Complex adaptive systems (CASs) theory provides a framework for understanding how systems of multiple, independent, and intelligent agents interact with each other in a nested and overlapping set of environments to create both a whole that has an identity apart from any of its individual components as well as a setting in which simple…

Climate change science is complex and controversial in nature, yet seen by educators and policy makers as an important topic to be taught within secondary science education. This is becoming increasingly evident with the inclusion of climate change into the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for Earth and Space Sciences as well as Life…

Resistance to change is a major obstacle in developing and implementing effective instructional programs, yet it is rarely considered, discussed, or addressed. The school leaders who are responsible for improvement frequently feel that their efforts are being blocked or thwarted. For the most part, they are correct, but they may not realize that…

Distance Education (DE) provides a means for which people, who are unable to attend on-campus courses for any of various reasons, to receive a college education. While there are many benefits cited for DE and many students show a partiality towards DE (Guthrie, 2009; Kelsey, Lindner, & Moore, 2002; Koch, Townsend, & Dooley, 2005; Mink…

One of the most taxing duties of a writing program administrator (WPA), and one that is likely to cause the most burnout, is initiating curricular reform, an initiative often met with pushback and resistance. Within the literature on curriculum reform in first-year composition, this resistance seems to arise from a complex web of issues related to…

In response to decreased levels of funding and declining enrollments, increased competition, and major technological advances, Allegany Community College, in Maryland, has developed a model for managing organizational change. The model incorporates the following four components for effective transition and change: conceptualization; communication;…

Perceptions of urban teachers regarding school-wide application of positive behavioral interventions and support (SW-PBIS) led to this exploratory qualitative case study of Indiana urban high school teachers' perspectives on the successful development of teacher buy-in regarding SW-PBIS. Data collection consisted of semistructured interviews with…

Successive waves of neoliberal reforms to higher education have taken their toll on the academy. This paper uses the zombie metaphor to discuss the causes and consequences of organisational change on Australian academics as a background to exploring zombiefication as a form of passive resistance and survival. The paper uses the literature and…

The focus of this paper is to promote the awareness of higher-education administration and faculty of the opportunities presented by developing and implementing lean operational models in their institutions. The paper provides a brief account of the author's observations of small liberal arts colleges that are operating in non-efficient models. It…

Activist burnout scholarship has inadequately considered challenges marginalized-identity activists, such as racial justice activists of color, experience in the course of their activism -- challenges from which privileged identity activists, such as white racial justice activists, are protected. This article attempts to address this gap through a…

This article, placed in the general framework of a global attempt to reform education by making it comply with neoconservative and neoliberal directions, discusses the particular case of Greece, and investigates the possibility of an international educational paradigm-seeking to impose a market reasoning on school culture and create a disciplined…

The arrival of digital media in early education appears to have been both the cause and effect of an idea of a universal experience of rapidly changing time. In this article, the role and purpose of the phrase "we live in rapidly changing times" is of critical concern. The phrase is questioned in order to avoid taking its meaning for…

Previous research in the area of resistance has inadequately described opposition to change within-school reform initiatives with a social justice orientation. A lack of attention to, and agreement on, the nature and causes of resistance may explain why so many equity-minded educational reforms fail to be sustained. This article highlights various…

The philosophical anthropologist Dorothy Dinnerstein, in her 1976 work "The Mermaid and the Minotaur: Sexual Arrangements and Human Malaise," argued that in order for us to address the excesses of male-dominated rule in society (militarism, rapacious consumerism), we must attack the root cause of patriarchy--women's domination of early…

This volume brings together respected scholars to examine the intersections of race, justice, and activism in direct relation to the teaching and learning of critical literacy. The authors focus on literacy praxis that reflect how students--with the loving, critical support of teachers and teacher educators--engage in resistance work and…