Reconsidering Urban Education: Injustice, Illegitimate Authority, and Willful Dissent

• In Event: Ethics and Justice in Education Policy

Abstract

Tommie Shelby argues that most research on poor African Americans tends to pathologize their conduct instead of treating them as autonomous agents who choose to show dissent against the unjust societal structures that keep them disadvantaged. Instead he suggests that we must shift our perspective and examine their conduct in light of the systemic injustice they experience on a daily basis. Following this frame of thought, the author argues that educational research and policy must stop pathologizing marginalized students’ subversive behaviors and acknowledge them as a legitimate form of expressing dissent against an unjust system of education. The author details implications regarding the permissibility of disobedience and punishment in schools, and suggests better ways for helping marginalized students.

Author

• A. C. Nikolaidis, The Ohio State University - Columbus