My objective for this lesson is for you to recognize some assumptions you have about the meaning and significance of education, curriculum and pedagogy that emerge as we explore this reading.
1. A.S. Neil, Summerhill & Democratic Schooling
One of the educators mentioned in the reading was A.S. Neil. He was the founder of the Summerhill School in England including unique ideas about the meaning of democratic schooling. After watching the following video (~ 7 min.), discuss what it would be like to be an effective teacher at a school like Summerhill. Write a few representative remarks on the whiteboard.
Summerhill School – Imagine a School
2. Racial Segregation in Schools Across the United States
Perhaps the most certain thing we can say here–that students currently are primarily “tracked” by zip code, since a student’s school experience is shaped primarily by where [they] happen to reside.
Hinchey and Konkol. 2018. p. 24
How integrated/segregated is the neighborhood or district where you went to school as a child? Follow this link to the racial dot map of the United States and zoom in to the town where you went to elementary school.
This interactive map displays 308,745,538 dots, one for each person residing in the United States at the location they were counted during the 2020 Census. Each dot is color-coded by the individual’s race and ethnicity.
On the whiteboard, write the name of your town and a brief description of its racial diversity.
3. Teacher agency v. Teacher deskilling
Many would argue that teachers today are actively discouraged from taking any sort of political, or even advocacy, stances in the context of their professional work in the classroom,…
Hinchey and Konkol. 2018. p. 37
Following the work of one of my mentors, Michael Apple, I would argue that there is an aggressive political initiative to reduce teachers power in the classroom and beyond. After reading and briefly discussing the following excerpt from GÜR (2014), please post to the whiteboard a brief joint statement about the implications of deskilling for teacher professionalism.
The idea of deskilling is that teachers are increasingly losing control over their own labor. In other words, authorities present teachers with ready decisions in many situations where teachers should otherwise be able to make their own decisions and implement them autonomously. This creates a situation where teachers are expected to serve as mere implementers (Apple, 1988, 1995; Shannon, 1989). For instance, teachers are increasingly expected to employ prepackaged curricula and teaching materials such as guidebooks, textbooks, lesson plans and assessment tools at the expense of their capacity to tailor their programs according to local context and students’ needs… Reflecting a need to control the teacher’s every step, this approach regards education as the development of a set of educational processes and materials that even an inexperienced teacher can easily follow (Gür, 2006).
Bekir GÜR. 2014. Deskilling of Teachers, the Case of Turkey. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice. 14(3) p. 890.
4. From Social Meliorism v. Social Reconstruction —> to Deficit Paradigm v. Asset Paradigm.
Please read the following excerpt from Donnell (2013) and then address the query that follows:
The deficit paradigm is an orientation in which children, their families, and the larger communities in which they live are seen as deficient and therefore responsible for their lack of success. You’ve encountered the deficit paradigm when you hear children labeled as “underprepared” or when you hear complaints about certain groups of parents “just not caring” or when folks talk about “crime-ridden” neighborhoods.
[Alternatively] an asset-based approach to education is key in achieving equity in classrooms across the country… With an asset-based approach, every community is valuable; every community has strengths and potential.… Teachers and students alike are valued for what they bring to the classroom rather than being characterized by what they may need to work on or lack. Asset-based teaching seeks to unlock students’ potential by focusing on their talents.
Let’s not emphasize deficits in our class. Practice asset-based teaching and service by posting on the whiteboard your name followed by an asset you bring to our classroom learning community.
Donnell, K. 2013. Beyond the Deficit Paradigm: An Ecological Orientation to Thriving Urban Schools. in Alan Canestrari and Bruce Marlowe (Eds.) Educational Foundations: An Anthology of Critical Readings. Sage : Los Angeles. pp. 151-159.
5. Neutrality and Objectivity (Where are you coming from)?
Here is the difficult reality: there is no such thing as a “neutral” education. Every decision about curriculum means bringing something in and leaving something out.
Hinchey and Konkol. 2018. p. 28.
Efforts made to foster an objective, neutral or balanced curriculum will always advantage those who stand to benefit most from the dominant perspective. Discuss the following excerpt from the Zinn Education Project (2022) with your group members. And then, please author a brief statement on the whiteboard about neutrality and objectivity in the classroom (about what influences your perspectives about education and the role of the teacher in society).
“…when we teach a role play that includes people in history who exploited and oppressed others, we are not engaging in a “both sides” curriculum. Our teaching joins an effort to critique social inequality and to explore alternatives. We take sides in favor of those who work for greater equality, who challenge oppression based on race, social class, nationality, language, gender, religion, disability.
6. Educational Funding and the Separation of Church and State
Please read the following excerpt from Cheuk and Quinn (2018) and then address the following query: As guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, in the context of schools, where should the line between Church and State be drawn? As a group, author a statement for the whiteboard.
Opponents of publicly funded school voucher programs argue that the diversion of public aid to religious schools violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prevents the government from advancing or hindering religion.
The argument was most prominently tested in the 2002 Supreme Court case Zelman v. Simmons-Harris. It concerns a school voucher program for low-income families in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1999, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of Ohio taxpayers challenging the constitutionality of the program by claiming that it advanced religion, in direct violation of the Establishment Clause. Both a federal district and an appellate court ruled in favor of the complainants [the ACLU], but the rulings were reversed by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision.
From: Cheuk, T., & Quinn, R. (2018). Dismantling the Wall between Church and State: The Case of Public Education. Phi Delta Kappan, 100(3), 24–28.
Welcome to ED2110 School & Society -- Dr. David Shutkin 