This paper begins by revisiting my earlier critical review of the international scholarship on Japanese schooling (Takayama, 2011). In this work, I critiqued three books on Japanese schooling, by Ryoko Tsuneyoshi (2001), Nancy Sato (2004), and Peter Cave (2007), along with other English-language scholarships on Japanese education. Drawing on a…

Based on critical content analyses of picturebooks about children who have sought refuge, we outline a scaffolded method for social studies teachers and teacher educators to historicize forced displacement in children's literature. The method integrates critical literacy, culturally sustaining pedagogies, and inquiry-based social studies…

In this article, I pose a series of questions for ethical consideration in socially engaged practices. I framed the practitioner-focused questions using what I termed, ethical questioning. "Ethical questioning" is the process of asking questions both in the process of "writing" and "doing" ethics in socially engaged…

The authors recount a collaborative art-making journey centered on self-reflexivity to sustain a partnership across racial, social, and cultural differences. The image of a chair, re-imagined as a Humble Chair, was a symbol to anchor critical inquiry. The authors' explorations provide a pragmatic and artful approach to fostering cultural humility.

This paper delves into the innovative use of the potluck, or "pa'ina," as a metaphor to reimagine a research approach aimed at fostering collective understanding between non-Indigenous knowledge seekers and Indigenous knowledge guardians in Indigenous contexts. By embracing the broader context of research, this metaphor strives to create…

The events of 2020 highlighted many longstanding truths about teaching and learning. One such truth is that culture matters for learning, especially for transfer of learning from abstract knowledge into practical application. Because this holds for adults' learning as well as students', it can and should have an impact on professional learning.…

This conceptual paper explored the fundamental barriers to successful equity training and professional development for teachers. This was done to show the need for a professional development series, based on Ting-Toomey and Chung's (2012) cultural value pattern analysis. Using the theoretical lens of post-colonial theory, the authors posit the…

Teaching English Learners with exceptional needs requires educators to tackle a complex and multidimensional task of (a) providing quality core or content area instruction, (b) supporting students' academic language and literacy development in English, and (c) addressing differences in learning. While educational research and practice search for…

The issue of representation has polarised public discourse and in recent years the decolonisation of research methodologies has entered the field of interculturality. However, universalistic discourses of dialogue and tolerance can be harnessed to silence certain voices by construing them as 'other'. With this paper I confront this conceptual knot…

Drawing from humanizing pedagogies (Bartolome, 1994; del Carmen Salazar; Freire & Ramos, 1993) and humanizing research (Paris & Winn, 2013), in this article I propose an approach to "humanizing assessment" that begins with the position that inclusive and equitable educational opportunities and assessment practices that meet the…

This article challenges the dominant notion of the 'high-performing education system' and offers an alternative interpretation from a Daoist perspective. The paper highlights two salient characteristics of such a system: its ability to outperform other education systems in international large-scale assessments; and its status as a positive or…

Literature in the field of minority parent participation has focused on cultural differences and cultural mismatch as reasons for the difficulties that minority parents face in schools and has relied on a framework of cultural sensitivity in exploring the issues. Soyoung Lee proposes that the real issue underlying the dynamics between minority…

Classroom management is sometimes dismissed as behaviorist or even oppressive. However, as scholars concerned with issues of equity, we cannot afford to avoid the complexity of authority relationships in urban schools. Doing so undermines our ability to effectively combat the influx of authoritarian disciplinary approaches into these schools and…

This article describes strategies that the author employed to make a general education course titled "Fairy Tales and Folklore" more diverse and inclusive. Students read primary texts and secondary articles as part of ongoing debates, then form their own arguments within the debate, thus coming to understand how fairy tales are embedded…

In elementary classrooms, teaching immigration often begins and ends at Ellis Island--without discussions of racist migration policies or engagement with current issues. Although contemporary immigration is rarely discussed with elementary students, the number of young people from immigrant and/or refugee backgrounds in the U.S. continues to rise.…