In this article, I draw on data from my qualitative dissertation study of the literacy practices of five families who resided in a homeless shelter to complicate the relationship between literacy, education, and inequality. Homelessness is examined through the lens of sponsorship to understand the differential access the families have to powerful…

This analysis is a philosophical exploration of Marilyn Frye's metaphor of the cage and Patricia Hill Collins' theory of intersecting oppressions. It argues that social structures and forms of oppressive knowledge make up the individual wires on each person's cage and that these work to confine individuals, particularly those in the…

One of the purposes of higher education is to promote citizenship and social justice. This article explores the way Aurora University is helping students to discover what matters through the impact of "Sleep Out on the Quad," which is an event that uses multiple pedagogies to impact student learning of homelessness. It serves as a call…

A critical issue in education today is that many middle and high school students are not able to read on grade level (Alvermann & Rush, 2004; Biancarosa & Snow, 2010; Heller & Greenleaf, 2007; Houge, Geier, & Peyton, 2008). In an effort to deal with the problem, many schools encourage all teachers, regardless of their subject area,…

In this essay, the author argues that inquiry and engagement in the social foundations of education is fundamental to cultivating professionalism in education. As many commentators on the subject have noted, teaching does not meet many of the criteria of a profession derived from the sociological study of fields of work. As Joseph Newman observes,…

Nearly forty years ago, Jonathan Kozol wrote on the perennial question posed by children: "Why do I have to go to school?" Rightfully, in David Gabbard and Lori Flint's view, he admonishes those who would "act as though it were a foolish question." The authors of this article take issue, however, with his characterization…

In this article authors Kip Kline and Kathleen Abowitz write that the "new breed of accountability-driven schools is more interested in reaching some number at the end of the school year" than in actually constructing places where teachers can create meaningful learning experiences for students. In this article they argue that…

Gladwell (2000) describes context as "the tipping point" for leveraging change. This paper explores how differentiated learning opportunities situated in the school context supported changes in practice for urban elementary teachers during the implementation of Writer's Work-shop (Calkins, 2003 & 2006). The teachers in this…

Eisner (1991) defines culture as a place for growing things. School constitutes an essential culture where students' minds can be grown and developed and where learning can be fostered. Teachers are in charge of developing and fostering young minds and because they participate in the culture called school they have many possibilities and…

Affirmative action is perceived as a corrective policy intended to promote social equity (Crosby, Iyer, & Sincharoen, 2006; Curry & West, 1996; Kaplin & Lee, 2007; Oppenheimer, 1996). Indeed, affirmative action as a policy has been used to address minority underrepresentation (Ball, 2000), remedying the effects of past/current…

Although education has seen trends of progressive ideologies that promote student and teacher empowerment (Ayers, 2011; Lyons, Catallozzi, & Benson, 1998; Spring, 2008), the dominant educational discourse mirrors a business model of efficiency expressed by the social economist Lester Frank Ward (1872). Evidence of contemporary education…

The foundations field cannot sustain itself in its present condition. A range of complex forces have combined to marginalize foundations over the past few decades. The decline of this field as a separate discipline in schools of education has been abetted by the fact that foundations is generally a "service provider" to other programs.…

One of the most discernable qualities of American society is the contradiction it holds between its economic and political systems, namely, capitalism and democracy. Despite scholars' efforts to reconcile both systems, the demands of both systems are incongruous with each other. Capitalism is driven by the logic of inequality, driven as it is…

When defending educational foundations, Isabel Nunez and Pamela Konkol sometimes find themselves responding to the question of "why?"-often phrased, "But WHYYYYY do we have to take a class on this stuff??? (We want to take more methods!)." As distressing as this can be for teacher educators whose own work reveals rather a…

In their recent landmark study of undergraduate education in America, "Academically Adrift," Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa question whether colleges and universities are really able to justify their traditionally exalted reputations. The study paints a rather dismal portrait of how little learning may actually be taking place on our…