Race,Reason and Reasonableness: Toward an “Unreasonable” Pedagogy

Starting from the contemporary critical-theoretical notion of an objective violence that organizes social reality in capitalism, including processes of systemic racism, as well as from phenomenological inquiries into processes of race and identity, this article explores the relationship between racism and reasonableness in education and society. The category of the reasonable connects the content of particular propositions with the inner truth of the form of thought. At the same time, the reasonable refers to what can be legitimated not only intellectually but practically and morally. I describe how the force of this category, working through neoliberal modalities of appropriation and penality, is an anchor for persistent processes of racial oppression in educational policy and curriculum. Furthermore, if the reasonable is a central figure for ideology, then a kind of thinking that would break with it will show up in the first instance as unreasonable. Thus, I argue that critical pedagogy in the present needs to start from a different and “unreasonable” reason. In addition, taking its cue from interventions by radical educators and students, critical teaching needs to challenge the dominative decorum that forces dialogue on race and racism into the narrow spaces—both material and discursive—of the given.     

Environmental education policy research – challenges and ways research might cope with them

This essay examines the relationship between research and policy and, more specifically, how researchers might relate to policy work. Given the current international policy focus on climate change, green growth and sustainability in general, it argues for strengthening and widening policy research in the areas of Environmental Education (EE), Education for Sustainable Development and Climate Change Education. It especially makes a case for two kinds of research on EE policy: (1) a multi-sited approach to empirical documentation and theory development which explores the relationships between international policy agreements and local practice, and (2) an interactive policy-engaged approach to research.     

Beyond Commercialization: Science, Higher Education and the Culture of Neoliberalism

Since the 1980s, scholars and others have been engaged in a lively debate about the virtues and dangers of mingling commerce with university science. In this paper, we contend that the commercialization of academic science, and higher education more broadly, are best understood as pieces of a larger story. We use two cases of institutional change at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to shed light on the implications of neoliberalism for public research universities in the United States. We conclude that instead of neoliberalization being a timely strategy for the specific fiscal and other problems facing public universities today, it has become an omnibus solution available to be employed when any opportunity arises and, in fact, helps to define the “problems” of the university in the first place.     

The critical, relational practice of instructional design in higher education: an emerging model of change agency

This paper offers an emerging interpretive framework for understanding the active role instructional designers play in the transformation of learning systems in higher education. A 3-year study of instructional designers in Canadian universities revealed how, through reflexive critical practice, designers are active, moral, political, and influential in activating change at interpersonal, professional, institutional and societal levels. Through narrative inquiry the voices of designers reflect the scope of agency, community and relational practice in which they regularly engage with faculty in institutions of higher learning.

Re-empowering academics in a corporate culture: an exploration of workload and performativity in a university

Neo-liberal reforms in higher education have resulted in corporate managerial practices in universities and a drive for efficiency and productivity in teaching and research. As a result, there has been an intensification of academic work, increased stress for academics and an emphasis on accountability and performativity in universities. The paper proposes that while managerialism in modern universities is now the norm, corporate approaches have disempowered academics in their institutions and reduced productivity because they ignore the nature of academic work. Using Foucault’s conception of power relations in institutions, policies that directly affect academic work such as workload allocation and performance management are identified as key ways in which power is exercised in universities. The paper reports on a case study in one university which explored the relationship between the academic workload allocation and performance management policies and concludes that a more balanced power relationship is needed in which academics can have more influence over these key processes which control their work so they preserve the self-managed aspects of academic work and the intrinsic motivations driving their careers.     

Economies of scale in schooling

A model of optimal school size is developed which predicts that schools will minimize total costs by operating in a region of increasing returns to school inputs. Two sources of estimates of the economies of scale coefficient emerge from the optimal school size model, and two rich data sets are used to generate estimates of this coefficient. These estimates support the model and are shown to imply sizeable differences in the cost of schooling between urban and rural areas.     

Teachers' attitudes toward and knowledge of child maltreatment

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine teachers' self-reported knowledge of the signs and symptoms of child maltreatment, reporting procedures, legal issues surrounding child abuse and their attitudes toward corporal punishment. In addition, a factor analysis was performed on the Educators and Child Abuse Questionnaire (ECAQ) (Kenny, 2001a). METHOD: Two hundred teachers, who work in the southeast region of the US in a large, ethnically diverse school system, were administered the ECAQ which contains questions on knowledge concerning: (1) signs and symptoms of child abuse, (2) laws, and (3) procedures for reporting child abuse as well as number of reports filed. RESULTS: Most teachers reported being unaware of the signs and symptoms of child maltreatment, as well as reporting procedures. They also felt administration would not be supportive and were in disagreement with their legal role as mandated reporters. The ECAQ was found to be a reliable measure with four factors: (1) Awareness of signs and symptoms of child abuse, (2) Knowledge of reporting procedures, (3) Attitudes toward discipline, and (4) Seriousness of child abuse. CONCLUSIONS: In general, teachers reported a lack of awareness of the signs of child abuse and reporting procedures, which may affect their ability to report cases of suspected abuse. There is a need for standardized training in child maltreatment for all teachers as well as clear, concise institutional guidelines for reporting child abuse and support for teachers confronted with suspected victims.     

“We Need to Come Together and Raise Our Kids and Our Communities Right”: Black Males Rewriting Social Representations

This article excavates the voices of urban black males as they speak their name (Belton, 1996) in a society that denies them this right. Based on data gathered in a large-scale ethnographic interview study of urban America, the authors traverse the spoken lives of these men, as they weave stories about neighborhood and state violence, opportunities denied and missed, and the current power of black men's groups in the church. Through their day-to-day lives urban black men challenge social representations about them in racist America, constructing an alternative hegemonic masculinity revolving around relationships, fatherhood, and dignity.Professor of Sociology of Education at the State University of New York at BuffaloCompleted her Ph.D. at the State University of New York at Buffalo and is now a practicing psychologist at Claremont CollegesCurrent graduate student at CUNY