Investigating educators’ ‘Lived Experiences’ - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Investigating educators’ ‘Lived Experiences’ as citizens

Recent qualitative research on secondary teachers’ citizenship identities in Canada, the U.S., Brazil and Australia

Conrad McCallum EDU 6426 Citizenship and Global EducationProfessor Doug FlemingSlide2

Investigating educators’ ‘Lived Experiences’ as citizens

Western University’s Lisa Y Faden, who taught 10 years in the U.S., examined 13 Canadian and US teachers to understand how they engage with broader discourses about citizenship and the nation (

Citizenship Teaching & Learning, 2012)John Myers, Florida State University, examined how 14 politically active secondary social science teachers in Porto Alegre, Brazil and Toronto, Canada practiced citizenship education (

Comparative Education Review,

2006)

Joan Dejaeghere, University of Minnesota, examined how 23 educators perceived their lived experiences as citizens in an era of globalization – 11 secondary school teachers, 8 university teachers, 4 policy makers (Comparative Education Review, 2008).Slide3

A focus on educators’ Views of citizenship responds to a

research gap

Discourse analysis of gov’t documents on citizenship ed.Aggregated data on civic competencies (e.g., IEA CIVED)Large surveys of citizenship perspectives in high schools

Rhetoric analysis of curricular reforms for global citizenship

Research on youths’ empathy and tolerance levels

Measures of participatory citizenship (e.g. intentions to vote)X But

relatively rare to find studies of:

H

ow citizenship is actually “conceptualized and enacted by educators in their daily lives” -- Dejaeghere (2008)

It is common to see…Slide4

Citizenship Education Researchtakes a qualitative turn

In-depth semi-structured interviews with a small number of participants

Emphasis on hearing educators “in their own words.” Personal background and experiences of participants is very significant. The research is interested in how local contexts for political action shape the individual’s citizenship experience.

The work is therefore less caught up in analyzing the “psychology” of individual participants.Slide5

Faden: Educators’ conceptions of citizenship

Faden asked two questions How do history teachers describe the ‘good’ citizen

How do history teachers understand their roles as citizenship educators? 13 participants at school boards in Ontario & Maryland

Following

Westheimer

and Kahne (2004), 5 teachers’ descriptions fit personally responsible citizenship (behave morally, obey the laws, cause no harm, appreciate one’s country. Four teachers’ descriptions fit participatory citizenship

(make one’s voice heard and participate in democratic processes

beyond voting

). Only 1 teacher’s description fit justice-oriented citizenship .In many cases teachers reflected popular notions of national identity (e.g., US emphasis on individual rights, Canadian emphasis on the collective).

‘Unexpected’ responses: US teachers did not express patriotism. Developing students’ independent judgment was more important. Canadian teachers displayed greater patriotism. For them, defining Canadian national identity was a central aim for history education.Slide6

Canadian teachers appeared to express commitment to defining Canada as a

multicultural, peacekeeping, and justice- oriented nation.Faden’s critique: This picture of Canadian exceptionalism is more myth than fact. We forget that these values must be critically applied

, following Kymlicka (2003).The American teachers supported the notion of the individual citizen as a ‘natural phenomenon.’ Faden’s

critique: They spoke from a ‘liberal individualist paradigm’ which has been much criticized (Giroux, 2005 and others).

Another commonality: While, participants emphasized engaged, participatory citizenship, they were uncomfortable discussing political matters.

But democracy is a ‘constructive, creative process… the need for this work arises anew, within itself, continually’ (Parker, 2003).

Faden

: Educators’ conceptions of citizenshipSlide7

Most educators are like the rest of society:not highly

politically active. But this makes conceptualization of citizenship among politically active educators is of particular interest.

Myers therefore sets out to find a sample of teachers who are all political activists, involved either in formal politics or in social

movements. Following

Ginsburg (1995),

Myers understands pedagogy as fundamentally political. Using teacher interviews, classroom observation, and document data he examined:how this group practised citizenship education;

how their roles as citizens and citizen educators intersected with the local contexts.

Social-movement teachers in Canada and Brazil taught more democratically (more student

centred approaches, more sharing of authority in class), and incorporated into their lessons a focus on non-traditional political actors (social movements concerned with social justice). Their activism shaped their pedagogical practice.

One of Myers premises: beliefs about democracy drive citizenship education practices (Parker and Westheimer/Kahne; and national political contexts shape citizenship teaching (Hahn, 1998).

MYERS: Educators’ conceptions of citizenshipSlide8

The Brazil context Social movements have adapted new strategies to deepen democracy and “seek to extend active citizenship to unorganized, excluded sectors.” Porto Alegre context: Social Workers’ Party (

Partido dos Trabalhadores) was in power at the municipal level. Popular participation emphasized. ‘Activism begets political consciousness’ (Hochstetler, 2000, 167). Social movements are important in a country where they once faced repression under the military regime.

Myers: Educators’ conceptions of citizenship

The activist Port Alegre teachers, in contrast to the Canadian teachers, “conceived of citizenship primarily as the development of a critical class consciousness and political awareness, with some references to race and gender equalities.” – MyersSlide9

Myers: Educators’ conceptions of citizenship

“We have a more recent tradition of democracy, so I always try to bring for the students.. The experiences that are relevant to this situation. This is the autonomy for us to form opinions, to have a position, to seek out a position, and to develop an argument in order to defend an idea. It is these concrete things, really very concrete, that show how democracy is possible. Democracy is not an empty word… but an enormous pedagogical construct.”

Moacir

, teacher quoted in Myers (2007), 12

Camila, another teacher, shaped her understanding of the teacher’s role from working in adult-literacy campaigns organized by the Workers’ Party. She referred to the focus of Freire’s literacy work “on the acquisition of broader sociopolitical knowledge about the causes of their oppression.”

“The theme of the Landless People’s Movement…is a pretty difficult theme to deal with. It has a lot to do with the ideology of private property. It has a lot to do with political power in Brazil, like the great landowners [who are] in conflict with a great portion of the peasant population. So this is a geographical theme, it’s impossible for it not to be a geographical theme.”

–

one of the teachersSlide10

The Brazilian teachers could do so with less fear of being reprimanded. National Curricular Directives provide broad principles for secondary

Education, while National Curricular Guidelines identify subject-specific curricular goals & principles. But the teachers have latitude to adapt, interpret or ignore these non-binding guidelines. Also, there is more local school autonomy when compared to Canada. In Brazil, 25% of the curriculum is non-academic and controlled by the

schools, Myers reports.

Myers : educators’ conceptions of citizenship

Those active in social movements linked their teaching to

their politics and so were “more willing to challenge regulations

that they viewed as undemocratic or as overlooking important

curricular topics.”

Myers’ conclusion: The activist teachers in this study deserve attention because rather than preparing students for “abstract knowledge of democracy, their teaching addresses the context-specific challenges to improving democracy in their communities and nations.” Official curricula “at best provide ‘openings’ for the type of citizenship education rather than maintain its elitist practice.

It seems that for teachers to make use of such openings they may need to be active in politics themselves”(20) (my italics).

Comments? Reactions?Slide11

Dejaeghere

: educators’ conceptions of citizenship

Dejaeghere

in her study suggests that “citizenship theory and citizenship education should include serious attention to the concept of privilege and power” (

Dejaeghere, 2008, 373). She argues for the need for a “critical global citizenship,” responding to Wymlicka and Norman’s call for theories of citizenship in relationship to diversity and globalization.

Some features of the Australian context:

Citizenship education very contested issue over the past two decades (Kennedy, 2003).

Discovering Democracy (1997-2004) was a national initiative which supported the teaching and learning of civics and citizenship education.

This came after government studies and papers identified a “civic deficit” among young people.Referendum in 1999 over whether to become a republic or remain in the British Commonwealth

Aboriginal rights movement has called for recognition and reconciliation of past discriminationIncreasing trade relationship with Asia and greater immigrationSlide12

The study asked: What are educators’ live experiences as citizens, particular in the context of globalization?” 23 educators are interviewed -- 11

secondary school teachers, 8 university teachers, 4 policy makers They were selected according to these criteria:Involvement in the citizenship education reform in Australia

They could reflect on and share their lived experiences of being a citizen of various communities

“Power” and “privilege” as described by the educators were the overarching themes. It was through social relationships and institutional structures that the educators “did or did not feel privilege and power. They had varying degrees of privilege and power in local, national, regional and global arenas.

These relationships were characterized by these themes: a

sense of belonging, access to and use of resources and knowledge, and personal involvement in issues.All participants emphasized that having an identity that is part of “an imagined” community at the global level is different from having “opportunities for personal involvement, access to resources, and the ability to act on rights.”

Dejaeghere

: educators’ conceptions of citizenshipSlide13

A key takeaway from this study is that feeling of having or not having power or privilege as citizens is very much a part of the lived experience of citizens. But these concepts rarely find their way into citizenship education frameworks. Its focus is on normative concepts, but that leaves out the “lived experiences of diverse people in their communities.”

The knowledge from one own experiences plays a “crucial role in educators’ teaching practice in the classroom,” Dejaeghere writes. Educators’ personal constructions of citizenship matter. As Ginsburg (1995) writes, educators act politically in their personal and professional lives. For this reason, understanding educators’ “lives as citizens, their political, civic and social acts, may lead to greater understanding of how they can connect citizenship as a public, engaging experience with the curriculum and classroom” (359).

Dejaeghere

: educators’ conceptions of citizenshipSlide14

Citizenship Education Researchtakes a qualitative turn - critiques

Reliance on personal reflections of educators?

Small samples: difficult to generalize to national practices? Dahlberg et al. in Reflective Lifeworld Research state that lived experiences research is deep and meaningful data; sample size is not a important a criterion the quality of the data, Dejaeghere states (362).

In a small sample, biased participants or “outliers” have a greater ability to skew the results

Researchers prioritize certain factors and disregard others.

Faden selected history teachers who had several years in the profession – but her study was not particularly concerned about whether they were or were not activists. Myers pre-selected politically active teachers, but did not report their number of years in the teaching profession. Dejaeghere

choose educators who were involved in citizenship ed., and many had dual citizenship or were immigrants. But in her sample, all were of European ethnic background (none were Asian).

Interviews alone probably less useful if not combined with classroom observation and curriculum document study.Other limitations?Slide15

Citizenship Education Researchtakes a qualitative turn - advantages

The kind of research holds promise in exposing how national citizenship discourses, textbook learning, etc. are only scripts….individuals explore/ create their own scripts, sometimes in agreement with, sometimes in conflict with the approved citizenship materials which tend to emphasize consensus.

These researchers are interested in what kind of citizenship education the

teachers

believe

they are engaged in.Their work can support the goal of getting closer to how citizenship is actually enacted

(

Isin

, 2008).Slide16

Bibliography

Dejaeghere

, J. (2008) “Citizenship as Privilege and Power: Australian Educators’ Lived Experiences as Citizens.

Comparative Education Review

, 52, 3, 357-380.

Faden, L. (2012). “Teachers constituting the politicized subject: Candian

and US

taechers

’ perspectives on the ‘good’ citizens. Citizenship Teaching & Learning, 7, 2, 173-189.Ginsburg, M. et al (1995). “Educators and Politics: Interpretations, Involvement, and Implications.” In The Politics of Educators’ Work and Lives,

ed. Mark B. Ginsburg. New York: Garland.Isin, Engin (2008). Theorising acts of citizenship. In Acts of citizenship, edited by

Engin Isin and G M Nielsen, 15-43. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Myers, J. (200). “Citizenship Education Practices of Politically Active Teachers in Porto Elegre, Brazil and Toronto, Canada.”

Comparative Education Review

, 2008, 51, 1, 1-24.

Parker, W. C. (2003).

Teaching Democracy: University and Diversity in Public Life

. New York: Teachers College Press.

Westheimer

, J. and

Kahne

, J.(2004) “’What kind of citizen?’ The politics of educating for democracy.”

American Education Research Journal, 4, 2, 237-69.