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![THE SOCIAL JUSTICE LEADER, ISSUE VI PAGE 10
The students are conducting semi-structured interviews and
surveys with students, teachers, and administrators at UHS to
better understand the structures of UHS that pertain to these
five topics. With their findings, they are organizing group
presentations and papers that illuminate their findings and then
they will make recommendations via a formal presentation to
the administration and teachers, and perhaps most interestingly
to the incoming principal, who will be new in the fall of 2013 and
is currently unaware of the projects and research that the
students are conducting. This presentation will serve as an
opportunity to introduce the new principal to their work and to
give critical input to school improvement initiatives.
Youth Learning to Assert Their Voice
During the first half of the semester-long class, students
reviewed foundational terms and issues related to social justice.
Currently, in the last half of the semester, students are at the
emerging stages of learning how to use YPAR as a scholarly
process to exert their voice and as one student articulated
“speak on issues from the trenches,” especially on policies
concerning school improvement. However, in traditional
schooling students are commonly given limited opportunities to
engage in learning that leads to action-oriented changes in their
school community. Thus, as students transition to a more
democratic form of learning they must be given the opportunity
to dialogue about how and why their voice matters, so that they
can then gain the confidence to exercise their voice on school
improvement issues. Students have engaged in writing exercises
throughout the semester, such as the journal-writing excerpt
below, to begin to conceptualize the value of their voice. To
encourage the students to begin affirming the power of their
voice we asked students in one of their daily journal prompts to
articulate, “What can school administrators learn from you as
youth?” Students responded:
They can learn that they are not the only ones that can
teach something. We are also smart.
That you shouldn’t underestimate youth.
School administrators can learn about the things that
affect us the most and the things that will help us make the
best of out of school. They could also learn the way we as
students look at things and how we differ in thinking.
That school administrators can learn that we have an
opinion and also know what we’re talking about. Half the
time we make more sense than adults.
By letting them listen to our suggestions they can learn
about what needs to be done to make school a better
place/environment for students.
The school administration can take our presentations as a
learning experience because we are telling them from a
student’s perspective what’s wrong and what needs to be
changed.
We have things to teach adults, and also there are lots of
them [adults] who are willing to listen.
That students have thoughts, opinions, and feelings, and
that we do care about the issues very much at our school
and are willing to do what we can to fix them.
Many people believe that administrators can only teach,
but I think administrators can learn just as much from
students teaching them.
Conclusion
Engaging today’s youth in relevant and meaningful learning is a
common objective in classrooms. The YPAR process teaches
youth to engage in critical thinking and advanced learning
experiences that exceed learning standards, and embark in
advocacy, activism, research, and ultimately use their voice to
push for equitable and social justice oriented changes in their
school. By listening to and incorporating student voice into
school leadership and school improvement initiatives, student
leadership becomes key. According to one UHS administrator,
the social justice class is the hub “for student voice in the UHS
school improvement plan.” Thus, faculty at UHS are realizing as
educators and leaders for social justice they should take the
opportunity to collaborate with and learn from students in the
Social Justice class. As educators we must step outside of
ourselves and see this is not as much about us, but this is about
what today’s youth experience and how structures, both
equitable and inequitable, are set up for students. Ultimately,
this newsletter shares the work of our students in the UHS Social
Justice class, which spans beyond the traditional notion of
schooling.
Authors
Joe Wiemelt, principal
Dr. Anjalé (AJ) Welton, assistant professor
Rachel Moyer, Social Justice class teacher
High School Student Authors
Yessica Bedolla
Acaisha Washington
Jala Payton
Adriana Alvarez
Ivan Roque
Leighanne Matson
Josh Rearden
Shonneeia Hill
Karla Altamirano
DeVonne Luster
Students working on their YPAR project in the in the Social Justice Class.
Emily Beverly
Kimberly Brunelle
Valentina Stafford
Tierra Williams
Lily Finell
Henry Ando
Ben Lambeth
Jackie Masiunas
Dania Avila-Cardona
Principal Joe Wiemelt](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/sjl-1-140627134927-phpapp01/85/The-Social-Justuce-Leader-10-320.jpg)
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- 1. Greetings LSJ Members!AERA is quickly approaching and the end of the spring semester is just around the corner. For those of you who will be in San Francisco for AERA, I hope you'll join us for the LSJ Business Meeting on Sunday, April 28th from 6:15p.m. until 7:45p.m. in the Hilton Continental 8. We had over 30 people attend our business meeting at UCEA and I hope to see even more faces at AERA. We have a packed agenda full of the recognition of outstanding individuals and the sharing of exciting ideas for the advancement of our LSJ work. We will also have a Coffee Talk Session prior to our business meeting from 5:45-6:15. This is an opportunity for graduate students to meet and get to know an LSJ scholar. These informal meetings are intended to allow for exchange of thoughts and ideas along with stimulating discussion. No previous registration is required! I would like to take this opportunity to thank Noelle Witherspoon Arnold for her service as our Secretary/Treasurer for the past two years and Katherine Mansfield for her service as our Program Chair for AERA for the past two years. They have both been phenomenal leaders who have worked tirelessly to keep LSJ functioning smoothly. In turn, I would like to welcome Frank Hernandez as our new Secretary/Treasurer and Hollie Mackey as our new Program Chair. They will serve in these positions through AERA 2015. Joanne Marshall will continue to serve as Communications Chair and I will continue to serve as Chair through AERA 2014. Thanks to those of you who served on the Nominating Committee for 2012-2013. Your work was vital to identifying a new slate of candidates for open leadership positions. And, I'd like to extend a special thank you to those of you who served on the Awards Committee for 2012-2013 under Sharon Radd's leadership. We had a number of nominations for the LSJ awards! Congratulations to: Ann Ishimaru, the recipient of the LSJ Dissertation Award; Shelley Zion, the recipient of the LSJ Teaching Award; and to Anthony Normore, the recipient of the Bridge Award. Please join us for the recognition of these award winners at our business meeting at AERA! We need to take the time to pat one another on A Message From The Chair… ISSUE VI, SPRING 2013 the back for the good work that we're doing to promote socially just leadership. At our business meeting in Denver at UCEA, members indicated greatest interest in the following Taskforce Committees: Research and Writing Projects; Teaching for Social Justice; and International Partnerships. The membership also expressed the desire to continue to focus on social justice through the lenses of gender, race, intersectionalities, and poverty through these taskforces. I'd like for us to spend time in these Taskforces during our business meeting at AERA to develop agendas for working toward at least one deliverable to share at our fall meeting at UCEA. I'd also like for us to spend some time thinking about ways to partner with the UCEA Center for Educational Leadership and Social Justice. Please come to the meeting prepared to share your ideas (i.e. white/policy papers, blogs, ideas for new online journals...a website that includes social justice teaching strategies, links to syllabi, a directory of LSJ members, links to LSJ book series and journal special issues, etc.)! Our meetings provide space for you to get involved and take action for leadership for social justice. This is your chance to get to know other LSJ members and to form partnerships that can advance your career and impact change for social justice. Please join us for the business meeting and share your voice! Have a wonderful spring and summer! I hope to see many of you in San Francisco for AERA 2013 and Indiana for UCEA 2013. Safe travels! --Whitney Sherman Newcomb AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION LSJ SIG MISSION To promote social justice teaching, research, service, and policymaking agendas, with the corollary aim of seeking to proactively improve educational leadership as a means of addressing equity concerns for underrepresented populations throughout P- 20 education; also to share innovative, promising, and research-based programs, policies, and teaching strategies and proactively advocate on behalf of underrepresented populations in educational leadership. THE SOCIAL JUSTICE LEADER 1 Message from the Chair 2 AERA 2013 Program 4 2013 LSJ Awards 4 A Word from the Secretary 5 UCEA 2012 Photos 6 Recent Publications 7 A Word from the Graduate Student Committee 8 Recognitions 9 Learning to Speak from the Trenches: High School Students as Scholars, Activists, and Leaders for Social Justice LSJ Chair Virginia Commonwealth University whsherman@vcu.edu Inside This Issue
- 2. THE SOCIAL JUSTICELEADER, ISSUE VI PAGE 2 We have put together an exciting program this year! Please, support our wonderful scholars by attending the variety of roundtables, paper sessions, and symposia listed below. Also, please don’t forget to attend our business meeting! SATURDAY, APRIL 27 ROUNDTABLE SESSION Social Justice Matters: Challenges and Responses to Institutional Action and Social Change 2:15 – 3:45 pm Sir Francis Drake, Second Level – Empire Chair: Aurora Chang, University of Wyoming Using Critical Theory in Examining Obstacles to Creating a College-Going Culture: Perspectives of Urban Leaders Eugene Fujimoto, California State University – Fullerton Yvonne Garcia, California State University, Fullerton Alisia Kirkwood, California State University, Fullerton Eduardo Perez, California State University, Fullerton Narratives of Privilege in Public Discussions of an Equity Reform Effort: A Case Study Terry M. Pollack, Mills College Sabrina Zirkel, Mills College Discovering the Other and Rewriting Personal Autobiographies: What Happens when Traditional College Students and Prison Inmates Study Together? Tabitha Dell'Angelo, The College of New Jersey Social Justice Leadership: How do Elementary, Middle School, and High School Principals view it? Catherine M. Miller, Raytown Public Schools Barbara Nell Martin, University of Central Missouri Educational Leadership as a Public Pedagogy for Social Justice Praxis Patrick M. Jenlink, Stephen F. Austin State University Karen Embry-Jenlink, Stephen F. Austin State University Culturally Responsive School Leadership Therese Ford, University of Waikato Leadership for Social Justice SIG Business Meeting 6:15 – 7:45 Hilton Union Square, Ballroom Level - Continental 8 Participants: Whitney Sherman Newcomb, Virginia Commonwealth University (President) Noelle Arnold, University of Missouri- Columbia (Secretary-Treasurer) Joanne Marshall, Iowa State University (Communication Chair) Katherine Cumings Mansfield, Virginia Commonwealth University (Program Chair) MONDAY, APRIL 29 ROUNDTABLE SESSION The Importance of Social Justice Oriented Professional Development 8:15 – 9:45 am Sir Francis Drake, Second Level – Empire Chair: Madeline M. Hafner, UW-Madison Just because you got the finisher t-shirt, does not mean your work is done: The need for continuous differentiated social justice professional development Tara Lynn Affolter, Middlebury College Deborah Ann Hoffman, Madison Metropolitan School District Leading site-based education development as praxis-oriented practice Jane Wilkinson, Charles Sturt University Christine Edwards-Groves, Charles Sturt University AERA 2013 Program SUNDAY, APRIL 28 ROUNDTABLE SESSION Children of Immigrants and the Need for Global Social Justice Leadership 2:15pm - 3:45pm Hilton Union Square, Sixth Level - Tower 3 Powell Chair: Reva Joshee, OISE, University of Toronto Experiences of Undocumented Immigrants in US Public Schools Kaetlyn Lad, Saint Mary's College of California Desiree Braganza, Saint Mary's College of California Dream Act Students' Challenges and Opportunities for Institutional Action Maricela Oliva, The University of Texas - San Antonio Leadership for Social Change: Children of Labor Migrants in Israel Devorah Eden, Western Galilee College PAPER SESSION Just What is “Leadership for Social Justice” Anyway? 4:05 pm – 6:05 pm Hilton Union Square, Fourth Level - Tower 3 Union Square 3 and 4 Chair: Erin Atwood, Independent Consultant Discussant: Sonya Douglass Horsford, UNLV Values and Motivations Common in Social Justice Leadership Katie Higginbottom, University of Toronto - OISE Stephanie Diane Tuters, OISE/University of Toronto Actions Most Characteristic of Social Justice Behavior in Education Settings: Results of a Prototype Analysis Rodney K. Goodyear, University of Redlands Janee Brooke Both Gragg, University of Redlands Philip S. Mirci, University of Redlands Ronald D. Morgan, University of Redlands Katherine Cumings Mansfield
- 3. THE SOCIAL JUSTICELEADER, ISSUE VI PAGE 3 Exploring the Impact of Cultural Proficiency Training for Central Office Leaders Daniel D. Spikes, The University of Texas – Austin Mark A. Gooden, The University of Texas – Austin Joshua Childs, University of Pittsburgh ROUNDTABLE SESSION The Role of Identity and Spirituality in Educational Leadership 2:45 – 4:15 pm Sir Francis Drake, Second Level - Empire Chair: Lauri Johnson, Boston College Negotiating leadership, love and protocol: Learning from Latina/o principals during their first years on the job Lauren M. Anderson, University of Southern California Diane Mendoza, University of Southern California Embracing Spirituality: African American Women Leaders Pushing the Evolution of Leadership Practice in Schools Whitney Sherman Newcomb, Virginia Commonwealth University Irrekka Khan, VCU Counter Story of An African American Superintendent Ardella Dailey, Cal State U-East Bay TUESDAY, APRIL 30 SYMPOSIUM What Every Principal Needs to Know about Literacy, Science, Special Education and Mathematics: Instructional Leadership for Equitable and Excellent Schools 8:00 – 9:30 am Hilton Union Square, Fourth Level - Tower 3 Union Square 1 and 2 Session Organizer: Discussant: Jeffrey S. Brooks, Iowa State University Chair: George Theoharis, Syracuse University Discussant: Jeffrey S. Brooks, Iowa State University What School Leaders Need to Know about Literacy Kathleen A. Hinchman, Syracuse University (Author) Virginia Goatley, University at Albany - SUNY (Author) Creating Effective School Leaders for 21st-Century Science Sherry A. Southerland, Florida State University Victor Dale Sampson, Florida State University Leadership for Inclusive Education: What Every Principal Needs to Know Julie N. Causton-Theoharis, Syracuse University Christi R. Kasa-Hendrickson, University of Colorado - Colorado Springs Beyond the Achievement Gap: What It Takes to Become an Effective Leader in Mathematics for Marginalized Youth Rochelle Gutierrez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign PAPER SESSION Title: Problematizing Conceptions of Poverty and Capacity 12:10 – 1:40 pm Hilton Union Square, Fourth Level - Tower 3 Union Square 1 and 2 Chair: Lorri Michelle Johnson Santamaria, The University of Auckland Discussant: Muhammad Khalifa, Michigan State University Transformative Dialogue: An alternative to the work of Ruby Payne Jason Swanson, University of Illinois Dialogue as an Educational Leadership Strategy for Impoverished Contexts Carolyn M. Shields, Wayne State University Is Poverty the Wrong Question? Julie M McCann, Oregon State University Edith A. Rusch, University of Nevada - Las Vegas Building schools, building communities: Leading praxis through school capacity and community building in a rural setting Jane Wilkinson, Charles Sturt University Laurette Maria Stacy Bristol, Charles Sturt University SYMPOSIUM Risking Standing Out: Principals’ Perceptions and Advocacy of LGBTQ Students 2:00 – 3:30 pm Hilton Union Square, Fourth Level - Tower 3 Union Square 1 and 2 Session Organizer: Rhonda McClellan, University of Central Arkansas Chair: Adrienne E. Hyle, The University of Texas - Arlington Discussant: George Theoharis, Syracuse University Rural Arkansas High School Principals’ Perceptions: Resistance to Social Justice Shelly Lynn Albritton, University of Central Arkansas Stephanie Huffman, University of Central Arkansas ‘Calling Attention to Themselves’: Resistance of Principals in Texas Holly Bishop, University of Texas at Arlington Rural New Mexico High School Principals’ Perceptions of Social Justice regarding LGBTQ Students Dana E. Christman, New Mexico State University Crossing state lines: Synthesizing Principals’ Perspectives of LGBTQ Students Edit Paper Rhonda McClellan, University of Central Arkansas
- 4. THE SOCIAL JUSTICELEADER, ISSUE VI PAGE 4 The Leadership for Social Justice SIG established three awards in 2009 in order to recognize individuals whose work advances the understanding and practice of social justice in school leadership. This year, the Awards Committee consisted of Marilynn Bartlett, John Burkhardt, Madeline Hafner, Noni Reis, Sharon Radd (Chair), Ricardo Rosa, and Victoria Showunmi. We will honor the 2013 Award Recipients at the LSJ-SIG Business Meeting at AERA. This year’s awardees are as follows: The Social Justice Teaching Award in Educational Leadership for outstanding social justice teaching by a professor or instructor in the field of educational leadership will be presented to Shelley Zion of the University of Colorado-Denver. The Social Justice Dissertation Award will be awarded to Ann Ishimara, who completed her dissertation at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2011. This award recognizes an exceptional dissertation that expands our knowledge of the complexity of social justice issues. Finally, the Bridge People Award recognizes individuals or groups whose work “creates a bridge between themselves and others” through scholarship and research. Anthony Normore of California Lutheran University is the recipient of 2013 Bridge People Award. We hope you will join us on Sunday, April 28 at 6:15 pm in Continental 8 of the Hilton Union Square to honor these outstanding individuals whose work informs our teaching, practice, and scholarship. I have been trying to think of something profound to say for my last message to all of you, but I decided to speak from the heart. I want to say “thank you.” Thank you for selecting me for Secretary/Treasurer and trusting me with this important task. For those of us who do social justice research and advocacy, it can often feel like we aren’t doing enough. However, over the past 2 years, it has been such a joy to feel like I am contributing in making a change through serving this important organization. While creating reports, agendas and menus to keeping up with budget and membership may seem tedious to some, I sincerely say I never felt that way. It has been so rewarding to be a steward in this way to serve the social justice community. These past few years of working with all of you have also reaffirmed my commitment to maintaining just relations in ALL I do and not just in my scholarship and service. I realize that even though many of us do not take a public role in advocacy and social justice; there are many of us quietly pursuing these paths every day. I am proud to know ALL of you and value both public and private justice work. Congratulations to Frank Hernandez on taking the mantle of Secretary/Treasurer for the next two years. You are known for your commitment to social justice and the organization is in great hands. I look forward to assisting you as a member and promoter of the SIG. I would like to leave you with two of my favorite quotes. I hope they resonate with you as they did me and energize your own pursuits of justice as it did mine: I think one of the biggest failures of the pacifistic witness is when we don't practice nonviolence in our personal relations. I spend most of my time thinking about violence in my personal relations, how I treat people--my family, people at work, people at church, people in the line at the store…My practice of nonviolence isn't heroic in scale. I practice a little pacifism, a small pacifism. I try not to be a jerk. -Richard Beck If one does not practice nonviolence in one's personal relations with others and hopes to use it in bigger affairs, one is vastly mistaken. –Mahatma Gandhi A Word from the Secretary/Treasurer LSJ Awards Announcement Sharon Radd Noelle Arnold
- 5. THE SOCIAL JUSTICELEADER, ISSUE VI PAGE 5 UCEA 2012 Photos Tyson Marsh, Camille Wilson and Daniel D. Liou With Michelle Collay, Kristin Huggins and Rosa Rivera- McCutchen Martin Scanlan and Leslie Hazle Bussey With Whitney Sherman Newcomb.
- 6. THE SOCIAL JUSTICELEADER, ISSUE VI PAGE 6 Recent Publications from Members (a non-exhaustive list) DVD/Discussion Guide from Lee Anne Bell, professor of education and the Barbara Silver Horowitz Director of Education at Barnard College, Columbia University. 40 Years Later: Now Can We Talk? is a documentary film which contrasts memories of desegregation related by African Americans in the first class to integrate their high school in the Mississippi Delta in 1967-69 with memories of white peers from the same class, 40 years after graduation. The film will be screened as part of the AERA film festival on Saturday April 27, 2:15 to 3:45 in the Hilton Union Square. The DVD/Discussion Guide will be available at the Teachers College Press booth at AERA. Books Sanzo, K., Myran, S., & Normore, A.H. (December, 2012). Successful school leadership preparation and development, Bingley, United Kingdom: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. This book will feature lessons learned about the successful implementation of leadership program preparation and development programs that are grant-funded by the United States Department of Education through the School Leadership Program. Each chapter will highlight one or more practices that have been identified as a best practice by the literature and detail how the program implemented the practice(s). It is clear from the literature what should be done to prepare aspiring and current leaders (i.e. mentoring, in-depth internships, partnerships) but what is not clear is how to do this. This book will do exactly that with real-life experiences in the implementation of these practices (including successes, challenges, etc.). These will be authentic examples from the field about how practitioners have addressed challenges in implemented successful activities such as coaching, the internship, evaluating projects, and forging partnerships with preparation entities. Principal 2.0: Technology and Educational Leadership, edited by Matthew Militello (North Carolina State University) and Jennifer Friend (University of Missouri-Kansas City), was released in April 2013 in hardcover and paperback by Information Age Publishing. The book will be available as an eBook in June 2013 via Google, Apple, as well as over 25 other online outlets. This volume of essays provides insights into educational technology from a diverse set of vantage points. Each chapter provides school leaders with both conceptual insights and practical guides. Moreover, the authors of these insights and guides are eclectic including: current K-12 school educators and students, professors and graduate students of educational technology and educational leadership, and technology industry leaders. Our goal was to provide a thoughtful and thought-provoking set of essays that propels your own work in the world of educational technology forward.
- 7. THE SOCIAL JUSTICELEADER, ISSUE VI PAGE 7 A Word from the Graduate Student Committee The LSJ-SIG’s graduate student committee is happy to announce that we will be hosting a Scholar/Graduate-student informal “coffee talk session” prior to the SIG’s Business meeting at the AERA Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The purpose of this session is to provide an opportunity for graduate students to meet and get to know LSJ scholars in our field. This “coffee talk session” is a continuation of the Brown Bag lunch series that the graduate student committee initiated in 2011 at the UCEA annual meeting in Pittsburgh, PA. These are informal meetings intended to allow for exchange of thoughts and ideas along with stimulating discussion We will hold the “coffee talk” right before the LSJ-SIG’s business meeting in San Francisco. Working tables with posted scholar's name and research interest will be prepared and graduate students will be invited to join the research group of their interest. We would like to extend an invitation to all LSJ-SIG members to attend and share both research interests and experiences with seasoned, new, and emerging scholars for the 30 minutes prior to our business meeting. A formal invitation was sent to scholars in the LSJ-SIG to solicit participation, however, if you did not confirm your interest in participating, we would still love to include you! Likewise, all students are welcome to attend and we encourage you to bring a friend! We look forward to seeing you Sunday, April 28 from 5:45pm-6:15pm at the Hilton Union Square Continental 8 for the LSJ-SIG “coffee talk session” 30 minutes prior to the regular business meeting starting at 6:15pm. If you have any questions, please email Maysaa Barakat at myb0002@auburn.edu . Hollie Mackey University of Oklahoma Maysaa Barakat Auburn University Graduate Student Committee Chairs
- 8. THE SOCIAL JUSTICELEADER, ISSUE VI PAGE 8 Recognitions Jeff Brooks at The Anne Frank Center in New York City Professor Jeffrey S. Brooks, director of the educational administration graduate program at Iowa State University, presented his two new books in a special invited presentation at The Anne Frank Center USA in New York City on March 5, 2013: Black School/White School: Racism and Educational (Mis)Leadership, and What Every Principal Needs to Know to Create Equitable and Excellent Schools (the latter co-edited with George Theoharis of Syracuse University). Michael O'Malley, Texas State University-San Marcos, completed a five month Fulbright Scholar appointment in Chile. His research focused on effects of school administrators' leadership on the success of school improvement initiatives at the campus level, with particular implications for educational equity. Findings will be incorporated into national implementation models involving school improvement. Gaetane Jean-Marie, former LSJ Chair, has a new job: Professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Leadership, Foundations & Human Resource Education (ELFH), University of Louisville. Martin Scanlan was promoted to associate professor with tenure at Marquette University. Sharon Radd will be an assistant professor in the Masters of Arts in Organizational Leadership program at St. Catherine University in St. Paul.
- 9. THE SOCIAL JUSTICELEADER, ISSUE VI PAGE 9 Learning to Speak from the Trenches: High School Students as Scholars, Activists, and Leaders for Social Justice Introduction “As a white person, racism makes me sick!” one sophomore male interjects without “raising his hand” or being formally called on by the teacher. This student was simply responding to the pulse of the discussion topic: “If race is a social construct, why do the effects of race matter?” In this class focused on issues of social justice, with Ms. Moyer, the classroom teacher, as the facilitator of the dialogue, students project verbal responses back and forth to each other across the room like a game of table tennis. As one student attests, “in social justice class we have lots of debates that challenge me.” The students enrolled are from a variety of peer groups and might not have had interactions with each other prior to this class. However, because their first two weeks of class were on “why identity matters,” the students have come to appreciate the different perspectives their identities bring to the table and have formed relationships that enable them to engage in social justice topics which even teachers and administrators would not necessarily feel “prepared” or “comfortable” addressing. High school students are engaging in scholarly debate and deconstructing articles on topics such as “why is colorblindness the new racism?” They spend time defining terms such as “intersectionality,” “black feminist thought,” and “heterosexism”; or discussing how heteronormativity plays out in their high school. The critical dialogue that occurs in just one semester of this high school level course and its subject matter is something that is not experienced or witnessed in many teacher education or even educational leadership preparation programs. According to one student in the class, “A great many of the ‘educated’ adults in this country, despite their fancy credentials, are quite ignorant to the issues of social justice that plague this country.” Thus, the students in this class have learned to project their voice and make it quite clear that scholars in the “ivory tower” and school administrators have something to learn from youth. Overview of the Urbana High School Social Justice Class Urbana High School (UHS) is a public high school located in Urbana School District 116. The school is composed of approximately 1,200 students from 9th -12th grade and is a racially diverse population of students who are 40% white, 40% black, 10 % Latina/o, 5% Asian, and 5% multiracial. UHS is located in the semi-urban community of Urbana, IL, which is the home of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). As a traditional comprehensive public high school, UHS has a variety of course options and extracurricular opportunities for students to participate in. Currently, students are able to enroll in an elective class entitled “Social Justice.” This is the second year that UHS has offered the Social Justice class as a semester- long course for students from 9th -12th grades. The course is a course with no prerequisite requirements for enrollment. Currently there are 32 freshmen and sophomores enrolled in this course, well above the average course enrollment of 18-20, due to the popularity and interest in the class. The students in this class closely match the overall demographics of the entire school. The class is diverse in terms of students’ racial, ethnic, linguistic, social class, and sexual identities. The teacher of this course, Rachel Moyer, is a white female English teacher who is also the chair of the UHS Social Justice Committee, which is comprised of teachers, administrators, students and community members. Ms. Moyer is dually certified in English and Social Studies and minored in women and gender studies as an undergraduate. With her credentials, plus assistance from Dr. AJ Welton and doctoral students Priya Goel, Jonathan Hamilton, and Tiffany Harris, as well as the support of the principal, Joe Wiemelt (who is also a doctoral candidate in educational administration at UIUC); Ms. Moyer had a foundation for embarking on new instructional territory by developing an “unscripted” curriculum that still meets the Common Core standards. The overarching purpose of this course is to introduce students to social justice topics such as identity, gender, LGBTIQ issues, and race; while engaging in scholarly discussions, reading and analyzing academic articles, and writing reflection and response papers which include personal counternarratives to oppressive stereotypes. The culminating project for students in the social justice class is to conduct Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) projects within the school setting at UHS. Students select group research topics that they have identified as important to analyze at UHS based on their individual and collective perspectives related to the overarching issue of institutionalized racism. Their topics thus far include: 1) Teacher and student relationships 2) Lack of faculty diversity (92% white faculty; 60% students of color) 3) Underrepresentation of students of color in honors courses 4) Disproportionate dress code enforcement on females of color 5) Overrepresentation of students of color being disciplined Dr. Welton working with a group of students in the Social Justice Class Ms. Moyer working with a group of students in the Social Justice Class
- 10. THE SOCIAL JUSTICELEADER, ISSUE VI PAGE 10 The students are conducting semi-structured interviews and surveys with students, teachers, and administrators at UHS to better understand the structures of UHS that pertain to these five topics. With their findings, they are organizing group presentations and papers that illuminate their findings and then they will make recommendations via a formal presentation to the administration and teachers, and perhaps most interestingly to the incoming principal, who will be new in the fall of 2013 and is currently unaware of the projects and research that the students are conducting. This presentation will serve as an opportunity to introduce the new principal to their work and to give critical input to school improvement initiatives. Youth Learning to Assert Their Voice During the first half of the semester-long class, students reviewed foundational terms and issues related to social justice. Currently, in the last half of the semester, students are at the emerging stages of learning how to use YPAR as a scholarly process to exert their voice and as one student articulated “speak on issues from the trenches,” especially on policies concerning school improvement. However, in traditional schooling students are commonly given limited opportunities to engage in learning that leads to action-oriented changes in their school community. Thus, as students transition to a more democratic form of learning they must be given the opportunity to dialogue about how and why their voice matters, so that they can then gain the confidence to exercise their voice on school improvement issues. Students have engaged in writing exercises throughout the semester, such as the journal-writing excerpt below, to begin to conceptualize the value of their voice. To encourage the students to begin affirming the power of their voice we asked students in one of their daily journal prompts to articulate, “What can school administrators learn from you as youth?” Students responded: They can learn that they are not the only ones that can teach something. We are also smart. That you shouldn’t underestimate youth. School administrators can learn about the things that affect us the most and the things that will help us make the best of out of school. They could also learn the way we as students look at things and how we differ in thinking. That school administrators can learn that we have an opinion and also know what we’re talking about. Half the time we make more sense than adults. By letting them listen to our suggestions they can learn about what needs to be done to make school a better place/environment for students. The school administration can take our presentations as a learning experience because we are telling them from a student’s perspective what’s wrong and what needs to be changed. We have things to teach adults, and also there are lots of them [adults] who are willing to listen. That students have thoughts, opinions, and feelings, and that we do care about the issues very much at our school and are willing to do what we can to fix them. Many people believe that administrators can only teach, but I think administrators can learn just as much from students teaching them. Conclusion Engaging today’s youth in relevant and meaningful learning is a common objective in classrooms. The YPAR process teaches youth to engage in critical thinking and advanced learning experiences that exceed learning standards, and embark in advocacy, activism, research, and ultimately use their voice to push for equitable and social justice oriented changes in their school. By listening to and incorporating student voice into school leadership and school improvement initiatives, student leadership becomes key. According to one UHS administrator, the social justice class is the hub “for student voice in the UHS school improvement plan.” Thus, faculty at UHS are realizing as educators and leaders for social justice they should take the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from students in the Social Justice class. As educators we must step outside of ourselves and see this is not as much about us, but this is about what today’s youth experience and how structures, both equitable and inequitable, are set up for students. Ultimately, this newsletter shares the work of our students in the UHS Social Justice class, which spans beyond the traditional notion of schooling. Authors Joe Wiemelt, principal Dr. Anjalé (AJ) Welton, assistant professor Rachel Moyer, Social Justice class teacher High School Student Authors Yessica Bedolla Acaisha Washington Jala Payton Adriana Alvarez Ivan Roque Leighanne Matson Josh Rearden Shonneeia Hill Karla Altamirano DeVonne Luster Students working on their YPAR project in the in the Social Justice Class. Emily Beverly Kimberly Brunelle Valentina Stafford Tierra Williams Lily Finell Henry Ando Ben Lambeth Jackie Masiunas Dania Avila-Cardona Principal Joe Wiemelt
- 11. THE SOCIAL JUSTICELEADER, ISSUE VI PAGE 11 The purpose of this book series is to promote research on work-life balance. We seek edited volumes, textbooks, and full-length studies focused on research that explores the ways in which people manage their work and “not-work.” The first books in the series have come from higher education, and from the specific discipline of educational leadership, but we hope that other work areas and disciplines will follow. Possible topics include, but are not restricted to, the following: · Definitions and Conceptions of Work-Life Balance · Critical Interpretations of Work-Life Balance · Mentoring for Work-Life Balance · Graduate Students and Work-Life Balance · Gender and Work-life Balance · Race and Ethnicity and Work-Life Balance · International Perspectives on Work-Life Balance · Elder Care and Work-Life Balance · Singleness and Work-Life Balance · Non-Traditional Families and Work-Life Balance Proposal guidelines are available at http://www.infoagepub.com/series/Work-Life-Balance, or contact Joanne Marshall (jmars@iastate.edu) for more information. Work-Life Balance Call The effects of campus climate on college and university constituents have been of interest to researchers and policymakers for decades. Campus climate is “the total effect of the environment – institutional and community – that influences the experience of those who work and study at the college or university…campus climate is about perception – about how it feels to be in that community, not simply what happens” (National Institute of Independent Colleges and Universities, 1991, p 2). Campus climate studies hold the greatest potential for understanding and objectifying the experiences of constituents in institutions of higher education as revealed through their perceptions. This increased understanding is the first step in developing institutions of higher education that are both equitable and high quality educational environments -- a goal that ought to be integral to the educational mission of all institutions of higher education (Robinson-Armstrong, 1998). Climate data can promote transformational change by affecting assumptions and ideologies that motivate institutional constituents to adopt new ways of thinking and perceiving. Using climate data to inform difficult decisions can lead to altered organizational structures and processes, new beliefs and interpretations about institutional activities and professional roles, new systems of reward, and realigned budgets (Bauer, 1998; Cabrera, 1999; California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC), Robinson-Armstrong, 1998; Sedlacek, 1995). The process for assessing camps climate is as important as the results produced. An inclusive campus-specific study defined by clearly stated and agreed-upon goals holds the key to the bringing about changes in institutional climate. Inclusive campus-specific studies also create psychological ownership among faculty, staff and administrators, and focus energy on climate—a part of the college environment that seldom commands the attention of a large percentage of the organization’s constituents (CPEC, 1990). Inquiries and Word Document submissions should be forwarder electronically to: Abbie Robinson-Armstrong, Ph. D. Vice President for Intercultural Affairs Loyola Marymount University 1 LMU Drive University Hall, Suite 4820 Los Angeles, CA 90045 arobinso@lmu.edu Call for Book Chapter Proposals: Conducting Effective Institution- Specific Campus Climate Studies
- 12. THE SOCIAL JUSTICELEADER, ISSUE VI PAGE 12 LSJ Executive Committee LSJ Chair Whitney Sherman Newcomb Virginia Commonwealth University whsherman@vcu.edu Secretary-Treasurer Noelle Arnold University of Missouri-Columbia arnoldn@missouri.edu AERA 2013 Program Chair Katherine Cumings Mansfield Virginia Commonwealth University kcmansfield@vcu.edu Communication Chair Joanne Marshall Iowa State University jmars@iastate.edu Graduate Student Committee Chairs Maysaa Barakat Auburn University myb0002@auburn.edu Hollie Mackey University of Oklahoma hollie.mackey@gmail.com AERA LSJ Website http://www.aera.net/SIG165/LeadershipforSocialJusticeSIG165/tabid/12239/Default.aspx Like Us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/groups/150822794956627/?fref=ts The Social Justice Leader is seeking the following types of submissions for the spring newsletter -- due October 15: 1. Announcements such as: --new jobs / promotions / graduations --awards --new publications --job postings --photos from the UCEA LSJ meeting --upcoming opportunities for publication, grants, collaboration, etc. --anything else you think LSJ members should know 2. Brief (<1,000 words) articles highlighting topics such as: -- examples of social justice in practice --the activity of the work group you participated in during the last LSJ meeting --anything else related to the LSJ mission, which is: to promote social justice teaching, research, service, and policymaking agendas, with the corollary aim of seeking to proactively improve educational leadership as a means of addressing equity concerns for underrepresented populations throughout P-20 education; also to share innovative, promising, and research- based programs, policies, and teaching strategies and proactively advocate on behalf of underrepresented populations in educational leadership. Please send submissions - or questions - to jmars@iastate.edu . CALL FOR FALL 2013 NEWSLETTER