Copyright © Academy for Educational Studies Eric C. Sheffield, Managing Editor Jessica A. Heybach, Associate Editor An on-line, double-blind, peer reviewed journal hosted by The Academy for Educational Studies Critical Questions in Education: https://academyforeducationalstudies.org/journals/journal/ Academy for Educational Studies academyforeducationalstudies.org Steven P. Jones, Director Academy Mission Statement The mission of the Academy for Educational Studies is to foster a community of inquirers and provide a public space for debate and dialogue about important questions in education. The Academy encourages those interested in education, teaching, and learning to engage in thoughtful reflection, discussion, and critique of educational theory and practice. Involving people from across the state, region and country, the Academy promotes this vital dialogue by arranging education conferences and symposia and by creating publishing opportunities connected with Academy events. The Academy supports research efforts of grad- uate and undergraduate students and assists in the design and delivery of teacher education courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Executive Board: Stefan Broidy, Wittenberg University Sam Hardy III (Board President), Augusta State University Steven P. Jones (Director), Missouri State University David P. Morstad, Jr., University of North Dakota Karla Smart-Morstad, Concordia College Eric C. Sheffield, Western Illinois University Jerry Whitworth, Texas Woman’s University Betsy Furrows, Brevard College CQIE is indexed in EBSCOHOST Education Research Complete, CITEFACTOR, Gale/Cengage Learning, & Google Scholar. Copyright: Authors warrant that they are sole owners of the material included in the paper and that it is original and has never been published in any form previously. Authors grant to The Academy for Educa- tional Studies all right to the manuscript including rights of copyright. The Academy for Educational Stud- ies, in turn, agrees to grant permission to authors to republish their manuscripts subject only to the condition that Critical Questions in Education be given proper credit as the original source and the Academy for Educational Studies as original publisher. ** Cover design by Jessica A. Heybach ** Our thanks to the cadre of scholars who serve as reviewers without whose services the journal could not exist. Critical Questions in Education: Volume 11, Issue 1 The Academy for Educational Studies January 15, 2020 Colleagues and Friends of the Academy: We are pleased to publish this our first issue in the 11th year of Critical Questions in Education. We are also pleased to see our submissions this past year jump and to see that trend continue early into 2020. The manuscripts in Volume 11, Issue 1 take up a variety educational matters but generally reflect concerns that radiate well beyond education proper. The first manuscript, penned by Nev Ertas and Andrew McKnight, takes up a narrative policy framework analysis of op/ed pieces published on charter schools. Carol Greene, Bryan S. Zugelder, Louis L. Warren & Mark L’Esperance fol- low that with a study reporting on their findings as to what really motivates graduate students to pursue their studies in light of graduate student struggles. The final three “regular” manuscripts all focus on issues of colonization and its historical mar- ginalization of…everyone not white and male. Rose Borunda, et. al ponder a humanist inclusive white identity as the means to eliminate white supremacy. Will McCorkle’s ensuing piece pre- sents the case for introducing critical border theory to teacher education students. Such theories, McCorkle argues, can help pre-service teachers understand and fight xenophobia. Our final regu- lar article, by Fatima Pirbhai-Illich & Fran Martin, suggests that invitation and hospitality in edu- cational practice can be sources of decolonizing educational contexts. Volume 11, Issue two also has two book reviews both of which follow right in line with the man- uscripts: the most recent book in the Academy Book Series, A Case for Kindness by Steve Broidy, is reviewed by Patricia O’Rourke and Robin DeAngelo’s White Fragility is reviewed by independent scholar, L. Smith. Two very fitting books to end this issue. Please check out the Academy web site for information concerning our upcoming conferences, journals, and book series. Until June, happy reading. PAX, Eric C. Sheffield, Managing Editor Jessica A. Heybach, Associate Editor Critical Questions in Education Eric C. Sheffield, Managing Editor Jessica A. Heybach, Associate Editor ISSN 2327-3607 Volume 11, Issue 1 Winter, 2020 Contents Manuscripts A Narrative Policy Framework Analysis of Charter School Editorials in Local Media ...............................................................................................................1 Nevbahar Ertas & Andrew N. McKnight What Factors Influence Motivation for Graduate Education? .....................................................21 Carol Greene, Bryan S. Zugelder, Louis L. Warren & Mark L’Esperance Integrating “White” America through the Erosion of White Supremacy: Promoting an Inclusive Humanist White Identity in the United States ........................................38 Rose Borunda, HyunGyung Joo, Michele Mahr, Jessica Moreno, Amy Murray, Sangmin Park & Carly Scarton Introducing Students to Critical Border and Migration Theories in an Era of Xenophobia ................................................................................................................57 William McCorkle De/colonizing the Education Relationship: Working with Invitation and Hospitality ..............................................................................................................73 Fatima Pirbhai-Illich & Fran Martin Reviews A Case for Kindness By Steve Broidy .............................................................................................................................92 Reviewed by Patricia O’Rourke White Fragility By Robin DeAngelo ......................................................................................................................95 Reviewed by L. Smith ___________________________________________________________________________ A Narrative Policy Framework Analysis of Charter School Editorials in Local Media ___________________________________________________________________________ Nevbahar Ertas & Andrew N. McKnight, University of Alabama at Birmingham Abstract Policy debates about charter schools are often dominated by polarizing emotional narra- tives. However scholarly attention on narratives in education policy, and especially nar- ratives about charter schools in local contexts, has been limited. The recently developed Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) approach offers guidelines to systematically study the narrative elements and strategies that policy actors use to influence policy debates. Rely- ing on NPF, we conducted a content analysis of editorials and op-eds on charter schools from three local newspapers published in the 10 year period before the adoption of the legislation to answer the following questions: How did the editorials and op-eds in local newspapers cover charter schools prior to adoption of the legislation? Specifically, is it possible to identify core structural elements e.g. setting, characters, plot, and morals of policy stories in these narratives? Do these elements differ by endorsed policy solution? Narrative elements in the form of policy solutions, story types, causal mechanisms, and characters were identifiable, and their use differed by the endorsed policy solution. The concluding section discusses the role of local policy stories in public policy making, and proposes directions for future research. Keywords: Narrative policy framework, charter schools, policy narratives, education policy, pol- icy stories, local media Introduction Policy debates in the public arena are increasingly dominated by polarizing emotional narratives. Education policy is no exception. Some scholars even contended that the politics of educational policy can best be explained by a theory of political spectacle, “with directors, stages, cast of ac- tors, narrative plots, and a curtain that separates the action on stage—what the audience has access to—from the backstage, where the real ‘allocation of values’ takes place” (Smith et al., 2004, p. 11). As the American public has increasingly been subjected to political hyperbole concerning the success, failure, and goals of public schools, numerous reform efforts have been introduced by national, state, and local policymakers. One such policy is introduction of charter schools, defined as “a publicly funded school that is typically governed by a group or organization under a legisla- tive contract (or charter) with the state, district, or other entity” (NCES, 2019). Educators, policy makers, advocates, and skeptics disagree about almost every issue concerning charter schools from their purpose to their effects on achievement, equity or accountability. High levels of disagreement 2 Ertas & McKnight—A Narrative Policy Framework is often associated with larger ideological conflicts, and selective use of evidence and divergent narratives (Carnoy et al., 2005, Fabricant & Fine, 2015; Henig, 2008). While similar education reforms are spreading globally, the way in which they translate into local policy practices is based on constant and active reinterpretation and modification by local political actors (Verger, 2014, p. 15). Nevertheless