English Leadership Quarterly - Peace, Love and Understanding, Apr 2011

Guest editor Judson Laughter offers a look at how teaching for social justice is introduced to preservice teachers and practiced in classrooms today. As Laughter says, “I believe that English language arts teachers are ideally placed to be effective agents of change in developing a world that can imagine a better way.’ David Arbogast suggests reflective journaling as the best way to understand ourselves” the basis for imagining a better world. Deborah Bieler wrestles with what happens when we fail, especially in that critical first year of teaching. Imagining a better world also requires trust and a safe place to engage with each other to discuss our imaginings. Scott Jenkinson helps us understand how to create that safe place in our classrooms. Finally, Monique Cherry-McDaniels reminds us all that peace may be a foreign concept to students who have grown up under the specter of active, perpetual war. This issue will help you spark the imagination, the poetry we need to imagine how things can be better.