Education Commons^™

Toward Diversity In Texts: Using Global Literature To Cultivate Critical Perspectives, Rick Marlatt

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Abstract Literature study in the 21st Century should be characterized by the inclusion of global texts that afford diverse students the opportunity to engage in their literacy development through and alongside authors, characters, and storylines that represent their own linguistic and cultural traditions. In this narrative analysis, I reflect on the importance of equity-driven literature study from my perspective as a teacher educator at a Hispanic-Serving Institution in the Southwestern United States. Following an introduction to the political and institutional contexts surrounding text selection in schools and a brief review of the literature, I situate myself and my students as …

What Is Your Social Justice Iq: Leading Social Justice In Higher Education, Janice M. Garnett, Germaine W. Huber

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

This article describes an experience originating in the College of Education to explore a process for the college’s social justice efforts to lead and guide administration, faculty, and staff in their day-to-day decision-making. This educational process examined in the article was introduced through the College of Education’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee to engage administration, faculty, and staff in using their various perspectives focused on social justice to help them shift the college's current paradigm from understanding to action. The authors incorporated a conceptual framework as the foundation to develop the collaborative process to engage education professionals in gaining a greater …

Introduction: Exploring Socio-Political Issues In Education, Jeanne Surface

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

No abstract provided.

Catholic School Teachers' Attitudinal Beliefs About Linguistic Diversity, Katie Trautman

Master's Theses

As the population of young Catholics becomes increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD), Catholic schools must work to become more responsive to the needs of CLD students in order to uphold the tenets of Catholic social teaching and to sustain enrollment in Catholic schools. Catholic school teachers need to become more prepared to serve students from various linguistic backgrounds. As a component of this preparation, teachers must demonstrate positive beliefs toward linguistic diversity and students’ backgrounds as teachers’ attitudes toward students greatly impacts students’ learning and identity development. Using Catholic social teaching as a lens, this study investigated Catholic school …

Building Bridges Across Difference Through International Summer Immersion Programs: A Narrative Inquiry In Racial Identity And Social Justice Orientation, Breanne Wing Tcheng

Doctoral Dissertations

International experiential learning programs provide opportunities for young people to develop the necessary skills to succeed in and adapt to the complexity, diversity, and ever-changing landscape of the globalized workforce. There are however, several barriers that prevent students of color from accessing opportunities to be fully engaged in a global discourse – placing them at a severe disadvantage when compared to their White counterparts. While current efforts focus on increasing access for students of color, there is often little done to understand how these students experience and are impacted by these programs. The purpose of this qualitative study sought to …

Woke Pedagogy: A Framework For Teaching And Learning, Altheria Caldera

Diversity, Social Justice, and the Educational Leader

The sociopolitical context of schooling demands that teachers acknowledge the ways their students’ and their own experiences are shaped by the intersections of racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, and other discriminatory factors. This is especially true during times of heightened civil unrest resulting from pervasive and persistent injustice experienced by minoritized populations. To engage students in pedagogy that connects with their lived experiences and that equips them to critically examine inequities, teachers must refute colorblind pedagogy in favor of woke pedagogy. Woke pedagogy, like critical multicultural education, is defined by teaching practices that integrate critiques of contemporary justice-related issues with academic …

Social Media Activism The Subject Of Recent Discussion, Emily Turner

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

On Nov. 6 the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Colloquium Series held its second discussion of the fall semester. Dr. Judith Rosenbaum gave the talk titled “#TakingAKnee: Exploring justice, respect, and patriotism on Instagram and Twitter.” Rosenbaum is an assistant professor of communication and journalism at the University of Maine whose research includes social and health effects of media. The theme of this talk surrounded creating meaning on social media platforms. It featured discussion on the hashtag #TakingAKnee and how this social movement has opened a new dialogue nationwide. Rosenbaum recognized that Colin Kaepernick played a large role in initiating …

Unmasking Whiteness: Progressing Toward Cultural Responsiveness Within A Rti Framework, Melinda F. Scheetz

Dissertations

Response to Intervention (RTI) developed out of educational policies and practices that comprise NCLB and IDEA. RTI is a system to ensure all students receive high-quality instruction that meets their needs, increases opportunities to learn, and prevents reading failure. A culturally relevant RTI framework offers the most promising pedagogical approach to quality instruction and educational equity. The purpose of this study was to understand, describe, and explore the intersection of culturally relevant practices and RTI. The research questions that guided this study were: What can be learned about a culturally responsive approach to RTI by listening to teachers’ perspectives and …

Integration Of An Electrical Engineering Capstone Course With Social Justice And Global Studies, David Parent, Patricia Backer

Faculty Publications

A four course package (six units total) consisting of two general education (GE) classes and two electrical engineering capstone classes that are taught in a highly integrated manner, that not only meets university GE requirements, but also meets the new ABET criteria in which the need to address a societal need is embedded with design criteria. The prompts for the new integrated GE/capstone Assessment results are also presented, along with methods to increase student motivation for studying GE.

Mollie Tibbits, Ariana Grande And Serena Williams: Every Woman, M. J. Gautrau

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

I’ve spent the past few weeks fuming at the world’s treatment of women. I’m mad at the people who believe women and men are equal and that there’s no problem here. Over the last few months, we’ve seen very high pro��le news stories of women as scapegoats. It is now our time to see these stories, hear these women and react justly.

Inclusion And Social Justice As Peacemaking Within Higher Education, Mary Dana Hinton

The Journal of Social Encounters

The Journal of Social Encounters has been described as “a venue in which we can encounter one other and build the common good together” (Okumu & Pagnucco, 2017, p. ii). In many ways, this description of the Journal mirrors what we endeavor to accomplish in higher education in the United States in general, and in Catholic higher education in particular. While our mission statements vary, and how we achieve the mission will look different on all of our campuses, there is widespread consensus that higher education provides a space wherein people can learn together for the good of supporting our …

Cultural Proficiency For Indigenous Student Success, Karen Penney

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) is directed toward leveraging the position of the school principal toward changing hegemonic practices within a small rural school division that includes practices of meritocracy (hard work equals success) and color-blindness (refusing to see color in others) . These practices affect the academic achievement of the off-reserve Indigenous student- considered a provincial student by virtue of moving off reserve- thus receiving education from the provincial rather than federal, government. These students bring strong epistemologies and ontologies that are not currently acknowledged or employed by the dominant society and should be explored to determine how best …

Action To Awareness: Surfacing Dysconscious Racism Through Focused Professional Development, Dorry Altman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing critical race theory (Ladson-Billings and Tate, 1995) and King’s (1991) theory of dysconscious racism, this dissertation aims to explore the beliefs and actions of teachers operating within an inherently racist society. Teachers struggle with many disadvantages from inadequate funding to lacking support structures. Yet these teachers continue to work hard to support their students. One external disadvantage these teachers may face and not even be aware of is dysconscious racism. Through a qualitative pilot study of journals and discussions of two middle school English Language Arts teachers, this research intends to explore how intentional classroom changes to encourage and …

Motherhood And Teaching: Radical Care, Ksenija Simic-Muller

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This essay is a personal reflection on how I leverage my positioning as a caregiver in my roles of a mathematician, teacher, and mother, to advance a vision for a more just and equitable society. I argue that care at home and in the classroom takes similar forms, and can be liberating instead of oppressive.

We Are Victorious: Educator Activism As A Shared Struggle For Human Being, Carolina Valdez, Edward Curammeng, Farima Pour-Khorshid, Rita Kohli, Thomas Nikundiwe, Bree Picower, Carla Shalaby, David Stovall

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

This article shares national models of educational activism that center the experiences of People of Color but are diverse in that they serve students, parents, preservice teachers, teachers, and/or community educators and meet frequently in small groups or annually/biannually. Included narratives embody the humanization process, and situate that in the purpose of each project. Our aim is to complicate and extend the definition of activism as a shared struggle for the right to feel human.

We Know, Now What? Teaching, Learning, (Un)Knowing And Educating Toward Epistemic Justice, Azam Wendy Nastasi

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation maps the role of testimonial injustice in education and the role of pedagogy in addressing knowledge injustices. Drawing from the disciplinary positions of philosophy of education and social justice education, this dissertation provides an analysis of student academic work to explore intergroup dialogue pedagogy. Specifically, this dissertation investigate if and how the education practice of intergroup dialogue pedagogy can facilitate epistemic justice. This analysis combines philosophical inquiry and document analysis to describe the ways in which practices of learning are related to social identifications. Finally, this dissertation offers applications of this theoretical analysis of epistemic justice for education …

A Baby Boomer’S Journey On The Path To Gender Equity, Sheri Williams

Intersections: Critical Issues in Education

This personal poem chronicles a baby boomer’s journey on the path to gender equity and access. The poem recounts events that shaped the author’s positionally as a woman and educator. The journey starts with early life experiences, narrates events in the author’s schooling and career, and springs forward to a more just and hopeful future. Readers are invited to pen their own past, present, and future journey by considering how their lives have been influenced by the intersections of age, gender, class, race, political belief, culture, history and other subjectivities.

Teaching Social Justice: Intergenerational Service-Learning In Digital Media Course, Margaret O. Finucane, Linda M. Seiter, Nathan C. Gehlert

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Digital media play an increasingly dominant role in reinforcing and challenging power inequality in social and institutional relationships. This paper describes how a service-learning component engaged students in community-based interactions that not only deepened their understanding of course content but also increased their commitment to diversity, community issues, and personal development. A close look at three case studies shows that integrating service learning into a first year seminar on digital media and social justice had positive outcomes for students when intentionally paired with community partners offering course-related projects.

A Justice And Equity Common Area Requirement: Where Jesuit And Feminist Pedagogies Intersect, Kathleen Bowles

Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies Student Scholarship

Explores the implementation of a Justice and Equity common area requirement as part of the core curriculum atteh College of the Holy Cross.

A Pathway To Scholarship: A Qualitative Study Of The Single African American Mother's Role In The Academic Development Of Their Sons For Kindergarten, Onda Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations

The voices of single African American mothers are critical to research on kindergarten readiness. This study examined maternal influence on the kindergarten readiness of African American male children of single African American mothers. Research on the topic of maternal academic support for sons indicated a deficit view of mother’s expectations for her son’s performance and cognitive ability in the year prior to entering kindergarten. Studies on the educational outcomes of African American male students suggested this subgroup significantly underperformed on standardized tests in mathematics and reading compared to their peers. The education community references the achievement gap as this difference …

Restorative Justice And Social Justice, John M. Winslade

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

This paper explains the connections between restorative justice and social justice. Specifically it argues that restorative practices in schools fit with a social justice agenda. It defines both terms and then outlines how restorative practices work to address the pipeline to prison and against retributive justice and zero tolerance policies. It also outlines the use of narrative questions designed to enhance restorative practices.

Insurgent Knowledge: The Poetics And Pedagogy Of Toni Cade Bambara, June Jordan, Audre Lorde, And Adrienne Rich In The Era Of Open Admissions, Danica B. Savonick

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Insurgent Knowledge analyzes the reciprocal relations between teaching and literature in the work of Audre Lorde, June Jordan, Toni Cade Bambara, and Adrienne Rich, all of whom taught in the Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge (SEEK) educational opportunity program at the City University of New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Drawing on archival research and analysis of their published work, I show how feminist aesthetics have shaped U.S. education (especially student-centered pedagogical practices) and how classroom encounters with students had a lasting impact on our postwar literary landscape and theories of difference. My project demonstrates how, …

Can Tenure Be Abused?, Liz Theriault

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

In any higher education establishment, academic freedom is of great importance. The security provided to professors by academic tenure ensures that faculty are protected from termination because of their speech, research findings or political reasons. Without this security, academic progress could be stifled. But can this privilege and security be abused?

Serano Hosts Public Talk On “Call-Out Culture, Identity Politics, And Political Correctness”, Ryan Cox

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Dr. Julia Serano held a public talk, entitled “A Social Justice Activist’s Perspective on Call-Out Culture, Identity Politics, and Political Correctness” in the Minsky Recital Hall on March 22, 2018, as part of UMaine’s Women’s History Month celebrations. Serano is a writer, performer, biologist, and transgender and bisexual activist, whose works include “Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity,” “Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive” and most recently “Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism.”

Critical Education & New Teachers’ Beliefs: A New Niche For Educational Research, Kate Rollert French

The William & Mary Educational Review

Beliefs about teaching influence practice and can play a powerful role in the day-to-day decision-making of teachers. Pre-service teachers commonly accrue their original set of beliefs about teaching from teacher preparation programs or personal experiences, but unlike teachers with more experience, new teachers are most susceptible to changing their beliefs about teaching once they become official teachers of record. If these beliefs change in a negative way, such as by adopting a set of beliefs that views students and communities through a deficit lens, or only capable of achieving less than their privileged counterparts, then schools will continue to foster …

Black History Month Kicks Off At Umaine With The Black Lives Matter Flag Raising, Sarah O'Malley

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

As snow fell upon the first day of February, many University of Maine students, faculty and community members congregated between the Memorial Union and Fogler Library in the name of racial justice. Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018, marked the start of Black History Month, and the Office of Multicultural Student Life (OMSL) and the Black Student Union (BSU) have partnered to put together an impressive lineup of events spanning the entire month.

Strategic Planning To Advance Equity On Campus: A Case Study At Portland State University, Marisa Zapata, Stephen L. Percy, Sona K. Andrews

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Propelled by many factors, including a newly appointed Board of Trustees responsible for governance of our university, resource shortages, and enrollment swings, Portland State University embarked on a strategic planning effort in 2014 with the intent of reunifying a divided campus and creating a bold vision for moving forward in the next five years. While committed from the start to goals of diversity and inclusion, the planning process itself generated greater awareness of and commitment to equity—a bolder vision of empowerment that creates a responsibility to understand and mitigate negative, but often unintended consequences of, campus decisions and action—particularly as …

2017 Minutes Of The Student Women's Association, The Feminist Collective

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Minutes from the Student Women's Association (SWA) meetings dating from January 23, 2017 to January 29, 2018. In August 2017, the SWA membership voted to change the club name to the Feminist Collective.

Are You Supporting White Supremacy?, Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt

Faculty Publications

Dr. Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt, professor of English at Linfield College, provides an opinion piece in the form of a checklist of 15 “troubles” she has identified to help others in academe recognize (un)conscious contributions to white supremacy.

This essay originally appeared as part of Conditionally Accepted, a career advice blog for Inside Higher Ed providing news, information, personal stories, and resources for scholars who are, at best, conditionally accepted in academe. Conditionally Accepted is an anti-racist, pro-feminist, pro-queer, anti-transphobic, anti-fatphobic, anti-ableist, anti-ageist, anti-classist, and anti-xenophobic online community.

Models As Weapons: Review Of Weapons Of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality And Threatens Democracy By Cathy O’Neil (2016), Samuel L. Tunstall

Numeracy

Cathy O’Neil. 2016. Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy (New York, NY: Crown) 272 pp. ISBN 978-0553418811.

Accessible to a wide readership, Cathy O’Neil’s Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy provides a lucid yet alarming account of the extensive reach of mathematical models in influencing all of our lives. With a particular eye towards social justice, O’Neil not only warns modelers to be cognizant of the effects of their work on real people—especially vulnerable groups who have less power to fight back—but also encourages laypersons to take initiative …