Truth Telling and Reparative Praxis in Education

This Research Topic invites contributions that critically engage with the role of education in truth telling and reparative praxis. In an era marked by historical reckoning, institutional denial, and the rise of AI-generated misinformation, education stands at a crossroads: it can either perpetuate harm or become a site of repair and justice.

We seek submissions that explore how truth telling is enacted across educational contexts—formally through commissions and inquiries, and informally through community-led initiatives. We intend to explore questions such as, how do recommendations from truth commissions translate into meaningful change? What frameworks support equitable and relational truth telling? How do we resist the dilution and co-option of reparative language by institutions?

We aim to bring together diverse global and transnational perspectives, especially those led by impacted communities, Indigenous scholars, and practitioners engaged in culturally grounded, justice-oriented work. We welcome reflections on institutional gaslighting, backlash against critical ideas, and the emotional labour of witnessing violence—both historical and ongoing. Authors are encouraged to imagine truth telling otherwise: as community-driven, ethically grounded, and resistant to performative gestures.

This Research Topic seeks to interrogate the role of education in truth telling and reparation. We aim to interrogate the ways that education is a space for accountability and justice, rather than a mechanism of harm and denial? By foregrounding community-led, culturally responsive approaches, we aim to explore how reparative praxis can be enacted equitably across global contexts. We hope to build upon scholarship that compares frameworks for truth telling and examine the enactment of formal recommendations and challenges the institutional resistance to justice-oriented work. Ultimately, this issue seeks to build solidarity across borders and disciplines, offering pathways for education to support repair, not repetition.

We welcome empirical studies, theoretical explorations, creative expressions, and alternative formats. Contributions from impacted communities, practitioners, and scholars working at the intersection of education, justice, and repair are especially encouraged.

We invite contributions that address themes including:

- Reparative practices in education: challenges, ethics, and possibilities

- The role of education in redress, justice, and community healing

- Community-driven truth telling: Indigenous design, culturally responsive practices, and care

- The co-option and dilution of reparative language by liberal institutions

- Institutional gaslighting, denial, and backlash against truth telling

- Comparative frameworks for global solidarity and equitable praxis

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Original Research
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: truth telling, reparation, repair, accountability, relationality

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.