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Educational Institutions Negotiating Democracy and Social Justice

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Title: Educational Institutions Negotiating Democracy and Social Justice


1
  • Educational Institutions Negotiating Democracy
    and Social Justice
  • Dr. Paul Carr
  • Youngstown State University
  • Beeghly College of Education
  • Dept. of Educational Administration, Research and
    Foundations
  • Youngstown, Ohio, 44555
  • prcarr_at_ysu.edu 330-941-2241

2
Outline
  • Conceptual Framework
  • Data Sources
  • Democracy and Social Justice Two ships passing
    in the night?
  • Contextualizing Education
  • Transforming the institution, or
    institutionalizing the transformation?
  • Discussion

3
Guiding Questions
  • Can education lead to social change?
  • Can institutions promote transformational change?
  • How can social justice best be understood and
    advanced?
  • Does accountability and the quest for high
    standards include social justice?
  • Are democracy and education mutually
    reinforcing concepts?

4
Conceptual Framework
  • Transformational change anti-racism (CARR)
  • Leadership, strategic planning diversity
    (FULLAN)
  • Systemic racism marginalization (DEI)
  • Cultural discontinuities minority castes (OGBU)
  • Social re-production (BOURDIEU)
  • Critical pedagogy (FREIRE McCLAREN)
  • White power and privilege (FINE et al.)

5
Data Sources
  • Research on anti-racism and institutional change
    in Toronto and Canadian schools (mid- to
    late-1990s)
  • Professional experience in government as a Senior
    Policy Advisor working on educational policy
    (1988-2005)
  • Research on educational policymaking, democracy
    and citizenship (2003 present), with
    preliminary research on students/faculty in an
    Ohio university

6
Change Anti-racism
  • Racializing education is opposed by many
  • Education is a political enterprise
  • Social construction intersectionality of
    identity
  • Marginalized communities
  • Inequitable power relations
  • Multiculturalism myth and the rise of
    anti-racism
  • Power and privilege (Whiteness)
  • Effect of affirmative action and employment
    equity
  • Role of RM teachers and anti-racist education
  • Uneven academic achievement

7
Teacher Race and Education
  • Findings on five topics where White and RM
    teachers have different perspectives
  • 1) views of anti-racist education
  • 2) RM teachers as role models
  • 3) role of principals
  • 4) support for employment equity
  • 5) the treatment of RM teachers

8
Leadership and Equity
  • Need to make the agenda explicit
  • Big picture" is critical
  • Key factors re leadership and social justice
  • 1) commitment to equity
  • 2) preparation and understanding of equity
  • 3) demonstrated leadership
  • 4) the role of mediator
  • 5) racial representation

9
Institutional Barriers
  • Commitment to equity is fraught with problems and
    obstacles
  • Five barriers to the implementation of equity
  • 1) lack of vision
  • 2) decentralized nature of school system
  • 3) lack of RMs in key positions
  • 4) compartmentalization of interests
  • 5) informal resistance to racial equality

10
Educational Policymaking
  • Is government capable of conceptualizing social
    justice?
  • The predominance of Whiteness as a dominating
    influence
  • Political agendas and the notion of
    accountability
  • Two steps forward, one step back (informal
    resistance)
  • No Child Left Behind (accountability for results
    emphasis on doing what works based on scientific
    research expanded parental options local
    control)

11
Government (In)Action
  • Ontario (NDP 1990-1995 PC 1995-2003 Liberals
    2003-present)
  • Huge shift in ideological presence and resources
  • Focus, mandate, planning and profile of social
    justice
  • Formal discourse on minority issues, social
    cohesion and human rights and informal resistance
  • Can there be progressive change from the inside?
  • Business plans, communications strategies, tax
    cuts and democracy

12
Democracy and Citizenship
  • Preliminary research with students, teachers,
    faculty and community groups
  • Humble appreciation for concepts demonstrated
    commitment/experience is often nebulous
  • Emphasis on elections and the constitution
  • Support for democracy in education with limited
    critical analysis
  • Accountability is not always connected to social
    justice

13
Conceptualizing Democracy Official Version
  • National/international ethos and ideology
    favouring democracy
  • Mainstream cultural appreciation of democracy
  • Human rights and laws based on democracy
  • Free-market economy equals democracy
  • Elections equal democracy
  • Our values are rooted in democracy, which
    protects are freedom (according to FOX News,
    fair and balanced)

14
Conceptualizing Democracy Unofficial Version
  • Democracy is experienced differently according to
    origin/background and context
  • Elections not necessarily democratic (money,
    participation, identity, media, polling)(Jenson
    et al.)
  • Democratic racism (Tator and Henry)
  • Is poverty democratic?
  • Rational incoherence to democracy (the monarchy,
    the Constitution and slavery, wealthy folks who
    dont pay income tax, the role of the media)

15
The Identity of Democracy
  • Diversity, equity and social justice
  • Social construction of identity
  • Representative vs. participatory democracy
  • White power and privilege is not neutral
  • Decisionmaking processes are shaped by
    power/money
  • Changing demography (i.e., Latinos in US)
  • Converging trans-national interests (i.e.,
    environment, war, poverty, etc., have
    international linkages)

16
Educational Context
  • Wide-ranging educational reforms
  • Academic achievement vs. employability
  • Accountability (for who?)
  • Standardized testing for students
  • Changing context for teachers
  • Political-economy of globalization (competition)
  • Multiculturalism, social justice White teachers
  • Underachievement and a lack of response
  • Privatization as opposed to societal
    responsibility

17
Diversity in Toronto Schools
  • UN declares Toronto worlds most multicultural
    city
  • 300,000 students in 558 schools (Canadas
    largest)
  • ESL 52 of (S) and 47 of (E) students
  • Significant refugee population
  • 24 (E) students born outside of Canada
  • 12 of (S) students in Canada lt 3 years
  • Approx. 15 of (S) students live without parents
  • Approx. 30 of students live in poverty
  • RM approx. 55 of students and 14 of teachers
  • Special education 10 of students
  • Disproportionate drop-out rate/academic
    achievement

18
Education in a Democracy
  • The purpose of public education?
  • to support democracy
  • social change (or social re-production)
  • social cohesion
  • individual choice
  • civic engagement
  • skills and knowledge
  • attitudes and behaviour
  • some combination of these

19
Formulating democratic education
  • An amalgam of concepts
  • How decisions in education are made?
  • What are those decisions?
  • What is the effect of those decisions?
    (especially re citizenship, social justice and
    human development)
  • Classroom/school content institutional
    processes and culture
  • Accountability (not the TQM type)

20
Institutional Culture
  • Decisionmaking processes (who is at the table,
    and what happens?)
  • Policy process (what issues are brought forward,
    and how? is research used to inform the policy
    process?)
  • Accountability mechanisms (what do we measure,
    how, and why? what about social justice?)
  • Data-collection and usage
  • Traditions and ethos (types of leadership)
  • Formal vs. informal implementation

21
DE in the Classroom
  • Curriculum (formal vs. hidden)
  • civics vs. social studies
  • ideology of policies, documents and resources
  • facts vs. reflective learning
  • integrated/infused or centralized approach
  • linkages with community
  • are teachers able and prepared? (Mellor)
  • politics, levies, standards and the national
    priority for public education

22
(Un)Critical Democracy
  • Is critical thinking construed as anti-patriotic
    behaviour? (Westheimer)
  • Can educational systems support critical
    reflection, and also adhere to prescriptive
    curriculum documents?
  • How does critical learning mesh with teaching and
    standardized tests?
  • Can we have democracy in the classroom if we
    dont have it in the system supporting the
    schools?

23
Service-learning/Community Service
  • Volunteerism that is non-critical avoids doing
    democracy
  • Role of business and community in schools
  • Authentic civic involvement may lead to less
    social problems and individualism
  • Learning programs can be categorized (Westheimer
    and Kahne)
  • responsible citizen
  • participatory citizen
  • social reformer

24
Rationale for DE Framework
  • No consensus on exact definition of DE
  • Political nature of education (shifting visions)
  • Insistence on short-term vs. long-term goals
  • No culture of assessing entire education system
  • Concern about exposing gaps and weaknesses
  • Structural issues not conducive to accountability
  • White privilege and power
  • If not implemented, risk of losing credibility,
    moral authority, and capacity to confront
    problems (in Toronto, the call for
    black-focused schools)

25
DE Framework
  • Matrix-based, multi-layered, comprehensive
    framework for entire education system
    (province/state, school district and school
    levels)
  • Ten substantive CONTENT components
  • - Strategic policy - Training
  • - Leadership - Evaluation
  • - Policy development - Service-learning
  • - Community involvement - Social justice
  • - Extra-curricular - Curriculum

26
DE Framework
  • Eight FUNCTIONAL criteria
  • - Inclusion - Data-collection/analysis
  • - Representation - Decisionmaking process
  • - Communications - Accountability mechanism
  • - Funding - Monitoring and review

27
Considerations for DE framework
  • Cyclical nature of review
  • Formulation of measures and targets is key
  • Diversity must be contextualized
  • Need to be open, transparent and accountable
  • Political system must be responsive
  • Same rigour used to develop standards for
    academic achievement is required for DE
  • What is the cost of not developing, implementing
    and evaluating a DE framework?

28
Potential for DE Framework
  • Positive effect on democracy in society (civic
    participation)
  • Support for human rights and social justice
  • Improved educational experience (academic and
    citizenship)
  • Educational systems/institutions will become more
    democratic and accountable
  • More critical debate of public good

29
Questions
  • Is this model realistic, given political/economic
    interests of the state?
  • Would this model assist in asserting social
    justice?
  • Why and how would educational institutions
    reject/embrace the model?
  • Would the model be helpful to marginalized
    groups?
  • Is there a socio-political interest in achieving
    greater democracy and accountability in
    education?

30
  • MERCI BEAUCOUP !
  • !MUCHAS GRACIAS!
  • MESI ANPIL!
  • THANK YOU!
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