During a conversation with teachers in early childhood, middle school, and high school classrooms, a theme emerged regarding the difficulty some students are having with in-person learning. Students who had[...]

When You Wonder   This book is a delight to read--whether or not one was a fan of Mister Rogers' neighborhood at some time during its 33 year run. The[...]

Educational policy makers, philanthropic foundations, and school reformers have struggled for years with the difficulty of improving the quality of public education, especially among the most economically distressed districts. In[...]

This article offers a useful perspective on the historical roots of the dissertation and argues that it is a specific and, in many ways, a unique genre of writing. The[...]

My Stroke of Insight   This book differs from many others that we have featured in the library. It does not focus on educational issues. Rather, it is a personal[...]

  Connelly and Clandinin were among the first educational researchers to advocate for the legitimacy of narrative inquiry. This article is still relevant for those who are just beginning to[...]

A great deal of folklore circulates among doctoral students who are looking for information on how to successful negotiate the dissertation process. One bit of common wisdom focuses on the[...]

Capra, Fritjof. The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems (New York: Anchor Books, 1996). The Web of Life Capra, Fritjof and Pier Luigi Luisi. The Systems View[...]

Grounded theory was and continues to be a popular form of qualitative research. In part, the appeal of grounded theory is that it has fairly explicit and rigorous procedures for[...]

Nicholas A. Christakis. Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society.  New York: Little, Brown, Spark, 2019. The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society Nicholas Christakis is a physician and[...]

When the word "research" is mentioned, the importance of objectivity often comes immediately to mind. In fact, for centuries "objectivity" has been assumed to be a hallmark of legitimate research[...]

Practice embedded research most often takes the form of interpretive inquiry.  It is not unusual for new comers to this paradigm to struggle with how it differs from traditional scientific[...]

Furman, Cara E. & Traugh, Cecelia E. Descriptive Inquiry in Teacher Practice: Cultivating Practice Wisdom to Create Democratic Schools. New York: Teachers College Press, 2021. This book is must reading[...]

In spite of this article’s title, the conversation about the nature of educational inquiry continues. However, when educators first began to engage in qualitative research, there was a great deal[...]

The S-P Nexus Store is now open with items that feature mazes created by Joe Wos, nationally acclaimed cartoonist and maze maker. We commissioned Joe to create mazes that would[...]

Wendy Milnes, an elementary art teacher, responded the S-P Conversation blog calling for teachers to share their experiences of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to sharing her thoughts[...]

Hacker, Andrew & Dreifus, Claudia. Higher Education? How Colleges are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids--And What We Can Do about It.  New York: Times Books, 2010. Higher Education?[...]

Haskie, Miranda, Barbara Mink, & Kathy Tiner (editors). The Future of Navajo Education. Fielding University Press, 2021. In the current debate about improving the quality of American education, the subject[...]

We are grateful to everyone who shared their experiences and thoughts about coping with the COVID induced challenges as the school year wound down. Now, with the beginning of a[...]

Jack, Anthony Abraham. The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges are Failing Disadvantaged Students. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019. The Privileged Poor Anthony Jack begins by acknowledging that elite universities[...]

Kendi, Ibram X. How to Be an Antiracist. (New York: One World, 2019). How to Be an Antiracist In this thought-provoking book, Kendi holds a mirror up to racism, seeing[...]

Kirn, Walter. Lost in the Meritocracy: The Undereducation of an Overachiever. (New York: Doubleday, 2009). Lost in the Meritocracy Kirn’s memoir offers a cautionary tale for those obsessed with achieving[...]

Kurchak, Sarah. I Overcame My Autism and All I got was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder: A Memoir (Madeira Park, British Columbia: Douglas & MdIntyre, 2020). I Overcame My Autism Increasingly,[...]

When you hear the term "Scholar-Practitioner" what thoughts come to mind? Do you see yourself as a Scholar-Practitioner? Is this a professional identity you value? What adjectives do you associate[...]

Matousek, Mark. Ethical Wisdom: What Makes Us Good. New York: Doubleday, 2011. Ethical Wisdom A great deal of attention is given to the skills that educators need to be competent[...]