Taking Back Teaching: The Professionalization Work of Teacher Activist Organizations

2022 ◽  
pp. 002248712110707
Author(s):  
Nicole Mittenfelner Carl ◽  
Amanda Jones-Layman ◽  
Rand Quinn

We contribute to the teacher activism literature an understanding of how activist organizations support professionalization processes. We examine how teachers’ involvement in a local activist organization counteracts the de-professionalizing reforms of the standards and accountability movement and fosters the professionalization of teaching. Our findings suggest that the structures of the activist organization provide opportunities for teachers to create and maintain collective knowledge for curricula and practice, sustain their professional commitments to social justice, and build confidence that promotes voice in educational decision-making. We discuss implications for teacher professionalization and identify the need for future studies on the role of teacher activist organizations on teachers, teaching, and the profession.

2020 ◽  
pp. 004208592095913
Author(s):  
Melanie Bertrand ◽  
Maneka Deanna Brooks ◽  
Ashley D. Domínguez

Research indicates that youth, especially those facing injustice, such as youth of Color in urban settings, are essential participants in educational decision-making. However, due to adultism and intersecting forms of oppression, their inclusion is not the norm. Grounded in the concept of adultism and the tradition of storytelling, we address the following question: How can educational researchers and practitioners challenge the adultism that constrains youth’s participation in school- and district-level educational decision-making? We share stories about our experiences in urban schools, considering adultism at the interactional, institutional, and curricular levels. Our implications center on using critical reflexivity to challenge adultism.


Author(s):  
Ali Marzouq Al- Ghamdi

The study aimed to know the reality of participation of the teaching staff of the College of Education at Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University in the educational decision making from their viewpoint and its association with the organizational affiliation among them. For fulfilling the study objectives, the research used the descriptive survey method, and the study tool was by applying questionnaires for 157 participants members from the teaching staff of the College of Education at Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh. Main findings: overall tool of degree of contribution in decision making and its association with organizational affiliation according to responses of the teaching staff of the College of Education at Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University gained total average of (3.95/5) and at the both fields level. Also, the field of contribution of teaching staff member in decision making gained an average of (4.02/5), while the field of organizational affiliation gained an average of (3.88) and both gained a nearly high level. There’s a statistically significant correlation found between degree of contribution of the teaching staff of the College of Education at Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University in decision making and organization affiliation (P value= 0.39) which is a moderate positive correlation, in which whenever the contribution in decision making increases, the organizational affiliation increases. According to these results, a set of recommendations and suggestions are given for increasing the level of contribution and improving the organizational affiliation at Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University particularly and the Saudi Arabian and Arabic Universities generally.


2015 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 50-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Fulantelli ◽  
Davide Taibi ◽  
Marco Arrigo

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-198
Author(s):  
Ashley D. Domínguez ◽  
Valencia Clement ◽  
Melanie Bertrand

Research has shown the value of including youth, especially minoritized students, in school- and district-level educational decision-making. However, power dynamics, as related to adultism, along with other inequities, are barriers to youth’s political influence. We elucidate these barriers by exploring the possible relationship between adult-adult power dynamics, on one hand, and levels of student voice in schools, on the other. Interviews with teachers and administrators about youth voice initiatives indicated that bounded rationality illuminates how limiting access to knowledge, a form of power, can impact educator decision-making. In addition, bounded rationality bolsters unilateral power structures and therefore curtails youth voice. However, we also found that building relational power between teachers and students and maneuvering beyond bounded rationality increases opportunities for youth voice.


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