Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic was a far-reaching disruptor in K-12 education beginning in the spring of 2020 when nearly all schools pivoted to remote instruction. Although the pandemic was officially declared over by the World Health Organization in May 2023, many questions remain about the long-term impact of the pandemic on K-12 education. The…

This article explores how trans school employees redeploy, trouble, challenge, and refuse prevalent discourses about transness and education. Drawing from interviews with 100 school workers in Canada and the United States, we employ Coleman's (2023) concept of 'narrative repair' to consider participants' responses to an interview question asking…

Background/Context: While trans adults in the U.S. and Canada report higher levels of discrimination and harassment than cisgender adults, but the existing literature lacks comprehensive descriptions of trans school workers' believes about what would improve working conditions, satisfaction, and safety. Purpose: We interrogate systemic forces…

People who are nonbinary--one of many kinds of trans identity that do not fit neatly within a man/woman binary--face particular challenges when seeking employment in P-12 schools, which have historically been places where rigid gender norms are strictly enforced. This paper draws on semistructured interviews conducted in 2018 to explore how 16…

This paper explores perceptions of work intensification around the world. Underpinning this analysis is C. Wright Mills' (1959) argument that many personal troubles are public issues, and the notion that a significant dimension of the privatisation of public education, a concern of public education advocates worldwide, is the ways in which school…

Little is known about the professional experiences of trans school workers. This brief describes the demographic characteristics of a non-random sample of 296 trans PK-12 school workers (i.e., teachers, administrators, staff) in the United States and Canada and reports their workplace experiences and the structural and social supports for trans…

The collection of papers presented in this issue of Critical Studies in Education adds to the expansive body of work on teachers and teaching. Collectively, the papers draw our attention to new ways the field is problematising the emerging and evolving conditions that shape the work, lives and identities of teachers. With this editorial…

Purpose: The purpose of this multiyear research study is to examine leadership in K-12 schools using a positive organizational perspective to understand how to foster, support and encourage flourishing in schools. In this article, the authors describe the lived experiences of a small group of principals and vice-principals in K-12 schools…

Neoliberal discourse dominated education policy for decades and fueled reform movements with lasting effects. Through a critical lens this qualitative case study explored policy direction, the influences that shaped multiple years of reform initiatives and the impact of these changes in one Canadian province. Data sources including policy…

This case examines a rural teaching principal in a small K-12 school in a prairie province. The case examines the work intensification of Mrs. Hayes, whose school has been affected by reductions in student enrolment, staffing, and administrative time. Overwhelmed by myriad responsibilities, the principal feels inadequate as both a teacher and a…

The study used qualitative case-study methodology and involved six participant superintendents in semi-structured interviews, two from each of western, Atlantic and northern Canada. The findings revealed work lives significantly impacted personal and family life. Regardless of location or size of school district, all described an all-consuming…

This paper reports on an interpretive study that examined the role of the teaching principal, particularly as it relates to principals' moral and legal requirement to work as instructional leaders for student learning. A teaching principal is defined as a principal who has a "double load" or dual roles in teaching and administration…

This book contains a compilation of papers presented at the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) 2023, organized by the World Institute for Advanced Research and Science (WIARS), held in International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) 2023, held in Lisbon, Portugal, from 22 to 24 of April…

In 2014, the provincial government of Manitoba announced new initiatives to encourage young women to explore a career in non-traditional trades. While new government funding programs and job opportunities are laudable, there will not be a significant increase of female enrolment in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields…

Over the past few decades Canada has experienced sweeping demographic, social, economic and technological changes. These changes have had, and continue to have, a major impact on the work-life balance of Canadians--that is, on their ability to balance work and personal demands. Some of these factors also impact the work-life balance of the…