Thinking in the Midst

Walker Ballard, Joseph Kahne, and Agata Soroko sat down to talk with Cara about young adults, adolescents, and democracy. They share what they’ve learned from listening to young people and offer some insights into how we can build from listening to young people to support their development as democratic citizens. 

For more from Walker:

Ballard, W. W. (2026). A Democratic Defense of the German Gemeinschaftsschule. Comparative Education Review, 70(2), 358–376. https://doi.org/10.1086/740458

Ballard, W. W., & Capretta, T. J. (2025). The ethics of inclusion: A case-based inquiry into educational decision-making for (im)migrant students. Theory and Research in Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/14778785251351268

Osly Flores, Michael Gunzenhauser,  Rosa Rivera-McCutchen sat down to talk with Cara about care,  leadership, and racial justice. They highlighted that care occurs within contexts and systems. To care demands racial justice with attention to daily conduct. School leaders can set the tone, develop structures, and lead with care. 

For Mike and Osly's new book: Gunzenhauser, M.G., Flores, O.J., & Quigley, M.W. (2025). Race-conscious caring in educational leadership: A narrative ethics. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

For more by Mike and Osly:

Gunzenhauser, M.G., Flores, O.J., & Quigley, M.W. (2024). Race-conscious caring for anti-racist leadership: A narrative ethics for cultivating communal responsibility. Journal of School Leadership, 34(1), 3-25.

For more by Mike:

Gunzenhauser, M.G. (2024). ⁠Thinking with school leaders: What can philosophers offer⁠? Philosophical Studies in Education, 55, 77-87.

For writing on radical care from Rosa:

Rivera-McCutchen, R. L. (2021). Radical care: A framework for leading for justice in urban schools. Teachers College Press. 

Rivera-McCutchen, R. L. (2020). “We don’t got time for grumbling”: Toward an ethic of radical care in urban school leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 57(2), 257-289.

Other works by Rosa: Rivera-McCutchen, R. L. (2023, October). Radical care in post-pandemic schools. American School Board Journal. 201(5), 44-45.Rivera-McCutchen, R. L. (2021). White privilege and power in the New York State opt out movement. Teachers College Record, 123(5), 1-18.

David Blacker sat down to talk with Cara about psychedelics and learning. They highlighted that care occurs within contexts and systems. He moved between specifics about psychedelics, a wider discussion of learning, Kant, and quite a bit of Socrates. 

For more check out: 

DEEPER LEARNING WITH PSYCHEDELICS: PHILOSOPHICAL PATHWAYS THROUGH

ALTERED STATES (State University of New York Press, 2024)

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://psyche.co/ideas/psychedelics-are-philosophical-tools-for-demolishing-assumptions__;!!LAh5qUgpm5Y!GIuPy9Ydbh6qwhBh2vWXbdl5AwX1NqIt7uB46rxQRne-7I3KBPXXqNyz-o6r2PJ2PZkMkBD_152le7DxwIB_NXH8iA$

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://djblacker.scholar.st/__;!!LAh5qUgpm5Y!GIuPy9Ydbh6qwhBh2vWXbdl5AwX1NqIt7uB46rxQRne-7I3KBPXXqNyz-o6r2PJ2PZkMkBD_152le7DxwIDBl610xw$

Tadashi Dozono, Alex Armonda, and Andrew Thompson sat down to talk with Cara about  Troubling Curriculum and Justice. They discussed curriculum development and modification, attention to students, interruption and disruption, and how all these factors come together to trouble curriculum for the sake of justice. 

For Tadashi’s full paper:

Beyond Negated Identity: Mediating the World History Classroom through Adorno's Negative Dialectics - Dozono - 2026 - Educational Theory - Wiley Online Library

For the rest of the Educational Theory Issue:

Educational Theory Volume 76, Issue 3

For more from Tadashi:

Discipline Problems: How Students of Color Trouble Whiteness in Schools (Penn Press, 2024). 

Eugenic ideology and the World history curriculum: How eugenic beliefs structure narratives of development and modernity

The fascist seduction of narrative: Walter Benjamin’s historical materialism beyond counter-narrative.

For more from Alex:

A Lacanian Foundation for Critical Pedagogy 

Collective Pedagogy, Allegory, and the Political Unconscious

For more from Andrew:

Rethinking Subjectification: On the Limits of Biesta's Educational Theory

In Defence of Comics

Growth and Degrowth: Dewey and Self-Limitation

For the video on labor strikes in Southern Illinois.

When Miners Strike (Healing Illinois: Race, Slavery, and the Law)

Allison Lam sat down to talk with Cara about teaching is inquiry. She explained how inquiry orients her teaching and how it helps her follow the child, incorporate movement, and be flexible in her lessons. 

Cindy Ballenger and Kristi Cameron sat down to talk with Cara about  teaching is inquiry. They explained why inquiry is necessary for teachers to do well by children with numerous examples. They also articulated why inquiry is key not only to serve children but to keep the teacher engaged and full of joy. 

For Teaching Is Inquiry: https://www.tcpress.com/products/teaching-is-inquiry_9780807786604

For more books by Cindy:

Regarding Children's Words: https://www.tcpress.com/products/regarding-childrens-words_9780807777404

Teaching Other People's Children: https://www.tcpress.com/products/teaching-other-peoples-children_9780807737897

For more from Kristi:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09575146.2025.2581750

https://ojs.library.okstate.edu/osu/index.php/ctd/article/view/10533

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13158-025-00478-6

https://b4c13cc8-23a7-4792-93c0-b9a7044e82fc.filesusr.com/ugd/803b74_4f3c15fe10894601b498b8f17e3e6c34.pdf

Fran Agnone, Joy Dangora Erickson, and Ilya Zrudlo sat down to talk with Cara about  youth development outside of school and in non formal spaces. Working in and studying youth development in community organizations, they the surfaced powerful, important, and often hidden work in these spaces and how community organizations offer key opportunities for voice, engagement, community and education. 

For more by Joy:

https://sunypress.edu/Books/L/Living-Well-Together

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14687984251412194

For more by Ilya: 

https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/navigating-the-moral-landscape-of-youth-development-and-community-education-9781350532168/

Adele Bruni Ashley, Meg Davis Roberts, and Susan Verducci sat down to talk with Cara about the teacher teacher as an artist. They focus on the teacher as an artist – both artfully teaching and bringing other creative arts into teaching.

For organizations to connect with: 

National Council of the Teachers of English

New York State English Council 

National Writing Project

Hudson Valley Writing Project.

Literacy Unbound

Alexandra Chang, Frank Marino, and PJ Nelson sat down to talk with Cara about the importance of teacher autonomy. They highlighted that autonomy is relational and teacher autonomy requires work with others. They also stressed that teacher autonomy has been increasingly limited by mandates – making it hard for teachers to do well by children. 

For Alex’s featured paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/edth.70066

For the rest of the issue: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17415446/2026/76/2

To learn about MORE: https://www.morecaucusnyc.org

Danielle Layne, Eli Kramer, and Philip Seyfried sat down to talk with Cara about caring for the human self, artificial intelligence, and how to harness and grow AI to support human flourishing.  

For more from Danielle check out: https://www.daniellelayne.com/

For more on Palinode:

palinode.substack.com (for podcasts, blog pieces, etc.)

palinode.org (the umbrella organization for our broad ranging efforts in promoting deep philosophy and humane learning today.)

khora.world (landing page describing our platform)

search.khora.world (landing page to mess around with the public first fledgling version of Khora)

For more from Philip check out: 

https://www.philip-seyfried.com

https://www.ai-enhancedliteracy.org

https://www.ascd.org/books/ai-enhanced-literacy?variant=125036

https://www.tcpress.com/products/ai-supported-teaching-for-multilingual-learners_9780807784174