Transformations

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Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy has unexpectedly paused publication. Ownership has transferred to PSU Press and a new editor, Freyca Calderon of Penn State Altoona, has been appointed. We aim to continue publishing with volume 31 in 2027.

Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary forum for pedagogical scholarship exploring intersections of identities, power, and social justice. The journal features a range of approaches, from theoretical articles to creative and experimental accounts of pedagogical innovations, from teachers and scholars from all areas of education. The mission of Transformations is to bridge the gaps between scholarship and teaching, between K-12, higher education, and teaching in non-institutional venues, between the classroom and the world. Transformations provides a community of readers and writers discussing the difficulties, challenges, strategies, anxieties, failures, and successes encountered in the classroom. By emphasizing interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary approaches, the journal provides teachers in university and other classrooms with tools they can use in their own teaching, and in planning and reflecting on their courses.

Editor
Freyca Calderon, The Pennsylvania State University, Altoona, US

Editors Emeriti
Jacqueline Ellis, New Jersey City University, US
Ellen Gruber Garvey, New Jersey City University, US
Edwige Giunta, New Jersey City University, US
Jason Martinek, New Jersey City University, US

Relaunch Issue: Spring 2027
Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy invites submissions for its relaunch as a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal committed to advancing critical, inclusive, and justice-oriented scholarship in education and related fields.

Founded as a space for work that challenges dominant paradigms in teaching, learning, and knowledge production, Transformations is being renewed under a new editorial team with the goal of amplifying scholarship that is intellectually rigorous, socially engaged, and responsive to contemporary educational realities. As education continues to be shaped by intersecting social, political, ecological, and cultural forces, Transformations seeks contributions that interrogate, disrupt, and reimagine pedagogical practices and scholarly traditions.

Scope and Focus
We welcome original manuscripts that engage with inclusive scholarship and pedagogy across educational contexts, including but not limited to:
-Equity-centered and justice-oriented pedagogies
-Culturally sustaining, multilingual, and decolonial approaches to teaching and learning
-Critical examinations of policy, power, and institutional structures in education
-Pedagogies responding to social, political, environmental, and global disruptions
-Community-engaged, practitioner-scholar, and participatory research
-Innovative methodological, theoretical, and narrative forms of scholarly work

Submission and Review Timeline
Submissions may be empirical, theoretical, methodological, reflective, or creative in form, provided they make a clear scholarly contribution and align with the journal’s mission. We accept full-length articles (6,000–10,000 words) inclusive of references and shorter formats (e.g., reflective essays, critical dialogues, teachers talk, etc.,) are particularly encouraged. See all types of submission below.

To submit an article to Transformations, please visit http://www.editorialmanager.com/transformations and create an author profile. The online system will guide you through the steps to upload your article for submission to the editorial office. Please refer to these submission guidelines before uploading your manuscript.

Commitment to Inclusive Scholarship
Transformations is committed to fostering an ethical, respectful, and inclusive review process. We especially encourage submissions from scholars whose voices and ways of knowing have been historically marginalized in academic publishing, including scholar-practitioners, early-career scholars, and community-engaged researchers.

Questions about the journal’s scope or the relaunch may be directed to the editor, Freyca Calderon, fxc85@psu.edu.

We look forward to building the next chapter of Transformations with a diverse community of scholars committed to inclusive and transformative educational work.

Submission Information
Transformations is a peer-reviewed semi-annual journal that invites college teachers to take pedagogy seriously as a topic of scholarly articles.

Authors who wish to submit their work to Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy must also consult the current calls for submission (below) to check the topics for which the journal is currently soliciting. All submissions must include a 150–200 word abstract and an author biography of 100 words or less. Refer to these submission guidelines before uploading your manuscript.

To submit an article to Transformations, please visit http://www.editorialmanager.com/transformations and create an author profile. The online system will guide you through the steps to upload your article for submission to the editorial office.

Types of Submissions:
Submissions should explore strategies for teaching in the classroom and in non-traditional spaces as well as changing notions of inclusion and inclusivity in scholarship and research as well as pedagogy. We welcome jargon-free essays from all disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. All manuscripts should be submitted in APA style (see the submission guidelines link above).

Articles (6,000–10,000 words) should explore teaching in ways that emphasize students’ perspectives and classroom dynamics. Authors should engage relevant scholarly sources and theories.

Methods and Texts (3,000–5,000 words) should analyze specific teaching strategies, tools, and/or resources.

Photo-Essays should include no more than 12 images (300 dpi, .jpg or .tiff files), with a width of at least 2.25 inches). An interpretative statement that provides context for the images (300-500 words) and captions of 50 words or less should also be included. Authors also must provide alt text to describe image content for accessibility for those using screen readers. Please see the PSU Press Alt Text Guide on page 6 of the submission guidelines for further information on writing alt text. Note that images can be reproduced in black-and-white only. Photo reproduction rights should be secured prior to submission.

Teaching Failures (2,500–5,000 words) essays should focus on a particularly challenging teaching and/or learning experience, a struggle with a specific teaching resource, or failure/success as related to pedagogical practice. More broadly, authors might explore the ways in which educational institutions and institutional structures define and engage failure and/or success (for example, academic silos, issues relating to academic freedom, work cultures, governance, etc.)

Teachers Talk comprises pieces in such formats as traditional interviews and roundtables, or in more informal dialogues and conversations, with educators from both academic and nonacademic institutions. Teachers Talk spans all disciplines; we welcome submissions for it from local and international voices. Contributors are responsible for transcribing and editing the interview. Early inquiries strongly encouraged.

Pedagogies in Turbulent Times (2,500–10,000 words). Education never unfolds in isolation; it is continually shaped by turbulence in the world around us. This section invites contributions that explore how moments of instability—from public health crises (i.e. COVID-19 pandemic) to political unrest (i.e., George Floyd and Black Lives Matter movement), from economic shifts to social justice struggles—affect classrooms, schools, activism, and communities of learning across local and global contexts. We welcome contributions that interrogate the pedagogical implications of these pressing and evolving conditions and studies on how educators, learners, and social activists navigate, resist, and reimagine pedagogy in these precarious contexts. Submissions might highlight new pedagogical practices, enduring challenges, or visions for transformative futures in the midst of change.

MLA International Bibliography