Learning in politics: Teachers’ political experiences as a pedagogical resource

Myers, John P.

doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2009.03.001

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Schweisfurth (2006) makes a similar point, observing that teachers’ strategic decisions about how to spend their time reflects their own motivation in relation to the topic. This resonates with other research that argues teacher beliefs have a significant impact on how they interpret the curriculum, especially topics seen as political (Jerome, 2012; Jerome and Clemitshaw, 2012; Leenders et al, 2008; Myers, 2009). Al-Nakib’s (2012) case study of curriculum reform in Kuwait indicates that, where teachers are willing to embrace a CRE approach, they can also use their agency to interpret even relatively unpromising and conservative curricula frameworks.…”

Section: Thinking About the Role Of Teacherssupporting

confidence: 84%

Interpreting Children’s Rights Education: Three perspectives and three roles for teachers

Jerome

2016

Citizenship, Social and Economics Education

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In this article, I argue that the world-view adopted by Children’s Rights Education advocates influences the form of education they present. In the first part of the article, I discuss three perspectives: (1) the legalistic perspective, which sees Children’s Rights Education as a matter of technical implementation; (2) the reformist-hermeneutic perspective, which focuses on the interpretation and elaboration of core children’s rights texts; and (3) the radical view, which sees Children’s Rights Education as part of a broader political struggle for education. In the second part, I consider the implications of each of these perspectives for teachers and argue that only the latter tradition positions teachers as agents of change, while the others reduce teacher agency. The article argues that the first two perspectives are unlikely to achieve radical change for children, and that Children’s Rights Education advocates must engage more overtly with the politically contested nature of education.

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Section: Thinking About the Role Of Teacherssupporting

confidence: 84%

Interpreting Children’s Rights Education: Three perspectives and three roles for teachers

Jerome

2016

Citizenship, Social and Economics Education

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“…Research suggests that teacher‐driven curriculum innovation is a highly social activity. Ideas for curriculum innovation may be “in the air,” taken up in a number of different teachers' classrooms at the same time (Myers, ). Goodson () proposes an alternate theory of the evolution of new subjects, starting with “invention,” a prolonged period of time during which “ideas necessary for creation are normally available … in several places, … with educators themselves trying out new ideas or practices” (pp.…”

Section: Understanding Teachers' Relationship With Curriculummentioning

confidence: 99%

Teachers, Curriculum Innovation, and Policy Formation

et al. 2014

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It is commonly understood that policy makers make curriculum policy and teachers implement it. Some teachers, however, have been in on the ground floor of curriculum policy development. Driven by events in their life histories and teaching contexts, these teachers develop and teach original course material in their own classrooms. Over time they begin to work collaboratively on further course development, secure organizational support to ensure adequate resources and legitimacy to disseminate these new curricular forms, lobby for course acceptance by educational jurisdictions, and help establish course infrastructure such as teacher professional learning opportunities and textbooks. In other words, in some cases, teachers may participate actively in every stage of policy development and practice. This article discusses the phenomenon of teacher-driven curriculum innovation as a process of individual, social, and political evolution. It describes three cases of secondary-level courses developed by teachers in Ontario, Canada, and formalized in district or provincial policy. In doing so, the article extends the notion of teacher agency from its established arenas of classrooms and schools and into the realm of policy making.Most educational research describes teachers' involvement with curriculum as limited to their own classroom teaching. This article presents three recent examples of curriculum development where teachers have been major drivers in changes to policy and practice well beyond their classrooms and schools.The teacher-driven curriculum development described in this article often starts with small numbers of teachers working independently on new content or pedagogical approaches. Their work is further developed and spread through collaboration with other teachers as well as academics and other community members. This expansion is aided by the involvement of subject associations, teacher unions, formal and informal networks, university departments, school districts and nongovernmental organizations, which provide both the resources and credibility necessary to bring these bs_bs_banner

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“…All of these examples present HRE as overtly political and other studies have confirmed that different political beliefs tend to lead teachers to construct HRE rather differently. Leenders and her colleagues (2008) have demonstrated in their research in the Netherlands that teachers' own beliefs about politics shape their classroom practice and Myers' (2009) research in Brazil demonstrates the impact of teachers' own political activism on their practice. For many of these teachers, teaching is seen as a political activity (Myers, 2009, p.19) which influences their interpretation of the curriculum, their selection of topics for study and their pedagogical choices.…”

Section: The Heroic Teachermentioning

confidence: 99%

Hypocrites or heroes? Thinking about the role of the teacher in human rights education

Jerome¹

2018

HRER

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Human rights education (HRE) seeks to provide young people with an optimistic sense that we can work towards a more peaceful and socially just world, and that everyone can do something to contribute to securing improvement. But, whilst the academic literature and policy documents frequently position teachers as crucial to promoting human rights and social justice, the literature is also replete with examples of teachers' conservatism, their compliance in the face of authority and their ignorance. In addition, teachers work in institutions which routinely reproduce inequality and promote a narrow individualistic form of competition. This article explores some of the international research literature relating to the role of the teacher in HRE specifically, and more generally in the related fields of citizenship education and social studies, in order to offer some conceptual tools that might be used to critically interrogate practitioners' own beliefs and actions.Abstract: Human rights education (HRE) seeks to provide young people with an optimistic sense that we can work towards a more peaceful and socially just world, and that everyone can do something to contribute to securing improvement. But, whilst the academic literature and policy documents frequently position teachers as crucial to promoting human rights and social justice, the literature is also replete with examples of teachers' conservatism, their compliance in the face of authority and their ignorance. In addition, teachers work in institutions which routinely reproduce inequality and promote a narrow individualistic form of competition. This article explores some of the international research literature relating to the role of the teacher in HRE specifically, and more generally in the related fields of citizenship education and social studies, in order to offer some conceptual tools that might be used to critically interrogate practitioners' own beliefs and actions.

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Learning in politics: Teachers’ political experiences as a pedagogical resource

Cited by 16 publications

References 24 publications

Interpreting Children’s Rights Education: Three perspectives and three roles for teachers

Interpreting Children’s Rights Education: Three perspectives and three roles for teachers

Teachers, Curriculum Innovation, and Policy Formation

Hypocrites or heroes? Thinking about the role of the teacher in human rights education

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