Understanding students’ global interdependence in science instruction

Multiple American educational organizations such as the National Education Association, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and the Council of Chief State School Officers have advocated for globalizing the K-12 curriculum. The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) in a position statement on international education and the Next Generation Science Standards have produced goals and standards for internationalizing the science curriculum by addressing topics such as climate change, environment, and disease that cross borders. In contrast to those pronouncements on the curriculum, this article views global science education through an instructional lens that focuses on a students’ global interdependence in science continuum allowing researchers and casual observers to classify science classroom activities into one of five stages based on the interdependence during instruction of students in two or more countries. At the continuum’s lowest stage labeled isolated, instruction is contained within a classroom with students having no interaction with students in another country. At the highest end called collaborate, students in two or more countries are working jointly to co-create a solution to the task before them. This science education continuum can also be used to categorize technology and engineering activities and could be adapted for use in other curricular areas including mathematics, language arts, and social studies, used as a tool to complement scholarship about a range of education topics from social justice to curriculum to student motivation, or inform pre- and in-service teacher education.

Civil Rights, Labor Conflict, and Integration: New Orleans Educators’ Struggle for Collective Bargaining 1965-1974

When American Federation of Teachers-Local 527 launched their collective bargaining campaign in 1965, they were one of five mostly segregated teachers’ locals in New Orleans and represented a minority of the system’s educators. Spurred on by the National, who saw them as the lynchpin to organizing the South, they held a three-day job action, the first teachers’ strike in the South, in 1966 and then a longer nine-day strike in 1969. Through these mobilizations, they connected their demand for collective bargaining to racial and economic equity in the schools, aligning themselves with Black students, parents, and lower paid support workers. In the early 1970s, New Orleans underwent an ambitious faculty desegregation program that transformed the schools and led to the merger between Local 527 and the majority-white National Education Association (NEA) local to form the United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO). Although faculty desegregation was a top-down reform, the union capitalized on teacher integration to form intentional alliances across race and mobilize new members. Following the merger, UTNO renewed their call for collective bargaining, eventually pressuring the board to approve an election in 1974. I argue that by positioning racial justice as central to their union organizing, prioritizing participatory democracy among membership, and engaging in civil rights unionism, UTNO succeeded in achieving collective bargaining when so many other Southern cities failed.

The Myth of a Political Powerhouse: The National Education Association and Presidential Election Campaigns, 1972–2016

Background/Context During the 2016 presidential election campaign, Hillary Clinton was “booed” while speaking at the National Education Association (NEA)'s annual representative assembly. The media suggested this evidenced a weakening of a powerful alliance. Since the NEA first endorsed Jimmy Carter in 1976, the claim that the Democratic party is “a wholly owned subsidiary of the NEA” has persisted. This characterization of the NEA and Democratic Party relationship has become so ubiquitous in political discourse that it is rarely questioned. As a result, the NEA is often portrayed as a powerful political player in national elections, while little evidence supports this conclusion. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study uses archival evidence to identify the NEA's political influence during presidential election campaigns to provide scholars a more nuanced history as they seek to understand current political happenings. Research Design The historical analysis used internal campaign and NEA documents located in 13 archives housed in six presidential libraries, four university libraries, two state historical societies, and one public policy institute as well as the NEA Collection at The George Washington University. Findings/Results Two factors explain NEA's limited influence on presidential politics despite its significant donations to the Democratic Party. First, Republican candidates used the NEA to attack Democrats as beholden to radical special interest groups. Democrats evidenced the success of this Republican strategy by taking positions the NEA opposed in an attempt to convince voters of their independence. Second, many NEA members did not support the NEA's involvement in party politics because they believed political activism was inconsistent with teacher professionalism or they were conservatives unwilling to support a Democratic candidate. Conclusions/Recommendations As they look to future presidential campaigns, scholars should remember: 1) Republican candidates’ attacks on the NEA have been part of a strategy to convince voters that Democratic candidates were beholden to special interests. Policy differences between Republican candidates and the NEA served as later justification for this strategy rather that its cause. 2) Democratic candidates supporting policies the NEA opposes is not an act of political courage. They have long found the power of the NEA rests not in its endorsement but in the opportunity for voters to see them stand up to this special interest group. Given the NEA's commitment to endorsing a candidate and the Republican strategy, Democrats have been able to challenge the NEA without fearing that it will cost them an endorsement or campaign contributions.

The Role of Teachers in Community Engagement and Transmission of Government Policies and Political Ideology in Harare Metropolitan Province

Zimbabwe adopted a new economic blueprint, Vision 2030, whose goal is to transform and develop the country into an upper middle-income economy by 2030. The teachers' role is to make the education system become a tool that creates industrialisation and modernisation. Teachers are to embrace the Competency-Based Curriculum as a vehicle for the attainment of this Vision. The education sector has the key to transform the country. Teachers are expected to innovate in their teaching, play a role in community and pass on government policies and political ideology. The study sought to investigate teachers' role in community engagement and transmission of government policies and political ideology in Harare Province. It employed quantitative research design. It was conducted in 145 schools which were randomly-selected from 231 schools in the Province. Using National Education Association (NPA) formula, for a population size N=5656, 360 teachers constituted a representative sample at 5% significance level. The data were collected through a structured questionnaire. Findings revealed that teachers play a role in community engagement, providing leadership and guidance; but had no role to play in the transmission of government official political ideology which they regarded as no concern of theirs. They view politics as highly partisan, but not as defined by Harold Lasswell (1936), who views politics as the process of deciding 'who gets what, when, where and how?' Given that politics is inextricably linked to education, the study recommends that government puts in place teacher in-service re-orientation programmes aimed at equipping teachers with necessary political ideological education and conscientisation.

Kemetic Principles in African American Public Address: An Interrogation of the Rhetoric of Joseph C. Price and the Kemetic Tradition

The purpose of this essay is to promote the utilization of Kemetic principles in approaching African American public address. Although there have been recent studies on African American public address, the employment of the Kemetic philosophy is limited. Using the four overarching ethical principles of Kemetic rhetorical tradition as outlined by Karenga, this essay interrogates Joseph C. Price’s 1890 speech at the National Education Association national convention. A Kemetic analysis of Price’s speech reveals that African American public address endorses the dignity and rights of the human person, the well-being of family and community, the integrity and value of the environment, and the reciprocal solidarity and cooperation for the mutual benefit of humanity. This suggests that a Kemetic understanding of African American public address can (a) civically benefit the broader community because of its ethical foundation, (b) facilitate the recognition of contemporary ethical appeals in any given discourse, and (c) serve as an impetus for collective advancement toward a social justice–oriented world.