Given the prevalence of multimodal texts in today's world, it is not surprising that adolescent literacies are as dynamic, multimodal and visual as the texts with which they interact. As Kress & Van Leeuwen (1996) have outlined, the multimodal texts that make up a large percentage of our world consist of a range of modes (auditory,…

This exploratory study examines the use of the micro-blogging service "Twitter" in multiple sections of a pre-service teacher education program in a diverse, urban university. The use of Twitter aimed to encourage student-student and student-teacher interactions, thus enhancing social presence and diminishing the sense of isolation in…

This paper focuses on three secondary education teachers who earned licensure through a graduate-level urban teacher preparation program and then accepted positions at diverse, urban schools in the western U.S. The primary research question asks: "How do three urban secondary teachers implement the pedagogical tool of expressing and cultivating…

In this article, the authors present a narrative that illuminates alternative visions for connecting K12/college collaborations, exploring the potential for social justice work at the intersection of K12 teaching and academia. Told as a collective autoethnography in narrative form, they recount their decisions to teach in K12 spaces, while…

This article explores the process of problem framing in research, and considers the ethics of the framing in the context of the author's dual role as a researcher and educator seeking to engender learning amongst partnership stakeholders. In doing so, the author attends to issues of agency in partnership research by providing the situational…

Going to where students and their families live, play, and socialize is one way of creating personalized relationships. In the author's years of teaching he has always found it is the little things that make a huge impact on all the lives of people involved. By incorporating a real life cultural application piece, teacher education programs can…

One of the hallmarks of the American system of higher education is its diversity: there are more than 4,000 institutions of varying sizes, types, and purposes. Unlike centrally planned systems, the American higher education landscape is a tapestry of institutions--public and private, selective and open-access--each with a distinct mission and…

The aim of this article is to bring attention to an important connection between art education programs and the development of social justice practices in K-16 classrooms. This article is organized into three sections. The first is an analysis of the hierarchical and unilateral approach to education that urban students experience throughout their…

Urban public schools and their teachers are under siege. From increased standardization, privatization and testing to a growing number of students whose needs are not being met by schools, urban public school teachers face a daunting task. Without a space in which to critically examine their daily experiences within schools, many well-intentioned…

Although teaching for social justice is a widely recognized goal of many teacher education programs, there are few supports for new teachers who wish to continue this kind of practice. In this article, I discuss the ways that a group of four new teachers found flexible support for developing a vision of teaching for social justice through…