Futuring Against the Grain: Doctoral Students Charting New Paths in Education Research

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

This presidential session highlights the visionary contributions of doctoral students whose research offers bold, justice-driven pathways for the future of education. Bringing together a diverse group of emerging scholars, the session explores how graduate research—spanning ethnography, historical analysis, policy discourse, narrative inquiry, participatory design, and AI—serves as a powerful vehicle for “intentional collective planning and future making” (Winn, 2025). Grounded in the 2026 theme, these scholars engage histories of harm and hope to reimagine education as a space of memory, resistance, and transformation.

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Chairs

• Cleveland Hayes, Indiana University - Indianapolis

• Honey Walrond, University of California - Berkeley

Participants

• María Cioe-Pena, University of Pennsylvania

• Claudia G. Cervantes-Soon, Arizona State University

• Ja’Nya Banks, University of California - Berkeley

• Amura Cameron, Old Dominion University

• Luis Alberto Legaspi, University of San Diego

• Darion A. Wallace, Stanford University

• Lucy Zhang, Teachers College, Columbia University