Bilingual education policy and social justice

Corson, David

doi:10.1080/0268093920070104

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…Parents participate in the activities of the school and they develop skills that were not previously their own. 'Only a local community can really decide what is necessary' (Corson, 1994). Schools controlled by majority culture bureaucracies and staffed by teachers whose culture is not that of the local community prevent such progress.…”

Section: Parent Empowerment In Chicagomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The way forward in teaching bilingual children is clearly signposted: (i) as far as possible, bilingual programmes maintaining home languages are needed to avoid the routine injustice of a monolingual education system in a multilingual society (Corson, 1994); (ii) bicultural education is necessary to enable children to understand their experiences of majority and minority culture and to equip them with skills which give them access to majority culture institutions (Knight, 1994); (iii) the recruitment and training of bilingual/bicultural teachers is urgently required to bridge the gulf between school and home and to give bilingual children full access to the curriculum (Nyakatawa & Siraj-Blatchford, 1994); (iv) the involvement and empowerment of minority language parents in managing schools is crucial to the success of these reforms. School reform is more likely to be successful when developed at a local level, rather than when handed down by remote bureaucracies.…”

Section: Teaching Bilingual Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If parents are to take a full and active part in their children's schooling they must have access to policy making, so that local communities can decide what is really necessary in the education of their children. This is particularly crucial in the education of minority language children, as majority culture educators often take a deficit view of their learning needs (Corson, 1994) and fail to consult with minority language parents. This paper explores the effects of recent legislation in both Britain and Chicago which provides parents with increased policy making powers as members of school governing bodies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Minority Parents as School Governors in Chicago and Britain: empowerment or not?

Blackledge

1995

Educational Review

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Recent legislation in Britain and Chicago has devolved management of schools from local government control to individual school level. The 1988Education Reform Act in Britain and the 1988 Chicago School Reform Act put power in the hands of parents in the running of schools. This paper asks whether the legislation has really handed over power to minority parents in the management of schools in multiracial areas. After a brief review of available evidence from the literature, the second half of the paper provides an account of a recent visit to Chicago schools, where I interviewed parents, school principals and education officers about how the legislation has affected parent empowerment and school effectiveness. I conclude with implications for the local management of schools in minority communities in Britain.

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Section: Parent Empowerment In Chicagomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Teaching Bilingual Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Minority Parents as School Governors in Chicago and Britain: empowerment or not?

Blackledge

1995

Educational Review

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“…The view expressed by this principal contrasts with the research literature on bilingualism, which emphasises the positive cognitive and metalinguistic effects of bilingualism (Baker 2001: 160), and implies that bilingualism and biliteracy should be strongly promoted in schools (Cummins 2000: 198). Corson has pointed out that bilingualism also has a social justice dimension (Corson 1994(Corson , 1999. The starting point of my project was therefore the difference between these two opposing attitudes towards bilingualism.…”

Section: Appendix a Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudes of Teacher Educators in Aotearoa New Zealand towards Bilingualism and Language Diversity

Smith¹

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<p>This thesis examines the attitudes of teacher educators in Aotearoa New Zealand towards bilingualism and language diversity. The research used a theoretical framework developed from the social psychology of language to test a model which incorporated a critical language awareness perspective. A postal questionnaire was sent to 831 staff at all 22 institutions providing teacher education for the compulsory (primary and secondary) education sector. The response rate of 63.8% was very high for a postal survey. Questions were based around three scenarios which investigated issues for a bilingual child in the classroom, the value of language diversity in education, and wider curriculum issues concerning bilingualism and language diversity. Ivanic's (1990) outline of critical language awareness underpinned the analytical approach adopted. The questionnaire design allowed for a comparison between attitudes towards Maori, French, Samoan, Korean, Russian and Somali students in the first two scenarios, by varying the language and ethnicity in the scenarios given to each respondent. Significant differences were found for five of the ten questions. Bilingual-supportive responses for a question about English use in the classroom were more likely by respondents who were asked about a French or Maori child, and less likely by those asked about a Samoan or Somali child. Bilingualsupportive responses for a question about English use at home were also more likely by those who were asked about a French child, and less likely by those asked about a Korean child. Diversity-supportive attitudes were more likely to be expressed towards Maori than any of the other languages for questions about a student teacher's accent, incorporating the language into a social studies unit, and children learning the language. A Russian or Samoan student teacher's accent elicited the least supportive responses, while French, Korean or Russian languages were least likely to be supported in a social studies unit. In the third scenario, attitudes towards language issues in the curriculum showed a medium level of critical awareness. A follow-up study to check on the validity of the research investigated materials from a group of 19 questionnaire respondents, and a comparison was made with their questionnaire responses. There was a medium level of critical language awareness evident in the materials, which generally showed a high level of congruence with the questionnaire. The model found that the teacher educators' approach to bilingualism and language diversity was determined by the ethnolinguistic vitality of the language groups (higher in the cases of Maori and sometimes French), and mediated by their levels of language awareness. Personal backgrounds were not found to be significant. This research points to the need for the development of a coherent theory of language in education in Aotearoa New Zealand, and highlights the role linguists can play in promoting knowledge on language issues. Results also identified a need for policy development to include all ethnolinguistic groups in the school curriculum. It is recommended that pre-service teacher education should aim to equip all teachers with the tools to support the bilingualism and language diversity of children in schools.</p>

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Human rights and language wrongs—A future for diversity?

Skutnabb‐Kangas¹

1998

Language Sciences

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Bilingual education policy and social justice

Cited by 7 publications

References 20 publications

Minority Parents as School Governors in Chicago and Britain: empowerment or not?

Minority Parents as School Governors in Chicago and Britain: empowerment or not?

Attitudes of Teacher Educators in Aotearoa New Zealand towards Bilingualism and Language Diversity

Human rights and language wrongs—A future for diversity?

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