Critical pedagogy emphasizes the inseparability of politics and education (Freire, 2012; hooks, 1994). However, many strands of critical pedagogy are focused on ideological critique of elements of Modernity such as racism, sexism, colonialism, extractivism, and domination which are treated as unintended errors or ancillary conditions. That is,…

"After the end of the world" is a speculative concept used to imagine what life could be after the world "ends" envisioning a new world that does not currently exist. Taking up Gumbs' metaphor, this essay explores what education could be "after the end of school," imaging a world beyond education as we know it to be.…

In her influential work "Metafiction: The Theory and Practice of Self-Conscious Fiction," Waugh (1984) loosely categorizes literary metafiction on a sliding scale of four metafictional Acts. Through repeated readings of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (Carroll & Tenniel, 1866) and study of all of "Wonderland"…

This article describes how one department journeys from introduction to incorporation of climate fiction and an ecocritical lens in a program for grades 9-12. It explains the department's endeavors, ensuing projects, future intentions for individual and collective climate work, and ways educators can join in the movement.

Drawing from the literature and the historical fiction-based feminist antimilitarist research I conducted in writing my debut novel, "A Sea of Spectres." This article discusses the what and why of fiction-based research. I detail how to: (a) move from inspiration to fiction-based research; (b) frame the research; (c) develop research…

The five young adult "Honor List" books of 2023 are all visual texts. These award-winning books offer tremendous stories in both pictures and words in the genres of realistic fiction, memoir, and historical nonfiction.

Fans often express their love of authors or books by creating and sharing "fanfiction," a genre wherein fans write new narratives that add to beloved works or take place in existing story worlds. In this article, we describe a kindergarten teacher's efforts to enhance students' foundational literacy skills by combining author studies…

This essay documents my expansions on a lesson developed in courses that juxtaposed performance and memory studies. Building on a recursive reading of Toni Morrison's literary conceptualisation of rememory, I describe the reiterative nature of memory using two digital performances -- a TikTok meme featuring 50 Cent's 'Candy Shop' and a Reddit…

Refugee students may come to schools with fragmented educational histories and other exile-related stressors, but many also settle fast, enjoy school and live rather ordinary childhoods. These more positive stories are not told because they get overridden by well-meaning but counterproductive stories of victimhood. This article presents a…

This article interlaces the story 'Comfort' by Alice Munro with Hannah Arendt's understanding of education as intergenerational passing on. Its principal aim is not to criticise Arendt or the fictional character of Lewis but to work with them towards a richer and more complex understanding of what can go wrong in education in general and teaching…

Recent biological research (Trewavas, 2003; Mancuso & Viola, 2013; Gagliano, 2018) has (re)demonstrated the variety and complexity of the adaptive behaviour of plants. In parallel with these findings, and in acknowledgement of the important role played by plants in the biosphere and climate of the planet, the representation of plants in…

In this article, we describe a year-long superhero storytelling project we facilitated with youth in a midwestern middle school. In this project, students read "Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spiderman," designed superhero stories set in their community, and presented artistic representations of their stories to their families and peers. We…

The Volkskundemuseum (Austrian Museum of Folklife and Folk Art) in Vienna considers itself to be a thoroughly democratic, polyphonic museum in which not only cooperation partners but also the interested public have their say. But what role does academically researched information play? In the project "Speaking of Objects" participants…

Superhero themes have been increasingly used in the teaching of a range of topics including business, humanities and science in recent years. Typically, characters from existing popular media are adopted for the teaching activities. On the other hand, customised characters that are developed from scratch allow the educator to have more control of…

An integrative tool that we have piloted in two LCs, the interdisciplinary index, is an integrative template that students use to make connections between disciplines. In the learning community, "Cli-Fi: Stories and Science of the Coming Climate Apocalypse," faculty developed the Climate-Change Stress Index (CCSI) that students used to…