(2009). Understanding the Universal Right to Education as Jurisgenerative Politics and Democratic Iterations. European Educational Research Journal, v8 n4 p520-533. This article examines how the universal human right to education can be understood in terms of what Seyla Benhabib considers "democratic iterations". Further, by referring to the concept of jurisgenerative politics, Benhabib argues that a democratic people reinterpret guiding norms and principles which they find themselves bound to, through iterative acts, so that they are not only the subjects but also the authors of laws. By examining the use of the Article of the universal right to education in the European Convention on Human Rights, not as an Article with an unambiguous meaning, but as an Article which from its very start was the subject of different interpretations and desires, the author argues for an understanding of the process of transforming universal rights into national law and norms as democratic iterations. This way of conceiving democratic iterations is examined empirically, with Sweden as an example, by analyses of three different discursive arenas: a… [Direct]
(2023). Re-Thinking Childhood in Peru: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Peruvian Early Childhood Policies. Global Studies of Childhood, v13 n4 p372-391. Early childhood has become a priority in national and international political agendas. In the last decade, states have elaborated social policies and launched a variety of programmes for young children. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, this research explores the most prominent conceptualisations of children and childhood underpinning official Early Childhood policies in Peru, drawing on theoretical frameworks from childhood studies. The study identified the existence of a convergence of discourses about children and childhood in the policy documents which are based on different perspectives: developmental psychology, human capital theory and a children's rights-based approach. From this analysis, I argue that early childhood policies in Peru evidence a developmentalist predominance that has problematic implications in the context of the country's bicentennial anniversary of independence. I analyse how this developmental focus leads to a lack of sensitivity about the impact of… [Direct]
(2006). Recasting Justice and Ethics through Human Rights Education: The Nigerian Experience. Convergence, v39 n1 p91-99. The United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004) set in motion both formal and informal activities to promote the development of respect for human rights culture through education worldwide. It is said that knowledge is power and ignorance cannot be a defence. But the maxim that says ignorance of the law is no defence is in itself a flagrant violation of human rights when over 65 per cent of the population of a country are ignorant of their basic rights and the laws that protect them. It is only an enlightened citizenry that can create a society which can make politics both civil and capable. Is it then possible for justice and ethics to be extended to the global sphere through human rights education; and if so, what constant and diverse approaches are applicable, in Africa and Nigeria in particular, for the realisation of this goal? Can human rights education reconcile the support of internationally recognised standards of human rights and justice with respect for… [Direct]
(2010). Democracy and Multicultural Education. Research in Multicultural Education and International Perspectives. IAP – Information Age Publishing, Inc. Democratic political systems and the democratic way of life is aspired by most people around the world. Democracy is considered to be morally superior to other forms of political systems as it aspires to secure civil liberties, human rights, social justice and equality before the law for everyone regardless of their gender, culture, religion and national origin. Enshrined in democracy is separation of religion and state, fair and competitive elections of leaders according to a country's constitution which in turn is based on democratic ideals. Democracy aspires for people of different backgrounds to live together with their differences intact, but all contributing towards a better life for all. In today's increasingly pluralistic societies many people of different cultural and national backgrounds are brought together. Many have migrated from countries with autocratic political systems. Some with religions that require them to behave in different way, others with cultures teaching… [Direct]
(2012). The Origins of Religion as an Historical Conundrum: Pedagogical and Research Methodological Implications and Challenges. Bulgarian Comparative Education Society, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (10th, Kyustendil, Bulgaria, Jun 12-15, 2012). For the last five years the authors have been involved in a research project entitled "Creating Diagogic Space." The project aims at determining to which extent conditions such as the presence/absence of social justice, the creation/lack of social and human capital, respect/non-recognition of human rights, the (non-) recognition of individual and group values and so forth, impact on the diagogic space: the space in which people may enjoy the freedom to educate their children, and for their children to be educated in accordance with the educators' preferred spiritual, religious and value system(s). A significant part of the research revolves around the concepts/constructs of religion and/or spirituality. The authors initially discovered that all manifestations of religion showed the same basic structure, with spirituality at its epicentre or core, but later concluded that the "numen" (the numinous) seems to lie even deeper than spirituality. These investigations… [PDF]
(2014). From Winning-at-All-Costs to Give Us Back Our Game: Perspective Transformation in Youth Sport Coaches. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, v19 n2 p191-204. Background: Drawing upon concepts from Mezirow's transformative learning theory, this research investigated the process of perspective transformation in three purposively sampled youth sport coaches in the UK. Perspective transformation is the process by which adults revise their culturally defined frames of reference which have arisen out of their unique, personal meaning perspectives and individual meaning schemes. Give Us Back Our Game (GUBOG) is an approach to youth sport which aims at developing sporting talent while, at the same time, fulfilling the human rights and dignity of children in its various programmes. The emphasis of the GUBOG perspective is upon fun, age-appropriate game forms, child consultation, inclusivity, mutual respect and other elements. Aim: This research comes at a time when there is a call for a more sensitive and inclusive approach to youth sport and its coaching. While referring to the GUBOG perspective, we investigated the processes of critical… [Direct]
(2011). A Roadblock to Social Justice? An Analysis and Critique of the South African Education Roadmap. International Journal of Educational Development, v31 n1 p86-94 Jan. The article provides an analysis and critique of contemporary debates concerning the quality of education in South Africa from a social justice perspective. In particular the article focuses on the "Education Roadmap" which has gained support from a range of stakeholders in South Africa including key members of the newly elected government. The "Education Roadmap" is considered in relation to dominant approaches to understanding education quality within the education literature, namely the human capital and human rights based approaches. It is argued that the "Roadmap" shares characteristics of both approaches although it is particularly influenced by the former. The article sets out an alternative approach based on social justice principle that, whilst developing and extending aspects of dominant approaches, is considered pertinent because it articulates with historical struggles around education in South Africa. It is suggested that although the… [Direct]
(2011). Conceptualising Gender Equality in Research on Education Quality. Comparative Education, v47 n1 p45-60 Feb. This article sets out to re-conceptualise gender equality in education quality. Four approaches to conceptualising gender equitable education quality are identified in the literature: human capital theory with a focus on parity and sameness for all; a human rights and power perspective, within which gender equality is viewed as transforming unjust structures; postcolonial critiques, which celebrate and recognise difference; and the view of development as social action for empowerment with gender intersecting with other inequalities. The framework is applied to an analysis of a programme of research on education quality, EdQual. The article maintains that for education quality at the level of classrooms to move beyond fairness of distribution of resources, to consider the nature of educational experience for boys and girls, requires a deeper questioning of the gender biased nature of schooling. It also indicates that education quality demands an analysis of gender dynamics in the… [Direct]
(2009). Hair: Markings on the Body and the Logic of Discrimination. Perspectives in Education, v27 n4 p375-384 Dec. I draw on empirical research conducted among selected Grade 9 learners in schools in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape in regard to their perceptions and experiences on human rights. Throughout, a convergence of these learners' experiences and perceptions occurred in relation to "hair", as the marking on their bodies which was the basis for the discriminations that they experienced in schools. "Hair" marked "black" learners as different from "white" learners. "Hair" was the mark that was used by a gay learner to separate being gay from heterosexual male learners. Hair was what marked working class learners from middle and upper class learners. On the basis of these data, I argue that "hair" is a marking on the body which reinforces the logic and practice of discrimination, and provides them with a bio-physical signifier to justify and naturalize discrimination. In developing this argument I also point to the… [Direct]
(2009). Breaking the Silence: Critical Literacy and Social Action. English Journal, v98 n4 p109-115 Mar. This article explores the ways that students in a humanities class talked about, researched, and disrupted homophobia at Jones School, a public combined middle school and high school in a small New England town. It includes strategies that move beyond discussions of right and wrong to a place of critical inquiry and support for the human rights of all people. At the same time, it addresses some of the difficulties in \aligning cultural integrity and social justice\ in a small, conservative public school…. [Direct]
(2014). A Cerebration of Language Diversity, Language Policy, and Politics in Education. Review of Research in Education, v38 n1 p312-331 Mar. The content of the present issue of "Review of Research in Education" (RRE) is timely and important, allowing considered, multiperspectival active reflection, what the author calls cerebration, on language diversity as well as a call for concerted action for linking better the findings of research to the imperatives of teaching. In conceiving this volume, the editors have designed four pedestals, serving as a kind of ontology, of the philosophical categories and their relations as the entities that constitute the domain of language pluralism: (1) Educational access, equity, and achievement; (2) Native-language literacy as an educational right; (3) The paradox of majority and minority languages; and (4) Emerging global demographic shifts. In this concluding chapter, the author argues that despite multilingualism being well established as the predictable condition of all human society, historically nation-states have absorbed and legitimized discourses and self-understanding… [Direct]
(2009). Education as a Social Right in a Diverse Society. Journal of Philosophy of Education, v43 n1 p45-56 Feb. The aim of this article is to outline the basis for a comprehensive account of educational rights. It begins by acknowledging the difficulties posed by diversity, and defends a conception of universal human rights that limits parental educational discretion. Against the backdrop of the literature of public reason and fair equality of opportunity, it sketches arguments for the existence of rights to education of some specific kinds. Those rights, and associated educational purposes, are systematised on the basis of a conception of education as initiation into practices that express human flourishing…. [Direct]
(2013). Transformed Understanding or Enlightened Ableism? The Gap between Policy and Practice for Children with Disabilities in Aotearoa New Zealand. International Journal of Early Childhood, v45 n2 p237-249 Aug. The concept of inclusion in the New Zealand legislative and policy environment is articulated in a liberal human rights discourse intended to redress past practices of segregation and exclusion. Such discourse has provided the early childhood sector with new ways to speak about disability and inclusion. There is, however, a growing body of evidence to show that "how" teachers speak about inclusion is frequently not reflected in "practices" in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings. The emerging evidence reported in this article is drawn from an ongoing research project which, in part, examines the views of inclusion elicited through semi-structured interviews with teachers, owners and managers in long-day ECEC–the facilities designed to accommodate adults' usual working hours. The larger study aims to examine tensions and complexities for teachers, owners and managers in long-day ECEC alongside the views and experiences of parents of children with… [Direct]
(2013). Are We Preparing Global Competent Teachers? — Evaluation of the Incorporation of Global Education Perspectives in Teacher Education Curriculum in Pakistan. Bulletin of Education and Research, v35 n1 p75-94 June. The paper investigates the integration of global component in the teacher education curriculum of B.Ed (1 yr) and looks into its role in preparing globally competent teachers. The overall strategy for the study was based on survey. The present study adopts mix-method (phenomenology and content analysis) as the major modes of investigation. The population consisted of all the B.Ed (1 yr) trained teachers and B.Ed curriculum in Pakistan. The total sample of 200 B.Ed (1 yr) qualified and experienced teachers were selected through purposive sampling while the curriculum of B.Ed (1 yr) developed by Higher Education Commission was chosen for the study. The data was collected through interview and documentary/record analysis. To find the global competency, themes are derived from the responses of experienced teachers using phenomenological research, while major global issues (Global Human Rights, Global Population, Global Language, Global Economy and Global Citizenship) were analyzed in… [PDF]
(2014). Muslim Women and the Politics of Religious Identity in a (Post) Secular Society. Studies in Philosophy and Education, v33 n3 p303-313 May. Women's bodies, states Benhabib ("Dignity in adversity: human rights in troubled times," Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011: 168), have become the site of symbolic confrontations between a re-essentialized understanding of religious and cultural differences and the forces of state power, whether in their civic-republican, liberal-democratic or multicultural form. One of the main reasons for the emergence of these confrontations or public debates, says Benhabib (2011: 169), is because of the actual location of "political theology". She asserts that within the context of globalization, the concept of "political theology" is complicated by its unstable location between religion and the public square; between the private and official; and between individual rights to freedom of religion versus state security and public well-being. Ultimately, therefore, the nature of the tension between religion as a political theology and the forces of state power… [Direct]