scholarly journals Politicised compassion and pedagogical partnership: A discourse and practice for social justice in the inclusive academy

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-33
Author(s):  
Suanne Gibson ◽  
Alison Cook-Sather
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Student Success ◽  
International Research ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Education ◽  
Student Agency ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
The Status ◽  
Individual Success

Despite changes prompted by global legalisation and policy developments for social justice and inclusion, many institutions of higher education remain driven by neoliberal values, an endemic culture of performativity, and an emphasis on individual success. These phenomena inform, disfigure, and invert inclusion and equality in policy, practice, and outcome. In response, we propose politicised compassion fostered through pedagogical partnership as a political and social justice reaction to the status quo. This paper explores this proposal, grounding it in international research studies on student experience, partnership, and equality. The work’s novelty is in its advancement of Zembylas’ (2013) work on “critical compassion” through what we term politicised compassion with the goal of enabling sustained student agency, student success, and the creation of active, considerate citizens. Our work invites critical considerations of where such a discourse for meaningful social justice and equality can take place within the academy.

scholarly journals Narrating technonatures: discourses of biotechnology in a neoliberal era

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
Myles Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Political ◽  
Effective Strategy ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
The Status ◽  
Political Economic

This article considers the role played by discourses of nature in structuring the cultural politics of anti-GMO activism. It argues that such discourses have been successful rhetorical tools for activists because they mobilize widely resonant nature-culture dualisms that separate the natural and human worlds. However, these discourses hold dubious political implications. In valorizing the natural as a source of essential truth, natural purity discourses fail to challenge how naturalizations have been used to legitimize sexist, racist and colonial systems of injustice and oppression. Rather, they revitalize the discursive purchase of appeals to nature as a justification for the status quo, indirectly reinforcing existing power relations. Moreover, these discourses fail to challenge the critical though contingent reality of GMOs' location within the wider framework of neoliberal social relations. Fortunately, appeals to natural purity have not been the only effective strategy for opposing GMOs. Activist campaigns that directly target the political economic implications of GMOs within the context of neoliberalism have also had successes without resorting to appeals to the purity of nature. The successes of these campaigns suggest that while nature-culture dualisms remain politically effective normative groundings, concerns over equity, farmers' rights, and democracy retain potential as ideological terrains in the struggle for social justice.

scholarly journals Student Affairs and Hurricane Katrina: Contextual Perspectives from Five Institutions of Higher Education in New Orleans

NASPA Journal ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan K Gardner ◽  
Kristy Miller ◽  
Marco J Barker ◽  
Jennifer Loftin ◽  
Marla Erwin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Student Affairs ◽  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
New Orleans ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Education ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Public Versus Private

Fifteen student affairs administrators from five institutions of higher education in New Orleans were interviewed regarding their experiences immediately before and after Hurricane Katrina and how the crisis affected their work. Participants were chosen for their diversity among racial, gender, and institutional contexts. Analyses of the interviews resulted in four themes that describe the differences between how public versus private institutional cultures affected these administrators’ responses and the decision making that occurred in the wake of the storm. These themes include (a) decision making, (b) communication, (c) resources and limitations, and (d) student affairs status. Implications for policy, practice, and research are included.

scholarly journals Leaning Out in higher education: A structural, postcolonial perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Popular Culture ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Economic Sphere ◽  
The Status

A new kind of gender equality ideology is rising in popularity in Western societies. While emphasising gender equality for the next generation, this new ideology sees feminism in a pragmatic and simplistic way, as nonthreatening to the status quo, in politics, popular culture, and economy. In the economic sphere, Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” has become well known for aiming to guide women to succeed alongside men in the workplace by changing their behaviours and attitudes. Its recommendations for women have impacted perspectives in the non- rofit and start-up worlds, arts, and more. However, there are some limitations to the kind of feminist thinking exemplified by Lean In. This article critically examines Lean In as a discourse or ideology in relation to higher education within and outside Western societies. I argue first that such ideology employs a deficiency model of gender equality that makes women accountable for sexism by focusing on internal rather than external change. Second, I argue that such discourses essentialize gender. Third, I argue that it is not easy to translate the advice given to women across international contexts, as Lean In reflects cultural conceptions of the workplace.

Mindset and Social Entrepreneurship: Japanese Self-initiated Expatriate Entrepreneurs in Cambodia

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuko Yokoyama ◽  
Sarah Louisa Birchley
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Extended Study ◽  
The Status ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Context Characteristics ◽  
Initial Research

This research is based on an extended study of Japanese self-initiated expatriate entrepreneurs (SIEEs) in Asia. Since 2015 the authors have explored various factors that influence SIEEs when setting up enterprises overseas, including the ability to take initiative; support and encouragement from family, a well-defined career anchor and exposure to overseas in the exploration stage of one’s career. An emerging trend is the desire to engage in social development activities, which has seen increasing numbers of Japanese leave well-paid companies at home to work in NGOs in developing countries. An extension of this can be seen in Japanese who choose to become self-initiated expatriate social entrepreneurs. This article focuses specifically on cases collected in Cambodia and attempts to explain how and why Japanese decide to become self-initiated expatriate social entrepreneurs in Cambodia using the concept of mindsets; entrepreneurial, social, sustainable and global. Initial research shows that some of these individuals exemplify the definition of sustainable entrepreneurship as they are creative and question the status quo in order to seek new opportunities for societal improvement ( Bornstein, 2007 ) and have multiple mindsets behind their actions. This research paper shares the context, characteristics, and outcomes of Japanese self-initiated expatriate social entrepreneurs in Cambodia and concludes by suggesting how knowledge of these SIEEs can be used in higher education contexts in Japan to improve entrepreneurship education.

Chapter 10: Teaching to Empower: Social Justice Action Projects as Imperatives for Educational Justice

2021 ◽  
Vol 123 (13) ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
Stephen D. Hancock ◽  
Ayana Allen-Handy ◽  
John A. Williams ◽  
Bettie Ray Butler ◽  
Alysha Meloche ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Community Partners ◽  
The Status ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
Action Projects

Background/Context Teaching to empower requires a critical focus on the unique challenges and opportunities of teaching in socially unjust educational environments. Effective teaching happens in an environment that engages students and teachers in critical investigation of content, knowledge, and activities. Critical learning environments simultaneously nurture the development of multiple perspectives and challenge the status quo. Establishing a critical learning environment is imperative in an educational system that is plagued with academic and social injustices. Therefore, teaching to empower necessitates that teachers, with the help of students, dismantle injustices through culturally responsive teaching, the development of agency and activism, the growth of multiple perspectives, and the capacity to challenge the status quo. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The purpose of this chapter, a conceptual paper, is to lay the foundation for a framework of social justice action projects, which we differentiate from social action projects on the basis that social justice action projects are enveloped in critical race theory. Three educator vignettes are shared to illustrate how this framework functions in practice. We provide an example of a classroom teacher, a teacher educator, and a research perspective. Research Design This chapter, a conceptual paper, examines four components that we believe are essential for transforming social action projects into social justice action projects. Through personal narratives, we illuminate the challenges and successes of social justice action projects as they relate to learning, students, educators, and the community. Four of the authors, who are also researchers and educators, share autoethnographic experiences of their participation in social justice action projects in education. Data Collection and Analysis This chapter is a conceptual paper that seeks to illustrate the conceptual framework presented in the introduction of the chapter with three practical examples told from the point of view of the author teachers. Findings/Results When critical race theory acts as a framework for social action projects, these become social justice action projects, which, when properly applied, avoid many of the pitfalls that are common when social action projects do not serve the priorities of their community partners. For students, critical race-based pedagogies can serve to develop critical consciousness. Meanwhile, critical methods provide means by which students and community partners develop agency and activism. Conclusions/Recommendations Teaching through social justice action projects engages both students and teachers in critical dialogues that support empowered, action-oriented learning. While many effective teaching methods and strategies exist, the use of social justice action projects provides knowledge production, dialogue, and thinking beyond the whitewashed curriculum to create a world in which students, teachers, and community partners are empowered to make positive differences.

Race for Social Justice in Higher Education

2022 ◽  
pp. 138-156
Author(s):  
Bryan Q. Patterson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
High Education ◽  
Mission Statements ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
Systematic Change ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Education ◽  
New Model

In the last decade, there has been a greater focus on social justice concerns in United States. These concerns include addressing situations of racism, microaggressions, and racial injustices. As a result of these concerns, the need for social justice has become more apparent for institutions of higher education to adjust and rethink how they become more inclusive and provide more equitable opportunities for all stakeholders. Institutions of higher education are being pushed into unfamiliar territory, and the role of academics and high education institutions will need to be redefined in a new model of true systematic change and policy overhaul. How do institutions of higher education (colleges and universities) become more accountable in reshaping their purpose and mission statements through the lens of social justice and inclusivity? This chapter will generate insights and illuminate ongoing institutional conversations regarding the successful adoption of social justice frameworks and practices in the foundations of higher education.

scholarly journals A posthumanist pedagogy using digital text analysis to enhance critical thinking in higher education

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 845-880
Author(s):  
Kieran O'Halloran
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Analysis Software ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Digital Text ◽  
The Status ◽  
Project Assignment ◽  
Independent Thinking

Abstract I model a critical posthumanist pedagogy that uses text analysis software and is aimed at higher education students. A key purpose of the pedagogy is to help students enhance empathetic, critical and independent thinking. For their project assignment, the student chooses an unfamiliar campaign seeking to eliminate suffering and extend rights. They gather all texts from the campaign website into a corpus, which thus represents the campaign writ large. Then they use appropriate software to ascertain, efficiently and rigorously, common campaign concerns across this corpus. This puts students in a position to discern any significant concerns in the campaign corpus that are not addressed in text(s) supporting the status quo which the campaign opposes. Should significant omissions be found, students critically evaluate the status quo text(s) from the campaign’s perspective. Since this perspective derives from the student identifying (at least temporarily) with software generated data, it is a posthuman subjectivity. Engaging digitally and empathetically with a campaign’s data at scale for creation of a posthuman subjectivity can broaden awareness of disadvantage, discrimination, and suffering as well as expand horizons. Moreover, at the end of the assignment, the student is expected to formulate their own position vis-à-vis the previously unfamiliar campaign. Conditions have been created then for the student to enhance independent thinking too.

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