Diversity, Globalization, and Teacher Education: Defining Social Justice for New Times and New Conte

1
Diversity, Globalization, and Teacher
EducationDefining Social Justice for New Times
and New Contexts

• Sonia Nieto
• Diversity and Globalization Conference
• University of Helsinki, Finland
• April 2008

2
Questions to address

• How does our current sociopolitical context -
  including issues of globalization, immigration,
  and diversity - influence teacher education and
  the work we do with future and practicing
  teachers?
• What difference can multicultural education make?
• What do teachers need to know in terms of skills,
  competencies, values, beliefs, practices, and
  strategies in order to negotiate the current
  context?

3
The Sociopolitical Context
diversity
globalization
immigration
exploitation
racism
Education
4
Globalization is everywhere (David Gillborn,
2008)
Economic and social policies
National security
Social and cultural identity
Political policies
5
immigration

• Approximately 192,000,000 people live outside
  their place of birth
• This represents about 3 of the worlds
  population
• Annual growth is about 3 and growing
• 75 of the increase occurred in just 17 countries

6
Racism and Exclusion
like smog in the air
Sometimes it is so thick it is visible, other
times it is less apparent, but always, day in and
day out, we are breathing it in. None of us would
introduce ourselves as smog-breathers (and most
of us dont want to be described as prejudiced),
but if we live in a smoggy place, how can we
avoid breathing the air? Beverly Daniel Tatum
7
Levels of Racism
Everyday racism
Laws, traditions
Slavery, genocide
Everyday racism (Essed, 1991)
Virulent
Softer postmodern racism (Flecha et al, 2006)
8
Manifestations of racism

• Individual/ personal
• Institutional
• Denial
• Colorblindness
• Colormute (Pollock, 2004)
• No problem here (Gaine, 1987)

9
Globalization and Education

• English education policy plays an active role
  in supporting and affirming racist inequities
  and structures of oppression Gillborn (2005)
• represents a new synthesis of the
  technocratic/industrial model of education
  (Luke, 2004)

10
Finland is allergic to immigration (Castells,
2005)
Immigrants make up 2 of entire
Finnish population of 5.2 million
About 122,000 foreign-born
who speak more than 60 languages
11
several levels of the sociopolitical context
Personal
Collective
Institutional
Ideological
12
Education in a Sociopolitical Context

• Laws, regulations, policies, practices,
  traditions
• Ideologies, assumptions, and expectations
• Structural barriers and biases based on these
  laws, policies, ideologies, and assumptions

13
Manifestations at the societal level
Who is intelligent?
Whose language is standard?
Whose lifestyle is normal?
Who decides? Who benefits? Who loses?
14
Manifestations of the sociopolitical context at
the school and classroom levels
How do school policies and practices benefit
some students over others (curriculum, pedagogy,
hiring practices, extracurricular activities
Who decides? benefits? Who loses?
15
Manifestations of at the individual level

• Relationships with students
• Who are favored?
• Which students receive additive (Cummins, 1996)
  education and which ones receive subtractive
  education (Valenzuela, 1999)?
• What is the basis for sorting and other
  pedagogical decisions?

16
structural
inequality
Lack of resources in home and school
Poor infrastructure
Poverty
Unfair bureaucratic policies and practices
Racism and personal and institutional biases
17
Critical multicultural education some assumptions

• Identity, difference, power, and privilege are
  all connected
• Multicultural education is inclusive of many
  differences
• Teachers are not the villains

18
multicultural education

• Anti-racist and anti-bias
• Basic
• Important for all students
• Pervasive

• A process
• Education for social justice
• Critical pedagogy

19
Anti-racist and anti-bias

• Not simply celebratory
• Does not automatically take care of racism and
  other biases

• Confronts racism and other biases through content
  and pedagogy
• Welcomes dangerous discourses
• Encourages students to take action

20
Basic Education

• As basic as reading, writing, arithmetic,
  bilingualism and computer literacy
• Part of the core curriculum
• A more representative and more truthful canon
• Preparation for living in an increasingly
  diverse world

21
important for everyone
Not just for immigrant students or others thought
to be disadvantaged
All students are disadvantaged and miseducated,
but in different ways
22
Pervasive

• Not a specific subject matter, unit, class, or
  teacher
• Not just learning the national language
• Not just ethnic tidbits, holidays, festivals, or
  fairs

A philosophy, a lifestyle, a way of thinking
about the world
23
Social justice in education

• Draws on students resources, talents, and
  strengths, and funds of knowledge (González
  Moll, 2005)
• Creates a learning environment that promotes
  critical thinking and agency for social change

24
Social justice in education

• Challenges, confronts, and disrupts
  misconceptions, untruths, and stereotypes
• Provides all students with the resources
  necessary to become fully human and to learn to
  their full potential (both material and
  emotional)

25
Education for Social Justice

• Asks profoundly multicultural questions
• Who has access to high level knowledge?
• Is the program for immigrant/refugee children in
  the basement?
• Prepares students for their future as citizens in
  a multicultural and democratic society
• Is democracy at its best messy, complicated,
  and sometimes full of conflict

26
A Process

• Goes beyond curriculum and materials, textbooks
  and units
• Is dynamic, ongoing, ever-changing
• Requires learning about students identities,
  histories, and communities
• Involves intangibles
• Relationships
• Communication

27
Critical Pedagogy

• Knowledge is always political (Freire, 1970)
• Every educational decision reflects a political
  perspective
• Not about political correctness but about
  multiple perspectives
• Teaches students to question, explore, critique,
  ask why? and why not?

28
Multicultural EDUCATION
Access
Equity
29
What the research says is needed to prepare
highly qualified teachers

• a solid general education background

• a deep knowledge of their subject matter

• familiarity with numerous pedagogical approaches

• strong communication skills

• effective organizational skills

30
Whats missing?
Values
Beliefs
Sensibilities
Political awareness and commitment
31
BUILDING ON TEACHERS VALUES AND CONCERNS

• A sense of mission
• Solidarity with, and empathy for, students
• The courage to question mainstream knowledge and
  conventional wisdom
• Improvisation
• A passion for social justice

32
A Sense of Mission Mary Cowhey
Teaching is a way to live in the world. I just
cant see myself living in this world if I am not
doing something positive. Size and effectiveness
do not matter too much to me, if I nurture one
plant or a large garden, if I help one person
well, if I reach 20 children and their families
in a year, or thousands, what is important is
that I do it and do it well, that I do it with
heart
I teach because I agree with Gandhi If we are
to achieve real peace, we shall have to begin
with the children.
33
Solidarity with, and empathy for, students

• caring
• mentoring
• advocacy
• admiration
• high expectations

34
I teach because I see extraordinary possibilities
in students. One teacher was José, a student with
a speech impediment and hearing impairment. He
helped me to understand that the words I cant
have no place in the classroom. Melinda
Pellerin-Duck
35
The courage to challenge mainstream knowledge and
conventional wisdom
Critical education has to integrate the students
and the teachers into a mutual creation and
re-creation of knowledge Ira Shor (1987)
36
The Courage to Challenge mainstream knowledge and
conventional wisdom
I want my students to realize that science is not
the objective pursuit of knowledge that it is
professed to be. I want them to understand that
data may support a hypothesis that is not valid
to begin with. I want them to know that
correlation does not imply causality. I want them
to know there are hidden variables that may
affect an experiment. I want them to know about
researcher bias. I want them to know all this so
that when they read in the newspaper that
minority SAT scores are down, they know that
these data must be due to social, economic, and
political inequities in our society. They are
not due to genetic inferiority.
Jennifer Welborn
37
Improvisation
a way of thinking and behaving creativity
within structure (Theresa Jenoure)
Ayla Gavins Teaching is like being on a moving
train, because on any given day, teachers make
hundreds, even thousands of decisions to keep a
balance of fairness and equity.
38
Social Justice and Power
Ambrizeth Lima Teaching is always about power.
That is why it must also be about social justice.
Is it morally right for me, as a teacher, to
witness injustice toward students and remain
quiet?
39
social Justice in the curriculum
Patty Bode my skin color art lesson tells me
so much about my students, but more important, it
tells my students why I teach to create a
classroom that is deliberately anti-racist, where
respectful dialogue, critical thinking, and lots
of messy art making are required.
40
SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ADVOCACY
Bill Dunn So why do I teach? I teach because
someone has to tell my students that they are not
the ones who are dumb. They need to know that
only the blissfully ignorant and profoundly evil
make up tests to prove that they and people like
them are smart
41
Provide the time and resources for teachers to be
exposed these ideas

• Promote teacher research
• Set aside time for learning and reflection
• Provide resources that are meaningful and useful

42
Create opportunities for teachers to work
collaboratively
The What Keeps Teachers Going? Inquiry Group
43
Support teachers in their efforts to take Risks
and make change
Everything that affects our students is our
responsibility. Standing up for what I believe
has always been a part of my being. This meant
that I would have to muster up the courage to
continue to take risks for the benefit of my
students.
Nina Tepper
44
It is fundamental for us to know that without
certain qualities or virtues, such as a generous
loving heart, respect for others, tolerance,
humility, a joyful disposition, love of life,
openness to what is new, a
disposition to welcome change, perseverance in
the struggle, a refusal of determinism, a spirit
of hope, and openness to justice, progressive
pedagogical practice is not possible. It it
something that the merely scientific, technical
mind cannot accomplish. Paulo Freire
(1920-1997)