Community Education for Social Justice PDF
Preview Community Education for Social Justice
Community Education for Social Justice Community Education for Social Justice Edited by Cameron White University of Houston, Texas, USA A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: 978-94-6209-504-5 (paperback) ISBN: 978-94-6209-505-2 (hardback) ISBN: 978-94-6209-506-9 (e-book) Published by: Sense Publishers, P.O. Box 21858, 3001 AW Rotterdam, The Netherlands https://www.sensepublishers.com/ Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved © 2014 Sense Publishers No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. For Lori and Dylan TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ix 1. Encountering Social and Community Education 1 Cameron White 2. Establishing Community 7 Sabrina Marsh, Susan McCormack & Cameron White 3. Considering Community 13 Christine Beaudry 4. Place-Based Education 23 Karen Lescure & Christina Yaman 5. The Classroom and Place-Based Education 33 Samantha Manchac 6. Agents in Neighborhood Communities 45 Andrea Barela 7. Pedagogy of the Disabled 53 Bernardo Pohl 8. Issues in Internationalizing Education 61 Liping Wei & Cameron White 9. The World is a Big Sack of Mystery 67 Amy Mulholland 10. Place-Based Education in Alaska and Texas 77 Matthew Q. Bounds 11. The Art of Community 87 Cavan Leerkamp, Leslie Gauna & Bianca Carpenter 12. Global Classrooms 103 Cameron White 13. Using Primary Sources to Understand Local History 111 Barbara Morgan-Fleming & Reese Todd vii TABLE OF CONTENTS 14. Experiencing Social Education as Community 121 Sabrina Marsh 15. Teacher Education and Community 135 Amy Mulholland & Cameron White viii PREFACE “To build community requires vigilant awareness of the work we must continually do to undermine all the socialization that leads us to behave in ways that perpetuate domination.” ― bell hooks, Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope What is community? How important is community in the 21st century? Where might the idea of community “fit” in education and sch ooling, teaching and learning? These are the questions and themes embedded in this book. The general critique is that community is an add-on in our schools and often is dismissed as a result of the individualistic competitive nature of schooling today. Our focus is to provide critical investigations as to the possibility of community – and that we need community now more than ever! I began my education career as an 8th grade social studies teacher in a suburb of Houston. The school was quite progressive for the time – and especially for Texas, in that mini-courses were offered, teachers received 2 planning periods and academic areas were asked to focus on integrated units, in addition to teaching in open areas. This experience, along with my liberal upbringing, liberal arts college education, living and working in Houston, one of the most diverse cities in the US, and an increasingly radical philosophy as I grow older have all laid the groundwork for my “transformation” as an educator. Ever since I can remember I have thought that collaboration, cooperation, conflict resolution, context/connections, and communication are vital components for human progress. I have made it my career to critically question society and especially education in hope that the “bottom line” should be the kids and the facilitation of knowledge, skills, and disposition through a social construction framework. I am increasingly disheartened by what our institutions and other human beings are doing to our kids and to each other. I see little care, compassion, and child centered practice. Fortunately, my university experience has enabled me much freedom (despite university corporatization, bureaucratic malfeasance, and administrators that only care about power and personal agenda). I have been blessed with great students, amazing community partners, many wonderful colleagues, life changing local and global experiences, and a lot of luck! As a result we now advocate for social education… Social education stems from social studies/history education, cultural/critical studies, and community education, all with a social justice/activist framework. While the social education program is in the college of education and the focus has traditionally been teacher education, the idea is to broaden the idea of education beyond the school and classroom to engage the world as the classroom for teaching and learning. The old adage of contextualizing learning through a local to global framing is truly a passionate focus. ix
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