This book is based upon research conducted both before and after a visit to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia in March, 2003. During this time period United States (US) bombs fell on Baghdad, Iraq. An invasion of US and British ground forces in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities followed the initial bombing. Events during the onset of the war became a catalyst for gaining insight on how the US invasion of Iraq impacted the lives of teachers and their students in Malaysia. In June and July of 2003, the researcher returned to interview educators in Sabah, Malaysia. Follow-up electronic communications with educators were conducted through the remainder of 2003. After the research in Malaysia, the researcher conducted studies of educators' perspectives in Mexico, Canada, and the US. The key objective of the investigations in all four countries was to uncover attitudes and pedagogical comparisons of educators and their students regarding US policies, including war and counter-terrorism policies. Studies in the US took place in close proximity to the US/Mexico international border. Studies were analyzed through the lenses of place-based pedagogy, border pedagogy, and issues-centered approaches that provided baseline information for transnational comparisons and cross-comparative case studies. In this manner, the researcher contemplated the intersection of a critical pedagogy of place and border pedagogy. From these studies emerged new understandings and the development of a critical border dialogism . This critical border dialogism is based on following principles: heteroglossia, meliorism, critical cosmopolitanism, nepantla, dialogism feminism, and pragmatic hope. By its nature critical border dialogism engages us in multidirectional discourses that allow us to tackle issues and work toward enduring conflict resolutions. When applied in classroom settings critical border dialogism moves educators, students, and cultural workers in the direction of a critical border praxis.

Table of Contents:
Dedication. Chapter 1. Introduction, Timothy G. Cashman. Chapter 2. Comparative, International, and Transnational Research. Chapter 3. Pragmatic Hope and Meliorism as Essential Traits of Comparative, International, and Transnational Education. Chapter 4. Comparative Pedagogy, Border Pedagogy, and Pedagogy of Place. Chapter 5. Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia: How U.S. International Policies Are Addressed in Malaysian Secondary Schools. Chapter 6. Chihuahua, Chihuahua: How U.S. International Policies Are Addressed in Mexican Upper Elementary and Secondary Schools. Chapter 7. Eastern Ontario, Canada: How U.S. International Policies Are Addressed in Canadian Secondary Schools. Chapter 8. Border Pedagogy as a Conduit: Comparing the Perspectives of Educators in Malaysia, Mexico, and Canada. Chapter 9. Border High School: How a High School on the U.S./Mexico Border Addresses U.S. International Policies in Classrooms. Chapter 10. Comparing U.S. Classrooms: Student-authored Local History Projects in a New Mexico Classroom. Chapter 11. Effective Teacher Preparation: Issues-Centered Projects for Classrooms in the United States and Mexico Borderlands. Chapter 12. Through the Lenses of Place-based and Border Pedagogies: A Comparative, Cross-Case Study of Secondary Social Studies in Four Countries. Chapter 13. Toward a New Critical Border Dialogism. Navigating the Intersection of Place-based Pedagogy and Border Pedagogy. Chapter 14. Conclusion: From a Critical Border Dialogism to a Critical Border Praxis. Author Biography.