Norms and Politics of Equity-Minded Change: Researching the “Zone of Mediation”

Coign of vantage and action: Considering California’s local accountability and school finance plans for English learners

“…To understand these efforts, we draw on a zone of mediation framework, which bolsters the case for bottom-up accountability and the inclusion of diverse community stakeholders in the educational policymaking process. This framework was developed by Oakes et al (2005), who sought to examine the forces that shape the environment in which equity-minded reforms (i.e., those that aim to support equity of opportunity along race, class, and/or linguistic lines) are initiated and implemented. A zone of mediation framework acknowledges that school districts are "situated within particular local enactments of larger cultural norms, rules, incentives, power relations and values.…”

“…These forces promote either stability or change, and they accordingly set the parameters of beliefs, behavior, and policy" (Welner, 2001, p. 95). The zone of mediation thus sets the boundaries within which school district policy is constructed; policies that fall within the zone's boundaries are likely to be accepted by local actors, while those that fall outside these boundaries will likely be challenged (Oakes et al, 2005;Welner, 2001).…”

“…Challenges often arise as equity-minded reforms are considered because they create a struggle between individuals or groups who perceive a scarcity of resources, and they require local actors to confront broader cultural patterns that shape their ideologies and beliefs about who should be educated and how (Oakes et al, 2005). Yet as people interact among themselves and between external normative and political forces in a zone of mediation, individuals or groups can navigate, confront, and shift the zone's boundaries.…”

“…district policy is constructed can facilitate the adoption of more equity-oriented approaches to serving the local student population (Oakes, Welner, Yonezawa, & Allen, 2005. Second, top-down accountability requires objective, quantitative goals that facilitate distal evaluation of schools. Hence under federal policy schools either meet, or fail to meet, a fixed standard of Adequate Yearly Progress.…”

Revisiting Teaching Archetypes: Identifying Dominant Shaping Influences on Student Teacher's Identities

“…(MF2) Her views suggest that in a more secular society to avoid embarrassment and possible conflict, issues of personal belief systems and practice will be avoided rather than surfaced. While this may well create a 'zone of tolerance' (Oakes et al, 1998) it does nothing for moral formation if issues about beliefs and values are to be avoided in the interest of saving face. Another informant's comments are illustrative of the transcripts more generally when she says that 'the Roman Catholic thing has changed' (DC3).…”