International Journal of Progressive Education (IJPE)
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Implications of Community Activism among Urban Minority Young People for Education for Engaged and Critical Citizenship
Get PDFCitizenship is fundamentally defined by praxis--i.e., engagement in local and diverse forms of civic practices--rather than by a legal status tied to the nation-state (Tully, 2008). This study examined the participatory democracy practices of a community activist group that was organizing to resist gentrification in a Puerto Rican community in Chicago in the U.S. In order to preserve their Puerto Rican community and build a grassroots democracy practice, the young activists involved themselves in a variety of community issues, ranging across political, socio-cultural, and educational domains. Noticeably, they worked to engage local youth in community events and in the process of production and distribution of local information. This helped the youth to learn about important community issues, as well as Puerto Rican history and culture, which had not been taught in local public schools. Such intergenerational and holistic educational activities not only produced new young leaders but in fact created a pipeline of community leadership. Their efforts present a useful educational model of engaged and critical citizenship, demonstrating the unique contributions of learning beyond the classroom
Scales of active citizenship%253A New Zealand teachers‟ diverse perceptions and practices
No full textThe heightened focus on ‗activelsquo%253B citizenship in New Zealandlsquo%253Bs current curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) mirrors a pattern observed in many nationlsquo%253Bs curricula in the past decade. The scale of active citizenship in this curriculum includes an expectation that students will participate in local and national communities but also extends to participation in ‗global communitieslsquo%253B. Recognising that citizenship is a hotly contested concept, how do teaching departments, as collective curriculum ‗gatekeeperslsquo%253B, understand, interpret and enact such curriculum requirements%253F This paper describes the perceptions and practices toward active citizenship of New Zealand social studies teachers (n%253D27) from four differing geographic and socio-economic secondary school communities. This study reveals significant differences in the scale of teacherslsquo%253Bcitizenship orientations with lower socio-economic school communities prioritising locally-focused citizenship and higher socio-economic communities favouring national and global orientations. Applying a Bourdieusian analysis, the author posits that these diverse perceptions and practices are socially and culturally constituted and reinforced by the shared doxa within school communities. Understanding these differing perceptions of ‗activelsquo%253B citizenship is essential to gain more nuanced perspectives on how citizenship education is enacted and practised in classrooms
Activating Citizenship ndash%253B the nation‟s use of education to create notions of identity and citizenship in south Asia
No full textIdentity in south Asia was anchored by, on the one end, community, and on the other, an appreciation of sub-continental (geographical and cultural) space. People, historically, drew their identity as part of communities, which in turn existed in continuity to each-other in the seamless regional expanse of south Asia. Imagination as nationals - a post-colonial construct - faced contestations, both, from community affiliations and spatial imagination contrary to the territorial - modular form of nation-state. As a response, the state fabricated the idea of ‗patriotic-citizenlsquo%253B and used nationalist historiography to create citizens who are taught to believe the nation as prime-marker of self-definition and act like soldiers, guarding national identity against alternative imaginations. Education has become the most potent devise through which this is achieved. The article, on the basis of textbook narratives in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, would demonstrate (i) how educational practices build a militarist idea of citizenship and, (ii) in doing so co-opts the demands of community by showing the nation as vindication of community-aspirations and on the other hand erasing conceptualisation of a south Asian space from cognitive maps of its subjects. The idea of ‗activelsquo%253B citizenship understands ‗activelsquo%253B as responsible citizenship, emphasising a right based discourse. On the contrary education in south Asia is used to ‗activatelsquo%253B citizenship which is relational in content - based on ideas of ‗uslsquo%253B versus ‗themlsquo%253B ndash%253B instead of allowing critical understanding of rights and identities
Experiences of Faculty of Color Teaching in a Predominantly White University%253A Fostering Interracial Relationships Among Faculty of Color and White Preservice Teachers
Get PDFIn this study, I recount my experiences teaching elementary literacy methods courses and interacting with my racial Othersmdash%253Bmy White preservice teachers%252Fstudents, senior faculty, and administrators at a predominantly White university in the rural Mountain West. Using an ethnographic approach (Emerson, Fretz, amp%253B Shaw, 1995), I analyzed studentslsquo%253B course evaluations, anonymous in-class notes, and administratorslsquo%253B annual evaluations for six semesters. The findings show that my White undergraduate students ―policed‖ my English language use and racial characteristics, and resisted authority and expertise. Administration participated in preserving mainstream values and superior White group positions over mine by blaming my cultural values when student complaints surfaced. However, once relationships were established between my students and me, drastically different interactions and teaching%252Flearning occurred. This study breaks new ground in expanding our understanding that%253A 1) cultural mismatch and racial tensions are still some of the most divisive issues in education%253B 2) building sensitivity toward and mutual respect among racial Others is the precursor to creating hope and possibility for working with racial Others%253B and 3) creating racial harmony may not result from changing individual attitudes alone. The responsibility for change in valuing and understanding Others rests critically on university policies and practices
Fostering Conversational Leadership%253A A Response to Barnetts Call for an Ontological Turn
No full textThis article examines Ronald Barnettlsquo%253Bs notion of an ontological turn in higher education as a language for framing the current existential demands and emerging learning needs of young adults. After presenting different interpretations of ontology, I make a case for how contemplative approaches can be applied to communication- based higher education classes to support ontological learning processes and outcomes. I then introduce a case study, drawn from a graduate course entitled Dialogue Processes, that I have taught over the past seven years at University of Massachusetts (Boston). Here I illustrate how a contemplative approach to instruction helps develop conversational leadership, a central learning objective of the course
Communication Disorders and the inclusion of newcomer African refugees in rural primary schools of British Columbia, Canada
Get PDFIn Canadian public primary schools, newcomer West African refugees like other ethnic immigrant students are a visible minority group, often referred as Linguistic and Culturally Different (LCD) students. In the province of British Columbia, newcomer immigrant students are subjected to a battery of tests, as soon as they enroll in the primary public school system. These tests are the provincial Standardized Assessment Tests (SAT) and classroom Teacher Assessment of Learning (TAL) that aim at obtaining data for diagnostic purposes of studentslsquo%253B learning and teaching purposes. Specific to LCD refugee and immigrant students, they are also assessed on English Language Communication Proficiency (oral and written), Social Skills amongst others, regardless of the degree of proficiency in English language as members of the Anglo-phone Commonwealth countries whose curriculum and medium of instruction is British related. More often, the African immigrants and refugee students of the Anglo-phone African countries are most times diagnosed with English Language Communication Disorders (ELCDs), which has been questioned by some Canadian researchers of Learning Disabilities (LDs) and Multicultural Education (ME), especially with regards to the cultural compatibility of the assessment process%252Fdiagnostic tools, and criteria used to assess these LCD refugee and immigrant students. The article discusses the above discourse, with the support of findings of a qualitative ethnographic research findings and related literature
Separate but Equal%253A Segregated Religious Education in Egypts Public Schools
No full textThe Arab Spring exposed the hidden secrets of Egyptian society to the global community. In spite of the insatiable media attention paid to the Mubarak regime and the toll it took on the entire country, Egypts education system received little attention. For decades, Egypts public schools have forced students to attend segregated classes, based on an individuals religious and ethnic background. Egypts Coptic community constitutes approximately 10 percent of the population yet members of this community must designate their religious affiliation and, as a result, students adhering to the Christian faith are given a separate religious education. Also, students identifying as Muslim must attend a course on Islam. This dichotomous system instills a sense of other in students at a young age, thereby promoting tension between the two communities. Phronetic research methods will be utilized in this study to chart a new direction for Egypts public education system
The Relationship Between the Individual Values and Critical Thinking Skills of Prospective Social Sciences Teachers
No full textThe aim of this study is to determine the relationship between the individual values and critical thinking skills of prospective social sciences teachers. The sample of the research is composed of a total of 298 prospective teachers, who are first-year, second-year, third-year and fourth-year students. These prospective teachers were randomly selected using the stratified sampling method which is one of the random sampling methods via the maximum variation sampling method in purposive sampling. The data of the study have been obtained using a Personal Values Scale and Critical Thinking Scale. In view of the research findings, a positive significant result has been obtained among the scores for the critical thinking and personal values factor perceived by the prospective teachers. Moreover, it has been observed that personal values factors collectively predict 42%25 of the critical thinking score
Classroom Performance Evaluation%253A Stages and Perspectives For Professional Development of Secondary Teachers in Vietnam
Get PDFThis study examined classroom performance evaluation of secondary teachers in Vietnam. Specially, it sought to determine the possibility of applying supervision into the evaluation for teaching development. Data were collected from interviews with 34 (n%253D34) participants%253A ten evaluators and 24 teachers in different school contexts%253A rural areas, towns, and cities. Data showed considerable impacts%253A (a) more favorableness on ‗evaluation conferencelsquo%253B and ‗post-conference analysislsquo%253B among stages, (b) the high appreciation on open discussionsmdash%253Bbeing willing to share ideas co-existing differences in favorableness of feedback of strengths%253B and (c) being ready to give or receive appropriate feedback while keeping own ideas for a win-win strategy due to the barrier of the perceived power differential. Suggestions were on more emphasis on classroom performancemdash%253Bdiscussions before and after class classroom observation rather than inspecting teaching dossiers and on feasible strategies for teacher developmentmdash%253Bsupervision should be referredmdash%253Brather than executing the ‗bureaucraticlsquo%253B procedure
The University as a Public Good%253A Active citizenship and university community engagement
No full textEducation for active citizenship has been a key development in social policy over the past two decades, leading to a number of initiatives that have sought to strengthen political, social and moral literacy. This paper briefly reviews the UK policy context by situating this within communitarian definitions of citizenship. Despite the growth of initiatives designed to promote active citizenship, there has been comparatively little focus on the role of universities in addressing locally based civic, social and political challenges. Drawing on literature and a case-study of an innovative university community engagement project, this paper investigates to what extent universities can ndash%253B and should ndash%253B play a more active role in their local communities. In doing so, the paper argues that a potential ‗public goodlsquo%253B value of universities can emerge