- PhD Student |
- Educator |
- Organizer |
- Researcher |
- Linguist |
Dialectical Praxis
Welcome to Dialectical Praxis, the professional academic website for Derron Borders, PhD student in the Adult Learning and Leadership program at Kansas State University.
Dialectical praxis is the transformative process by which individuals and groups come to understand and change the world through reflective, critical, and embodied action. It is rooted in Marxist dialectics, enriched by Freirean conscientização, deepened through adult learning, and oriented toward liberation.
Dialectical (adj.) - refers to a way of thinking, reasoning, or engaging with the world that emphasizes contradiction, change, and the dynamic interplay of opposing forces. It is rooted in dialectics, a philosophical method with a long history, but most prominently developed by German philosopher, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
Praxis (noun) - refers to the process of putting theory into action, especially in a deliberate, reflective, and socially meaningful way. It’s not just action, and it’s not just thought — praxis is the fusion of both.
Academia
Learn more about my academic philosophies toward education, my research, and my organizational structure towards obtaining my PhD.
Learn more about my research interests and projects.
My research explores the intersection of social epistemology and adult learning, with a focus on how individuals in post-truth societies navigate—and transcend—epistemic bubbles and echo chambers. Central to my work is an investigation of the psychosocial dimensions of knowledge acquisition, retention, transmission, and assessment, particularly as they relate to moral reasoning, social identity formation, and reflective judgment.
In an era marked by fragmented information ecosystems and polarized discourse, adult learners occupy a critical space: they are both products of entrenched sociocognitive frameworks and agents capable of transformative epistemic growth. My research examines how adults interrogate and revise entrenched beliefs, particularly when confronted with disinformation, ideological polarization, or conflicting evidence. I interrogate the mechanisms by which individuals:
Reconcile moral intuitions with epistemic responsibility, balancing personal values against the demands of critical inquiry.
Negotiate social identity in knowledge communities, navigating tensions between belonging and intellectual autonomy.
Cultivate reflective judgment, developing the metacognitive skills to assess the reliability of sources, the validity of claims, and the ethical implications of knowledge practices.
Drawing on interdisciplinary frameworks from philosophy, cognitive psychology, education, and sociology, I analyze how adult learners rebuild epistemic agency in contexts where trust in institutions and experts is eroded. My work emphasizes the role of liberatory praxis in fostering intellectual humility, collaborative inquiry, and adaptive resilience. I also investigate structural barriers—such as algorithmic curation of information and neoliberal inequities in access to education—that perpetuate epistemic isolation.
This research aims to contribute actionable insights for educators, policymakers, and community leaders seeking to design interventions that empower adults to critically engage with complex information landscapes. By illuminating pathways out of epistemic entrenchment, I seek to advance a vision of lifelong learning that prioritizes not only individual intellectual growth but also collective epistemic well-being in a pluralistic democracy. Ultimately, I strive to bridge empirical research and normative theory, fostering societies where knowledge is not merely acquired but ethically lived.
My philosophical framework for approaching adult learning resarch and practice.
My philosophical framework is rooted in dialectical liberatory praxis—the symbiotic interplay of critical reflection and transformative action—as a means to dismantle oppressive systems and cultivate collective freedom. Grounded in the works of Paulo Freire, Myles Horton, bell hooks, Frantz Fanon, and other critical theorists, this framework rejects neutrality in education, insisting instead that teaching and learning must be acts of resistance, healing, and reclamation. Below, I outline the core pillars of my approach, weaving together feminist, decolonial, Marxist, and critical race theories to advance a pedagogy of radical hope and embodied justice.
“Education either functions as an instrument to bring about conformity or becomes the practice of freedom.” —Paulo Freire
Liberatory praxis begins with dialogue that bridges theory and lived experience. Drawing on Freire’s conscientização (critical consciousness), I frame education as a collaborative process where adult learners interrogate the sociopolitical conditions shaping their epistemologies. This dialogue is inherently feminist (hooks, Lorde) and decolonial (Mignolo, Quijano), centering marginalized voices as sites of knowledge production. By engaging learners in problem-posing rather than banking education, we co-create narratives that expose power structures—capitalism, settler colonialism, white supremacy—and imagine alternatives.
“There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” —Audre Lorde
My work prioritizes intersectionality (Crenshaw, Lorde) to confront the multiplicative violence of systemic oppression. Following Angela Davis and Toni Morrison, I analyze how race, gender, class, and coloniality coalesce to regulate access to knowledge and dignity. For adult learners in post-truth societies, this means:
Critiquing epistemicide: Challenging the erasure of Indigenous, Black, and queer knowledges (Mignolo, Lugones).
Embodied inquiry: Recognizing how marginalized bodies carry histories of resistance (Fanon, Morrison).
Solidarity across difference: Building coalitions that honor pluralistic truths without relativizing oppression (Lugones’s world-travelling).
“Decolonization is not a metaphor.” —Tuck & Yang
Informed by Indigenous and decolonial theories (Quijano, Mignolo, Tuck & Yang), my framework rejects the Eurocentric, neoliberal logics that fragment knowledge and commodify learning. Instead, I advocate for:
Relational epistemologies: Learning practices rooted in reciprocity, land-based wisdom, and communal accountability.
Unsettling coloniality: Exposing how modernity/coloniality constructs hierarchies of humanity (Quijano’s coloniality of power) and perpetuates epistemic bubbles.
Reclamation as praxis: Supporting learners in recovering subjugated histories and languages, fostering what María Lugones calls “decolonial love.”
“Without new visions, we don’t know what to build, only what to knock down.” —Robin D.G. Kelley
Liberatory education demands radical imagination—a Marxist-feminist commitment to envisioning worlds beyond capitalist exploitation and carceral logics (Davis, Marx). This involves:
Critical hope: bell hooks’s insistence on education as “the practice of freedom” amid despair.
Prefigurative politics: Creating microcosms of justice within classrooms (e.g., democratic decision-making, resource sharing).
Joy as resistance: Following Toni Morrison, centering joy and creativity as acts of defiance against dehumanization.
My praxis is embodied through:
Participatory action research: Collaborating with communities to design curricula that address localized oppressions.
Testimonio: Amplifying first-person narratives as pedagogical tools (a la Latina feminist epistemology).
Abolitionist pedagogy: Dismantling punitive educational structures and fostering restorative, learner-centered spaces.
I strive to create educational ecosystems where adult learners are not merely “critical” but creators of liberatory futures. By intertwining Marxist critiques of capital, feminist ethics of care, and decolonial demands for land/body sovereignty, my work seeks to rupture epistemic bubbles and equip learners to re-member—to piece together fragmented selves and societies.
My approach to organizing my academic program.
I use a combination of Zotero, GitHub, VSCode, and LaTeX to organize and prepare research and manuscripts. This integrated approach allows me to maintain version control, track project progress systematically, and produce publication-ready documents with professional typesetting. Below I explain how I integrate these various programs, websites, code, and formatting languages to achieve this comprehensive workflow.
LaTeX serves as the foundation of my document preparation system. Unlike traditional word processors, LaTeX separates content from formatting, allowing me to focus on writing while ensuring consistent, publication-quality output. I primarily use the apa7 document class for APA-compliant manuscripts, which automatically handles:
The beauty of LaTeX lies in its ability to handle complex academic documents with mathematical expressions, cross-references, and extensive bibliographies without the formatting inconsistencies common in traditional word processors.
Visual Studio Code serves as my primary writing environment, enhanced with the LaTeX Workshop extension. This setup provides:
The integrated terminal is particularly valuable as it allows me to manage Git operations without leaving my writing environment, maintaining focus and workflow efficiency.
Zotero manages all my research sources, enhanced by the Better BibTeX plugin for seamless LaTeX integration. My reference workflow includes:
.bib files that update automatically as I add new sourcesThis integration means I can add sources to Zotero throughout my research process, and they immediately become available for citation in my LaTeX documents without manual export steps.
Beyond manuscript preparation, I use GitHub Projects to manage my entire doctoral program coursework and deadlines. Each semester and course is organized systematically:
Program-Level Organization:
Course Progress Tracking:
Practical Example - Current Coursework:
Summer 2025 Milestone:
├── Issue: EDACE 790 - Characteristics of Adult Learners
│ ├── Sub-issue: Literature Review Paper (Due: June 15)
│ ├── Sub-issue: Reflection Essay (Due: June 25)
│ └── Sub-issue: Final Project (Due: June 27)
└── Issue: EDACE 785 - Curriculum Design
├── Sub-issue: Curriculum Outline (Due: July 15)
├── Sub-issue: Unit Development (Due: July 30)
└── Sub-issue: Final Curriculum (Due: August 8)This approach transforms my Gantt chart planning into an actionable, digital project management system where every course component is tracked, deadlines are visible, and progress is measurable.
Each research project or manuscript is organized as a GitHub repository with a clear structure:
project-name/
├── docs/
│ ├── main.tex
│ ├── sections/
│ │ ├── introduction.tex
│ │ ├── methodology.tex
│ │ └── conclusion.tex
│ └── figures/
├── references.bib
├── README.md
└── .gitignoreI use a feature-branch workflow where each major component or revision is developed on its own branch:
main branch contains the stable, submission-ready versionfeature/literature-review for developing the literature review sectionfeature/data-analysis for analysis and results sectionsrevision/reviewer-comments for addressing peer review feedbackGitHub Issues serve as my comprehensive project management system, handling both research manuscripts and coursework:
Research Project Issues:
Coursework Issues:
Each issue includes:
I organize issues using GitHub Project boards with columns representing workflow stages for both research and coursework:
Research Workflow Columns:
Coursework Workflow Columns:
Integrated Academic Dashboard:
I maintain a master project board that combines both research and coursework, using color-coded labels to distinguish between different types of work. This provides a comprehensive view of all academic obligations and helps balance research productivity with coursework demands.
This Kanban-style approach provides clear visibility into project status across all academic activities and prevents work overload by limiting work-in-progress items.
When completing a section or major revision, I create pull requests to merge feature branches into main:
This process creates a clear audit trail of document evolution and ensures nothing enters the main branch without review.
git checkout -b feature/theoretical-framework
# or
git checkout -b coursework/edace785-unit2-design.bib filegit add sections/theoretical-framework.tex
git commit -m "Add social learning theory framework discussion"
# or
git add coursework/curriculum-outline.tex
git commit -m "Complete learning objectives for adult learning unit"
git push origin feature/branch-namerevision/ branches for substantial changesFor comprehensive implementation guidance, including step-by-step installation instructions, configuration details, and troubleshooting strategies, I’ve created an updated technical guide: Typesetting Academic Manuscripts: A Practical Introduction to LaTeX with Integrated Project Management. This enhanced document now covers:
The integration of these tools has transformed my academic writing process from a chaotic juggling of multiple applications into a streamlined, professional workflow that scales from individual course assignments to comprehensive dissertations. The system provides unified management of research manuscripts, coursework deadlines, reference libraries, and collaborative projects within a single, coherent framework.
While the initial learning curve requires investment in multiple technologies, the long-term benefits dramatically outweigh the setup costs through improved efficiency, enhanced document quality, comprehensive project tracking, and professional-grade version control capabilities. This integrated approach positions academic work within modern software development best practices, ensuring scalability and collaboration readiness for contemporary research demands.
Activist | Scholar | Educator
Hailing from Ohio, Derron is a higher education professional who is passionate about collective liberation. He believes in the power of commmunity building across difference through interpersonal connections rooted in authenticity, trust, and grace.
As a PhD student in Kansas State University' Adult Learning and Leadership program, Derron is interested in radical philosophies of education, focusing on social epistemology, liberatory praxis, information literacy, and the impact that settler colonization and neoliberalism have on adult learning.
When not working, studying, or doing research, one can find Derron volunteering and organizing in his community. He serves as the Co-Chair of Next Generation for the Konza Manhattan Rotary Club, the Interim Member Coordinator for the Flint Hills Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, and is organizing a tenet union with Renters Together MHK.
Derron enjoys working at his garden plot at the Manhattan Community Garden, reading epic fantasy fiction, crafting, playing cozy video games like "Animal Crossing" or "Disney Dreamlight Valley," and studying and discussing linguistics and language.
Academic and Professional Timeline
2002-2003
I spent a year in Chimay and Couvin, Belgium as a high school exchange student, living with three different host families.
2003-2005
Took courses towards an associate’s while working full time.
2005-2008
B.A. in Linguistics, B.A. in French, Resident Advisor, Resident Manager, Underlings (Undergraduate Linguistics Club) Vice-president
2008-2009
Taught elementary ESL in Dax, France.
2009-2010
Taught elementary and high school ESL in Campos and s’Alqueria Blanca, Mallorca, Spain.
2010-2015
M.A. in Linguistics, Project Manager - Shohoni Language Project, Instructor - Department of Linguistics
2014-2016
M.A. in College Student Personnel, Graduate Coordinator - Ethnic Student Center, Office of Multicultural Affairs
2016 - 2023
Director, Language House; Assistant Director of Student Life and Academic Programming, Cornell in Washingong; Director, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, SC Johnson Graduate School of Management
2024 - Present
Investigator, Office of Civil Rights & Title IX; PhD Student in Adult Learning and Leadership
Learn more about my research interests and projects.
My research explores the intersection of social epistemology and adult learning, with a focus on how individuals in post-truth societies navigate—and transcend—epistemic bubbles and echo chambers. Central to my work is an investigation of the psychosocial dimensions of knowledge acquisition, retention, transmission, and assessment, particularly as they relate to moral reasoning, social identity formation, and reflective judgment.
In an era marked by fragmented information ecosystems and polarized discourse, adult learners occupy a critical space: they are both products of entrenched sociocognitive frameworks and agents capable of transformative epistemic growth. My research examines how adults interrogate and revise entrenched beliefs, particularly when confronted with disinformation, ideological polarization, or conflicting evidence. I interrogate the mechanisms by which individuals:
Reconcile moral intuitions with epistemic responsibility, balancing personal values against the demands of critical inquiry.
Negotiate social identity in knowledge communities, navigating tensions between belonging and intellectual autonomy.
Cultivate reflective judgment, developing the metacognitive skills to assess the reliability of sources, the validity of claims, and the ethical implications of knowledge practices.
Drawing on interdisciplinary frameworks from philosophy, cognitive psychology, education, and sociology, I analyze how adult learners rebuild epistemic agency in contexts where trust in institutions and experts is eroded. My work emphasizes the role of liberatory praxis in fostering intellectual humility, collaborative inquiry, and adaptive resilience. I also investigate structural barriers—such as algorithmic curation of information and neoliberal inequities in access to education—that perpetuate epistemic isolation.
This research aims to contribute actionable insights for educators, policymakers, and community leaders seeking to design interventions that empower adults to critically engage with complex information landscapes. By illuminating pathways out of epistemic entrenchment, I seek to advance a vision of lifelong learning that prioritizes not only individual intellectual growth but also collective epistemic well-being in a pluralistic democracy. Ultimately, I strive to bridge empirical research and normative theory, fostering societies where knowledge is not merely acquired but ethically lived.
My philosophical framework for approaching adult learning resarch and practice.
My philosophical framework is rooted in dialectical liberatory praxis—the symbiotic interplay of critical reflection and transformative action—as a means to dismantle oppressive systems and cultivate collective freedom. Grounded in the works of Paulo Freire, Myles Horton, bell hooks, Frantz Fanon, and other critical theorists, this framework rejects neutrality in education, insisting instead that teaching and learning must be acts of resistance, healing, and reclamation. Below, I outline the core pillars of my approach, weaving together feminist, decolonial, Marxist, and critical race theories to advance a pedagogy of radical hope and embodied justice.
“Education either functions as an instrument to bring about conformity or becomes the practice of freedom.” —Paulo Freire
Liberatory praxis begins with dialogue that bridges theory and lived experience. Drawing on Freire’s conscientização (critical consciousness), I frame education as a collaborative process where adult learners interrogate the sociopolitical conditions shaping their epistemologies. This dialogue is inherently feminist (hooks, Lorde) and decolonial (Mignolo, Quijano), centering marginalized voices as sites of knowledge production. By engaging learners in problem-posing rather than banking education, we co-create narratives that expose power structures—capitalism, settler colonialism, white supremacy—and imagine alternatives.
“There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” —Audre Lorde
My work prioritizes intersectionality (Crenshaw, Lorde) to confront the multiplicative violence of systemic oppression. Following Angela Davis and Toni Morrison, I analyze how race, gender, class, and coloniality coalesce to regulate access to knowledge and dignity. For adult learners in post-truth societies, this means:
Critiquing epistemicide: Challenging the erasure of Indigenous, Black, and queer knowledges (Mignolo, Lugones).
Embodied inquiry: Recognizing how marginalized bodies carry histories of resistance (Fanon, Morrison).
Solidarity across difference: Building coalitions that honor pluralistic truths without relativizing oppression (Lugones’s world-travelling).
“Decolonization is not a metaphor.” —Tuck & Yang
Informed by Indigenous and decolonial theories (Quijano, Mignolo, Tuck & Yang), my framework rejects the Eurocentric, neoliberal logics that fragment knowledge and commodify learning. Instead, I advocate for:
Relational epistemologies: Learning practices rooted in reciprocity, land-based wisdom, and communal accountability.
Unsettling coloniality: Exposing how modernity/coloniality constructs hierarchies of humanity (Quijano’s coloniality of power) and perpetuates epistemic bubbles.
Reclamation as praxis: Supporting learners in recovering subjugated histories and languages, fostering what María Lugones calls “decolonial love.”
“Without new visions, we don’t know what to build, only what to knock down.” —Robin D.G. Kelley
Liberatory education demands radical imagination—a Marxist-feminist commitment to envisioning worlds beyond capitalist exploitation and carceral logics (Davis, Marx). This involves:
Critical hope: bell hooks’s insistence on education as “the practice of freedom” amid despair.
Prefigurative politics: Creating microcosms of justice within classrooms (e.g., democratic decision-making, resource sharing).
Joy as resistance: Following Toni Morrison, centering joy and creativity as acts of defiance against dehumanization.
My praxis is embodied through:
Participatory action research: Collaborating with communities to design curricula that address localized oppressions.
Testimonio: Amplifying first-person narratives as pedagogical tools (a la Latina feminist epistemology).
Abolitionist pedagogy: Dismantling punitive educational structures and fostering restorative, learner-centered spaces.
I strive to create educational ecosystems where adult learners are not merely “critical” but creators of liberatory futures. By intertwining Marxist critiques of capital, feminist ethics of care, and decolonial demands for land/body sovereignty, my work seeks to rupture epistemic bubbles and equip learners to re-member—to piece together fragmented selves and societies.
My approach to organizing my academic program.
I use a combination of Zotero, GitHub, VSCode, and LaTeX to organize and prepare research and manuscripts. This integrated approach allows me to maintain version control, track project progress systematically, and produce publication-ready documents with professional typesetting. Below I explain how I integrate these various programs, websites, code, and formatting languages to achieve this comprehensive workflow.
LaTeX serves as the foundation of my document preparation system. Unlike traditional word processors, LaTeX separates content from formatting, allowing me to focus on writing while ensuring consistent, publication-quality output. I primarily use the apa7 document class for APA-compliant manuscripts, which automatically handles:
The beauty of LaTeX lies in its ability to handle complex academic documents with mathematical expressions, cross-references, and extensive bibliographies without the formatting inconsistencies common in traditional word processors.
Visual Studio Code serves as my primary writing environment, enhanced with the LaTeX Workshop extension. This setup provides:
The integrated terminal is particularly valuable as it allows me to manage Git operations without leaving my writing environment, maintaining focus and workflow efficiency.
Zotero manages all my research sources, enhanced by the Better BibTeX plugin for seamless LaTeX integration. My reference workflow includes:
.bib files that update automatically as I add new sourcesThis integration means I can add sources to Zotero throughout my research process, and they immediately become available for citation in my LaTeX documents without manual export steps.
Beyond manuscript preparation, I use GitHub Projects to manage my entire doctoral program coursework and deadlines. Each semester and course is organized systematically:
Program-Level Organization:
Course Progress Tracking:
Practical Example - Current Coursework:
Summer 2025 Milestone:
├── Issue: EDACE 790 - Characteristics of Adult Learners
│ ├── Sub-issue: Literature Review Paper (Due: June 15)
│ ├── Sub-issue: Reflection Essay (Due: June 25)
│ └── Sub-issue: Final Project (Due: June 27)
└── Issue: EDACE 785 - Curriculum Design
├── Sub-issue: Curriculum Outline (Due: July 15)
├── Sub-issue: Unit Development (Due: July 30)
└── Sub-issue: Final Curriculum (Due: August 8)This approach transforms my Gantt chart planning into an actionable, digital project management system where every course component is tracked, deadlines are visible, and progress is measurable.
Each research project or manuscript is organized as a GitHub repository with a clear structure:
project-name/
├── docs/
│ ├── main.tex
│ ├── sections/
│ │ ├── introduction.tex
│ │ ├── methodology.tex
│ │ └── conclusion.tex
│ └── figures/
├── references.bib
├── README.md
└── .gitignoreI use a feature-branch workflow where each major component or revision is developed on its own branch:
main branch contains the stable, submission-ready versionfeature/literature-review for developing the literature review sectionfeature/data-analysis for analysis and results sectionsrevision/reviewer-comments for addressing peer review feedbackGitHub Issues serve as my comprehensive project management system, handling both research manuscripts and coursework:
Research Project Issues:
Coursework Issues:
Each issue includes:
I organize issues using GitHub Project boards with columns representing workflow stages for both research and coursework:
Research Workflow Columns:
Coursework Workflow Columns:
Integrated Academic Dashboard:
I maintain a master project board that combines both research and coursework, using color-coded labels to distinguish between different types of work. This provides a comprehensive view of all academic obligations and helps balance research productivity with coursework demands.
This Kanban-style approach provides clear visibility into project status across all academic activities and prevents work overload by limiting work-in-progress items.
When completing a section or major revision, I create pull requests to merge feature branches into main:
This process creates a clear audit trail of document evolution and ensures nothing enters the main branch without review.
git checkout -b feature/theoretical-framework
# or
git checkout -b coursework/edace785-unit2-design.bib filegit add sections/theoretical-framework.tex
git commit -m "Add social learning theory framework discussion"
# or
git add coursework/curriculum-outline.tex
git commit -m "Complete learning objectives for adult learning unit"
git push origin feature/branch-namerevision/ branches for substantial changesFor comprehensive implementation guidance, including step-by-step installation instructions, configuration details, and troubleshooting strategies, I’ve created an updated technical guide: Typesetting Academic Manuscripts: A Practical Introduction to LaTeX with Integrated Project Management. This enhanced document now covers:
The integration of these tools has transformed my academic writing process from a chaotic juggling of multiple applications into a streamlined, professional workflow that scales from individual course assignments to comprehensive dissertations. The system provides unified management of research manuscripts, coursework deadlines, reference libraries, and collaborative projects within a single, coherent framework.
While the initial learning curve requires investment in multiple technologies, the long-term benefits dramatically outweigh the setup costs through improved efficiency, enhanced document quality, comprehensive project tracking, and professional-grade version control capabilities. This integrated approach positions academic work within modern software development best practices, ensuring scalability and collaboration readiness for contemporary research demands.
Activist | Scholar | Educator
Hailing from Ohio, Derron is a higher education professional who is passionate about collective liberation. He believes in the power of commmunity building across difference through interpersonal connections rooted in authenticity, trust, and grace.
As a PhD student in Kansas State University' Adult Learning and Leadership program, Derron is interested in radical philosophies of education, focusing on social epistemology, liberatory praxis, information literacy, and the impact that settler colonization and neoliberalism have on adult learning.
When not working, studying, or doing research, one can find Derron volunteering and organizing in his community. He serves as the Co-Chair of Next Generation for the Konza Manhattan Rotary Club, the Interim Member Coordinator for the Flint Hills Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, and is organizing a tenet union with Renters Together MHK.
Derron enjoys working at his garden plot at the Manhattan Community Garden, reading epic fantasy fiction, crafting, playing cozy video games like "Animal Crossing" or "Disney Dreamlight Valley," and studying and discussing linguistics and language.