He teaches courses in curriculum theory, cultural studies, and the arts in education. His book The Best of the Best: Becoming Elite at an American Boarding School (2009, Harvard University Press) is based on two years of ethnographic research at an elite boarding school in the United States. His current research focuses on the experiences of young artists attending urban arts high schools in Canada and the United States. He is also the Principal Investigator of Proyecto Latin@, a participatory action research project with Latin@ youth in Toronto. His theoretical work focuses on the relationship between creativity, decolonization, and solidarity. He is particularly interested in the pedagogical and creative possibilities that arise from the social and cultural dynamics of urban centers.