scholarly journals Publicwashing in Education: Definition, Motives, and Manifestations

2022 ◽  
pp. 0013189X2110708
Author(s):  
Izhak Berkovich ◽  
Lotem Perry-Hazan
Keyword(s):  
Charter Schools ◽  
School Reform ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Symbolic Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Communication Approach ◽  
Charter School Reform

This essay coins and conceptualizes the term “publicwashing.” In educational systems and organizations, publicwashing is a symbolic communication that emphasizes organizational publicness for the purpose of a superficial repair of reputation. The essay defines publicwashing and describes its motives and manifestations. Additionally, it illustrates publicwashing by discussing the concept in the context of the U.S. charter school reform. Adopting the lens of symbolic communication in the charter school case illustrates how the discrepancy between the “public” label and private characteristics of charter schools is managed through public relations. Future studies of publicwashing in education can further apply the symbolic communication approach to various cases, contexts, and deceptive strategies.

“We Are the Forgotten of the Forgottens”: The Effects of Charter School Reform on Public School Teachers

2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-396
Author(s):  
ERIKA M. KITZMILLER
Keyword(s):  
Public School ◽  
School Reform ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Public School Teachers ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Charter School Reform

In this article, Erika Kitzmiller analyzes the reactions of teachers to district officials’ decision to close their traditionally managed public school and reopen it as a privately managed charter school. While many scholars have examined the impact of this reform on communities, families, and youth, little attention has been paid to the effects of charter school reform on the public school teachers who worked in these schools. Here Kitzmiller considers one of the key but largely overlooked stakeholders in charter school reform: public school teachers.

Charter Schools as Postmodern Paradox: Rethinking Social Stratification in an Age of Deregulated School Choice

1999 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Stuart Wells ◽  
Alejandra Lopez ◽  
Janelle Scott ◽  
Jennifer Jellison Holme
Keyword(s):  
School Choice ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
School Reform ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
State Education ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Economic Developments ◽  
Charter School Reform

For the last two-and-a-half years, authors Amy Stuart Wells, Alejandra Lopez, Janelle Scott, and Jennifer Jellison Holme have been engaged with a team of researchers in a comprehensive qualitative study of charter schools in ten California school districts. They have emerged from this study with a new understanding of how the implementation of a specific education policy can reflect much broader social changes, including the transformation from modernity to postmodernity. Given that much of the literature on postmodernity is theoretical in nature, this article invites readers to wrestle with the complexity that results when theory meets the day-to-day experiences of people trying to start schools. In their study, the authors examined how people in different social locations define the possibilities for localized social movements, and how they see the potential threat of greater inequality resulting from this reform within and among communities. They started with a framework that questioned how charter schools came into being at this particular time that is characterized by global economic developments and demands for a more deregulated state education system. This framework allowed the authors to examine the particularistic nature of a reform that defies universal definitions. Their purpose was not to definitively state whether or not charter school reform is "working," or whether or not it is leading to greater social stratification across broad categories of race, class, and gender. Rather, the authors focused on understanding how modern identities and postmodern ideologies converge and, thus, for whom charter school reform is "working," under what conditions, and on whose terms.

scholarly journals Anxiety Level of University Students During COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heba Bakr Khoshaim ◽  
Areej Al-Sukayt ◽  
Karuthan Chinna ◽  
Mohammad Nurunnabi ◽  
Sheela Sundarasen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
University Students ◽  
Anxiety Level ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Enemy ◽  
Anxiety Levels

COVID-19 is the worst pandemic of this millennium, and it is considered to be the “public enemy number one.” This catastrophe has changed the way we live in the blink of an eye. Not only has it threatened our existence and health status, but the damage associated with it could equally affect our economic, social, and educational systems. The focus of this study was on the anxiety level of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted between March and June 2020. A questionnaire was administered online, and 400 completed questionnaires were returned. In this study, the Zung self-rating anxiety scale was used to determine the anxiety levels among the respondents. The results indicated that about 35% of the students experienced moderate to extreme levels of anxiety. Anxiety was highly associated with age, sex, and level of education. These findings can enlighten government agencies and policy makers on the importance of making prompt, effective decisions to address students' anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers are encouraged to focus their future studies on how to develop strategies to boost students' resilience and enhance their adaptability skills for similar disasters in the future.

scholarly journals Harnessing the Persuasive Power of Narrative: Science, Storytelling, and Movie Censorship, 1930–1968

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Kirby
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Deficit Model ◽  
The Public ◽  
Persuasive Power ◽  
History Of ◽  
To Come ◽  
Communication Approach

ArgumentAs the deficit model's failure leaves scientists searching for more effective communicative approaches, science communication scholars have begun promoting narrative as a potent persuasive tool. Narratives can help the public make choices by setting out a scientific issue's contexts, establishing the stakes involved, and offering potential solutions. However, employing narrative for persuasion risks embracing the same top-down communication approach underlying deficit model thinking. This essay explores the parallels between movie censorship and the current use of narrative to influence public opinion by examining how the Hays Office and the Catholic Legion of Decency responded to science in movies. I argue that deploying narratives solely as public relations exercises demonstrates the same mistrust of audiences that provided the foundation of movie censorship. But the history of movie censorship reveals the dangers of using narrative to remove the public's agency and to coerce them towards a preferred position rather than fostering their ability to come to their own conclusions.

Teacher Unions, Charter Schools, and the Public/Private Distinction in Education Law and Policy

2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (10) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Benjamin M. Superfine ◽  
David S. Woo
Keyword(s):  
Charter Schools ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teacher Unions ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
The Public ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Depth Analysis

Background Over the past decade, courts and administrative agencies increasingly have considered cases that involve clashes between charter school proponents and teacher unions. While these cases have focused on a range of education policy issues, some cases have focused on arguably the most important legal and policy distinction applicable to charter schools— whether a charter school should be considered public or private. Purpose This study examines the intersection of the public/private distinction in U.S. law and policy, and the shifting political positions of teacher unions and charter school proponents, in courts and agencies. We examine the history of the public/private distinction in U.S. law and policy and specifically in education, in addition to conducting an in-depth analysis of three recent decisions involving charter schools and teacher unions in which courts and agencies determined whether charter schools were public or private organizations. Research Design This article is a legal analysis and historical case study. Findings Three recent and high-profile education cases in agencies and courts reflect the continuing breakdown of the public/private distinction in law and policy. Courts and agencies have hinged their decisions about the applicability of federal and state collective bargaining laws on this distinction and have grounded decisions about the basic constitutionality of state charter school laws in this distinction as well. However, there is little consistency in how the public/ private distinction has been applied in legal clashes between teacher unions and charter schools. Conclusion Our analysis underscores the limitations of the current debate over the public/ private nature of charter schools and teacher unions, particularly in the institutional settings of courts and agencies, because this debate is largely untethered from issues of teaching and learning. However, our analysis also suggests that the public or private nature of charter schools still appears “up for grabs” in the legal arena. As such, courts and agencies might offer reformers a useful venue compared to the legislative arena for influencing how the public/private distinction applies to charter schools.

When Management Policies Collide

2017 ◽  
pp. 1179-1191
Author(s):  
Brittany Larkin
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
School Choice ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Parent Satisfaction ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
The Face ◽  
School Laws

The public desire for school choice has led to the staggering growth of charter schools. Yet, charter schools are often criticized for their inability to maintain autonomy in the face of the requirements to provide special education services. This chapter will explore empirical research on charter schools and special education uncovering themes in policy, practice, access, funding, and parent satisfaction. The research recommendations also cluster into themes including governance, service delivery model, operations and technical assistance. Next, the charter school laws in each of the 43 states that allow charter schools were examined for evidence of the four recommended themes. The results indicated how some states were bridging the autonomous nature of charter school laws with the inflexible mandates of special education law.

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