(2019). Pathways to Success: Towpath Trail High School Gives Students the Tools to Build a Better Future. Thomas B. Fordham Institute According to a recent What Works Clearinghouse review, the most effective dropout-prevention strategy is to directly connect schoolwork to students' career aspirations. Towpath Trail High School in Akron is a real life embodiment of that strategy. Author Lyman Millard of the Bloomwell Group offers a fascinating look at a school that engages at-risk young people through career and technical education. He also gives us a look into the lives of three students. One young woman–a refugee from the war-torn Middle East–found a new home at Towpath Trail. She has thrived there and now dreams of becoming a heart surgeon. This is the story–the human face–of dropout prevention done right…. [PDF]
(2012). Language Justice for Sign Language Peoples: The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Language Policy, v11 n3 p253-272 Aug. Sign Language Peoples (SLPs) across the world have developed their own languages and visuo-gestural-tactile cultures embodying their collective sense of Deafhood (Ladd 2003). Despite this, most nation-states treat their respective SLPs as disabled individuals, favoring disability benefits, cochlear implants, and mainstream education over language policies fostering native sign languages. This paper argues that sign language policy is necessary for language justice. Based on interviews with SLPs and policy makers in the UK, this paper argues that ideally sign language policy requires a shift in policy discourse away from a disability construction to one recognizing the minority language status of SLPs. However minority language policy support for the formulation of sign language policies hitherto has been very limited. Conversely, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (UN 2007) offers the best hope for sign language policy notwithstanding its disability… [Direct]
(2016). Learning, Identity, and Power: Tensions and Possibilities in Equity-Oriented Computer Science Education. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley. Computer science is rapidly emerging as a distinct feature of K-12 public education in the United States. Calls to expand computer science education are often linked to equity and diversity concerns around expanding access to girls and historically underrepresented students of color. In this dissertation, I argue that in addition to expanding access to the field, equity-oriented researchers and educators must also attend to how dominant discourses and ideologies are shaping the character of computer science education. Through a mixed-methods study combining ethnographic and social design experiment approaches, I examine (a) the current state of computer science education at a large, racially diverse high school in the San Francisco Bay Area, and (b) possibilities and tensions for computer science learning rooted in critical pedagogy and social justice traditions. The dissertation is organized as three distinct articles. Chapter 2 reviews extant literature in the field and advances a… [Direct]
(2008). Beliefs of Professional and Family Caregivers about the Sexuality of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities: Examining Beliefs Using a Q-Methodology Approach. Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning, v8 n1 p59-75 Feb. This investigation described the perceptions of involved adults concerning the sexuality of individuals with intellectual disabilities. Participants completed a Q-sort with a concourse of 36 items. Analysis produced four different belief systems: advocates, supporters, regulators, and humanists. These belief systems describe the respondents' views on sex education, birth control methods, and sexual participation concerning individuals with intellectual disabilities. The representative respondents of the advocates can be described as strong supporters of human rights for the individual with intellectual disabilities. The typical respondent for the supporters can be described as an ardent supporter of sex education for the individual with intellectual disabilities. The regulators were similar to the supporters by showing strong favoritism toward educating individuals with intellectual disabilities concerning sex. However, in contrast the regulators also supported extensive birth… [Direct]
(2007). Religion and Education: A Human Rights Dilemma Illustrated by the Recent "Headscarf Cases". Globalisation, Societies and Education, v5 n3 p303-314 Nov. Education and religion are indelibly linked: cultural precepts underpin education policies within the formal State education system, while education has a clear role to play in promoting tolerance. Clashes between religious beliefs and secular education pose problems for states as the current array of jurisprudence, particularly on Islamic dress in educational institutes, corroborates. This article will discuss the "headscarf cases" in an international context, seeking guidance on reconciling human rights and cultural diversity. In traditional legal style, resolution is often on a case-by-case basis in light of all the circumstances of each case. A stronger human rights approach by international and regional bodies would guide states as to the balance between religion and education, but it appears that political considerations will continue to characterise this debate…. [Direct]
(1998). Human Rights Here and Now: Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although December 10, 1998, marked the 50th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), most people living in the United States remain unaware of this document, the foundation stone of all human rights. Intended for use by both community groups and teachers in elementary and secondary schools, this educational resource addresses that lack of knowledge by providing background information, ideas for taking action, and interactive exercises to help people learn about the human rights guaranteed in the UDHR. The resource constitutes a "starter kit" for human rights education: background information on human rights history, principles, and issues; strategies for teaching human rights; 15 activities for a wide variety of age groups from kindergarten through adult groups; and essential human rights documents. Following an introduction, the resource is divided into the following sections: (1) "Human Rights Fundamentals"; (2) "The…
(2010). Education and Social (In)Justice for Mobile Groups: Re-Framing Rights and Educational Inclusion for Indian Pastoralist Children. Educational Review, v62 n3 p301-313 Aug. Social exclusion is not random, but concentrated in already marginalised groups and often related to the "frozen accidents" of particular forms of thinking about education and development that come to dominate policy and strategies for service provision. This paper examines how accessing the recently enacted right to education raises a range of justice concerns for mobile, and particularly transhumant pastoralist, children in India. It argues that provision of formal education reflects institutionalised patterns of economic discrimination and status inequality that deny such children what Nancy Fraser terms "participatory parity". The policy norm of habitation-based provision fails to fulfill the rights criteria of making schooling available and accessible, while the colonial criminalisation of mobility leaves an enduring legacy of discrimination. Formal education is complex and contradictory in relation to both moral dimensions of the human right and its… [Direct]
(2010). The Right to Education for Children in Domestic Labour: Empirical Evidence from Kenya. International Review of Education, v56 n1 p127-147 Feb. Since 1948, various UN conventions have recognised basic education as a human right. Yet this right continues to be denied to many child labourers across the world. This articles draws on the results of a study examining how children in domestic labour in Kenya access and participate in education. Three issues were explored: (1) the correlates of child domestic labourers; (2) their working conditions and contexts; and (3) the right to education. Interviews and group discussions held in one city and two rural districts elicited data from 91 child domestic labourers and 84 adults. The results indicated that child labour was both poverty-induced and adult-initiated, and that children worked in hazardous environments characterised by economic exploitation. Most did not attend school; those who did had to contend with a rigid school structure and an authoritarian class environment. Children in domestic labour often skipped school, and their participation in classes was low…. [Direct]
(2009). An NSTA Position Statement: International Science Education and the National Science Teachers Association. National Science Teachers Association (NJ1) The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) encourages and promotes international science education because it has the ability to improve the teaching and learning of science, as well as to \empower people, improve their quality of life, and increase their capacity to participate in the decision-making processes leading to social, cultural, and economic policies,\ as stated in UNESCO's (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's) human rights education mandate (UNESCO 2009). NSTA believes that international science education should be a priority for all science educators. To embrace international science education, NSTA offers several declarations. These declarations are presented in this paper…. [PDF]
(2009). The Ethics and Citizenship Program: A Brazilian Experience in Moral Education. Journal of Moral Education, v38 n4 p489-511 Dec. This article describes the Ethics and Citizenship Program, a moral education project developed by the Brazilian government to promote education in ethics and citizenship in Brazilian fundamental and middle schools through four key themes: ethics, democratic coexistence, human rights and social inclusion. Some findings from a research project that investigated whether such a program did in fact promote the ethical and citizenship awareness of participating students are outlined. As an introduction to the paper's main concerns, the Brazilian socioeconomic context is characterised, followed by a description of the historical background of moral education in Brazil. (Contains 3 tables and 8 notes.)… [Direct]
(2011). The Legal Rights of Students with Disabilities: International Perspectives. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Since 1948 when the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all students have been declared the right to education. The rights of disabled students have not been explicitly addressed, however, and each country has developed their own rules and regulations. Although similarities exist among the different countries, differences are evident, especially in both the extent and acknowledgment of these rights. "The Legal Rights of Students with Disabilities: International Perspectives" examines the rights of disabled students in ten diverse countries on six continents. Written by leading experts in education law, this volume provides comparative insights to help meet the educational needs of disabled students. The book also offers strategies to manage the legal and educational complexities associated with special education. Following an introduction entitled: "Rights Like No Other: Protections for Students with Disabilities in International… [Direct]
(2011). Agency and Advocacy: Disabled Students in Higher Education in Ghana and Tanzania. Research in Comparative and International Education, v6 n4 p383-399. Between 10% and 15% of the world's population are thought to be disabled. The 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an example of emerging global policy architecture for human rights for disabled people. Article 24 states that disabled people should receive the support required to facilitate their effective education. In research, links between higher education access, equalities and disability are being explored by scholars of the sociology of higher education. However, with the exception of some small-scale studies from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Rwanda, Namibia, Uganda and Pakistan, literature tends to come from the global North. Yet there is a toxic correlation between disability and poverty–especially in the global South. This article is based on a review of the global literature on disability in higher education and interview findings from the project "Widening Participation in Higher Education in Ghana and Tanzania: developing an… [Direct]
(2016). Better Learned than Legislated: Increasing Queer Institutional Power at the University of Florida, 1982-1995. AERA Online Paper Repository, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Washington, DC, Apr 8-12, 2016). Fruitfully grappling with the complexity of contemporary issues of social justice in education requires intimate knowledge of their historical roots. This historical case study, anchored by the oral histories of queer activists, is designed to reveal the complex inner-workings of a queer rights movement amongst faculty, staff, and students in an a large public institution of higher education during a critical juncture in queer acceptance on campus, offering insight into how queer people and allies maneuvered within largely homophobic higher education institutions to incrementally change both minds and laws. This paper is of both historical and modern significance as queer people continue to struggle to claim and maintain their civil rights and human dignities both on and off college campuses…. [Direct]
(2016). Locked Out: Understanding and Tackling School Exclusion in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand Council for Educational Research Schools work continually to keep students with challenging and difficult behaviour engaged in education. The message of this book is that more can and needs to be done. The audience of this book includes all those who work with excluded children: school, health and justice personnel; school trustees, parents and community workers. School exclusion is a world-wide practice that disproportionately affects children from groups identified as at-risk. These students come from low-income backgrounds, are indigenous Australians, Maori and Pasifika students and many have disabilities. Being excluded from school is linked to low school achievement and youth offending, so keeping young people in school is crucial to the health of our communities. This is the first book to describe school exclusion practices in the local context in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. It presents accessible, locally based research and includes the voices of excluded students, their parents and those who speak… [Direct]
(2012). A Survey of Graduate Social Work Educators: Teaching Perspectives and Classroom Environments. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Colorado State University. Social work educators have the challenging task of preparing students to be ethically, morally, and socially responsible professionals. As professionals in the 21st Century, social workers are faced with ever increasing complexity and change. Teaching philosophies are at the foundation of what educators do in the classroom. Research about teaching perspectives in social work education is limited. The purpose of this descriptive, survey study is to better understand the teaching perspectives of graduate social work educators when teaching human rights, social and economic justice (HRSEJ) content and the actions educators reported taking to create their classroom environment. The current study is a quantitative, online survey design. Two separate instruments were combined into one online survey hosted on SurveyGizmo. The two instruments were the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) and a newly developed Classroom Environment Scale (CES). The 45-item TPI had 5-point Likert scales… [Direct]