Borderland

Continuing my political-speech-in-the-k12-classroom theme from the previous post, I notice that Sol Stern is alarmed that teachers in New York are using radical math projects to to analyze social problems “while Chancellor Klein looks the other way.” And not only that, he’s concerned about about schools of education “spreading the word about social justice teaching.”

Stern says that

“Social justice teaching is a frivolous waste of precious school hours, grievously harmful to poor children, who start out with a disadvantage. School is the only place where they are likely to obtain the academic knowledge that could make up for the educational deprivation they suffer in their homes. The last thing they need is a wild-eyed experiment in education through social action.”

And….that’s exactly what some people are saying about NCLB.

Stern also writes for the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and they’ve set up a website to warn the public about teacher training programs that advocate for

…caring K-!2 teachers to help mold their students’ attitudes on controversial political and social issues. These institutions openly support the idea of teaching and advocating for “social justice,” “peace,” “diversity” and “multiculturalism” in the classroom.

The Horowitz Center commissioned a book from Stern on the topic, due out soon. I’ve been trying to unravel my thinking around the larger question about the role of the teacher as a social actor in the classroom.

Horowitz believes the left is at war with academic freedom throughout the university level. And he sees a political assault on k12 education, calling on legislators to “restore the principles of professional education, which is viewpoint neutral and which supports the fundamental principles of a pluralistic democracy, to our nation’s public schools.”

I agree with the premise, indoctrination-bad; pluralistic democracy-good. I don’t know who wouldn’t. Where I lose track of the critique of social justice education is how we should then conclude that critical pedagogy, which professes this very same set of goals, is somehow antagonistic to that end.

A pluralistic democracy is the result of conflict and dialog in a process which hopefully leads toward a definition of the common good. Sonia Nieto, in her essay “On Becoming American” explained the role of education in that process:

…young people who feel marginalized are particularly important in the creation of a new culture. In a new conception of American, native cultures do not simply disappear, as schools or society might expect or want them to. Rather, aspects of them are retained, modified, and reinserted into different contexts to become valid and workable. But the process of creating a new culture is generally neither conscious nor planned. It is instead the inevitable conclusion of cultures co-existing in uneasy, conflicted, but also rewarding ways. Neither assimilation nor cultural purity is the result. Hip hop, break dancing, and any number of new music forms are good examples of this process, as are the English/Spanish/”Spanglish” poetry of urban Latinos and the redefined murals of the inner city. By changing the complexion, attitudes, behaviors, and values of society, we can all experience the comfort of the known as well as the pain and dislocation of the unknown.

The process of becoming American is not merely an academic exercise, but must connect to schools in fundamental ways. Students and teachers need to learn how to construct curricula that affirm all students while also challenging the idea of fixed or idealized identities. They need to search for new sources of knowledge to create a shifting canon that includes all students and communities.

If we view teaching as a repertoire of technical procedures, then we should assume that the teacher will remain “viewpoint neutral.” But if teaching is cultural work, as I see it, we’d expect the teacher to become an active participant in what is essentially a value-laden civic activity, showing kids how to find their way.

So what might a social justice approach to teaching look like in the real world? Herbert Kohl offered some suggestions:

• First, don’t teach against your conscience;
• Second, hone your craft as a teacher;
• Third, look around at the many effective ways of teaching children….pick and choose, retool and restructure the best of what you find and make it your own. Most of all, watch your students and see what works;
• Fourth, it is not enough to teach well and create a social justice classroom separate from the larger community. You have to be a community activist, a good parent, a decent citizen;
• [And finally] Protect and nurture yourself. Have some fun in your life; learn new things that only obliquely relate to issues of social justice.

To which I would add…Keep in mind that your students learn who you are, as much as what you know. And in the end they’ll remember you for how you made them feel.