Education, Citizenship, & Social Justice
By: Lawrence J. Mrozek
Below is the first installment of Beyond Student Affairs and examines an article from SAGE publication’s Education, Citizenship and Social Justice (ECSJ). The journal has a global focus and touches on a multitude of current issues affecting communities throughout the world.
Citizenship Learning in Everyday Life
In “Understanding Young People’s Citizenship Learning in Everyday Life: The Role of Contexts, Relationships and Dispositions” (Biesta, Lawy, & Kelly, 2009), the authors address the possible influences of contexts and relationships, and personal dispositions on developing democratic citizens. They felt that previous policy development had been based on a philosophy that infusing citizenship training into the curriculum was the best solution to young people’s “political and social alienation” (p.6).
The critique of current philosophy is that citizenship and social justice initiatives are also developed in other contexts of young people’s lives beyond the classroom. School-based curriculum inherits “the assumption of citizenship as the outcome of an educational and developmental trajectory” (p. 7), as compared to a continuous fluid process. This structural outcome implies that “good” citizenship is only accomplished in “adulthood” and that youth and young adults are still in the developing stage. The article attempts to evaluate how young people define their citizenship, to what degree they feel they are a “contributor” to society, and how these two issues shape their personalities and approaches to democratic participation.
The study was an ethnographic study of 29 youth, ages 13 – 18+ years old, from the South West of England. Participants were recruited through a variety of sources at educational institutions, work, and numerous organizations and affiliations. In the article the stories of two exemplars were presented that authors felt best represented the participants as a whole.
Biesta et al. (2009) presented rich stories of the various contextual influences on their attitudes toward democratic citizenship. They authors stated: that their [the participants’] everyday citizenship is not one-dimensional but consist of a wide range of different experiences, which not only provide different opportunities for acting and being but, in relation to this, also provide a range of opportunities for citizenship learning. (p. 16-17)
Participants’ stories supported the idea that contexts and dispositions do impact attitudes toward democratic citizenship, and that family, organizations, activities, etc. can have a greater influence on citizenship attitudes than mere classroom experiences. Youth that “have a say” in society, are taken seriously and have the opportunity for influence will have a greater propensity to be democratic citizens who “do good” in society. Classroom experiences do not necessarily “guarantee that what is taught will be identical to is what is learned” (p. 7) and more is needed to supplement this development.
Overview and Implications for the Profession
Much focus on college campuses has been on service-learning classroom experiences to develop a social justice imperative in college students, and this has been an effective avenue in that development; however, we also need to create avenues for student to have a voice that can have a direct impact on social justice policy development.
In addition, there needs to be opportunities for discussion and interaction in social justice activities with clubs and organizations, which would involve all student affairs departments. As social justice educators we need to ask ourselves the following questions: “Are social justice philosophies embedded in the institutional discourse and mission statements?” “Do students have a significant role in substantive policy making committees and are not just relegated to advisory positions?” “Do we as educators reflect that role as citizens who do good and therefore open the opportunity for student/educator discussions on good citizenship?”
If we desire to instill the desire to do good, then we as student affairs practitioners and educators must examine a more comprehensive approach to that development beyond curricular experiences.
Other Recommended Articles from ECSJ
- “Sowing the Seeds of Citizenship and Social Justice” (Ransom, 2009)
- “A University Service-Learning Assignment: Delivering the FAIR Curriculum to K-12 Students to Promote Social Justice” (Zimmerman, Krafchick, & Aberle, 2009)
- “The Politics of Shame in Intercultural Education” (Zembylas, 2008)
References:
Biesta, G., Lawy, R., & Kelly, N. (2009). Understanding young people's citizenship learning in everyday life: The role of contexts, relationships and dispositions. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 4, 5-24. doi: 10.1177/1746197908099374
Ransom, L. S. (2009). Sowing the seeds of citizenship and social justice: Service-learning in a public speaking course. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 4, 211-224. doi: 10.1177/1746197909340871
Zembylas, M. (2008). The politics of shame in intercultural education. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 3, 263-280. doi: 10.1177/1746197908095135
Zimmerman, T. S., Krafchick, J. L., & Aberle, J. T. (2009). A university service-learning assignment: Delivering the FAIR curriculum to K-12 students to promote social justice. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 4, 195-210. doi: 10.1177/1746197909340875
Lawrence J. Mrozek, is a faculty member at Wright State University in Dayton, OH and serves as publications coordinator for CSJE.
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The Millenial Pitfall
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Education, Citizenship & Social Justice
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2010 Convention
Call for Manuscripts
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