Educational Justice

2020 Finalist for Book of the Year Award, North American Society of Social and Political Philosophy (NASSP) This book examines the philosophical, motivational, and practical challenges of education theory, policy, and practice in the twenty-first century. There is a loud and persistent drum beat of support for schools, for citizenship, for diversity and inclusion, and increasingly for labor market readiness with very little critical attention to the assumptions underlying these agendas, let alone to their many internal contradictions. Merry does not neglect the historical, comparative international context so essential to better understanding where we are, as well as what is attainable in terms of educational justice. He argues that we must constructively critique some of our most cherished beliefs about education if we are to save the hope of real justice from the rhetoric of imagined justice.

"That education should instill and nurture democracy is an American truism. Yet organizations such as the Business Roundtable, together with conservative philanthropists such as Bill Gates and Walmart's owners, the Waltons, have been turning public schools into corporate mills. Their top-down programs, such as Common Core State Standards, track, judge, and homogenize the minds of millions of American students from kindergarten through high school. But corporate funders would not be able to implement this educational control without the de facto partnership of government at all levels, channeling public moneys into privatization initiatives, school closings, and high-stakes testing that discourages independent thinking. Educational Justice offers hope that there's still time to take on corporatized schools and build democratic alternatives. Forcefully written by educator and journalist Howard Ryan, with contributing authors, the book deconstructs the corporate assault on schools, assesses the prevailing teachers union responses, and documents best teaching and organizing practices. Reports from various educational fronts include innovative union strategies against charter school expansion, as well as teaching visions drawn from the social justice and whole language traditions. Bold, informative, clearly reasoned, this book is an education in itself--a democratic one at that."--Publisher's description.

This inspiring collection of accounts from educators and students is “an essential resource for all those seeking to build an antiracist school system” (Ibram X. Kendi). Since 2016, the Black Lives Matter at School movement has carved a new path for racial justice in education. A growing coalition of educators, students, parents and others have established an annual week of action during the first week of February. This anthology shares vital lessons that have been learned through this important work. In this volume, Bettina Love makes a powerful case for abolitionist teaching, Brian Jones looks at the historical context of the ongoing struggle for racial justice in education, and prominent teacher union leaders discuss the importance of anti-racism in their unions. Black Lives Matter at School includes essays, interviews, poems, resolutions, and more from participants across the country who have been building the movement on the ground.

Education is a contested topic, and not just politically. For years scholars have approached it from two different points of view: one empirical, focused on explanations for student and school success and failure, and the other philosophical, focused on education’s value and purpose within the larger society. Rarely have these separate approaches been brought into the same conversation. Education, Justice, and Democracy does just that, offering an intensive discussion by highly respected scholars across empirical and philosophical disciplines. The contributors explore how the institutions and practices of education can support democracy, by creating the conditions for equal citizenship and egalitarian empowerment, and how they can advance justice, by securing social mobility and cultivating the talents and interests of every individual. Then the authors evaluate constraints on achieving the goals of democracy and justice in the educational arena and identify strategies that we can employ to work through or around those constraints. More than a thorough compendium on a timely and contested topic, Education, Justice, and Democracy exhibits an entirely new, more deeply composed way of thinking about education as a whole and its importance to a good society.

This book presents a novel perspective on education as a social right. Literature on this topic has focused on inclusion as the universal concept whereby access to education is examined. As a moral principle, this concept opens new challenges in different ways if we take a deeper view into diverse contexts. What education? For what? For whom? Are we thinking about education because it will bring social justice in the future, or are we thinking of education as a just practice in the present? This book brings fresh theoretical and empirical perspectives on those questions, moving beyond a pure inclusion paradigm to a broader and context-oriented notion of educational justice. The chapters engage with theories of educational justice to present these challenges at the institutional level of educational policy, at the practical level of schooling practices, and in the production of ideas around childhood and education, for instance, notions of normalcy at schools. Although the featured works are related to the Chilean educational system, they opens questions about education in general. They embrace rural and urban contexts, different educational levels (from preschool to university), and university and vocational education. This book will be rewarding reading for educational scholars, those interested in theories of social and educational justice, and anyone interested in contemporary perspectives on education, childhood and youth, inclusion, and justice.

That education should instill and nurture democracy is an American truism. Yet organizations such as the Business Roundtable, together with conservative philanthropists such as Bill Gates and Walmart’s owners, the Waltons, have been turning public schools into corporate mills. Their top-down programs, such as Common Core State Standards, track, judge, and homogenize the minds of millions of American students from kindergarten through high school. But corporate funders would not be able to implement this educational control without the de facto partnership of government at all levels, channeling public moneys into privatization initiatives, school closings, and high-stakes testing that discourages independent thinking. Educational Justice offers hope that there’s still time to take on corporatized schools and achieve democratic justice in the classroom. Forcefully written by educator and journalist Howard Ryan, with contributing authors, the book opens with four chapters that discuss theories on teacher unionism, social justice pedagogy, and corporate school reform. These chapters are balanced with four case-study chapters documenting exemplary teaching and school-site organizing practices in the field. Reports from various educational fronts include innovative union strategies against charter school expansion, as well as teaching visions drawn from the vibrant “whole language” movement. Bold, informative, clearly reasoned, this book is an education in itself—a democratic one at that.

Since the 1980s, strategies for improving public education in America have focused on either competition through voucher programs and charter schools or standardization as enacted into federal law through No Child Left Behind. These reforms, however, have failed to narrow the performance gap between poor urban students and other children. In response, parents have begun to organize local campaigns to strengthen the public schools in their communities. One of the most original, successful, and influential of these parent-led campaigns has been the Community Collaborative to Improve District 9 (CC9), a consortium of six neighborhood-based groups in the Bronx. In Organizing for Educational Justice, Michael B. Fabricant tells the story of CC9 from its origins in 1995 as a small group of concerned parents to the citywide application of its reform agenda--concentrating on targeted investment in the development of teacher capacity--ten years later. Drawing on in-depth interviews with participants, analysis of qualitative data, and access to meetings and archives, Fabricant evaluates CC9's innovative approach to organizing and collaboration with other stakeholders, including the United Federation of Teachers, the NYC Department of Education, neighborhood nonprofits, and city colleges and universities. Situating this case within a wider exploration of parent participation in educational reform, Fabricant explains why CC9 succeeded and other parent-led movements did not. He also examines the ways in which the movement effectively empowered parents by rigorously ensuring a democratic process in making decisions and, more broadly, an inclusive organizational culture. As urban parents across America search for ways to hold public schools accountable for their failures, this book shows how the success of the CC9 experience can be replicated elsewhere around the country.

The work presented in this volume attests to the innovative and successful educational alternatives designed and implemented by Catholic religious groups to improve educational, career, and life outcomes for urban children, adolescents, and adults placed at risk. These efforts have helped thousands of urban citizens break away from the chains of poverty and poor academic preparation to succeed in high school and beyond and secure a place of meaning and influence in adult society. In this volume, we examine the contributions of networks of schools, such as NativityMiguel and Cristo Rey schools in the U.S. and Canada and Fe y Alegría based in South America and operating in multiple countries, as well as more local initiatives. There is much to be learned from these initiatives that can improve urban education and this edited volume provides this opportunity to educators, planners, funders, and others who are inclined to invest in effective urban education. The perspectives taken in these chapters include current approaches to critical race theory, faith perspectives that promote justice, and the building of social capital and resilience to succeed academically despite considerable adversity associated with economic poverty. The chapters included here explore educational structures that communicate high expectations for student and teacher performance and provide individualized instruction, caring mentoring, and support beyond graduation in order to help develop men and women of confidence, skill, leadership, and integrity and ensure high levels of success in a world that tends to exclude them more than welcome them. Praise for Responding to the Call for Educational Justice: "One of the most unheralded, unreported and underappreciated initiatives in education are Catholic schools that are transforming the way that young people are taught. If you have never heard the words 'Cristo Rey,' 'Nativity/Miguel' or 'Fe y Alegria,' prepare to be amazed and delighted by this thorough study of the great benefits these creative and exciting schools bring to us." ~ James Martin, SJ Author of “Jesus: A Pilgrimage” and “The Jesuit Guide” "During these very troubling times within the Church and the larger society, we need critical voices that are unapologetically committed to eradicating the ideologies and structures of inequality within urban education, yet also speak of hope and possibility. In this very timely volume, Fenzel and Wyttenbach eloquently compile an insightful set of readings that courageously respond to our deep human yearning for freedom and offer us glimpses into a more just and loving world." ~ Antonia Darder, PhD Leavey Endowed Chair of Ethics and Moral Leadership Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles