Education ‘reform’ in Latino Detroit: achievement gap or colonial legacy?

Abstract

Using critical theory and an analysis of missionary reports and documentation describing education in colonial Puerto Rico and Mexico, the authors cross borders and time periods to socially and historically situate Spanish colonial educational methodologies and their contemporary use in one low-income Latino community in urban Detroit, Michigan. By invoking associations from the colonial past to shed light on contemporary struggles, this study problematizes US educational reform initiatives such as high stakes testing and school turnaround policies. The authors found that when the playing field is not equal, such reform efforts are but another in a long line of colonial and neo-colonial methodologies that further disenfranchise Latino youth and push them out of school.

Closing Achievement Gaps: Examining the Roles of School Background and Process

“…In contrast, school processes seem to matter. Although we emphasize the importance of racial desegregation, we also believe that a key policy priority should, therefore, on improving the school process (Gonzales & Shields, 2015), as discussed in the third point below.…”

What Discourses Relating to the Purpose of Early Childhood Are Shaping the Work of Early Childhood Practitioners in Three Different Contexts: UK, Bhutan and Fiji?

“…Let them experience time together, explore nature, to learn better and become good mannered (Bhutan 1.10.2) My aspiration for children in Fiji is to develop into healthy beings, responsible individual and reverence for God. To have a sense of identity, respect for other cultures and the environment and also to develop them into life-long learners, that they will contribute to the country in the future (Fiji 1.11.6) This focus on citizenship may well be associated with growing interest in postcolonialism (as demonstrated in work such as that of Boisselle, 2016;Childs & Williams, 2013;Gonzales & Shields, 2014). Alternative theoretical approaches arising from this movement include Southern Theory (Connell, 2007), Critical Race Theory (Baszile, 2015) and post-qualitative inquiry (Gerrard, Rudolph, & Sriprakash, 2016) and associated with these are a range of indigenous frameworks necessary to position research appropriately using southern/indigenous worldviews (for example de Sousa Santos, 2008;Land, 2015;Martin, 2008;Tausere-Tiko, 2015).…”

“…From these varying epistemologies and ontologies comes the concept of Indigenous research based on Southern theory and encompassing discourses such as critical race theory (Baszile, 2015;Parker, 2015) and post colonialism (Boisselle, 2016;Childs & Williams, 2013). In this space, early childhood educators from a range of nations outside the dominant north experiment with different ways of developing their own systems with the aim of creating citizens strong in their own cultural identity (Bat & Fasoli, 2013;Gonzales & Shields, 2014;. The key discourses here thus focus on empowerment of Indigenous culture and values, the need for children to grow up strong in their culture and the expectation that early childhood educators will operate in ways that support these aims.…”

Street Art as Curriculum Inquiry: Critical Reflection for Reimagining Education Rooted in Social Justice

“…Due to the incomparable contributions of culturally relevant and culturally responsive pedagogies to the field of curriculum, the 1990s and 2000s witnessed an abundance of scholarship that problematized the effect of standardization and high stakes testing on student-centered learning (Gay, 2010;Ladson-Billings, 1995). Resisting the process of assimilation through teaching and learning, countless theorists and practitioners advocated for multicultural curriculum in order to center the inherent linguistic and sociocultural capital of students (Gonzales & Shields, 2015;Gutierrez et al, 1999;Valenzuela, 1999).…”