The present article draws from the biographical narratives of three South African high school female principals which are part of a larger research study in which 26 aspiring and practicing women school leaders were interviewed. Narratives were constructed from in-depth interviews with each participant and analyzed for themes that provided insights into the skills, knowledge, and understanding that contribute to an effective African-centered leadership style that values three key principles of ubuntu: spirituality, interdependence, and unity. Findings indicate these women’s narratives are a testimony to their moral and ethical commitments in which social emancipation, compassion, and care for the community’s children are firmly rooted at the center of their leadership style. This study answers the call for research that explores context-specific leadership.

Studies of teachers' lives, careers, and working environments (within the Canadian context) have until recently excluded the narratives of minority and Black women. This gap in knowledge when interrogated provides an informed angle from which to gage the effectiveness of educational policies and initiatives. The particular policy identified in this article is affirmative action, for women teachers that are focused on their promotion to educational administration. This article is informed by a teacher's reconstruction of her experiences “working against the grain” of a White teaching profession and conservative board of education in Southern Ontario that was reticent to accept employment equity for “racial-minority” women teachers before the advent of 1992 racially inclusive legislation. The time frame of the subject's narrative and her struggle for inclusion occurred between 1970 and 1983. The study draws attention to how a Black professional woman finds she must resist these limitations in her day-to-day professional life.

Educational theorists concerned with antiracist and critical multicultural practices have identified the need for teachers to begin changing the processes of social exclusion which children of colour experience in the school system. An ethnographic study of critical educators teaching practices is provided as a useful directive. The study examines how two critical educators respond to the diversity represented in their school by incorporating antiracist and critical multicultural approaches in their teaching practice. Of interest in relation to Julia Neuman’s practice is the question: How do white teachers negotiate their ‘whiteness’ in relation to the diversity in student population? In the case of Sita Ramana a South Asian teacher, the study considers how cultural and linguistic congruence with her students engages their interests in culturally response reading programs that involve dual language books as well as parent - student active participation in heritage language programs.

On September 22, 2011, Sharan Merriam visited Brock University to give a Distinguished Speaker Lecture entitled "Globalization: Challenges and Opportunities for Adult Education." Based on her research about the future of adult education within a global context, Merriam’s lecture sets the tone for this special issue on the impact of globalization for adult education and higher education. Merriam (2010) unpacked the phenomenon of globalization, connected it to the knowledge economy, and situated it within a contemporary, political, social, cultural, and educational context. Merriam (2010) highlighted the need for consideration of the trends and trajectories in adult education related to globalization as "adult education does not occur in a vacuum" (p. 408). She emphasized the need to consider research on lifelong learning that has been impacted by global education. Merriam’s work further highlighted the need for the sharing of knowledge among international educators in a global context.

In this special issue of Brock Education: Journal for Educational Research and Practice, we build on the knowledge mobilization (KMb) discourses initiated by the Ontario Ministry of Education (MOE), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), Knowledge Network for Applied Education Research (KNAER), Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE), and School District-University Research Exchange (SURE) network. We feature five journal articles and a book review addressing the three main KMb questions: How to assess KMb efforts across educational systems?  To what extent do educators use research to inform their praxis? How to make KMb work?