Here’s a link to the interview.

Published by Sage Press in 2021, Doing Qualitative Research in a Digital World (by Trena M. Paulus and Jessica N. Lester) is a timely contribution to the field of social research methodology in a period when almost all the social research activities were moved to online. Even though we have gradually resumed our in-person activities, some researchers predict that many of the qualitative research activities will remain in the digital space. What does this mean to research communities and to the wider public? How are researchers going to do research differently? What has the new advancement of technology afforded to the current research practice? Doing Qualitative Research in a Digital World takes a deep dive into these questions. Both novice and seasoned researchers will benefit from the book’s comprehensive and in-depth discussion on digital tools and research methodology, which blends in together theories of technology, methodological theories, practical advice, and empirical cases.

This episode of the New Books in Education features English Learners at Home and at School: Stories and Strategies (Harvard Education Press, 2021) by Joyce Nutta.

Published in 2021 by the Harvard Education Press, English Learners at Home and at School sheds light on the lived experience of English Learners and their families through presenting six research-based and carefully crafted non-fictional stories. Each of the stories centers on an English learner’s immigration and educational journey. Nutta’s inspiring writing offers rich and detailed portraits of these immigrant children and youths, who walked diverse life paths and strived to become proficient English speakers while adapting to their new life in the United States. The book highlights factors in families, schools and communities that contribute to the success of minoritized English Learner students. It also examines and suggests educational strategies that can scaffold English learners’ academic success, such as including establishing dual-language classrooms, adapting instruction, and inviting parent participation.

Here’s a link to the interview.

Much has been reported and discussed about the hotly debated issue of immigration enforcement, yet a question is still to be explored: What is the impact of the immigration enforcement on schools and our educational system? In Schools Under Siege: The Impact of Immigration Enforcement on Educational Equity (by Patricia Gándara and Jongyeon Ee, Harvard Education Press, 2021), Patricia Gándara and Jongyeon Ee addressed this question using rich and comprehensive data from their survey and interview studies. More than 6 million school aged children and youths live in a household in which at least one of their close family members is undocumented. Schools Under Siege sheds light on what the immigration enforcement by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) means to these children. The book also explores the multi-faceted consequences, both direct and indirect, for their classmates, educators, schools, and communities.

Here’s a link to the interview.

The COVID19 pandemic has profoundly changed the landscape of K-12 education in our society. Last March, many states closed their brick-and-mortar schools and shifted to remote education. The massive shift is historic and unprecedented. Until now, while we see the light at the end of the tunnel in our battle against the coronavirus, millions and millions of students are still learning at home via online platforms. It is also because of this shift that digital learning all of a sudden has drawn attention from not only educators but also the general public from families to policy makers. Over the past months we have seen concerted efforts to invest in digital learning and improve the required infrastructure. In spite of this unexpected yet much welcomed attention from the society at large, digital teaching and learning a field has existed for a long time. Experts in the field have been documenting and exploring the best practice of digital teaching and learning. Today I am going to talk with three researchers who have been working in this field for a long time, Carolyn Heinrich from Vanderbilt University, Jennifer Darling-Aduana from Georgia State University and Annalee G. Good from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Last year, they published their new book with Harvard Education Press, titled Equity and Quality in Digital Learning: Realizing the Promise in K-12 Education (by Carolyn J. Heinrich, Jennifer Darling-Aduana, and Annalee G. Good, 2020). It systematically studies the implementation and best practice of using digital tools to reduce inequities in educational opportunities and improve student outcomes. Although the book was out right before the start of the pandemic, the lessons, best practice and insights they highlighted in their book have so much to offer for educators, policy makers and families to navigate a teaching-and-learning landscape during and after this pandemic.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Barbara Dennis of Indiana University on her new ethnography, Walking with Strangers: Critical Ethnography and Educational Promise, published in 2020 by Peter Lang Press.

Walking with Strangers features the IU-Unityville Outreach Project and tells the story of a 4-year-long participatory, critical ethnography in a local United States school district. The book speaks into the contemporary conversations around immigration, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and the experiences of Dreamers. The project involved a multilingual team of graduate students, educators, community members, and students who together aimed to transform school practices in order to bring about more success with transnational students who were enrolling in the district at an increasing rate. Over the span of several years, what began with a simple request for help, morphed into a rich ethnographic understanding of the complex tensions produced by monocultural and assimilationist ideals when juxtaposed with strangers. A unique and innovative feature about the book lies in that it seamlessly weaves together substantive discussions, methodological practices, and ethical challenges revolving around a transformative, social justice project.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Trena Paulus of East Tennessee State University and Dr. Alyssa Wise of New York University on their new book, Looking for Insight, Transformation, and Learning in Online Talk (Routledge, 2019). The book offers a comprehensive discussion of conducting research on online talk, which includes but is not limited to synchronous and asynchronous interactions on social media, discussion forums, and other forms of digital communication platforms.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Xueli Wang from the University of Wisconsin-Madison on her new book, “On My Own: The Challenge and Promise of Building Equitable STEM Transfer Pathways (Harvard Education Press, 2020). For decades, the shortage of STEM talents has been a national concern in the United States. Many discussions about this issue focus on K-12, undergraduate, and graduate education, whereas Xueli takes us to a much less examined road to look at the transferring pathways from community colleges to 4-year colleges. In today’s interview, you will hear us talk about the educational opportunities that the transfer pathways offer to an entire generation of American youths, especially those coming from disadvantaged family backgrounds. We will also discuss how these opportunities have been to some degree compromised for various reasons, and what are some of the things that colleges, universities, communities and the whole society could do to better support aspirational transferring students to pursue their educational dreams. Educators, policy makers, parents, and students who are interested in the transfer pathways will benefit from Xueli’s book, a much-needed and timely contribution to the ongoing conversation on educational equity in the United States.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Scott Seider from Boston College and Dr. Daren Graves from Simmons University on their new book, Schooling for Critical Consciousness: Engaging Black and Latinx Youth in Analyzing, Navigating, and Challenging Racial Injustice (Harvard Education Press, 2020). Over the past thirty years, we have seen a steady increase in students of color in American public schools. The Public School Review reported that from 1997 to 2019, the number of white students in American public schools has declined from over 63 percent to 49.7 percent. One of the key questions that we need to ask is how we shall prepare students of color to become competent and responsible future citizens, especially given the increasingly widening racial disparity in almost all aspects of the social life. Schooling for Critical Consciousness addresses how schools can help Black and Latinx youth to understand these racial disparities, resist the negative effects of racial injustice and challenge its root causes. Documenting and analyzing how five different mission-driven urban high schools cultivate critical consciousness among their students, Scott Seider and Daren Graves reported the findings of a four-year, longitudinal, mixed methods study. Timely and informative, the book is very helpful for teachers, school leaders, and parents who are interested in supporting youths of color to develop their critical consciousness, navigate their life in the contemporary American society, and challenge the entrenched racial injustice.

After an extremely busy spring semester, I did two more New Books in Education interviews with two of my favorite authors, Patricia Leavy on her new book, Spark, and Ali Michael on her award-winning book Raising Race Questions: Whiteness and Inquiry in Education. I thoroughly enjoyed both and have learned a lot from the conversations with Patricia and Ali.

Spark is a highly original novel about an unexpected yet extremely fruitful journey of a sociology professor, Peyton Wilde. Peyton, together with a diverse group of companions, was charged with answering a perplexing question in a five-day seminar held in Iceland. As they worked to address the question from very different perspectives, the experience also transformed each and every one of the team members. This innovative text offers far more than what a typical novel could offer: the author seamlessly incorporates into it a process of social inquiry. Readers can relate to the book on multiple levels. It can be read for fun, for a book club discussion, or adapted as a required text for qualitative inquiry courses in fields such as education, social work, and communication.

Here is the link to the podcast: Spark

In Raising Race Questions, Ali Michael worked with a group of white teachers to inquire about race and schooling. She has masterfully shown to us, how teachers can become more racially competent through asking difficult questions, building inquiry groups, and working on personal and interpersonal reflection. The book offers four guiding principles for teachers to inquire about race and racism: (1) the inquiry aims to make teachers and classrooms more whole than creating fractures; (2) teachers’ and students’ positive racial identity matter; (3) a multicultural curriculum is not sufficient for building an antiracist classroom; (4) racial competence can be learned. These principles are inspiring and helpful for not only teachers, but also all the citizens who care about the issues of equity, inclusion, and social justice.

Here is the link to my conversation with Ali: Raising Race Questions

The study of education policy is a scholarly field that sheds light on important debates and controversies revolving around education policy and its implementation. In this episode, I will be talking with three scholars who have made substantial contributions to this field by introducing an innovative perspective to the studies of educational policy—the discursive perspectives. In their new edited volume, Discursive Perspectives on Education Policy and Implementation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), editors Jessica Lester, Chad Lochmiller, and Rachael Gabriel, together with other contributors of the book, argue that we should pay close attention to how language is used as a mediation in the entire process of education policy conceptualization and implementation. The book offers compelling and diverse examples to demonstrate how researchers interested in different aspects of policy studies may employ language-based methodologies to enrich our understanding of crucial issues in the realm of policymaking. Thoughtfully produced and carefully presented, the book also won this year’s AERA Qualitative Research SIG outstanding book award.

This is my first time to conduct interview with more than one guest remotely. I am glad it went on so well! Thanks, Drs. Lester, Lochmiller, and Gabriel!