Ableism in Education: Rethinking School Practices and Policies (Equity and Social Justice in Education)

Ableism in Education: Rethinking School Practices and Policies (Equity and Social Justice in Education)
Author: Gillian Parekh
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 189
Release: 2022-05-10
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1324016809

How we organize children by ability in schools is often rooted in ableism. Ability is so central to schooling—where we explicitly and continuously shape, assess, measure, and report on students’ abilities—that ability-based decisions often appear logical and natural. However, how schools respond to ability results in very real, lifelong social and economic consequences. Special education and academic streaming (or tracking) are two of the most prominent ability-based strategies public schools use to organize student learning. Both have had a long and complicated relationship with gender, race, and class. In this down-to-earth guide, Dr. Gillian Parekh unpacks the realities of how ability and disability play out within schooling, including insights from students, teachers, and administrators about the barriers faced by students on the basis of ability. From the challenges with ability testing to gifted programs to the disability rights movement, Parekh shows how ableism is inextricably linked to other forms of bias. Her book is a powerful tool for educators committed to justice-seeking practices in schools.

Ableism in Education

Ableism in Education
Author: Gillian Parekh
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2023-09-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 100384510X

How we organize children by ability in schools is often rooted in ableism. Ability is so central to schooling—where we explicitly and continuously shape, assess, measure, and report on students’ abilities—that ability-based decisions often appear logical and natural. However, how schools respond to ability results in very real, lifelong social and economic consequences. Special education and academic streaming (or tracking) are two of the most prominent ability-based strategies public schools use to organize student learning. Both have had a long and complicated relationship with gender, race, and class. In this down-to-earth guide, Dr. Gillian Parekh unpacks the realities of how ability and disability play out within schooling, including insights from students, teachers, and administrators about the barriers faced by students on the basis of ability. From the challenges with ability testing to gifted programs to the disability rights movement, Parekh shows how ableism is inextricably linked to other forms of bias. Her book is a powerful tool for educators committed to justice-seeking practices in schools.

The Oxford Handbook of Social Justice in Music Education

The Oxford Handbook of Social Justice in Music Education
Author: Cathy Benedict
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 737
Release: 2015
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0199356157

The Oxford Handbook of Social Justice in Music Education provides a comprehensive overview and scholarly analyses of challenges relating to social justice in musical and educational practice worldwide, and provides practical suggestions that should result in more equitable and humane learning opportunities for students of all ages.

Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education

Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education
Author: Alex Shevrin Venet
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2023-09-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1003845118

Educators must both respond to the impact of trauma, and prevent trauma at school. Trauma-informed initiatives tend to focus on the challenging behaviors of students and ascribe them to circumstances that students are facing outside of school. This approach ignores the reality that inequity itself causes trauma, and that schools often heighten inequities when implementing trauma-informed practices that are not based in educational equity. In this fresh look at trauma-informed practice, Alex Shevrin Venet urges educators to shift equity to the center as they consider policies and professional development. Using a framework of six principles for equity-centered trauma-informed education, Venet offers practical action steps that teachers and school leaders can take from any starting point, using the resources and influence at their disposal to make shifts in practice, pedagogy, and policy. Overthrowing inequitable systems is a process, not an overnight change. But transformation is possible when educators work together, and teachers can do more than they realize from within their own classrooms.

Public School Equity

Public School Equity
Author: Manya Whitaker
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2023-09-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1003845096

Equality is not equity, tolerance is not inclusion, and access is not opportunity. Efforts to address inequities within our schools tend to ignore the underlying beliefs that sustain injustices, and focus instead on short-lived policies and practices. This book takes a different approach to eradicating educational disparities. Drawing on more than forty interviews with teachers, principals, and district leaders, Manya C. Whitaker offers educators guidance for leading a school or district grounded in social justice that centers teachers—not just teaching practices—and that focuses on the belief systems that shape decision-making. The chapters walk educational leaders through a strategic approach to long-term change: from school planning for family and community engagement, to hiring and onboarding teachers, to sustaining equity through multifaceted professional development and equitable evaluation. Concrete “how-to”s are provided throughout, along with reflection questions to help readers apply the content to their context. For any school or district leader intent on addressing the many inequities highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, this book is an essential manual.

Learning and Teaching While White

Learning and Teaching While White
Author: Jenna Chandler-Ward
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2023-09-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 100384507X

We need to name whiteness, in order to move toward antiracism. For too long, white educators have relied on people of color to make change to a relentlessly racist school system. Racial equity will not come until white educators recognize their role in supporting racist policies and practices, and take responsibility for dismantling them. Learning and Teaching While White is an accessible guide to help white educators, leaders, students, and parents develop an explicit, skills-based antiracist practice. Through their own experiences working with school communities, and the strategies and tools they have developed, Jenna Chandler-Ward and Elizabeth Denevi share how white educators can gain greater consciousness of their own white racial identity; analyze the role of whiteness in their school systems; rethink pedagogical approaches and curricular topics; address the role of white parents in the pursuit of racial literacy and equity; and much more. Their book will empower white educators to be part of creating a more equitable educational system for all students.

Social Studies for a Better World

Social Studies for a Better World
Author: Noreen Naseem Rodriguez
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2023-09-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1003845088

Plan and deliver a curriculum to help your students connect with the humanity of others! In the wake of 2020, we need today’s young learners to be prepared to develop solutions to a host of entrenched and complex issues, including systemic racism, massive environmental problems, deep political divisions, and future pandemics that will severely test the effectiveness and equity of our health policies. What better place to start that preparation than with a social studies curriculum that enables elementary students to envision and build a better world? In this engaging guide two experienced social studies educators unpack the oppressions that so often characterize the elementary curriculum—normalization, idealization, heroification, and dramatization—and show how common pitfalls can be replaced with creative solutions. Whether you’re a classroom teacher, methods student, or curriculum coordinator, this is a book that can transform your understanding of the social studies disciplines and their power to disrupt the narratives that maintain current inequities.

Critical Approaches to Education Policy Analysis

Critical Approaches to Education Policy Analysis
Author: Michelle D. Young
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2016-11-18
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3319396439

This volume informs the growing number of educational policy scholars on the use of critical theoretical frameworks in their analyses. It offers insights on which theories are appropriate within the area of critical educational policy research and how theory and method interact and are applied in critical policy analyses. Highlighting how different critical theoretical frameworks are used in educational policy research to reshape and redefine the way scholars approach the field, the volume offers work by emerging and senior scholars in the field of educational policy who apply critical frameworks to their research. The chapters examine a wide range of current educational policy topics through different critical theoretical lenses, including critical race theory, critical discourse analysis, postmodernism, feminist poststructuralism, critical theories related to LGBTQ issues, and advocacy approaches.

Embracing the Exceptions

Embracing the Exceptions
Author: JPB Gerald
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2024-08-29
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1040107893

Neurodivergent students of color are often overlooked, as research and teaching strategies predominantly focus on white males in the classroom. How can we help teachers reach all students to honor their full humanity, and to understand how ableism – neuronormativity in particular – and racism intersect on our bodies and brains? JPB Gerald’s fascinating book offers a blend of narrative and interviews to show what would help neurodivergent students of color feel more supported and cared for in schools, and to demonstrate how much better their lives could be when they feel that love. Each chapter covers a common trait among neurodivergent students, and concludes with takeaways and approaches for supporting our youth in the classroom. Turning from a deficit-based look to a strength-based one, JPB helps us see how NDSOC students think and learn differently, and how we can do right by them, supporting them more effectively in the classroom and beyond.

Becoming an Everyday Changemaker

Becoming an Everyday Changemaker
Author: Alex Shevrin Venet
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2024-04-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1003861547

Educators with a vision for more equitable, caring schools often struggle with where to begin. I’m just one teacher, where can I start to make change? Is it even possible? How do I do this within current constraints? In this new book, bestselling author Alex Shevrin Venet empowers everyday changemakers by showing how equity-centered trauma-informed practices can guide our approach to school change. Unlike other books on social justice, this powerful resource doesn’t tell you which changes to implement; instead, it focuses on helping you develop the skills, strategies, and tools for making change meaningful and effective. Topics include change opportunities and why trauma makes change harder; skills for navigating the change journey such as building relationships, working from strengths, and navigating many streams of information; and sustainable structures for lasting change. Throughout, there are reflection questions to use as conversation-starters with fellow changemakers, as well as Rest Stops so you can pause and process what you are thinking about and learning. This book will help you start your change journey now, putting you and your students on the path to equity, justice, and healing.