While the term "public intellectual" has been used to describe scholars who seek to share their re-search with the public, little work has been done to examine the role of a public intellectual in the field of education. This book builds upon the notion of the public intellectual in a way that makes the term more accessible, using it to refer to education scholars who seek to share their research outside of academia. Media coverage of educational issues is rife with self-appointed experts on education who have claimed space in public discussions to define educational problems and dominate public dialogues on education. But where are the education researchers in these academic dialogues? This book addresses their absence, sharing the stories of scholars who are seeking to enter public dialogues and reclaim space for reasoned dialogue on education. The stories of public scholars highlighted here acknowledge that the policymaking arena is teeming with value conflicts that can lead to dismissing or ignoring research if it does not fit with political agendas.

""A Good Home" will delight your soul and touch your heart. There is magic in these words "
--DEBRA USHER, President and Editor-in-Chief, "Arabella Magazine"
Cynthia Reyes glass is almost always half full, but ours, as we read her uplifting story, brims over. "
--COLIN McALLISTER and JUSTIN RYAN, www.colinandjustin.tv
"A Good Home" is an addictive read, a profoundly emotional book about the author s early life in rural Jamaica, her move to urban North America, and her trips back home, all told through vivid descriptions of the unique homes she has lived in -- from a tiny pink house in Jamaica and a mountainside cabin near Vancouver to the historic Victorian farmhouse she lives in today, surrounded by neighbors who share spicy Malaysian noodles and seafood, Greek pastries and roast lamb, and Italian tomato sauce and wine (really strong wine).
Full of lovingly drawn characters and vividly described places, "A Good Home" takes the reader through deeply moving stories of marriage, children, the death of parents, and an accident that takes its high-flying author down a humbling notch. Its pages sparkle with stories and reflections on home as:
A foundation on which to build connections with children, relatives, and friendsA place to celebrate the joys of elegant design, overflowing gardens (except for the wisteria vine, which "cannot" be coaxed into blooming), and the sharing of good foodA wise teacher, showing us who we really were -- and who we really areWhen this brave, clear-eyed, and honest book returns, full circle, to the way it began, readers will want to read it all over again.
Cynthia Reyes has published non-fiction stories in "Arabella Magazine," one of the fastest-growing magazines in the United States and Canada, as well as in the "Globe and Mail" and "Toronto Life." Reyes is a former journalist and executive producer with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. More than a hundred episodes of her programs have appeared on network television. She is the winner of national and international awards and acclaim for her work as a television producer, project leader, and public speaker, including the Children s Broadcast Institute Award and the Crystal Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film and Television.