Innovator Vol. 36 No. 1 - Winter 06: The M Difference
Return to contents SOCIAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE ENTERS NEW PHASE
For the last three years, an exciting series of symposia and discussions focusing on equity, access, and social justice have unfolded at the School of Educa- tion, funded in large part by the Kellogg Foundation. Faculty, staff, students, and members of the community across campus and beyond have planned, organized, and attended presentations and discussions on such topics as linguistic diversity and critical race theory, by national experts Gloria Ladson-Billings, Carol Lee, William Tate, John Baugh, and Kris Gutierrez, among others. These guest speakers have challenged all participants to look hard at program designs, hiring practices, teaching methods, and new possibilities as we begin to envision education that is valuable and accessible to diverse undergraduate and graduate students, as well as to their K- 12 counterparts.
Graduate students took a critical role in initiating, planning, and even facilitating these efforts. Three doctoral students in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education explained their involvement. Sonia DeLuca recalled, “I got involved on the planning committee because of the vi- sion and activism of other, more senior students. I wanted to call attention to the ways in which race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, and disability status mediate experiences at the School of Education.” Alina Wong feels that, so far, “we have built some awareness about critical issues in education.” Penny Pasque thinks that student involvement and energy “helped some faculty, staff, and students conceptualize the work (of social justice) more broadly.”
“The initiative has effectively served as a broad introduction to ‘what could be,’ even though its impact at this juncture is minimal,” says Percy Bates, professor of education and Director of Programs for Educational Opportunity, a 40-year old technical assistance agency that serves schools and communities in six Midwestern states as they grapple with issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and origin. Of the Social Justice initiative he notes, “So far, we’ve accomplished what we set out to accomplish.”
Tabbye Chavous, associate professor of education and psychology, who will be leading the initiative during the coming year, says, “It’s time for us to place this initiative and the School of Education’s mission and vision in the context of the larger values of the University of Michigan. This university defended its affirmative action policies all the way to the Supreme Court by arguing for the educative aspects of diversity, based on research conducted by UM researchers in Psychology, Business, and Higher Education. As we study the key problems and issues confronting K-12 and higher education, we are inevitably looking at, and trying to remedy, disparities of achievement and access by race, gender, linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic status. We can’t learn about this in a vacuum.”
Dean Deborah Ball looks forward to the next steps for the School’s efforts. “We have had opportunities over the last few years to bring concerns for social justice to the fore. We also must work actively to recruit and support more faculty and students of color, and attend to the sensitivity and inclusiveness of the School’s learning environment. These issues are central for focusing our research --- both the questions we pursue and the settings in which we work.”
HISTORY OF THE INITIATIVE
The seeds of the initiative were planted in the late 1990s, says Dr. Bates. “Several
of us on the Diversity Committee approached Dean Karen Wixson about our sense that there were dwindling numbers of faculty and students of color at the School of Education. The cultural
audit, which was partially funded by the Provost’s Office, and conducted in 2001, was one response to that concern. We thought, “Let’s see where we are, and what we have going on.” I think we found out that while the school was not necessarily openly hostile to minorities, there was some feeling that we needed to do a lot more.”
The Diversity Committee then determined that the School of Education should provide visibility to this concern— live, ongoing activities that demonstrated interest and commitment to questions of equity and social justice. Bates continues, “We worried that, otherwise, as prospective students and prospective faculty of color came to visit, they might not see much that represented them or their concerns—which would just reinforce the recruitment problem.”
The term “social justice” emerged as an appropriate broad descriptor of the concerns named during the cultural audit. During focus group meetings, it became clear that the questions of identity and belonging facing SOE faculty, staff, and students were not bound by categories such as race, ethnicity, or language alone. Gender, sexual identity, disability status, socioeconomic class, and hierarchical status were also named repeatedly as areas for further discussion and work. The Kellogg Foundation provided $50,000 over three years to fund various activities and seminars addressing “social justice.”
RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE PLANNING COMMITTE
While the Kellogg funding period has ended, the efforts continue. During 2005-6, an alumni speaker series is planned. In addition, faculty, staff, and students are considering action steps that include structural and administrative
changes. School of Education professors
Jay Lemke and Tabbye Chavous, on behalf of the Social Justice Initiative
planning committee, made a series of recommendations to the Executive Committee that included:
- Establishment of a Social Justice and Education Studies concentration for Ph.D. students;
- Inclusion of readings, coursework, discussion opportunities and experiences that address issues of race-based discrimination, cultural and ethnic stereotyping, and negative attitudes towards women, and gay, lesbian or transgender students and teachers at all levels;
- Development of stronger partnerships across campus with the School of Social Work, LSA Departments of Anthropology, Sociology, and Linguistics, the Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning, the Center for the Education of Women, the Center for African and African American Studies, the Intergroup Relations and Dialogues on Diversity Programs, among others;
- Recruitment of senior scholars of color and others who make social justice issues a primary focus of their work.
Dr. Lemke says, “It’s clear that many students and faculty would welcome the creation of a supportive, welcoming, and self-critical home in the School of Education for the intellectual, professional, and personal discussion of these issues and their relation to teaching, learning, and research.”
HOPES FOR THE FUTURE Associate professor Elizabeth Moje hopes that the School of Education will begin to work toward “culturally responsive subject matter teacher education.” She says, “We have all the pieces…but we don’t have the active integration of those pieces, nor do we have the structures in place in our program to do this work.” In a response given at one of the symposia, she suggested,“A first step toward building culturally responsive subject matter teacher education might be to build structures in our programs…that strategically or planfully integrate a discussion of culture and the individual into all of the other courses.” Dr.Moje repeated a point made by Gloria Ladson-Billings in her talk: that and we need to develop a discourse for talking openly about race and racial identity.
Dr. Bates says, “There is a predictable tension between separately naming an initiative like this, versus institutionalizing it. Sometimes when things get institutionalized, they can become almost invisible. When we say, ‘Everybody’s doing it,’ there is a possibility that nobody is really doing it. I hope we’ll be able to make some institutional changes while still keeping key questions on the front burner.
Chavous Conducts Research on Resiliency of African American Students
As a social psychologist with a joint appointment in psychology and education, Tabbye Chavous is deeply interested in the impact of social contexts as well as in the individual differences between learners. Her research has been conducted on the University of Michigan campus in the context of the Intergroup Dialogue on Diversity Project, and in secondary education settings. “Why do kids who are going to school or living in virtually the same context, sometimes fare very differently? Why are some African American students resilient, while others struggle?” she wonders.
She notes that there is considerable variety in how African American students think about themselves with relation to their racial group, influenced in part by factors such as social class and gender. While some have argued that African American culture devalues education, her findings clarify that a strong positive sense of group identity has a positive correlation with student achievement. That sense of identity can be protective for children in classrooms and schools, particularly when they face problems and challenges. At the same time, context is powerful. “Environment constrains,” Chavous-Sellers notes.
An African American student who builds strong interracial friendships in high school will be predisposed to do so when arriving on a college campus, but “students’ perceptions of the norms of a context affect their behavior. If it’s ‘normal’ for blacks and whites to interact separately, newcomers will be affected by those norms,” she says. Chavous is interested in exploring the implications of her work for teacher education programs, but acknowledges, “It’s complex. It can be difficult to know what action to take, when the answer is, ‘It depends!’”
A New Movement: Quality Education as a Civil Right
In March 2005, a dedicated group of activists, advocates, and academics gathered—100 strong— at Howard University in Washington, DC, and began to organize a new grass roots movement. Participants in that initial meeting included Algebra Project founder Bob Moses, actor Danny Glover, researchers Linda Darling-Hammond and Jeannie Oakes, and Howard University Education School Dean Vinetta Jones, also an alumna of the UM School of Education. The group has begun calling for a constitutional amendment making quality education a civil right. They have since met again in Ann Arbor in May, hosted by University of Michigan. “This is one of the most exciting things I’ve been involved with since the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s, and since being part of the desegregation of the schools in Champaign- Urbana in the 70s,” says Assistant School of Education Dean Henry Meares.
“Unlike the previous Civil Rights Movement, this movement reaches across all walks of life. It includes young people, legislators, parents, and people from various racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups,” adds Meares. He thinks the level of enthusiasm on the part of all involved is grounded in a sense of moral responsibility to this country, its children, and its future.
Local groups, graduate students, undergraduate students, and alums are welcome to affiliate with Quality Education as a Civil Right (QECR). Some of the organizations currently involved include NAACP and the Children’s Defense Fund. The group hopes to invite the nation to have a conversation about what it means to experience quality education, and to identify and overcome barriers to access. For more information on QECR, please see the following web address: http://www.qecr.org or e-mail Dr. Meares at hmeares@umich.edu.
P.E.O.: Programs for Educational Opportunity
“Working in the areas of race, gender and national origin equity to provide better life chances, equal access and opportunity, and successful achievement in the education of all children.” This is the mission of the Programs for Educational Opportunity (PEO) Office, established under Title IV of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which has been a part of the University of Michigan, School of Education since its inception in 1970. PEO is the U. S. Department of Education Equity Assistance Center for Region V, serving K-12 traditional and charter public schools in the six Upper Great Lakes states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
At the request of school districts, school boards, and other associated responsible agencies and/or personnel in these six states, the Programs provide equity technical assistance to ensure that all children, regardless of race, gender, national origin, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, have access to equitable quality education which will give them the opportunity to become productive, successful students. This assistance is provided through training and development, needs assessments, long range planning, implementation, evaluation, and the dissemination of numerous model equity-based programs. Assistance areas include equal access to gifted and talented and bilingual and English language learners programs, multicultural, gender and disability-fair education, equitable achievement, diversity awareness training, harassment and bully prevention, in-school and between-school desegregation, affirmative action, non-biased instruction and instructional materials, and family/community involvement in schools.
Ultimately, the Programs for Educational Opportunity are here to help you help the children.
P.E.O.‘s website is http://www.umich.edu/~eqtynet
Stella’s Gift: Lives of Urban Children and Youth
The Lives of Urban Children and Youth, or LUCY, a School of Education-created initiative for fresh man and sophomores interested in urban communities and education, is entering its fifth year. This popular initiative, supports and mentors undergraduate students as they take coursework while also engaging in service learning projects in Detroit. LUCY is affiliated with the Michigan Community Scholars Program, a UM living-learning community based at Couzens Hall, as well as with the Ginsberg Center for Community and Service Learning. After the recent death of LUCY’s founding director, Stella Raudenbush, School of Education Professor Percy Bates has been appointed director. Joe Galura, co-director based at Ginsberg, will continue in his leadership and teaching roles.
LUCY continues to function as an effective “experiment in action” as the School of Education grapples with the question of preparing prospective teachers to work with communities and young people of diverse cultural, racial, socioeconomic, or linguistic backgrounds. For more information on LUCY, please see the following web site:
http://www.umich.edu/~lucyweb
or contact Percy Bates at pbates@umich.edu
Stella Raudenbush, age 59, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, died suddenly on May 21, 2005. Hers was a life long commitment to social justice. While attending Cardinal Cushing College in Brookline MA, she helped organize the first hospital workers union in Massachusetts. After graduating in 1967, Stella was a social worker for 10 years in Roxbury, MA, where she led battles for welfare rights. Later she led the Parents Support and Action Center in Cambridge and facilitated school desegregation in Weston MA. In 1984, she moved with her family to Michigan where she directed service learning programs for undergraduates, first at Michigan State and later at the University of Michi gan. In 2001 she launched the award-win ning program “Lives of Urban Children and Youth,” a partnership between the Univer sity of Michigan and community organiza tions training undergraduates while improv ing instruction for Detroit children. Just prior to her untimely death, the University of Chicago announced her appointment as director of an ambitious new urban education program. Her commitment to intellectual honesty and social justice will live through the many lives she has touched.
