Who is an American, what is the American experience, and what historical events are important enough to include in books for youth? These complex ideas are examined in a bolder, intellectually fresh manner in information books, biographies, and histories that have been published over the past several decades. Some examples of recent works are…

In the past two years, several Latin American nations have begun celebrating their bicentennials of independence, turning attention to questions of national identity and the legacy of independence in the twenty-first century. This reflection is sure to continue into the coming decade. This article offers a few practical suggestions for bringing…

This is an exploratory study of racism in a genre of children's literature that has been largely overlooked by research and teaching in multicultural children's literature: sports biographies and, in particular, the biographies of African American professional football players. By examining the race bias of this genre of children's literature, the…

This volume contains a collection of selected papers submitted to the 19th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) held in June 2021. The 19th BCES Conference theme is "New Challenges to Education: Lessons from around the World." The book includes 40 papers written by 66 authors from 15…

Urban school leaders, particularly superintendents are on the frontlines for raising student achievement at all levels. The work of urban superintendents is intensive given the challenges they encounter. Research has indicated that school leaders who possess and enact skills and knowledge that support change leadership. The question, then, is…

Undocumented Hispanic students in higher education have many challenges and barriers to overcome. This qualitative study investigated the emerging themes identified in the lived experiences of five undocumented Hispanic (UH) students who successfully completed their education in a two-year college in southeast Texas. This phenomenological…

In this interview Susan Jarratt reviews the trajectory of her scholarship and revisits some of the lessons learned from a variety of her projects while simultaneously drawing out historical and narrative continuities of seemingly disparate time periods and contexts. In doing so, she elucidates the value of scholarship as a political and…

This dissertation poses the question, "Who cares and who does not care for poor, black, brown, red and economically disadvantaged children in urban school settings?" The study takes a deeper look at some of the underlying human dynamics that inform teacher retention and student academic achievement as an education problem, specifically related to…

This lecture will revisit nineteenth and twentieth century education policy and politics in the light of the experiences and struggles of a (nowadays) virtually unknown educator activist. Beautiful, tireless, courageous and principled, socialist school teacher Mary Bridges Adams (1855-1939) gave up her life for the Cause. Encouraged by William…

This interview provides glimpses of Joseph J. Lagowski and his life from the time he played with a Gilbert chemistry set, to his tenure at The University of Texas at Austin. His initial interest in chemistry was further nurtured and developed thanks to an excellent high school teacher. In the interview, Lagowski discusses his research in…

This paper provides a reply to Woodman's (2009) recent argument that youth studies often incorrectly attribute the concept of "choice biographies" to the work of Ulrich Beck. Drawing heavily on Beck's own words, this paper contends that youth researchers might not be making this association unduly. Consideration is paid to some conceptual issues…

Critical scholarship frequently depicts literacy education as an "initiation into passivity." Disconnected from the lives of students and reduced to strategies for scoring points on tests, literacy becomes an exercise in the reproduction of a moral economy of discipline, compliance, and productivity. Yet people also recognize that the modern world…

The following study, conducted in Italy, based on an analysis of the school biographies of three women of Roma, Sinti and Ashkali origin, highlights paths and educational contexts that lead young Roma not only to school success but also to professional achievement. What emerges from the accounts of the family lives and school histories of these…

In this article, the author demonstrates how students can use biographies in developing their own personal strengths of character. Because biographies raise issues in context, they provide excellent material for thinking about character traits. Books like those discussed in this article show how people living in actual situations made decisions…

Stephen E. Braude is one of the few mainstream academics applying his intellectual training to questions that many would regard at best as impossible to answer, and at worst absolutely ridiculous: Do psychic phenomena exist? Are mediums and ghosts real? Can people move objects with their minds or predict the future? A professor of philosophy at…