Drawing on a study in three Swedish lower secondary schools, this article examines how students engaged in the democratic processes involved in the formation of an action group intended to influence their school by making it more environmentally friendly. The aim is to acquire greater understanding of influential processes in relation to gender…

Well in advance of its official release, the education film "Waiting For Superman" has attracted a level of attention that could make it one of the year's most-watched documentaries--and one of the most controversial among educators, some of whom question its depictions of the American school system and how to improve it. Made by…

In this theoretical essay, my primary task is to develop a methodology for engaging the conceptual normativity, or common sense ideas, at work in the popular discursive practices of modern society. To do so, I will draw upon theories associated with continental philosophy, Deweyan pragmatism, and sociological theory that trace their lineages to…

This article is written in response to a recent report on a review of teacher education in Scotland undertaken by Graham Donaldson (2011). In particular it questions the recommendation that engaging teachers in professional enquiry and research-informed teaching is the way forward for developing the professional capabilities required of "21st…

"Occupy Education" is motivated by the sustainability crisis and energized by the drive for social justice that inspired the Occupy movement. Situated within the struggle for sustainability taking place amid looming resource shortages, climate change, economic instability, and ecological breakdown, the book is a timely contribution to community…

This paper discusses hand-gestures that serve as incipient and premonitory components of communicative actions and components of such actions. Gestures are examined with respect to the position in emerging turns and sequences of talk where they are made: before and at turn-beginning, in mid-turn, and during moments of turn-completion; and the…

This ethnographic study examines how one first grade teacher uses an alternative, artist-focused curriculum to develop a critical consciousness in her students to work toward social change. A framework incorporating critical multicultural education and Lewin's theory of small groups is applied to assess how the use of a multicultural curriculum…

As a follow-up to previous research, this report focuses on the wide range of gestures employed by an individual with aphasia to overcome instances of unintelligibility and re-establish intelligibility. The gestures observed are woven seamlessly into the fabric of the interactions and range from deictic to metaphorical or symbolic in nature.…

The Major in Writing Studies (with emphases in Professional Writing and in Journalism) at the University of Minnesota Duluth marks a curricular innovation. This profile traces the intellectual arguments that created space for a Department and Major in Writing Studies at UMD. Those arguments included a differentiation from the contested spaces of…

Archbishop Mar Ivanios (1882-1953) was a visionary and his educational vision has relevance for today. He emancipated the socially marginalized and disenfranchised people of his time through his educational vision and practice. This article is the story of a small community of Christians and their leader who made a difference in their society.…

In this article, I assert that the work of colleges and universities forms a social action system. I array the critical positions represented in this issue according to the four functional imperatives of social action systems: adaptation, goal attainment, integration, and pattern maintenance. I discuss the role of normative structures for these…

Over 21% of children in the United States today are poor, and the income gap between our nation's richest and poorest children has widened dramatically over time. This article considers children's self-regulation as a key mediating mechanism through which poverty has deleterious consequences for their later life outcomes. Evidence from field…

This article reveals how St. John's University implemented mission-focused programs to advance its unique Catholic perspective, that of the Vincentian tradition to serve the poor and remedy social inequities. Heeding the 1986 call of Pope John Paul II to Vincentian institutions, all levels of the university from incoming freshmen to the board of…

Background/Context: Over the past two decades, more than 200 studies have been published on the effects of community service learning on university students. However, the majority of these studies have focused on the effects of such programming on White and affluent college students, and few have considered whether there are differential effects…

Over the past few years, content developers searching for new markets have found a potentially lucrative consumer base in local and location-based services as new media platforms have begun to "expand" their focus to hyper-local place-based communities. This shift to "local 2.0" has given birth to "local listing sites," an emerging social medium…