Category Archives: Education theory & research

“Anarchism…is a living force within our life…” Anarchism, education and new possibilities

CALL FOR PAPERS

Educational Studies, Special Issue
“Anarchism…is a living force within our life…” Anarchism, education
and new possibilities

Guest Editor
Abraham P. DeLeon
University of Texas at San Antonio
Manuscripts due April 1st, 2011

The title for this special issue emerged from the work of Emma Goldman
and other anarchists that have developed a reflexive and subversive
body of literature that has inspired countless political movements and
actions. Indeed resistance seems to become a living force inside of
anarchists based on their participation in such events like the
Russian Revolution, the Spanish Civil War, Paris in 1968, Seattle in
1999 and Genoa in 2001. Today, anarchism is found in a diverse range
of fields such as philosophy, sociology, cultural studies, justice
studies and human rights scholarship. It is a rich tradition aligned
with multiple anarchisms rather than with a monolithic body of theory.
Anarchists critique hierarchies, resist authority, oppose coercive
institutions, employ alternative spatial arrangements and create
organic, communal societies based on mutual aid and social justice.
Although many anarchists have pushed for the end of compulsory
schooling, anarchist theory and practice can potentially serve a
subversive role in resisting how schools fashion student bodies into
workers, managers, owners and the other nefarious identities that
capitalism requires for its reproduction. Despite being
interdisciplinary, anarchist theory and practice is omitted from
educational scholarship and has only begun to be recently theorized
despite having a vested interest in educational projects throughout
the globe.

This special issue will address this current gap by inviting a broad
range of scholars to submit their theoretical, qualitative, and
conceptual papers that explore anarchism within the context of
critical educational theory and practice, particularly its
implications for critical pedagogy and the foundations of education.
Papers can attend to a wide variety of interdisciplinary anarchist
perspectives related to education. Historical work is welcomed that
examines anarchist-inspired models of education. Visionary papers that
imagine other future anarchist educational possibilities may be
provocative. Ethnographers that have embedded themselves within
anarchist educational movements will also be of interest. Scholars
that conceptualize anarchist theory and critical pedagogy through
eco-justice, critical race theory, poststructuralism, critical
discourse studies, indigenous education or queer theory are highly
sought. All submissions will be subject to a blind and rigorous peer
review process. The guest editor also seeks book reviews that explore
anarchist theory and any other media review connected to anarchism
and/or its practice. Poetry written or inspired by anarchists is also
highly encouraged. Hopefully, this special issue will serve as a
beginning conversation for how anarchist theory can be embedded within
educational theory, critical pedagogy and the foundations of education
serving as a catalyst for a more inclusive critical educational
theory. Manuscripts are due by April 1st, 2011 and are submitted
through Educational Studies’ online submission system, at
http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com:80/heds. Please direct all inquires
about possible submissions by email to the guest editor, Prof. Abraham
P. DeLeon at Abraham.deleon@utsa.edu

New issue of Critical Education: “Why the Standards Movement Failed: An Educational and Political Diagnosis of Its Failure and the Implications for School Reform”

Part 2 of Larry Stedman’s analysis of the failure of the standards movement, just published by Critical Education.

Why the Standards Movement Failed: An Educational and Political Diagnosis of Its Failure and the Implications for School Reform
Lawrence C. Stedman

Abstract

In the first paper, “How Well Does the Standards Movement Measure Up?,” I documented the movement’s failure in diverse areas—academic achievement, equality of opportunity, quality of learning, and graduation rates—and described its harmful effects on students and school culture.

In this paper, I diagnose the reasons for the failure and propose an alternative agenda for school reform. I link the failure of the standards movement to its faulty premises, historical myopia, and embrace of test-driven accountability. As part of the audit culture and the conservative restoration, the movement ended up pushing a data-driven, authoritarian form of schooling. Its advocates blamed educational problems on a retreat from standards, for which there was little evidence, while ignoring the long-standing, deep structure of schooling that had caused persistent achievement problems throughout the 20th century. Drawing on reproduction theories and analyses of the neoliberal reform project, I make the case for repealing NCLB and Race to the Top and outline a progressive framework for reconstructing schools.

Critical Education: How Well Does the Standards Movement Measure Up?

Critical Education has just published its latest issue—the first of a two part examination of No Child Left Behind policies and the standards movement by Lawrence C. Stedman.

We invite you visit our web site to review this and other articles and items of interest.

Critical Education
Vol 1, No 10 (2010)
Table of Contents
http://m1.cust.educ.ubc.ca/journal/index.php/criticaled/issue/view/21

Articles
——–
How Well Does the Standards Movement Measure Up? An Analysis of
Achievement Trends, Academic Course-taking, Student Learning, NCLB, and
Changes in School Culture and Graduation Rates
Lawrence C. Stedman

Abstract

This is the first of two papers examining the standards movement. In it, I review data from NAEP, the SAT, the international assessments, transcript studies, and NCLB assessments, as well as surveys and case studies of changes in curriculum and pedagogy. The picture is a bleak one. Over the past quarter century, achievement has stagnated, dropouts and aliteracy have grown, and large minority achievement gaps have persisted. The quality of student learning remains poor. School changes, stratified by class and race, have constricted instruction and harmed students and teachers. NCLB has made things worse, not better. Even in the two areas where the movement has achieved some success—lower grade math achievement and high school academic enrollments—the gains were largely superficial, other forces such as teaching-to-the-test and social promotion contributed, and serious deficiencies remain.

In the second paper, “Why the Standards Movement Failed,” I examine the educational and political reasons for the failure—including its misconstruction of pedagogy and links to the neoliberal reform project—and propose a progressive alternative.

“Youth-Led Organizations, the Arts, and the 411 Initiative for Change in Canada: Critical Pedagogy for the 21st Century”

Critical Education has just published its latest issue:

“Youth-Led Organizations, the Arts, and the 411 Initiative for Change in Canada: Critical Pedagogy for the 21st Century”
Brad J. Porfilio, Michael Watz

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to document a group of Canadian youth activists’ and artists’ perceptions and experiences with developing and sustaining an arts-based educational initiative that “undertakes public education and the promotion of civic participation of young people on social issues that frame their development within their communities.” Through the youth activists’ and artists’ narratives, we highlight the youths’ motivation to establish this organization, the methods they use to engage their audience in social commentary and activism, how they confront and overcome barriers in schools when implementing their pedagogical initiatives, and the challenges they face in keeping their project intellectually vibrant and culturally relevant to youth. Moreover, we argue that critical pedagogues must take seriously the cultural work proffered by youth-led social justice initiatives if critical pedagogy is to remain relevant in promoting equity and social justice in schools and in society.

New issue of Critical Education: “Animals on Display: The Zoocurriculum of Museum Exhibits”

Critical Education has just published its latest issue, which includes a new contribution to the CE article series “The Lure of the Animal: Addressing Nonhuman Animals in Educational Theory and Research”.

We invite you to review the Table of Contents here and then visit our web site to review articles and items of interest.

Critical Education
Vol 1, No 8 (2010)
Table of Contents

Articles
——–
Animals on Display: The Zoocurriculum of Museum Exhibits
Helena Pedersen

The Real Barriers for Women in Science

Unlike what J. Phillipe Rushton and Lawrence Summers would have us believe, there are, in fact, real, structural barriers for women in academic science and engineering. Duh.

“Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering,” was prepared by the National Academies’ Committee on Maximizing the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering, which is made up of college presidents and provosts, professors, scientists and policy makers and headed by Donna E. Shalala, president of the University of Miami and former U.S. secretary of health and human services.

The report’s findings rebut the notion that a lack of talent and/or motivation play a large role in explaining the relative underrepresentation of women in science and engineering fields.