Change Matters: Critical Essays on Moving Social Justice Research from Theory to Policy

Leading scholars committed to social justice in English education provide a framework that orients social justice theory and action toward policy, using narratives, literature reviews, and research to capture the complexity of concepts in social justice. While the editors have sought to include a diverse range of conversations in the book, they have not excluded politically angled arguments associated with social justice thought. The book begins with discussion of the current education climate in the US, then provides a working definition of social justice and describes barriers to enacting social justice in schools. The book then examines current classroom methods and approaches in English education, such as youth writing across media, and explores approaches to collecting and representing research data, such as critical discourse analysis and autobiographical qualitative research. The last section of the book offers suggestions for researchers, policy makers and teacher educators who seek to create a national policy for social justice in English language education. An appendix offers discussion activities and writing assignments for education students. The audience for the book includes researchers, educators, and pre-service and in-service teachers. Miller directs the Master of Arts in Teaching English at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Kirkland teaches English education at New York University. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

sj Miller is Associate Professor of Secondary English Education and the Director of the Master of Arts in Teaching English at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Most recently sj co-authored Unpacking the Loaded Teacher Matrix: Negotiating Space and Time Between University and Secondary English Classrooms which received the Richard A. Meade award from NCTE and co-authored Narratives of Social Justice Teaching: How English Teachers Negotiate Theory and Practice Between Preservice and Inservice Spaces. sj has published numerous articles and book chapters and is Co-Chair of the CEE Commission for Social Justice.
David E. Kirkland is Assistant Professor of English Education at New York University and also serves as the national advisor for the Teachers Network Leadership Institute. He has published numerous journal articles and book chapters and has received several awards for his scholarship and service. He is co-author of the recently published Narratives of Social Justice Teaching: How English Teachers Negotiate Theory and Practice between Preservice and Inservice Spaces.