CEPress advances a pedagogical vision grounded in the practice of Critical Exploration in the Classroom.

Susan Jean Mayer, aka Shay, is a democratic curriculum and developmental learning theorist who has written on a range of issues related to democratic K-12 practice and on the study of exploratory pedagogies within schools. She is currently focusing on communicating the importance of progressive pedagogical commitments and practices to a broader audience. One recent venue for this work is the John Dewey Society (JDS) Democracy Initiative on Substack.

Mayer has taught in schools and in teacher education programs at Brandeis and Northeastern Universities and worked in educational publishing. Her 2012 book, Classroom Discourse and Democracy: Making Meanings Together, draws on democratic educational theory and on classroom discourse research to characterize distinctively democratic discursive features. A recently released co-edited volume, In Search of Wonderful Ideas, explores the use of the pedagogical approach Critical Exploration in the Classroom (CEC) for nurturing a democracy of ideas and advancing assets-based practices within teacher education programs. Her most recent book, Practicing Pragmatism through Progressive Pedagogies (Routledge) is now in paperback.