Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons^™

Between Care And Competence: Rethinking Alternative Provision., Helen V. Mulligan

Plymouth Interdisciplinary Education Open Journal

This opinion piece argues that Alternative Provision (AP) in England is failing to meet the needs of vulnerable young people due to inconsistent staffing, inadequate specialist training, and the normalisation of low educational expectations. Although some AP settings demonstrate high aspirations and committed practice, the sector as a whole remains marked by variability and a lack of coherent pedagogical structure. Drawing on research into educational inequality, emotional labour, ethics of care, and professional identity, the paper contends that systemic reform is urgently required. Recommended actions include mandatory specialist training for AP staff, national standards for curriculum and pedagogy, stronger accountability …

Disciplining The "Unrestrained" Child Through Moral Rectification: The "Civilizing" Role Of The Us Educational System, Unleashing An Era Of Assimilation, Urnisha Dutta

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

Moral education in the US frequently has centered on cultivating “civic sense” and developing citizens who are morally akin to the dominant culture’s ideals. Although implemented as preventive measures (to avoid an otherwise inevitable suspension), these interventions are colored with dominant cultural sentiments that visualize differences as immoral. The idea of disciplining the “unrestrained” child thus aligns with a Western historical “civilizing” mission that aims at creating “moral citizens” through cultural erasure and behavioral transformation. This article discusses the unpleasant reality of moral education in the US educational system, demonstrating an inherent acculturation politics underlying behavior rectification initiatives. The essay …

About The Contributors

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

No abstract provided.

Early Intervention: Perspectives On Training And Practice, Christina M. Mirtes, Jessica A. Grimone-Hopkins, Audrey Farrugia

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

Early Intervention (EI) Specialists/Professionals serve children from birth through age three with developmental delays/disabilities, and their families. They conduct assessments, create Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs), collaborate with adjacent professionals, and use play-based interventions at home or in natural settings to support children’s development across the cognitive, communication, physical, sensory, social–emotional, and adaptive skills. The present study uses a mixed-methods approach, gathering qualitative data (focus group interviews) and quantitative data (survey) to evaluate participants’ perceived preparedness and self-efficacy of currently practicing Early Intervention (EI) Specialists/Professionals based on their higher education experiences, across various aspects and responsibilities of their jobs. Results …

Anti-Racist Teaching Today, Melissa Brooks-Yip

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

Anti-racist teaching has a long history in education and there have been recent changes in DEI policy for public education. This article reviews equity-based pedagogies, whiteness in education, racial literacy, and the implications for teacher professional learning moving forward.

Front Matter

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Equity In 9th And 10th Grade Ela Instruction, Alana Brown

Dissertations

Persistent racial disparities in English Language Arts (ELA) achievement remain a critical challenge in secondary education, particularly for Black students. This mixed-methods study examined the reading proficiency gap between Black and White students in Grades 9 and 10 on the state under study’s reading assessment. The purpose was to identify effective instructional strategies, necessary resources, and implementation processes to reduce the gap and ensure sustainability. Findings indicated that culturally responsive instruction, targeted intervention, and data-informed instructional coaching improved student engagement and reading performance. However, inconsistent implementation and limited early literacy foundations remained significant barriers. Recommendations include strengthening professional learning communities, …

Rainbow Promises, Uneven Promises: Framing Lgbtqia+ Educational Policy And Possibility In Education, Gerardo Lorenzo-Saucedo

Dissertations

Despite the expansion of LGBTQIA+ inclusive policies in K-12 education, disparities in students’ experiences with safety and belonging persist. This qualitative case study examines how such policies are interpreted and enacted within a high school and district in Southern California, and how these processes shape LGBTQIA+ students’ experiences.

Guided by ecological systems theory, queer theory, and multiple streams theory, this study conceptualizes policy implementation as a dynamic and socially constructed process influenced by power, ideology, and institutional context. Data were collected through interviews, document and artifact analysis, and observations, with analysis that used a multi-phased coding procedure.

Findings revealed that …

Part-Time Faculty In Art And Design Higher Education: Support & Challenges, Katherine Ye Jin Lee

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates the challenge part-time faculty in art and design higher education face and the institutional support they receive through a case study conducted at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Through an extensive, anonymous and voluntary part-time faculty survey across different departments at RISD, it examines: 1) current perceptions of available institutional & departmental teaching support, 2) teaching approach & practice, and 3) student-faculty engagement. The research aimed to gather data on challenges that are unique to part-time faculty in art and design fields, especially in relation to faculty-student engagement to understand areas where they can be better …

Making The Case For Career Academies In Shaping Pre-Collegiate Students For Stem Career Pathways, Felix Quayson

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

Career academies are increasingly important in preparing pre-collegiate high school students for STEM pathways by connecting academic learning, technical skill development, career identity, and postsecondary readiness. STEM-focused career academies function as structured bridges between secondary education, higher education, and the labor market. Through small learning communities, interdisciplinary curricula, employer partnerships, work-based learning, and early exposure to college and career expectations, career academies help students understand STEM not only as school subjects but as possible futures. Research suggests that career academies can improve student engagement, support school persistence, and strengthen labor market outcomes when implemented with fidelity. The article concludes that …

Built For This: An Autoethonographic Study Of A Journey Through Leadership Rooted In Reflection, Resilience, And Reinvention, Weslie Etienne

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative autoethnographic study examined how leadership was experienced, enacted, and sustained by a Black woman navigating district-level leadership within predominantly White institutional contexts. Grounded in Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, and Black Feminist Thought, this research centered lived experience as a site of knowledge production and employed longitudinal journaling and artifact analysis to capture leadership development as a temporal, relational, and embodied process. The study was guided by three research questions: (1) How did race, gender, and institutional structures shape leadership development and experience? (2) How were leadership identities constructed, negotiated, and sustained through self-authored narratives? and (3) How could …

Future Ready Young Adults: Building Creative And Adaptive Thinkers, Robell Yeung

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Abstract of Project

Future Ready Young Adults: Building Creative and Adaptive Thinkers addresses a developmental gap in educational practices that prioritize technical proficiency over the psychological frameworks necessary for navigating systemic ambiguity. This project introduces an interdisciplinary, modular curriculum specifically designed for the challenges of emerging adulthood. By synthesizing Creative Problem Solving (CPS), James Clear’s habit architecture, and Martin Seligman’s PERMA model, the curriculum provides a structured pathway for cultivating creative self-efficacy and financial capability. Moving beyond traditional views of innate creativity, this model employs asset-based frameworks to treat cognitive agility and ambiguity tolerance as developable competencies. The project culminates …

Being Compassionate Helps Improve College Students’ Perceived Well-Being. The Mediating Role Of Cognitive Flexibility And Perceived Anxiety, Saurabh Singh, Sarath Nonis

AMTP Proceedings 2026

Perceived well-being of college students is crucial to the success of students and institutions of higher education alike. Through this study we assert that promoting compassion among college students can improve their perceived well-being. Furthermore, the effect is mediated by cognitive flexibility and anxiety felt by students. The study has theoretical and managerial implications. The results can guide educators and university personnel to better craft curriculum and university communication.

Social Education In Disruption – From Pressure To Proactive Solutions, Aoife Prendergast

Journal of Social Care

In November 2025, FESET members gathered at the European Parliament in Strasbourg for our seminar, “Under Pressure – Social Education in Disruption.” The choice of venue was a deliberate statement of intent. By anchoring our discussions within the heart of European democracy, we underscored a fundamental truth: social education is not merely a domestic or peripheral concern. It is a vital pillar of social cohesion and the democratic fabric of the European project.

As President of FESET, it is an honour to introduce this collection of insights and research to the readers of the Journal of Social Care, reflecting …

Simulation Culture And Organizational Readiness In Social Work Education: Examining Faculty Perspectives., Kate Whitney

Doctor of Social Work Capstone Projects

Despite the growing emphasis on simulation-based learning (SBL), faculty perceptions of organizational readiness for this approach in social work education remain understudied. This exploratory mixed-methods study examined faculty readiness across two CSWE-accredited programs using the Simulation Culture Organizational Readiness Scale (SCORS) and qualitative open-ended questions (𝑁=21). Findings revealed modest and uneven readiness across both programs, with full-time faculty reporting significantly lower readiness scores than adjunct and part-time faculty. Qualitative data identified critical needs for foundational dialogue on SBL principles, strategic institutional investment, and targeted faculty development. Participants also expressed concerns regarding the pace of adoption and potential conflicts with the …

About The Contributors

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

No abstract provided.

Formatted Feelings: Rap As A Pedagogy Of Capitalized Emotion, Guanhua Yao

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

This article examines mainstream rap as a key apparatus through which capital formats emotional life under platform capitalism. Utilizing grounded theory coding for ten Billboard No. 1 rap tracks released between 2005 and 2025, the analysis identifies durable affective templates, commodified desire, spectacularized power, and curated vulnerability, that standardize how emotion becomes legible, repeatable, and marketable. Synthesizing affect theory, media sociology, and social dramaturgy, the article argues that rap teaches listeners how to perform feeling in ways compatible with visibility regimes and datafied attention economies. Rather than treating these songs as expressive artifacts, the study reframes them as pedagogical infrastructures …

Teacher Representation In Film And Television, Kailey Deweever

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

This article explores teacher representation in film and television, highlighting four main archetypes. It discusses how positive portrayals improve public perceptions and teacher self-image, while negative depictions harm both. Additionally, it critiques how infrequent depictions of actual teaching often trivialize the complexity of the profession.

Keywords: Teacher self-image, popular culture, teacher archetypes, teacher representation, film, television

Latisha King: Queer Confusion, Aggression, And Correction, Hannah Bollin

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

Latisha King was a 15-year-old biracial and transgender student at E.O. Green Junior High who was shot and killed by one of her peers on February 12, 2008. Latisha’s untimely death was followed by a court case during which she was blamed for her own murder due to her gender identity and sexual orientation. Through a thematic analysis of scholarly work alongside public media sources surrounding the case, this study argues that the transphobia that Latisha faced in her classroom was continued in the courtroom and media. More specifically, this article argues that the classroom, murder trial, and public media …

Notes On Redefining "Popular" Culture, Paul J. Ramsey

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

This article critiques the classic literature on popular culture, redefines the concept for the contemporary era, and introduces the following articles in this special issue of Impact. The articles in this issue demonstrate not only the ways in which popular culture has evolved in recent decades but also reveal the deeply educational aspects of that culture by shining a light on what is learned through it. 

Keywords: popular culture, education, informal education

Front Matter

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

No abstract provided.

The Role Of White Racial Identity Development In Leadership Practices: An Interpretive Phenomenological Study In White Educational Leaders, Kaitlyn Ryan

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined how white educational leaders experience and make meaning of their racial identity development as they lead adult professional learning focused on racial equity and culturally responsive practice. Grounded in Helms’s White Racial Identity Development (WRID) model and guided by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the study explored the lived experiences of ten white leaders across PK–12 and Institution of Higher Education (IHE). Data were collected through three semi‑structured interviews per participant and analyzed using IPA’s six‑step process. Five major themes emerged: transformational experiences that shifted leaders’ understanding of race and privilege; the critical role of white affinity …

Enhancing International School Implementation Capacity: Supporting Contextualized Learning At An International Baccalaureate School In China, Christopher J. Hayden Iv

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

International schools allocate substantial resources to implement progressive curricular innovations; however, the advantages offered by these developments are contingent on their effective execution within classroom settings. This mixed methods action research (MMAR) study examined the implementation of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Global Context (GC) Strategy in the Middle Years Programme (MYP) at an international school in China and asked how the school might strengthen its capacity to enact this and similar innovations. Following a sequential MMAR design, a reconnaissance phase combined a whole-staff survey (n=87) with qualitative interviews to diagnose the individual, organizational, and contextual factors shaping implementation. Analyses identified …

Measuring Academic Momentum: A Quantitative Study Of Supplemental Instruction As A Community College Student Support Strategy, Cornelia Slater

Dissertations of Practice

ABSTRACT

MEASURING ACADEMIC MOMENTUM: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION AS A COMMUNITY COLLEGE

STUDENT SUPPORT STRATEGY

Cornelia Vanessa Slater, Ed.D.

Department of Counseling and Higher Education

Northern Illinois University, 2026

Quortne R. Hutchings, Director

Community colleges serve as critical access points to higher education for diverse populations of students where completion rates are an ongoing challenge. Supplemental Instruction have been used as an academic intervention to improve success largely in four-year institutions. This quantitative study, guided by Xueli Wang’s momentum theory analyzed two research questions: (1) how supplemental instruction (SI) participation is associated with student academic success, course retention …

School And District Leaders’ Understanding Of Technology Organizations’ Cyber Business Practices, Jayejaye Johnson

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Educational technology (EdTech) interoperability throughout cyberspace provides the financial opportunity to collect and sell student privacy information in digital learning environments, challenging school leaders to govern schools and keep children safe. School leaders provide the resources, funding, planning, decision making, and administration for EdTech cybersecurity practices and policies, yet little is known about what public school leaders understand. A quantitative study was designed using primary data collected from an online survey. Four research questions guided this study: What are the differences in cybersecurity practices and policy response scores (1) between male and female school leaders; (2) among leaders with different …

Artificial Intelligence (Ai) Additions To Nursing Education: Accommodating The Complexity Of Today’S Populations And Assuring Evidence-Based Pathways Of Patient-Centered Care, Jamie Anne Marcus, Bonnette Villalba Webb, Abigail Pauline Batin Villarroya

FDLA Journal

Predicted demographic changes in the rising older than 65 populations with possible declining mental and physical health mandate adaptations to new professional nursing roles that will incorporate technology, and changing policy environments. Nursing experience, knowledge, and skills will transition to new cognitive pathways to think and process information. Nurses will be supported by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and become information integrators, health coaches, and continue to be deliverers of human caring. New transition pathways in nursing education to meet the needs of these diverse populations, and patient complex presentations will transcend to synergizing and optimize digital-age healthcare environments and assure …

9th Gsep Research Symposium - 2025

GSEP Research Symposium

The Ninth Annual GSEP Research Symposium, themed "Building Bridges to Elevate Humanity: Innovations and Insights in Education and Psychology", was hosted by the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) on June 19–20, 2025, at the historic Château d’Hauteville in Switzerland and virtually via Zoom.

This hybrid symposium convened a vibrant global community of students, alumni, faculty, and scholars to share research that addresses real-world challenges, advances scholarly inquiry, and builds pathways for inclusive collaboration and leadership. Spanning a wide array of topics—from artificial intelligence and mental health to trauma-informed practices, educational equity, social justice, and cross-cultural leadership—the …

The Influence Of Academic Outcomes On Academic Achievement: A Quantitative Study In Grades 3-12, Kelli R. Helle

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this predictive study was to examine the relationship between social and emotional learning (SEL) subskills and academic performance among students in grades 3–12. Using the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework, the study sought to identify which specific subskills were most strongly associated with student grade point average (GPA). A quantitative predictive correlational design was employed with a sample of 737 students representing diverse grade levels and backgrounds. Data were collected through the Satchel Pulse SEL assessment platform, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine the predictive value of SEL subskills while …

About The Contributors

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

No abstract provided.

Transpositions: Reflections On Friendship And Nine Days In October With Peter Beilharz And Sian Supski, Christopher G. Robbins

Impact: A Journal of Community and Cultural Inquiry in Education

In this essay, the author uses the idea of transposition to reflect on Peter Beilharz and Sian Supski's historic visit to Eastern Michigan University and southeast Michigan in October 2024. Transposition is used to deprivatize Robbins's reflections to consider broader and more generalizable concerns relative to pedagogy and educational philosophy. Further, transposition, in this regard, provided a way to reflect on the (increased) importance of friendship in academia.

Keywords: transposition, translation, friendship