(2011). Education Policy as Proto-Fascism: The Aesthetics of Racial Neo-Liberalism. Journal of Pedagogy, v2 n2 p173-194 Dec. We argue that neo-liberal educational policy has emerged as a proto-fascist governmentality. This contemporary technology relies on State racisms and racial orderings manifested from earlier liberal and neo-liberal practices of biopower. As a proto-fascist technology, education policy, and school choice policies in particular, operate within a racial aesthetics that connects ultra-nationalisms with microfascisms of racialized bodies. We discuss historical examples of liberal school segregation and residential schools in relation to contemporary examples of chartered ethnic-identity schools to illustrate the complexities of proto-fascist education policy…. [Direct]
(2013). The Role of Theatre and Embodied Knowledge in Addressing Race in South African Higher Education. Studies in Higher Education, v38 n5 p728-740. This article examines the role of theatrical performance as a means of addressing the embodied and spatio-temporal manifestations of race and racism within South African higher education. As part of Jansen's proposal for a post-conflict pedagogy in South Africa, the article argues for the development and inclusion of embodied knowledges as an appropriate means of addressing issues of diversity and social transformation on South African campuses. Through a case study of one theatrical production aimed at tackling issues of diversity with incoming first year students at Rhodes University, it is argued that it was the embodied processes that the student performers in the production did that enabled them to interrogate the complexities of power and identity. The article suggests a move from intellectualised and abstracted engagements with race towards pedagogical methods that involve embodiment that, in this case, facilitated significant shifts in thinking about race and racial privilege… [Direct]
(2011). "You've Got to Be Tough and I'm Trying": Black and Minority Ethnic Student Teachers' Experiences of Initial Teacher Education. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v14 n3 p365-386. Whilst Black and minority ethnic (BME) recruitment to initial teacher education (ITE) in the UK is increasing, completion rates are lower than for White students, and this study reports the experiences of BME student teachers on a primary postgraduate programme that had been particularly successful in increasing recruitment of BME students. Amongst some positive experiences, they report concerns about social isolation, stereotypical attitudes amongst White peers and instances of overt racism, particularly in school placements. Whilst conscious of the distinctive contribution they are able to make to schools, the student teachers are aware of the dangers of marginalization where their contribution is solely defined by their ethnicity. This paper draws attention to the parallels between these experiences and those revealed in similar studies undertaken up to two decades ago. It explores possible factors behind the persistence of these experiences and questions the effectiveness of the… [Direct]
(2016). Social Studies Teachers' Perceptions and Experiences of Social Justice. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, n64 319-340. Problem Statement: Social justice addresses inequality in society, including economic inequality, global migration, racism, xenophobia, prejudice against disabled people, and class discrimination. In Turkey, social studies curriculum aims to cultivate active, democratically minded citizens who value justice, independence, peace, solidarity, tolerance, freedom, and respect and demonstrate critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, social participation, and empathy. Purpose: Since social justice education affects teachers' values, beliefs, experiences, practices, and views on social justice, we aimed to understand social studies teachers' perceptions and experiences of social justice. Methods: Following a phenomenological research design selected in accordance with maximum variation sampling, we recruited 10 teachers for our sample. We collected data by conducting semi-structured interviews with the teachers and classroom observations of four of them. We analyzed data by… [PDF]
(2012). The Uphill Climb. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, v29 n11 p16-17 Jul. Despite decades of research and recommendations, a revolving door continues to cycle Black and Hispanic faculty into and out of predominantly White higher education institutions. Interviews with the scholars and researchers who have examined this issue in recent years suggest that, although some institutions have ramped up their recruitment and retention efforts, more proactive measures need to be taken. In addition, numerous racial incidents on university campuses have focused attention on the composition of faculty at many top universities. Why do the disparities persist? Much of the literature suggests that the continued underrepresentation of faculty of color is largely attributable to persisting institutional racism and to individuals who continue to–intentionally or unintentionally–perpetuate racially disparate outcomes…. [Direct]
(2013). Analyzing Poverty, Learning, and Teaching through a Critical Race Theory Lens. Review of Research in Education, v37 n1 p1-53 Mar. In this article, the author explores poverty as an outside-of-school factor and its influence on the inside-of-school experiences and outcome of students. He considers the interconnected space of learning, instructional practices, and poverty. In particular, he uses critical race theory as an analytic tool to unpack, shed light on, problematize, disrupt, and analyze how systems of oppression, marginalization, racism, inequity, hegemony, and discrimination are pervasively present and ingrained in the fabric of policies, practices, institutions, and systems in education that have important bearings on students–all students–even though most of the studies reviewed did not address race in this way. He analyzes the interrelationship between race and poverty. His point in using race as an analytic site is not to suggest that people are in poverty because of their race but to demonstrate how race can be a salient factor in how people experience and inhabit the world and consequently… [Direct]
(1994). Democratic Teacher Education: Programs, Processes, Problems, and Prospects. SUNY Series, Democracy and Education. This book focuses on the creative work and struggles of democratic teacher educators. After "Introduction: The Talk and the Walk of Democratic Teacher Education" (John M. Novak), the book is organized in three sections. Section I, "Programs," includes: (1) "The Institute for Democracy in Education: Supporting Democratic Teachers" (George Wood); (2) "Foxfire Teachers' Networks (Viewed through Maxine Greene's 'The Dialectic of Freedom')" (Hilton Smith); (3) "Doing Women's Studies: Possibilities and Challenges in Democratic Praxis" (Cecilia Reynolds); (4) "Democratic Empowerment and Secondary Teacher Education" (Thomas E. Kelly); (5) "Teaching for Democracy: Preparing Teachers To Teach Democracy" (Keith Hillkirk); (6) "Deliberately Developing Democratic Teachers in a Year" (Barbara McEwan); and (7) "An Institute for Independence through Action, Process, and Theory" (J. Cynthia McDermott). Section…
(2011). Justice for All or Justice for Just Us? Toward a Critical Race Pedagogy of Hope through "Brown" in Urban Education. Urban Education, v46 n1 p99-110 Jan. This article uses critical theoretical methods to reconsider the potential of "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka" in urban education. It finds "Brown" as a potentially useful tool for coconstructing critical race pedagogy of hope that involves (a) Socratic questioning of the endemic nature of racism and power dynamics of public education and the political discursive innovations of "Brown"; (b) a commitment to justice in urban education for all stakeholders, including stakeholders representing injustices linking race to class and gender; and (c) tragicomic hope–locating, critiquing, and ultimately engaging the action of hope to sustain participation in the struggle for distributive justice in public education…. [Direct]
(2014). "Contra La Corriente" (Against the Current): The Role of Latino Fathers in Family-School Engagement. School Community Journal, v24 n1 p149-176. A community-based, multisite study using mixed methods examined the experiences and perspectives of Latino students and families in a low performing urban school district in New York State. This research project was spearheaded by a Latino Education Task Force which brought together multiple stakeholders in a collaborative effort to counteract high dropout rates and deficit thinking about Latino youth and their families. The findings reported here, drawn from a thematic analysis of data collected specifically from focus groups with parents, center on Latino fathers' perspectives and experiences. We utilized a conceptual framework of Latino family epistemology and alternative parental role theory to explore the role of Puerto Rican fathers in family-school engagement. Findings reveal that these fathers: (a) cultivate education as a family and community affair in order to promote school success; (b) critique dynamics within the parent-school–istrict system and advocate for their… [PDF]
(2017). Undocumented Latino Student Activists' Funds of Knowledge: Transforming Social Movements. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, The George Washington University. There are approximately 28,000 to 55,000 undocumented enrolled in postsecondary institutions in the United States (Passel, 2003). In order to achieve their educational ambitions despite the structural social, socioeconomic, political, and legislative barriers facing them, undocumented students utilize various resources they have at their disposal. Minoritized populations, specifically undocumented Latino students, have employed individual and collective agency in overcoming structural racism and barriers enacted to maintain the status quo. This study of eight undocumented Latino student activists in Virginia and Washington reveals the various forms of resources available undocumented Latino student activists and documents how these students utilize them to navigate the barriers they encounter, shape the undocumented student social movement, and achieve their educational aspirations. This study seeks to uncover what resources undocumented Latino student activists have at their… [Direct]
(2013). Critical Race Ethnography of Higher Education: Racial Risk and Counter-Storytelling. Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences, v6 n3 p64-78 Win. The Ethnography of the University Initiative (EUI) joins a long history of critique, challenge and transformation of higher education. EUI courses are an important site for the creation of non-traditional narratives in which students challenge "business-as-usual" in higher education. For under-represented students, this includes inquiry and analysis of the racial status quo at the University. In this article, I provide a student's perspective on EUI through my own experiences with EUI research as both an undergraduate and later graduate student investigating race and racism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (U of I). Using ethnographic methods and drawing on critical race theory, I provide two examples of EUI research that critiqued the University's management of race. The first example is a collaborative ethnography of the Brown versus Board of Education Commemoration at U of I–a project that I joined as an undergraduate (Abelmann et al. 2007); and the… [Direct]
(2015). Sufficiently well Informed and Seriously Concerned? European Union Policy Responses to Marginalisation, Structural Racism, and Institutionalised Exclusion in Early Childhood. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, v61 n4 399-416 Win. Throughout the European Union, children from marginalised communities experience an appalling reality of poverty, exclusion, discrimination, and racism. Growing up in poverty and social exclusion shapes the reality of the lived experience for an increasing number of children in one of the wealthiest regions of the world. In the UK, a member of the G7, a significant number of children suffer from hunger, malnutrition, and cold (Lansley & Mack, 2015) while the government has abandoned child poverty reduction targets; in Croatia, a recent accession to the EU, "it is normal that Roma children are mostly sick," according to a recently published report (≈ ikic-Micanovic, Ivatts, Vojak, & Geiger-Zeman, 2015, p. x). Rather than examining the situation in specific countries, in this paper I undertake a critical inquiry into policy approaches and responses to inequality at the level of the European Union–including the EU Framework for National Roma Integration… [Direct]
(1994). Celebrating Racial Diversity. This book is a teacher's guide to lessons on racism and multicultural education for students in preschool through grade 12. The emphasis is on the Catholic tradition, and suggestions are given for using the manual to support a religious education program. Suggestions are also provided for using the manual in social studies and language arts curricula in which the orientation is not specifically religious. The first section deals with racism, defining three goals of a curriculum on racism: distinguishing racism from prejudice, increasing awareness of the realities of institutional racism in the United States, specifically in educational institutions, and offering strategies for attitudinal change. Four lessons are accompanied by student worksheets. The second section deals with multicultural education. It is designed to increase understanding of multicultural education, to explain the nature of stereotyping, and to suggest strategies and activities for building positive multicultural…
(2012). "In My Liverpool Home": An Investigation into the Institutionalised Invisibility of Liverpool's Black Citizens. Journal of Education Policy, v27 n3 p335-348. Reviewing the 22 years that have elapsed since Gifford's 1989 report labelled Liverpool as racist, the authors focus on the fact that in a city which has had a British African Caribbean (BAC) community for over 400 years, there is minimum representation of that community in the city's workforce. The authors investigate two major forms of employment in the city, i.e. the teaching workforce and the city's Council workforce and one major route to employability, i.e. Higher Education Institutions in the city. They set out an evidenced argument which demonstrates the under-representation of the BAC community in two of the city's major areas of employment. The authors hypothesise that this under-representation is grounded in institutional and structural racism. (Contains 7 notes.)… [Direct]
(2012). Institutional Racism? Roma Children, Local Community and School Practices. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, v10 n1 p53-66 Apr. This article tries to discuss the conditions Roma pupils face within the Greek educational system. In the first part, through a brief history of Roma groups in Greece followed by a short analysis of their legal status and leaving conditions, I attempt to present a critical approach in Romani Studies. Thereafter, using Institutional Racism as a lens and based on official documents and secondary data, I am trying to make a concise analysis of the educational policy of the Greek state towards Roma pupils. In the second part, based on an ethnographic research in a Greek primary school, I investigate the influence of the local Greek authorities, local communities and school personnel on Roma origin pupils' education. (Contains 13 footnotes and 2 tables.)… [PDF]