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to CSHPE ResearchStudents Teach Social Justice
In January, as part of the University’s semester–long commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, Linda Brown Thompson and her sister Cheryl Brown Henderson spoke eloquently of their experiences as the named plaintiffs in the case, which was decided May 17, 1954. Henderson’s description of the Brown decision as “being about having access to resources white children had, not about sitting next to white children in the classroom,” must have resonated deeply with the School of Education’s Social Justice and Educational Equity Graduate Student Committee.
A year earlier, the group of nine graduate students gathered to share their concerns about the culture and climate in the School of Education. They formed the committee to influence the school to create a more inclusive environment. “Our efforts have concentrated on issues of cultural/racial diversity, but we are concerned with other identity issues, specifically sexual orientation, ability/disability, and socioeconomic status,” said committee member Sonia Deluca.
Deluca and Alina Wong, both second year doctoral students in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education (CSHPE), coordinate the course that grew out of those shared concerns. Critical Issues in Social Justice and Education is a one-credit graduate seminar in the School of Education, which is also open to the public. Professors John Burkhardt and Steve Raudenbush, and Dean Karen Wixson support the seminar.
“In our concern for the climate at the School of Ed, we kept coming back to the fact that our experiences as graduate students did not reflect those of a socially just community,” Deluca explained, “ and that we did not feel adequately prepared to enact change in education for the promises of a diverse democracy.”
So, they asked, what better way to enact change than by creating a class?
The first social justice seminar was offered in Fall 2003. “Last semester, our discussions centered around issues of affirmative action, multicultural education for both undergraduates and graduate students, and professional preparation of future educators,” said Wong.
Just as the University is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Brown decision throughout the spring semester (see Events Calendar: May 7-8, p24), Deluca said, the Social Justice Seminar has also incorporated the 50th anniversary into its syllabus. “We have supported student activism and theme-semester initiatives; we have used school segregation and disparities in achievement as ‘critical issues and problems’ for class discussion; and we have encouraged student participation in the theme-semester events open to the public,” like the “Conversation With the Brown Sisters,” at Rackham Auditorium.
On March 6, the Social Justice Seminar, as part of the University-wide commemoration, presented its own discussion entitled: What Schools Need to Know and Do to Reduce Gaps in Achievement, and How the Next Generation of Research and Scholarship Can Contribute to That Effort. Panelists included Beverly Tatum, President of Spelman College; Mark Freeman, Superintendent of Shaker Heights Schools; and Rossi Rae-Taylor, Executive Director of Minority Student Achievement Network, and former Superintendent of Ann Arbor Schools. Each discussed the topic and took questions from about 125 students, faculty and community members in the Whitney Auditorium.
Deluca said the committee hopes continued interest in the Seminar helps the school see creation of a special track for social justice education as a valuable addition to the curriculum.
