Book excerpt: Since its introduction in 1998, Finding Freedom in the Classroom has impacted countless educators and preservice teachers by providing provocative questions about taken-for-granted educational routines as well as an alternative, imaginative view of what classrooms might become. This revised edition brings the conversation to the present day with contemporary examples and references to the best current thinking and writing on relevant issues. By defining terms in everyday language and demonstrating their relevance to everyday life in and out of the classroom, the book demystifies such formidable concepts as hegemony, epistemology, and praxis for readers with little or no background in educational philosophy. Each chapter in this edition ends with several thought-provoking discussion questions and an annotated list of suggestions for further reading, which together provide a sturdy bridge between the theoretical and the practical. Finding Freedom in the Classroom can help teachers both imagine and build new classroom worlds, empowering students and teachers alike to actively shape - rather than passively accept - their fates.