Education Commons^™

Distributive Justice And Equity In Grading: A New Instructor’S Reflections, Molly Malany Sayre

Molly Sayre

The author reflects upon early teaching experiences to identify a conflict between minimal distributive justice, or the distribution of goods that ensures all individuals have an acceptable level of that good (Deutsch, 1985), and grading of students’ assignments. Instead of addressing the unequal distribution of college preparedness among her students, the author’s grading reflected and potentially reinforced educational, racial, and economic inequalities. In agreement with Anastas (2010), an ethic of social justice is recommended for use in social work education. Social work educators can provide greater access to resources (e.g., the instructor’s time) for students experiencing disadvantages that affect their …

Research As Inquiry, Social Justice, And The Particularist Challenges Of Religious Traditions In An Age Of Terror And Hate

Desirae Zingarelli-Sweet

Afterword, Kelly Heider

Kelly Heider

Creating Inclusive Learning Communities For Ell Students: Transforming School Principals' Perspectives, Kathryn Brooks, Susan R. Adams, Trish Morita-Mullaney

Kathryn Brooks

School-level administrators are often concerned about tertiary supports for English language learners (ELLs), such as translating signs and school documents or offering Spanish classes for their teachers. Although modeling and learning the heritage language(s) of the ESL population can be helpful, its focus on language differences can limit our considerations of broader systemic challenges that impact the success of ELLs in our schools. This article shares the dialogues that school administrators are having about ELL students and discusses the use of social justice and equity focused professional learning communities as a way to transform this discourse to address the broader …

Social Justice: Choice Or Necessity?, Colleen Swain, David Edyburn

Colleen Swain

Given the power of instructional technology and the ubiquitous nature of technology in society and the workplace, what are the social implications associated with teachers' decisions to use, or not use, technology to enhance teaching and learning? Despite current U.S. educational goals and the documented effect of the achievement gap, little attention has focused on critical issues associated with the use of instructional technology as a social justice tool. This article will explore the social justice implications of instruction technology and provide educators with a framework for understanding the effects of their decisions in using instructional technology in the classroom.

Thinking And Action: Preparing Students To Engage Complexity Within Themselves And In The World, Julia Van Der Ryn

Julia van der Ryn

This essay explores the dynamic tension between the human need to cultivate an autonomous identity and the desire to be part of a larger reality, suggesting that authentic morality emerges from a person’s struggle with the ever-shifting overlap between these two drives. Creating an intersection between thinking and action, service-learning pedagogy draws us into a creative confrontation with these drives, preparing students to engage complexity within themselves and in the world.

Vidura, July-September, 2015, Professor Vibhuti Patel

Professor Vibhuti Patel

When an ad is ‘not an ad’ / Sakuntala Narasimhan • Indian media and reporting of her neighbours / Shastri Ramachandaran • A losing battle for social justice? / Vibhuti Patel • The transformation of a women’s magazine / Sakuntala Narasimhan • A writer recalls her innings with Screen / Shoma A. Chatterji • The feminisation of urban poverty / Vibhuti Patel • Changing face of India’s disinherited daughters / Pamela Philipose • When radio proved to be a lifeline / John K. Babu • Linking folk musicians to new opportunities / Bharat Dogra • Bangladesh war widows have reason …

Connecting To Get Things Done: A Conceptual Model Of The Process Used To Respond To Bias Incidents, Lucy A. Lepeau, Demetri L. Morgan, Hilary B. Zimmerman, J.T. Snipes, Beth A. Marcotte

Demetri L. Morgan, Ph.D.

In this study, we interviewed victims of bias incidents and members of a bias response team to investigate the process the team used to respond to incidents. Incidents included acts of sexism, homophobia, and racism on a large, predominantly White research university in the Midwest. Data were analyzed using a 4-stage coding process. The emergent model focused on the way the bias response team members connected to students, other team members, and colleagues from across campus to respond to the bias incidents. Important tensions that team members navigate also became evident and are depicted in the model. Findings from this …

Thinking And Action: Preparing Students To Engage Complexity Within Themselves And In The World, Julia Van Der Ryn

Julia van der Ryn

This essay explores the dynamic tension between the human need to cultivate an autonomous identity and the desire to be part of a larger reality, suggesting that authentic morality emerges from a person’s struggle with the ever-shifting overlap between these two drives. Creating an intersection between thinking and action, service-learning pedagogy draws us into a creative confrontation with these drives, preparing students to engage complexity within themselves and in the world.

Education In Action: Service-Learning Celebrating 10 Years, Julia Van Der Ryn

Julia van der Ryn

The mission of the Service-Learning (SL) Program is to centralize resources and support for faculty, students, partner organizations and the diverse communities they serve to advance education and social justice through shared learning and collaborative action. The SL Program seeks to manifest the Dominican ideals and mission to educate ethical leaders and socially responsible global citizens through the creation of intentional, collaborative, mutually beneficial partnerships and relevant teaching/learning practices. Service-Learning integrates meaningful community engagement with academic curriculum, enriching learning through experience and intentional reflection on the interface between theory and practice.

Creating Inclusive Learning Communities For Ell Students: Transforming School Principals' Perspectives, Kathryn Brooks, Susan R. Adams, Trish Morita-Mullaney

Susan Adams

School-level administrators are often concerned about tertiary supports for English language learners (ELLs), such as translating signs and school documents or offering Spanish classes for their teachers. Although modeling and learning the heritage language(s) of the ESL population can be helpful, its focus on language differences can limit our considerations of broader systemic challenges that impact the success of ELLs in our schools. This article shares the dialogues that school administrators are having about ELL students and discusses the use of social justice and equity focused professional learning communities as a way to transform this discourse to address the broader …

Sustainability, Ambiguity And Aspiration In Teacher Education, Sandra Wooltorton

Sandra Wooltorton

Equitable Society With Equal Opportunites, Professor Vibhuti Patel

Professor Vibhuti Patel

Equal access to education for women and girls will be ensured. Special measures will be taken to eliminate discrimination, universalize education, eradicate illiteracy, create a gender-sensitive educational system, increase enrolment and retention rates of girls and improve the quality of education to facilitate life-long learning as well as development of occupation/vocation/technical skills by women. Reducing the gender gap in secondary and higher education would be a focus area. Sectoral time targets in existing policies will be achieved, with a special focus on girls and women, particularly those belonging to weaker sections including the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/Other Backward Classes/Minorities. Gender sensitive …

Freirian Reflections On Social Justice Education: A Practitioner’S Perspective, D. Scott Tharp

D. Scott Tharp

This paper integrates Freirian ideas into reflections from one social justice educators’ practice within higher education. While the author originally learned about Freire in a limited fashion related to systems of oppression, dialogical approaches to education and the importance of praxis, Freire become reduced to a method for practice. Through an expanded reading of Freire’s broader works beyond Pedagogy of the Oppressed, “new” concepts related to class suicide, authority and freedom, political clarity, and epistemological circling complicate and illuminate a more robust reflection upon his own social justice education practice. These Freireian concepts bring additional value to social justice education …

The Foundations Of Student Affairs: A Guide To The Profession, Dallas Long

Dallas Long

Student affairs is a large, complex area of campus operations and is comprised of many departments with professionals from a wide variety of educational backgrounds. Long provides a short history of the student affairs profession, followed by an overview of the departments in a typical student affairs division and the responsibilities and goals of the professionals in those departments. Long also describes the values that guide the work of student affairs professionals and the contemporary challenges they face.

“Take This Class If You Like To Be Brainwashed”: Walking The Knife’S Edge Between Education And Indoctrination, Chris Bobel

Chris Bobel

This article presents a case study or, perhaps more accurately, a pedagogical memoir that interrogates life inside my classroom as yet another site of transformation, a place where inner works become public acts. This story illustrates Anzaldúa's seven stages of conocimiento collapsed into four moments. Through an examination of "data" derived from my students' (anonymous) reflections on interacting with course material during the 15 -week term of my introductory Women's Studies class, I demonstrate the process of conocimiento, the complex series of awakenings, reckonings and integrations that build the foundation of social justice. I end by noting that what Anzaldúa …

Teacher Leadership: Women (Of African Descent) Enacting Social Justice, Vonzell Agosto, Zorka Karanxha

Zorka Karanxha

No abstract provided.

Developing Student Leadership Through Service-Learning, Shane D. Lavery

Shane D Lavery

Adolescents possess enormous potential as leaders. They have the capacity to become leaders in the workplace, in their families, in the community, and in government.

Increasingly, schools have taken on the important responsibility of the developing leadership in young people. Schools are, what van Linden and Fertman call, “hotbeds of leadership development” (1998, p. 224). For instance, Catholic schools have a commendable reputation for preparing, promoting, developing and nurturing elected student leaders. Fair and just elections, leadership camps, leadership reflection days, mixed school leadership programs, and leadership seminars, all form valid and valuable ways of preparing students for the challenges, …

Searching For A Needle In A Haystack: Indications Of Social Justice Among Aspiring Leaders, Vonzell Agosto, Zorka Karanxha

Vonzell Agosto

We conducted a content analysis of 34 statements of interest submitted by applicants applying to an education leadership preparation program. The purpose of the analysis was to understand the applicants’ orientations toward social justice. Using Kumashiro’s (2000) and Apple’s discussions of anti-oppressive education, we identified three practices in the candidates’ treatment of the writing prompt concerning leadership related to Othering: ignoring, marginalizing, and mentioning. The fourth practice, embodying (evidencing through practice) a social justice orientation, was a practice we identified in statements submitted by a few applicants (n=7). This article centers on the analysis of the applications of these seven …

Teacher Leaders: Women (Of African Descent) Enacting Social Justice, Vonzell Agosto, Zorka Karanxha

Vonzell Agosto

This chapter is concerned with how educational leadership preparation programs promote a sense of agency among women of African descent (who identify racially as Black) to serve as teacher leaders for social justice.

The Establishment Of Effective Advisory Boards For Promoting Social Justice In The Arts On College Campuses, Sherwood Thompson

Sherwood Thompson

This paper focuses on some of the important aspects of establishing an advisory board on college campuses for governing arts organizations with social justice missions. In contrast to Boards of Directors of for-profit corporations, the nonprofit advisory board services the needs of organizations by performing services aimed at assisting the activities of the organization. Most boards are made up of people who like the same things and who support the same causes. This is especially true for arts organizations which tend to have a homogeneous board make-up. This paper makes the argument that advisory boards are an important component of …

Understanding Immigrant College Students: Applying A Developmental Ecology Framework Tot He Practice Of Academic Advising, Michael J. Stebleton

Michael J. Stebleton

Immigrant college student populations continue to grow, but the complexity of their unique needs and issues remain relatively unknown. To gain a better understanding of the multiple contextual factors impacting immigrant students from a systems-based approach, I applied Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) human ecology framework to the study. Students interact with the environment, including exchanges with academic advisors, that influence student development, success, and retention. In this theory-based essay, I contend that the philosophy of a developmental ecology approach parallels the foundational tenets of developmental academic advising, mainly through an emphasis on context and working with the whole student. I offer strategies …

Reflecting On The Past; Shaping The Future Of Student Affairs, Michael J. Stebleton, Marina B. Aleixo

Michael J. Stebleton

The purpose of this essay is to offer several reflections on the content of the Envisioning Student Affairs document co-published by ACPA and NASPA. The metaphor of a public art exhibit with five reflective questions is used to inspire educators to think critically about serving students. As the demographics of students pursuing higher education changes, we urge a recommitment to historically underserved student populations. This call to service invokes a social justice philosophy when we serve historically marginalized student groups, including immigrants, students of color, and first-generation learners. Doing so will engage students and reenergize our commitment to the profession.

Problematic Conceptualizations: Allies In Teacher Education For Social Justice, Vonzell Agosto

Vonzell Agosto

This review of the literature on the concept ally and ally identity development was inspired by a qualitative study exploring the identities and social justice values of prospective teachers of color. Although the participants in the original study never used the term ally, their narratives inspired me to characterize them as allies in the struggle for social justice education. However, a review of the literature on allies, as analyzed through critical race theory and critical discourse analysis, revealed emerging conceptualizations of ally as incongruent with minority identities as they position people of color at the periphery of this social justice …

Deliberation Of Controversial Public School Curriculum: Developing Processes And Outcomes That Increase Legitimacy And Social Justice, Steven P. Camicia

Steven P. Camicia

No abstract provided.

Party Themes: Just Fun Or Offensive?, Larry D. Long

Larry D. Long

Fraternities and sororities commonly organize themed social functions. Unfortunately, many of these functions have themes that are racially or sexually derogatory. The belief is that these themes are “just for fun” and there isn’t any intent to harm or offend anyone. This session reviews examples of inappropriate party themes and provides suggestions on creating more inclusive and welcoming environments in fraternities and sororities.

More Fully Human: Principals As Freirian Liberators, Brian R. Beabout

Brian R. Beabout

This article calls for an investigation into a new breed of urban school leadership consistent with Freirean notions of dialogue, praxis, and pedagogy (Freire, 1993) in work with youth. Critical theorists have called for educational practices that emphasize the political role that teachers and students play in the educational process. Their vision of education calls for students to locate themselves in the historical process that has left them with little to count on and to struggle against social reproduction that gives life to the inequality that is so pernicious in capitalist American society. The central question is: How can principals …

They Call Us To Justice : Responding To The Call Of The Church And Our Students, Mark Storz, Karen Nestor

Mark G. Storz

Describes the ways in which to enhance the Catholicity of Catholic education by addressing issues of social justice through listening to the concerns of students as well as reading Church documents on the issue.

Leading Class Discussions Of Controversial Issues, Thomas Kelly

Thomas E. Kelly

No abstract provided.