Personal, Passionate, Participatory Inquiry Into Social Justice in Education

A volume in Research for Social Justice Personal Passionate Participatory Inquiry (Sponsored by AERA Qualitative Research SIG and International Studies SIG) Series Editors Ming Fang He, Georgia Southern University and JoAnn Phillion, Purdue University Series Scope: Research for Social Justice: Personal Passionate Participatory Inquiry, the book series, demonstrates a form of educational inquiry that connects the personal with the political, the theoretical with the practical, and research with social and educational change. The principle aspect of this form of inquiry that distinguishes it from others is that the researcher is not separate from the socio-political and cultural phenomena of the inquiry, the data collected, findings, interpretations, or writing. The purpose of the proposed book series is to draw together work which demonstrates three distinct qualities: personal passionate participatory with explicit research agendas that focus on equity, equality, and social justice, specific research methodologies that illustrate the participatory process of the inquiries, and positive social and educational change engendered by the inquiries. Scope of the Book: Personal Passionate Participatory Inquiry into Social Justice in Education, the first book in the series, features 14 programs of social justice oriented research on life in schools, families, and communities. This work, done by a diverse group of practitioner researchers, educators, and scholars, connects the personal with the political, the theoretical with the practical, and research with social and educational change. These inquiries demonstrate three distinct qualities. Each is personal, compelled by values and experiences researchers bring to the work. Each is passionate, grounded in a commitment to social justice concerns of people and places under consideration. Each is participatory, built on long-term, heart-felt engagement, and shared efforts. The principle aspect of the inquiries featured in the book series that distinguish it from others is that researchers are not detached observers, nor putatively objective recorders, but active participants in schools, families, and communities. Researchers have explicit research agendas that focus on equity, equality, and social justice. Rather than aiming solely at traditional educational research outcomes, positive social and educational change is the focal outcome of inquiry. The researchers are diverse and their inquiries are far ranging in terms of content, people and geographic locations studied. These studies reflect new and exciting ways of researching and representing experience of the disenfranchised, underrepresented, and invisible groups seldom discussed in the literature, and challenge stereotypical or deficit oriented perspectives on these groups. This book informs pre-service and in-service teachers, educators, educational researchers, administrators, and educational policy makers, particularly those who advocate for people who are marginalized and those who are committed to the enactment of social justice and positive educational and social change.