While the issue of advancing equity occupies the pages of many education journals across the world and pursuing it in schools and classrooms is a common instructional goal, there is an obvious absence of established school policies combined with pedagogies on how to achieve educational equity. Therefore, equity solution driven by inclusion, justice, and hope is needed to transform the current systemic educational inequities. To ensure and sustain the notion that all children have the opportunities they need to develop, succeed, and meet their potential, it is imperative that we move the discussion about the impact of education from celebrating the academic gain of a few, to the needs of the many marginalized students who are often discounted and dehumanized.

Who We Are and How We Learn: Educational Engagement and Justice for Diverse Learners serves as an education program handbook for understanding the complexities of student engagement and providing access, equity, and justice for learners, with an emphasis on students with diverse backgrounds. The book examines current research and best practices on engagement for these learners and explores educational issues through social, cultural, and racial lenses. Topics include the framing of student engagement and educational justice through social and cultural views, the role of cultural capital from home and school settings, and the influence of the funds of knowledge. The material addresses race and culture as they pertain to curriculum, instruction, and performance of all students, with focus on African American and Latino students. It examines social class and identity, social and cultural dimensions of family involvement as a predictor of student engagement, adaptations for English learners, and writing as a way to capture student voices. Filled with insights gained from field-based research and intended to ignite a passion for transformative action in education, this text is ideal for teachers, counselors, and administrators.