Students, parents, and educators at all levels are increasingly frustrated, demoralized, burned out, and discontented with education and schooling today. At no previous time has it been more necessary to revitalize hope in the promise of education or to reestablish joy in teaching and learning than the current moment. In this timely and inspirational volume, authors from diverse disciplines consider and affirm the many places across curriculum and context where hope and joy are or can be strong and vibrant. Drawing on the life-affirming ideals of renowned education philosopher and school founder Daisaku Ikeda, Hope and Joy in Education will reenergize educational research, theory, and practice. Featuring contributions from such luminaries as Theodorea Berry, Cynthia Dillard, Walter Gershon, Francyne Huckaby, Johnny Lupinacci, and Anita Patterson, this book reminds readers that the classroom is still a magical space, brimming with the brilliant and creative energy of young people.Book Features: Illustrates the power of Daisaku Ikeda's ideas to confront the challenging societal contexts and conditions that schools and educators face day in and day out. Shares narratives that employ critical and antiracist lenses to examine the authors' own activist work with different populations across multiple contexts. Considers Daisaku Ikeda's contributions relative to established and emerging trends in education, including the Deweyan tradition, ecojustice education, critical race feminism, and others. Provides cross-cultural examples and insights bolstering the current resurgence of humanistic, qualitative aspects of teaching and learning. Shows how the essential qualities of hope and joy fortify fields and themes that have been squeezed out by political agendas and standardized testing.

Set in Trieves, France, during the winter of 1843, this novel tells the story of Langlois, a dark and entrancing character. As a small town remains buried under snow, a series of mysterious events occurs: a girl disappears, a young man is attacked, and a pig is maimed. The frightened villagers ask the police for help, and they arrive in the village led by the enigmatic Langlois, a man who is soon revealed as being capable of carrying out the most monstrous and cruel acts--as well as the most compassionate. "Ambientada en Trieves, Francia, durante el invierno de 1843, esta novela narra la historia de Langlois, un personaje oscuro y fascinante. Mientras un pequeno pueblo permanece sepultado bajo la nieve, se produce una serie de eventos misteriosos: una muchacha desaparece, un joven es atacado y un cerdo es mutilado. Los lugarenos atemorizados le piden ayuda a la policia, y estos llegan al pueblo capitaneados por el enigmatico Langlois, un hombre que pronto se revela capaz de llevar a cabo los actos mas monstruosos y crueles--y tambien los mas compasivos."

Written by activist educators, Worth Striking For speaks to teachers and teachers-to-be about the drastic changes in the landscape of public education in recent decades, and focuses on what they need to know about the debates and complex issues of reform affecting their lives and professions. The book identifies the most significant shifts in education policy, including how policy has helped or hindered the broader educational purposes of schools. Using the 2012 Chicago teachers strike as a framing device, the authors demonstrate how each of the policy areas addressed is critically important to teachers' lives and work. Each chapter describes one of the Chicago teachers' demands, and then explores a related policy arena through the lens of an associated philosophical purpose of education. The text features individually authored vignettes that juxtapose the authors' personal experiences with the issues, bringing policy and policy activism to life. This hopeful book will inspire and empower teachers to take action in their schools, communities, districts, and states.

Written by activist educators, Worth Striking For speaks to teachers and teachers-to-be about the drastic changes in the landscape of public education in recent decades, and focuses on what they need to know about the debates and complex issues of reform affecting their lives and professions. The book identifies the most significant shifts in education policy, including how policy has helped or hindered the broader educational purposes of schools. Using the 2012 Chicago teachers strike as a framing device, the authors demonstrate how each of the policy areas addressed is critically important to teachers' lives and work. Each chapter describes one of the Chicago teachers' demands, and then explores a related policy arena through the lens of an associated philosophical purpose of education. The text features individually authored vignettes that juxtapose the authors' personal experiences with the issues, bringing policy and policy activism to life. This hopeful book will inspire and empower teachers to take action in their schools, communities, districts, and states.

Inspired by the life and work of Bill Ayers - particularly his advice to "teach into the contradiction" - Diving In reflects the intellectual adventures that Ayers has always encouraged those around him to undertake. Written by leading educators and activists, the collected chapters within this book are as diverse as the myriad contradictions that teachers encounter in their day-to-day practice and their out-of-class musings. The contributors use themes suggested by Ayers's work to open up new perspectives and discourses on key issues in education, such as education as a human right, participatory democracy, social justice, and liberation. Diving In offers much-needed hope at a time when teachers need it the most.