1st Edition
Contemporary Issues in Equity, Democracy, and Public Education Multidisciplinary Perspectives from Education, Social Sciences, and Health
Contemporary Issues in Equity, Democracy, and Public Education explores how inequity manifests in public education and social institutions, and how this inequity impacts the health and wellbeing of citizens, including marginalized people. Demonstrating how inequity thereby threatens democracy, this book also poses suggestions for improving equity in U.S. education.
Taking a multidisciplinary approach to historical and contemporary sources of inequity that operate in social institutions and public policy, this carefully curated volume shows how disparities in education levels, income, housing, and health have consequences that reverberate through individuals’ lives, and thereby undermine a democratic way of life. Contributions from a wide variety of experts offer approaches to solving these problems, as well as curricular innovations for identifying and alleviating systemic inequities. Part 1 begins by examining the origins and persistence of systemic inequity in U.S. public education, while Part 2 highlights the physiological, psychological, and social impacts of systemic bias, and how these factors interrupt democratic engagement over time. Moving on to examine the curriculum in more detail, Part 3 explores how we can promote equity across the curriculum, and Part 4 closely considers how we can expand educational opportunities for marginalized groups within STEM education.
The book will make invaluable reading for graduate students and researchers in Education – particularly Social Justice Education, Multicultural Education, Educational Policy and Politics, STEM Education, and Social Studies Education – as well as policymakers, in-service teachers, administrators, and activists.
Dedication
About the editors
Contributor biographies
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Paul Gorski
1. Introduction: The Case for Emphasizing Equity in Public Education as a Means of Sustaining Democracy
Felicity A. Crawford & Fadie T. Coleman
Section 1: Origins and Persistence of Systemic Inequity in U.S. Classrooms
2. The Burden Our Children Bear: The Legacy of Eugenic Ideology
Ann Gibson Winfield
3. Towards Inclusive Education: Ableism and Democratizing Access
Maria C. Paiewonsky
4. Whatever Happens to Any Child in Early Childhood Education, Better Be the Business of All of Us: Creating Equitable Learning Communities for Black Boys
Brian L. Wright
5. Incentivizing Equity in Education
William Rodriguez & Jonathan Zaff
6. The Banning Years
Kerri Ullucci
7. Whiteness and Colonization in Higher Education: Barriers to Institutional and Societal Change
Detris Honora Adelabu, Jerry Whitmore, Jr., & Adine A. DeLeon
Section 2: The Physiological, Psychological, And Social Consequences Of Systemic Bias, And Its Incompatibility With Democracy
8. Chronic Stress-Related Disorders and the Possible Epigenetic Mechanisms
Simar Singh Bajaj & Fatima Cody Stanford
9. Inflammation in Pregnancy and its Role in Poor Gestational Health
Denise C. Cornelius
10. Implementing a Social Justice Framework into Education Systems of Care
Neena McConnico
11. Food as a Basic Right
Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, Carley Ruemmele, Ana Poblacion.
12. Between Hypervisibility and Invisibility: Unpacking What it Means to be an HSI on Indigenous Lands Through Critical Unearthing of Local Histories and Epistemologies of Latinx Communities
Danielle Mireles, Norma A. Marrun & Christine Clark
Section 3: Rethinking the Curriculum to Promote Equity in Curriculum and Practice
13. Dismantling Oppression and Cultivating Resistance and Hope When Serving Immigrant Latin American Children and Families
Carmen Rosa Noroña, Ivys Fernández-Pastrana & Desiree Hartman
14. U.S. History, Racial Capitalism, and Settler Colonialism
Yasser Munif
15. Decolonizing the Curriculum for Reparative Justice, Psychological Liberation, and National Healing
Joyce Hope Scott
16. Chaos Or Community: Teaching for Democracy in an Era of Uncertainty
Alan Canestrari & Ann Gibson Winfield
17.Teaching Transformative Citizenship in Schools: A Pathway to Promoting Equity and Preserving Democracy
Kaylene M. Stevens & Christopher C. Martell
Section 4: A Closer Look at Expanding Educational Opportunities for Previously Excluded Groups in STEM
18. Ratcheting Equity
David J. Asai
19. Democratizing STEM: Developing a Culture of Sensemaking
Thomas J. Mckenna & Sarah Michaels
20. Environmental Health Literacy for Indigenous Youth: Implementing the Power of Relationality and Place-Based Knowledge to Promote Equity Through Collective Action
Vanessa Simonds, Emma Sihler, Christine Martin, Mari Eggers, Jason Cummins & John Doyle
21. Re-examining Success in STEM: Why Equity and Sense of Belonging are Critical to Democracy
Fadie T. Coleman
22. Leading for Equity
David J. Asai
Biography
Felicity Crawford is Clinical Associate Professor at Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, Boston University, USA.
Fadie T. Coleman is Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, USA.
Elsa Wiehe is Program Manager for the African Studies Center K-16 Education Program, Boston University, USA.
Our nation, among many others, is losing the democratic impulse and imagination that have made public education, at least in theory, a requisite for a flourishing democracy. The abysmal condition of U.S. public schools, especially for the most vulnerable segments of our population, is distressingly obvious. This book holds no punches when it comes to recognizing, critiquing, and addressing the problem head-on. Rather than blame students, their families, or communities for conditions over which they have little power as is often the case in our public discourse, the authors and editors of this compelling book instead suggest that an authentic equity perspective and practice are required, a perspective that recognizes the systemic and institutional nature of injustice. We need the message enshrined in this book – that equity cannot thrive without justice – now more than ever.
Sonia Nieto
Professor Emerita, Language, Literacy, and Culture
College of Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA
The editors weave together compelling chapters that illuminate key current challenges to U.S. democracy in general and education in particular. Across disciplinary perspectives, the authors astutely elucidate how neoliberal principles merge with historical discriminatory ideologies and cement educational inequalities with the end result of weakening our democracy. Finally, and most importantly, the authors blend cross-disciplinary theories with powerful examination of potentially liberatory approaches and offer educators and other citizens hopeful yet realistic optimism for safeguarding our nation’s democracy and social justice ideals.
Lilia I. Bartolomé,
Professor Emerita, Department of Applied Linguistics
University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA
