Lessons Learned: Challenges, Constraints, and Signs of Hope in Local Public Education Contexts

Session Submission Type: Symposium

Abstract

Educational institutions such as public elementary schools and universities, create a paradox for social justice-oriented researchers: they are sites intended for engagement, learning, and collaboration (Dewey 1916/2009; Freire, 1979/2000), yet schools are institutions shaped by social, economic, and political contexts (Rogers & Oakes, 2005). Thus, researchers, faculty, teachers, and students face challenges as they work to create opportunities for critical civic engagement within these spaces (Kohfeldt, Chhun, Grace & Langhout, 2011; Sarason, 1971). This symposium examines challenges and signs of transformative change within educational settings from both empirical and theoretical perspectives. The presenters reveal how opportunities for civic engagement and critical citizenship are being forged within educational institutions despite significant structural constraints.

Sub Unit

• Division G - Social Context of Education / Section 5: Social Context of Research on Schools and Communities

Chair

• Janelle M. Silva, University of Washington - Bothell

Papers

• ¡Querer es Poder! School-Mediated Civic Engagement and Latino Youth Citizenship Construction - Jesica Siham Fernandez, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Process, Relationships, and Snacks: Context and Challenges in an After-School Participatory Action Research Project - Sarah Grace, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Time Is Not on Our Side: Teacher-Identified Structural Constraints on a Public Elementary School Classroom - Danielle Kohfeldt, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Reading, Writing, and Revolution: Becoming Critical Multicultural Citizens in First Grade - Janelle M. Silva, University of Washington - Bothell

• Taking on Privilege in Context: University-Based Anti-Cuts Organizing as a Critical Pedagogical Space - Erin Ellison, University of California - Santa Cruz