The Stories We Tell: How Merit Narratives Undermine Success for Urban Youth

This article looks at the American Dream as a merit narrative to understand how it supports barriers to educational success for educators working to improve the lives of students in urban schools. Hard work/perseverance and individualism are interrogated as components of merit narratives used to sustain the American Dream. We analyze data from six educators who identify as advocates. We conclude that the stories educators tell reify individuals’ hard work/perseverance, rather than dispel myths of meritocracy, thereby blaming the lack of success on students’ inadequate effort as opposed to schools designed to maintain the status quo.

Download Full-text

Higher Education and the "American Dream": Why the Status Quo Won't Get Us There

Change The Magazine of Higher Learning ◽

10.3200/chng.40.6.65-c4 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 40 (6) ◽

pp. 65-68 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sara E. Keene

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

American Dream ◽

Status Quo ◽

The Status

Download Full-text

Educational Transitions in the United States: Reflections on the American Dream

Research in Comparative and International Education ◽

10.2304/rcie.2012.7.4.465 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 465-479

Author(s):

Paul T. Crawford

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

National Security ◽

Social Inclusion ◽

American Dream ◽

The United States ◽

Status Quo ◽

Individual Choice ◽

Educational Transitions ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

The Status

Education involves socialization so that individuals become productive members of society. At present, in the United States, educational transitions are primarily viewed in terms of their location in an outcomes-oriented process and framed as helping people achieve the American Dream, but in terms of the status quo national economic interest. But what about US residents who are unwilling to accommodate this particular worldview or its component ethos? Current conceptualizations of educational transitions in the United States favour economic efficiency and national security. However, new demographic realities will necessitate a revised notion of national security, one that is based on social inclusion. Consider, for example, the burgeoning Latino population in the United States. Will the current offer of education remain as valid in 2020 or 2050 when the nation has become a patchwork of minority populations? Individual choice at the moment of educational transition in the United States is increasingly framed as a zero-sum calculus: conform to the status quo or risk marginalization. The educational system is being co-opted by narratives associated with standard gross domestic product (GDP) metrics. The metrics used to guide and warrant educational policy and practice need to be widened so that educational assessment is based on the ‘context of human lives’. Despite an uneven record of cultural and ethnic injustice, the United States has narrative-based resources that support social inclusion. At the heart of the nation's orienting narrative is a quandary: how to balance a sense of manifest destiny with an understanding that our future is uncertain and sustainable only by joining many human capabilities?

Download Full-text

Multiculturalism and Internationalization of Romanian Universities

Advances in Healthcare Information Systems and Administration - Cross-Cultural Training and Teamwork in Healthcare ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-4325-3.ch002 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 16-33 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Simona Agoston ◽

Katja Lasch

Keyword(s):

International Students ◽

Foreign Students ◽

Status Quo ◽

Accurate Data ◽

Internationalization Process ◽

The Status ◽

Advance Knowledge ◽

Analyze Data

The chapter discusses the internationalization process of Romanian universities against a background of increasing multiculturalism. The authors collect and analyze data related to the flows of international students and staff in Romanian universities, as well as measures taken to promote student and staff circulation and to attract candidates from abroad. The conclusions of the study point to the fact that not only do Romanian universities do too little to become attractive to foreign students but due to a chronic lack of accurate data they also do not really know where they stand as to be able to improve. The present research attempted, thus, to advance knowledge about the status quo and to promote strategies for improvement.

Download Full-text