The Nexus of Teaching and Demographics: Context and Connections from Colonial Times to Today provides an overview of the evolution of education in the United States within the context of teacher preparation and demographics. Boyd Bradbury argues that the key to equitable education for all, including marginalized and underserved populations, is the nexus of teaching and demographics. Bradbury examines the history of education in the U.S., the relationship between minorities and education, the current state of teacher preparation, supply, and demand, and the potential impact of pedagogical dissonance, resilience, and best practices can have on creating diverse educational settings.

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The Nexus of Teaching and Demographics is intended as a “primer on the legal foundation and history” of public education in the US, with a particular emphasis on the challenges new generations of teachers will face in the future. The slim volume provides a brief account of the development of public schooling in the US as well as the ways two groups of “involuntary minorities” (African Americans and Native Americans) were excluded from and/or disciplined by this system. Bradbury points to changing demographics in the recent past to show why American public education has shifted from a focus on assimilation to cultural pluralism and then highlights the challenge of diversifying the nation’s teaching force to reflect the identities of the growing number of students of color. He concludes by pointing to the necessity of “pedagogical resilience” for new generations of both teachers and students…. [A] thoughtful meditation on the American education system. Faculty in teacher preparation programs will want to read it, and some future teachers might find it useful too. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates, faculty, and professionals.