Education Commons^™

Insights From Alumni: A Grounded Theory Study Of A Graduate Program In Sustainability Leadership, Heather Burns, Megan Schneider

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

This grounded theory action research study examines the impact of a graduate sustainability leadership program through the lens of its alumni. The study reveals elements of the leadership program that had the most impact on the lives and careers of its alumni, as well as suggestions for how the program could better prepare students in the future. This study finds that impactful sustainability leadership programs might incorporate opportunities for: paradigm and perspective shifts; a culture of support and care; holistic personal growth and development; experiential community-based learning opportunities; and leadership tools and skills that students can practice and use. This …

Learning Sustainability Leadership: An Action Research Study Of A Graduate Leadership Course, Heather L. Burns

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study used action research methodology to examine the development of sustainability leadership in a graduate leadership course. The research investigated the impact of this leadership course, which was designed using transformative learning theory with attention to integrating thematic content, multiple and non-dominant perspectives, a participatory process, and a contextual place-based approach. Grounded theory was used to explore if and how students’ understanding of sustainability leadership changed, and the pedagogical strategies that were most influential to their learning. Results revealed that students came to understand sustainability leadership as: the facilitation of a shared process, a process of emergence, and a …

The Pedagogy Of Oppression: A Brief Look At The ‘No Child Left Behind’ (Chinese Translation), Ramin Farahmandpur, Peter Mclaren

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

NOTICE: This article is in Chinese

The driving forces behind the recent educational policies of the No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2001 are neoliberal social and economic policies that favour outsourcing and downsizing methods of production in the name of flexibility and efficiency. Under the neoliberal economic model, schools must perform similarly to corporate entities. Just as the Dow Jones stock indices measure the performance of companies and represent the pulse of Wall Street, so too the Adequate Yearly Progress Report (AYP) measures and ranks the performance of public schools. One of the most pernicious results of the …

Nclb Data-Driven Reform Movement: Contextualizing Data, Ramin Farahmandpur

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Commentary on the article of Rosita L. Rivera Rodriguez, Leaving most Latino children behind: No Child Left Behind legislation, testing, and the misuse of data under George Bush administration, DataCrítica: International Journal of Critical Statistics, Vol 1, No 1 (2007). Rivera‐Rodriguez raises a series of important concerns for educators as it applies to the deleterious effects of educational policy in marginalized communities, such as the Latino population. To better understand the arguments the author places the No Child Left Behind Legislation (NCLB) within its broader context.

The Pedagogy Of Oppression: A Brief Look At The ‘No Child Left Behind’, Ramin Farahmandpur, Peter Mclaren

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Discusses the educational policies of the No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2001 in the U.S. Improvement in performance of schools required by the law; Factors that led to the implementation of the law; Causes of underachievement among students of color; Effect of the trend towards standardized curriculum and testing on working-class students and students of color; Removal of obstacles to the recruitment of high school students in the military.

Essay Review: A Marxist Critique Of Michael Apple’S Neo-Marxist Approach To Educational Reform, Ramin Farahmandpur

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

This essay review examines Apple's most recent work. It begins by providing a brief historical account of Marxist educational theory since the late 1970s. Next, it offers an analysis and a critique of a number of the theoretical underpinnings of Apple's neo-Marxist approach to educational reform. These include, among others, his interpretation of Gramsci's concept of the 'commonsense' his employment of the 'decentered unity' which he identifies as an counter-hegemonic alliance among progressive forces on the left; and finally, his notion of a 'dual strategy' for building alliances between progressive forces on the left and those on the Right. Finally, …

Critical Multiculturalism And The Globalization Of Capital: Some Implications For A Politics Of Resistance, Ramin Farahmandpur, Peter Mclaren

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite the historic defeat of Marxism and constant attempts by so-called progressive educators to exorcize any residual Marxist discourse from the literature on multiculturalism, the contradictions of capital playing themselves out in the theater of contemporary social relations are beckoning Marx's spectre to return and further trouble those theories proclaiming that the "end of ideology" is upon us and that all we need to do in order to rescue humanity is to heed the clarion call of diversity. Too often overlooked in the debates over multiculturalism at present engulfing the academy are the myriad ways in which globalization is shaping …