PRODUCTS

Fat on Campus: The Voices and Images of Fat College Students and the Impacts of Fatphobia amplifies the voices of 11 fat college students across the United States. Defined as “a pathological fear of fatness often manifested as negative attitudes and stereotypes about fat people” (Robinson et al., 1993, p. 468), fatphobia, like other forms of oppression, impacts our students and our campuses. Unlike other cultural phenomena, fatness is one of the last socially acceptable forms of bias.

This text sheds light on fat students, increasing their visibility in higher education, explaining why it is important to recognize and address this critical issue on campuses across America. Using rich stories from students who self-identify as fat, this text honors their experiences and highlights how they have created welcoming spaces for themselves in often unwelcoming collegiate environments. The book shares findings from a national photovoice research study, including narratives and photographs. A methodological technique combining storytelling and photography, photovoice is often used to inspire social change. Aligned with the idea of transforming the future of higher education, this book serves as both a call to action for educators and a love letter to fat students on campus.

The book is designed to engage educators and amplify the voices of fat students in an accessible way. While it may be tempting for readers to flip to the section corresponding with their functional area of interest, readers are invited to read the whole book and ask themselves, “How can I extend this research to my own place of work?”

Perfect for courses such as: College Environments; Diversity in Higher Education; Understanding College Students; Arts-Based Research and Methodologies; Qualitative Research

Moments & Movements: Counterstories for Critical Asian American+ Studies in Education is a collection of counterstories born from community and shared commitments to challenge the ways diverse diasporas and experiences of people from the Asian continent and the Pacific Ocean are largely made invisible, silenced, and erased. By defying reductionist narratives, the collection highlights stories built upon generations of struggle, resistance, advocacy, and joy, that impart wisdom for the current moment and for Asian American+ movements in the future, particularly movements based in education. The book’s topics, located at the nexus of multiple and interconnected fields, such as education, race/ethnic studies, policy and community studies, have broad appeal to a cross-section of university academics; P-12 teachers and leaders; and community educators and activists.

Using the framing of Critical Asian American+ Studies, the chapters in this volume emphasize criticality as central to the work of educators committed to more just futures. The plus (+) symbol in “Asian American+” highlights the volume’s efforts at diverse inclusion and openness to various groups under a broad umbrella geographic category, including voices of various Pasifika, Arab and Middle Eastern communities, without eliding their distinct histories, cultures, politics, and experiences or erasing the tensions within and across the broader category of Asian American studies.

The book is organized thematically into four sections that reflect key moments in an ongoing movement. This organization acknowledges that readers may be at different points in their journeys towards developing more critical perspectives or knowledge of Asian American, Arab/Middle Eastern American, and Pasifika peoples’ experiences in education. The first section, The Moment We Begin, focuses on foundational beginnings, telling stories of how the authors made important first steps in creating the change they wished to see in their educational spheres. The second section, Building an Inclusive Movement, examines how educators sustain and deepen their work within and outside of classrooms. The third section, Extending the Movement, then looks at Critical Asian American+ Studies outside of classrooms and schools by attending to educational leadership, families and teacher identities, policy arenas, and educational, cultural, and community activism. Finally, in the fourth section, Envisioning New Worlds, chapters attend to what justice-focused, future-oriented movements might look like for Critical Asian American+ Studies.

All too often, critical community-grounded work can feel daunting. This collection pushes beyond prescribed borders that separate our communities and separate us into our own educational spheres (e.g. P-12, higher education, teacher education) and roles (professor, teacher, principal, student). As one of the few edited collections with such diverse perspectives, this collection provides multiple paths forward in Asian American, Arab/Middle Eastern American, and Pasifika Studies, inspires with its counterstories of struggle and success, and challenges readers to consider their own next steps.

Perfect for courses such as: Asian Americans in Education; Critical Studies in Education; Multicultural Education/Sociocultural Foundations in Education; Ethnic Studies/Asian American Studies; Social Justice in Education; Critical Pedagogy and Education; Urban Education; Race, Ethnicity, and Education; Introduction to Education; School and Society

In metropolitan areas across the United States, city and suburban public school students receive grossly unequal funding. Since funding is critical to student success, this means the primarily Black, Latinx, and low-income students attending city schools are being denied an equal education. So entrenched is this system, that it can feel normal, or too big to undo. Yet recent student activism in the form of an innovative, cross-community school partnership offers new hope. The Metropolitan Community: Partnering for Equality Across the Educational Divide tells the story of two Chicago-area schools—one suburban, one urban—whose students come together to examine the disparities between their schools and advocate for change. It follows these students over a year as they meet, tour each other’s schools, wrestle with how to discuss unfairness, and ultimately commit to fighting together for a more equal education. In-depth interviews and detailed observations chronicle the students’ advocacy, which unfolds in conversation with teachers and administrators and eventually brings them to the table with legislators, from whom they demand better policies. Through the examples set by students, readers are invited to develop their own “metro outlook,” to see how our seemingly separate worlds are connected by the educational system we hold in common and must work together to reshape. The first book to depict sustained allyship between city and suburban students, The Metropolitan Community offers an invigorating pedagogical approach, organizational model, and political strategy for achieving educational justice through youth-led partnerships and collaboration.

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

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.

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 will inspire educators to create nurturing, inclusive, and effective learning environments that honor the humanity of every student.

Repertories of Racial Resistance: Pedagogical Dreaming in Transborder Educational Spaces explores the integral role of dreaming and imagination in pursuing educational justice. The illuminating case studies in this book highlight how youth and adults utilize Transformative Methodologies not only to generate knowledge, but also promote social change. Transformative Methodologies are approaches to research and knowledge production that explicitly:

• center the perspectives, experiences, and expertise of BIPOC youth and communities as essential to research
• challenge conventional social science frameworks that relegate communities as “objects” of inquiry, and
• facilitate ethnically and racially minoritized young people to leverage their educational opportunities to express their agency, imagine emancipatory futures, and embody social change.

Traditionally, educator preparation programs only provide classes related to content, practical pedagogy, and classroom management. If we hope to see any level of justice in the education system, preparation programs must include courses that take an honest and deep dive into the ways in which racism shows up in schools and communities. Aspiring educators are craving and demanding the tools and resources to be the best educators they can be for our students in this country. They know the importance of advocating for and enacting anti-racism in their pedagogical practices, in school policy and culture, and in their community. The authors of this book will offer first-hand testimony of how deep racism permeates public education, an institution that, since its founding, was never meant for Black and brown students, as well as solutions to create truly just and equitable school communities.

The ultimate mission of Practicing Restorative Justice is to show readers the effectiveness of restorative justice practices in addressing a number of issues that impact Black and brown students. It takes a deep dive into the School-to-Prison Pipeline, in which failed education policies push students of color out of schools and into the penal system, dooming them for life. Other topics include policing in schools, systemic racism’s impact on classrooms and learners at all grade levels, and ways in which to decolonize the education system. The book provides classroom instructors, college of education faculty, and preservice teachers the concrete means to improve the learning experience of students of color in our public education system.

Resisting Divide-and-Conquer Strategies in Education: Pathways and Possibilities examines the ways in which divide-and-conquer strategies operate in the American public education system. In U.S. education, these mechanisms are endemic and enduring, if not always evident. Coordinated, strategic, well-funded, politically-viable campaigns continue to stoke fear, othering, villainization, and dehumanization of minoritized groups, pushing false and problematic narratives that inhibit progress toward social justice. Weaponizing hegemony and leveraging misinformation, reactionary agents and institutions seek to suppress truth, block access to democratic participation, and dismantle education and other sites of emancipatory possibility through the strength of divide-and-conquer mechanisms, pitting relatively disempowered groups against one another to preserve the dominant social order.

Readers of this book will encounter conceptual and critical interrogations of divide and conquer. The text will help facilitate inquiry and engagement into how divide and conquer operates and how it can be resisted. It looks at the history of the phenomenon, as well as its current state, especially as it relates to education. What insights and lessons might we learn from a focused examination of divide and conquer, and what strategies of resistance are both possible and necessary for challenging it?

This text is designed for undergraduate and graduate classrooms in education and social sciences. Part I, Ideology and Sociopolitical Contexts, dissects how divide-and-conquer mechanisms operate ideologically and sociopolitically. Part II, Policies and Practices, focuses on how divide-and-conquer mechanisms shape exclusionary U.S. educational policies and practices. Part III, Resistance and Liberation, documents efforts of liberatory communicative, curricular, and pedagogical possibilities. Each chapter concludes with a set of critical questions for reflection and engagement.

Perfect for courses such as: Foundations of Education; Schools and Society; Schooling in America; History of Education; Philosophy of Education; Sociology of Education; Social Studies; Critical Theory in Education

The Science I Know: Culturally Relevant Science Lessons from Secondary Classrooms is a collection of culturally relevant lesson plans written by secondary science teachers. Each lesson discusses how the tenets of academic success, cultural competence and critical consciousness that are part of the theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) are addressed (Ladson-Billings, 1995). Additionally, each lesson plan is structured following the 5E learning cycle (Bybee, 2006) and aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NAS, 2012). The goal of this book is to help science teachers understand how to go about designing lessons that are culturally relevant. The hope is that the lessons that are detailed in each chapter will inspire teachers to draw the cultural knowledge from their students and capitalize on it when designing science lessons.

After an introductory chapter that discusses how science education has shifted in recent decades to address the needs of diverse students, the main body of the text is divided into three sections. The first part introduces Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) as a framework; this is important for those readers unfamiliar with Gloria Ladson-Billings’ work. It addresses and discusses the three tenets of CRP (Academic Success, Cultural Competence and Critical Consciousness) and it includes an explanation of how each area can be observed and addressed in science education specifically. The second part features lesson plans from secondary science classrooms written by teachers from different subject areas (i.e., life science, physical science, earth science, etc.). The lesson plans follow the 5E Instructional Model (Bybee et. al., 2006). This model promotes inquiry by guiding teachers in the design of lesson plans that are “based upon cognitive psychology, constructivist-learning theory, and best practices in science teaching.” (Duran & Duran, 2004). A brief snapshot of each teacher precedes each lesson plan. A discussion about how each of the CRP tenets is observed appears after each lesson plan. Finally, each plan featured has a section that addresses the concepts of Funds of Knowledge (Moll et al., 1992). This concept guides teachers in the process of identifying and maximizing students’ cultural capital in the classroom. Each lesson plan chapter concludes with questions for further consideration for teachers. The last part of the book features best practices for teachers when preparing and planning to implement culturally relevant practices in their classrooms, as well as a lesson plan template for teachers.

The Science I Know is not only essential reading for all science teachers interested in utilizing culturally relevant instructional practices in their classroom, but also a valuable tool in the instruction of pre-service teachers in Colleges of Education. The book’s structure is ideal for classroom use.

Perfect for courses such as: Foundations of Cultural Studies in Education; Education and Culture; Learner Differences; Secondary Science Pedagogy; Culturally Relevant Science; and Multicultural Education

Being a transgender* or gender creative (T*GC) child in the United States today means being the subject of a national debate about whether you are entitled to exist, live a full life, or control your body. T*GC students have suffered outside of and within schools, experiencing among the highest rates of academic exclusion, vulnerability to bullying and violence, poor mental health, and troubling life outcomes due to bias, stigma, and discrimination.

At the time this manuscript was completed, the Human Rights Campaign had officially declared a “State of Emergency'' for LGBTQ+ Americans. Of the over 600 anti-LGBTQ+ bills recently introduced across the nation, nearly a third directly target trans* and gender-creative people, particularly children, violating both civil and human rights. Fortunately, not all bills will pass, and activists are moving liberation work forward everywhere every day.

T* Is for Thriving offers collected wisdom from educators and community members about meeting T*GC students’ needs in schools in order to light a path toward their thriving. In it, the editors, Kia Darling-Hammond and Bre Evans-Santiago, have curated lesson plans that offer models for inclusive instruction, along with stories that amplify community guidance about how to be responsive, affirming, and celebratory of T*GC needs, histories, and contributions in schools.

These stories and lessons are an immediate resource for advancing a pedagogy of hope and possibility, both in the present and the future. T* Is for Thriving is essential reading for anyone involved in developing and defending the rights of educators and students. It is the perfect text for courses in teacher education, as well as those focused on social justice, LGBTQ+ topics, and critical pedagogy.

Perfect for courses such as: Multicultural Education; Gender Studies; Teaching Methods (Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Math); Curriculum Design; Diversity in Education; Social Foundations of Education; Inclusive Methods of Teaching; Practicum/Clinical Practice; Literacy Methods; and History, Policy and Social Changes