bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Stealing an Education: On the Precariousness of Justice
Authors: Joldersma Clarence , Perhamus Lisa M. 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context This article examines a 2011 court case in which an Ohio state court convicted and jailed a poor, single, Black mother of two school-aged children for “stealing an education.” Using a false address, the mother, Kelley Williams-Bolar, enrolled her daughters in a public school district that was more privileged and amply resourced than their home district in order to provide her children a “better education.” The court's ruling and public opinion on this case (as illustrated through media) serve as the context of this article's analysis. Purpose Employing Judith Butler's concept of precarity, Jacques Derrida's theory of justice to come, and Hannah Arendt's and Walter Benjamin's ideas about state violence, the article offers a conceptual framework of the precariousness of justice to analyze the implications of this case. Through the precariousness of justice framework, the article examines the ways that racial and class societal inequities manifest themselves through the judge's juridical determination and journalistic expressions of public opinion. The purpose of this article is to explicate the intimate and structural connections between racism, classism, educational policy, and the U.S. court system. Research Design As a conceptual analysis, the article theoretically examines the Williams-Bolar court case as a demonstration of the ways in which the juridical apparatus of the state (the court system) and mainstream media (public opinion) divide people by race and class within inequitable societal structures. The article uses the theoretical framework of the precari-ousness of justice to examine the political implications of the court's ruling on educational policy regarding school districting. Conclusions Findings include that school district enrollment boundaries create borders around people by race and class, and that these educational enrollment borders can lead to people “border-hopping” in an effort to equalize educational access. The court system plays a role in reifying race- and class-based educational boundaries and borders. The concluding analysis situates this case within the context of both state violence and hope.
A Tale of Two Types of Schools: An Exploration of how School Working Conditions Influence Black Male Teacher Turnover
Authors: Bristol Travis J. 
Published: November 2021

Context Ongoing teacher diversity campaigns will not increase the net number of teachers of color if policymakers fail to address the disproportionate rate at which teachers of color leave the profession when compared to White teachers. Purpose The purpose of this article is to fill the empirical gap about the mechanisms that influence Black male teacher turnover. Specifically, this study explores the perceived school-based experiences of Black male teachers, with particular attention to comparing the experiences of Black men who are the only Black male teachers in their schools to those of Black men in schools with multiple Black male teachers. Research Questions 1. In what ways do the school-based experiences differ for Loners (Black male teachers in schools employing only one Black male teacher) versus Groupers (Black male teachers in schools with larger numbers of Black male teachers)? 2. How does a school's organizational context, such as relationships with colleagues and school administration, affect the decisions of Loners and Groupers to stay in their schools or in the teaching profession? Research Design This study employed a qualitative method, phenomenology. Two waves of semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with Black male teachers (N = 27) across 14 schools. Seven schools had three or more Black male teachers on the faculty (n = 20), and seven schools had one Black male teacher on the faculty (n = 7). Each semistructured interview lasted approximately 60 minutes. Findings/Results Groupers cited challenging working conditions (such as weak administrative leadership) as their primary reason for wanting to leave. The following academic year, almost half of these teachers (9 out of 20) did not return to their schools in the positions they had held the previous year. Counterintuitively, Loners, despite sometimes having hostile interactions with their White colleagues, stayed. While Simon and Johnson theorized that the absence of positive collegial relationships increases turnover, this phenomenon proved less true for Loners’ decisions to remain at their schools. Recommendations Given that Groupers were more likely to leave when compared to Loners, policymakers who are interested in increasing the number of Black male teachers must also give attention to retention. Future research should compare the school-based experiences and influences of turnover of Black male Loners and Groupers to other ethnoracial minorities, such as Latinx and Asian teachers. Practitioners, or specifically principals, may also want to become more attentive to interpersonal relationships in schools, particularly between Black male teachers and their White colleagues.
Core Practices and Philosophy of Education: Balancing Effectiveness with Goodness
Authors: Frank Jeff , Mcdonough Joe 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context This paper is part of the special issue “Reimagining Research and Practice at the Crossroads of Philosophy, Teaching, and Teacher Education.” In it we respond to the question of what role there might be for philosophy of education in an era marked by the demand that students graduating from teacher education programs be immediately effective, with “effectiveness” often narrowly, if not wholly, defined by the results of student standardized test scores. Research Design We address the question by offering an appreciative exploration of core practices approaches to teacher education. We argue (a) that philosophers of education have much to learn by engaging these approaches, and that (b) practitioners and advocates of core practices can deepen their work through a critical appreciation of philosophy of education. Conclusions/Recommendations Though philosophy appears marginalized by core practices approaches to teaching and teacher education, we suggest that as core practices gain traction, philosophers of education will find new opportunities to engage with teaching and teacher education. Though much mitigates against this type of work, most notably the pressures related to effectiveness and institutional habits that still often separate methods and foundations courses, we argue that such work is indispensable in rendering teaching, and teacher education, both effective and responsible.
Inquiring into Notions of Educational Improvement by Teaching Where We Think: Philosophical Meditations as a Practice of Teacher Education
Authors: Ghiso Maria Paula , Burdick-Shepherd Stephanie A. 
Published: November 2021

Background This paper is part of the special issue “Reimagining Research and Practice at the Crossroads of Philosophy, Teaching, and Teacher Education.” Early childhood initiatives have joined a nexus of educational reforms characterized by increased accountability and a focus on measurement as a marker of student and teacher learning, with early education being framed as an economic good necessary for competing in the global marketplace. Underlying the recent push for early childhood education is what we see as a “discourse of improvement”—depictions of school change that prioritize achievement as reflected in assessment scores, data collection on teacher effectiveness, and high-stakes evaluation. These characteristics, we argue, foster increasingly inequitable educational contexts and obscure the particularities of what it means to be a child in the world. Purpose We use the practice of philosophical meditation, as articulated in Pierre Hadot's examination of philosophy as a way of life, to inquire into the logics of educational improvement as instantiated in particular contexts, and for cultivating cross-disciplinary partnerships committed to fostering children's flourishing. We link this meditational focus with feminist and de-colonial theoretical perspectives to make visible the role of power in the characterization of children's learning as related to norms of development, minoritized identities, and hierarchies of knowledge. Research Design: In this collaborative inquiry, we compose a series of meditations on our experiences with the logics of improvement inspired by 12 months of systematic conversation. Our data sources include correspondence between the two authors, written reflections on specific practices in teacher education each author engages with, and a set of literary, philosophical, and teacher education texts. Conclusions/Recommendations Our meditations illuminate the value of collective inquiry about what constitutes improvement in schools. We raise questions about how the measurement of learning is entwined in historical and present-day relations of power and idealized formulations of the universal “child” or “teacher” and argue that we must work together to reimagine the framings that inform our work. Ultimately and most directly, these meditations can support dynamic attempts to cultivate meaningful and more equitable educational experiences for teachers and students. Philosophical meditations at the crossroads of philosophy, teaching, and teacher education thus extend beyond critique toward imagining and enacting a better world in our classrooms, even though (and especially when) this path is not clear.
Journeying toward Transformative Teaching in the Age of Alternative Facts and Re-Ascendant Ethnic and Racial Prejudice
Authors: Sinha Shilpi , Rasheed Shaireen 
Published: November 2021

Background We are at a historical juncture that is punctuated by the rise of white nationalism, an exacerbation of racial divisions and tensions, an uptick in hate crimes, and bullying increasingly targeting immigrant youth, all of which, in the current political and cultural climate, have often been legitimized through a recourse to “alternative facts.” However, the current historical moment in the United States is also marked by a postmodern ethos, which is often taken up by the public in a fragmentary manner, highlighted by a general sense of incredulity regarding any form of knowledge. At the same time, the fuller, ethical context of postmodernism complicates how educators may pedagogically address and respond to the tensions and conflict that filter over into the university classroom from the social strife and injustices evident in the society at large. The ethical context of postmodernism warns against changing hearts and minds with a proliferation of the “right” facts assumed to be devoid of attachments of value. It also warns us to be vigilant against the foreclosures, reductions, and exclusions that occur when one draws on metanarratives and universals to mobilize against injustice. Purpose We explore what it means pedagogically, for teacher educators in predominantly white institutions, to be situated at a historical juncture that calls out for some form of social advocacy on their part to combat the rise in the politicization of truth and xenophobic and racist sentiment, but are simultaneously compelled to keep in mind the ethical lessons of postmodernism. Research Design We utilize critical phenomenological analysis intertwined with a narrative accounting of both authors’ classroom experiences as they attempt to engage college students at a predominantly white university with issues of racism, white privilege, and marginalization. We analyze and reflect on the mixed reactions of our students to a presentation on teaching in a diverse world, given by one of the authors to the other author's class of pre-service teachers. Conclusions/Recommendations For teaching that may facilitate white students’ ability to become reflective of their positionality as structured through whiteness and its attendant privileges, it is important to envision pedagogical work taking place within environments that can address not only students’ cognitive capacities but also the white body schema, which operates at a pre-reflective level. Educators may refrain from reducing white students to reified categories of whiteness by cultivating a disposition of wonder that may allow them to understand whiteness through the lens of emergent realities rather than substantive, ontological forces.
Nudging the Opportunity Structure: A Modest and Ambitious Aim for Teacher Education
Authors: Fantuzzo John P. , Dixon Mark 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Teacher candidates are being educated in a political and economic context that calls the value of their professional preparation into question. What is more, a rising generation of teacher candidates has only experienced education during the Era of Corporate School Reform, meaning, the political aims of public education were systematically neglected during their upbringing due to an intensive focus on high-stakes competitions, consumer preferences, and the privatization of public schools. This essay asks how teacher candidates, raised to value a narrow and reductive form of academic success, can be prepared to attend to their students’ flourishing and collectively work towards social justice. Focus of Study Stressing the indispensable role of teacher education, with a focus on the importance of educational foundations courses, we argue that teacher candidates should learn in such courses to nudge students towards a pluralistic opportunity structure, defined by political philosopher Joseph Fishkin, as a structure of opportunity comprised of many less harshly competitive and therefore more accessible paths to diverse forms of flourishing and economic opportunity. Research Design The proposed aim seeks to reconcile the social ambitions of early progressive theorists with the method of reflective equilibrium used by contemporary educational ethicists. It is developed using a case study method. Cases are drawn from the reflections of three academically successful teacher candidates. Each candidate, for distinct reasons, critiques the conception of academic success they were habituated to value during their P–12 schooling and each urges their peers to not reproduce its harms by teaching differently. The argument proceeds by exploring how their critiques are reflected in the value of equality of opportunity and how their advice for teaching differently is continuous with the work of pluralizing the opportunity structure. Conclusion The teacher candidates’ critiques of academic success are not simply private reflections, but nascent expressions of a principle of social justice, a new theory of equality of opportunity, that can be realized by attending to the wellbeing of all students, including advantaged students attending independent schools.
Dis/ability as Mediator: Opportunity Encounters in Hybrid Learning Spaces for Emergent Bilinguals with Dis/abilities
Authors: Martínez-Álvarez Patricia 
Published: November 2021

Background Though there has been some attention to how emergent bilinguals learn in relation to languages and cultures, very little research to date has examined similar processes in emergent bilinguals with dis/abilities, including how to understand dis/ability as a source of strength. Purpose In this article, I explore how dis/ability can mediate learning. To do so, I examine how emergent bilinguals with dis/abilities engage with learning activities in a hybrid space in terms of ability, language, and culture; and how these children's learning is mediated in such a hybrid space. Research Design This qualitative study documents how 15 bilingual Latinx children with mild dis/abilities in the second through third grades, along with eight bilingual teacher candidates preparing to teach in inclusive bilingual contexts, worked together in a two-year hybrid after-school program. Findings/Results Children were able to demonstrate the ability to “compensate” for perceived “weaknesses” and learn in what I characterize as nepantla (in-between) spaces in four different ways: (a) resisting the learning activity; (b) shifting the direction of the learning activity; (c) repositioning the content (within their own knowledge); and (d) using external artifacts. Conclusions Opportunity-centered encounters attending to language, culture, and ability, built on hybridity theory, allowed for shifting perceptions of children's academic identities. The study highlights an asset-based perspective on dis/ability that rejects ableism. Implications include the need for careful planning and constant nurturing of the bilingual child's multiple fluid identities.
Measuring Beliefs about Teaching for Creativity
Authors: Katz-Buonincontro Jen , Hass Richard W. , Perignat Elaine 
Published: November 2021

Background/Context Beliefs about teaching for creativity is a newer area of empirical investigation in education. Purpose The purpose of the quantitative study was to measure teachers’ domain-specific beliefs about teaching for creativity, piloted for the first time in this study, and compare these beliefs with domain-general beliefs about creativity. Subjects The study subjects were preservice and practicing teachers enrolled in bachelor's, master's, and doctoral (PhD and EdD) education programs within a private university located in the northeastern United States. Research Design This study surveyed a convenience sample of preservice and practicing teachers’ beliefs about creativity and their beliefs about teaching for creativity to examine their creative self-efficacy, growth and fixed creative mindsets, desirability of creativity for teaching success, and valuing creativity for student learning. Data Collection and Analysis A total of 149 students completed a measure on beliefs about creativity (domain-general) and beliefs about teaching for creativity (domain-specific). Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to examine potential newly aligned items and factors with a change in wording. Results The factor structure of the Fixed Creative Mindset items, Creative Self-Efficacy items and Desirability items was stable when rewording them to represent teacher perspectives. The Growth Creative Mindset items do not show the same stability, but two of the items seem to be related to a single factor, which is evidence that these items are functioning well. The newly worded Value items loaded on a separate factor, with only one cross loading. Educators rated themselves high in most areas, and low in the area of Fixed Creative Mindset. The results indicate that the Beliefs About Teaching for Creativity scales are reliable, with significant correlations among factors. Recommendations We propose research and policy recommendations to further examine the complex relationship between teachers’ beliefs about teaching for creativity and their pedagogical practices, especially in the area of growth and fixed creative mindset.
Recent Trends in the Characteristics of New Teachers, the Schools in Which They Teach, and Their Turnover Rates
Authors: Redding Christopher , Nguyen Tuan D. 
Published: November 2021

Background Over the past couple of decades, new teachers have become a pronounced focus of policy makers. This attention is a result of demographic shifts in the teacher labor market, increased attention to the quality of teachers assigned to historically underserved student populations, and high rates of new teacher turnover. Purpose Our goal is to understand how the characteristics of new teachers and the schools in which they teach have changed over time, including changes in the characteristics of teachers in schools that enroll a majority of economically disadvantaged and minority students. We examine how these broad changes relate to new teacher turnover, as well as the induction supports that may improve retention. Research Design We draw on nationally representative data from all seven waves of the Schools and Staffing Survey from the 1987–1988 to 2011–2012 school years to better understand the extent to which the characteristics of beginning teachers, the schools in which they teach, and their turnover rates have changed over time. We draw on data regarding teachers’ demographic characteristics, education and credentials, and school characteristics and working conditions, and turnover. Data Analysis We first describe how characteristics of new teachers and the schools in which they teach have changed. We then examine how these characteristics vary systematically across schools that enroll a majority of students who identify as racial/ethnic minorities and schools with fewer racial/ethnic minorities. We examine the extent to which new teachers are more likely than more experienced teachers to turn over from underserved schools and how organizational supports such as administrative support and induction programs predict lower rates of turnover. Findings Beginning teachers are now more likely to be certified, to have earned a graduate degree, and to have graduated from a selective college. They are also much more likely to begin their careers in schools that enroll more racially diverse students than in previous decades. Teachers are more likely to turn over from schools where the majority of students identify as racial/ethnic minorities, although the presence of supportive colleagues and administrators and induction supports are associated with lower turnover rates. Conclusions That the majority of new teachers now begin their careers in schools serving a majority of economically disadvantaged and minority students has implications for the preparation and induction of new teachers. Our results point to the continued importance of the provision of supports that integrate teachers into the social and professional culture of a school.