Sara Baartman (Venus Hottentot) was an African teenager lured to Europe to perform for audiences in 1810; her genitals and brain were posthumously dissected, pickled and museumized. In 2016, 'Venus Hottentot: A Short Play' was staged at The University of MA, Amherst, and the audience participated in free writing at the end of the performance. The…

This study aims to show how digital youth leadership and activism on climate change has developed, what type of online discourse the movement has managed to channel in the fight against climate change and, above all, why the recently emerged #FridaysForFuture movement has succeeded, and not the classic adult environmental movement. The goals of…

Multiple literacy practices, such as writing, texting, blogging and journaling, are intertwined in a crisis. Although many studies have been conducted on literacy practices arising from crises such as a divorce, a disaster and social activism, most of them are focused on a single event. In this chapter, I propose a method for examining literacy…

This chapter, in presenting adapted extracts from a book length project, revisits Richard Hoggart's "The Uses of Literacy" (1957) and argues for a theoretical, sociomaterial reclaiming of "media" literacy, a now established strand of the new literacies, through a return to Hoggart's concerns and his connecting of literacy to…

Using post-structural theories, this paper explores the public discourses of several Canadian teacher unions and grassroots teacher activist groups around the issue of school reopening plans in Canada amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper aims to highlight the ways in which these two forces of teacher activism can influence and impress upon each…

This qualitative case study examines a unique sample of 13 Asian American adult and youth activists and community leaders in New York City who support school integration efforts to increase enrollment of Black and Latinx students at selective schools. In contrast to Asian Americans who support a model minority narrative--one dimension of Asian…

This article examines the literacy practices among youth of color in social media spaces dedicated to activism and civic engagement. Drawing on a 3-month multicase qualitative online study, the author analyzed interviews, social media artifacts, and case narratives to uncover how teens leverage social media for social justice advocacy, with…

In the wake of the triumphant university student movement that took place 17 years ago, in defense of Article 16 of the Greek Constitution -- a provision which stipulates that higher education should be accessible at no cost and should be provided exclusively by public institutions -- the right-wing conservative government of New Democracy has…

Background: In today's high-tech society, the relationship between social networks and the formation of political orientation and socio-political activity within the student environment has become a key subject of research. Objectives: The aim of this article is to investigate the correlations between the influence of various social media…

This study examines the ways pre-service English language arts teachers (PSTs) conceptualized activism and experimented with visual and multimodal approaches to composing about activism. Drawing on qualitative methods, we examined 22 PSTs' graphic narratives completed as part of their teacher preparation coursework, and center our discussion on…

Using virtual reality (VR), six journalism students were given training on how to cover a protest that turns violent. The goal was to investigate if VR could help increase awareness of and resilience to the physical and psychological dangers of journalistic work. Pre- and post-interviews were analyzed for themes associated with learning and…

This policy guidance offers recommendations that schools can adopt to safeguard their students and ensure their right to engage in peaceful protest, while maintaining a safe campus environment and upholding relevant laws. The guidance came in response to a growing wave of discriminatory and punitive actions against student protesters, particularly…

Rural school counselors can be social justice leaders in school-family-community partnerships. To best understand this role, the authors introduce a rural school-family-community partnership model that is strength-based and highlights the variety of supports and barriers related to the needs of rural students, families, and communities. The model…

This case explores the challenges faced by educational leaders at Maple Middle School, a rural school in a diverse community, involving a physical altercation between two students, subsequent student protests, and an investigation by Child Protective Services. Amid growing community unrest, a divided school board must address student discipline…

2022 marked the fiftieth anniversary of John Berger's BBC television series in which he talked about how we look at art and why it matters: "The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled ... The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe ... Every image embodies a way of seeing ... Our perception of…