"Martusewicz fills a gap in educational theorizing and philosophy of education with this volume of elegant prose and meaningful storytelling. She is able to bridge a range of discourses including autobiography, post-structuralism, Buddhism, and ecology in her effort to explicate the complex relationships between pedagogy, difference, and ethics."

–Wendy Kohli, Director of Teacher Education, The New School and President of the American Educational Studies Association, 2000/2001

"Unites the generative power of classroom interaction with an ethical commitment to alleviate suffering and promote social justice, and superbly weaves together formal pedagogical philosophy with personal classroom experiences. My teaching has improved, as will that of most readers, as a result of this book."
–Joel Spring, The New School University

In this eloquent collection of essays, Rebecca Martusewicz positions a philosophy of education that relies on what transpires between teachers and learners in various contexts. She thoughtfully analyzes how, in the relationship between teachers and learners, all kinds of ideas, beliefs, interpretations, and meanings are generated as a result of potent generative forces that depend, as she demonstrates using post-structuralist theories, on difference as their fuel. Ultimately she argues that to become educated requires an attention to the welfare of self and others and a willingness to confront and shift one’s own habits, practices, and beliefs for that purpose. This work contains:

• Clear translations of post-structuralist theories such as those of Deleuze, Serres, and Derrida
• Well-written essays that blend good storytelling, theory, and ethical analysis to reconceptualize education as the means toward social justice
• A clear argument for the drawing together of analyses of difference introduced by post-structuralism with attention to ethics and social justice as they apply to education