Teachers' unions find themselves on the defensive in states across the country, as governors and lawmakers press forward with proposals to target job protections and benefits that elected officials contend the public can no longer afford academically or financially. Many of those efforts are being driven by newly elected Republicans, who have…

Research has shown for decades that early childhood education contributes to long term increases in student achievement for all children, but what is motivating the current movement toward universal Pre-k? This study used a content analysis of five major print media sources to explore how the media is framing the public pre-K movement.We looked…

Although the study of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) politics appears to be widely accepted within political science, a recent survey of political scientists reported some skepticism about its legitimacy and scholarly worth (Novkov and Barclay 2010). This article examines potential concerns about LGBT studies and draws attention to the…

This paper represents a reflective account of a recent Cambridge University graduate, who critically assesses her successes and struggles in establishing herself as a social science researcher in Western academia. Reflecting on her various (sometimes conflicting and sometimes, in a paradoxical way, complementary) identities, the author explains…

Separate studies of Chinese and Western individuals have suggested that there are cultural differences in perceptions of creativity, particularly in an emphasis on meritorious salience versus aesthetic salience as bases for creativity, but cross-cultural studies are needed to substantiate that difference. In this study, undergraduates from Giessen…

Since the adoption of the first charter school law in Minnesota in 1991, charter schools have received considerable attention from policy makers, parents, educators, and the media. In the United States, at the national level, three consecutive presidents--Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama--have actively supported charters. Given the…

"What is ?Curriculum Theory" articulates the problematic of difference, diversity, and multiplicity in contemporary curriculum thought. More specifically, this essay argues that the conceptualization of difference that dominates the contemporary curriculum landscape is inadequate to either the task of ontological experimentation or the creation of…

This article offers a perspective on the relationship between cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) and one particular strand of action research--Freirean participatory action research (PAR). It reflects on a research collaboration conducted two decades ago with a community organisation and seeks to "show" the interaction of CHAT…

This article provides a textual analysis of the Naivasha language provisions in Sudan in an attempt to explore how political discourse is manifested in each policy statement. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as an analytic and interpretive framework, the article argues that the Naivasha language provisions as political discourse are shaped…

Survey items with multiple response categories and multiple-choice test questions are ubiquitous in psychological and educational research. We illustrate the use of log-multiplicative association (LMA) models that are extensions of the well-known multinomial logistic regression model for multiple dependent outcome variables to reanalyze a set of…

The history of transcendence and nomadism in face of the call for "home-returning" is marked figuratively by four milestones: (1) the "era" of immanence and dwelling in total harmony as a manifestation of self-sustained holiness; (2) the "era" of relating to holiness by mediation of God, especially in the monotheistic religions; (3) the "era" of…

This essay introduces readers to the work of Jacques Ranciere and demonstrates how his thinking on art and politics can help alleviate certain impasses within contemporary aesthetic and political theory. Exploiting untranslated sources, I present Ranciere's recent work as responding to predispositions within the theory and practice of art that…

In the context of educational soundness, a case is made for distinguishing between two overlapping concepts: academic science and relevant science. In the context of political reality, a case is made for a science educator to hone strategies that co-opt, circumvent, or marginalize political adversaries before they do the same to you.

This article examines school leadership behaviors and understandings of Somaliland school principals. By using postcolonial theory and critical phenomenology, we explore culturally responsive leadership in Northern Somalia; we expound on the unique ways that school leaders enact school leadership, and interact with the students, families, and…

This institutional autoethnography (IAE) explores the political and pedagogical dynamics of WPA and WAC/WID work within an exceedingly small, resolutely single-sex, and assuredly rural liberal arts campus ecology. Working within a theoretical framework informed by WAC/WID's historical commitment to increasing literacy in students from diverse…