In an era when public schools face bans on so-called “divisive concepts,” Brian D. Schultz, professor and chair of Teaching, Curriculum, and Educational Inquiry at Miami University, argues that educators must practice creative insubordination—a principled, imaginative form of resistance that keeps teaching focused on justice, inquiry, and students’ humanity. His article, “Creative Insubordination: Divisive Concepts, Critical Race Theory, and Navigating Current Curricular Controversies,” published in Professing Education (2023), urges teachers and teacher educators to sustain social justice education, culturally responsive teaching, and equity-centered pedagogy even under restrictive laws.

Schultz highlights how state policies limiting discussion of race, gender, and diversity have created fear and confusion in classrooms. Yet he shows that teachers can still “teach in the cracks”—finding small openings to support transformative pedagogy that empowers students to engage in social action curriculum projects tied to real-world community issues. At Miami, Schultz and colleagues also use threshold concepts to prepare future educators to view teaching as co-constructed, beyond standards, and humanizing.

Ultimately, this work reframes professional development for educators as an act of ethical courage—training teachers not merely to comply, but to think critically, act creatively, and nurture equity-minded learning in every classroom to develop critical thinkers and democratic citizens.

Faculty authors: Brian D. Schultz, Miami University
Keywords: social justice education, culturally responsive teaching, equity-centered education, transformative pedagogy, professional development for teachers, creative insubordination
Publication details: Professing Education, Vol. 21 No. 1 (2023). Read online