The Democratic Potential of Parental Dissent: Keeping Public Schools Public,Legitimate, and Educational

In this essay, Sarah Stitzlein describes the democratic potential of parents choosing to opt out of school testing, explaining how they ought to engage in political dissent to best fulfill their responsibilities as citizens and to practice democracy on behalf of children and schools. Parents' decisions to opt out are often based on rights claims about their oversight as parents; moral claims regarding the potential undue pressure testing places on children and the misuse of students' scores; political and economic concerns with the role of corporations in testing; and educational claims about the validity of scores, the narrowing of curriculum, and the deprofessionalization of teachers who feel they must teach to the test. By building publics around these rationales and shared concerns, parents may increase the political legitimacy of public schools and create public schools that are more deeply public; in some cases, they may also provide an educational model of democratic life for budding citizens in schools to observe and learn from.     

Addressing Educational Accountability and Political Legitimacy with Citizen Responsibility

In this essay, Sarah Stitzlein addresses a key current crisis in public education: accountability. Rather than centrally being about poor performance of teachers or inefficiency of schools, as we most often hear in media outlets and in education reform speeches, Stitzlein argues the crisis is at heart one about citizen responsibility and political legitimacy. She claims that the recent accountability movement has shifted the onus of curing society's problems almost exclusively onto schools, but contends that these burdens should not just be unidirectional. There is, Stitzlein maintains, a corresponding obligation on the part of citizens to public schools. This includes all citizens, not just those closely tied to schools through their children or employment. Moreover, this obligation entails a robust commitment that extends beyond merely supporting public schools through taxes, voting for levies, and choosing to send one's children to them. The responsibility of citizens includes upholding a commitment to schools as a central institution of democracy — something that sustains democracy but also, in its best forms, is democracy in action.     

The Role of “Small Publics” in Teacher Dissent

In this essay, Sarah Stitzlein and Amy Rector‐Aranda, drawing on John Dewey's theoretical suggestions regarding how to best form publics capable of bringing about change through deliberation and action, offer teachers guidance on how to form and navigate spaces of political protest and become more effective advocates for school reform. Using Aaron Schutz's analysis of teacher activism as a point of departure, Stitzlein and Rector‐Aranda argue for the development in schools of “small publics,” that is, Deweyan democratic spaces within which teachers can dialogue and exchange ideas about the problems they face in the classroom. While Schutz treats this type of space merely as a stepping stone toward the real locus of political action, the power public, Stitzlein and Rector‐Aranda argue that small publics are themselves important spaces where teachers can work together to frame problems and build coalitions and solidarity with other groups in order to take action in the wider public sphere and bring about change in schools.     

Sex education,state policy and the principle of mutual consent

Constitutive of the prevalent sexual morality in most Western European countries is the liberal principle of mutual consent (PMC). This sociological fact may give rise to the ethical question as to whether or not the state has the right to make sure that its citizens will observe PMC, among other ways by prescribing some form of sex education which has PMC as its moral content. With reference to the ambiguity of the term ‘morally permissible’, it is argued that PMC can be interpreted in two fundamentally different ways, namely, as the freedom to arrange one's sexual life according to one's own values and preferences (PMC(a)) or as the view that consensual sex is morally all right or morally unobjectionable (PMC(b)). The claim is defended that PMC(a) should be taken as part of the public morality, whereas PMC(b) should be seen as a private morality. Accordingly, the state has the right to take PMC(a) as a basis for its educational policy, but the state is not allowed to prescribe any form of sex education that has PMC(b) as its moral content. The importance of the distinction between PMC(a) and PMC(b) is shown by giving an evaluation of the Dutch state's responses to recent public statements of orthodox religious leaders about the moral status of homosexuality. Also on the basis of this distinction, the central differences between liberal orthodox and fundamentalist orthodox religious views on sexuality and the role of the state are pointed out. In this connection, it is argued that any view which takes PMC(b) as part of the public morality should be disavowed as a kind of ‘liberal funda‐ mentalism’.     

Urban teachers’ perceptions of inclusion of migrant children in the Chinese educational institution: a comparative study

Recently China has been undergoing an unprecedented urbanisation process which has resulted in millions of rural families living in urban areas. As part of a study of Chinese migrant children's educational experiences, surveys and interviews were conducted with primary school teachers in a metropolitan city in East China. The objectives of this study were to describe teachers’ perceptions of migrant children's education in both migrant schools and in public schools, and to investigate differences in their beliefs between school types. Results found that urban teachers’ perceptions of educational inclusion of migrant students were slightly negative in general. However, teachers in public schools showed significantly more positive attitudes to inclusion of migrant students than migrant school teachers. In the light of these findings, the paper concludes with implications for practice and policy for education of migrant children in China.     

Embodied Refusals: Conceptualizing Dissent in Students Labeled with Significant Disabilities

Dissent is conceptualized as a largely able-minded political expression. Ashley Taylor argues in this essay that educational philosophers, therefore, lack an understanding of dissent that can capture the politically relevant expressions of students labeled with significant disabilities. While traditional frameworks of dissent may capture many of the ways disabled activists and their nondisabled allies have challenged oppressive social structures, these models nevertheless rely on a conceptualization of dissent that fails to make sense of the political agency of people understood as having significant intellectual disabilities. Taylor reframes the embodied and localized refusals and transgressions of labeled students as forms of politically relevant dissent, drawing on her own observational data from the classroom as well as the ethnographic work of researchers in the field of disability studies in education. By developing a richer and experientially-based understanding of dissent, Taylor offers an alternative conceptual orientation toward dissent that has normative implications for theorists and practitioners alike.     

Educational Expansion and the Mediation of Discontent: The cultural politics of schooling in the Arab states

This paper probes the socioeconomic and political processes underlying the expansion of schooling in the Arab states. The paper, which does not report new data but rather critically reviews studies published so far, argues that both development and modernisation approaches, as well as class reproduction theories remain largely unable to account for the complex web of factors affecting educational expansion in the Arab states. These theories fail to point to the articulation of multi-level processes ultimately shaping the social and cultural underpinnings of educational expansion. Moreover, these theoretical approaches, beyond their paradigmatic differences, have confined Arab civil societies essentially to the structural outcome of state policies. Consequently, processes of civil dissent and resistance and their effects on educational expansion are naively conceptualised in terms of 'forces of tradition' versus 'forces of change'. The community-based, and conflict-laden power conjunctures shaping educational expansion in the Arab states have been largely left outside the analysis and the voices they represent often discarded. To probe the argument, first, the paper outlines the major macro-structural and historical factors affecting levels of literacy and access to educational resources in different Arab states. Secondly, published fieldwork research undertaken by others into community-based settings is examined in order to explore points of articulation between state policies, civil society processes and their sociopolitical and cultural effects on patterns of educational expansion. Thirdly, within the frame of a concluding discussion, the major implications are discussed and possible research paths are pointed to.     

Professional development for university scientists around issues of equity and diversity: Investigating dissent within community

We investigated the role of dissent in a community of university scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and social scientists engaged in a 2‐year professional development project around issues of equity and diversity. Members of this teacher learning community explored issues related to gender and ethnicity in science education, and attempted to develop course materials and instructional strategies inclusive of students from underrepresented groups. We focused our attention on those professional development sessions (6 of the 19) devoted to a contentious yet integral topic in science education: the gendered and multicultural nature of science. We examined conversations initiated by a member's concerns to learn how dissent led (or failed to lead) to new insights into feminist science studies scholarship or to greater understanding of ways to address equity issues in undergraduate science education. We also explored how teacher learners' resulting views of feminist science studies scholarship informed (or failed to inform) changes in their own educational practices. From our qualitative analyses, we highlight the challenges in balancing respect for members' individual voices with collective progress toward project goals, and in structuring conversations initiated by dissent to provide adequate space for deliberation and movement toward deeper understanding of equity and excellence. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 738–771, 2002     

Transitional Justice and the Task of Inclusion: A Habermasian Perspective on the Justification of Aboriginal Educational Rights

In February 2012, Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission released an interim report that detailed its findings based on extensive testimony by former students of the nation's residential school system, a system designed to forcibly assimilate aboriginal peoples. The report concludes that the state must play an active role in the restoration of indigenous culture and knowledge. It is against this background that Christopher Martin analyzes the idea of aboriginal educational rights. The concern here is not so much with aboriginal persons' right to a fair share of educational provision, but with the aboriginal person's right to reassert authority over his or her developmental interests, including an interest in culture and identity. The specific role of educational rights in such debates remains an important one, especially since such discussions impinge on difficult issues of state sovereignty and cultural rights. In this essay Martin examines various justifications of aboriginal educational rights and develops a Habermasian justification that remains consistent with individual rights.     

Education and citizenship in diverse societies

The question of the state's role in the control of sponsorship of education is addressed in the light of liberal political principles designed to keep peace and enforce toleration in culturally diverse societies. Some contemporary, self-described liberal philosophers argue for a much more substantial educational role for the state than liberal principles will really allow. Brian Barry's argument for that role assumes that the state can prescribe answers to controversial questions regarding the truth and the good life in which a truly liberal state would take no interest. Stephen Macedo is more accommodating to religious diversity than Barry, but his argument fails because of his rashly optimistic view of the state's effectiveness in promoting civic virtue and the possibility of reconciling that role with fundamental liberal values. Liberal regimes do not depend on civic education, even under conditions of diversity. Their life-blood is toleration and dissent rather than the widespread diffusion of civic virtue.     

公立高校教师法律地位的再定义：教师法修订的核心

明晰公立高校教师的法律地位，是国家教育行政部门管理监督高校教师、配置高校教师权利义务的前提和基础，也是构建我国高等教育法律体系的重要一环。当前，国家教育行政部门已经将公立中小学教师定性为“国家公职人员”，但却未明确公立高校教师的法律地位。通过考察公立高校教师法律地位的域外理论变迁及国内学说演变，发现高校教师兼具公权与私权双重性质，即一方面需要接受国家的管理，代表国家履行教育职能，另一方面还承担着学术创新的重要职能。为此，我国可借鉴美国公立高校教师的“公务雇员”属性，来定义公立高校教师法律地位，并借此对公立高校教师的权利义务、法律责任等进行重构。     

Marketizing higher education in post-Mao China

In the post-Mao era, reformers in the People's Republic of China have taken significant steps to privatize social welfare services. After the adoption of a socialist market system in the 1990s, educational development has been affected by strong market forces. It is argued that the emergence of private educational institutions, the shift of state responsibility in educational provision to families and individuals, the prominence of fee-charging, as well as the introduction of internal competition among educational institutions, clearly suggest that China's education has been going through a process of marketization. The principal goal of this paper is to examine institutional origins of the policy change in education, with particular reference to the process and implications of such changes. The paper will also appraise the Chinese experience in the light of global practices on marketization of social welfare services.     

Multiculturalism and the common curriculum debate

Abstract:

This paper challenges the assumptions underpinning James Tooley's earlier critique in this edition of the Journal of the author's negative assessment of market‐led forms of educational provision. In particular, the paper highlights Tooley's failure to acknowledge that the pursuit of self‐interest within the market place can be self‐defeating. The paper concludes by arguing that deliberative public action is a necessary condition for addressing the major predicaments of our time, including those facing education.     

DEWEY'S THEORY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PUBLIC AND THE PUBLIC CHARACTER OF CHARTER SCHOOLS

In this essay, Leonard Waks reconsiders the issue of the public character of charter schools, that is, schools funded through public taxation but operated by non‐state organizations such as nonprofit and for‐profit educational corporations and nongovernmental public interest organizations. Using John Dewey's conception of a democratic public as a framework, Waks examines the following questions: (1) Are schools chartered and funded by government, but operated by nonprofit nongovernmental organizations, ever appropriate instruments of a democratic public? (2) If so, what criteria might distinguish those that are appropriate from those that are not? (3) How might public education be re‐institutionalized so as to include the charter schools that are appropriate? Waks concludes that Dewey's theory of democratic publics can play a useful role in thinking about how to balance the democratic benefits of charter schools for the various subcommunities of our society with the democratic requirement of broad public discourse and intergroup education.     

Teaching Honesty and Improving Democracy in the Post-Truth Era

In this paper, Sarah Stitzlein considers the consequences of honesty on our democracy, especially for citizens' ability to engage in civic inquiry together as they face shared problems. Honesty is a key component of a well-functioning democracy; it develops trust and fosters the sorts of relationships among citizens that enable civic dialogue and reasoning. Post-truth attitudes and truth decay pose serious obstacles to good civic reasoning as citizens struggle to draw clear distinctions between fact and opinion, weigh personal beliefs and emotions over facts, and increasingly distrust traditionally respected sources of information. Stitzlein employs a Deweyan pragmatist account of truth and a distinctly social account of democracy to build a case for foregrounding honesty in the development of citizens. She describes how schools can employ communities of inquiry to cultivate habits of honesty within citizenship education. She explains how a better democracy — one grounded in a wider understanding of social life and relationships — might head off the temptation to be dishonest for self-serving reasons, focusing on how dishonesty jeopardizes our relationships to each other as citizens and our ability to engage in civic reasoning together to fulfill shared goals.     

Educational assessment and accountability: a New Zealand case study

This paper discusses the increasing use of assessment as a market signal and as an index of educational accountability. It is argued that assessment policies in New Zealand reflect an uneasy balance between the interests of the new right and more progressive educationists. These influences are examined using three largely contradictory models of educational accountability (professional, market and management). Each model reflects a range of epistemological and ideological assumptions. Thus student assessment serves different and largely conflicting purposes. The paper uses a recent New Zealand policy document (Tomorrow's Standards) to examine the interaction of each model. It is argued that through a failure to state clearly the purpose of assessment, educational reform in this area is overly concerned with the means rather than the ends of education. This has important implications for student motivation and learning. The paper concludes with a comment on current policy development and concludes that some recent initiatives provide the hope that a system of assessment that is both meaningful and relevant to individual learners may be developed.     

公众技术观及教育技术观的调查与分析

公众技术观及教育技术观对现代科技和教育技术的发展具有特殊意义,但是通过文献研究我们发现国内外鲜有与此相关的研究。本研究通过调查发现绝大多数人认为技术是一种解决问题的方法与手段;公众对技术的态度总体上是积极、乐观的。就公众教育技术观而言,更多的人把教育技术看作一种优化教学和促进教育的手段与方法。最后在对调查结果分析讨论的基础上,作者认为教育技术应从公众舆论中汲取养分以把握今后的发展方向。     

‘It’s never okay to say no to teachers’: Children’s research consent and dissent in conforming schools contexts

This article examines the limits to children giving research consent in everyday school contexts that emphasises their conformity to comply with adult expectations, and highlights children’s competence and agency in navigating this conformity through different practices of dissent. It draws on research into children’s agency, using a multimodal ethnography of Year 1 classrooms in two English primary schools. The article includes a reflexive methodological focus, exploring the extent to which I counter the schools’ emphasis on conformity. This includes creating visuals for children to practice consent; positioning myself as the researcher in a non-teacher role, as ‘least adult’ and the one who ‘least knows’; and designing interview spaces markedly different from classrooms. The article examines how children navigate conforming discourses by finding different ways to dissent in the research. Firstly, children demonstrate a sophisticated awareness of the cultural norms of indicating refusals beyond saying the word ‘No’. Secondly, children achieve unnoticeability, by which they absent themselves from the ‘on-task’ classroom culture, and by extension the research process. Thirdly, they engage in playful dissent, demonstrating their political knowingness of the classroom social order. The article discusses the implications for educational research when the values of consent are in conflict with a schooling focused on conformity. This includes emphasising the limits of consent procedures, paying closer attention to how researchers recognise and respond ethically to children’s multiple practices of dissent, and using research to disrupt problematic power structures in education settings that limit possibilities for children’s consent.     

Dependence on state funding,local educational opportunities,and access to high school credentials in israel

A major shortcoming of macro-spatial research undertaken to date in Israel pertains to the neglect of state investment-related measures and the extent to which they mediate unequal opportunities to learn (OTL) and educational opportunities between localities. In the present study, OTL refer to class size and high-school tracking patterns. Educational opportunities refer to two measures: the school system's holding power and access to educational credentials. Two specific questions were raised in this respect: first, we looked into the extent to which the size and ethnic stratification of Israeli localities, and their differential dependence on state financial schemes, affect available OTL and educational opportunities. Second, we examined how a locality's OTL affect educational opportunities. The data on which the present study is based are aggregated at locality level and refer to 89 localities, of which 21 were Arab and 78 were Jewish. Bentler's EQS Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) program was applied to test the research questions. The findings suggest that locality characteristics and dependence on state finance directly affect both OTL and educational opportunities. However, the school system's holding power and access to educational credentials is affected by differential mechanisms. On the one hand, locality-level variables and average class size significantly affect the school system's holding power. On the other hand, access to educational credentials is affected primarily by a locality's ethnic affiliation and its dependence on state funding. The implications of these findings for educational policy and reform are then discussed.     

The Relationship Between Undergraduate Attendance and Performance Revisited: Alignment of Student and Instructor Goals

We revisit the relationship between attendance and performance in the undergraduate university setting and apply agency theory in the instructor–student context. Building on agency theory propositions in the educational setting advanced by Smith, Zsidisin, and Adams (2005) , we propose that the student and instructor must align goals to promote the student's achievement of performance learning outcomes, and attendance functions as a behavior‐based alignment mechanism to encourage the convergence of faculty and student interests. Further, we propose that attendance does not equally affect lower‐ and higher‐performing students and that absences are also negatively related to students' cumulative grade point average. We test these hypotheses with data from undergraduates enrolled in management courses at a state university in the southeast. Our results show that attendance is positively related to exam performance, there are more pronounced negative effects of an absence for lower‐performing students than for higher performers, and absences are negatively related to a student's cumulative grade point average. We discuss the implications of our findings for students, instructors, and universities as well as practice in teaching and learning.