In this literature review, we explore the potential role of education in supporting peacebuilding and societal transformation after violent conflict. Following a critical analysis of the literature published by academics and practitioners, we identify the notion of humanisation (as in the seminal works of Paulo Freire and others) as a unifying…

The "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM) is one of the most successful technologies in modern times. In spite of well-argued critiques, the DSM and the idea of "mental illness" on which it is based flourish, with ever more (mis)behaviors labeled as brain diseases. Problems in living and related distress…

In today's world we appear to place a premium on happiness. Happiness is often portrayed, directly or indirectly, as one of the key aims of education. To suggest that education is concerned with promoting unhappiness or even despair would, in many contexts, seem outlandish. This paper challenges these widely held views. Focusing on the work…

Paulo Freire consistently upheld humanization and mutuality as educational ideals. This article argues that conceptualizations of knowledge and how knowledge is sought and produced play a role in fostering humanization and mutuality in educational contexts. Drawing on Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein," this article focuses on the…

Students and educators are constrained from finding meaning in the current educational system as a result of the tension between educators' pedagogical practices and systemic constraints, such as high-stakes standardized tests and district-mandated instructional curriculum. Such restrictive educational policies limit educators from developing…

Drawing from the work of philosophers Sylvia Wynter and Ian Hacking, in this conceptual article I argue why a humanizing critical approach to sociocultural knowledge is needed for teacher education, particularly in preparing teachers to work effectively with black students. In light of enduring concerns in teacher education with improving the…

This study examines the college aspirations and access of Latino, undocumented students. In a time when college access is limited and a college education is necessary, the issue of academically qualified, undocumented students trying to enter the higher education system under tremendous odds is one that deserves a closer study. This dissertation…

This paper describes the importance of human rights education as proclaimed by UN (1994) and also the strategies for developing human rights education by UN General assembly 2005. In proclaiming the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004), in December 1994, the General Assembly defined human rights education as "a life-long…

Pedagogical theory and research practice tend to confine themselves to study the cognitive aspect of a child's personality and to focus on his/her productivity, while forgetting about other dimensions. The ability to experience artistic contents and the creative capacity of our society are decreasing. People are in a continuous search for…

Agency is a particular concern for ministry with adolescent girls because they rarely see themselves as subjects of their own lives. Human agency is often emphasized in churches as a way to explain human sinful action. As a population treated as objects by society, it is important for young women to embrace and exercise their agency in order to be…

What are the conditions required for becoming better human beings? What are our limitations and possibilities? I understand "becoming better" as a combined improvement process bringing persons "up from" a negative condition and "up to" a positive one. Today there is a tendency to understand improvement in a one-sided way as a movement up to the…

Extant cultural models articulated in "Flyover Country" print media responses to ICE workplace raids showed a welcome of sorts of Latino newcomers. These models suggest a place for Latino students at school and more broadly for Latino children and parents in these communities. Thus, they index an unwillingness to see Latino newcomers in…

For those who want to change the world, the author suggests they take the first step by learning about humane education. The goal of humane education is to graduate a generation of solutionaries. Humane education is founded upon the belief that human rights, environmental preservation, and animal protection are integral aspects of a just,…

This article reflects on Henry Giroux's work as a critical public intellectual and the important role his work plays in fostering educated hope and insurgent possibilities during our present times of daily and longer term catastrophes. In addition to attempting to capture the experience of what it means and how it feels to read Giroux along with…

In this article, I conceptualize ethnographic, qualitative, and social language research with marginalized and oppressed communities as "humanizing research". Humanizing research is a methodological stance, which requires that our inquiries involve dialogic consciousness-raising and the building of relationships of dignity and care for both…