Education Commons^™

Exploring The Lingering Currency Of Racism. A Book Review Of Trayvon Martin, Race, And American Justice: Writing Wrong, Carol S. Witherell

Democracy and Education

This is a book review of Trayvon Martin, Race, and American Justice: Writing Wrong, edited by Fasching-Varner, Reynolds, Albert, and Martin.

Necessary But Not Sufficient: Deweyan Dialogue And The Demands Of Critical Citizenship. A Book Review Of The Political Classroom: Evidence And Ethics In Democratic Education, Joseph C. Wegwert

Democracy and Education

This is a book review of The Political Classroom: Evidence and Ethics in Democratic Education, by Hess and McAvoy.

Cultural Mapping As A Social Practice: A Response To "Mapping The Cultural Boundaries In Schools And Communities: Redefining Spaces Through Organizing", Jennifer A. Vadeboncoeur, Shenaz A. Hanif-Shahban

Democracy and Education

Inspired by Gerald Wood and Elizabeth Lemley’s (2015) article entitled Mapping the Cultural Boundaries in Schools and Communities: Redefining Spaces Through Organizing, this response inquires further into cultural mapping as a social practice. From our perspective, cultural mapping has potential to contribute to place making, as well as the values to sustain more equitable social futures. Thus, alongside the maps created, we longed to learn more about how the participants were engaged in mapping, how perceptions of mapping changed over time and context, how participation was mediated by relationships, and how transformation in the participants, child, youth, and adults …

Exploring Prosocial Behavior Through Structured Philosophical Dialogue: A Quantitative Evaluation, Monica B. Glina

Democracy and Education

The problem of bullying in schools cannot be overstated. Researchers have examined the problem of bullying in schools from a variety of perspectives and have found that bullying has serious short- and long-term effects not just for the victim but for the bully as well. A variety of interventions have been implemented, and research shows that the majority, which are monological in nature, have demonstrated minimal, if any, impact on counteracting occurrences of bullying in schools. This study uses three quantitative measures to examine the impact that an instructional method steeped in the dynamics of dialogical inquiry has on students’ …

"How To Be Nice And Get What You Want": Structural Referents Of "Self" And "Other" In Experiential Education As (Un)Democratic Practice, Franklin Vernon

Democracy and Education

This critical ethnography explores a social justice program utilizing nontraditional, democratic, "experiential" education practices. The author posits a historical legacy of pedagogy of self obscures its emancipatory, democratic potential while simultaneously expanding on contemporary discourses of self and other as aspects of the educational setting. Students' labors to reference and enact oppressive, capitalistic idealizations of either self or other problematizes pragmatic theories of self, and the author draws upon critical pragmatism to reposition self and other as aspects of pedagogy and curriculum in democratic education.

Mindfulness, Democracy, And Education, Andrea Marie Hyde, James G. Laprad

Democracy and Education

In this article, we explain how mindfulness can enhance a democratic way of being, connecting practices of awareness, reflection, dialog, and action to democratic citizenship and social arrangements. We begin by sharing our understanding of democracy as a philosophy and a political system. We then provide a background for the concept of mindfulness as it is used by those in the field of education and health care and as we connect it to democracy and democratic education. We introduce a mindfulness pedagogy and use this pedagogy to develop our concept of mindfully democratic schools. We use the work of John …

“Charleston, Goddam”: An Editorial Introduction To Act 14.2, Brent C. Talbot

Sunderman Conservatory of Music Faculty Publications

In this editorial, I trace the events following the tragic and racist shootings that occurred at the A.M.E. church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015. Drawing upon anti-racist scholars and musical activists, I make a case for getting political and for cultivating activism in our classrooms. I ask our field to critically reflect upon our participation in a system that advantages Whites. I suggest that one possibility to engage in dialogue around issues of race is to encourage an environment of musical creativity where—together with students—teachers study and write music that speaks to our times and addresses issues …

Queering Social Justice Curricula Within Higher Education, Kate P. Cabot

Master's Projects and Capstones

Within higher education, social justice education has gained significant ground. While issues of gender, race, and class are increasingly addressed and incorporated into classes there remains a lack in inclusive curricula and pedagogies within colleges and universities when it comes to issues of gender and sexual identity. The social construction of gender and sexualities remains overlooked on the majority of college and university campuses, as well as the discrimination faced by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA) students unaddressed within curricula. The representation of the LGBTQIA community can be attended to within classrooms, campuses, and curriculums in …

The Cake Is A Lie. A Book Review Of The Failure Of Corporate School Reform, Amy Rector Aranda

Democracy and Education

This is a book review of The Failure of Corporate School Reform by Kenneth J. Saltman.

Interrogating The Relationship Between Schools And Society. A Book Review Of Can Education Change Society?, Wayne Au

Democracy and Education

This reviewer found Can Education Change Society? a typical Apple text, far-ranging in terms of scope and example and theoretically and conceptually ambitious.

Media And Democracy. A Response To "The Need For Media Education In Democratic Education", Lance E. Mason

Democracy and Education

This response supports Stoddard’s (2014) assertion that media education should be considered a crucial factor of democratic education and offers both extensions and cautions related to that end. Extensions include practical suggestions for studying the non-neutrality of technology. The author also cautions educators that if media education and democratic education are to be productively merged, a more substantive consideration of the relationship between digital technologies and dispositional factors is warranted.

“If You Cannot Live By Our Rules, If You Cannot Adapt To This Place, I Can Show You The Back Door.” A Response To "New Forms Of Teacher Education: Connections To Charter Schools And Their Approaches", Barrett A. Smith

Democracy and Education

Stitzlein and West (2014) are primarily concerned with how Relay and Match risk failing to prepare their residents to practice democratic education. My aim is to provide a more thorough account of specific practices employed by Match and their no-excuses approach in order to illustrate and support points made by Stitzlein and West. It is my hope that this deeper examination will substantiate the concerns of Stitzlein and West while further problematizing the practices employed by and advocated for throughout Match.

Exploring The Implications Of Citizenship-As-Equality In Critical Citizenship Education. A Response To "The Practice Of Equality: A Critical Understanding Of Democratic Citizenship Education", Michalinos Zembylas

Democracy and Education

This is a response to Ruitenberg’s (2015) argument that citizenship-as-equality should be the focus of citizenship education. My aim in the response is to offer clarifying comments and questions and suggest further ideas for expanding her analysis, highlighting in particular two perspectives that deserve more attention: first, the role of emotions in the constitution of political subjectification and the practice of equality; second, the possible openings that might be created when the notion of citizenship-as-equality is utilized as a point of departure to instill more criticality in students’ understandings of and feelings about citizenship.

Mathematics For What? High School Students Reflect On Mathematics As A Tool For Social Inquiry, Anastasia Brelias

Democracy and Education

This study examines high school students’ views of mathematics as a tool for social inquiry in light of their classroom experiences using mathematics to explore social issues. A critical theoretical perspective on mathematics literacy is used to ascertain the ways in which their views challenge or affirm the dominant image of mathematics in society. The study concludes that mathematics applications addressing social justice issues are promising vehicles for developing students’ appreciation of mathematics as a social problem-solving tool, an awareness of its limitations, and a healthy skepticism toward its uses.

Mapping Cultural Boundaries In Schools And Communities: Redefining Spaces Through Organizing, Gerald K. Wood, Christine K. Lemley

Democracy and Education

For this study, the authors look specifically at cultural maps that the youth created in Student Involvement Day (SID), a program committed to youth empowerment. In these maps, youth identified spaces in their schools and communities that are open and inclusive of their cultures or spaces where their cultures are excluded. Drawing on critical geographies of/in education and Freirian notions of praxis, this paper considers the nature of school spaces through school curriculum and offers ways to render these contested spaces more democratic. Using these cultural maps, students work to individually identify spaces that allow them to engage meaningfully and …

Critical Hip-Hop Graffiti Pedagogy In A Primary School, Wade E. Brown

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Educational reform movements are constantly in the process of trying to improve a fractured educational system. Many scholars contend there is a discrepancy between educational outcomes for White students and students from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Some educators in working class communities of color have begun to infuse elements of students’ social and cultural backgrounds, including popular culture, to create instructional methods that can better engage and pique student interest. Hip-hop Pedagogy is one of the methods, rooted in popular culture, which is being used in classroom settings to increase students’ awareness about the societal constructs and issues in their communities …

Jamming As A Curriculum Of Resistance: Popular Music, Shared Intuitive Headspaces, And Rocking In The "Free" World, Mike Czech

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project opens space for looking at the world in a musical way where “jamming” with music through playing and listening to it helps one resist a more standardized and dualistic way of seeing the world. Instead of having a traditional dissertation, this project is organized like a record album where each chapter is a Track that contains an original song that parallels and plays off the subject matter being discussed to make a more encompassing, multidimensional, holistic, improvisational, and critical statement as the songs and riffs move along together to tell why an arts-based musical way of being can …

The Dynamic Ecology Of The Writing Process And Agency: A Corpus-Based Comparative Case Study Of Stancetaking Among Native Speakers And Non-Native Speakers Of English In First-Year Composition Conferences, Kirk Marshall Wilkins

Kirk Marshall Wilkins