Education has become a battlefield, the classroom the arena where the contest is fought. The 1997 Ontario teachers' strike, the federal government's Millennium Scholarship, and a wave of protests across the country are among the signals that the war is heating up. Alberta stands as a Canadian model of radical education reform, propelled by economic necessity. But is all reform necessarily right or good?-and who decides? A range of commentators-teachers, scholars, parents, and others-discuss the conflict in Alberta's schools.

The Curriculum and Pedagogy book series is an enactment of the mission and values espoused by the Curriculum and Pedagogy Group, an international educational organization serving those who share a common faith in democracy and a commitment to public moral leadership in schools and society. Accordingly, the mission of this series is to advance scholarship that engages critical dispositions towards curriculum and instruction, educational empowerment, individual and collectivized agency, and social justice. The purpose of the series is to create and nurture democratic spaces in education, an aspect of educational thought that is frequently lacking in the extant literature, often jettisoned via efforts to de-politicize the study of education. Rather than ignore these conversations, this series offers the capacity for educational renewal and social change through scholarly research, arts-based projects, social action, academic enrichment, and community engagement. Authors will evidence their commitment to the principles of democracy, transparency, agency, multicultural inclusion, ethnic diversity, gender and sexuality equity, economic justice, and international cooperation. Furthermore, these authors will contribute to the development of deeper critical insights into the historical, political, aesthetic, cultural, and institutional subtexts and contexts of curriculum that impact educational practices. Believing that curriculum studies and the ethical conduct that is congruent with such studies must become part of the fabric of public life and classroom practices, this book series brings together prose, poetry, and visual artistry from teachers, professors, graduate students, early childhood leaders, school administrators, curriculum workers and planners, museum and agency directors, curators, artists, and various under-represented groups in projects that interrogate curriculum and pedagogical theories.

Discusses the history of bilingual education policies in the United States.

Culturally Contested Literacies examines the home and school literacy experiences of children from a uniquely socio-cultural perspective, including vivid, detailed case studies describing the lives and literacy practices of six families.

In troubled societies narratives about the past tend to be partial and explain a conflict from narrow perspectives that justify the national self and condemn, exclude and devalue the 'enemy' and their narrative. Through a detailed analysis, Teaching Contested Narratives reveals the works of identity, historical narratives and memory as these are enacted in classroom dialogues, canonical texts and school ceremonies. Presenting ethnographic data from local contexts in Cyprus and Israel, and demonstrating the relevance to educational settings in countries which suffer from conflicts all over the world, the authors explore the challenges of teaching narratives about the past in such societies, discuss how historical trauma and suffering are dealt with in the context of teaching, and highlight the potential of pedagogical interventions for reconciliation. The book shows how the notions of identity, memory and reconciliation can perpetuate or challenge attachments to essentialized ideas about peace and conflict.

Explores the contested boundaries between disability, illness, and mental illness in higher education

Contested Issues in Troubled Times provides student affairs educators with frameworks to constructively think about and navigate the contentious climate they are increasingly encountering on campus.The 54 contributors address the book’s overarching question: How do we create an equitable climate conducive to learning in a dynamic environment fraught with complexity and a socio-political context characterized by escalating intolerance, incivility, and overt discrimination?Rather than attempting to offer readers definitive solutions, this book illustrates the possibilities and promise of acknowledging multiple approaches to addressing contentious issues, articulating a persuasive argument anchored in professional judgment, listening attentively to others for points of connection as well as divergence, and drawing upon new ways of thinking to foster safe and inclusive campuses.Among the issues this volume addresses are such topics as sexual violence; historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups; transgender and undocumented students; the professional skills, knowledge and/or dispositions needed to thrive and facilitate systemic change in contemporary higher education organizations; the implications of maintaining personal and professional identities via social media; and self-care.In this companion volume to Contested Issues in Student Affairs (whose issues remain as relevant today as they were upon publication in 2011), a new set of contributors explore new questions which foreground issues of equity, safety, and civility – themes which dominate today’s higher education headlines and campus conversations.The book concludes with calls to action, encouraging student affairs educators to exhibit the moral courage needed to critically examine routine practices that (un)knowingly perpetuate inequity and enact the foundational values and principles upon which the student affairs profession was founded.

A New York Times bestseller—over one million copies sold! A National Book Award winner A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live. With a forward by Markus Zusak, interviews with Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney, and black-and-white interior art throughout, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike.

The Character Conundrum is a practical guide for developing confidence, independence and resilience in primary and secondary classrooms. Tackling the hotly-contested question of what role schools can play in developing ‘character', the book untangles the big debates in this area and outlines how teachers can support their pupils to develop the skills and mindsets that will help them to thrive academically. Based on a combination of ground-level investigations and academic research, the book offers a simple, evidence-based approach that can be implemented at every level of school life. The key to this approach is being deliberate and consistent: knowing which mindsets, skills and habits you’re trying to develop, and planning the details of your classroom culture, relationships, routines and instruction so that they align and combine to address your aims. When you do this, the author contends, seemingly minor changes to your practice can have a major effect on pupils. The book contains a step-by-step guide to bringing this approach to life in your classroom, including a framework of pupil outcomes, a flowchart of teacher actions, classroom case studies and a wealth of tried-and-tested strategies from primary and secondary schools across the UK. A lack of confidence, independence and resilience is a major barrier to learning for many pupils and dilutes other efforts that schools make to support them. The Character Conundrum argues that teachers can help pupils develop these characteristics in any school context and illustrates how they can do so within and through their day to day teaching. Written with passion and clarity, it will be essential reading for primary and secondary teachers, as well as policy makers with an interest in ‘character’, grit and resilience, and any education professionals committed to giving students greater ownership of their learning and setting them up to succeed.