His time there helped formulated his conceptions of civic education and social movements, as he witnessed protests and Argentina's political recovery.

With this group, they engaged students over politics, social issues, and music, eventually forming strong bonds that created campus movements.

[2]: 10  Eventually wanting to understand the process of schooling more, and needing to enrol in a master's program to continue to teach, he began his post-graduate studies at Stanford University in 1989.

[2]: 12  As a Spencer Dissertation Fellow at Stanford, Westheimer completed his Ph.D. thesis in 1995, titled "Among Schoolteachers: Community, Individuality, and Ideology In Teachers' Work".

[5] In September 1999, Westheimer testified at National Labor Relations Board hearings on behalf of NYU graduate students.

Westheimer believed his tenureship was revoked because of his defense of the rights of graduate students to unionize: "I remember that, shortly after I testified, I got a letter from an associate dean about something saying that he was "shocked and disappointed" at my behavior.

[4] At the start of 2002, the federal government charged the university with illegally firing Westheimer, as his 'extramural utterances' had no bearing on his academic work.

[4] After a five-month investigation, the Labor Board concluded that "the real reason for [Professor Westheimer's] denial of tenure was because of his union activities.

He was the co-founder and executive director of a research collective focusing on democracy in education and society, called Democratic Dialogue.