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Many students living in poverty experience daily hopeless realities that prevent them from meeting their full potential. Adversely, hope makes it possible for one to engage in the struggle, to believe in the possibilities of tomorrow, and actively participate in their quest for transformation. This chapter explains the role critical hope plays in dismantling systemic oppression and dehumanizing order of what society has historically and unjustly prescribed them to be. As agents of hope (Strikwerda, 2019), educators can beget hopeful possibilities for our students by instilling a belief that change is possible and creating loving dialogical spaces that awaken a taste toward humanization.

In this introductory chapter, we articulate learning as the creative process of intentionally providing opportunities for growth in the learners’ cognitive, social, affective, and academic development and achievement facilitated and nurtured by true equity. The authors’ true equity framework entails providing the historically marginalized groups of students hope and justice, recognition and redistribution of resources needed to achieve their career and academic interests, motivation and engagement, consideration of the ways race and language matter in addressing inequities, and the critical consciousness required in interpreting, conceptualizing, analyzing, and interacting with the world in order to reach their career and academic achievement. The chapter recognizes and attempts to cover the social and cultural identities and needs of students who may be on the margins based on their race, ethnicity, religion, language, ability/disability, gender, sexual orientation, social class, and citizenship status. The authors believe that if we are truly committed to improving education for all children, we have to “mind the margins and it is imperative that we move the discussion about the impact of education from celebrating the academic gain of a few, to equity through inclusion of all, by attending to the needs of the many marginalized students who are often discounted.

Poverty has many varying negative effects on the health and well-being of those enduring it. Specifically, in the world of education, regardless of the many educational reform efforts over the last 50 plus years, poverty results in markedly lower achievement regardless of the metric used to determine academic success. Through this work we hope to shine light on the wealth gap in contemporary American society and the academic achievement gap that is an inevitable consequence of this inequitable concentration of monetary means. We review various literature sources to illustrate this problem and propose possible research-based solutions to ameliorate this societal ill. Using our previous works which resulted in the creation of the theoretical foundational framework of Critical Determination, we identify tangible steps that PreK-16 professionals can readily apply in an effort to minimize the current wealth gap and correlating achievement gap experienced by many students on the margins of the American public education system.

Despite the plethora of instructional programs and strategies emanating from research, our current efforts have not produced results that could prove to us that our approach in addressing the needs of English learners (ELs) is working adequately. We believe that aside from the lively and rigorous standard-based teaching that is designed by teachers and others involved in educating students, it is imperative to view the impact of teaching on student learning which would be indicative of how ELs are connected in the process based on what their backgrounds are, who they are with regards to social and cultural identities, and how they learn. We put forth the idea that the lack of progress in the language development and academic achievement of ELs is not solely due to the body of knowledge related to curriculum and instruction but influenced by a variety of factors that pertain to language and race. We think race matters in working with ELs because teachers like any other people may have prejudgmental ideological stances and cultural and racial biases that might influence their perceptions of their students as learners. Several equity-related matters such as identity recognition, sense of belonging, critical consciousness, and hope are viable considerations as well in teaching ELs. However, prejudice against students based on race reinforced by institutionalized language policies related to teaching and testing and microaggressions may turn out to be the culprit in causing the disengagement of English language learners.

Written in dialogue form, the benefits and equality of Universal Design vs. Differentiated Design taking into account individual student needs will be explored while integrating literature, research, and both K-12 and higher education experiences. The danger of a singular lens is highlighted as well as the need for educators to be lifelong learners. Both Universal Design and differentiation theories will be tested against and/or aligned with disability studies, multicultural education, critical pedagogy, democratic education, LGBTQ voices, and educational leadership.

This chapter is an unpretentious attempt to arouse teachers and educators to convert classrooms into democratic spaces for critical discussion about martial law in the Philippines, a form of military-ruled government during the time of Ferdinand Marcos, the president of the Philippines, who declared it in 1972. Using critical theory, pedagogy, and literacy as tools for engaging teachers in careful and rigorous academic exploration about the topic of martial law, this monograph encourages teachers to view themselves as cultural workers who intend to facilitate meaning-making with students through dialogue, critical deliberation, and courageous civic engagement. In addition, this chapter shares a list of critical pedagogy resources and reflective readings, a socially and culturally situated perspective, and a culturally responsive pedagogy for teachers in their quest for a more committed, caring, joyful, hopeful, and conscientious view of teaching as a human act of generosity and respect for students' identity and autonomy.