Using Critical Research for Educational and Social Change

This volume features the works of scholar-practitioners who embrace critical pedagogy and critical research as praxis in qualitative research about education. The authors take an explicit stance toward social justice through education, and they use critical research as a vehicle toward that end. The chapters critically engage with topics such as researcher role and position in critical research; collaborative research models with teachers and students; exploring visual epistemology in schools and with students; critical science education and cosmopolitanism; and developing praxis within teacher preparation courses and teacher research. Contributors push the boundaries of scholarship by presenting nuanced theoretical discussions or critical and timely educational issues via innovative forms of representation (i.e., fiction, narratives, dialogues, rich descriptions, and visuals).

This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education.

Dr. Tricia M. Kress is Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA. She specializes in critical pedagogy, ethnography, and socio-cultural theory. Recent publications include Critical Praxis Research: Breathing New Life into Research Methods for Teachers (2011) and Challenging Status Quo Retrenchment: New Directions in Critical Research (2012). She is co-editor of the book series, Imagination and Praxis: Creativity and Criticality in Education and Educational Research.