From our journals: Anti-racist teaching in an era of inequality and more
This month, we focus on the nation’s most pressing issues. The COVID-19 crisis has altered the lives and realities of most people. Pandemics, says Michael W. Apple of Bejing Normal University, are in some ways equalizers. “Illness and death are faced by people across the economic spectrum,” he says. But that doesn’t mean the loss is equal. Minorities and the impoverished suffer more, in healthcare, homeschooling and more.
By: Michael W. Apple, Beijing Normal University, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Published in: Education Review, April 29, 2020
Apple wrote this review prior to the devastating effects of COVID-19. He addresses this issue in a prologue, stating, “This crisis has transformed the lives and realities of huge numbers of people. Such pandemics are in some ways equalizers. Illness and death are faced by people across the economic spectrum.” Apple goes on to state that these realities are still vastly unequal. Minoritized and poor people are much more apt to suffer the worst consequences of the disease, not only in health care, but in all aspects of their lives, he says. One of the areas of inequalities is homeschooling, says Apple. “With the closure of schools, a hybrid form of education is being developed, often in very uncertain and tentative ways.” And many of the results are not yet known. The rest of the prologue is devoted to Apple raising some issues that may have very real and perhaps long-lasting effects on homeschooling and on the larger body of schooling in general.
By: Laura E. Hernández, Learning Policy Institute, and Tina M. Trujillo, University of California, Berkeley
Published in: Education Review, May 13, 2020
Reviewing two recent volumes on democratic schooling and educators, Hernández and Trujillo state, “The authors make long overdue and critically important contributions to the field.” They reveal how sociopolitical and economic factors affect aspects of everyday life for practitioners and also acutely influence and govern schooling systems and the behaviors within them. The authors, according to Hernández and Trujillo, help practitioners understand how we got here, what we are up against, and refreshingly offer answers to the key questions: What are we fighting for? How can we make democratic and just schooling a reality? The reviewers conclude that these books serve as resources for policymakers and practitioners who are uniquely situated to craft, interpret, mediate or implement policies at the local level.
Review of “Through the fog: Towards inclusive anti-racist teaching”
By: Kaitlyn Holshouser
Published in: Education Review, May 27, 2020
Defining anti-racist teaching as “teaching against oppression in all forms” with a specific focus on race because it “is ever present in our world and is enmeshed with other issues,” this book by Tara Affloter provides a glimpse into the complexities of anti-racist teaching and a starting point for teachers who are concerned with creating equitable school experiences and outcomes for all students.
By: Paul G. Fitchett, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Jendayi Dillard, University of Texas at Austin; Christopher J. McCarthy, University of Texas at Austin; Richard G. Lambert, University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Kristen Mosley, University of Texas at Austin,
Published in: Education Policy Analysis Archives, June 2020
Combining secondary data from the National Center for Education Statistics National Teacher Principal Survey and Common Core of Data, this exploratory study examined the distribution of teacher race and ethnicity across the race and ethnicity of the schools in which they work and the extent that teacher and school, and race and ethnicity was associated with occupational stress. The researchers found that teachers are more likely to work in schools with higher concentrations of students who match their own race and ethnicity. Both teacher and school race and ethnicity were unique predictors of a teacher being classified as at-risk for stress. These findings, the researchers state, have policy implications for how school workplace surveys are used, as well as staffing and professional development considerations.
About our journals
MLFTC sponsors three innovative, open-access journals on education scholarship. EPAA is a peer-reviewed, international, multilingual and multidisciplinary journal designed for researchers, practitioners, policymakers and development analysts concerned with education policies. Education Review publishes reviews of books on education topics and Acquired Wisdom essays by esteemed educational researchers, and CIE is a peer-reviewed journal led by MLFTC graduate students.
Contact Stephanie McBride-Schreiner to learn more about our journals.