Reclaiming Teachers’ Agency in this Political Moment Editors’ Introduction to Special Issue #2 Teachers’ Work in Contentious Political Times

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Published: Apr 13, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14288/workplace.v37i1.187513
Keywords:
teachers' work, teacher agency

Main Article Content

Erin Dyke
Oklahoma State University
Denisha Jones
Defending Early Years
Brianne Kramer
Southern Utah University
Dana Morrison
West Chester University

Abstract

This issue of Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor is the second of two issues in a special series exploring the theme of teachers’ work in contentious political times. This series has been assembled by leaders of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Special Interest Group (SIG)–Teachers’ Work/Teacher Unions–to bring together critical scholarship on current issues impacting the work of educators in this politically contentious moment. The second issue extends our understanding of teachers’ work in these times with a series of astute empirical and conceptual studies, an interview, and a book review that, collectively, underscore the significance of reclaiming teachers’ collective agency in the face of the intensified forces of authoritarian political clampdowns and critical pedagogical disempowerment.

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 37 No. 1 (2026): Teachers’ Work in Contentious Political Times (Part 2) + Global Labour Research Centre Student Symposium
Section
Teachers’ Work in Contentious Political Times
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Author Biographies

Erin Dyke, Oklahoma State University

Dr. Erin Dyke is Associate Professor of Curriculum Studies and Laurence L. and Georgia Ina Dresser Professor in Rural Teacher Education at Oklahoma State University. Her research examines the pedagogies, organizing, and impacts of contemporary educator movements on educational practice and policy. She engages community-based and participatory methods, including oral history and practitioner action research, to investigate theories and practices of education for abolition, decolonization, and liberation.

Denisha Jones, Defending Early Years

Dr. Denisha Jones (she/her/ella) is the Executive Director of Defending Early Years and has spent 20 years working as a professor of teacher education. Her research interests include organizing activist research projects that examine grassroots movements to achieve racial justice in education, documenting the value of play as a tool for liberation with an emphasis on global approaches to play, and collaborating with parents and educators to foster positive racial, ethnic, and cultural identity development in the early years. Her first co-edited book, Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice, was published by Haymarket Books in December 2020. Denisha is a highly sought-after keynote speaker, educator, and consultant. For more information on her workshops and courses, visit www.djonesconsultant.com.  

Brianne Kramer, Southern Utah University

Brianne Kramer, Ph.D., is the AFT Chapter President and an Associate Professor of Education at Southern Utah University. Her research focuses on teacher workforce issues, diversity, equity, and inclusion, educational policy, and teacher activism. Her 2024 book Activists, Advocates, and Agitators: Justice-Oriented Organizing in the 21st Century featured teachers’ unions and grassroots organizations who are mobilizing movements locally and nationwide. She also currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the ACLU Utah Board.

Dana Morrison, West Chester University

Dr. Dana Morrison holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Delaware, specializing in Sociocultural and Community-Based Approaches. Her scholarship has focused on teacher activism, critical teacher education theory and practice, and the financialization of public higher education. She is faculty co-advisor to the WCU Chapter of the Student Pennsylvania Education Association (SPSEA) and the current Secretary of ASPCUFWCU. Dr. Morrison also co-chairs the Teachers’ Work/ Teachers Union SIG for the American Education Research Association (AERA). Dr. Morrison teaches courses in the Social Foundations of Education both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her principal specializations include: Philosophy and History of education, educational policy (K-Higher Education), and qualitative research methods in education.