Editor's note

Abstract

            This is the final issue for me as interim editor of the Journal for the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies. The first issue was a special issue on algorithms and data science Peter Appelbaum and I co-edited. This issue is different in that there is no overarching theme just a wonderful review of Nicholas Ng-A-Fook’s work, a reflective piece, a dialogue between student and professor, some poetry, an article decolonialization, dealing with race, and the arts classroom, and a piece on policy, sports, and transgendered and gender non-conforming athletes, and finally a note of appreciation from our copyeditor Dr. Mayra Garcia-Diaz.

            I encourage you to read these selections. Do not just post on The Facebook or some other social media a note of congratulations and a promise to read later. Follow through with your declaration because we all have a story to tell before we die. What happens to that story if there are no readers? Are we not complicit in the death of the author if we limit our lives to declaring an intent to read but never do?

            Also, instead of falling prey to the temptation to become the easy critic, become an inventor. It is instinctive and typical to focus on the errors or to proclaim loudly you do not agree with an interpretation. Why not invent a new, affirmative, dialogue in the academic realm of critical exchanges and find something in these pieces to build a conversation with these authors? Why not build a new academic community within our community and see what is created?

John A. Weaver,

Former interim editor of JAAACS