How We Got Here The Role Of Critical Mentoring And Social Justice Praxis

Presents narratives of scholars of education on how critical mentoring can dismantle institutional –isms to improve the experiences and degree attainment of underrepresented groups in doctoral programs.

Student affairs work—like higher education—is fundamentally about change. Principally, the change work performed by student affairs practitioners is about supporting the growth and development of individual students and student groups. Increasingly, that work has called for practitioners to become more active in working to change higher education so that it lives up to its radically democratic, inclusive ideals. This means adopting new strategies to transform student affairs staff, students, and institutions, and drawing on insights from critical, liberatory theories. This text represents an effort to describe and document these practices of intentionally centering critical theories.The first section of this text examines the ways that critically-minded practitioners lead through equitable, liberatory frameworks, offering important models for reimagining the future of higher education. In the second section, the editors take up thinking and acting to support the development of critical consciousness in students, providing examples of programs, initiatives, and student support offices that center social justice in their work, and foster a critical lens through their interactions with students. In their conclusion, the editors provide a model for critical praxis, offering enduring strategies for practitioners seeking to incorporate critical, socially just praxis into their everyday work, and defining areas for future research and praxis, including identifying strategies for effective assessment of critical praxis, and modalities for “scaling up” the work for maximal impact.

This edited volume seeks to interrogate the structures that affect the perceptions, experiences, performance and practices of Black women administrators. The chapters examine the nature and dynamics of the conflict within that space and the ways in which they transcend or confront the intersecting structures of power in academe. A related expectation is for interrogations of the ways in which their institutional contexts and, marginalized status inform their navigational strategies and leadership practices. More specifically, this work explores mentorship as critical praxis; that being, the ways in which Black women’s thinking and practices around mentoring affect their institutional contexts or environment, and, that of other marginalized groups within academe. A discussion of Black women in higher education administration as critically engaged mentors will ultimately diversify thought, approaches, and solutions to larger social and structural challenges embedded within academic climates. Praise for Mentoring as Critically Engaged Praxis: Mentoring as Critically Engaged Praxis: Storying the Lives and Contributions of Black Women Administrators, the authors present insights on the challenges Black women face and how mentoring networks and strategies help them transcend professional and institutional barriers. Each chapter intentionally creates a space to elevate their voices, depicts the reciprocity on how they are transforming and being transformed by their institutional context, and offers hope for improving the status of women leaders. The power of this book is that it is an acknowledgement of Black women being the architect of their lives and is filled with meaningful content that is nuanced and offers a glimpse into how black women leaders continue to lift as they climb. - Gaëtane Jean-Marie, Rowan University Mentoring as Critical Engaged Praxis perfectly captures a process that Black women have been facilitating, practicing and innovating prior to and since their entry into the higher education. Deirdre Cobb-Roberts and Talia R. Esnard have assembled a strong cast of scholars who eloquently speak to the role that Black women administrators play in their daily practice of “Lift as we climb.” Despite the limited number of Black women in senior leadership roles across academe, most, if not all of them must consistently tackle institutional and societal injustices that shape their experiences and influence their capacity to mentor. - Lori Patton Davis, The Ohio State University

Educators, teacher practitioners, and social activists have successfully used critical pedagogy as a tool to help marginalized students develop awareness and seek alternative solutions to their poor educational and socioeconomic situations. However, this theory is often criticized as being mostly dominated by privileged white males, bringing issues of race and gender to the forefront. This volume provides insight on how critical pedagogy can be helpful to scholars and teachers alike in their analysis of racial, gender, linguistic and political problems. It features a wide range of respected scholars who examine the way and the degree to which critical pedagogy can be used to improve education for students of color, women and other marginalized groups.

"This text represents an effort to describe and document these practices of intentionally centering critical theories"--

This authored text critically examines the theory and practice of college internship programs grounded in equity, diversity, inclusion, and access (EDIA) to examine issues such as infrastructure, inclusion, and privilege through "provocative praxis," a form of provocative inquiry that drives the ethics of pedagogy to envision student success both equitably and sustainably. Chapters use real-life, scenario-based examples through a social-justice framework to engage readers and spark multi-directional discussion aimed at removing obstacles to equitable participation in internships for all students. Ultimately, this book offers a holistic understanding of internships that factors in the social, economic, and cultural challenges faced by college students today, and calls for wholescale reform to college campus internship programs.

The field of TESOL encompasses English teachers who teach English as an additional language in English-dominant countries and those teachers who teach English as a foreign language in countries where a language other than English is the official language. This range of educators teaches English to children, adolescents, and adults in primary, secondary, post-secondary, popular education, and language academies or tutoring centers. The diversity of learners and contexts within the TESOL field presents a unique opportunity for educators to address varied educational and societal needs. This opportunity calls for TESOL educators who can support the whole learner in a range of contexts for the greater social good. There is an urgent need for readily reproducible and step-by-step research-based practices and current standards in TESOL that bridge the gap between critical scholarship and equitable teaching practices. This book would serve as a critical addition to current literature in TESOL. TESOL Guide for Critical Praxis in Teaching, Inquiry, and Advocacy is an essential reference that provides practical and equitable step-by-step guides for TESOL educators through the current best practices and methods for effective and equity-minded teaching, critical inquiry, and transformative advocacy. This book is of particular value as it bridges theories to practices with a critical look at racial and social justice in English language teaching, which will lead to the integration of social justice-focused practice across the new curriculum. Covering topics such as integrated language instruction, equity and inclusivity, critical consciousness, and online learning, this text is essential for in-service and pre-service TESOL educators, education students, researchers, administrators, teacher educators, and academicians.

Critical Praxis Research (CPR) is a teacher research methodology designed to bridge the divide between practitioner and scholar, drawing together many strands to explain the research process not just as something teacher researchers do, but as a fundamental part of who teacher researchers are. Emphasizing the researcher over the method, CPR embraces and amplifies the skills and passions teachers naturally bring to their research endeavours. Emerging from the tradition of critical pedagogy, Critical Praxis Research: Breathing New Life into Research Methods for Teachers transcends longstanding debates over quantitative vs. qualitative and scholar vs. practitioner research. The text examines the histories and current applications of common methodologies and re-conceptualizes the ways that these methodologies can be used to enhance teachers’ identities as practitioners and researchers. It also provides a critical examination of the role of Institutional Review Boards, and explores the complexity and ethics of data collection, data analysis, and writing. Through guiding questions and writing prompts, the author encourages readers to think through the process of design and conducting CPR. The text is theoretically rich, but written in an accessible style infused with metaphor, irony, and humour. Critical Praxis Research: Breathing New Life into Research Methods for Teachers is both instructive and uplifting, sending the message that research is difficult but also joyful, like life itself.