Education Commons^™

Exploring The Leadership Practices Of Social Justice Leaders At Urban Charter Schools, Kandle Fraser

Doctoral Dissertations

While by and large urban public schools continue to not serve the needs of all of the students in their communities, there are some school principals who are creating educational equity for all of their students and deserve to be called social justice leaders. This study aimed to expand the field of school leadership studies and focus on social justice leaders in charter schools using a phenomenological interview methodology. Each of four participants was interviewed in three 90-minute sessions. The first interview focused on the person's life history before becoming school leaders, the second was on their leadership practices, and …

"This Is A Public Record": Teaching Human Rights Through The Performing Arts, Andrea Mcevoy Spero

Doctoral Dissertations

Urban youth in the United States often experience daily human rights violations such as racism and violence. Therefore, Human Rights Education (HRE) can strengthen their understanding of these issues and unleash their power to act toward positive change. This qualitative study attempted to gain a deeper understanding of the use of performance arts to teach human rights in an urban high school setting.

The following meta-question guided this research: "Is it possible for HRE which integrates the performing arts as a pedagogical tool to provide a transformative educational experience for students?" To address this question, the study explored: 1) how …

Supporting Teachers As Transformative Intellectuals: Participatory Action Research In Human Rights Education, Page Hersey

Doctoral Dissertations

Human rights education (HRE) holds the potential for educators to begin an honest dialogue with students and to connect local issues with international struggles for human rights. However, HRE and other teaching approaches that build understanding of systems of power and oppression that lead to human rights violations are not widely embraced in U.S. schools. In this participatory action research (PAR) study, a group of five educators in the San Francisco Bay Area examined the development and implementation of HRE and social justice education.

Broad research questions guided the group process, asking how educators engaged with youth about human rights …