Addressing Social Turbulence
Three Questions of, and for, the Neoliberal University
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Judy Hemming, Michael McKinley
In those countries which have adopted, and then enthusiastically advanced the political-economic doctrine of neoliberalism the rationale proclaimed by public policymakers was that universities needed revolutionary reform in order to become more accountable, more relevant, more agile, and generally more attuned to the behaviour of a corporation in a hostile and brutally competitive world economy. One reaction has been that countless obituaries have been published recording not so much the reform, but the demise of these very university systems. Parsed for detail, the claim is that a way of life for both faculty and students, at all levels, in the pursuit of research and education, has been either extinguished or changed radically so that its successor states defy comparison with the past. They proclaim nothing less than that the university systems they refer to have been subject to a hostile takeover which has imposed conditions which are fundamentally inimical to learning and the search for knowledge and thus a threat to the body politic. Accordingly, since democratic norms demand accountability, the next logical steps should include public inquiries and judicial investigations with a view to ensuring that public policymakers are held responsible for egregious offenses against the national interest.
Society and Its Legitimation in School Books
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nurit Elhanan-Peled
This study examines the multimoal ways Israeli textbooks legitimate the symbolic, cultural, and physical elimination of Palestinian and Non-White Jewish "others." The interpretation of findings uses the paradigm of Zionist settler-colonialism and its logic of elimination. The analysis uses the Gardening Metaphor elaborated by Zygmunt Bauman (Modernity and the Holocaust), which applies to regimes that wish to create an artificial society on the basis of racial purity. The semiotic means used in textbooks to represent both groups have a lot in common and stem from the same logic and the same project of Jewish racial "purity" which the books are meant to promote. In order to accept such segregationist policy and engage in its practices children are made heterophobic through the use of Holocaust rhetoric of victimhood and Power, that teaches fear of others, extreme nationalism and majoritarianism, and promotes the development of a predatory identity. Social Semiotic principles of inquiry are used in the multimodal analysis and therefore and every sign is understood as motivated by interests and ideologies within Israeli settler-colonial culture. The verbal analysis will include Holocaust language of victimhood (equating all others to Nazis and using "extermination" Auschwitz" and Anti-Semitism regarding every act of Palestinian resistance) and the language of Power. The visual analysis will be applied to artistic and scientific visuals such as photographs, maps and graphs.
Islamophobia in European Classrooms: Startegies for Teachers to Combat This
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kazi Hossain
Islam is one of the fastest growing religions of the world with about 1.6 billion followers - a fifth of the world's population. According to Pew Research Center (2017), Muslims make up 4.9% of Europe's populations which translate to about 25 million people. In Greece the number is close to 500,000. Currently Islam has become a highly misunderstood religion in the world, especially in the West (Bassiouni, 2015; Meacham, 2009; Ayers & Reid, 2005) with many having negative perceptions about Islam and Muslims (Gollnick & Chinn, 2017). Such misunderstandings about Islam have sparked from unfortunate world events like September 11, 2001, London subway, September 15, 2017, and other similar incidents as well as the existence of ISIS and their heinous crimes. However, these negative perceptions have also been accelerated by misinformation and stereotypic portrayal of Islam by popular media, as well as by religious/political leaders (Meacham, 2009). Negative public perceptions and misinformation can be minimized from any society by educating future generations. Educators highlight the importance of teaching about Islam in educational institutions (Jackson, 2010; Moore, 2006; Phelps, 2010). Phelps (2010) argued, “…accurate information about people of diverse backgrounds can promote understanding, appreciation, and tolerance within our pluralistic society” and “create a more realistic and nuanced view of Islam” (192). Informative and non-bias methods can be utilized to initiate the concept of Islam or Muslims in a classroom. The intent of this paper is to provide teachers and educators with information, strategies, and resources for teaching about Islam and Muslims.
The Impact of Selected School and Teacher Characteristics on the Post-secondary Readiness of African American and Hispanic Graduates
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Douglas Hermond, Tyrone Tanner
The evidence is overwhelming that the interaction of the community, the school leader, and the school’s context indirectly impacts students’ academic progress. In Texas, we are cognizant that these influences ultimately contribute to Texas’ success as leaders in the global economy. In this era of “austerity and social turbulence,” it is imperative that we focus fastidiously on those factors that are most likely to help eradicate the opportunity gap to ensure that traditionally underrepresented groups are college ready. Today, African Americans and Hispanics constitute 69% of public school enrollees. Consequently, we collected student, teacher, and classroom data from the Texas Academic Performance Report to determine which factors are most closely related to traditionally underrepresented students’ college readiness. Specifically, we assessed the percentage of Hispanic and African American student’s college readiness from 425 high schools in 10 counties, representing 54% of all Texas students. We discovered, in our preliminary regression analysis, that for Hispanic students, the school’s mobility rate, per-student expenditure on instruction, and average class size were the most pronounced influences. For African American students, the base salary of the teacher, per-student expenditure on instruction, and teachers’ years of experience were the most influential factors. The policy implication is that for these students, we should renew our focus on improving instruction by insisting that students show up to school, that we populate our classrooms with experienced teachers, and that we reduce class sizes. These require greater financial commitment from schools and are congruent with the tenets of culturally responsive pedagogy.
