The contemporary challenge of activism as curriculum work

Brennan, Marie; Mayes, Eve; Zipin, Lew

doi:10.1080/00220620.2020.1866508

Cited by 23 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…This idea persists, with recent narratives of young people continuing to render them in the stage of 'becoming'. As an age-based hierarchy, the role of childhood is presented as a stage of movement to the future without recognising their concerns and voices as relevant in the present (Brennan, Mayes & Zipin, 2021;Raby & Sheppard, 2021). Through political participation in the school strikes, young people reject current schooling and politics as not addressing their concerns, both present and future (Mayes & Holdsworth, 2020).…”

Section: Narratives Of Childhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Through political participation in the school strikes, young people reject current schooling and politics as not addressing their concerns, both present and future (Mayes & Holdsworth, 2020). The assumption that young people need adults to empower them is directly challenged by their action of walking away from their education to take up space in the public realm and participate in politics (Brennan, Mayes & Zipin, 2021). As a result, their education progresses outside of the classroom through their engagement as informed and connected citizens.…”

Section: Narratives Of Childhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

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More learning, less activism: Narratives of childhood in Australian media representations of the School Strike for Climate

Alexander

Petray

McDowall

2021

Aust. J. environ. educ.

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The School Strike for Climate campaign led to public discussion about children’s political participation. Children are generally excluded from formal political systems, however this campaign challenges mainstream attitudes that children are not sufficiently competent to participate in politics. This paper presents an analysis of Australian mainstream media representations of adult responses to the School Strike for Climate events held in Australia in March 2019. When analysed against theories of childhood, two primary narratives are reflected in what adults said about children’s participation in the campaign. Anticipatory narratives focus on children appropriately developing into adults, and are represented by the notion that strikers should be in school, be punished for missing school, and are ‘just kids’ who should not be listened to. Protectionist narratives seek to shelter children from adult matters, suggesting strikers were brainwashed and raising welfare concerns. Neither of these narratives regard children as citizens capable of political voice, despite these children acting prefiguratively to create a world in which their civic participation is valued. Social movement theories of prefiguration are also explored in this paper, providing a counter argument to suggestions that children have no political agency and should be excluded from activism and discussions regarding climate change.

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Section: Narratives Of Childhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Narratives Of Childhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

More learning, less activism: Narratives of childhood in Australian media representations of the School Strike for Climate

Alexander

Petray

McDowall

2021

Aust. J. environ. educ.

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“…In 1999, The Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century (MYCEETA, 1999) enabled the federal government to exercise greater influence by making funding contingent on "recipient jurisdiction implementation of requirements" (Bezzina, et al, 2009, p. 547;Brennan 2011). Despite these measured steps toward a national curriculum, educators expressed concern about its impact on their traditional autonomy in the classroom (Batra, 2006;Brennan, 2011); the potential for coercive and corporate compliance with national curriculum policies that have not been informed by or consulted with practitioners (Lingard, et al, 1995); what constitutes 'official' knowledge and whose knowledge matters (Riddle & Apple, 2019;Brennan, et al, 2021), and the potential for inconsistent implementation exacerbated by a lack of professional development (Barton, et al, 2013;Kennedy, et al, 1995;Lingard et al, 1995;Mueller, 2021). Nevertheless, some studies have also shown that as teachers became more familiar with the requirements of a national curriculum, and confident in their "pedagogical artistry" and renewed agency, they adopt a more positive approach (Helsby, 2005;Henderson & Slattery, 2008, p. 1).…”

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

In their own voice: The role of the Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts Paper Writers in ensuring equitable access to quality Arts education in Australia

et al. 2021

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This paper examines the personal and professional experiences of the five arts leaders who co-wrote the foundation document for Australia's first national curriculum in the Arts. Their personal and professional backgrounds, which were explored during in depth interviews, drove the complex collaborative process that informed the first iteration of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts. Though each couched their responses in the context of their background and arts discipline, they shared an awareness of the important role of the Arts in providing the analytical tools for children and young people to identify and subsequently challenge social injustice. The findings, which are presented as a group narrative using a Narrative Inquiry approach, reveal how the five arts leaders' individual lived experience, disciplinary experience and expertise, and commitment to collaborative leadership informed their approach. It was one driven by their shared belief that all Australian students, regardless of their background, are entitled to a quality arts education.

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“…This special issue responds to the global momentum of the school climate strikes and contributes to scholarship on the confluence of education, youth activism and the climate strikes specifically (Brennan, Mayes, & Zipin, 2021;Dunlop, Atkinson, Stubbs, & Diepenet, 2021;Dupuis-Déri, 2021). The articles in this issue variously respond to the implication of these strikes for education, in particular environmental education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Students are becoming adept at teaching themselves the knowledge they need to engage meaningfully outside of class time. For example, as noted previously, youth climate strikers organise around the premise of 'climate justice' which requires multidisciplinary knowledges, yet climate justice is not well addressed within environmental education literature (Stapleton, 2018) and is seldom represented in curricula (Brennan et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

School strike for climate: A reckoning for education

Verlie

Flynn

2022

Aust. J. environ. educ.

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In this article framing the special issue on the global school strikes for climate, we ask: what if education is not the solution, but part of the system young people want to change? In conversation with school strikers and reflecting on the contributions to this issue, we argue that the strikes pose a reckoning for education. Five key themes emerge from this special issue: (1) students are striking because of the affective weight of climate injustice; (2) students learn through their participation in striking, in contrast to the often insufficient climate change education taught in schools; (3) young people are becoming climate change educators through their roles as strikers; (4) strikers are patronised through paternalistic structures (including schooling) that ostensibly exist to protect them; and therefore (5) we need to reimagine education. We then advance four propositions for education in response to young people’s modest demands for a liveable future: (1) young people are in and of the collapsing climate; (2) youth voices need to be taken seriously, without excusing adult and collective responsibilities; (3) multigenerational, more-than-human, intercultural collaborations must be practiced in education for climate justice; and (4) we must learn to navigate ontological uncertainty and attend to ethical complexity.

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The contemporary challenge of activism as curriculum work

Cited by 23 publications

References 32 publications

More learning, less activism: Narratives of childhood in Australian media representations of the School Strike for Climate

More learning, less activism: Narratives of childhood in Australian media representations of the School Strike for Climate

In their own voice: The role of the Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts Paper Writers in ensuring equitable access to quality Arts education in Australia

School strike for climate: A reckoning for education

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