation program, coined Convocation 4.0. This event brought together thirteen former American, Canadian, and Mexican ambassadors to the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, along with two current ambassadors and various…

This Research Brief provides an overview of the current scholarship on transnational feminist rhetorics (TFR), drawing from interdisciplinary traditions. TFR inquiries should always begin with "a cogent analysis of power" (Dingo et al.), attending to how transnational power dynamics act on gendered bodies and how those bodies engage with…

The hearings of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol have two fundamental and distinct tasks and responsibilities: first, to present a true account, based on conclusive evidence and logic; and second, to persuade the American public that this is indeed the only true and conclusive…

Public art is placed in relation to its surroundings, conveying messages that are open to interpretation and thus proposing conversations between art/aesthetics, geography, histories and the subjectivity of the viewer. As such, it can engender possibilities to 'politicize our relations with place'. Embracing the vision of a multidisciplinary…

Before Heritage Middle School began working with the Participate Learning team to connect lessons to real-world issues, the teachers and leadership had established a goal to encourage students to become more empathic about issues in their community. Although a handful of students and teachers who participated in the school's gardening club were…

Popular culture exists as an expression of cultural history. It speaks to who we are, what we aspire toward, and where our generation stands in relation to the major issues of the day. This article is a conversation about the myriad perspectives offered in this issue of "New Directions for Student Leadership," exploring the contributions…