Educational Scholarship: Looking Forward While Casting Backward

There is no doubt that all educators, regardless of educational stage or discipline, have engaged in much reflection throughout 2020. The sense of loss when classes moved online and campuses were shuttered immediately is something that will likely remain in faculty and student minds forever. Importantly, the reflection on the academic disruption that began in March of 2020 enabled educators to discover what they had learned about critical issues such as student engagement and online teaching so as to be better prepared for the ongoing educational disruption throughout 2020. As I write this editor’s corner, the 2020 educational process has come to a close and I suspect the new normal is more of a malleable normal since it is no longer new but, at that same time, it is likely not stable. Maybe this is where we can overlay Weick (1999) and engage in disciplined reflexivity. That is, we, as educators, must be mindful of our reflexive turns but not overwhelmed by them and, essentially, see education in a new way and let that new way be a source of positive pragmatic change. Procedurally, reflection entails looking forward to what might be attained, while casting backward to see what we have accomplished (Yancey, 1998). As we turn the calendar from 2020 to 2021, it is a good time to cast back on this past year of the Journal of Marketing Education to see all that we accomplished (even in a time of worldwide turmoil) and to look forward at the groundwork that is in place for what we hope to attain in 2021. A bit of foreshadowing here—the Journal had a very successful and productive 2020.