Change Matters

«In this compelling group of essays, editors sj Miller and David E. Kirkland, and the distinguished authors they have assembled, point out how social justice can and indeed, must, be visible in English education. Eschewing the pseudo-neutral world of traditional research, they suggest instead that researchers and educators provide a counternarrative to the field based on moral agency and equity. Passionate and convincing, these essays will be invaluable to those looking to make change that matters in English education.» (Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita, Language, Literacy, and Culture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
«‘Change Matters’, which gestures toward policies of social justice in English education, is admirable in its concern, refreshing in its specificity, and correct in its optimism. It insightfully demonstrates how we can speak words to action as we begin to extract students, teachers, and ourselves from this neo-liberal morass. I hope that this book’s call to place equity and human dignity at the heart of educational policy and practice resounds from every local hallway to the Hill.» (Keith Gilyard, Distinguished Professor of English, The Pennsylvania State University)
«‘All’s well,’ says the town crier as he lights the lamps for the night, spreading the gospel of stability and inevitability. But his purpose is pure mystification, for all is certainly not well. ‘Change Matters’ is a kind of antidote: it invites us to open our eyes to the deception, and to notice that the current moment is neither fixed nor immutable nor entirely determined, and, further, that its imperfections and injustices – all the unnecessary suffering, all the undeserved pain – must become a cause for resistance. Teachers, who often feel themselves shackled, bound, and gagged, will find here allies with whom to oppose passivity and cynicism, and plenty of reasons to announce, through action, the seeds of a new world in-the-making. Miller and Kirkland incite us to pay closer attention, to be astonished, and to get busy in a project of repair. They have gathered here a community of smart educators and thinkers who remind us that whatever we find to be the case sits side-by-side with what might be the case or what should be the case. They urge us to live with one foot planted firmly in the world as it is, while the other strides confidently and hopefully toward a world that could be, but is not yet.» (William Ayers, Senior University Scholar, Distinguished Professor of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago; Author of‘Teaching Toward Freedom’)