Education Commons^™

Critical Hope As Vehicle For Equity: Examining Teachers’ Paradigm And Pedagogy, Heidi Strikwerda, Jose Lalas

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

This current study framed the concept of “critical hope” and examined how systemic oppression in society continuously perpetrates the “hope gap” in low-income students. We defined critical hope, in this study, as the optimistic way of viewing and acting on the world from a critically historically conscious, socially and culturally situated perspective with a personal belief that inevitable change will inspire a sense of community, advocacy, liberation, and justice (Strikwerda, 2019). This rich definition incorporates the elements of hope deduced from existing related foundational and empirical research literature (Freire, 1970; Freire, 1994; Freire, 1997, bell hooks, 2004; Edwards et al., …

Justice Through Practice: Inquiry On The Development Of Preservice Teachers’ Teaching For Social Justice, Bethany Silva, Elyse L. Hambacher, Ruth Wharton-Mcdonald

Journal of Practitioner Research

This article reports on a collaboration among three teacher educators to facilitate pre-service teacher (PST)s’ equity literacy through a social-justice themed afterschool program for elementary-aged children that was embedded in PSTs’ coursework. The teacher educators engaged in practitioner inquiry (e.g., Anderson, Herr, & Nihlen, 2007; Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009), posing the question, “What happens when preservice teachers use justice-oriented children’s literature to facilitate discussions about inequity with young children?” We used inductive analysis (Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña, 2014) to observe themes across 17 PSTs’ written and videotaped reflections, collected over two semesters. Reflections pointed to a fear of the unknown …

Supervision To Deepen Teacher Candidates’ Understanding Of Social Justice: The Role Of Responsive Mediation In Professional Development Schools, Megan E. Lynch

Journal of Educational Supervision

Those responsible for supervising teacher candidates have an obligation to promote socially just pedagogies. In this paper, I investigate my own supervisory practice as a novice supervisor in my mediation of a teacher candidate’s understanding of social justice. I rely on a sociocultural theoretical perspective (Vygotsky, 1978) and the psychological tool of responsive mediation (Johnson & Golombek, 2016) for my supervisory practice and an anti-capitalist interpretation of socially just teaching (Apple, 2004; Ayers, 2010; Bowles & Gintis, 2011). Through a microgenetic analysis (Wertsch, 1985) of a post-observation transcript, I empirically document the developmental opportunities that take place over a span …

Ted Ayres, Social Justice And Education Advocate: "Making It Count" With Book Reviews, Kristen P. Erdem

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This is an interview article with a prolific reviewer of books seen on public television and in print. Ted Ayres had an inspired legal career, and his advocacy continues to this day. The year 2020, like no other year in our recent U.S. history, was a raucous reckoning for an array of social justice issues. As this theme continues in 2021, it is heartwarming getting to know a quiet advocate in our midst. Meet Ted Ayres. Ayres will be a contributor to the journal with book reviews. This is an introduction to the person, Ted Ayres as social justice and …

Addressing Dehumanizing Mathematical Practices: Using Supervisory Leaders’ Experiential Knowledge To Transform The Mathematics Classroom, Allison Mudd, Stefanie D. Livers, Artavia Acklin, Tommy Acklin, Linda D. Harper, Tiffany Davis

Journal of Educational Supervision

Deficit language concerning historically marginalized students pervades much of education today. Black, Brown, and Indigenous children experience marginalization and dehumanizing practices in classrooms instead of participating in a safe space to learn and grow. For this paper we employ a crucial component from Critical Race Theory to address systemic racism in schools: we listen to the lived experiences of professionals of color. These personal narratives open avenues for social justice through critiquing current and historical political, economic, and sociocultural practices and policies. This study examined how four Black collaborators – one high school principal, one middle school principal, one elementary …

Exploring The Impact Of Field-Based Supervision Practices In Teaching For Social Justice, Detra Price-Dennis, Erica Colmenares

Journal of Educational Supervision

The purpose of this study is to understand how field-based supervisory practices support preservice teachers’ conceptualizations of reflective practice, curriculum inquiry, and social justice-oriented pedagogies. Moving away from the more traditional supervisory triad model (e.g., preservice student--cooperating teacher--university supervisor), our qualitative investigation examined five supervisory practices: formal observation, Lesson Study, video debriefs/observations, guided observations, and participation in Intellectual Learning Communities (ILCs). Through a case study of two preservice teachers, this study highlights how these supervisory practices helped support preservice teachers’ notions of reflective practice and curriculum inquiry but did not deepen their notions of social justice and inclusivity.

Social Justice In The Teacher Education Program Curriculum, Julia Pirrello

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Just Trauma-Informed Schools: Theoretical Gaps, Practice Considerations And New Directions, Stacy A. Gherardi, Myra Garcia, Allison Stoner

International Journal of School Social Work

Trauma-informed practices in schools have proliferated over the last decade and are often framed as social justice-oriented practices. This article assesses the theoretical and empirically supported basis for the proposed relationship between trauma-informed practices and social justice. It concludes the current theory of impact linking trauma-informed practices and social justice work is not supported by evidence. In response, we document theoretical gaps which limit the potential reach of trauma-informed practices in responding to social justice issues in schools and identify potential ways in which research and practice can respond to these gaps. We also highlight critical considerations for developing and …

Trauma-Informed Education Viewed Through A Social Justice Lens: Introduction To The Special Issue, Gary Walsh, Michael S. Kelly

International Journal of School Social Work

The purpose of this special issue is to apply a social justice lens to the question of how education practitioners operating within primary and secondary school contexts around the world are thinking about trauma-informed education and care. Papers explore what school social workers and other educators are doing to address these issues in schools and consider the broader implications of a global shift towards trauma-informed approaches in education. This special issue, the first one for IJSSW, features 10 papers from diverse fields (social work, psychology, education) that all reflect on how trauma-informed practices in schools can be enhanced and understood …

Fighting For Justice In Education: How Schools Can Lead The Change Towards A More Equitable World, Tara Kirton

Occasional Paper Series

“Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine the world anew. This one is no different” (Roy, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has had tremendous implications for every aspect of life. School, work, celebrations and everyday social interactions have all felt the repercussions of the pandemic. While the shutdown called for an immediate pivot from our everyday ways of being, it has also provided opportunities for stillness and deep reflection. This moment of pause has provided an opportunity to think, speak and act differently. As a parent my hope is that educators will lead the change.

Trauma Informed Practices In Education And Social Justice: Towards A Critical Orientation, Mark Boylan

International Journal of School Social Work

Increasingly, educational practitioners committed to social justice embrace trauma-informed practices and those who advocate for and enact trauma-informed practices are committed to social justice. However, connecting social justice to trauma-informed practice requires greater conceptual clarity than is currently found, given the malleable meanings of both 'trauma informed' and 'social justice'. Further, the complex relationship between these educational aims is under-examined. To address these issues, an analytical framework is developed that brings together a model of forms of trauma-informed practice in education with orientations to social justice. This draws on models of social justice developed in social work and teaching, and …

What Covid-19 Taught Us About Pedagogy And Social Justice—Pandemic Or Not, Brandi Lawless, Yea-Wen Chen

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

The COVID-19 pandemic (in conjunction with the Black Lives Matter Movement) exposed pervasive inequities, challenges, and opportunities to explore and implement “best” pedagogical practices to improve how we address social justice issues. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic intensified intergenerational gaps for the already vulnerable, under-resourced, and marginalized in our society. In response, we propose four “best practices” to embrace in our classrooms. These are: (a) fostering flexibility to bridge equity gaps; (b) rethinking the pedagogical panopticon; (c) emphasizing listening to and affirming students’ struggles; and (d) employing student-centered accountability. The authors detail some specific inequalities that were brought to the surface …

Social Justice Through Service-Learning In Parks & Recreation Management Education, Anne L. Demartini

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

This practice-based approach argues service learning can teach social justice in parks & recreation management education. The US parks system creation and history is rooted in injustice. Use of US parks and park service employment remain inequitable today. Significant work must be done in the provision of recreation and park services to all members of the community, including those who have been traditionally marginalized or underserved. The industry requires recreation and parks professionals at all levels who are informed and intentional about inclusion and social justice, which starts with parks and recreation management education.

Service-learning, a form of experiential learning …

Reimagining Scripts For Human And Environmental Justice In Experiential Learning, William F. Heinrich, Benjamin Lauren, Sandra Logan

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

This article shares a case study of an experiential learning framework designed specifically for supporting learning in courses focused on human and environmental justice. We argue that our educational practices must substantially change to be accountable to each other as we address social issues and explore societal solutions. Findings from qualitative analyses of student reflective writing led us to a new framework and repeatable pattern for planning and implementing courses with justice-oriented outcomes. Implications for the ways we engage and empower students are considered in light of dominant scripts of power and control in classrooms.

Fundamentals Of Anthropology As Effective Experiential Learning Strategy To Promote Social Justice, Chelsea G. Abbas

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

Experiential learning (EL) as it relates to the social sciences, involves going out into the community to conduct field studies or work with different groups who provide new approaches and collaborative perspectives to student learning. EL relies on the fact that students can communicate with distinct populations and oftentimes bridge cultural, linguistic, racial, generational, or geographical divides. As we emerge from a pandemic-induced social isolation into an increasingly siloed and divided political world, creating generative dialogue and skill sets to promote social activism and empathy for the common good is of utmost importance, especially for college students. Two EL experiences, …

Justice Isn’T One-Size-Fits-All: Working Toward Justice In Service-Learning Courses, Chelsea Lauder, Becca Berkey

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

Service-Learning is a form of experiential education and a teaching tool that can both enhance student learning outcomes and contribute to community goals. When this type of learning intersects with social justice education, or liberatory education, different types of student outcomes may arise; specifically, those contributing to the development of social and critical consciousness. In this thought piece on praxis, we conduct a content analysis of multiple first- and second- year service-learning courses to determine if there is an observable difference in the development of student social consciousness and commitment as it pertains to the extent to which justice is …

Implementing An Experiential Learning Program Focused On Civic Leadership To Produce Social Justice Outcomes, Glenn A. Bowen, Courtney A. Berrien

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

This article describes a civic learning and leadership development program aimed at cultivating civic mindedness and preparing students for social change roles in community settings. Participating students tackle social issues as viewed through a systemic change lens; they explore the root causes of specific social issues and then work collaboratively with community partners to address those issues. The program’s student learning outcomes assessment has shown that participants generally become civic-minded graduates, with the demonstrable capacity and desire to work with others for social change. The authors explain the practice-based approach to the program, summarize social justice outcomes, and delineate program …

Stem For All Showcase Report, Bruce G. Bukiet, James M. Lipuma

STEM Month

This article and the associated STEM for all showcase submission video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clps427rdDc) was presented at the NSF 2021 STEM FOR ALL COVID, Equity & Social Justice Conference, May 11-18.

This article provides a description of the development of the STEM in your Home project in the STEM for Success initiative.

Constructivism In Action: A Dynamic Group Process In Defining And Applying Principles Of Social Justice, Tanupreet Suri, Leslie Woolson, Arianna Trott, Marty Apodaca, M. Kathryn Brammer, Dèsa Karye Daniel, Diane Lacen, Thomas A. Chávez

Teaching and Supervision in Counseling

As a part of a Multicultural course, students in a doctoral program at a university in the Southwest worked together to synthesize a definition of social justice. The constructivist process implemented in this educational experience represented social justice in action, through co-construction of shared meaning. This definition, centered on Iris Young’s (2004) Five Faces of Oppression, resulted in the following: Social justice is addressing oppression, violence, exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, and cultural imperialism through counselors’ efforts and advocacy, while promoting a critical perspective of the culture of silence. Social Justice is an active, effective change on micro- and macro-levels to alter …

The Trauma-Informed Equity-Minded Asset-Based Model (Team): The Six R’S For Social Justice-Oriented Educators, Srividya Ramasubramanian, Emily Riewestahl, Shelby Landmark

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This paper describes the Trauma-informed Equity-minded Asset-based Model (TEAM) framework for social justice-oriented educators. We draw on trauma-informed approaches to illustrate how systemic racism as systemic trauma and normative whiteness as dominant ideology are embedded in the U.S education and media institutions. From an equity-minded perspective, we critique notions such as egalitarianism, colorblind racism, neoliberal multiculturalism, and abstract liberalism. Using an asset-based model, we urge educators to avoid deficit ideologies to frame marginalized communities. The TEAM approach offers the following “Six R’s” as strategies: (1) Realizing that dominant ideologies are embedded in educational systems, (2) Recognizing the long-term effects of …

Do Media Literacies Approach Equity And Justice?, Paul Mihailidis, Srividya Ramasubramanian, Melissa Tully, Bobbie Foster, Emily Riewestahl, Patrick Johnson, Sydney Angove

Journal of Media Literacy Education

It is often assumed that media literacy serves to protect and uphold democratic practice and that media literate citizens are the best safeguards for democracy. However, little attention is paid to defining this practice and its relationship to ongoing inequities within democratic societies. In this essay, we argue media literacy operates from three core assumptions; media literacy creates knowledgeable individuals, empowers communities, and encourages democratic participation. The first assumption draws out an individual’s skills and critical thinking in media literacy practices. The second assumption focuses on the community aspect of media literacy, specifically which communities are best served by media …

Integrating School Makerspaces Into The English Language Arts Curriculum, Lou Lahana

Middle Grades Review

School Makerspaces have shown great potential to foster powerful learning outcomes for students, including the enhancement of creative problem-solving abilities, the nurturing of “soft skills” such as grit and leadership, as well as deep STEAM knowledge development. Within the school context, however, little attention has been given to how Makerspaces can promote social activism. Students hold passionate views on issues, such as homelessness, e-cigarette smoking, domestic violence, plastic pollution, and street harassment. How can Makerspaces provide an environment that promotes personal learning and self-expression so that these passions take form as social activism?

This practitioner perspective details the implementation of …

Student Agency Through Negotiated Practice, Meg O’Donnell

Middle Grades Review

Using the James Beane’s democratic approach, this article describes how a middle grades team support students to choose topics within broad themes and learning pathways that suit their interests, skills, and needs as individuals. Using a series of instructional structures, the facilitators encourage students to engage in research, thoughtful discussions, courageous conversations, and carefully constructed writing processes, while also emphasizing curiosity, critical thinking, relationship development, and social activism. Within a standards-based learning environment the author walks the reader through a process which allows students to generate questions they want to investigate. Once students have generated their common questions, they review …

Using A Social Justice Lens To Connect The Past With The Present In A Personalized Learning Environment, Kyle Chadburn, Andrea Gratton

Middle Grades Review

This practitioner perspective describes how middle grades units are developed and revised in response to student needs to engage students in social justice work while maintaining a safe and respectful classroom culture. In order for students to understand the world around them, they need to develop context by studying the past. There is no better way to enable students to do this in a personalized learning environment than to explore both the past and present through the lens of social justice. Broad, thematic units, such as “Revolution,” “Race in America,” or “Societal Monsters” allow teachers to ensure that students are …

Channeling John Dewey: What Would Vermont's Philosopher Of Democracy Have To Say About Personalized Learning?, Kathleen R. Kesson Dr.

Middle Grades Review

In John Dewey’s educational framework, the process and product are inseparable; achieving democratic ends cannot result from undemocratic means. For him, the full humanization of people depended not upon externally imposed curriculum and management systems, but rather on responding to the intrinsic needs, interests, and powers of the individual to be educated. The trend in many states on personalized learning, flexible pathways, and proficiency-based assessment, provides a foundation for transforming the conventional system of education, with its standardization, testing, and grading towards Dewey’s vision of a more socially just, inclusive, and (small d) democratic system.

So, what might Dewey have …

Personalized Learning For Social Justice: From Theory To Practice, James F. Nagle, Penny Bishop

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.

A Qualitative Follow Up Of The Maguire Fellows Program, A. William Place, Kevin Clapano, Robert H. Palestini

Journal of Catholic Education

This qualitative follow up sought the impressions of students after a two year program. The analysis of this data involved grounded theory qualitative methods. The primary means of data collection for the qualitative portion of this study was through digitally-recording and transcribing of participants’ voices in response to individual interview prompts. Seven themes emerged from the first interviews which included 1). Perceptions of leadership, 2). Changing perceptions the Jesuit ideas Magis/cura personalis, 3). Changing perceptions of social justice, 4). Perceptions of Motivation or desire to lead, 5). Catholic identification, 6). Theory to practice, and 7). Suggested changes to the program. …

"Side By Side With A Ruinous, Ever-Present Past": Trauma-Informed Teaching And The Eighteenth Century, Clarissa, And Fantomina, Kate Parker, Bryan M. Kopp, Lindsay Steiner

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830

This article explores the need for and applications of trauma-informed teaching in eighteenth-century studies, particularly around representations of sexual trauma (rape) and consent. The prevalence of trauma guarantees its presence in our classrooms, even and especially in its absences. As the field of eighteenth-century studies continues to reframe its white, Eurocentric, male-dominated past through more intentionally inclusive research and teaching methods, particularly those that explore the intersections of eighteenth-century studies and social justice approaches to education, the presence of trauma in our classrooms will become only more significant. Keeping in mind those students of marginalized identities who are most likely …

What Would Gloria Ladson-Billings Do?: A Pedagogical Framework That Moves, Dominique Modory

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

During my time as an elementary education major at Loyola University Chicago, I was offered a position as a K-2nd grade dance instructor at McCutcheon Elementary. After some students expressed disinterest in dance, I turned to culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), a term that is coined by pedagogical scholar Gloria Ladson-Billings, to engage, educate, and inspire my students. I explain the criticality of practicing introspection on one's biases that may unconsciously hinder a student's academic growth. Further, one must brainstorm on how to insert education into the context of students' cultures. In the article, I ruminate how, through CRP, cultural competency, …

Revisiting Attitudes Towards English In Cameroon And The Rush For Emi: Positioning Education For All Vision, Eric Enongene Ekembe

Journal of English Learner Education

The rush to English and English medium education (EMI) is fashionably a global tendency, and research in the domain has extensively explored the effects of such rush on social justice, quality education, economic and power dynamics across contexts. Given the multifaceted challenges related to the provision of English and accessibility to EMI, the relationship between UNESCO’s Education For All vision and access to English tends to be complicated. This paper examines the commonly-stated quest for English in Cameroon with a focus on attitudes towards English and EMI. The purpose is to understand the interface between the rush to EMI and …