Kevin Kumashiro

What does it mean to teach for social justice? Drawing on his own classroom experiences, leading author and educator Kevin K. Kumashiro examines various aspects of anti-oppressive teaching and learning and their implications for six different subject areas and various grade levels. Celebrating 20 years as a go-to resource for K-12 teachers and teacher educators, this 4th edition of the bestselling Against Common Sense: Teaching and Learning Toward Social Justice (2024, Routledge) features: An expanded introduction that examines teaching in today’s context of censorship and attacks on diversity, democracy, and teaching truth; New sections on teacher preparation, social studies, reading and writing, and the arts; Updated lists of resources in every chapter; Graphics, teacher responses, and discussion questions to enhance comprehension and help translate theory into practice across the disciplines. Compelling and accessible, the 4th edition of Against Common Sense continues to offer readers the tools they need to begin teaching against their commonsensical assumptions and toward democracy and justice. More information available here or at www.routledge.com

“Against Common Sense provides a much-needed perspective in an era when so many seek to deny students the right to a truthful and honest education. All of our children—regardless of their race or ZIP code, whether Native or newcomer—deserve classrooms that fight against rather than reinforce oppression. This book provides educators with a clear vision of anti-oppressive education and concrete examples of how to make that vision a reality across the curriculum.” - Becky Pringle, President of the National Education Association

Surrendered: Why Progressives are Losing the Biggest Battles in Education (2020, Teachers College Press) highlights how the broader Left (progressives, liberals, Democrats, teacher unions, civil rights organizations) are often talking about the “problem” in ways that were framed by forces quite counter to the goals of democracy and justice, and in so doing, advancing “solutions” that cannot help but be counterproductive. This book explains when, why, and how this has happened, particularly regarding the insidious nature of popular “reforms” as it dives into some of the biggest battles in education today, such as affirmative action, free speech and hate speech, bullying and violence, teacher shortages, and student debt. More information available here or at www.tcpress.com.

“A must read! Like a bright shooting star across a midnight sky, Kevin Kumashiro persuasively describes how the broader Left often talks about the ‘problem’ in outdated ways and offers a unique path forward in the overlapping arenas of K–12 education and higher education.” - Clarence B. Jones, former political advisor, personal lawyer, and draft speechwriter to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Teaching toward Democracy: Educators as Agents of Change, Second Edition (2016, Routledge) examines the contested space of schooling and school reform with a focus on the unique challenges and opportunities that teaching in a democratic society provides. This revised edition includes additional dialogues amongst the authors to further explore how they have individually and collectively reflected on the qualities of mind that teachers explore and work to develop as they become more effective educators. Co-authored by Drs. William Ayers, Erica Meiners, Therese Quinn, and David Stovall. More information is available here or at www.routledge.com.

"Teaching Toward Democracy challenges our core beliefs on today's pressing issues both inside our public schools and beyond them, too. The book is a must-read for teachers, parents, policymakers, university faculty, and students." - Deborah Meier, New York University

Bad Teacher!: How Blaming Teachers Distorts the Bigger Picture (2012, Teachers College Press) takes aim at the current debate on education reform, paying particular attention to the ways that scapegoating public-school teachers, teacher unions, and teacher education masks the real, systemic problems. It demonstrates how current trends, like market-based reforms and fast-track teacher certification programs are creating overwhelming obstacles to achieving an equitable education for all children. Bad Teacher! highlights the common ways that both the public and influential leaders think about the problems and solutions for public education, and suggests ways to help us see the bigger picture and reframe the debate. More information is available here or at www.tcpress.com.

“Kumashiro is a remarkable sleuth who … shows us how the deck is stacked, how the game is played, who gains, and who loses. Join him in a clarion call to build a Movement to reclaim public education.” - Robert P. Moses, The Algebra Project

The Seduction of Common Sense: How the Right Has Framed the Debate on America's Schools (2008, Teachers College Press) offers a powerful examination of current education policy initiatives as framed by the rhetoric of the political Right and the political Left. Critical of both sides, Kumashiro first provides a searching look at the Right and shows why it has succeeded so well in winning the debate about the purposes and possibilities of education. Turning then to the Left he shows how it has failed to win support for its initiatives and goals, especially regarding racial disparities in schools. This is must-reading for anyone concerned about the future of public education, especially right now. More information is available here or at www.tcpress.com.

"This is one of the most thoughtful books on education I have ever read. Kevin Kumashiro condemns fear as a hallmark in our conversations about schools, and promotes instead a spirit of freedom and democracy." - Studs Terkel, Pulitzer-prize-winning author and oral historian

Troubling Education: Queer Activism and Antioppressive Pedagogy (2002, Routledge) draws on interviews with anti-oppressive activists as it provides educational models for transforming classrooms. As this book explores new approaches to education, it troubles those very explorations by examining multiple ways of reading activism and its pedagogical role. Kumashiro demonstrates that how we read is as important as what we read; in doing so, he offers ways of "doing" research that complement curricular reform. More information is available here or at www.routledge.com. Recipient of the 2003 Outstanding Book Award from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights.

"Troubling Education offers a rare alternative to oversimplified, highly abstract, or technologizing approaches to social and cultural difference. Kumashiro grapples with concrete questions of classroom practice in context -- a task informed throughout by his innovative take on theorizing difference and social change." - Elizabeth Ellsworth, author of Teaching Positions: Difference, Pedagogy, and the Power of Address

Troubling Intersections of Race and Sexuality: Queer Students of Color and Anti-Oppressive Education (2001, Rowman & Littlefield) combines autobiographical accounts with qualitative and quantitative research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students of different racial backgrounds to examine the unique experiences of students who are both queer and of color. These essays not only trouble the ways that we think about the intersections of race and sexuality, but also offer theoretical insights and educational strategies to educators committed to bringing about change. More information is available here or at https://rowman.com.

"This is a critical anthology that stands as the first of its kind in that it deals with queer youths of color in articles written by, for, and about these young people within the context of education." - Didi Khayatt, York University