Hope and Joy in Education

Students, parents, and educators at all levels are increasingly frustrated, demoralized, burned out, and discontented with education and schooling today. At no previous time has it been more necessary to revitalize hope in the promise of education or to reestablish joy in teaching and learning than the current moment. In this timely and inspirational volume, authors from diverse disciplines consider and affirm the many places across curriculum and context where hope and joy are or can be strong and vibrant. Drawing on the life-affirming ideals of renowned education philosopher and school founder Daisaku Ikeda, Hope and Joy in Education will reenergize educational research, theory, and practice. Featuring contributions from such luminaries as Theodorea Berry, Cynthia Dillard, Walter Gershon, Francyne Huckaby, Johnny Lupinacci, and Anita Patterson, this book reminds readers that the classroom is still a magical space, brimming with the brilliant and creative energy of young people.Book Features:Illustrates the power of Daisaku Ikeda's ideas to confront the challenging societal contexts and conditions that schools and educators face day in and day out.Shares narratives that employ critical and antiracist lenses to examine the authors' own activist work with different populations across multiple contexts.Considers Daisaku Ikeda's contributions relative to established and emerging trends in education, including the Deweyan tradition, ecojustice education, critical race feminism, and others.Provides cross-cultural examples and insights bolstering the current resurgence of humanistic, qualitative aspects of teaching and learning. Shows how the essential qualities of hope and joy fortify fields and themes that have been squeezed out by political agendas and standardized testing.

"In this timely and insightful work, Nuñez and Goulah present an intriguing collection of essays by writers from varied educational disciplines to specifically engage with Ikeda's perspectives on the interrelated topics of hope and joy to, 'inform and inspire educators as they undertake the urgent task of infusing their research and practice with the essential attributes of hope and joy in teaching and learning.'"--Paul Sherman, Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy

Isabel Nuñez is professor of educational studies and director of the School of Education at Purdue University Fort Wayne. Jason Goulah is professor of bilingual-bicultural education and director of the Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education at DePaul University in Chicago, IL, and executive advisor at the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning and Dialogue in Cambridge, MA.