Education Commons^™

The Slut Walk, Student Women's Association

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Black, red and white poster promoting the "Slut Walk" sponsored by the Student Women's Association. Red lettering on a black background reads: "The Slut Walk. Friday, April 22nd @ 12 p.m. The Mall." White lettering on a black background reads: "Reclaim your right to wear what you like. Note: Clothing worn to this event is not considered consent." Sponsored by SWA.

Assessing The Impact Of Public Secondary School On The Cultural Identities Of Native American Students, Joseph Vincent Hobot

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which public secondary education has impacted the cultural identities of Native American students who were at one time enrolled therein, or regarding their current perspectives on how the cultural identities of youth within their families currently attending a public secondary school are being impacted. The study began with an autoethnographic submission whereby the researcher’s own experience as both a Native American student and educator was also included as a part of the research. From there, additional data was sought and collected through the use of intensive interviews with subjects …

Wearing Makeup Is Not An Indicator Of Being Anti-Feminist, Kim Crowley

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Modern feminist discourse has struggled with a certain dilemma: the paradoxes of makeup and fashion. These two topics pose questions from both viewpoints. One may ask: are we meant to support makeup as an industry and hobby, to take pride in our skillfully groomed brows and pretty dresses that make us feel more beautiful? Or are our cultural notions of beauty something to fight against--another means of control, forcing us to force more on appearances than we should?

An Analysis Of A Middle School Curriculum: Through The Lens Of Personal Responsibility, Social Responsibility, And Social Justice, Kristen Ashley Clark

Theses and Dissertations

One of the fundamental goals of 21st century schools is for students to become independent thinkers through the use of comprehensive academic curriculum that merges academic and social skills to prepare students to compete and engage in an increasingly changing world. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the ways in which three of Schwab’s four functions, social responsibility, personal responsibility, and social justice, were embedded and measured within core academic curriculum. The study also examined how teachers perceived students’ behaviors as a result of a social justice mindset.

The study was conducted using a traditional qualitative methodology …

The Falsified Face Of Feminism Pushes Us Away From Progress, Kim Crowley

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

If the internet has taught me one thing, it's that feminism is bad.

Student Women's Association Meeting Minutes, Student Women's Association

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Typed minutes documenting meetings of the Student Women's Association between January 25, 2016 and November 21, 2016.

Just Scholarship! Publishing Academic Research With A Social Justice Focus, Maria Del Carmen Salazar, Francisco Rios

Woodring Scholarship on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

This article provides support to academics who are committed to engaging in scholarly activities in ways that promote an explicit social justice focus. Moreover, this article provides a broad overview of how to pursue social justice purposes in the field of education throughout the process of scholarly production and dissemination.

Beautiful Week 2016, Student Women's Association

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Poster promoting activities planned in observance of Beautiful Week 2016 organized by the Student Women's Association.

2015-2016 Collaboration Excellence Award, Wilde Stein: Queer Straight Alliance

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

UMaine LGBTQ Services awarded Wilde Stein and UMaine Campus Activities Board - CAB the Collaboration Excellence Award for 2015-2016. Cameron Alexander and Amy Schmitt display the certificate in this image.

Constructing A Deconstruction: Reflections On Dismantling Racism, Bronwyn Cross-Denny, Ashleigh Betso, Emily Cusick, Caitlin Doyle, Mikaela Marbot, Shauna Santos-Dempsey

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

The article is a reflective narrative regarding the work I do as an ally for change and social justice as a white woman. In my class on Human Diversity and Social Justice, I often discuss how I can use my white privilege to advance social justice to address racism. Several students who have taken the class offer their own reflections on taking the class. Relevant information from the literature is provided to ground the discussion and includes cultural competence, racism, white privilege, and racial identity development. Strategies for deconstructing racism are discussed.

A Phenomenological Analysis Of Social Justice/Injustice On The Lives Of African-American High School Males, Michael R. Harris

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to analyze what high school African-American males perceive as significant influences that directly impact their academic achievement while attending a predominantly White suburban high school. This qualitative research study will utilize semi-structured case interviews to collect and analyze data gathered from among a criteria-based subgroup of African-American high school males. An examination of archival data such as student course selections, a review of high school Carnegie units earned and attempted, the availability of support resources and interventions, as well discipline and attendance reports will each provide evidence of the probable obstacles impacting the achievement …

Fragile States: Beyond International Borders And Into U.S. Communities, Debra J. Bolton Phd, Francisco M. Hernandez Major

Adult Education Research Conference

“Fragile States Indicators”, used worldwide, were applied to U.S. communities with high poverty. Theories, literature and data gave rise to a model that could be applied to families and institutions with implications for adult education.

Leadership Preparation Programs And Social Justice, Lessons Learned From A Graduate School Of Education, Jason Robert Bryant

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the influence of a graduate school of education on adult learning to determine if transformative learning has taken place. This qualitative study analyzed the stories and experiences of six graduate students to determine if there had been transformative learning and if transformative learning had influenced leadership behaviors that promote social justice in schools. A steady demographic shift over the years has resulted in schools with a higher percentage of minority and poor students. Many of these students are in marginalized in schools. In these marginalized schools, social justice reforms are necessary to address the needs of all …

Transformative Leadership: Building Social Equity Through Individualized Professional Development, Curtis David Gunn

Dissertations

Developing social justice awareness is a challenging task. Many educational institutions have limited discourse related to race and equity. This autoethnography examines one leader’s attempt to become a transformational leader by having ongoing conversations about race and racism, applying the individualized transformative model of professional development during conversations, utilizing a peer advisory group for feedback, and reflecting on the results. Findings reveal the most important element for growth is the act of engaging in the conversation regardless of one’s perceived level of competence. The individualized transformative model of professional development was demonstrated to be an effective approach to professional development.

Critical Literacy For Linguistically Diverse Students, Jennifer Ann King

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this capstone is how can a critical literacy unit on exploring identity enable secondary ELLs to find voice and take action? It documents the creation of a twelve lesson unit organized around three target texts and one digital storytelling project. These lessons blend the components of the SIOP Model for effective instruction of English learners (Echevarría, Short, and Vogt, 2013) with activities to promote critical literacy. Additionally, the author documents the relevant research used in the creation of the curriculum along with the successes and challenges of the curriculum development process. In reflecting on the …

Exploring Attitudes Toward Teacher Led Parent Advocacy Models That Address Racial Education Inequity, Paula Yadel Cole

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The question addressed in this project is, “what are teachers and parents’ attitudes toward a teacher led parent advocacy model that addresses education inequity in Minnesota?” The premise of this work is that according to available research, current models for parent engagement in schools are not relevant to families of color. In depth interviews were conducted to understand how six families perceive the education system and how empowered they feel about leading their children towards higher education. The author also collected questionnaire responses to investigate how teachers feel about leading instruction at a potential parent leadership academy. The findings conclude …

The Pathway To A Senior Housing Officer, A Latino Man’S Journey, Javier Gutierrez

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study presents my experience as a Latino male entering the field of residential life and working my way to a senior level housing officer position. My personal account is situated in the context of the greater societal issues of how identity and mentorship are significant in a successful path into residential life. The significance of this study results from the low number of Latinos obtaining and moving up the ranks in residential life. The number of Latinos in the United States is increasing and the number of Latino students entering higher education is growing. Staffs working in student affairs …

Umaine Women In Academia Makes Presence On Campus With Upcoming Presentation, Josh Fabel

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

This Monday, Dec. 7, the group University of Maine Women in Academia will be hosting a presentation highlighting “Gender and Intersectionality in Higher Education.”

How Can Critical Literacy Be Used To Address Social Justice Issues Through A First Grade Social Studies Read Aloud Curriculum?, Katie L. Lorenz

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this capstone was, how can critical literacy be used to address social justice issues through a first grade social studies read aloud curriculum? The goal of research was to create a read aloud unit that reinforces social studies standards while addressing social justice issues and teaching students to evaluate text and challenge the power of text through a critical literacy approach to instruction. This curriculum relies on current research pertaining to critical literacy, effective classroom read aloud practices, and a backward design lesson template model. The author describes the details of the curriculum and connects …

Literacy And Social Justice: Understanding Student Perceptions And Conceptions About Literature, Jennifer Marie Crosthwaite

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Literacy and learning is a social process, one that is both transformative, empowering, and can often lead to social change. The following study is based on the idea that literacy can be used as a tool not only to teach the basic skills of reading, but the skills for individuals to learn to be compassionate towards others, understand their individuality, and envision how their self can alter their community for a more just world. The frameworks that support these concepts are socio-cultural theory, reader response theory, and critical literacy theory. The intersection of these three theories highlight the importance of …

A New Imperative For Detracking Schools. A Book Review Of On The Same Track:How Schools Can Join The Twenty-First-Century Struggle Against Resegregation, Pamela D. Fisher

Democracy and Education

In her 2014 book, On the Same Track: How Schools Can Join the Twenty-First-Century Struggle Against Resegregation, Burris builds upon the compelling case made for detracking put forth by Oakes and others in the 1970s and ’80s. Today, decades after the pioneers in detracking schools, Burris revisits the tracking practices still prevalent in America’s public schools through the lenses of those who are in the racial or ethnic minority and who are poor and at a time when school accountability often drives school practice and school choice to additional layers of sorting.

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 …

The Ethics Of Teaching For Social Justice: A Framework For Exploring The Intellectual And Moral Virtues Of Social Justice Educators. A Response To "Ethics In Teaching For Democracy And Social Justice", Rebecca M. Taylor

Democracy and Education

Pursuing social justice in education raises ethical questions about teaching practice that have not been fully addressed in the social justice literature. Hytten (2015) initiated a valuable way forward in developing an ethics of social justice educators, drawing on virtue ethics.

In this paper, I provide additional support to this effort by arguing that a virtue approach to ethics of teaching is in fact compatible with responsiveness to social context in teaching. I then propose a refined framework for considering the virtues of teachers, one which asks us to identify virtues relevant to teaching within the broad categories of intellectual …

Enacting Social Justice Ethically: Individual And Communal Habits. A Response To "Ethics In Teaching For Democracy And Social Justice", Michael G. Gunzenhauser

Democracy and Education

In response to Hytten’s provocative opening of a conversation about an ethics for activist teaching, in this essay I address three interesting contributions that Hytten made. First, I explore the significance of the imagined ethical subject in Hytten’s example and in many prior authors’ work on ethics in social justice teaching. Expanding the imagined ethical subject (beyond the resistant student with limited experience of difference), which Hytten began to do, is fruitful for additional contexts. Second, I attend to the philosophical basis upon which Hytten rested her ethical theory and suggest some ways that philosophers might follow her critical and …

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.

Ethics In Teaching For Democracy And Social Justice, Kathy Hytten

Democracy and Education

In this essay, I offer provocations toward an ethics of teaching for democracy and social justice. I argue that while driven by compelling macro social and political visions, social justice teachers do not pay sufficient attention to the moral dimensions of micro, classroom-level interactions in their work. I begin by describing social justice education. I then discuss the ways in which social justice educators have talked about issues of ethics in their work in terms of broad political visions, and in response to resistant students and charges of liberal bias. I illustrate gaps in these efforts, particularly in relation to …

Out Of Silence: Abortion Stories From The 1 In 3 Campaign, Student Women's Association

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

A flyer promoting the performance of Out of Silence: Abortion Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign held on the University of Maine campus November 5 and 6, 2015. The event was sponsored by the Student Women's Association and Mabel Wadsworth Women's Health Center.