Megan Blumenreich

Avoiding the pitfalls of ‘conventional’ narrative research: using poststructural theory to guide the creation of narratives of children with HIV

The purposes of this article are to acknowledge challenges to traditional narrative inquiry raised by poststructural theory, and to demonstrate how poststructural thought can guide narrative research. After placing narrative inquiry within the broad historical context of educational research, and offering a poststructural critique of ‘traditional’ narratives, the author uses this critique to guide the development of narratives of children with HIV. Excerpts of a narrative of a nine-year-old HIV-positive boy, and excerpts from the author’s own construction of the research and ‘stance’, are provided.

Research and teacher self-inquiry reawaken learning:

This article reports on a study of teachers who have engaged in systematic research about their practice. It describes the inquiries of two urban teachers into challenges and dilemmas common to many who work with diverse groups of students. The accounts presented reveal how teachers are able to construct new knowledge about teaching when they engage as inquirers about their work; they invent new solutions to nagging problems, identify new challenges that need to be addressed, and respond to the unique contexts and needs of the children and families of the communities in which they teach.

Social media illuminates some truths about school reform

Montclair Cares About Schools (MCAS) is a citizen-activist group in Montclair, N.J., that used Facebook, emails, and online petitions to inform and organize citizens on local educational policy issues. Emerging in response to a new superintendent’s plans to reshape Montclair schools with new teacher evaluations, administrative hires, and extra districtwide quarterly assessments, MCAS has had some degree of success in opening a dialogue and keeping the community informed about changes to the Montclair School District.

Research as Discovery, Teaching as Trust: Developing New Perspectives Through Teacher Research

Abstract This paired-format article describes how one of the authors (Rodriguez) undertook a teacher research study of homework in the urban first-grade classroom in which she was a paraprofessional. Her findings influenced her to broaden her perspective on homework. Her graduate professor (Blumenreich) discusses the challenge of supporting a student to make her own discoveries.

Discovering Inquiry-Based Learning Through Oral History Projects

HELPING TEACHER CANDIDATES REASSESS THEIR EDUCATIONAL philosophy is a vital aspect of preparing the current generation of candidates to become innovative teachers. Because of federal mandates that have emphasized accountability for the last two decades (Ravitch 2010), this generation of American teacher candidates, most often educated in schools that were focused on accountability rather than children’s learning, may have never experienced student-centered teaching as students. This trend of focusing on accountability has been strongest in urban schools (Schneider 2011), making it even less likely that teacher candidates from these settings might have had firsthand experience with inquiry-driven curricula.

Confidentiality, Equity, and Silence: A Critical Look at School Policy for HIV Positive Children.

Joseph’s teacher was frustrated with the nine-yearold boy because he was often absent from his special education class. This teacher, however, was unaware that Joseph was HIV positive, that he missed school for doctors’ appointments, and that his difficult personal history included suddenly losing both his parents to AIDS when he was five years old. Although children like Joseph require a tremendous amount of support in school, current New York and federal confidentiality laws1 keep their HIV/AIDS status unknown to school personnel, thereby making school an uncomfortable place of secrecy. In this article, I question whether confidentiality laws interfere with the effort to meet the educational needs of HIV positive children. Laws intended to provide children with equal access to education often function primarily to keep schools ”safe” for dominant groups rather than to serve more marginalized children most effectively. I argue that the legal discourse and apparatus that have developed around HIV, despite their oftenprogressive intentions, prevent school from being a satisfying experience for many HIV positive children. Presenting qualitative research on the school experiences of two HIV positive elementary schoolchildren, I demonstrate some inadequacies of current policies to make room for new conceptualizations of how to be inclusive of populations of children who do not easily fit into the current systems. Thus, although children with HIV are a relatively small population,2 and their experiences differ significantly from those of children with less stigmatized illnesses,3 this examination nonetheless has implications for exploring how schools accommodate marginalized populations in general.