scholarly journals “We’re kind of at a pivotal point”: Opt Out’s vision for an ethic of care in a post-neoliberal era

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Schroeder ◽  
Elizabeth Currin ◽  
Todd McCardle
Keyword(s):  
Standardized Tests ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
Ethic Of Care ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Corporate Influence ◽  
Opt Out ◽  
Caring Relations

This article explores the Opt Out Florida (OOF) movement, a predominantly woman-led group seeking to dismantle neoliberal education policy by coaching children to boycott high-stakes standardized tests. Guided by Campbell’s assertion that neoliberalism will never disappear without a “gender revolution” and Noddings’s belief that those who have claimed power in the “traditional masculine structure” of our educational institutions will not readily cede their authority, we assert that movements like Opt Out are not only necessary to bring about a post-neoliberal future, but offer important insight into the role activist mothers may play in fulfilling that vision for all children. As a noticeably maternal movement, Opt Out displays a commitment to Noddings’s description of moral education and her assertion that “if an enterprise precludes…meeting the other in a caring relation, [one] must refuse to participate in that enterprise.” Understanding standardized tests as instruments of control meant to defund and privatize public education, Opt Out members actively resist them. Their ethic of care eschews corporate influence, and guides both their mission to return control of the classroom to the local level and their rejection of the deskilling and intensification of the teaching profession. Drawing on critical ethnographic data from OOF, we ultimately argue that the movement’s emphasis on the ideal moral and caring relations between school and child offers one example of what post-neoliberal education might look and sound like from a distinctly feminine perspective.

The Opt-Out Movement in New York: A Grassroots Movement to Eliminate High-Stakes Testing and Promote Whole Child Public Schooling

2021 ◽  
Vol 123 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Zhe Chen ◽  
David Hursh ◽  
Bob Lingard
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Standardized Tests ◽  
Long Island ◽  
New York State ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
Whole Child ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
York State ◽  
Opt Out

Purpose Over the last five years, approximately 50% of the students in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island and 20% across New York State have opted out of the yearly standardized tests for third through eighth grade. This article focuses on two grassroots organizations, New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE) and Long Island Opt Out (LIOO), the two parents who have been central to the organizations’ success, and the strategies and tactics that the two organizations have adopted to achieve such a high opt-out rate in New York. Context Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), third through eighth grade public school students have been required to take yearly standardized tests. The most recent version of the exams focused on assessing students, their teachers, and schools based on the Common Core State Standards. Many educators and parents have argued that the standards and assessments negatively affect student learning. In response, educators, parents, teachers, and students have lobbied and publicly testified in an effort to reduce the length of the exams, if not eliminate them. However, the testimonies have had almost no impact on the policymakers. Consequently, some parents concluded that the only way to influence policymakers is to get enough students to opt out of the tests so that the scores were not valid and thus could no longer be used to compare students and teachers within and across schools for accountability purposes. Research Design This study is drawn from a qualitative research project in which we conducted interviews to understand how the opt-out movement developed and the strategies it adopted in relation to high-stakes testing in New York. The interviews with two parent leaders from NYSAPE and LIOO are the main data source for this article. Findings NYSAPE and LIOO can be characterized as real grassroots social movements in that all members have input in the goals and organizing strategies, and unpaid leaders emerge from the membership. Further, because the organizations lack permanent funding, they have to be innovative in using media. By motivating and empowering others and using social media such as Facebook and Twitter, they built a large network and a strong base so that they could influence policymakers and respond quickly at the local and state levels. Conclusion Their organizing strategies exemplified the participatory and grassroots nature of the new social movements as theorized by McAlevey. The opt-out movement is pushing back not only against high-stakes testing but also against the larger neoliberal construction of parents as simply consumers of schooling, rather than as active, informed citizens. The movement also supports whole-child schooling.

Portraits of Protest in Florida: How Opt-Out Makes the Personal Political

2021 ◽  
Vol 123 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Currin ◽  
Stephanie Schroeder ◽  
Todd Mccardle
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
Standardized Testing ◽  
Standardized Tests ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Opting Out ◽  
Opt Out ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
Background Context

Background/Context Opting out of high-stakes standardized tests, a phenomenon so widespread in the United States as to be regarded as a movement, is nevertheless a misunderstood and often maligned force in educational politics. Purpose This article offers a counternarrative of opt-out activism—a more thorough and vivid account of what we view as an unfairly maligned movement with tremendous potential for improving and preserving our nation's schools. Participants In-depth portraits introduce three members of the Opt Out Florida Network: Cindy Hamilton, an unabashed leader whose children have graduated; Sandy Stenoff, her partner in protest whose children remain in the system; and Susan Bowles, who grapples with conflicting roles of pedagogue and protester. Research Design As a critical ethnography, this study uses a qualitative approach to expose and challenge the unjust treatment of the opt-out movement, guided by the following research questions: 1) How do opt-out activists understand and explain their journeys to activism? 2) What experiences, concerns, and commitments guide them in their daily fight against high-stakes standardized testing? Data Collection and Analysis Using transcript data from focus group and 1-on-1 follow-up phone interviews, the research team composed and analyzed narrative portraits, which offer models of resistance to neoliberal education reform. Conclusions Contrary to their portrayal as passive, anti-test, anti-accountability parents solely focused on their own children, the opt-out movement is an active community of highly informed individuals dedicated to effecting positive change in education. The nuance of narrative captures the messy realities of activism, illustrating how parents and teachers must work together, guided by a view of citizenship as shared fate, to fight for more equitable and educative schools.

Unstandardizing Testing: Low-Scoring American Minority Students in the Crosshairs of Conservative Policymakers

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sami Chedhli Nighaoui
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Minority Students ◽  
Standardized Tests ◽  
Feedback Mechanism ◽  
Cultural Bias ◽  
Testing System ◽  
Quantitative Methodology ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Opt Out

That standardized tests do not accurately assess the true competencies of minority test takers is a widely shared claim among conservative educationists. The opt-out-of-testing community has lately grown unprecedentedly vocal in several states, questioning even more seriously the accountability of the testing system altogether. This paper adopts a Critical Race Theory perspective to investigate the conceptual underpinnings of conservative criticism as well as the interpretations made popular using quantitative methodology. The key premise of this paper is that a colorblind approach to testing understates the importance of a range of unquantifiable variables, mainly the linguitic and cultural backgrounds of the test takers, in determining assessment outcome. It attempts to demonstrate where specifically standardized tests may not be used as a reliable feedback mechanism and suggests that a more flexible assessment paradigm be considered, one that engages learning quality followup to keep cultural bias to a strict minimum.          

Concept of Power Decentralization in Political Science and Approaches to its Methodological Study

2017 ◽  
pp. 229-235
Author(s):  
Halyna Kuzub
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
Symbolic Interactionism ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Perfect State ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Structural Functionalism

The problem of power decentralization is up to date in a modern political science. We can trace its historical genesis first in European and further in the USA political ideas. Decentralization of power was considered along with the study of a perfect state system, civil society and local self-government. It is argued that the major part of successful process of power decentralization in the Western Europe was due to the idea nature for their political culture. The article attempts to retrace the history of the idea of power decentralization. As a background of the investigations of such thinkers as J. Bodin, J. Althusius, J. Locke, J.-J. Rousseau, C.-L. Montesquieu, R. Owen, C. Fourier, J. S.Mill, T. Jefferson, A. de Tocqueville and M. Dragomanov were thoroughly investigated. The paper also considers the modern definitions of power decentralization. Likewise the value of structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism and constructivism are argued in terms of further surveys of power decentralization. To conclude, the author opines that civil servants training, their theoretical teaching and moral education have to become the main objectives in perspective investigations. Furthermore, the success of power decentralization depends not only on devoting authority by central government, but also on capacity of its implementation by deputies on the local level. Keywords: Decentralization of power, deconcentration of power, administrative and political decentralization, classical and non-classical philosophy, structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism, construc-tivism

Inclusive Reform as a Response to High-Stakes Pressure? Leading toward Inclusion in the Age of Accountability

2016 ◽  
Vol 118 (14) ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
George Theoharis ◽  
Julie Causton ◽  
Chelsea P. Tracy-Bronson
Keyword(s):  
School Reform ◽  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Standardized Tests ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Inclusive School ◽  
Age Of Accountability ◽  
General Education Classrooms

Students identified with disabilities are increasingly being educated with the assistance of support services within heterogeneous (i.e., general education) classrooms. Yet, in this era of high-stakes accountability, students are labeled, sorted, and differentially treated according to their academic achievement as reflected on standardized tests. We engaged in a project to better understand how educators grapple with these externally imposed pressures as they work to change the organizational structure of their schools to be able to implement greater inclusion of their students served by special education. We spent four years in two elementary schools engaged in inclusive school reform (shifting from exclusionary model to an inclusive one) specifically as a response to the pressures of test-based accountability mandates. Our work was guided by the following questions. In this era of high-stakes testing accountability: • What does school-wide inclusive reform for students with disabilities involve? • What kinds of changes can result from inclusive reform? • What role does leadership play in inclusive reform? The article focuses on what inclusive reform involved, the resulting changes, and the role distributed leadership played in moving toward more inclusive service in the age of high-stakes accountability.

scholarly journals Examining job satisfaction factors toward retaining Malaysian TVET instructors in the teaching profession

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2.10) ◽  
pp. 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhd Khaizer Omar ◽  
Abdullah Mat Rashid ◽  
Mohd Hazwan Mohd Puad
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Severe Depression ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Disciplinary Problems ◽  
Education Profession ◽  
And Training

The teaching profession in Malaysia has continued to be valued due to the continuous effort and commitment by teachers within the education profession and their desire to benefit better education for future generations. Indeed, the teaching profession has evolved to become a recognised benchmark towards the nation’s vision to develop human resource capital. However, despite the recognition, teachers are noticeably struggling in their attempt to provide high-quality teaching services. Many studies have reported many of the issues within the teaching profession and environment that exists. Many of the issues include severe depression, anxiety, demotivation, and behavioural issues. Consequently, many of these issues also become the reasons why teachers inevitably leave their chosen profession, either voluntarily or pressured by the educational environment and system. As a result, a study to understand the issues for their departure, and more importantly the factors contributing to job satisfaction and retention have investigated in this study. A target population targeting Malaysian training instructors at the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) educational institutions were selected to participate in a survey. Descriptive and correlational studies were employed to determine job satisfaction the factors among TVET instructors and to identify the factors contributing towards job satisfaction and retention. The findings indicate that most instructors are satisfied with their teaching job. However, many are struggling and not coping with voracious issues brought about through present workloads, student disciplinary problems, and vague expectations from key stakeholders in the TVET system. The findings from this study will further help in determining the perspectives of the instructors and the factors that have attracted them to remain in their chosen profession and to enable them to enjoy their teaching profession and career. 

scholarly journals BULLYING E SUAS DIMENSÕES PSICOLÓGICAS EM ADOLESCENTES

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 289
Author(s):  
Luciene R.P. Tognetta ◽  
José Mª Avilés Martínez ◽  
Pedro Rosário
Keyword(s):  
School Violence ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Educational Interventions ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Moral Point ◽  
The Subject

Abstract.Understanding the psychological mechanisms acting in shares of specific violence, such as bullying, constitutes an important step in the educational interventions that promote moral education objectified by educational institutions. In this sense, the current research aimed to relate bullying to representations of self and the ways in which the subject is self regulating to choose justifications for their commitments or moral disengagements in situations where bullying is present. The results indicate that subjects whose self-representations are individualistic also present more morally disengaged and more likely to be perpetrators in bullying situations, showing how little their identities incorporate moral values. It thus appears that more than a social problem, the issues of coexistence should be treated under the moral point of view.Keywords: bullying; self-representations; school violence; ethics; moral disengagements.Resumo.Compreender os mecanismos psicológicos atuantes em ações de violência específica, como o bullying, constitui-se um importante passo para as intervenções educacionais que promovam a formação moral objetivada pelas instituições de cunho educativo. Nesse sentido, a investigação atual teve como objetivos relacionar o bullying às representações de si e às formas pelas quais os sujeitos se autorregulam para escolher justificativas para seus engajamentos ou desengajamentos morais em situações em que o bullying esteja presente. Os resultados indicam que sujeitos cujas representações de si são individualistas também se apresentam mais desengajados moralmente e mais propensos a serem autores em situações de bullying, denotando o quanto suas identidades pouco incorporam valores morais. Constata-se assim que mais do que um problema social, as questões de convivência devem ser tratadas sob o ponto de vista moral.Palavras-chave: bullying; representações de si; violência na escola; ética; desengajamentos morais.

scholarly journals Toward an intercultural approach to evaluation: A perspective from INEE in Mexico

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Sylvia Schmelkes
Keyword(s):  
Standardized Tests ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Quality Of Education ◽  
Indigenous Students ◽  
Item Development ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Indigenous Children ◽  
Near Future

The National Institute for the Evaluation of Education (INEE) in Mexico has begun to meet the challenges in evaluating indigenous children and teachers and the educational programs and policies targeted to them. Several evaluation projects are described in this paper. One is the “Previous, Free and Informed Consultation of Indigenous People,” which focuses on quality of education they receive. A second is the design of a protocol for reducing cultural and linguistic bias in standardized tests, which requires oversampling of indigenous students and the involvement of anthropologists, linguists and indigenous teachers in item development. A third is an indigenous language evaluation for candidates for entry into the teaching profession, which they must pass before they can work in indigenous schools. A fourth is the development of a qualitative instrument for evaluating teacher performance. The instrument asks evaluated teachers to contextualize their planning; scorers decide whether the plan is adapted to the cultural context and the characteristics of the children. The projects described are only a starting point. In the near future, several dilemmas, such as the apparent trade-off between contextualization and quality, have to be faced and solved.

scholarly journals Pendidikan Akhlak Peserta Didik dan Pendidik Dalam Perspektif Hadis Nabi

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-70
Author(s):  
Nur Laily Fauziyah
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Diverse Families ◽  
Diverse Student

Morality is a trait attached to a person and becomes his identity. Noble character is the main foundation in the formation of a perfect Muslim. In order to form a noble person, it is very important to do an early effort in building the values of noble morals, including through education. However, it is not easy to instill good morals through education. There are a number of problems encountered, namely the lack of teacher exemplary (educator); school atmosphere that is not conducive; schools are less than optimal in the actualization of morals; diverse student characters who come from diverse families; lack of communication between parents of students and schools (institutions); and the negative impact of the current modernization which is increasingly unstoppable. In this case Rasulullah SAW through some of the hadith gives a picture of morals that should be applied by educators and students in everyday life, such as; respect for educators and students, good manners in the majlis of science, being gentle and so on. The implementation of moral values can be done with the method of habituation, giving examples (daily practice), direct advice as well as criticism or satire subtly into all relevant subjects especially in religious education and citizenship, integrating moral education into activities that are programmed or planned, establishing communication or collaboration between educational institutions and parents of students, and optimizing the role models of educators.

scholarly journals PREDISPOSITION TO EMOTIONAL BURNOUT OF PRESCHOOL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS TEACHERS WITH DIFFERENT WORK EXPERIENCE

2021 ◽  
pp. 227-237
Author(s):  
N. Yudina
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Research ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Preschool Teachers ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Young Professionals ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
Emotional Burnout

The article presents the results of theoretical and experimental research of psychological peculiarities of emotional burnout of preschool educational institutions teachers with different work experience. As a result of theoretical analysis, it was found that the process of professional burnout is significantly influenced by the specifics of the subjects’ profession, and the teaching profession is characterized by increased responsibility and tension. However, in this context, more attention is paid to school teachers, and the predisposition to emotional burnout of preschool teachers is covered only in fragments in scientific publications. Data of an experimental research of the psychological peculiarities of the predisposition to emotional burnout of preschool educational institutions teachers with different work experience showed the differences in all components of emotional burnout of preschool teachers with different work experience. We were able to prove that young professionals are characterized by lower rates of emotional burnout, while experienced workers are characterized by higher one. Younger educators, despite the difficulties in their professional activities, have a positive attitude to their own professionalization, respond to difficulties and successes adequately. Instead, more than half of senior employees tend to respond inadequately to their own professional difficulties and successes. Preschool educational institutions teachers with little work experience almost do not feel emotional stress and alienation from professional activity. Instead, many experienced professionals are emotionally vulnerable, and they try to hide their reactions to the events of their lives by feeling personally alienation.

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