PRODUCTS

Recognizing the ‘diversity crisis’ in regards to the cultural mismatch between educators and their diverse students, Diversifying the Educator Pipeline provides a critical examination of the mistakes we have made in our efforts to bolster the presence of Black educators. Acknowledging the cyclical nature of potential trauma and harm that occurs in educational spaces, Shaylyn Marks offers insights and recommendations for all stakeholders to consider in their efforts to recruit, prepare, and retain Black educators. Diversifying the Educator Pipeline illuminates issues pertaining to the ways in which Black students and educators are disenfranchised in educational spaces, and serves as a call to action for the education community.

African American males are confronted with formidable barriers in their pursuit of quality education, resulting in stark disparities in academic performance, economic opportunities, and social outcomes. Despite numerous educational initiatives striving for parity, African American males persistently bear the brunt of the highest rates of suspensions, expulsions, and dropout rates, surpassing all other demographic groups.

Educational environments often fail to acknowledge and integrate the cultural and social needs of Black males, viewing them as "problems" rather than recognizing their immense potential for academic and leadership success. The prevalence of negative stereotypes in media, particularly in video games, exacerbates societal biases, portraying African American males as inherently violent and criminal. These representations contribute to implicit biases that affect perceptions and treatment in real-life scenarios. The systemic issues within the education system, coupled with socioeconomic factors, result in African American males being underrepresented in advanced placement and gifted education programs. This underrepresentation limits their opportunities for higher education and professional advancement.

Confronting these challenges necessitates a comprehensive approach that encompasses the creation of inclusive educational environments, the eradication of systemic racism, and the promotion of positive representations of African American males in media. By acknowledging and fostering the potential of Black males, society can strive to reduce disparities and cultivate a more equitable and just education system that recognizes and celebrates their academic and professional achievements.

African American Males and Video Games explores the perspectives of four African American male college students aged 18 to 21 on the impact of video games on their academic growth and development. The participants, all maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher, shared their experiences with teachers, video games, and coping mechanisms. This qualitative approach allowed for a rich understanding of the participant's experiences and the role of video games in their academic and mental well-being.

Video games emerged as a significant coping tool for the participants, providing a mental escape from academic and social pressures. The games allowed them to engage in competitive and creative activities, fostering a sense of accomplishment and reducing stress. For example, games like NBA 2K21 and Forza Horizon 4 enabled them to explore alter egos and interests in a virtual space, offering entertainment and a sense of community.

African American Males and Video Games is a critical text for exploring alternatives in providing a quality education experience for young African American males. It is vital reading for educators in all areas of higher education, and a valuable teaching tool in Colleges of Education.

Perfect for courses such as: Educational Psychology; Sociology of Education; African American Studies; Media Studies; Game Design; Youth Development; Digital Literacy; Cultural Studies; Educational Technology; Social Psychology; Gender Studies

PreK-12 schools across the United States are adopting social and emotional learning (SEL) programs for both students and educators. However, most of these schools are adopting non-contextualized, trendy, and traditional SEL programs, in which students and educators are conditioned to apply certain knowledge and skills that speak to only a small subset of students rather than utilizing authentic, equity-driven SEL models. As such, SEL programming must be transformed and sustained to reflect new and shifting identities of both students and educators, like the expanding ability, cultural, gender, linguistic, race, religion, and socioeconomic formations and their intersections, as well as tensions within predominantly white institutions.

Moving from Trendy Social-Emotional Learning to Transformative Social-Emotional Learning presents a diverse collection of chapters that discuss authentic and contextualized equity and justice models that are focused on the possibilities of transformative SEL programming.. The book’s primary focus is on innovative and creative methodologies and practices that aspiring and practicing educators can use right away. Because the editors and contributors are former or current PreK-12 practitioners and/or educational scholars, this book is written for a broad educational audience. Directed to both preservice and practicing teachers across PreK-12 grade levels, school types, and geographic regions looking to improve their practice, the text provides entry points for transforming the SEL landscape in favor of liberatory, justice-based, and equitable practices. Additionally, this book is ideal for teacher and administrator preparation programs, as well as PreK-12 professional development, because it guides readers through theoretical and empirical discussions, punctuated by hands-on applications that enable real-time application, and concludes with interactive features, including case studies, extension activities, and discussion prompts.

Specific topics include enacting culturally-relevant SEL; addressing youth mental health through cultivating authentic belonging and mindfulness in classrooms; equitable SEL curricular and pedagogical practices; developing adult SEL; culturally-grounded identity development, ensuring safe environments for building identity and relationships; and SEL in teacher education and mentorship.

Perfect for courses such as: Introduction to Educating For Equity And Social Justice; Introduction to Cultivating Culturally Responsive Classrooms; Foundations of Classroom Management; Introduction to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Schools; Principles of Professional Collaboration In Education; Introduction To School Improvement, Introduction to Teacher Leadership And School Improvement; Introduction to Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment; Principles of Building Classroom Communities; Principles of Teaching Diverse Learners; Principles of Youth Voices in Education

Improving Together: Case Studies of Networked Improvement Science Communities examines a range of network improvement communities who are using improvement science to examine problems of practice. Operating in varying contexts, NICs provide a platform for communication and other forms of data sharing in order to create meta-findings on a particular phenomenon. The text focus on not only the use of IS in each context/node, but also processes of building and launching networks and considers how particular media and infrastructure are used to share knowledge within the network.

Improvement Science: Methods for Researchers and Program Evaluators moves beyond traditional research methods textbooks by responding to people working in improvement science and program evaluation. This book is tailored to the need for specific improvement research methodologies and frameworks collected and presented in an edited volume written by research faculty associated with or teaching in leadership programs.

An Introduction to Critical Autoethnography and Education: The Vulnerable Researcher examines the practice of critical autoethnography, which combines critical pedagogy, autoethnography, and often, critical ethnography, as a research methodology for conducting research in vulnerable communities without establishing hierarchical systems. Researchers who work collaboratively with participants in these communities can provide a means for often-unheard voices to reach wider audiences.

Researchers function as collaborators/participants in the research, asking themselves the same questions they ask the other participants in the research. This methodology requires reflection and introspection, as researchers examine the Self and the complexities of their cultural perspectives, whether visible or invisible, hidden beneath layers of socially constructed beliefs and behaviors. This interrogation and problematization of words and actions surpasses chronological and supposedly objective recounting of autobiography, leading to a deep understanding of the sociocultural, socioeconomic, political, and historical beliefs that created their ways of understanding and navigating the world. Traditional research situates researchers as experts. Pushing against existing norms, critical autoethnography negates hierarchical thinking, believing all collaborators co-construct equally valuable knowledge and meaning.

Accessible to diverse audiences, this book would be appropriate in graduate qualitative methods or foundations courses, at introductory or advanced levels. It would also be a good addition to any undergraduate courses preparing students to conduct research in vulnerable communities.

Perfect for courses such as: Qualitative Research Methods I | Qualitative Research Methods II | Advanced Qualitative Research Methods | Social Justice in Education Research | Case Study | Ethnographic Research in Education | Anthropology in Education | Critical Qualitative Inquiry | Multicultural Research Methods

Ubuntu Pedagogy: Becoming an Ubuntu Responsive Educator is a compelling narrative born from the author's lived experience and extensive teaching in the United States. The book chronicles her journey to Southern Africa, where she sought to understand what it means to "teach in the spirit of ubuntu." The book explores the transformative power of Ubuntu, an ancient African philosophy rooted in human interconnectedness and mutual care. It demonstrates how the principles of Ubuntu can be applied to create an engaging, inclusive, and effective learning environment. This work blends personal stories, practical examples, and a conceptual framework of Ubuntu pedagogy, illustrating its profound impact on both teaching practices and student achievement.

Part One
In this section, the author recounts her challenging first year of teaching within a large urban public school district. Through reflection, she recognizes how the traumatic events of 9/11 impacted how she showed up as a teacher. These experiences underscored the importance of reflective practice, which became a cornerstone of her teaching philosophy. Through these reflections, she emphasizes the need for educators to engage in self-examination and continuous learning to navigate and overcome initial challenges effectively.

Part Two
In part two of the book, the author unpacks the essence of teaching in the spirit of Ubuntu, focusing on its six core components. Central to this approach is understanding oneself and building positive relationships with others. This section explores creating unity among students from a place of love and care and the importance of using evidence-based practices to cater to diverse learning needs. It provides actionable insights into fostering a classroom environment rooted in compassion and mutual respect.

Part Three
This part of the book transports readers to the author's time working with children and teachers in the rural and inner-city schools of Botswana and Namibia. As an outsider, she observed and documented numerous instances of Ubuntu in action. These experiences highlighted the profound sense of community and support inherent in the Ubuntu philosophy, offering valuable lessons for educators worldwide.

Part Four
This section examines the role of Ubuntu in creating a harmonious learning environment through a compassionate approach to discipline. It discusses how Ubuntu-based discipline strategies can foster respect, responsibility, and positive student behavior, enhancing the classroom atmosphere.

Part Five
In part five of the book, the author distinguishes between cultural competence and Ubuntu competence, elaborating on what it means to be a truly competent teacher. Drawing from real-life experiences of educators in inner-city schools across the United States, this section highlights the importance of embracing diverse cultural perspectives and fostering an inclusive learning environment.

Part Six
This section explores the intrinsic link between who educators are as individuals and how they teach. It provides a step-by-step guide for educators to develop and articulate their teaching philosophy, emphasizing the importance of authenticity and self-awareness in fostering meaningful connections with students.

Part Seven
The book's final section focuses on practical applications of Ubuntu principles to cultivate good character among students. It includes the use of proverbs, aphorisms, and adinkra symbols as tools to promote ethical decision-making and positive behavior. This chapter offers concrete strategies for educators to help students develop moral integrity and make sound choices.

Conclusion
Ubuntu Pedagogy: Becoming an Ubuntu Responsive Educator is more than a pedagogical guide; it is a testament to the power of human connection and compassionate teaching. By integrating Ubuntu into educational practices, the author aims to inspire educators to create nurturing, inclusive, and effective learning environments that honor the humanity of every student.

Do you have the desire to build relationships with the special education teachers in your school or district but constantly feel weighed down by compliance issues? Special education teachers are leaving the field at alarming rates, and positive change through transformational leadership practices can help administrators build confidence and self-efficacy as leaders of special education programs and strengthen special education teachers’ commitment to remain in the field.

In a book that guides an affective journey using John C. Maxwell’s teachings, Natasha Veale, a former special education teacher, professor of special education, and certified Maxwell Leadership consultant, demonstrates how to address administrators’ belief in their ability to become influential special education leaders and connect with their special education teachers, even without a background in special education. This book is ideal for pre-service and in-service assistant principals and principals, special education administrators, and general and special education teachers. Embedded school administrators’ anecdotes reveal experiences, challenges, and desires to build an emotionally supportive environment for their special education teachers. Practical advice and tips are offered to help administrators positively influence, individually consider, intellectually stimulate, and inspirationally motivate their special education teachers.

In How to Retain Special Education Teachers: A Transformational Leadership Guide for School Administrators, you learn how to:

• Support special education teacher workload
• Build self-efficacy as a leader of special education
• Build relationships with special education teachers
• Strengthen Principal Preparation Programs

As a genre, science-fiction is uniquely suited for highlighting and modeling the basic tenets of critical pedagogy, that branch of educational philosophy and theory devoted equally to 1) exposing the hidden power structures embedded in educational practice and 2) articulating equitable and sustainable alternatives. The science-fiction novum – that is, the technological or scientific newness found within the text – serves as a catalyst not only within the textual universe but also, potentially, within the universe of the reader. New questions arise. Previously hidden beliefs come to light. Tacit assumptions are exposed. The unfamiliar nova of science-fiction can lead to new interrogations of our own all-too familiar surroundings, causing us to see our previously unquestioned worlds in a new way.

These new understandings are at the heart of critical pedagogy. The learning spaces within science fiction texts can expose the fault lines within the educational structures of the real world. Questions about what it means to be human, about the proper limits of technological power, or about the relationships and obligations of one species to another have profound implications for 21st century educators and learners, particularly those who are interested in creating just and equitable learning spaces.

Learning Space: Exploring Critical Pedagogy through Science-Fiction draws on popular science-fiction stories to provide current and future educators with the language, concepts, vocabulary, and practices to cast a critical lens upon their own learning spaces and their own pedagogical practices. For example, a critical examination of the way that Yoda trains Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back reveals a great deal about the insidious nature of deficit thinking, assuming that students learn best when they “empty their minds” and remain “passive.” The assumed hierarchical power structure between teacher and student, and the assumed relationship between learners and the knowledge with which they are supposed to be filled – all of these are called into question when viewed through a critical lens. The more we recognize the injustice in Yoda’s pedagogy, the more we might begin to see it in our own. 

Similarly, Isaac Asimov’s classic Foundation trilogy imagines a world in which mathematical modeling and statistical computation are used not only to predict what people might do but instead to determine what they should do. This kind of algorithmic determinism is unfortunately common in contemporary education, and yet far too few educators and learners recognize just how much of their own agency has been given over to the machines. By highlighting the algorithmic inequities in the world of Asimov’s text, we begin to recognize similar inequities at play in our own world. Ultimately, this book uses science-fiction to highlight educational inequities in such wide-ranging topics as standard English, literary canons, machine learning, notions of academic dishonesty, epistemicide, inequitable school discipline, and more. More importantly, however, it provides a framework for moving forward, giving current and future educators the critical knowledge and skills both to recognize pedagogical injustice and to create viable, just, and sustainable alternatives.

The story behind The Metropolitan Community: Partnering for Equality Across the Educational Divide begins with two high schools. Their similarity is restricted to the facts that they are both public schools located in the same county, state, and country. In every other way, they are completely different. Just about any place with a city and a suburb has the same structure of very different conditions that divide the two, providing unequal opportunities and resources to students. But the story goes somewhere new when young people from these usually separate places come together for change. This book is a research-backed narrative about a partnership between two Chicago-area high schools, one in the city and one in the suburbs. It follows the students as they see unfairness up close, wrestling with how to talk about it and fighting for an education that is equal. We learn about what city and suburban kids learn from their solidarity. The Metropolitan Community uplifts while also showing how much practice it takes to bridge our divides in pursuit of justice.

With this book, readers will have the chance to develop their “metro outlook,” to see how the seemingly separate worlds are connected by the educational system they hold in common. The city and suburban students’ example will be instructive for understanding the system’s inequalities, becoming unstuck in conversations across difference, and combining forces to move those in power. This is the first book about a city-suburban school partnership for educational equity. A two-year investigation of student allyship, the text is grounded in qualitative research with 65 city and suburban students. Through yearly pre- and post-interviews, and detailed observations, the book chronicles a growing collaboration, as students build community for educational change.

This is an extremely important book for a variety of readers in public school districts and in Colleges of Education. It can be used in a variety of courses that emphasize school improvement and equity in educational settings.

Perfect for courses such as: School and Society; Curriculum and Instruction; Diversity and Equity in Education; Socio-cultural Foundations; Educational Policy; Culturally Relevant Pedagogy; Sociology of Education; Urban Education; Social Studies Methods; Multicultural Education; Anthropology of Education; School Counseling; School Psychology; and School Social Work