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Intersections of Identity, Community, Inheritance and Experience DePaul University Via Sapientiae College of Education Theses and Dissertations College of Education Winter 2010 Developing a Social Justice Curriculum: Intersections of Identity, Community, Inheritance and Experience Melissa Rae Goodnight DePaul University Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/soe_etd Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Goodnight, Melissa Rae, "Developing a Social Justice Curriculum: Intersections of Identity, Community, Inheritance and Experience" (2010). College of Education Theses and Dissertations. 3. https://via.library.depaul.edu/soe_etd/3 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Education at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in College of Education Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DEVELOPING A SOCIAL JUSTICE CURRICULUM: INTERSECTIONS OF IDENTITY, COMMUNITY, INHERITANCE AND EXPERIENCE A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education DePaul University In Partial Completion of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Melissa Rae Goodnight March, 2010 DePaul University Chicago, IL 1 Abstract Developing a Social Justice Curriculum: Intersections of Identity, Community, Inheritance and Experience Melissa Rae Goodnight Social justice is a frequently employed concept in the development of classroom curriculum and discussion of instructional practice in schools. This study documents the process undergone by two public high school educators to create a social justice curriculum. The study data is comprised of semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and a document analysis of curricular texts. The research goal is to gain a broader understanding of how educators’ values, life experiences and political motivations impact the content and intended outcomes of curriculum for social justice. The data collection and analysis emphasize the educators’ voices as they reflect on: 1) how they defined social justice and selected their curriculum’s content; 2) how they came to see a need for greater justice in society through their life experiences; and 3) how they developed values attributing to a personal desire to take action in their classroom and community.1 1 All the names of individuals, places, institutions, etc. have been changed for confidentiality purposes. 2 Table of Contents I. Introduction p. 6 II. Literature Review p. 15 a. Part 1: Relevance of Social Justice Education p. 15 Why Social Justice is Needed in Education i. Persistent Inequalities within the United States p. 15 ii. Education: Alleviation or Perpetuation of Injustice? p. 18 iii. Education and Positive Social Change p. 20 b. Part 2: Western Political Philosophy & Justice p. 23 The Origins of Justice i. Thomas Hobbes p. 25 ii. John Locke p. 31 iii. Karl Marx p. 35 iv. John Rawls p. 51 c. Part 3: An American Social Justice Movement p. 63 African American Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968) i. Background & Context of an American Struggle p. 63 ii. King & X: Philosophical Tensions & Strategies p. 71 iii. Youth Participation in the Civil Rights Movement p. 79 iv. A Protracted Struggle for Racial Justice p. 80 v. The Movement & Western Theories of Justice p. 82 vi. The Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education p. 85 vii. The Movement’s Impact on Curriculum & Instruction p. 89 3 d. Part 4: Dimensions of Social Justice Education p. 91 i. Education against Oppression & Discrimination p. 92 ii. Multicultural Education p. 98 iii. Student & Community Centered Education p.107 iv. Critical & Liberating Education p.112 v. Activism and Reform in Education for Equity p.118 vi. Social Justice Defined p.126 III. Research Framework & Methodology p.128 a. Overview of Study’s Design & Literature Review p.128 b. Purpose of Study p.130 c. Research Questions p.130 d. Research Site, Curriculum & Collection of Archival Data p.130 e. Researcher Paradigm & Methodology p.131 f. Expansion of Theoretical Framework from Archival Data p.137 i. Six Themes of Theoretical Framework p.138 g. Limitations of Study p.143 IV. Thoughts from the Author p.148 a. Positionality p.148 b. Researcher’s Story & Lens p.149 c. Deciphering Stories & Creating Knowledge Consciously p.151 d. Researcher Disposition: Intellectual Openness & Humility p.152 V. Analysis p.154 a. Part 1: Teachers’ Stories: Identity, Experience & Perception p.154 4 i. Foundations for Social Justice Education Work p.154 ii. Teachers’ Philosophical and Intellectual Influences p.164 b. Part 2: Definitions of Social Justice & Related Philosophies p.177 i. Teachers’ Definitions of Social Justice p.177 ii. Relationship to Power & Perception of Sacrifice p.184 c. Part 3: The History of the School & Community p.206 d. Part 4: The Colloquium’s History, Design, Texts & Impact p.221 i. Colloquium Design & Purpose p.221 ii. Colloquium Texts & their Meaning p.232 iii. Impact on Students & Intended Outcomes p.259 VI. Conclusions p.276 References p.284 Appendices p.298 Appendix A: Student-Teacher Relationship p.298 Appendix B: Relevant Curriculum p.300 Appendix C: Goal-Oriented Discipline p.304 5 I. Introduction The term “social justice” can reflect a multitude of perspectives, life experiences, and political, intellectual and cultural traditions. Commonly held ideas about what qualifies as social justice, and simplistic definitions of what social justice is, should be explored, probed and critiqued. In a broad sense, social justice has been described as the belief that everyone deserves equal social, political and economic rights and opportunities (Adams, Bell & Griffin, 2002). While a basic statement of social justice is helpful as an umbrella idea, and is a rational starting point for a more complex conversation, it lacks the necessary explanation of the complimentary values or principles that are inherent within social justice (like tolerance, compassion, reciprocity, and fairness). Deeper questions remain about the relationship of social justice to individuals’ life experiences, acquisition of values, and pursuit of values through action. When intersected with education, conceptualizing social justice and identifying it in practice can be difficult. Developing school curriculum and instruction that will lead to socially just outcomes for students from diverse backgrounds is complex. With that said, we can understand social justice education as both a process and a goal. “The goal…is full and equal participation of all groups in society”, equal “distribution of resources”, and an environment where all individuals feel “physically and psychologically safe and secure”; however, the process is nebulous, involving social actors who are simultaneously self-determined and interdependent, having a “sense of their own agency as well as a social responsibility toward and with others” (Bell, 1997, p. 3). In attempting to further understand social justice within education, the context 6 matters because education and social justice are not static things in either theory or practice. The path to social justice through education does not necessarily look the same across classrooms, schools, curriculums, etc. One point of departure is the theory that informs us. The logic that leads one to knowing what social justice is (theory) impacts how one realizes or attempts it through action (practice). Practice is always shaped by theory… How we approach social justice education, the problems we identify as needing remedy, the solutions we entertain as viable, and the methods we choose as appropriate for reaching those solutions are all theoretical and practical questions… theory enables us to think clearly about our intentions and the means we use to actualize them (Bell, 1997,p. 4) Theory about the real and ideal relationship between education and social justice is significant. In many respects, it is a revelation of the rationale and experiences that have led educators to pursue social justice through education in the first place. Educators reveal their personal theories of social justice through the curriculum they create. Ayers explains that in choosing to move beyond the “packaged” utilitarian curriculum of most schools in order to construct curriculum for a specific school, classroom, and group of learners, teachers reject the notion that “that knowledge is finite and knowing passive” (1992, p. 260). When teachers become involved in attempting to change how schooling contributes to the status quo of inequity, they reject teaching content in the way that it has been prescribed (Gay, 2003). They simultaneously embrace “knowing” as fluid and what is to be known as contested. They also come to rely upon their own values and beliefs about justice in order to construct a curriculum, which teaches toward the learning and 7 social outcomes that they have in mind. Because curriculum clearly reflects teachers’ own beliefs about knowledge and social values, Ayers speaks to how educators’ theorizing need be a constant struggle with contradiction and revaluing of self in order to produce just outcomes through curriculum development. [As educators] We should resist dogma…We should stay alive to questions, to contradiction, to ambiguity, to the next utterance in the dialogue. And, yes, to spontaneity. We should be for intellect, for continual desire to see more, to know more. And we should be for a morality linked to action (Ayers, 1992, p. 262). Educators’ commitment to struggling with concepts and “staying alive” to contradictions and
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