Chapter 7 A Selected History of Social Justice in Education

Abstract

C ontemporary politicians, teachers, parents, and educational reformers are locked in a heated debate regarding the definition of social justice in education. Is it an education that will give students skills to alter the social order, or is it an education that will enable students to fit themselves into a higher station in that social order? Should the academic achievement of individuals or groups be the unit of analysis used to examine social justice? Can social justice be achieved through an education that promotes assimilation, or must it be an education for cultural maintenance (or something in between)? The debate can be loosely organized in two ideological camps. On one hand, social justice is the promise of equity and mobility through assimilation and the belief that such an agenda will return schools to a time in which they fostered togetherness under the banner of Americanization (Marshall & Parker, n.d.). On the other hand, social justice in education is reflected in a curriculum and school personnel who honor students' languages and cultures, foster appreciation of difference, and engage in a moral use of power that resists discrimination and inequity (American Educational Research Association, Leadership for Social Justice Special Interest Group, n.d.).This chapter uses the words of historical actors and historians to inform the current debate regarding how social justice should be defined and delivered. A history of social justice in education is useful for at least two reasons. First, these competing notions of social justice in education are not new. Tension between a belief in assimilation and the ability of individuals to climb the meritocratic ladder and the belief in a respect for cultural and linguistic differences and a flattening of the racial, ethnic, and linguistic hierarchy has existed since the start of the common school system (Tyack, 1993). Second, current educational reformers and others appropriate history and memory to justify certain avenues to social justice. As Hom and Yamamoto (2000) state, 195

Theorizing Identities in a “Just(ly)” Contested Terrain: Practice Theories of Identity amid Critical-Poststructural Debates on Curriculum and Achievement

“…distributed, but they do not question the underlying assumptions implicit in such institutions and programs. Williamson, Rhodes, and Dunson (2007) addressed the implications of the rhetoric of social justice in education by organizing contemporary debates into two ideological camps: (a) those for whom social justice is defined as the promise of equity and mobility through assimilation into a given system (such as that sought in distributive approaches); and (b) those who frame social justice according to the role of schools, educators, and curricula in disrupting the status quo by incorporating students' home cultures, embracing differences, and actively dismantling discrimination and inequity. Firmly situated in the second camp, critical pedagogues and scholars would argue that there is a deeply entrenched class system in the United States that pervades school curricula (Anyon, 1980;Apple, 1990) that keeps certain students at the low end of the achievement spectrum, casting the great American meritocracy as no more than a myth (Hurn, 1993).…”

Exploring Culturally Relevant/Responsive Pedagogy as Praxis in Teacher Education

“…Collectively, these practices and theories are known as asset-based pedagogies in which students' cultural frames of reference and funds of knowledge are viewed as strengths and drawn upon in the learning process. Unlike traditional teaching and schooling practices grounded in the history of assimilation (Williamson, Rhodes, & Dunson, 2007), asset-based pedagogies allow for deliberate efforts toward cultural understandings, critiques of social injustices, and liberatory action.…”

Inclusive collaboration spaces: translating an equity-centered strategic plan into action

“…Beyond the legal framework, scholars began make a case for social justice within higher education (Williamson et al, 2007). Bell (2007) suggest that social justice is a process and a goal, and it reflects attempts to establish ways to challenge oppressive systemic injustice.…”