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2018 AERA Presidential Address. Discretionary Spaces: The Power of Teaching in the Struggle for Justice in and through Public Education

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Title: 2018 AERA Presidential Address. Discretionary Spaces: The Power of Teaching in the Struggle for Justice in and through Public Education
Language: English
Authors: Deborah Loewenberg Ball (ORCID 0000-0002-0399-0316)
Source: Educational Researcher. 2026 55(3):155-172.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 18
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive
Descriptors: Social Justice, Public Education, Teaching Methods, Educational Practices, Educational Policy, Teaching (Occupation), Educational Theories, Ethics, Politics, Professional Education, Instruction, Learning, Decision Making
DOI: 10.3102/0013189X251389934
ISSN: 0013-189X
1935-102X
Abstract: Although teaching is one of the most common occupations, experienced by nearly all individuals and enacted by millions of professionals, its power to reproduce or disrupt oppression is often underestimated. Situated within broader social, political, and historical contexts, teaching reflects and is shaped by enduring patterns that marginalize groups of people, forms of knowledge, and ways of knowing. Yet this is not only a macro-level phenomenon; through everyday micro-interactions, teaching can nurture students' flourishing or constrain their learning and identities. Building on scholarship on discretion in professional practice and policy implementation, I argue that teaching's potency derives in significant part from the discretionary spaces inherent in its enactment. These spaces of interpretation, choice, and action are both ubiquitous and structured by broader systems of oppression. By conceptualizing discretion as both a risk and a resource, this analysis advances theoretical understandings of teaching and underscores the ethical, political, and educational stakes of teachers' work, pointing to an expanded role for professional education.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1501178
Database: ERIC
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  Data: 2018 AERA Presidential Address. Discretionary Spaces: The Power of Teaching in the Struggle for Justice in and through Public Education
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Deborah+Loewenberg+Ball%22">Deborah Loewenberg Ball</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0399-0316">0000-0002-0399-0316</externalLink>)
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  Data: Although teaching is one of the most common occupations, experienced by nearly all individuals and enacted by millions of professionals, its power to reproduce or disrupt oppression is often underestimated. Situated within broader social, political, and historical contexts, teaching reflects and is shaped by enduring patterns that marginalize groups of people, forms of knowledge, and ways of knowing. Yet this is not only a macro-level phenomenon; through everyday micro-interactions, teaching can nurture students' flourishing or constrain their learning and identities. Building on scholarship on discretion in professional practice and policy implementation, I argue that teaching's potency derives in significant part from the discretionary spaces inherent in its enactment. These spaces of interpretation, choice, and action are both ubiquitous and structured by broader systems of oppression. By conceptualizing discretion as both a risk and a resource, this analysis advances theoretical understandings of teaching and underscores the ethical, political, and educational stakes of teachers' work, pointing to an expanded role for professional education.
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