journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 robbins, c., bishop j., & tarman, b., editorial: 2019 (2)3, i-vi. against reactionary populism: opening a needed conversation in education guest editors christopher g. robbins, eastern michigan university; email: crobbin2@emich.edu joe bishop, eastern michigan university; email: joe.bishop@emich.edu editor-in-chief bulent tarman in the early throes of the u.s. counter-cultural movement of the 1960s, bob dylan sang, “you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” less a critique of experts than a commentary on the observable cross-currents in u.s. (and global) politics and culture at the time, dylan slyly paid homage to the capacities of average citizens to find their own way through the mess, while indicting a heavy-handed government consolidating power in a world gone wrong. like then, we find ourselves in a world that is seemingly going wrong at every turn and with no dearth of heavy-handed governments. we see this each time we compulsively reach for our phones or turn on our computers, get our daily drip of division, distraction, or news (a 24/7 version of the two minutes of hate in orwell’s 1984 coupled with a steady supply of soma from a brave new world), check our feeds, or resend someone’s 150 characters of revelation. if these things fail to satiate one’s penchant for pain or desire to confirm the end times, then we can get a concentrated version of the malaise when the person in the position of president of the u.s. tweets, often multiple times per day, an alphabet soup of very rarely coded nativism, isolationism, conspiracy theories, and wounded white male entitlement. unlike the time in which the young dylan briefly railed, it seems we would not trust the insight of a meteorologist (or any expert, for that matter) even when we need it, much less have a basic hope in the capacities of others to help us through the thicket that is the current political and cultural landscape. or, so we are instructed: be afraid, be distrustful and, most of all, be aggrieved. mailto:crobbin2@emich.edu mailto:joe.bishop@emich.edu journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 robbins, c., bishop j., & tarman, b., editorial: 2019 (2)3, i-vi. we live in a time of fracture. consider some recent data of u.s. voters’ views: 73% of democrat and republican voters disagree on both policy ideas and basic facts, whereas only 26% can agree on facts even if they differ on policy positions (pew research center, 2019). in a nation known globally for its bloated and racially imbalanced prison system, 71% of democrats believe that the criminal justice system unfairly treats racial and ethnic minorities, while 10% of republicans hold the same belief (pew research center, 2018). what about views on gun violence in a nation known for exceedingly high unnecessary deaths from guns, in which children and adults from all parties die from gun violence? seventy-seven percent of democrats and 34% of republican think gun laws need to be stricter (newport & dugan, 2017). the list could grow with indicators for virtually every issue related to healthcare, immigration, military spending, government regulation of markets, environment, women’s rights and abortion, workers’ rights, and higher education. we also live in a time of regression. after four decades of neoliberal economics in western countries, and an especially cruel modality of u.s. neoliberalism, angst justifiably exists across the political spectrum. this, no matter the political position, is something on which people can agree. considerable common ground, cause, and objective between rival teams disappear beyond this easy observation, putting the teams in seemingly incommensurable oppositions. the teams not only play on different fields, they pursue radically different objectives informed by equally varying logics, evidenced in part by the teams’ inability to agree on basic facts or see the same reality. on the left, “networked” participatory social movement forms attempt to challenge a host of issues ranging from class inequality and police brutality to lgbtqqi+ rights and militarism (see della porta, 2017). alternately, the down-trodden and aggrieved on the right see no irony in finding common cause with (often well-heeled) charismatic leaders who speak to “the people,” while adding insult to injury for the working classes as the leaders advance tax codes and trade laws that further pinch a lower-middleand working class still trying to rebound after decades of stagnating wages and the crushing recession of 2008. here, the villain is not “government,” per se, as the claims would suggest, but rather a government that, under the spell of a digitally-driven info-/finance economy, seems to favor all but whites (straight, g-d-fearing ones). so the excitement builds around “tough,” usually male leaders who promise to return the polity to a mythical past wherein hardworking people prevail and achieve journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 robbins, c., bishop j., & tarman, b., editorial: 2019 (2)3, i-vi. the dreams they perceive others (e.g., educated “others” in the u.s.) to have taken from them with the help of the government (see fraser, 2017; hochschild, 2016). consequently, the government acts less as a conduit through which citizens negotiate competing claims and visions than a hinge point on which contemporary angst swings, arcing for the past decade toward one that operates on unabashedly militaristic, xenophobic, racist, and sexist principles. difference has become one group’s fodder for participatory forms of democracy, another’s existential threat around which to foster exclusionary politics in the name of a narrowly defined “people.” such a tension raises essential questions about not only the durability and elasticity of liberal, representative democracy and civic engagement, but also how people learn to live with this contemporary antagonism and, importantly, with and for each other. democracy cannot survive without this foundation. outside of an insightful run of books by giroux over the past two decades, very little has been said about the role of schooling and education, more broadly, in challenging the great fracture and regression. this special issue seeks, admittedly in a modest way, to begin broader conversations about the role of schooling and education in enriching democracy and challenging reactionary populisms. krynski opens the issue on this very point. richly weaving deep democratic theory and contemporary theories of voice, krynski ponders the state—the government and our human condition—as one of inherent fragility. the state and the human condition are arrangements that rely on a delicate balance of state authority and people power. how should this power be formed, articulated, and deployed? where do schools fit in this articulation? krynski explores the unfulfilled democratic mission of public schools, even in their imperiled state and contradictory relationship to the state, to envision a collective way forward and the formation of a larger swath of common ground on which to make claims and negotiate interests. not a rebuttal to krynski but a measured consideration of one of many serious school challenges we would have to address in re-forming and re-articulating public schools with the public, ferris considers the institutional and embodied forms that the politics of fear and antagonism have taken in these fractured times. a challenging analysis that should provoke considerable conversation, ferris analyzes school responses to violence. in particular, he journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 robbins, c., bishop j., & tarman, b., editorial: 2019 (2)3, i-vi. considers the use of the alice training model, explicitly raising questions about how its form and logic either reinforce or install dangerous binaries of perpetrator-victim, short-circuiting and bypassing more democratic forms of community-building and safety provision in school contexts. still, something should be done to protect students and their school communities. if it is not rearguard responses to violence, then what should schools and communities (and society more generally) do in the provision of safety, while being sensitive to the powerful pedagogies and socialization at work in school responses to violence? in “disrupting standardization with food and love,” grewal et al. put the reader in the space of “place.” despite, maybe even in spite of, the power of rigid, market-based forms of school standardization to influence the formation of hierarchical, competitive, and individualistic relationships, the ways that we actually form and nurture our relationships, in the place we actually live, matters greatly. how do we ritualize our relationships? what role does the act of learning how to love others while communing with them possibly play in grounding us in social forms that defy not only anti-democratic relationships in schools but also the fracture we have come to think exists everywhere outside our doors, across the world, and in the tiny screen in the palm of our hands? this is not a solution to the regression and fracture, but it surely provides a significant starting point: two basic needs that have no partisan boundaries—the need to be nourished and the need to be loved, while calling upon us to reconsider our ethical obligation to love the other. snounu, in “disability and higher education in palestine: models of resilience and inclusion in the face of segregating democracy,” examines practices of deliberate maiming of indigenous palestinians in a context permeated by local and international politics as they play out in gaza and the west bank. in particular, she draws our attention to the ethics of care higher education professionals rely on as they teach and administer under what are considered apartheid conditions in an occupied territory. she asks us to think about how intentional maiming impacts the development of an ethic of care. she also asks: how might a progressive pedagogy be implemented in such conditions? what role does flexibility play in accommodating and advocating for disabled students? what might resilience look like in these new colonial situations? perhaps an ethic of care is one way we might start repairing contemporary fractures. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 robbins, c., bishop j., & tarman, b., editorial: 2019 (2)3, i-vi. while benegas, in “teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners,” also considers the sociopolitical climate impacting teaching, unlike snounu, she focuses on the current accountability and standardization climate in schools as she examines the experience of four student teachers implementing a scripted reading curriculum in an ethnically diverse elementary school. by considering policies, themselves the result of external bodies, readers are asked to consider relationships between structure and practice. the results of her study ask us to consider the cultural relevance of scripted curricula. furthermore, she asks how is it that teachers deal with fear and nonnegotiables imposed by district administrators as a result of adopting scripted constraints. her conclusion that mandated standardization inhibits the use of culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners suggests also that standardization negatively influences all learners. mason, in “dewey and political communication in the age of mediation,” rounds out this issue by drawing our attention to the plethora of information bombarding us in the current sociopolitical environment. he draws from dewey and lippmann to offer a set of ideas which we might use to negotiate the quagmire of mediated communication. as he notes, for dewey, meaning is actively constructed in the communication process among people rooted locally and directly participating, because, for both dewey and lippman, mediated interactions make it easier to manipulate a population. given that these impoverished communications fostered by mediated interactions seem to play a strong role in maintaining our fractured state of affairs, we are asked to think about how education should respond, and we should turn to dewey for a way to reconsider the speed of schooling and educating for media literacy in order to envision an alternate way of living and interacting for the future. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 robbins, c., bishop j., & tarman, b., editorial: 2019 (2)3, i-vi. references della porta, d. (2017). progressive and regressive politics in late neoliberalism. in h. geiselberger (ed.), the great regression (pp. 26-33). malden, ma: polity. fraser, n. (2017). progressive neoliberalism versus reactionary populism: a hobson’s choice. in h. geiselberger (ed.), the great regression (pp. 40-48). malden, ma: polity. hochschild, a. (2016). strangers in their own land: anger and mourning on the american right. new york, ny: the new press. newport, f., & dugan, a. (2017). partisan differences growing on a number of issues. gallup. retrieved october 5, 2019, from https://news.gallup.com/opinion/pollingmatters/215210/partisan-differences-growing-number-issues.aspx pew research center. (october, 2018). little partisan agreement on the pressing problems facing the u.s. retrieved september 30, 2019, from https://www.peoplepress.org/2018/10/15/little-partisan-agreement-on-the-pressing-problems-facing-theu-s/ pew research center. (october 10, 2019). partisan antipathy: more intense, more personal. retrieved november 4, 2019, from https://www.peoplepress.org/2019/10/10/partisan-antipathy-more-intense-more-personal/ https://www.people-/ https://www.people-/ journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 morris, t. c. & chapman, l.a., timeless learning: how imagination, observation, and zero-based thinking change schools: a review 113 timeless learning: how imagination, observation, and zero-based thinking change schools: a review chelsea t. morris* university of west georgia lindsey a. chapman university of florida *corresponding author: cmorris@westga.edu received : 2019-01-10 accepted : 2019-04-23 how to cite this paper: morris, c. t., & chapman, l. a. (2019). timeless learning: how imagination, observation, and zero-based thinking change schools: a review. journal of culture and values in education, volume 2 (1), 113-118. abstract this review provides a broad discussion related to how the authors of timeless learning: how imagination, observation, and zero-based thinking change schools speaks to ongoing institutional practices that limit and oppress learner’s leadership, imagination, and selfexploration. the book’s focus on the biodiversity of learning is highlighted within the review as a necessary strength to the humanization of students and to seeing the value of student-driven learning. keywords: student-centered learning, school leadership, student voice bibliographic citation: socol, i., moran, p., & ratliff, c. (2018). timeless learning: how imagination, observation, and zero-based thinking change schools. hoboken, nj: jossey-bass, a wiley brand. isbn: 978-1119461692 (print, 320 pages). most educators have seen the image. a child stands on the ground, two others at her side, the latter unable to see a ball game due to their height and the unwavering fence that stands between. under this image, the term “equality.” in a juxtaposed image, the height-blinded two children are propped by oneand two-crate supports so that they also can now see the ball game. under this second image, the term “equity.” while the metaphor is our own, in their new book, timeless learning: how imagination, observation and zero-based thinking change schools, three authors ask a provocative question, what if, perhaps, the fence is the problem (socol, moran, & ratliff, 2018). this book precariously critiques education: the authors recognize schools as a place of grand potential for change while simultaneously acknowledging the historical and sociopolitical factors that may prevent them from ever being such. timeless learning argues that the journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 morris, t. c. & chapman, l.a., timeless learning: how imagination, observation, and zero-based thinking change schools: a review 114 narrative of schools today is one based largely on more than a century of inequity, “rinse and repeat” models of reform, and the politicized nature of education. the authors beg that this narrative change in the schools we build for learners, dappling with complex questions such as how to respond when such change does not match strategic plans currently restricting local schools and school districts. to that end, timeless learning offers a pathway for educators to identify what would make them feel safe enough to buck tradition. the authors argue that the first step is for educators, both individually and collectively, to reckon with the ways culture limits the growth of their students and embrace the freedom for students to think individually and originally: that kind of [learning] space – where education’s best idea generators, designers, builders, engineers, and makers can collaborate and challenge everything – might be our nation's best investment – but it would also be our biggest threat to the status quo – the status quo of schooling and thus the status quo of our sociocultural and economic environments. (p. 126) this emphasis requires educators to analyze the ways in which school culture is a delimiter to reform and how the traditional narrative of schools creates a barrier to change. the result of such analyses would likely lead to the conclusion that it makes good sense that, in order to do what is necessary, productive critical thought on the part of both educators and students must occur. with chapters that include phrases like “all means all”, “liberating learners and learning”, and “the education world learners want,” the book authors, socol, moran, and ratliff, amplify the belief that education should be student-centered. timeless learning provides a believable rationale for actualizing of school change through a complete mindset shift on the part of educators, “from classroom to learning space, from teacher to facilitator, from school to education” (p. 69). perhaps intentionally, even the written form of the book dismantles the ongoing cultural norms of expertise passed to learner. chapters can be read alone or out of order and readers are invited to actively share ideas with the authors through social media platforms, stop mid-chapter to observe children, and examine their community’s culture before proceeding. the linearity of a traditional book is forgotten. as an added dimension, every chapter ends with a provocation, a structured inquiry, a reflective pause, and a list of immediate action that can be taken for changing school culture. the introduction outlines the authors’ vast experience in the field and is followed by an overarching commitment to inclusive settings for all learners in chapter 1. chapters 2 and 3 examine and question the purpose of schools in order to offer a new lens through which to view the concepts offered throughout the remainder of the book. they note that these two recommended perspectives, kidwatching and risk-taking, are never mutually exclusive for, to do either effectively, educators must question norms and traditions, which the authors argue have emerged over time from a ford model of schooling. this model suggests schools have not changed much over the last century and resemble the goals and structures of factory settings (e.g., desks in rows, bell schedules, age-based classrooms, top-down teacher control), a journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 morris, t. c. & chapman, l.a., timeless learning: how imagination, observation, and zero-based thinking change schools: a review 115 comparison that has been made by others who have promoted reform of america’s public schools (gatto, 2001; robinson, 2010). the authors argue that the colonization of schools has resulted in a system of compliance-driven education where students and educators continue to follow norms uncritically. “to change the story, we must change the narrative of the schools we build for learners” (p.21), they note, adding that educators must grapple with why they participate to help “create a narrative that often refutes the belief that we truly value all children” (p.21). chapters 4 through 6 describe the driving forces that should cause educators to engage in bringing about deep change in the instructional process that would include, among other things, the empowerment of students, hesitation by teachers and administrators before dismissing new ideas, and work to develop learning pathways that reflect respect for the learner as a capable being. this departure from compliance-driven schooling represents a change for the cultural norms of schools by placing an emphasis on student voice and choice. many of the book’s reflection and prompts for these chapters suggested to readers in these chapters focus on consideration of the future: the greatest challenges for educating children for life readiness, preparing students for jobs we don’t know exist. this requires putting school content into student context, not the student into school contexts. in its final chapters, timeless learning elevates to the pedagogy behind how to realize the school change process and ends with a call to break down walls, both physically and metaphorically: “the walls of schools are a contrived barrier that keeps kids and teachers apart within the system. the walls of schools keep new practices, tools, and strategies out and traditions in” (p. 251). the stories that are intertwined throughout the book serve to create an umbrella of timelessness and zero-based design in learning. by this device, the authors drive home the need to teach students and educators to be proper critics of school culture and too, the need for education to serve in the liberation of its learners. perhaps the most impressive feature of timeless learning is the way it offers solutions for change without becoming a “how to” book similar to so many current education books on the market, a goal achieved of which the authors are proud of (personal communication, october 23, 2018). in regard to this principle, they include a section titled, “there are no simple recipes really” and wrestle with being unable to write a “list of eight things to do” (p. 185). instead of a prescriptive program, this book is about individual change and the context in which change might occur as well as how educators can, by working within such contexts, realize the change process. likewise, this book is about redefining opportunities for students. growing evidence supports increased achievement and development of civic values when students are supported to make decisions about their education (e.g. mccombs & miller, 1997; morgan & streb, 2002). this is admirable in a largely top-down, accountability driven educational system which necessitates a philosophical shift that places value on every individual’s passion and ambition. despite the magnitude of the changes recommended, they do not require an entire system change to implement -they are mainly about changes in the way participants in the educational system think and act -making them actionable steps for educators who can bring about the change process within their individual classrooms immediately. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 morris, t. c. & chapman, l.a., timeless learning: how imagination, observation, and zero-based thinking change schools: a review 116 finally, for some, timeless learning may appear a seemingly radical approach and draw questions such as, is it realistic? is it possible? what about in my school? indeed, it is easy to misinterpret timeless learning as an overly idealistic or a “burn it down” approach to educational reform, especially when the authors make statements like “structurally there isn’t much in the traditions of schooling that we believe is worth saving” (p. 136). however, the greatest strength of the book is the accounts and anecdotes from the author's own work as school and district leaders that make change visible. rather than isolated suggestions, they offer readers an invitation to join the movement that they have already started. no one book could be a comprehensive vision of change in education, but it is necessary to point out one glaring omission in the book. despite strong statements of belief in transformative education being for all learners, timeless learning does not adequately nor explicitly address the issue of student difference. in chapter 6, a story congratulates a librarian for making change that she previously feared could not be implemented “because there were one or two kids who might have a problem” (p. 163). the reality remains that after the change, those students still existed and yet, the authors did not discuss whether the change was, indeed, a problem for them. also, in chapter 5, and throughout the book, universal design for learning (udl) is emphasized as a “path available to all learners, not just as a special accommodation” (p.135). however, the argument that a new approach to udl meets the needs of students with disabilities is logical fallacy. at times this approach seems to outright dismiss the notion of difference, positioning dis/ability merely as a social construction that need not be regarded. relatedly, issues related to inclusion and classroom management (mentioned explicitly) or racism and classism (mentioned implicitly) are positioned as issues suggested to disappear if learning is student-driven and project-based. we contend that the education’s “-ism” issues are far more complex than this assertion and that the failure to recognizing student diversity beyond stereotypical assumptions of student interest perpetuates exclusion rather than fostering inclusion. critique aside, timeless learning has profound implications for broader conversations about educational equity. the authors remind us that “at the microlevel of beliefs and missions, educators must work to ensure all children know that their voice matters, that they have agency in making choices and decisions, and that they can be responsible for their own learning” (p.26). as educators, the authors of this review must admit that it is difficult to think these ideas, offered by socol, moran, and ratliff, are possible given that our system in its current form does not even afford these same opportunities for autonomy and decision-making to teachers. it can be hard to be optimistic about change in a time where most reform translates to scripted curriculum initiatives (cucchiara, rooney, & robertson-kraft, 2015; eisenbach, 2012) and waning autonomy (zeichner & hollar, 2016). however, as teachers and teacher educators, we share the belief that change is so desperately needed and is absolutely possible. to end, we return to the image of the children and the fence offered at the beginning of the review. if we never question why seeing over the fence – that specific fence – is the expectation, students will continue to require crates in order to see. instead, when learning is placed in the hands of students, we may just find that they know better. perhaps they will cut eye holes in journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 morris, t. c. & chapman, l.a., timeless learning: how imagination, observation, and zero-based thinking change schools: a review 117 the wood, make a fence out of transparent materials, or remove the planks all together to catch a better view of the game. or perhaps more importantly, if they turn and face the other direction, they may discover that the baseball game isn’t what they are meant to be watching at all. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 morris, t. c. & chapman, l.a., timeless learning: how imagination, observation, and zero-based thinking change schools: a review 118 references cucchiara, m. b., rooney, e., & robertson-kraft, c. (2015). “i’ve never seen people work so hard!” teachers’ working conditions in the early stages of school turnaround. urban education, 50, 259-287. doi:10.1177/0042085913501896 eisenbach, b.b. (2012). teacher belief and practice in a scripted curriculum. the clearing house, 85, 153-156. doi:10.1080/00098655.2012.663816 gatto, j. t. (2001). the underground history of american education: a schoolteacher's intimate investigation into the problem of modern schooling. new york: oxford village press. mccombs, b. l., & miller, l. (1997). the learner-centered classroom and school: strategies for increasing student motivation and achievement. san francisco: jossey-bass. morgan, w., & streb, m. (2002). building citizenship: how student voice in service-learning develops civic values. social science quarterly, 82, 154-169. doi:10.1111/0038-4941.00014 robinson, ken. (2010). changing education paradigms. ted ideas worth spreading. socol, i., moran, p., & ratliff, c. (2018). timeless learning: how imagination, observation, and zero-based thinking change schools. hoboken, nj: jossey-bass, a wiley brand. zeichner, k., & hollar, j. (2016). developing professional capital in teaching through initial teacher education: comparing strategies in alberta canada and the us. journal of professional capital and community, 1, 110-123. doi:10.1108/jpcc-01-2016-0001 . journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 halpern, c., multicultural for who? a review of a comprehensive multicultural textbook 58 multicultural for who? a review of a comprehensive multicultural textbook clarisse halpern* florida gulf coast university *corresponding author: clari_halpern@hotmail.com received : 2018-09-28 accepted : 2018-12-01 how to cite this paper: halpern, c., (2018). multicultural for who? a review of a comprehensive multicultural textbook journal of culture and values in education, 1(2), 58-62. book review bennett, c. i. (2019). comprehensive multicultural education: theory and practice (9th ed.). hoboken, nj: pearson. 582 pp., isbn: 0-13-467902-4. $29.99 (digital) or $86.45 (print). bennett’s (2019) book comprehensive multicultural education: theory and practice is an essential read for anyone involved in the field of education because it encompasses several concepts of multicultural education. nonetheless, some important factors are left out of the conversation, which i will present in this review. the title does it justice. it includes discussions on the main aspects of multicultural education: from its origins, conceptual models, and core values, to topics on race/ethnicity, gender, class, special education, religious pluralism, the roots of cultural diversity and immigration in the u.s., as well as culturally responsive teaching and how to reach all learners through curriculum transformation. the book is divided into parts i, ii, iii, and iv. some of the main topics will be presented next. part i, the case for multicultural education, is dedicated to explaining what multicultural education is, including its background, its four basic principles, core values, and dimensions. like most multicultural education scholars do in their publications (aydin, 2013; banks, 2014; gollnick & chinn, 2017; sahin & kilinc, 2016), bennett made sure to present a chapter to address the criticism about multicultural education discussing the pitfalls and traps that multicultural educators must be mindful of when approaching this subject. besides, bennett made important clarifications concerning the sources and types of racism, namely, individual, institutional, and cultural. hence, she pointed out that culturally competent teaching is imperative to counter institutional racism in the u.s. for that matter, she made important comments about white superiority and oppression couched on the belief in the inferiority of any element that does not have an anglo-european origin, proposing that it is vital to discuss and become aware of whiteness and white privilege to fight racism and, thus, teach for social justice. that would consist of affirming students racial, ethnic, and cultural identities, as well as their diversity, and including the family and community in efforts regarding multicultural classes, to address racism in the curriculum. in addition, bennett mentioned president donald trump’s anti-multiculturalism attitudes and how they can be pervasive to increase and legitimize prejudice against religious pluralism that results in hate crimes, particularly those related to anti-semitism and islamophobia. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 halpern, c., multicultural for who? a review of a comprehensive multicultural textbook 59 part ii, roots of cultural diversity in the united states: the conflicting themes of assimilation and pluralism, focuses on immigration in the u.s., comprising topics like a brief history of naturalization and immigration laws into the country to clarify on how those used to process and how they are now. a relevant issue presented refers to the impact that immigrants have on the u.s. economy to counter common misconceptions and misinformation that lead to antiimmigrant policies and anti-immigrant hysteria. a valuable historical overview about each type of common immigrants in the u.s. helps the reader be more acquainted with the early immigration of anglo-europeans, involuntary immigration of american indian and african americans, as other sorts of immigration. for example, the reader might find it interesting to read a chapter about latino immigrants’ perspectives in which bennett clarified that there are diverse origins of latinos in the country, therefore, valuing the diversity among latinos, avoiding any homogenization of this ethnic group. another example is a chapter about asian american perspectives in which not only did bennett identify the asian countries where most immigrants to the u.s. come from, but also, she addressed the pervasive stereotypes of asians being ‘good minorities’ and its consequences to students and education. finally, in her chapter on arab americans’ perspectives, bennett addressed mistakes and misconceptions people may have about this ethnic group, its demographics, and origins, as well as its cultural and historical heritage. in each one of those chapters, she offered tips and suggestions as to how teachers should deal with misconceptions and prejudices against each of these groups in the classroom. in part iii, entitled reaching all learners: perspectives on culture, gender, class, and exceptionalities, bennett explored the subthemes of multicultural education and their implications on teaching and learning. she addressed the interrelated ideas of culturally responsive/relevant teaching and students’ learning styles. she also discussed the reasons why culturally relevant teaching is still not common practice in u.s. schools, and with her blueprint for culturally competent practice, bennett declared the fundamental principle that teachers can (and should) make a difference. finally, in part iv, teaching in a multicultural society, bennett delved into the transformative power of teaching multicultural education in schools. she included ideas of the importance of teaching in linguistically diverse classrooms which includes both discussing english language learners in america and the importance of bilingual education, as well as a recognition of the importance of african american language in culturally diverse classrooms. bennett made a point that the family, mainly the parents, should be the school’s partners in language learning to reaffirm their cultural and linguistic backgrounds (carroll, 2017; swick, 2009; wessels, 2014). lastly, she discussed curriculum transformation focusing on the challenge of establishing multiple perspectives in the classroom as opposed to the prevalent eurocentrism curriculum. review one of the strongest aspects of bennett`s book that immediately calls the attention of the readers is that it offers insightful examples that illustrate the necessity of implementing multicultural education in american schools. in addition, overall, bennett’s book resembles others of multicultural education (i.e., banks, 2014; gollnick & chinn, 2017) mainly due to its informative and descriptive nature. accordingly, it is noteworthy that throughout the book several seminal authors on multicultural education are cited such as au, banks, gay, howard, journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 halpern, c., multicultural for who? a review of a comprehensive multicultural textbook 60 and sleeter, as well as endnotes are included to each chapter with a list full of suggestions on further readings on the subjects. if one considers that the primary objective of this book is to be a textbook on multicultural education, then bennett’s book accomplished its goal. bennett touched on a wide range of the most relevant trend topics in the field of multicultural education. nevertheless, though the readers will agree that the book is comprehensive in its approach to multicultural education themes and subthemes, they may also perceive that it lacks in-depth discussions on each subject presented in it. bennett's book encompasses every subject or subthemes of this field of study. however, some important information related to the subjects is absent. for example, despite including a section on white privilege and institutional racism, the core of the matter about the reasons those exist, as well as the power relations that work as barriers to implementing a multicultural curriculum to american schools and in higher education institutions seem to be left out of the table. in fact, there is no suggestion of how to implement multicultural education to higher education in teacher preparation programs which would be an important consideration given the fact that teacher preparation programs must be infused with multicultural, sociocultural, and political discussions so that future educators understand the context of their practice (essary & szecsi, 2018). despite being a textbook, given the importance and magnitude of certain topics that include significant issues in the u.s. educational system, namely racism, prejudice, segregation, and others that affect students’ learning and progression in school life with effects on their future, some in-depth reflections should have been included. furthermore, in spite of being a comprehensive book, multicultural education texts should take every opportunity to educate its readers about the importance of minorities discourses in the process of knowledge construction. an aspect that should be highlighted in the field of education, mostly in multicultural education that tends to be disregarded is a rather subtle one, though powerful. in this area, power relations are at stake, mostly invisible, like those present in the discourse, not only oral but written as well. educators should not take them for granted without proceeding to a more profound investigation, naturalizing them. words are powerful; they are tools to legitimate distinct points of view, consolidate certain “truths,” mainly from hegemonic groups. frequently, what is available in the market is the product of the majorities, who belong to segments of society that are privileged in many ways, literate and well-off. inadvertently, educators, scholars, writers, and students may not realize that, because they are immersed in a cultural broth, they reproduce endlessly a certain mindset in which the dominants will remain in a dominant position, keeping the others apart. bauman (2004) called them human wastes, those that ‘failed’ to meet the ‘requirements’ to become part of the established society, and who are excluded from it. for instance, regardless of the undoubted relevance of addressing immigration issues in her book, by referring to immigrant groups as ‘asian americans,’ ‘african americans,’ or ‘arab americans’ bennett inadvertently homogenized these groups as if every asian (or african or arab) considers him/herself as having a hyphenated ethnicity (asher, 2007). therefore, it is assumed that the groups represented in those chapters are those of documented immigrants journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 halpern, c., multicultural for who? a review of a comprehensive multicultural textbook 61 (dual citizenship), or who have an asian, african or arab descent that considers themselves as hyphenated americans (asher, 2007). consequently, others were disregarded, namely undocumented immigrants, who are often neglected and live at the margin of the society, even with the importance of this issue in the u.s. although bennett’s book defined, informed, and described different subtopics pertaining to the multicultural education field, it did not approach the discussion on the barriers to implementing a multicultural education or curriculum as a systemic issue. elias (2001) posited about the figurational models or theories in which power relations, mainly those of dominationsubjection relations, evidences the existence of processes of exclusion and stigmatization that are put into action by the set of established towards the outsiders. the former occupies positions of prestige and power and are often known as the ‘good society;’ while the latter, the outsiders, are excluded from society. this sort of discussion and analysis of structures of society would help the readers understand the phenomenon of prejudice, discrimination, and violence (elias, 2001; fletcher, 1997) in the modern society and would bring a broader spectrum to the discussion in the multicultural education field. multicultural education textbooks such as bennett’s are addressed to the so-called establishment, while the outsiders’ (becker, 1963, 1977) perspectives and voices are not included in the text. in other words, the text is written to the established, white majority in the u.s. and one may wonder whether readers from minority groups feel that the book also ‘speaks’ to them. multicultural education should not be restricted to steps to be trailed, as if it could be accomplished or understood by following tips and instructions of a manual or textbook. conversely, congruent with constructivist approaches, it must foster authentic, holistic, and continuous learning opportunities and practices (halpern, 2017) to work on deconstructing people’s biases, misconceptions, prejudices and discrimination against “the others.” bennett’s attempts to include a plethora of information does not guarantee a deep understanding of this complex subject. nevertheless, it is a good start for readers from diverse profiles and educational backgrounds regardless of their experience in or relation to the field of education. finally, if discussions about the structural problems and power relations that function as barriers that prevent multicultural education to be fully implemented in the american educational system, its concepts of social justice and promoting an egalitarian society will always sound as unattainable ideals – and will continue to serve as fuel for its critics. references asher, n. (2007). made in the (multicultural) u.s.a.: unpacking tensions of race, culture, gender, and sexuality in education. educational researcher, 36(2), 65-73. doi:10.3102/0013189x07299188 aydin, h. (2013). a literature-based approach on multicultural education. the anthropologist, 16(1-2), 31-44. doi:10.1080/09720073.2013.11891333 bauman, z. (2004). wasted lives: modernity and its outcasts. malden, ma: blackwell. becker, h. s. (1963). outsiders: studies in the sociology of deviance. new york, ny: free press. becker, h. s. (1977). uma teoria da ação coletiva [theory of collective action]. rio de janeiro, brazil: zahar. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 halpern, c., multicultural for who? a review of a comprehensive multicultural textbook 62 bennett, c. i. (2019). comprehensive multicultural education: theory and practice (9th ed.). hoboken, nj: pearson. carroll, j. (2017). literacy for families who are english language learners: the florey family literacy project. practical literacy: the early and primary years, 22(2), 24-28. elias, n. (2001). the society of individuals. new york, ny: continuum. essary, j., & szecsi, t. (2018). friendships overcome ignorance and misconceptions: teacher candidates' exposure to a foreign culture in an online cross-national e-pals project. journal of ethnic and cultural studies, 5(1), 41-57. fletcher, j. (1997). violence and civilization: an introduction to the work of norbert elias. malden, ma: blackwell publishers. halpern, c. (2017). book review: in search of understanding: the case for constructivist classrooms (2nd ed.). american journal of qualitative research, 1(1), 32-36. sahin, m. h., & kilinc, e. (2016). determination of educational faculty students’ multicultural personality level. journal of research in education and teaching, 5(1), 126-136. swick, k. j. (2009). promoting school and life success through early childhood family literacy. early childhood education journal, 36, 403-406. doi:10.1007/s10643-009-0305-4 wessels, s. (2014). supporting english and spanish literacy through a family literacy program. school community journal, 24(2), 147-163. microsoft word yigit.docx journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 yigit, m.f., does higher education change value perceptions 1 does higher education change value perceptions? mehmet fatih yigit, phd.* independent researcher *corresponding author: myigit@outlook.com received : 2018-06-10 accepted : 2018-06-18 how to cite this paper: yigit, m.f. (2018). does higher education change value perceptions? journal of culture and values in education, 1(1), 1-8. abstract the purpose of this study is to look at whether higher education has an effect on value perceptions of students. in particular, the researcher will examine the role of 'foundation' or 'private' universities on the priorities of value perceptions. keywords: value perceptions, higher education, foundation universities introduction in turkey, the state is responsible for the higher education. the higher education council (yok) is the department in charge of running higher education with universities and the measuring, selection and placement center (osym) is responsible for organizing the university entrance examination that all students are required to take before entering a university (yok, 1981). in europe, the student population, like the young population, tends to decline in general (alves, 2011). however the situation in turkey is quite different compared to almost all european countries. the number of students taking university entrance exam in turkey has increased dramatically since 1980. the data from osym (2010; 2016) show that in 1980, the number of students participating in the university entrance exam were 466.963 while it increased to 2.256.422 in 2016. as a result, the number of students studying at universities increased. in 2008, the number of students in universities was recorded as 2.532.22 while it increased to 4.071.579 in 2017 (table 1). the increase in the number of students is mostly the result of increased number of universities in turkey starting from 2006. as of the year 2011, the number of universities, including foundation and state institutions, was 165 that means each province has at least one university established by the state or foundations (günay & günay, 2011). in turkey, the number of universities has increased more than 100% during the last ten years and also the number of students who want to get a university degree has increased dramatically. the current trend in turkey, for higher education institutions, is to attract more students by providing different types of scholarships especially for those who get good results from central university entrance exam. while this situation seems to be positive for those target students, it can be criticized in the way that the quality of those institutions decreases and the focus turns to be on quantity. on the other hand, some researchers claim that focusing on satisfying the needs of those students economically is not enough in today's world. they should also focus journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 yigit, m.f., does higher education change value perceptions 2 on increasing the quality and respecting the perceived value of the students (gounaris, tzempelikos, & chatzipanagiotou, 2007). international tests, like pisa, also aims at measuring quality of education (lingard & sellar, 2013). source: osym (2016). higher education is an important step for the students graduated from high schools. especially in turkey, it is where most of the students decide what to do and to be in future. it shapes the life of both students and their families. it is also an important step for the students to gain new perspectives and confirm or deny their value perceptions they have developed and gained until then. it is the reason that this research focus on the effect of higher education institutions on value perceptions, if there is any. higher education institutions have important roles on instilling values and shaping the character of students. however, research shows that schools usually fail to teach norms of ethical behaviors (bennis & o’toole, 2005). higher education institutions fail especially while teaching the social responsibility values to students (chapleo, carrillo durán, & castillo díaz, 2011). one of the reasons of this failure might be the mentality behind the management of higher education institutions. there is no doubt that the majority of those institutions approach the students as customers who should be satisfied from the service he/she receives (eagle & brennan, 2007). on the other hand, there are scholars who have criticized the conception of higher education institutions as a business and stated that students’ needs and expectations should come first not the organizational management of those places (oldfield & baron, 2000). how students’ needs and expectations are satisfied is a complex issue that is not easy to handle. while students expect high quality lectures from their professors (hill, lomas, & macgregor, 2003), they also expect them to act as role models to shape their daily life (moosmayer & bode, 2010). in literature, values are defined as conceptions that influence the decisions of individuals. they are regarded as stable over time (schwartz & bilsky, 1987). however, this does not mean that 2.555.926 4.071.579 480.215 91.296 0 500.000 1.000.000 1.500.000 2.000.000 2.500.000 3.000.000 3.500.000 4.000.000 4.500.000 2-year degree 4-year-degree ma degree doctorate degree table 1: numbe of students per degree type journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 yigit, m.f., does higher education change value perceptions 3 values do not change after they are established or gained. values are more stable for uneducated or less educated people compared to the ones who have higher level of education (peffley, knigge, & hurwitz, 2001). value perceptions of individuals might change and this transformation results in behavioral changes. in other words, values motivate behaviors (bardi & schwartz, 2003). literature on values shows that during higher education years, university education and policy of those institutions shape value perceptions of students (inkeles & smith, 1974). some scholars have stated that as individuals gain more information, their value perceptions change depending on the nature of the knowledge they have (hitlin & piliavin, 2004). the self-enhancement values, such as power and achievement are known as economically oriented while self-transcendence values like universalism and benevolence are discussed to be socially oriented (moosmayer, 2012). the economic environment of university students might not change easily from the first year to the last year of their study. however, the social environment of those students change since majority of the university students do not continue living with their family and start to live with their peers. based on this two reality, the researcher assumes that the more university students stay at the university, the more self-transcendence values they prioritize and the less they prioritize self-enhancement values. self-transcendence values include universalism and benevolence while self-enhancement values are hedonism, achievement, and power. each value is defined below (schwartz, 2012). • universalism is “understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all people and for nature” (p.7) • benevolence is “preserving and enhancing the welfare of those with whom one is in frequent personal contact” (p.7) • hedonism is “pleasure or sensuous gratification for oneself” (p.5) • achievement is “personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards” (p.5) • power is “social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources.” (p.5) there is debate about whether higher education institutions should teach without imposing any values on students or not. while weber talks about academic value of value freedom (moosmayer & siems, 2012), other scholars talked about the importance of teaching values in academy (bennis & o’toole, 2005). in today’s world, there are numerous factors affecting value perceptions of individuals, like family environments, friendships, social media, news, and so on (yigit, 2016). however, the importance of higher education institutions comes from their being more scientific institutions compared to other factors that might result in changing value patterns using critical thinking skills and usually those are the individuals who rule their societies. in this sense, it is important to know whether higher education institutions have any effect on value perceptions of students. this study is important also for comparative and international education since there is no literature on this topic in turkey. the results of the research will help researchers who want to study the effects of universities on value perceptions internationally by also taking the turkish case into account. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 yigit, m.f., does higher education change value perceptions 4 data and method the data for the study comes from a foundation university located in istanbul, turkey. in turkey, there are state and foundation universities. the state universities are governed and funded by the state itself, while foundation universities are controlled by the state (yok) but governed and funded by the foundation of the university established as a non-profit organization. in other words, the foundation universities do not aim making money from the students. however, while the students in state universities do not pay tuition fee, majority of the students in foundation universities are usually paying large sums of money if they do not have scholarships. quantitative method is adopted for the research. the researcher used the schwartz's value survey (schwartz, 1992) to collect the data from a foundation (private) university in turkey. the data comes from first year students of 2010 and fourth year students of 2014. in other words, the data was collected from the same group of students in order to measure the difference in their value perceptions, if there was any. the 230 (115 for the first-year students and 115 for the fourth-year students) completed survey forms included 136 students from faculty of humanities and social science and 94 students from faculty of business administration. in addition, 58,7% of the participants were female while 41,3% were male. results one of the findings of the study is that students have less desire to have control over others when they come to the last year of university education. we found a significant difference between pretest and posttest scores. (p < .001). the crosstabulation tells us that while 82.2% of for first-year university students state authority as extremely important, it decreases to 17.8% when they come to the last year of university education. the level of desire to control others and command was recorded to be higher among first-year students compared to the last year university students. this result tells us that the university graduates loses their aspiration towards being a leader. the reasons of this findings are the subject of further studies and it should be analyzed in depth to find out what influence other factors have on this change. the results for universalism value show that there is a significant difference between pretest and posttest results (p < .001). while 57.7% of the first-year students stated universalism as extremely important, it decreased to 42.3% when the students came to the last year of university. the analysis show that the importance of benevolence for university students decreases over time as they approach to the last year of university education. the result is statistically significant (p < .001). while 61% of the first year students state benevolence as extremely important, it decreases to 39% for the same students at the last year of university education. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 yigit, m.f., does higher education change value perceptions 5 the results do not show a significant difference for hedonism (p > .010). the importance of pleasure or sensuous gratification for the participants do not seem to be very different when we compare the scores in pre-test and post-test. the data show that the level of desire for achievement decreases over time for university students. while 60.6% of participants stated that they want to be successful in their life and achieve what they want, only 39.4% continue thinking the same way at the end of university education. the finding is also statistically significant (p < .001). discussion first-year students are usually enthusiastic and have goals and aspirations about certain things. they are usually active in social life in turkish context. they do want to satisfy their desires since university is an environment for majority of them where they feel themselves free in terms of parents’ and friends’ pressure. however, the results of this study tell us that the level of this desire decreases as they approach to graduation. there might be several reasons of this finding, including the pressure to find a job after graduation or having already satisfied their desires. this might be the subject of further studies, too. one of the most important finding of this study is that last year students care for the stability of society less compared to their first year. this is an important finding because university education is expected to have graduates who care for the social stability of the society instead of the social uneasiness. however, for the reasons that are not the subject of this study, it seems that the university education do not work to meet this expectation for the students participated in this study. a more comprehensive study can be conducted in order to find out whether this is the case in all universities and if so, what influence other factors have on this result. freedom of action and thought is important in democratic societies. we cannot mention democracy without those characteristic features of democratic individuals. educational institutions are the places where freedom of action and thought are taught to be important in having a democratic society (facer & selwyn, 2013). however, the results of this study tells us that students loses their aspirations for freedom of action and thought. this might result in accepting and doing what is being told as it is without questioning whether it is right or not. this would create new generations who do not think critically and act accordingly that is not desired in democratic nations. further studies should be conducted in order to find out whether this is the case for the majority of the university students. the result of such a study would help policy makers to reform those institutions accordingly to make sure that those institutions are the places where the core features of being a democratic citizen are taught with the way that it should be. turkish society is known to be highly nationalist when it comes to protecting their lands and flag against the ‘enemies’ though the term is so vague and might change from person to person. the study finds that it is true for the first-year university students. more than 85% of the participants state that national security is extremely important for them. however, after getting journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 yigit, m.f., does higher education change value perceptions 6 three years of university education, they seem to change their mind about the level of importance of national security. the rate of extremely important decreases to 52% for the lastyear students. this might be the reason of gaining a global perspective in their courses since the curriculum is mostly western-based that helps students to have a more comprehensive way of thinking about global and national issues. it might be also the reason of changing concept of ‘enemy’ for the university students since ‘enemies’ might be more for less educated persons compared to highly educated ones. a more in-depth analysis adopting a qualitative approach would help us to explain the issue in the turkish context. an important function of higher education should be helping students to imagine. new ideas and critical thinking starts with imagination. however, the result of the study tells us that only 25% of the fourth-year students state imagination to be extremely important while this rate was 53% in their first-year of study. at this point comes the question whether education kills creativity or not. it is the matter of another study and a more comprehensive and generalizable study would help us to learn whether this is the case for the majority of students and what factors are there affecting the level of imagination to get higher or lower. however, for the present study, we can only claim that the participants care creativity and imagination less when they come to the last year of their study. among the most interesting finding of the study is that last year students care for the weak and correcting injustice less compared to their first-year of study. it is a dramatic change that they do not want to correct the injustice as much as they aspired in their first year of study. in a democratic society, citizens are important figures to force the governments to correct the problems and injustice. it is in democratic nations where people would ask for democratic way of life. turkey is a democratic country governed by rule of law. however, governments sometimes may give unlawful decisions and create an atmosphere of injustice if governed by a small elite group that have the power in all areas. in those specific cases, the existence of critically thinking and questioning citizens should force the government to give the right decisions. however, the result of this study tells us that half of the last-year university students prefer to be neutral when it comes to have a voice in establishing social justice. the rate of students who stated it to be extremely important was recorded to be 82% in their first-year study but this rate decreased to 44% for the last-year students. further studies should be conducted in order to find out the reasons and other factors having influence on this finding. the results are limited to the 115 students participated in the study. in order to have a more generalizable and comprehensive analysis, large number of students from other universities should also be studied. that way we could have a more convincing claiming about whether university education have negative or positive effects on the change of certain values. however, for the current study we can claim that university education is changing the level of value perceptions of students mostly in negative ways. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 yigit, m.f., does higher education change value perceptions 7 references alves, h. (2011). the measurement of perceived value in higher education: a unidimensional approach. the service industries journal, 31(12), 1943–1960. bardi, a., & schwartz, s. h. (2003). values and behavior: strength and structure of relations. personality and social psychology bulletin, 29(10), 1207-1220. bennis, w., & o’toole, j. (2005). how business schools lost their way. harvard business review, 83(5), 96-104. chapleo, c., carrillo durán, m. v., & castillo díaz, a. (2011). do uk universities communicate their brands effectively through their websites? journal of marketing for higher education, 21(1), 25-46. doi:10.1080/08841241.2011.569589 eagle, l., & brennan, r. (2007). are students customers? tqm and marketing perspectives. quality assurance in education, 15(1), 44-60. facer, k. and selwyn, n. (2013). towards a sociology of education and technology, in brooks, r., mc.cormack, m., & bhopal, k. (eds.) contemporary debates in the sociology of education. uk: palgrave mcmillan. gounaris, s. p., tzempelikos, n. a., & chatzipanagiotou, k. (2007). the relationships of customer-perceived value, satisfaction, loyalty and behavioral intentions. journal of relationship marketing, 6(1), 63-87. doi:10.1300/j366v06n01_05 günay, d., & günay, a. (2011). 1933'den günümüze türk yükseköğretiminde niceliksel gelişmeler. journal of higher education and science, 1(1), 1-22. doi:10.5961/jhes.2011.001 hill, y., lomas, l., & macgregor, j. (2003). students’ perceptions of quality in higher education. quality assurance in education, 11(15-20). hitlin, s., & piliavin, a. a. (2004). values: reviving a dormant concept. annual review of sociology, 30, 359-393. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.30.012703.110640 inkeles, a., & smith, d. h. (1974). becoming modern: individual change in six developing countries: harvard university press. lingard, b. & sellar, s. (2013). globalisation and sociology of education policy: the case of pisa in brooks, r., mc.cormack, m., & bhopal, k. (eds.) contemporary debates in the sociology of education. uk: palgrave mcmillan. moosmayer, d. (2012). a model of management academics' intentions to influence values. acad manag learn edu, 11(2), 155-173. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 yigit, m.f., does higher education change value perceptions 8 moosmayer, d., & bode, m. (2010). a conceptual framework for management academics' behavioural intention to influence students' and companies' values. the international journal of management education, 9(1), 67-80. moosmayer, d., & siems, f. u. (2012). values education and student satisfaction: german business students' perceptions of universities' value influences. journal of marketing for higher education, 22(2), 257-272. doi:10.1080/08841241.2012.746254 oldfield, b. m., & baron, s. (2000). student perceptions of service quality in a uk university business and management faculty. quality assurance in education, 8(2), 85-95. osym. (2010). osys yıllara ve öğrenim durumuna göre başvuran ve yerleşen aday sayıları. retrieved from http://www.osym.gov.tr/dosya/157215/h/yuksekogretimegiristebasvuranyerlesen.pdf osym. (2016) yükseköğretim bilgi yönetim sistemi, retrieved from https://istatistik.yok.gov.tr peffley, m., knigge, p., & hurwitz, j. (2001). a multiple values model of political tolerance. political research quarterly, 54(2), 379-406. schwartz, s. h. (1992). universals in the content and structure of values: theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. in m. zanna(ed.), advances in experimental social psychology (vol. 25, pp. 1–65).orlando, fl: academic schwartz, s. h. (2012). an overview of the schwartz theory of basic values. online readings in psychology and culture, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1116 schwartz, s. h., & bilsky, w. (1987). toward a universal psychological structure of human values. journal of personality and social psychology, 53(3), 550-562. yigit, m.f. & tarman, b. (2016). how do different ethnicities approach to the education system and differences in turkey? italian sociological review, 6 (3), pp. 339-353 yigit, m.f. (2016). citizenship perceptions of university students. international journal of higher education 5(2): 40-45, yok. (1981). the law of higher education. retrieved from http://www.yok.gov.tr/documents/10279/30217/the_law_on_higher_education_mart_2000. pdf/bb86b67f-2aea-4773-8c21-43c10384f883. journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 aburaida, l. m. (2021). obstacles facing rural women’s development in palestinian society: nablus governorate as a case study journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 88 obstacles facing rural women’s development in palestinian society: nablus governorate as a case study loai mahmoud aburaida* an-najah national university *corresponding author: laburaida@najah.edu received : 2019-08-27 rev. req. : 2019-12-10 accepted : 2020-02-05 how to cite this paper: aburaida, l. m. (2021). obstacles facing rural women’s development in palestinian society: nablus governorate as a case study. journal of culture and values in education, 4(1), 88-99, https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.1 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract women constitute 49 percent of the palestinian population, but the participation of palestinian women in economic and social development in palestinian society is low. the low participation of women is due to many obstacles and constraints preventing them from contributing to the economic and social development of palestinian society. this study aims to address the most important obstacles facing palestinian women in achieving development, focusing on the problems and constraints facing rural women in nablus governorate. the study used the descriptive, analytical, inductive, and historical approach based on references, books, periodicals, and field work. the data were collected through personal interviews and questionnaires. one hundred questionnaires were distributed to obtain scientific results in an objective manner. the study found that there are a number of factors preventing palestinian women from contributing to the development process, most importantly social, economic, political, security, media, and personal factors. the study concluded with a number of important recommendations and proposals necessary to increase the role of rural women as well as the economic and social development of palestinian society. keywords: development, rural women, palestinian women introduction it is recognized that the participation of palestinian women in social and economic life in the west bank is low. moreover, rural women's activity is still ineffective in rural development (shteih, 2018). the palestinian central bureau of statistics shows that 85.4 percent of the women in the west bank are unemployed (pcbs, 2017a). according to the published report by 10.46303/jcve.2020.1 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.1 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 aburaida, l. m. (2021). obstacles facing rural women’s development in palestinian society: nablus governorate as a case study journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 89 the palestinian central bureau of statistics, women constituted 49 percent of the palestinian population in 2019. palestinian women’s participation in the labor force is 21 percent (awad, 2018). in addition, there is a large gap between the rural and urban communities in palestine. this leads to the absence of qualified cadres who can lead and develop rural communities. based on secondary sources of books, periodicals, and related reports, the study followed the analytical, inductive, historical, and descriptive method. in addition, the study depends on primary sources represented by field data collected through personal interviews and questionnaires. the questionnaires were distributed randomly in nablus governorate, targeting 100 palestinian women ages 15-65. this study aims at identifying the economic activities practiced by palestinian rural women and their community participation. it also aims at identifying the most important challenges and constraints facing palestinian rural women in achieving development. finally, the study aims to provide opinions, ideas, and proposals for activating palestinian rural women’s roles and performance in society through answering the following questions: 1. what are the social and educational characteristics of rural women? 2. is there a low participation in the development of palestinian rural communities? is this decline due to the vulnerability of rural women? 3. what are the obstacles that prevent rural women from participating in the development of palestinian rural communities? 4. how can rural women be empowered to play an active role in the palestinian society and to increase their participation in overall development? the importance of this research stems from the fact that it studies an important segment of the society. future generations will depend on this segment to reach a comprehensive and sustainable development in the countryside. in order to identify the obstacles preventing palestinian rural women from development in society, it was necessary to know the role of rural women in development. the researcher considered conducting a field study that reflects this reality through a questionnaire designed for this purpose. the questionnaire included questions related to study objectives and to answer study questions from the following aspects: first: general information about rural women in nablus governorate. second: activities practiced by rural women in nablus governorate. third: obstacles and restrictions leading to non-participation in various development activities. fourth: recommendations and proposals to activate the role of rural women in real development. literature review https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 aburaida, l. m. (2021). obstacles facing rural women’s development in palestinian society: nablus governorate as a case study journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 90 development is the exploitation of the available energies and possibilities to meet the required needs of community and development in accordance with community, cultural, social, and economic needs. it is a complex process encompassing all life aspects such as economic, social, intellectual, political, and ideological life (pinot, 1972). over the past few years, many definitions of development have emerged. one of these defines development as the investment in the development of human resources and development through education and training for members of society to participate positively in the community (sarhan, 2014). there have been considerable efforts in rural development that have led to controversy about the starting point in rural development. is it through achieving awareness or through achieving economic development? should there be focus and attention on the community or the most vulnerable economic and social sectors in society? what can be done toward patterns of communal injustice? in this context, gandhi’s ideas for rural development are the most important of these ideas in terms of influence and continuity. he is recognized for his emphasis on the fact that change does not come from violence but from persuasion (hopkins, 1998). women have a vital role in development. their full participation is therefore necessary to achieve sustainable development. sustainable development is achieved through equality between women and men in rights, opportunities, and responsibilities. social justice is a precondition in this process (lohani & aburaida, 2017). rural women have a major role in the development of the rural family. women work in all social, economic, and political fields. studies indicate that rural women contribute about four percent of the world's food. in fact, this ratio may reach 80 percent in some developing countries (undp, 1990). studies also show that in many societies, such as in africa and asia, women work longer hours than men. women’s weekly work increases by about 13 hours; on the other hand, women work in eastern european and latin american countries about 6-7 hours more than men (sayed, 1996). it is worth mentioning that international efforts to mainstream the role of women in development have yielded positive results. grassroots and non-governmental organizations have played an active role in improving women's access to welfare and ease the restrictions related to participation and control (fonjong, 2001). however, overall rural development in general and the role of palestinian women in particular have been severely neglected. they have been dismissed out of the economic and social development plans in the era of the israeli occupation, even after the establishment of the palestinian authority in 1994. despite the high participation of palestinian women in the labor force during the past years, it is still very low compared with men. palestinian women’s participation rate in the palestinian labor force was 21.7 percent in 2018, compared with 10.3 percent in 2001 (figure 1). figure 1: participation in the labor force by women and men 15 years and older in palestine, 2001-2018 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 aburaida, l. m. (2021). obstacles facing rural women’s development in palestinian society: nablus governorate as a case study journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 91 source: awad, 2018 as the previous figure shows, women’s role in economic and social development is a vital one. tim and nadi (2010) studied the extent to which palestinian women participate in development; their findings show that women have an important role that can only be realized through justice and equality between men and women in society. najm (2013) studied palestinian university youth trends toward women's issues in education and work. the study concluded that youth attitudes are positive toward women’s education and work. hamayel (2003) examined the attitudes of palestinian university students toward the work of women. the researcher concluded that the society has a positive attitude toward women. it also emphasizes the role of women in economic development within the palestinian society. on the other hand, jaber (2005) concluded, in research about obstacles facing palestinian women working in the public sector in the northern governorates of the west bank, that the most important obstacles are the israeli security policies on the checkpoints between the cities and villages of the west bank. this prevents palestinian women from reaching their workplaces and delays their return home. the study by mohamad (2011) found that there is no correlation between the educational curricula and the needs of the society, which leads to a lack of cultural awareness and high unemployment in palestinian society. in addition, the palestinian-israeli conflict and the lack of palestinian unity have had a significant impact on the limited funding, which is the core of economic activity. methodology this study crosses both quantitative and qualitative research tools to collect original data, which is analyzed in the framework of a case study methodological approach, studying the development of rural women in palestinian society and its main constraints under an exploratory inductive approach. this study does not begin with a hypothesis, using instead research questions to narrow the scope of the study. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 aburaida, l. m. (2021). obstacles facing rural women’s development in palestinian society: nablus governorate as a case study journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 92 the study of the obstacles facing rural women in palestinian society benefits not only from secondary data such as books, articles, periodicals, and related reports; it also uses original primary data collected through questionnaires and interviews. the questionnaires were designed to obtain scientific results objectively from 100 palestinian women in nablus governorate. the in-depth interviews were conducted with the heads of women's associations, trade union organizations, women workers, and unemployed women. dataset nablus governorate is located in the north of the west bank, 53 kilometers from jerusalem. it is located along 35.16 west and 32.13 north of the equator (figure 2). it covers an area of 605 square kilometers. its population is 392,407. the governorate includes 52 rural communities in addition to the city of nablus (pcbs, 2017b), according to the administrative division approved by the palestinian authority. figure 2: location of the study area according to pcbs (2017b), palestinian society is characterized by a young generation; 38.9 percent of the total population in palestine is under 15 years of age, and 39.1 percent are male and 38.7 percent are female. youth ages 15-29 make up 29.7 percent of the total population, distributed as 43.9 percent male and 56.1 percent female. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 aburaida, l. m. (2021). obstacles facing rural women’s development in palestinian society: nablus governorate as a case study journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 93 the sample of this study consists of women in the rural areas in nablus that contains 64 villages and towns. the questionnaires were distributed randomly to the women in these areas. this sample is characterized by the following characteristics, as shown in figure 3. regarding the age of the sample, looking to figure 3, it is clear that, on one hand, women aged 15-24 years constitute 40 percent of the population. this is a high percentage that can be relied upon in all future development activities. on the other hand, women aged 25-34 constitute 26 percent, and women aged 35-44 years 13 percent. this is the age at which women can do all developmental activities in society. as for those who are older than 45-65 years, they represent 21 percent; this segment is effective to raise awareness and educate the rural community since they have life experiences. figure 3: age level of sample members source: field study 2018 regarding the social status of the sample members, figure 4 explains that the percentage of single women is 58 percent of the total sample; undoubtedly this has a negative impact on rural women’s performance and activity. rural women’s psychological instability, fear of obsession, and the society's attitude regarding spinsterhood are all reasons that expose them to convergence and inability to interact with the surrounding community. it also prevents rural women from carrying out any developmental role. figure 4 explains also that the percentage of married women is 39 percent. in spite of the fact that married women are more stable psychologically, they are still inactive in performing their role in development. the inability of women to reconcile their home chores and their work or their societal role idles their energies, resulting in the absence of their developmental role. the presence of widows and divorced https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 aburaida, l. m. (2021). obstacles facing rural women’s development in palestinian society: nablus governorate as a case study journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 94 women in the sample of the study was very low: two percent widowed and one percent divorced. figure 4: study sample social status source: field study 2018 regarding the sample educational level, which is an important factor in the development process: it affects all life aspects and social, economic, and political levels. the low level of women’s education in many societies is considered the general factor of underdevelopment and backwardness of society. this study shows that the educational level of rural women is one of the most important pillars in developing the society. through these educated rural women, we can promote active participation in society. the percentage of those with a university degree was 59 percent, with one percent of them holding a high degree. on the other hand, women in the secondary school and those who attained this degree reached 39 percent. this is a clear indicator of rural women’s interest in education, especially after they moved from this stage to the university level; thus, their role contributes effectively in the future development. findings despite rural women’s high level of education, their participation in economic activities is still very low. the percentage of female workers in the study sample was 6.3 percent, which is less than the percentage of women working in palestine, 9.7 percent (shteih, 2018). the study finds that the professions practiced by rural women in the countryside are still limited to traditional occupations. about 29 percent are engaged in handicrafts such as sewing and embroidery, while 26 percent work in agriculture; 23 percent work in education, and the rest work in https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 aburaida, l. m. (2021). obstacles facing rural women’s development in palestinian society: nablus governorate as a case study journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 95 economic activities and social work such as literacy, charities, women's groups, rehabilitation centers, trade unions, etc. the study showed that 12 percent of the respondents were active in their societies, and this is a low percentage that hinders development. the study showed that there are many obstacles facing rural women in the palestinian society development process. this includes social, economic, and political aspects, in addition to the lack of training and the institution and the women's collective form (figure 5). figure 5: the most important obstacles facing rural women in the development of the palestinian society economic conditions the researcher found that the palestinian-israeli conflict and the lack of palestinian unity had a great impact on the limited funding, which is considered the mainstay of economic activity. of the respondents, 39 percent attribute the prevailing economic conditions not only to the study area but to palestinian women, which impedes the role of women in development, resulting from the lack of funding for development projects and the spread of poverty in these rural communities. additionally, 35 percent of respondents said that there is a lack of services in rural areas, which leads to women's reluctance to interact in development work. the structure of social systems and the cultural framework of society economic life revolves around economic, social and political organizations in addition to the cultural framework of society (values, barriers, traditions, beliefs, moral qualities, attitudes, etc.). the existing framework indirectly affects women’s role in economic development. it also affects the level of comprehensive development (abdul-rahman, 2003). the study explains that https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 aburaida, l. m. (2021). obstacles facing rural women’s development in palestinian society: nablus governorate as a case study journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 96 reducing the role of women in development due to the contribution of the existing structure of social systems and the cultural framework of society is 29 percent. it should be noted that the dominant culture among women plays an important role in hindering their contribution to the overall development. the study revealed that 27 percent of women direct their available savings in many non-productive investments that do not benefit the beneficiary. their saving is directed toward agriculture, gold hoarding, and acquisition of ornaments. in addition, cultural values and traditions result in spending on many consuming aspects, which do not contribute positively to raising the level of material well-being of individuals and thus impede the role of women in development. the social systems, customs, and traditions prevailing in rural communities, lack of local council confidence among rural women, and social oppression all lead to the reluctance of rural women to participate in the various development activities. as a result, the study showed that 52 percent of the study sample believes that society does not give rural women the right of decision-making. this leads to imbalance, mistrust, and a permanent conflict between society and ambitions, and exposes rural women to the intransigence and inability to interact with the surrounding society. israeli actions at military checkpoints the israeli measures at the military checkpoints are the most important obstacles that prevent palestinian women from taking part in their developmental role. these checkpoints, which are described by palestinians as death gates, were increased to hundreds after the intifada in 2000. they are spread throughout the west bank. israel military checkpoints are spread along the entrances to cities and towns. due to this abuse and humiliation, the lives of palestinian citizens are very difficult. they are subjected to barriers in addition to the killings and arrests that take place at these checkpoints. palestinians are no safer or freer when they pass a checkpoint. this is directly reflected on palestinian women, who are afraid of passing through these barriers. moreover, they are always late at work or in returning home, resulting in staying at home and waiting for a nearby job to avoid passing through these military barriers, which negatively affects and limits their role in development. absence of women's training center organizations in spite of the increased percentage of education in rural communities, 42 percent of the respondent’s members indicated that the lack of training centers and lack of women's organizations isolated rural women from their role in development; 11 percent mentioned that the absence of training and rehabilitation associations for rural women and the lack of women's societies in rural society is one of the important reasons that causes the absence of women from development roles. in addition, undermining rural women in administrative structures and local councils is one of the crucial aspects that led to rural women’s reluctance to interact in the development work. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 aburaida, l. m. (2021). obstacles facing rural women’s development in palestinian society: nablus governorate as a case study journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 97 rural women are the main drivers of development, but limited access to credit, health care, and education are among the many challenges women face. this crisis is compounded by the global food and economic crisis and climate change. therefore, empowerment is necessary, not only for the well-being of individuals, families, and rural communities, but also for overall economic productivity since the presence of women in the agricultural labor force is worldwide. conclusions and recommendations rural women have a significant and effective impact on the real development of rural society. they also play a catalytic role in achieving the economic, environmental, and social transformations that are necessary to achieve sustainable development. however, women in these societies are still unable to play a real and active role due to their social conditions and the clear discrimination against rural women. lack of awareness, training, and rehabilitation, lack of qualified communities for qualified personnel, the absence of women's institutions, the weak role of government in rural areas, and the lack of service accessibility are all reasons for underdevelopment, as well as the lack of economic potential of rural communities and rural women where they do not have direct income, which prevents investment and makes them non-productive and consuming. empowerment of rural women is therefore critical, not only for the welfare of individuals, families, and communities, but also for overall economic productivity due to the presence of rural women in the workforce throughout the world. the researcher, through the field study on the obstacles facing rural women in achieving development in palestinian society, concluded with the following recommendations to activate the role of rural women to achieve real development within its society:  promote the educational role of rural women to enable them to gain access to education that ensures equality and parity with men.  work on improving and adjusting the image of rural women, combating stereotypical and mental concepts prevailing in the palestinian society that consider women as housewives doing agricultural work only. all creative areas for rural women must be highlighted.  conduct scientific studies on rural women in all aspects to identify needs and develop plans and programs to improve the efficiency of rural women, and liberate them from the economic and social controls imposed on them. it is also necessary to establish a training center in rural areas to serve rural women and raise their scientific and professional efficiency.  establish civil associations to eliminate illiteracy and introduce women to their rights in order to achieve their role in the development process.  work to improve the image of women in palestinian society in the media. also, combat concepts and vulgar images that lead to discrimination against women. support their work as a fundamental right to contribute to development. activating the role of women within the family in the process of social upbringing has a great impact on the comprehensive development of society. it also has an effective role in eliminating https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 aburaida, l. m. (2021). obstacles facing rural women’s development in palestinian society: nablus governorate as a case study journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 98 the negative social phenomena that limit the ability and contribution of women in development such as education, early marriage, and frequent reproduction, etc., in addition to raising the level of women's participation in public, political, and developmental life through their participation in decision-making. the underdevelopment of societies is due to the backwardness of their cultures. therefore, it is necessary to create an effective and positive cultural balance. it is also important to liquidate the negative residues, including the details of the daily lives of individuals in the society, so that the continuous exchange between the individual's effective behavior and lifestyle achieves individual autonomy and active participation in society. references abdul-rahman, a. (2003). development management: development management in the arab world and the new world order. kingdom of saudi arabia: center for arab unity studies. awad, p. (2018). the situation of palestinian women. ramallah: palestinian central bureau of statistics. fonjong, l. (2001). fostering women’s participation in development through non‐ governmental efforts in cameroon. geographical journal, 167(3), 223-234. hamayel, s. (2003). palestinian university students' attitudes towards the work of women. nablus: an-najah national university. hopkins, n. (1998). gandhi and the discourse of rural development in independent india. journal of comparative poetics, 18, 205-236. jaber, d. (2005). difficulties facing palestinian women working in the public sector in the northern governorates of the west bank. nablus: an-najah national university. lohani, m., & aburaida, l. (2017). women empowerment: a key to sustainable development. the social ion, 6(2), 26-29. mohamad, y. (2011). the obstacles to development in palestine. khartoum: sudan university of science and technology, institute of family and community development. najm, m. (2013). palestinian university youth attitudes towards women's education and work. iug journal of educational and psychological studies, 21(1), 567-617. pcbs. (2017a). preliminary results of the general census of population, housing and establishments. ramallah: palestinian central bureau of statistics. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 aburaida, l. m. (2021). obstacles facing rural women’s development in palestinian society: nablus governorate as a case study journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 99 pcbs. (2017b). women and men in palestine issues and statistics. ramallah: palestinian central bureau of statistics pinot, e. (1972). what is development? beirut: dar alhaqiqa. sarhan, h. (2014). sustainable human development and building a knowledge society. ahl albayt journal, 1(16), 138-155. sayed, p. (1996). impact of the wto agreement on agriculture on the role of women in rural development. yemen: ministry of agriculture. shteih, a. (2018). problems of women in the economic life and the labor market in the west bank, according to the data of the palestinian labor force 2015. nablus: an-najah national university, unpublished thesis. tim, h., & anadi, e. (2010). the degree of palestinian women's participation in development from the perspective of graduate students at an-najah national university in nablus. nablus: an-najah national university. undp. (1990). rural women’s participation in development. new york, ny: undp. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 strunc, a., the politics of culture: a discourse analysis of the texas social studies curriculum 71 the politics of culture: a discourse analysis of the texas social studies curriculum abbie strunc* texas a&m university-texarkana *corresponding author: astrunc@tamut.edu received : 2018-12-29 accepted : 2019-04-29 how to cite this paper: strunc, a. (2019). the politics of culture: a discourse analysis of the texas social studies curriculum, journal of culture and values in education, volume 2 (1), 71-80. abstract using van dijk’s sociocognitive theory as a framework for discourse analysis, the statemandated standards were examined to determine how the educational culture is impacted by the social studies curriculum. the process to revise the curriculum in texas is highly politicized and outside interest groups, such as mel and norma gabler’s educational research analysts, have inserted their own cultural perspective over the last 50 years. the article considers the impact of this influence and discusses the norms and power structures produced. keywords: discourse analysis, social studies, texas, culture introduction culture is an important component to being human. it is broadly defined as a shared set of values, and it helps groups to formulate a shared identity: school culture, classroom culture, or values shared by another defining, common characteristic (bruner, 1960; mcmaster, 2015). culture is a multifaceted, abstract concept which also evolves over time. as mcmaster (2015) suggests, culture is an “unique expression of those wider social values, the tension expressed by conflicting paradigms interpreted by individuals and negotiated and renegotiated collectively” (p. 21). culture is an important factor and function of schooling in the united states. public schools have been the primary method of transmission of shared values and beliefs since the nation formed. as thomas jefferson wrote in a letter to george wythe, “i think by far the most important bill in our whole code is that for the diffusion of knowledge [sic] among the people. [n]o other sure foundation can be devised for the preservation of freedom, and happiness” (1786). transmission of culture through schools has been an aim of public education since the nation was founded. jefferson believed schooling necessary as educated citizens are able to prevent government from the tyrannical usurping of inalienable rights. as such, public schools have consistently integrated history, government, and the basic foundations of civics education in the curriculum. oblique cultural transmission, the sharing of information among generations through worship, political entities, or schooling, began with the foundation of public schools (mcmahone, 2017). throughout american history, cultural movements in the u.s. realize the greatest impact in schools, as levinson suggests schools are journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 strunc, a., the politics of culture: a discourse analysis of the texas social studies curriculum 72 “powerful sites of intentional cultural transmission within and against which identities are constantly being constructed” (1999; 596). to dismiss the importance of schooling as a place of cultural development is foolish and misguided. the construction of citizens who share the same democratic ideals and values has long been present within public schools. however, there are instances in which cultural influence can be harmful to student development (laddsonbillings, 1994). this study is a discourse analysis which examines the influence of culture in the creation of the recently adopted social studies curricula for texas k-12 public schools. texas educational culture curricular culture the battle for control of the driving narrative in texas public schools is a long and storied tale. it is, while an historical reality, the stuff of legends and folklore. the story begins in hawkins, texas in the early 1960s. mel and norma gabler were a quiet, nondescript couple living in east texas. mr. gabler was a clerk for exxon and mrs. gabler, a stay at home parent. neither completed college – mr. gabler attended one year, while mrs. gabler finished formal schooling at high school graduation (martin, 1982; martin, 2007). their son jim noticed his american history content was not consistent with what his parents taught him. there are reports the gablers first noted the exclusion of the words “under god” in the text from the gettysburg address that jim was required to memorize. this was different from the phrase in a picture of the lincoln memorial, “and once the gablers started reading carefully, they found a lot of problems” (goodwyn in radio broadcast transcript, 2007). other accounts note the differences in textbooks and the gablers values, and the differences in content in textbooks produced in different years (martin, 1982). initially, school officials, politicians, and textbook companies ignored the gablers’ complaints. the gablers continued to attend hearings, review textbooks, and file complaints over the content in textbooks, but did not find any success until 1970, eight years after norma gabler first traveled to austin in 1962. in 1973, mel gabler took early retirement to found educational research analysts (era), a non-profit organization still working to review textbooks for texas nearly fifty years later (martin, 1982; era, 2019). for more than 40 years mel and norma gabler reviewed, examined, and expanded their influence in the content of textbooks for texas students. their concern for factual accuracy initially garnered the attention of texas textbook committee members and publishers, but the core of their work was the influence of not only the educational culture, but the very core of texas culture: “mel gabler even feels that new math contains the seeds of cultural disintegration. ‘“when a student reads in a math book that there are no absolutes, every value he has been taught is destroyed. and the next thing you know, the student turns to crime and drugs.”’ (gabler, 1982 as cited by martin). as the united states has experienced several cultural shifts, including the counter-cultural movements of the 1960s and 70s, it would seem that in the twenty-first century the influence of the gablers would have declined. yet in 1999 the texas state board of education (sboe) honored the gablers for their “years of sacrificial service, both in textbook review and in the textbook adoption process…” (ncse, 1999). both mel and norma gabler are deceased, mel in 2004, and norma, journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 strunc, a., the politics of culture: a discourse analysis of the texas social studies curriculum 73 in 2007, but their legacy in the cultural battle for the minds of texas students continues through the era (2019). their mission: we are a conservative christian organization that reviews public school textbooks submitted for adoption in texas. our reviews have national relevance because texas state-adopts textbooks and buys so many that publishers write them to texas standards and sell them across the country. our unique 50 years’ experience gives us expertise equal to or beyond that of the education establishment itself in all phases of the public school textbook adoption process, and in that our standard review criteria spell out what public school textbooks often censor on certain topics. publishers market textbooks – and many teachers select them – based on convenience of their teaching aids. unlike them, we review textbooks for academic content only. parents, teachers, and school board members can all profitably use our materials. (era, 2019). there is nothing inherently wrong with a conservative, christian perspective; however, inserting this worldview into the largest consumer of textbooks in the united states, which likely appears in the content for other states, is an area in which the dictated ‘culture’ suppresses students’ ability to think and engage in independent self-determination (era 2019; collins 2012; nsce 1999). political culture in texas the process for revising and evaluating the curriculum is political. the sboe is a board of 15 members elected from single member, geographically sectioned areas of the state. the members serve four year terms (tea, 2018). the current sboe includes five democrats and ten republicans. the responsibilities of the sboe include: (a) determining curriculum standards, (b) approving instructional materials, (c) controlling high school graduation standards, and (d) other administrative responsibilities. per the texas education code, the sboe considers the content of the state learning standards, the texas essential knowledge and skills (teks), for each subject area every ten years. the process begins with a notice call for participation from k-12 teachers, college professors, retired teachers, and private citizens across the state to work on the “streamlining” or revision teams. each sboe board member recommends candidates from their district to serve on teams which include current or retired educators and interested community members. these working groups identify the critical information that should be taught to students and sends their recommendations to the sboe. the board allows public testimony regarding the proposed changes; however, the board retains the authority to amend or alter the learning standards they deem appropriate. ultimately, the sboe votes to approve the finished curricula. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 strunc, a., the politics of culture: a discourse analysis of the texas social studies curriculum 74 although these are elected officials, selected by popular vote in each district, this process represents a significant cultural influence in the education of more than 5.4 million texas students (tea, 2018). members insert, suggest, and remove people, places, and ideas in accordance with their political perspectives, limiting the purview presented to students in social studies k-12 (mcgaughy, 2018). theoretical framework using van dijk’s sociocognitive theory as the framework for discourse analysis, the author will analyze the social studies learning standards to determine the impact of culture in the power structure created by the state-mandated curriculum (van dijk, 2016). van dijk’s (2016) sociocognitive theory is an appropriate framework for this study because the sociocognitive approach to discourse analysis argues “social interaction, social situations and social structures [only] influence text and talk through people’s interpretations of such environments” (p. 64). the environment established by the texas social studies curriculum is the mandated text that students and teachers use across texas to interpret and build their knowledge of social studies education. this is significant in that conversations about history, economics, citizenship, and government are based upon a curriculum which is essentially created and edited by politicians, not academics. the motivation for politicians is not to ensure factual accuracy, but rather to be re-elected. this framework for analysis is particularly useful because the document, the teks, subchapter 113, creates a power structure in which the curriculum is dictated to the students of texas and reproduces previous injustices in the curricula. in 2010, the last time the sboe revised the social studies standards, the curriculum excluded many minority figures, and glossed over many of the discriminatory events and practices in u.s. history (strunc, 2017). following van dijk’s (2016) sociocognitive approach, first considered is the cognitive component of the learning standards. this includes the knowledge, attitudes, and values found in the texas social studies curriculum. the analysis will attempt to answer what the learning standards seek to establish as social norms in the study of social studies. the approach also examines the social aspect of the curricula, the…. how are politicians able to dictate “the knowledge worth knowing” through the social studies curriculum (freire, 2009)? finally, the discourse of the learning standards will be considered. what norms and values are created through the learning standards to reproduce existing power structures? how are these norms and values implicitly or explicitly expressed throughout the social studies standards (van dijk, 2008)? social studies curriculum revision 2018 on november 16, 2018, the sboe voted to adopt “proposed revisions to 19 texas administrative code (tac) chapter 113 texas essential knowledge and skills (teks) for social studies” (tea, 2019). this 99-page, approximately 49,000 word manuscript creates the incoming social studies curriculum for k – 12 education in texas and serves as the body of text. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 strunc, a., the politics of culture: a discourse analysis of the texas social studies curriculum 75 officially, the pdf file posted of the social studies standards on the texas education agency’s website indicates that the document is approved for final adoption, but has not yet been filed with the texas register. the texas register operates under the texas secretary of state, and is the vehicle by which all proposed, accepted, and rejected policy, legislative, and procedural changes are published and then drafted into the texas administrative code. editors can revise the learning standards from the time they are filed in the texas register until final adoption (tea, 2019). this document produces the discourse for the social studies curricula, which is taught to students across texas, and in that vein establishes cultural values which are reproduced throughout texas classrooms. van dijks (2016) writes that his discourse-cognition-society triangle characterizes the relations which exist among discourse and society specifically by the way in which people think about the written word they consume, the social interactions with people, and the way in which they construct meaning from those interactions. in this instance the discourse created by the social studies teks is taught to students in public schools across the state, and the discourse created in the document is reproduced in the social setting of public education. the way in which the students and teachers who learn and teach about social studies through the social studies teks think about the interactions of the written word and social environment in school forms the norms and values which make up the cultural principles presented in public schools (p. 64). the social studies teks are divided into three “subchapters”: a, elementary, b, middle school, and c, high school. within the divisions the curricula establish cultural values in texas, based upon the language choice, topics, content selection, and ideologies (van dijk, 2016). analyzing the text from a sociocognitive perspective requires that the formal structures of the teks be overlooked. i am not interested in formal language which introduces the curriculum. the language of significance are those aspects of the standards which create a cultural norm for social studies education in texas through the interaction of discourse, cognition, and social expectations. notably, the language which reinforces cultural imbalances, power structures, and norms which exclude others is the focus. the influence of the gablers and the era is evident in the new social studies standards after fifty years in their efforts of “fact checking” textbooks. the gablers’ rhetoric included (a) the belief held by the framers of the constitution in a small, limited national government, (b) christian values, (c) traditional gender roles in which men work outside the home and women embrace their role as homemaker, (d) individual rights, (e) states’ rights, (f) free market, (g) capitalist economic principles, and (h) patriotism (hefley, 1979; martin, 1982). analyzing the social studies teks reveals many of these beliefs imbedded implicitly and explicitly throughout the standards from kindergarten through twelfth grade. good citizens the social studies teks begin to demonstrate “good citizens” perspective as early as the first grade learning standards: journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 strunc, a., the politics of culture: a discourse analysis of the texas social studies curriculum 76 12 citizenship. the student understands characteristics of good citizenship as exemplified by historical figures and other individuals. the student is expected to: (a) identify characteristics of good citizenship, including truthfulness, justice, equality, respect for oneself and others, responsibility in daily life, and participation in government by educating oneself about the issues, respectfully holding public officials to their word, and voting (tea, 2019). as an example, the citizenship learning standards create a sense of belonging by defining “good” citizenship for texas. the standards describe good citizens by specified desirable traits, while leaving unsaid that those excluded are not truthful and do not have respect for others and self. the “characteristics of good citizenship” reappear throughout with the emphasis placed on identifying and understanding the aspects of “good citizens”. this effort to separate those who belong from those who do not continues in the second grade teks: “11. citizenship. the student understands important symbols, customs, and celebrations that represent american beliefs and principles that contribute to our national identity…(d) identify how selected symbols, customs, and celebrations reflect an american love of individualism, inventiveness, and freedom” (tea, 2019). the gablers were interested in preserving the values they embraced through holding politicians and textbook publishers accountable through checking the historical facts in textbooks. however, the facts they supported also created a polarized sense of citizenship and what that looks like in society. this notion of citizenship continues in the eighth grade in which those who practice “good” citizenship recognize “responsible citizenship [by] obeying rules and laws, staying informed on public issues, vote, and serving on juries” (tea, 2019, 19.c). the persistent definition of citizenship with subjective adjectives preceding the word throughout the curriculum create a culture of behavior and expectations of citizenship. one can claim membership as a “good citizen” if one participates and believes accordingly. those who vary from this paradigm are relegated to membership on the other side. this is particularly frightening because students are not asked or encouraged to question the government or consider how valuable and relevant the right to protest and assemble has been throughout united states history. the “good citizenship” mentality is particularly evident in the united states history studies since 1877 course, part of the high school curriculum. students are asked to understan[d] the impact of political, economic, and social factors in the u.s. from the 1970s through 1990. the student is expected to: a) describe richard m. nixon’s leadership in the normalization of relations with china, and the policy of détente; b) describe ronald reagan’s leadership in domestic and international policies, including reagan’s economic policies and peace through strength; c) describe. u.s. involvement in the middle east, such as support for israel, the camp david accords, the iran hostage crisis, marines in lebanon, and the iran-contra affair; d) describe the causes and key organizations of the conservative resurgence of the 1980s, such as the heritage foundation, and the moral majority (tea, 2019, 10 a – d). the discursive practices used throughout the social studies teks create a structure which seeks to create a cultural value system that includes those who embrace subjective, conservative journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 strunc, a., the politics of culture: a discourse analysis of the texas social studies curriculum 77 values, while casting aside those who do not fully agree with the group culture written into the curriculum. norms and values social studies education varies across the united states because individual states retain much control over their public education systems. however, organizations such as the national council for social studies (ncss), form advocacy groups to promote norms and values common in social studies curricula across the united states. in the ncss position statement (2016), social studies education seeks to develop students into citizens through activities, creativity, critical thinking, and connecting learning to current events and issues (p. 180). the council summarizes important elements of teaching and learning in social studies to include “the values embodied in our democratic form of government, with its commitment to justice, equality, and freedom of thought, are embodied in social studies classroom practice” (ncss, 2016, p.181). nationally, the norms and values of a social studies education are inclusive and committed to social justice, freedoms, and democratic practices. however, the norms and values present in the social studies teks do not align well with those norms and values as defined by ncss. the social studies teks define the norms and values of social studies with the verb choice interspersed within the document. students are repeatedly asked to identify, recall, understand, and describe. those verbs task students with rote memorization and are not conducive to creativity or critical thinking. in the high school course, economics with emphasis on the free enterprise system and its benefits, students are directed to understand “the basic characteristics and benefits of the u.s. free enterprise system” (tea, 2019, 5). the title of the course alone works to create an accepted norm that a free enterprise system only has benefits. to enrich the learning, the curriculum instructs students to “explain the benefits of the u.s. free enterprise system, including individual freedom of consumers and producers, variety of goods, responsive prices, investment opportunities, and the creation of wealth” (tea, 2019, 5 a). the text here delivers a set of norms and values in which the individual is prized over the collective group, and a free market economic system is not only the norm, but also implicitly the best option, as there are only benefits to a free enterprise market structure. this norm appears multiple times throughout the curriculum. in kindergarten and first grade, the norms are emphasized as the purpose for holding jobs, satisfying needs and wants through market structures, while the term free enterprise is explicitly in the curriculum beginning in the third grade. using intentional language, the standards create a norm and value system in texas educational culture which prizes the free enterprise above other market structures. there is no consideration given to any negative effects of this market structure. in fact, the curriculum implicitly references the need for jobs and work, implying that those who might see negative aspects to a free enterprise structure would not fit the model of good citizenship because those beliefs are not responsible. influence of these norms and values on the educational culture in texas does not allow for students to consider a wide range of perspectives, but rather limits the worldview and information they use to build a framework of knowledge. this repeated journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 strunc, a., the politics of culture: a discourse analysis of the texas social studies curriculum 78 singular perspective in the curriculum does not balance and support factual accuracy and thereby censors what students learn. censorship is not aligned with freedom of thought, expression, and growth. conclusion ironically, the very fear which started the gablers on the path to action, censorship and undue government influence in the curriculum has become the reality in 2019. much of the gablers’ efforts were driven by fear: fear of morals deteriorating, fear of secular humanism and its ills replacing american values in the curriculum. arguments accusing textbook companies of leaving out the foundations of the united states as a christian nation began the fight over curriculum: “‘did you know that, almost without exception, big government is treated as desirable? in fact, the foundation of our nation on a heritage of christian principles is generally slighted or ignored”’ (gabler, 1979 as cited by hefley, p.20). the gablers, and their many supporters, feared communism, the teaching of religion under the guise of history, and a onesided, biased curriculum that would destroy a factual education for the school children of texas. what has transpired over the last fifty years has allowed their desire to preserve american values to be strongly inserted into the teks. the level of influence attained is so significant that, in some ways, the gablers seem inconsequential as their perspective has been pushed for so long. they feared a lopsided, heavily-biased curriculum, and fifty years later that is what the people of texas, and perhaps the united states, have been given. examining the social studies teks for k-12 students is important because the most recent adaptation is a byproduct of political maneuvering, influenced by outside sources for more than fifty years. it is also “the knowledge worth knowing” (freire, 2009) dictated for students across the state of texas, and potentially across the united states. additionally, it is a document which influences and shapes the culture of texas. students learning under these standards develop their feelings regarding citizenship and cultural values in an environment where preference and influence has created a culture with norms based upon the influence of the gablers and the era: a conservative, singular viewpoint of what it means to be a u.s. citizen. the language of the standards, the influence of outside sources, and the mandate from the state of texas to teach these standards for the next ten years cultivate a social culture in public schools which inserts a worldview that does not consider other perspectives. excluding ideologies from the curriculum is a dangerous practice. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 strunc, a., the politics of culture: a discourse analysis of the texas social studies curriculum 79 references bruner, j. s. (1960). the process of education. oxford, england: oxford university press. bryman, a. (2008). social research methods. oxford, england: oxford university press. collins, g. (2012). as texas goes: how the lone star state hijacked the american agenda. new york: liveright publishing corporation. freier, p. (2009) pedagogy of the oppressed. in d. j. flinders & s.j. thornton (eds.), the curriculum studies reader (pp. 147-154). new york: routledge taylor & francis group hefley, j.c. (1979). are textbooks harming your children? milford, mi: mott media. jefferson, t. (1783). extract from t. jefferson to g. wythe [letter written august 13, 1786 to g. wythe]. retrieved march 23, 2019, from http://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/1283#x3184736 levinson, b. (1999). resituating the place of educational discourse in anthropology. american anthropologist, 101(3), 594-604. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/683850 mcgaughy, l. (2018, november 16). texas history curriculum: hillary clinton and alamo heroes are in. oprah’s out. the dallas morning news. retrieved from http://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2018/11/13/texas-education-board-debateeliminating-hellen-keller-hillary-clinton-others-history-curriculum mcmahone, m. (2017). cultural transmission (sociology). salem press encyclopedia. mcmaster, c. (2015). where is ___________?: culture and the process of change in the development of inclusive schools. international journal of whole schooling, 11, 16–34. national council for the social studies. (2016). a vision of powerful teaching and learning in the social studies: a position statement. social education, 180 – 182. strunc, a. (2017). rewriting the standards, not history: a critical discourse analysis of the texas state board of education social studies standards revisions. national journal of urban and public education, 11, 2, 39 – 51. texas education agency. (2018a). sboe members. retrieved from https://tea.texas.gov/about_tea/leadership/state_board_of_education/board_members/sb oe_members/ texas education agency. (2018b). state board of education sboe. retrieved from http://tea.texas.gov/sboe/ http://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/1283#x3184736 http://www.jstor.org/stable/683850 http://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2018/11/13/texas-education-board-debate-eliminating-hellen-keller-hillary-clinton-others-history-curriculum http://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2018/11/13/texas-education-board-debate-eliminating-hellen-keller-hillary-clinton-others-history-curriculum https://tea.texas.gov/about_tea/leadership/state_board_of_education/board_members/sboe_members/ https://tea.texas.gov/about_tea/leadership/state_board_of_education/board_members/sboe_members/ http://tea.texas.gov/sboe/ journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 strunc, a., the politics of culture: a discourse analysis of the texas social studies curriculum 80 van dijk, t. (2008). discourse and power. houndmills: palgrave-macmillian. van dijk, t. (2016). critical discourse studies: a sociocognitive approach. in r. wodnak & m. meyer (eds.), methods of critical discourse studies (third ed., pp. 63–74). los angeles, ca: sage. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 boutelier, s., limiting learning environments through domestication 45 limiting learning environments through domestication stefani boutelier* aquinas college *corresponding author: smb009@aquinas.edu received : 2018-12-10 accepted : 2019-04-29 how to cite this paper: boutelier, s., (2019). limiting learning environments through domestication, journal of culture and values in education, volume 2 (1), 45-55. abstract this theoretically based paper analyzes the proliferation of domestication in our education systems inside and outside of the classroom. looking at past and current trends, questions are posed and suggestions are made to break these cycles. don miguel ruiz’s definition of domestication of children frames this paper and engages the reader to question their current practices and expectations of children and/or students. keywords: domestication, critical pedagogy, praxis, culturally relevant teaching introduction “sit,” “stay,” “come,” are all commands associated with a trained, domesticated animal. not often do we correlate domestication with humans, after all, aren’t we born domesticated? yet, ponder how domesticating is meant to cultivate a trained mammal to follow rules, cultivate expectations, and fit into a mold. now this sounds more like house-breaking a human. it does sound dirty and against humanity to word it this way but as don miguel ruiz (1997) explains in his best-selling philosophical guide, the four agreements, children are domesticated at home by being told what to do, being held to specific expectations, and guided to act in certain ways. the cultural values placed on this domestication is how we often view success in a classroom and for life. then we continue to socialize students because teachers (k-higher ed.) are still domesticated in a way for learning, attending, and reacting the “expected” way. this paper will analyze these conjectures from different levels of learning, relationships, and how they perpetuate through families and into educational realms. theoretical frameworks of culturally responsive teaching and critical pedagogy will be integrated. they have evolved and supported change. these frameworks ignite conversations related to power, thought, and breaking systemic education dynamics which keep us at bay. a critical pedagogy framework has always supported a student-centered approach which is now at the forefront of teaching models (freire, 2006). a culturally relevant classroom implores the use of reflection, relationships, facilitation, and collaboration (gay, 2002; ladson-billings, 2014). equity literacy journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 boutelier, s., limiting learning environments through domestication 46 overlaps with these frameworks and others to encourage teachers and learners to evaluate, interact, and utilize curricula to interrupt current social structures (freire, 2006; gorski, 2017). these frameworks and suggestions have intentions to move us to understand domestication and beyond this concept to analyze familial cultural values as part of the marginalizing factors that keep our education system static. the goal of this paper is to bring these ideas to the forefront of education to help act as a catalyst for humanizing and releasing privileged dynamics that do not provide for a justice-filled learning environment. common phrases related to domestication of schooling will be interplayed throughout the text in isolation to allow the reader to inquire and self-reflect about how these expectations apply to success and to consider how they can be broken. questions are posed to get you thinking and reflecting on your own practice as an educator, parent, and/or citizen. it also has a few references to works that are not timely by any current writing standards. the point of this is to show how long these ideas have been brewing. if you are reading this, you no doubt know how challenging it is to manipulate the education system or any cultural mainstay in the united states. farming schedules and factory jobs are not taking over the world. yet, rumor has it, automation might, therefore if our system breeds critical and creative thinkers, new jobs and skills will be created and needed in our future job markets to balance the automation domination. i must listen and follow directions. we don’t choose our language or religion when born; we don’t choose our culture or locale. our name is chosen for us; how we are parented and educated are also in line. and more importantly we don’t choose the moral values (ruiz, 1997) that welcome us and rear us. ruiz explains that we have words that define us (e.g., woman, man, child, adult) and a reward system along with consequences based upon the trained interpretations of these words. this is ruiz’s process of domestication. it feeds into our communities, our cultures, and our schools. we must disrupt this system plaguing our learning environments--it is difficult to teach anyone who enters a classroom without an open-mind. postman and weingartner (1969), among others, have advocated for nearly 50 years to disrupt our thinking and our toxic, plateaued education system. illich (1971) questioned how we institutionalized characteristics of our identity through schooling. and reimer (1971) acknowledged society should be challenging the indoctrination in schools. why has it taken so long and how do we break this? the teacher is in control. these colonized methods of behavior increase power structures in our classrooms and are difficult behaviors to “break” in teacher candidates and teacher educators (foucault, 2006; mclaren, 2003). if our teachers cannot move beyond these domesticated behaviors as students, we cannot expect critical dialogue and action to occur in primary and secondary settings. teacher educators play a strong role in helping break these cycles. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 boutelier, s., limiting learning environments through domestication 47 parents versus teachers adults have expectations. these expectations filter out to our children. these domesticated behaviors then filter into schools and academic behavior. often, parents domesticate their children with an expected behavior in the classroom--this is often culturally embedded. some children are trained to only listen to teachers and never question, others are raised to voice their opinion and question the content. this is where teachers come in. teachers must be trained and aware of the domesticated behaviors of their students and understand the variance of demand on their students. furthermore, teachers must become aware of their own domestication, which has been engrained longer than our students. how do we start this? like anything, we must first identify our own teaching philosophies and build upon the domestication instilled at home. having students sit in rows, raise their hands to respond, ask to use the restroom are only a few examples. what are these behaviors for? control, power, obedience--the synonyms can go on. yes, these behaviors help with order and may make teaching easier, but are we ultimately teaching for today or do we want to create citizens who can survive and thrive in the future? peddiwell discussed this with satire in his saber tooth curriculum (1939) bringing to light the debate of teaching for survival today or teaching for survival tomorrow. what will it be? i don’t want to be creative, i just want to finish it. parental involvement plays a vital role, as proven through experience and research. educators only have control over our continued domestication in our classrooms and during the time we work with students. the first step is awareness. we should not be viewing this as a competition of parents versus teachers. the priority is always our children/students. working together is part of a mutual process (freire, 2007) needed to expand our future generations. breaking the cycle with teacher candidates many traditional aged teacher candidates should have or could have had a more progressive learning environment, after all there are options now--pbl, stem, critical thinking, ...but where is the ownership? the creativity? the autonomous learning that often gets thrown out? teacher candidates are still fighting counter-domestication. they still want to be told what to do and not embrace autonomy in assignments. this needs to change, but how? paolo freire’s work and theory of critical pedagogy is one method to guide us in this work against trained socialization. his theory (2007) supports those who are marginalized by providing students with methods and the power to “liberate themselves” and others (p. 44). the opposite of this would be our traditional, domesticized means of teaching--having control and telling our students what to do. we are all guided by these rules and rarely fight it. students in higher education are still trapped in these domesticized learning environments. even with highly publicized 21st century skills promoting facilitation, all levels of education still resort back to models that thrive on the dynamics of power and simple direct instruction (foucault, 2006; freire, 2007). journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 boutelier, s., limiting learning environments through domestication 48 college is the only outlet for success. power is the antithesis of the critical pedagogically-minded instructor. one must relinquish power to provide means for students to identify and lead their own movements of learning to better themselves and “detach the power of truth from forms of hegemony, social, economic, and cultural, within which it operates at the present time” (foucault, 2006, p. 171). critical pedagogy can be applied in teacher education programs to engage preservice teachers to break these cycles. this must be done purposefully and with scaffolds to simultaneously teach the critical pedagogy model and integrate praxis (theory put into action) in the work of the learners and educators (freire, 2007; mclaren, 2003). teacher educators often assume that all candidates who want to become teachers arrive with advocacy mindsets, critical analysis skills, and understanding of how to disrupt their own domestication. as teacher educators themselves might not be clear about the terminology of domestication, the concept must be analyzed and learned. if we consider a traditional undergraduate who is near completion of teacher certification, their age (i.e., 21-23) categorizes them near, but not at full brain maturity--which is identified as 25 (johnson, blum, & giedd, 2009). although this paper will not expand on the brain development piece, it is to point out how the force of the domesticated brain could be fogging the expansion of thought and action through teacher education courses. critical thinking skills become a great protocol to continue to integrate and teach for all content teachers. modeling and providing for civil discourse around the topic of domestication is one avenue to start. we can incorporate a lens of critical pedagogy, culturally responsiveness, and self-advocacy for teacher candidates to incorporate these skills and create procedures or activities to empower themselves and future students. costa’s (2001) promotion of the teaching of, for, and about thinking spans across all age groups--we never stop thinking. these three concepts are often defined as metacognition but unless we practice and make this a habit, we will lack the skills for ourselves and thus will not be able to transfer these abilities to our students. i’ll assume there is a reason i need to learn this. we can promote an authentic “learning experience” where the active interaction between learning and the student is what creates the transferable knowledge (tyler, 1969, p. 63). freire (2007) discussed the cliché of giving a little to get a little; educating and learning is a mutual process. teacher educators must model these and provide varied methods of instruction to disrupt all levels of education. teacher educators, teachers, and parents should not expect change without changing themselves. returning back to ruiz (1997), his concept of domestication is presented prior to explanation of his four agreements which are: don’t take things personal, be immepcialbe with your words, don’t make assumptions, and always do your best. we can look at these rules as one guiding arena to merge from traditional thought and negativity. would this however, simply disrupt journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 boutelier, s., limiting learning environments through domestication 49 the role of domestication? how much disruption is needed to make a cultural shift? and even greater a question, how do we get buy in? i must raise my hand before talking. we need to scaffold these ideas through education programs, then through the k-12 system, and finally in the homes--or vice versa. these shifts are never easy, nor fast. training teachers to first identify, then disseminate a deeper thinking model is one way to break from traditional expectations and start this shift. domestication at the surface level we have potential beyond birth (cantor, osher, berg, steyer, & rose, 2018) which can go beyond the limitations and expectations we are born into. we must recall and revitalize the notion of domestication as not something that is static, but fluid. humans learn from all contextual environments which should help us move beyond the sense of a single form of growth in the classroom (e.g., teaching to the test) to a multidimensional curriculum (e.g., social, emotional, academic) (gay, 2000). this must include understanding what deeper levels of culture represent (hammond, 2015). as well, a plethora of research continues to support the need for relationships and cultural influences in the curriculum (cantor et al., 2018; emdin, 2016; ladson-billings, 2014). when we look at some of the demographics and understand how we learn differently based on our culture or location, we must be clear not to categorize certain conditions (e.g, poverty) as part of one’s domesticated culture (gay, 2002; gorski and swalwell, 2015; hammond, 2015; ladson-billings, 2014). this is not to say that certain living conditions do not attribute to one’s personality, experience, or access, but to identify these factors as static versus malleable continues marginalization that must be countered. through a critical lens and an acknowledgement of these factors one can separate domestication and culture. my test scores define my intelligence. hammond (2015) describes surface level culture as observable and manicured--it’s what we see and how we create stereotypes. domestication at the surface level could be defined as manners, forms of dress or physical appearance, and material belongings. most often children are domesticated at this level to confirm they will “fit” into society, into their classrooms, and with their peers. as we know, anyone who doesn’t fit this can be bullied, isolated, or even labeled “weird.” ah, the mouth of babes can be harmful and yet, where and when is this behavior domesticated? if we compare a deep culture of collectivism, unconsciousness, spirituality, and world views to the concept of domestication we begin to envision similar parallels (hammond, 2015; illich, 1969). are these categories also not built on the foundations of one’s domestication? the environment and cultural context builds the behavior of collectivism (e.g., race, language, amount of siblings, chores). our unconsciousness and world view can be a pillar filled with all journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 boutelier, s., limiting learning environments through domestication 50 of these domesticated settings. finally, hammond also points out how spirituality can fulfill a variety of places of domestication (e.g., higher being, connection to the world, morals, thinking). i pledge allegiance... with this analysis, can we adhere to the notion that domestication is unavoidable? what role does education play in this? many would argue, often parents domesticate children to be “successful” in school. because if you are not successful in the school environment, you risk…(fill-in the blank). the irony comes in the attempt to not domesticate, if so, can you succeed, be happy, or fulfill your goals if you are not domesticated? many of these surface cultural values are embedded into the curricula across all levels. freire’s (2007) concept of banking is similar to the domesticated education concept addressed here. domestication is the mindset we are trained at home to follow. the banking system is how educators deposit information while our students “receive, memorize, and repeat” (freire, 2007, p. 72). this model perpetuates and limits one’s thinking and ability of choice. this encourages every student to be required to know the same, act the same, and fall in line with the greater expectations of society. our knowledge base often categorizes us in society. however, knowing an abundance of facts (useless or valuable based on context) does not lead one towards success, happiness, or a certain career. and isn’t this the goal? just tell me how i can earn an a. osher, cantor, berg, steyer, and rose (2018) describe micro contexts that increase our relationships to others (e.g., socioeconomic status, race, peers). these surface level identifiers might have a deeper level context in regards to the effect they make on one’s whole self. identifying and acknowledging this interconnectedness allows for parents, teachers, and teacher educators to create environments of exposure in all variable contexts. this can be done through open dialogue, readings, media, and the connection to others. we can utilize the cultural teachings from home and positive domestication to learn from and with others--that mutual process (freire, 2007) of an authentic learning environment is feasible. counter-domestication if domestication, for the sake of this article, means to mold into the status quo, then counterdomestication would allow for a child, for a learner, for a human to develop through choice and without judgement or guidance. this alone sounds shocking and might take a moment to process. go ahead, take a few minutes to ponder choice and the act of giving autonomy. this can wait. if you choose to not finish this article and decide to delve deeper into tools that will help you support this type of educating, then by all means, go forth and break the cycle. if you feel the need to continue reading this article for purpose of understanding, summary and authentic referencing, then hold yourself to the understanding that you are domesticated. you are following the rules. this article follows the rules. often academic writing, even when theoretical, is by the book. if not, is it judged? delineated? un-scholarly? it definitely isn’t accepted. and how do we break a cycle that perpetuates itself? journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 boutelier, s., limiting learning environments through domestication 51 endless books and articles hint or explicitly identify the need to call out privilege and disregard the comfort level of the hegemony (i.e., educated white males). narratives in schools, media, and history books still dominate the perspective of whites. the zinn foundation and teaching tolerance are only two popular outlets to start providing counter-narratives in our classrooms (e.g., looking at slave and indigenous narratives during times of colonization which is often taught through the eye of the heroic conqueror and explorer). yet, if domestication at home continues to perpetuate these ideas and if we cannot guarantee the quality of the counternarratives in our curriculum, we will continue in negative spirals. and if we provide counternarratives only in piecemeal or short-term lessons, how do we authentically educate? hammond (2015) discusses cultural archetypes as self-versus group. could we consider the protocols of moving from teaching self-agency to group-agency as one step in the movement away from domestication? that is to assume the american domestication of individualism is dominant. is it? or do we think this due to the voice of the powerful and the actions of those in charge? my interests have no place in school. we have a world to share and it seems to feel smaller every day. if we perpetuate a domestication of our smallest humans, we will continue the current cycle of hate, distrust, and ultimate destruction. emdin (2015) explains “the point is not to force everyone to be a part of the dominant culture, but rather to move everyone to be themselves together,” (p. 109). we must take learning environments as they are meant to be: to expand one’s thinking and interpret all the knowledge we are given to be part of this great world. domesticating the “white” way if we look at the root of domesticating, it fits into parameters of power, control, and the factory model of education. these are traditional white expectations of comfort and power. this is an issue because it manipulates expectations and brings forth the colonialist idea that there is only one right way. culturally responsive teaching is one lens that has been integrated into education to focus on individuals and make the classroom inclusive at all levels (gay, 2002; hammond, 2015; ladson-billings, 2014). if you’ve read any socially just, culturally relevant, or progressive education articles, books, or theories, it is clear that education has and is still dominated by white, colonial ways. and for the most part, domestication across homes is presumably the same. the idea to survive the colonial ways of the streets, the job market, and classrooms are part of this. if one is labeled with learning disabilities or as an english learner, the stakes are even higher. this leaves many students to start out with labeled deficits (hammond, 2015) and the need to further climb creates more obstacles for our marginalized students. my voice is not valued. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 boutelier, s., limiting learning environments through domestication 52 literacy teaching doesn’t stop when a child demonstrates mastery of reading or in 3rd grade. reading and writing skills become a dominant sub-point in domestication. even more important might be the skill of code-switching (when one changes linguistic abilities based on the context and the people involved). this, unfortunately, can be a necessary skill for life--or to sustain life. many people of color have to navigate different worlds and different conceptions of domestication. it is critical that white teachers understand this. considering gorski’s (2017) equity literacy of recognizing, responding, and redressing bias in classrooms and then committing to address and sustain a bias-free environment allows classrooms to become more inclusive by supporting the elements of domestication that run culturally through the threads of our diverse society. myths related to literacy often challenge the assumption that reading and writing are the only needed literacy skills, however, lee (2011) acknowledges that literacy and action (consistent with praxis) lead to critical learners and movement. mix these lenses with integration of critical pedagogy in one’s teaching framework and movement to break these cycles continue. identification and awareness of literacy through the “white” way becomes dangerous and has continued to limit the lenses of our students. we need diverse voices represented and we need to scaffold norms of conversation to increase critical thinking and bring about action/change. literacies fulfill most of our interactions (e.g, cultural literacy, media literacy, social literacy). all forms of literacy must be exposed and utilized to “just”ify our learning environments. praxis to disrupt domestication praxis is the action, reflection, and merging of theory as an application to make change (freire, 2007). education hails the use of data-driven practices, paradoxically we often find research supporting both sides. kohn (2011) makes the case that students learn more when they are allowed choice and are interested while research and experience continues to demonstrate to us through multiple lenses (e.g., cultural relevance, topic choice, student agency) which provide our domesticated personalities with the ownership to move us beyond our current roles. it’s not always apparent which dichotomy is dominant in research, however, concepts consistently standing out are thinking, culture, and relationships. all of these theories are also supported by brain research. there isn’t opposing literature, or at least not significant enough to be identified, that states we should not improve thinking, we should not ignore culture, and we should not cultivate relationships. it is clear, far beyond these references (emdin, 2015; foucault, 2006; freire, 2007; gay, 2000; hammond, 2015; illich, 1969; kohn, 2011), that relationship and authenticity in our learning need to be undomesticized. undomesticize is created for this paper as the process of breaking the cycle of expectation and behavior to satisfy the traditional conjectures of our society. breaking power structures, building relationships, emending facilitation, and offering authentic choice can be a catalyst for this change. it is a summons to break from dominant ideologies. this is a challenge for parents, teachers, and teacher educators to address this more and bring about effective praxis for change to allow for critical learners and community activists. partner with parents, nonprofits and neighborhood support systems. encourage dialogue about domestication and how the acknowledgement of this will encourage growth. educate journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 boutelier, s., limiting learning environments through domestication 53 with an open mind and provide choice. with these we can break cycles of conformity and domestication. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 boutelier, s., limiting learning environments through domestication 54 references cantor, p., osher, d., berg, j., steyer, l. & rose, t. (2018). malleability, plasticity, and individuality: how children learn and develop in context. applied developmental science. doi: 10.1080/10888691.2017.1398649 costa, a. (ed.). (2001). “teaching for, of, and about thinking.” in developing minds: a resource book for teaching thinking (3rd ed.). virginia: acsd. emdin, c. (2016). for white folks who teach in the hood...and the rest of y'all too. boston: beacon press. foucault, m. (2006). truth and power. in chomsky, n. & foucault, m. the chomsky-foucault debate: on human nature. (pp. 140-171). new york: the new press. freire, p. (2007). pedagogy of the oppressed: 30th anniversary edition. new york: continuum. gay, g. (2000). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research, and practice. new york: teacher college press. gay, g. (2002). preparing for culturally responsive teaching. journal of teacher education, 53(2), 106-116. doi:10.1177/0022487102053002003 gorski, p. & swalwell, k. (2015). equity literacy for all. educational leadership. ascd. gorski, p. (2017). equity literacy for educators: definitions and abilities. equity literacy institute. retrieved from http://www.edchange.org/handouts/ equity-literacy-intro-abilities.pdf hammond, z. (2015). culturally responsive teaching and the brain. thousand oaks, ca: corwin. illich, i. (1971). deschooling society. new york: harper & row johnson, s., blum, r., & gieed, j. (2009). adolescent maturity and the brain: the promise and pitfalls of neuroscience research in adolescent health policy. j adolesc health. 45(3) 216-221. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.05.016 kohn, a. (2011). “well, duh!” — ten obvious truths that we shouldn’t be ignoring. american school board journal. retrieved from https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/well-duh-ten-obvioustruths-shouldnt-ignoring/ ladson-billings, g. (2014). culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: a.k.a. the remix. harvard educational review, 84(1), 74-84. lee, c. j. (2011). myths about critical literacy: what teachers need to unlearn. journal of http://www.edchange.org/handouts/ https://www.alfiekohn.org/ https://www.alfiekohn.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 boutelier, s., limiting learning environments through domestication 55 language and literacy education, 7(1), 95-102. retrieved from http://www.coa.uga.edu/jolle/2011_1/lee.pdf mclaren, p. (2003). revolutionary pedagogy in post-revolutionary times: rethinking the political economy of critical education. in darder, a., baltodano, m. & torres, r. d. (eds.) the critical pedagogy reader. great britain: taylor & francis books. osher, d., cantor, p., berg, j., steyer, l. & rose, t. (2018). drivers of human development: how relationships and context shape learning and development. applied developmental science. doi: 10.1080/10888691.2017.1398650 peddiwell, j. (1939). the saber-tooth curriculum. mcgraw hill: new york. postman, n. & weingartner, c. (1969). teaching as a subversive activity. new york: a delta book. reimer, e. (1971). school is dead: an essay on alternatives in education. new york: penguin press. ruiz, d. m. (1997). the four agreements: a practical guide to personal freedom (a toltec wisdom book). san rafael, ca: amber-allen publishing. tyler, r. w. (1969). the basics of curriculum and instruction. chicago, il: university of chicago press. http://www.coa.uga.edu/jolle/2011_1/lee.pdf journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 adebola, o. o. supplemental instruction as a tool for students' academic performance in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 42 supplemental instruction as a tool for students' academic performance in higher education oyinlola omolara adebola school of social sciences and language education, faculty of education, university of the free state, south africa email: adebolaoo@ufs.ac.za received : march 20, 2021 rev. req. : april 5, 2021 accepted : may 8, 2021 how to cite this paper: adebola, o. o. (2021). supplemental instruction as a tool for students' academic performance in higher education. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 42-51. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.4 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract supplemental instruction (si), which can be referred to as academic support has been linked to the successful academic performance of university students both locally and internationally. this study explores the successful implementation of si to encourage students toward academic performance in a south african university. constructivism theory (ct) was adopted as the theoretical framework for the study while participatory research (pr) was the research design. a focused group interview was used to collect data because of its relevance and assumptions of academic support such as supplemental instruction. two lecturers, two tutors, two tutees, and two si personnel were selected for the study from a selected university. at the same time, thematic analysis was chosen to analyse the data generated. the findings showed that through the intervention of si, first-year students' academic performance increased while the dropout rate has also reduced. keywords: supplemental instruction, students' academic performance, first-year students, higher education, constructivism introduction students' academic performance can be referred to as the overall knowledge gained from students through assessments such as tests and examination within a period of time by lecturers (narad & abdullah, 2016). academic performance enhancement through supplemental instruction has been said to increase student achievement globally and in local universities, including the university where this study was conducted (adebola et al., 2020; kapur, 2018; malm et al., 2018). this means that the impacts of si in academics cannot be neglected nor under-emphasised in academic performance. according to wilmot and telang (2017), there was an increase in students' academic performance of first-year students who attended supplemental instruction at a specific period compared with those who did not attend. 10.46303/jcve.2021.4 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.4 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 adebola, o. o. supplemental instruction as a tool for students' academic performance in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 43 this indicates that the rate at which students drop out of the university has reduced, increasing the graduation output. first-year students encounter many challenges, such as lack of academic support and financial problem, and as such, they sometimes find it unnecessary to attend tutorial sessions (fluke et al., 2014; saleem et al., 2018). on the contrary, yasin and dzulkifli (2010) suggested that firstyear students need to socialise, as this would contribute to positive academic performance, boost communication skills, and help them better understand the environment. in support of the view above, first-year students are influenced mainly by their peers and the new academic environment and naturally do not want to attend academic support because they believe it is of no use. therefore, the problem of the study is the uncared attitude of first-year students towards attending tutorial sessions (saleem et al., 2018). academic support such as supplemental instruction has been proven to show that si leads to an increase in students' academic performance, especially first-year students in universities, as revealed by goomas (2014), skoglund et al. (2018) and omodan and ige (2021). on the other hand, supplemental instruction is said to have promoted the active participation of students, increased collaborative learning spirit among students and served as a means of getting feedback from students (adebola, 2020; budiharso & tarman, 2020; double et al., 2020; sukrajh, 2018). according to these scholars, supplemental instruction has positive impacts on students apart from academic performance achievement. students involvement in class discussion is crucial as it motivates both the tutor and tutees during tutorial sessions. subsequently, feedback is another benefit that is associated with supplemental instruction through tutorial sessions. research question can supplemental instruction contribute to the academic performance of first-year university students? research objectives this study aims to examine the successful implementation of supplemental instruction on the academic performance of first-year students in universities. methodology research design this study adopted participatory research (pr) due to its relevance and features in conducting research. pr is an approach that appreciates the coming together of those concerned in providing solutions to their problems. this means allowing the disadvantaged or marginalised, who are the students, to be part of the investigation process of finding a solution to their problem. this opportunity gives the students a sense of belonging by allowing them to make their voices heard through the project. pr believes that both the process and how research is done is as important as the results (bergold & thomas, 2012). participatory research supports participants' thinking and allows them to be free and treated equally without bias. this study attests that the implementation of si led to the improved academic performance of first-year https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 adebola, o. o. supplemental instruction as a tool for students' academic performance in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 44 students in the university where the study was conducted, and pr is relevant and appropriate. therefore, pr, which by its nature privileges the marginalised to make their voices heard, will permit concerned students, the students who were offered modules and participants to tell their stories regarding problems facing supplemental instruction and suggest the way forward. participants the selection consists of eight participants, of which two were lecturers of the university, two tutors who facilitate the first-year students, two tutees who are the students, and two si coordinators who deal with the administrative aspect. the study targeted university lecturers, students at first-year who attended tutorial sessions, and second-year students who were tutors at the centre for teaching and learning (ctl). these participants were chosen based on their expertise and involvement as it could help the study. the study adopted purposive sampling techniques in selecting its participants because of the relevance. presentation of data and discussion for anonymity sake, the participants in the study were represented using a1 & a2 (lecturers), b1 & b2 (tutees), c1 & c2 (tutors), and d1 & d2 (si leaders/personnel). the study is qualitative research and interview was used to collect data. this instrument was chosen because the researcher needed some in-depth information regarding the supplemental instruction as academic support from the targeted participants. this information helped the researcher decide and design the appropriate questions held with participants through a face-to-face interview. according to ryan, coughlan and cronin (2009), an interview is defined as that type of data collection that is used to get in-depth information regarding an opinion, thought or phenomenon. data collection the study adopted an interview instrument to collect data; this was done such that the researcher had a face-to-face interview with the students together and lecturers individually. since the researcher already prepared an open-ended question to ask each participant, the process of interviewing them was easy to administer. meanwhile, each of the questions drafted and asked was informed by the research questions. questions such as "does si enhance firstyear students' academic performance?" among others, were asked. the researcher spent at least 10-15minutes with each participant while the interview was being recorded on a video recorder and later transcribed and coded. an unstructured interview was used to collect data for the study. an unstructured interview is an open interview that allows the interviewer to ask specific questions on the research topic (dana, dawes & peterson, 2013). this means that both interviewer and interviewees can have an informal conversation without following a specific regulation. meanwhile, dana (2013) argued that an unstructured interview is a valuable tool to reveal crucial information regarding a specific topic, especially when there are laid-down rules. this method allows transparent conversation as both parties reflect on real-life scenarios. an unstructured interview is relevant to this study as it allows participants to voice their opinions without fear. it also allows participants to be part of a system where knowledge is constructed. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 adebola, o. o. supplemental instruction as a tool for students' academic performance in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 45 data analysis and ethical consideration according to braun and clarke (2006), the thematic analysis (ta) is a qualitative method of data analysis for identifying, analysing, organising, describing, and reporting themes that originate within a set of data. this means that ta is theorised as a systematic form of data analysis classified and organised so that the pattern of meaning is critically examined. by so doing, data is broken into themes in other to make sense with regard to thematic prearrangement. ta as a method of data analysis allows the researcher to analyse the data according to the themes and subthemes (holloway & todres, 2003). the relevance of thematic analysis to the study are many and includes what jugder (2016) said that data generated through interview are effectively simple and meant to be rationalised. because of its flexibility, ta assists researchers in analysing data based on themes and subthemes. the thematic analysis allowed the researcher to analyse the interview from a perspective point of view. in this study, data were analysed by the categorisation of themes; that is, after the data had been transcribed, the researcher categorised the common themes, ideas, and pattern to their meanings as examined. after a critical study of the categorisation of themes, the researcher coded each group, searched for patterns, named the themes, and finally report the outcomes. the study was approved by the ethical committee of the university of the free state with approval number ufs-hsd2018/1132. participants' consent was sought, and they were assured that their information and utterances would be kept confidential from third parties during and after the study. they were assured of anonymity and that their utterances would remain anonymous. results and discussion under this heading, two areas of success: increase in students' achievement output and reduction of dropout rate (retention rate) have been pointed out as evidence of academic success when si is implemented in higher institutions of learning (muray, 2014). the data was gathered using the objective of the study, "possible successes from the implementation of supplemental instruction in the university", while two themes such as increment in students' achievement and reduction of the dropout rate of first-year students will be discussed. see the table below. objective analysis of subthemes to provide evidence of success where si is best practised.  increment in students' achievement (outputs)  reduction of dropout rate (retention rate) increment in students' achievement (output) the findings revealed that supplemental instruction increases first-year students' achievement and students in general. an increment in students' achievement is one of the tremendous success that has been recorded in students' academic performance using si. apart from academic performance, students have developed social relationship skills and improved communication among themselves. increment in students' achievement in the university has proven to be successful in academic performance and in terms of their level of social interaction https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 adebola, o. o. supplemental instruction as a tool for students' academic performance in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 46 due to si. supplemental instruction had shown extensive evidence of success of first-year students in academic performance (bertolini, stmmel & thorngren, 2016). participant c1: as a student, l think attending tutorials enhanced my academic performance. instead of being an average student, l became a top student. again, your focus and drive are improved because you can see the seriousness on this academic space. it improves and enhances academic performance. the above participant, who was also a university student, attested that attending tutorials has made her one of the top students in her academic performance. this attests to her statement that, indeed, si through tutorial sessions enhances students' academic performance, especially first-year students. she went further to say that as a student (tutee), attending tutorials had benefited her a lot. she said that some of the difficulties she encountered during lectures concerning content knowledge were solved in tutorials with the help of tutors. no wonder cunningham (2012) testified that si enhances students' academic performance. participant c2: as a previous tutee, l have seen that tutorials help a lot because some of the things you won't grasp during lectures, you get a clear picture of the content and clear understanding when you go to tutorials. participant a2: having a prior discussion with the tutors, what l have realised is that as a lecturer, i would first address more than 200 students regarding what i was teaching, but with the tutoring programme, the students say that the tutors explained things better. as a lecturer, i thought that l had explained my topics very well; meanwhile, i find that the tutors' explanations were surely reaching the students. another participant, a lecturer, talked about si from a different perspective. he acknowledged that being a lecturer with a large class, it might not be easy to reach students' expectations. he said that having a prior discussion with tutors on what he was teaching in terms of content knowledge helps greatly. this argument is supported by mbah (2015) that prior knowledge enhances students' academic performance. it is assumed that, sometimes, tutors may explain things more clearly and simply to students than lecturers, as testified by participant a2. from these statements, the participants also stated that the tutees who attended tutorials stated that tutors often explained concepts better, give relevant examples and have context knowledge than the lecturers. all these point to the fact that si enhances students' academic performance and increases the number of graduates each year. this was supported by another participant (lecturer) who proposed that students end up with high marks after attending tutorials, unlike the lecturer who may might be too harsh on them due to the stress of work overload. from her statement, it is believed that through the tutorial programme, there had been a huge difference in students' academic performance such that most students have achieved and surpassed the average percentage as agreed upon by széll (2013) and hermann (2010). it is safe to say that si growth has led to an increment in the achievement output and empowerment of tutors with managerial skills for their students during tutorials. they have learnt to respect one another, be creative on their own, design charts, record their activities, https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 adebola, o. o. supplemental instruction as a tool for students' academic performance in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 47 post them on a blackboard and expose them to workplace ethics, which will help them relate better with people after studying in the university. furthermore, the pass rate of students attending si has been satisfactory. this is according to another participant, who does not see si as just a programme, but as a system that has proven that students who attend tutorials with seriousness and focus can come out in flying colours. participant a1: for me, the part of the growth was also on the tutors who went through the programme. this has also enabled them to manage their groups and let them have that work ethic to understand that they need to respect time, their classes, and be creative. participant a2: the pass rate indicates the return on investment (roi) to the country—it means that the department of education has invested money to its citizens (students), and when they pass, they will not be a burden to the government. they can cater for themselves (sustainability). in another perspective, participant a2 believes si has contributed to the increase in the "return on investment" (roi) of the country. this means that since the south african government, through the department of education, is funding (funza, nsfas) some education students in university, it makes it easy for them to focus on their studies and payback upon completing their studies. this process has led to tremendous growth in the country's investment because the kind of funds they receive compels the government to place them in schools as soon as possible (kopish & marques, 2020). this implies that when they start working, they are not a burden to the government anymore, and at the same time, they start to earn salaries, taking care of themselves and their immediate families. participant a2: i think in terms of pass rate, it has been satisfactory. part of not having high marks may be that as lecturers who handle the first year up to the fourth year and honours students, i suspect we were too harsh on them as first-year students, expecting them to perform at a level higher than theirs as well. this could be one weakness on our part as lecturers. however, in terms of the satisfactory performance of students, l think a number of them have reached the average pass percentage. with si, most of them could design their charts and record their role-play. i would say it is a success. another point raised aside from the increase in the pass rate is the workload of each lecturer in the faculty. this is to say that lecturers have to teach first-year to final year students and postgraduate students, which sometimes inhibits them from giving their best. he believed that students could have performed beyond satisfactory to maybe excellent level. however, with the intervention of si, students who attend tutorial sessions perform well and their creative skills have also been enhanced such that they can design charts, record their work and send it on the blackboard for their tutees. despite all the challenges encountered by lecturers, si personnel and students, participant a1 said categorically that students' pass rate in the university since the intervention of si is worth applauding. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 adebola, o. o. supplemental instruction as a tool for students' academic performance in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 48 reduction of students' dropout rate supplemental instruction, a type of academic support in universities, has been associated with students' success at universities, most significantly, first-year students. retention rate, which is also known as reduction of dropout rate in this study, refers to the increase in the number of students who decided to continue with their studies after receiving tutorial sessions (moodley & singh, 2013). the findings revealed that supplemental instruction intervention has reduced the dropout rate of first-year students and indirectly increased the retention rate. first-year students who wished to drop out of the university due to their inability to cope academically were rescued through tutorial sessions. however, tutorial sessions were held by senior students (4th year) who divided students into smaller groups to explain the subject concept taught in the large classroom by the lecturer to tutees first-year in a simpler way. furthermore, manalo et al. (2010) mentioned that even though there are so many factors responsible for students' retention in university, the tutorial session is one way students are retained in the university, thereby leading to a reduction of students’ dropout. participant a2: i have noticed that the more students pass, the more they can retain their funding and the more the rate of dropouts is reduced. participant c1: regarding the possible changes that l have noticed, the success rate of my students in those particular modules that have been tutored has improved drastically with fewer failures. participant d1: a reduction in the dropout rate is also an indication of students' success and employability outside the university or the department of education. the above participants believe that the rate at which students drop out of the university had reduced due to tutorial sessions. this is also evident in their academic performance (dockery, 2012). one of the participants who was a lecturer in the university said that the reduction in student drop out has also saved the funders/sponsors of some students a certain percentage of money that would have been spent on students who kept failing some specific modules. this indicates that the intervention of tutors through the office of the centre for teaching and learning (ctl) was helpful. these statements also affirm a reduction in the failure rate because of the availability and support system of ctl through si in the university. in other words, there has been a high number of students who had decided to stay back because of the si support through tutors (rumberger, 2001). this intervention has given the university and other institutions of higher learning a higher percentage of students who graduate each year. participant c1: as a tutor, success is when the pass rate has improved when compared to those students who do not attend tutorials. although this study does not compare the pass rate of students who attended tutorials to those who did not, there is a considerable difference between the two as attested by participant c1. at the same time, it is obvious that students who attended tutorial sessions improved academically (skoglund, wall & kiene, 2018). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 adebola, o. o. supplemental instruction as a tool for students' academic performance in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 49 conclusion and recommendations the finding, however, confirmed that the increment in students' achievement through si is shown to be a success in the university and globally, both in academics and other areas. hence, increment in students' achievement, retention of students and increased graduation output are additional advantages of why si should be given priority in universities. si enhances students' academic performance generally and has been proven to be effective when compared to those who attend tutorials and those who do not. this study analysed the two possible successes suggested for implementing si in universities; the reduction of students' dropout rate and the increase of students' pass rate. the researcher agrees that the success of si through tutorial sessions has shown to be helpful. many students were said to have performed beyond the average level in their academics, students who had thought of giving up on their careers due to university challenges got assistance from si to finish, and students who were below average level were also enhanced to distinction level. students who were appointed as tutors had gained more experience both as tutors and students, their confidence enhanced, communication skills improved and increased student achievement output. based on the above findings, this study recommends that students, especially first-year students, be given more attention in their academics and other necessary support. also, since first-year students are transiting to a new life in their academics, things like academic support system platform (si, blackboard etc.) will be strange to them. this study also revealed that the number of students who graduate yearly has increased due to si intervention. lastly, this study also recommends that the university needs to motivate first-year students to see reasons why they have to attend tutorial sessions. references adebola, o.o. (2020). the use of supplemental instruction in university classrooms as a strategy to enhance the academic performance of first-year students. universal journal of educational research, (8)11b, 6289-6296. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2020.082268 adebola, o.o., tsotetsi, c.t & omodan, b.i. (2020). enhancing students' academic performance in the university system: the perspective of supplemental instruction. international journal of learning, teaching and educational research, 19(5), 217-230. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.5.13 bertolini, k. stremmel, a. & thorngren, j. (2016). student achievement factors. handbook, south dakota university college of education and human sciences department of teaching, learning and leadership. file:///c:/users/bolab/downloads/studentachievementfactorsbertolinieric.pdf/. braun, v. & clarke, v. (2006) using thematic analysis in psychology. qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101, http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa budiharso, t. & tarman, b. (2020). improving quality education through better working conditions of academic institutes. journal of ethnic and cultural studies, 7(1), 99-115. http://dx.doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/306 dana, j., dawes, r., & peterson., n. (2013). belief in the unstructured interview: the persistence of an illusion. judgment and decision making, 8(5), 512–520. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2020.082268 https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.5.13 file:///c:/users/bolab/downloads/studentachievementfactorsbertolinieric.pdf/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa http://dx.doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/306 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 adebola, o. o. supplemental instruction as a tool for students' academic performance in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 50 dockery, d., j. (2012). school dropout indicators, trends, and interventions for school counsellors. journal of school counselling, 10(12), 4-23. double, k.s., mcgrane, j.a., & hopfenbeck, t.h. (2020). the impact of peer assessment on academic performance: a meta-analysis of (quasi) experimental studies. educational psychology review, 2020(32), 482-509 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09510-3. fluke, s., o'connor, a., ho, n., & peterson, r. l. (2014). academic support, strategy brief. lincoln, ne: student engagement project, university of nebraska-lincoln and the nebraska department of education. http://k12engagement.unl.edu/academicsupports. goomas, d.t. (2014). the impact of supplemental instruction: results from an urban community college. community college journal of research and practice, 38(12), 1180-1184. hermann, z. (2010). a tanárok hatása a tanulói kompetenciák fejlődésére. zárótanulmány [the effect of teachers on the development of student competences. final study]. budapest: mta közgazdaságtudományi intézet. retrieved from http://www.econ.core.hu/kutatas/edu/produktumok/tt.html holloway, i., & todres, l. (2003). the status of method: flexibility, consistency and coherence. qualitative research, 3(3), 345-357. jugder, n. 2016. global connectedness in higher education: student voices on the value of cross cultural learning dialogue. studies in higher education, 41 (11), 2011-2027. kapur, r. (2018). factors influencing the students' academic performance in secondary schools in india. factors influencing the students’ academic performance in secondary schools in india, 1, 25. kopish, m., & marques, w. (2020). leveraging technology to promote global citizenship in teacher education in the united states and brazil. research in social sciences and technology, 5(1), 45-69. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.01.3. malm, j., bryngfors, l., & fredriksson, j. (2018). impact of supplemental instruction on dropout and graduation rates: an example from 5-year engineering programs. journal of peer learning, 11(1), 76-88. manalo, e., marshall, j. & fraser, c. (2010). student learning support programmes that demonstrate tangible impact on retention, pass rates and completion. available at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed516139.pdf mbah, b. a. (2015). effects of prior knowledge of topics and the instructional objectives on students' achievement in literature-in-english. journal of education and practice, 6(20), 31-34. moodley, p. & singh, r. j. (2015). addressing student dropout rates at south african universities. alternation special edition, 17, 91 – 115. muray, m. (2014). factors affecting graduation and student dropout rates at the university of kwazulu-natal. south african journal of science, 110(11), 1-6. narad, a., & abdullah, b. (2016). academic performance of senior secondary school students: influence of parental encouragement and school environment. rupkatha journal on interdisciplinary studies in humanities, 8(2), 12-19. omodan, b. i., & ige, o. a. (2021). sustaining collaborative learning among university students in the wake of covid-19: the perspective of online community project. international https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09510-3 http://k12engagement.unl.edu/academic-supports http://k12engagement.unl.edu/academic-supports http://www.econ.core.hu/kutatas/edu/produktumok/tt.html https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.01.3 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed516139.pdf journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 adebola, o. o. supplemental instruction as a tool for students' academic performance in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 51 journal of learning, teaching and educational research, 20(1), 356-379. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.1.20 rumberger, r.w. (2001). why students drop out of school and what can be done. available at https://escholarship.org/content/qt58p2c3wp/qt58p2c3wp.pdf. saleem, m., adeeb, m., hafeez, s., siddique, a.r. & qasim, a. (2018). academic support and academic achievement of university students: mediating role of academic stress. journal of research and reviews in social sciences pakistan, 1, 72-81. skoglund, k., wall, t.j. & kiene, d. (2018). impact of supplemental instruction participation on college freshman retention. learning assistance review, 23(1), 115-135. sukrajh, v. (2018). the use of peer teaching to promote active learning amongst senior medical students. doctoral dissertation, stellenbosch: stellenbosch university. széll, k. (2013). factors determining student achievement. hungarian educational research journal, 3(3), 55–66. available at https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/161052542.pdf wilmot, j., & telang, n. k. (2017). assessment of supplemental instruction programming on first-year academic success. in conference proceedings of american society of engineering education, annual conference columbus, ohio. yasin, a. s., & dzulkifli, m. a. (2010). the relationship between social support and psychological problems among students. international journal of business and social science, 1(3), 110-116. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.1.20 https://escholarship.org/content/qt58p2c3wp/qt58p2c3wp.pdf https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/161052542.pdf journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 meier, l.t., questioning the problematic nature of school culture in elementary teacher education 34 questioning the problematic nature of school culture in elementary teacher education lori t. meier* east tennessee state university *corresponding author: meier@etsu.edu received : 2018-12-10 accepted : 2019-04-29 how to cite this paper: meier, l.t. (2019). questioning the problematic nature of school culture in elementary teacher education, journal of culture and values in education, volume 2 (1), 34-44. abstract this paper explores the role of school culture as embodied by elementary teacher preparation in relationship to humanizing pedagogies. further, it explores how the school culture of elementary teacher preparation can be experienced as an oppressive force towards identity formation and humanization for students who position themselves outside of the conventional norms of the field and traditionally accepted membership criteria. a brief play in three acts shares anecdotes from students who consider themselves in the margins of elementary teacher preparation with recommendations for teacher educators seeking to humanize the elementary teacher preparation curriculum and experience to be inclusive of all students. keywords: elementary education, humanization, identity, pre-service teacher education introduction fellow educators – are we not lost? do we know where we are, remember where we have been, or foresee where we are going? -dwayne huebner (1999, pg. 231) this essay seeks to serve as both commentary and plea to elementary teacher educators and gatekeepers. it first asks us to consider that the culture of elementary teacher education, while characteristically an honorable and moral vocation, can indeed function as an oppressive and marginalizing force in the development, humanization, and growth of aspiring new teachers. second, it entreats those who work in teacher education to foster, seek out, and support those individuals who find themselves at the diverse, intellectual, creative, and aesthetic margins of traditional elementary teacher preparation norms. to its detriment, the cultural disenfranchisement of these seemingly unconventional new teachers limits the richness of curriculum possibilities, pedagogy, and identity development towards humanization (freire, 2000). as danielewicz (2001) suggests and this essay endeavors to make a central thesis, “teaching is a moral act. a teacher education program should recognize, celebrate, and honor journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 meier, l.t., questioning the problematic nature of school culture in elementary teacher education 35 the intentions of prospective teachers who so often feel committed to improving the lives of others, alleviating social inequalities, and eradicating discrimination” (p. 194). i begin with a brief contextual explanation describing how this came to be a point of inquiry for myself as a teacher educator and continue with an exploration into the intersection of school culture, teacher education, and humanization. i share dissonant voices in the form of a play with reference to observations and anecdotes informally shared with me from elementary teacher education students and conclude with suggestions for ways we might consider a different, more humanized approach to individuality in elementary teacher education. context as an elementary teacher educator for over a decade in a university-based teacher preparation program, i’ve witnessed a disappointing phenomenon. nearly each year, one or two students pursuing coursework and clinical experience in elementary teacher education are (intentional or unintentionally) encouraged by various gatekeepers or processes in teacher education to consider their “suitability” in relationship to the cultural expectations of elementary school teaching. i encounter these discussions typically during our undergraduate social studies methods course time together where we concurrently embed beginning theory about democratic classrooms, culturally responsive pedagogy, and teaching towards transformative social studies learning. i position myself as a faculty ally and often, over coffee, we find time to discuss the dissonance that they are experiencing as soon-to-be educators. i’m also able to share my own experiences of teaching outside the margins of what is often considered the “norm” in elementary education. make no mistake; these are intelligent, capable, sophisticated future teachers with a desire for transformative elementary school classrooms. however, the culture of elementary teacher education programs and the culture of elementary schooling often deliver subtle (or not so subtle) messages to them that their identity, individuality, gender, aesthetic, interest in thoughtful intellectual dialogue, and curious aspirations for democratic, humanized spaces are not a good fit for the elementary classroom. gatekeepers in teacher education, clinical placements, and elementary schools can powerfully, yet quietly lay out the cultural “rules and boundaries” that the “good teachers” are expected to embody – and sadly, these are often contrary to those that encourage individuality, humanization, and democratic teaching and learning for all. school culture & teacher education sarason (1995) proposed that schools are highly differentiated, yet complex subcultures of society. schools function as miniature societies that operate under similar cultural structures as the society at large. peterson and deal (2002) suggested school culture was an underground river of feelings, norms, outlooks, folkways, and values that influence how people go about their daily work, while bower (1966), succinctly proposed that school culture was ‘the way we do things’ around here. despite the distinctions between various stakeholders and spaces of schooling, a general culture of “school” exists and includes patterns of those who have similar values, perceptions, goals, training, technical skills, and expectations (sarason, 1995). school cultures often demand that participants be socialized to the expected patterns, rules, and journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 meier, l.t., questioning the problematic nature of school culture in elementary teacher education 36 behavior of the cultural group. schein (1985) argued that culture is, “the deeper level of basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of an organization, that operate unconsciously, and the define in a basis ‘taken-for-granted’ fashion an organization’s view of itself and its environment” (p. 6). sarason (1996) shares a parallel sentiment, “if your life’s work is in schools, you have been socialized to see them in certain ways and to become insensitive to many things you take for granted and, therefore never examine” (p. 334). for the purposes of this discussion, i suggest that these definitions for school culture can be utilized and modified to explore and problematize the culture of elementary teacher preparation, what we call here teacher education, since it employs a similar set of attributes and expectations, gatekeepers, and social norms similar to schools. indeed then, schools and teacher education are positioned as small social organisms (waller, 1932) and are compromised of social agents and players. as new entrants to the culture are prepared and positioned for future membership, processes of socialization to the field, such as specialized schooling and mediated entry, are enacted to encourage assimilation (lortie, 1975). as such, school culture and the culture of teacher education can contribute to both liberating and oppressive experiences. humanizing pedagogy humanization in the tradition of paulo friere is, “the process of becoming more fully human as social, historical, thinking, communicating, transformative, creative persons who participate in and with the world” (salazar, 2013, p. 126). in the same way, curriculum and pedagogy that embodies humanistic qualities allows us to more fully realize democratic visions of education and citizenship. gutman (1987) suggests, “a democratic theory of education focuses on what might be called ‘conscious social reproduction’ – the ways in which citizens are or should be empowered to influence the education that in turn shapes the political values, attitudes, and modes of behavior of future citizens” (p. 14). humanism and humanizing pedagogy have been offered as counter narratives (salazar, 2013) to the dehumanizing practices rampant in the high-stake standardization of public schools. further, “it is the moral duty of educators to understand and enact humanizing pedagogy that is grounded in theory, possible in practice, and shaped by the realities of students’ and teachers’ lives” (salazar, 2013, p. 142). lafer (2014) builds on this thought, “the humane thing, i have come to realize, is the thing and the humanity of the actions i take as an educator is and always has been the criterion against which i have made determinations of right and wrong actions as a teacher” (p. 6). dissonant student voices: a play in three acts i present a play in three acts in an effort to informally, yet hopefully share nuanced commentary about elementary teacher education belonging and identity as generated by its very own students. using multiple characters, the thinking shared here is an amalgamation of fused thoughts, numerous direct quotes, lived experiences, and frustrations as shared by students and former students with me for the purposes of this essay. our elementary teacher education journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 meier, l.t., questioning the problematic nature of school culture in elementary teacher education 37 program is mostly comprised of white, female students. however, both male and female voices are represented in this play. elementary teacher education frequently appears to be a homogenous landscape but there are subtle commonalities amongst the teachers who believe themselves to be in the “margins” of teacher education in my experience, i find that often they have a deep interest in the humanities and fine arts and several note previous majors in the arts and sciences before opting into elementary education. as a whole, they are nurturing thinkers who are at times misperceived as being too reserved, too loud, too quiet, or just a bit unusual. often they are healthy skeptics of the pied pipers of education and factory-like processes they see in schools and teacher education. nearly all of the students i’ve encountered who have found themselves feeling a bit out of place are intellectually rigorous and divergent individuals who see education as a socially just, liberating space (giroux, 1988). act one (setting: a local coffee house, five friends gather max, emily, rachel, ted, and elizabeth) max: i’ve determined that our coffee group should be called the island of misfit teachers and we are located just off the coast of the world of elementary education, you know just like in rudolph. emily: i’m in. i watched several friends today share perfectly organized backpacks and monogrammed pencil cases, and meanwhile i know i have a dungeons and dragons binder in mine. i don’t mind being different, but i do wonder how i’ll continue to fit in. rachel: agreed! just this week i felt inadequate in class with my ‘crappy handwriting’ and inability to draw – apparently these are “useful” expected tools for activities for elementary teachers. elizabeth: well, at least you weren’t referred to as ‘sid the sloth’ by a teacher when you completed your math lesson. can’t teaching be a deliberate, calm, and reflective experience too? ted: you’ve got to be kidding me – they told you that? as “constructive criticism” about your teaching? elizabeth: yes, sir. that’s exactly what she told me. and that maybe i wasn’t a good fit for elementary kids. max: last semester, i was supervised by two different people, both women, who suggested that i might do better in a high school or collegiate environment. i don’t mean to sound negative, but i worry that it perpetuates this unsaid expectation of elementary teachers. i worry that it could hinder employers from potential teachers who would bring beauty, depth, and diversity to the world of elementary education but don’t fit the typical mold. elizabeth: i wonder if this is because, people that evaluate us, they expect personality traits that are extroverted in nature you know boisterous, bubbly, hyper-performative, ron clark journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 meier, l.t., questioning the problematic nature of school culture in elementary teacher education 38 types. i was a theatre minor, so i definitely have a performance streak but i’m also thoughtful and introverted and i’m not loud in the classroom. act two (the conversation continues) max: i mean no offense here, but i do feel that feminine aesthetics dominate the elementary classroom. i know it is a female dominated profession, but there’s something about this specific type of femininity. it is a type that includes monogrammed possessions you know, yeti coffee mugs, bags, shirts – along with essential oils, cursive fonts, zig-zagged and polka-dotted tenant flags for classroom décor and so on. of course none of these things are inherently feminine, but they have been determined so by western gender expectations. meanwhile, i have faced the assumption from others that as a male teacher i will not have it “as together” as my female coworkers and that my classroom will be sloppier and i will not be as nurturing, which is definitely frustrating! ted: i absolutely understand what you are saying. i’m thinking about that time one professor told me and another male student, all two of us, in front of the whole class, that we would never be successful elementary teachers. because, being men we did not have the inherent compassionate characteristics that our female classmates would have. i can’t wait to prove this professor wrong. emily: but what about different kinds of women in the classroom? i worry more for females who do not fit the “hyper-feminine” teacher norm. i worry that we will be slighted of opportunities or discouraged simply because we do not fit the mold as females in education. i already know of instances where this is already happened. max: my concern is this – i can’t help but feel that prospective elementary teachers generally value aesthetic over best practice. it seems that there is more thought put into classroom style, theme, and management than educational theory and pedagogy. and there definitely seems to be widespread distrust about educational theory and theorists from some students and teachers in teacher education. act three (the conversation concludes for the afternoon) rachel: i feel like the majority of students in our classes have very similar views. i thought this today about religion. as someone who is not religious, i feel ostracized and i’m somewhat afraid to express my opinion on certain subjects. i know we talked about funds of knowledge in class and the connection to literacy but almost every student expressed that they feel church was critically important to kids’ literacy and i’m fearful to express that i never went to church. i’m worried if my colleagues will be fully open and inclusive to kids that do not go to church. emily: being surrounded by people and teachers who often do not share my views or interests, i worry that my views might end up getting me judged. still, on the other hand, i fear that i’ll hear something that i find offensive but won’t have the confidence to say anything, i definitely feel like i’m not part of the group, and i’m quite okay with that. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 meier, l.t., questioning the problematic nature of school culture in elementary teacher education 39 max: it’s challenging to imagine a different future if i’m being honest. my hope for elementary education is that it becomes a profession for all sorts of people. i have found a small niche of people on twitter who are educational oddballs. teachers who love heavy-metal, have long hair, tattoos and goatees. people who care deeply for how we teach kids and knows their way around different teaching practices. i hope that the elementary world becomes more welcoming to artists, actors, musicians, muslims, jews, atheists, agnostics, lgbtq+ people, people of color, thinkers, skeptics, railfans, whovians, potterheads, philosophy nerds, etc. there’s room for everyone, and our children’s lives will be made much richer by their presence. towards a more humanized pedagogy of elementary teacher education when the culture of elementary teacher education is made problematic we can explore how culture can, and often does, limit the development of and dehumanizes new teachers as individuals and thinkers. for that reason, a new kind of teacher education praxis is needed for the humanization of both educators and future educators. a humanizing pedagogy is necessary for the distinct transformative and liberating change we hope to see in everyday elementary classrooms and schools. method is always connected to theory (gee, 2000). as i consider this i am reminded that teacher education includes many stakeholders and gatekeepers. faculty, temporary faculty, accrediting bodies, clinical supervisors, retired teachers, mentor teachers, districts, school administrators, and others each can play a role in contributing to a more or less human experience in teacher ed. faculty in teacher education carry a significant responsibility in this matter. gatekeepers in all areas of education, according to thornton (2005), make educational decisions in their classrooms, “the place where it matters the most”. the process of gatekeeping (thornton, 2005) then functions to implore the new teacher and teacher educator to be the curricular decision makers (gatekeepers) inside their own classrooms in contrast to top-down reform mandates, standards-driven instruction, and competency based teacher education that would otherwise drive instruction and educational purposes. as thornton notes, “educators’ purposes, and how they act on them, matter” (p. 104). changing the nature and function of teacher education is a complex and complicated undertaking that i do not attempt to overlook with my plea for a more humane understanding of preparing elementary teachers. balderrama (2001) suggests that, “as teachers become dehumanized and disconnected from their work, so do their teaching practices” (p. 261). decades of research into teacher education have outlined various practices and possibilities that we might incorporate into teacher education programs to change outcomes and yet, teacher education continues to suffer from an identity crisis of purpose. one identity being one that leans toward a technical-rational training ground for the standardized, factory-like “audit cultures” (taubman, 2009) while a competing more idealistic identity seeks to envision the promises of integrated, holistic education that includes socio-cultural understandings that we hope lead to transformative practice. indeed in both settings, we can do better. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 meier, l.t., questioning the problematic nature of school culture in elementary teacher education 40 pursue shared dialogical relationships in teacher education freire (2000) suggests that the humanistic, revolutionary educator cannot wait for the oppressed to become aware of their dehumanization at the hands of banking methodology and resolve to valiantly struggle for their own liberation. instead, the teacher educator must engage students towards critical thinking about their humanization. teacher educators should be willing and capable of, “challenging simplistic views of, and approaches to, teaching as telling or the transmission of information” (loughran, 2006, p. 14). i suggest connections here to freire’s idea regarding the fear of freedom whereby new teachers (perhaps all new teachers due to positioning of power in teacher education, but especially for those who find themselves a bit outside the margins of teacher education) would suffer at the hands of “prescriptions” enacted by teacher educators. unable to imagine an autonomous freedom from the oppressor both the oppressed and the oppressor are dehumanized (freire, 2000). freire (2005) further speaks to this, “it is for this very reason that authoritarian administrations, even those that call themselves progressives, try through various means to instill in teachers a fear of freedom. when teachers become fearful, they begin to internalize the dominator’s shadow and the authoritarian ideology of the administration. these teachers are no longer alone with their students because the force of the punitive and threatening dominant ideology comes between them” (p. 16). teacher educators and related gatekeepers must authentically seek to develop and maintain dialogical relationships with students who are considering becoming teachers. freire (2000) argues that dialogue, “requires an intense faith in humankind, faith in their power to make and remake, to create and re-create, faith in their vocation to be more fully human” (p. 90). with this in mind, authentic dialogical relationships between educators and students must be built on love of life and people, humility, faith, trust, hope, and critical thinking that leads towards transformation together (freire, 2000). for teacher education, this is a challenging task. it would require that all parts of the milieu work together towards a common articulated mission. knowledge of critical pedagogy, humanization, conscientization strategies, and dialogical relationships should be shared vocabulary not only by the academic faculty who may have experience with this scholarship in their content areas; but also embodied within the practices and discourse of clinical supervisors, adjuncts, and mentors. moreover, students must be brought alongside to assist in the coconstruction of dialogical spaces. pedagogy must be fashioned with, not for, the oppressed and evolutionary leadership must embody co-intentional education in an effort to recreate this new knowledge (freire, 2000). given that we know that elementary programs often consist of classrooms of compliance, consensus, agreement, and conformity (segall, 2002) students of teacher education programs should be provided opportunities to challenge and disrupt norms of socialized behavior in elementary education and imagine how schooling experiences and elementary teacher identities could alternatively be created. for this to occur, perhaps we might problematize with our students, early in their programs, how elementary teacher education itself might contribute to their colonization through oppressive discourse and messaging about their identity and individuality. in his ‘love letter’ to teachers, ayers (2010) suggests that, “all the journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 meier, l.t., questioning the problematic nature of school culture in elementary teacher education 41 pressures of schooling push teachers to act as clerks and functionaries -interchangeable parts in a vast and gleaming and highly rationalized production line. to teach with a heart and a brain -to see education as a deeply humanizing enterprise, to teach toward opening infinite possibilities for your students -requires courage” (p. 153). the personal is pedagogical central to the scripted narratives of those who felt misunderstood at moments in their teacher education experiences is the understanding that identity and individuality matters to them. for students, having the capacity to know oneself is essential when one learns about teaching (loughran, 2006). further, “the nature of self-image and issues of identity formation matter” (loughran, 2006, p. 110) if learning about teaching is going to factor into long-term student teacher development. for teacher educators, we carry a considerable responsibility to help foster this (loughran, 2006) in beginning teachers. instead of requiring that our soon-to be new teachers be mindlessly socialized into images and behavioral stereotypes of what an elementary teacher must or should be we instead choose a path that encourages the humanity in each student; a path that acknowledges their distinct identity, interests, capabilities, experiences, and promise. in efforts to disrupt the cultural reproduction that is so visible in elementary teacher education and elementary schools, we should take care to foster the development of those students that perhaps think of themselves as located outside traditional norms in ways that do not make them feel marginal at all. indeed, these are the exact students that schools and children need in their lives to promote humanization. freire (1998) reminds us, “as a teacher, i must open myself to the world of these students with whom i share my pedagogical adventure. i must become acquainted with their way of being in the world” (p. 122). to do this, teacher educators might consider making room for nonjudgmental, participatory spaces where the personal lives, identities, personalities, and individualities of new teachers can be honored and encouraged. incorporating arts-based methods like collage (mcdermott, 2002) allow an exploration of meaning-making through aesthetics and educational inquiry about the self. students are able to share personal lived experiences and pedagogical ideals that help them to consider the diverse kinds of teachers that they might be. in a similar capacity, diamond, borho, and petrasek (1999) outline a postmodern structure that i believe could be utilized in elementary teacher preparation that asks educators to explore and share identity through the development of a personal canon. in this exercise, similar to the creation of literary canons, a teacher develops a collection of authors, books, plays, poems, narratives, creative works, film, music, imagery, etc. that imbue their perspectives and individual pursuits of meaning (diamond, borho, & petrasek, 1999). the authority that new teachers experience in selecting these touchstone ‘bits and pieces’ (deeply connected to who they are and who they are becoming) allows students to become, “more conscious of how and what they knew’ (p. 116). i suspect that this type of arts-based inquiry would also allow teacher educators to share in their own processes of identity meaning-making as individuals and educators in a collaborative, humanistic way. as bell hooks (1994) challenges us, “professors who embrace the challenge of self-actualization will be better able to create pedagogical practices that engage students, providing them with ways of knowing that enhance their capacity to live fully and deeply” (p. 22). as teachers and scholars whose mission it is to journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 meier, l.t., questioning the problematic nature of school culture in elementary teacher education 42 teach about teaching and learning, i am hopeful that we can provide intentional spaces for new educators to think about their own humanity and individuality as they see their lives and selves positively manifested in elementary classrooms. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 meier, l.t., questioning the problematic nature of school culture in elementary teacher education 43 references ayers, w. (2010). to teach: the journey of a teacher. new york, ny: teachers college press. balderrama, m. (2001). the (mis)preparation of teachers in the proposition 227 era: humanizing teacher roles and their practice. urban review, 33, 255-267. bower, m. (1966). will to manage. new york, ny: mcgraw hill. danielewicz, j. (2001). teaching selves: identity, pedagogy, and teacher education. albany, ny: state university of new york press. diamond, c., borho, b., & petrasek, p. (1999). “finding the pieces” of a personal canon: teachers as “free artists of themselves”. in c.t.p. diamond & c.a. mullen (eds.), the postmodern educator: arts-based inquiries and teacher development (pp. 95-120). new york: peter lang. freire, p. (1998). pedagogy of freedom: ethics, democracy, and civic courage. oxford, england: rowan & littlefield publishers. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum international. freire, p. (2005). teachers as cultural workers: letter to those who dare teach. boulder, co: westview press. gee, j. (2000). identity as an analytic lens for research in education. review of research in education, 25(1), 99-125. giroux, h. (1988). teachers as transformative intellectuals: toward a critical pedagogy of learning. new york: bergin & garvey. gutman, a. (1987). democratic education. princeton, nj: princeton university press. hooks, b. (1994). teaching to transgress. new york, ny: routledge. huebner, d. e. (1999). the lure of the transcendent. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. lafer, s. (2014). democratic deisgn for the humanization of education. journal of ethnic and cultural studies, 1(1), 6-12. lortie, d. (1975). schoolteacher. chicago, il: university of chicago press. loughran, j. (2006). developing a pedagogy of teacher education. new york: routledge. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 meier, l.t., questioning the problematic nature of school culture in elementary teacher education 44 mcdermott, m. (2002). collaging pre-service teacher identity. teacher education quarterly, 29(4), 53-67. peterson, k. d. & deal, t. e. (2002). the shaping school culture fieldbook (1 ed.). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. salazar, m. (2013). a humanizing pedagogy: reinventing the principles and practice of education as a journey toward liberation. review of research in education, 37(1), 121-148. sarason, s. (1996). re-visiting the culture of the school and the problem of change. new york, ny: teachers college press. sarason, s. (1995). school change: the personal development of a point of view. new york, ny: teachers college press. schein, e. h. (1985). organizational culture and leadership. san francisco: jossey bass. seagall, a. (2002). disturbing practice: reading teacher education as text. new york, ny: peter lang. taubman, p. (2009). teaching by numbers: deconstructing the discourse of standards and accountability in education. new york: routledge. thornton, s. j. (2005). teaching social studies that matters: curriculum for active learning. new york, ny: teachers college press. waller, w. (1932). the sociology of teaching. new york, ny: wiley. journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 omodan, b. i. & diko, n. a conceptualisation of ubuntugogy as a decolonial pedagogy in africa journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 95 conceptualisation of ubuntugogy as a decolonial pedagogy in africa bunmi isaiah omodan*1 & nolutho diko1 1. faculty of education, walter sisulu university, south africa *corresponding author: bomodan@wsu.ac.za received : 2021-07-23 rev. req. : 2021-08-30 accepted : 2021-09-16 how to cite this paper: omodan, b. i. & diko, n. (2021). a conceptualisation of ubuntugogy as a decolonial pedagogy in africa. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 95-104. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.8 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract the concept of ubuntugogy appears as an ordinary grammatical prowess to some, while it also remains unknown to many. this conceptual paper attempts to conceptualise ubuntugogy, not only as indigenous teaching and learning but also as a decolonial pedagogy with liberating potentials. an assumption exists that today’s pedagogical process in africa is still laced with subjectivism, and it fails to challenge the eurocentric hegemony that lies within school systems. the failure to address eurocentrism explicitly leads to the need for ubuntugogy. ubuntugogy, therefore, needs to be unpacked for better understanding. that is, this study is not to challenge the hegemony of westernised classrooms and their pedagogical process in africa but to conceptualise the hidden potential of ubuntugogy to fill out the limited literature of the concept in the world of academics. hence, the study provides answers to questions such as; what is ubuntugogy? what is the epistemology of ubuntugogy? what are the transformative tendencies of ubuntugogy, and how does ubuntugogy relevant in 21st century classrooms? the study concluded that the idea of ubuntugogy is to create a learning environment where everyone feels empowered, encouraged and free from the burdens of eurocentric and americentric imposition with an open tendency of knowing and being human. keywords: ubuntugogy; decoloniality; pedagogy; alternative pedagogy. 10.46303/jcve.2021.8 https://cultureandvalues.org/ mailto:bomodan@wsu.ac.za https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.8 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 omodan, b. i. & diko, n. a conceptualisation of ubuntugogy as a decolonial pedagogy in africa journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 96 introduction decolonial pedagogy signals the need to explore decolonisation's pedagogical potentials as an emancipatory project, most especially in africa. decolonisation as a critical concept offers a theoretical framework that conceptualises the processes by which european colonialism, through various means, has produced discourses that are either outright chauvinistic or flawed in its ethnocentric approaches to knowledge production and dissemination (yúdice, 1996). decoloniality is a critical approach that emphasises how colonial power works not only at the level of governance but also at the level of representation: it dismantles simplistic binaries between coloniser/colonised/native to reveal how local populations have been marginalised by discourse and have actively resisted such categorisations (ndlovu-gatsheni, 2013; seroto, 2018). though, the concept of decoloniality is an oft-misunderstood concept that often refers to the practices, theories and philosophies resulting from various projects of decolonisation in order to regain ontological density, land, voices, place, culture, history and study to their original inhabitants towards knowledge and power (cherry-gertzel, 2015). deducing from the dynamics of decoloniality, one could then perceive that decolonial pedagogy is an idea that seeks to reveal how colonisation has affected the world we live in through a critical lens where knowledge production lies outside of eurocentrism, thus acknowledging local politics within educational contexts. that is, decolonial pedagogy profoundly adheres and contributes to decolonial theory, which is a theory that highlights how colonial practices have oppressed the mass of colonised countries, not only through physical colonisation but also through discourse and knowledge imposition (comaroff & comaroff, 1991; oelofsen, 2015). in our reasoning, the decolonial theory of pedagogy can be defined as an epistemological framework where decolonial approaches are used to assess education phenomena, where western knowledge and power systems are being challenged to empower those often marginalised silenced by western forms of imperialism. in this case, one could argue that the best form of decolonial pedagogy is what ubuntugogy represents. this definition confirms that decolonial pedagogy, otherwise called ubuntugogy in this study, seeks understanding for the individual, community or group who is left out by dominant western narratives, oppressive institutions to address the issues surrounding knowledge production, which result in its domination by neo-colonial forces. thus, decoloniality is challenging how knowledge is produced to unveil the many ways in which eurocentrism has distorted the original meaning of curriculum as a way of knowing, learning and passing down knowledge from generation to generation. this is especially important because curricula have been abused by dominant western interests to serve their own purposes. however, curriculum theory has shifted its focus from the curriculum as an end product (i.e., book or syllabus) towards curricula as practices, processes and experiences between teachers, students and institutional policies (lindén et al., 2017). however, it still fails to directly challenge the eurocentric hegemony that lies within school systems all around the (western) world, and mostly in africa. this failure to address eurocentrism explicitly leads to the need for ubuntugogy, which was coined from the word ubuntu, an africanised philosophy (beets & le grange, 2005). hence, this study is not to challenge the hegemony of westernised classrooms and their pedagogical process but to conceptualise the hidden potential of ubuntugogy and to contribute to the limited literature of the concept in academics. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 omodan, b. i. & diko, n. a conceptualisation of ubuntugogy as a decolonial pedagogy in africa journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 97 research objective and questions in this paper, we argue that the proper concept to replace decolonial pedagogy is ubuntugogy. therefore, we outline the literature evidence relating to the concept of ubuntugogy, epistemology of ubuntugogy, transformative tendencies ubuntugogy, and the relevance of ubuntugogy in 21st century classrooms. through reasoned discourse, the following questions were answered using literature-based argument:  what is ubuntugogy?  what is the epistemology of ubuntugogy?  what are the transformative tendencies of ubuntugogy?  and how does ubuntugogy relevant in 21st century classrooms? what is ubuntugogy? before examining the pedagogy of ubuntu (ubuntugogy), it is critical to highlight that there is no singular definition that could be accorded to it from literature. but then, the pedagogy of ubuntu (ubuntugogy) could be seen as an approach that emerges from the values of ubuntu, a postcolonial concept which addresses community and individual identity in african philosophy (omodan, 2019, omodan & ige, 2021a). paulo freire's philosophies on education also inform this approach to reveal its central values as they relate to individualism, solidarity and humanism (freire, 1996). therefore, the value of ubuntu emphasises a connectedness that sees the other not as one who lives separately but as one who lives with the fundamental recognition that the self depends upon others (tsotetsi & omodan, 2020). it is an ethic or morality that is resonantly ingrained within people. in the spirit of ubuntu, this approach to learning and teaching is based on a relational formation whereby the social dimensions of learning are considered critical to individual development. values such as solidarity and humanism are connected to "conscientisation" — the process by which people come to realise their power within society and tune in with others who experience similar oppression so that they can work together for change (freire, 1996). through dialogue, students have the opportunity to recognise their own history, culture, language and personal identity beyond what has been previously taught or prescribed by mainstream values. that is, the pedagogy of ubuntugogy also depends on a social interpretation and recognition of human histories and their peculiarities, which is significant to students’ success (donohue, 2020). in this way, we argue that decoloniality has initiated a dialogue between the academic world of western education and various indigenous knowledge systems that have been historically oppressed, beginning with european colonialism in all corners. and while respected by many intellectuals around the world, decoloniality is still to be recognised as a legitimate approach to pedagogy within educational curricula nationally or internationally. therefore, ubuntugogy is a teaching and learning (educational practice) where people are empowered to recognise their own history beyond colonisation which seeks to erase any afro-european epistemological differences. in order to understand the origin of knowledge in regards to ubuntugogy, the following session discusses the epistemology of ubuntugogy. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 omodan, b. i. & diko, n. a conceptualisation of ubuntugogy as a decolonial pedagogy in africa journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 98 resonating the epistemology of ubuntugogy the pedagogy of ubuntugogy is a teaching and learning system which bases its epistemology on african-ness, african values, beliefs and ideas. in addition, ubuntugogy tends to privilege experience, history, culture and environmentalism over the documented disposition of knowledge as an avenue for knowing. ubuntugogy supports the use of local languages instead of foreign or european languages as mediums for instruction or systems of communicating information in class. therefore, this reflection focuses primarily on how ubuntu philosophy may result in widespread improvement in educational outcomes at all levels of education by presenting a new paradigm for educational practices. ubuntugogy is a knowledge development strategy that the african people developed as a response to western domination and imperialism (bangura, 2005; van der walt, 2010; bangura, 2017). this idea leads me to argue that it is an africanized teaching and learning system that derives its contents from african values, beliefs, and ideas such as ubuntu philosophy, emphasising human relationships, kinship (humanity), community spirit, and social justice (kruger, 2016). its epistemology privileges experience over mere bookish information in order to develop capabilities for self-reliance. thus, it encourages free discussion among students using local languages that students are more comfortable with to suggest solutions for problems in their mother tongue or indigenous language rather than euro-americentric languages. in this way, ubuntugogy creates solidarity and unity among students, which promotes collective learning and collaborative effort to achieve the set objectives of the class or lecture room. therefore, this method of knowledge development is a repository of african thoughts and ideals that advocate communalism, individuality, social justice, and humanism (assié-lumumba, 2017). to further explain the epistemological praxis of ubuntugogy, there is a need to also conceptualise it within some classroom transformative agender such as; classroom liberation, the values it possesses, as participatory experiences, and a tool for collaborative engagement. ubuntugogy as a classroom liberation in this session, we present my argument to justifying that ubuntugogy is a movement for liberation in teaching and learning. this is because it is based on the concept of ubuntu as it does not mean any specific way or technique to teach or learn but is based on the idea that it is easier to find truth through mutual sharing and interaction among members. ubuntugogy is meant to feel what others are feeling, especially the students. one must always consider how to serve others at first before self-serving things. this teaching principle will allow teachers to share their knowledge with students by confronting them with facts, considering, giving solutions, and giving room for discussion. in addition, ubuntugogy provides freedom and flexibility in a learning environment, enhancing the student's creativity, independence, and freedom to explore or innovate. from this argument, one could consider it a concept that gives values of caring for others to be human beings since it emphasises collaboration among students and teachers (ferreira & schulze, 2014). this is a kind of teaching movement that embraces all cultures from different backgrounds in order to build up the unity of each one by accepting differences even with minor conflicts. this is perhaps what muste (2016) referred to as a productive communication process between teacher and students while encouraging them https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 omodan, b. i. & diko, n. a conceptualisation of ubuntugogy as a decolonial pedagogy in africa journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 99 to make their own decisions; solve their problems on their own without influencing the other; sharing their ideas with the ones who are involved or those can affect directly or indirectly. in this form of classroom practices, emphasis is laced on the action, reflection, commitment, and practice of making changes to society by changing from what it is to become what we wish for the future generation. on the critical thinking aspect, ubuntugogy also reflects on critical thinking where students learn not just in order to pass their exams but, more importantly, learn for the change, growth, creativity and freedom through actions for others (venter, 2004; hungwe, 2021). this is to argue that ubuntugogy classes are built up in an interactive learning process that focuses on self-learning that adds meaning and excitement to the subject being taught. such an atmosphere incorporates that all members are involved directly or indirectly in the teaching process and require others to be responsible, respectful, and caring. having said this, one could then further the argument that the ideology of ubuntugogy lies in the fact that it motivates students not only into thinking but also into action, investigating what they know about something, values, and vision about something or someone and has a commitment for oneself. ubuntugogy as a concept of shared values ubuntu philosophy as the underlying dynamic concept includes shared values, compassion, empathy, humanness, and interconnectedness (mabovula, 2011). ubuntugogy has been justified in that it adopts democratic principles and offers an alternative to conventional educational practices, which tend to promote student’s tolerance towards understanding different experiences and backgrounds (omodan & ige, 2021b). it also promotes a democratic classroom environment where teachers are facilitators who support students in developing skills necessary for participative decision-making processes (omodan & tsotetsi, 2019; sambala et al., 2020; omodan, 2020). this may not be unconnected with the fact that it focuses on more than one way of learning; therefore, it does not marginalise those who are slow learners or have some disability, for example, deafness. this argument is also compatible with the sadc protocol on school health and safety that was developed in 2003 comprising south africa, botswana, lesotho, malawi, mozambique, namibia, seychelles, swaziland, zambia and zimbabwe to support students to develop skills that will assist them in dealing effectively with abuse of alcohol and violence hence curtailing risky behaviours among young people (nkowani, 2008). ubuntugogy as a participatory experience ubuntu practice also promotes sharing experiences as a way of learning instead of stressing on conventional methods like lectures whereby teachers impart knowledge to students who do not have an equal chance of interacting with other learners and teachers in the classroom (chingombe, 2018; gunawardena, 2020). ubuntugogy is a philosophy that supports teachers to use appropriate methods of teaching in line with ubuntu principles so that more vulnerable groups like women, people from other tribes or the disabled are not neglected (masondo, 2017). ubuntugogy stresses on unity through diversity among students as they share their experiences and interact with each other during class in order for them to develop solidarity hence promoting unity which is one of the pillars of ubuntu philosophy (venter, 2004). ubuntugogy, therefore, supports shared leadership, democracy and participation in decision making processes to ensure that the majority makes all decisions of learners who can, in turn, https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 omodan, b. i. & diko, n. a conceptualisation of ubuntugogy as a decolonial pedagogy in africa journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 100 contribute their ideas for better learning. it also supports giving students an opportunity to learn new things that they have never learned before by encouraging them to interact with fellow students and teachers (rampa & mphahlele, 2016). this is to also argue that ubuntugogy advocates for a learner-centred classroom environment where the main focus is on the effective teaching-learning process, innovative approaches and student assessment through self-monitoring (keane, 2008). ubuntugogy promotes interaction among learners both in schools and out-of-school, e.g. during holidays through projects development to learn to work in groups and thus have equal opportunity to participate in all decision-making processes. this participatory idea of ubuntugogy as a philosophy, therefore, stresses equality among learners whereby learners are not discriminated against because of their gender, age or ethnic group but share ideas freely so that they can develop unity and tolerance towards other members in class hence promoting social justice which is one of the pillars of ubuntu philosophy (ngubane & makua, 2021). ubuntugogy as a collaborative engagement ubuntu practice advocates for community participation involving learners, parents and teachers, whereby all members work together to learn new things through group discussions, joint learning (hapanyengwi-chemhuru & shizha, 2012). thus, it could also be linked to a democratic classroom environment that ensures that all learners are given an opportunity to engage in joint projects within classrooms and promote their welfare, hence improving social justice. this idea undoubtedly promotes effective participatory methods of teaching, disseminating information using different media such as textbooks, radio and television, among others, to bring about development among schools and the entire community (quan-baffour & vambe, 2006; hapanyengwi-chemhuru & shizha, 2012). by doing so will encourage equal opportunities for access to knowledge like internet facilities at the school level as well as granting learners equal access to learning materials in order to promote equality among the learner hence promoting social justice, which is one of the pillars of ubuntu philosophy (ngubane & makua, 2021). such community feelings enhance a democratic classroom environment where teachers proactively listen to students' views and opinions on issues affecting them, thereby allowing them to participate actively in decision-making processes within the class. ubuntugogy, therefore, makes it possible to integrate traditional knowledge, science and technology together so as to develop a suitable curriculum that suits community needs (seehawer, 2018). thus adopts a human-centred approach whereby it promotes sustainable development through quality citizens with moral integrity who shared their wealth with less privileged members. the relevant of ubuntugogy in 21st century classroom to acknowledge the common humanity of all people and build a nation as one people, sharing their culture with one another. relevant to this is the role that ubuntu plays in education globally. as learners move into the 21st century learner-centred classrooms they need to recognise themselves as having the power to shape their own future. globally, there needs to be an attitudinal change towards people outside one's immediate group or community, taking cognisance of the oneness of humankind and its cultural diversity. this attitude is central to ubuntu philosophy which calls for understanding and cooperation among peoples using ubuntugogy as an approach within a globalising world (iline & phillip, 2019). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 omodan, b. i. & diko, n. a conceptualisation of ubuntugogy as a decolonial pedagogy in africa journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 101 in a globalising world, there is great belief that education systems are to provide the wherewithal for learners to be able to have the necessary skills and attitudes to navigate and emancipate themselves. for this goal to be achieved, ubuntu philosophy can provide a point of departure for educators seeking educational paradigms that will prepare their students to learn how to become active participants in an ever-globalising world. most importantly, ubuntu as a pedagogical approach and its values should not only feature on paper but should be imbibed by all learners so that they can appreciate other people’s points of view; take responsibility for themselves; support others and accept one another as equals. at this point, one could argue that lack of ubuntugogy is tantamount to distorted and conflict-oriented pedagogy, which could result in hatred of race, culture, nationality, among others. such suffixed in south african experience of xenophobia (adjai & lazaridis, 2013; dube & omodan, 2021). that is, the presence of ubuntugogy in schools will help to create inclusive pedagogy that will eliminate hatred and disunity among people. relevant research shows that young people are more likely to be open-minded than other age groups concerning citizenship, loyalty, and identity (pichler, 2009). this suggests that it might be especially important that educators should consider what kinds of social practices contribute towards a greater understanding of global issues among school children and how education may facilitate these kinds of changes. conclusion from the foregoing, it is not out of content to conclude that ubuntugogy is a style of teaching and learning that gives priority to the voices of teachers and students on all sides of issues. from the decolonial perspective, one could conclude that ubuntugogy is a practical way to decolonise teaching and learning space where students and teachers are empowered to be active knowledge developers in their society. that is, the pedagogy of ubuntu is very relevant to the current transformation agenda in the curriculum and classroom activities which aims at recognising these differences and attempting to assimilate them into one's own being-identity. this would enable teachers and learners to see a deeper sense of self-awareness beyond the surface level of appearances. the possibility of achieving this arises from an intersubjective relationship with one another. therefore, ubuntugogy provides a decolonial pedagogy for the empowerment of all students and teachers in schools, at home, in society to liberate their potential as persons who are intellectually empowered as knowledge creators. furthermore, one could still say that ubuntugogy is premised on creating a learning environment where all learners have equal access to power to generate knowledge where the learners-teacher relationship is beyond subjectivity. deducing from relationships devoid of subjective tendency assumes that every individual has value in herself/himself regardless of her/his skin colour, gender or another social status, and being open for dialogue about different ways of knowing and being human. this conclusion is in line with wingfield's (2017) and hall and tandon (2017) argument that decolonising education is to eliminate colonial power and its centrality and replace it by restoring indigenous power and leadership. perhaps, this is what hove and dube (2021) refer to as emancipative and transformative pedagogy. hence, it is imminent to provide ubuntugogy as alternative teaching and learning that could reclaim native values as its own rather than those imposed on by euro and americentric hegemony (almahfedi, 2020). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 omodan, b. i. & diko, n. a conceptualisation of ubuntugogy as a decolonial pedagogy in africa journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 102 references adjai, c., & lazaridis, g. (2013). migration, xenophobia and new racism in post-apartheid south africa. international journal of social science studies, 1(1), 192-205. http://dx.doi.org/10.11114/ijsss.v1il.102 al-mahfedi, m. h. k. (2020). cultural hegemonic discourse: from imperialist eurocentrism to homogenizing americentrism. international journal of linguistics and translation studies, 1(3), 20-34. https://doi.org/10.36892/ijlts.v1i3.94 assié-lumumba, n’dri t. (2017). the ubuntu paradigm and comparative and international education: epistemological challenges and opportunities in our field. comparative education review, 16(1), 1-21. bangura, a. k. (2005). ubuntugogy: an african educational paradigm that transcends pedagogy, andragogy, ergonagy and heutagogy. journal of third world studies, 22(2), 1353. bangura, a. k. (2017). african-centered internet literacy: an ubuntugogy metadata approach. journal of pan african studies, 10(10), 88-108. beets, p., & le grange, l. (2005). africanising' assessment practices: does the notion of ubuntu hold any promise? south african journal of higher education, 19(1), 1197-1207. cherry-gertzel, o. a., (2015). this issue of the australasian review of african studies is dedicated to cherry gertzel oa (1928–2015) former editor of the australasian review of african. australasian review of african studies, 36(2), 1-50. chingombe, s. i. (2018). the use of cooperative learning strategies in pre-service secondary school teacher education at two state universities in zimbabwe: a critical investigation (doctoral dissertation, university of kwazulu natal). comaroff, j., & comaroff, j. (1991). of revelation and revolution, vol. 1: christianity, colonialism, and consciousness in south africa. chicago: university of chicago press. donohue, d. (2020). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education, 4(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.3 dube, b. & omodan, b. i. (2021). ‘struck from all sides’ – reliving the lived experiences of immigrant youths in the context of mafiarised religions: towards a rehumanisation of theology. alternation, 34, 219-237. https://doi.org/10.29086/2519-5476/2020/sp34a12 ferreira, c, & schulze, s. (2014). teachers' experience of the implementation of values in education in schools: "mind the gap". south african journal of education, 34(1), 1-13. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=s025601002014000100008&lng=en&tlng=en. freire, p. (1996). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york: continuum. gunawardena, c. n. (2020). culturally inclusive online learning for capacity development projects in international contexts. journal of learning for development, 7(1), 1-31. hall, b. l., & tandon, r. (2017). decolonisation of knowledge, epistemicide, participatory research and higher education. research for all, 1(1), 6-19. hapanyengwi-chemhuru, o., & shizha, e. (2012). unhu/ubuntu and education for reconciliation in zimbabwe. journal of contemporary issues in education, 7(2), 17-27. https://doi.org/10.20355/c5xw2d https://cultureandvalues.org/ http://dx.doi.org/10.11114/ijsss.v1il.102 https://doi.org/10.36892/ijlts.v1i3.94 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.3 https://doi.org/10.29086/2519-5476/2020/sp34a12 https://doi.org/10.20355/c5xw2d journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 omodan, b. i. & diko, n. a conceptualisation of ubuntugogy as a decolonial pedagogy in africa journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 103 hove, b., & dube, b. (2021). covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school: rethinking education policies in zimbabwe. journal of culture and values in education, 113. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.5 hungwe, j. p. (2021). the (in) compatible nexus between ubuntu and critical thinking in african philosophy of education: towards ubuntu critical thinking in african higher education. in mediating learning in higher education in africa (pp. 23-40). brill. iline, c. s., & phillip, h. (2019). philosophical reflections on ubuntu in the context of cooperative learning. international research in higher education, 4, 10-24. https://doi.org/10.5430/irhe.v4n2p10 keane, m. (2008). science learning and research in a framework of ubuntu. available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291485664_science_learning_and_research_ in_a_framework_of_ubuntu#fulltextfilecontent kruger, e. a. (2016). an exploration of transformative piano teaching in pretoria: a case study. (master thesis, north-west university, south africa). lindén, j., annala, j. and coate, k. (2017), "the role of curriculum theory in contemporary higher education research and practice", theory and method in higher education research (theory and method in higher education research, vol. 3), emerald publishing limited, bingley, pp. 137-154. https://doi.org/10.1108/s2056-375220170000003008 mabovula, n. n. (2011). the erosion of african communal values: a reappraisal of the african ubuntu philosophy. inkanyiso: journal of humanities and social sciences, 3(1), 38-47. masondo, c. n. (2017). enhancing the effectiveness of principals in implementing inclusive education using ubuntu approach (doctoral dissertation, university of the free state). muste, d. (2016). the role of communication skills in teaching process. in selection and peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the conference. the european proceedings of behavioral and social sciences epsbs. http://dx.doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2016.12.52 ndlovu-gatsheni, s. j. (2013). empire, global coloniality and african subjectivity. new york and oxford: berghahn books. ngubane, n.i., & makua, m. (2021), ‘intersection of ubuntu pedagogy and social justice: transforming south african higher education’. transformation in higher education 6(0), a113. https://doi.org/10.4102/the.v6i0.113 nkowani, z. (2008). injury unto death: occupational health and safety regulation: a window on malawi. comparative and international law journal of southern africa, 41(1), 49-79. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc24663 oelofsen, r. (2015). decolonisation of the african mind and intellectual landscape. phronimon, 16(2), 130–146. omodan, b. i. & ige o. a (2021b). managing diversity in schools: the place of democratic education and ubuntuism in south africa. journal for transdisciplinary research in southern africa, 17(1), a854. https://doi.org/10.4102/td.v17i1.854 omodan, b. i. & ige, o. a. (2021a). analysis of ubuntu as a transformative strategy to mitigate social unrest in the university system. journal of studies in social sciences & humanities. 7(2), 76-86. omodan, b. i. (2019). defacing machiavellianism in university politics: a discourse to reconstruct leadership through ubuntu. african renaissance, 16(4), 33-51. http://doi.org/10.31920/2516-5305/2019/16n1a2 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.5 https://doi.org/10.5430/irhe.v4n2p10 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291485664_science_learning_and_research_in_a_framework_of_ubuntu#fulltextfilecontent https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291485664_science_learning_and_research_in_a_framework_of_ubuntu#fulltextfilecontent http://dx.doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2016.12.52 https://doi.org/10.4102/the.v6i0.113 https://doi.org/10.4102/td.v17i1.854 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 omodan, b. i. & diko, n. a conceptualisation of ubuntugogy as a decolonial pedagogy in africa journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 104 omodan, b. i. (2020). combatting the imperativeness of modernity in students' unrest: the need to decolonise the minds through ubuntu. international journal of higher education, 9(4), 310-319. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v9n4p310 omodan, t. c., & tsotetsi, c. t. (2019). framing ubuntu philosophy to reconstruct principals’ behaviour and teachers’ effectiveness in secondary schools. journal of education research and rural community development, 1(1), 25-45. https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/ejc-19ade7e3de pichler, f. (2009). ‘down-to-earth’ cosmopolitanism: subjective and objective measurements of cosmopolitanism in survey research. current sociology, 57(5), 704–732. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392109337653 quan-baffour, k. p., & vambe, m. t. (2006). multiculturalism and learning technologies in adult basic education and training programs at the university of south africa. research and practice in technology enhanced learning, 1(03), 297-308. rampa, s. h., & mphahlele, l. k. (2016). supporting open distance learning (odl) students through ubuntu values. open distance learning (odl) through the philosophy of ubuntu, 119-132. sambala, e. z., cooper, s., & manderson, l. (2020). ubuntu as a framework for ethical decision making in africa: responding to epidemics. ethics & behavior, 30(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2019.1583565 seehawer, m. (2018). south african science teachers’ strategies for integrating indigenous and western knowledges in their classes: practical lessons in decolonisation. educational research for social change, 7(0), 91‐110. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2221‐ 4070/2018/v7i0a7 seroto, j. (2018). dynamics of decoloniality in south africa: a critique of the history of swiss mission education for indigenous people. studia historiae ecclesiasticae, 44(3), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/3268 tsotetsi, c. t. & omodan, b. i. (2020). deconstructing power differentials in a supervision process: mentoring in ubuntu perspective. ubuntu: journal of conflict transformation, 9(1), 105-129. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-1eb5d4e406 van der walt, j. l. (2010). " ubuntugogy" for the 21 st century. journal of third world studies, 27(2), 249-266. venter, e. (2004). the notion of ubuntu and communalism in african educational discourse. studies in philosophy and education 23, 149–160. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:sped.0000024428.29295.03 wingfield, b. (2017). what “decolonised education” should and shouldn’t mean. the conversation, 14. yúdice, g. (1996). postcolonialism: an historical introduction. cambridge: blackwell. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 keefer, n., haj-broussard, m. language in educational contexts journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 1 language in educational contexts natalie keefer* university of louisiana at lafayette michelle haj-broussard university of louisiana at lafayette *corresponding author: natalie.keefer@louisiana.edu doi: 10.46303/jcve.2020.9 how to cite this paper: keefer, n., & haj-broussard, m. (2020). language in educational contexts. journal of culture and values in education, 3(2), 1-12. doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.9 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract the purpose of this special issue is to provide a space for scholars to disseminate theory and research about the influence of language in educational contexts. in this issue, we curated articles that address topics related to how language serves as a defining or decisive factor in education and schooling. in our introduction to this special issue, we provide an interpretive overview of the articles and offer an explanation of their relevance for understanding the complex nature of contemporary education. salient topics include: critical analysis of discourse, linguistic landscapes, natural semantic metalanguage, language ideology, politics and educational funding, funds of knowledge/identity, and definitional caveats related to language learning pedagogies in divergent contexts. keywords: linguistic theory and methods, language ideology, language learning practices introduction language is a value-laden hallmark of culture, as a symbol of ethnicity, race, immigrant status, social class, gender, and political beliefs. language can be used as a weapon to wield power over oppressed people, as an instrument for resistance, or as a tool to empower people with words of inspiration. as such, how language is used and perceived in educational contexts, and the messages that language communicates, have implicit and explicit consequences for educators, students, and communities. how language is used to frame the process of education at the national, local, and state levels reveals socio-political sentiments about schooling and communities involved in the process of schooling. additionally, whether or not students have access to second language learning opportunities in bilingual or immersion programs is heavily implicated in national, state, and local politics. in our introduction to the special issue, we provide an interpretive overview of the articles and offer an explanation of their relevance for understanding the complex nature of contemporary education. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 keefer, n., haj-broussard, m. language in educational contexts journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 2 theory and method for linguistic analysis in education the social sciences, specifically the fields of linguistic anthropology and sociolinguistics, enrich our understanding of how language intersects and shapes informal and formal education. within the study of language, theory and methods for conducting research for examining specific aspects of linguistic phenomena are closely intertwined and specialized. several authors in this issue employ specialized frameworks and methods for linguistic analysis such as natural semantic metalanguage, critical discourse analysis, and linguistic schoolscapes in order to reveal how people interpret and communicate meaning in educational contexts (bernardo-hinesley; honegger; johnson; morales & bardo, in this volume). ideology and discourse at the heart of people's use of language to interpret and communicate meaning are discourses that define ideologies about language and schooling. discourse refers to the ways we communicate narratives, explanations, concepts, myths, and ideologies that symbolize a particular perspective (sensoy & diangelo, 2017). for example, deficit-laden perspectives, including myths about people living in poverty, are framed through discourses that stereotype this social group as linguistically deficient, lazy, and apathetic of their children’s schooling (gorski, 2008). conversely, asset-based perspectives, such as funds of knowledge and funds of identity, intentionally employ language as a tool to refocus discourses on existing strengths, including abundant and diverse knowledge, within families and communities of color (gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005; guerra et al., in this issue). chung (in this issue) notes that parents’ complex attitudes about second language acquisition are shaped by language ideologies and embodied in their discourse. as essential stakeholders, parental support has the capacity to determine the success of language immersion programs (chung, in this issue; hajbroussard et al., 2019). a pertinent way discourse communicates ideology is through reflexive discourses about language ideology. language ideology refers to people's beliefs about language, including explanations of appropriate language structure and use, ideas about social and linguistic relationships, and moral and political interests (diaz & hall, 2020; woolard & schieffelin, 1994). most broadly, language ideology encompasses "shared bodies of common sense notions about the nature of language in the world" (woolard & schieffelin, 1994, p. 57). at the federal and state levels, language ideologies shape schooling through the creation of bodies of legislation that steer and/or restrict funding for language education policies (başok & sayer, in this issue; diaz & hall, 2020). discourses that frame language ideologies are thus embodied and codified in legislation that regulates language in educational contexts. these discourses, and the language ideologies they communicate, contribute to the creation and maintenance of an imbalance of power, and thus, socio-economic and educational relationships frequently defined by oppression and exploitation (fairclough, 2013). as başok and sayer (in this issue) demonstrate, in the united states ideological tensions are largely shaped by pluralist and assimilationist beliefs about language. educators are frequently constrained by federal and state funding for language programs, especially when assimilationist policies are favored by the prevailing political party. unfortunately, when language learning programs are defunded there are significant repercussions for students, including the exacerbation of language-related achievement gaps (soland, 2019). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 keefer, n., haj-broussard, m. language in educational contexts journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 3 critical discourse analysis for several decades, education researchers have used critical discourse analysis (cda) to make sense of how people use language to create meaning in educational contexts (rogers et al., 2005). johnson (in this issue) employs cda to demonstrate the utility, and culturally relevant and sustaining suitability, of battle rap in the language arts and social studies curriculum. in his article, johnson argues battle rap offers an opportunity to engage black students with social studies content in a way that affirms their experiences in society. furthermore, integrating insightful excerpts of socially conscious battle raps into the curriculum can be a powerful device for fostering students’ critical consciousness. johnson framed his assertion through the lens of critical discourse analysis because this method allows for an elegant dissection of how socio-historic conditions inspire people of color to produce discourses that communicate critical social awareness and social studies content knowledge. a critical discourse analysis of battle rap as an underutilized and overlooked educational resource also supports the claim that all analyses of language are inherently critical, because not all social practices (including language) are created and treated equally (rogers et al., 2005, p.367). linguistic schoolscapes spatial analysis of language is another method that researchers use to demonstrate the powerful influence of language ideologies in educational contexts. linguistic landscape studies investigate the spatial use of language, particularly the “visibility and salience of languages on public and commercial signs” in a given place (landry & bourhis, 1997, p. 23). foremost, it is important to acknowledge linguistic landscape analysis in an educational context cannot be separated from the historical and political factors that have shaped the structure and function of place (blommaert, 2013; webster, 2014). as gorter (2018) noted, linguistic schoolscapes have distinct characteristics from other public spaces. for example, signs in schools are unique in their intent to communicate subject knowledge and multiple literacies, convey values aligned with effective citizenship, establish rules and norms for behavior in schools, as well as to provide practical information to educators, students, and families. of crucial importance is the role school signage has in acknowledging language ideology by signifying the acceptance and presence, or exclusion, of multiple languages within its boundaries. bernardo-hinesley (in this issue) extols the use of linguistic schoolscapes as theory and method and invites further investigations into the ways signage in educational spaces betray language ideologies to either promote or impede bilingual education within school boundaries. not only does signage communicate language ideologies, it also sends a message about what languages are acceptable by their formal acknowledgment within school confines. for example, bior multilingual signage sends a strong message about the formal and hidden curriculum and therefore makes the languages that are deemed official visually explicit (apple, 2014). natural semantics metalanguage beyond discourse and spatial analysis, linguistic theory provides a pathway for researchers to derive semantic meaning from the ethos of education. natural semantics metalanguage (nsm) offers a blueprint for linguistic analysis through a systematically identified assemblage of universal prime concepts. the epistemological foundation for nsm is its contention “all languages share a small set of “universal concepts” which can provide a solid basis for cross-cultural understanding” (goddard & wierzbicka, 1995, p. 37). due to its https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 keefer, n., haj-broussard, m. language in educational contexts journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 4 reductionist, culturally neutral approach, nsm is not without its flaws, mostly vis-à-vis a critique of its disregard for “intersubjective differences in conceptualization” and weaknesses in its explanation for aspects of language that lack clear translatability (blumczyński, 2013, p.265). regardless of its limitations, nsm is still regarded as a worthy tool for linguistic analysis by contemporary scholars (blumczyński, 2013; geeraerts, 2010). honegger (in this issue) applies the theory and method of nsm to decode common meanings of the word “education” that undergird liberal and conservative discourses surrounding education and schooling. in his analysis, honegger notes the ubiquitous use of the term education in reference to specialized fields of teaching and learning, and to education in its institutional form. going further, honegger makes a compelling linguistic argument that regardless of their oppositional sociopolitical perspectives on education, conservative and liberal educators, exemplified by the juxtaposed discourses of paulo freire and betsy devos, are profoundly concerned with institutional weaknesses in public education. therefore, nsm is a useful framework for distilling semantic explanations to shed light on similarities, as well as differences, in the meaning of pivotal words in discourse that shape ideologies. in doing so, nsm illuminates implicit and explicit socio-cultural biases (diaz & hall, 2020; van dijk, 1998). for example, the pivotal word education, and its specialized suturing to language for this special issue, allowed for the curation of articles that represent a cluster of related discourses. as described in the next section, asset-based perspectives such as funds of knowledge and funds of identity represent one such cluster of discourses aligned with the theme of this special issue. language and funds of knowledge/identity several authors (adams; ebersole & kanahele-mossman; guerra et al., in this issue) discuss the interconnected nature between language, identity, experiences, and accumulations of knowledge from home and community settings. these funds of knowledge can be leveraged by educators to facilitate concept and skill development in the curriculum and to engage families with classroom practices and school-wide endeavors (gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005; vélez-ibáñez & greenberg, 1992). most importantly, language is a foundational aspect of students’ and teachers’ funds of knowledge. students’ home language embodies their funds of knowledge in its most intimate form as a reflection of familial socialization and as a primary linguistic toolkit to communicate needs, wants, ideas, and worldviews (keefer et al., 2020). thus, linguistic funds of knowledge provide an elegant rationale for humanizing pedagogies and translanguaging practices (adams; guerra et al., in this issue). as an extension of funds of knowledge, funds of identity expands upon an individual's home knowledge to include defining experiences and skills often developed beyond home and community settings (subero,vujasinović, & esteban-guitart, 2016). guerra, lópez, and benavidez (in this issue) demonstrate the utility of the funds of identity approach in their case study of one latina teacher’s examination of heritage language, mestiza identity, and the ability of humanizing pedagogies to challenge and dismantle internalized deficit-laden perspectives. as contributing authors (adams; guerra et al., in this issue) note, a funds of knowledge/identity approach provides numerous implications for educational policy reform. these implications underscore the importance of valuing students’ home/heritage language use, reevaluating evaluation and assessment practices, aligning pedagogical practices so they reflect and leverage the funds of knowledge, skills, and literacies that exist in students’ homes and communities (vélez-ibáñez & greenberg, 1992). of course, these sage recommendations https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 keefer, n., haj-broussard, m. language in educational contexts journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 5 are beholden to political ideologies that drive policy and determine school and classroom practices. the intersection of politics and language in educational contexts the intersection of politics and language was examined by several authors in this special issue. to better understand these works we juxtapose their interplay of language and politics with the historical experiences of francophone language speakers in louisiana. parker (2019) offers a succinct description of the development of languages, specifically french and english, in louisiana from pre-civil war times to the present. during the antebellum era, there were various franco-caribbean influences on louisiana and various french-language groups (cajuns, creole noir/blanc, houmas) (trépanier, 1991). after the civil war, english speakers began a process of assimilation. in 1916, with the installation of mandatory english-only education, the process of assimilation accelerated (ancelet, 1988, 2007; brasseaux, 2005; klingler, 2003; parker, 2019). this assimilation was seen as a reflection of patriotism as noted by president teddy roosevelt’s (1918) praise of iowa’s english-only schooling policy when he said “this is a nation — not a polyglot boarding house. there is not room in the country for any 50-50 american, nor can there be but one loyalty — to the stars and stripes.” this hegemonic ideology is not unlike that which başok and sayer (in this issue) discuss when explaining the role of ideology in determining policy and funding for language learning programs at the federal level. many heritage language speakers and children of heritage language speakers know the result of english-only mandatory schooling policy demanded by assimilationist language ideology. parker (2019) mentioned how french-speaking students in louisiana were stigmatized and subject to corporal punishment in schools. ancelet in his nom de plume, jean arceneaux (1980) emotes this situation: i will not speak french on the school grounds. i will not speak french on the school grounds. i will not speak french... i will not speak french... i will not speak french... hé! ils sont pas bêtes, ces salauds. après mille fois, ça commence à pénétrer dans n'importe quel esprit. ça fait mal; ça fait honte. et on ne speak pas french on the school grounds et ni anywhere else non plus. this educational policy of assimilation permeated u.s. society during world war ii. in louisiana, many french-speaking families fully assimilated and lost their heritage language. however, french-speaking soldiers sent to fight in the war returned with renewed pride in their language and culture. this resulted in a “cajun renaissance'' which had the political effect of the creation in 1968 of the council for the development of french in louisiana (codofil, n.d.). this state agency actively works to promote the french language in louisiana. in 2011, codofil supported a new mandate for expanding louisiana’s french immersion programs (louisiana legislature, 2011). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 keefer, n., haj-broussard, m. language in educational contexts journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 6 analysis of a similar renaissance, yet on a micro/individual level, is described in guerra, lópez, and benavidez’s article (in this issue) when they discuss the stigmatization of a latina teacher’s heritage, her subsequent learning of her heritage language, and her new dedication to empowering fellow latino students. likewise, stacy, fernandez, and mcgovern (in this issue) describe the creation of a teacher training program, el instituto, and the repercussions of linguistic stigmatization they encountered during their empowering work with teachers. what’s in a name: immersion, bilingual, dual language a salient issue that arose when curating these articles was that varied definitions for dual language/immersion/bilingual contexts exist, and these terms are frequently used interchangeably and inconsistently by educators and scholars. fortune and tedick (2008) discuss the difficulty of “coming to terms with terminology” in regard to the various terms used to describe dual language/immersion/bilingual education settings (p.3). for example, in the u.s. there exists federal definitions, practitioner terms, and terminology used by researchers for two-way immersion, dual language, dual language immersion, bilingual education, bilingual maintenance, two-way bilingual, and one-way immersion. there are some overarching federal definitions, but these leave much room for interpretation and are not inclusive of all programs. the department of health and human services does not define contexts as bilingual or dual language, rather they define children’s status as language learners: dual language learner means a child who is acquiring two or more languages at the same time, or a child who is learning a second language while continuing to develop their first language. the term "dual language learner" may encompass or overlap substantially with other terms frequently used, such as bilingual, english language learner (ell), limited english proficient (lep), english learner, and children who speak a language other than english (lote). (u.s. dhhs, n.d.) this allows students to be dual language learners, but to be placed in english-only contexts. which suggests that the program assumes they are developing the first language (l1) at home. pontier et al. (in this issue) refer to these students in their work. in other words, the context is not necessarily an additive bilingual context, however, it is a context that supports both languages. the office of english language acquisition (oela) recognized issues exist with definitions. they offered suggestions for terminology in the field as related to instruction in school contexts: we suggest that the field use the term “dual language” to refer to programs in which instruction is provided in two languages, with the goal of promoting proficiency in both. we suggest that the term “two-way” should be used to describe dual language programs in which roughly equal numbers of students from two language groups (e.g., english speakers and partner language speakers) participate, with the goal of both groups learning both languages. we suggest that the term “one-way” should be used for programs in which predominantly one language group (e.g., language minority students, native english speakers, heritage language learners) participates, with the goal of learning two languages (oela, 2015, p. xix). based on oela’s suggested terms, a program such as a bilingual maintenance program where the students all speak a language other than english (lote) and spend part of the day in english and part in the lote would be defined as a dual language one-way. however, a context in which all lote speakers are learning through both their l1 and the dominant language is https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 keefer, n., haj-broussard, m. language in educational contexts journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 7 different from a one-way immersion context in which english-speaking students are learning a new lote. in utah, the term dual language immersion (dli), is an umbrella term for either oneway or two-way immersion programs. utah started an intensive and wide-spread expansion of immersion in 2008 when the international initiates bill passed to allow for funding of their dli programs (utahdli, n.d.). because the utah model is so expansive, including nearly 200 schools in utah (utah dli, n.d.) and their consortium participants in other states such as delaware and georgia, their use of dli as an umbrella term is common. again, not differentiating for student background becomes an issue. fortune and tedick (2008) discuss three types of immersion: (1) one-way for speakers of the majority language, (2) bilingual two-way for speakers of the minority language, and (3) indigenous immersion. still, there are missing elements. heritage language speakers, such as those in bilingual maintenance programs where all students speak a lote and instruction is one-way do not fit neatly into this model. consistent terminology is needed for describing bilingual/immersion contexts that is inclusive of the context of instruction and the lote/heritage language status of students. thus, we propose drawing from all of the above definitions to create a clearer picture of the context, students, and the intensity of immersion. there are dual language immersion one-way (dli-1) contexts wherein all of the students have the same l1 and are learning the same tl. within this dli-1 context, you might have english speakers, such as foreign language one-way that fortune and tedick (2008) discuss or dli-1 dominant. you might have all lote speakers, such as a bilingual maintenance class or dli-1 non-dominant, or have a heritage/indigenous language learners dli-1 heritage or indigenous. likewise, a two-way context (dli-2) in which half the students speak one language, and the other half the other language, could be codified in the same way. a similar codification could be used for a three-way immersion context (dli-3). the use of a descriptor for both the instructional context, the learners, and the language proportions allows for a better sense of the context (table 1). table 1: codifying immersion contexts and students instructional context student background lote/dominant language proportion codification dual language immersionone way, two way dominant, nondominant, heritage, indigenous 90/10, 60/40, 50/50 e.g. dli-1 heritage 60/40 this codification is particularly relevant to understand the context in which students find themselves and the funds of knowledge from which they are drawing. thus, a rural louisiana french immersion program would be a dli-1 dominant, heritage 60/40 program. this term would clarify students are enrolled in a one-way program in which there are english speaking students that are learning the tl, some are heritage language learners, and they spend 60% of their day in the tl. compared to the context chung (in this issue) studied which was a one-way immersion of both dominant and heritage students with a language percentage of 50/50 k-5th grade (dli-1 dominant, heritage 50/50). likewise, pontier et al. (in this issue) and adams (in this issue) do not study immersion contexts. however, they discuss https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 keefer, n., haj-broussard, m. language in educational contexts journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 8 bi/multilingual contexts where there are bi/multilingual speakers. using the above terminology, these bi/multilingual educational settings could be clearly differentiated from immersion settings. this would allow policymakers and researchers to tease out the effects of context on the various language learners. this would also help address valdés’ (2018) cautionary notes concerning the effects of dli-2 on non-dominant language/dialect and heritage language learners. cross-fertilization, contexts, and theory into praxis in teacher training fortune and tedick (2008) discussed how divergent language learning contexts can inform each other through the cross-fertilization of effective pedagogies. within dli, the use of the above codification can facilitate cross-fertilization through streamlined communication of effective pedagogies across contexts and as opposed to pedagogies that have been identified as context-specific. this context specificity is essential for teacher-educators to be cognizant of when training language educators. this knowledge is also particularly helpful when new frameworks emerge in the field and decisions must be made in regard to when, how, and if to train teachers with these new frameworks. one such framework is the process of translanguaging. originally coined to describe systematic planning to teach two languages in a welsh/english bilingual program (williams, 1996), translanguaging was later used to describe normal bilingual language usage (garcía, 2009). within this issue, four authors reference the use of translanguaging in four different contexts: within a secondary english class (adams, in this issue), in training dual language teachers (stacy et al., in this issue), with early childhood english learners (els) (pontier et al., in this issue), and within the context of an adult learning to be bilingual through a heritage language (guerra et al., in this issue). within these contexts, the authors view translanguaging as a means to empower and welcome bilinguals into spaces where the dominance of english is pervasive. yet, numerous scholars question the efficacy of translanguaging in bilingual contexts. for example, fortune and tedick (2019) underscored that translanguaging research conducted in immersion contexts fails to provide compelling evidence of its effect on target language acquisition and academic achievement. when training teachers it is important to by mindful of delpit’s (1995) sage advice that "pretending that gatekeeping points don't exist is to ensure that many students will not pass through them" (p. 39). before educational practices are endorsed wholeheartedly and included in teacher training, educators need to be aware of whether or not those practices are researchbased. for example, stacy et al. (in this issue) centered their praxis in a bilingual context where critical professional development and teacher activism met the realities that teachers and students experience. this awareness of the gates through which students must pass is also essential in regard to funding. as başok and sayer (in this issue) highlight, if the programs do not meet the academic needs of students, we put funding for language learning programs and their very existence in jeopardy. early research on one-way and two-way immersion focused on these gates, namely student outcomes. they found that concurrent language instruction, which translanguaging advocates, results in less time for the lote (legaretta, 1977), decreased student attention to l1 and inattention the tl (wong fillmore, 1982), and a lack of linguistic proficiency in the lote (cohen, 1974; legaretta, 1979). translanguaging proponents, garcía and lin (2016), while they discuss how minoritized languages (lote in u.s. schools) must not be isolated, emphasize that https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 keefer, n., haj-broussard, m. language in educational contexts journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 9 there must be protection for minority languages. the articles in this issue that address translanguaging do address minority language use, but not student outcomes. the question is how to address those hurdles, protect the minority language, and at the same time build up those elements that translanguaging has been shown to benefit, such as metalinguistic awareness (garcia-mateus & palmer, 2017), full use of students’ linguistic repertoire (garcia, 2009), and development of students’ bilingual identity (palmer et al., 2014). biliteracy activities, such as those ballinger et al. (2017) propose, are immersion-specific practices that allow the lote to benefit from cross-linguistic analysis while maintaining a separate, safe place for the language. furthermore, lyster et al. (2013) found this approach benefits students’ acquisition of the lote. in its simplest form, biliteracy activities are instructional strategies that utilize l1/tl literature to compare and contrast linguistic features between the tl and the lote. additionally, literature-based elements of these activities allow teachers to tailor instructional literature to non-dominant, heritage, and indigenous immersion student populations. this simple strategy is a form of translanguaging that proponents of separation of languages can endorse. biliteracy pedagogies are also exemplary of the crossfertilization that fortune and tedick (2008) promote. conclusion we hope this special issue will facilitate cross-fertilization within related fields of language and education. among the spheres of language in educational contexts there exists overlapping and fruitful discourses in language theories, research methods, critical pedagogies, and dynamic interactions in educational spaces. political ideologies continue to influence the fiscal realities of language programs in schools and reflect the values and beliefs within society. thus, cross-fertilized studies have the capacity to inform policies that drive funding and the nature of language education. the consequences of language-related education policies are profound because they determine whether or not the needs of language learners are met. these needs include, but are not limited to, students’ academic, linguistic, economic, and sociopsychological needs. yet, the importance of language in educational contexts extends beyond language learning as a signifier of ethnicity, race, immigrant status, social class, and gender. educators need to beware of the power of deficit-laden discourses to stigmatize and exclude students’ funds of knowledge and identity from educational spaces. in contrast, language can also be used by educators to inspire and empower students, families, and communities through the resistance of oppressive forces in society. references ancelet, b. j. (1988). a perspective on teaching the “problem language” in louisiana. the french review, 61(3), 345356. ancelet, b. j. (2007). negotiating the mainstream: the creoles and cajuns in louisiana. the french review, 80(6), 1235-1255. apple, m. (2014). official knowledge: democratic knowledge in a conservative age (3rd ed.). routledge. arceneaux, j. (1980) schizophrénie linguistique, in j. arceneaux, & d. clifton, (eds.) cris sur le bayou: naissance d’une poésie acadienne en louisiane (pp. 15-66). intermède. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 keefer, n., haj-broussard, m. language in educational contexts journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 10 ballinger, s., lyster, r., sterzuk, a., & genesee, f. (2017). context-appropriate crosslinguistic pedagogy. journal of immersion & content-based language education, 5(1), 30–57. blommaert, j. (2013). ethnography, superdiversity and linguistic landscapes: chronicles of complexity. multilingual matters. blumczyński, p. (2013). turning the tide: a critique of natural semantic metalanguage from a translation studies perspective. translation studies, 6(3), 261-276. brasseaux, c. (2005). french, cajun, creole, houma: a primer on francophone louisiana. louisiana state university press. codofil. (n.d.). french in louisiana timeline. codofil website. retrieved from:https://www.crt.state.la.us/cultural-development/codofil/about/french-inlouisiana/timeline/index cohen, a. (1974). the culver city spanish immersion program: the first two years. the modern language journal, 58(3), 95-103. retrieved december 20, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/323824 council for the development of french in louisiana, rs 25:651, louisiana legislature, (2011). retrieved from: https://legis.la.gov/legis/law.aspx?d=84519 delpit, l. (1995). other people's children: cultural conflict in the classroom. new press. diaz, b. a., & hall, m. k. (2020). a corpus-driven exploration of u.s. language planning and language ideology from 2013 to 2018. journal of language and politics, 19(6), 916937. fairclough, n. (2013). critical discourse analysis: the critical study of language. routledge. fortune, t. w., & tedick, d. j. (2008). one-way, two-way, and indigenous immersion: a call for cross-fertilization: evolving perspectives on immersion education. in t. w. fortune, & d. j. tedick (eds.), pathways to multilingualism: evolving perspectives on immersion education (pp. 3-21). multilingual matters. fortune, t. w., & tedick, d. j. (2019). context matters: translanguaging and language immersion in the u.s. and canada. in m. haneda, & h. nassaji (eds.), perspectives on language as action (pp 27-44). multilingual matters. garcía, o. (2009). bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective. wileyblackwell. garcía, o. & lin, a. (2016). translanguaging and bilingual education. in o. garcía, a. lin, & s. may (eds.), bilingual and multilingual education (pp. 117–130). springer. garcía-mateus, s., & palmer, d. (2017). translanguaging pedagogies for positive identities in two-way dual language bilingual education. journal of language, identity, and education, 16(4), 245–255. geeraerts, d. (2010). theories of lexical semantics. oxford university press. goddard, c., & wierzbicka, a. (1995). key words, culture and cognition. philosophica, 55(1), 37-67. gonzález, n., moll, l., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities and classrooms. lawrence erlbaum associates. gorski, p. s. (2008) the myth of the culture of poverty. educational leadership, 67(7), 32-36. gorter, d. (2018). linguistic landscapes and trends in the study of schoolscapes. linguistics and education, 44, 80-85. haj-broussard, m., keefer, n., hebert, d., & grivet, c. (2019). conversations in immersion: concerns about pedagogy and gatekeepers. nectfl review, 84, 35-61. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 keefer, n., haj-broussard, m. language in educational contexts journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 11 keefer, n., lopez, j., young, j., & haj-broussard, m. (2020). gathering funds of knowledge: an elementary social studies unit plan for bilingual settings. social studies and the young learner, 33(2), 14-19. klingler, t. a. (2003). language labels and language use among cajuns and creoles in louisiana. university of pennsylvania working papers in linguistics, 9(2), 77-90. landry, r., & bourhis, r. (1997). linguistic landscape and ethnolinguistic vitality: an empirical study. journal of language and social psychology, 16(1), 23-49. legretta, d. (1977) language choice in bilingual classrooms. tesol quarterly, 11, 9-16. lyster, r., quiroga, j., & ballinger, s. (2013). the effects of biliteracy instruction on morphological awareness. journal of immersion and content-based language education, 1(2), 169–197. doi: 10.1075/jicb.1.2.02lys palmer, d. k., martínez, r. a., mateus, s. g., & henderson, k. (2014). reframing the debate on language separation: toward a vision for translanguaging pedagogies in the dual language classroom. modern language journal, 98(3), 757–772. parker, j. l. (2019). second language learning and cultural identity: reconceptualizing the french curriculum in louisiana colleges and universities. journal of curriculum studies research, 1(1), 33-42. rogers, r., malancharuvil-berkes, e. mosley, m., hui, d., & o’garro, g. (2005). critical discourse analysis in education: a review of the literature. review of educational research, 75(3), 365–416. roosevelt, t. (1918, may 27th) speech about english-only schooling policy. iowa. sensoy, ö., diangelo, r. (2017). is everyone really equal? an introduction to key concepts in social justice education (2nd ed.). teachers college press. soland, j. (2019). english language learners, self-efficacy, and the achievement gap. the collaborative for student growth at nwea research brief. subero, d., vujasinović, e., & esteban-guitart, m. (2016). mobilising funds of identity in and out of school. cambridge journal of education, 47(2), 247-263. trépanier, c. (1991). the cajunization of french louisiana: forging a regional identity. the geographical journal, 157(2), 161-171. doi:10.2307/635273 woolard, k.a., & schieffelin, b.b. (1994). language ideology. annual review of anthropology, 23(1), 55-82. united states department of health and human resources (n.d.). head start performance standards. part 1305.2 --definitions. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/policy/45-cfr-chapxiii/1305-2-terms utah dual language immersion (n.d.). why immersion? http://utahdli.org/whyimmersion.html utah dual language immersion (n.d.). participating schools. http://utahdli.org/participatingschools.html valdés, g. (2018). analyzing the curricularization of language in two-way immersion education: restating two cautionary notes. bilingual research journal, 41(4), 388-412. doi: 10.1080/15235882.2018.1539886 van dijk, t. (1998). ideology: a multidisciplinary approach. sage publications. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2018.1539886 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 keefer, n., haj-broussard, m. language in educational contexts journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 12 vélez-ibáñez, c.g., & greenberg, j.b. (1992). formation and transformation of funds of knowledge among u.s.-mexican households. anthropology & education quarterly, 23(4), 313-335. williams, c. (1996) secondary education: teaching in the bilingual situation. in c.williams, g. lewis, and c. baker (eds.) the language policy: taking stock (pp. 39-79). cai. webster, a. (2014). dif'g'one' and semiotic calquing: a signography of the linguistic landscape of the navajo nation. journal of anthropological research, 70(3), 385-410. wong fillmore, l. (1982) instructional language as linguistic input: second language learning in classrooms. in l.c. wilkinson (ed.) communicating in the classroom (pp.283-294). academic press. . https://cultureandvalues.org/ microsoft word editorial.docx journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman, b., editorial: 2018 (1)1, i-ii editorial: 2018 (1) 1 bulent tarman, editor-in-chief dear journal of culture and values in education readers and contributors, we are excited to be with you through the first issue of journal of culture and values in education (jcve). we would like to extend our appreciations to all who contributes by submitting or reviewing manuscripts or have been readers of jcve. this is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access academic e-journal for cultural and educational research. the journal is published twice a year (june & december) in online versions. the overarching goal of the journal is to disseminate origianl research findings that make significant contributions to different areas of education, culture and values of different societies. the aim of the journal is to promote the work of academic researchers in the humanities, cultural studies and education. in addition to our goal of providing free on-line access to the new journal, we also feel strongly about the necessity of its being very high quality. a highly-respected editorial board will go a long way towards establishing the initial credibility of the journal – which is particularly crucial in an experimental endeavor such as this – as well as helping to assure the long-term quality of the final product. in our first issue, you will find the articles on various topics of education, culture and values of different societies. the first article written by mehmet f. yigit as titled “does higher education change value perceptions?” the purpose of this research is to examine in whether higher education has an effect on value perceptions of students. in particular, the researcher examines the role of 'foundation' or 'private' universities on the priorities of value perceptions. according to the researcher among the most interesting finding of the study is that last year students care for the weak and correcting injustice less compared to their first-year of study. it is also indicated by the researcher that university education is changing the level of value perceptions of students mostly in negative ways. josphat kagema is the author of the second article entitled as “the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya”. this paper investigates the school curriculum as a determinant of secondary school teacher motivation in kenya in curriculum implementation. the research adopted a survey study design, adopting journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman, b., editorial: 2018 (1)1, i-ii mixed methods research approach with an aim of fortifying and converging both quantitative and qualitative data. the findings of this study apprise curriculum planners, education leadership and policy makers on the school curriculum as a core determinant of teacher motivation in secondary schools that influence curriculum implementation in kenya. with the title of “poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey” in the third article, bulent tarman & emin kilinc seek to examine social studies textbooks to investigate the use of poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey. this paper also examines whose poets have been represented in the textbooks. the authors applied content analysis to evaluate social studies textbooks. the results showed that very few poems were used in the social studies textbooks while remaining poems were used to promote students’ patriotic values. these poems emphasizes flag, homeland and heroism. as it is indicated by the authors the examined social studies textbooks fail to use poems that address social justice, empathy, prejudice and discrimination. in their article with the title of “the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america.” william b. russell and joshua kenna explore the mirrored actions and responses taken by social studies education organizations within the larger picture of the standards-based educational reform (sber), placing the focal point largely upon actions taken by the national council for the social studies (ncss) in the usa. i would like to thank everyone and express my special appreciation to the people who contributed to make this issue ready for you. i especially would like to thank all authors and reviewers for their contribution to jcve. i hope you will both enjoy and be challenged by the articles in this issue of jcve. i also look forward to seeing your contribution to the development of jcve in the future. looking forward to being with you in december 2018 issue... sincerely, bulent tarman, (ph.d) editor-in-chief, jcve journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 2 2022 pp. 1-15 advancing cooperative learning pedagogy in science classrooms: challenges and possible solutions abiodun a. bada *1 & loyiso c. jita1 * corresponding author email: bada.aa@ufs.ac.za 1. faculty of education, university of the free state, south africa. article info received: october 12, 2021 revised: november 27, 2021 accepted: january 18, 2022 how to cite bada, a. a., & jita, l. c. (2022). advancing cooperative learning pedagogy in science classrooms: challenges and possible solutions. journal of culture and values in education, 5(2), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.1 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 abstract cooperative learning pedagogy is beneficial among student hence, its adoption for teaching and learning at all levels of education. the concept of cooperative learning pedagogy appears to immerse students and teachers into classroom activities thereby making them active participants during the teaching and learning process. however, cooperative learning faces some challenges that hinders its effective execution in the classroom. these challenges also prevent students and teachers from enjoying the full gains of using cooperative learning pedagogy. this conceptual paper probe into the possible ways of alleviating the challenges faced by cooperative learning pedagogy. we locate the argument within brain-based theoretical framework to discuss the means of executing cooperative learning in the classrooms. based on this argument, the study proposes possible solutions that include fostering peaceful coexistence among students and teachers, encouraging a call to duty among students, maintaining classroom synergy and learning how to learn among students. the investigation conclude that cooperation should be encouraged among students through the maintenance of a threat free classroom environment. the study recommends that science curriculum developers and planners should encourage peaceful coexistence among students and teachers irrespective of their different backgrounds so as to maximize the achievement of classroom goals and objectives enshrined in positive interaction among students and teachers. keywords brain-based theory; challenges; cooperative learning pedagogy; science classroom; solutions. 10.46303/jcve.2022.1 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 2 jcve 2022, 5(2): 1-15 introduction this paper argues extensively the strength of cooperative learning pedagogy in the classroom, along with the theoretical framework of brain-based learning and its relevance. to focus the description, we address a question: what are the possible ways in which cooperative learning pedagogy could be executed towards students’ success in the classroom? the integration of cooperative learning appears to be effective among students and thereby adopted in many schools to ensure active participation of students during teaching and learning in the classroom. the degree of adoption of cooperative learning transverses not only the primary and secondary schools but its use is also popular in the tertiary level of education. this revelation perhaps explains the argument of prastyo and sansisca (2013) that “cooperative learning can be used at all age levels from kindergarten to university” (p. 444). this implies that the working together of two or more students with the same goal in mind can generate better achievement and result for classroom teaching. the result of their action, which is targeted towards achieving specific learning outcome is called cooperative learning and this can take place among students from different fields of study, between teachers and instructors or even among the students themselves. there are several perspectives to cooperative learning, among which is the focus on five elements: positive interdependence, individual and group accountability, promotive interaction, interpersonal and small group skills, and group processing (ghaith, 2018; ibrahim & ibrahim, 2017; johnson et al., 2008; lange et al., 2016). positive interdependence provides incentives for students irrespective of their level of education, to work as a team and to succeed together. by this, cooperative learning tends to reduce the struggle for competition that exist among students with the goal of ensuring that all students benefit from classroom situation. individual and group accountability provides for individuals to give stewardship of their activities through rubrics, teacher observations and peer evaluation. this idea is not only limited to learning but also to teaching, because accountability is usually sought in terms of the lesson. lesson evaluation involves all the stakeholders who contribute and are also evaluated during and after completing teaching (teacher and students). this means to say that “cooperative learning is more than just a bag of tricks to make teaching run more smoothly, but it is a different way of conceiving teaching” (prastyo & sansisca, 2013, p. 444). it involves interaction among students to work together to accomplish shared goals. buchs et al. (2017) define “cooperative learning as an instructional method that allows students to work in structured groups” (p. 1). according to singh and agrawal (2011), cooperative learning emphasizes the importance of cooperation as against competition, which this present educational system seems to encourage. that is, cooperative learning seems to ensure the overall advancement of students through positive interactions and cooperation in order to achieve common task. this argument calls attention to the opinion of singh and agrawal (2011) that “how students perceive each other and interact with one another is a neglected aspect of instruction” (p. 2). cooperative learning thus encourages meaningful cooperation among learners that is devoid of conflict but is imbibed within social coexistence. 3 jcve 2022, 5(2): 1-15 cooperative learning pedagogy represents a turning point from the traditional classroom which seems to be competitive most of the time with students working independently. students stay in continual competition for grades, praise and recognition from one another (singh & agrawal, 2011). in the same way, felder and brent (2007) views “cooperative learning as an approach to group work that minimizes the occurrence of unpleasant situation and maximises the learning and satisfaction that results from working in a high-performance team” (p. 1). according to johnson and johnson (2002), cooperative learning is a pedagogical practice that has attracted much attention over three decades because of the large results which indicate that student’s gain both academically and socially when they have the privilege to relate and share goals. this means that the positive effect of using cooperative learning in schools outnumbered its negative effect. the positive results recorded from the research carried out in virtually all over the world, using different methodologies, attest that the effective execution of cooperative learning is crucial to the achievement of classroom goals (chang & brickman, 2018; elola & oskoz, 2010; hung, 2019; hung et al., 2018; mahmoud, 2014; ning & hornby, 2014). the positive effects of using cooperative learning include knowledge development and retention of information, students’ motivation for learning, undergraduate needs for cognition, building students self-confidence, making students learn easily and stress free, and also making students active participants in the classroom. this means to say that cooperative learning fashion a new method different from the traditional lecture method because it keeps learners active in the classroom. moges (2019) also assert that cooperative learning pedagogy is often recognised as learner centered having emerged in opposition to the more traditional methods. it is believed that when cooperative learning is effectively used by teachers or instructors to create an affective learning classroom, it is usually referred to as a learner centered approach (moges, 2019). as good as cooperative learning pedagogy appears to be widely executed among different levels of education (primary, secondary, tertiary) globally (ghufron & ermawati, 2018; gillies, 2008; gillies & boyles, 2010; johnson et al., 2014; kelly, 2019; siciliano, 2001; slavin, 2014), there are still some challenges that prevent its effective implementation among students. cooperative learning has its identified challenges along some limitations that constitute its inadequate execution in the classroom. teachers negative believe regarding learning and instruction strategies (ruys et al., 2010), teachers’ difficulty in implementing cooperative learning (buchs et al., 2017), unequal mental/cognitive ability among students, complains about weak or unassertive students about being ignored during session and the building of resentment towards some members who fail to meet up with standards (felder & brent, 2007), are some of the challenges faced by cooperative learning implementation. anderson (2019) also identified “differentiation in large mind ability classes, preventing certain learners from dominating in group work and encouraging communication when examination is knowledge focussed, as some of the challenges facing the implementation of cooperative learning” (p. 5). race and powell (2000) observed “a decline in the use of cooperative learning in mathematics and science 4 jcve 2022, 5(2): 1-15 instruction” from grades 3-8 and this similar situation was recorded by gillies (2003) among teacher group practices in australia. these challenges may be due to the inadequate understanding on how to use cooperative learning in science classes at any level of education. with all these mentioned, a high tensioned environment coupled with the spirit of unhealthy competition in classroom prevents cooperation among students and also hinders the realization of classroom goals and objectives. therefore, it is important to understand what could be responsible for such challenges in the process of implementing cooperative leaning pedagogy in classroom. among the reasons as reflected in the literature are: students socializing than working and time management issues (gillies & boyles, 2010), evaluating performance in cooperating learners and alignment with official curriculum (buchs et al., 2017), unequal mental ability/cognitive level (felder & brent, 2007), more active participation from the teacher and students and difficulty in management (ghufron & ermawati, 2018). these challenges may also be caused by the relative threat that students meet in the classroom as a result of unhealthy competition which the traditional teaching pedagogy has introduced into the classroom. the active participation of high achieving learners can instil fear of being embarrassed into the low achieving learners while sharing thoughts and opinions in the classroom. this may result in low self-esteem and further affect students’ achievement in the classroom negatively. the resultant effect is not limited to poor achievement alone, but it can encourage disaffection and unhealthy competition among learners in the classroom. this can hinder the peaceful coexistence of learners and also encourage the formation of social vices that are considered threat to classroom development (moges, 2019). in order to understand cooperative learning pedagogy, the important height occupied by brain-based theory cannot be over-emphasized. cooperative learning within the framework of brain-based theory we adopted brain-based theory as a theoretical framework to understand the sociality that is peculiar to cooperative learning pedagogy. recent research in brain-based teaching focus on a holistic view of the brain, which is considered as a social organ (cozolino, 2011), and how it is designed to learn. brain-based theory stem out from the study of neuroscience which looks into how the brain gathers, process and retain information (caine & caine, 1994). that is, brainbased learning is concerned with learning with the brain in mind (jensen, 2000). the adoption of brain-based theory is considered apt because it considers the uniqueness of every student’s brain during learning. the goal of every teaching and learning situation is for meaningful learning to take place. this is the goal brain-based education intends to achieve because it emphasizes the realization of meaningful learning while taking the brain’s function into consideration. research from neuroscience has revealed that incorporating intense emotions associated with celebration, competition or drama can enhance memory in learning (jensen, 2000). that is, the adoption of the processes and principles of brain-based learning can assist in the 5 jcve 2022, 5(2): 1-15 construction of new knowledge and ideas while maintaining peaceful coexistence among the students in their cooperating groups. this is more so because brain-based theory takes adequate consideration of all students irrespective of their cognitive levels. brain-based education emphasizes how the brain learns naturally and it is based on the structure and function of the human brain at vary stage of development (froshcl & sprung, 2005). hjorth et al. (2005) opine that “constructivism is closely related to brain-based theory because it is also based on the premise that learning is the result of mental construction” (p. 2). this argument was supported by gonzalez (2017) that “knowing how the brain works best allows educators to create an environment that gives students a higher probability of success in learning” (p. 1). that is, the theory supports that meaningful learning is best achieved in a positive serene environment where students are free from threats and fears. by implication, students must feel physically and emotionally safe among their peers and with their teachers for them to learn meaningfully. relating this to classroom practices, this framework suggests that classroom activities, which incorporate and promotes a threat free environment, motivate and stimulate critical thinking and the development of the brain. brain-based learning suggest that for teaching and learning to achieve its objectives, understanding how the brain learns is crucial. that is, immersing students into a serene environment devoid of threat, fear and rancour can guarantee meaning learning in the classroom (caine & caine, 2005). by doing this, better cooperation enshrined in mutual respects for group members can be achieved through positive interactions. with this, it can be said that the use of brain-based principles has the potential to agree with the assumptions of cooperative learning pedagogy. this theory is important to unpack the challenges of cooperative learning pedagogy among students and teachers because it places value on the different learning styles and background of the students with the motive of promoting cooperation in order to achieve collective goals. we argue that the description of case studies, discussion of issues and debate brings about positive engagement among students thus providing the space for better cooperation because learning engages the entire philosophy of students (hjorth et al., 2005). we also argue that developing new perspectives, understanding and sharing of multi-perspectives and realities in classroom will make learning meaningful and permanent. the applicability of cooperative learning palmer et al. (2019) argue that cooperative learning pedagogy enables students to acquire critical thinking skills because it creates a situation in which students explains and discuses from different perspectives. it helps to clarify concepts and ideas through interactions, discussion and debates. this interaction and cooperation of students in the classroom can only occur in an environment that is free from threat and fear (caine and caine, 2005). slavin (2013) argue that cooperative learning pedagogy has positive effect than other instructional practices on primary and secondary mathematics and reading. slavin (2014) also found out that science teaching 6 jcve 2022, 5(2): 1-15 method focus on enhancing teachers’ instruction such as cooperative learning. this buttress the fact that cooperation in the classroom allows students to be actively involved in sharing ideas and work cooperatively to complete academic task. this can only occur in a classroom environment that is free from fear and threats and also allows students to freely express themselves in the classroom. cooperative learning pedagogy promotes positive interdependence, promotive interaction and individual accountability because the success of one student is dependent on the success of the other students (johnson et al., 2008). moges (2019) argued that cooperative learning is an active pedagogical tool that have been found effective in a broad range of subjects because it is often recognised as learner centered, having emerged in opposition to the more traditional methods. this buttresses the role active engagement and interaction plays to enhance students’ achievement in the classroom. cooperative learning enhances students’ performance (yamarik, 2007), engagement (herrmann, 2013), interaction (gillies, 2016) and the need for cognition (castle, 2014). the adequate implementation of cooperative learning pedagogy faces a level of challenge because teachers need to maintain a serene classroom environment for students to relate, interact and cooperate with one another before the gains of using cooperative learning can be fully attained. teachers must therefore maintain a peaceful coexistence that will allow positive engagement and interaction among students in the classroom. also, teachers should encourage the enhancement of a sense of responsibility and promote cooperation among students in order to achieve the benefits of cooperative learning. zakaria and iksan (2007) argue that cooperative learning is grounded in the belief that learning is most effective when students are actively involved in sharing ideas and work cooperatively to complete academic task. from such cooperation and interactions, peaceful coexistence enshrined in a serene classroom environment which places high sense of responsibility and synergy is promoted among students and teachers. this reveal that the use of cooperative learning encourages active participation in the classroom irrespective of student’s background, perspectives and ideas. effandi (2005) argue that cooperative learning represents a shift in educational paradigm because it creates more opportunities for students to engage in problems solving. when students engage in classroom activities, it encourages the development of critical skills because students discuss from different perspectives to attain better understanding in the classroom. when students interact and cooperate in a classroom environment free from fear and threats, students are motivated to perform better in the classroom. this study therefore has the objective of exploring the possible ways to execute cooperative learning pedagogy in the classroom towards student’s success. research question having discussed extensively the strength of cooperative learning pedagogy in the classroom, along with the theoretical framework of brain-based learning and its relevance, we ask the 7 jcve 2022, 5(2): 1-15 question: what are the possible ways in which cooperative learning pedagogy could be executed towards students’ success in the classroom? according to gilson and goldberg (2015), a conceptual paper focus on integrating and proposing new relationships among constructs by developing logical and complete arguments for associations rather than testing data empirically. to adequately answer the research question, the theoretical framework adopted for this study was relied upon to provide possible solutions to the challenges of cooperative learning pedagogy. the assumptions of brain-based theory were used to generate possible solutions to the identified challenges of cooperative learning pedagogy. we consider this appropriate from the recommendation of caine and caine (1994) that brain-based theory can be used to enhance any instructional methods because it alleviates the short comings in the different instructional methods. relying on this theory, we highlight the following as possible solutions: fostering peaceful coexistence among students and teachers, encouraging a sense of call to duty among students, promoting synergy in classrooms and students learning how to learn. we also used literature to buttress the solutions that were proposed from the theoretical frameworks. this is because literature review can be used to validate the proposed solutions to the identified problems of cooperative learning pedagogy. analysing the solutions based on the above exploration, the following points were suggested as possible solutions to the challenges of cooperative learning pedagogy. they are; fostering peaceful coexistence among students and teachers, encouraging call to duty among students, promoting synergy in classrooms and students learning how to learn. fostering peaceful coexistence among students and teachers the place of fostering peaceful coexistence among students and even teachers cannot be overemphasized. this is because peaceful coexistence has been seen as a major means to achieving cooperation among students in the classroom (stahl, 1994). the classroom is usually made up of students from different backgrounds, ranging from gender, belief, race, ethnic group, greater comprehension of the content and skills (johnson et al., 2008; slavin, 1991; stahl & vansickle, 1992), and the only means to guarantee success is through the achievement of a peaceful coexistence devoid of fear and threats. research has shown that cooperative learning builds diversity awareness among students because it encourages students to use their differences to assist each other (palmer et al., 2019). this is because cooperative learning offers many ways of promoting more equal participation among its members in the classroom (prastyo & sansica, 2013). hence, there is the need for promoting peaceful coexistence among students to ensure the execution of cooperative learning pedagogy. this is, cooperative learning accords importance to cooperation as against the traditional classroom that encourages competition in the classroom (singh & agrawal, 2011). this is also in agreement with tripathy (2004) that cooperative learning assists in creating a non-threatening environment for students to learn 8 jcve 2022, 5(2): 1-15 readily and take academic risk. a serene environment which is devoid of fear and threat makes it easier for meaningful learning to take place (caine & caine, 1994; 1997; 2005). in this argument, the differences among students can be adequately converted to strengths in the classroom through the use of cooperative learning pedagogy. felder and brent (2007) supported the argument that cooperative learning assist in minimizing the occurrence of unpleasant situation in the classroom. that is, it encourages the formation and exhibition of better social skills and higher self-esteem among the students (springer et al., 1999). this in turn would bring out peaceful coexistence and a serene environment for teaching and learning to take place. not only does it encourage good social skill among students, it also supports students to develop positive attitude about their educational experience, subject area and the school community (johnson et al., 1998). apart from the fact that cooperative learning fosters peaceful coexistence among students, it also makes students gain both academically and socially when they interact (johnson & johnson, 2002). that is, when students interact with one another, students learn better because “social interaction plays a major role in the way students learn” (gillies 2003, p. 37). from the literature above, one could argue that promoting good social interactions among students is proportional to fostering peaceful coexistence in the classroom. this provides leverage for the proper implementation of cooperative learning pedagogy in the classroom. we therefore argue that promoting peaceful coexistence in the classroom supports cooperative learning pedagogy because it promotes simultaneous interactions (prastyo & sansisca, 2013) in the classroom. encouraging a sense of call to duty among students in this study, call to duty means being responsible to oneself, one another and one’s society. the school environment in this case is a subset of the larger society hence, when students have a sense of duty to one another, the resultant positive effect is usually felt in the school and in the larger environment. despite the fact that the classroom is made up of different personalities, the need to encourage individual accountability is of essence (prastyo & sansisca, 2013). the classroom consists of different students, but to stahl (1994), “the goal of cooperative learning is for all students to achieve higher academic success individually than when they study alone” (p. 6). this brings about a sense of responsibility to each of the group members when enjoying cooperation from one another. according to mcbrien and brandt (1997), cooperative learning was used to improve students’ attendance in the classroom. this is so because students felt a sense of duty and value in the cooperating group, they found themselves. that is, cooperation among students makes them have a feeling of responsibility because each member has a mastery of their task individually and in the group (prastyo & sansisca, 2013). not only has cooperative learning placed a sense of individual accountability into the students, but it has also placed value on cooperation (prastyo & sansisca, 2013). cooperative learning takes the feeling of all for one and one for all as its watchword. this confirms that students see every task and 9 jcve 2022, 5(2): 1-15 assignment as a collective responsibility that must be achieved by all. the collective interest of students therefore supersedes individual interest, which is most time competitive in nature (singh & agrawal, 2011). the argument of singh and agrawal (2011) indicated that positive interdependence influences students’ performance. that suggest that, when students effectively cooperate with one another, it calls the individual students to a high sense of duty. according to prastyo and sansisca (2013), the principle of positive interdependence lies at the heart of cooperative learning. it is believed that any challenge experienced by students in a cooperating leaning group becomes a challenge for all other students in the group. johnson and johnson (1999) argue that “positive interdependence is the perception that students are linked with others in a way so that a student cannot succeed unless other succeeds”. this promotes a sense of call to duty in the students because the failure or success of one determines the fate of others. therefore, we argue that introducing a sense of call of duty to students at any level of education will enhance cooperative learning pedagogy. promoting classroom synergy students’ capacity to interact and relate with one another is important and crucial to cooperative learning pedagogy. the heterogenous forming of groups and the subsequent successful implementation of cooperative learning pedagogy creates and promotes synergy among students. slavin (1991) argue that cooperative learning methods can be easily used with students with special needs thus, it further buttresses the flexible nature of cooperative learning pedagogy. that is, cooperative learning tends to create a synergy for success among the students irrespective of their heterogenous composition such as sex, ethnicity, social class and religion to mention a few. singh and agrawal (2011) therefore argue that individuals benefit the most from working with different people. when students show synergy on issues that concerns teaching and learning, they exhibit the features of adopting cooperative pedagogy. based on literature, we argue that students having synergy is crucial to the implementation of cooperative learning. having established this fact, students must be encouraged to create a level of agreement on classroom task. such a process can promote good working relationships among students, thus, enhance cooperative learning pedagogy. literature also has it that synergy among students can enhance their collaborative skills (prastyo & sansisca, 2013). when students cooperate or collaborate, they tend to learn collaboration skills which are essential for use in cooperative learning pedagogy. singh and agrawal (2011) argue that cooperative learning foster a collaborate atmosphere as opposed to a competitive environment. we therefore argue that the development of appropriate collaborative skills (johnson et al., 2008) encourage students to develop social virtues that can encourage the formation of synergy when cooperative learning is used in the classroom. 10 jcve 2022, 5(2): 1-15 students learning how to learn this has to do with the development of the skills of learning how to learn. this means that the integration of cooperative learning encourages students to be more responsible for their learning rather than depend solely on the teachers. it equips students with the skills of understanding more about how they can excel at classroom task with little or no guidance. according to prastyo and sansisca (2013), the principle of cooperative learning encourages group autonomy because it places more work on the students themselves rather than their teachers. by doing this, students learn how to engage and trust themselves more without putting unnecessary pressure on the teachers. we argue that when students learn from each other, they learn how to learn, cooperate and collaborate more with each other to find solutions to identified problems that may arise during the course of learning. when this happens, cooperation learning pedagogy is better put into practice because it requires a high level of cooperation and understanding among the students. the argument of singh and agrawal (2011) that any assignment in any curriculum for any age can be done cooperatively. this places more responsibilities on the students, and it changes the role of the teacher to a facilitator. literature has it that teacher’s role becomes that of a facilitator who monitors cooperating groups in action (johnson et al., 2008; sharan 2010; topping et al., 2017). this is considered an advantage because the adoption of cooperative learning assist students to develop the skills of learning how to learn better. another achievement that comes with the integration of cooperative learning is the development of the skill of learning how to learn because it encourages positive interdependence (felder & brent, 2007; prastyo & sansisca, 2013; singh and agrawal, 2011). stahl (1994) argue that the believe that students have or makes by depending on one another further improves their interdependence positively. this implies that students develop the skill of learning how to learn to guarantee success at tasks. prastyo and sansisca (2013) also argue that positive interdependence makes students to support each other. this means that the skill of one student can be positively channelled to improve the skills of another. by doing this, students learn how to learn because they are obliged to rely on one another to achieve group goals. when students do this, they cooperate with each other giving room for what is referred to as cooperative learning pedagogy. we therefore argue that the adoption of cooperative learning pedagogy has the capacity to make students develop the skill of learning how to learn thus, reducing the already cumbersome duties on classroom teachers. the adoption of the use of cooperative learning is seen as an advantage because students cooperate with one another to improve their grades. conclusion and recommendations the use of cooperative learning pedagogy in classroom is good especially because it can be used across any age group for teaching and learning. as good as it appears to be, it’s execution in the classroom still face some challenges. based on literature, challenges such as unequal 11 jcve 2022, 5(2): 1-15 mental/cognitive ability among students, relative threat experienced in the classroom, complain about weak students and students having resentment for each other still exist. again, literature also revealed that cooperative learning pedagogy is crucial to the realization of classroom goals and objectives because it foster productivity in a threat free and fear free environment among the students and the teachers. based on this, the study concludes that fostering peaceful coexistence among students and teachers, encouraging a sense of call to duty among students, promoting classroom synergy and the development of the skill of learning how to learn, are elements that can be used to advance cooperative learning pedagogy in classrooms. based on these solutions that have been identified, the study considered the following as recommendations. • science curriculum developers, curriculum planners and other relevant educational agencies should ensure that peaceful coexistence among students and teachers are encouraged and executed during teaching and learning in the classroom. doing this would create an ambient and threat free environment that would facilitate improved cooperation among the students. this would go a long way in ensuring positive togetherness and would also enhance the performance of students in the classroom because more cooperation guarantees peaceful coexistence. cooperative learning supports positive coexistence because it assists to guarantee better cooperation that variably improves students’ performance in the classroom. • science curriculum developers, curriculum planners and other relevant educational agencies should ensure and encourage the implantation of a sense of call to duty into the teaching learning process. when students feel a sense of duty, it allows them to cooperative better to achieve classroom objectives during teaching and learning. • science curriculum developers and planners should ensure synergy among students so as to bring out the best in them. when students synergize on classroom task, it allows them to succeed easily during teaching and learning which have a positive resultant effect on the performance in the classroom. cooperative learning encourages learners to build positive synergy with each other when interacting in the classroom environment. • learning how to learn is another feature that science curriculum developers and planners should encourage in students during teaching and learning in science classrooms. this is important to promote the development of inquiry skills in the students. the development of critical skills among students is paramount to science teaching to guarantee improvement in performance. cooperative learning pedagogy encourages the building of skills learning and formation because it enhances the performance of students in the classroom. 12 jcve 2022, 5(2): 1-15 references anderson, j. (2019). cooperative learning: principles and practice, main feature, 121, 4-6. buchs, c., filippoua, d., pulfreyb, c., & volpé, y. (2017). challenges for cooperative learning implementation: reports from elementary school teachers. journal of education for teaching, 43(3), 296-306. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2017.1321673 caine, g., & caine r. n. (1994). making connections: teaching and the human brain. association for supervision and curriculum development. caine, g., & caine r. n. (1997). education on the edge of possibility. association for supervision and curriculum development. caine, r. n., & caine, g. (2005). 12 brain/mind natural learning principles. https://www.education.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/12_brain_mind_natural_learning_ principles.pdf?acsf_files_redirect castle, t. d. (2014). the impact of cooperative learning on the development of need for cognition among first-year college students. [doctoral thesis, university of iowa]. https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.8j7n5q43 chang, y., & brickman, p. (2018). when group work doesn’t work: insights from students. cbelife sciences education, 17(3), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.17-09-0199 cozolino, l. (2011). the brain is a social organ. https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/educational-neuroscience/0/steps/112082 effandi, z. (2005). asas pembelajaran koperatif dalam matematik. [basic learning cooperation maths]. shah alam karisma publications sdn bhd. elola, i., & oskoz, a. (2010). collaborative writing: fostering foreign language and writing conventions development. language learning and technology, 14(3), 51–71. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/44226/1/14_03_elolaoskoz.p df felder, r. m., & brent, r. (2007). cooperative learning. in p. a. mabrouk (ed.) active learning: models from the analytical sciences. american chemical society. https://www.engr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/drive/1plmbl9qphpwyv7g fqugwthm5yndzhv8v/2007-clchapter.pdf froschl, m., & sprung, b. (2005). raising and educating healthy boys: a report on the growing crisis in boys’ education. educational equity center at the academy for educational development. ghaith, g. m. (2018). teacher perceptions of the challenges of implementing concrete and conceptual cooperative learning. issues in educational research, 28(2), 385-404. http://www.iier.org.au/iier28/ghaith.pdf ghufron, m. a., & ermawati, s. (2018). the strengths and weaknesses of cooperative learning and problem-based learning in efl writing class: teachers and students’ perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2017.1321673 https://www.education.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/12_brain_mind_natural_learning_principles.pdf?acsf_files_redirect https://www.education.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/12_brain_mind_natural_learning_principles.pdf?acsf_files_redirect https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.8j7n5q43 https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.17-09-0199 https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/educational-neuroscience/0/steps/112082 https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/44226/1/14_03_elolaoskoz.pdf https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/44226/1/14_03_elolaoskoz.pdf https://www.engr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/drive/1plmbl9qphpwyv7g%20fqugwthm5yndzhv8v/2007-clchapter.pdf https://www.engr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/drive/1plmbl9qphpwyv7g%20fqugwthm5yndzhv8v/2007-clchapter.pdf http://www.iier.org.au/iier28/ghaith.pdf 13 jcve 2022, 5(2): 1-15 international journal of instruction, 11(4), 657-672. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1191701.pdf gillies, r. m. (2003). structuring cooperative group work in classrooms. international journal of educational research, 39(1-2), 35-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/s08830355(03)00072-7 gillies, r. m. (2008). the effects of cooperative learning on junior high school students’ behaviours, discourse and learning during a science-based learning activity. school psychology international, 29(3), 328–347. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0143034308093673 gillies, r. m. (2016). cooperative learning: review of research and practice. australian journal of teacher education, 41(3), 38-54. http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2016v41n3.3 gillies, r. m., & boyle, m. (2010). teachers’ reflections on cooperative learning: issues of implementation. teaching and teacher education, 26(4), 933–940. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.10.034 gilson, l. l., & goldberg, c. b. (2015). editors’ comment: so, what is a conceptual paper? group and organization management, 40(2), 127-130. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1059601115576425 gonzalez, c. (2017, september 14). the power of the brain. featured articles. herrmann, k. j. (2013). the impact of cooperative learning on students' engagement: results from an intervention. active learning in higher education, 14(3), 175-187. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1469787413498035 hjorth, l., eichler, b., morello, j., khan, a. s. (2005). brain-based and constructivist strategies for teaching a “science, technology, and society (sts)” course. proceedings of the american society for engineering education annual conference & exposition. hung, b. p. (2019). impacts of cooperative learning: a qualitative study with efl students and teachers in vietnamese colleges. issues in educational research, 29(4), 1223-1240. http://www.iier.org.au/iier29/hung.pdf hung, b. p., vien, t., & vu, n. n. (2018). applying cognitive linguistics to teaching english prepositions: a quasi-experimental study. international journal of instruction, 11(3), 327-346. https://doi.org/10.12973/iji.2018.11323a ibrahim, m. k., & ibrahim, y. a. (2017). communicative english language teaching in egypt: classroom practice and challenges. issues in educational research, 27(2), 285-313. http://www.iier.org.au/iier27/ibrahim.pdf jensen, e. (2000). brainbased learning: a reality check. educational leadership, 2, 7680. johnson, d. w., johnson, r. t., & smith, k. a. (1998). active learning: cooperation in the college classroom (2nd ed.). interaction book company. johnson, d. w., & johnson, r. t. (1999). making cooperative learning work. theory into practice, 38(2), 67-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849909543834 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1191701.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/s0883-0355(03)00072-7 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0883-0355(03)00072-7 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0143034308093673 http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2016v41n3.3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.10.034 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1059601115576425 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1469787413498035 http://www.iier.org.au/iier29/hung.pdf https://doi.org/10.12973/iji.2018.11323a http://www.iier.org.au/iier27/ibrahim.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849909543834 14 jcve 2022, 5(2): 1-15 johnson, d. w., & johnson, r. t. (2002). learning together and alone: overview and metaanalysis. asia pacific journal of education, 22(1), 95-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/0218879020220110 johnson, d. w., johnson, r. t., & holubec, e. (2008). cooperation in the classroom (8th ed.) interaction book company johnson, d. w., johnson, r. t., roseth, c., & shin, t. s. (2014). the relationship between motivation and achievement in interdependent situations. journal of applied social psychology, 44(9), 622-633. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12280 kelly, m. (2019, february 01). cooperative learning versus traditional learning for group activities. thoughtco. https://www.thoughtco.com/cooperative-learning-for-groupactivities-7749 lange, c., costley, j., & han, s. l. (2016). informal cooperative learning in small groups: the effect of scaffolding on participation. issues in educational research, 26(2), 260-279. http://www.iier.org.au/iier26/lange.pdf mahmoud, m. m. a. (2014). the effectiveness of using the cooperative language learning approach to enhance efl writing skills among saudi university students. journal of language teaching and research, 5(3), 616–625. https://doi.org/10.4304/jltr.5.3.616625 mcbrien, j. l., & brandt, r. s. (1997). the language of learning: a guide to education terms. association for supervision and curriculum development. moges, b. (2019). practises and challenges of cooperative learning in selected college of arsi university: as a motivational factor on enhancing students’ learning. universal journal of psychology, 7(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujp.2019.070101 ning, h., & hornby, g. (2014). impact of cooperative learning on tertiary efl learners' motivation. educational review, 66(1), 108-124. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2013.853169 palmer, g., peters, r., & streetman, r. (2019, september 26). cooperative learning. in p. lombardi (ed.). instructional methods, strategies, math and technology to meet the needs of all learners. granite state college. https://granite.pressbooks.pub/ teachingdiverselearners/chapter/cooperative-learning-2/ prastyo, a. y. d., & sansisca, b. f. d. (2013). cooperative learning: theories, principles, and techniques. international conference on education and language. http://artikel.ubl.ac.id/index.php/icel/article/view/235/235 race, k. e. h., & powell, k. r. (2000). assessing students' perceptions of classroom methods and activities in the context of outcomes-based evaluation. evaluation review, 24(6), 635-646. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0193841x0002400604 ruys, i., keer, h. v., & aelterman, a. (2010). collaborative learning in pre-service teacher education: an exploratory study on related conceptions, self-efficacy and https://doi.org/10.1080/0218879020220110 https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12280 https://www.thoughtco.com/cooperative-learning-for-group-activities-7749 https://www.thoughtco.com/cooperative-learning-for-group-activities-7749 http://www.iier.org.au/iier26/lange.pdf https://doi.org/10.4304/jltr.5.3.616-625 https://doi.org/10.4304/jltr.5.3.616-625 https://doi.org/10.13189/ujp.2019.070101 https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2013.853169 https://granite.pressbooks.pub/%20teachingdiverselearners/chapter/cooperative-learning-2/ https://granite.pressbooks.pub/%20teachingdiverselearners/chapter/cooperative-learning-2/ http://artikel.ubl.ac.id/index.php/icel/article/view/235/235 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0193841x0002400604 15 jcve 2022, 5(2): 1-15 implementation. educational studies, 36(5), 537–553. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055691003729021 siciliano, j. i. (2001). how to incorporate cooperative learning principles in the classroom: it’s more than just putting students in teams. journal of management education, 25(1), 820. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f105256290102500103 sharan, y. (2010). cooperative learning for academic and social gains: valued pedagogy, problematic practice. european journal of education, 45(2), 300–313. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40664666.pdf singh, y. p., & agrawal, a. (2011). introduction to co-operative learning. indian streams research journal, 1(2), 1-9. http://oldisrj.lbp.world/viewpdf.aspx?articleid=3824 slavin, r. e. (1991). synthesis of research on cooperative learning. educational leadership, 45(5), 91-82. https://files.ascd.org/staticfiles/ascd/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_199102_slavin.pdf slavin, r. e. (2013). effective programmes in reading and mathematics: evidence from the best evidence encyclopaedia. school effectiveness and school improvement, 24(4), 383-391. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2013.797913 slavin, r. e. (2014, october 01). making cooperative learning powerful. ascd. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/oct14/vol72/num02/making-cooperative-learning-powerful.aspx springer, l., stanne, m. e., & donovan, s. s. (1999). effects of small group learning on undergraduates in science, mathematics, engineering and technology: a meta-analysis. review of educational research, 69(1), 21–51. https://doi.org/10.3102%2f00346543069001021 stahl, r. j. (1994). the essential elements of cooperative learning in the classroom. educational resources information center digest. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed370881.pdf stahl, r. j., & vansickle, r. l. (1992). cooperative learning in the social studies classroom: an invitation to social study. national council for the social studies. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed361243.pdf topping, k. j., buchs, c., duran, d., & keer, h. v. (2017, march 27). effective peer learning: from principles to practical implementation. routledge. tripathy, h. h. (2004). cooperative learning: a strategy for teaching science. indian journal of psychometry and education, 35(1), 3-8. yamarik, s. (2007). does cooperative learning improve student learning outcomes? the journal of economic education, 38(3), 259-277. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/30042780.pdf zakaria, e., & iksan, z. (2007). promoting cooperative learning in science and mathematics education: a malaysian perspective. eurasia journal of mathematics, science & technology education, 3(1), 35-39. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/75372 https://doi.org/10.1080/03055691003729021 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f105256290102500103 https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40664666.pdf http://oldisrj.lbp.world/viewpdf.aspx?articleid=3824 https://files.ascd.org/staticfiles/ascd/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_199102_slavin.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2013.797913 http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct14/vol72/num02/making-cooperative-learning-powerful.aspx http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct14/vol72/num02/making-cooperative-learning-powerful.aspx https://doi.org/10.3102%2f00346543069001021 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed370881.pdf https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed361243.pdf https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/30042780.pdf https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/75372 journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 56 toward a brilliant diversity chrystal s johnson* purdue university harvey hinton *corresponding author: johnsocs@purdue.edu received : 2018-12-29 accepted : 2019-04-29 how to cite this paper: johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. (2019). toward a brilliant diversity, journal of culture and values in education, volume 2 (1), 56-70. abstract this essay puts forward a theoretical argument in support of culturally consonant character education. character education supports the moral and civic development of youth in the united states (us), its popularity continues with policymakers, parents, and educators; in fact, 18 states codify character education legislation. members of majority groups often are unmindful of the significance and scope of cultural distinctiveness in the lives of minority individuals. rather, majority group members consciously or unconsciously advocate assimilation and adherence to universal virtues, particularly in the field of character education. cultural-historical conditions, as dimensions of the moral development process, tone the agency and negotiation of character education. to that end, this essay employs charles mills’ the racial contract (1998) to not only account for the moralities of exclusion, but put forward a character education philosophy that accounts for cultural distinctiveness keywords: culturally consonant character education, racial contract, white supermacy introduction this aim of this essay is to put forward a theoretical argument in support of culturally consonant character education. character education supports the moral and civic development of youth in the united states (us), its popularity continues with all stakeholders; as a matter of fact, 18 states legislate character education. an extra 18 states endorse the usefulness of character education in schools and communities, and 7 states support character education without an official statute (johnson, 2011; johnson & hinton, 2018). current research authenticates assertions that character education programs boost positive youth development (e.g. duer, parisi, & valintis, 2002; osler & hinton, 2015; bohning et al. 1998; skaggs and bodenhorn, 2006). duer, parisi, and valintis (2002) indicated that a character education program significantly reduced negative school behaviors such as insubordination, fighting, and truancy. hinton and osler (2015) reported increases in civic engagement due to a culturally consonant, sport infused character education program. survey findings from skaggs and bodenhorn’s (2006) journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 57 longitudinal study pinpointed to observable improvement in character-related behavior. even though the literature abounds with the documented success of character education, many of today’s character programs propound a culturally bounded interpretation of character theory and practice formed from a racial polity that color-coded morality (johnson & hinton, 2018; mills, 1998). the cultural plurality of the united states (us) is repeatedly flaunted as a strength (johnson & hinton, 2018; see also ford, 2014). within that plurality, cultural positions between majority and minority groups are idiosyncratic. prosperity, contentment, and empowerment of minority group members may pivot on their perception of autonomy to experience their cultural distinctiveness unswervingly in their lives (baerveldt & voestermans, 2005; demuijnck, 2015; johnson & hinton 2018). majoritarian group members often are unmindful of the significance and scope of cultural distinctiveness in the lives of minority individuals. rather, majority group members consciously or unconsciously advocate assimilation and adherence to universal virtues, especially in the field of character education (johnson & hinton, 2018). culturalhistorical conditions, as dimensions of the moral development process, tone the agency and discussion of character education (green, 2004; johnson, 2008; siddle-walker &snarey, 2004). nowhere is this more evident than in the us where race and racism have structured economic, socio-moral, and political principles (mills, 1998). as the united states moves towards a brilliant diversity, the necessity to introduce culturally consonant character education practice seems evident (johnson & hinton, 2018). to that end, this essay employs charles mills’ the racial contract (1998) to not only account for the moralities of exclusion, but put forward a character education philosophy that accounts for cultural distinctiveness. mills (1998) contends the racial contract normed a moral contract (the foundation of moral behavior) that actualized a specific moral language and moral psychology were generated. this racial contract, then, gave rise to assumptions that majoritarian philosophical structures frame all cultures at all times (emphasis added). we argue, however, that these principles of vision and division privileged some over others by establishing a dominant culture which created a moral language used for coding the character education process. like mills, we suppose that the existence and structure of white supremacy imposes a character theory and practice that relegates the cultural distinctiveness of non-whites to a point of immorality. this leads us to discard character education approaches grounded in virtue ethics, deontology, and utilitarianism that eschew cultural diversities in the character development practice (johnson & hinton, 2018). we contest those character education theorists who argue that context dependent character is implausible counter to morality, character, and character education in a pluralistic society. to dismiss culture, principally race, from the character education process prompts cultural gulfs. cultural gulfs illustrate the distinctions that transpire among minority and majority group members in their awareness of belonging and their sense of freedom to voice cultural distinctiveness (johnson & hinton, 2018). cultural gulfs may minimize minority youth’s capacity to advance those habits of mind and heart required of citizens in a democratic society. emergent literature on diversity and character education depict culture and race assine qua non to the character education process. baldwin professed journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 58 it “is to history that we owe our frames of references, our identities, and our aspirations” (1998, 20). for non-majoritarian cultures in the us, their characteristic soul and historical narrative shade a distinctive character outlook that methodically confronts the validity and practicality of traditional, majoritarian character education programs. the article is divided into five sections. in the first, we use mills’ the racial contract to address the influence of white majoritarian culture on the establishment of western morality, character, and character education. this will include a description of mills’ racial contract and how the racial contract fashioned a moral contract, whereby to be white is to simultaneously exist as part of the white race and honorable and square-dealing (johnson, 2011; johnson & hinton, 2014, 2018). in the second, we describe the relationship between morality, character, and character education. we include a brief outline of the history of character education in the us with a discussion on how race and racism fostered a morality of exclusion when it came to character education and research. from there, we explain the role of culture in the character development process before outlining how a majority culture conceives of and puts forward traditional, culturally devoid perspectives on character education. we conclude with how minority cultures can foster cultural distinctiveness in the character development process by outlining a culturally consonant approach to character education. the racial contract mills (1998) defines the racial contract as a domination or exclusionary contract that conceptualizes the reality of white supremacy. it operates as a series of contracts between whites to classify non-whites into a subordinate moral and legal position comparative to whites. nonwhites, and their culture, are the objects rather than the subjects of the contracts (mills, 1998). mills argues that “since it is a contract of group domination, it is holistic, anti-atomistic in nature, being explicitly predicated on human collectivities, dominating and dominated” (1998, p 21). the racial contract establishes racial policies which privileges whites over others. more important, all whites profit from the agreement, although they may not have specified approval. the racial polity is a system which not only privileges whites, but political power is in the hands of whites, for their collective benefit. it, then, functions as a global conception impacting the socio-economic, political, cultural, moral, ideational, and juridical spheres (mcphail, 2004). dissimilar from the social contract idealized in western philosophy. the racial contract brings into relief ideological assumptions and conditions that confined race relations since the 1400s (mcphail, 2004). mills (1998) describes the racial contract as an ideological predisposition that informs the beliefs that people of european descent have developed about themselves and others, and the behaviors in which they have engaged as a result of those beliefs. unlike the idealized “social contract” that accounts for racism either as abstraction or anomaly, the racial contract assumes “that racism is the norm and that people think of themselves as raced rather than abstract citizens, which any objective history will in fact show” (1998, p. 24; see also mcphail, 2004; johnson, 2011). five main components structure the racial contract. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 59 1. to subject contractarianism to an ideological critique and expose the racist presuppositions of contract theorists from thomas hobbes through john rawls. 2. to identity the origins of white supremacy as a political system in a racial contract between whites against non-whites. 3. an argument to show that being white encompasses white privilege, that is, material and psychological benefits. 4. to show that race is a social construction fashioned for the intention of political rule over non-whites. 5. the only historically viable answer to white supremacy is liberal democratic capitalism. at first sight, racial contract theory embodies a philosophical commentary of contractarianism. contractarianism stems from the hobbesian line of social contract thought, holds that persons are primarily self-interested, and that a rational assessment of the best strategy for attaining the maximization of their self-interest will lead them to act morally. contractarianism represents that foundation for racial contract theory. it serves as a contradiction between ideological functions and objectively rendered ideological practices that shape majoritarian culture (mcphail, 2004; mills, 1998). the racial contract, then, created a moral contract, whereby to be white is to simultaneously exist as part of the white race and honorable and square-dealing (johnson, 2011; johnson & hinton, 2016). this moral contract assumes an ethic of dualism in contrast to equality. it is the ethical justification for a partitioned social ontology divided between persons who are white and nonpersons who are racial and nonwhite. consequently, the racial contract operating through the racial polity has negative implications for provinces of black life—constitutional status, racial identity, political inclusion, moral standing, and appealing value. with the formation of a racial polity, “the color-coded morality of the racial contract restricts the possession of this natural freedom and equality to white men” (mills, p 54). mills offers an explanation for the origins of the moralities of exclusion by using an alternative conception of contractarianism which explains the formation of white supremacy and how its structures liberal democratic politics. consequently, virtues such as freedom, equality, and responsibility have been theorized and reified in radically different ways by whites and nonwhites (mcphail, 2004; mills, 1998). such racialized moral development perpetuated moralities of exclusion. these moralities of exclusion structured the range and type of character development. moralities of exclusion stand as a psychological method where majority group members regard their own group and its customs as superior, thus diminishing, ostracizing, and even degrading particular groups (johnson & hinton, 2018). here, the categorization of nonwhites on the moral margins produced a conspicuous otherness between virtuous and depraved, leading to the segregation of those who were deleteriously distinguished from the moral community (johnson & hinton, 2018). mills (1998) claims that such segregation is innately and overtly correlated with race and racism, which has reliably dominated the culturalhistorical landscape of american society. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 60 morality, character and character education morality concerns right or wrong and distinguishes good from bad behavior. it relies on virtuous behavior demonstrating high moral standards. good character stands as virtuous behavior (johnson, 2007). character stimulates accountability. it is responsible for determination though obstacles might be present. character constrains desires and structures the internal law that governs our mind and heart. a person’s character includes sentiments of righteousness, justice, care, compassion, remorse, shame and well-being—all virtues. as behavioral tendencies and dispositions, virtues are habits one develops by consistently choosing and acting on the good (baumrind, 2005). what is character education, then? milson and mehlig (2002), described character education as expanding an understanding, responsibility, and propensity to function in line with ethical values. we define character education as a distinctive content along with an array of civic and moral virtues learned in an effort to augment positive qualities in youth (johnson 2008; johnson & hinton, 2018). it is a societally relevant activity produced in schools, homes, and communities. in these contexts, character education seeks to prepare youth to act and respond ethically. character educators attempt to promote a setting favorable to the growth of moral habits in youth. habits acclimate the mind and ensue particular patterns of conduct that are strengthened by repetition (baumind, 2005). a brief history of character education in the us historically, character education has encompassed an essential element in us society (berkowitz & bier 2004; hunter 2000; johnson & hinton, 2018; mcclellan 1999); shifting social, political, and economic ideas refashioned character education dialogue and custom over time (johnson, 2008). originally focus on the indoctrination of christian values, character education progressed into a more secular-based method (johnson 2008; johnson & hinton, 2018). character education in the colonial period and early republic the colonial period witnessed a moral bent toward character education where christianity was used to uphold religious orthodoxy, encourage social harmony, and encourage hard work. (johnson, 2008; laud 1997; mcclellan 1999). colonial families employed family devotions, reading, and writing to inculcate a protestant moral creed (hunter 2000; mcclellan 1999). we noted in an earlier work that john locke’s 1693 essay, some thoughts concerning education, directed parents to mold their children in line with such virtues as piety, loyalty, industry, and temperance (2018). in 1723, the general assembly of maryland authorized “the liberal and pious education of the youth of this province” (hunter 2000, 37). the relative stability of the early republic allowed parents and civil authorities to expand faith in “the corrective and educative powers of community life” (mcclellan 1999, 10). communities served to morally teach children. the colonial period cherished the mother’s role as chief moral teacher (johnson & hinton, 2018; norton1996). early 19th century american society counted upon public, religious, and private schools to support moral education. the advent of public journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 61 schools allowed moral education to become embedded in classrooms and textbooks, where puritanical values such as honesty, hard work, godliness, thriftiness duty to parents were espoused (mcclellan 1999). progressive values urbanization, industrialization, and immigration swiftly altered the social, political, and economic arrangements of early 20th century communities (hunter 2000; johnson & hinton, 2018). public schools turned towards new, progressive character development programs that incorporated citizenship education (johnson 2008). hunter (2000) stated that teachers “insisted that the institutions of democracy and capitalism carried important moral influence too” (p. 60). concepts such as consent of the governed, justice, and individual liberty were revered in mainstream american society. corresponding concepts influenced competing perspectives of moral education, traditional versus developmental (johnson, 2008; johnson & hinton, 2018). the traditional perspective sought to reinforce the values of the nineteenth century as a method for confronting the socio economic and socio political challenges of period. in a prior piece, we noted that “those who supported this practice sought a central place in public schools for teaching specific virtues and cultivating traits of good character” (johnson & hinton, 2018, p. 103). contrarily, the developmental method diminished teaching explicit moral tenets and promoting special characteristics. this type accentuated a more malleable method on morality “that would meet the evolving needs of an ever-changing order” (mcclellan 1999, 48). this method received substantial interest beginning in the mid-1920s. by the 1930s, the character education committee of the national education’s department of superintendence supported a moral education where relativity “must replace absolutism in the realm of morals as well as in the sphere of physics and biology” (mcclellan 1999, 56). traditional character education, however, overshadowed classroom practice (johnson 2008). clarifying values: a shift towards value neutrality two supreme court decisions, the engle v. vitale and abingdon v. schempp, forced public schools to take a value neutral position on issues of morality (hunter, 2000). numerous public schools ditched formal character education due to constitutional fears and mounting cultural and religious diversity (johnson & hinton, 2018; vessels 1998). moral reasoning and values clarification influenced character education approaches after 1963. in their text values and teaching, raths, harmin, and simon (1966) indicated values clarification as “the reigning fashion in moral education” (hunter 2000, 74). the authors combined dewey’s moral growth theory with rogers’ client centered therapeutic intervention model to assemble a method that allowed youth to formulate their values by following a seven-step process (johnson 2008). consequently, this process compelled educators to suppress their own beliefs while cultivating students’ values (johnson & hinton, 2018; leming 1997). journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 62 a virtue-centered movement and the move towards performance character by the late 1980s and early 1990s, some character educators endorsed a virtue-oriented approach. this approach varied from previous character approaches that focused on moral relativism and values clarification (johnson 2008); in fact, a considerable number of character educationists deemed moral reasoning and values clarification methods as abandoning core democratic (glanzer & milson 2006). these educators recommended school leaders’ connect with their communities to advance an inventory of character traits to guide community oriented character education programs. prevalent methods concentrated on teacher role modeling and exhortations, reading stories of virtue and vice, and the acknowledgement of students who exemplified particular character traits (johnson & hinton, 2018; johnson 2008). as the us approached the 21st century, character educationists promoted the idea assisting students learn to “do their best” in addition to “be their best” (johnson & hinton, 2018). curriculum standardization and accountability measures drove researchers and theorists to concentrate on character traits associated with success in k-12 schooling. such an approach to character education was christened performance character and complemented the traditional attention on moral character stressed in earlier periods (johnson & hinton, 2018). the previous century has seen character education vacillate in place and priority in the school curriculum (johnson, 2008). yet, educators, researchers, and policymakers continue to promote character education in schools. nodding’s avows ‘‘the greatest obligation of educators inside and outside formal schooling is to nurture the ethical ideals of those with whom they come in contact’’ (1984, 49). even though character development remains popular, questions linger regarding why traditional character development programs and research lack attention to cultural and linguistic diversity (johnson & hinton, 2018). research points out that traditional character development programs are entrenched in a racialized moral psychology that propagates moralities of exclusion (johnson 2011; johnson & hinton, 2018; siddle-walker & snarey 2004); race and racism spawned philosophies that enunciated a sidelining and a dismissal of a broad moral sphere that values diverse cultural identities (johnson 2008). accordingly, traditional character development methods are constructed on this racialized moral psychology. particular “individuals or groups are perceived as outside the boundary in which moral values, rules, and considerations of fairness apply” (opotow 1990, 3). traditional character practices abandon the morally positioned “double consciousness” that exemplifies minority racial/ethnic groups in the us. for this article, we delineate morally positioned double consciousness as applying dominant moral values and theories to on ones-self (johnson & hinton, 2018). as presented in the previous section, character education movements situate their approaches and understanding of virtue in conflicting political philosophies that place liberals against conservatives in culture wars. as stated, the character education movement gravitates toward a traditionalist perspective of education where knowledge is transmitted (baumind, 2005). educators, then are critical to fortifying virtuous habits of good character. on the other hand, baumind (2005) suggest that the character education movement leans more progressive or liberal as it rejects direct character teaching. this approach supports the position that a school’s journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 63 moral environment and how educators concern for children enhance cognitive and moral development. the kohlbergian tradition follows this outlook. the kohlbergian tradition is constructivist in nature as it emphasizes cognition and socratic instruction. with the conservative character education movement, the aristotelian is encouraged. moral habits of obedience, loyalty, and diligence are inculcated via extrinsic motivation, encouragement, and execution of rules (baumind, 2005). the virtues cherished most by this approach encourage orderliness and the status quo. despite the interplay between morality, character, and character education, the racial contract, which gave rise and prominence to the western moral philosophical tradition, structure moralities that impacted the cultural foundation of schools and communities, thus denying the cultural distinctiveness of non-whites to integrate into the character education process in the us. the moralities of exclusion, schooling, and character education the moralities of exclusion organized education in the us, including the range and type of character development. psychological process where majority group members view their own group as superior, moralities of exclusions positions minority group members as unsuitable of moral rights and protections. non-whites, then, inhabit the moral margins of otherness (johnson & hinton, 2018). mills (1998) contends that such exclusion is linked to race and racism, which has consistently dominated the cultural-historical domain of american schooling. historically, african americans were deprived of schooling by dominant society, whether it was masters in slave society, or by public authority in the society of free blacks in the north and south. exclusion forced african americans to fight relentlessly for an equal education in a nonsegregated setting (johnson & hinton, 2018). the weight of moralities of exclusion likewise impacted the latino population. public schools, too, were unfriendly to spanish-speaking citizens, with the presence of mexican americans in the schools begrudged. language differences were converted into learning handicaps. parochial schools neglected to safeguard spanish culture and language. consequently, not all puerto ricans nor mexican-americans could seek catholic schools as a means for defending their culture and language. the church represented an upper-class organization with trivial regard for the socio-cultural interests of the people. polish immigrants in buffalo or chicago sent their children to polish-language church schools; however, no such choice existed for spanish-speaking minorities. for the indigenous culture, schools, both federal and local, thoroughly barred indigenous curriculum. even on the navajo reservation, where indigenous children attended schools, —a fraction of the teachers were indigenous, and the curriculum was culturally alienated from the students (johnson 2011; johnson & hinton 2018; weinberg 1977). the morality of exclusion, too, characterized the breadth and nature of character education in the us. character education was frequently outlined as a reaction to particular values accentuated in a particular milieu, mirroring the generally putative traits of good character and responsible citizenship infused in western tradition (johnson 2008; johnson & hinton, 2018). traditionally, character education in the us assumed a white, middle class, heterosexual stance. puritanical beliefs such as thriftiness, patriotism, hard work were embedded into character journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 64 education discourses and programs. colonial settlement of the us gave way to an ideology that removed the moral belief structures of non-whites (johnson & hinton 2018). this reasoning created “the other”, who would be recognized as operating beyond the periphery where moral values apply (mills 1998). nevertheless, some racial minorities decided to culturally appropriate majoritarian character development practices as a method for contesting racial typecasts (bair, 2009). mary mccloud bethune and nannie helen burroughs approached character development by accentuating innocence, modesty, piety, purity, and domesticity-deemed the ideal. these african american women character educationists acknowledged that a path to racial uplift was to make the design of inferiority defenseless and to confront the stereotypes by which african americans, in particularly women were described. in this apartheid, racist environment bethune and burroughs articulated character in terms of decorum respectable conduct than as a core moral compass (bair 2009; johnson & hinton 2018). culture and the character development process does character development adhere to universal or culture-specific rules? according to snarey and siddle-walker (2004), moral theorists and character educationists fail to account for or demonstrate interest in cultural diversities in morality. aware of varied moral conduct in different societies, both plato (1984) and kant (1789/1965), for example, recommended collective ethical beliefs regarding virtue and rationality (guerra & giner-sorolla 2010). universalists, advocate a lone authentic moral sphere concerned with justice and rights, prevalent in where (bhatia, 2000; miller, 2001) all cultures (guerra & giner-sorolla 2010; kohlberg, 1981; piaget, 1977). cultural relativists, however, suggest that moral norms are culturally and historically embedded (baumrind, 2005). such methods acknowledge the likelihood of moral universals but accentuate the cultural-historical quality of moral philosophies such as interpersonal associations and religious norms (guerra & giner-sorolla 2010miller, 2001). miller and bersoff (1992) indicated that cultural values envisage moral reasoning and judgment character devoid of culture and race: majoritarian perspectives we have established how the racial contract established a moral convention with specific language and codes that deemed non-whites as inferior and morally bankrupt. the racial contract normed white, majoritarian perspectives on character and character education. though there are numerous majoritarian perspectives that advance character and character development devoid of culture and race, we will focus on the more notable of these—virtue ethics, utilitarianism, and deontology. each of these perspectives are rooted in western philosophical traditions. virtue ethics dates as far as ancient greek philosophy. when kantianism and utilitarianism dominated the moral philosophical debated in the 19th and 20th centuries, virtue ethics was pushed aside. virtue ethics accounts for moral behavior according to virtues. case in point, humans should be truthful not because it violates moral law, but because humans should not engage in untruthful behaviors. virtue ethics is agentic instead of journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 65 centered on the action or principle latent to a decision. a virtuous person exhibits an array of virtues rather than a solitary trait (johnson, 2007). virtuous behavior then is natural as virtues are perpetual character traits observed in virtuous people. concrete situations that require moral action may be very complex. virtuous people exhibit their virtues in intricate circumstances. aristotle emphasizes that virtuous adults, distinct from youth, bear a higher level of phronesis or the faculty to distinguish morally pertinent features a situation; moreover, virtuous adults use this discern to assess likely consequences of decisions and ascertain what is truly significant and valuable for obtaining and maintain the good life. such an ability necessitates the “right education” but also life experience (baumrind, 2005). deontological and utilitarianism perspectives station the circumstances of right and wrong entirely on the outcomes (consequences) of choosing one action over other actions. as such, it moves beyond the scope of one's own interests and takes into account the interests of others (baumind, 2005; demuijnck, 2015). deontology is exemplified by kantianism. kant’s theory action as a guiding principle stands as universalizable. universalizable represents the standard when judging an act or behavior as morally acceptable. universal values, then, establish our moral responsibilities and rights. a significant variance, though, is that deontological and utilitarianism majoritarian perspectives center on supreme moral reasons that validate or denounce actions or decisions. virtue ethics conveys a straightforward version of moral behavior (baumind, 2005; demuijnck, 2015). toward a brilliant diversity how can non-white, minority cultures foster their cultural distinctiveness in the character development process? we stress that any character development process recognizes the collective memory, both cultural and historical, of non-white persons. to do so, then acknowledges the dominance of the racial contract in the moral, character, and character education process. culture and history governs how we think, how we believe, and how we behave. character practice should accommodate the culture and language of students. culturally consonant character education buttresses effectual character practice in culturally diverse classrooms. rooted in an inclusive moral philosophy, culturally consonant character is organic and agentic, thus creating culturally situated citizens woven from varied tapestries (johnson & hinton 2018). such character practice engages and motivates all students. cultural dimensions are employed to bridge a character education cultural rift culturally consonant character education balances the cultural features that shape character-oriented actions and goals, which include: 1) spirituality, 2) harmony, 3) affect, 4) expressive individualism, 5) communalism, and 6) social perspective of time. the first feature, spirituality, indicates an emphasis on the spiritual world in lieu of the physical. harmony accentuates “the whole rather than the parts that comprise the whole” (johnson & hinton 2018). it fashions a cultural synchronization that confirms the personal and cultural traits youth retain. by valuing each student, an educator builds an interdependent community in which all members are accountable not only for themselves but also for one another (johnson 2007; siddle walker1996). affect, the third dimension, places value on feelings and is most clearly illustrated in the explicit sharing of emotions in the classroom. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 66 expressive individualism respects differentness and creativity. an example includes how youth present themselves to others. this could include name choice, dress, and hairstyles. communalism, on the other hand, places the group over the individual. from a communalistic standpoint, group connection is a powerful aspect of identity, and benefits accrued by individuals are used in the advancement of the group. a style of communalism, other mothering, refers to the ability of african american grandmothers and other mothers to assume a parental role for children with whom they may share no household bond (johnson & hinton 2018). . foster (1993), beauboeuf-lafontant (1999), and johnson (2008) noted other mothering and social perspective of time in their work. social perspective of time appreciates social interaction and interpersonal relationships. the importance of a social perspective of time deemphasizes physical time and highlights the collective bonds cultivated during an occasion. fostering and maintaining these connections contextualizes time. in classrooms, social perspective of time may be performed through socialization and interactions involving discussion on topics germane to the course content or community events. character development embodies an important function of american schooling. traditional character development approaches shun the cultural and historical influence of race on moral development. to fail to recognize the power and pervasiveness of culture or race in the character development process inadvertently undervalues children (johnson & hinton, 2018). it is our goal to provide a theoretical foundation for culturally consonant character development that expands discourses on character and moral development so that all cultures may finally have a seat at the table. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 67 references bair, s. (2009). the struggle for community and respectability: black women school founders and the politics of character education in the early twentieth century. theory and research in social education , 37(4), 570-600. baerveldt, c., & voestermans, p. (2005). culture, emotion, and the normative structure of reality. theory & psychology, 15(4), 449-473. baldwin, j. (1998). baldwin: collected essays (new york, penguin). benninga, j. (2013). resolving ethical issues of school. issues in teacher education, 22(1), 7788. blum, l. (2002). i’m not a racist, but . . .”: the moral quandary of race (ithaca, ny, cornell university press). boykin, a. (1986). the triple quandary and the schooling of afro-american children, in : u. neisser (ed.) the school achievement of minority children (hillsdale, nj, erlbaum) pp. 57-92.. bureau, u. s. c. (2013). american factfinder fact sheet: selected social characteristics in the united states, s.l.: s.n. clark, j.s. (2012). countering the master narratives in us social studies: nannie helen burroughs and new narratives in history education. in c.a. woyshner and c.h. bohan (eds) histories of social studies and race, 1870-2000. cross, w. (1991). shades of black: diversity in african-american identity (philadelphia, temple university press). demuijnck, g. (2015). universal values and virtues in management versus cross-cultural moral relativism: an educational strategy to clear the ground for business ethics. journal of business ethics, 128, 817-835. dubois, w. e. b. (1903). the souls of black folk ( chicago,a.c. mcclurg & co.). dyer, r. (1997). white (new york, routledge). duer, m., parisi, a. & valintis, m. (2002). character education effectiveness. eric document reproduction service no.ed471100. ford, d.y. (2010). culturally responsive classrooms: affirming culturally different gifted students. gifted child quarterly, 33(1), 50-53. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 68 goodnenow, c. (1993). the psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: scale development and educational correlates. psychology in the schools, 30(1), 79-80. green, a. d. (2004). in a different room: toward an african american woman's ethic of care and justice. in snarey and v. siddle-walker (eds) race-ing moral formation: african american perspectives on care and justice (55-72). new york: teachers college press griffith, j. (1997). student and parent perceptions of school social environment: are they group based?. elementary school journal, 98(2), 135-149. hess, d.e. & mcavoy, p. (2014). the political classroom evidence and ethics in democratic education. hoboken: taylor and francis. hoffman, m. l. (2000). empathy and moral development: implications for caring and justice new york: cambridge university press. hunter, j. (2000). the death of character: moral education in an age without good or evil. new york: basic books. connell, j.p., spencer, m.b., & aber, j.l. (1994). educational risk and resilience in african american youth: context, self, action, and outcomes in school. child development, 65(2), 493506. johnson, c.s. (2011). addressing the moral agency of culturally specific care perspectives, journal of moral development, 40(4), pp. 471-489. johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. (2016). creating culturally relevant community of learners and educators (crcle). in k. gonzalez & r. frumkin (eds.), handbook of research on effective communication in culturally diverse classrooms (pp. 40-65). new york: igi-global. johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. (2018). a morality of inclusion. curriculum and teaching dialogue, 20(1&2), pp. 73-86. johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. (in preparation). step into my world. in c. gist & t. bristol (eds.), aera handbook or research on teachers of color. ladson-billings, g., (2014). culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: a.k.a the remix. harvard educational review, 84 (1), 74–84. mcphail, m.l. (2004). a question of character: re(-)signing the racial contract. rhetoric & public affairs, 7(3), 391-405. mehlig, a. j. m. &. l. m., (2002). elementary school teachers' sense of efficacy for character education. the journal of educational research, 96(1), 47-55. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 69 mills, c. (1997). the racial contract (new york, cornell university press). noddings, n. (2002). educating moral people: a caring alternative to character education williston, vt: teachers college press. noddings, n. (2003). caring: a feminine approach to ethics and moral education (2nd ed.) berkeley: university of california press. orbe, m.p. & roberts, t.l. (2012). co-cultural theorizing: foundations, applications, and extensions. howard journal of communications, 23(4), 293-311. opotow, s. v. (1990). moral exclusion and injustice: an introduction, journal of social issues, 46(1), 1–20. osler, j & hinton, h. (2015). tri-squared qualitative and mixed methods analysis of perceptions of the effectiveness of the student athelete leadership academy (sala): a character development and college preparatory program for young african american men. journal on school educational technology, pp. 7-22. puka, b. (1990). the liberation of caring: a different voice for gilligan’s ‘different voice’, hypatia 5(1), 58-82. raffel, j.a. (1998). historical dictionary of school segregation and desegregation the american experience. westport, ct: greenword press. sagy, s. & dotan, n. (2001). coping resources of maltreated children in the family: a salutogenic approach. child abuse and neglect, 25(11), 1463-1480. schunk, d. h. (1995). self-efficacy and education and instruction. in: self efficacy, adaptation, and adjustment: theory, research, and application. new york: plenum press, pp. 281-303. opotow, s. v. (ed.) (1990). moral exclusion and injustice: an introduction, journal of social issues, 46, pp. 1-20. smedley, a. (2001). social origins of the idea of race, in: c. stokes, t. melendez, & g. rhodesredd (eds.), race in 21st century america (east lansing: michigan state university press), pp. 1-24. thompson, a. (2004). caring and color talk: childhood innocence in white and black, in: in v. siddle-walker & j.r. snarey (eds.), race-ing moral formation: african american perspectives on care and justice (new york, teachers college press) pp. 23-37. u.s. department of education (2015). institute of education sciences, national center for education statistics. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 johnson, c.s. & hinton, h. the politics of culture: toward a brilliant diversity 70 viik, t. (2016). understanding meaning formation processes in everyday life: an approach to cultural phenomenology. humana.mente journal of philosophical studies, 31, 151-167. weinberg, m. (1977). a chance to learn: the history of race and education in the united states, cambridge university press, cambridge. journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 pilotti, m. & almubarak. h.a.m., systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 14 systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students maura a. e. pilotti*1 and hissa a. m. almubarak1 1. prince mohammad bin fahd university *corresponding author: maura.pilotti@gmail.com received : 2020-october-15 rev. req: : 2021-january-09 accepted : 2021-january-22 how to cite this paper: pilotti, m. & almubarak. h. a. m. (2021). systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 14-26. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.1 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract in a field study, the effects on academic performance of two different applications of culturally relevant pedagogy (crp) in the classroom were measured. both entailed modes and contents of instruction that attend to the specific cultural characteristics of the learners. however, in one condition (systematic crp application), emphasis on culturally relevant contents extended to both instruction and assessment, whereas in another condition, they were largely confined to instruction (informal crp application). students of middle eastern descent who were enrolled in either a history or a critical thinking course were exposed to one of the two conditions. during the first half of the semester, assignment and midterm performance were not significantly different. however, performance during the second half of the semester and attendance rates were higher for the systematic crp condition. these findings suggest that emphasis on culturally relevant content encompassing both learning and assessment can be beneficial to academic performance but its benefits become tangible only with sustained exercise. keywords: culturally relevant pedagogy, cultural competence, academic success introduction some time ago, at an institution of higher learning in saudi arabia (sa), an undergraduate student visited a faculty for advice and guidance. she stated that in one of her classes, an assignment required students to make an oral presentation regarding the knowledge, experience, and skills demanded by a job or profession they would like to perform after graduation. her talk and the powerpoint document that accompanied it were judged by the instructor as excellent. the instructor went so far as to openly praise her work in front of the entire class. a few days later, she was at first puzzled, and then rather distraught when she 10.46303/jcve.2021.1 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.1 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 pilotti, m. & almubarak. h.a.m., systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 15 realized that the instructor, who was of middle eastern descent, had deducted points for her wearing an abaya (a traditional attire for women in sa) instead of a business suit on the day of her presentation. she was told that her attire did not exhibit "professionalism". the student indicated that she expected to be judged for the content of her written work and oral delivery. she added that although she had completed most of her formal education in the west, at english-speaking educational institutions, and thus had been away from sa for quite some time, she was unaware that wearing an abaya would lessen her "professionalism". on the contrary, she felt that abayas were stylish and just right for any professional setting in sa. although she was initially puzzled by the fact that an instructor of middle eastern descent would not consider an abaya suitable for a job interview in sa, she noted that the event brought to mind the word khawājat complex, a term used in conversational arabic in the arabian gulf region to refer to internalized eurocentrism. not surprisingly, it is often relied upon to describe with a hint of sarcasm the educational experiences and job prospects of young people in the middle east. the student decided to speak to the instructor, not about her grade, but on the matter of “culturally relevant pedagogy” (crp) as that very topic was one of her eclectic interests. the student never again directly discussed the experience or mentioned whether the matter had been resolved. nevertheless, the khawājat complex became a frequent reference in her interactions with other students and faculty. she indicated that the experience had made her hypersensitive to cultural inequities. the upside of this experience is that graduate school is now the student’s upcoming endeavor, fueled by the determination that the khawājat complex has no place in education. the present manuscript is motivated by the same belief. it starts by offering an overview of crp which is intended to answer the following general questions: 1. how can crp be defined? what are the key criteria (i.e., outcome variables) upon which the impact of crp can be measured? 2. is there evidence that crp specifically benefits academic performance? an empirical study is then described whose focus is academic performance, a key outcome variable of the effectiveness of crp. the study specifically asks whether performance outcomes differ between applications of crp in which the inclusion of culturally relevant content targets instruction and those for which inclusion explicitly targets both instruction and assessment. this question was selected because it has remained unanswered in the extant literature. how can crp be defined? what are the key outcome variables? my principal operating assumptions were and continue to be that fields of learning, as much as the works of even the most eccentric artist, are constrained and acted upon by society, by cultural traditions, by worldly circumstance, and by stabilizing influences like schools, libraries, and governments. edward w. said, orientalism (1995, p. 201). according to ladson-billings (1994, pp. 17-18), crp is one that emboldens “students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes”. it is “a theoretical model that not only addresses student achievement but also helps students to accept and affirm their cultural identity while developing critical perspectives that challenge inequities” (ladson-billings, 1995a, p. 469). thus, it is both a framework for best practices in teaching as well as a framework for assessment. as such, three key outcome variables have been identified to measure its effectiveness: academic https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 pilotti, m. & almubarak. h.a.m., systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 16 achievement, cultural competence, and socio-political awareness (ladson-billings, 2006). academic achievement refers to learners' attainment measured by rigorous learning standards that convey high-expectations and a long-term perspective. it is assumed to be promoted by critical thinking exercises and reliance on real-life examples, which are conceptualized as tools to help learners master study materials. cultural competence refers to learners' recognition and honor of their cultural practices and beliefs as well as an understanding of other cultures. cultural practices and beliefs may include not only values, traditions, and languages, but also communication habits, learning styles, and social norms (gay, 2002). socio-political awareness refers to learners’ acquired competence to question the structural inequities that exist in societies across the globe. the outcome variables of crp are thought of relying on instruction that is defined by a particular viewpoint on three matters: (a) oneself and others, (b) social relationships, and (c) knowledge (ladson-billings, 1995b). (a) the viewpoint on the self and others is articulated by instructors who believe in their students’ potentials. they see themselves and their students as members of a community of learners who exchange knowledge. as a result, their pedagogy adopts a “teaching as mining” approach whereby instruction is a flexible tool that adapts to learners’ needs and realities. (b) effective social relations are seen as those that entail collaboration and communal responsibility, acknowledge interdependence, and promote connectivity between instructors and students. within this framework, knowledge is a dynamic construct that is to be critically analyzed. as such, one of the main tasks of instructors is to build bridges between the new and the old to support learning. important to note here that crp is not synonymous with multicultural education (rychly & graves, 2012). the latter refers to education whose contents reflect different cultures. in contrast, crp is intended to respond to the cultures present in the classroom, connecting students’ existing knowledge and competence to new knowledge and competencies. is there evidence that crp specifically benefits academic performance? most of the studies on crp to date have relied on a variety of methodologies, including case studies, surveys, and observations. one of the most glaring issues of the extant literature is the inconsistency in the way the theoretical model of crp, as defined by ladson-billings (1994, 1995a, 1995b), has been understood and applied to research and education (young, 2010). another glaring issue is the scantiness of research demonstrating its effectiveness on learners’ academic performance, especially college students. when evidence is available, it is mostly qualitative (see benegas, 2019; keratithamkul et al., 2020). literature reviews illustrate these weaknesses. for instance, wah and nasri (2019), who reviewed the research published between 2010 and 2019 on the effects of crp on students’ learning and achievement, found only six articles that targeted performance. although each illustrated a case study or retrospective case study in which crp was found to benefit students’ academic performance, the impact of crp on college students was a neglected matter. another literature review, including 37 studies published between 1995 and 2013 and 8 dissertations, again highlighted extant research’s emphasis on primary education and qualitative evidence (aronson & laughter, 2016). another limitation is that research has tended to focus on particular populations, such as african american, native american, or latino students (cholewa et al., 2014; howard & terry, 2011; irizarry, 2007; schmeichel, 2012; yazzie-mintz, 2007), but has https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 pilotti, m. & almubarak. h.a.m., systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 17 neglected others, such as learners of middle eastern descent (see hamdan alghamdi, 2014), thereby questioning the generality of its purported effectiveness. the present study as a way to begin to tackle some of the weaknesses in the extant literature, our research focuses on the academic performance of college students of middle eastern descent. according to byrd (2016), sensible estimates of the effects of crp may result from a comparison of classroom applications that use more crp with those that use it less. thus, ours is a field study that examines the effects of two types of emphasis on culturally relevant content: one targeting instruction (informal application) and the other targeting both instruction and assessment (systematic application). the present research is born from the consideration that even if the instruction of a course is pre-set by syllabi developed in the western world, which instructors are required to follow to assess students' performance, opportunities for the application of crp exist. in the present field study, informal applications are defined as consisting of instruction that encourages students to work collaboratively, relies on their own reservoir of knowledge and experiences, and calls attention to personally and culturally relevant examples in lectures and class discussions. however, it does not require that such knowledge and experiences be explicitly included in-class assignments or even tested during midterm and final examinations. namely, all the ingredients of crp are present, but they are voluntary for assessment purposes. instead, systematic applications are operationally defined as consisting of all the properties of informal applications with the exception that the inclusion of culturally relevant knowledge is a required aspect of students' performance, encompassing different forms of assessment, such as tests and assignments. the question that we ask through this field study is whether the difference between systematic and informal crp can affect students' academic success. data and method design in our field study, the main outcome variables were grades for assignments and tests, serving as measures of performance, and attendance (percentage of class meetings attended during a semester), serving as a rough measure of engagement. for the measurement of all outcomes, the main independent variable was condition (informal versus systematic application). for the measurement of assignment performance, time of assessment (before versus after the midterm) also served as the independent variable. participants one hundred and seventy-six undergraduate female students participated. they were all fulltime students of a university located in the eastern region of sa whose curriculum follows a us model of higher education. as such, instruction was largely delivered in english. they were enrolled in one of two courses of the core curriculum: critical thinking, a required course, and modern history (i.e., from the 1450s to today), an elective course. these courses were taught by the same instructor entirely in english. students, whose ages ranged from 18 to 25, reported arabic as their first language and english as their second language. their english competency had been verified through a standardized english proficiency test (i.e., toefl, ielts, or aptis) prior to admission. according to students’ https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 pilotti, m. & almubarak. h.a.m., systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 18 self-reports, collected in class, exposure to english and western culture included a mixture of experiences: formal instruction in the form of mandatory english courses completed before college admission, interactions with expatriates, trips abroad, exposure to foreign television channels, and internet browsing and surfing. eight classes taught by one instructor of middle east descent during a period of two semesters were selected through convenience sampling to ensure no overlap of students. participation complied with the guiding principles of the office for human research protections of the us department of health and human services and with the ethical standards in the treatment of human subjects of the american psychological association. materials and procedure students qualified for participation by virtue of their being enrolled in either of two courses: critical thinking or modern history. they participated in the study for an entire semester, during which they completed the assignments and the tests on which our results are based. in a field study such as ours, which relied on actual students, who were enrolled in real classes, and whose performance was assessed on actual tests, random assignment of participants was unfeasible. no student was enrolled in more than one of the selected classes. the curriculum of both critical thinking and modern history relied on syllabi approved by the texas international education consortium (tiec) and textbooks written for a us audience. the study entailed two conditions which included either an informal or a systematic application of crp. the instructor’s applications of crp were judged by independent observers as meeting the criteria set by richards et al. (2007) for crp. to wit, the instructor was reported to (1) acknowledge students’ differences and similarities; (b) validate their cultural identities in instruction and materials used; (c) educate students about diversity in the world; (d) foster equity and respect; (e) nurture interactions among all parties involved in the learning process, including students, their families, faculty, etc.; (f) encourage active learning; (g) nurture critical thinking skills; (h) emphasize students’ academic success as defined by their potentials; and (i) assist them in comprehending social and political issues and their implications. there was one fundamental difference between the two crp applications (i.e., conditions) involving (j) assessment suited to the population being tested (i.e., valid; richards et al., 2007). to wit, the informal application of crp was operationally defined as instructional modes and contents that comply with all the criteria set by richards et al. (2007) except for assessment. tests and assignments covered the content of textbooks written for us college students and did not explicitly require the participants to include knowledge of middle eastern beliefs, values, and practices. if such knowledge was included (e.g., a personal example to illustrate a concept), it would receive equitable evaluation (i.e., given the same weight as an example taken from the textbook or another foreign source). instead, the systematic application of crp was operationally defined as instructional modes and contents that comply with all criteria set by richards et al. (2007), including assessment being suited to the population being tested. thus, although tests and assignments covered the content of textbooks written for us students, they explicitly required participants to include knowledge of middle eastern beliefs, values, and practices. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 pilotti, m. & almubarak. h.a.m., systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 19 for instance, in modern history, an assignment required students to critically examine the life and deeds of a historical figure. if a student chose the astronomer copernicus, the connections between him and muslim scholars, such as al-tussi and ibn al-shatir would either be required (systematic application) or be merely suggested by the assignment (informal application). similarly, if a student examined vasco da gama or columbus, she would be asked to compare him to ibnu battuta or be merely encouraged to do so. in critical thinking, an assignment might require students to compare and contrast arguments regarding an issue that the students could select from the textbook or other sources (informal application), or compare and contrast arguments regarding the responses to interview questions students themselves collected regarding an issue (e.g., the role of women in politics following decrees formalizing such roles) that had been deemed culturally relevant by both the instructor and the students at the time of the class. the informal application of crp involved 3 sections of critical thinking (n = 62) and one section of modern history (n = 28). the systematic application of crp involved 3 sections of critical thinking (n = 64) and one section of history (n = 22). these two courses were selected to ensure adequate representation of the core curriculum whose courses emphasize either the practice of fundamental academic skills (e.g., writing, speaking, reasoning, etc.) across a wide range of topics, such as critical thinking, or the acquisition of knowledge about a specific academic field, such as modern history. the instructor of the selected courses was chosen for her instructional mode, which would fit the crp framework (rychly & graves, 2012), and per her willingness to participate in a study in which such a pedagogy would be explicitly applied to assignments and tests. in advance of the study, peer classroom observations identified her instructional style as fitting the criteria that define crp put forth by rychly and graves (2012). to wit, her style was characterized as exhibiting an empathetic and caring attitude, was informed by knowledge of a variety of cultures, including middle eastern contents, and conveyed an awareness of her own cultural frames and their implications. the instructor was known to her colleagues and past students as a reflective educator who made it a point to incorporate knowledge of the middle east in her lectures and class discussion. it is important to note that the main research question that motivated the present investigation was not discussed with the instructor during implementation. to ensure that the comparison between the two conditions did not involve students with distinctly different characteristics, information about students’ general self-efficacy and selfimage was collected at the start of the semester. general self-efficacy is a "can-do attitude" that refers to people’s confidence to perform well across a wide range of tasks and situations (bandura, 1993). general self-efficacy can be conceptualized as a motivational trait that people develop over time from the accumulation of successes and failures (chen et al., 2000). it is a trait that is thought to contribute to academic performance (pilotti et al., 2019). in the present study, the new general self-efficacy (ngse) questionnaire (chen et al., 2001) was selected to provide information about participants’ general self-efficacy. the questionnaire asked participants to report on a five-point likert scale from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (5) their agreement with each of eight statements of general confidence in one’s competence to deal effectively with life challenges. the ngse’s reliability, as measured by cronbach’s alpha, was 0.82. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 pilotti, m. & almubarak. h.a.m., systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 20 information about students’ self-image was collected from the twenty statements test (tst; hartley, 1970; mcpartland et al., 1961). the test required participants to respond to a single open-ended probe, “who am i?”, twenty times, each time with a unique answer (kuhn & mcpartland,1954). the tst was used to gather information about the nature of the self-image of the participants, under the assumption that their independent or interdependent selfimages (cousins, 1989; gardner et al., 1999) could make them differentially sensitive to crp. results participants’ characteristics were first analyzed to determine whether students assigned to the two crp conditions differed at the start of the study. students’ performance was then assessed to determine whether there were differences between conditions. analysis of variance (anova) was utilized in both assessments. data from the courses in which students were enrolled were collapsed. since there was no evidence that course type interacted with condition, this variable was not included in the analyses described below. results are considered significant at the .05 level (field, 2009). assessment of participants’ characteristics at the start of the study table 1 displays descriptive statistics. ngse responses were submitted to a one-way anova with condition as the factor. there were no significant differences between conditions in selfefficacy, f(1, 174) <1, ns. responses to the tst were classified into one of two classes (ashtonjames et al., 2009; gardner et al., 1999): (a) responses reflecting an interdependent selfconcept included references to group membership, relationships, and social roles (e.g., “i am saudi”, “i like to help others”, “i am a sister”, and “i am a daughter”); (b) responses reflecting an independent self-concept included references to psychological traits (e.g., “i am determined”, “i am smart”, “i am realistic”, and “i am strong”). responses that fell outside these two classes by signaling neither an independent nor an interdependent self (e.g., “i am hungry”, “i like dark colors”, and “i am 18 years old”) were excluded (m = 3.11%). percentages were submitted to a two-way anova with condition (informal vs. systematic application) and type of response (interdependent versus independent self-concept) as the factors. a main effect of type of response was uncovered, f(1, 174) = 296.75, mse = 399.82, p <.001, ηp2= .630, illustrating that most responses reflected an independent self rather than an interdependent self. however, there was neither a main effect of condition nor a significant interaction, fs < 1. to wit, responses reflecting an independent self, as well as those reflecting an interdependent self did not differ between crp conditions. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 pilotti, m. & almubarak. h.a.m., systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 21 table 1. descriptive statistics (mean, m, and standard error of the mean, sem) of key participants’ characteristics note. responses that did not fit an independent or interdependent self were excluded (m = 3.11%) assessement of performance all selected courses required several assignments, a midterm test, and a final test. modern history involved 3 assignments to be completed before the midterm test: (a) an analysis of a historical figure, (b) a research proposal, and (c) a literature review related to the research proposal. after the midterm, it required the completion of (d) a research project (building on the assignments completed before the midterm) along with the presentation of its content to the class. critical thinking instead involved two assignments before the midterm: (a) a critical analysis of an issue, and (b) the review and presentation of a selected text (e.g., article or book chapter). after the midterm, there were two assignments: (c) a research project which required students to gather evidence about a controversial issue through interviewing family members (systematic application condition) or through reviewing the scholarly literature (informal application condition) followed by an in-class debate or discussion, and (d) an assignment entailing the comparison and contrast of viewpoints on a selected topic. in both the informal and the systematic application conditions, all activities were methodologically equivalent except for activity (c) in critical thinking which was followed by different methods for gathering evidence and for presenting it to the other members of the class. test questions and assignments encompassed the six different types of information processing highlighted by the boom’s taxonomy of human thinking (anderson & krathwohl, 2001; bloom, 1956, 1976; krathwohl, 2002): remembering (i.e., the act through which acquired information is first retained and then reinstated), understanding, application, analysis, evaluation, and synthesis/creation of original work. to ensure stable measurements of assessment activities before and after the midterm, scores of different assignments administered before the midterm were averaged together. scores of assignments administered after the midterm were also averaged together. thus, students’ performance regarding assignments was clustered in two sets, depending on whether scores were gathered during either the first half of the semester or the second half. midterm scores were kept separate. the final test performance was not available due to institutional restrictions. table 2 displays descriptive statistics. all performance and attendance scores were distributed on a scale from 0 to 100. midterm test performance was not significantly different between outcome variable systematic m sem informal m sem self-efficacy 3.89 .05 3.96 .05 independent self 66.60% 1.58 66.81% 1.54 interdependent self 30.35% 1.59 29.61% 1.56 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 pilotti, m. & almubarak. h.a.m., systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 22 informal and systematic applications of crp, f(1, 174) = 3.10, ns. a 2 time (before vs. after) x 2 condition (informal vs. systematic application) mixed factorial anova, conducted on assignment scores, yielded a main effect of time, f(1, 174) = 16.18, mse = 57.80, p <.001, ηp2= .085 (condition, f = 2.27, ns). however, a significant interaction, f(1, 174) = 19.19, mse = 57.80, p <.001, ηp2= .099, illustrated that performance improvement was not uniform. tests of simple effects specifically indicated that in the informal application condition, performance on assignments did not differ between before and after the midterm, t(89) < 1, ns. instead, in the systematic application condition, performance on assignments improved after the midterm, t(85) = 5.14, p = .001. attendance over an entire semester was overall high, but superior in the systematic application condition, f(1, 174) = 6.16, mse = 59.53, p =.014, ηp2= .034. table 2. descriptive statistics (m and sem) of key outcome variables note. *denotes a significant difference between informal and systematic applications. discussion the results of the present field study can be summarized in two key points. namely, crp that targets both instruction and assessment can benefit students’ academic performance more than crp that targets only instruction. however, the benefits of a pedagogy that explicitly emphasizes culturally relevant content in both instruction and assessment require some time before they can be detected. evidence exists from a diverse array of studies that assessment exercises can promote longterm retention, and, more broadly, learning (butler, 2010; karpicke, 2012; mcdaniel et al., 2007; roediger & karpicke, 2006). our results are consistent with research demonstrating that assessment can be conceptualized as a learning opportunity through which materials are reiterated and further analyzed. in our study, emphasis on culturally relevant content in assignments and tests might have enhanced the value that students attribute to such content. as a result, greater attention and processing were devoted to culturally relevant information, which then became easier to remember and use, thereby improving students’ performance. of course, the comparison that we carried out did not allow us to measure the benefits of crp on instruction only. the extant literature though offers evidence of such benefits, albeit not always in a quantitative format (aronson & laughter, 2016; vu, 2019; wah & nasri, 2019). the data collected from the students of our study indicate that even in educational settings structured by syllabi that instructors are required to follow, room for creative and helpful outcome variable systematic m (%) sem informal m (%) sem assignments before the midterm 85.41 1.41 87.00 1.38 midterm 82.55 1.98 77.68 1.93 assignments after the midterm * 92.22 .93 86.47 .91 attendance/participation * 93.80 .83 90.91 .81 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 pilotti, m. & almubarak. h.a.m., systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 23 infusions of culturally relevant materials is not only possible but also beneficial. we can all learn from the instructor in this study who was deliberate about what and how she chose to teach. she learned from this study too as she indicated that the quantitative evidence that illustrated the impact of her teaching on students’ academic learning made her see crp as an unavoidable obligation for all instructors teaching in a foreign land. our field study has limitations, which include the absence of the customary random assignment of participants and its reliance on a female-only sample. the study, which was conducted in real classrooms rather than in a lab, involved the measurement of the actual performance of students in courses in which they were enrolled. thus, it was not possible to randomly assign participants to conditions. yet, the self-efficacy and self-image of students assigned to the two crp conditions were not different, suggesting that, at the start of the study, key characteristics that might have explained performance differences did not set apart the two groups. furthermore, gender segregation customs, creating two separate campuses for males and females, made access to male students by female researchers unattainable. yet, it is important to note that the extant literature does not predict a gender difference in the impact of crp. our crp intervention worked on young bilingual/bicultural students who were enrolled in classes at a university that follows a us curriculum. one may ask whether a similar intervention may be more or less powerful on older students who have suffered the consequences of the khawājat complex for a much longer period of time. the answer to this question awaits the evidence of future research endeavors. conclusion educators often struggle to find ways to use research findings that suit their needs inside and outside the classroom. thus, it is important to note that applications of crp are not limited to particular courses, but may encompass entire programs. program-wide applications create informal learning communities among educators in different fields, thereby promoting valuable exchanges of information and social support. this type of pedagogy may be particularly valuable in fields that exhibit recruitment and persistence issues, especially among underrepresented groups, such as female and ethnic minority students (sparks et al., 2020). attempts to include crp in stem education, which encompass the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, are particularly noteworthy (johnson & elliott, 2020; o’leary et al., 2020). it is in these fields that crp may ultimately display the biggest and most visible benefits (brown-jeffy & cooper, 2011; gay, 2018). of course, benefits may come in different forms and may not be immediate, but rather become visible over time. thus, it is important to recognize the advantages of mixed methodology assessments of crp, which combine qualitative and quantitative measurements of the impact of this pedagogy (treagust et al., 2020). qualitative data can inform the interpretation of quantitative data, allowing researchers and educators to develop a deeper understanding of the range and quality of the impact of crp. it is also useful to recognize that the assessment of crp may be improved by the use of longitudinal designs through which a comprehensive picture of the impact of this pedagogy on the lives of its beneficiaries can be extracted. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 pilotti, m. & almubarak. h.a.m., systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 24 references anderson, l.w., & krathwohl, d. (eds.) (2001). a taxonomy for learning, teaching and assessing: a revision of bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. longman. aronson, b., & laughter, j. (2016). the theory and practice of culturally relevant education: a synthesis of research across content areas. review of educational research, 86(1), 163–206. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315582066 ashton-james, c. e., maddux, w. w., galinsky, a. d., & chartrand, t. l. (2009). who i am depends on how i feel: the role of affect in the expression of culture. psychological science, 20(3), 340–346. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02299.x bandura, a. (1993). perceived self-efficacy in cognitive development and functioning. educational psychologist, 28(2), 117–148. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep2802_3 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof. journal of culture and values in education, 2(3), 79-93. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.02.5 bloom, b. s. (ed.). (1956). taxonomy of educational objectives. cognitive domain. mckay. bloom, b. s. (1976). human characteristics and school learning. mcgraw hill. brown-jeffy, s., & cooper, j. e. (2011). toward a conceptual framework of culturally relevant pedagogy: an overview of the conceptual and theoretical literature. teacher education quarterly, 38(1), 65-84. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23479642 butler, a. c. (2010). repeated testing produces superior transfer of learning relative to repeated studying. journal of experimental psychology: learning, memory, and cognition, 36(5), 1118–1133. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019902 byrd, c. m. (2016). does culturally relevant teaching work? an examination from student perspectives. sage open, 6(3),1–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244016660744 chen, g., gully, s. m., whiteman, j. a., & kilcullen, b. n. (2000). examination of relationships among trait-like individual differences, state-like individual differences, and learning performance. journal of applied psychology, 85(6), 835–847. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.85.6.835 chen, g., gully, s. m., & eden, d. (2001). validation of a new general self-efficacy scale. organizational research methods, 4(1), 62–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/109442810141004 cholewa, b., goodman, r. d., west-olatunji, c., & amatea, e. (2014). a qualitative examination of the impact of culturally responsive educational practices on the psychological well-being of students of color. the urban review, 46(4), 574–596. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-014-0272-y cousins, s. d. (1989). culture and self-perception in japan and the united states. journal of personality and social psychology, 56(1), 124–131. https://doi.org/10.1037/00223514.56.1.124 field, a. (2009). discovering statistics using spss. sage publications. gardner, w.l., gabriel, s., & lee, a.y. (1999). ‘‘i’’ value freedom, but ‘‘we’’ value relationships: self-construal priming mirrors cultural differences in judgment. psychological science, 10(4), 324–330. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00162 gay, g. (2002). preparing for culturally responsive teaching. journal of teacher education, 53(2), 106–116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487102053002003 gay, g. (2018). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research, and practice. teachers https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 pilotti, m. & almubarak. h.a.m., systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 25 college press. hamdan alghamdi, a. (2014). the road to culturally relevant pedagogy: expatriate teachers' pedagogical practices in the cultural context of saudi arabian higher education. mcgill journal of education, 49(1), 201–226. https://doi.org/10.7202/1025778ar hartley, w. s. (1970). manual for the twenty statements problem. greater kansas city mental health foundation. howard, t., & terry c. l. (2011). culturally responsive pedagogy for african american students: promising programs and practices for enhanced academic performance. teaching education, 22(4), 345–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2011.608424 irizarry, j. g. (2007). ethnic and urban intersections in the classroom: latino students, hybrid identities, and culturally responsive pedagogy. multicultural perspectives, 9(3), 21-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960701443599 johnson, a., & elliott, s. (2020). culturally relevant pedagogy: a model to guide cultural transformation in stem departments. journal of microbiology & biology education, 21(1). 21.1.35. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v21i1.2097 karpicke, j. d. (2012). retrieval-based learning: active retrieval promotes meaningful learning. current directions in psychological science, 21(3), 157–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721412443552 keratithamkul, k., kim, j.n. & roehrig, g.h. (2020). cultural competence or deficit-based view? a qualitative approach to understanding middle school students’ experience with culturally framed engineering. international journal of stem education, 7, 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-020-00224-5 krathwohl, d. r. (2002). a revision of bloom's taxonomy: an overview. theory into practice, 41(4), 212–218. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4104_2 kuhn, m. h., & mcpartland, t. s. (1954). an empirical investigation of self-attitudes. american sociological review, 19(1), 68–76. https://doi.org/10.2307/2088175 ladson-billings, g. (1994). the dreamkeepers: successful teachers of african american children. jossey-bass. ladson-billings, g. (1995a). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465–491. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465 ladson-billings, g. (1995b). but that’s just good teaching! the case for culturally relevant pedagogy. theory into practice, 34(3), 159–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849509543675 ladson-billings, g. (2006). yes, but how do we do it? practicing culturally relevant pedagogy. in j. landsman & c. w. lewis (eds.), white teachers/diverse classrooms: a guide to building inclusive schools, promoting high expectations, and eliminating racism (pp. 29–42). stylus. mcdaniel, m. a., roediger, h. l., & mcdermott, k. b. (2007). generalizing test-enhanced learning from the laboratory to the classroom. psychonomic bulletin & review, 14, 200–206. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03194052 mcpartland, t. s., cumming, j. h., & garretson, w. s. (1961). self-conception and ward https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 pilotti, m. & almubarak. h.a.m., systematic versus informal application of culturally relevant pedagogy: are performance outcomes different? a study of college students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 26 behavior in two psychiatric hospitals. sociometry, 24(2), 111–124. https://doi.org/10.2307/2786061 o’leary, e. s., shapiro, c., toma, s., sayson, h. w., levis-fitzgerald, m., johnson, t., & sork, v. l. (2020). creating inclusive classrooms by engaging stem faculty in culturally responsive teaching workshops. international journal of stem education, 7(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-020-00230-7 pilotti, m. a. e., el alaoui, k., mulhem, h., & al kuhayli, h. a. (2019). the illusion of knowing in college: a field study of students with a teacher-centered educational past. europe’s journal of psychology, 15(4), 789–807. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v15i4.1921 richards, h. v., brown, a. f., & forde, t. b. (2007). addressing diversity in schools: culturally responsive pedagogy. teaching exceptional children, 39(3), 64–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/004005990703900310 roediger, h. l., & karpicke, j. d. (2006). the power of testing memory: basic research and implications for educational practice. perspectives on psychological science, 1, 181– 210. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00012.x rychly, l., & graves, e. (2012). teacher characteristics for culturally responsive pedagogy. multicultural perspectives, 14(1), 44–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2012.646853 said, e. w. (1995). orientalism. pantheon. schmeichel, m. (2012). good teaching? an examination of culturally relevant pedagogy as an equity practice. journal of curriculum studies, 44(2), 211–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2011.591434 sparks, r. a., baldwin, k. e., & darner, r. (2020). using culturally relevant pedagogy to reconsider the genetics canon. journal of microbiology & biology education, 21(1), 21.1.30. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v21i1.1901 treagust, d.f., qureshi, s.s., vishnumolakala, v.r. et al. process-oriented guided inquiry learning (pogil) as a culturally relevant pedagogy (crp) in qatar: a perspective from grade 10 chemistry classes. (2020). research in science education, 50, 813–831. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-018-9712-0 vu, t. (2019). theoretical constructs and practical strategies for intercultural communication. journal of curriculum studies research, 1(1), 43-53. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcsr.01.01.4 wah, y. l., & nasri, n. b. m. (2019). a systematic review: the effect of culturally responsive pedagogy on student learning and achievement. international journal of academic research in business and social sciences, 9(5), 588–596. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v9-i5/5907 yazzie-mintz, t. (2007). from a place deep inside: culturally appropriate curriculum as the embodiment of navajo-ness in classroom pedagogy. journal of american indian education, 72–93. young, e. (2010). challenges to conceptualizing and actualizing culturally relevant pedagogy: how viable is the theory in classroom practice? journal of teacher education, 61(3), 248–260. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487109359775 . https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 suntana, i. & tresnawaty, b., multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 1 multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia: regional strategic agenda, weak civilian government, triune crime, wealth gaps, and coopted journalism ija suntana*1 & betty tresnawaty1 1. uin sunan gunung djati bandung *corresponding author: ijasuntana@uinsgd.ac.id received : 2020november-03 rev. req. : 2021-january-07 accepted : 2021-february-01 how to cite this paper: suntana, i. & tresnawaty, b. (2021). multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia: regional strategic agenda, weak civilian government, triune crime, wealth gaps, and coopted journalism. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.2 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract five factors have contributed greatly to religious violence in the southeast asia: the regional strategic agenda of a great power; weak civilian government; triune crimes and scholar phobia; wealth gaps; and coopted journalism. these are the roots of the increase of religion-related violence in this region. religious violence in this area is a psychological symptom of a society facing complex social situations related to power struggles and economic domination. as an evidence, the rohingya crisis in myanmar is not caused by a clash of beliefs but by those five factors, thus it turns into a prolonged and complex humanitarian crisis that it also gives social impacts into surrounding countries. therefore, solving the problem of religious violence in southeast asia must address these five causes. keywords: religious violence; islamophobia; peace journalism. introduction there are several factors that cause recent sharp increase of, and protracted, religious conflict in southeast asia. from several existing causes, there are five predominant causes of such hostility: regional political tension; weak government; organized crimes and anti-secularism; economic gaps; and media restriction. not caused by a clash of belief, the conflict itself is a psychological symptom of people facing complex social situations related to power struggles and economic domination. almost all southeast asian countries are not exempt from separatism movements, both religious and other types separatism. thailand, philippines, myanmar, malaysia, and indonesia are countries in this region that have been facing separatism with various roots (legionosuko et al., 2020; saidin & yusoff, 2020; nur & susanto, 2020). in general, separatism in these 10.46303/jcve.2021.2 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.2 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 suntana, i. & tresnawaty, b., multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 2 countries uses religion as its pretext and islam is the most prevalent base of movement of separatism in the southeast asian region (tan, 2020). with a population that exceeds half a billion, southeast asia has some areas tens of thousands of people are killed and hundreds of thousands losing their homes because of armed conflict. some researchers have assessed that the humanitarian crises taking place in almost all corners in southeast asia is due to economic and political problems (hollenbach, 2020; hussain et al., 2020). meanwhile, conflicts between militant minority islamist groups and the government are coloring the dynamics of socio-political countries in the country (elonek, 2012). how are these conflicts in southeast asia affected by causes but faith? it requires comprehensive explanation, with numerous theories stating that conflicts of belief has never existed in reality. on the contrary, conflicts of economy and politics between certain groups of people often take advantages of religious groups (haider, 2005). some researchers argues that religiosity is unrelated to the sensitivity of cognitive conflicts (hoogeveen et al., 2020). the history of the crusades is touted as the most phenomenal war of belief in human history, but they were mainly caused by the competition over the spice trade. the social capital that is very easy to trigger a movement and mobilization is belief. hence, religion serves as a mobilizer for an ideological resistance or defense (tench, 2020). researchers on religious violence in the southeast asia are completely wrong if they correlate religious violence with religious doctrines. there is absolutely no relationship between religious doctrine and cases of increasing religious violence. we argue that there are five problems to be the main sources that instigate the increase in conflicts in southeast asia: the regional strategic agenda of a great power; weak civilian government; triune crimes and scholar phobia; wealth gaps; and coopted journalism. in this regard, the review focuses on the five dominant factors and we will present the our claim that religious violence in southeast asia is not caused by a conflict of belief, but by conflict of interests. the mindset of this review is based on the findings of several studies that show that there has been a very large shift from issues of doctrine and radicalism assessment to socio-economic problems (bejarano, 2017; utomo & wasino, 2020) and the tone of local media coverage played a significant role in unraveling specific and global conflicts. discussion regional strategic agenda of a great power the trend of islamophobia, as a phenomenon of religious violence, in southeast asia has increased, although it is not as sharp as the rise in western and european countries. islamophobia in southeast asia ensued with the occurrence of ethnic tensions, economic gaps, and the rise of the right-wing religious organization. islamophobia in southeast asian countries is predominantly muslim, such as malaysia and indonesia, especially when minority groups are dominant in economics (osman, 2017). geopolitically in southeast asia, there is a regional strategic agenda of major forces in a region of china that is experiencing the peak of islamophobic rise and gaining international world https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 suntana, i. & tresnawaty, b., multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 3 highlights due to the act of discrimination on the uyghur tribe (han, 2020). research conducted by luqiu et al. (2018) suggests that chinese news reports project the overall negative view of muslims. an implicit association test conducted on the non-muslim chinese population reveals negative muslim stereotypes. also, a survey of chinese muslims showed that they received negative coverage of muslims and muslims in chinese media, thereby implicating their real-life discrimination as the effect of these negative stereotypes. in this case, the chinese power agenda does not want to be bothered by domestic terror problems which some of their politicians are indicated to be coming from the muslims in their country. in previous decades, the chinese government established harmony with the power of muslims, so there was an islamic figure given the political position in the government (ma, 2019). the phenomenon of islamophobia that can be observed in southeast asia in particular and in asia, in general, is the incidence of torture of the muslim rohingya in burma by buddhist fanatics inspired by buddhist monks of extremists and muslim persecution by the sri lankan nationalist group buddha bodu bala sena (hafez, 2020). the increase of islamophobia that appears epidemic in southeast asia is not widely researched by academics. this contrasts with the islamophobic trend as a well-documented phenomenon in western countries. rising terror attacks in europe, the refugee crisis on the same continent, and the strengthening of the rightwing nationalist parties that resulted in the emergence of islamophobia in europe and north america became a concern for many analyses. some islamophobia figures mention that islam as a religion has been problematic, because it is a doctrine in harmony with violence and radicalism, as the political platform of donald trump (cury, 2019). meanwhile, some of the analyses mentioned that islamophobia was not separated from colonialism practices which regarded religion as a potential threat because in many colonial areas the power of religion always pioneered various revolts (katz, 2018). other analyses have mentioned that islamophobia was born for its socio-economic reasons and historical reasons. historically, islamophobia is connected with the global conflict that has occurred hundreds of years ago, so that the form of historical conflict is not a conflict of faith (safi’, 2019). some of these analysis frameworks can be used to study islamophobia in southeast asia. in general, the increase of islamophobia in many regions, including southeast asia, is associated with the incidence of 9/11 in the united states. since then, the escalation of islamic phobia experienced a very significant increase in different parts of the world (noor, 2006). since the incidence of 9/11 muslims in european and western countries fought vigorously to confront negative views due to the irrational actions of extremists who contributed to negative stereotypes about islam (el-sayed, 2013). the terror of 9/11 created a global terror on the image of islam and muslims. in fact, in the muslim-majority countries, islamophobia developed as well as in countries where muslims are a minority (flag & hafez, 2019). weak civilian government although southeast asia had civil administration, the military still received a large number of their national budgets, in addition to significant assets and economic activities. the military in https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 suntana, i. & tresnawaty, b., multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 4 the region had enormous economic influences. this condition can become a barrier to achieving the freedom of civil control in the democratization process (chambers & waitoolkiat, 2017), especially in some countries ruled by military junta. control of community freedom for expression and belief becomes very strong and strict. in recent decades the trend of military-political domination in southeast asia has decreased. although it has not followed the western model, significant developments have taken place and are approaching the agenda of the security sector reform, and show that the prospect of civil-military relations is stable and brighter than those believed to be skeptical by many observers (beeson & bellamy, 2012). military intervention in the civilian government remains highly resistant in the southeast asian region, although the trend of military domination in politics has decreased. in the late 1990s, civil-military researchers detected a decline in the political significance of the armed forces throughout southeast asia, but a decade later the trend was reversed. the thai military staged a coup d'état in 2006, the armed forces of the philippines expanded their political rights under the arroyo presidency, and the burmese junta engineered an apparent-democratic election in 2010. replaying the trend of military intervention in southeast asia is highly determined by intra-civil conflicts and political leadership that tends to split the public (mietzner, 2011). people may prefer military government when civil government unstable and corrupt (farooq, 2012). separatism movement could lead to the instability of civil government di southeast asia, which may allow military power to perform political action through military coup d'etat. triune crimes and scholar phobia there is an unholy trinity of interrelated crimes, namely corruption, terrorism, and transnational crime (shelley, 2005). several studies link corruption and political violence by questioning whether a country's domestic terrorism could be described as an attempt to suppress a regime's corruption or as a regime's attempt to exert influence when channel corruption is experiencing obstacles. in some countries, it is found that acts of terror have a very close relationship with the political behavior of the regime. corruption practices in the management of natural resources have an unconditional effect on transnational and domestic terrorism (ajide et al., 2020). simpson (2014) uses social opportunities theory to uncover the relationship between corruption and terrorism. using a fixed effect of a longitudinal negative binomial regression, based on the domestic political hardness model developed by muller, the simpson study in 106 countries identified that corruption and terrorism run concurrently in an extra-legal structure and demonstrate that where the road of corruption has been restricted, countries are experiencing greater levels of terrorist violence. the corruption relationship with terrorist violence in southeast asia has one of two competing effects. based on secondary data obtained by the authors, there are two sets of hypotheses of corruption relations with acts of terrorism violence in southeast asia. first, increased https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 suntana, i. & tresnawaty, b., multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 5 perception of corruption over time leads to the development of disappointment manifested in the form of violent terrorism. the more corrupt the country in southeast asia, the greater the terrorist violence as an expression of disappointment. secondly, groups that are already familiar with the extra-legal methods, such as corruption, will turn to other extra-legal alternatives to achieve their goals, such as terrorism, if the country in which they operate applies high enough control to corrupt practices. greater levels of corruption control are correlated with higher levels of terrorism in southeast asia. when certain lines of corruption cannot be used to gain political influence, those groups use alternative strategies in which terrorism became the top preference. in addition to dealing with the regime's corruption problem, countries in southeast asia faced an incoming al-qaeda network movement from early to mid-1990 and built independent cells, which continued to establish connections with islamic insurgency movements in the region which were initially believed to have only domestic agendas (abuse, 2002). in addition to dealing with ideological tension, the corruption effect of the regime on violence, and the threat of a network of al-qaeda southeast asia region faced with other threats, the piracy problem. the phenomenon of piracy has evolved in southeast asia over the past ten years, as a security threat in regional waters. countries in the southeast asian region must formulate a comprehensive road to combat contemporary piracy in the region (liss & biggs, 2017), potentially exacerbating their safety and defense conditions. the strategy against domestic and transnational terrorists in the southeast asian region has not been appropriate and has not produced the desired results. southeast asia is still doubtful to be a safer place for the future. therefore, southeast asia should rethink or develop new strategies to control and manage terrorism and extremism threats (acharya, 2015). tensionsethnic tensions and religion will still affect the political dynamics in the countries of the region, where tensions between fundamentalist muslim groups with secular political groups continue to arise and demonstrate an alarming increase, along with increasing symptoms and political phenomena of the region's identity. the battle of secular nationalist politicians with fundamentalist groups will continue to influence the journey socio-political the countries of southeast asia, all of which will equally use the power of time to press each other. the provocation of ideology undertaken by secular and fundamentalist nationalist groups will further exacerbate the situation of islamophobia. the increasingly nourishing islamophobia in southeast asia is the behavior of the political regime in the region that uses criminal threats to suppress its political opponents. the criminal threat made by the government regime in southeast asia has proven to pose an antagonistic attitude from the islamic fundamentalist group against the country, which is sure to cause domestic tension and result in the polarization of society between the parties and anti on the regime. the two communities will build their political perception on their ideological identity and suspect each other, resulting in the effect of hatred on the ideology used by each. consequently, islamophobia would have increased in line with the increase in secular phobia— a term used by ray comport (2016). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 suntana, i. & tresnawaty, b., multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 6 wealth gaps southeast asia has a history of separatism conflicts that take a long and extreme time. there is one of the most enduring conflicts in the world, the mindanao conflict, which affects millions of people and killed thousands of souls (hutchcroft, 2018). in southeast asia, separatism is always happening in the border areas, both in the south and north, except for separatism in indonesia. the separatism patani in thailand occurs in the southern borders and the mindanao region of the same philippines occurring in the southern border area. this confirms that internal-state conflicts in this scale are not merely national political issues and the failure of the creation of peace prospects (tan, 2018), but rather a fundamental problem in regional harmony. state and non-state actors have a role and influence on separatist conflicts in different ways and objectives. it became apparent that regional security concerns should be the concern of countries incorporated in asean to be more proactive in the field of conflict management, as there is a potential for regional conflicts, due to suspicion of state intervention bordering separatism conflict areas (rupprecht, 2014). so far, islamophobia is considered as one way of attacking the problem of terrorism, radicalism, and fundamentalism (beshara, 2019). islamophobia as a social reality seems to be a solution to eradicate hatred and terror (gilks, 2020). the ideas of easing islamophobia were developed, but still left confusion and questions, from where it started and how to (poynting, 2020). the effort to suppress and advocate islamophobia is the moral demands of scientists and has been the responsibility of policymakers where islamophobia grows through the creation of ideas (lewicki, 2017). in response to this advocacy, there are two views, which are pessimistic views and optimistic views. a pessimistic view sees that everyone is part of a social group that has exclusive boundaries. while the optimistic view sees that even the limitations of inclusion and exclusion are present in reality but advocacy is thought to still affect than to develop negative stereotypes, hate speech, and excessive suspicion (roose & turner, 2019). acts of terror have a causal relationship with economic growth. growing positive economies in an area are an increasingly negative growth of violent incidents in the region. data estimation between time and data between individuals (pooled cross-section time-series) revealed that several measures of welfare efforts reduced the incidence of transnational terrorism in countries that did. this suggests that strengthening the social policies inside and outside may not only correlate with the target re-distribution or equitable development but also help to combat acts of terrorist violence (burgoon, 2006). the above estimate can be used to confirm terror incidents in southeast asian countries. the country in high prosperity and its economy continues to grow relatively low in the incidence of domestic terrorism. they are only faced with the threat of transnational terrorism, such as singapore and brunei darussalam. unlike countries where low prosperity conditions and economies are slow to grow, they are faced with two forms of terror, which is domestic terror as an expression of frustration with the situation and the transnational terror conspiracy. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 suntana, i. & tresnawaty, b., multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 7 coopted journalism every day the mainstream media in southeast asia delivers messages to people, individuals, and groups about conflicts in the regional region. the newsroom in the mainstream media is filled with news of ethnic and religious violence, but it is very rare to make an effort to find a way to solve these social problems by asking sources who can contribute to the resolution of the problem. it is often assumed that local media is a tool that has the potential to reduce global conflict. the manner and tone of local media coverage play a significant role in breaking down global and specific conflicts (suleiman & ishak, 2014). the most important obstacle in compiling news items about the conflict in the southeast asian region is the language of journalism, where mainstream media dominates in this context. the mainstream media in southeast asia still articulates conflict data and facts in orthodox methodology, which should not be ignored. the trend of islamophobia in the world, specifically in america and europe, has not decreased, even experienced an increase after islamophobia was made via donald trump's political platform (khan et al., 2019), causing psychological turmoil for muslims (amer & bagasra, 2013), especially those who live in countries where they are a minority (fadel, 2016). the trend of anti-islamic statements has increased in cyberspace, even though it does not directly influence the behavior of islamophobia in society. the increase in anti-islam statements appears sporadically, especially if there are terror incidents reported by the media (massey et al., 2020). the upward trend in islamophobia is inseparable from the contribution of the media which articulates the issue of islam and muslims (chaudhry, 2016). in the case of gender rights, journalists are more likely to report women who live in muslim countries when their rights are violated but report women in other societies when their rights are respected (terman, 2017). as the mainstream media in most western countries perpetuate the stereotypical images of various minorities and influence the majority's attitude (ahmed, 2017), the southeast asian local media can form peaceful journalism to suppress the usual views about islam and muslims, so as not to further enhance islamophobia that does not benefit many regional aspects. peaceful journalism departs from a balanced pattern and tone in narrating the diversity of views and religious behavior of southeast asian people. peaceful journalism does not mean that the media hides and ignores the elements of conflict. instead, the mainstream media must uncover elements that can cause current and future conflicts. this can mitigate the true causes of conflicts and how they are resolved, through developing investigative habits, discussions, and dialogues to present various perspectives on conflict (ersoy, 2017). peaceful journalism promotes contextualization of conflict narratives objectively and challenges dominant news conventions such as focusing on specific sources. peaceful https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 suntana, i. & tresnawaty, b., multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 8 journalism can be a potential strategy to fight islamophobia through addressing issues about islam and muslims in a balanced way (anderson, 2015). the five factors of religious violence above can be confirmed in several clash incidents which have been described as religious conflicts. in fact, in some areas, there has been a social tension between muslims and other muslims related to economic and political interests. muslims in the southeast asian region are increasing their power to enter the political and economic arena. the recent anti-muslim violence in burma is not as a spontaneous explosion of religious feelings among the general public, but it is a surprising repertoire that is deployed by organized social movements with clear political objectives (of jack & aung, 2017). the increasing political and economic activities of the islamic minority in some southeast asian countries triggered an increase of hatred and radicalism among the majority of the religious believers, such as buddhists in burma and sri lanka, against his spirit people (orjuela, 2020). the ongoing rohingya crisis confirms that in detail that there is a potential revival of new fundamentalism beyond islamic fundamentalism, christian fundamentalism, militant judaism that has been concerned with several international observers (lehr, 2019). the rohingya crisis was not a religious conflict between islam and buddhism, as both had a long history of peaceful coexistence, but rather clashes between two views of nationalism for the claim of burmese citizenship (yusuf, 2018). the rohingya faced the government's discrimination policy and discriminatory action since long ago, since its independence in 1948. the burmese government excluded the rohingya as part of the country, denied their identity, and stated that they were illegal bengali immigrants. the political policy resulted in some antimuslim and anti-rohingya attacks by buddhist monks and other buddhist nationalists, backed by the military (akins, 2018). today rohingya myanmar is one of the most persecuted minority populations in the world without citizenship. after the last exodus from myanmar in 2017, no less than half a million rohingya in bangladesh lived in terrible camps, in conditions of poverty, malnutrition, and without proper access to shelters or work permits. many of them were forced and forced to go to sea on a perilous trip to the countries of southeast asia to seek a better life. once highlighted by the international world, the burmese government asks them to return to burma, but without the promise of citizenship or end discrimination (chaudhury & samāddāra, 2018). the rohingya crisis has a high level of complexity, in which the parties involved in it, both perpetrators and victims of persecution, claim to be harmed parties. the perpetrator felt harmed by an oppressed victim, so too the victim claimed to be the injured party. the military campaign was conducted against the rohingya muslims by soldiers in 2016 and 2017 similarly based on the feelings of harm by the party being targeted (holt, 2019). and, the most corrupted of such a "conflict of loss" is religion, which is regarded as the source of violent behavior of the parties involved therein (gier, 2014). not just the happening in southeast asia, the sunni and shi'a conflicts in the middle east, protestants, and catholicism in northern ireland, afrikaner, and the black churches of south africa, where the accused causes are religions. so are the waves of anti-semitism and islamophobia increasing throughout europe, the israelites, and https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 suntana, i. & tresnawaty, b., multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 9 palestine in the holy land. the accused cause is the religion that encourages violent acts (warner et al., 2018). burma's hatred of the rohingya extends to the hatred of the religion that became their identity, namely islam. suspicion and violence on every person identified by muslims have increased. the usual rohingya community was also persecuted for allegedly and suspected of conspiring with the rohingya salvation army (arsa) (fair, 2018). the government of burma could not compromise security and defense disorders, especially after the attack on october 9, 2016, by hundreds of armed men, believed to be organized by the rohingya, against the three border guards police posts in rakhine state, which led to the death of nine police officers. in response, burma's security forces launched a "regional cleansing operation, which many of the parties regarded as an act of genocide and no democratic transition process there” (kim, 2017). conclusion southeast asia is a critical zone of islamophobia which can propagate poorly in all sectors of people's lives. symptoms of islamophobia in southeast asia continue to rise along with conflicts between fundamentalist islamic groups and the government. objectively, islamophobia in the southeast asian region is not connected with the problem of evaluating religious doctrine but rather relates to the behavior of some regional political elites who utilize fundamentalist groups for political and economic targets. besides, the mainstream media in southeast asia still articulates conflict data in orthodox methodology and does not develop a peaceful journalism approach. mainstream media in southeast asia is no different from mainstream media in western countries which perpetuates stereotypical images of minority groups. references abuse, z. (2002). tentacles of terror: al qaeda’s southeast asian network. contemporary southeast asia: a journal of international & strategic affairs, 24(3), 427. https://doi.org/10.2307/25798610 acharya, a. (2015). whither southeast asia terrorism? imperial college press. ahmed, s. (2017). news media, movies, and anti-muslim prejudice: investigating the role of social contact. asian journal of communication, 27(5), 536–553. https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2017.1339720 ajide, k. b., adenuga, j. i., & raheem, i. d. (2020). natural resource rents, political regimes, and terrorism in africa. international economics, 162, 50–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inteco.2020.04.003 akins, h. (2018). the two faces of democratization in myanmar: a case study of the rohingya and burmese nationalism. journal of muslim minority affairs, 38(2), 229–245. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2018.1475619 amer, m. m., & bagasra, a. (2013). psychological research with muslim americans in the age of islamophobia: trends, challenges, and recommendations. american psychologist, 68(3), 134–144 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032167 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.2307/25798610 https://doi.org/10.2307/25798610 https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2017.1339720 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inteco.2020.04.003 https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2018.1475619 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032167 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 suntana, i. & tresnawaty, b., multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 10 anderson, l. (2015). countering islamophobic media representations: the potential role of peace journalism. global media & communication, 11(3), 255–270. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766515606293 beeson, m., & bellamy, a. (2012). securing southeast asia: the politics of security sector reform. routledge. bejarano, r.b. (2017). islamophobia as a deterrent to halal global trade. journal of islamophobia studies, 4(1), 130–145. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13169/islastudj.4.1.0129 beshara, r. k. (2019). from virtual internment to actual liberation: the epistemic and ontic resistance of us muslims to the ideology of (counter)terrorism– islamophobia/islamophilia. islamophobia studies journal, 5(1), 76. https://doi.org/10.13169/islastudj.5.1.0076 burgoon, b. (2006). on welfare and terror: social welfare policies and political-economic roots of terrorism. the journal of conflict resolution, 50(2), 176. https://eresources.perpusnas.go.id:2116/10.1177/0022002705284829 chambers, p., & waitoolkiat, n. (2017). khaki capital: the political economy of the military in southeast asia. nias press. chaudhry, a. a. (2016). how do the media fuel islamophobia? media development, 2, 6– 10. http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2137/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=363b8d6244ea-43e1-982f-279a352f5d89%40sdc-vsessmgr02&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmu%3d#an=115850305&db=ufh chaudhury, b.r.s., & samāddāra, r. (2018). the rohingya in south asia: people without a state. routledge india. comfort, r. (2016). fat chance: why pigs will fly before america has an atheist president. new leaf press. cury, e. (2019). contesting islamophobia and securing collective rights: muslim american advocacy in the 2016 elections. politics & religion, 12(4), 710–735. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1755048318000469 elonek, a., w. (2012). the dynamics of ethno-religious separatism in southern thailand. politeja, 20(1), 135. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24920051 el-sayed, a. (2013). images of muslims in western scholarship and media after 9/11. domes: digest of middle east studies, 22(1), 39–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/dome.12010 ersoy, m. (2017). implementing peace journalism in the media. peace review, 29(4), 458–466. https://doi.org/10.1080/10402659.2017.1381514 fadel, l. (2018). being muslim in america. national geographic, 42–77. http://eresources.perpusnas.go.id:2137/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=d97fedab-3d8d-4d94bd08-fa299b921baf%40sdc-vsessmgr03&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmu%3d#an=128757709&db=mth fair, c. c. (2018). rohingya: victims of a great game east. washington quarterly, 41(3), 63– 85. https://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2116/10.1080/0163660x.2018.1519356 flag, e., & hafez, f. (2019). islamophobia in muslim majority societies. routledge. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766515606293 https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13169/islastudj.4.1.0129 https://doi.org/10.13169/islastudj.5.1.0076 https://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2116/10.1177/0022002705284829 https://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2116/10.1177/0022002705284829 http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2137/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=363b8d62-44ea-43e1-982f-279a352f5d89%40sdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmu%3d#an=115850305&db=ufh http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2137/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=363b8d62-44ea-43e1-982f-279a352f5d89%40sdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmu%3d#an=115850305&db=ufh http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2137/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=363b8d62-44ea-43e1-982f-279a352f5d89%40sdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmu%3d#an=115850305&db=ufh https://doi.org/10.1017/s1755048318000469 https://www.jstor.org/stable/24920051 https://doi.org/10.1111/dome.12010 https://doi.org/10.1080/10402659.2017.1381514 http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2137/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=d97fedab-3d8d-4d94-bd08-fa299b921baf%40sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmu%3d#an=128757709&db=mth http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2137/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=d97fedab-3d8d-4d94-bd08-fa299b921baf%40sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmu%3d#an=128757709&db=mth http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2137/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=d97fedab-3d8d-4d94-bd08-fa299b921baf%40sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmu%3d#an=128757709&db=mth http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2137/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=d97fedab-3d8d-4d94-bd08-fa299b921baf%40sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmu%3d#an=128757709&db=mth https://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2116/10.1080/0163660x.2018.1519356 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 suntana, i. & tresnawaty, b., multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 11 gier. n. f. (2014). the origins of religious violence: an asian perspective. lexington books. gilks, m. (2020). the security-prejudice nexus: “islamist” terrorism and the structural logic of islamophobia in the uk. critical studies on terrorism, 13(1), 24–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2019.1650874 hafez, f. (2020). unwanted identities: the “religion line” and global islamophobia. development, 63(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-020-00241-5 haider, z. (2005). sino-pakistan relations and xinjiang’s uighurs: politics, trade, and islam along the karakoram highway. asian survey, 45(4), 522. https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2005.45.4.522 han, e. (2020). myanmar’s internal ethnic conflicts and their implications for china’s regional grand strategy. asian survey, 60(3), 466. https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2020.60.3.466 hollenbach, d. (2020). humanity in crisis : ethical and religious response to refugees. georgetown university press. holt, j. c. (2019). myanmar’s buddhist-muslim crisis : rohingya, arakanese, and burmese narratives of siege and fear. university of hawaii press. hoogeveen, s., snoek, l., & van elk, m. (2020). religious belief and cognitive conflict sensitivity: a preregistered fmri study. cortex, 129, 247–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2020.04.011 hussain, h. i., slusarczyk, b., started, f., thaker, h. m. t., woszczyna, s. k. (2020). an investigation of an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system to predict the relationship among energy intensity, globalization, and financial development in major asean economies. energies (19961073), 13(4), 850. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13040850 hutchcroft, p. (2018). mindanao: the long journey to peace and prosperity. co-published with world scientific. kathrin rupprecht. (2014). separatist conflicts in the asean region: comparing southern thailand and mindanao. aseas austrian journal of south-east asian studies, 7(1), 21– 40. https://doi.org/10.14764/10.aseas-2014.1-3 katz, e. b. (2018). an imperial entanglement: anti-semitism, islamophobia, and colonialism. american historical review, 123(4), 1190–1209. https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhy022 khan, m.h., adnan, h.m., kaur, s, khuhro, r.ali, asghar, r. & jabeen, s. (2019). muslims’ representation in donald trump’s anti-muslim-islam statement: a critical discourse analysis. religions, 10(2), 115. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10020115 kim, h. (2017). a complex crisis: the twisted roots of myanmar’s rohingya conflict. global asia, 12(3), 106–113. https://www.globalasia.org/v12no3/focus/a-complex-crisis-thetwisted-roots-of-myanmars-rohingya-conflict_hyuk-kim legionosuko, t., widjayanto, j., putra, i. n., susilo, a. k., & suharyo, o.s. (2020). the threats analysis of the islamic state network development in southeast asia region : case study of the border of indonesia, malaysia, thailand and the philippines. journal of defense resources management, 11(1), 77–88. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2019.1650874 https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-020-00241-5 https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2005.45.4.522 https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2020.60.3.466 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2020.04.011 https://doi.org/10.3390/en13040850 https://doi.org/10.14764/10.aseas-2014.1-3 https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhy022 https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10020115 https://www.globalasia.org/v12no3/focus/a-complex-crisis-the-twisted-roots-of-myanmars-rohingya-conflict_hyuk-kim https://www.globalasia.org/v12no3/focus/a-complex-crisis-the-twisted-roots-of-myanmars-rohingya-conflict_hyuk-kim journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 suntana, i. & tresnawaty, b., multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 12 lehr, p. (2018). militant buddhism: the rise of religious violence in sri lanka, myanmar and thailand (vol. 1st ed. 2019). palgrave macmillan. lewicki, a. (2017). the blind spots of liberal citizenship and integration policy. patterns of prejudice, 51(5), 375–395. https://doi.org/10.1080/0031322x.2017.1389350 liss, c., & biggs, t. (2017). piracy in southeast asia: trends, hot spots, and responses. routledge. luqiu, l. r., & yang, f. (2018). islamophobia in china: news coverage, stereotypes, and chinese muslims’ perceptions of themselves and islam. asian journal of communication, 28(6), 598–619. https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2018.1457063 ma, h. (2019). the anti-islamic movement in china. current trends in islamist ideology, 24, 39–54. https://www.hudson.org/research/15095-the-anti-islamic-movement-in-china massey, t., amrit, c., & van capelleveen, g. (2020). analysing the trend of islamophobia in blog communities using machine learning and trend analysis. proceedings of the european conference on information systems (ecis), 1. https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2020_rp/188/ mietzner, m. (2011). the political resurgence of the military in southeast asia : conflict and leadership. routledge. noor, f. a. (2006). how washington’s “war on terror” became everyone’s. islamophobia and the impact of september 11 on the political terrain of south and southeast asia. human architecture: journal of the sociology of self-knowledge, 5(1), 29–50. https://scholarworks.umb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1153&context=humanarchi tecture nur, i. & susanto. (2020). social conflict in indonesia: safeguarding a nation as a new approach for resolving national disintegration. journal of social studies education research, 11(2), 151-173. https://jsser.org/index.php/jsser/article/view/2315 of jack, g., & aung, s. m. t. (2017). the contentious politics of anti-muslim scapegoating in myanmar. journal of contemporary asia, 47(3), 353–375. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2017.1293133 orjuela, c. (2020). countering buddhist radicalisation: emerging peace movements in myanmar and sri lanka. third world quarterly, 41(1), 133–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2019.1660631 osman, b.m.m.n. (2017). understanding islamophobia in asia: the cases of myanmar and malaysia. journal of islamophobia studies, 4(1), 18–36. https://go.gale.com/ps/anonymous?id=gale%7ca524658412&sid=googlescholar&v= 2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=23258381&p=aone&sw=w poynting, s. (2020). “islamophobia kills”. but where does it come from? international journal for crime, justice & social democracy, 9(2), 74. https://doi.org/10.5204/ijcjsd.v9i2.1258 roose, j. m., & turner, b. s. (2019). islamophobia, science and the advocacy concept. society, 56(3), 210–221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-019-00357-6 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1080/0031322x.2017.1389350 https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2018.1457063 https://www.hudson.org/research/15095-the-anti-islamic-movement-in-china https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2020_rp/188/ https://scholarworks.umb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1153&context=humanarchitecture https://scholarworks.umb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1153&context=humanarchitecture https://jsser.org/index.php/jsser/article/view/2315 https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2017.1293133 https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2019.1660631 https://go.gale.com/ps/anonymous?id=gale%7ca524658412&sid=googlescholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=23258381&p=aone&sw=w https://go.gale.com/ps/anonymous?id=gale%7ca524658412&sid=googlescholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=23258381&p=aone&sw=w https://doi.org/10.5204/ijcjsd.v9i2.1258 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-019-00357-6 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 suntana, i. & tresnawaty, b., multidimensional social crisis and religious violence in southeast asia journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 13 safi, i̇. (2019). i̇slamofobiṅiṅ tariḣsel originṡ ve causeṡ üzeriṅe thoughts. electronic turkish studies, 14(2), 733–744. https://doi.org/10.7827/turkishstudies.14815 saidin, m.i.s., & yusoff, m.a. (2020). separatisme dan terorisme di asia tenggara: kajian kes gam, milf dan pulo. jebat: malaysian journal of history, politics & strategy, 47(2), 1– 22. shelley, l. (2005). the unholy trinity: transnational crime, corruption, and terrorism. the brown journal of world affairs, 11(2), 101. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24590550 simpson, m. (2014). terrorism and corruption. international journal of sociology, 44(2), 87– 104. https://doi.org/10.2753/ijs0020-7659440204 suleiman, o.y. & ishak, a.s. (2014). local media in global conflict: southeast asian newspapers and the politics of peace in israel/palestine. international journal of conflict & violence, 8(2), 284–295. https://doi.org/10.4119/ijcv-3060 tan, a. (2000). armed muslim separatist rebellion in southeast asia: persistence, prospects, and implications. studies in conflict & terrorism, 23(4), 267–288. https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100050174986 tench, r. (2020). religion and contemporary politics: a global encyclopedia. 2 vols. library journal, 145(2), 112–117. http://eresources.perpusnas.go.id:2137/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=c70df502-245c-4ca89fdf7eaaac0328d4%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmu%3d#an=14 1333367&db=lfh terman, r. (2017). islamophobia and media portrayals of muslim women: a computational text analysis of us news coverage. international studies quarterly, 61(3), 489–502. https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqx051 utomo, b.c. & wasino. (2020). an integrated teaching tolerance in learning history of indonesian national movement at higher education. journal of social studies education research, 11(2), 65-108. https://jsser.org/index.php/jsser/article/view/2471 warner, m., richard, a. b. & sacks, j. (2018). confronting religious violence: a counternarrative. baylor university press. yusuf, i. (2018). tree faces of the rohingya crisis: religious nationalism, asian islamophobia, and delegitimizing citizenship. studia islamika, 25(3), 503. http://eresources.perpusnas.go.id:2090/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb& an=133863085&site=eds-live https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.7827/turkishstudies.14815 https://www.jstor.org/stable/24590550 https://doi.org/10.2753/ijs0020-7659440204 https://doi.org/10.4119/ijcv-3060 https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100050174986 http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2137/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=c70df502-245c-4ca8-9fdf7eaaac0328d4%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmu%3d#an=141333367&db=lfh http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2137/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=c70df502-245c-4ca8-9fdf7eaaac0328d4%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmu%3d#an=141333367&db=lfh http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2137/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=c70df502-245c-4ca8-9fdf7eaaac0328d4%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmu%3d#an=141333367&db=lfh http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2137/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=c70df502-245c-4ca8-9fdf7eaaac0328d4%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=jnnpdgu9zwrzlwxpdmu%3d#an=141333367&db=lfh https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqx051 https://jsser.org/index.php/jsser/article/view/2471 http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2090/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&an=133863085&site=eds-live http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2090/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&an=133863085&site=eds-live http://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2090/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&an=133863085&site=eds-live journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 darchinian, f. et al. the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 52 the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal fahimeh darchinian*1, marie-odile magnan1 & roberta de oliveira soares1 *corresponding author: fahimeh.darchinian@umontreal.ca 1. université de montréal, montreal, canada received : 2021-05-21 revised : 2021-06-16 accepted : 2021-06-26 how to cite this paper: darchinian, f., magnan, m-o., & soares, r. d. o. (2021). the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 52-64. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.6 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ) abstract this paper presents the results of an empirical study of social relations from a critical race theory perspective crossed with the sociology of the life course. the objective of our study was to understand how social relations in quebec’s educational sphere, specifically in high school, construct fixed categories of racialized students in university. with the aim of discovering the underlying process of racialization of the students of racial backgrounds in educative sphere, the study analyzes the self-reported relational experiences of 10 university students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal. based on a narrative inquiry, the analysis of the retrospective life story interviews allowed to explain the complexity of the process of racialization in two categories of “complete racialization” and “incomplete racialization.” in the “completed racialization” category, negotiating domination relationships results in the construction of a racialized other. in the “incomplete racialization” category, the construction process is in progress. our study has shown that social relations in high school contribute to the construction of fixed black and latinx racialized groups. interpersonal relationships at school play a role in the racialization of students with immigrant backgrounds, and, although limited in scope, persistence in school may be a reversal strategy for their experiences of racism. keywords: racialization; turning points; educational sphere; youths with immigrant backgrounds. 10.46303/jcve.2021.6 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.6 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 darchinian, f. et al. the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 53 empirical and theoretical research background liberalism as a constitutive course of thought in the development of modern societies has resulted in the emergence of a white liberalism that has transformed the social contract into a racial contract. by relegating non-white citizens to inferior classes of people, this racial contract has contributed to the normalization of racism operating within the domains of institutional and interpersonal power (mills, 2014). in this hegemonic vision, the citizenship of inferiorized groups is truncated or rendered hollow compared with the full citizenship that privileged groups enjoy (mcall, 1999). thus, power relationships contribute to the construction of an other whose understanding of their personhood is reduced to certain identity markers, such as race, language and religion, allowing the dominant group to dehumanize and demonize otherness in the social sphere (dervin, 2016; donnor, 2021; ferris, 2019). so, social representation of inferiorized groups is generally reductive and stereotypical. the economic and societal changes resulting from the second world war confronted western societies like canada with ethnocultural pluralism. since the beginning of the second phase of modernity in the 1960s (beck et al., 1994), certain historical moments and the ensuing political discourses helped reinforce the minorization of internal foreign others, who were viewed as potential threats to the canadian nation-state’s social integrity. these discourses of national security shaped and consolidated the dominant group’s perception of these others as dangerous (dhamoon and abu-laban, 2009)—the francophone other and the indigenous other explicitly presented themselves as threats to the canadian nation-state. the 1970 october crisis, during which the front de libération du québec (quebec liberation front) kidnapped and later murdered the quebec minister of labour, contributed to entrenching the non-anglophone other as a threat to the canadian nation. as for canada’s indigenous peoples, they have experienced racism and oppression nationwide for hundreds of years, including in quebec. the oka crisis in the summer of 1990, during which the mohawks of kanesatake asserted their right to disputed land against the provincial and federal governments, and related protests took place in kahnawake on montréal’s south shore, further consolidated their status as the indigenous other, a stateless nation threatening, in this case, both canada and quebec. the minorization experienced by québécois as a nation historically inferiorized by the canadian nation-state has not encouraged the stateless nation to abolish its relationships to otherness with respect to certain groups of society, e.g. blacks, indigenous peoples, and social groups consisting of historically racialized people, including immigrants. it appears that their fragile situation as the only francophone province in english-speaking canada has led them to search for a québécois identity with exclusive strengths, reinforcing existing relationships to otherness (buckner et al., 2021; dorais, 2020; darchinian, 2018; breton, 2012, 2015; dhamoon, 2009;). the rhetoric of certain québécois writers and historians enables us to see that in quebec, denial of racism is historically constructed, and this denial has forged the underlying ideology of quebec institutions like school and the labour market. in his book, pierre vallières (1971) compared the people of quebec with black african-canadians (dhamoon and abu-laban, 2009). this comparison is part of the narrative schema of quebec’s white majority, which tends to minimize black people’s history of slavery, and deny the physical and cultural genocide of indigenous peoples in quebec’s past. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 darchinian, f. et al. the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 54 the quebec government has always relied on education to assure the normative underpinnings of society, such as the centrality of the french language and secularism. in the 1960s, a decade marked by the quiet revolution, quebec underwent major societal changes, including the secularization of public institutions and the introduction of bills imposing french as the language of instruction and communication (mc andrew et al., 2015; tremblay, 2012). in quebec, as in other modern pluralistic societies, education is a powerful vehicle for securing the dominant group’s privileged position. this structure can shape the teaching and intervention practices of school resource officers with decision-making power. these relational practices explain the inferiorization of the cultural differences of students from dominated groups compared with the dominant culture (punti & dingel, 2021; magnan et al., 2021; johnson and hinton, 2018;). from a critical race theory perspective, the hidden curriculum comes into play through social relations that inferiorize the cultural characteristics and physical traits of students from historically enslaved or colonized groups (morales & bardo, 2020; smith, 2020; jay, 2003). social relations of categorization also emerge in interactions between white and racialized students in school, when the latter feels inferiorized because of their physical traits, languages or religion (abawi, 2021; darchinian and magnan, 2020). in quebec, numerous empirical studies have highlighted the school performance of youths with immigrant backgrounds and their high rate of enrolment in postsecondary education (kamanzi, 2012). however, the predominance of arguments based on the overall positive picture of the educational system often obscures educational institutions’ role in structuring relationships of discrimination. a study by darchinian and kanouté (2020) brings to light the racism, linguicism and religious intolerance experienced by youths with immigrant backgrounds who have obtained a university diploma and found stable employment in the labour market. therefore, in this paper, we decided to examine the self-reported relational experiences of university students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal. using retrospective life stories, we analyzed their experience in high school, a critical time in their academic journey. to do so, we wanted to underscore the role that socialization in schools plays in constructing a racialized other. we explored moments of exclusion that the students in the study corpus faced while in high school and, if applicable, we analyzed how they coped with these moments, to assess the impact of high school life on their subsequent university education. theoretical framework to operationalize our study, we applied the concept of the racialized other from critical race theory to the concept of turning points, which are part of the sociology of the life course. this approach allowed us to analyze the racialization process during moments of questioning in the lives of the corpus youths. we understand racialization as a euromodern structuring process that contributes to entrenching white supremacy in social relations (donnor, 2021; smith, 2020; hesse, 2007). moreover, white supremacy, a key concept in critical race theory, is to white privilege what capitalism is to class privilege, and what the heteropatriarchy is to male and heterosexual privilege (bilge, 2020). thus, the racialization of students with immigrant backgrounds in the educational sphere may drive them toward a non-white space in ways they are not even aware of. furthermore, the racialization process can have real impacts on their social standing, after their time in school, in many spheres of society already stratified according to race, gender and social class. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 darchinian, f. et al. the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 55 we focused our analyses on the students’ experiences in high school, a period that generally coincides with a redefinition of youths’ relationships with the world and with others (galland, 2017). using an inductive approach, we immersed ourselves in the participants’ stories and discovered that experiences of exclusion had a structuring effect on their life courses overall. we explored the turning points that led them to redefine their identity and their relationship to the institution. we analyzed how the youths in the corpus perceived their interactions with peers, teachers, school staff and so on. the intelligibility of the turning points in their life courses (life course perspective) makes it possible to identify the social relations that shaped these individuals’ experiences in multiple social contexts, over a longitudinal time frame (bessin, 2019; mcdaniel and bernard, 2011; abbott, 1995). this vision explains the interactions between the various dimensions that structure a subject’s social life in different social contexts (family, school, work). according to bessin (2019), the association of affect-related turning points does not dissociate them from the rational processes of individual actions. so, these moments of questioning are crucial to understanding the social reality under study. irreversible and unpredictable, offensive events are constitutive of the rationality behind how individuals relate to social worlds. a sociological analysis of such moments of questioning involves how individuals negotiate the relationship to self and to others (bessin, 2019). this work of redefining the relationship to the world and the self plays a role in structuring the life course, connecting the past with the future, since individuals consider their past experiences and anticipate their future experiences at the same time. on the one hand, this vision makes it possible to go beyond the structure/agency dichotomy (human agency), because lived unforeseen events can reveal the effects of structural constraints (e.g., domination relationships) on an individual’s social destiny. on the other hand, since individuals become aware of their inferiorization with respect to the dominant group in these moments, they can take action to restructure their social destiny. this analytical approach led us to choose narrative inquiry as our methodology, allowing us to identify turning points in the stories told (connelly and clandinin, 1990). with narrative inquiry, the lived experience, as told, is central to data analysis (berger and luckmann, 1967). analyzing stories exposes the connection between experiences and social events. the narrative constitution of subjectivity establishes a time dimension where the past and the future penetrate the present. lived experiences can only be understood through individuals’ interpretations and reinterpretations of their lives, whether concordant or discordant (bruner, 1987). a hermeneutic reading is therefore made, which views individuals’ existence and the stories they tell about their lives as inseparable (ricoeur, 1985). methodology life story interviews, which are well suited for studying subjectivity and intersubjectivity (van manen, 2016) is a key component of critical studies. this method makes it possible to produce empirical knowledge from the views of racialized groups often excluded from mainstream discourse (dei, 2013). we therefore focused on collecting the students’ words through qualitative interviews. the participants were recruited based on the following inclusion criteria: both of their parents were immigrants born in the west indies, sub-saharan africa or latin america; they attended high school in quebec; they were enrolled in an undergraduate program in montréal, quebec; https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 darchinian, f. et al. the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 56 and they were 19 to 35 years of age. various recruitment techniques were used, including the use of the facebook platform via student groups, sending a recruitment notice to undergraduate program managers, snowball technique, etc. a total of 10 interviews were conducted with university students. six of the students had parents who were born in haiti; one, in argentina; two, in different countries, i.e. costa rica and jamaica, and honduras and el salvador. the corpus consists of 10 women. eight were born in quebec, and two came to quebec while in primary school. six had at least one parent with a university diploma, one had at least one parent with a college diploma, and three had at least one parent with a high school diploma. it was only a coincidence that the participants were only women because the baseline study was not about gender and this aspect did not often emerge in the interviews. it should be noted that in the canadian and quebec context, women represent the majority in higher education, which explains their over-representation here. in accordance with the guidelines of université de montréal’s comité plurifacultaire d’éthique de la recherche (multifaculty committee on research ethics), in this paper, pseudonyms are used to refer to participants. in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted (bertaux 2010) lasting between 90 and 120 minutes. this data-collection method allowed the students’ point of view on the effects of environment and school interactions on their experience to be documented a posteriori. we conducted single lengthy interviews to cover the life story of respondents from birth to university. the interviews were recorded and transcribed in their entirety. in the process of analyzing the structuring effects of turning points on the study corpus youths’ social destiny, we combined and contextualized their stories (veith, 2004). through multiple stages of analysis (listening to the interviews again, using nvivo software, summarizing the life courses in tables), we first sought to understand the internal coherence of each story within the family and school context, then we combined the stories to reveal the underlying social complexity of the experiences. lastly, we attempted to explain how individual strategies relate to social determinants. findings and discussion our analyses allowed us to find, in the stories, the social determinants structuring the youths’ school and social destiny, and establish how they negotiated these determinants. we take social determinants to mean the structural and individual dimensions emerging from their accounts. of the many possible dimensions, we emphasized those that were omnipresent and that explained our corpus’s school and social reality: racializing ideology in quebec educational institutions that translates into the inferiorization of the students’ phenotypic traits and cultural characteristics during day-to-day school interactions (principal-student, teacher-student, student-student), and that transpires through an educational organization built on the predominance of white teachers in primary and secondary schools. the participants’ discursive self-representations evoke an image of young women who have been persistent and high-performing from primary school to university, and who sought to redefine their social destiny by acquiring substantial academic capital, including a university diploma. they do not form a homogeneous group, as they did not have the same experiences or interpret domination relationships the same way. nevertheless, their persistence in school over their entire life courses can be viewed as a reversal strategy for their experiences of racism https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 darchinian, f. et al. the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 57 (hall, 1997). these young women appear to have implemented this strategy to free themselves from the weight of racialization that they experienced in day-to-day school life that their parents experienced in many spheres of society, and that their group has experienced throughout the history of modernity and colonialism (mills, 2014). by combining the stories of these 10 young women, their social determinants and their work of subjectivation, we were able to employ two categories to explain their reality: “completed racialization,” which included six women in the corpus, and “incomplete racialization,” which encompassed the other four. note that no typological separation exists between the two categories. in fact, a relative similarity was observed between the social conditions underlying all the participants’ experiences. both categories are distinguished by the relatively distinct reception of domination relationships due to the heterogeneity of the relational experiences. generally speaking, in the “completed racialization” category, negotiating domination relationships results in the construction of a racialized other. in the “incomplete racialization” category, the construction process is in progress. in the following paragraphs, we explain these categories with excerpts from the young women’s stories. completed racialization in this category, the racialization process is complete, so the subjectivation of relationships of racism has produced fixed categories of racialized individuals. the combination of six corpus students’ representations of their moments of questioning made it possible for us to place them in this category: four students of haitian origin born in quebec, one student of haitian origin who came to quebec at the age of admission to high school, and one student of mexican origin who came to quebec in kindergarten. turning point intensity participates in the revelation of domination structures and how they operate. the individual interprets, negotiates and calls into question racializing structures and practices, on the one hand, and accepts their racialization, i.e., identifies as black or latinx, on the other. allow us to elucidate these conceptual interpretations with highlights from two life courses in this category. gadine is a student of haitian origin who was born in montréal. her high school experiences reveal how domination relationships operate through the racial representation of historically racialized individuals’ phenotypic characteristics (hall, 1997). such a representation is made through the practices of school players in positions of power, the school principal in this case, or through the day-to-day interactions between peers which may, wrongly, seem insignificant. this experience is a turning point in gadine’s life course; she becomes aware of her subordination within the school’s, and even society’s, network of relations [translation]: but in high school, you start to see, like, how people are kind of mean. i remember this one guy who would always make fun of my hair. he was like, “oh my god, your hair is —.” i remember, like, in high school, like, sometimes i would often wear like a bandanna, just because sometimes my hair was not brushed properly, so it was sort of to stop this from happening. i remember once, one of my guinean friends had one, and the principal, there was a student monitor who forced her to take it off, and he was like, “ah, if you don’t take it off, you can’t write your exam.” so then i thought, ok, but what does one thing have to do with the other? i was like, ok, i’m sure they told her that just because, like, she was black, because i saw lots of white people at my school wearing a red bandanna, and no one ever told them not to. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 darchinian, f. et al. the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 58 indeed, during these moments of questioning, gadine relates her experience with racism to her immigrant parents’ experiences: my parents faced, like, certain difficulties, because i know that sometimes, like, at my dad’s work or, like, sometimes my mom’s, because they… sometimes, there are people, it’s a little like they insult them because, like, they’re black. recognizing her stereotypification significantly shapes gadine’s perception in that, she notices her teachers’ attitude. on the one hand, i believe they didn’t really have a choice, because when i think about it, most of my teachers were québécois, but i think they didn’t have a choice because, like, the school was, like, all immigrants, but i don’t know if there are some who maybe, like, weren’t… thus, she perceives the non-discriminatory attitude of primary school teachers as a non-choice as opposed to an inclusive attitude. so, the dominance of white-majority teachers prevents her from receiving their attitude positively, because their position as white subjects is opposed to her position as a black subject. gadine studies biopharmaceutical sciences at a montréal university. she is determined to continue with pharmacy studies. she is a social agent mobilizing all her resources to reverse her experiences of racism. gadine places those experiences in continuity with her community’s collective experiences; she becomes a racialized other (dervin, 2016; mills, 2008), a black woman who will have to fight her whole life like all haitians. because, like, even if i can’t really, like, relate to all the struggles that people have in haiti, but, like, i know that it’s a part of me, and i recognize, like, all the suffering, like that they have, and, like, it feels like their suffering is kind of my suffering, even if it isn’t totally, because, admittedly, i like it here in canada and everything, so i could never, like, really understand their struggles, but, like, i know that they are a strong people, a proud people, despite, like, all the suffering, like the earthquake, the hurricanes, all the difficulties that, like… farnelle, a student of haitian origin who was born in montréal, also experienced challenges that illustrate a completed racialization process. starting in grade school, the way that students with immigrant backgrounds and white québécois pupils were treated differently had a lasting effect on her [translation]: i remember that the daycare educators reacted relatively well. however, i have the impression that when children were unruly, sometimes their approaches were a little more different. i have the impression that their pedagogical approaches were very different depending on whether the boisterous children were french-canadian or racialized. i noticed this difference in treatment. however, in high school, her difference became even more obvious to her. surrounded by white peers and teachers, her skin colour sparked a dual existence: a self-seeking security by adopting the cultural traits of the white majority vs. a self who could identify with her own racial group. so, she adopted a québécois accent to avoid inferiorization. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 darchinian, f. et al. the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 59 i have the impression that i changed a little in that respect, in the sense that i would use certain expressions with my immigrant friends that i no longer used, that i wouldn’t dare use with my québécois friends, because i was afraid that they would question me about what they were, and those expressions, and also about, that’s it, so i was a little afraid and… i really became aware that i was different in high school, because i was the only black girl, and i also noticed that there were certain behaviours that i didn't display because i was socializing with my white québécois friends. for example, the language i used, the way i communicated, when i was in grade school, i didn’t speak quebec french at all, like québécois, but in high school. i think it’s normal, it’s really due to that. i started to speak with a very, very thick québécois accent. farnelle’s parents share her fear, having experienced racism in their relationships with the dominant group in the labour market, where the weight of racializing ideology appears heavier than in the rest of canada. political trends are promoting or producing bills that fuel xenophobia. for example, farnelle and her parents perceived themselves as directly targeted by political parties pushing for bills which angered minority groups. my parents faced discrimination. sometimes, they were more critical about certain legislation, but i know that, for both my parents, their political ideologies are very similar, they lean toward a more liberal ideology. they support the liberal party a lot more than the parti québécois, the caq or the other parties than they did before. i don’t know, maybe it’s because the ideas, the political projects, the ideas that are presented by that party suit them better, or maybe it’s just easier, i don’t know. sometimes, i wonder if they really looked into these political ideologies. maybe they’re considering another party just to see what they’re proposing and maybe what could be of interest to them, i don’t know if it’s also because of trends, because i know that it’s not the first time that we hear, well, that the liberal party is a party that ethnocultural communities join a lot more, so yes. a horizontal analysis of her life course shows remarkable persistence in school in spite of the challenges that she faced. she is currently in university to obtain a bachelor’s degree in a field related to immigration and the issues associated with it. farnelle is a resilient, critical subject who took control of her destiny. she was born black, but during socialization in high school and at a specific turning point, she realized that she had long been afraid of the colour of her own skin and her own behaviour, and that she felt the need to hide her phenotypic and ethnocultural characteristics. from then on, she no longer feared being black. she developed several personal projects and is now an activist in an association that shares antiracist and anticolonial knowledge. the accounts of the participants in this category show how relationships of racism are perpetuated by a hierarchy of biological features and cultural characteristics (hesse, 2007). the school space becomes a political space that, through implicit socialization, reminds students of minority groups of their historically subordinate situation. incomplete racialization in this category, the racialization process is not complete, so the subjectivation of relationships of racism has not necessarily produced fixed categories of racialized individuals. the https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 darchinian, f. et al. the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 60 combination of the corpus students’ representations made it possible to pinpoint when they were expressing moments of questioning resulting in incomplete racialization: one student of costa rican origin born in quebec, one student of haitian origin born in quebec, one student of honduran origin born in quebec and one student of argentinian origin born in quebec. it appears that because the turning points were more moderate, the process of constructing a racialized other was slower. the youths in this category also became aware of their racial difference through subjective challenges within the turning points, but negotiating these experiences has not yet led them to firm racial self-identification. our analysis of their representations also made it possible to uncover the omnipresence of certain dimensions, such as the predominance of white teachers in schools and inferiorizing relations in day-to-day life at school. note that the youths in this category are also resilient subjects who, through enrolment in university and persistence in school, are seeking to secure their social standing after high school. allow us to elucidate these conceptual interpretations with highlights from a few life courses. debora is a student who was born in montréal. her mother is from honduras and her father is from el salvador. she is a resilient subject who has worked hard her entire life course. our analysis of her representations of moments of questioning in high school revealed mixed experiences. she began to notice that her québécois peers explicitly or implicitly inferiorized her and her friends with immigrant backgrounds. the racialized other is constructed either through the inferiorization of phenotypic characteristics or distancing [translation]: i’ve seen that, especially in high school, girls are meaner. for example, some québécois girls would say mean things about immigrant girls’ bodies, because we may have a different body type. it wasn’t very nice. the québécois girls kept to themselves. then in high school, i became more aware that cliques were forming. there weren’t many latinxs, but there were a few. we knew each other well. there were a lot of arab students—moroccan girls, algerian too—but i didn’t see, say, the québécois girls try to become part of our group. because i’ve had many algerian, moroccan friends, and i got along super well with them. i still remember it, and i still have algerian and moroccan friends who go to university with me now, they’re my friends from high school. like, i get along with them really well. during these moments of questioning, the individual’s reflexivity reaches its peak, and the experience of categorization is actively in dialogue with other life course determinants. so, when debora recalls her teachers rather welcoming attitude, her feeling of being inferiorized subsides. however, she noted that they were all white-majority teachers. the teachers were really, really nice. i remember one who helped me very, very, very much, because she knew that i was having, like, more difficulty. she helped me very, very, very much, and i know that the neighbourhood was pretty underprivileged. it’s not a rich, rich, rich neighbourhood, but the teachers were all québécois. and yet, this fairly positive reception of her interpersonal relationships with her teachers does not prevent the subject from joining the racialized other social groups, even though she falls under a less fixed category compared with the completed racialization category, where the participants’ perception of the dominant group is not positive at all. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 darchinian, f. et al. the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 61 i know that i was born here, but, like, people say, for example, people say, “where are you from?” i say, “i’m latina.” “but you speak french?” “yes, because i was born in montréal.” i don’t know why, but it’s more natural for me, maybe because i am in fact close with my family, i only speak spanish with my family, and with my parents as well. my mother only speaks to me in spanish. but with my brother, for example, it changes; i speak in french with my brother. debora studies biochemistry at a montréal university. she chose this program to be able to study medicine. at the time of the interview, she told us that she had reached the required threshold for the medical program. it appears that in the “incomplete racialization” category, the determinative effect of othering was partially offset by moments during which the youths perceived themselves as uncategorized. often, teachers’ inclusive attitude defined these experiences. however, to us, if certain teachers have a different attitude, it appears to be for personal reasons and not the result of institutional practices. as mentioned, the same structural dimensions are constitutive of the youths’ life courses in this category. conclusion the objective of this paper was to understand how social relations in quebec’s educational sphere, specifically in high school, construct fixed categories of racialized students in university. our analyses showed that these relations emerge and materialize through the categorization and even inferiorization of students with immigrant backgrounds, within teaching and intervention practises and during informal interpersonal interactions (teacher-student; student-student). inferiorizing relations also develop through educational organization, i.e. the demographic predominance of white teachers in an environment where the majority of students is non-white. note that racialization targets not only the students’ phenotypic features, such as skin colour, but also language and ethnocultural characteristics. we believe these youths become aware of their subordinate situation and their racialization at the specific and irreversible moments when these relational experiences occur. they are turning points that unleash their interpretation and negotiation repertoire on many elements of the past and the future. their representations of these elements reveal how they relate their racialization experiences to the discrimination that their parents have faced, society’s political discourses and trends, as well as their fears about their social future as racialized individuals. they make up a heterogenous group in how they receive and negotiate relationships of racism. they are a heterogenous group of social agents who have attempted to free themselves from the weight of racialization through enrolment in university. thus, our study highlights how educational institutions in modern and pluralistic societies like quebec are in fact political spaces that reproduce relationships of racism and perpetuate the process of constructing racialized others, targeting students belonging to historically racialized groups in particular—despite quebec policies that value ethnocultural diversity and aim for the inclusion of groups with immigrant backgrounds (ministère de l’éducation et de l’enseignement supérieur, 2017). however, the originality of our study lies in our emphasis on the irreversibility of turning points in high school, i.e. moments when the subjectivation of relationships of racism result in their objectivation, because from that point on, youths are no longer students with https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 darchinian, f. et al. the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 62 immigrant backgrounds, but blacks, latinxs. this realization is crucial, because it shows how powerful the racialization process is and how it can even weaken the youths’ reversal strategies for their experiences of racism. in other words, even though their strategies for reversing their experiences of racism, in conjunction with the practices of an educational system that is successful in terms of academic achievement, led them to university, their status as non-white subjects has not changed. on the contrary, it has been reinforced. more research is required to uncover how educational institutions, with their neoliberal practices, entrench the process of racializing students with immigrant backgrounds. references abawi, z. (2021). race (ing) to the top: interrogating the underrepresentation of bipoc education leaders in ontario public schools. journal of higher education policy and leadership studies, 2(1), 80-92. abbott, a. (1995). sequence analysis : new methods for old ideas. annual review of sociology, 21(1), 93–113. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.so.21.080195.000521 beck, u., giddens, a., and lash, s. (1994). reflexive modernization: politics, tradition and aesthetics in the modern social order. stanford university press. berger, p. l., and luckmann, t. (1967). the social construction of reality: a treatise in the sociology of knowledge. anchor. bertaux, d. (2010). life stories. paris, armand colin. bessin, m. (2019). troublé, affecté, transporté : les émotions au principe de l’événement (troubled, affected, transported: the emotions at the heart of events). in l. amiottesuchet and m. salzbrunn, l’événement (im)prévisible : mobilisations politiques et dynamiques religieuses (the (un)predictable event: religious political and dynamic mobilization) (p. 47–77). dédales. https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03007708 bilge, s. (2020). précision conceptuelle sur la suprématie blanche (conceptual clarity on white supremacy). https://profsirmabilge.medium.com/. https://profsirmabilge.medium.com/pr%c3%a9cision-conceptuelle-sur-lasupr%c3%a9matie-blanche-4ca4746bfd01 breton, c. (2012). priming national identity and its impact on attitudes towards immigration and multiculturalism [research report]. british columbia university. breton, c. (2015). making national identity salient : impact on attitudes toward immigration and multiculturalism. canadian journal of political science / revue canadienne de science politique, 48(2), 357–381. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0008423915000268 bruner, j. (1987). life as narrative. social research, 54(1), 11-32. buckner, e., lumb, p., jafarova, z., kang, p., marroquin, a., & zhang, y. (2021). diversity without race: how university internationalization strategies discuss international students. journal of international students, 11(s1), 32-49. connelly, f. m., and clandinin, d. j. (1990). stories of experience and narrative inquiry. educational researcher, 19(5), 2–14. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x019005002 darchinian, f. (2018). les parcours d’orientation linguistique postsecondaire et professionnelle : l’expérience de jeunes adultes issus de l’immigration à montréal (postsecondary and vocational linguistic career paths: the experience of young adults of immigrant background in montréal) [doctoral thesis, université de montréal]. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.so.21.080195.000521 https://profsirmabilge.medium.com/pr%c3%a9cision-conceptuelle-sur-la-supr%c3%a9matie-blanche-4ca4746bfd01 https://profsirmabilge.medium.com/pr%c3%a9cision-conceptuelle-sur-la-supr%c3%a9matie-blanche-4ca4746bfd01 https://doi.org/10.1017/s0008423915000268 https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x019005002 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 darchinian, f. et al. the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 63 https://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1866/20057/darchinian_fa himeh_2018_these.pdf darchinian, f., and kanouté, f. (2020). parcours postsecondaires et professionnels et rapports de pouvoir au québec : discours de jeunes adultes issus de l’immigration (postsecondary and career orientation paths and power relations in quebec: discourses of young adults from an immigrant background). revue des sciences de l’éducation (journal of educational studies), 46(2), 69–92. https://doi.org/10.7202/1073719ar darchinian, f., and magnan, m.-o. (2020). boundaries through the prism of post-secondary and professional orientation : the views of young québec adults of immigrant background. journal of ethnics and cultural studies, 7(2), 50–67. dei, g. s. (2013). reframing critical anti-racist theory (cart) for contemporary times. counterpoints, 445, 1-14. dervin, f. (2016). discourses of othering. in f. dervin, interculturality in education (p. 43–55). palgrave pivot. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54544-2_4 dhamoon, r. (2009). identity/difference politics : how difference is produced, and why it matters. ubc press. dhamoon, r., and abu-laban, y. (2009). dangerous (internal) foreigners and nation-building : the case of canada. international political science review, 30(2), 163–183. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512109102435 donnor, j. k. (2021). white fear, white flight, the rules of racial standing and whiteness as property: why two critical race theory constructs are better than one. educational policy, 35(2), 259-273. dorais, g. (2020). racisme anti-noir et suprématie blanche au québec: déceler le mythe de la démocratie raciale dans l’écriture de l’histoire nationale (anti-black racism and white supremacy in quebec: exposing the myth of racial democracy in the writing of national history). bulletin d’histoire politique (political history bulletin), 29(1), 136– 161. https://doi.org/10.7202/1074210ar galland, o. (2017). sociologie de la jeunesse (sociology of youth) (6th ed.). gallimard. ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion. journal of culture and values in education, 2(3), 25-43. hall, s. (1997). the spectacle of the other. in s. hall (ed.), representation : cultural representations and signifying practices (p. 223–290). sage publications. hesse, b. (2007). racialized modernity : an analytics of white mythologies. ethnic and racial studies, 30(4), 643–663. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870701356064 jay, m. (2003). critical race theory, multicultural education, and the hidden curriculum of hegemony. multicultural perspectives, 5(4), 3–9. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327892mcp0504_2 johnson, c. s., and hinton, h. (2018). a morality of inclusion : a theoretical argument for culturally consonant character education. curriculum and teaching dialogue, 20(1–2), 73–87. kamanzi, p. (2012). l’emprise des titres scolaires sur l’emploi chez les membres de minorités visibles : comparaison entre le québec et l’ontario (the impact of educational titles on employment among visible minorities: a comparison between quebec and https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1866/20057/darchinian_fahimeh_2018_these.pdf https://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1866/20057/darchinian_fahimeh_2018_these.pdf https://doi.org/10.7202/1073719ar https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54544-2_4 https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512109102435 https://doi.org/10.7202/1074210ar https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870701356064 https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327892mcp0504_2 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 darchinian, f. et al. the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 64 ontario). recherches sociographiques (sociographic research), 53(2), 315–336. https://doi.org/10.7202/1012403ar magnan, m.-o., collins, t., darchinian, f., kamanzi, p. c., and valade, v. (2021). student voices on social relations of race in québec universities. race ethnicity and education, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2021.1890564 mc andrew, m., balde, a., bakhshaei, m., tardif-grenier, k., audet, g., armand, f., guyon, s., ledent, j., lemieux, g., potvin, m., rahm, j., vatz laaroussi, m., carpentier, a., and rousseau, c. (2015). la réussite éducative des élèves issus de l’immigration : dix ans de recherche et d’intervention au québec (the educational success of students with immigrant backgrounds: ten years of research and intervention in quebec). les presses de l’université de montréal. mcall, c. (1999). l’état des citoyens et la liberté du marché (the state of citizens and market freedom). sociologie et sociétés (sociology and societies), 31(2), 27–40. https://doi.org/10.7202/001486ar mcdaniel, s., and bernard, p. (2011). life course as a policy lens: challenges and opportunities. canadian public policy, 37 (supplement 1), s1–s13. https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.37.suppl.s1 mills, c. w. (2008). racial liberalism. pmla, 123(5), 1380–1397. https://doi.org/10.1632/pmla.2008.123.5.1380 mills, c. w. (2014). the racial contract. cornell university press. ministère de l’éducation et de l’enseignement supérieur (department of education and higher education). (2017). policy on educational success: a love of learning, a chance to succeed. gouvernement du québec. http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/psg/politiques_ori entations/politique_reussite_educative_10juillet_a_1.pdf morales, j., & bardo, n. (2020). narratives of racial reckoning: oppression, resistance, and inspiration in english classrooms. journal of culture and values in education, 3(2), 138157. punti, g., & dingel, m. (2021). rethinking race, ethnicity, and the assessment of intercultural competence in higher education. education sciences, 11(3), 110. ricoeur, p. (1985). history as narrative and practice. philosophy today, 29(3), 213-222. https://doi.org/10.5840/philtoday1985293/44 smith, a. n. (2020). critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy. journal of culture and values in education, 3(1), 52-71. tremblay, s. (2012). frontières ethniques, citoyenneté et écoles religieuses « séparées » : une cartographie des enjeux théoriques (ethnic boundaries, citizenship and “separate” faith schools: mapping theoretical issues). social compass, 59(1), 69–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/0037768611432127 vallières, p. (1971). white nof america. mcclelland and stewart. van manen, m. (2016). researching lived experience : human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. routledge. veith, b. (2004). de la portée des récits de vie dans l’analyse des processus globaux (the impact of life histories in the analysis of global processes). bulletin de méthodologie sociologique. bulletin of sociological methodology, 84, 49–61. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.7202/1012403ar https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2021.1890564 https://doi.org/10.7202/001486ar https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.37.suppl.s1 https://doi.org/10.1632/pmla.2008.123.5.1380 http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/psg/politiques_orientations/politique_reussite_educative_10juillet_a_1.pdf http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/psg/politiques_orientations/politique_reussite_educative_10juillet_a_1.pdf https://doi.org/10.5840/philtoday1985293/44 https://doi.org/10.1177/0037768611432127 journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 34 from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain peter ndiangui * florida gulf coast university *corresponding author: pndiangui@fgcu.edu received : 2019-10-28 rev. req. : 2019-12-10 accepted : 2020-01-24 how to cite this paper: ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain. journal of culture and values in education. 4(1), 34-48. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.5 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract building an enabling scientific community of educated or professional people is a growing focus for many american cities. the retention of home-grown graduates increases the intellectual capacity in a region. arising from technology-driven accelerated growth, the geographical mobility of young skilled workers has become a key issue in recent studies, attracting the attention of both academics and policymakers. the purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that influence the retention or draining of graduates from a mid-sized higher education instruction’s child and youth studies (cys), an innovative transformational educational program. the program is focused on developing a socially entrepreneurial mindset on the part of the learner. the study is also aimed at identifying how urban areas in southwest florida would work toward retaining a large pool of young innovative graduates and enjoy the benefits of smart growth. the data for the study was collected by sending out a survey to 115 current students or those who are about to graduate. the selected 50 (43.5%) participated in the study by completing the survey. the data was analyzed using several descriptive statistics. several retention factors were identified. they included socio-economic and recreational factors. the research found that the majority of the graduates left not just because it was not easy to find competitive-paying jobs in the region but rather because of lack of awareness of the availability. other significant factors included inadequate housing, lack of support for their entrepreneurial incubators, and poor public transport. it was also evident that a large number of potential local employers were not aware of the benefits of hiring the cys graduates. greater involvement of college students and recent graduates in the community projects would increase retention. it is proposed that each of the sw florida cities should develop policies that will make them more attractive to the graduates. they should also identify ways of increasing awareness of opportunities available for the graduates in the region. 10.46303/jcve.2020.5 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.5 journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 35 keywords: retention, brain drain, brain gain introduction according to reports from the population reference bureau (prb), demographic data has shown that florida state is the undisputed ultimate retirement destination. this is largely because, over the years, florida was (and still is) the leading state in attracting an ageing population (himes, 2003). it leads in the states with the highest percentage of ageing inbound migrants. more than 2.8 million people (17.6% of the total population) are over the age of 65, and the rate of increase of this ageing population is the highest in the country. whereas this is seen as good in the fact that the state gets a lot of “old money,” several studies (florida, 2016; lima, 2014; schmidt, 1998) have concluded that, in order to have smart growth, every region should strive to attract a younger, more technologically savvy population. the growth of a significant proportion of the population comprised of college graduates is often associated with accelerated economic growth. it has also been noted that it is economically beneficial to retain those graduating from colleges located in the region (lima, 2014). in order to have smart growth, it is important for regions to have policies to retain the students graduating from colleges located in the region. such policies should be geared toward controlling the talent drain from the region. the term “talent drain” is used as synonymous with the movement of talented human capital, where the net flow of expertise is heavily in one direction (salt, 1997). this paper investigates the factors that may influence the retention in southwest (sw) florida of graduates from the child and youth studies (cys) studies program at a public university in sw florida. the research findings will be used to make recommendations on ways and means in which the sw florida community could increase the retention of graduates of the very innovative cys program in the university’s college of education. this is largely because, in several parts of the developed world, universities and colleges have served as major catalysts of the economic development of cities and metro areas (florida, 2016). for example, stanford is often credited as the innovative spur to the silicon valley, and mit is seen as a catalyst for startups and high technology in and around greater boston. retaining graduates from local colleges should therefore be a priority for forward-looking cities. studies have shown that having a large group of graduates in any economy is in itself a stimulant to economic growth (moretti, 2004). according to one study, the average bachelor’s degree holder contributes $278,000 more to local economies than the average high school graduate through direct spending over the course of his or her lifetime. an associate degree holder contributes $81,000 more than a high school graduate (rothwell, 2015). in the last two decades, many states have developed programs that support local students with the hope that they will stay in the state upon graduation. since georgia introduced its hope scholarship in 1993, several states have followed with similar programs (groen, 2004). in 1997, florida developed its bright futures scholarship program to emulate its northern neighbor. bright futures originally disbursed just over 42,000 scholarships for about $70 million. at the program's peak in 2008, it provided scholarships to 39 percent of florida high school graduates. like in many other states, bright future scholarships are awarded to state residents on the basis of academic achievement, as https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 36 measured by high school grades and standardized test scores. the primary objective of these merit-aid programs is to develop and retain college-educated workers in a state. this goal is based on two factors: first, evidence from cities suggests that the overall education level of an area increases the wages of all workers in the area (moretti, 2004) and contributes to economic growth (glaeser, scheinkman, & shleifer, 1995). also, college graduates earn more and therefore pay higher taxes to the state. second, academically talented students often attend college outside their home state. a perception in many states is that talented students leave the state for college and do not return (schmidt, 1998). traditionally, there has been a tendency of young graduates who complete their studies in a region to venture outside their college locations and seek their fortunes elsewhere (lima, 2014). there is also a tendency of them returning home at middle age. over the past decade or so, cities and metro areas across the united states have greatly increased their efforts to retain college graduates (florida, 2016). this is largely because the graduates who have already lived in the region have developed it as a sense of place and are more likely to settle down easily. during this period of rapidly changing technology and innovativeness, college graduates are a key driver of innovation and economic development due to their adaptability to change. similarly, most americans are much more likely to move in their mid-to-late twenties, so the metro areas that hang on to more of their college graduates stand to gain a long-run advantage (florida, 2016). review of the literature this paper adopts the approach of many other researchers who have been highlighted in this literature review. in the available literature, it is noted that some cities within which colleges are located are better off in attracting and retaining the local graduates than others. rothwell (2015) conducted a study to determine the ability of a city or region to retain graduates. the likability criteria used in determining the attractiveness of a city for a graduate are jobs, affordability, and livability. melton (2014) noted that the top three cities for college graduates are madison, wisconsin, lincoln, nebraska, and minneapolis, minnesota. the worst cities for college graduates are located in california, florida, and throughout the northeast. it should be noted that popular destinations for college graduates such as new york, san francisco, los angeles, seattle, denver, and austin were not at the top of the list due to their lack of affordability for those just starting their careers (florida, 2016). for the third straight year, u.s. news and world report has placed florida as the top state in the nation when it comes to higher education (u.s. news, 2019). according to the publication’s website, those rankings include analysis of “the shares of citizens in each state holding a college degree, as well as the time it takes students to complete both twoand four-year college programs, the cost of in-state tuition and fees, and the burden of debt that college graduates carry.” public institutions of higher learning are integral parts of the community in which they are located. besides being bastions of local knowledge creation, universities increase local human https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 37 capital (winters, 2011), a factor routinely found to directly increase economic growth. the production of highly qualified personnel is in itself a stimulant of economic growth and development. college grads are a key driver of innovation and economic development and are closely connected to the wealth and affluence of cities and metro areas (florida, 2016). many researchers have noted the high correlation between regional economic growth and higher educational attainment, which can be observed in the recent rise of metropolitan areas like san jose, austin, washington d.c., and boulder (glaeser, scheinkman, & shleifer, 1995; moretti, 2004; schmidt, 1998). consequently, many regions have set up aggressive programs for the retention of graduates from local universities. this study focuses on the retention of graduates from a much-needed program in the region in which the college is located. it is part of the studies with retention as a theme. the majority of the studies (noble, 2008) on retention tend to focus on students in college and employees in an organization. the majority of them have identified variables found to influence undergraduate retention. the main factors identified include academic preparation. bean (1980) stressed the importance of background characteristics including academic preparation prior to attending college or university. the quality of a student’s prior instruction and his or her preparedness for collegelevel work can significantly influence whether or not a student will succeed at an institution of higher education. academic engagement and connection to the academic life of an institution has been related to undergraduate retention (retention study group, 2004). an encouraging climate that promotes positive faculty-student interactions, as well as taking advantage of resources that promote academic success such as learning centers, tutorials, and office hours, have been demonstrated to positively influence retention (habley, 2004; wyckoff, 1998). this is in addition to academic support services that are linked to everyday learning in the classrooms of credit-bearing courses; the more likely students are to engage the services, the more likely they are to succeed (tinto, 2004). social engagement during college was also identified as an important factor that influenced retention. hone and el said (2016) noted that the students who were more involved in student activities that went beyond the college boundaries tended to understand the community better and were more likely to be retained. dickinson and perry (2002) observed that the graduates who were more likely to stay in a region had either worked or volunteered in the local organizations and become part of the community. they also noted that if students simply go to class and then go home without engaging in campus activities, they are less likely to be retained. for over 30 years, researchers and practitioners have been stressing the importance of successful social integration for student success. the establishment of friendships with peers, the development of mentors, and connections to faculty members have been identified as important factors for student integration (swail, 2004). the retention of graduates in the region in which the college is located is influenced by similar factors. for instance, sung-hyun cho (2012) noted that the retention of nurses who grew up, graduated, and worked in the same region accounted for the greatest proportion (54 percent). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 38 sixty-five percent had their first employment in the region where they graduated. nurses tended to move from poor to rich regions and from non-metropolitan to metropolitan areas. several studies have focused on the issues of brain drain and retention of graduates. winters (2011) observed that after graduation, many recent in-migrants tend to move back to a previous location or to a new location. however, in places where good connections were made with future employers during the course of their studies, many graduates prefer to stay in the region where they studied. it is also a concern of city leaders in many parts of the country. cities like boston have made the ability to attract and retain college graduates an important public policy issue (lima, 2014). a preoccupation with “talent drain” and “retention” is understandable given that a large population of younger, high-skilled, highly educated workers is a key factor in driving a city’s economic growth, vitality, and per capita income (moretti, 2012). the child and youth studies programs throughout the united states, if not the entire world, there is a rapid decline in the number of students choosing education as a career (paulsen, 1990). this, coupled with the rising population, puts a lot of pressure on teacher training institutions in not only in the recruitment and sustaining procedures but also in making the programs more appealing to young high school graduates. these more adaptable students would be more flexible in their engagement in the different community socioeconomic sectors. young graduates are opting more and more for innovative programs that allow more flexibility in how they can put into practice what they learned in college. the child and youth studies (cys) is a non-traditional teacher training program geared toward the attraction of those students who would like to teach but not be trapped in a classroom setting (fgcu college of education website). they can also undertake other roles besides teaching. the courses taught widens the scope of their choices while at the same time being able to teach in regular and non-traditional classrooms. the cys program in the selected sw florida institution of higher learning prepares graduates for education, human services, community development, and different types of nonprofit and for-profit organizations. it is also designed to serve a larger population of future educators who may not desire to complete one of the college of education’s current state-approved teacher preparation programs, or students who want more than a minor in education and who want a program that includes an internship, or students who have a major not covered by one of the state-approved teacher preparation programs and who want to complete as much of the florida teacher certification requirements as possible. “the bachelor of science degree in child and youth studies is flexible enough to accommodate all of these populations while retaining the highest level of practice and pedagogy.” the community engagement concentration prepares graduates for leadership roles in informal learning environments such as youth organizations, museums, non-profit organizations, parks and recreation, and other community destinations. the cys major prepares students to address the complex issues facing children, youth, families, and communities in the 21st century. for https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 39 example, the social entrepreneurship course is designed to equip learners with skills for initiating and upgrading innovative educational or community development programs. students acquire critical skills to assist children, youth, families, and communities in meeting their needs, including: interpersonal communication, leadership, program planning, management, and administration, social policy, applied research and evaluation and community-based education. the program has two concentrations: the education studies concentration, which focuses on such courses as learning management, professional teaching practice, creative & affective development, play development & assessment, and cognitive experience for young children and young children with special needs; and the community engagement concentration, which focuses on such courses as social entrepreneurship, family & community partnerships, youth & community resilience, informal learning environments, intro to comparative education and youth & community leadership (fgcu college of education website). research questions the research questions for this study were sought as follows:  what are the factors that influence the retention of cys graduates in sw florida?  how does awareness of the cys program through internships influence the retention of cys graduates in sw florida?  what are the demographic characteristics that influence the retention of cys graduates in sw florida? method a survey was sent to the 115 cys students and graduates (n = 115) who graduated in the last three years and those about to complete the program by 2020. the survey contained seven closed-ended questions and four open-ended questions. participants and sampling the sample for this study was drawn from the student population of cys graduates in a university located in sw florida. the total number of those selected was 115 (n = 115). a total of 50 respondents (43.4%) completed the survey. of these, 43 (86%) were females and 7 (14%) were males. in terms of age, 38 (76%) were below the age of 25 and only 5 were over the age of 32. virtually all of them had undergone the cys program at the same university. about 96% were born and raised in florida. a total of 32 (64%) respondents were from sw florida and another 16 (32%) came from other parts of florida. only two (4%) came from outside the state. a total of 26 (52%) respondents chose to stay in sw florida upon graduation. others either planned to leave the state or were not decided. when asked why they wanted to leave the region, 33.3% mentioned economic factors. another 20% mentioned education opportunities outside the state. for those who chose to stay in sw florida, 26% cited family ties and 13% mentioned environmental factors. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 40 about 20% mentioned that they were getting jobs in the region, which was the reason for choosing to stay. factors of retention: in the open-ended questions, the four commonly cited retention factors were more jobs, increase in incomes, more affordable housing, and better recreational opportunities. role of the internship in increasing awareness: when asked how the internship influenced the decision, several respondents noted that this was the most significant factor influencing the decision-making. they pointed out that it was a two-way process. the interns came to know about the opportunities available to them, and the organizations came to know more about the cys program. winters (2011) noted that recently acquired connections to employers seem to increase the likelihood of graduates staying in the region where they graduated. this helps smart cities to gain young innovative people. data collection and analysis the survey instrument was sent out anonymously in march, 2019, to the 115 graduates who could be contacted. of these, 50 responded—a 43% return. data was collected for a period of two months. the survey comprised a total of 11 items; seven of these were closed-ended and the remaining four were open-ended. the analysis was done using qualtrics. largely, descriptive statistics was applied to analyze the data. results using qualtrics, an anonymous survey was sent to the 115 cys students and graduates who graduated in the last three years and those about to complete the program by 2020. a total of 50 (n=50) respondents (43.4%) completed the survey. this return rate was considered adequate to provide a fairly representative sample. demographic effects on decision to stay or leave the chi square analysis showed no significant effect of gender and reasons for leaving or staying in sw florida (x-square = .10, df = 2 and p = 0.92 (> .05). the males were no more likely to leave than the females and vice versa. similarly, in terms of age, chi-square = 7.91, df = 8 and p-value = .47 (p > .05). there was therefore no significant effect of age upon the reason to leave or stay. the study also examined if there was a significant relationship between where a participant was born and the decision to leave or stay. the chi-square = 7.88, df = 8 and pvalue = 0.45. there was therefore no significant relationship between where one was born and the decision to leave or stay in sw florida after graduating. the study also examined whether the reason for majoring in cys had something to do with the decision to stay or leave sw florida upon graduation. the chi square = 17.16, df = 8 and pvalue = 0.03 (p <.05). there was therefore a significant relationship between the reason why https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 41 somebody chose to major in cys and the reason for deciding to stay or leave sw florida. evidently, the majority of those selecting cys as a major did so in order to support the local sw florida community. this is in line with the argument by groen (2004) that the probability of college graduates staying in a region is influenced by their perception of opportunities within the region in which the college is located. table 1. distribution of respondents by gender number answer % count 1 male 14.00% 7 2 female 86.00% 43 total 100% 50 from table 1, it is evident that cys attracts a lot more females than males. this is largely attributed to the fact that a number of traditional cys programs are family-oriented. this was before the introduction of the community engagement concentration. it is hoped that there will be a better gender balance once the new concentration is fully implemented. table 2. distribution of respondents by age age % count 20 or younger 4.00% 2 21 – 24 72.00% 36 25 – 28 10.00% 5 29 – 32 4.00% 2 over 32 10.00% 5 total 100% 50 of the 50 respondents, 43 (86%) were females and 7 (14%) were males. in terms of age, 38 (76%) were below the age of 25 and only 5 were over the age of 32. table 3. distribution of respondents by place of birth place of birth % count in sw florida 64.00% 32 in florida but outside sw florida 32.00% 16 in us but outside florida 2.00% 1 outside the us but in north america 0.00% 0 outside north america 2.00% 1 total 100% 50 of the 50 respondents, 48 (86%) were born and brought up in the state of florida with 32 (64%) from sw florida and another 16 (32%) from other parts of florida. only two (4%) came from outside the state. attracting those born and raised in a region helps in minimizing the relocation https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 42 costs associated with getting labor from outside the state. this explains why it is essential to find ways of retaining graduates who are already acclimatized to the region. table 4. reason for choosing the cys program reason for choosing cys % count wanted to work with children outside the classroom 37.88% 25 wanted to teach but did not pass some teaching preparation tests 30.30% 20 wanted to work with the community 19.70% 13 it was the only choice available to me 3.03% 2 other reason (explain) 9.09% 6 total 100% 66 as noted in table 4, there were three main reasons why students chose to major in cys. first, 38% of the participants wanted to train to work with children. a number of courses in the major focus on working with children in or outside the formal setting of a k-12 classroom. the program is particularly attractive to those who want to teach but not necessarily in a formal school environment. secondly, unlike other teacher training programs, cys students attain a bachelor of science degree and are not required to sit for the rigorous teacher preparation tests; of the participants, 30% did not want or were not prepared to take the subject tests and therefore chose to major in cys. third, about 20% of the participants were students who were eager to work with communities. the new community engagement concentration is geared to preparing these students for community work. the remaining 12% had other personal reasons that included a desire to learn about the program without clear future plans. table 5. plans for the future: leave or settle where to settle after graduation % count settle in sw florida 52.00% 26 leave sw florida 20.00% 10 not decided yet 28.00% 14 total 100% 50 a total of 26 (52%) respondents chose to stay in sw florida upon graduation. others either planned to leave the state or were undecided. when asked why they wanted to leave the region, 33.3% mentioned economic factors. another 20% mentioned education opportunities outside the state. for those who chose to stay in sw florida, 26% cited family ties and 13% mentioned environmental factors. about 20% mentioned that they were getting jobs in the region, which was the reason for choosing to stay. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 43 table 6. reasons for settling in sw florida reason for choosing to settle in sw florida % count socio-cultural factors family ties 26.09% 12 recreation opportunities 8.70% 4 personal factors positive experiences while in sw florida (explain) 15.22% 7 other (specify) 2.17% 1 environmental factors the weather 13.04% 6 education opportunities 15.22% 7 economic factors employment opportunities 19.57% 9 total 100% 46 as noted in table 6, about a quarter of all participants had cultural or family ties in sw florida. they grew up there or their families immigrated to the region several years ago. about 13% prefer warm weather throughout the year and prefer to stay in the region. about 20% had jobs in the region. it is important for the community to increase this percentage by investing more in the region and letting the graduates know of the opportunities available for them. about 15% stayed for educational reasons. these are the graduates who planned to undertake graduate courses at the local universities. table 7. reasons for leaving sw florida reason for choosing to leave in sw florida % count socio-cultural factors to reunite with family 6.67% 1 economic factors employment opportunities 33.33% 5 education opportunities 20.00% 3 recreation opportunities 6.67% 1 environmental factors the weather 0.00% 0 personal factors negative experiences while in sw florida (explain) 0.00% 0 other (explain) 33.33% 5 total 100% 15 according to table 7, a third of all the graduates chose to leave because of job opportunities outside the region. another 20% chose to continue with their studies in universities located outside the region, and 6% were leaving because they wanted to reunite with their families outside the region. open text responses this study had four open-ended questions. of the 50 participants, 33 (66%) completed all the questions. another 14 (28%) completed three questions fully. the analysis of these questions was based on the participants’ responses from the questions. the first question was: “what do you think should be done to increase the retention of cys graduates in sw florida?” the second question was: “how has the experience you have acquired in the internship influenced your decision to either leave or stay in sw florida?” question three was: “in your opinion, what are https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 44 the main factors that make cys majors leave sw florida to seek opportunities elsewhere?” question four was: “what should be done to increase the number of child and youth studies graduates who choose to remain in sw florida?” below is the analysis of the responses of each of these questions. q1. what do you think should be done to increase the retention of cys graduates in sw florida? it was evident that economic forces contributed most to the decision to either stay or leave the region. the majority of the participants stated “more job opportunities” or “better wages” as their responses to this question. the students who joined the program after not passing the subject tests may sometimes feel that this is a lesser degree for those who have failed elsewhere. one student noted, “there is a stigma associated with being a cys student that is people are in this major because they can’t pass the subject tests.” there is therefore the need to market this innovative program more so that it is not seen as a choice for those who have failed elsewhere. one participant said, “i think that the major needs to do a better job of marketing cys as a degree that is meaningful in all of the areas in which it is valuable; social work, preschool, etc. there is so much that one can do with this major.” inevitably, there is a need to market this major more aggressively. the need to market the programs more aggressively has been highlighted by a number of other scholars (groen, 2004; hone & el said, 2016; winters, 2011). it helps communities learn how helpful the cys graduates can be. in addition, marketing helps the growth of the program itself. q2. how has the experience you have acquired in the internship influenced your decision to either leave or stay in sw florida? about 80% of all participants noted that they loved their internships; 65% of those who stayed stated that their internship experience helped them make the final decision. one respondent said, “after my internship, i stayed in swfl for one year working at an aba clinic. i did not want to transition right into grad school until i had some experience. that is the reason why i stayed to work in the same area i had done my internship.” it is also interesting to note that 32% of all respondents stated that they pursued a career different from the one they initially had in mind before the internship. one of the participants commented, “[i] enjoyed my internship, but it pushed me to pursue more of a career inside of the classroom rather than outside of one.” another respondent stated, “i’m currently working at my internship but looking to change fields.” q3. what are the main factors that make cys majors leave sw florida to seek opportunities elsewhere? https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 45 the majority of the students stated that higher pay elsewhere made them choose to leave the region. it is therefore important for the local public and private organizations to work toward making incomes more competitive. the lack of recreational opportunities was cited as a significant factor leading to many cys graduates to leave the region. one student stated that “there is nothing for a young adventurous person to do here.” there is a need to identify recreation opportunities for these young people. melton (2014) observed that in order to increase the retention of college graduates, there is a need to adjust city planning to millennial tastes. this would involve the initiation of more park related activities. cities should also involve the youth in decision-making. many graduates also noted that they were not aware of the economic opportunities available for them in the region. one student stated, “i also believe it was unclear for me what my opportunities were in swfl.” this observation was also made by soon (2010) in chicago. melton (2014) observed that connecting college students to local jobs will also increase retention. winters (2011) noted that the growth of smart cities tend to be faster in areas with progressive higher education institutions that have built better connections with local communities and employers. q4. what should be done to increase the number of child and youth studies graduates who choose to remain in sw florida? marketing of the program is a crucial factor. it was evident that many businesses did not know much about the cys program. one participant stated, “i believe this program can be appealing to others by clearly depicting what further opportunities you have with it.” the way the internship is structured is important. students should be supported to get paid internships. colleges should find ways of supporting the interns financially. it is also important for the interns to work more closely with possible future employers. several students also pointed out that cys faculty should work closely with the local leadership so that the students would work more closely with cities and counties in the region. melton (2014) pointed out that establishment of millennial advisory boards would help in having the young graduates have a buy-in and hence increase retention. students carrying out social entrepreneurial projects should be supported by the community and local public administration. this will increase innovation and smart city growth. melton (2014) noted that there should be increased support for entrepreneurial incubators. discussion the study pointed out that, as in many other cities, the cys graduates are often forgotten in decision-making due to the city being “stuck in their older ways.” like other young adults, they require opportunities after they achieve their degree to cultivate innovation and creativity. these are ideally hands-on experiences that take advantage of this generation’s general https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 46 willingness to become involved in the community and harvest solutions. since quality of place is important to young adults, sw florida cities need to seek out ways to accommodate such experiences for graduates to attract and retain them. the commonly cited retention factors were more jobs, increase in incomes, more affordable housing, and better recreational opportunities (moretti, 2004). these four factors were commonly cited by the participants. from the responses in the open-ended questions, it was observed that cys graduates who worked in organizations that provided support during their internship had a greater likelihood of staying in the region. this is in line with the observation by dickinson (2002), who observed that the graduates who had a good experience when working with local organizations tended to stay. in order to increase retention, it is therefore important for colleges to build a strong relationship with community partners in order to make the internships more enjoyable. another important factor highlighted in the open-ended responses was the interaction during the internship. students who had positive interactions with the site supervisors and college advisors tended to stay in the region upon graduation. this was also observed by hone & el said (2016) in a study on retention of course graduates in egypt. conclusion, implications, and recommendations in spite of all the talk about how mobile young college graduates are, it has been noted from both the research and the literature that, given a choice, the bulk of them would prefer to stay in the familiar grounds where they went to school (florida, 2016). for that reason, it should be the responsibility of local regions to examine ways and means of retaining the local college graduates. in this study, it was noted that several graduates from the cys program of florida gulf coast university initially leave sw florida only to return after less than two years. this is particularly true of those who were born in the state of florida. a significant number of those who joined the program from out of state tend to stay in the region. the majority attribute their stay to the job opportunities and favorable weather conditions. like in any other program, there is no doubt that the increase in proper marketing of the program is a win-win for all. increased communication will help organizations and future employers know what the college programs are providing. hone and el said (2016) considered this to be a crucial factor of retention; they observed that businesses are ready to fund a program whose graduates will be more helpful to them. in the process, the program also benefits by having an increased number of students selecting it as a major. there are many other suggestions made by the participants who were opting to leave the local region. for instance, they noted that the city should have more parks and recreation areas. the park should also be more attractive and welcoming to young families. they mentioned that since the region tends to be too hot sometimes, there should be more shaded areas. the river revitalization has been done well, but having more welcoming itinerant pedestrian businesses like ice cream parlors and food booths would increase attractiveness. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 47 sw florida should make a conscious effort to attract more local graduates by rebranding the public transport system. graduates who are not in a position to buy or maintain cars may need a faster and easier-to-navigate public transport system. introduction of cheap scooters will make movement within the city easier. a bike-sharing system would also be very attractive to the graduates who are starting to settle down in the region. the public bus system may need more interconnecting routes. lastly, participants pointed out that affordable housing is also a factor that needs urgent attention. the rents tend to be prohibitive in the more lucrative parts of the city. students are therefore forced to seek housing in areas far from their places of work, which again increases their transport costs. getting a rental property is also difficult due to the requirements of credit and deposits; most students graduate with student loans that create financial instability. this makes living in the region after graduation very difficult. the implications of the research are many. the findings of this research project will be used to examine what public and private enterprises and nonprofit agencies need to do to retain the cys graduates in sw florida. the findings will be used in the meetings with representatives of these organizations in the region. the ultimate goal is that the retention rate (and consequent reduction of brain drain) of cys graduates in sw florida will be increased. the study initiates conversations on what needs to be done to increase the impact of the retained graduates in the socioeconomic development of the region. references dickinson, n. s., & perry, r. e. (2002). factors influencing the retention of specially educated public child welfare workers. journal of health & social policy, 15(3-4), 89-103. duncan, g. j., & raudenbush, s. w. (1999). assessing the effects of context in studies of child and youth development. educational psychologist, 34(1), 29-41. fallah, b., partridge, m. d., & rickman, d. s. (2013). geography and high-tech employment growth in us counties. journal of economic geography, 14(4), 683-720. fgcu college of education website: https://www.fgcu.edu/coe/programs/undergraduateprograms/childandyouthstudies-bs florida, r. (2016). the u.s. cities winning the battle against brain drain. retrieved from http://www.digital.nyc/news/us-cities-winning-battle-against-brain-drain glaeser, e. l., scheinkman, j., & shleifer, a. (1995). economic growth in a cross-section of cities. journal of monetary economics, 36(1), 117-143. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://www.fgcu.edu/coe/programs/undergraduateprograms/childandyouthstudies-bs http://www.digital.nyc/news/us-cities-winning-battle-against-brain-drain journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ndiangui, p. (2021). from brain drain to brain gain: the battle against talent drain journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 48 hone, k. s., & el said, g. r. (2016). exploring the factors affecting mooc retention: a survey study. computers & education, 98, 157-168. lima, a. (2014). retaining recent college graduates in boston: is there a brain drain? retrieved from http://www.bostonplans.org/getattachment/f3228899-e69d-43d8-b64e-90b2932db1ac melton, a. (2014). attracting & retaining college graduates: a student-driven model. retrieved from http://media.mlive.com/grpress/news_impact/other/attracting%20and%20retaining%20coll ege%20graduates%20%20a%20student-driven%20model.pdf miguélez, e., & moreno, r. (2014). what attracts knowledge workers? the role of space and social networks. journal of regional science, 54(1), 33-60. moretti, e. (2004). estimating the social return to higher education: evidence from longitudinal and repeated cross-sectional data. journal of econometrics, 121(1-2), 175-212. moretti, e. (2012). the new geography of jobs. houghton mifflin harcourt. noble, k., flynn, n. t., lee, j. d., & hilton, d. (2007). predicting successful college experiences: evidence from a first year retention program. journal of college student retention: research, theory & practice, 9(1), 39-60. paulsen, m. b. (1990). college choice: understanding student enrollment behavior. ashe-eric higher education report no. 6. ashe-eric higher education reports, the george washington university. rothwell, j. (2015). what colleges do for local economies: a direct measure based on consumption. washington, dc: brookings institute. schmidt, p. (1998). more states try to stanch “brain drains,” but some experts question the strategy. retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/more-states-try-to-stanch/97721 trippl, m. (2013). scientific mobility and knowledge transfer at the interregional and intraregional level. regional studies, 47(10), 1653-1667. u.s. news report. (2019). florida best in nation for higher education, report says. https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/florida-best-in-nation-for-higher-education-rep ort-says-509918451.html winters, j. v. (2011). why are smart cities growing? who moves and who stays. journal of regional science, 51(2), 253-270. https://cultureandvalues.org/ http://www.bostonplans.org/getattachment/f3228899-e69d-43d8-b64e-90b2932db1ac http://media.mlive.com/grpress/news_impact/other/attracting%20and%20retaining%20college%20graduates%20%20a%20student-driven%20model.pdf http://media.mlive.com/grpress/news_impact/other/attracting%20and%20retaining%20college%20graduates%20%20a%20student-driven%20model.pdf https://www.chronicle.com/article/more-states-try-to-stanch/97721 https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/florida-best-in-nation-for-higher-education-report-says-509918451.html https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/florida-best-in-nation-for-higher-education-report-says-509918451.html journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 hove, b. & dube, b. covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school. rethinking education policies in zimbabwe journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 84 covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school: rethinking education policies in zimbabwe baldwin hove1 & bekithemba dube*1 1. university of the free state, faculty of education, south africa * corresponding author: dubeb@ufs.ac.za received : 2021-03-21 revised : 2021-04-23 accepted : 2021-05-29 how to cite this paper: hove, b., & dube, b. (2021). covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school: rethinking education policies in zimbabwe. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 84-94. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.5 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract by using a critical emancipatory research framework, this theoretical paper discusses the covid-19induced commercialisation of the education system in zimbabwe. it argues that covid-19 exposed and widened the digital gap between privileged and underprivileged learners, regardless of the learners’ geographical location. the digitalisation of the education space –in adherence to world health organization’s covid-19 guidelines – has resulted in the creation of virtual elite schools. learners from privileged families found sanctuary in digital learning, whilst underprivileged learners continue to be exposed to the reality of commercialised education. this trend has revealed educational inequalities between privileged and underprivileged learners. the paper answers two major questions: 1. what are the inequalities that were reintroduced by the covid-19 pandemic in the zimbabwean education system? and 2. how effective is stakeholders’ response to covid-19-induced inequalities? the paper argues that covid-19 has dashed the hopes of free education for all, by creating a digital gap that perpetuates and entrenches inequalities in relation to learners. in light of these findings, the study suggests that education stakeholders invest in digital infrastructure, with special attention being paid to learners’ economic status, as opposed to their geographical location. keywords: covid-19; inequality; online education; underprivileged learner; privileged learner. introduction this theoretical paper discusses the covid-19-induced commercialisation of the education system in zimbabwe. it argues that covid-19 exposed and widened the digital gap between privileged and underprivileged learners, regardless of the learners’ geographical location. the covid-19 pandemic initiated an abrupt and dramatic digital revolution that changed the teaching and learning methodology that had been applied throughout the world (tam & el-azar, 2020). the pandemic required stakeholders to take a digital leap in the education sector. in a very short space of time, teaching and learning was revolutionised. virtual or digitalised classes took over from traditional physical classrooms. online 10.46303/jcve.2021.5 https://cultureandvalues.org/ mailto:dubeb@ufs.ac.za https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 hove, b. & dube, b. covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school. rethinking education policies in zimbabwe journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 85 education became the only viable option to ensure schooling continued in most countries. governments and education stakeholders were put to work. various online platforms were designed so that learning did not stop with lockdown. for example, lessons were presented with the aid of radio and television, social media platforms, blackboard and other learning management systems, zoom and skype – which are only some of the alternatives that were used to quickly absorb shocks that accompanied the sudden transition to online education. this revolution meant learners faced a number of challenges, and even opportunities. ebrahim et al. (2020) report that, by march 2020, schools in 185 countries had stopped face-to-face teaching, thereby affecting 90 percent of the world’s students. while many developed nations sailed through the transition to digital learning with ease, the situation in developing countries, like zimbabwe, was different. zimbabwe’s digitally infrastructure could not support online education. only an insignificant percentage of the privileged learners could afford to engage in online education. even though virtual education is an old invention, it was not popular in zimbabwean primary and secondary schools. people were not ready to engage in online education. therefore, the transition presented a plethora of challenges. a variety of reasons are given to explain the complications of online education the world over and in zimbabwe in particular. according to kopp (2020), the most common challenges of online education are related to the change from traditional in-person education, the pace of change, access to technology, user competence and financing of online education. mukute et al. (2020) report that, when the covid19 pandemic started, concerns about students’ ability to adapt to digital learning, arose. the reduction in or total elimination of physical teacher-learner interaction took a toll on learners’ performance. learners most affected are those that are economically disadvantaged, and those whose foundational learning is not strong, particularly girls and children with disabilities. in the absence of the teacher’s presence, students are less committed to the integrity of their schoolwork. some submit half-completed tasks, and independent work is greatly compromised by learners discussing or getting the answers from their friends. the cost of digital infrastructure also presents a major stumbling block, especially for economically disadvantaged learners. challenges relate mainly to the cost of access, and lack of skill to navigate the digital world. it is a fact that most learners struggle to adapt to online education, and this fact greatly compromises teaching and learning. this paper examines the various challenges that learners in zimbabwean primary and secondary schools faced during the covid-19-induced lockdown in the country. it analyses the role played by the government and private sector in alleviating the challenges. literature review several papers have been written on the challenges posed by and the reactions of stakeholders to the effects of covid-19 in the education sector the world over, and in zimbabwe in particular. the key matters raised relate to issues of inequality in the allocation of and access to digital technology. online education seems to be the common strategy used to respond to the covid-19-induced closure of schools. this paper reviewed a number of articles in an attempt to understand the challenges and response to the effects of covid-19 on the education sector. silumba and chibango (2020), xinhuanet (2020), mandikiana (2020), dube (2020) and matimaire (2020), among others, agree that the covid19-induced problems in education had a similar pattern throughout the world (mccorkle, 2020; novikov, 2020; tarman, 2020). lockdown and closure of schools were widely used strategies to combat the spread of the deadly disease. mandikiana (2020) reports that previous pandemics had proven that closing schools prevented the spread of pandemics. this could have influenced worldwide resolutions on lockdowns, social distancing, use of personal protective equipment, as well as quarantining of suspected cases. pellini et al. (2020, may 11) explain that covid-19 affected learners worldwide, to the extent that, by the first quarter of 2020, over 180 countries had engaged in lock down of schools, affecting about 1.5 billion https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 hove, b. & dube, b. covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school. rethinking education policies in zimbabwe journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 86 students, which transforms to 87.4% of learners globally. li and lalan (2020) also state that covid-19 resulted in the global closure of schools, with over 1.2 billion learners globally being affected by the lockdowns. dube (2020) reports that the south african government responded to covid-19 by closing what they viewed as non-essential services, including schools. in zimbabwe, 4,6 million learners, and 127 000 teachers at 9 625 schools were affected by the covid-19-induced lockdown (mopse, 2020 as cited in mandikiana, 2020). lockdown may have helped to combat the spread of the pandemic; however, it had negative effects on teaching and learning. in the education sector, lockdown ushered in a new era of online learning, characterised by its own positives and negatives. in his 2020 article, entitled, rural online learning in the context of covid-19 in south africa: evoking an inclusive education approach’, dube identified a number of challenges that affect online education. these include poor networks, a shortage of digital devices, closure of internet cafes, computer illiteracy in both teachers and learners, and the high cost of data. research by the world bank (2020) found that learners have challenges in accessing online learning; this is particularly true for learners in underprivileged communities, in households where internet connectivity is bad or non-existent, learners with little or no prior practice of online education, and/or those learners who are subject to other disadvantages. the world bank (2020) states, furthermore, that, in practice, the move to online learning benefits mainly students who are already advantaged in various ways, there are greater advantages for privileged students compared to underprivileged students, urban compared to rural students, high-performing compared to poorly performing students, and those from elite families compared to learners from less educated families. pellini et al. (2020) claim most of the challenges posed by online education were the result of few nations being prepared for the pandemic. these reports are important, because they show that the zimbabwean situation is not unique. underprivileged learners, mainly those in rural zimbabwe, faced similar challenges. silumba and chibangu (2020) and mandikiana (2020) argue that the underprivileged learner in zimbabwe was the first to experience the negative effects of schools being closed due to the government-imposed lockdown. mandikiana (2020) says that, for zimbabwe and most developing countries in the world, the closing of schools resulted in panic and uncertainty amongst all education stakeholders. shutting down schools removed the learner from the environment that was required for providing physical, emotional and psychosocial support, and worsened existing challenges faced by the impoverished, disabled, displaced and refugee children (inee, 2020). an analysis of these texts shows that online education is directly dependent on a learner’s economic status. this finding formed the basis of this research, which intended to show that access to education now depends on a leaner’s financial status. the free basic education to all policy that the zimbabwean government adopted after independence in 1980 was now a mere rhetoric. dube (2020), matimaire (2020) and silumba and chibango (2020) agree that access to online education demands financial resources. silumba and chibango (2020) explain that, in zimbabwe, elite schools were the first to embrace online learning because they had financial resources. these elite schools adopted online learning platforms, such as gsuite and zoom, as platforms for their e-learning programmes (silumba and chibango 2020). underprivileged learners remained locked up by the lockdown while they waited for the government and well-wishers to act. the situation is worse in rural areas, where digital learning is a new phenomenon. furthermore, in most developing countries, including zimbabwe, the national infrastructure was not ready to support nationwide online education. therefore, problems like a shortage of digital gadgets, poor network connectivity, and poverty prevented the majority of learners from gaining access to virtual classrooms. this situation created an education gap between privileged and underprivileged learners. pellini et al. (2020) agree with the 2020 world bank report that education systems of developing countries were the worst affected by the covid-19 pandemic. pellini et al .(2020) state the following: https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 hove, b. & dube, b. covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school. rethinking education policies in zimbabwe journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 87 the digital divide means that internet and mobile network access varies greatly in lowincome countries, for instance access to the internet is over 80% of the population in some southeast asian countries, but as low as 39% in vietnam and some african countries. the reality is that online learning will be easier for those with access and will exclude large groups of disadvantaged learners. a large number of learners may have no electricity, some will have a radio but not a television at home, others will have basic feature mobile phones but not smartphones, and others will have only low-bandwidth internet available. (p. 1) this report explains the online education situation in zimbabwe, a closer analysis of which exposes that, in developing countries, underprivileged learners are the worst affected by the covid-19 pandemic, because they cannot afford migration from physical to digital learning. silumba and chibango (2020) point out that the government of zimbabwe and other education stakeholders embarked on online education in its various forms as a response to the covid-19-induced closure of schools. however, this approach favoured the ‘haves’ whilst the ‘have-nots’ were severely impacted, and which created inequalities in the education sector that were reminiscent of colonial times. pellini et al. (2020) maintain that, in spite of the relatively low cost of online education, it still required an already established infrastructure. for example, for a learner to access television and radio lessons, there is a need for frequency boosters and receivers. television and radio lessons are useful for reaching isolated students at low cost. examples are local programmes in eastern africa, such as know zone in kenya, and ubongo kids in tanzania. radio lessons were widely used during the ebola pandemic when schools were closed to curb the spread of the deadly disease. however, the fact remains that these low cost online learning platforms require an already established infrastructure – this infrastructure does not exist in most rural communities of zimbabwe. this means underprivileged learners remain locked out of the virtual classroom. reviewing these texts helped us to build an argument that covid-19 promoted the commercialisation and privatisation of the education system in zimbabwe. privileged people grabbed the keys to the newly created virtual classroom, which eroded gains realised in the education sector in the time since zimbabwe gained independence. covid-19-induced challenges hinder progress in achieving the united nations sustainable development goals (unsdg) particularly goal 4, which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (mandikiana, 2020). it is clear that covid-19 affects the already disadvantaged learner most. the transition to online learning mainly benefited the already advantaged learner. stakeholders’ response to the plight of the poor learner did not improve the situation. the underprivileged learner was locked out of the newly created online private school. theoretical framework this paper used critical emancipatory research (cer) to explain covid-19-induced inequalities and the commercialisation of digital education in zimbabwe. the cost of accessing digital learning created a virtual ‘private school’ that barred the educational space to underprivileged learners, regardless of their geographical location. cer is a philosophical offshoot of several traditions, among which marxism, habermas’s ideas of emancipatory knowledge, as well as freire’s transformative and emancipatory pedagogy. the theory can also be linked to the ideas of 19th-century philosophers and enlightenment thinkers such as emmanuel kant, a german philosopher, who first talked about critical theory in 1871 (mckernan, 2013). it is generally agreed that cer is a product of marxism and marxist thinking. cer analyses power relations, discrimination and control. cer seeks to critique and challenge, to transform and empower; it is geared towards social justice and heightening the principles of democracy (nkoane, 2010 as cited by dube, 2020). in the case of covid-19 and education in zimbabwe, the theory https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 hove, b. & dube, b. covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school. rethinking education policies in zimbabwe journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 88 helps to critique the injustices caused by covid-19. cer helps to explain interventions that were designed to create equality in the education system. demirovic (2009 as cited by dube (2020), explains that cer scholars sought to explain and encourage participation, and to shape the world into a better place for all. in the zimbabwean education context, cer can be used to create a level education space for all, by condemning the ‘eliticisation’ of the education space. cer scholars problematise “historical and social conditions of crisis, oppression, inequality and replace them with emancipatory ones” (sinnerbrink, 2012 as cited by dube 2020). therefore, in the zimbabwean situation, the theory helps to identify and understand the plight of the financially unstable learner, and the effects of commercialised education. it helps to understand the reinvented colonialism, which is represented by social injustice and inequality, particularly in the education sector. cer is applicable in addressing the challenges of online learning during the covid-19 pandemic, because it aims to emancipate the underprivileged, such as needy learners, so that they can use their latent energy to change their circumstances (mahlomaholo, 2013, cited in dube 2020). cer promotes inclusivity in life changing situations that have the potential to liberate personalities, so that they can get the opportunity to solve their own problems and live life to the fullest while at the same time upholding principles of social justice, inclusion and human rights in the fight against covid-19 (dube 2020). challenges caused by covid -19 in the education sector in zimbabwe the pandemic was accompanied by a number of unexpected challenges for the education sector globally. in zimbabwe, learners and teachers were affected differently, depending on their geographical location, their financial status and their level of computer skills competence. to aid presentation, the challenges are grouped into two broad categories, namely economics-related challenges, and skills competency-related challenges. for example, the cost of accessing digital learning, cost of purchasing digital hardware and cost of buying data are all considered to be economic challenges. on the other hand, inability to operate digital hardware and failure to navigate through online education platforms are viewed as skills competency challenges. this paper shows how learners and teachers are affected by these challenges in the wake of the covid-19-induced online education. it is important, however, to note that these challenges are interrelated and cannot be discussed in isolation. economic challenges and online education covid-19 heightened inequalities between privileged and the underprivileged people. this is because the pandemic came with many unexpected effects. mandikiana (2020) identifies the closure of schools and the creation of a learning gap as some of the immediate effects of covid-19, not only in zimbabwe, but globally. she says this affected about 1,576 billion, 297 million and 4,6 million learners globally, in africa and in zimbabwe respectively. this is echoed by statistics from the zimbabwean ministry of primary and secondary education which shows that besides the 4,6 million learners, the pandemic induced closure of schools also affected 127 000 teachers at 9 625 schools (mopse, 2020 as cited by mandikiana, 2020). the closing of these schools resulted in a forced transition to online education since it was the only possible option regardless of whether the nation was prepared for it or not. already battling with an unstable economy, zimbabwe was severely affected by the transition. the expense of accessing online education was the major indicator that differentiated privileged from underprivileged learners in zimbabwe. the transition to online education had serious effects on underprivileged learners in both urban and rural areas. in most developing nations, underprivileged learners struggled to access basic education (united nations development programme 2020). in southern africa, for example, online education challenges are severe in remote areas with limited resources, areas that lack internet connectivity, and have high computer illiteracy rate (dube 2020). learners in zimbabwe, as in other developing countries, face serious challenges, and those that are https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 hove, b. & dube, b. covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school. rethinking education policies in zimbabwe journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 89 underprivileged are the worst affected. underprivileged learners in both rural and urban settings struggle to access digital learning. while privileged learners also experienced the effects of the absence of a physical classroom, they could afford the migration to digital learning, which lead to the commercialisation of virtual learning, because only the advantaged could afford to access to online education. literature shows that there is a deficit of digital infrastructure in zimbabwe. the economic woes zimbabwe has experienced since the turn of the millennium could be one of the reasons why the nation failed to fully invest in digital technology. according to the international telecommunication union (2020), by the year 2017, only 27.055% of the zimbabwean population had access to an internet connection. mudzingwa (2020, as cited by matimaire, 2020), reveals that, at the peak of the covid-19 pandemic, only 2 864 schools of the nearly 9 000 schools in zimbabwe had internet access, that is about 32% of the schools. mopse (2020) estimates the internet connectivity rate at 26.25% for primary schools and 42.76% for secondary schools. in the year 2019, the computer-to-learner ratio in zimbabwe was 1:32 (mopse, 2020) – this ratio is high, and it presents challenges related to the accessibility of online education. furthermore, more than half the schools with internet access are in urban areas, leaving rural areas with a very small fraction of the connectivity percentage. also of concern is that, even in urban schools with internet connection, the internet is seldom fully utilised, because of problems related to power outages, which greatly affect the availability and strength of the internet signal. these drawbacks reflect the low application rate of online learning in zimbabwe. it means that the majority of learners were not exposed to computer education before the closure of schools. the shortage of computers at schools has a direct effect on the computer literacy rate of learners. it means the burden of acquiring digital hardware and the cost of acquiring computer skills so as to be able to enrol in online education remains on the shoulders of the learner. this situation presents a bumpy road for online education, particularly for underprivileged learners who struggle to fund the basics needed for day-to-day survival, and leads us to argue that the commercialisation of online education created online schooling for only the elite. generally, zimbabwe lags regarding the availability of information communication technology (i.c.t). despite adopting a national ict policy in 2005, the nation still trails behind in practical implementation of the policy, to the extent that the 2020 covid-19 pandemic found the nation unprepared. the progressive teachers union of zimbabwe (ptuz) president, takavafira zhou, lamented the lack of digital infrastructure in zimbabwe. zhou is quoted by matimaire (2020) saying, “other than whatsapp, elearning is out of reach for many students due to challenges with internet connectivity, let alone affordability”. zhou further says that e-learning has limited applicability, due to limited electrical power in rural zimbabwe, and incessant power cuts in major cities. “currently more than 65% of secondary schools are not electrified, while more than 75% of primary schools are not electrified. several schools have no single computer or laptop and it will take a responsible government to ensure that these challenges are addressed”, said zhou, adding that in-service training for teachers is needed. this quotation explains the ict situation in the zimbabwean education sector. it points to issues related to the cost of accessing online learning and it explains the digital infrastructure deficit in the country. therefore, it can be argued that the covid-19 pandemic worsened an already pitiable situation. it is lamentable that, due to the deficit of digital infrastructure, the already limited ict resources end up being accessible only to a privileged few, because they have the financial resources to pay for it. underprivileged learners, especially those in rural zimbabwe, may never be able to access online learning. this is the reason why the central argument of this paper relates to the commercialisation of education in zimbabwe. the economic miseries of underprivileged learners in both rural and urban communities in zimbabwe make it impossible for them to afford digital hardware like smart phones and other devices that can https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 hove, b. & dube, b. covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school. rethinking education policies in zimbabwe journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 90 enable them to access the internet. they do not have the financial resources needed to access elearning portals. this means there is a wide digital divide between privileged and the underprivileged learners. misa zimbabwe legal and ict policy officer, nompilo simanje, mentioned that high data charges, low internet coverage and lack of technical skills by teachers and learners to utilise digital applications for online learning remain the major stumbling blocks on the road to advancing the edutech revolution (matimaire, 2020). silumba and chibango (2020) discovered that most teachers and learners struggle to buy whatsapp bundles, which they need to work online.. the price of data bundles added salt to the wounds of underprivileged learners. according to masarakufa (2020), the cost of unlimited monthly data in zimbabwe is roughly, usd 50 across all internet service providers. matimaire (2020) argues that, technically, the cost of data impinge on the affordability of internet services, yet internet is the key component of online learning. such costs place internet access beyond the reach of many people, for example, teachers, who are the majority of zimbabwe’s formal employees, earn only about usd 40 in june 2020. therefore, access to online learning remains a dream for the underprivileged learner in zimbabwe. this leaves the learner with no option but to adopt the wait-and-see strategy until the pandemic is over, and access to the physical classroom is possible again. it implies that underprivileged learners continue to get the short end of the stick, because they cannot afford the digital resources needed for effective learning during the covid-19 induced lockdown. therefore, government policy on the provision of basic education for all remains a myth. instead, the eliticisation of the education sector is the new reality. financial resources determine the quality of education a learner could access during the covid-19 lockdown in zimbabwe. several online platforms gave learners access to education, but access to all those platforms needed some form of financial resources, which meant that learners were now grouped according to their financial status. one group was underprivileged learners, who were in total lockdown, because they have no means to access any of the online education platforms. another group comprised middle-class learners, who could afford a moderate degree of access, for instance, they could listen to the radio or to television lessons, but could not afford data or a smartphone for interactive learning. then, was the elite group that could afford access to all online education platforms. this group could afford smartphones, tablets, laptops and data, and have unlimited access to online education. this means that the three categories of learners receive education in different quantities and of different qualities. the best quality education was obviously being accessed by learners with unlimited access, whilst the first group remained in total lockdown. skills competency as a challenge in accessing online education the proportion of teachers and learners who are computer literate determines the effectiveness of digital resources in online education (kalimullina et al., 2021). this is because the use of digital technology requires some skill and training, especially for new users. according to the ministry of primary and secondary education (mopse, 2020) records, the computer-to-learner ratio in zimbabwe stood at 1:32: an average of 32 learners have to share one computer. without even considering variables that could increase the ratio, it is already clear that there was a serious shortage of computers in zimbabwean schools at the time the report was compiled. this obviously means that most learners had limited access, or did not have access to computers at all. therefore, there is a good chance that the greater percentage of learners are computer illiterate. it will be unjust to expect such a population to be able to effectively utilise online learning resources, even if they were to be exposed to those digital resources. the situation was worsened by the failure to train teachers on online education. silumba and chibango (2020) discovered that most teachers depended heavily on social media platforms, like whatsapp and facebook, to continue teaching learners in the lockdown period. these social media platforms were relatively cheap and easy to use. however, still learners needed money to buy data to use these social media platforms and, because of the lockdown, most families that depended on the informal sector for their income, found it very difficult to survive. considering teachers’ meagre salaries, https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 hove, b. & dube, b. covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school. rethinking education policies in zimbabwe journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 91 they could not afford to buy data either. a combination of computer illiteracies and poverty meant that online education was never an option for underprivileged learners. computer illiteracy was a major drawback to most interventions designed by stakeholders to rescue underprivileged learners from the lockdown. stakeholder response to online education it is important to highlight that stakeholders, particularly the government, the private sector and nongovernmental organisations (ngos), did not turn a blind eye to ever-increasing education challenges. mukute et al. (2020) report several responses to the new challenges that ensured that learning never stops. countries in the southern african development community (sadc) planned to mobilise resources, implement context-appropriate and equitable solutions for the challenges facing distance education, and for learning remotely. dube (2020) mentions that private stakeholders, like higherlife foundation, played a critical role in the provision of digital learning in zimbabwe through the ruzivo programme. however, matimaire (2020) maintains that, in zimbabwe, just like in most african countries, the migration to digital learning remained theoretical rather than practical. this is clearly revealed by contradictory responses by the government and teacher unions, like the ptuz, to mopse claims regarding their preparedness to handle the effects of covid-19 at schools (xinhuanet, 2020). interventions by the private sector private companies and ngos were among the noticeable actors that came up with alleviating strategies to help learners migrate to online learning. telecoms giant econet wireless, through its subsidiaries cassava smartech and higherlife foundation, is one of the organisations that actively continued and expanded online learning. mudzingwa (2020, as cited in matimaire, 2020) reports that cassava smartech launched akello digital classroom and akello e-library, these platforms enable learners to enrol in online classes and get access to a variety of online resources and books approved by the zimbabwe school examinations council and other international examination boards. higherlife foundation has a rich history of helping underprivileged learners. it invests in 20 000 learners annually and has supported more than 350 000 learners through orphans and vulnerable children and meritbased scholarships in the last 24 years in zimbabwe (mopse, 2020). through the ruzivo project, higherlife foundation continues to offer relatively inexpensive access to online education resources. these were among the national programmes that touched every corner of zimbabwe, and thereby generally helping underprivileged learners. however, though the private sector jumped in to rescue the situation, we cannot ignore the fact that there are still gaps that could not be bridged. organisations provided resources such as tablets, laptops, compact discs and online libraries, which were useful, but in some cases these resources demanded complementary use of physical digital infrastructure. for example, accessing the ruzivo online library requires a mobile data network, and not all learners were located in areas with mobile networks. not all learners could afford the subsidised data bundles. not all learners were sufficiently computer literate to navigate the digital platforms they were exposed to in a short period of time. the argument that online education created an elite school remains valid. without undermining the efforts of the private sector, we still suggest that the nation should revolutionise the education sector by embarking on nationwide digital infrastructure construction. such an initiative will unlock the online private schools for all, and boost national education standards. in addition to econet wireless, several ngos, such as world vision, care international and mavambo orphan care, stepped in to help learners migrate to online education. some distributed radios, some sponsored digital resources and some partnered with the government in various activities. dzinamarira and musuka (2020) refer to a whatsapp platform for remote teaching that was launched by unesco. they argue that the application can reach and be utilised by more than 5,2 million people whatsapp users in zimbabwe. such digital platforms have the capacity to ensure continued learning for learners who are in home isolation. it helped underprivileged learners to access education during the lockdown https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 hove, b. & dube, b. covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school. rethinking education policies in zimbabwe journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 92 period. however, unfortunately, access to the sources of education provided still required some form of financial stability. for example, learners needed smartphones to access the unesco whatsapp platform, they needed electricity, a network and a radio receiver to listen to the radio lessons. during lockdown, education was no longer a matter of walking into a classroom. the monetary value attached to the digital resources needed to access education in the covid-19 lockdown period obliges us to argue that education was now reserved for financially stable learners. it locked underprivileged learners out of the classroom, because, in place of face-to-face schooling, a virtual private school that was accessible only to those with money, had been created. government interventions the major contribution of the government of zimbabwe to online education was the reintroduction of radio and television lessons. such programme should reach out to learners who lacked internet access, and it has the advantage of using existing infrastructure (pellini et al., 2020). radio and television lessons had been operational for decades, and were popularly referred to as ‘schools broadcasts’ in the 1980s (chikasha, 2012). with the coming of the covid-19 pandemic, the mopse, with support of unicef zimbabwe, education cannot wait (ecw) and global partnership for education (gpe), intensified the launch of radio lessons programming in june 2020, starting with the primary level. learning areas covered include mathematics, indigenous languages, english, science and technology, and heritage studies. the introduction of the radio lessons served as a commitment by government to ensure that learning does not stop during the covid-19-induced school lockdowns (unicef, 2020). primary and secondary school teachers were tasked to produce lessons for their specific subjects. each province was assigned specific subjects and grades for the production of audio and video lessons. this work cascaded down to districts, clusters and schools. the recorded lessons were forwarded to the responsible district offices, where the best lessons were selected and then forwarded to the provincial offices, and to headquarters for broadcast on national radio and television. in theory, this was a major step towards bridging the transition from the traditional school to online education. however, in practice, the intervention faced serious implementation and viability challenges. the intervention was based on the assumption that the national broadcasters covered the whole country; in reality, the radio and television signal is mainly concentrated in urban areas. some areas, like plumtree, beitbridge and binga, among other outlying areas, have never received a zimbabwean television signal. the radio signal in those areas is relatively poor. the situation was worsened by community radio stations still being in their infancy, and not spared the economic woes affecting the whole country. even in those areas where the radio and television signal was good, power interruptions rendered the whole programme less effective. unicef, (2020), reports that, despite the potential of the campaign to benefit some families, a radio receiver is beyond the reach of many, and poses a challenge to supporting children to catch up with lessons. such challenges mean that it was mainly families with a backup power service, and those with some degree of financial stability that could access the lessons. therefore, one may argue that online education was not poor-friendly – poor people remained locked out of the classroom. government interventions did not serve the intended purpose, instead, they entrenched the privatisation of remote education. it can be suggested that, for equality in online education to be achieved, the government should invest in public multipurpose digital infrastructure. opening up the media through licensing of community radio stations is a step in the right direction. capacitating radio stations and licensing community television stations can be advantageous to underprivileged learners, even after the covid19 era. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 hove, b. & dube, b. covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school. rethinking education policies in zimbabwe journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 93 conclusion the paper analysed the economic effects of the covid-19 pandemic on the provision of education in zimbabwe. it argues that the sudden covid-19-induced lockdown that resulted in unplanned closure of schools in march 2020 left underprivileged learners exposed to the inequalities embedded in online learning. the need to migrate to online learning was a slap in the face for underprivileged learners, because the digital resources for needed for online learning are expensive. government promises seldom materialised, thus, leaving underprivileged learners in education lockdown. this created a ‘virtual private school’, where learners who afford digital resources could automatically enrol and join a world-class classroom with access to quality learning and a wide variety of educational resources. undoubtedly, the covid-19 pandemic resulted in the commercialisation of education. attempts by stakeholders to rescue underprivileged children did not yield significant results. this failure was the result of the nation’s physical infrastructure not being compatible with the number of users and the demands of online education. it is suggested that the government and other education stakeholders invest in modern technology that promotes online teaching and learning beyond the covid-19 era. funding information this study was funded and supported by national research fund research grant: ttk200318509938 references chikasha, a. (2012). the rise and fall of educational radio in zimbabwe: the forgotten medium and technology. retrieved from https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/the-rise-and-fall-ofeducational-radio-in-zimbabwe dube, b. (2020). rural online learning in the context of covid-19 in south africa: evoking an inclusive education approach. multidisciplinary journal of educational research, 10(2), 135-157. https://doi.org/10.4471/remie.2020.5607 ebrahim, s. h., ahmed, q. a., gozzer, e., schlagenhauf, p., & memish, z. a., (2020). covid-19 and community mitigation strategies in a pandemic. bmj, 2020(368), 1066. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1066 inee (inter-agency network for education in emergencies). (2020). technical note: education during the covid-19 pandemic. inee, new york, usa. retrieved from: https://inee.org/resources/inee-technical-note-education-during-covid-19pandemicinternational communications union. (2019). measuring digital development: facts and figures 2019. itu publications. kalimullina, o., tarman, b. & stepanova, i. (2021). education in the context of digitalization and culture: evolution of the teacher's role, pre-pandemic overview. journal of ethnic and cultural studies, 8(1), 226-238. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/629 kopp, w. (2020, june 22). lessons from this worldwide experiment with distance learning. teach for all [blog]. https://medium.com/teach-for-all-blog/lessons-from-this-worldwide-experiment-withdistance-learning-da9ed171ad li, c., & lalan, f. (2020, april 29). the covid-19 pandemic has changed education forever. this is how. world economic forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-educationglobal-covid19-online-digital-learning/ mahlomaholo, s. (2009). critical emancipatory research and academic identity. africa education review, 6(2), 224–237. mandikiana, m. r. v. (2020). rethinking zimbabwean education during and beyond the covid-19 pandemic. quest journal of management and social sciences, 2 (2), 290–306. https://doi.org/10.3126/qjmss.v2i2.33302 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/the-rise-and-fall-of-educational-radio-in-zimbabwe https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/the-rise-and-fall-of-educational-radio-in-zimbabwe https://doi.org/10.4471/remie.2020.5607 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1066 http://dx.doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/629 https://medium.com/teach-for-all-blog/lessons-from-this-worldwide-experiment-with-distance-learning-da9ed171ad https://medium.com/teach-for-all-blog/lessons-from-this-worldwide-experiment-with-distance-learning-da9ed171ad https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-learning/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-learning/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 hove, b. & dube, b. covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school. rethinking education policies in zimbabwe journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 94 masarakufa, c. (2020, may 2). comparative analysis of internet connectivit options in zimbabwe. startupbiz.co.zw. https://startupbiz.co.zw/comparative-analysis-of-internet-connectivityoptions-in-zimbabwe/ matimaire, k. (2020). digital-shy zimbabwe’s schools feel the brunt of covid-19. https://africaninternetrights.org/sites/default/files/kenneth%20matimaire-1.pdf mccorkle, w. (2020). problematizing immigration restrictions during covid-19 in the social studies classroom. research in social sciences and technology, 5(3), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.03.1 mckernan, j. a. (2013). the origins of critical theory in education: fabian socialism as social reconstructionism in nineteenth century britain. british journal of educational studies, 61(4), 417–433. mopse (2020). (ministry of primary and secondary education). zimbabwe covid-19 preparedness and response strategy. education cluster strategy, government publications. mukute, m., francis, b., burt, j., & souza, b. (2020). education in times of covid-19: looking for silver linings in southern africa’s educational responses. southern african journal of environmental education, 36. nkoane, m. m. (2013). creating sustainable postgraduate supervision learning environments through critical emancipatory research. td: the journal of transdisciplinary research in southern africa, 9(3), 393–400. novikov, p. (2020). impact of covid-19 emergency transition to on-line learning onto the international students’ perceptions of educational process at russian university. journal of social studies education research, 11(3), 270--302. retrieved from https://jsser.org/index.php/jsser/article/view/2602/468 pellini, a., david, r., jordan, k., & phillips, t. (2020, may 11). education during the covid-19 crisis opportunities and constraints of using edtech in low-income countries [policy brief]. ukfiet, the education and development forum. https://www.ukfiet.org/2020/education-during-thecovid-19-crisis-opportunities-and-constraints-of-using-edtech-in-low-income-countries/ silumba, c., & chibango, s. (2020). online education in promoting continued education during coronavirus outbreak in zimbabwe: ‘challenges and solutions’. asian journal of interdisciplinary research, 3(4), 74-88. https://doi.org/10.34256/ajir2047 tam, g., & el-azar d. (2020, march 13). 3 ways the coronavirus pandemic could reshape education. world economic forum. www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/3-ways-coronavirus-isreshaping-education-and-what-changes-might-be-here-to-stay/ tarman, b. (2020). editorial: reflecting in the shade of pandemic. research in social sciences and technology, 5(2), i-iv. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.02.ed undp (united nations development programme). (2020). human development perspectives covid-19 and human development: assessing the crisis, envisioning the recovery. retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/covid-19_and_ human_development_0.pdf unesco (2020, march 24). covid-19 educational disruption and response. retrieved from https://en.unesco.org/news/covid-19-educational-disruption-and-response unicef. (2020). zbc radio lessons programme schedule. unicef zimbabwe. retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/zimbabwe/zbc-radio-lessons-programme-schedule world bank. (2020). remote learning, edtech and covid-19. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/edutech/brief/edtech-covid-19 xinhuanet. (2020, may 29). zimbabwe’s covid-19 cases climb to 149, adding 17. xinhuanet. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-05/29/c_139098680.htm https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.03.1 https://jsser.org/index.php/jsser/article/view/2602/468 http://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/3-ways-coronavirus-is-reshaping-education-and-what-changes-might-be-here-to-stay/ http://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/3-ways-coronavirus-is-reshaping-education-and-what-changes-might-be-here-to-stay/ https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.02.ed https://en.unesco.org/news/covid-19-educational-disruption-and-response https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/edutech/brief/edtech-covid-19 http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-05/29/c_139098680.htm journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 42 a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship douglas e carothers* florida gulf coast university *corresponding author: dcarothe@fgcu.edu received : 2018-09-28 accepted : 2018-12-01 how to cite this paper: carothers, d. e.. (2018). a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship. journal of culture and values in education, 1(2), 42 -58. abstract race-based educational segregation has a long history in the united states and continues to exist even though prohibited by law. recent manifestations of race-based educational discrimination are found in the overrepresentation of black students in special education programs, their subjugation to high rates of exclusionary discipline, and their underrepresentation in gifted programs. this study used the proquest education database and selected search terms to retrieve records of publications and examine trends in professional literature during four decades. patterns were found in scholarship related to disproportionate representation of black students in special education programs and the use of exclusionary suspension and expulsion with black students as well as the underrepresentation of black students in gifted programs. the most scholarship was found related to gifted programs, in which blacks were underrepresented, and the amount of scholarship progressively decreased as the level of segregation of black students increased from special education placement to suspension and expulsion. further, the absolute amount of scholarship and the percentage of works published in scholarly journals were inversely related to the number of search terms with negative connotations used, including special education, minority, and poverty. use of search terms with negative connotations was positively associated with the percentage of scholarship done by students in the form of dissertations and theses. conclusions note scholarly findings of reduced adult outcomes caused by inequitable access to educational opportunities and encourage additional research into effective provision of culturally responsive teacher preparation and continuing education as alternatives to reliance on zero-tolerance and other policies that increase educational segregation of black students. keywords: disproportionate representation, special education, gifted, underrepresentation introduction the history of race-based differential treatment of individuals in the united states is older than the history of the country itself. the institution of slavery began in what is now the united states in 1619 when twenty african slaves were delivered to jamestown, virginia on a dutch ship (coombs, 2011). legal slavery in the u.s. continued until ratification of the 13th amendment to the united states constitution in 1865, which stated that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the united states, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (u.s. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 43 const., amend. xiii, § 2). subsequent years were marked by the passage of black codes until the 14th amendment was ratified in 1868, providing equal protection under the law to “all persons born or naturalized in the united states” (u.s. const., amend. xiv, § 1). equal protection under the law did not prevent the passage of jim crow laws designed to enforce legal segregation, however, including race-based segregation of schools. race-based school segregation had been previously upheld in boston (roberts v. boston, 1850) and the concept of “separate but equal” was upheld by the united states supreme court in the 1896 case of plessy v. ferguson (163 u.s. 537, 1896). this precedent remained the law of the land until overturned by the supreme court in 1954. in this case, brown v. board of education of topeka (1954), the court ruled that state laws establishing segregated schools were unconstitutional and that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal. further, the court asserted that "segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. the effect is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group” (347 u.s. 483, 1954). this decision was criticized as being judicial overreach, however, when senator walter george read and approximately 100 u.s. representatives and senators signed a sophisticated legal argument unofficially named the southern manifesto in 1956 (driver, 2014). the trend toward educational inclusivity continued, however, and the desirability of educating all children in a common environment gained force in 1972. at that time, the pennsylvania association for retarded citizens (parc) filed suit on behalf of fourteen children whose intellectual disabilities resulted in their being denied admission to public schools. the district court for the eastern district of pennsylvania found that the commonwealth was required to provide an appropriate public education to each child based upon the child’s disability. the court further struck at educational segregation by stating that “placement in a regular school is preferable to placement in a special school class is preferable to placement in any other type of program of education and training” (parc v. pennsylvania, 1972). as such, while segregation of students was not determined to be illegal, it was recognized that students should be educated in a common setting unless there is good reason for their separation. because racial segregation was found unconstitutional under brown v. board of education and the education for all handicapped children act (1975) required that children with disabilities be educated in the least restrictive environment (lre), the legal importance of inclusive education had been firmly established by both case litigation and legislation. despite the clear legal preference for inclusive education, special education placements and disproportionately severe disciplinary practices continue to reduce educational opportunities for students of color. confusing and seemingly contradictory court findings have confounded assessment practices used to identify students as having disabilities and place these students in segregated classrooms. for example, larry p. v. riles (1971) ruled that a process involving use of individual intelligence tests to place students in classes for the “educable mentally retarded” was biased against african american children and resulted in their loss of socioeconomic and educational opportunities. a 1980 case, however, parents in action on special education (pase) v. hannon, decided that while some items on intelligence tests might be inappropriate for students from diverse cultural backgrounds, entire tests were not journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 44 discriminatory against african american students and their use was appropriate as part of a larger assessment process. both the disproportionate representation of students of color and the need for culturally responsive general education practices have long been recognized (salend & garrick duhaney, 2005). likewise, disciplinary practices have resulted in african american students being removed from school far more than their white counterparts. three years after ending a program of separate schools, the u.s. district court for the northern district of texas ruled that the dallas independent school district was suspending african american elementary, middle, and high school students more frequently and for longer periods of time than their white counterparts (hawkins v. coleman, 1974). as a remedy, the court ordered the district to create a program to materially reduce “white institutional racism.” since then, zero-tolerance policies requiring automatic suspension or expulsion for certain behaviors have gained favor despite having a disproportionate effect on black children (morris & perry, 2016). as reported by triplett, allen, and lewis (2014) “through the mechanism of zero tolerance, a nation of urban minority students have been and continue to be punished for the actions of predominantly white, suburban/rural gunmen” (p. 353). during the 2011 – 2012 school year the suspension rate for black students in public elementary schools was over five times the rate of their white schoolmates, and the suspension rate for black students in secondary schools more than three times the rate of their white peers (children’s defense fund leave no child behind, 2017). disproportionate segregation of black students, whether achieved through placement in special education classes or by route of suspension or expulsion, results in negative outcomes. regardless of race, a meta-analysis by noltemeyer, ward, & mcloughlin (2015) covering studies from 1986 – 2012 uncovered a positive relationship between school suspensions and student drop-out rates as well as an inverse relationship between suspensions and academic achievement. the authors described their finding as particularly troubling because low-income, urban schools suspended students at a significantly higher rate than other schools. these findings have been confirmed by others, who have demonstrated that suspensions result in higher rates of dropping out even when preexisting differences between students are accounted for (chu & ready, 2018). disproportionate use of exclusionary discipline is problematic because it has been broadly reported that black students are more likely to drop out than white students (chu & ready, 2018; dalton, glennie, & ingles, 2009; kinloch, burkhard, & penn, 2017). moreover, culturally and linguistically diverse students are two/thirds more likely to drop out than white students and in large cities over half of all culturally and linguistically diverse students drop out of school (idea (p. l. 105-17)(section 601 (c)(8), 1997. the impact of exclusionary disciplinary practices, especially when they result in students dropping out of school, are more severe than merely lower academic achievement. failure to graduate from high school is associated with poorer adult outcomes in many facets of life (bowers & sprott, 2012). these include reduced lifetime earnings and fewer opportunities in the labor market, as well as economic costs to the rest of society (suh, malchow, & suh, 2014). further, students who drop out are likely to have poorer health outcomes and are more likely to experience incarceration as adults (moretti, 2007; muenning, 2007). likewise, lack of access to the best educational opportunities also reduces opportunities, and black students are often excluded from classes for the most advanced students (toldson, 2014). journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 45 minority students are less frequently recruited for gifted or other advanced academic programs (ford, coleman, & davis, 2014), remain underrepresented in gifted programs (ecker-lyster, & niileksela, 2017), and are more likely to drop out of programs for the gifted (ford, 2010). participation in gifted or other enriched academic programs, however, provides benefit including increasing academic achievement levels and desire to enter college (miller & gentry, 2010). perhaps most importantly, participation in gifted programs may result in enhanced scholarly camaraderie (burns, henry, mccarthy, & tripp, 2017), which could improve employment networking and help reduce racial social barriers as students reach adulthood. whether it occurs because of overrepresentation in special education programs, overuse of exclusionary disciplinary practices, or underrepresentation in gifted programs, the segregation of black students results in their receiving reduced educational opportunities compared to their white peers and suffering lifelong consequences as a result. critical race theory (crt) asserts that racial background contributes significantly and persistently to inequitable opportunities in the united states (ladson-billings & tate, 1995) and has been used as a framework to study a broad array of educational issues. most relevant to this study, crt has been applied to the study of racial backgrounds and school discipline (anyon et al., 2016) and teacher preparation programs (sleeter, 2017). because of its impact on both teacher preparation and subsequent disciplinary practices, this study examines scholarship related to the segregation of educational opportunities for black students through the lens of crt. specifically, the purpose of this paper is to examine patterns of research related to educational segregation of black students through special education placements, suspensions, expulsions, and exclusion from programs for the gifted. method procedure to assess research activity related to the educational segregation of minority students, an exploratory investigation of published scholarship related to race-based segregation was conducted using the proquest education database. this database was selected for examination because it contains over 900 journals and allows searches to examine customized time periods. the search started by examining publication activity during four decades as discrete time periods: the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. no restrictions were imposed related to full text, peer reviewed, source type, document type, or language, and all search terms were placed in quotation marks. to retrieve scholarship related to the use of special education as a means of segregating students, searches were conducted using only “disproportionate representation” and “special education.” the initial search was then followed by combining these terms with “minority” and “poverty,” both individually and together. a similar approach was used to retrieve scholarship related to the use of suspensions and expulsions to segregate students. the terms “disproportionate suspension” or “disproportionate expulsion” were substituted for “disproportionate representation” and each was then combined with “special education,” “poverty,” “minority,” or both “poverty” and “minority.” journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 46 another search was undertaken to retrieve scholarship related to the underrepresentation of black students in gifted programs. this search began with use the terms “under represented,” and “gifted.” this was followed by adding the search terms “minority” and “poverty” both individually and in combination. the proquest education database was also used for these searches, and they were also performed for the same decade-long time periods. because of the large number of responses retrieved by searches of publications during each of the final three decades under study, only responses from the year of each decade that produced the most results were examined. finally, searches were conducted for each of the combinations of search terms described above to determine the likely authorship of published works. to analyze trends in scholarship conducted as dissertations or theses, presumably by students under the guidance off faculty mentors, the number of dissertations or theses retrieved was divided by entire number of responses retrieved since 1980 for each combination of search terms. to ensure the appropriateness of the proquest education database for this study, similar procedures were used to search ebscohost databases. first, a search was conducted of “academic search complete,” described on the ebscohost website as “the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals”. this resulted in retrieval of a smaller number of responses than expected for each combination of search terms. next, all databases on the ebscohost website were searched with each set of search terms, and this resulted in a much larger number of responses. table 1 displays the number of responses retrieved from ebscohost searches based on the database(s) used. because of the large variation in the number of responses retrieved using different ebscohost databases, the proquest education database was considered more appropriate for purposes of this study. all data in this study other than that shown in table 1 were drawn from searches of the proquest education database. public law 94-142, signed into law in 1975, required that all children aged 3 to 21 be provided access to a free appropriate public education by september 1, 1980, regardless of the nature or severity of their disability (eha, 1975). because this was the first federal legislation requiring the education of all students with disabilities, the search for scholarly activity began with works published in 1980. scholarly activity retrieved on the proquest education database using these search terms was limited during the decades of the 1980s and 1990s. because of this, the title of each article and the journal in which it was published were scanned to look for patterns. the number of responses retrieved increased significantly in the latter two decades, necessitating a more selective method of seeking trends in scholarship. to accomplish this, a search of the proquest education database using the same terms was conducted for each year from 2000 to 2018 to determine patterns of scholarly activities. article titles and publishing journals were then scanned for the most and least active years in terms of results retrieved during each of these two decades. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 47 results trends in scholarship related to racially disproportionate special education and gifted placements, suspensions, and expulsions of black students were examined via searches of the proquest education database. these searches started by examining publication activity during journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 48 four decades as discrete time periods: the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. no restrictions related to full text, peer reviewed, source type, document type, or language were imposed, and the search terms were placed in quotation marks. to retrieve scholarship related to the use of special education as a means of segregating students, searches were conducted using only “disproportionate representation” and “special education.” the initial search was then followed by combining these terms with “minority” and “poverty,” both individually and together. table 2 displays the number of responses retrieved by searching the proquest education database. as shown in table 2, the search of the proquest education database for the decade of the 1980s using the terms “disproportionate representation,” and “special education” retrieved two unduplicated documents. the first, published in 1987, was a review of a book focused on the overrepresentation of students with disabilities in correctional facilities. the second document was published in learning disabilities quarterly in 1988 and was an article examining disproportionate representation of limited english proficient (lep) students in classes for students with learning disabilities. neither document published in the 1980s related to the issue of overrepresentation of blacks in special education. when the search term “minority” was added to the search, it again retrieved the response related to lep students in classes for students with learning disabilities. no results were retrieved when “poverty” was added to the search. scholarly activity related to disproportionate representation and special education increased to 45 responses during the 1990s, though the first article retrieved on the topic was not published until 1995. this paper, “disproportionate representation of african americans in emotionally handicapped classes,” was published in the journal of black studies (serwatka, deering, & grant, 1995). interest in the topic increased as the decade progressed, with seven articles being published, each in a different journal, in 1997. twenty articles were published in 1998, and 17 articles were published in 1999. moreover, the journal of special education journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 49 published a special issue (volume 21, issue 1) containing nine articles related to disproportionate representation in special education in 1998. most scholarship addressing this topic in the 1990s was concentrated in a few journals, with the journal of special education publishing ten, remedial and special education publishing eight, and behavioral disorders and language, speech & hearing services in schools each publishing three. narrowing the search to include “minority” as a term resulted in removal of two of the three responses published in language, speech & hearing services in schools; the replacement of “minority” with “poverty” resulted in 50% fewer responses, but all three responses from language, speech & hearing services in schools were retrieved. in addition to returning fewer responses, a trend in authorship was observed when both “minority” and “poverty” were added to “disproportionate representation” and “special education” as search terms, with the percentage of dissertations published increasing with the number of search terms used. searches for “disproportionate representation” and “special education” retrieved many more responses during the decade spanning 2000 to 2010 than prior to that time. as such, responses for the two outlier years, 2000 with 9 responses and 2008 with 117 responses, were examined and showed widely divergent patterns. in 2000, the journal behavioral disorders published two articles and the remaining seven articles were published by seven different journals. publications in 2008, on the other hand, were concentrated in relatively few venues. seventy (60%) of the works retrieved were dissertations or theses, eight were published in the journal of special education, seven in exceptional children, and four in behavioral disorders. adding “minority” as a search term resulted in 111 responses, only six fewer than before it was added. adding “poverty” retrieved 76 responses, and searching for “special education,” “disproportionate representation,” “minority,” and “poverty” retrieved 75 responses. most responses retrieved were for dissertations or theses rather than publications in scholarly journals. when “minority” was added as a search term, 61% of responses retrieved were for dissertations or theses, and when either “poverty” or “poverty” and “minority” was added the percentage of responses for dissertations and theses increased to 72%. of 734 responses retrieved from the proquest education database for “disproportionate representation” and “special education” in the interval from 2010 – 2018, 2018 delivered the fewest with 12, while 2016 delivered the most, 141. of these, 110 were dissertations or theses, four were published in behavioral disorders, three were published in contemporary school psychology, and two were published in school psychology review. addition of the search term “minority” resulted in retrieval of 130 results, addition of the term “poverty” retrieved 109 responses, and a search using all four terms (disproportionate representation, special education, minority, and poverty) retrieved 106 responses. for the same interval, 2018 delivered the fewest responses, a total of twelve. eleven of the responses provided abstracts, and each of the abstracts was read. none of the abstracts provided content related to the disproportionate placement of black students in special education. based on its title, the twelfth manuscript, teachers urge berkeley unified school district to raise employees’ wages, was also considered irrelevant to the topic of this study. because none of the responses searching for “disproportionate representation” and “special education” retrieved relevant documents in 2018, it was unnecessary to narrow the searches further by adding the terms “minority” or “poverty.” journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 50 when the term “disproportionate suspension” replaced “disproportionate representation” in the search of the proquest education database, no results were found during the decades of the 1980s and 1990s. during the decade from 2000 to 2009 no more than 11 responses were retrieved for any search including “disproportionate suspension;” the number of results retrieved for each combination of terms is reported in table 3. significant overlap was found in each of the searches, with six responses showing up in each of the searches. review of the titles of the works indicated that two did not relate to the content of this study. the other four publications related to preventive approaches to suspension (positive behavior support), demographics of suspension, the school-to-prison pipeline, and school dropout and graduation rates. two of the four publications were dissertations. table 3 displays the number of results retrieved by each combination of search terms. because the number of responses retrieved for the interval from 2010 to 2018 increased to 50 for the most active combination of search terms, another search was conducted to identify works that included all four search terms (disproportionate suspension, special education, minority, and poverty). this search retrieved 32 responses, so the titles of each work were examined. twenty-seven of these responses were dissertations or theses, four came from scholarly journals, and one was a communication from the national association of school psychologists. common themes of works published during this time included practices related to school suspension, including the beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions of those who make disciplinary referrals and the impact of discipline on academic achievement. like the results related to suspension, no results were retrieved during the decade of the 1980s when “disproportionate expulsion” was used as a search term. during the decade of the 1990s, one result was retrieved, which contained all three search terms (disproportionate expulsion, minority, and poverty). this manuscript, “barriers to the implementation of multicultural education in a secondary teacher preparation program,” (huerta, 1999), recommended a broad array of approaches to preparing teachers for diverse students, including examining the practices of colleges of education and increasing the recruitment and retention of minority preservice teachers (huerta, 1999). searches of the proquest education database didn’t journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 51 retrieve additional results during the decade of the 2000s. during the interval from 2010 to 2018, four responses were retrieved for “disproportionate expulsion” and “special education,” five were retrieved for “disproportionate expulsion” and “minority,” and three were retrieved that contained all the search terms (“disproportionate expulsion,” “minority,” and “poverty”). all but one response followed themes of underrepresentation in programs for the gifted or educators’ beliefs, attitudes and practices regarding race and gender and came from dissertations or theses. one scholarly article related to disproportionate discipline or special education placement of blacks was retrieved during this time period, and it also mentioned segregation via underrepresentation of black students in honors classes (toldson, 2014). table 4 displays the results retrieved from searches related to expulsion. finally, searches to examine scholarly activity related to underrepresentation of black students in gifted programs were undertaken. the number of responses retrieved from each of these searches is displayed in table 5. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 52 a search using the terms “underrepresented” and “gifted” retrieved four responses during the 1980s; their titles did not indicate discussion of underrepresentation of black students in gifted programs. no results were retrieved when the terms “minority” or “poverty” were included, either individually or in combination. the number of results retrieved increased for the search of scholarship in the1990s. during this decade, no works were retrieved during 1993; 1999 was the most active year for search terms “underrepresented” and “gifted” with 38 responses. thirty-two of these responses were in scholarly journals. when the search was narrowed by adding the term “minority” the number of responses was reduced to 30, 25 of which were published in scholarly journals. fourteen records were returned when “poverty” replaced “minority” as a search term, twelve of which were in scholarly journals, and the same results were retrieved when both “poverty” and “minority” were included as search terms. 2008 retrieved 308 results, the most for “underrepresented” and “gifted” during any year of the decade from 2000 to 2009. of these responses, 218 were for dissertations or theses, 77 were for scholarly journals, seven were for trade journals, and six were for magazines. when the term “minority” was added, the number of responses decreased to 260, with 196 coming from dissertations and theses and 57 coming from scholarly journals. substituting “poverty” for minority resulted in another decrease in the number of responses, with 150 dissertations and theses and 24 scholarly journals out of a total of 176 responses. when both “minority” and “poverty” were included in the search of 2008, 166 responses were retrieved. dissertations and theses outnumbered publications in scholarly journals 142 to 22 in 2008. finally, 2016 was the most productive year during the period from 2010 to 2018, returning 640 results for “underrepresented” and “gifted.” five hundred forty-five of these responses were for dissertations or theses, and seventy-five were for scholarly journals. the number of responses decreased to 543 when the term “minority” was added to the search, 480 of which were dissertations or theses and 50 of which were works in scholarly journals. replacing journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 53 minority with “poverty” resulted in a further decrease to 424 responses, 384 of which were for dissertations or theses and 30 of which were for scholarly journals. finally, when both “poverty” and “minority” were included as search terms, 388 results were retrieved, 358 of which were dissertations or theses and 22 of which came from scholarly journals. discussion the united states has a long history of treating individuals differently based on their race, and this racially differential treatment is reflected in public schools. the first manifestation of educational segregation was legal prohibitions against literacy instruction for slaves (davis, 1981; pawley, 2010). after the abolition of slavery, blacks were segregated into schools that were ‘separate but equal’ but the united states supreme court ruled that separate schools couldn’t be equal and that separate schools resulted in greater harm to blacks than whites (brown v. board of education of topeka, 1954). still, school segregation has continued under forms such as disproportionately high placements rates of black students in classes for students with disabilities (maydosz, 2014; skiba et al., 2008; sullivan & bal, 2013), higher rates of suspension and expulsion for black students (stetson & collins, 2010; sullivan, klingbell, & van norman, 2013), and providing fewer black students with access to high-quality educational services such as gifted programs (ford, 2014; lewis, novak, & weber, 2018). passage of the education for all handicapped children act in 1972 reaffirmed the federal government’s intention, originally outlined in brown v. board of education (1954), that educational settings should be as inclusive as possible, and a few years later educational scholars began writing about racial inequities in the provision of educational services. the purpose of this study was to examine patterns of scholarly publications related to the overrepresentation of blacks in special education programs, the higher rates of exclusionary discipline applied to black students, and their underrepresentation in educational programs for the gifted. a broad view of the results can be cautiously interpreted as reflecting society’s values regarding the topics being searched. examining solely the relative quantities of responses retrieved for each topic, it is possible to conclude that education of the gifted is valued more highly than education of students with disabilities. applying the same method and logic to the entirety of the topics covered in this study could lead one to conclude that there is relatively little interest in the disproportionate suspension of students with disabilities and almost no interest in poor or minority students who are permanently deprived of education via expulsion. published scholarship on these topics was reviewed by conducting a series of searches of the proquest education database. this review uncovered trends in published scholarship, including continuously increasing research activity related to disproportionately high placement of black students in special education programs, continuously increasing but significantly less research activity related to higher rates of out-of-school suspensions of black students, and a consistent lack or near absence of scholarship related to the high rates of expulsion of black students from school. the amount of scholarship related to the underrepresentation of black students in programs for the gifted showed the greatest change over time, with only four works published on the topic during the 1980s but more than 2,600 published between 2010 and 2018. additional trends were found within each of these broader topics. for example, the first article published on the overrepresentation of black students in special education programs was journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 54 published in the journal of black studies in 1995, and related articles in the late 1990s were limited to publication in relatively few journals. as time passed, however, the amount of scholarship that was published and the variety of venues in which it was published both increased. further, as the terms “minority” and “poverty” were added to the search, the percentage of published scholarly works in the form of dissertations or theses increased, possibly indicting more interest in the topic by relatively new scholars than their more established peers. the trend of substantial proportions of scholarship appearing in the form of dissertations or theses continued across all combinations of search terms. more results were retrieved from searches when “minority” was used as a qualifier than when “poverty” was used. this continued even after scholars began to assert that disproportionate special education placements and discipline were more closely related to economic than racial factors. further, a high percentage of the searches that used “poverty” as a qualifier also included the search term “minority.” though it is doubtful and hopefully incorrect, this result could lead to possible conjecture that scholars assumed economically disadvantaged students must also be minorities. at the most extreme end of this trend, every response retrieved for disproportionate suspension or expulsion that included the search term “poverty” also included the term “minority,” though more responses were retrieved when searching for works about minorities without regard for economic status. in fact, in the current decade, searches for “disproportionate expulsion” and “minority” retrieved twice as many responses as searches for “disproportionate expulsion” and “poverty.” finally, as mentioned above, it should be noted that the percentage of articles published in scholarly journals was inversely related to the number of search terms used in every category examined. in other words, as the terms “minority,” and “poverty,” were added to a search, the percentage of scholarship published as dissertations or theses, written by students, increased and the percentage published in scholarly journals decreased. the percentage of works published in scholarly journals was lowest when both “poverty” and “minority” were used as qualifiers. limitations the primary limitation of this study relates to difficulty in selecting search terms that appropriately identify relevant literature. numerous permutations of any of the major search terms could have been selected. for example, exceptional student education or disability could have been used instead of special education and african american, black, or ethnic could have been used instead of minority. even choosing between use of ‘under represented” and “underrepresented” resulted in retrieval of different responses. as a practical matter, however, it would be impossible to conduct searches for all possible permutations and combinations of search terms, and if it were possible it would result in retrieval of many duplicate documents. as a result, search terms were selected and used consistently. the reader should be cautioned, however, that use of different search terms might result in different patterns of responses. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 55 conclusion continued research on the educational segregation of black students is important because racial segregation has long-lasting consequences regardless of how it is achieved. in-school segregation has negative consequences: students in special education programs have lower rates of graduation, labor market participation, and employment than their general education peers (schifter, 2016). exclusionary discipline also has negative consequences; multiple suspensions are related to lower school achievement, especially when experienced by already vulnerable populations (hwang, 2018) and school suspension may reduce students’ motivation, commitment to following school rules, and feeling of connectedness to a school (gregory, skiba, & noguera, 2010). suspension is associated with increased risk of dropping out of school (lee, gregory, & fan, 2011), and dropping out of school is associated with negative outcomes including lower adult earnings (suh, malchow, & suh, 2014) and poor health (moretti, 2007; muenning, 2007). likewise, segregation from high achieving peers in gifted programs results in lost opportunities to socialize around academic content (burns, henry, mccarthy, & tripp, 2017) and reduced desire to enter college (miller & gentry, 2010). the united states constitution states that all men are created equal, yet racial inequality has been part of our national fabric longer than the constitution. open racism seems to be making a resurgence and it is easier than ever for people to say that slavery is over, that passage of the voting rights act ended the jim crow era ended more than 50 years ago, that school segregation became illegal over 60 years ago, and that everyone in our country has equal rights. review of the research regarding race-based educational segregation, however, demonstrates that the playing field is not level. research is needed to determine how past research has been translated into practice and how it has impacted equitable access to the broad range of educational experiences. even more importantly, in-depth research is needed on how to incorporate culturally responsive instructional and disciplinary approaches into teacher preparation programs as well as continuing education requirements for practicing teachers. then, perhaps, all children will be educated in a culture of equality. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 56 references anyon, y., lechuga, c., ortega, d., downing, b., greer, e., & simmons, j. (2018). an exploration of the relationships between student racial background and the school sub-contexts of office discipline referrals: a critical race theory analysis. race ethnicity and education, 21(3), 390-406. doi: 10.1080/13613324.2017.1328594 bowers, a. j., & sprott, r. (2012). examining the multiple trajectories associated with dropping out of high school: a growth mixture model analysis. the journal of educational research, 105(3), 176-195. brown v. board of education of topeka, 347 u.s. 483 (1954). burns, b., henry, j., mccarthy, d., & tripp, j. (2017). the value of the math circle for gifted middle school students. gifted child today, 40(4), 198-204. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/10.1177/1076217517723677 children’s defense fund leave no child behind. (2017). the state of america’s children® 2017 report. retrieved from https://www.childrensdefense.org/reports/2017/the state-of-americas-children-2017-report/ coombs, j. c. (2011). the phases of conversion: a new chronology for the rise of slavery in early virginia. the william and mary quarterly, 68(3), 332-360. doi:10.5309/willmaryquar.68.3.0332 chu, e. m., & ready, d. d. (2018). exclusion and urban public high schools: shortand long term consequences of school suspensions. american journal of education, 124(4), 479-509. dalton, b., glennie, e., & ingles, s. j. (2009). late high school dropouts: characteristics, experiences, and changes across cohorts. descriptive analysis report. u.s. department of education, national center for educational statistics. retrieved from http://nces.gov/pubs2009/2009307.pdf davis, a. y. (1981). women, race, and class. new york, ny: knopf doubleday. driver, j. (2014). supremacies and the southern manifesto. texas law review, 92(5), 1053 1135. ecker-lyster, m., & niileksela, c. (2017). enhancing gifted education for underrepresented students. journal for the education of the gifted, 40(1), 79-95. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/10.1177/0162353216686216 eha (p.l. 94-142) (section 612 (2) (b) ford, d. y. (2010). underrepresentation of culturally different students in gifted education: reflections about current problems and recommendations for the future. gifted child today, 33(3), 31-35. ford, d. y. (2014). segregation and the underrepresentation of blacks and hispanics in gifted education: social inequality and deficit paradigms, roeper review, 36(3), 143-154, doi: 10.1080/02783193.2014.919563 ford, d. y., coleman, m. r., & davis, j. l. (2014). racially, ethnically, and linguistically different gifted and talented students. gifted child today, 37(3), 133-134. govtrack.us. (2018). s. 6 — 94th congress: education for all handicapped children act. retrieved from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/94/s6 gregory, a., skiba, r., & noguera, p. (2010). the achievement gap and the discipline gap: two sides of the same coin? educational researcher, 39(1), 59-68. hawkins v. coleman, 376 f. supp. 1330-dist court, nd texas, 1974. https://www.childrensdefense.org/reports/2017/thehttps://www.childrensdefense.org/reports/2017/the journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 57 huerta, g. c. (1999). barriers to the implementation of multicultural education in a secondary teacher preparation program. the high school journal, 82(3), 150. hwang, n. (2018). suspensions and achievement: varying links by type, frequency, and subgroup. educational researcher, 47(6), 363–374. idea (p. l. 105-17) (section 601 (c)(8) kinloch, v., burkhard, t., & penn, c. (2017). when school is not enough: understanding the lives and literacies of black youth. research in the teaching of english, 52(1), 3454. ladson-billings, g., & tate,w. f.,iv. (1995). toward a critical race theory of education. teachers college record, 97(1), 47. retrieved from http://ezproxy.fgcu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest com.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/docview/211325429?accountid=10919 larry p. v. riles, 793 f.2d 969 (1984). lee, t., gregory, a., & fan, x. (2011). high suspension schools and dropout rates for black and white students. education & treatment of children, 34(2), 167-192. lewis, k. d., novak, a. m., & weber, c. l. (2018). where are gifted students of color? the learning professional, 39(4), 50-53,58. maydosz, a. s. (2014). disproportional representation of minorities in special education. journal for multicultural education, 8(2), 81-88. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/10.1108/jme-01-2014-0002 miller, r., & gentry, m. (2010). developing talents among high-potential students from low income families in an out-of-school enrichment program. journal of advanced academics, 21(4), 594-627,751-752. moretti, e. (2007). crime and the costs of criminal justice. in c. r. belfield & h. m. levin (eds.), the price we pay (pp. 142–159). washington, dc: brookings institution press. morris, e. w., & perry, b. l. (2016). the punishment gap: school suspensions and racial disparities in achievement. social problems, 63(1), 68-86. https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spv026 muenning, p. (2007). consequences in health status and costs. in c. r. belfield & h. m. levin (eds.), the price we pay (pp. 125–141). washington, dc: brookings institution press. noltemeyer, a. l., ward, r. m., & mcloughlin, c. (2015). relationship between school suspension and student outcomes: a meta-analysis. school psychology review, 44(2), 224-240. pase v. hannon, 506 f.supp. 831 (1980). pawley, c. (2010). reading places: literacy, democracy, and the public library in cold war america. amherst, ma: university of massachusetts press. pennsylvania association for retarded children v. commonwealth of pennsylvania, 343 f.supp. 279, 307 (e.d. pa 1972). plessy v. ferguson, 163 u.s. 537 (1896). roberts v. boston, 59 mass. (5 cush.) 198 (1850). salend, s. j., & garrick duhaney, l. m. (2005). understanding and addressing the disproportionate representation of students of color in special education. intervention in school and clinic, 40(4), 213-221. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/10.1177/10534512050400040201 schifter, l. a. (2016). using survival analysis to understand graduation of students with disabilities. exceptional children, 82(4). 479-496. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/10.1177/0014402915619418 journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 carothers, d. e., a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship 58 serwatka, t. s., deering, s., & grant, p. (1995). disproportionate representation of african americans in emotionally handicapped classes. journal of black studies, 25(4), 492. skiba, r. j., simmons, a. b., ritter, s., gibb, a. c., rausch, m. k., cuadrado, j., & chung, c. (2008). achieving equity in special education: history, status, and current challenges. exceptional children, 74(3), 264-288. sleeter, c. e. (2017). critical race theory and the whiteness of teacher education. urban education, 52(2), 155-169. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/10.1177/0042085916668957 stetson, f. h., & collins, b. j. (2010). rethinking suspensions. principal leadership, 11(2), 40 44. suh, s., malchow, a., & suh, j. (2014). why did the black-white dropout gap widen in the 2000s? educational research quarterly, 37(4), 19-40. sullivan, a. l., & bal, a. (2013). disproportionality in special education: effects of individual and school variables on disability risk. exceptional children, 79(4), 475-494. sullivan, a. l., klingbeil, d. a., & van norman, e.,r. (2013). beyond behavior: multilevel analysis of the influence of sociodemographics and school characteristics on students' risk of suspension. school psychology review, 42(1), 99-114. tajalli, h., & garba, h. a. (2014). discipline or prejudice? overrepresentation of minority students in disciplinary alternative education programs. the urban review 46(4), 620 631. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11256-014-0274-9 toldson, i. a. (2014). 60 years after brown v. board of education: the impact of the congressional black caucus on the education of black people in the united states of america (editor’s commentary). the journal of negro education, 83(3), 194-198,426. triplett, n. p., allen, a., & lewis, c. w. (2014). zero tolerance, school shootings, and the post brown quest for equity in discipline policy: an examination of how urban minorities are punished for white suburban violence. the journal of negro education, 83(3), 352 370, 425-427. u.s. const., amend. xiii, § 2. u.s. const., amend. xiv, § 1. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 18 parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity alexis jones* eastern illinois university *corresponding author: aljones16@eiu.edu received : 2018-12-25 accepted : 2019-04-30 how to cite this paper: jones, a. (2019). parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity, journal of culture and values in education, volume 2 (1), 18-33. abstract this paper is a philosophical piece with snippets of empirical data designed to provide a picture of what is currently done in schools versus what is possible. i suggest that what is often done in schools can be very literally de-human-izing. i present several arguments that address the potential our schools have, not only for educating our students in a way paulo freire would respect, but also for respecting our teachers’ humanity. a primarily theoretical paper, i include examples from my current research that attempt to paint a picture of unfortunate teachersociety and teacher-student interactions. my hope is that this paper will not only present ideas about what is problematic in our current school culture, but also how the hopeful, freeing, and empowering work we do for some students should also be delivered to teachers. keywords: authoritarian schools, relational ethics, humanity introduction a fifth grade teacher, amy, is teaching a lesson on grammar. she goes over a worksheet on sentence structure. amy reminds students, “where were you?” would make sense, but not “where was you?” on another occasion, she asks students, “are we going to put ‘she swimming in the pool’?” many students reply no, though in a classroom of predominantly black students, the answer to that question might have been a resounding yes. however, by 5th grade, these students knew the expected answer, and what their white teacher expected was certainly not, “she swimming in the pool.” most speakers of standard english think that aave [african-american vernacular english] is just a badly spoken version of their language, marred by a lot of ignorant mistakes in grammar and pronunciation, or worse than that, an unimportant and mostly abusive repertoire of street slang used by an ignorant urban underclass (pullam, 1999, 39-40). many of amy’s black students spoke aave. amy’s inability to accept, value, and discuss her students’ use of aave as a legitimate language placed limitations on and devalued on the development of her students’ humanity and intellect as black children. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 19 yet before we condemn amy’s behavior too harshly, we must look further. where has amy learned that language has a correct form? are there those who would raise concerns if amy’s students wrote, “i is so smart,” on their standardized tests, or even on a writing assignment hung on the school walls? it is important to also consider that there are culturally enforced limitations imposed by those who suggest there is a proper grammar, and those who believe in schooling as unidirectional, leading only from the teacher to the student. i argue that traditional schooling itself, in its most unfortunate form, is still a technical, banking form of education (freire, 2012) that also limits the teacher’s growing human intellect. this means we consider traditional schooling itself to be its own culture, one that imprisons both the student and the teacher, and has parallels in terms of the dehumanizing nature of its origins and practices. this is a form of schooling that requires answers above arguments, settles on tests to decide students’ and teachers’ progress, and as freire (2012) told us, dehumanizes both parties. we quite literally see the de-human-ization of the student whose home culture is devalued in a traditional classroom, and the de-human-ization of the teacher whose ability to think originally and creatively is squashed by the need to comply with societal expectations and high-stakes tests. let us imagine an alternate reality in our schools. let us imagine a reality where both the student’s and teacher’s humanity were respected and encouraged; where what was “right” was regularly questioned in the classroom; where the work of freire (2012), van manen (1986, 1991, 2008), buber (1955, 1970), ayres (2004), and many other notable scholars was enacted with the goal of respecting the whole of the human being rather than the oversimplified intellectual growth represented by an accumulation of knowledge. this paper is a philosophical piece with snippets of empirical data shared to give an elaborate picture of what is currently done versus what is possible. i begin with a review of theorists, old and new, who suggest that what is often implemented in our schools is very literally de-humanizing, especially as it relates to human nature, culture, and emotion. after developing the theoretical perspective, i present several arguments that address what enormous potential our schools have, not only for educating our students in a way freire would respect, but also for respecting our teachers’ humanity at the same time. while this is a primarily theoretical paper, i have many examples from my current research that paint a picture of unfortunate teachersociety and teacher-student interactions, but also the potential for meaningful human engagement. theoretical perspectives while not an exhaustive review of the applicable literature, the theorists and researchers described below will certainly argue the importance of the human aspect in our k-12 students’ and teachers’ lives. it will introduce what others have described when it comes to our responsibility to other people (young students and teachers), how we consider ethics within relationships, and the role of thinking and questioning in our current school culture. all three journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 20 of these areas are largely tied to school and district culture both for the students and the teachers. first, however, we should consider how schooling itself is a culture. by this i do not mean to talk about the culture and climate of a particular school or district, but the fact that our institution of schooling and k-12 education has a reified set of beliefs and practices that are passed along from administration to teachers and from mentors to protégés. culture as described by geertz (1973) is, as he refers to max weber, the webs of significance man has spun. to analyze this culture, we do not look for strict definitions or something quantifiable, but we search for meaning. we are not trying to ask necessarily where certain behaviors or symbolic actions came from, but we try to figure out why these things are so important. “culture is not a power, something to which social events, behaviors, institutions, or processes can be causally attributed; it is a context, something within which they can be intelligibly—that is, thickly—described” (p. 14). giroux (1997) and ayres (2004) are far from the only scholars who have cautioned educators at all levels against authoritarian schooling. giroux argued that just acknowledging that the teacher is an authority over his or her students implies the political aspect of schools in general. teacher educators, school administrators, and district personnel do the same when making decisions in positions of power over teachers who may have none, and if they do, do not necessarily know how to wield it. it is with these thoughts in mind that i proceed with the following perspectives and arguments. schooling is generally a culture, a context, where there are particular behaviors that are allowable and those that are not. meaning making takes place in the lounge, on the bulletin boards, with every sign that is approved and posted and those that are denied, with the language spoken on the daily announcements, and on what time can be spent in each classroom. can students speak in the hallways? disagree with their teacher? visit the principal for lunch? what families feel welcome to come to lunch and who is noticeably absent from parent-teacher conferences? what is allowed, supported, and believed about students becomes part of a school’s culture, and what is allowed, supported, and believed about teaching and teachers becomes a part of schooling’s culture. responsibility to the other when i was preparing to meet my first class of 10 year old’s as a 21 year old new teacher, i remember visiting my parents’ house and heading to our laundry room to chat with my mother. i was filled with nervous energy and had little to no idea what i would do on my first day of school, even though i had graduated from a top notch teacher preparation program. i could not imagine that anyone thought i was prepared to engage my students in each and every subject area, settle classroom arguments, and administer the state tests. i have a vivid mental picture of standing next to my mother, folding towels, asking her desperately, “how can i not be a liability to the school and to the students? i have no idea what i’m doing!” journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 21 the teacher who wants to help the pupil to realize his best potentialities must intend him as this particular person, both in his potentiality and in his actuality. more precisely, he must not know him as a mere sum of qualities, aspirations, and inhibitions; he must apprehend him, and affirm him, as a whole. but this he can only do if he encounters him as a partner in a bipolar situation. and to give his influence unity and meaning, he must live through this situation in all its aspects not only from his own point of view but also from that of his partner. he must practice the kind of realization that i call embracing. it is essential that he should awaken the iyou relationship in the pupil, too, who should intend and affirm his educator as this particular person; and yet the educational relationship could not endure if the pupil also practiced the art of embracing by living through the shared situation from the educator’s point of view. (buber, 1970, p. 178) an overly long quote to be sure, this passage from buber’s work highlights a number of important factors in the education of the teacher and student. first of all, there is the responsibility of the teacher to acknowledge that the one being educated is “this particular person.” the individual in our care is neither a different person nor an incomplete person whose holes must be plugged with content and skills. they are, in their “potentiality and actuality,” this person. as well, the teacher needs to encounter the other, the student, as a partner. a partner does more than design and facilitate the learning of another, he or she involves the student in the design of the learning experiences, from the content to the process to the final product. in an ideal situation, partners work with each other, not for each other. they consider each other and their point of view in the design of all activities. van manen (2000) noted, as the teacher, “i cannot help but feel responsible even before i want to feel responsible” (p. 320). when students look to us as their teachers, they are appealing to us. at times this is merely a questioning look, at other times a direct question, but they look to us for a response. it is worth noting that the words response, responsibility and responsive are closely related. students worry that they will be ignored when they need attention; that the work will be too difficult, too easy, or too much; that they’ll be embarrassed in front of their peers. and educators are called upon to respond to all of these situations before, during, and after they arise in classrooms. when we do so, we cannot be objective in our response. we are human beings, and we call upon this humanness to provide a response that meets at least some of the students’ needs. if we attempt to be objective, we lose this awareness of our and their humanity, and our students become problems as opposed to children. van manen and freire both present a non-traditional way of conceptualizing the word pedagogy. traditionally, the term pedagogy is used to describe teaching tools—strategies used in the classroom, ways to reach instructional goals in certain subjects, educational methods, etc. (merriam-webster, 2019) however, the term pedagogy has roots in the greek words pais (child) and ago (to lead)—essentially, our pedagogy is the way we lead a child. van manen (1986, 1991) described pedagogy as a way of being with children. when we consider pedagogy in this way, it presents a new, non-technical view of teaching. rather than teaching “tools,” i journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 22 am considering my choices in the classroom as ways to direct my ways of being with my students. ayres (2004) said similarly, “teachers live this tension with intense urgency—we meet our students as we are and as they are, right here and right now, finite but incomplete; we enlarge and expand and engage their minds and fire their hearts…” (p. xiv). teaching is a tension, an intense profession, and one we must live with urgency; after all, our students face us now. not in a minute, after we’ve had a chance to consider all of our options, but now, and while the individual confronts us, so do 20-30 of their peers. we are also living and working within the tension of the wider schooling culture and the individual and relational, which presents equal urgency. many of our schools are not yet set up to allow for human responses to children. this does not mean that teachers refrain from interacting with students in sensitive, human ways; of course they do, on a daily basis. however, the structure and culture of schooling as an institution does not always acknowledge the importance of students and teachers as human beings with multiple needs. relational ethics i taught 5th grade near the end of my k-5 teaching experiences. because i had moved from 4th grade to 5th grade that year, i was able to loop with a third of my students. this meant that i began on the first day of school with 10 students i knew well, who had already spent a year with me and i with them. that was also a year i began in august with approximately 30 students, and later in the year this number rose to 34 as did the other 5th grade class. by the rules of our negotiated agreement, i was then to either be provided a teaching assistant to help with the large number of students, or the other 5th grade teacher and i would provide names of several of our students who would leave our classrooms and make up a new classroom with a newly hired teacher. let me be absolutely clear: this contract rule was designed to protect the teacher and the students from overcrowded classrooms. however, as one might imagine, selecting students for removal to another classroom was no less than heartbreaking for me and for these students. i chose the minimum number of students i could move to another room, leaving me with a stilllarge class. telling my students who was to leave brought tears, questions, and tantrums from students who depended on their relationship with the teacher; a relationship i was dissolving. how could i possibly answer the questions, “why do any of us have to leave?” “why did you pick me?” “who is the new teacher?” with answers that were any more than pat responses designed more to mollify them than really get at the heart of the issue: the traditional overcrowding of classrooms in public schools and the inevitability of weak decisions made too late to be of any good to the students. relational ethics (austin, 2008) is the way one approaches ethics within a relationship. it is about how people choose to live together; in the case of education, how the student-teacher journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 23 relationship is created and maintained. when situations arise in the classroom, the answer to the question, “what should i do?” is multi-faceted and complex. buber (1955) had more than a bit to share about the importance of the young child, especially the potential of children when they face us within their “phenomenon of uniqueness” (p. 83). in order to develop their potential, buber believed that the child needs to enter into a mutual, dialogic relationship in order to see and be received by the world as whole and complete people. as we can see in the long quote above, this embracing buber requires of us enables the teacher to experience herself and the other at the same time. noddings (2013) also spoke of this when she discussed the way the one-caring accepts as nearly as possible the reality of the cared-for. van manen’s (1986) connection to this idea of ethics within the teacher-student relationship suggests that a teacher has a particular type of interest in the child that is different than that of the parent. this interest is with the child as a human being, engaged in formative growth. teacher-student reflection, introspection, and questioning as a doctoral student, i taught undergraduate classes on general methods and social studies in the elementary classroom. when the edtpa (aacte, 2019) entered our preservice program, many of us received in-house training on how to best support our students completing the portfolio, which was required for licensure. because so many of us had a difficult time not turning our methods classes into edtpa preparatory classes, we began to have a number of collegial discussions that later led to a self-study on our practices (cronenberg et al., 2016). a discussion i cannot forget took place between myself and a professor who mentored us through the self-reflection, where she asked how much we had talked about the neo-liberal aspects of the edtpa with our students when helping them understand the requirements and rubrics. did we talk about the issues involved with pearson, a corporation essentially tasked with licensing teachers over those of us at the university who knew the students well? i was embarrassed to say that no, i did not talk about this with my students. they were under enough stress just completing the portfolio, i argued weakly, i did not want to bring up issues that would make them angry about the process. ayres (2004) wrote that our k-12 schools focus too much on skills and too little on liberation. this is true. yet our schools of teacher education tend toward the same with our preservice teachers, as do our practices in professional development with inservice teachers. with the best of intentions, we discuss the “preparation” of teachers as if there is such a thing, to prepare one adequately for the exhausting, exhilarating, confusing work with too many students and too few hours in a day. i have done many wince-worthy things as an instructor in my elementary and college classrooms, but one of the best things i ever did with my preservice teachers was to admit early in the semester that they should not expect my pedagogy class to teach them all they needed to know about teaching. what they were learning from me was truly just the beginning, and if i were to do my job well, the class should raise as many questions than it answered. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 24 the 18th century philosopher imanual kant challenged people to “dare to know.” he and his contemporaries, part of what has been called the enlightenment project, suggested that a good education would be determined by understanding, inquiry, and moral reasoning (kant, 1784). nothing is required for this enlightenment, however, except freedom; and the freedom in question is the least harmful of all, namely, the freedom to use reason publicly in all matters. but on all sides i hear: "do not argue!" the officer says, "do not argue, drill!" the tax man says, "do not argue, pay!" the pastor says, "do not argue, believe!" (para. 5) it is not hard to imagine a typical 21st century classroom that depends on acquiescence and compliance sadly resembling what kant was challenging in 1784. my own son was terrified to correct one of his elementary teachers when she made a small error on the blackboard one day. “you can correct a teacher,” i told him. he looked at me in horror. most classrooms i have seen do not suggest to students that they can disagree with a teacher, argue points with one another, or challenge school or district administration. ayres (2004) described a young student who was deeply disturbed by a fireman’s dismissal of the need for female firefighters in the city. he suggested to her that she write a letter to the mayor stating her case, a simple move that respected the child’s passionate need to debate while not requiring time or preparation on his part. i posit that we do not teach teachers that they are able to do this. even before my students enter their paid teaching profession, most of them are terrified to include books with homosexual couples in their classroom libraries. one student told me, “i might have it in my library, but i wouldn’t read it aloud in my class.” her comment told me that she would take a fairly passive step to put it in the library with 100 other books, but she wouldn’t present it to students, because that presentation would mean she sanctioned that type of family, that belief system, that openness that she was deeply uncomfortable with. “education cannot be neutral—it is always put to use in favor of something and in opposition to something else” (ayres, 2004, p. 31). i have taught preservice teachers that everything they do is political, whether they intend it to be or not. what you include in your library but do not present to students, how you correct a distracting behavior, how you handle a lunchtime argument, all of these quietly but clearly state what you believe about your students. as well, when teacher educators focus on certain approaches to classroom management, lesson planning, and assessment, it bleeds the humanity out of the classroom. preservice teachers ask again and again for how-to advice. how do i handle a student who won’t do their homework? what if they talk too much when i’m trying to teach? if a fight starts in class, what do i do? these are all situations that have happened to me in more than one elementary classroom, yet i would be doing a disservice to my preservice teachers if i told them that the way i handled things was the way to do it. the way i did it was one way, but i do not believe in the overwhelming “rightness” of anything i did. so many actions taken in the company of other humans can be questioned. these classroom actions are yet one more thing to reflect on; there are a number of wrong actions in teaching (causing students humiliation, actively engaging in cultural appropriation, etc.) but there are innumerable variations and shades of grey in the right. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 25 as well as being political, everything we do in the classroom has a moral, human aspect. while the above examples are very public and very noticeable, sometimes these moral, human interactions are minute. they are the sighs that escape from a teacher when being asked, “what do we do now?” for the millionth time. it includes an eye roll when the same student raises her hand again and again. these actions speak to young students. you are valuable and worthy of my attention, or you are annoying and a problem. you are human like me and we do things that frustrate each other at times, or you are an object that gets in the way of my stellar instruction. i have rarely seen issues like this on a teacher education course syllabus. yet the moral and political aspects of teaching are innumerable during the average classroom day, so in our teacher preparation programs, shouldn’t there be sanctioned, planned-for times when we discuss these? when white teacher education students have questions about classroom management in diverse schools, how can the question not also raise issues about our identity and power as white teachers, how necessary it is to reflect on our teaching practices and whether or not students see themselves in our instruction and materials, and how many management strategies result in a lack of faith and trust between the teacher and student? human potential: three arguments “teachers can teach toward freedom, and teachers can conversely represent and practice a kind of ‘unfreedom’ – subjugation, repression, agents of dependence and subservience” (ayres, x, 2004). an attempt has been made here to highlight the ways teachers and teaching can represent a type of cultural subjugation, a type freire would suggest can and should be overcome by a very different kind of instruction. the arguments i would like to present here relate to potential. this includes the potential for the education of the young student, the development of and allowances made to k-12 teachers, and the ways education can reconsider humanity an essential goal. engaging and responding to the other an aspect of martin buber’s work i find most appealing and descriptive of the work of the good teacher is his description of the i-it and i-thou (i-you) relationship. when we are engaged with another in an i-it relationship, the other is more of an object than an equal partner in dialogue. when i interact with another person in an i-it relationship, i interact with them as a thing, much as ayres (2004) describes our tendency to “thingify” (p. 35) human beings. this is related to our tendency to label the young people we work for and the teachers we work with. students are “gifted,” “ld,” or “behavior disordered.” teachers are “new,” “adventurous,” or “traditional.” the fact that some of these labels are generally considered to be positive is not the point. the point is that the repeated use of these labels begins to blur and then erase one’s humanity. it distances us from one another. an i-thou relationship is different. buber (1970) said that this term, “can be spoken only with one’s whole being” (p. 62). we are now encountering one another as whole beings. i speak to journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 26 you as a three-dimensional creature who has quirks, worries, thoughts, feelings, schedules, experiences, etc. we experience one another as complex works-in-progress. what does this have to do with the potential for learning in k-12 classrooms and in teacher preservice and inservice settings? the engagement and response with one another allows ideas to be exchanged from one to the other. i have mentioned above how ayres encouraged his young student to take action in a situation that disturbed her. this required little to no classroom time, it respected her need to act, and was almost certainly a way toward a deepened understanding of how to live in a democracy. within teacher preservice and inservice development, it is worth the time spent to allow teachers to talk with one another not only about their lesson plans and assessments, but also their worries, excitement, and troubling situations. it was fairly recent in my teaching career when “teacher talk” became a legitimate and valued form of professional development. what about engaging and responding with others outside the classroom? this should and often does take place via social media with community members, in an auditorium with school board members, and in the newspapers in editorial columns. if teachers can avoid being taught to “get along,” as one of my research participants put it, we enrich our dialogue and participation with one another. a teacher in a different study of mine described the way she and her principal appeared to disagree fundamentally on what “doing what’s best for kids” really meant. because this teacher continued to raise the issue with her principal, she “felt like everybody was really mad at [her].” this idea of engaging in respectful, civil dialogue with one another at varied levels is one that needs more attention in preservice and inservice teacher development. relationships: more than a means to an instructional end after the horrifying spate of school shootings the 21st century, people have begun to wonder if bullying is the cause of such disturbed behavior. once consequence of this type of thinking is to suggest that students be much nicer to one another, and to welcome students to your social group if you think they are being marginalized or ignored (ducharme, 2018). this initiative has been lauded in many circles; after all, who can deny that students should be nicer to one another? however, there is a disturbing aspect to the connection of these two initiatives: stopping gun violence and being nicer to one another. yes, students should be nice to one another. yes, of course, students should attend school without fearing for their lives. it is the way some connect one to the other that is problematic: being nice should not be a means to an end. i should be kind to my fellow man. but i shouldn’t be kind to my fellow man in order to not be gunned down in my classroom. this same connection can be made when it comes to the relationships we have with students. many authors (baker, 2006; boynton & boynton, 2005) state that we should establish relationships with students, because our instruction is so much better when we know our students as whole and complete human beings. i agree to a degree. it is the “because” i would argue with: the relationship is not a means to an instructional end. the relationship should be there because there is inherent value to getting to know a child as a human being. it is journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 27 problematic, not to mention a little harsh, to think that my child is friendly with his teacher because his teacher only wants to know what books to provide. yes, she should provide books that meet his needs. and yes, she should get to know him as a person. but to consider the latter a means to the former is a mite disturbing. what should teachers do, then, since our primary purpose is described as instructional? i argue that we acknowledge, describe, appreciate, and encourage the relational in our classroom. we cannot shy away from the idea that to know a child in all of his or her messy humanness is a worthy goal and one that is equal to our instruction, it is not merely the way of instruction. the same is true of our work with teachers. the idea that teachers should encounter one another in a human relationship for support, commiseration, and instructional strategies is not a new one, but it is one whose tone may need to be shifted. mentoring programs are well documented (darling-hammond, 2010; ingersoll & strong, 2011) as ways to support new teachers, but at times those who work with new teachers state that they are the ones who really grow. the adults who find this most valuable have met each other in an i-thou relationship; they see each other as human; not to be judged and picked apart under a microscope, but to be supported and to learn from one another as human beings. creating safety throughout controversy the 2016 elections were so heated and so polarizing that a number of teachers decided to avoid teaching about them in their classrooms (hess, 2016). social studies itself has decreased in importance over the years, in part because of the reading and math focus of no child left behind’s high stakes assessments, but also because teachers tend to believe it has less value than other subjects (fitchett & heafner, 2010). yet the importance of discussions about elections and civic engagement in general, especially elections like those of 2000 and 2016 cannot be overstated. “if we want young people to build knowledge about democracy—both conceptually and in practice—then it is imperative that we help students develop a rich understanding of elections: what they are, why we have them, and how to participate in them” (hess, 2016, p. 254). hess goes on to recommend that, far from avoiding controversy in the schools, classrooms are the perfect place to discuss controversial issue such as heated, divisive political speech and opinions. schools have the potential to teach about these issues in a setting that is naturally diverse; many public schools mirror the diversity of the surrounding community, and hess believes that it is more powerful to teach these types of issues in a setting, “where differences already exist” (p. 254). social studies cannot be adequately taught without addressing controversial issues. people are not neutral, blank slates. preparing individuals for a democratic society means that our schools encourage students to develop their own thoughts and enter the world, with other humans, with these thoughts and substantiated opinions. this requires student dispositions such as an awareness that others will have opinions, critical reflection of sources, an ability to argue in a civil manner, and the requirement that you support your opinion with evidence. yet teaching journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 28 this way presents a danger to the teacher in our current school culture. some elementary teachers feel that they have inadequate preparation to teach certain topics in their social studies classroom (al badri, 2016). others are not sure how to discuss these issues without exposing their own thoughts and feelings (richardson, 2017). yet more are not sure that their administrators will support them if a parent were to complain (abu-hamdan & khader, 2014). however, what is missing from this conversation is the potential to dismantle the teacherstudent/administrator-teacher power structure. if the classroom were set up so that teacher and students were on a more level playing field, and the students felt like the teacher’s position did not necessarily need to become theirs, it is possible that the classroom would be a more democratic, equitable culture, where opinions could be shared equally without one being more important and valid than another. if administrative culture was structured so that teachers could communicate that their classes were entering into political debates and conversations about respectful, civil discourse, administrators could act in a supportive manner as opposed to someone in a position of power and authority. this does happen. it happens in a variety of ways as administrators listen to teachers in their building, build a culture of reflective professional development, and maintain a focus on instruction. in a study on high-quality administrative practices (blase & blase, 1999), teachers described their principals who shared stories of their own experiences to help solve problems. sharing in such a way not only helps teachers reflect on activities in their classrooms, but it puts the administrator and the teacher on an equal plane; we have both been in this position, felt this way, and had to find a solution. this can be contrasted with an authoritative principal who simply recommends or orders a teacher to take a particular action, which does not respect their need to develop reflective, empowered thought. another teacher in this study described that because she did not fear negative evaluation, she was more willing to take risks. the value of this type of interaction is huge; the fact that one, this teacher might have felt the emotion of fear from their principal in another setting, and two, that her teaching became more adventurous because of this continued trust. discussion “humanization and dehumanization—these quarreling twins define the landscapes of learning, and they make animating the living, ethical heart of teaching hard, grinding, often contentious, and sometimes courageous, work” (ayres, 2004, p. 16). it is important to state now that in 24 years of k-12 and higher education, i have never met a teacher or administrator who would ever consider themselves or most of their colleagues an oppressor, nor they have anything but the best interests of their colleagues, employees, and students at heart. yet it is my belief, and was certainly freire’s, that this is part of the culture of oppression in which we are all schooled, both formally and informally. freire described how the oppressed tended to become suboppressors. “the very structure of their thought has been conditioned by the contradictions of the concrete, existential situation by which they were shaped” (p. 45). this certainly does not absolve educators of the responsibility to resist an authoritative power structure in their districts or their schools, but it does imply a sense of responsibility for the oppressors—those journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 29 who have a role in creating this schooling culture (including legislators, state boards of education, and others who make decisions about schools without developing a dialogue with those who have direct contact with teachers and students). what all of this implies for us is radical, but gentle, change. one of my favorite schools to visit has a motto on their website, “learning is serious delight!” i have seen this delight in action, alongside hard work, controversial conversation, patience tested, and difficult decisions made between teachers and students. to re-humanize teaching and our schools requires that we reconsider that our educational world is filled with people, and these people should enter into as many i-thou relationships as possible. our educational settings are filled with human actions and interactions, which is quite a bit messier and less predictable than the i-it interactions, in which i can tell you what to do and you comply. freire (2012) said, “action is human only when it is not merely an occupation, but also a preoccupation, that is, when it is not dichotomized from reflection” (p. 53). this requires our students and teachers to not only have the opportunity to reflect upon meaningful work, controversy, and how we live and work with one another, but to consciously think about our roles and responsibilities in our interactions. those who have been oppressed must develop this pedagogy, this way of being with one another, which means that students help design their instructional goals, and teachers also plan their own professional growth. this humanizing pedagogy means an acknowledgement that students and teachers know things, bring this knowledge to school, and can make decisions, together, toward their own development. when i mention above that this change should be radical, but gentle, i refer readers to a book by zemelman, daniels, and hyde (2012), now in its fourth edition, that deservedly made the rounds in many college classes and professional development sessions, best practice: bringing standards to life in america’s classrooms. filled with vignettes from actual schools where these recommended practices were observed and documented, this book does not tell teachers they are doing a horrible job if they are still using strategy x or lesson y in their classrooms. the authors recommend an increase/decrease approach to change in the classroom. decrease reliance on scripted curriculum. decrease solitary seatwork and round robin reading. increase writing during reading instruction. increase interest-based reading choices. this is an excellent and realistic approach to change, especially change that is so entrenched in cultural expectations. it is possible to use the ideas presented in this paper to decrease schools’ reliance on scripted curriculum at the same time teachers increase their critical analysis of curricular materials with their students. what have the writers left out? why do you think these materials are so popular? who benefits off of the widespread sale of these materials? ideas like this respect what teachers and students are already doing, while questioning the status quo and the culture of oppression they have been steeped in for so long. conclusion to be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. it is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 30 what we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. if we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. if we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. and if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. the future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory (zinn, 2007, p. 270). it is my hope that this paper has presented some ideas on which to reflect, ideas about what is problematic about our current authoritarian school culture, how what we recommend for students in terms of freedom and empowerment should also be delivered to teachers, and how controversy should be welcomed rather than avoided. these things that i describe are happening in pockets of opportunity in many areas of the country, and i have been fortunate to witness, research, and support teachers in these efforts. what freire, van manen, ayres, and others mentioned here would wish for, of course, is that all of our students and teachers were offered opportunities for meaningful dialogue and shared decision making. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 31 references abu-hamdan, t., & khader, f. (2014). social studies teachers’ perceptions on teaching contemporary controversial issues. american international journal of contemporary research, 4, 70-78. aacte. (2019). about edtpa. [fact sheet]. retrieved from http://edtpa.aacte.org/aboutedtpa al badri, s. (2016). teaching controversial issues in the classroom. citizenship education research journal, 5, 73-83. austin, w. (2008). relational ethics. in l. given (ed.), the sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods. (pp. 749-750). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, inc. ayers, w. (2004). teaching toward freedom: moral commitment and ethical action in the classroom. boston, ma: beacon baker, j. a. (2006). contributions of teacher-child relationships to positive school adjustment during elementary school. journal of school psychology, 44, 211-229. blase, j., & blase, j. (1999). effective instructional leadership: teacher’s perspectives on how principals promote teaching and learning in schools. journal of educational administration, 38, 130-141. boynton, m., & boynton, c. (2005). the educator’s guide to preventing and solving discipline problems. alexandria, va: association of curriculum & development. buber, m. (1955). between man and man. boston, ma: beacon. buber, m. (1970). i and thou. new york, ny: simon & schuster. cronenberg, s., johnson, d., jones, a., korson, s., murray, n., parrish, m., & johnston parsons, m. (2016). trouble with the edtpa: sliding from teaching to preparing for the test. journal of inquiry and action in education, 8, 109-134. retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1133591 darling-hammond, l. (2010). teacher education and the american future. journal of teacher education, 61, 35-47. doi:10.1177/0022487109348024 ducharme, j. (2018, march 28). parkland student: kindness won’t stop school shootings. retrieved from: http://time.com/5218490/isabelle-robinson-parkland-op-ed/ http://edtpa.aacte.org/about-edtpa http://edtpa.aacte.org/about-edtpa https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1133591 journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 32 fitchett, p. g., & heafner, t. l. (2010). a national perspective on the effects of high-stakes testing and standardization on elementary social studies marginalization. theory and research in social education, 38, 114-130. freire, p. (2012). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum international publishing group. geertz, c. (1973). the interpretation of cultures: selected essays. new york: basic books. giroux, h. a. (1997). pedagogy and the politics of hope. boulder, co: westview press. hess, d. (2016). no time to take a pass: why schools should teach young people about the 2016 elections. social education, 80, 252-254. ingersoll, r. m., & strong, m. (2011). the impact of induction and mentoring programs for beginning teachers: a critical review of the research. review of educational research, 81, 201233. doi:10.3102/0034654311403323 kant, i. (1784). what is enlightenment? retrieved from: http://www2.idehist.uu.se/distans/ilmh/ren/idehist-enlighten-kant02.htm noddings, n. (2005). the challenge to care in schools: an alternative approach to education. new york, ny: teachers college. noddings, n. (2013). caring: a relational approach to ethics & moral education (2nd ed.). berkeley, ca: university of california. pedagogy. (2019, january 29). definition of pedagogy. [dictionary entry]. retrieved from: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedagogy. pullum, g.k. (1999). african american vernacular english is not standard english with mistakes. in r.s. wheeler (ed.), the workings of language. westport, ct: praeger. richardson, j. (2017, november 27). using controversy as a teaching tool: an interview with diana hess. retrieved from: https://www.kappanonline.org/richardson-using-controversy-asa-teaching-tool-an-interview-with-diana-hess/ van manen, m. (1986). the tone of teaching. portsmouth, nh: heinemann educational books. van manen, m. (1991). the tact of teaching. alberta, on: althouse. van manen, m. (2000). moral language and pedagogical experience. journal of curriculum studies, 32, 315-327. retrieved from http://www.maxvanmanen.com/moral-language-andpedagogical-experience-2 http://www2.idehist.uu.se/distans/ilmh/ren/idehist-enlighten-kant02.htm https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedagogy https://www.kappanonline.org/richardson-using-controversy-as-a-teaching-tool-an-interview-with-diana-hess/ https://www.kappanonline.org/richardson-using-controversy-as-a-teaching-tool-an-interview-with-diana-hess/ journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 jones, a., parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity 33 van manen, m. (2008). pedagogical sensitivity and teachers practical knowing-in-action. peking university education review, 1-23. retrieved from http://www.maxvanmanen.com/pedagogical-sensitivity-and-teachers-practical-knowing-inaction/ zemelman, s., daniels, h., & hyde, a. (2012). best practice: bringing standards to life in america’s classrooms. portsmouth, nh: heinemann zinn, h. (2007). a power governments cannot suppress. san francisco, ca: city lights books. . http://www.maxvanmanen.com/pedagogical-sensitivity-and-teachers-practical-knowing-in-action/ http://www.maxvanmanen.com/pedagogical-sensitivity-and-teachers-practical-knowing-in-action/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 105 social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers angela renee whi goodloe*1 & jillian n. ardley1 1. school of education, norfolk state university, united sates *corresponding author: argoodloe@nsu.edu received : 2020-10-30 rev. req. : 2021-02-17 accepted : 2021-08-27 how to cite this paper: goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. (2021). social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 105-119. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.9 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract perceptions on leadership training to sustain teachers of color vary in approaches, ideologies, and values. however, what evidence is within the literature to depict what effective principals do to retain, in particular, african american teachers? in the present study, the authors have reviewed the literature from 2011-2020 through the lens of critical learning theory. this examination led to an extrapolation of categories that indirectly embed social justice as a tool utilized for retaining african american teachers. nevertheless, many well-known strategies utilized to promote the retention of present-day african american teachers do not include this motivating call-to-action within the parameters of their approach or training of principals. social justice is an effective tool for supporting generation x students who willfully and actively participate in digital and physical campaigns against systematic racial injustice. therefore, educational leaders should transcend authoritative leadership and systematic racism with social justice as a pivotal strategy for teachers of color. keywords: teacher retention; social justice; principals; african americans; teachers of color; professional development. introduction perceptions do not go far enough to correct the problem of disappearing african american educators in today’s schools. moreover, “the history of race-based differential treatment of individuals in the united states is older than the history of the country itself” (carothers, 2018, p. 42). yet, finding and sharing strategies that are presently in practice to deter declines regarding diversity of the teaching population are sparse. this study addresses this challenge 10.46303/jcve.2021.9 https://cultureandvalues.org/ mailto:argoodloe@nsu.edu https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.9 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 106 by using both ebscohost and google scholar to search terms and phrases to identify strategies principals use to retain african american teachers in public school settings in the united states. this literature review references principals and teachers, specifically about strategies principals use to retain african american teachers. while the literature provides a historical perspective to understand the plight of african american educators, social justice as a strategy directly to retain teachers of color is marginal in the literature. however, the history of displacement and inequality experienced by african american educators unequivocally relates to the shortage of african american educators (ingersoll & may, 2011). while the history of injustice endured by african american educators is evident, the integration of this history does not transcend to the actions of school leaders to ensure social justice as an intricate part of the approach for diversity and longevity in the profession. goodloe and ardley (2020) conducted a literature review that exposed a chasm in the literature regarding strategies principals use to ensure the retention of african american teachers. in particular, the literature review showed gaps of perspectives pertaining to social justice and the absence of the actions required by principals to guarantee an environment of equity for teachers of color. thus, the clear depiction of strategies and actions needed by principals to ensure social justice is urgently missing to sustain teachers of color. the question: “is there a need for sharing strategies that embed social justice to support the retention of african american teachers?” in response to this preliminary question, the inception of the research was a global consciousness awakening through black lives matter over the death of george floyd. george floyd, an african american man, whom police murdered in 2020. george floyd’s death was the catalyst that unified many voices and cultures around the world who rallied against the injustices orchestrated towards black lives. martin luther king, jr. said that a riot is in the language of the unheard. however, the degree in which voices of color are systematically silenced, and how principals utilize social justice as a tool to support african american teachers are questionable (capper & young, 2014). fortunately, as noted below, there are diverse school entities that are currently utilizing social justice toward the betterment of education: 1. in portland, oregon, educators participated in black lives matter celebrating progress made around racial justice in education. teachers wanted a more culturally responsive curriculum, especially for black and brown students (national education association edjustice, 2019). 2. in san jose, california, the santa clara county board of supervisors unanimously voted to pass a proposal to declare racism a public health crisis in an effort to dismantle and deepen individuals’ understanding of racism in education (reyes, 2020). 3. black lives matter and the los angeles african american teacher’s union collaborated with california state university, the nation’s largest four-year system, to launch a drive to address “anti-blackness” within the university system (cawood, 2020). the three american media events described above denote the gravity of the current struggle against injustice. these educators recognize that the very fabric of the educational system are the constructs of privilege or unprivileged, authority or subjectivity, power or powerless, and superiority or inferiority. these dichotomies are the underpinnings of an unjust society in https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 107 which the preponderance of a dominant group is glorified and protected through educational systems. bourdieu and passeron (2020) states the constructs of society present illusions of equality, in which the continuous perpetuation of symbols and practices of false freedoms and equity are learned through schools. society reproduces itself mechanically (bourdieu & passeron, 2000), thus an unjust society replicates unjust social norms. school administrators must be cognizant of such constructs and reflective to establish provable resolutions. for real change in schools, ongoing and continuous training is necessary to avoid the default modes in which school administrators revert to traditional practices that suppress people of color. principals, who are viewed traditionally as heroes (schweiger et al., 2020) in education, require new leadership skills. the plight of the hero today demands critical thinking to consciously review and implement policies that create environments to advance justice. moreover, teachers remain in schools where there is exemplary leadership (menon, 2014). african american teachers stay in schools where leadership is supportive (bristol, 2020), and equal protection of the law is administered intentionally and in a fair manner. the examples shown above demonstrate an influence of black lives matter and the new influence activists have on education. today, a transformative leader is an advocate and activist for social justice. social justice is fundamental to the implementation of strong programs in which african american teachers are not marginalized. the purpose of this study is to answer the following research questions: 1. what present strategies are used by principals that embed social justice practices to retain african american teachers? 2. is social justice one of the key strategies mentioned or recognized by principals in and of itself in scholarly publications to support the retention of african american teachers? in the realm of education for african americans, the progression of equality has been extremely slow. equal rights, civil rights, and social justice have merged into a chronology of struggle over 300 years from 1619 to the present. in the struggle for equality, the only absolute course for justice that corrects decades of inequitable practices is social justice. freedom for african americans following 1861 did not provide fundamental changes toward financial equity, while social equity progressed incrementally. thus, the struggle continues for adequate and fair practices in society, particularly in education. there is much work to be done to accomplish this salient goal for equity in america. a pivotal point towards the progression of equality in american educational history was the 1954 supreme court case, brown vs the board of education in topeka, kansas to desegregate schools. segregated schools violated the 14th amendment of the u.s. constitution and had a profound impact on the direction of the nations’ educational system that transcends its original intent (ramsey, 2020). this case ended segregated schools and led to the decline of african american educators (irvine, 1988). this case as noted ended segregation legally, but it did not cease the inequality exhibited within schools or its teachers of color. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 108 the shortage of teachers and principals of color profoundly affects the success of students of color (carver-thomas, 2018). these issues are further magnified when unqualified teachers are hired out of their area of expertise when there are not enough qualified educators and administrators available to employ in public school settings (carothers et al., 2019). when diversity is absent and unqualified teachers are present, all children miss opportunities to engage in divergent thinking, and share different philosophies and values (vilson, 2015). teachers of color enhance school environments with multiple perspectives and ideas. lash & radcliffe (2014) noted that approximately two decades earlier researchers such as a.j. king, gloria ladson-billings, and j.a. gordon noted the need for teachers of color for a wide range of reasons which include the following: 1. the inability or unwillingness of middle-class teachers to teach students from low-income african american families; 2. the passion of african american teachers to educate african american students; 3. the need for all students to experience a multiethnic teaching force, and; 4. the necessity of a sincere and diverse representation of ideas and abilities in a teaching force that contributes to the development of america. the integration of varied cultures and perspectives strengthen the need for diversity in american schools. society is complex and there are many points of view heard and respected. perspectives of a dominant path to thinking or a singular way to ruminate, negates insights from others. people are not monolithic, but complex and layered with multiple dimensions of character, beliefs, norms, and behaviors. the lack of diversity is an identifiable consequence of singular ideas of thought and values in reactionary, polarized, and intolerant environments. social justice is a call of action for equality and shared perspectives. the literature reviewed by goodloe and ardley (2020) notably accounts for a lack of social justice as a strategy to retain teachers. yet, 83% of the nation's principals participated in professional development during 2016-2017 school year (nces, 2017). since school administrators are attending trainings, the professional development of principals need a new and broader focus on social justice. the understanding of the complex multiple layers of an unjust society is necessary to obtain a just society for all. the theoretical framework, critical learning theory, as it relates to social justice and the retention of african american teachers is a constructive alignment with equitable practices in education. critical learning theory is a philosophy that involves relentlessly analyzing power structures of society to ensure educational needs are equitable and just for all students (fitzclarence & giroux, 1984). social justice is fundamentally critical to the application of critical learning theory in which all educators become beneficiaries of an equitable education regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, economic status, physical, mental, and/or emotional capabilities (sarid, 2020). according to the declaration of independence, social justice is inclusive of the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. kimberly j. robinson, a professor of law at the university of virginia, usa, said that despite decades of litigation, the state courts have not effectively been able to hold the states accountable for providing an adequate and equitable education (walsh, 2020). the critical learning theory perspective when applied dilutes elitist https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 109 theories of educational attainment and advocates for justice in education. racism confronted on all levels of educational access and equitable education becomes a right. thus, critical learning theory is essential for the sustainability of african american teachers. ultimately, fairness and justice rise when educators of color are respected in spaces free of racist ideologies. paulo freire (1971) stated that the purpose of education is to liberate. the freedom to think rather than recite conformist ideologies that suppress freedom is a process toward liberation. african american educators can only become leaders for liberation through equity in education. critical learning theory forces educators to confront historical tensions through social justice and close gaps of inequality for teachers of color. data and method this study used content analysis design (zhang & wildemuth, 2009) that aims to explore qualitative data through the contextualization of the content. researchers probed peerreviewed journals for reoccurring words, categories, patterns, and themes significant to the study. the researchers selected content based on the words and phrases relevant to the context of social justice to refine emerging practices by principals to retain african american teachers. researchers also regarded the historical context as well as the semantics in which words and phrases influenced the selection and analysis process for choosing indicators. for example, the words “black” and “african american” utilized in the literature describe the cultural group within the study. likewise, the coding for “social justice” included synonymous words such as “justice”, “equality”, “equity”, “freedom”, and “liberty”. this expansion of the words supported the investigation of relevant categories, themes, and patterns from the literature in which eleven categories emerged from the content analysis. see table 1 for details. table 1. key terms for social justice under investigation key terms for social justice under investigation 1. equality 2. inequality 3. civil rights 4. justice 5. liberation 6. freedom this scholarly study used the template from hallinger (2014) to frame the method for understanding the data. this format includes the following: a) framing the research in terms of the theoretical framework, b) choosing indicators based on the topic to find the relevant literature, and c) sharing the literature by stating their correlations or differences from the key questions. critical learning theory was the theoretical framework for the study and utilized key terms for “retention” and “african americans” and “principals” to narrow the data from the literature review done by goodloe and ardley (2020). the results from this study were further refined by reading the scholarly documents to see which journals embedded social justice as a way to support african american teachers by educational administrators. sources of data the data collected from scholarly documents dated 2011-2020 focused on principals who effectively supported the retention of african american teachers. ebscohost and google https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 110 scholar search engines were used to collect data from scholarly documents. ebsco information services is frequently used by researchers worldwide to access research through libraries. the contemporary, google scholar, is a free service web search engine that categorizes metadata of scholarly literature across multiple publishing formats and disciplines. of these two search engines, only peer-reviewed research documents were selected for this study. these databases were also selected due to their ability to analyze content based on selected indicators and timeframes under investigation. the search initially began with the key terms “principal”, “teacher retention”, “black teachers”, and “beginning teachers”. also, terms that focused on equity, justice, freedom, liberty, and inequality were used to narrow the assortment of research articles which correspond directly or indirectly to the focus of the study. to support the depth and breadth of the retrieval of scholarly documents, the search was not limited to full text or source type. however, documents were limited to the demographics of the united states due to the specific interest of african american teachers. key term indicators depicted by ebscohost and google scholar such as “administrator”, “teachers of color”, “longevity” and “induction programs” were also utilized and combined with previous terms noted to match “principal” with the direct subject -“black teachers”, to analyze methods of successful strategies for “retention”. this technique of finding research publications by mining key terms via suggested terms in search supported the retrieval of scholarly publications since 2011 on the given topic of interest. the usage of diverse key terms is significant since researchers use different terms to describe concepts and behaviors as the decades changed. discovering research publications, which focused on social justice, presented unique challenges in the review process. words that identified or were relevant to social justice were explored in documents gathered from the literature review by goodloe and ardley (2020). therefore, historical terms were applied to represent “social justice” throughout this research. social justice, the equality of individuals, is the focus. statements relevant to this topic were investigated in the journals that indicate strategies principals demonstrated as a significant reference to social justice. historical and current key terms associated with the topic is in table 2. once key phrases were selected for the subject of the study, the word “principals” was added to the search engine with either “and” or “or” boolean subsets to narrow the research to the given topic. by combining, the terms mentioned previously, 205 articles were unearthed. the categories noted for these journal are in table 3. this table indicates the frequency in which terms occurred as relevant indicators for the study. since the historical and semantic context on words have implications on the frequency in which the term or phrase appeared in the literature, the researchers were careful to be inclusive of diverse words. for instance, the phrase “school leaders of color” was recognized as a key indicator to identify principals in public schools because it was a recurring phrase. however, phrases such as: “school leaders” and “school principals” only yield small differentials of less than nine. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 111 table 2. historical and current key terms utilized for principals historical and current key phrases utilized for search principals key phrases for principals under investigation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 t ra n sfo rm a tio n a l le a d e rsh ip s ch o o l p rin cip a ls ke e p p rin cip a ls tra in e ffe ctive sch o o l le a d e r s ch o o l le a d e rs s ch o o l le a d e rs o f co lo r s ch o o l a d m in istra to rs p u b lic s ch o o l a d m in istra tio n e d u ca tio n a l le a d e rsh ip u rb a n p rin cip a ls table 3. educational terms utilized in google scholar searches that yielded no data for literature review that embeds social justice educational terms utilized in google scholar searches that yielded no data for literature review that embeds social justice google scholar phrases results from search school principals build relationship to support school diversity 9 school leaders and underrepresented teachers 31 mentoring teachers of color 21 professional organizations, affiliations and teachers of color 1 school leaders of color and new urban teachers 3 strategies of school principals and teacher diversity 26 principals maintain teachers of color 1 school principals keep african american teachers 4 strategies used by school leaders with new teachers of color 3 practices of school principals to retain african-american teachers 2 school leaders of color 104 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 112 data analysis techniques in order to conduct a content analysis as proposed by zhang and wildermuth (2009) from the derived data, procedures used the prescribed six steps: 1) identification and collection of data, 2) determine coding categories, 3) code the content, 4) check validity and reliability 5) analyze and present results and 6) conclusion. research publications relevant to the topic from two search engines were collected, read, and reviewed. next, concepts were highlighted within the publications that were related to the questions of the study and similar concepts were coded into categories with the same topic and focus from similar publications. these categories led to units or groups of publications. if more than one publication referenced a strategy or concept, emerging themes were coded. coding and naming of the group of documents were based on overarching strategies or concepts that principals used to support african american teachers. according to kvale (1989), the researchers consistently use words and phrase across peer-reviewed documents to investigate the occurrence of terms per research question to validate and to check the reliability of the search. once the information was validated, the documents within the categories were analyzed to note the embedding or the lack of infusion of social justice as a possible strategy for supporting african american teachers to draw conclusions and implications. results and discussion the organization of this section included the key findings from the literature review after the completion of the coding of the collected documents. subsequently, eleven categories that included the thirteen research documents denoted successful strategies utilized by principals to support african american teachers. table 4 contains the specific research documents or the lack of research documents in these categories related to social justice. research on exemplary strategies utilized by school principals to retain african american teachers is limited. the literature review content analysis demonstrates a need to expand the research to comprise social justice as embedded in curriculum and instruction, but limited to the training of principals to keep african american teachers. social justice is a continuous quest for equality. however, the implementation and the assurance of social justice among many principals is not evident as a strategy to retain african american teachers. the primary literature review conducted by goodloe and ardley (2020) explored strategies utilized by principals to support the retention of african american teachers from 2011-2020. as noted in table 4, this research did not show direct evidence of principals’ usage of strategies for social justice to retain african american teachers. yet, social justice is an effective strategy for supporting generation x students who willfully and actively participate in digital and physical campaigns against systematic racial injustice. for example, university students in norfolk, virginia, usa unified and held a demonstration against social injustice on july 18th, 2020. this rally began at norfolk state university with the support of the president, dr. javaune adams-gaston (13news now, 2020). students deliberately led actions against systematic injustice in our society. they gained the support of teachers and administrators to eradicate injustice and proceeded with a new consciousness to protect their inalienable rights. therefore, neglecting social justice as a tool to retain african american https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 113 teachers is a mistake. therefore, neglecting to address social justice to support the retention of african american teachers is a mistake. table 4. ebscohost successful strategies used by principals to retain african american teachers related to social justice results from the ebscohost research search terms: principals or school leaders or administrators and teacher retention and (ethnicity or race or culture or minority or minorities or teachers of color or black teachers or african american teachers or underrepresented teachers or urban teachers and teacher retention or teacher attrition or teacher turnover or teacher persistence results from search:118 relevant research related to social justice: 6 eleven categories citation of research 1. african american teacher retention social justice embedded farinde-wu, a., & fitchett, p. g. (2018). searching for satisfaction: black female teachers’ workplace climate and job satisfaction. urban education, 53(1), 86–112 olsen, a. a., & huang, f. l. (2019). teacher job satisfaction by principal support and teacher cooperation: results from the schools and staffing survey. education policy analysis archives, 27(11). 2. general retention goings, r. b., walker, l. j., & cotignola-pickens, h. (2018). school and district leaders’ role in diversifying the teacher workforce. educational planning, 25(3), 7–17. practices and ancillary practices social justice embedded 3. mentorship farinde, a. a., allen, a., & lewis, c. w. (2016). retaining black teachers: an examination of black female teachers’ intentions to remain in k-12 classrooms. equity & excellence in education, 49(1), 115–127. social justice embedded campoli, a. k. (2017). supportive principals and black teacher turnover: essa as an opportunity to improve retention. journal of school leadership, 27(5), 675–700. 4. grow-your-own 0 findings in ebscohost related to social justice 5. self-efficacy, self0 findings in ebscohost related to social justice actualization & mindfulness https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 114 6. professional 0 findings in ebscohost related to social justice affiliations 7. cultural 0 findings in ebscohost related to social justice responsiveness/ awareness training 8. relational fairchild, s., tobias, r., corcoran, s., djukic, m., kovner, c., & noguera, p. (2012). white and black teachers’ job satisfaction: does relational demography matter? urban education, 47(1), 170–197 demography social justice embedded 9. school climate* bristol, t. j. (2020). a tale of two types of schools: an exploration of how school working conditions influence black male teacher turnover. teachers college record, 122(3), 1–24. social justice embedded 10. social justice 0 findings in ebscohost related to social justice 11. policies 0 findings in ebscohost related to social justice the analysis of the literature also reflects documents that represent exemplary strategies for retaining african american teachers by principals. these strategies for inclusion and equality are not monolithic (wang, 2020), but they are as diverse as the populations within the schools. thus, social justice should not be a neglected tool to support african american teachers. it is evident that principals effectively utilize social justice concepts embedded in some of the strategies. however, none of the research noted it as the prime strategy or activity to retain teachers of color. among the eleven categories, social justice appeared in five of the categories as indirect references. these five categories included african american teacher retention, general retention and ancillary practices, mentorship, relational demography, and school climate. there were only four of the eleven categories with a direct relationship to social justice. these four categories included grow-your-own, self-efficacy/self-actualization and mindfulness, and professional affiliations, culture responsiveness/awareness training. these later categories indicated a relationship with other phrases associated strategies regarding social justice. among these categories, social justice is an action. therefore, placing social justice at the forefront, the researchers used relevant terms to decipher which articles were significant to the study, then the information was organized into categories. these categories are as follows: african american teacher retention and social justice, mentorship, relational demography, school climate, and areas with zero evidence. african american teacher retention and social justice social justice embedded in the research on retention by farinde-wu and fitchett (2018). these researchers and others such as goings et al. (2018) stated that retention was dependent on positive school conditions and the training of school leaders to keep teachers of color. principals https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 115 recognized as supportive administrators fairly enforce school rules. olsen and huang (2019) added to the scholarship of social justice through the examination of job satisfaction. job satisfaction was determined as administrative support and cooperation. when african american teachers have supportive principals they remain employed as educators. administrative support is unequivocally important to the longevity of career educators. mentorships mentorship is a common and an important practice in education to retain new teachers. however, mentoring programs that are entrenched in social justice practices are rare, but it is an important component to sustain african american teachers. farinde et al. (2016) describe mentorship as a key factor to maintain african american teachers and implied that social justice is necessary as does campoli (2017). campoli (2017) agreed that mentorship was important particularly to reduce the turnover rate of african american teachers. campoli (2017) also emphasizes that mentorship works when principals establish a positive supportive school climate. a supportive school climate facilitates fairness and equity as a significant indicator for a quality mentorship program that is beyond ordinary. relational demography relational demography as defined by fairchild et al. (2012) conceptualized as a set of racial and gender congruency items between teachers and principals, teachers and teachers and students. the disproportional difference of european american teachers to african american teachers affects the relational demography. fairchild et al. (2012) found that european american teachers are more congruent with teachers and principals, while african american teachers are more congruent with black students. this association between relational demography and social status suggests that the teacher-to-teacher relationship is collegial, while the teacher to student relationship is cultural. these associations force an examination of relational demography and the rooted influences of authority and power. relational demography is the expectation that relationships formed by shared values for social justice. school climate school climate is highly emphasized in school leadership programs. school climate is generally associated with the schools’ establishing structure, norms, values, and cohesive environments to promote success. school climate facilitates positive improvements toward student achievement, strong teacher relationships, and encouraging principals. it makes a difference when the school climate is associated with social justice (blitz et al., 2020). bristol (2020) embedded social justice in the conversation of african american teachers who remain in education and have supportive principals who are attentive to interpersonal relationships, particularly with african american male teachers. many of the articles examined highlighted teachers as a general population rather than teachers of color in the context of school climate. the establishment of a positive school climate must be intentional, inclusive, and fair by any school principal. areas with zero evidence six areas identified by goodloe and ardley (2020) may be good practices, but social justice was not regarded as a critical component to retain african american teachers: grow-your-own, self https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 116 efficacy, self-actualization, mindfulness, professional affiliations, culturally responsiveness, social justice, and policies were the noted categories. the findings did not render a correlation between social justice strategies used by principals and the retention of teachers of color. for example, although researchers such as goings and walker (2018) regarded practices such as grow-yourown as a prudent practice, grow-your-own may not be rooted in social justice consciousness. likewise, blitz et al. (2020) revealed a correlation between school climate and cultural responsiveness as a manifestation of negative racial school climate. they addressed social justice, but not in the context of a strategy used by principals to retain teachers of color. mavrogordato and white (2020) strongly suggest that principals either enable or obstruct social justice through policies implemented. policies and procedures structured and enforced directly impact school climate, rather than instructional transformational leadership to create a positive and productive school climate (macleod, 2020). principals make decisions to make culturally responsive environments a priority and determine policies and procedures to enforce or excuse it. thus, cultural responsiveness becomes a priority to create the school climate. the implementation of policies cannot be overlooked in the literature and the justification for cultural responsiveness and cannot be overstated to ensure the retention of teachers of color. although little was discovered about culturally responsiveness in the context of a strategy to retain teachers of color, blitz et al. (2020) restate the analysis of inequality in schools. this did not extend to strategies for social justice used by principals to retain teachers of color. reed and swaminathan (2014) emphasized that contextually responsive leadership practices rather than a singular best practice represents better solutions to the complexity in urban school leadership and social justice. a plethora of research on social justice and leadership exist, but the content of social justice and the retention of african american teachers is minimal. six areas within the literature review conducted by goodloe and ardley (2020) yield little evidence demonstrating that social justice was essential to the retention of teachers of color. conclusion and implications in the midst of black lives matter, it is unfortunate that the literature review did not reveal any articles that directly connected social justice with principals’ effective practices to ensure the retention of african american teachers. the literature is very general in regards to this discussion. notably, homogeneous populations are reinforced when principals do not commit to diversify teacher populations. principals must develop new relationships in diverse communities to attract teachers of color. an audit of bureaucratic procedures that perpetuate injustice and racism may be necessary to identify specific areas, then engage in a plan of action to rectify the injustices. questions that mitigate change are neglected when there is a void in the research. this study revealed an essential need for change and improvements by strengthening the retention of teachers of color through the following: 1. research to determine exemplary strategies must be continued to provide prudent information about eight areas in which there is little knowledge: grow-your-own, selfefficacy, self-actualization, mindfulness, professional affiliations, culturally responsiveness, policies, and social justice; https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 117 2. professional development for principals to implement exemplary strategies identified by the research; 3. professional development for principals to recognize the personal values, dispositions and behaviors about systematic racism; 4. professional development for principals to identify causes of situations/incidents, not simply a focus on the effect to ensure thorough and fair investigations of events rather than reactionary responses to seemingly obvious outcomes; 5. professional development principals to recognize enablers or obstructions of justice to ensure policies and practices are implemented fairly to eradicate inconsistencies; 6. professional development to promote social responsibility initiatives, and; 7. conduct a school audit to ensure social justice. the void in the literature is a call “to do something” as is the call for justice among black lives matter activists, as the honorable john lewis said, “when you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up”. say something and do something to change fragmented social practices. principal training is imperative to rectify inequalities in schools and create environments for equal justice. in conclusion, educational leaders should transcend authoritative leadership and systematic racism with social justice in a movement. therefore, leadership skills are required to harness identifiable effective strategies that maintain the dignity and respect of african american teachers. strategies to ensure social justice as a primary practice are dependent on the ability of principals to advocate and implement best practices to increase the longevity among teachers of color. this responsibility to eradicate injustice and uplift social justice in american schools is a humongous task, but a necessary one. it is explicit that action is necessary to provide principals with tools and training to support teachers of color to increase both longevity and a commitment to education. references 13news now (2020, july 19). demonstrators gather at norfolk state university for unity walk 2020 [video]. youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfq4ny5g_gc blitz, l. v., yull, d. & clauhs, m. (2020). bringing sanctuary to school: assessing school climate as a foundation for culturally responsive trauma-informed approaches for urban schools. urban education, 55(1), 95–124. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916651323 bourdieu, p., passeron, j. (2000). reproduction in education, society and culture. sage. bristol, t.j. (2020). a tale of two types of schools: an exploration of how school working conditions influence black male teacher turnover. college record, 122(3), 1-24. campoli, a. k. (2017). supportive principals and black teacher turnover: essa as an opportunity to improve retention. journal of school leadership, 27(5), 675–700. https://doi.org/10.1177/105268461702700504 capper, c. a. & young, m. (2014). ironies and limitations of educational leadership for social justice: a call to social justice educators. theory into practice, 53(2), 158-164. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2014.885814 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfq4ny5g_gc https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916651323 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 118 carothers, d. e. (2018). a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship. journal of culture in education, 1(2), 42-58. carothers, d., aydin, h., & houdyshell, m. (2019). teacher shortages and cultural mismatch: district and university collaborations for recruiting. journal of social studies education research, 10(3), 39-63. carver-thomas, d. (2018). diversifying the teaching profession: how to recruit and retain teachers of color. available at https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/diversifyingteaching-profession-report cawood, j. (2020, june 27). black lives matter and teacher’s union work as partners to end ‘repressive’ policing in schools. the daily wire. https://www.dailywire.com/news/black-lives-matter-and-teachers-union-work-aspartners-to-end-repressive-policing-in-schools fairchild, s., tobias, r., corcoran, s., djukic, m., kovner, c. & noguera, p. (2012). white and black teachers’ job satisfaction: does relational demography matter? urban education, 47(1), 170–197. farinde, a. a., allen, a. & lewis, c. w. (2016). retaining black teachers: an examination of black female teachers’ intentions to remain in k-12 classrooms. equity & excellence in education, 49(1), 115–127. farinde-wu, a. & fitchett, p. g. (2018). searching for satisfaction: black female teachers’ workplace climate and job satisfaction. urban education, 53(1), 86–112. fitzclarence, l. & giroux, h. (1984). the paradox of power in educational theory and practice. language arts, 61(5), 462-477. www.jstor.org/stable/41405176 freire, p. (1971). pedagogy of the oppressed. herder & herder. goings, r. b., walker, l. j. & cotignola-pickens, h. (2018). school and district leaders’ role in diversifying the teacher workforce. educational planning, 25(3), 7–17. goodloe, a. & ardley, j. (2020). why can’t we place and keep diverse personnel? perspectives and solutions. 82nd national conference of the american association of school personnel administrators (aaspa). virtual, october 14, 2020. hallinger, p. (2014). reviewing reviews of research in educational leadership: an empirical assessment. educational administration quarterly, 50(4), 539– 576. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x13506594 ingersoll, r. & may, h. (2011). the minority teacher shortage: fact or fable. phi delta kappa, 93(1), 62-65. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172171109300111 irvine, j.j. (1988). an analysis of the problem of disappearing black educators. the elementary school journal, 88(5), 489–502. https://doi.org/10.1086/461553 kvale, s. (1989). issues of validity in qualitative research. chartwell bratt. lash, m. & ratcliffe, m. (2014). journey of an african american teacher before and after brown v. board of education. the journal of negro education, 60 years after brown v. board of education, topeka, kansas: educational opportunities, disparities, policies, and legal actions., 83(3), 327-337. macleod, l. (2020). shaping professional development of educators: the role of school leaders. in white, m.a. & mccallum f. (eds). critical perspectives on teaching, learning and leadership. springer. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/diversifying-teaching-profession-report https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/diversifying-teaching-profession-report https://www.dailywire.com/news/black-lives-matter-and-teachers-union-work-as-partners-to-end-repressive-policing-in-schools https://www.dailywire.com/news/black-lives-matter-and-teachers-union-work-as-partners-to-end-repressive-policing-in-schools http://www.jstor.org/stable/41405176 https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x13506594 https://doi.org/10.1177/003172171109300111 https://doi.org/10.1086/461553 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 goodloe, a.r.w. & ardley, j.n. social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 119 mavrogordato, m. & white, r. (2020). leveraging policy implementation for social justice: how school leaders shape educational opportunity when implementing policy for english learners. educational administration quarterly, 56(1), 3-45. menon, e. m. (2014). the relationship between transformational leadership: perceived leader effectiveness and teachers’ job satisfaction. journal of educational administration, 52(4), 509-528. https://doi.org/10.1108/jea-01-2013-0014 national education association edjustice. (2019). portland educators engage community through black lives matter at school. https://neaedjustice.org/black-lives-matter-atschool/ olsen, a. a. & huang, f. l. (2019). teacher job satisfaction by principal support and teacher cooperation: results from the schools and staffing survey. education policy analysis archives, 27(11), 1-31. ramsey, s. (2020). the troubled history of american education after the brown decision. organization of american historians. https://www.oah.org/tah/issues/2017/february/the-troubled-history-of-americaneducation-after-the-brown-decision/ reed, l.c. & swaminathan, r. (2014). an urban school leader’s approach to school improvement: toward contextually responsive leadership. urban education, 51(9), 1096-1125. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085914553675 reyes, k. (2020, june 23). race in america: santa clara county supervisors unanimously approve proposal to declare racism a public health crisis. abc 7 news. https://abc7news.com/society/santa-clara-cosupervisors-approve-proposal-todeclare-racism-a-public-health-crisis/6261873/ sarid, a. (2020). the radical critique of culture and social justice educational leadership. international journal of leadership in education, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2020.1717000 schweiger, s., müller, b. & güttel, w.h. (2020). barriers to leadership development: why is it so difficult to abandon the hero? leadership, 16(4), 411–433. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715020935742 vilson, j.l. (2015). the need for more teachers of color. american educator, 39(2), 27–31. walsh, m. (2020, 29 april). right to education ruling jolts education advocacy world. education week. https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/right-to-education-rulingjolts-education-advocacy-world/2020/04 wang, f. (2020). social justice leadership and the art of war. critical studies in education, 61(1), 86-100. zhang, y. & wildemuth, b. m. (2009). qualitative analysis of content. in wildemuth, b. m. (ed.), applications of social research methods to questions in information and library science (pp. 308-319). libraries unlimited. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1108/jea-01-2013-0014 https://neaedjustice.org/black-lives-matter-at-school/ https://neaedjustice.org/black-lives-matter-at-school/ https://www.oah.org/tah/issues/2017/february/the-troubled-history-of-american-education-after-the-brown-decision/ https://www.oah.org/tah/issues/2017/february/the-troubled-history-of-american-education-after-the-brown-decision/ https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085914553675 https://abc7news.com/society/santa-clara-co-%20supervisors-approve-proposal-to-declare-racism-a-public-health-crisis/6261873/ https://abc7news.com/society/santa-clara-co-%20supervisors-approve-proposal-to-declare-racism-a-public-health-crisis/6261873/ https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2020.1717000 https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715020935742 https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/right-to-education-ruling-jolts-education-advocacy-world/2020/04 https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/right-to-education-ruling-jolts-education-advocacy-world/2020/04 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 120 el instituto: centering language, culture, and power in bilingual teacher professional development jen stacy* california state university dominguez hills yesenia fernández california state university dominguez hills elexia reyes mcgovern california state university dominguez hills *corresponding author: jstacy@csudh.edu received : 2020-07-14 accepted : 2020-11-30 doi: 10.46303/jcve.2020.16 how to cite this paper: stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r. (2020). el instituto: centering language, culture, and power in bilingual teacher professional development. journal of culture and values in education, 3(i2), 120-137. doi.org/10.46303/ jcve.2020.16 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract teacher education programs have the obligation to prepare bilingual teachers, new and established, to challenge pervasive deficit and racist ideologies, to cultivate students’ identities/knowledges, and to thwart oppressive ideologies through counter-hegemonic discourses. this paper presents a case study of el instituto, one hispanic serving institution’s immersive professional development program for spanish-speaking bilingual teachers in los angeles county. conducted entirely in spanish, the program aimed to center teachers’ sociocultural realities and community cultural wealth while honoring their linguistic capital, deepening their spanish-language knowledge, and developing critical consciousness. findings suggest that utilizing a critical professional development approach to simultaneously study spanish language and critical pedagogy while centering teachers’ community cultural wealth led to deep insights about intersections of languages and culture within larger power structures that cultivate systemic oppression. however, epistemological shifts about fostering more humanizing and critical professional development for bilingual educators are necessary to achieve these goals. keywords: bilingual education, professional development, critical pedagogy introduction the passage of proposition 58 overturned nearly twenty years of english-only k-12 education ordinance and reinvigorated bilingual education in california. while it has been well-documented that dual language education fosters bilingualism and biliteracy (howard et al., 2018) and is culturally sustaining (barbian et al., 2017), these programs exist within social https://cultureandvalues.org/ mailto:jstacy@csudh.edu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 121 institutions that mediate larger ideologies and promote dominant (monolingual, monocultural) epistemologies (huber, 2011). sedimentary deficit ideologies continue to pervade education policy, curriculum, and pedagogy, resulting in programs that cater to standardization, english dominance (cameron, 1997) and foster systemic microaggressions against language minoritized students (huber, 2011). teacher educators have the obligation to prepare bilingual teachers, new and established, to challenge pervasive deficit and racist ideologies (fránquiz et al., 2011), to cultivate students’ identities/knowledges, and to thwart oppressive ideologies through counter-hegemonic discourses (darder, 2015). this paper presents a case study of el instituto, one hispanic serving institution’s (hsi) immersive professional development program for spanish-speaking bilingual teachers in los angeles county. most professional development for bilingual teachers occurs in english and focuses on improving students’ english. distinctively, el instituto was conducted entirely in spanish. the program aimed to center teachers’ sociocultural realities and community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) while honoring their linguistic capital, deepening their spanishlanguage knowledge, and developing critical consciousness. since 2016, the program was conducted for two weeks each summer on the hsi’s campus but was held via zoom in 2020. through analysis of program structure and participant experience, we address the research questions: how can bilingual professional development center issues of race, language, culture, and power while enhancing teachers’ critical pedagogies? and, how does incorporating critical practices, like community circles (círculos) and literature circles, into professional development influence bilingual teachers’ praxis? professors at the hsi have attempted to address this question through the design (and continuous redesign) and implementation of el instituto. el instituto is an immersive, interdisciplinary, and responsive experience. after a broad overview of program design, this case study illustrates how humanizing and generative practices guided implementation, captures participants’ experiences, and articulates how this experience cultivated teachers’ praxis, their critical reflection on the world in order to change it (freire, 1972). we emphasize how el instituto 2020 approached its goals of critical professional development by responding to and centering the new realities of covid-19 and the black lives matter movement for racial justice. findings suggest that utilizing a sociocultural approach to simultaneously study spanish language and critical pedagogy while centering teachers’ community cultural wealth led to deep insights about intersections of languages and cultures within larger power structures that cultivate systemic oppression. however, at times this form of growth seemed at odds with neoliberal undercurrents of teacher professional development that calls for product-based deliverables to evidence learning and justify economic investments. we reflect on necessary epistemological shifts for professional development for bilingual educators. review of literature today’s bilingual educators must be prepared to actively undo oppressive harm institutionalized under the monolithic, english-only policies and practices that worked to marginalize multilingual students’ identities and delegitimize students’ culturally specific ways of knowing and doing (alfaro, 2018). doing so requires that bilingual teachers critique the harm and ineffectiveness of english-only pedagogies and develop the ideological fortitude necessary to forge new realities (alfaro, 2018). reimagining bilingual education means https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 122 reconfiguring who and what is valued in academic spaces. thus, professional development spaces must be critical and dialogical (kohli, picower, martinez, & ortiz, 2015) in order to support bilingual teachers in navigating these challenging terrains. by conducting the program entirely in spanish and centering teachers’ linguistic capital, “intellectual and social skills attained through communication experiences in more than one language and/or style” (yosso, 2005, p. 78), we reconfigured what is valued academic spaces and professional development and modeled this for teachers. in this section, we review the literature about critical professional development and bilingual teacher preparation to frame how el instituto sought to foster bilingual teachers’ critical praxis. most of our participants identified as mexican, salvadorean, or guatemalan; however, this section synthesizes broader literature in which scholars use the genderencompassing term latinx. we want to acknowledge that the term “latinx”, while prevalent in the literature, is a social construct that privileges eurocentric colonialism and erases the indigenous and other aspects of folks’ cultural identities. in el instituto, we push back against this construct and reference our participants by their preferred identity marker. critical and humanizing professional development for bilingual teachers rita kohli and colleagues (2015) seek a definition of critical professional development. they define traditional professional development as antidialogical: it uses a banking model, frames teachers as empty vessels, and teaches technical skills (kohli et al., 2015). the idea is that teachers will transactionally replicate skills learned with students. while teaching techniques might be useful, this approach “does not prepare educators to disrupt structural inequity because it often ignores broader historical or institutional injustices” (kohli et al., 2015, p. 10). critical professional development (cpd), on the other hand, is dialogical: participating teachers and the professional development facilitator are both seen as creating knowledge and coming together in reflection and actionpraxis toward liberatory transformation. cpd must “provoke cooperative dialogue, build unity, provide shared leadership, and meet the critical needs of educators” (kohli, et al., 2015, p. 11). much emphasis in professional development for teaching multilingual students has focused on english acquisition and contributed to the “cultural and linguistic eradication” of minoritized populations (bartolomé, 1994, p. 176). in addition to being antidialogical, professional development largely focused on techniques that support multilingual students acquiring english as quickly as possible, as measured by standardized tests, and at the expense of their home language (garcía & kleifgen, 2018). identifying these practices as “best” or “effective” furthered the institutionalization of reducing students’ complex social identities to categorizing labels and justification for deficit approaches to schooling (reyes iii, 2016; salazar, 2013). this process largely dehumanized students, creating automated systems that do not center students’ experiential knowledge and cultural capital (yosso, 2005). cpd for bilingual teachers must work to undo deficit approaches to teaching multilingual students of color and pursue critical consciousness (freire, 1972). professional development leaders, then, must foster an environment in which participants dialogically explore their cultural and political selves as situated in broader realms of oppression and participate in critical self-reflection (andrews et al., 2019). emphasizing language in this space is essential so as to model how language facilitates critical pedagogy and how language is taught and developed through critical pedagogy. thus, teacher preparation must not only https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 123 reflect students’ cultural and linguistic capitals and experiential knowledge, it must sustain them (alim & paris, 2017). for example, encouraging translanguaging values language skills and amplifies participants’ identities while modeling how teachers may do so in their own classrooms (bucholtz et al., 2017; garcía, ibarra, & seltzer, 2016; garcía & kleyn, 2016). in these spaces, educators deepen their knowledge of critical pedagogy and develop a kinship of solidarity (martinez et al., 2016). supporting bilingual teachers toward ideological clarity supporting bilingual educators in embracing critical practices requires an ideological shift within teachers and across multilingual policy, programming, and practices (palmer & martínez, 2013). calling for the professional development of critically conscious dual language educators, alfaro and hernández (2016) assert that dual language teacher preparation/development must take intentional steps in supporting bilingual teachers on their path toward ideological clarity by addressing four tenets: ideology, pedagogy, access, and equity (ipae). in this framework, teachers enter an iterative reflective process of naming hegemonic ideologies and practicing self-questioning and dialogue to “arrive at the realization that it is their ideology that “announces or denounces” teaching for equity and social justice” (alfaro & hernández, 2016, p. 9). by better understanding if, when, and how their belief systems either reflect those of the dominant society or transform oppressive practices (darder, 2015), teachers continuously develop critical consciousness (alfaro, 2019). while limited, research using the ipae and critical framework for bilingual teacher professional development suggests that privileging the iterative, reflexive process in a sustained and supported manner helps shift teachers’ pedagogy. garcía and lang (2018) illustrated how bilingual teachers' understanding and use of formative assessments led to more dialogic relations with students in spanish language arts. similarly, alfaro and quezada (2010) found that professional development on biliteracy in mexico supported authentic, culturally relevant curricula and developed political and ideological clarity. valdez and omerbašić (2015) invoked a critical approach by first centering bilingual teachers’ authorship of their identities and worlds through multimodal counter-stories, after which teachers eagerly extended it to their classrooms. navarro (2019) illustrates how critically conscious bilingual science teachers designed and implemented content using the ipae framework. el instituto was designed in the image of critical professional development (kohli et al., 2015) as a way to guide teachers in exploring the degree to which their praxis upheld the ipae model (alfaro & hernández, 2016). while problem-posing, humanizing practices were modeled, the goal was for teachers to participate in authentic dialogue and hands-on experiences that would lead to internal reflection and, ultimately, change their praxis. theoretical framework the participants (and the leaders) of el instituto live nuanced experiences that intersect in messy and beautiful ways as we come to understand ourselves and others through lens that include our innate ancestral knowledge and also social constructs: gender, class, immigration, migration, generational status, language, catholicism, and phenotype (delgado bernal, 1998; johnson, 1998; montoya, 1994; pérez huber, 2010; trucios-haynes, 2000). latcrit offers a framework that embraces such complexities, connections, and contradictions. crt evolved into several sub-disciplines that examine specific communities of color; these subdisciplines https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 124 disrupt the black-white paradigm that dominated earlier crt scholarship and suggest nuanced ways communities of color experience intersections of race, gender, and class. these sub-disciplines act as “cousins” within the crt family (solórzano & delgado bernal, 200), including: tribalcrit, asiancrit, latcrit, femcrit, flipcrit (curammeng, buenavista, and cariaga, 2017), and whitecrit (yosso, 2005). solórzano and delgado bernal (2001) offer an explanation of latcrit as: concerned with a progressive sense of a coalitional latina/latino panethnicity and addresses issues often ignored by critical race theorists such as language, immigration, ethnicity, identity, phenotype, and sexuality…[latcrit] is a theory that elucidates latinas/latinos’ multidimensional identities and can address the intersectionality of racism, sexism, classism, and other forms of oppression (p. 311 312). key to the tenets of latcrit are a commitment to anti-subordination and anti-essentialism (latcrit inc., 2001), which is significant when understanding the complex lived experiences of people of the americas whose experiences do not fit neatly within a particular cultural checkbox. latcrit and crt provide frameworks that couch the simultaneous ways that el instituto can operate, “in contradictory ways with [its] potential to oppress and marginalize coexisting with [its] potential to emancipate and empower” (solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001). within latcrit, experiential knowledge is valued and honored – people’s stories and experiences hold power. scholars have developed critical race methodologies in education where research is grounded within the stories, experiences, and knowledge of communities of color; these highlight the role that experiential knowledge and stories play as theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical tools to challenge systems of oppression while working towards a better future (solórzano & yosso, 2002; malagon, et. al, 2009). delgado bernal (2002) argues for a crt, latcrit, feminist framework in order to validate students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. in this framework, naturalized concepts like meritocracy and white privilege are critiqued and suggests counter-stories, dichos, kitchen talk, and the like as asset models of educational research. drawing from crt and latcrit, yosso (2005) critiques canonical notions of cultural capital that center dominant, white, middle class values and ignores “...outsider, mestiza, transgressive knowledges” (p. 70). instead, yosso offers a definition of community cultural wealth (ccw) rooted in the experiential knowledge of people of color: “an array of knowledge, skills, abilities and contacts possessed and utilized by communities of color to survive and resist macro and micro-forms of oppression” (p. 77). she points to at least six forms of ccw, aspirational, familial, social, navigational, resistant, and linguistic capital, and explains that these forms of capital are “dynamic processes that build on one another as part of community cultural wealth accumulated assets and resources in the histories and lives of communities of color” (yosso, 2005, p. 77). in order to truly enact transformative and critical professional development, el instituto authentically centered bilingual teachers’ ccw, highlighted linguistic capital or “intellectual and social skills attained through communication experiences in more than one language and/or style” (yosso, 2005, p. 78), and centered the dynamic interplay between all forms of ccw within the learning experience. creating a critical and dialogical space which centered linguistic capital meant that the program in el instituto also valued participants’ ccw in its entirety. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 125 methodology we utilized a qualitative case study design (stake, 1995) to study el instituto over five summers. el instituto can be understood as a bounded case of a unique approach to professional development for bilingual educators that centers ccwwhile immersing participants in critical pedagogy and the target language (spanish). stake (1995) explains that a case can be intrinsic or instrumental (p.2). an intrinsic case seeks to shed light on the case itself, considered a unique situation, while an instrumental case is used to understand a broader issue (stake, 1995). we understand the case of el instituto to be intrinsic in that it highlights a unique approach to teacher professional development and instrumental in understanding changes needed to support bilingual teachers in critical practices enacting social change. el instituto was led by an interdisciplinary team of faculty from the college of education and modern language (spanish) which included the authors. we are bilingual and biliterate in spanish and english and have come to bilingualism and bilingual education through various trajectories. jen stacy identifies as a white, cisgender woman who learned spanish first academically in ohio and then by living in méxico. she worked as an english teacher in bilingual schools in monterrey, méxico and has supported formal and informal multilingual education endeavors throughout her career. yesenia fernández identifies as a mexicana/ chicana cisgender woman who had a transnational upbringing. she learned spanish at home, in michoacán, méxico and in los angeles, california and negotiates spaces as a bilingual, biliterate mexican/chicana woman who often translanguages. she spent many years as an english teacher teaching english learners and as an administrator transforming schools to ensure equity in part by opening up access to honors and advanced placement for english learners. elexia reyes mcgovern the current bilingual coordinator at our hsi, identifies as a tejana-chicana with mexican and irish heritage, cisgender mama. she learned spanish in her grandparent's home in el paso, texas, stopped speaking spanish as a child, and now is a translanguager of english and spanish varieties in los ángeles, california. elexia taught as a high school teacher in boston, massachusetts and los ángeles and works actively to integrate a critical, ethnic studies approach to bilingual education. participants included novice and veteran teachers and school leaders who work in myriad models of bilingual education that represent the current state of language learning in california: 50/50 dual language, maintenance and transitional bilingual, and english language development programs (which include supporting students in their first language), and current and formal teacher education students. el instituto has served approximately 150 bilingual teachers working at schools across los angeles county, with a significant increase in participants during the online 2020 format. all participating teachers were invited to join the study and only those who gave consent (n=78) were included in observations and invited for interviews. all participants spoke spanish: most were native or heritage speakers of spanish and had various speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. some identified as immigrants and migrants from méxico and central america to the united states while others were 1.5, second, or third generation. participants are referred to by pseudonyms throughout. qualitative data collection included observations of the sessions, both in person and online, daily participant feedback, and formal and informal interviews. observations were conducted by the researchers during each session and were documented by written https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 126 fieldnotes, including virtual sessions (emerson et al., 2011). we did not record virtual sessions because we wanted to ensure that we maintained a brave – and vulnerable space and only included participants who gave consent (landerman, 2013). artifacts were collected to document program design and participant learning. participants were invited to participate in formal interviews that utilized spradley’s (1979) interview methods. data were collected in whichever language(s) they were produced, mostly in spanish but some in english or a mix of both. all data were coded and analyzed thematically (emerson, et al., 2011; spradley, 1979), triangulated, and interpreted through a latina/o critical theory (latcrit) theoretical lens (delgado bernal, 2002). three qualitative themes emerged: learning critical pedagogy through critical pedagogy, sociocultural language learning, and developing praxis. most participants pointed to two program components, círculos and literature circles, as influential in their development. findings: the case of el instituto el instituto was an interdisciplinary effort to develop and sustain bilingual teacher preparation throughout los angeles county. one concern from all stakeholders, including school districts, was the need for practicing teachers to learn about and practice spanish and to further develop teachers’ competency across language domains. however, the committee recognized that language instruction must reflect participants’ linguistic capital (yosso, 2005), provide authentic opportunities to practice the target language, and include designed scaffolding (gibbons, 2009) towards specific language goals. el instituto welcomed all varieties of spanish while sustaining critical dialogue that situated language learning within broader sociocultural and sociopolitical contexts. we intended to model critical, responsive teaching practices while also supporting participants’ development of these skills. the result was an open-ended, guiding framework that focused on a theme (e.g. language, culture, and power) and followed a general schedule that included círculo, language instruction, modeling of critical pedagogy, and application. by centering bilingual teachers’ “raced-gendered epistemologies that offer unique ways of knowing” in the program design, we hoped to promote “understanding the world based on the various raced and gendered experiences of people of color” (delgado bernal, 2002, p. 107) which would help participants decenter dominant ideologies and suggest new pedagogical frameworks. in summer 2020, the committee reoriented el instituto to be responsive to the realities of the covid-19 pandemic and black lives matter. the theme was humanizing pedagogies and goals included studying pedagogía del oprimido [pedagogy of the oppressed] by paulo freire (1972) in spanish, understanding current realities through this lens, and considering bilingual education as space to address these issues. we felt that bilingual teachers, who were majority people of color, were experiencing the context of summer 2020 in complex, multilayered ways. on one hand, they were navigating the stressors of a pandemic that disproportionately affected people of color (kantamneni, 2020). as teachers, they had abruptly shifted to distance learning and, as majority women, they assumed much of the responsibility for their own children’s home-schooling. additionally, protests against the police killings of george floyd, ahmaud abery, and breonna taylor brought thousands of people to the streets to assert that black lives matter and demand racial justice. it also brought up the complexity of race, blackness, anti-blackness, and identity in latinx https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0001879120300646#! journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 127 communities. pedagogía del oprimido offered a theoretical foundation from which to understand the situation and a lens through which to develop critical praxis. to some extent, we mirrored the experience of in-person learning and continued our efforts for spanish-language immersion online. participants were provided with open-access copies of pedagogía del oprimido (freire, 1972) in spanish and english along with reading guides. leaders began each session with a land acknowledgement and centering exercise. after short mini-lessons that included focused language instruction, participants joined smallgroup virtual círculos. university leaders served as facilitators, listening intently to the ideas that emerged, asking open-ended questions, and supporting connections to lived realities. participants kept journals during and after the sessions. while all conversations took place in spanish, participants were encouraged to translanguage, or draw on their full linguistic repertoire (otheguy et al., 2015), and support each other in deepening language skills. each session closed with a presentation by leaders or community members. three themes consistently emerged from the bound case of el instituto: learning critical pedagogy through critical pedagogy, sociocultural language learning, and developing praxis. in this section, we illustrate these themes and how they illuminate a unique approach to bilingual teacher professional development. learning critical pedagogy through critical pedagogy círculo opened the session with grounding and centering and set the tone for participant-guided learning. stemming from indigenous restorative practices, círculo physically brought participants together, honored indigenous epistemologies, mitigated power differentials, and built “trust, mutual understanding, and shared values and behaviors” (costello et al., 2010 in mirsky, 2014, p. 52). círculo was a space for participants to learn about each other, to see each other, and acknowledge their humanity. it evolved throughout the week to include reflection about their trajectories in oppressive educational spaces as well as critical discussions regarding race, language, culture, identity, and power. in all iterations of el instituto, program leaders facilitated círculo. they reviewed, modeled, and held participants accountable to agreements, even online: ● respeta la pieza de hablar. [respect the talking piece.] ● habla desde el corazón. [speak from the heart.] ● escucha desde el corazón. [listen from the heart.] ● habla con respeto. [speak with respect.] ● escucha con respeto. [listen with respect.] ● diga lo suficiente. [say just enough.] ● honra la privacidad. [honor each other’s privacy.] ● sé lo mejor que puede ser. [be the best that you can be.] the teachers came with various experiences regarding círculos. some participated in círculos elsewhere while others were very new to this practice and took a couple of days to feel comfortable. a few resisted at first, marked by leaving or side conversations. as leaders, we maintained the routine while simultaneously articulating our pedagogical reasoning. topics that emerged during other sections of the program were integrated into círculo, making it clear how learning stemmed from participants’ lives and how these experiences were central to professional development. in turn, teachers learned about círculo through experience, embodying its benefits. including círculo each day fostered a personal and https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 128 professional community (martinez et al., 2016). participants began to learn more about each other’s nuanced cultural identities and practices, to feel more comfortable speaking in spanish, and to vulnerably reflect on their teaching practices. overall, this strengthened community and support throughout the program. ada, a veteran teacher, described how the structure of círculo generated knowledge, “el aceptar las opiniones de todos sin corregir...aunque quizás alguna de las veces no hayan estado de acuerdo con las opiniones de nosotros, o lo que sea, pero escuchar, el escucharel escuchar es empodera.” [accepting others’ opinions without correcting them...although sometimes you do not agree with our opinions, or whatever, but listening listening is empowering.] she described how listening deepened her learning. “como decimos en español, "con lo que le acomoda"... las ideas se van cambiando poco a poco reflexionando y reflexionando las ideas de otros.” [like we say in spanish “with what suits you” the ideas begin changing little by little as you reflect and reflect on others’ ideas.] ada captures the discursive and generative nature of the círculo and beginning elements of praxis. particularly, she points to how listening to others’ ideas leads to learning, an empowering process and a path to critical consciousness. hefty topics arose in círculo and teachers had the opportunity to spend quality time reflecting, digesting, and reforming their opinions. during one session, participants had been learning about varieties of spanish and their embedded power differentials. several teachers spoke about the named and unnamed power that castilian spanish held in bilingual schools. they reflected on the difficulties of determining how to teach “correct” spanish. the teachers recognized the colonial and imperial roots of castilian spanish and resisted this variety as the standard to which they and their students should be held. several veteran teachers spoke about how they teach students to differentiate between castilian and “their language”, referencing mexican varieties. a few teachers wondered if their spanish was “good enough” to be able to do this effectively and discussed negative messages they had received. when celia, a novice bilingual third grade teacher, was given the talking piece, she lowered her eyes. she expressed agreement with the sentiment that castilian spanish was colonial and oppressive and began to talk about how much of one’s identity is conveyed through a language variety. celia reminded the group that she was from el salvador and explained that privileging one variety over another is more than just teaching the distinct grammatical characteristics. she shared a story about a time in elementary when her class participated in a traditional mexican folkloric dance for a school-wide cinco de mayo celebration. when she told her teacher that she wasn’t mexican, the teacher told her, “no importa. ponte el vestido y baila you’ll be fine.” [it doesn’t matter. put on the dress and dance you’ll be fine.] celia explained that it was not just that her salvadoran spanish was not taught in school, the school culture strongly privileged mexican language and culture in ways that overpowered her identity. a somber hush fell over the circle. the next teacher expressed empathy for celia and lamented how cinco de mayo has been tokenized as an important mexican holiday when, in reality, it was not. examples of the essentialization of culture in schools were shared until another participant reiterated what celia had said about language, culture, and power. this teacher told the group how she had both mexican and salvadoran heritage but that she mostly uses mexican spanish to fit in. she noted the connection to the spanish session about the varying status of different varieties and how, as spanish speakers, they had internalized https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 129 and perpetuated these hegemonic beliefs. at that moment, the leader asked the group to reflect on a time when they had either been affected by or had perpetuated language bias and to free write in their writer’s notebook. through celia’s example, we see how círculo became a brave space to discuss spanish language varieties in ways that enveloped lived experiences in systems of oppression. celia’s experience pointed to a common practice of central americans in los angeles to become “visibly hidden” as they feel pressure to adopt the mexican variety of spanish and accompanying cultural practices in order to be accepted in latinx communities (lavadenz, 2014). sharing her experience was an act of naming the oppression that she had experienced within a multilingual space a space that had been framed as one that was culturally responsive. lavadenz (2014) explains how central americans living in los angeles learn to hablar en silencio, to hide their language variety and cultural practices, and adapt the mexican variety. celia’s ability to voice injustices spoke to the power of círculo, to her learning, to her spanish knowledge and skills, and to her understanding of critical praxis. the more teachers interacted with the content and the more comfortable they became in círculo, the more nuanced their exploration of topics like language, race, and oppression became. one teacher described this as a “horizontal approach” and intended to replicate the “restorative justice practices to develop a community of learners”. participants were reflected as knowledge holders and creators (delgado bernal, 2002): círculo allowed them to bring up generative themes (freire, 1972) specific to their lives. this fostered trust and solidarity that supported their learning. sociocultural language learning program leaders wanted to cultivate a space where participants were immersed in spanish, could practice the language, and would learn more about the interrelatedness of language and culture. they wished for teachers to better understand how the spanish language itself was embedded in hegemonic social structures and how teaching spanish involved grappling with these ideological undercurrents. it was imperative to recognize that spanish was connected to heritage/identity through the act of colonization. as elexia succinctly stated, “let’s be clear: we are promoting the tongue of the colonizer.” this perplexity of bilingual education in the united states points to the need for a critical approach to language learning. while spanish is a minoritized language and spanish speakers have long been targets of racism and anti-immigrant sentiment (chavez, 2013), it is also the language of the oppressor. furthermore, many latinx people in southern california are indigenous and speak indigenous languages like zapotec, mixtec, k’iche’ and q’anjob’al. understanding historical, cultural, and political underpinnings of spanish, the complexities in southern california, and how this manifests in linguistic characteristics is necessary for teachers to challenge deficit and racist ideologies (fránquiz, salazar, & denicolo, 2011), to cultivate students’ identities/knowledges, and to enact counter-hegemonic discourses (darder, 2015). teachers participated in sessions that addressed topics like spanish as a colonizing tool, the varieties of spanish, hegemonic language ideologies and language statuses, and language contact. we were intentional in articulating that sessions were aimed at developing participants’ spanish language knowledge and skills, not on improving their language. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 130 while participants attended few traditional presentations on these topics, a critical approach was used for reflecting, discussing, and applying the concepts through literature circles and writers-workshop. for example, participants shared dichos, sayings with nuance cultural meaning, from their lives and analyzed them to learn about how linguistic attributes and cultural meaning were interrelated. writers-workshop activities were generated from teacher’s lives, like creating narrative stories from family photos. andrea summarized how she understood her language abilities after attending the program: “i think that accepting that, that's our reality and the way that we grew up and the education that we had makes me more comfortable in saying, "you know what, my english is this and this is my spanish. that's part of who i am.” in 2020, a presentation on the colonizing roots of spanish, the covid-19 pandemic, and the black lives matter movement set the context for how participants digested pedagogía del oprimido in literature circles. concepts like oppressor/oppressed and acts of dehumanization were poignantly clear. teachers dialogued about how their lives had been uprooted by job loss and financial instability. many worried about family members, both local and abroad, and their inability to visit or support financially. literature circle became a space to process what was happening with deep connections to identities, languages, and their embedded social, political, and historical complexities. for example, one bilingual teacher shared how she felt continuous pressure from her family to speak “good” spanish as a mexican-american and that her awareness of her spanish skills heightened once classes were moved online and into students’ homes. while she did not completely feel like caregivers were judging the quality of her spanish, she felt a broader, societal sense of pressure to “speak well” and teach standard spanish. these círculos were humanizing. in one discussion, teachers were digging deep into the topic of problem-posing education, in which teachers and students enter into dialogue to generate learning from topics generated from students’ worlds (freire, 1972). teachers shared quotes and many referenced their actions against protest police brutality that summer. while some had joined large demonstrations, others worked to communicate to their family members “que las vidas negras importan.” ana was a quiet but intent participant who attended the sessions with her newborn in arms. she explained her struggle to articulate to her family why she supported black lives matter. one teacher suggested talking about the black and brown struggle as a continuum and another offered the word también [also] as helpful to the conversation: las vidas negras importan también. abruptly, ana turned off her camera and was absent for several minutes, which was not uncommon given her newborn. however, when she returned on camera, she was wiping away tears and smiling broadly. before someone could inquire, she explained, in spanish and english, that she had recently been exposed to covid-19 and had just received a call confirming that her test was negative. the group erupted in elation and few shared ana’s tears. in that moment, the humanity in the dialogue became clear: the hardship and the hope, the identity and the language, were intertwined. the process of praxis, reflection on the world in order to change it (freire, 1972), supported teachers in seeing how bilingual education was a social, cultural, political, and, if intentional, humanizing practice. one teacher made a commitment: to “focus on the problem-posing way of education by using dialogue, trust and love through the use of praxis." these conversations fostered teacher’s development of ideological clarity (alfaro & https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 131 hernández, 2016) and commitment to figuring out how to enact a more humanizing practice in their bilingual classrooms. praxis: theory into practice bilingual teachers articulated commitment to trying critical practices, integrating home knowledges, and an amplified understanding of language use and language-learning pedagogies in their final reflections, surveys, and interviews. celia implemented círculo in her third-grade classroom. maribel reflected on a role-playing lesson that she did about race and power during the u.s. colonies with a follow-up community circle. she articulated that students need to further develop language in spanish to talk about issues of race: “when we talk about race in our community circles, i make sure that we alternate the languages. i do notice that students are a lot more comfortable with the english. they have a hard time remembering the spanish terms.” she recognized that students, like her, needed time to become comfortable with critical practices and encouragement to use spanish. in fact, time was a major theme that came out of participants’ experiences. they wanted more time in el instituto and more time to digest content and grapple with new understandings of language. the participants valued the processes of practicing spanish, experiencing critical pedagogy, and brainstorming how they could apply these in their classrooms. indeed, they were experiencing praxis: reflecting on theory and practice and planning for action in order to change their teaching (freire, 1972, p.51). maribel went on to explain, “i no longer wanna say i teach my students, i want to say i teach and learn with my students.” we valued teachers’ experience of praxis as professional development. this is distinct from antidialogical professional development expectations where participants complete trainings, are given materials, and create “deliverables” as evidence of learning. if we wanted bilingual teachers to question common practices, we had to recognize that the timeline for shifts in pedagogy must be aligned with teachers’ “clocks” and permit for a (perhaps) slow but necessary ideological shift that can only happen if teachers see themselves as agents of change (noble & smith, 1999). if we wanted bilingual teachers to enact a critical pedagogy, then we needed to privilege the time necessary to process and reframe ideologies. andrea, a bilingual kindergarten teacher, shared her praxis around culturally sustaining language teaching during distance learning. she was in the midst of teaching the syllable que (in spanish) when the pandemic hit, and schooling went online. she explained, “so i came up with quesadilla. then i had students go home and tell me how they like their quesadillas and draw how they like it or if they call it something else. then i said on seesaw, "cook a quesadilla." so then they recorded themselves making a quesadilla with their parents and then they had to write up the word and then when we reviewed la sílaba que.” to compare and contrast the difference between the sounds que and gu, andrea’s next assignment was: “go out in your backyard. encontrar un gusano [find a worm]...we did all this stuff with gusanos...everyone was seeing each other's gusanos posts and quesadilla posts and i just thought, ‘this is pretty cool. i'm onto something here.’” what was important to andrea’s pedagogical decision making was not an artifact that she took home or a file of resources to be dropped into her classroom. instead, ideological https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 132 clarity guided her praxis as she began to better integrate and sustain students’ community cultural wealth. professional development can make obvious the structure and benefits of praxis and foster teachers’ development of critical pedagogy. when the teacher is respected as a knowing, intellectual being in dialogue with session leaders, professional development is a powerful space for change. toward epistemological shifts in bilingual teacher professional development underlying language ideologies pervade school life, expanding beyond language and discipline learning and intertwining deeply with social, cultural, and political matters embedded in education. the shift toward bilingual education in california indicates a shift in values and language ideologies: communities are recognizing the benefits of multilingualism and its essential role in culturally and linguistically sustaining teaching and learning (palmer & martínez, 2013). however, this shift does not mean that deficit ideologies, ingrained in institutional structures, have been eradicated (alfaro & hernández, 2016). today’s bilingual teachers are positioned to challenge such pervasive, deficit ideologies (fránquiz, salazar, & denicolo, 2011) but doing so requires much more than completion of certification: it requires intentional and deliberate critical professional development. supporting bilingual educators in their efforts to enact humanizing praxis that thwarts oppressive ideologies and instead centers students’ community cultural wealth through critical and culturally sustaining pedagogies requires ideologically clarity in bilingual professional development design. el instituto teaches valuable lessons about the direction of bilingual teacher professional development. critical professional development that supports teachers in their development of critical praxis takes time and flexibility. cpd is not transactional: it values process over product and recognizes that the pursuit of critical consciousness is career-long and life-long. cultural synthesis, a dialogical action which entails “people critically analyz[ing] and tak[ing] action on their reality” is a key component of cpd (kohli et al., 2015, p. 19). importantly, this action is “guided by the struggles of the people and decided with the people”: it is not in response to a district or university expert imposing their own view, prescription, or toolkit on to teachers (kohli et al., 2015, p. 19). professional development for bilingual teachers must begin and end with participants’ identities, ccw, goals, and needs while situating these realities within broader power structures. district administrators, teachers, and university leaders articulate the underlying pressure to “teach” teachers how to do critical practice and to “give” them resources in order to do so, what freire (1972) calls banking methodology. we hear these concerns and understand the desire and urgency behind them. much effort went into problematizing how leaders modeled theory into practice throughout el instituto. interestingly, at the end, the bilingual teachers did not point to our strategies: they pointed to their growth and to their developing ideological clarity (alfaro & hernández, 2016). they wanted more time and more immersion in critical pedagogy: their epistemological understanding of professional development also shifted. el instituto is only one case and is intrinsic (stake, 1995), in many ways. geographically, the program is situated in a community that has a deep history of multilingualism and is supported through a hispanic serving institution. local school leaders, at least rhetorically, are supportive of multilingual education. bilingual teachers of color serve local communities of color and the “grow our own” initiative is prevalent. the findings of this https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 133 small case study, however, can be instrumental (stake, 1995) for illuminating broader, epistemic shifts needed in bilingual professional development. if bilingual education is to undo the oppressive harm of the english-only regime, teachers need immersive experiences with open-ended, teacher-directed critical pedagogies that center their development of ideological clarity and, ultimately, their process of becoming (andrews et al., 2019). this process is essential for undoing the infrastructure that upholds hegemonic monolingual/monocultural practices and creating generative approaches to bilingual education. our next steps are to extend el instituto to be understood as professional development through teacher activism (valdez et al., 2018) and to include ongoing sessions that sustain solidarity and growth in critical, bilingual education work. praxis cannot be taught through antidialogical professional development. instead, bilingual teachers must be positioned as knowledgeable beings whose lived cultural and linguistic realities drive generative learning in professional development. teachers’ process of “becoming” more fully human is ongoing and never finished (andrews et al., 2019). thus, critical professional development must also be understood as “becoming”, following teachers’ leads and generatively responding to their realities. such an immersive experience offers a new lens on the notion of professional development “takeaways”: perhaps what teachers are taking away is a rejuvenated praxis. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 134 references alfaro, c. (2019). preparing critically conscious dual-language teachers: recognizing and interrupting dominant ideologies. theory into practice, 58(2), 194 203. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1569400 alfaro, c. (2018). the sociopolitical struggle and promise of bilingual teacher education: past, present, and future. bilingual research journal, 41(4), 413-427. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2018.1540367 alfaro, c., & hernández, a. (2016). ideology, pedagogy, access, and equity (ipae): a critical examination for dual language educators. the multilingual educator, 8-11. alfaro c., & quezada, r.l. (2010). international teacher professional development: teacher reflections of authentic teaching and learning experiences. teaching education, 1, 4759. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210903466943 alim, h. s., & paris, d. (2017). what is culturally sustaining pedagogy and why does it matter? in d. paris & h.s. alim, (eds.). culturally sustaining pedagogies: teaching and learning for justice in a changing world (pp. 1-24). teachers college. andrews, d. c., brown, t., castillo, b., m., jackson, d., & villanki, v. (2019). beyond damage-centered teacher education: humanizing education for teacher educators and pre-service teachers. teachers college record, 121, 1 – 28. barbian, e., gonzales, g.c., & mejía, p. (2017). rethinking bilingual education: welcoming home languages in our classrooms. rethinking schools. bartolomé, l. (1994). beyond the methods fetish: toward a humanizing pedagogy. harvard educational review 64(2), 173-194. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.64.2.58q5m5744t325730 bernal, d. d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105-126. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800107 bucholtz, m., casillas, d. i., & lee, j.s., (2017). language and culture as sustenance. in d., paris & s., alim, eds. culturally sustaining pedagogies: teaching and learning for justice in a changing world (pp. 53-70). teachers college press. cameron, c. d. r. (1997). how the garcía cousins lost their accents: understanding the language of title vii decisions approving english-only rules as the product of racial dualism, latino invisibility, and legal indeterminacy. calif. l. rev., 85, 1347. cameron, l. j. (1997). a critical examination of classroom practices to foster teacher growth and increase student learning. tesol journal, 7(1), 25–30. chavez, l. (2013). the latino threat: constructing immigrants, citizens, and the nation, second edition. stanford university press. costello, b., wachtel, j., & wachtel, t. (2010). restorative circles in schools: building community and enhancing learning. international institute for restorative practices. curammeng, e. r., buenavista, t. l., & cariaga, s. (2017). asian american critical race theory: origins, directions, and praxis. center for critical race studies at ucla research briefs. https://issuu.com/almaiflores/docs/ec_tlb_sc_asianam_crt darder, a. (2015). freire and education. routledge. delgado bernal, d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 135 harvard educational review, 68(4), 555-583. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.5wv1034973g22q48 delgado bernal, d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical raced gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge.” qualitative inquiry, 8, 105 – 126. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800107 emerson, r., fretz, r., & shaw, l. (2011). writing ethnographic field notes (2nd ed.). university of chicago press.
 fránquiz, m. e., salazar, m. c., & denicolo, c. p. (2011). challenging majoritarian tales: portraits of bilingual teachers deconstructing deficit views of bilingual learners. bilingual research journal, 34(3), 279–300. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2011.625884 freire, p. (1972). pedagogy of the oppressed. herder and herder. garcía, g. e., & lang, m.g. (2018). the link between standards and dual language teachers’ spanish literacy instruction and use of formative assessments. bilingual research journal, 41(2), 167 186. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2018.1445049 garcía, o., ibarra, s.j, & seltzer, k. (2016). the translanguaging classroom: leveraging students’ bilingualism for learning. caslon publishing. garcía, o., & kleifgen, j.a. (2018). educating emergent bilinguals: policies, programs, and practices for english learners (2nd ed). teachers college press. garcía, o., & kleyn, t. (2016). translanguaging with multilingual students: learning from classroom moments. routledge. gibbons, p. (2009). english learners, academic literacy, and thinking: learning in the challenge zone. heinemann. howard, e. r., lindholm-leary, k. j., rogers, d., olague, n., medina, j., kennedy, d., sugarman, j., christian, d. (2018). guiding principles for dual language education (3rd ed.). center for applied linguistics. http://www.cal.org/twi/guidingprinciples.htm huber, l. p. (2011). discourses of racist nativism in california public education: english dominance as racist nativist microaggressions. educational studies, 47(4), 379-401. johnson, k. (1998). immigration and latino identity. chicano latino law review, 19, 197 – 212. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2011.589301 kantamneni, n. (2020). the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on marginalized populations in the united states: a research agenda. u.s. national library of medicine. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103439 kohli, r., picower, b., martinez, a. n., & ortiz, n. (2015). critical professional development: centering the social justice needs of teachers. the international journal of critical pedagogy, 6(2), 7-24. landerman, l. m. (2013). the art of effective facilitation: reflections from social justice educators. stylus publishing. lavadenz, m. (2014). como hablar en silencio (like speaking in silence): issues of language, culture, and identity of central americans in los angeles. in, a. darder & r. torres, r. eds. latinos and education: a critical reader (pp. 165-187). routledge. latcrit inc. (2001). latcrit primer: a selection of articles from the annual latcrit symposia and related materials, volume 2. https://latcrit.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/lcprimerii.pdf https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 136 malagon, m. c., huber, l. p., & velez, v. n. (2009). our experiences, our methods: using grounded theory to inform a critical race theory methodology. seattle journal of social justice, 8, 253. martinez, a. n., valdez, c., cariaga, s. (2016). solidarity with the people: organizing to disrupt teacher alienation. equity & excellence in education, 49(3), 300-313. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2016.1194104 mirsky, l. (2014). the power of the circle. educational leadership, 71(9), 51 55. montoya, m. (1994). mascaras, terzas, y grenas: un/masking the self while un/braiding latina stories and legal discourse. chicano latino law review, 15,1 – 37. navarro, m. (2019). a critical examination of dual-language science educators: ideology, pedagogy, access, and equity. [doctoral dissertation]. proquest information & learning. noble, a. j., & smith, m.l. (1999). time(s) for educational reform: the experience of two states. in, gándara, p. (1999). the dimensions of time and the challenge of school reform (pp. 181-201). suny press. otheguy, r., garcía, o., & reid, w. (2015). clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: a perspective from linguistics. applied linguistics review, 6(3), 281307. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2015-0014 palmer, d., & martínez, r.a. (2013). teacher agency in bilingual spaces: a fresh look at preparing teachers to educate latina/o bilingual children. review of research in education, 37, 269 297. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x12463556 pérez huber, l. (2010). using latina/o critical race theory (latcrit) and racist nativism to explore intersectionality in the educational experiences of undocumented chicana college students. educational foundations, 24, 77-96. reyes iii, r. (2016). in a world of disposable students: the humanizing elements of border pedagogy in teacher education. the high school journal, 99(4), 337-350. https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2016.0013 salazar, m. c. (2013). a humanizing pedagogy: reinventing the principles and practice of education as a journey toward liberation.” review of research in education 37(1), 121-148. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x12464032. solórzano, d. g., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085901363002 solórzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 23-44. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103 stake, r. (1995). the art of case study research. sage. trucios-haynes, e. (2000). why race matters: latcrit theory and latina/o racial identity. berkeley la raza lj, 12(1), 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.15779/z38vq11 valdez, c., curammeng, e., pour-khorshid, f., kohli, r., nikundiwe, t., & picower, b. (2018). we are victorious: educator activism as a shared struggle for human being. the educational forum, 83(3), 244-258. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131725.2018.1458932 valdez, v. e., & omerbašić, d. (2015). multimodal self-authoring across bi/multilingual https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x12464032 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 stacy, j., fernández, y., mcgovern, e.r., el institute: centering language, culture, and power journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 137 educator and student learning spaces. bilingual research journal, 38(2), 228-247. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2015.1062816 yosso, t. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity, and education, 8(1), 69 91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 24 serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model marcus w. johnson, ph.d.1* 1curriculum and instruction, texas state university *mjohnson@txstate.edu received : 2020-07-25 accepted : 2020-11-28 doi: 10.46303/jcve.2020.11 how to cite this paper: johnson, m.w. (2020). serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model. journal of culture and values in education, 3(2), 24-41. doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.11 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract critical scholars contend it must be the duty of those who are marginalized to create pedagogy that will empower themselves. as such, researchers continue to explore ways and means by which black male students can engage with and enact literacy. while a significant amount of research has been conducted on hip-hop pedagogies and literacy, there lacks examination into how the specific element of battle rap functions as a location to cultivate the critical consciousness of students. this research seeks to highlight how the genre of battle rap can be a pedagogical tool of literary expression, while simultaneously shedding traditional standards of instruction which have constrained learning opportunities, particularly for black male students. critical literacy as a theoretical framework and critical discourse analysis (cda) as a methodology are employed to advance battle rap as an effective instructional tool. ultimately, this study seeks to privilege the educational experiences of black male students and complex our interpretations of how language, literacy, and culture intersect and can be exercised in us classrooms. keywords: critical literacy, hip-hop pedagogy, battle rap, social studies, english language arts, black male students https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 25 introduction traditional and simplistic approaches to literacy have failed to provide meaningful understandings of teaching and improving literacy for black male students collectively. tatum (2008) whose research centers around black male literacy suggested, black male students’ best interests “are often ignored when developing or adopting instructional plans, selecting curricula, or examining students’ [academic] placement” (p. 156). as a result, a number of scholars concerned with improving the educational experiences of black male students and other underserved populations looked to teacher curricular and pedagogical attitudes and approaches to mitigate challenges (milner, 2010). it is here that battle rap is presented as a pedagogical tool to assist in the development of critical literacy, specifically using english language arts and social studies as its hosts. this study argues that the lyrical genre of battle rap is composed of brilliant literary artists who culturally shape and fashion the english language, while simultaneously confronting societal issues. this study utilizes critical literacy (freire, 1987) as its theoretical framework and fairclough’s (2013) critical discourse analysis (cda) as its methodology. by examining a purposive sample of lyrics, it is advanced that battle rap as a pedagogical tool helps connect the “everydayness” of black male students’ lives to curricular and pedagogical decisions made inside the classroom. literacy is not simply contained within print mediums, but for groups such as african americans, this includes spoken word and oral traditions as well. scholars have viewed literacy as a shared and collective activity rather than an individual exercise, engaging with others towards community liberation (freire & macedo, 1987; green, 2013; winn, 2008). moreover, literacy – in its learning and practices, are far from contained within official schooling spaces. multiple social contexts such as student’s homes, communities, and recreational engagements are valuable sources to consider when making curricular and pedagogical choices (moll, et al. 1992). by doing so, educators and students collaborate and even “conspire” to resist deficit-oriented interpretations and advance instruction and learning as uniquely responsive and situated to youth’s most pressing needs and interests (green, 2013; keefer, 2017; winn, 2010). this study leans on previous research such as kirkland (2009) who suggested “expressions of human experience exist in multiple forms, which can present new challenges and possibilities for english education” (p. 375). my stance towards improving the literacy outcomes of black male students extends beyond academic achievement to also enriching their intellect to live fuller lives and ultimately contribute to the black community (wilson, 1992). still, battle rap’s distinctive attributes can not only serve black male students but assist in the literacy improvement of all students. the focus on black male student literacy doesn’t negate the needs of young black girls and adolescents and other marginalized populations. this study humbly but unapologetically acknowledges the deleterious educational efforts geared towards black male students and aims to redress it in some capacity. allow me to reintroduce myself: what is battle rap? before continuing, it is essential to define battle rap. the need for a “re”introduction is due to the commercialization and dilution of hip-hop’s intellectual and liberatory potency. the unbalanced scales of fun and entertainment vis-à-vis socially conscious rap should be corrected. battle rap originates as a style of rapping or lyrical contest deriving from the genre and movement, hip-hop. it involves two rappers or artists competing to rhythmically out-duel https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 26 each other. researchers have found that battle rap carries elements of the west african griot tradition of storytelling (parker, 2020) “reimagined and sustained through such african american traditions as the blues, the dozens, and roasts” (mavima, 2016, p. 89). locations for battles taking place range from street corners and small neighborhood stores to now concert hall stages and online platforms such as youtube, caffeine, twitch and pay-per-view options. whether a battler uses jokes, insults, bravado, aggression, narrations, creative language, visual performance, or audience participation, the objective is to be victorious against your opponent displaying superior word play. positionality of author african american culture and in particular, hip-hop, has been a consistent influence upon my life. from reciting n.w.a. lyrics as an elementary student to citing scarface and j. cole in my doctoral dissertation, hip-hop informs the way i see myself and society. i have and continue to be inspired even academically by hip-hop. because of hip-hop’s significant growth as the most popular music genre (lynch, 2018) and battle rap’s association with one of its most prized skills, verbal performance, it makes sense to consider its instructional opportunities. as a teacher-educator, i strongly encourage preservice teachers to use popular culture as: a means to connect seemingly disparate phenomenon, a motivating tool, and as a form of resistance and agency. as a researcher, i agree with ladson-billings (1995) that epistemological approaches reflect “who i am, what i believe, [and] what experiences i have had aligning with “membership in a marginalized racial/ cultural group” (p. 470). i lean towards dillard’s (2006) notions of endarkened epistemology which recognizes research as a responsibility to serve their community. when a researcher omits their voice, they are contributing to the “epistemological racism that lingers in the academy” (hill, 2011, p. 90). what a paradigm “allows” for too often resembles power dynamics and hierarchies observed in classrooms of what is permissible and respected. i embark upon this research project to assist educators, researchers, and students alike to find and utilize our voices – carrying them from disorientation to embodied practice (arkles, 2016). identifying as an african american male and mindful of present social realities, the time is ripe to reconsider our orientations towards innovative pedagogical efforts. literature review many approaches have been proposed to explain the context of black male student literacy in us classrooms. although the literature covers a wide array of redressing this issue, this review will focus on how teacher pedagogy, student’s culture, and official curriculum can be reimagined and amalgamated. culturally relevant pedagogy and beyond multiple educational approaches have sought to ameliorate the problematic circumstances facing underserved populations. teacher quality proved to be a major focus of researchers looking to counter the racist and deficit-laden beliefs towards black males students. given that white, female, monolinguistic teachers make up 80 percent of the workforce (hussar, et al., 2020) scholars highlighted the link between culture, teaching, and learning stressing an importance of cultural competence. ladson-billings (1995) advanced https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 27 culturally relevant pedagogy which strives to empower “students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes” (p. 1718). culturally relevant pedagogy rests on three criteria: 1) students must experience academic success, 2) students must develop and maintain cultural competence, and c) students must acquire a critical consciousness through challenging the status quo of the social order. similarly, culturally responsive pedagogy (gay, 2000) is a concept that relies on the teacher understanding the background and language of the student and carefully integrating it with academic discourse to make it digestible for learners. paris (2012) offered culturally sustaining pedagogy, which seeks to perpetuate and foster linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism within schooling. more recent approaches such as curricular and pedagogical resuscitation (cpr) (johnson & nicol, 2020) seeks to restore more of the black “village” into the “school system” by teaching and learning through black people’s perspectives. these new and reformed directions seek to alleviate the disparity experienced by black male students as traditional pedagogies tended to omit the history, contributions, and culture of black americans (howard, 2014). it bears stating that efforts to amend attitudes and practices do not become essentialized and overdeterministic in the linkages of language and other cultural practices to certain racial and ethnic groups in approaching what it is we are seeking to sustain” (paris, 2012, p. 95). “authentic spaces” for black male expression research involving black male student literacy suggests, “the problem of how to increase literacy achievement of african americans is embedded in social, cultural, economic, and historical dynamics” (tatum, 2000, p. 53). black male students in many ways face the same challenges in and out of school, as educational policies and practices fail to collectively support them. therefore, this study strives to create authentic spaces in educational settings whereby black students and educators “express their authentic selves and feel heard and validated versus stereotyped and judged” (grier-reed, 2010, p. 187). the examination of “authentic spaces” as a social phenomenon and strategy of black resistance has been researched by numerous scholars (akom, 2007; chambers, 2014; edwards, 2005; grier-reed, 2010; solorzano, et al., 2000; vickery, 2017). the concept of “authentic spaces” derives from terms such as “free spaces,” “counter-spaces,” “sanctuaries,” “havens,” and “spheres of cultural autonomy.” it refers to a nonjudgmental, genuine, relational, and meaningful space on campus to integrate one’s own personhood and humanity – counteracting isolation, stigma and stereotype threat (grier-reed, 2010). incorporating battle rap as a pedagogical tool has the potential to enable dialogue taking place in other recognized “authentic spaces” such as the black barber shop to occur in schools. concepts such as “virtual school bags” (thomson, 2002) and funds of knowledge (moll, et al., 1992) argue every child starts school with skills and knowledge learned from home, friends, and the world(s) in which they live. unfortunately, the “virtual backpacks” of black male students and the social and human capital of black men are often unrecognized and unappreciated. yet when educators operate from a position of viewing black culture as replete with valuable resources just waiting to be exercised, this produces the antecedents of informal and formal “authentic spaces” for black male students in school. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 28 hip-hop pedagogy hip-hop pedagogy is a powerful way of combining ela and social studies. significant scholarship speaks to the benefits of hip-hop pedagogy in increasing student achievement, attending to state standards and cultivating critical consciousness and activism (dimitriadis, 2009; emdin, 2013; hill, 2009; morrell & duncan-andrade, 2002; stovall, 2006). also, hip-hop pedagogy is gaining more academic consideration due to its seemingly natural alignment with and extension of culturally relevant (ladson-billings, 1995), culturally responsive (lee, 1998), culturally sustaining (paris, 2012) and funds of knowledge (moll, et al., 1992) pedagogies. due to the hip-hop’s embedded reflections of language, culture, society, and unique opportunities for meaning-making, it makes sense to join hip-hop pedagogy to ela and social studies – not for more challenges but more instructional dexterity and efficiency. therefore, battle rap’s intricate text, verbal performance, and overall presentation offer more accurate and explicit ways of eliciting engagement and improved learning spaces (parker, 2020). empowering social studies the task of nurturing citizens with the values, knowledge, skills, and beliefs in order to serve a democratic society is heavily bestowed on social studies. if properly accomplished, social studies helps young people recognize their positions within a larger community and attempt to make sense of how society is structured (saracho & sodek, 2007). if educators are to “help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world” (ncss, 1994, p.3) critical literacy has to be involved in our teaching and learning. yet, critique in-and-of-itself is not the goal – but the end of all knowledge should result in service to others. in this case, empowering social studies as curricular and pedagogical resuscitation – cpr (johnson & nicol, 2020) insists, would privilege black experiences and advocate for the subject’s validity in an era of high-stakes testing. studies conducted of social studies curriculum and pedagogy demonstrates the plethora of eurocentric, white, male perspectives laden classrooms (johnson, 2019; brown & brown, 2010; woodson, 2016). therefore, critical approaches to social studies developed explicitly exploring issues such as power, agency, and culture. efforts that involve critical social studies pedagogies create unique spaces where teacher and student deconstruct and reconstruct ontologies and cultivate critical consciousness (magill & salinas, 2019). educators pursuing critical social studies expose cracks within official curriculum (deleon, 2014) to walk the tightrope alongside their students coconstructing learning opportunities (castro, et al., 2015). in order to continue working towards social studies operating as a beacon of emancipatory visions and realties, content knowledge, and purpose / spirit (barton & levstik, 2003; dillard, 2006; johnson & nicol, 2020) must be attended to in preservice and teacher development programs. integrating english language arts and social studies curriculum curriculum integration has been a useful method for addressing curricular imbalances between disciplines (brophy, et al., 2012). social studies continues to fight for classroom instructional time in an era of accountability. as a result, yearta (2019) expressed “integration is no longer an ideal; it is a necessity” (p. 215) for teachers with ever-increasing responsibilities. content integration according to huck (2019) received increased attention due to no child left behind (nclb) and common core state standards (ccss). to revive social https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 29 studies in classrooms and shift beyond mere functional literacy approaches, educators and scholars have looked to integrating ela and social studies content (obenchain & pennington, 2015). effective integration of ela and social studies doesn’t equate to simply blending the two subjects together. to assist in this integrative approach, alleman and brophy (2010) outline multiple principles of desirable integration and undesirable integration – primarily based on promoting or stifling progress toward specific content goals and standards. regardless, educators and researchers alike have come to an understanding and quasi-negotiation that in order for social studies to receive its deserved attention, integration into other subjects, in particular ela, is advantageous (brophy & alleman, 1991; hill, 2009; kinniburgh & busby, 2008; vanfossen, 2005). this wouldn’t be unfamiliar to social studies as a subject because “social studies is, in and of itself, an example of integrated content” (huck, 2019, p. 2) as it “builds on and allies itself with the analytic work of critical literacy” (jewett, 2007 p. 169). theoretical framework critical literacy this study is guided by the theoretical framework of critical literacy (freire, 1970/ 1996). critical literacy provides a lens whereby instructional practices can not only bridge but privilege black identities, communities, and epistemologies within schooling. critical literacy assists in disrupting traditional learning ideologies and methods which have stunted literacy opportunities of far too many black youth. early scholarship related to critical literacy is generally credited to paulo freire (1970/ 1996) and more specifically freire and macedo (1987), who argued that it is vital to understand the political and economic context in which texts are created and maintained, as well as how texts are socially constructed. texts do not exist in isolation but carry with them powerful, culturally-embedded markers. freire urged to not just read the word (develop basic literacy skills) but read the world (assess one’s political position within society). in essence, freire’s notion of critical consciousness explains how those oppressed learn to critically analyze their sociopolitical conditions and act to change them in pursuit of justice. identifying the recognizable and latent distinctions within language and black youth’s consumption and production of such helps decolonize the classroom (emdin, 2016). further analysis uncovers that without firm theory considering the significance of texts for black students, even ideal instructional methods miss the mark (tatum, 2008). by utilizing critical literacy, the aim is to help uncover and interrupt hegemonic practices in oral, written, and popular culture contexts that have taken up an all-too-comfortable residence within standard curriculum and pedagogy. critical literacy maintains incorporating the language used in students’ everyday activities as pivotal to learning. as wood and jocius (2013) put forth applying critical literacy “can create a learning environment that raises expectations for academic achievement by challenging traditional notions of literacy instruction” (p. 663) for black students. critical literacy also asserts that outside-of-school experiences hold intellectual value that can be utilized inside the classroom. as such, critical literacy explicitly orientates itself as a redistributive and recognitive model of interrogating what is considered “official knowledge” (luke, 2012) and enables (re)energizing literacy practices for black male students. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 30 methodology critical discourse analysis the central underpinning of critical discourse analysis (cda) is the existence of diverse interpretations of texts (fairclough, 2013). tensions continue to exist amongst the power associated with certain interpretations. cda was applied to this study in order to enable vigorous and authentic assessment of what is meant by the language used via battle rappers and the hip-hop/ battle rap community. cda views the study of language as a form of social practice. texts, language, and communication are shaped by larger contexts of society (fairclough, 2013). cda is determined by the link between language, power, and ideology (machin and mayr, 2012). in alignment with critical literacy, cda asserts that experience is “produced under specific basic conditions of learning and illuminates the role that pedagogy plays as part of a struggle over assigned meanings, modes of expression, and directions of desire” (giroux, 2011, p.4). therefore, cda explores the syntax and terminology used in its development to its dissemination and understanding to a wider audience. parts of speech, tone, stance, and gestures is also considered for a more comprehensive analysis. this study follows fairclough’s (1996) three dimensions of cda: 1) description – concerned with formal properties and associations of the text; 2) interpretation – focus on relationship between text and interaction, basically how and why one uses certain kind of language; and 3) explanation – attention paid to the relationship between interaction, social context, and for the purposes of this study, how it connects to curricular and pedagogical purposes. in some instances, two or more dimensions of cda can be revealed simultaneously depending on context. this project seeks to illuminate a rarely-tapped curricular and pedagogical resource, “seeing in texts and social practices the hidden, or partially hidden, discourse associated with it” (poole, 2010, p. 140). in doing so, this study complexes our interpretations of how language, literacy, and culture can be exercised in us classrooms. figure 1: fairclough’s three-dimensional framework for analysis of discourse source: fairclough (2013). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 31 convenience sampling was utilized to select the specific battles for this study. i regularly participate on black compass media’s discord (a digital platform) discussing battle rap with well-versed and knowledgeable individuals on the topic. i considered, “what battles consists of ‘socially conscious’ material?” amongst those suggested, the final selections were due to the highlighted ideological differences and approaches of the battle rappers. these selections exemplify and represent battle rap’s foremost potential in ela and social studies classrooms. the key objective for highlighting various snippets of battle rap lyrics is to provide a lens for how its implementation can address state accountability standards while cultivating students’ critical consciousness and privileging black cultural identities, experiences, and imaginations. analysis sample let’s get to choppin’ this fable. you’re a fake new tupac and we’re fatal. loaded lux vs. calicoe (ultimate rap league, 2012, 3rd round) (description) lux starts by offering to discuss a particular narrative. (interpretation) lux addresses what he believes to be a false comparison of his opponent, calicoe, to the legendary artist and activist, tupac shakur. lux then pulls off a linguistic triple entendre: 1) insisting that if calicoe is the new tupac, the rest of us are doomed, 2) his method of dissecting calicoe’s character will be precise and vicious, and 3) fatal hussein was a member of tupac’s crew, the outlawz. (explanation) tupac’s life similar to other historical figures exists within the tensions of what it means to be a us citizen and practice civic action – which can address how students view and take up civic virtues and democratic principles themselves. explicating examples the following are excerpts deriving from three separate battle rap contests: oops vs. daylyt (rare breed entertainment, 2015), loso vs. b dot (shruglife network, 2017), and danny myers vs. xcel (king of the dot entertainment, 2015). it is general custom that battle rap matches are composed of three rounds, wherein each artist alternates opportunities to speak. therefore, this study presents examples in the form of three rounds also. top of round 1 i'm tryin' to change the game as far as we know now i'm the passionate, activist version of nino brown i'm martin luther, marcus garvey, mixed with john gotti, malcolm x, mr. clark strapped with a piece (peace) like gandhi they say, "ooops you contradicting yourself because you freedom fightin' but you stay with the heat." i mean, i motivate my people but even mother teresa stayed with the peace (piece) https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 32 so you can get that open hand disorder [?] you'll need prayers my g cause if i waved this black power, you gon' be prayin' for peace. – ooops vs. daylyt (rare breed entertainment, 2015, 1st round) by simply surveying the text, prominent and popular names leap off the paper: nino brown (fictional character in movie, new jack city), martin luther [king jr.], marcus garvey, john gotti, malcolm x, mr. clark (fictional character in the movie, lean on me), gandhi, and mother teresa. characteristic of battle rapping style, ooops then displays literary wordplay by utilizing the homonyms, peace and piece (acronym for a handgun). also, ooops (who once served as a state representative in missouri and was nominated for an oscar in 2020) is seemingly expressing the internal and external pressures he feels as a community activist. up for consideration in his mind, are the perceptions, assumptions, and erasure of binaries related to non-violence and peace versus self-defense. covered within just this example are notions tied to citizenship and identity (social studies) and autoethnography and creative prose (ela). bottom of round 1 i start crippin', became a c (sea) god, it's not poseidon i was afraid of the real world, so i use the block for hidin’ one thing i could do was kill every enemy in my hood but we couldn't stop the sirens r.i.p. mooky, r.i.p. kalo, them cop shots was flyin' all i kept sayin' was, "goddamn the block is dyin'" –daylyt vs. ooops (rare breed entertainment, 2015, 3rd round) in this excerpt of daylyt’s third round against ooops, he provides insight into his upbringing and narrates certain community activities of which he is intimately familiar. he indicates his joining of the crips (street organization / gang; originally beginning as community revolution in progress). he goes on to play on words by stating he “became a ‘c’ god,” reaching prominence within the gang. however, he contrasts his gang affiliation to the mythical greek god of the sea stating, “[he’s] not poseidon.” he continues by using the word, “sirens” as a homograph and alluding greek mythology – articulating no matter how many of his “enemies” he could get rid of, “sirens” (the sounds of law enforcement and ambulances) inundated his neighborhood. sirens in greek mythology were akin to mermaids who lured sailors with their beautiful voices to their ultimate doom. daylyt then follows a noted tradition within black culture – paying homage to those who have passed on. interestingly, he alludes to the police being responsible for the deaths of the two individuals indicated. so, high risk factors involved both other rival gangs and law enforcement. ultimately, this section of daylyt’s round speaks to his articulation of the prevalence of danger, death and the intricate navigation it took to come of age in his neighborhood. in terms of subjects, this piece uses figurative language (ela) and examination of and contributions towards one’s community and greek mythology (social studies). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 33 top of round 2 you an actor turned rapper, i was thinkin', "is this straight? he wanna discredit all those believin'" i'm sayin', is this a mistake?" but no biggie, i hit 'em up for tryin' to diss faith but he ain't wanna dead the beef like the fifth plague. –loso vs. b dot (shruglife network, 2017, 1st round) in this exchange, loso is emphasizing the competing ideologies of christianity that he ascribes to and kemetic science (ancient egyptian spirituality) of which his opponent, b dot represents. loso reveals how he attempted to contact (hit someone up) b dot to discuss the issue; yet he cunningly uses the names of hip-hop musical artists that were infamously engaged in a relationship quarrel – notorious big (biggie smalls), tupac shakur (hit ‘em up, a song that tupac mentioned the affair) and acclaimed r&b artist, faith evans – notorious big’s fiancé and subject of tupac’s attention. nevertheless, loso claims that his attempts to avoid conflict and reach an understanding (dead the beef) were dismissed by b dot. he uses the literary artform of analogy and historical mythology by referring to the fifth plague – a mysterious and infectious disease that eradicated egyptians’ livestock in the 18th century. here we can make ties to conflict resolution and philosophical debate (social studies) and the use of figurative language (ela) to express one’s thoughts and feelings. bottom of round 2 all my queens i need y'all to look up henrietta, she died a while back but her cells they still extract and give them to other races and replacements for the things they lack see this is scientific facts this isn't just rap i'm not talkin' 'bout the n* from queens when i tell my queens that they dna is bridgin' the gap. –b dot vs. loso (shruglife network, 2017, 2nd round) b dot, who adheres to panafricanism – a collective idea of strengthening the bonds of amongst indigenous and diasporic ethnic groups of african descent, calls for the attention of black women, identifying them as queens. queen is a term used to empower and uplift black women who according to malcolm x (1962) is the most disrespected, unprotected, and neglected person in america. he encourages them to research another black woman, henrietta lacks. during lacks’ battle with cervical cancer in the early 1950s, her cells were cultured by doctors without permission. her cells, known as the hela cell line, are still being utilized as a source of medical data and science today. he goes on to make a humorous distinction of his referencing of queens and dna because the name of another popular battler rapper, dna, lives in queens, new york. this snippet of b dot’s round incorporates informative writing (ela) and issues pertaining to citizenship, and the historical figure, henrietta lacks (social studies). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 34 top of round 3 when i zone in, i make grown men bones bend every figure hard in my circle welcome to stonehenge you one dimensional, how can there be limits with a god? you cesare borgia you just portray the image of a god but it's cool, he catchin' all razor blades when my squad spot him they only gon' find 5% of the god body –danny myers vs. xcel (king of the dot entertainment, 2015, 1st round) danny myers (referred to as bar god) pens that when he is “zoned in” or at his optimal, flowlike state, no one can stop him. he then refers to his circle of friends as being equally as strong and unyielding as the prehistorical monuments at stonehenge. he goes on to criticize xcel’s battle rap style as simplistic. it is widely understood that ascending to the level of god mc (considered superior with lyrical rhymes and performance), is the goal within hip-hop and battle rap. myers persists in his taunting, suggesting that xcel is like cesare borgia, who was a 15th century, spanish-italian politician rumored to be the popular modern white image painted of jesus. in keeping within religious and ideological themes, danny explains that his crew will devastate xcel to the point of only discovering five percent of his body. the nation of gods and earths or five percenters is a movement or way of life stemming from the nation of islam. the five percent nation, which xcel is a member, professes to cultivate black people’s self-knowledge, unity, and ability to understand the universe using supreme mathematics or science. many of hip-hop’s most influential artists (i.e. rakim, members of the wu-tang clan, busta rhymes and jay-z) are affiliated with this movement – the five percent who know truth and are resolved to enlightening the other eighty-five percent of the world’s population. nestled amongst this selected text are narrative structures conveying information (ela) and references of a geographical marker, historical figure, and a major us social and ideological movement (social studies). bottom of round 3 these next lines, analyze with your mind's third eye vision cause you was on that same card, vs cali smoov dry snitchin' you said you sell crack, you sell weed, you sell dope, coke and other unnecessary antidotes whoa, i mean my n* who you convincing? i understand you gotta tell n* just how you get it but that shit don't constitute you ignoring the 5th amendment. –xcel vs. danny myers (king of the dot entertainment, 2015, 3rd round) xcel urges danny myers to listen closely with his “third eye” referring to one’s pineal gland or gateway to higher consciousness and enlightenment. xcel then recalls myers in a previous battle overexaggerating and more damning, exposing personal business. in the end, even though xcel understands why danny divulged information to his fan base, he is still https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 35 reprimanded for publicly confessing his “illegal” activities. here one can elicit learning opportunities about our nation’s constitution and its amendments (social studies) as well as persuasive writing (ela). embracing battle rap as a viable pedagogical tool each of the above selections underscore how various concepts of literacy (ela) and critical literacy in the form of social studies are intertwined in the texts. the creativity with words is dynamic and laudable. moreover, we are able to witness how knowledge, multiple viewpoints, and narratives commonly ignored in textbooks are cornerstones of battle rap exchanges. often disrupting standard patterns of teacher pedagogy (smith, 2020) and implementing popular culture, in this case battle rap within teaching, are accompanied by questions of appropriateness and availability. when asked where hip-hop pedagogies fit within sanctioned standards, hall’s (2017) consistent reply is, “where you make space for it” (p. 343). lawlor (2008) urges us to mimic rats by finding openings and the slightest of educational cracks to teach in humanizing ways. rejecting monolithic perceptions of black male youth, it is still possible these student’s prior and constantly adapting knowledge can be positioned as introductions or connections to concepts cited in battle rap. this study prioritizes educators’ willingness to consider battle rap as an instructional instrument than the formalities of its implementation. that given, some methods and suggestions are provided next to assist battle rap and hip-hop pedagogies “fit” within classrooms. there are clear connections between c3 framework themes (ncss, 2013) and battle rap’s potential in classrooms such as: inquiry, evaluating sources (battle rap) as evidence to engage in perspective-taking, and communicating conclusions and taking informed action to cultivate students’ critical consciousness. additionally, be it classroom battle pedagogy (parker, 2020) – students participating in rhyming debates, text analysis of battel rap content, simulation, or various supplementary methods, it is believed that battle rap instructional activities can resonate with students, their culture, and inject joy and fun into classrooms, which is falsely aligned with anti-intellectualism. moving forward, future research could involve creating a linked reference resource or repository for teachers based on social studies and ela elements embedded in battle rap lyrics. limitations the language employed within battle rap can be considered problematic and explicit. nonetheless, many of the societal issues black male students experience individually and collectively extend beyond the problematic and in certain cases are outright violent. i consider battle rap artists to be in unique and distinct sociocultural and political positions. they carry out the important custom of storytelling among the african diasporic community (hill, 2009; mavima, 2016). inherit within this storytelling, are notions of what foucault (2001) referred to as parrhesia – the practice of truth-telling. this study is geared towards addressing students’ realities and reducing the gap between in-school teaching and learning and that occurring “within communities physically outside of, and oftentimes beyond, the school” (emdin, 2016, p. 30). another possible limitation can be the small sample size used for this study. while there is a significant amount of battle rap matches and lyrics to choose from, it is essential for teachers to mine and carefully select battle rap contests and/ or prepare students for possibly https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 36 sensitive material. contests can be viewed on the various platforms such as youtube by searching “ultimate rap league,” “rare breed ent.,” “black ice cartel” “queen of the ring,” “king of the dot,” and other battle rap channels. many contests have been transcribed into written text and can be viewed on websites such as genius.com. conclusion this study set out to draw attention to the pedagogical possibilities of utilizing battle rap as a way to nurture critical literacy. english language arts and social studies were identified as the instructional subjects battle rap could efficiently be introduced to and implemented within. it is acknowledged that teachers are weighted by the demands of high stakes testing and accountability measures in language arts coupled with the “paucity of tools and texts available to represent [social studies and] history” (willis, 2011, p. 139). king (2019) asked researchers to locate “unofficial and unconventional social studies spaces” (p. 91) where black students learn in critical and enjoyable ways. as wood and jocius (2013) noted, educators can struggle to obtain texts written by and featuring black boys and men. yet, even when found, research has demonstrated that covering critical issues tended to center around events of the past as opposed to examining current realities (vlach, 2019). accordingly, this study presents battle rap as a scholastic instrument to address the concerns mentioned above. studies have demonstrated how hip-hop pedagogies have benefitted student experiences and academic outcomes (dimitriadis, 2009; hill, 2009; morrell & duncan-andrade, 2002; parker, 2020). due to the pioneering efforts of levying battle rap as an academic tool, educators must critically evaluate intended and unintended implications since new and nontraditional learning opportunities often engenders new obstacles (newton, et al., 2020; petchaur, 2011). nevertheless, cultivation of students’ critical consciousness continues to be warranted given our sociopolitical times. battle rap powerfully speaks to some of students’ most salient experiences and identities. properly understood and organized, battle rap boldly acts as an educational resource with the means of empowering students, specifically black male students, academically and around issues of justice. acknowledgements i would like to thank black compass media and those who participate on their various platforms for their thoughtful suggestions. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 37 references akom, a. a. (2007). free spaces: excavating race, class, and gender among urban schools and communities. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 20(6), 611-616. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09518390701630700 alleman, j., & brophy, j. (2010). effective integration of social studies and literacy. in m. e. mcguire & b. cole (eds.), making a difference: revitalizing elementary social studies (pp. 51–65). national council for the social studies. arkles, r. (2016). finding my researcher voice: from disorientation to embodied practice. in s. segal & c. jankelson (eds.), face to face with practice: existential forms of research for management inquiry (pp. 69–85). taylor & francis ltd. barton, k. c., & levstik, l. s. (2003). why don't more history teachers engage students in interpretation?. social education, 67(6), 358-358. brophy, j. e., & alleman, j. e. (1991). a caveat: curriculum integration isn’t always a good idea. educational leadership, 49(2), 66. brophy, j., alleman, j., & halvorsen, a. (2012). powerful social studies for elementary students. cengage learning. brown, k. d., & brown, a. l. (2010). silenced memories: an examination of the sociocultural knowledge on race and racial violence in official school curriculum. equity & excellence in education, 43(2), 139-154. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10665681003719590. castro, a. j., hawkman, a. m., & diaz, j. (2015). teaching race in high school social studies: lessons from the field. in p. chandler (ed.), doing race in social studies: critical perspectives (pp. 1-10). information age publishing. chambers, a. d. (2014). cultural solidarity and the free space of the black fraternity. journal of pan african studies, 7(3), 254–281. deleon, a. (2014). capitalism is for the body, religion is for the soul. in e. w. ross (ed.), social studies curriculum: purposes, problems, and possibilities (4th ed., pp. 71–89). state university of new york press. dillard, c. b. (2006). when the music changes, so should the dance: cultural and spiritual considerations in paradigm ‘proliferation’. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 19(1), 59–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390500450185 dimitriadis, g. (2009). performing identity/performing culture: hip hop as text, pedagogy, and lived practice (vol. 1). peter lang. edwards, d. (2005). " doing hair" and literacy in an afterschool reading and writing workshop for african-american adolescent girls. afterschool matters, 4, 42-50. emdin, c. (2013 ). the rap cypher, the battle, and reality pedagogy: developing communication and argumentation in urban science education. in m. l. hill & e. petchauer (eds.), schooling hip-hop: expanding hip-hop based education across the curriculum (pp. 11-27). teachers college press. emdin, c. (2016). for white folks who teach in the hood... and the rest of y'all too: reality pedagogy and urban education. beacon press. fairclough, n. (2013). critical discourse analysis: the critical study of language. routledge. foucault, m. (2001). fearless speech. (j. pearson, ed.). semiotext. freire, p. (1970/ 1996). pedagogy of the oppressed (revised). continuum. freire, p., & macedo, d. (1987). literacy: reading the word and the world. bergin & garvey. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 38 gay, g. (2000). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research, and practice. teachers college press. giroux, h. a. (2020). on critical pedagogy. bloomsbury publishing. green, k. l. (2013). “the way we hear ourselves is different from the way others hear us”: exploring the literate identities of a black radio youth collective. equity & excellence in education, 46(3), 315-326. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2013.808506 grier‐reed, t. l. (2010). the african american student network: creating sanctuaries and counterspaces for coping with racial microaggressions in higher education settings. the journal of humanistic counseling, education and development, 49(2), 181–188. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1939.2010.tb00096.x groch, s. (2001). free spaces: creating oppositional consciousness in the disability rights movement. in j. mansbridge and a. morris (eds.). oppositional consciousness: the subjective roots of protest (pp.65-98). university of chicago press. hall, h. b. (2017). deeper than rap: expanding conceptions of hip-hop culture and pedagogy in the english language arts classroom. research in the teaching of english, 51(3), 341–350. hill, m. l. (2009). wounded healing: forming a storytelling community in hip-hop lit. teachers college record, 111(1), 248–293. hill, t. (2011). every closed eye ain't sleep: african american perspectives on the achievement gap. rowman & littlefield. howard, t. c. (2014). black male(d): peril and promise in the education of african american males. teachers college press. huck, a. (2019). elementary social studies content integration in ccla: an analysis of content integration, the social studies, 110(1), 1–16. hussar, b., zhang, j., hein, s., wang, k., roberts, a., cui, j., et al. (2020). the condition of education 2020 (nces 2020-144). washington, dc: u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/ pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020144. jewett, s. (2007). the stories of people’s lives: thematic investigations and the development of a critical social studies, the social studies, 98(4), 165–171. https://doi.org/10.3200/tsss.98.4.165-173 johnson, m. w. (2019). trump, kaepernick, and mlk as “maybe citizens”: early elementary african american males’ analysis of citizenship. theory & research in social education, 47(3), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2019.1582381 johnson, m. w. & nicol, m.w. (2020). introducing curricular and pedagogical resuscitation (cpr): a black approach to reviving the self and collective through social studies. urban education, 1–25, https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0042085920948948 keefer, n. (2017). the persistence of deficit thinking among social studies educators. journal of social studies education research, 8(3), 50– 75. king, l. j. (2019). unofficial and unconventional social studies spaces for students of color. the journal of social studies research, 43(2), 91– 95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2019.03.001 kinniburgh, l. h., & busby, r. s. (2008). no social studies left behind: integrating social studies during the elementary literacy block. journal of content area reading, 7(1), 55–88. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 39 kirkland, d. e. (2011). listening to echoes: teaching young black men literacy and the distraction of ela standards. language arts, 88(5), 373. ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465-491. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/ 00028312032003465 lawlor, l. (2008) following the rats: becoming-animal in deleuze and guattari. substance 37(3), 169–187. https://doi.org/10.1353/sub.0.0016 lee, c. d. (1998). culturally responsive pedagogy and performance-based assessment. journal of negro education, 268-279. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2668195 luke, a. (2012). critical literacy: foundational notes. theory into practice, 51(1), 4-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2012.636324 lynch, j. (2018, january 04). for the first time in history, hip-hop has surpassed rock to become the most popular music genre, according to nielson. business insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/hip-hop-passes-rock-most-popular-music-genrenielsen-2018-1 machin, d, mayr, a (2012) critical discourse studies: a multimodal approach. sage. magill, k. r., & salinas, c. (2019). the primacy of relation: social studies teachers and the praxis of critical pedagogy. theory & research in social education, 47(1), 1-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2018.1519476 malcolm, x. (1962, may 5). who taught you to hate yourself? funeral service of ronald stokes. https//:www.genius.com/malcolm-x-who-taught-you-to-hate-yourselfannotated. mavima, s. (2016). bigger by the dozens: the prevalence of afro-based tradition in battle rap. journal of hip hop studies, 3(1), 86-105. milner iv, h. r. (2010). what does teacher education have to do with teaching? implications for diversity studies. journal of teacher education, 61(1-2), 118-131. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022487109347670 moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132-141. https://doi.org/10.2307/821822 morrell, e., & duncan-andrade, j. m. (2002). promoting academic literacy with urban youth through engaging hip-hop culture. english journal, 91(6), 88-92. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.2307/821822 national council for the social studies. (1994). curriculum standards for social studies. national council for social studies. national council for the social studies. (2013). social studies for the next generation: purposes, practices, and implications of the college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards. national council for the social studies. newton, j., williams, m., & feeney, d. (2020). implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges. journal of culture and values in education, 3, 39-51. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.3 obenchain, k. m., & pennington, j. l. (2015). educating for critical democratic literacy: integrating social studies and literacy in the elementary classroom. routledge. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 40 paris, d. (2012). culturally sustaining pedagogy: a needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. educational researcher, 41(3), 93-97. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/ 0013189x12441244 parker, j. t. (2020). the use of battle rap as a way to engage students in stem (doctoral dissertation) columbia university. petchauer, e. (2011). i feel what he was doin’: responding to justice-oriented teaching through hip-hop aesthetics. urban education, 46(6), 1411-1432. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/ 0042085911400335 poole, b. (2010). commitment and criticality: fairclough's critical discourse analysis evaluated. international journal of applied linguistics, 20(2), 137-155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2009.00234.x saracho, o. n., & spodek, b. (2007). early childhood teachers’ preparation and the quality of program outcomes. early child development and care, 177(1), 71–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430500317366 smith, a. (2020). critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy. journal of culture and values in education, 3(1), 52-71. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.4 solorzano, d., ceja, m., & yosso, t. (2000). critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate: the experiences of african american college students. journal of negro education, 69 (1/2), 60– 73). stovall, d. (2006). we can relate: hip-hop culture, critical pedagogy, and the secondary classroom. urban education, 41(6), 585–602. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/ 0042085906292513 tatum, a. w. (2000). breaking down barriers that disenfranchise african american adolescent readers in low-level tracks. journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 44(1), 52–64. tatum, a. w. (2008). toward a more anatomically complete model of literacy instruction: a focus on african american male adolescents and texts. harvard educational review, 78, 155-180. http://dx.doi.org/10.17763/haer.78.1.6852t5065w30h449 vanfossen, p. j. (2005). “reading and math take so much time…”: an overview of social studies instruction in elementary classrooms in indiana. theory & research in social education, 33(3), 376–403. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2005.10473287 vlach, s. k. (2019). literacy teachers' enactment of critical pedagogies with multicultural children's literature during interactive read aloud (doctoral dissertation). university of texas. vickery, a. e. (2017). you excluded us for so long and now you want us to be patriotic? african american women teachers navigating the quandary of citizenship. theory & research in social education, 45, 318–348. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2017.1282387 wills, j. s. (2011). misremembering as mediated action: schematic narrative templates and elementary students' narration of the past. theory & research in social education, 39(1), 115-144. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2011.10473449 wilson, a. n. (1992). awakening the natural genius of black children. afrikan world infosystems. winn, m. t. (2008). black literate lives: historical and contemporary perspectives. routledge. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 johnson, m., serious with the wordplay: battle rap as a critical literacy site and model journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 41 winn, m. t. (2010). “betwixt and between”: literacy, liminality, and the “celling” of black girls. race, ethnicity, and education, 13(4), 425–447. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/ 13613321003751601 woodson, a. (2016). we’re just ordinary people: messianic master narratives and black youth’s civic agency. theory & research in social education, 44, 184–211. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2016.1170645 wood, s., & jocius, r. (2013). combating “i hate this stupid book!”: black males and critical literacy. the reading teacher, 66(8), 661-669. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1177 yearta, l. (2019). integrating social studies and english language arts: digital stories and the revolutionary war. the reading teacher, 73(2), 215-218. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1002/trtr.1806 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 179 “i call them my little chinese kids”: parents’ identities and language ideologies in mandarin-english dual language immersion schools may f. chung* university of maryland, baltimore county *mayfchung@gmail.com received : 2020-jun-30 accepted : 2020-dec-19 doi: 10.46303/jcve.2020.19 how to cite this paper: chung, m. f. (2020). “i call them my little chinese kids”: parents’ identities and language ideologies in mandarinenglish dual language immersion schools. journal of culture and values in education, 3(2), 179-195. doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.19 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract research on bilingual education presents clear advantages for children’s linguistic, cognitive, and social development. however, recent criticism of dual language education programs has led to claims of dual language education as a marker of elite bilingualism or that parents play their roles as socially accepted “good parents” by sending their child to a bilingual school. this paper presents the linguistic ideologies of parents of students enrolled in two chinese-english dual language schools in the midatlantic u.s. qualitative data were obtained from in-depth interviews with 21 parents (mothers = 15, fathers = 6), the majority of whom have no chinese ethnic connection. in drawing from theories of family language policy, parents addressed the connections between mandarin and economic, political, sociolinguistic, or sociocultural factors. discussions with parents reveal both their knowledge and misconceptions regarding language learning theories. findings also indicated that parental language ideologies often intertwine chinese language with culture and nationality. further, this research explores the ways parents uniquely shaped their identities in how they both accept and reject aspects of chinese culture and language. my study reveals a more nuanced portrait of the parents who choose mandarin immersion for their children, and explores the critical role that caretakers can play in informing bilingual policies and practices. keywords: bilingual education; dual language immersion; mandarin introduction dual language immersion schools in the united states have become a popular method of school choice, offering both language majority and minority speaking students a chance to learn in two languages (collier & thomas, 2004). dual language schools also differ in the type of immersion, which may be either one-way or two-way: two-way immersion is designed to blend english speakers and nonnative speakers in the same setting, to allow everyone to learn a second language (collier & thomas, 2004), whereas one-way immersion serves “a majority language group in the process of acquiring the same second language” (fortune & tedick, https://cultureandvalues.org/ mailto:*mayfchung@gmail.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 180 2008, p. 5), for example, mandarin immersion in the united states. in recent years, the number of schools offering dual language immersion in mandarin and english has increased exponentially, becoming one of the most highly sought types of immersion, second only to spanish. today, over 300 immersion programs are taught in mandarin, including 42 schools with the entire curricula delivered entirely in mandarin (weise, 2019). language immersion programs are long sought after by parents, and for a good reason. research on bilingual education presents clear advantages for children’s linguistic, cognitive, and social development (lindholm-leary, 2001; thomas et al., 1993). for example, studies have shown that dual language immersion narrows the achievement gap for both minority and majority populations to reach at or above grade levels, compared to their nonimmersion peers (collier & thomas, 2004; fortune, 2012). what is more, studies have shown dual language immersion students excel in both oral proficiency, reading, and writing tests administered in both languages (howard et al., 2003). however, despite these advantages, recent criticism of dual language education programs has centered around the fact that they tend to enroll language majority students from more affluent backgrounds than those from working-class backgrounds. for example, studies have found that dual language immersion programs tend to enroll students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds than those from working class or middle class backgrounds (parkes, 2008; potowski, 2007). for some parents, the disparity in bilingualism, which de costa (2010) refers to as “elite bilingualism” or “designer bilingualism” could create discord in communities where dual language schools become commodities only for the economically and academically privileged (valdez et al., 2014). this phenomenon has led to claims of dual language education as a marker of “elite bilingualism” or “designer bilingualism” (de costa, 2010). bilingualism for children is considered to be a social trend, a means for upwardly mobile and highly educated parents to invest in their child's education. piller (2005) notes that “bilingualism has definitely joined the markers of parental success. childhood bilingualism is hip, a potential that must be tapped – no questions asked” (p. 614) king and fogle (2006) found that caretakers value bilingual education as an act of "good parenting," and are playing socially accepted roles as "good parents'' by sending their child to a dual language school (p. 697). other scholars characterize bilingualism as a "gift" for parents to position themselves as benevolent bestowers of bilingualism (palviainen & boyd, 2013; piller, 2001). for a closer investigation of the decisions parents can make for their children regarding school choice, i turn to the framework of family language policy (flp). flp: an emerging field of study the study of what has come to be known as family language policy, or flp, has been around for over a hundred years. earlier researchers captured children’s bilingual development in great detail, developing recommendations for maintaining home languages, such as grammont’s popular so-called one person one language, also known as opol (c.f. ronjat, 1913). since then, the study has grown to encompass both explicit language policies (king et al., 2008; spolsky, 2004 curdt-christiansen, 2013) and implicit linguistic practices (okita, 2002; schwartz & moin, 2012) guiding their children’s language learning. flp became https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 181 a means by which researchers could explore parental language ideologies, or views about language, and how they mapped out their children’s bilingual outcomes (de houwer, 1998; king, 2016). those ideologies were not only used to cast language shift on an individual level, but also used to reflect broader attitudes and ideologies about language from a societal level. as curdt-christiansen (2009) explains, “language ideologies are often seen as the driving force of language policy as language ideologies are based on the perceived value, power and utility of various languages” (p. 354-55). in applying christiansen’s statement to the family context, how parents perceive of, or their attitudes toward, a language is instrumental to whether speakers in the family will choose to speak the language. a family’s language policy also has important implications for language negotiation, especially in the current political climate. immigration issues feature prominently flp literature (gallo & hornberger, 2019 okita, 2002), undeniably affecting the ways in which families shape the languages they use. concurrently, the u.s.’s current relations with china, has evolved from “tense standoffs to a complex mix of intensifying diplomacy,” according to the council on foreign relations (2020). in the recent months following the outbreak of covid-19 novel coronavirus in the united states, the disease’s origin in wuhan, china has led to a decline in american views favoring china (silver et al., 2020). given the close association of mandarin with china, the degree to which parents desire their children to learn mandarin rises and falls with the current condition of chinese-u.s. relations. parents’ linguistic beliefs: the driving force of flp parental perspectives regarding language are salient to the child’s upbringing and family bonding. because the family is so crucial to language planning, parents’ beliefs about language and their language ideologies affect not only the languages they choose to speak in the home but how they make their linguistic decisions. according to curdt-christiansen (2009), “language ideologies are context specific and related to and interwoven with economic, political, socio-cultural and linguistic factors as well as parental educational experiences and expectations” (p. 355). further, their language policies may be impacted by “parents’ expectations, parent’s education and language experience, or parental knowledge of bilingualism” (curdt-christiansen, 2009, p. 355). these past experiences serve as a driving force for parental expectations, school choices, and family language policies. for parents, a sense of identity is also deeply tied to language and culture and is shaped by their own experiences, all of which can then translate into the choices they make for their children. studies looking at parental linguistic attitudes and ideologies have shown that children's language attitudes have been shown to reflect those of their parents (feenstra, 1969; potowski, 2007). as norton and toohey (2001) argue, “the language choices available to children and their parents, as well as the discursive practices that are encouraged and supported in school, have an important impact on children's identity” (p. 310). parents’ experiences with language can serve as a guide to the kinds of linguistic choices that are made readily available for their children. this paper will address parents’ language ideologies regarding mandarin, and how these linguistic choices impact their role as a parent of a mandarin language learner. method data collection https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 182 this study features 21 parents from two schools: 19 parents whose children attend a way mandarin-english immersion program for a charter school, dragon academy, and three parents enroll their children in a mandarin immersion program located in a traditional school, panda elementary. both institutions are one-way immersion schools, alternating between mandarin and english daily. both elementary schools serve pre-kindergarten (from age three years old) to fifth grade students. interviews were collected from february to april of 2020. 16 interviews took place in person, with five interviews that shifted to taking place online due to the covid-19 pandemic. all names are pseudonyms. in order to engage with the community, i reached out to the principal and teachers at both institutions to introduce my study and role as a researcher. my plan was to engage with administrators of the school, so they might serve as advocates for my study. then, through a school listserv, i sent an email invitation to the parent teacher association, asking parents to participate. from the pool of volunteers, i recruited via snowball sampling, where participants nominated other individuals in their social network. during the interview, parents filled out a survey questionnaire asking about demographic information, as shown in table 1, and interactions with mandarin at home. i conducted semi-structured interviews ranging from 45 minutes to 2 hours, culminating in almost 20 hours of recordings. my interview protocol, adopted from curdt-christiansen (2014), investigated parents’ perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes toward mandarin chinese and strategies parents used to manage the language at home. participants table 1: participants’ mean ages, education levels and employment mothers fathers age mean 44.8 46.9 range 39-52 42-57 education four-year college / undergraduate 4 3 post-graduate degree 11 3 mandarin ability no ability 8 5 can speak the language somewhat 4 1 in the middle 3 0 traveled to a mandarin speaking country 9 5 twenty-one parents participated in audio-recorded in-depth interviews for the study, consisting of 15 mothers and six fathers. in most cases, parents were interviewed individually, although in two instances, three participants were interviewed alongside their partner. in these cases, the interviewees felt their partner, who were all of chinese descent, should be included because they would provide more insight into their motivations for school choice. all participants were currently married at the time of recording, except for one who was in a domestic partnership. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 183 all 21 participating parents lived in the midatlantic united states, and all had high incomes of over $90,000; which is not surprising as the area boasts one of the most highly educated resident populations and one of the largest incomes in the country (mccann, 2020; taylor, 2019). all participants had at least a four-year undergraduate degree, with 14 possessing an advanced graduate degree. as shown in table 1, there were more mothers that attained an advanced graduate degree than did not, while the fathers were split 50/50, half having pursued a four-year-degree and the other half having obtained advanced degrees. the participants represented a myriad of ethnic identities. ten parents identified as non-hispanic white/caucasian, two parents identified as african american or black (who also self-identified as latina), three identified as asian american, three identified as hispanic or latino/a, and four were of mixed race ethnicity (three of which had one chinese parent). three participants also claimed chinese ethnic or asian spouses who were not interviewed for this study. the participants also reflected a range of languages spoken at home. even though the majority of parents spoke english as their native or first language; three spoke spanish (one of which also listed french), two spoke french, one spoke german, and one spoke taishanese dialect of cantonese chinese. as seen in table 1, over a majority of the parents, 13, cited they had “no ability in understanding or speaking mandarin at all”, five cited that they “can understand and speak the language somewhat” and three noted that they were in the middle of the two categories. no parent answered that they were a “native speaker” or a “native-like ability in the language”. most of the participants (n = 14) have had experience in visiting a country or region where mandarin was widely spoken (china, hong kong, taiwan, singapore), either visiting family, through business or personal trips; study abroad, or on an annual school-sponsored visit to china. while the parents in the study reflect a well-educated and high-income sample, both markers of “elite bilingualism” (de costa, 2010), given a closer look, parents may have various reasons and ideologies for enrolling their children into a mandarin dual language school. data analysis interviews were transcribed and then analyzed through multiple rounds of coding and categorization using nvivo, the software data used in coding themes. i utilized a thematic content analysis to code through semi-structured in-depth interviews, incorporating curdtchristiansen’s underlying factors of flp (2014) model as a set of established codes. in line with flp scholars such as piller and gerber (2018), thematic coding allowed me to focus my analysis related to linguistic beliefs. in particular, i coded responses for themes such as the political, cultural, economic, and linguistic factors that underlie parental language ideologies; their expectations and aspirations for their children’s language use; and their thoughts toward their child’s language immersion school. results parents’ sociolinguistic ideologies https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 184 benefits of bilingualism. sociolinguistic factors are related to how people perceive a language and may include “sources for beliefs about what language is good/acceptable or bad/unacceptable” (curdt-christiansen, 2014, p. 37). discussions with parents reveal their sociolinguistic ideologies, including both parents’ knowledge and misconceptions regarding language learning theories. for example, parents believe that children are better suited to learning a second language than adults, and that the younger their children learned, the better they were able to retain the language. frieda, a mother of a second grader and of french origin explains, “i feel like there is an age at which you need to learn a language in order to be blending in.” blending in, frieda explained that her children will be able to assimilate to american culture in a way that she could not. being both an immigrant to the united states and a non-native english speaker, frieda remarks that she will always have an “accent” in english, her third language, because she learned it later in life. by enrolling her son in a bilingual school early, frieda feels relieved her son will learn an additional language, mandarin, but with the advantage of a native-like pronunciation. frieda’s assumptions have traction in academic research. the parents seemed resigned by their fate of not being able to acquire native-like speech as an adult, supported by studies that suggest difficulty in acquiring a native accent was correlated with age (birdsong & molis, 2001; flege, 1991). further, many scholars believe that there is a critical period for acquisition of native-like pronunciation of a second language, with younger children more susceptible to master pronunciation up to puberty (kuhl, 2011). while there are instances of adults who are able to master a language, their acquisition of pronunciation is less likely to match that of a native speaker. cognitive benefits. for parents who were not bilingual speakers themselves, they were aware of the literature that learning a language was cognitively beneficial for their children. 13 out of 21 parents mentioned specifically how bilingualism impacted their child’s “brain” in their interviews. to deepen their understanding, parents referenced literature they have read or studied and rely on community members for their information on bilingualism. lena, mother of four kids ranging from prek4 to 6th grader in middle school, discussed the role of learning languages in rewiring the brain. she states, “you know, from the different things i’ve read, learning a foreign language helps your brain to work and understand other aspects of life and academics as well.” lena drew from her knowledge from literature to form a positive perception of bilingualism. mara, a mother of two fifth graders, relied on her background as a child psychologist and provided a more specific explanation on the cognitive benefits of bilingualism. she states, “being exposed to a second language is just really good for the synapses and the connections in the brain. and it's just really good for cognitive development.” both lena and mara use the qualifier “good” to describe the linguistic impact of the brain (“good brain training”, “good in general”, “good for the synapses”, “good for cognitive development”) and speaking effusively about the benefits. margaret, mother of a second and third grader, also mentioned the positive benefits but framed bilingualism in terms of child development: she maintains, “i think it’s like the building blocks of your brain when you learn two languages when you’re growing up.” https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 185 although not a second language speaker herself, margaret was well-versed in theories of bilingualism and consulted with friends on her decision. she refers to the brain as “building blocks,” setting a strong foundation for her child’s learning of a language. some caretakers were also so satisfied with the cognitive advantages of bilingualism, that they would be pleased even if their child decided not to use mandarin in the future. magaly, a mother of kindergartener and a pre-kindergarten three-year-old, explains that the act of learning a language is still enriching, even if she has not traveled to a country that has spoken that language or will plan to use it. when asked if her child would continue to use mandarin after school, she responded “[learning mandarin] is like riding a bike that even if you haven't done it in a long time, that it's easier to get up or like get that switch turned on in your brain and hopefully, the chinese is more connected." magaly believes that her daughter is forming the cognitive “building blocks,” as margaret envisions, even if they do not use the language later on in life. under this model, lance, father of a 6th grader, believed that even if his child does not use mandarin, the language will still remain imprinted. he states, "you might not use it again later on, but it's still there. and then when you need to access that, it's there." both magaly and lance converge on the idea that a language is retrievable, even if it is not spoken for a long amount of time. based on the belief that their child’s language learning at a young age benefits the brain, a dual language immersion education presents parents with a chance to provide their children with a cognitively demanding education, regardless of the language. however, parents were satisfied because mandarin served a crucial role not only as additional language to learn, but a “difficult” one. mandarin as a “difficult” language. a common theme that emerged from parents’ motivations were how “difficult” or what a “challenge” learning mandarin was. many parents may be drawn to the learning of mandarin chinese because of the perception that the language poses difficulty to native english speakers due to the different set of phonological (tones) and orthography (strokes). out of 21 parents, seven referred to learning mandarin as “difficult” and a “challenge” for their children. freida, keri, and maria, all non-chinese parents believed that mandarin chinese is more “difficult” or intellectually rigorous than other languages, such as spanish and french: frieda: “chinese was the most difficult, so he learned early on and hopefully, that's going to stick with him.” keri: “and it’s such a difficult language to learn that secondly, if she were to pick up anything else, like spanish or french, a second or third or fourth language might come easier.” maria: “and then i also, my thought process was that chinese is a very difficult language to pick up as an adult. most, many languages are always harder as an adult, but i think chinese is particularly harder.” maria, a native spanish speaker, reasoned that she could teach her child spanish, but it was much more difficult to teach her child mandarin. like the parents featured in the last section, https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 186 these mothers also agreed on learning mandarin as a child was best, especially because of mandarin’s perceived difficulty. on the other hand, while some parents believed mandarin was difficult, many ultimately believed their children were gifted language learners who could meet the arduous challenges of learning another language: carol: “so, our oldest daughter was very clearly extremely intelligent from day one. and we could tell right away that she needed to be challenged in school. and i felt that the extra language would keep her mind busy.” vero, a mother of a kindergartener and a 3rd grader, echoed carol’s same values of their child being an academically “gifted” student and boasted that her eldest child was ready to read at 9 months old. to illustrate her child’s precociousness further, she tells the story of how she enrolled her spanish-native speaking daughter in an english montessori school. due to the pressures of learning another language, vero’s daughter became emotional while she was learning english. vero: “so after four months, even when she was crying she was learning in english. so that makes me really happy and then i went like, “okay, these kids are going to learn chinese. we're going to make this happen.” even through her daughter’s tears, vero could sense that she was capable of learning mandarin and could handle the difficulties. other parents also believed that the perception of mandarin being difficult was an advantage for their children. jennifer, a mother of four, touted how learning mandarin aided her children’s musical ability: jennifer: “i also think, you know, my sister was saying if your kids are musical at all, which our kids are, but patrick takes guitar lessons and the other kids are taking piano lessons. but you know, having that helps them with both pieces. it helps with the language, it helps with the music because chinese mandarin is a tonal language. so, you know, if they have any musical ability, they can pick that up and they understand the nuance.” jennifer believes that the ability of mandarin’s tones are able to carry over to their perception of different musical abilities. similar to benefits on pitch awareness, parents also perceive that mandarin will aid in other abstract concepts, such as understanding math. lin, mother of a pk4 and a middle schooler, believes that her eldest’s learning of mandarin also improves their “math concepts, because of the way chinese sort of reverses the way that you think and speak of things”. when probed a little further to discuss her son’s performance in math, she explained, “since he’s been in seventh grade, we had him evaluated and he is off the charts in math, which kind of makes sense why his language skills would be off the charts.” lin sees both high scores in math and language skills for her son and suggests the two are not only related but carries a https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 187 causal relationship: the acquired language skills lead to higher scores in math. to explain this phenomenon, lin points to the effect of learning mandarin. in describing their sons’ abilities, both lin and jennifer associate mandarin as a bridge to learn advanced concepts, such as music or math. their depictions are not so different from the same way that china or chinese culture is represented as a foreign-shrouded in mysticism and hard to understand (hubbert, 2019). these mothers’ assertions closely align with hubbert’s (2019) analysis that mandarin language learning is “cool” in its “ability to define the speaker as “different” and thus special.” (p.51). in other words, parents believe that their children will be set apart from others by his language ability. parents’ economic ideologies: mandarin as a language of opportunity curdt-christiansen (2009) refers to the socioeconomic context of flp as the “whether and to what degree language variables affect economic variables, such as earnings and salaries” (p. 356), or in other words, how parents base their decisions on the economic vitality of mandarin. many of the parents admitted that their motivations for enrolling their students into a mandarin language school were influenced by the rising power of china, especially as an economic competitor. in one example, eleanor looked at the current economic competition between the u.s. and china as the top global competitors and predicts that mandarin will be a useful language in future global order: eleanor: "you look at the us/china relationship and the economic part of that and the future of these two biggest economies in the world working hand-in-hand for the foreseeable future. one, i thought it would give her a head-start in, maybe… it’s crazy to predict or impose or say you want your child to learn chinese because she’s gonna do business with china one day or be a diplomat or something. but you know, i think that it doesn’t hurt, you never know." eleanor's motivations are highly motivated by economic trends and china's economic standing in the current global order. many of the other parents also express how mandarin is a pathway for economic success and “looks good on a resume”. from a parental perspective, caretakers may be just as wary of the competitive academic environment they predict their children will be exposed to, and so feel the need to carve out future careers--even for their three-year-olds. other parents also mention the negative role of china, while being cognizant of the fact that their children were learning the national language of china. for example, jennifer referenced a conversation with her husband with their choice of mandarin as their flp, “but he likes to joke with me and say, well, you're the one sending them to this chinese school. you know, they're all going to move away and live in china and then we're going to be stuck here by ourselves.” in her discourse, jennifer is othering the learning of mandarin, not as an opportunity as other parents have described the language, but as a means of separation between parent and child. the interaction between jennifer and her husband reveals just one of the real many sutures parents have regarding their flp. though having chosen a mandarin dls is her flp, jennifer still remains uncomfortable with her children learning the language. her hesitation reveals that not all parents are on board with dual language learning, even if it is touted as a coveted school choice for parents. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 188 parents’ socio-political ideologies: mandarin vs. china parental ideologies of mandarin are often directly tied to the perception of china as a country. many parents expounded on the competitiveness of mandarin language learning rises and falls with the perception of china. as mentioned above, parents cite china’s economic power as an attraction for enrolling their child into a mandarin dual language school. however, yeow, a father of two children, believes the lure of learning mandarin may be numbered. yeow: “we know and if you'd asked me, i know, 10 or 15 years ago or even before that, right when, so in china was really booming, all you heard was, okay, your kid needs to learn mandarin. that's the way we're going to be a global superpower and the way to advance in business is to learn that there was a big rush. i felt like when we had kids, that started to taper off a bit, right, there was a big rush, and then it started to taper off even. but i don't know if some of that still exists. it's probably going to die off now with the virus.” yeow discusses the trend of learning mandarin because china was once hailed as a "global superpower" and learning mandarin was "the way to advance in business," but reasons that now the motivation for learning mandarin will "die off now with the virus," referencing the covid-19 novel coronavirus that began to spread in late 2019 and 2020. during the time of this interview, the virus was not yet at a pandemic level and had not reached the shores of the united states. still, yeow may have forecasted the declining views of mandarin as american views favoring china are waning (silver, devlin, and huang, 2020). while mandarin becomes closely associated with china, the level of whether parents desire their children to learn mandarin is closely connected with the current condition of chineseu.s. relations. similarly, while yeow associates mandarin with china in referencing current global affairs, parents can show that they can laud the chinese language while simultaneously rejecting elements of chinese culture. in one example, margaret, mother of a second and third grader, discusses how learning mandarin will yield future opportunities for their children. namely, the language will "get them into a college" and "separate them from the other kids." however, later in the interview, she states frankly, "i would not ever let them live in china, because i am not a fan of the government there." in other words, margaret’s choice for her children to learn the language arises from not appreciation of china itself, but the act of learning the language will delineate them from other children as well as reap rewards like university admission. in this example, margaret can separate the learning of mandarin from china’s politics. margaret’s criticisms about the chinese government coincide with secretary of state pompeo and lawmakers' recent decisions to close down confucius institutes, centers of learning chinese language and culture nestled within universities across the country. secretary of state pompeo criticized the center for spreading “well-funded propaganda efforts and influence operations” on behalf of the chinese government (wong, 2020). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 189 further, in june 2020, president trump signed an order that suspended entry into the united states to “aliens who present a risk to the u.s. labor market following the coronavirus outbreak” (the white house, 2020). the order suspended work visas used to hire mandarin teachers from china to work in mandarin immersion programs (weise, 2020). as a result, immersion programs across the country that depend on foreign teachers for mandarin instruction remain in jeopardy. margaret’s belief “also reflects on an educational landscape that ‘needs’ but continues to fear china” (hubbert, 2019, p 53); this situation may have continued repercussions, both educational and political, if the relationship between the u.s. and china continues to devolve. a “mommy” but not a “mama”: parent’s socio-cultural ideologies it is not surprising that highly motivated parents and professionals were up-to-date on the latest caretaker trends. in their interviews, many brought up the ideology of “tiger parenting” or being a “tiger mom,” popularized by the 2011 book by amy chua, battle hymn of the tiger mother. the term refers to a usually ethnically chinese mother who practices traditional strict child rearing practices. in her book, chua details strict practices such as name-calling, threats, and high expectations. while the book and subsequent term came into criticism, jennifer perceives “tiger mom” to be a humorous term. when describing her husband’s insistence in sticking through mandarin school, jennifer states, “i always joke that my husband is a tiger mom, because he wants them involved in everything.” her depiction of tiger mothers is almost reverent and encouraging, in labeling a father who strives for his children to succeed, in contrast to the critical depiction of strict disciplinarian. while jennifer relishes in the tiger mother trope—or tiger father in her case— she expresses her unease at her child’s traditional chinese cultural learning practices. jennifer describes an interaction with her young son where he accidentally code-switches into mandarin. "sometimes i'll say something to my youngest son, he will answer me in mandarin. and i'll say, ‘what did you just say to mommy?’ he’s like ‘oh, wait.’" jennifer makes it very clear that the home language is in english by invoking “mommy”, a reminder of who his son is addressing. jennifer is also clear here in delineating their identity as an english-speaking parent. in this moment, the mother also rejects mandarin when it comes to creating her own maternal identity. keri, a white mother of a first grader and pk4 who undertook two semesters in taiwan and in china, told a similar story. despite her fluency in mandarin, she expresses displeasure of being called “mama” instead of “mommy”. she recalls her displeasure, “there are certain words that they use that i don't love. like i like to be called mommy. and when they say mama, i don't like that." even though they are mothers of chinese language learners, they are still rooted in their own self-conceptualizations of who they are as a parent. for keri, even though she does speak mandarin, she rejects being called “mama”, which she associates with being a chinese mother. although their children are learning mandarin, mothers keri and jennifer are anxious about being spoken to in chinese, especially when it comes to their child’s maternal forms of address. in formulating their identities of caretakers of nonparents, parents both accept and reject aspects of chinese culture and language. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 190 identities of parents of mandarin learners: adoption, reclamation, appreciation similar to how keri and jennifer situate themselves apart from being a chinese mother, the caretakers uniquely shape their identities based on their own experiences of raising a bilingual child, especially one who speaks a language they do not understand. some parents are irrevocably changed by their experience of enrolling their children in a mandarin school. when asked how learning mandarin influenced her family’s life, vero explains, “i call them my little chinese kids. i don't worry that these are eroding either their americaness or their panamanianess, i think they have one more thing to appreciate." she has embraced that her children’s language learning has become a part of who they are. as a mother, the act of learning mandarin has seeped into their identity of being “chinese” so much that she is able to give them an affectionate moniker “my little chinese kids”, despite the fact that her children are not ethnically chinese. nevertheless, vero believes her children are able to claim being “chinese” through the act of learning mandarin, which does not take away from their other parts of their identity. her children are also able to adopt the tongues of their nationality, american, their ethnic heritage, panamanian, and now their language of their flp, mandarin. for parents, a sense of identity is also deeply tied to language and culture and is shaped by their own experiences, all of which can then translate into the choices they make for their children. lance, a father of a sixth grader, discusses that one of his motivations for enrolling his child in chinese was that he himself was "deprived" as a child as a young age. later, when he reflects on his child’s progress in mandarin, he is able to think of his daughter’s ability to learn a language. lance: “we’re like, no, i don't speak chinese, but my daughter does…. and because i think as a parent, you want your child to be better than you. and so, in some ways, i try to encourage her and i'm very proud that she's learning it. lance notes how language can transform not only his daughter’s life but his as well. in his case, he is able to reclaim his heritage language through his children. heritage language learners are speakers, who, like lance “who were exposed to the language in the family since childhood and as adults wish to learn, relearn, or improve their current level of linguistic proficiency in their family language” (montrul, 2010, p. 3) yeow, a father of two twin sixth-graders, told a story about returning to his birthplace, singapore, with his family. yeow had a cathartic experience of his children meeting his family members for the first time and being able to converse in the same language. yeow “and so, you know, it wasn't sort of validating, it wasn't like, i wanted them to be who i wasn't, but it was just neat to see that we brought these kids back from the us. i'm the only cousin who doesn’t really speak [mandarin], but my kids are, so it felt good to, i don't know, pass that on, skip me, so i can't say pass that on, but good to give them that.” similar to lance, yeow is not looking to replicate his own childhood. he states, "it wasn't like, i wanted them to be who i wasn't". yeow chooses his flp not to validate their own identity, but https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 191 as a pathway for their children to formulate their own selves. instead, he wants his children to develop their own identity as mandarin speakers. as a father, this moment of seeing his children interacting with his family in a language he himself was not able to speak, was an experience that brought him joy. even though yeow’s original desire to enroll his children in a dual language school had more to do with the school’s reputation and performance than language, he felt rewarded in his experience with his family reunion in singapore. this narrative suggests that not only are parental motivations susceptible to change, but also having the experience of mandarin immersion as flp itself can shape parental choice. discussion while the parents interviewed in this study fit the economic and academic profile of “designer” or “elite bilingualism” parents (de costa, 2010), this study offers a more nuanced analysis in uncovering the language ideologies and complex identities of parents who choose mandarin immersion for their child. parents converge on the benefits of bilingualism but differed in their understanding of mandarin. findings show that the parents in this study are largely knowledgeable about academic research regarding bilingualism— not surprisingly, due to their high economic and academic achievements. many of the parents in this study are aware of the linguistic flexibility of young children to acquire a second native language and wanted a bilingual immersion experience for their children, regardless of language. as a result, parents balance the perceived difficulty of mandarin with their child’s language resiliency. they also believe that learning a language is infused in the brain, and even heritage language loss is repairable as learners can re-immerse in the native language. at the same time, their views about china and the chinese language often reflect conflicting and often contradictory ideologies—such as praising the economic ability of china while admonishing the chinese government, or accepting “tiger mother parenting” but rejecting chinese maternal forms of address. as evidenced in the data, parents’ own personal experiences shape their child’s language learning and, in turn, are shaped by their child’s linguistic experiences. de houwer (1998) writes that a parent’s beliefs and attitudes can influence their child’s language use, but the opposite is also true: the child’s language behavior also affects parents' perception and decisions regarding language. parents exert their identities as parents of emerging bilinguals in complex, context-driven ways. in summary, parents have multifaceted and often complex approaches to and motivations for enrolling their children in mandarin-english one-way dual language immersion schools. limitations in the current design, my study is contingent on parents’ self-selection to participate, which may not be reflective of the school demographics. for example, while dragon academy lists 36.9% black or african american student population, only two out of 21 participants (9%) self-identified as such. furthermore, all of the participants had high incomes, which may not be reminiscent of the city demographics. additionally, since part of the research took place during the covid-19 pandemic, many parents were hesitant about meeting in person. when i shifted my interviews online, many of the participants withdrew from the study due to limited time restraints as a result of taking over childcare duties. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 192 conclusion a dual language immersion program is only as strong as its parental involvement. through the process of schooling, parents are able to establish their own identities as caretakers of language learners. parents who were bilingual or multilingual trusted in their bilingual experiences, valuing their child’s adoption of mandarin as a part of their own identity. these parents were not threatened by the process of immersion but instead, sought to teach their children their native languages. parents who were of chinese heritage often chose immersion for the purpose of reconciling their language loss. these parents indicate a stronger affiliation with their ethnic identity and familial association due to their enrollment in a mandarin immersion program. however, the data showed a bifurcation between the parents who had varied linguistic backgrounds and those who did not. the monolingual parents reveal their discomfort with some of the teaching practices or ways in which their children use language. they may express concerns about mandarin eroding their identity as a parent. in light of the current tensions between the u.s. and china, parents may even give pause to their beliefs and motivations. because parents are crucial stakeholders, their concerns are not only valid but must be considered for language immersion to thrive. as parents serve as the bedrock of immersion, additional research is needed on the ways in which leaders and school professionals can integrate linguistic knowledge for their parents’ home language policies. since a majority of the parents interviewed did not speak mandarin, this study provides further implications of how parents who do not speak mandarin can mitigate their parenting roles in a language they do not understand. further, while this data presents some of the beliefs of attitudes parents hold in, more research is needed on how these ideologies translate into actual practices. do their family language policies match up with their home policies? this paper adds to research of culture and values on educational policies and the critical role that parents can play in informing policies and practices that shape language immersion programs. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 193 references birdsong d., & molis m. (2001). on the evidence for maturational constraints in secondlanguage acquisition, journal of memory and language, 44, 235–49. christian, d. (1996). two-way immersion education: students learning through two languages. the modern language journal, 80(1), 66–76. doi:10.1111/j.15404781.1996.tb01139.x chua, a. (2011). battle hymn of the tiger mother. a&c black. collier, v. p., & thomas, w. p. (2004). the astounding effectiveness of dual language education for all. nabe journal of research and practice, 2(1), 1-20. council on foreign relations. (2020). timeline: u.s. relations with china 1949–2020. retrieved september 18, 2020, from https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-relations-china curdt-christiansen, x. l. (2009). invisible and visible language planning: ideological factors in the family language policy of chinese immigrant families in quebec. language policy, 8(4), 351–375. curdt-christiansen, x. l. (2013). negotiating family language policy: doing homework. in m. schwartz, & a. verschik (eds.), successful family language policy: parents, children and educators in interaction (pp. 277-295). springer. curdt-christiansen, x. l. (2014). family language policy: is learning chinese at odds with leaning english in singapore. in x. l. curdt-christiansen, & a. hancock (eds.), learning chinese in diasporic communities: many pathways to being chinese (pp. 35-58). (aila applied linguistics series; no. 12). john benjamins publishing company. curdt-christiansen, x. l. (2020). educating migrant children in england: language and educational practices in home and school environments. international multilingual research journal, 14(2), 163–180. doi:10.1080/19313152.2020.1732524 de costa, p. i. (2010). language ideologies and standard english language policy in singapore: responses of a 'designer immigrant' student. language policy, 9, 217-239. de houwer, a. (1998). environmental factors in early bilingual development: the role of parental beliefs and attitudes. in g. extra & l. verhoeven (eds.), bilingualism and migration (pp. 75-96). mouton de gruyter. feenstra, h. j. (1969). parents and teacher attitudes: their role in second-language acquisition. canadian modern language review, 26, 5-13. flege, j. e. (1991). age of learning affects the authenticity of voice-onset time (vot) in stop consonants produced in a second language. journal of the acoustical society of america, 89(1), 395–411. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.400473 fortune, t. w., & tedick, d. j. (2008). one-way, two-way, and indigenous immersion: a call for crossfertilization: evolving perspectives on immersion education. in t. w. fortune, & d. j. tedick (eds.), pathways to multilingualism: evolving perspectives on immersion education (pp. 3-21). multilingual matters, ltd. fortune, t. w. (2012). what the research says about immersion. in asia society (ed.), chinese language learning in the early grades: a handbook of resources and best practices for mandarin immersion (pp. 9-13). retrieved from http://asiasociety.org/education/chinese-language-initiatives/chinese-languagelearning-early-grades https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 194 gallo, s., & hornberger, n. h. (2019). “immigration policy as family language policy: mexican immigrant children and families in search of biliteracy.” international journal of bilingualism, 23(3), 757–770. howard, e. r., sugarman, j., & christian, d. (2003). trends in two-way immersion education: a review of the research (report no. 63). center for research on the education of students placed at risk. hubbert, j. (2019). china in the world: an anthropology of confucius institutes, soft power, and globalization. university of hawaii press. king, k. (2016). language policy, multilingual encounters, and transnational families. in special issue edited by lanza, e., wei, li: “multilingual encounters in transcultural families”. journal of multilingual and multicultural development, 37(7), 726–733. king, k. a., & fogle, l. w. (2006): bilingual parenting as good parenting: parents' perspectives on family language policy for additive bilingualism, international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 9(6), 695-712. king, k., fogle, l., & logan-terry, a. (2008). family language policy. language and linguistics compass, 2(5), 907–922. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749818x.2008.00076.x kuhl p. k. (2011). early language learning and literacy: neuroscience implications for education. mind, brain and education: the official journal of the international mind, brain, and education society, 5(3), 128–142. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751228x.2011.01121.x lenneberg, e. h. (1967). biological foundations of language. john wiley and sons. lindholm-leary, k. j. (2001). dual language education. multilingual matters. mccann, a. (2020). most & least educated cities in america. wallethub. retrieved august 27, 2020, from https://wallethub.com/edu/most-and-least-educated-cities/6656/ montrul, s. (2010). current issues in heritage language acquisition. annual review of applied linguistics, 30, 3–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0267190510000103 norton, b., & toohey, k. (2001). changing perspectives on good language learners. tesol quarterly, 35(2), 307-322. okita, t. (2002). invisible work: bilingualism, language choice, and childrearing in intermarried families. john benjamins. palviainen, å. & boyd, s. (2013). unity in discourse, diversity in practice: the one person one language policy in bilingual families. in m. schwartz & a. verschik (eds.), successful family language policy: parents, children and educators in interaction (pp. 223–248). springer. parkes, j. (2008). who chooses dual language education for their children and why. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 11(6), 635-660. piller, i. (2001). private language planning: the best of both worlds? estodios de sociolinguistica, 2(1),61–80. piller, i. (2005). review of language strategies for bilingual families: the one-parent-one language approach. by suzanne barron-hauwaert. international journal of bilingualism and bilingual education, 8(6), 614-617. piller, i., & gerber, l. (2018). family language policy between the bilingual advantage and the monolingual mindset. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2018.1503227 potowski, k. (2007). language and identity in a dual immersion school. multilingual matters. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 chung, m. f., “i call them my little chinese kids” journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 195 ronjat, j. (1913). le développement du langage observé chez un enfant bilingue. librairie. schwartz, m., & moin, v. (2012). parents' assessment of their preschool children's bilingual development in the context of family language policy. journal of multilingual and multicultural development, 33(1), 35-55. silver, l., devlin, k., & huang, c. (2020). americans fault china for its role in the spread of covid-19. pew research center’s global attitudes project. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/07/30/americans-fault-china-for-its-rolein-the-spread-of-covid-19/ spolsky, b. (2004). language policy: key topics in sociolinguistics. cambridge university press. taylor, d. (2019). dc among the most brainy cities in nation: report. (2019, june 6). washington dc, dc patch. https://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/dcamong-most-brainy-cities-nation-report the white house. (2020). proclamation suspending entry of aliens who present a risk to the u.s. labor market following the coronavirus outbreak. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-suspending-entryaliens-present-risk-u-s-labor-market-following-coronavirus-outbreak/ thomas, w. p., collier, v. p., & abbott, m. (1993). academic achievement through japanese, spanish, or french: the first two years of partial immersion. modern language journal, 77(2), 170-179. valdez, v. e., delavan, g., & freire, j. a. (2014). the marketing of dual language education policy in utah print media: educational policy. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904814556750 weise, e. (2019). mandarin immersion school list. mandarin immersion parents council. https://miparentscouncil.org/full-mandarin-immersion-school-list/ weise, e. (2020, july 23). utah gets exemption to president trump’s order suspending work visas that would have hurt mandarin immersion programs. mandarin immersion parents council. https://miparentscouncil.org/2020/07/23/utah-gets-exemption-topresident-trumps-order-suspending-work-visas-that-would-have-hurt-mandarinimmersion-programs/ weise, e. (2014). a parent’s guide to mandarin immersion. chenery street press. wong, e. (2020, august 13). u.s. labels chinese language education group a diplomatic mission. the new york times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/us/politics/state-department-confuciusinstitutes.html https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/07/30/americans-fault-china-for-its-role-in-the-spread-of-covid-19/ https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/07/30/americans-fault-china-for-its-role-in-the-spread-of-covid-19/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 100 funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment myriam jimena guerra* texas a & m universitysan antonio minda morren lópez texas state university angelika benavidez texas state university *corresponding author: minda.lopez@txstate.edu received : 2020-07-16 accepted : 2020-11-30 doi: 10.46303/jcve.2020.15 how to cite this paper: guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m, & benavidez, a. (year). funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment. journal of culture and values in education, 3(2), 100-119. doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.15 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract this study had three aims: to present a case study and explain the funds of identity of a latina educator; to use this as an opportunity to connect heritage language to ideological clarity and humanizing pedagogies in educator preparation programs; and to illustrate how pedagogy and language education can include transformational and healing elements when educators are engaged in culturally and linguistically affirming professional development. by understanding ourselves as teachers in relation to the communities in which we teach, we are able to develop ideological clarity and reject deficit perspectives that serve to erase non-english languages spoken at home in order to effectively serve and advocate for our multilingual, emerging bilingual and heritage language students. this case study of one latina’s journey to linguistic empowerment may serve as an example of how future teachers can transform their own experiences of language loss into empowerment and reclaim their own culture, language, and values not only for themselves but for their students as well. keywords: heritage language, humanizing pedagogy, teacher education, ideological clarity, case study https://cultureandvalues.org/ mailto:minda.lopez@txstate.edu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 101 introduction spanish language communities in the united states have had their languages taken away from them in various forms throughout colonization. unfortunately, this practice persists today despite policies which provide legal provisions for bilingual education. in texas, where this study takes place, bilingual education has been required by law since the early 1970s in elementary schools where there are large numbers of non-english proficient students (blanton, 2004; san miguel, 1988). however, this does not pertain to spanish heritage students who may be proficient in english. in addition, the vast majority of spanish proficient immigrant children do not have access to bilingual education and thus do not maintain their home language. by the time they reach postsecondary schooling, they are shamed and distressed by this erasure and the ensuing lack of linguistic connection to their families and communities (fillmore, 1991; rumbaut, massey & bean, 2006; zentella, 1997). this study explores the funds of identity of a latina educator and the critical moments that allowed her to reclaim and embrace her bilingualism more fully and in turn practice linguistic healing and empowerment. this study has three aims: to present a case study and explain the “funds of identity” (esteban-guitart, & moll, 2014, p.35) of a latina educator; to use this as an opportunity to connect heritage language to ideological clarity and humanizing pedagogies in educator preparation programs; and to illustrate how pedagogy and language education can include transformational and healing elements when educators are engaged in culturally and linguistically affirming professional development. by understanding ourselves as teachers in relation to the communities in which we teach, we are able to develop ideological clarity (bartolomé & balderrama, 2001) and reject deficit perspectives (valencia, 1997) that serve to erase non-english languages spoken at home (calderon-berumen, 2019) in order to effectively serve and advocate for our multilingual, emerging bilingual and heritage language students. this case study of one latina’s journey to linguistic empowerment may serve as an example of how future teachers can transform their own experiences of language loss into empowerment and reclaim their own culture, language, and values not only for themselves but for their students as well. heritage language language maintenance and shift within the us latinx community is complex and dynamic (valdés, 2015). heritage language (hl) is an evolving and related field, which parallels the rapidly growing demographics of immigrants and people speaking languages other than english at home. according to census data from 2017, in the united states, 22 million children are considered heritage language learners, yet few institutions have the resources to offer meaningful training to educators to meet their needs (carreira & kagan, 2018). hence, due to the large number of hl students in schools, educators must differentiate between the differing needs of educating hl students and english learners, also called emerging bilinguals (potowski & lynch, 2014). wiley (2001) views hl where a student acquired the language at home or the community, and these students have a natural resource that should be built upon in school. valdés (2001) concurs and expands the definition where a hl student is one who has command of the english language and is raised in a home where a language other than english is spoken, whether the student can speak or understand the additional language or not. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 102 recently, valdés (2015) argued for the learning of a heritage language in a natural or more organic way. she posits that there is a ‘curriculization’ of the teaching of language in schools, which constrains language learning. she states: when language is curricularized, it is treated not as a species-unique communicative system acquired naturally in the process of primary socialization but as a curricular subject or skill the elements of which can be ordered and sequenced, practiced and studied, learned and tested in artificial contexts within which learners of the target language outnumber proficient speakers. (p. 262) this curricularizing of language instruction creates categorization, identification, and naming of language learners and is constrained by institutionalized policies and practices. furthermore, in such instances, language instruction is not designed to develop or maintain the linguistic resources of latinx students, leaving many students without access to a language that is an integral part of their family, culture, and identities (valdés, 2015). indeed, pascual y cabo and prada (2018) argue there is a need for new curricular and pedagogical approaches that depart from post-colonial ideologies that consider spanish as a foreign language. instead, spanish must be considered a language which is present in vibrant and diverse communities across the united states, not merely a language used primarily by immigrants and foreigners. they advocate for the transformation in the curriculum to prominently include the experiences of hl students. humanizing values and advocacy in educator preparation how can educators build on and affirm the linguistic repertoire of all of their students, especially those who are latinx and whose heritage language is spanish so they may be empowered? it is necessary to center this discussion on the notion of ‘ideological clarity’ proposed first by bartolomé and balderrama (2001) and expanded on by alfaro and bartolomé (2017). the authors call for a move beyond strategies and methods towards the examination of the ideological and political dimensions of education, particularly in regard to latinxs and other subjugated groups. to engage in ideological clarity is for educators to evaluate their own deficit views regarding students of low socio-economic status and students who speak a non-standard variety or language in addition to english. bartolomé and balderrama (2001) “argue that the combination of assimilationist belief system and a deficit ideology proves to be an especially deadly one [view of latinx students]” (p. 52). both studies, one in a high school (bartolomé & balderrama, 2001), the other in a dual language elementary school setting (alfaro & bartolomé, 2017), underscore the need for educators to develop ideological clarity in order to be effective teachers of students of color. to develop ideological clarity, educators recognize that teaching is not neutral and work to deconstruct and question their own biases. other studies have confirmed that in order to become humanizing educators, teachers deconstruct and question their own biases regarding language teaching, teaching practices, and historically subjugated communities (ek, sánchez, & quijada cerecer, 2013; salazar & fránquiz, 2008; valenzuela, 2016). moreover, educators who question meritocracy and consciously reject white supremacy along with assimilationist and deficit views of latinxs (including actively promote spanish language instruction and the use of all a students’ linguistic repertoire) are able to become https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 103 border crossers and engage in effective humanizing pedagogies (alfaro & bartolomé, 2017; bartolomé & balderrama, 2001; salazar & fránquiz, 2008). humanizing pedagogies were first explained by freire (1979) as education where students are no longer manipulated by the system or by educators but are able to express themselves fully. moreover, humanizing pedagogies value students’ background knowledge, language, culture, and experiences (macedo & barolomé, 1999). the values of humanizing education are explained as an approach in education to: embrace the notion that love of self, family, and community promotes a healthy sense of pride and dignity upon which a solid foundation for a strong and meaningful life can rest. at its best, la buena educación inspires a high sense of purpose and a transcendent view of personhood and basic human dignity (valenzuela, 2016, p. 7). humanizing pedagogies are even more important in contexts where latinxs have been robbed of their language and their abilities to fully develop their language(s) and culture in school. in thousands of schools across the united states, latinxs students are seen from deficit perspectives, are forced to assimilate, and lose the language of their families and loved ones. in order to change these practices, it is imperative for teacher educators to implement, humanizing, sustaining, and dynamic pedagogies suitable for greater acceptance of an everyday evolving diverse student body. funds of identity funds of identity (esteban-guitart & moll, 2014) was articulated as a means to overcome various limitations in funds of knowledge (moll, 2000; moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992), including the centrality of families for the individual as well as an overreliance on students’ homes. funds of identity seeks to expand into various social networks and lived experiences of participants including technology and other formal and informal learning environments across their lifespan (subero, vujasinović & esteban-guitart, 2016). these additional experiences and technologies form relationships and identities in individuals that may differ from that of their family of origin. in other words, participants may embrace, reject or cobble together their own lives and identities with funds of knowledge derived from their families and cultural histories but they also add their own interests, activities, and experiences. in short, funds of identity “is based on the simple premise that people have and accumulate not only their household’s funds of knowledge but also life experiences that ultimately help to them to define themselves” (subero, vujasinović & esteban-guitart, 2016, p. 5). funds of identity (foi) are characterized as a “box of tools people use to define themselves” (esteban-guitart, & moll, 2014, p. 74) that are both internal and external. moreover, foi are temporal, a process of becoming, created at various times in our lives through a vast range life experiences, including our funds of knowledge, our lived experiences, and other historically created, accumulated, disseminated, and situated resources. funds of identity can be made visible in artifacts, in chosen activities and academic pursuits, and in a repertoire of behaviors. funds of identity can be a method for teachers to overcome their own deficit thinking of themselves and their students. in a study of his high school students’ funds of identity using three identity texts including digital wordclouds and avatars, poole (2017) found that his two week project on cultural and individual identity helped transform his own thinking about both his students and himself as an educator. he claims that he shed some deficit views and held https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 104 more inclusive perceptions and practices that embraced the fullness of his students’ identities, both in school and out of school. as we learn more about our students and communities, we are able to honor what they bring to school and to build upon the strengths and assets of their world (yosso, 2005). the scholarship on foi is still in its infancy, but two other studies were found related to preservice teachers, one in the united states (recchia & mcdevitt, 2018) and the other in australia (charteris et al., 2018). in both of these studies, preservice teachers were asked to respond to a set of questions, co-constructing artifacts together. in the united states, the study focused on three immigrant preservice teachers from china, korea, and india, who were new to the united states (within one year) and studying to work in early childhood education with infants. they explored their foi through journals, reflections, and assignments during their practicum and there were tensions when the preservice teachers’ knowledge and experiences did not fit with what they were seeing and learning in the practicum course. through a supportive and safe space, these preservice teachers were able to broaden their perspectives and the foi approach allowed them to see the process of learning to teach as a dynamic and evolving process. charteris, thomas, and masters (2018), used a case study approach to understand the foi of four preservice teachers across australia. the four women completed reflective assignments online designed to elicit their foi and although brief excerpts, they integrated their life experiences into assignments and units of study, combining the personal and professional to forge new identities and understandings. the authors posit that the participants used both positive and negative experiences or “dark funds of identity” (p. 14) which consist of difficult experiences in schooling, to inform and shape their pedagogical values. they call on teacher educators to incorporate foi so that preservice teachers will develop deeper understandings of themselves and their students to enrich learning. data and method for this case study, we use qualitative methods described as a multi-method autobiographical approach designed to uncover funds of identity at different times in the participant’s life to understand her funds of identity and how she developed as a latina educator. the participant or case, is the second author. this order was deliberate to honor the work, effort and perspectives she shared. the other two authors engaged in analyzing the data and writing the results. angelika was a student in author 3’s study abroad program to the dominican republic in 2018 where they met and worked together. at that time, they had many discussions about language, identity, and heritage language, language loss, and the context of language in texas. angelika identifies as hispanic and mexican american. she has graduated and become a teacher back in her hometown where she grew up. she enthusiastically participated in this research and was very interested in reflecting on her own life and identity formation through the funds of identity approach. the methods used include graphic representations, for example self-identity drawings (could you draw who you are right now? and add people, things, activities, languages that are important to you), the “significant circle” technique where the participant draws concentric circles to represent significant factors that contributed to her identities as a latina in texas. we also collected photographs (over a dozen) and journal entries (about thirty pages) to capture her thoughts, routines, as well as ways language use, ideologies, and practices. we https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 105 interviewed her several times and asked her about the cultural artefacts in her home, which were more or less important than others and these techniques enabled us to collect “testimonies of identities” at different times in her life (gifre, monreal, & esteban, 2011). we asked for clarification as we analyzed the examined the artifacts and made sense of the drawings, photos, texts, journal entries, and notes we collected. we analyzed these products of identities in order to document the funds of knowledge and identity that she expressed during her life and link them to her learning and educational pedagogies with the aim of providing a rich description not only of her own foi but of the processes she used to understand herself, her language(s), and the intersectionalities of these identities with her work as an educator. the analysis was conducted using thematic analysis, an analytical approach for identifying and reporting patterns within data (lincoln & guba, 1985). we arranged data in chronological order and specifically looked for themes related to foi and language in the data, starting with open coding (e.g., “language loss” and “mexican american” “schooling”, “dyslexia”, etc). after these initial themes, we coded again and each category was reexamined, redefined, and combined with other similar categories. for example, initial codes were based on multiple or repeated occurrences of words or phrases with similar meanings (e.g. “latina” and “hispanic” and “mexican american” came together as “latina”) and were grouped together to create themes. from our analysis we chose representative artifacts and texts that exemplified her foi and dynamic understandings as a teacher. the result of her own increased understanding is a move to humanizing pedagogies (salazar-jerez, & fránquiz, 2008) for her students built on linguistic capital (yosso, 2005) and translanguaging approaches (garcía, 2009) to language education. findings and discussion to understand how angelika developed her funds of identity over time, we present the findings here in chronological order from childhood through to her life as a young adult and teacher. angelika produced several texts, drawings, and photographs that she felt best represented her experiences throughout various times in her life. we have analyzed them and compiled them here. the first text in understanding angelika’s funds of identity is the significant circle technique. in the significant circle, she identified pivotal moments, experiences, people, and factors of her life from childhood until now. her significant circle is figure 1. notice how she includes her roman catholic faith, a spanish speaking nanny when she was a baby, and her family and friends in the first circle. moving to the second circle, she grew up in a rural community with no neighbors but with a large, close-knit family. she also indicates she had access to health care and her parents were middle class. media influenced her, and primarily media in english. the third circle shows how deficit perspectives (valencia, 1997) towards latinx community in the united states impacted her identities. she was ashamed to be called mexican, didn’t like her spanish sounding name (angelika is pronounced the spanish way), bullied herself because of her dark hair and eyes, and wasn’t aware of her latinidad and mexican american heritage. the final circle shows that leaving her hometown and exploring outside of it was liberating. in addition, college was affirming for her and her multiple identities; reinforcing that her cultural and ethnic background as well as her sexuality was not deviant. she states “identity as a latina evolved and finally accepted it”. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 106 figure 1: angelika’s significant circle childhood angelika’s story reflects views of language maintenance and language shifts experiences that mirror other latinx children’s linguistic experiences while growing up in the borderlands. guadalupe valdés (2015), points the decisions made about “the continued use of bilingual repertoires over time and the abandonment of such use as a dynamic process” thus, are influenced by multiple factors, “including group size, concentration, existing or changing ideologies, political circumstances, economic opportunities, and educational experiences.” (valdés, 2015, p. 256). the area where she grew up is a few hours from the mexico-us border and approximately 70% latinx. moreover, 36% of the population are proficient in spanish. despite these demographics, she did not feel a strong connection to her latinidad (ricourt & danta, 2003) and her mexican heritage. she lacked even the imagined community of alliances based on shared culture, language, and identity that many latinxs have. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 107 when asked what artifact she would choose from her home to represent her childhood, angelika responded that there are not many artifacts from that time in her life. she said that she has a few blankets her grandmother made her but that is the extent of the cultural artifacts in her possession. it makes her very sad that she has so little from her family and ancestors but that most of the artifacts were lost in mexico. as is true for many immigrants, the memories and stories she has of family and the few photographs that remain are the only tangible artifacts they have. the photo she chose to represent her childhood is a photo of her and a cousin as babies, wrapped in love with the blankets crocheted by her grandmother in mexico. to her, this represents a significant aspect of her identity as a child and present day --her ties to her family and her mexican heritage. figure 2: angelika as a baby while she missed out on some critical aspects of being the daughter of mexican immigrants such as learning spanish, she did take part in many important traditions such as ballet folklorico. reflecting on her identity as a child, she wrote, as a child i was always afraid of “being too mexican”, i grew up in a family of immigrants and spanish speakers. i was never, not once, not proud of my heritage and being hispanic. however, in the town i grew up in it wasn’t embraced as other towns in texas were. growing up in a small town in south texas you would think that being hispanic and latina was common. but growing up in the early 2000s in the small town i grew up in, it wasn’t as commonly known or at least discussed. as a child i didn’t think much of it, i knew i was mexican but that really was the extent to my background knowledge. my mother who is from mexico would speak very little spanish to us and teach us a few https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 108 phrases. speaking spanish wasn’t expected for my siblings and i to speak it. my mother always said she didn’t want us to be made fun of if we spoke another language other than english. i look back at this comment she has said several times in my life and think about the advantage and opportunities i missed out on as a latina not knowing spanish. the only connection i had towards my heritage growing up was dancing ballet folkorico. one of the artifacts she chose to represent her life and identity as a child is a photograph of her dancing ballet folklorico, figure 2. figure 3: angelika as a young girl dancing ballet folklorico although angelika participated in ballet folklorico and learned about her culture and identity through dance, she was not raised speaking spanish. as a heritage learner, she was robbed of the opportunity to learn the language of her own mother, her mother tongue, because of fear of being “othered” or even punished for speaking spanish as has been documented throughout texas history to present day. many mexican americans were forced to assimilate and punished for speaking spanish in schools and in public throughout much of the twentieth century resulting in rapid language loss (blanton, 2004; san miguel, 1988). although studies have documented mothers choosing to enroll their children in programs in school to learn spanish in texas, such as two-way immersion programs (lópez, 2013), this was not the case for angelika. instead of learning spanish at home from her mother and other family members or at school in a formal program, angelika joined the millions of other heritage language learners https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 109 who are denied their linguistic birthright as children. angelika expressed regret and that she missed out on opportunities as a child because of it. schooling and adolescence as part of the funds of identity data collection, we asked angelika to draw or share photos of herself at different ages, to go through journals or reflect on her identities at various times, and to think about the places, people, and experiences that shaped her funds of identity. angelika wrote this reflection about her experiences as a student: a friend once told me that “we spend the majority of our life identifying ourself as a student”. when she said these words to me, i was in shock. in shock to believe that she was absolutely correct. it is so hard to detach our self from the “label” of student, from kindergarten to college and beyond. being a student is an automatic characteristic of oneself. as a latina, being a student is difficult. we have so many challenges and obstacles that we face within education just because of our culture and race. as a latina, we are automatically identified as a problem student. for me, i was labeled as a student with disabilities. i was diagnosed with dyslexia, add and a few other things that gave me a label within the school system. so, growing up i always thought there was something wrong with me. i felt as if something was wrong with me because i wasn’t treated the same as other students, and not in a good way. the overidentification of latinx and students of color as disabled or qualifying for special education has been well documented (artiles, harry, reschly & chin, 2002) and is one result of deficit thinking (valencia, 1997). the pathologizing of communities of color can have long term detrimental effects to communities, families, and individuals. as angelika reflects, “i thought there was something wrong with me. i felt as if something was wrong with me because i wasn’t treated the same as other students”. this is alarming and unjust. it points to the pervasive deficit thinking that exists in society and schools today towards communities of color. deficit thinking places the blame on marginalized students and their families for poor academic performance (valencia, 1997) while at the same time fails to acknowledge and build on the cultural knowledge, skills, and abilities possessed by communities of color (yosso, 2005), inhibiting teachers’ ability to see their students fully. deficit thinking is in opposition to ideological clarity and empowerment. on another occasion, angelika wrote about her schooling and how it made her feel stupid. she took on an identity as less than others because of her ethnicity and cultural background. she stated, i wasn’t given the same opportunity and i felt that i was just given up on. when i think of latinx students across the country and even the world, we are not given the same experiences as students of primary white culture. we are identified as the “problem” in education therefore we are not being given the education that we so rightfully deserve just as much as anyone else. i was a child and i thought that there was a problem with me, that i was stupid and not going to amount up to anything because i was mexican. this exemplifies what delgado bernal (1998) urged us to keep in mind with educational research, that latinas experience schooling differently from other students, due to their skin color, gender, class, and language proficiency. it also echoes the words and experiences of another latina teacher we worked with in regards to language and funds of identity, summer (a pseudonym). we wrote about summer, her linguistic and ethnic struggles, and how deficit https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 110 views and a sense of shame of being latina early on in her childhood remained with her into adulthood, even keeping her from excelling in postsecondary education (lópez & saunders, 2020). summer did graduate from college and become a teacher, and eventually earned her graduate degree in education to become a literacy leader and reading specialist. but like angelika, summer had to work to undo a lot of damage that teachers and society had caused her through their deficit thinking and their labels of her as stupid and unworthy. college like many other latinx youth who are marginalized in school and do not get the support they need to attend college immediately after high school, angelika enrolled in the community college in her hometown. she doesn’t have much to say about that time, it was a continuation of what she had experienced there growing up. the same kinds of attitudes and beliefs about who can be successful. but when she finished her two years, she decided she wanted to be the mentor she didn’t have – to inspire youth to grow and prosper, to develop into their full potential. this is when she decided to transfer to a large, public university a few hours away. this decision was a pivotal moment in her growth as a young latina and her identity. she describes the experience: when i first moved, i was honestly culture shocked. i had never experienced anything really outside of the small south texas town. my first semester i became acquainted with so many people from different walks of life and it really got me thinking “well who am i?” so, i started exploring my identity. up until college i had everything mapped out for me or i truly wasn’t able to express myself because i was afraid of judgement. here i am a sophomore in college and completely having an identity crisis, who would've thought that is what you would go to college for? however, i think it all worked out now looking back at it. i surrounded myself with activities, people and things that i enjoyed. all played a huge roll in my identity then and now as an adult. she began exploring her identity in college and was able to do this because she was away from the constraints of her small town and the deficit mindsets there. she participated in many student organizations and went on a short-term study abroad to the dominican republic. during the study abroad, she had some pivotal moments regarding her cultural and linguistic identities. she wrote in her journal from the first day of the trip: after settling into our hotel in santiago, dominican republic, our group decided to adventure out and grab a bite to eat. i didn’t realize how much spanish i could say or even understand. i was able to translate for our group for the most part during dinner. at this moment i realized and knew that i needed to learn the language and become fluent. not just for me but for my future students. and she did exactly that. angelika excelled in the service-learning project with a local nonprofit to the extent that they asked her to stay on longer and work as an intern in their summer school program. she stayed for four more weeks and developed her spanish as well as taught students in the arts and language. what motivated her to stay was her desire to learn and grow as a latina and as a teacher of latinx students. being in the dominican republic was the first experience she had to interact with a culture different from her own, outside of texas, and it helped her re-evaluate her own life and priorities. it was also a context where english was not the dominant language, and she was able to recuperate the spanish she had lost through https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 111 immersion in it. she said she came away from the experience more determined than ever to serve as a resource and advocate for latinx children in the united states and around the world. angelika’s experiences in the dominican republic reinforced her own culture and values and provided her with a deeper love and respect for spanish. her identity evolved into not only a latina, but a latina proficient in both english and spanish. she became empowered culturally and linguistically. she wrote: i didn’t realize how amazing and rich my mexican culture was until i was an adult and in college. it took me 20 years to embrace the latina in me. i became educated and learned about diversity within our society and how we --the minority-make up more than half of the population. i started to learn the language that i wasn’t taught and tried my best to learn the basics to get by. the language was beautiful, i have never been so in love with a language until now. i believe that our language as humans is the strongest weapon we own. whether it is english or any other language, the ability to express yourself is something so magnificent; it shouldn’t be hidden or taken away. i took the challenge head on and learned to speak spanish, i wanted to be able to express myself as a latina and embrace it to the fullest.” it took her a long time to overcome the trauma she experienced as a child, trauma that many mexican americans experience in the united states related to bilingualism and education as their language and culture is denigrated (castillo, 1995; delgado-bernal, 1998, valenzuela, 1999). although she does not describe it as trauma, the denigration of her language and culture had traumatic effects. as she engaged in the process of cultural recovery (campano, 2007), she took on the challenge and learned more about her culture and the language that was taken from her, angelika engaged in healing and was determined to also work for change in her community. she decided to become an educator and to give back, to serve as the positive, affirming role model that she didn’t have but needed growing up. educator in addition to serving as a role model, what motivated angelika to become an educator? if she had so many hurtful, negative, and traumatic experiences in school, what made her want to come back voluntarily? she describes her decision to become an educator as connected to something she heard her father say often and to her desire to change schooling into something positive for others like her. she recounts the story here: my father would say “i don’t know, i’m mexican.” when he didn’t know something. this has always stuck with me, and i thought it, too for a while until one day, when i realized i didn’t want that for myself. i was tired of belittling myself because society and others thought of hispanics as uneducated and worthless individuals to say the least. so, i became an educator. i like to use the word educator instead of teacher because that’s how i like to identify. i don’t just teach the next generations, i educate them. i made a promise to myself that i was going to be that advocate and that voice that i so lacked growing up. i personally feel that the only thing i missed growing up was someone to educate me on the matters of the world. the day she decided she did not want to belittle herself and think of herself as a “stupid mexican” was a pivotal moment in her process of reclaiming her own language and identity. in addition, angelika’s choice of the word “educator” and that she doesn’t just teach, she https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 112 educates, is also evident of her culture and language as a mexican american latina. educación (valenzuela, 1999) is a value inherent in mexican culture based on caring relationships along with respect and responsibility. she begins with that respect and responsibility to herself and extends it out into her community, a connection of her funds of identity to the wider community. now, angelika’s funds of identity embody that of advocate and champion extended beyond herself and for others. she is a dedicated teacher, in her first year during a stressful time in the midst of a pandemic. angelika continues to work hard and show up for her students because of her commitment and her funds of identity. when asked about what artifact she would choose to represent who she now is she responded, “my teacher’s desk”. her teacher’s desk represents achievement. she has made it to her goal of educator. it is also a place where she displays many of her identities, including that of a first-generation college graduate, an ally and advocate for lgbtq+ students, and photos of her family and friends. she displays college paraphernalia, pride flags and rainbows to demonstrate inclusivity and create a welcoming atmosphere. figure 4: angelika at her teacher’s desk angelika describes her classroom as a place where she has created “a vibe of diversity and inclusion for all of my students no matter their race, gender, social economic status.” she https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 113 wants her students to experience all that the world has to offer. she wrote about a conversation she had with a colleague about her colleague’s daughter. her daughter wants to venture out and explore the world, open her horizons, and learn from new experiences. but her colleague said “i grew up in a very hispanic home for it was uncommon for us to leave the house or the town we grew up in”, which according to angelika is very representative of most of the latinx community, where they stay close to home, within their known boundaries. this is a struggle for her colleague – how to stay true to her roots and also allow her daughter to grow and stretch her wings as she experiences the world. this was a struggle for angelika, too and in some ways may continue, as she returned home to live and teach in her hometown, even though she longs to travel more extensively. angelika wrote, i want to educate my students and be an example that you can be hispanic or of any race and explore the world and experience new things. i want my students to be the change for themselves and for the world. as a hispanic educator i want to break that cycle of identifying hispanics as less than. we are not less than what society forms our identity to me be, we are more than it, and with new experiences and opportunities we break those gates and fill our world with endless opportunities of change. mestiza consciousness and humanizing pedagogies angelika’s desire for change and to engage in linguistic and cultural recovery (campano, 2007) to break the cycle of trauma in her own life and in the latinx community exemplifies empowerment and mestiza consciousness. anzaldúa (1999) explains that a mestiza consciousness emerges from a “synthesis,” or the reconciliatory coming together of separate identities, understandings, and physical spaces chicanas inhabit (p. 102). by embracing the identities and experiences that she has had as a latina growing up in a small town in texas, robbed of her language as a child, and reclaiming it as an adult, angelika has come into her own mestiza consciousness, which is part of her ideological clarity as an educator. angelika no longer feels like the inept, negatively-labeled young person who was seen as less than others, but now has become empowered and determined to advocate for future generations. as we trace her funds of identity over time, we can see how as a child she held a negative view of herself and her language, but as she grew and experienced more and came to understand who she is as a latina, she embraced her ethnic and linguistic heritage, immersing herself in spanish. these experiences created a determination in her to adopt humanizing pedagogies that would contribute to her students’ liberation – so they would not have to work to overcome the linguistic imperialism and erasure she herself experienced as a child of immigrants from mexico. when examining her own journey and looking to the future, angelika sees how the deficit perspectives and limitations put on her as a child and adolescent were detrimental to her overall growth but they did not keep her from excelling and achieving her dreams. through pivotal moments and experiences, and determination, angelika reclaimed both her cultural and linguistic identities and she knows she will continue to evolve. she wrote: i was so limited to my experiences growing up in a small town and even growing up as mexican-american that i couldn’t develop my own identity. once i was able to spread my wings and explore what the world had to offer, i was able to shape and mold my identify and who i surrounded myself with. it boggles my mind to think, what if i stayed and stuck to what i knew before what i know now. i wouldn’t be the same person and i think that i would've been a sad and miserable individual. i didn’t know who i was as a https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 114 person until college and well i think i am still trying to figure out my identity even as an adult. i don’t think a person ever stops changing, we are like the earth, we are constantly evolving. conclusion language is just one aspect of culture and identity, but an important one. we must stop the trauma and violence inflicted on mexican americans and the latinx community in the united states embodied in deficit thinking and practiced through cultural and linguistic erasure. in order to empower new generations of students, our teachers need to experience linguistic empowerment. angelika represents a new generation of teachers that we need in our schools, teachers of color who have overcome trauma and language erasure, participated in healing, and recaptured their linguistic and cultural identities. the transformational process angelika experienced was supported through a rich educational experience. she was able to deconstruct some deficit thinking engrained in her since childhood. this is evident with the change of her own perspective as a bilingual individual, which changed from feelings of shame about her home language, to fully embracing her bilingualism potential. strikingly, angelika achieved her ideological clarity (alfaro & bartolomé, 2017; bartolomé & balderrama, 2001) regarding her bilingualism while translating and translanguaging to her peers in a different country, but not in her own community full of spanish speakers. reclaiming her heritage language was essential to her healing and there are other mexican american students who are not provided the same opportunities as she was given, through study abroad and immersion in a positive spanish language environment. her linguistic healing, aided by her strong sense of funds of identities (esteban-guitart, & moll, 2014) allowed her to reencounter herself and value her lived experiences and to accept spanish as part of her identity. as a result, of this transformational process, where she questioned her own biases about language and ethnicity, (ek, sánchez, & quijada cerecer, 2013; salazar & fránquiz, 2008; valenzuela, 2016), she was able to make peace and embrace all her identities-as a mexican american daughter of immigrant parents, student, educator, activist, dancer, bilingual, and educator. limitations this study was conducted on one person’s experiences and while we can learn from angelika’s experiences and deep reflection, it is limited to one case. in addition, the study took place over two years and we would have benefitted from data collected over a longer period of time to fully understand the ways angelika formed her funds of identity. moreover, the data collection for this study was conducted in part by a professor of her student. the data included assignments and personal reflections (journal entries from study abroad). the power differential between professor and student can be a factor in the content, as data collected as part of a course can sometimes be skewed to fit the professor’s viewpoints. if data was collected by an outside researcher who did not have a role in the course (i.e., is not the professor of record) may be less biased. however, it was beneficial to have a second researcher involved in the data analysis who was not the professor of record. implications & recommendations https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 115 humanizing pedagogies allow transformational process that teacher candidates, particularly people of color and in this case a mexican american latina (valenzuela, 2016; macedo & barolomé, 1999; freire,1979) to deconstruct their biased perspectives about themselves, and their own culture, language, and communities. in the context of higher education and serving students enrolled in hispanic serving institutions it is important to establish dialogue with p-12 stakeholders because we must no longer instill trauma in our students nor negate healing. to expect children and adolescents to initiate their own healing process from deficit perspectives (their own and those of others) is unrealistic and unfair. in the case of angelika, her healing process and experiences of humanizing pedagogy did not begin until she reached her college years, which is too long. establishing special courses all along the educational trajectory, with greater humanizing focus, such as heritage language and ethnic studies, or such mexican american studies (mas) courses, will initiate the deconstruction of bias at earlier stages. prior to college, there are opportunities for children to learn their heritage language. in elementary schools, heritage language programs include foreign language in the elementary schools programs and two-way immersion or two-way dual language programs where the population of students includes english dominant and minority language (in this case spanish) dominant students. these programs are arguably some of the most successful programs for academic achievement and success (collier & thomas, 2004), and providing access to these programs for heritage language speakers would be one way to avoid more language trauma and loss. even in cases where heritage language students have had all of their instruction in english up until high school, spanish enrichment and spanish language arts classes are positive ways to help spanish heritage learners develop a positive ethnolinguistic identity (parra, 2016). the emergence of mexican american studies (mas) programs are another avenue for providing not only cultural awareness and positive identities within mexican american and spanish heritage youth, but linguistic competencies and confidence as well. if students are not provided opportunities to learn spanish in elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities must do a better job of offering more programs to support latinx populations in a variety of ways. in particular, hispanic serving institutions (hsis) need to offer courses that offer culturally relevant curricula and simultaneously implement programs that support first generation students (garcía & okhidoi, 2015), particularly, ethnic studies and chicana/o studies courses. similarly, núñez’ (2011), findings attest one way to support the transition to college of latinx students is by offering courses that facilitate exposure in multicultural and interdisciplinary curriculum. these courses should be available for all students starting at the beginning of their college enrollment. all universities can broaden their programs’ scope and offer courses that address multicultural issues within different colleges. garcia and okhidoi (2015), identify specific ways higher education institutions can support first generation students through transitions, enrollment, retention, and successful graduation experiences in college. in this way, students will be able to reconnect with their cultural and linguistic heritage. it is important to note that angelika attended an hsi and was provided some opportunities for such development. in closing, the metaphor of angelika using her ‘own desk’ to represent her (figure 4), has important implications for teacher preparation programs and educators of teacher candidates of color. angelika achieved her academic goal of finishing her degree, and beyond embracing her own identity and honoring her rich lived experiences, it is her determination to https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 116 be a professional educator to serve her own community which sets her apart. with her decision to return to her childhood home and community as an educator, she fully embraces her own healing journey, and positions herself as a holistic educator who promotes educación. in addition, she accepts and celebrates all her funds of identity. if we, as educators of future teachers, can support students’ transformational process to accept their culture and reclaim their language and heritage, then we are aligned with valenzuela’s (2016) call for educating critically conscious teachers with ideological clarity, which is a valuable goal. our aim is to foster this dynamic and humanizing pedagogy, which will create a generation of educators more equipped to not only do no harm but to heal, educate, and empower culturally and linguistically diverse students. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 117 references alfaro, c., & bartolomé, l. (2017). preparing ideologically clear bilingual teachers: honoring working-class non-standard language use in the bilingual education classroom. issues in teacher education, 26 (2), 11-34. anzaldúa, g. (1999). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. 2nd ed. aunt lute books. artiles, a., harry, b., reschly, d. j., & chin, p. c. (2002). overidentification of students of color in special education: a critical overview. multicultural perspectives, 4(1), 3-10. bartolomé, l. & balderrama, m. (2001). the need for educators with political and ideological clarity. in maria de la luz reyes & john halcon (eds.) the best for our children: critical perspectives on literacy for latino students. teachers college press. blanton, c. k. (2004). the strange career of bilingual education in texas, 1836–1981. texas a&m university press. calderon-berumen, f. (2019). resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home. journal of culture and values in education, 2(1), 81-95. campano, g. (2007). immigrant students and literacy: reading, writing remembering. teachers college press. carreira, m., & kagan, o. (2018). heritage language education: a proposal for the next 50 years. foreign language annals, 51, 152-168. charteris, j., thomas, e., & masters, y. (2018). funds of identity in education: acknowledging the life experiences of first year tertiary students. the teacher educator, 53(1), 6–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/08878730.2017.1367057 castillo, a. (1995). massacre of the dreamers: essays on xicanisma. plume. collier, v. p., & thomas, w. p. (2004). the astounding effectiveness of dual language education for all. nabe journal of research and practice, 2(1), 1–20. delgado-bernal, d. (1998). using chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 1-26. ek, l. d., sánchez, p., quijada cerecer, p. d. (2013). linguistic violence, insecurity, and work: language ideologies of latina/o bilingual teacher candidates in texas. international multilingual research journal, 7(3), 197-219. esteban-guitart, m. & moll, l. c. (2014). lived experience, funds of identity, and education. culture & psychology, 20(1) 70–81. fillmore, l. (1991). when learning a second language means losing the first. early childhood research quarterly, 6(3). 323-46. freire, p. (1979). pedagogy of the oppressed. seabury press. garcía, g.a., & okhidoi, o. (2015). culturally relevant practices that “serve” students at a hispanic serving institution. innovative higher education, 40, 345–357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-015-9318-7 garcía, o. (2009). bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective. wiley/blackwell. gifre, m., monreal, p., & esteban, m. (2011). el desarrollo de la identidad a lo largo del ciclo vital. un estudio cualitativo y transversal. estudios de psicología, 32(2), 227–241. lincoln, y. s., & guba, e. g. (1985). naturalistic inquiry. sage. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-015-9318-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-015-9318-7 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 118 lópez, m. m. (2013). mothers choose: reasons and aspirations for enrolling their children in two way immersion programs. bilingual research journal, 36(2), 208-227. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2013.818595 lópez, m. m. & saunders, j. (2020). where our paths crossed: latina teachers, professional development, and funds of identity. in a. slapac and s. coppersmith (eds.), beyond language learning instruction: transformative supports for emergent bilinguals and educators (pp. 305-331). igi global. https://doi: 10.4018/978-1-7998-1962-2.ch013 macedo, d., & bartolomé, l. (1999). dancing with bigotry: beyond the politics of tolerance. st. martin’s press. moll, l. (ed.) (2000). vygotskian perspectives on literacy research: constructing meaning through collaborative inquiry. cambridge university press. moll, l., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132-141. núñez, a. m. (2011). counterspaces and connections in college transitions: first-generation latino students' perspectives on chicano studies. journal of college student development, 52, 639–655. parra, m. l. (2016). understanding identity among spanish heritage learners. in d.pascual (ed.), advances in spanish as a heritage language (pp. 177–204). john benjamins. pascual y cabo, d., & prada, j. (2018). redefining spanish teaching and learning in the united states. foreign language annals, 51, 533-547. poole, a. (2017). “i want to be a furious leopard with magical wings and super power”: developing an ethico-interpretive framework for detecting chinese students’ funds of identity, cogent education, 4, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2017.1316915 potowski, k., & lynch, a. (2014). perspectivas sobre la enseñanza del español a los hablantes de herencia en los estados unidos. journal of spanish language teaching, 1, 154-170. recchia, s. l., & mcdevitt, s. e. (2018). unravelling universalist perspectives on teaching and caring for infants. journal of research in childhood education, 32(1), 14–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2017.1387206 ricourt, m. and danta, r. 2003. hispanas de queens: latino panethnicity in a new york city neighborhood. cornell university press. rumbaut, r. g., massey, d. s., & bean, f. d. (2006). linguistic life expectancies: immigrant language retention in southern california. population and development review, 32, 447–460. salazar-jerez, m. del carmen & fránquiz, m. e. (2008). the transformation of ms. corazón: creating humanizing spaces for mexican immigrant students in secondary esl classrooms. multicultural perspectives, 10(4), 185 – 191. san miguel, g. (1988). “let all of them take heed”: mexican americans and the campaign for educational equality in texas, 1910 – 1981. university of texas press. valdés, g. (2015). latin@s and the intergenerational continuity of spanish: the challenges of curricularizing language, international multilingual research journal, 9 (4), 253-273. doi: 10.1080/19313152.2015.1086625 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 guerra, m. j., lópez, m. m., & benavidez, a., funds of identity and education: the journey of a latina educator from linguistic erasure to linguistic empowerment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 119 valdés, g. (2001). heritage language students: profiles and possibilities. in j. peyton, j. ranard & s. mcginnis (eds.), heritage languages in america: preserving a national resource (pp. 37-80). center for applied linguistics and delta systems. valencia, r. r. (ed.). (1997). the evolution of deficit thinking: educational thought and practice. the falmer press. valenzuela, a. (2016). growing critically conscious teachers: a social justice curriculum for educators of latino/a youth. teacher’s college press. whitmore, k. (2007). bridging the worlds of home and school: keeping children’s identities whole in the classroom. in y. goodman & p. martens (eds.), critical issues in early literacy development: research and pedagogy (pp. 177–189). erlbaum associates. wiley, t. g. (2001). on defining heritage languages and their speakers. in j. k. peyton, d. a. ranard, & s. mcginnis (eds.), heritage languages in america: preserving a national resource (pp. 29-36). center for applied linguistics & delta systems. valencia, r. (ed.). (1997). the evolution of deficit thinking: educational thought and practice. london, england: falmer press. yosso, t. j. (2005) whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. zentella, a. c. (1997). growing up bilingual. blackwell. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 15 intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students sylvie tétreault* haute école de travail social et de la santé carine bétrisey haute école de travail social et de la santé camille brisset université de bordeaux alida gulfi haute école de travail social et de la santé martine schaer haute école de travail social et de la santé yvan leanza université laval, école de psychologie nicolas kühne haute école de travail social et de la santé *corresponding author: sylvie.tetreault@eesp.ch received : 2019-08-06 rev. req. : 2019-09-10 accepted : 2020-10-08 how to cite this paper: tétreault, s., bétrisey, c., brisset, c., gulfi, a., schaer, m., leanza , y. and kühne, n. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students. journal of culture and values in education, 4(1), 15-33, https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.6 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). abstract in the health and social professions, including occupational therapy and social work, interactions and exchanges with people are essential. populations encountered by professionals in these fields are becoming increasingly diverse in terms of age, origin, language, health status, and socio-economic background. sometimes, professionals can have potential misinterpretations regarding intentions and actions, health beliefs and practices, or verbal and non-verbal communication. to overcome obstacles related to practice in a context of diversity, universities must develop students’ intercultural competence. scientific literature stresses the importance of encountering diversity to improve awareness and sensitivity and to bring attention to biases and prejudices. considering students’ intercultural experiences before their 10.46303/jcve.2020.6 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.6 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 16 formation could be a basis to achieve this educational goal. the present study aims to document this topic. semi-structured interviews with 51 first-year students from two educational institutions in french-speaking switzerland were conducted to capture the participants’ descriptions of these experiences in private or professional contexts. the interviews were transcribed and submitted to a thematic analysis approach. a thematic map was generated and three main themes emerged: (1) perception of diversity; (2) communication challenges; and (3) transformation of attitudes toward the “other.” they are described and discussed in terms of developing intercultural competence. recommendations regarding intercultural education emerge from these findings. keywords: diversity, intercultural competence, intercultural experience introduction in the health and social professions, including occupational therapy and social work, interactions and exchanges with people are essential (egan, 2017). populations encountered are becoming increasingly diverse in terms of age, origin, language, health status, and socioeconomic background (cai, 2016; donoso brown, muñoz, & powell, 2011; hall & theriot, 2016; reyneke, 2017). therefore, professionals can face difficulties because of potential misinterpretations regarding intentions and actions, health beliefs and practices, or verbal and non-verbal communication (cai, 2016; govender, mpanza, carey, jiyane, andrews, & mashele, 2017; hall & theriot, 2016). this situation can alter the trust and relationship between individuals and lead to inappropriate interventions (govender et al., 2017; hammell, 2013). in order to deal with these obstacles, guidelines recommend the development of intercultural competence, whether in health or social work (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; hall & theriot, 2016; hammell, 2013; henderson, horne, hills, & kendall, 2018; kohli, huber, & faul, 2010; nadan, 2016; sonn & vermeulen, 2018). in other words, professionals should adopt an open and respectful attitude toward people with different cultural backgrounds. intercultural competence also requires questioning oneself and increasing one’s cultural knowledge and coping skills to providing sensitive and appropriate interventions (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; henderson et al., 2018; kohli et al., 2010). according to several authors (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; donoso brown et al., 2011; govender et al., 2017; hall & theriot, 2016; kohli et al., 2010; murden, norman, ross, sturdivant, kedia, & shah, 2008), being exposed to diversity is one of the most effective ways to acquire intercultural competence. diversity means being exposed to cultures and persons with demographics and characteristics different from one’s own (beagan, 2015). therefore, it is relevant to document students’ experience encountering “others” prior to their educational program because they are new to the health and social fields. “others” refers to people perceived as possessing a significant difference. the extent to which the experiences of these future professionals can explain their attitudes and behaviors should be documented. the present study aims to explore, through interviews, the significant intercultural encounters of occupational therapy and social work students before their first year of the educational https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 17 program. first, diversity and intercultural competence are defined. then, a narrative review of the scientific literature on intercultural experiences and their impacts is presented. finally, results and discussion are exposed. diversity and intercultural competencies many authors (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; donoso brown et al., 2011; hall & theriot, 2016; henderson et al., 2018; reyneke, 2017) affirm that diversity must be understood in its broadest sense. they believe that this should not only include ethnicity or nationality, but also age, gender, appearance, sexual orientation, religion, language, socio-economic class, and physical and mental condition. cai (2016) and kohli and colleagues (2010) assert that these different elements are “cultural markers” that have an effect on people’s beliefs, values, norms, traditions, or habits. they also guide their behaviors. fedor (2014) explains that encounters with the other, perceived as a carrier of a significant cultural difference, can destabilize professionals and, more so, students during their first year of study. adopting culturally competent care and services is strongly recommended for healthcare (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; henderson et al., 2018) and social work (hall & theriot, 2016; kohli et al., 2010; reyneke, 2017). these intercultural skills tend to reduce discrimination and health disparities (beagan, 2015; conley et al., 2017; donoso brown et al., 2011; henderson et al., 2018; kohli et al., 2010) such as access to services, waiting time, and negative remarks. this approach encourages the implementation of a respectful strategy by integrating cultural elements into the interventions (cai, 2016; henderson, 2018). intercultural skills develop in a dynamic process. it is a long-term learning process, advancing in progression and regression steps (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; govender et al., 2017). according to cai (2016), the training of culturally competent practice consists of four components. the first component is related to becoming aware of one’s own cultural background. this means examining by self-reflection and questioning one’s own values, attitudes, beliefs, practices, and patterns of thinking, and also biases, prejudices, and stereotypes vis-à-vis other worldviews and behaviors (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; cohen-emerique, 2011; conley, deck, miller, & borders, 2017; hall & theriot, 2016; henderson et al., 2018; kohli et al., 2010; nadan, 2016; reyneke, 2017). a second component involves awareness and sensitivity with regard to the values, beliefs, and attitudes of culturally different clients (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; cohen-emerique, 2011; hall & theriot, 2016; kohli et al., 2010; murden et al., 2008). it requires openness, respect, empathy and curiosity toward others (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; kohli et al., 2010; reyneke, 2017). a third component corresponds to the acquisition of cultural knowledge, namely, what specific groups believe and why, and what their practices are (what is accepted or not), to better understand those elements (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; kohli et al., 2010; nadan, 2016; reyneke, 2017). however, nadan (2016) warns against the danger of overgeneralization, stereotyping, and the development of “folkloric” or “exotic” views of other cultures. the last component, to develop cultural competence, includes specific skills such as effective communication (verbal and nonverbal) and integration of cultural knowledge into the intervention (e.g., choice of appropriate resources and strategies, culturally relevant occupations and goals) (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; govender et al., 2017; hall & theriot, 2016; murden et al., 2008; nadan, 2016). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 18 in view of the foregoing, university health and social work programs must develop students’ cultural awareness and sensitivity. they need to transmit appropriate functional knowledge and skills (donoso brown et al., 2011; hall & theriot, 2016; henderson et al., 2018; kohli et al., 2010; murden et al., 2008; nadan, 2016). although no clear guidelines could be found in the literature consulted, a large number of learning techniques are proposed: adventure-based activities (conley et al., 2017; reyneke, 2017), storytelling (carter-black, 2007), multiculturalinfused courses and multicultural supervision (hall & theriot, 2016), interracial communication courses (govender et al., 2017), case studies (donoso brown et al., 2011; murden et al., 2008), reflective journals (donoso brown et al., 2011), group discussions (donoso brown et al., 2011; hall & theriot, 2016; nadan, 2016), experiential education (conley et al., 2017; donoso brown et al., 2011; kohli et al., 2010), immersion, study abroad (donoso brown et al., 2011), and fieldwork (conley et al., 2017; donoso brown et al., 2011; hall & theriot, 2016). kohli and colleagues (2010) propose three recommendations about multicultural training practices for students: (1) focus on experiential learning; (2) transmit educational and knowledge components; (3) encourage exposure and interactions with populations of different cultural backgrounds. many studies also stress the importance of encountering diversity to improve awareness and sensitivity and to diminish biases and prejudices (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; donoso brown et al., 2011; govender et al., 2017; hall & theriot, 2016; henderson et al., 2018; kohli et al., 2010; murden et al., 2008). the next section will focus on these experiences and their effects. encountering the other and its effects for many authors, the influence of meeting people with different cultural backgrounds is crucial to intercultural competence development (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; donoso brown et al., 2011; govender et al., 2017; hall & theriot, 2016; henderson et al., 2018; kohli et al., 2010; murden et al., 2008). nevertheless, experiences with diversity are not sufficient during classroom training and internships (donoso brown et al., 2011; govender et al., 2017; murden et al., 2008). therefore, taking into account the students’ intercultural experiences before the first year of their educational program could provide an opportunity to better understand their situation and to propose some recommendations to improve their cultural competence. it is also an opportunity to explore with future professionals their beliefs and attitudes, whether positive or negative, toward people with diverse cultural backgrounds. although conducted with teachers, the study of jokikokko (2009) gives an example of development of cultural competence and relationship to the other. the author assumes that intercultural competence is “a lifelong identity process.” she carried out an analysis of 10 biographical interviews with finnish teachers about the role of “significant others.” results show how others can transform attitudes toward diversity. attitudes and behaviors of family members with different cultural backgrounds (e.g., tolerance, open-mindedness, or the opposite, as stereotypes and labelling) may influence the relationship. sometimes, teachers showed a change of attitude following a self-critique of their a priori opinions (jokikokko, 2009). the author, thus, highlighted the development of teachers’ self-awareness and cultural consciousness through intercultural encounters. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 19 no study has been found in the scientific literature about the development of intercultural competence for occupational therapy and social work students in university settings. therefore, it seems relevant to explore similar areas of research, such as medicine. for example, dogra, reitmanova, and carter-pokras (2009) pointed out that medical students do not believe that they need to learn about diversity; these participants think that living in a multicultural world or belonging to a minority group is enough to be culturally competent. interested in students from six liberal art colleges and universities, king, perez, and shim (2013) analyzed their intercultural experiences in order to know how they developed their intercultural competence. from 207 stories, the authors listed the contexts of encountering others, how participants felt before and after these experiences, and how they interacted with these others. king and colleagues (2013) found that students were delighted to have had direct access to other worldviews, realities, and practices. according to the participants, these experiences allowed them to improve their understanding of the reality of people with other cultural backgrounds (king et al., 2013). the analyzed stories also highlighted how a safe environment allows people to engage in more questioning from their own points of view (king et al., 2013). the last result concerns how much students got involved in the interactions (from listening and observing, to empathizing with others), being more or less active, and having more or less cognitive and emotional implications. king and colleagues (2013) noticed how intercultural experiences help participants change their ethnocentric vision and suspend their negative judgments. another study (root & ngampornchai, 2012) examined 18 papers from university students in the united states, in which students reflected about their experience with education abroad (e.g., study programs or international internships). three types of acquired skills are cited: cognitive, behavioral, and affective. concerning cognitive skills, participants acquired general information about the economy, politics, and history of the region in which they stayed (root & ngampornchai, 2012). according to these authors, a contrasting method was often used by students to describe the other culture, underlining characteristics that differed from their own culture. root and ngampornchai (2012) observed that acquiring this culture-specific knowledge about the other group did not lead them to be more aware of their own cultural background. as for behavioral skills, the authors distinguished two main elements, namely, language and communication skills and living skills. being in an environment where the language is different than their own led students to develop their knowledge of a foreign language. they resorted to using many gestures and nonverbal communication skills (root & ngampornchai, 2012). concerning living skills, students emphasized learning about food, public transportation, and community habits. the authors hypothesized that these three domains are those with the largest difference from their own lifestyle. the third point is related to affective skills. this included awareness, respect, and understanding about the attitudes and values of members of other cultural groups. students evoked open-mindedness, reflexivity and critical capacities, dealing with multiple perspectives, and overcoming stereotypes. however, root and ngampornchai (2012) expressed some doubts about the depth of changes in students’ attitudes and values, in the sense that their actions do not reflect them. in the same way, odağ, wallin, and kedzior (2016) examined how undergraduates define intercultural competence. participants emphasized the understanding and awareness of cultural backgrounds other than their own. as in the study of root and ngampornchai (2012), students do not seem to consider the influence of their own cultural background. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 20 given the lack of data regarding occupational therapy and social work students, the present study aims to document their intercultural experiences prior to entering their first year of study. the fact that students are new in these professional areas requires that they be trained to practice in a context of diversity. by documenting effects of these experiences on the students’ intercultural competence, recommendations concerning intercultural education will be made. method research design this study is part of a three-year mixed-methods project that aims to explore how occupational and social work students develop skills to interact with people from different generations, social and health status, and cultural backgrounds (authors, 2016-2019). an exploratory study design was chosen (creswell, 2014; imbert 2010; plano clark, anderson, wertz, zhou, schumacher, & miaskowski, 2015) with three phases of data collection, one per year. the first and third phases consisted of individual semi-structured interviews and online questionnaires. the second phase comprised only an individual semi-structured interview. the present article corresponds to the first qualitative data collection phase. participants all first-year, full-time students in the occupational therapy and social work programs from two universities of applied sciences in french-speaking switzerland were invited to participate, voluntarily, in the interviews for the first data collection (n = 644). these first-year students were registered in either occupational therapy (n = 105) or social work (n = 539) programs. data collection tools an interview guide, created following miles, huberman, and saldaña’s (2014) recommendations, is presented as follows: “meaningful intercultural experiences are situations that ‘mark’ us, in that they leave a trace beyond mere memory. they guide choices or behaviors later in life. have you ever had significant intercultural experiences (professional or private)? if so, can you describe an experience that was particularly important for you? can you tell me the effects of this experience on you (changes of opinion, values)?” this interview guide was a sufficiently open, broad, and flexible instrument that highlights the specificity, perceptions, and reality of the participants. it allows one to know their lived experience. open-ended questions were designed to capture the participants’ description of “significant intercultural experiences” related to private or professional contexts and gained prior to starting their educational program. these experiences were defined for students as milestone events when meeting with someone with another cultural background (e.g., different behaviors, opinions, worldviews, or values) than their own. they were asked to explain how these experiences (positive or negative) happened, and the extent to which the experience https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 21 influenced them in regard to their attitude, way of thinking, or way of considering others. before the interview, students completed a socio-demographic questionnaire. several measures were implemented to increase trustworthiness (careau & vallée, 2014; carter, bryant-lukosius, dicenso, blythe, & neville, 2014; shenton, 2004). first, credibility was established through the triangulation of sources and analysts. participants came from two different programs (occupational therapy and social work) at two different schools. regular discussions occurred between team members at each step of the data analysis process. second, dependability and confirmability were checked by asking additional team members to review all analyses and findings. also, critical decisions and significant events were documented in an audit trail. the same person, who was not associated with either university, conducted all interviews and kept a logbook. data collection all potential participants (n = 644) were invited by email to participate in an individual semistructured interview. in accordance with the ethical standards of research in switzerland, approval was obtained from the program directors before contacting the students. prior to the enrolment, written consent was obtained from all students. the same person did all the interviews, in one location, using the communication format (face to face, telephone, or skype) chosen by each participant. interviews lasted about 30 minutes, according to the amount of information that the person was willing to share (creswell, 2014). they were audio-recorded with the participant’s permission and transcribed verbatim. anonymity of individuals was assured by using an alphanumeric code instead of names. data analysis after a double verification of the accuracy of the audio files with the verbatim transcripts, data were submitted to a thematic analysis approach in order to identify, analyze, and report patterns or themes within data (braun & clarke, 2006; creswell, 2014; miles et al., 2014). this method was chosen given the absence of other studies in this area. using nvivo® software (version 11), data were labeled and connected. after familiarization with the verbatim transcripts, open coding was used to identify recurring ideas across interviews and to extract the major themes. these patterns are retained for their importance in relation to the research question (braun & clarke, 2006). in an inductive way, initial codes were generated and themes were brought out (braun & clarke, 2006; creswell, 2014; maxwell, 2013). following an iterative process, the thematic map was refined, producing clear definitions and descriptions for each element. all the analyses were carried out on the basis of the verbatim transcriptions in french. only those quotations presented in this paper were translated by the authors into english. findings following the description of the participants and their background, a portrait of the significant intercultural experiences chosen by the students will be presented. then, the three main https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 22 themes resulting from the analysis will be discussed: (1) perception of diversity; (2) communication challenges; (3) transformation of attitudes toward the other. as no difference appeared between occupational therapy and social work students in the analyses, no distinction is made in the results presentation. participant characteristics the convenience sample consisted of the 51 students who agreed to participate, including 22 (43%) in occupational therapy and 29 (57%) in social work. forty-seven women (92%) and four men (8%) participated. the respondents’ mean age was 23.5 years (sd = 4.2; range: 19-42 years). forty-six participants (90%) identified a swiss nationality and five (10%) represented other nationalities (african or european). moreover, 17 (33%) reported a second nationality (i.e., french, italian, portuguese). only two students (4%) spoke no language other than french. most students (n=30, 59%) spoke one or two languages other than french, while others (n=19, 37%) indicated more than three (mainly english, german, italian, or spanish). prior to entering an occupational therapy or social work program, 21 participants (41%) reported having one or more professional qualifications in a variety of other areas (e.g., business, education, nursing, sciences, arts). among them, three individuals did not work after this initial training, and 12 (57%) had one to two years’ experience. the six others had four to 24 years of work experience. in regard to their intercultural experience, 35 participants (69%) had had a journey abroad, selfdescribed as “meaningful.” some had work experience in a foreign country (n=12, 24%) or with immigrants (n=7, 14%). in addition, 14 participants (28%) had already had a mixed-couple experience, and 32 respondents (63%) had close friends from various cultural groups. significant intercultural experiences students were asked about their significant intercultural experiences before entering their first year of study. they talked about situations where they identified the other (individual or group) as a bearer of a perceived difference. some respondents shared intercultural experiences in which they felt themselves to be carriers of differences, or in which others viewed them as the individual who was considered different. several sources of difference were underlined: origin, nationality, language, religion, age, gender, socio-economic status, and health status. in addition, participants put forward particular beliefs, values, attitudes, or behaviors to people with diverse cultural backgrounds. these could be family, friends, schoolmates, coworkers, recipients of health or social services, or members of cultural groups with no particular connection to the participants. the experiences evoked by students took place in a variety of contexts such as family or couple, school, language courses (mainly abroad), internship or work experiences, humanitarian activities, or simply hobbies or holidays. theme 1: perception of diversity https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 23 the first theme that emerged from the data was the perception of diversity. the way participants perceived diversity varied between two opposing poles, namely, normalization and using contrasting comparisons. sometimes, embedded within both is a critical awareness of students’ own cultural background. normalizing diversity normalizing diversity corresponds to the tendency of participants to consider diversity as selfevident. in fact, as most students reported growing up in diversified neighborhoods or cities, they tended to include intercultural experiences as regular. as such, they struggled to find unique encounters with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. for example, one student (male, 21) described his environment as largely frequented by people of various nationalities. he considers this as “ordinary” and believes that he can easily “deal with many different cultures.” in fact, several participants suggested that when the community settings are perceived as predominantly diversified, they do not mobilize the discursive register of “otherness” to categorize a person or a group. in these cases, diversity is not understood in a broad sense, because characteristics of diversity other than nationality or origin were not taken into account by the students. in a similar way, one student questioned the fact of pointing out singularities in others for the mere reason that they appear as outliers: “it’s like, well, i have a friend, and typically, he is black. and suddenly, i found it very sad to point out, like: ‘hey, you’re the only black guy in the class!’ why, well, on what grounds does it make him special?” (female, 22) what is at play here is not that her classmate is black, per se, but that he is identified as different because of his skin color alone. according to this person, this was not a relevant difference marker that justifies mention. using contrasting comparisons with an opposite point of view, the second pole placed the emphasis on the differences of the other rather than the similarities. students mobilized a variety of markers to represent the diversity they perceived. for example, one informant referred to nationality, as well as the values and practices he attributed to them, to describe his perception of asian classmates during a language-learning stay in england: “during this linguistic stay, i was very much with japanese or korean people. … the thing that remains with me the most was with the friends, well, precisely japanese, where in their culture, it is rude to look someone in the eyes.” (male, 26) this quote illustrates the ethnocentric vision of this student toward other frames of reference. according to him, japanese culture considers something that is polite in his own cultural background as rude. in his narrative, the japanese students’ way of being polite constitutes a https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 24 deviation from the norm. this student does not adopt a critical perception of his own frame of reference. in fact, people with diverse cultural backgrounds are often depicted in oppositional terms: “they live in another world” and “it is totally different from here” were recurrent expressions from participants about experiences gained while traveling abroad. this contrast between us and them also appears in experiences that occurred in switzerland. a woman remembered her interactions with a young man from eastern europe who had recently moved to switzerland and was looking for a job: “for him, he absolutely had to have a job, at such and such age, in order to be able to head a family, because it was obligatory to have a family, to be the one who manages the house, and that the woman must stay at home to take care of everything else. it was vain to try to explain to him that it was fifty-fifty. the woman can work as much as the man. but it was unthinkable, in fact, according to his way of thinking.” (female, 22) she contrasted her cultural background, in which she presupposes that women can work as well as men, with this man’s perspective where it is not the case. her interpretation does not question her own frame of reference, nor aims to accept other values. in other words, she remains centered on her own interpretation of the situation. it does not point to an increased intercultural sensitivity. the narratives revealed that the cultural markers of perceived difference are typically interpreted in general and oppositional terms. participants listed, among other things, the “culture of appearance” in south korea, the “stress-free work culture” in south-east asia, and the “omnipresence of music” in south america. these examples suggest that the respondents built up generalizing—and often “folklorizing”—representations about local populations. these representations reflect the oppositional divide between us and them that contributes to the “exoticization” of others. in that regard, one informant explained the living conditions of the person who hosted her during a humanitarian stay in south america: “she lives in a place, it’s not even listed, actually. there is not even a street. and then, she built her house. she has three children and she had a husband who was very, very disabled, who is dead now. and she welcomed me home. i had a bed to sleep in and she never asked me anything. that was so amazing, the hospitality i had. … it was really the sharing between humans that counted and it was beautiful.” (female, 27) this student highlighted a representation of poverty according to which local people escape from the profiteering mind characterizing western societies and are genuinely generous. although the respondents were in direct contact with locals, their experiences abroad did not always foster further thinking about their observations and perceptions of their interlocutors’ cultural characteristics. their depictions are marked by generalizing and sometimes folklorizing representations that extended to the whole cultural group and remained unquestioned. acquiring a critical awareness of one’s own cultural background https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 25 awareness and a critical vision of one’s own cultural background seem difficult to reach for many participants. nevertheless, a few students reflected on their experiences by questioning their own norms and attitudes. during her visit to a latin american country, a young woman recalls that after being at first quite surprised when local people approached and talked to her, it then set her thinking: “i said to myself: ‘well, for them, it seems normal to them to talk like that.’ we can say to ourselves: ‘why are we so scared here to talk to strangers?’” (female, 42) as she reflected about people’s behaviors “here” (in switzerland) and “there” (in latin america), this informant evokes the possibility of changing her own practices and possibly even broader social conventions. she describes a more complex view of social realities and includes her familiar environment into her reflections. theme 2: communication challenges communication challenges form the second main theme that emerges from the analyses. in the many intercultural experiences collected, communication is depicted as the major source of difficulties. but communication can also be the way to resolve misunderstandings or better understand the differences. dealing with communication barriers sometimes, barriers are identified as the interlocutors’ lack of proficiency in the local language for diverse reasons. for example, a participant evokes communication hurdles during an internship with elderly migrants with brain damage. she explains that these people were no longer able to speak french, which complicated interactions: “it was old people who were, well, who had brain damage. and suddenly, they couldn’t speak french anymore, they spoke in their native language.” (female, 28) another student experienced communication difficulties in his interactions with nursing-home residents whose native language was not french. encountering similar difficulties, she describes how she handled this situation: “speaking more slowly, trying to be … to use simple words, simple sentences and not extensible, designating things, talking a little with my hands … and trying another language if the person knew another language.” (female, 19) several participants claimed that they tried to improve communication by avoiding complicated terms and long sentences. if necessary, they used non-verbal communication or a common foreign language. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 26 mirroring these barriers, other respondents mentioned their own linguistic limitations while traveling abroad. this example indicates how lack of proficiency in a foreign language might influence perception: “i could not communicate with others. it was pretty awful, actually. it was the first time i was told: ‘[participant name] is a shy girl.’ because, finally, i’m rather extroverted, actually.” (female, 22) although many respondents pointed out language as an obstacle when they traveled abroad, they did not mention that such experiences allowed them to gain a deeper understanding of the potential linguistic difficulties of their interlocutors in other contexts. one student is an exception, as he explained how he was sensitized: “on the other hand, i think that what it brought me that was very positive is that i feel that it made me much more sensitive to the difficulties of a person who could not speak the language well.” (male, 33) overcoming misunderstandings with communication in addition to the barriers related to the mastery of the language, other communicative issues were evoked by the participants. for example, some students talked about situations in which they at first felt surprised by or wrongly interpreted a norm of behavior they were unfamiliar with. getting to understand the new norm or environment allowed them to clear up misunderstandings. having to deal with a different environment while abroad, in particular when it involved a new language, was often emphasized as challenging, at least at the beginning, and required time for adjustment. being able to communicate with people from another cultural background can help to better understand this context and the behaviors to adopt. for example, remembering his visit to a friend who had moved back to south america, a participant explained how he felt: “i arrived in a world where i didn’t know the rules, the codes. in addition, i haven’t necessarily heard very good things about the country [in a security context], so i wasn’t very reassured either.” (male, 33) then he tells how this friend helped him to find his bearings by explaining the rules and the history of the place. this example shows that he had to gain familiarity with local norms. he needed to learn about the situation from a “local” friend in order to feel at ease in an environment that was new to him. interpersonal communication with this person was a central aspect of the adaptation process. the importance of interpersonal communication was also highlighted by this student, who at first misinterpreted her interlocutor’s communication norms: “in her way of speaking, i felt assaulted every time. … for example, when she asked for something, there was no ‘thank you’ or ‘please’. and then, one day, i decided to talk to her about https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 27 it. … she could also explain to me that in her language, in finland, well, ‘please’ …, is not a mark of politeness, but of supplication. that’s it.” (female, 21) communicating with the person about what she identified as a problem in their interactions was key for that student to clear up a misunderstanding that made the relationship between the two uncomfortable. in the above examples, engaging in straightforward communication with their interlocutors helped students adapt to new situations or to correct misunderstandings. theme 3: transformation of attitudes toward the other the third theme concerns the effects of encountering people from different cultural backgrounds on participants’ attitudes. sometimes, these experiences can change their perceptions. as for the vision of diversity, the participants are between two opposite poles. perceiving the other in a less positive way few students reported that direct contacts with people about whom they had prejudices and stereotyped representations did not change their initial opinion or amplify their negative perceptions. for example, one participant explained how a person with mental disorders threatened to kill people during her internship. she admits her fears: “but it’s true that, after that, i told myself that i didn’t see myself working very well in an environment like this. because i found that the people, they were really unstable. … so it put me in a very uncomfortable position. and then, i do not really want to relive it right now.” (female, 24) sometimes, meeting with the other can also break the idealized perception participants had. a woman illustrates her own experience after a humanitarian stay in africa: “they sent us messages, and they were waiting for us to help them financially. and that’s true that it hurts a bit because in itself … it’s true that we have money. but at the same time, they do not necessarily realize our reality either.” (female, 21) in this case, she changed her attitude toward the people she met, but rather in a negative or destabilizing way. breaking prejudices or stereotypes vis-à-vis the other for many participants, directly engaging with people perceived as different allows them to overcome their fears and prejudices. they question stereotyped and generalizing representations of people with other cultural backgrounds. experiences taking place in various contexts illustrate this outcome. for example, a young woman explained that, when she was a child, her primary school included child refugees: https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 28 “many of them had their face a little eaten by insects over there. well, they were very poor. so when they were here, they really had the joy of living, a way of seeing things that was very different from ours. and then, it was something that had struck me a lot when i was young.” (female, 22) she confessed that at first she was afraid of these children. but she ended up enjoying them very much and learned a lot from them. interacting with these children allowed her to overcome her initial fears and to establish a positive representation of them. also at school, another woman experienced a situation in which a classmate was discriminated against by the other students because she wore a veil. she says about it: “everyone was laughing at her just because she was wearing the veil. and nobody ever went to ask her if it was really her choice. … then she finally stopped and left the class. then i thought it was a shame because in the end, it’s not because we have a veil that we are different.” (female, 20) although social prejudices from peers were difficult to question openly, interacting with the stigmatized person allowed her to reflect about and distance herself from her own reaction and her fellow students’ biases. in a professional context, another woman recalls that before starting her internship, she was worried about working with disabled people: “and actually, once there, it was very easy and very natural to interact with these people, even with people who had difficulty communicating. i could find ways to understand and communicate with them. it reassured me a lot about that and removed the stigma i had, visions i had of the disabled.” (female, 21) it seems that encountering these people allowed the young woman to dispel her concerns and leave prejudices aside. other examples reveal stereotypical representations based on people’s origins. as she babysat children in a family from the middle east, a student observed that her preconceptions about the culture of this country were not corroborated by her experience. she realized that “it was quite similar to any other family [she] worked for” (female, 21). on the same subject, a female student interacted with a person from eastern europe. she doubts the validity of her stereotypes: “we have a lot of stereotypes about [country’s name], about the [people from this country] and how they are. and it was funny, actually, to meet one who destroyed all the stereotypes we had. and this is sometimes when you realize that in fact, we put images, ideas on people, on cultures that, in fact, are not true at all or that may be true only for a minority.” (female, 28) another example concerns a description of the religious behaviors of an internship supervisor: “when she told me she was praying all the time, that she was doing ‘religious rituals’ all the time, i was surprised.” (female, 30) https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 29 as she considered her supervisor “very open-minded,” she says she had to reassess her idea that “those who pray were not open.” these excerpts indicate that by directly interacting with people from other cultural backgrounds, students could confront their preconceptions and fears with their lived experiences. as a result, they put aside their prejudices and change their attitudes. discussion and implications through interviews with 51 participants, the content of their significant intercultural experiences before starting their educational program has been documented, as well as the effects. the students’ stories focus on various characteristics considered as markers of difference in various contexts. according to the results, the participants’ perception of diversity varies between the normalization and the contrasted vision, highlighting the differences above all. as dogra and colleagues (2009) found, living in a highly multicultural context would tend to let students think that they don’t need special training to intervene in a context of diversity. moreover, several participants even deny difference markers in order to treat everyone the same way. however, this is not the goal of the intercultural approach in that these differences need to be recognized to provide effective services (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; hall & theriot, 2016; kohli et al., 2010; murden et al., 2008). on the contrary, when students point out the differences in a very contrasting way, this phenomenon is the same as that evoked by root and ngampornchai (2012), who indicated that people notice more the characteristics that differ most from their own cultural background. this is also apparent in the present study. furthermore, participants do not always leave their ethnocentric vision of values, norms, and predetermined normal behaviors. this emerges from their interview when they do not reflect on their own frames of reference in relation to those of the other, contrary to what king and colleagues (2013) observed. in addition, several students develop what nadan (2016) calls a “folkloric” or “exotic” vision of other cultural groups. thus, these groups are perceived as homogeneous. whether diversity is recognized as normality or exacerbating differences, it seems that students find it difficult to become aware of their own frames of reference. few of them have been critical of their personal cultural background, although they have discovered other representations of the world. in this sense, intercultural intervention training is necessary to develop these elements of intercultural competence (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; henderson et al., 2018; kohli et al., 2010; reyneke, 2017). the second main theme that emerges concerns communication challenges. many of the intercultural experiences cited by the participants were about the difficulties encountered when they or the other did not master the local language. various strategies were adopted to overcome this communication barrier, as recommended in the context of intercultural intervention (cai, 2016; govender et al., 2017; henderson et al., 2018). this finding is similar to those of root and ngampornchai (2012) about acquired skills, such as using foreign languages or nonverbal communication. misinterpretations can also be solved through communication with the other in order to understand their frames of reference. in such cases, as jokikokko https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 30 (2009) shows, exchanging with people from other cultural backgrounds improves selfawareness of norms, values, and a priori attitudes that can lead to misunderstandings. more broadly, participants identified changes in their attitudes toward people with diverse cultural backgrounds as a result of their significant intercultural experiences. only rarely was there evidence that the encounter with the other caused a crystallization of the prejudices or destruction of the idealized image of the latter. nevertheless, beagan (2015) notices that this could happen. similar to stories collected by king and colleagues (2013), students were more delighted or intrigued by other frames of reference. they gained new knowledge about other worldviews, attitudes, and behaviors as a result of the described experiences, just as root and ngampornchai (2012) explain about their participants. in the present study, many people said that they had overcome their initial fears and prejudices toward the other to establish a positive representation. comparable observations were made by jokikokko (2009), king and colleagues (2013), and root and ngampornchai (2012) with other populations (teachers, liberal art colleges, and university students). these findings about occupational therapy and social work students seem to confirm that exposure and direct interactions with populations of different cultural backgrounds often increase awareness and sensitivity to the other while decreasing a priori opinions and discrimination, as claimed by many authors (beagan, 2015; cai, 2016; donoso brown et al., 2011; govender et al., 2017; hall & theriot, 2016; henderson et al., 2018; kohli et al., 2010; murden et al., 2008). some limitations must be mentioned regarding these results. first of all, as this is a convenience sample, students most interested in the topic of intervention in a context of diversity may have decided to participate in the present study. furthermore, these are experiences of students from the french-speaking part of switzerland, which could limit the transferability of the conclusions. however, studies conducted on similar data, but with other populations in other countries, have led to very similar results (jokikokko, 2009; king et al., 2013; root & ngampornchai, 2012). even if further validations with other samples of occupational therapy and social work students should be made, recommendations can already be proposed to educational institutions. first, professors should explore with students their previous intercultural experiences. in this way, this information provides concrete examples based on which they could bring students to a critical reflection. according to cai (2016), they need to become aware of their own frames of reference (i.e., values, attitudes, beliefs, practices, patterns of thinking), biases, prejudices, and stereotypes vis-à-vis other perceptions and behaviors. basing this awareness on events already experienced would be a first step, so that they could be better prepared to deal with intercultural contacts during their internship. future health and social work professionals must be aware of the influence of these elements on their practice and learn how to adapt their interventions (murden et al., 2008; nadan, 2016). it is therefore essential to approach this aspect with them. however, as noted by king and colleagues (2013), a sense of safety is crucial when it comes to exploring intercultural differences. during the significant experiences reported by the participants in the present study, a safe environment was not often accessible. this could explain why students show difficulties in challenging their prejudices and stereotypes in relation to other worldviews. university https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 31 program planners should be careful to provide these learning conditions in order to promote the development of intercultural competences among their students. conclusion occupational therapy and social work students do not go into their educational program without knowledge, a priori attitudes, or prejudices concerning interactions with people from other cultural backgrounds. this observation applies to all health and social professions. as direct encounter of the other is probably the best way to develop a critical view of these prior attitudes, student experiences should be used by teachers to develop their cultural sensitivity. knowledge and strategies could then be acquired for an efficient practice in a context of diversity. references beagan, b. l. (2015). approaches to culture and diversity: a critical synthesis of occupational therapy literature. canadian journal of occupational therapy, 82, 272–282. doi: 10.1177/0008417414567530 braun, v., & clarke, v. (2006). using thematic analysis in psychology. qualitative research in psychology, 3, 77–101. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa cai, d.-y. (2016). a concept analysis of cultural competence. international journal of nursing sciences, 3, 268–273. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnss.2016.08.002 careau, e., & vallée, c. (2014). qualitative research and scientificity. in s. tétreault & p. guillez (eds.), practical guide to rehabilitation research (pp. 489–508). louvain-la-neuve, belgium: de boeck supérieur. carter, n., bryant-lukosius, d., dicenso, a., blythe, j., & neville, a. j. (2014). the use of triangulation in qualitative research. oncology nursing forum, 41, 545–547. doi:10.1188/14.onf.545-547 carter-black, j. (2007). teaching cultural competence: an innovative strategy grounded in the universality of storytelling as depicted in african and african american storytelling traditions. journal of social work education, 43, 31–50. retrieved july 15, 2019, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23044222 conley, c. l., deck, s. m., miller, j. j., & borders, k. (2017). improving the cultural competency of social work students with a social privilege activity. journal of teaching in social work, 37, 234–248. doi: 10.1080/08841233.2017.1313804 creswell, j. w. (2014). research design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. https://cultureandvalues.org/ http://www.jstor.org/stable/23044222 journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 32 donoso brown, e. v., muñoz, j. p., & powell, j. m. (2011). multicultural training in the united states: a survey of occupational therapy programs. occupational therapy in health care, 25, 178–193. doi: 10.3109/07380577.2011.560240 dogra, n., reitmanova, s., & carter-pokras, o. (2009). teaching cultural diversity: current status in u.k., u.s., and canadian medical schools. journal of general internal medicine, 25, 164–168. doi: 10.1007/s11606-009-1202-7 egan, g. (2017). the skilled helper. a client-centered approach (2nd ed.). hampshire, uk: cengage. fedor, c.-g. (2014). stereotypes and prejudice in the perception of the “other.” procedia – social and behavioral sciences, 149, 321–326. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.08.257 godkin, m. a., & savageau, j. a. (2001). the effect of a global multiculturalism track on cultural competence of preclinical medical students. family medicine and community health publications and presentations, 33, 178–186. retrieved july 15, 2019, from http://escholarship.umassmed.edu/fmch_articles/1 govender, p., mpanza, d. m., carey, t., jiyane, k., andrews, b., & mashele, s. (2017). exploring cultural competence amongst ot students. occupational therapy international, 4, 2179781, 1– 8. doi: 10.1155/2017/2179781 hall, j. c., & theriot, m. t. (2016). developing multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills: diversity training makes a difference? multicultural perspectives, 18, 35–41. doi: 10.1080/15210960.2016.1125742 hammell, k. r. (2013). occupation, well-being, and culture: theory and cultural humility. canadian journal of occupational therapy, 80, 224–234. doi: 10.1177/0008417413500465 henderson, s., horne, m., hills, r., & kendall, e. (2018). cultural competence in healthcare in the community: a concept analysis. health and social care in the community, 26, 590–603. doi: 10.1111/hsc.12556 imbert, g. (2010). l’entretien semi-directif: à la frontière de la santé publique et de l’anthropologie. recherche en soins infirmiers, 102, 23–34. doi: 10.3917/rsi.102.0023 jokikokko, k. (2009). the role of significant others in the intercultural learning of teachers. journal of research in international education, 8, 142–163. doi: 10.1177/1475240909105202 king, p. m., perez, r. j., & shim, w.-j. (2013). how college students experience intercultural learning: key features and approaches. journal of diversity in higher education, 6, 69–83. doi: 10.1037/a0033243 https://cultureandvalues.org/ http://escholarship.umassmed.edu/fmch_articles/1 journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 tétreault, s., et al. (2021). intercultural experiences prior to the educational program: occupational therapy and social work students journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 33 kohli, h. k., huber, r., & faul, a. c. (2010). historical and theoretical development of culturally competent social work practice. journal of teaching in social work, 30, 252–271. doi: 10.1080/08841233.2010.499091 maxwell, j. a. (2013). qualitative research design. an interactive approach (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. miles, m. b., huberman, a. m., & saldaña, j. (2014). qualitative data analysis (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. murden, r., norman, a., ross, j., sturdivant, e., kedia, m., & shah, s. (2008). occupational therapy students’ perceptions of their cultural awareness and competency. occupational therapy international, 15, 191–203. doi: 10.1002/oti.253 nadan, y. (2016). teaching note revisiting stereotypes: enhancing cultural awareness through a web-based tool. journal of social work education, 52, 50–56. doi: 10.1080/10437797.2016.1113054 odağ, ö., wallin, h. r., & kedzior, k. k. (2016). definition of intercultural competence according to undergraduate students at an international university in germany. journal of studies in international education, 20(2), 118–139. doi: 10.1177/1028315315587105 plano clark, v. l., anderson, n., wertz, j. a., zhou, y., schumacher, k., & miaskowski, c. (2015). conceptualizing longitudinal mixed methods designs: a methodological review of health sciences research. journal of mixed methods research, 9, 297–319. doi: 10.1177/1558689814543563 reyneke, r. p. (2017). apples and pears: engaging social work students in social dialogue. research on social work practice, 27, 239–247. doi: 10.1177/1049731516669823 root, e., & ngampornchai, a. (2012). “i came back as a new human being”: student descriptions of intercultural competence acquired through education abroad experiences. journal of studies in international education, 17, 513–532. doi: 10.1177/1028315312468008 shenton, a. k. (2004). strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. education for information, 22, 63–75. doi: 10.3233/efi-2004-22201 sonn, i., & vermeulen, n. (2018). occupational therapy students’ experiences and perceptions of culture during fieldwork education. south african journal of occupational therapy, 48, 34– 39. doi: 10.17159/2310-3833/2017/vol48n1a7 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 65 social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for otherconcern tosin tunrayo olonisakin*1, sulaiman olanrewaju adebayo2 & erhabor sunday idemudia1 *corresponding author: tosinsakin@yahoo.com 1. faculty of humanities, north-west university, south africa 2. ekiti state university, ado-ekiti, nigeria received : 2021-04-27 revised : 2021-07-02 accepted : 2021-07-03 how to cite this paper: olonisakin, t. t., adebayo, s. o., & idemudia, e. s. (2021). social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 65-83. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.7 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract social inequality or inequity is existent in every society. as such, most societies dedicate efforts to ensuring fairness and justice for all their members. the university environment constitutes a miniature society on its own and everyday broader realities of the larger society are equally applicable within the university. the attitude that students hold with regards to social inequality could be a function of their worldviews which act as guiding principles for social conduct. in this study, the worldviews of self-transcendence and just-world beliefs were examined in relation to support for affirmative action and social dominance orientation among students. the study employed a survey approach with data collected through questionnaires from a sample of 331 (62.8% female) undergraduate students in a public university. the authors hypothesized that self-transcendence and just-world beliefs would be positively associated with support for affirmative action and negatively with social dominance orientation. the result of data analysis using structural equation modelling confirmed the hypotheses in this study. however, the relationship between just-world beliefs and social dominance orientation was not significant. results were discussed for their implications for the acceptance of social policies that try to bridge the gap between dominant and marginalised groups. the implication of findings for understanding and managing interaction between groups in an educational setting was emphasised. recommendations were made regarding how policymakers can use knowledge of worldviews held by students in designing strategies geared towards acceptance of policies targeted at ensuring positive outcomes for members of disadvantaged groups. suggestions for future research were given. keywords: worldviews, social attitude, self-transcendence, just-world belief, affirmative action, social dominance orientation 10.46303/jcve.2021.7 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.7 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 66 introduction the university environment is a microcosm in which the social realities of the larger society are played out. the prevailing social issues that are observed in the larger society equally exist within the university community. competition, social inequality, equity, fairness, and justice are topical issues in the university system. for instance, course grading system, financial aid services, course workload, socio-economic status, admission quotas, ethnic diversity and inclusion, and space allocation are realities within the university system that could make salient, issues of inequality or inequity and other social differences variables. within the university setup, inequity or inequality issues arise concerning group diversity, the equitable treatment of all social and natural groups, and the accommodation of the peculiar needs of certain groups. as such, policies are sometimes put in place to ensure the social inclusion of disadvantaged groups. such special considerations for some categories of people are sometimes met with resistance due to the ideologies that people hold towards such types of preferential treatments. two prominent social attitudes on inequality that are particularly relevant to the university domain are attitudes towards affirmative action and social dominance orientation. affirmative action (aff) refers to actions, policies, programs, laws, and structures geared towards ensuring that all peoples have equal opportunity to resources regardless of their social categorisations. they are intended to improve outcomes for underrepresented, marginalised, or disadvantaged minority groups. aff in education encompasses policies and laws that have been put in place to ensure that people of all races or ethnic categories and other social categories are given equal opportunity or access to education. this could be in the form of financial services and outreach programmes for indigent minority students and admission quotas to ensure that all groups have the opportunity for consideration. another parallel goal of aff beyond equal opportunities for all is ensuring diversity (ashanti, 2008; crosby et al., 2006; morgenroth & ryan, 2018) and promoting peaceful relations between groups. this idea is borne out of literature that has established that contact between groups can help to improve tolerance and relations between them (bandyopadhyay & green, 2018; scacco & warren, 2018; verkuyten et al., 2019). an opposition to aff means detesting policies, laws, and processes that favour people of minority status or marginalised groups. this could also extend to discriminatory attitudes towards beneficiaries of aff (ashanti, 2008). social dominance orientation (sdo) is another social attitude that bothers on social inequality or hierarchical ordering of groups. the concept of sdo was introduced as the central variable in social dominance theory proposed by pratto et al. (1994). the authors linked this variable to the universal nature of inequality among social groups and the social processes that legitimise it. the authors proposed that sdo explains why people would be receptive to or unwelcoming of inequality-promoting ways of life between and among social groups. sdo motivates discriminatory attitudes towards individuals or groups that are considered as different, strangers, minority, or inferior (kleppestø et al., 2019; mebane et al., 2020; nilsson & jost, 2020). with a sdo an individual shows a penchant for ideas and policies that widen inequality or enhance hierarchy. furthermore, such an individual may take on social roles that perpetuate or increase social inequality, be generally prejudiced, and categorise social groups along superiority-inferiority dimensions (pratto et al., 1994). in addition, a sdo drives an individual to https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 67 adopt hierarchy-legitimising myths, beliefs, values, and ideas that have achieved consensus as fair, moral, or natural (jost & hunyady, 2005; pratto et al., 1994; pratto et al., 2006). for example, religious and genetic theories which appeal to the moral and intellectual justification of group-based inequality (pratto et al., 1994; pratto et al., 2006) social attitudes that favour discrimination and the outcomes they facilitate are the channels through which inequalities are maintained in societies. such attitudes are likely to lead to the support of policies, processes, structures, and institutions that help to institutionalise and perpetuate oppression and discrimination (olonisakin & adebayo, 2021; pratto et al., 2006). in an environment that requires cooperation, healthy competition, tolerance, and trust such as a university environment, these attitudes are likely to produce negative outcomes in social interaction. students from minority groups, international students, and students from other disadvantaged groups may find learning an unpleasant experience when they perceive discrimination in their learning environment. for instance, studies have shown that students who perceive discrimination from other students and systemic factors are likely to experience negative outcomes (caplan & stevens, 2017; mahsa, 2020; dzansi & mogashoa, 2013; ratshilaya, 2017). for example, caplan and stevens (2017) found among a sample of international students that perceived intolerance and lack of support from faculty members and domestic students affect the integration of international students. similarly, ratshilaya (2017) found discrimination and a lack of socialisation with domestic students as some of the factors responsible for acculturative challenges among international students. on the contrary, studies have recorded the positive effect that a supportive and friendly learning environment can have for students particularly students of minority or disadvantaged groups. for instance, dzansi and mogashoa (2013) found that mindfulness about how classroom practices such as assessment, communication, teaching, and classroom organisation affect international students, helped to improve their learning experience. likewise, bai (2016) found social support from the university to be strongly associated with less acculturative stress among international students in the us. furthermore, akhtari et al. (2020) using administrative data from texas, usa found that when aff is in play, racial gaps between whites and minorities in grade, sat scores, attendance, and college applications reduce. similarly, kpmg (2016) found that the right to education act in india, an aff put in place to provide free and compulsory education for indigent children led to a marked increase in enrolment of children in schools and a decrease in the dropout rate. also, dhakal (2017) using data from indian found that aff which supports the inclusion of minority groups (scheduled caste and scheduled tribe) in state legislative assemblies was associated with increased commitment of resources to education, increased enrolment of children in school, and reduced rate of dropout at all levels of education among this minority group. koea et al. (2021) through a narrative review approach using 45 studies found that aff programmes in the us directed at the inclusion of ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples into selective specialist medical and surgical training programmes have effectively led to an increase in the number of ethnic minority medical school graduates. these research findings suggest that with systemic support, the educational opportunities that were previously unavailable and aspirations that were previously inconceivable are made possible for members of minority or disadvantaged groups. given the importance of a positive learning environment for students’ successful learning outcomes, it is important to explore factors that may be responsible for discriminatory social attitudes. such knowledge would https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 68 illuminate the understanding of students’ attitudes towards social inequality, unfavourable perception of minority students, and generally, social relations and conflicts among racial/ethnic groups. scholars have suggested that beyond viewing discrimination against outgroups as simply negative, there ought to be an investigation of the beliefs that underscore such attitudes (glaser, 2005; verkuyten et al., 2019). this is because ideological attitudes that favour inequity or inequality could be outcrops of deeply held perceptions or convictions of how the social world is ordered (glaser, 2005; verkuyten et al., 2019). such perceptions about how the world, people, or events are structured or designed have been referred to as worldviews. worldviews refer to an individual’s belief or perception about how the social world is organised or how it works. it is the perception of how things are in the world, what people are like, what can be expected of people, and how one ought to relate with others (aerts et al., 2007; barret, 2021). worldviews are a collection of coherent concepts and theories with which people construct a holistic view of the world and an understanding of their varied experiences (aerts et al., 2007; barrett, 2021). they provide people with a template for coordinating and understanding different aspects of the world in terms of the relationship between people and the interconnectedness of events (aerts et al., 2007; flanagan, 2021). they serve as a motivating force that inspires, provides a sense of direction, and contributes to an individual’s sense of self (aerts et al., 2007; flanagan, 2021). how do people come about their worldviews? and what role do they play in an individual’s behaviour? worldviews develop through the process of socialisation and individual life experiences (aerts et al., 2007; flanagan, 2021). they are formed through direct experiences of the social world and the interpretations given to events that unfold around us (aerts et al., 2007; flanagan, 2021). worldviews, thus serve as scripts and schema that guide people’s actions and reactions to social stimuli. two prominent worldviews that have been largely investigated with regards to outgroup behaviour and social welfare are self-transcendence and just-world beliefs (piedmont, 2012; lucas et al., 2011; yaden et al., 2017). the worldviews of self-transcendence and just-world belief are of interest in this study because it is the perception of the authors that they have underlying similarities. this is so in that both worldviews assume a universal order that directs life events and the recognition that human actions are the channels through which life events are produced (feldmanhall et al., 2018; stroebe et al., 2015). as such, they are worldviews that prescribe consciousness of the consequences of one’s actions on others. self-transcendence (st) humans are constantly engaged with existential questions of what purpose their live serves and what links they have with happenings around them. consequently, people try to construct meanings and purpose for their lives through adopting transcendent beliefs about their existence. st is the belief that one’s life has a broader meaning, purpose, and effect beyond immediate time and environment and a feeling of connectedness to nature and other beings (piedmont, 2012). it is a belief that one’s life is intricately linked to those of others which then influences the nature of the relationship held with people and the commitment made to such relationships. people high in st hold the spiritual belief that life and events are beyond what is https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 69 immediately perceivable to one and that one’s actions have a broader effect on humankind (piedmont, 2012). to capture this phenomenon, piedmont (1999) proposed the concept of spiritual transcendence which comprises three aspects of universality, interconnectedness, and prayer fulfilment. universality represents a belief in the broadness of life and human existence. interconnectedness captures a feeling of being connected to a larger reality that cuts across different groups and generations. lastly, prayer fulfilment embodies feelings of joy and contentment from praying and enjoying a connection with a higher power. these dimensions of transcendence exemplify the experience of social reality as beyond the self. transcendence beliefs influence the interpretation and meanings attached to events and the choices people make. the search for meaning and purpose in life is inbuilt in individuals, thus transcendence belief is universally held by people and constitutes a “fundamental inherent quality” of humans (piedmont, 2012). as a driving force in humans, transcendence beliefs have thus been linked to pro-outgroup attitudes/concern for other’s welfare. for example, łowicki et al. (2020) found transcendence to be positively related to empathic concern. likewise, ardenghi et al. (2021) found st to be positively associated with and predictive of emotional and cognitive aspects of empathy. similarly, pantaléon et al. (2019) found this variable to be directly related to selflessness. also, sugiura et al. (2020) reported st to be linked to providing help to survivors of natural disasters. just-world belief (jwb) jwb is the human tendency to believe in a world where outcomes are consequences of one’s actions and people deserve what they get (lerner, 1980). this implies a world in which some level of controllability exists, where one can define and engineer outcomes for the self. this belief develops as an outcome of human existential needs to have a stable and predictable world in which one is not subject to random acts (bierhoff, 2002; lerner, 1980). thus, jwb has been conceptualised as a worldview evoked to cope with life outcomes and has been linked to improvement in wellbeing and coping (harding et al., 2020; lucas et al., 2011; khera et al., 2014). the belief in a just-world entails a belief in the fairness of procedures or of outcomes to which people are subjected (lucas et al., 2011). it also takes the form of justice belief for the self and others (lucas et al., 2011; stroebe et al., 2015). with regards to the relationship between jwb and social attitudes, research evidence links jwb with other-concern. for instance, bègue et al. (2008) found that belief in a just-world for the self was associated with altruistic behaviour. similarly, de caroli and sagone (2014) reported jwb to be associated with prosocial behaviour among adolescents. likewise, cheng et al. (2020) found jwb to be positively associated with employees’ expression of ideas that could bring positive change to the organisation. the literature is however divided on how jwb relates to social attitudes with some linking jwb to less other-concern and harsh social attitudes. for example, it has been shown to reinforce preoccupation with self-interest among advantaged groups in the society (wakslak et al., 2007), harsh social attitudes towards immigrants (khera et al., 2014), negative attitudes towards people with mental illness (bizer et al., 2012), and blaming of rape victims (landström et al., 2015). for the psychologist, the concern with worldviews is the understanding of their implications for social behaviour and relations. specifically, how do they relate to values bothering on social https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 70 inequality? st and jwb have been established as having implications for social attitudes that border on equality or inequity and justice. given the nature of these variables, it is hypothesised that st and jwb would predict support for aff and sdo. this is because a belief in a universal order or system and the unity of purpose invariably subsumes a belief that one’s actions and inactions have a ripple effect and are implicated in the outcomes that other people get. as such, a belief in the interconnectedness of humankind should motivate a desire to improve life outcomes for other people. st should therefore be associated with greater concern for the welfare of others and a commitment to social equity/equality. likewise, jwb should motivate greater concern for the welfare of others and with mitigating social inequity/inequality. thus the following hypotheses were tested in this study: h1: st would be positively associated with support for aff and negatively associated with sdo. h2: jwb would be positively associated with support for aff and negatively associated with sdo. while the authors recognise that some studies document an inverse relationship between jwb and other-concern (for example, bizer et al., 2012; khera et al., 2014; landström et al., 2015), the authors are convinced that given the preceding discussion of what the worldview of jwb entails, the hypothesised relationship (h2) ought to be obtained. method participants to achieve a 90% power to detect at least a medium effect size of .15, the authors recruited 345 undergraduate students enrolled at a public university in nigeria. although sample size calculation using g*power (buchner et al., 2019) showed that a sample size of 88 is sufficient to achieve the a priori power and effects size, we overshot the minimum sample required to have enough data to explore the psychometric attributes of the measures to be utilised in this study. due to reasons of univariate and multivariate outliers, 14 cases were excluded from analysis leaving a sample of 331. table 1: demographic characteristics of participants variable n percentage sex males 123 37.2% females 208 62.8% ethnic group yoruba igbo 291 87.9% 32 9.7% other religion christians muslims 8 306 2.4 92.1% 25 7.9% https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 71 the average age of the participants was 21.57 (sd = 2.62, range = 14-29), and 62.8% of participants were female. participants were students in their second to fourth year and from the humanities disciplines. the ethnic groups reported were yoruba (291, 87.9%), igbo (32, 9.7%), and eight unspecified ethnic groups (2.4%). participants predominantly identified as christians 92.1% while others identified as muslims (7.9%). measures data on the study variables were collected through the use of standardised scales. items from the different scales were pooled into a questionnaire with five sections addressing each of the variables. st the first section contained items to measure st. this variable was measured with the universality dimension of the spiritual transcendence scale by piedmont (1999). universality assesses a belief in the harmony and purposefulness of life (piedmont, 2010). this dimension of transcendence was chosen because it captures the idea of transcendence emphasised in this study. that is, an individual’s belief in the idea that there is a universal order to human existence and a universal plan in which people are connected and in which actions and inactions transcend the self. nine items rated on a 5-point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree were used to assess the st beliefs of participants. higher scores indicate a higher belief in the transcendence of human existence. sample items are “all life is interconnected” and “i feel that on a higher level all of us share a common bond”. this scale has been widely used in psychological research and has been shown to have good psychometric properties (simkin & piedmont, 2018). piedmont (2010) reported a cronbach’s alpha of .86, piedmont (2012) reported .82, lau et al (2015) .67 and piotrowski et al. (2019) .75. jwb jwb was measured with the distributive justice world beliefs scale developed by lucas et al. (2007) in the second section. this captures a belief that people deserve the outcomes or allocations they get (lucas, 2009). the four items of this measure were rated on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) with higher scores indicating a stronger belief about people getting the outcomes they deserve. sample items are “other people usually receive the outcomes that they deserve” and “other people generally deserve the things that they are accorded”. previous research attests to the psychometric strength of the scale (lucas et al., 2011). lucas (2009) reported a cronbach’s alpha of .90 while lucas et al. (2011) reported .85, .87, and .85 in three separate studies. the scale correlated positively with measures of harsh social attitude such as individual attitudes toward poverty and harsh attitudes toward individuals that have suffered economic hardship (lucas et al., 2011). aff the third section comprised items to measure support for aff. the items were drawn from the aff scale by ashanti (2008). seven items assessed the extent to which students are supportive of aff in college and university admissions in the country. items were modified to particularly suit the context of this study. for example, the statement “i believe the supreme court was wise to uphold affirmative action in college and university admissions” was modified https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 72 as “i believe the laws of the country was wise to uphold affirmative action in college and university admissions”. aff’s definition/description and specific examples were also provided to aid the students’ understanding of the concept. the scale used a 7point rating scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) with higher scores indicating higher support for aff. ashanti (2008) reported internal consistency of .98 as measured by cronbach’s alpha. sdo sdo was measured with four items from the eight-item egalitarianism dimension of the sdo7 scale developed by ho et al. (2017) in the fourth section. these items measure an individual’s opposition to equality between groups. only four items were selected for this study because prior studies (olonisakin, 2019) found the remaining four items to demonstrate poor fit among student populations. items were rated on a 7 point rating scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) with higher scores indicating greater opposition to social equality. sample items are “we should work to give all groups an equal chance to succeed” and “group equality should be our ideal”. all items are reverse-scored. olonisakin (2019) reported a cronbach’s alpha of .84. this measure is positively associated with a tendency to justify the system (olonisakin, 2019) and harsh social attitudes such as ingroup-centeredness and ingroup exclusivity (olonisakin & adebayo, 2021). demographic data in addition to the preceding measures, participants were asked to report their sex, age, discipline, ethnic group, religion, and level of study in the last section of the questionnaire. data collection technique participants were invited through their course lecturers and assembled in a lecture hall. they were informed that the purpose of the research was to investigate social attitudes among university students. it was emphasised that their participation was voluntary and their responses will be kept confidential. the participants signed informed consent forms to indicate their voluntary participation in the study. the questionnaires were individually administered to all participants and they were implored to read the instructions carefully before responding. result data analyses were performed with spss version 20 and amos version 22. pearson’s correlation statistic was used to analyse the relationship between the variables of the study. exploratory factor analysis (efa) and confirmatory factor analysis (cfa) was used to assess the factor structure and validity of the scales used for data collection. structural equation modelling (sem) was used to test the hypotheses in this study. with sem, complex relationships between multiple variables can be modelled and tested simultaneously. data screening first, the data were screened for missing values. there were no missing values in the data set. next, the data set was screened for univariate and multivariate outliers. for univariate outliers’ identification, z-score >/= 3.29 (tabachnick & fidell, 1996) and values that exceed two or three standard deviations from the mean (werner, 2003) criteria were used. for multivariate outlier identification, the mahalanobis distance was computed for each case. cases with p < .001 were considered as multivariate outliers. univariate and multivariate outlier identification led to the https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 73 exclusion of 14 cases from the final analysis. assumption of normality of data was verified with skewness and kurtosis. kim (2013) recommends that a skewness value greater than two and a kurtosis value greater than seven would indicate “substantial non-normality” of the data set. assumption of normality was fulfilled for the data set (see table 2). descriptive statistics and correlations among study variables the descriptive statistics and correlations among the study variables are displayed in table 2. st was positively related to jwb (r = .14, p = .011) and aff (r = .33, p < .01) and negatively with sdo (r = -.30, p < .01). jwb was positively related to aff (r = .19, p < .01) and negatively with sdo (r = -.14, p = .013). aff was negatively related to sdo (r = -.29, p < .01). age and sex were not significantly related to any of the study variables. table 2: means, standard deviations, and correlations between study variables variables 1 2 n=331 3 4 5 6 m sd skew kurt α 1. st 1 25.55 4.79 -.22 -.22 .72 2. jwb .14* 1 18.45 5.87 -.39 -.57 .82 3. aff .33** .19** 1 15.41 4.05 -.51 -.09 .68 4.sdo -.30** -.14* -.29** 1 9.75 6.01 .97 .09 .81 5.age -.04 -.08 .07 .09 1 21.57 2.62 6.sex .03 -.04 -.03 .06 note: st: self-transcendence. jwb: just-world belief. aff: affirmative action. sdo: social dominance orientation. sex: male (1), female (2). skew: skewness. kurt: kurtosis. * p < .05 ** p < .01. measurement model in order to ascertain the structure and validity of research instruments, an efa and cfa were conducted to test a measurement model. first, an efa was conducted on the items of the scales in this study. all items from the four scales were expected to load differently according to their respective latent construct. the maximum likelihood method with oblimin rotation was selected with a specification to suppress item loadings less than .35. analysis revealed that all items for the respective constructs loaded appropriately. items 3 and 5 of the st scale were dropped from the analysis. an examination of items 3 (i believe that on some level my life is intimately tied to all of humankind) and 5 (i believe that death is a doorway to another plane of existence) suggests that participants may have misunderstood the items or could not relate with them or found them ambiguous. also, items 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the aff scale were dropped from the analysis due to poor loadings. upon examining these items, it showed that items 1 and 3 are contrait items. the tendency for contraits items to perform poorly in the setting of the study and particularly among the student population has been previously noted (olonisakin, 2019). examination of items 2 (all colleges and universities should have an affirmative action program) and 4 (it is reasonable for colleges and universities to give special consideration for admission to minorities) on the hand revealed that these two items may not have been relatable for the students for the following reasons. first, the aff concerning education within the country is enforced through federal laws and regulations and not on an institutional basis. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 74 second aff is geared towards the representativeness of different states/ethnic groups rather than a specific focus on minority group considerations. another efa was run excluding the items with poor fit. the factor loadings for the st scale ranged from .38 to.77; jwb .61 to .79, aff .47 to .89 and sdo .58 to .86. the internal consistency of the scales as measured by cronbach’s alpha was .72, .82, .68, and .81 respectively. next, a cfa was conducted on the measurement model. items were entered into the model to load on their latent constructs. kline (2005) recommends the use of four fit indices of chisquare, cfi, rmsea, and srmr to determine model fit. the error terms between items 1 and 2 of jwb and between items 1 and 2 of sdo respectively were covaried to improve model fit. analysis showed the model (figure 1) to have a relatively good fit as indicated by the following fit indices: χ2 = 228.644, df= 127, χ2/df = 1.80, p < .001, cfi = .94, rmsea = .05, [90% ci = (.04, .06)], srmr = .06. these fit indices meet the standards recommended in literature (cangur & ercan, 2015; hu & bentler, 1999; kline, 2011). the measurement model is presented in fig 1. figure 1: measurement model to test the hypotheses in this study a sem was conducted. sem using maximum likelihood estimation was used in testing the predictive influence of the independent variables on the outcome variables. the combined measurement and structural model (figure 2) used in testing the study hypotheses achieved good fit; χ2 = 242.547, df= 128, χ2/df = 1.89, p < .001, cfi = .93, https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 75 rmsea = .05, [90% ci = (.04, .06)], srmr = .06. results showing standardized regression weights (table 3) indicated that st positively predicted support for aff [β = .33, p < .001] and negatively predicted sdo [β = -.33, p < .001] thus confirming hypothesis one. on the other hand, jwb positively predicted support for aff [β = .23, p = .002] but was not significant for sdo [β = -.08, p = .202]. thus, hypothesis two was partly supported. st and jwb predicted 16.6% [d = .19] of the variance in support for aff and 11.8% [d = .13] of the variance in sdo. furthermore, an invariance test was conducted to examine if the structural model would be influenced by sex. analysis showed the structural model to be invariant across sex. although the constrained model [χ2 = 398.88, df= 256, χ2/df = 1.56, p < .001, cfi = .91, rmsea = .04, [90% ci = (.03, .05)] srmr = .08] achieved poor fit relative to to the unconstrained model, the chisquare difference was not significant. furthermore, path by path analysis revealed no significant difference between males and females. regardless of the invariance found, the analysis showed that st predicted higher support for aff among males [β = .39, p = .005] relative to females [β = .30, p = .002]. also, it predicted less sdo among females [β = -.34, p < .001] relative to males [β = -.29, p = .02]. jwb predicted higher support for aff among males [β = .24, p = .05] relative to females [β = .19, p = .02]. figure 2: combined measurement and structural model: path analysis from st and jwb to aff and sdo https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 76 table 3: regression paths from st and jwb to aff and sdo iv dv cr se p β st aff 4.11 .08 <.001 .33 st sdo -4.60 .09 <.001 -.33 jwb aff 3.14 .06 .002 .23 jwb sdo -1.28 .07 .202 -.08 note: st: self-transcendence. jwb: just-world belief. aff: affirmative action. sdo: social dominance orientation. iv: independent variable. dv: dependent variable. cr: critical ratio. se: standard error. discussion the authors set out to examine the roles of worldviews in social attitudes. st and jwb were examined in relation to support for aff and sdo. two hypotheses were formulated of which one was fully supported while the other was partly supported. data analysis revealed that st predicts more support for aff and less sdo. this means that st beliefs are associated with greater other-concern. this relationship might be based on the perception that if other people experience well-being such wellness will transcend the individual to impact others positively. as such transcendent belief is likely to motivate a commitment to being fair to others or doing right by others. this could include supporting actions or policies that aim to improve the welfare of disadvantaged groups. in the same vein, st embodies feelings of compassion and gratitude for one’s life outcomes or situations (oriol et al., 2020; stellar et al., 2017). feelings of gratitude for achievements have been linked to more prosocial behaviours (alkozei et al., 2018; piff et al., 2015). gratitude is said to stem from the perception that one has benefited from other people’s efforts (mccullough et al., 2001). therefore, feeling grateful for what one has and believing personal achievements to be part of a transcendent reality may motivate wanting to support others and disapproving policies or processes that disfavour some groups. the pattern of relationship between st and support for aff and sdo is supported by research findings that have linked st to empathy towards other people and prosocial behaviour (ardenghi et al., 2021; łowicki et al., 2020; pantaléon et al., 2019; sugiura et al., 2020). furthermore, jwb showed a direct relationship with support for aff. with a belief in a justworld, support for aff is likely to increase. this finding could be situated within the viewpoint that a belief in a just-world is inclusive of a belief in the principle of reciprocity, such as “what goes around comes around” (feldmanhall et al., 2018; hafer, 2000; lerner, 1980). this suggests that one might commit to favourable acts towards others in expectation of a reward. this is supported by the evolutionary perspective which identifies “probability of reciprocation” as one of the conditions under which altruism evolved (stevens & duque, 2016). as such jwb would also include a belief that “if one does good then one deserves good” or “good things happen to good people and bad things to bad people” (feldmanhall et al., 2018; hafer, 2000; lerner, 1980). the inclusiveness of the principle of reciprocity in jwb as the mechanism through which jwb is related to other-concern is supported by theoretical and empirical research findings linking other-concern to self-interest or personal gain (feldmanhall et al., 2018; melamed et al., 2020; https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 77 molleman et al., 2013; simpson et al., 2018). for example, feldmanhall et al. (2018) assert that reciprocity is the mechanism that motivates compliance with social norms such as fairness, altruism, trust, and cooperation. this pathway to compliance occurs through learning that there are societal devices for rewarding compliance and punishing deviants. thus, individuals could engage in prosocial acts just to avoid the negative consequences of not doing so. likewise, melamed et al. (2020) found that reciprocity influenced the amount an individual gives to others. specifically, the authors found that when an alter will subsequently be in a position to reciprocate an act of giving, participants gave more. also, the amount given to an alter was directly associated with the number of others present. this suggests that people might derive satisfaction from being observed when gifting others. another plausible explanation for this finding asides from the self-interest hypothesis is that jwb can also be linked to other-concern through the cognitive evaluation that humans are also responsible for creating outcomes for other people (feldmanhall et al., 2018; stroebe et al., 2015). this could consequently drive a commitment towards concern or ensuring justice for other people. in addition, encountering the misfortunes of others can motivate a desire to restore justice and improve outcomes for those people (andre & velasquez, 2015; lerner, 1980). for the relationship between jwb and sdo, although bivariate analysis shows a significant negative relationship between them, jwb was not a significant predictor of sdo. nevertheless, this result supports the hypothesised positive link between a jwb and other-concern. in addition, st and jwb exerted more influence on support for aff among males than females. this result could be attributed to females being inherently more orientated towards care for others than males. females have been shown to be more empathic and tolerant because socialisation for females emphasises the ethics or morals of care (ardenghi et al., 2021; schwartz & rubel, 2005). lastly, age and gender were not associated with st, jwb, aff, and sdo. implications of findings the findings of this study suggest that the worldviews which people hold exert influence on their social and political attitudes. the university is comprised of people from all walks of life. this study, therefore, illuminates factors that could be implicated in intolerance and conflict between groups in an educational setting. hence, findings can assist in the understanding and management of conflicts among students. this would go a long way in creating a conducive learning environment and improving learning outcomes for all students particularly those from disadvantaged groups. perception and acceptance of educational policies on aff for disadvantaged groups by individuals of dominant/ privileged majority group could be dependent on the individual’s sensitivity such as their perception of world order and how such prescribes how one ought to behave towards fellow humans. knowledge of such sensitivities could play an important role in designing strategies to break down resistance to aff policies. furthermore, the university houses students who would eventually preside and govern societal processes including those that concern social inequality and justice for all persons and groups. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 78 as such attitude change regarding social equity and social injustice could be inculcated in school curriculums to encourage the development of positive attitudes towards fairness and inclusion. equity, fairness, and justice are ideals aimed for in every democratic society. since worldviews are learnt and are reflected in a society’s culture, societal level attitude change through revamping worldviews that endorses social inequity/inequality might be a way to ensure social learning of other-concern. in conclusion, the findings of this study contribute to the literature on worldviews and social attitudes and their possible implications for the acceptance of social policies on social equity, equality, and inclusion. limitations of the study and directions future research the participants in this study were undergraduate students drawn from within one university. this affects the generalizability of the findings to the larger population. nonetheless, participants were drawn from a public university comprised of students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. this, therefore, improves the applicability of findings. future research should explore other worldviews that could have implications for social and political attitudes. also, participants should be drawn from different settings to improve the generalisability of findings. equally, it is important to explore the specific pathways through which worldviews are related to other-concern. acknowledgements the authors appreciate the project supervisees of the 2018/2019 academic session who participated in the data collection for this study. references aerts, d., apostel, l., de moor, b., hellemans, s., maex, e., van belle, h., & van der veken, j. (2007). worldviews from fragmentation to integration. https://www.vub.be/clea/pub/books/worldviews.pdf akhtari, m., bau, n., & laliberté, j. p. (2020). affirmative action and pre-college human capital. national bureau of economic research working paper no. 27779 september 2020 jel no. i21, i24, j15, j24, j48. http://www.nber.org/papers/w27779 alkozei, a., smith, r., & killgore, w. d. (2018). gratitude and subjective wellbeing: a proposal of two causal frameworks. journal of happiness studies, 19, 1519-1542. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9870-1 andre, c. & velasquez, m. (2015, november 3). the just world theory. markkula center for applied ethics. https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decisionmaking/the-just-world-theory/ ardenghi, s., rampoldi, g., bani, m. & & strepparava, m. g. (2021). personal values as early predictors of emotional and cognitive empathy among medical students. current psycholology. advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01373-8 ashanti, e. (2008). social dominance orientation and reactions to affirmative action policies and beneficiaries: a test of the mediating effects of perceptions of race-based inequities and attitudes toward diversity [doctoral dissertation, clemson university]. clemson university, https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/216 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://www.vub.be/clea/pub/books/worldviews.pdf http://www.nber.org/papers/w27779 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9870-1 https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/the-just-world-theory/ https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/the-just-world-theory/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01373-8 https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/216 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 79 bai, j. (2016). perceived support as a predictor of acculturative stress among international students in the united states. journal of international students, 6(1), 93-106. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1083271.pdf bandyopadhyay, s. & green, e. (2018). explaining inter-ethnic and inter-religious marriage in sub-saharan africa cgr working paper 90. centre for globalisation research school of business and management, university of london. http://webspace.qmul.ac.uk/pmartins/cgrwp90.pdf barrett, r. (2021). understanding values, beliefs and worldviews and how they relate to consciousness. barrett academy. https://assets.websitefiles.com/5da907821e9c2c81a986dd1e/60539d5ea6c510c9dbf5cc77_understanding% 20values%2c%20beliefs%20and%20worldviews%20and%20how%20they%20relate%20 to%20consciousness.pdf bègue, l. & charmoillaux, m. & cochet, j. & cury, c. & suremain, f. (2008). altruistic behavior and the bidimensional just world belief. the american journal of psychology, 121(1), 4756. https://doi.org/10.2307/20445443 bierhoff, h. (2002). just world, social responsibility, and helping behavior. in m. ross & d. miller (eds.), the justice motive in everyday life (pp. 189-203). cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511499975.011 bizer, g. y. & hart, j. b. & jekogian, a. m. (2012). belief in a just world and social dominance orientation: evidence for a mediational pathway predicting negative attitudes and discrimination against individuals with mental illness. personality and individual differences 52, 428-432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.002 buchner, a., erdfelder, e, faul, f & lang, a. g. (2019). g*power 3.1.9.4. https://download.cnet.com/g-power/3000-2054_4-10647044.html cangur, s. & ercan, i. (2015). comparison of model fit indices used in structural equation modeling under multivariate normality. journal of modern applied statistical methods, 14(1), 152-167. https://doi.org/10.22237/jmasm/1430453580 caplan, n. a. & stevens, s. g. (2017). step out of the cycle: needs, challenges, and successes of international undergraduates at a us university. english for specific purposes, 46, 1528. cheng, y., nudelman, g., otto, k. & ma, j. (2020). belief in a just world and employee voice behavior: the mediating roles of perceived efficacy and risk. the journal of psychology, 154(2), 129-143. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2019.1670126 crosby, f. j., iyer, a. & sincharoen, s. (2006). understanding affirmative action. annual review of psychology 57, 585-611. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190029 de caroli, m. e. & sagone, e. (2014). belief in a just world, prosocial behavior, and moral disengagement in adolescence. procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 116, 596-600. dhakal, r. (2017). education and health impacts of an affirmative action policy on minorities in india. [dissertations, university of south florida]. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7017 dzansi, d. y. & mogashoa, l. (2013). international students in the classroom: a south african evidence of impact on lecturer and domestic student classroom practices and classroom effectiveness. journal of sociology and social anthropology, 4(3), 227-237. https://doi.org/10.1080/09766634.2013.11885600 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1083271.pdf http://webspace.qmul.ac.uk/pmartins/cgrwp90.pdf https://assets.website-files.com/5da907821e9c2c81a986dd1e/60539d5ea6c510c9dbf5cc77_understanding%20values%2c%20beliefs%20and%20worldviews%20and%20how%20they%20relate%20to%20consciousness.pdf https://assets.website-files.com/5da907821e9c2c81a986dd1e/60539d5ea6c510c9dbf5cc77_understanding%20values%2c%20beliefs%20and%20worldviews%20and%20how%20they%20relate%20to%20consciousness.pdf https://assets.website-files.com/5da907821e9c2c81a986dd1e/60539d5ea6c510c9dbf5cc77_understanding%20values%2c%20beliefs%20and%20worldviews%20and%20how%20they%20relate%20to%20consciousness.pdf https://assets.website-files.com/5da907821e9c2c81a986dd1e/60539d5ea6c510c9dbf5cc77_understanding%20values%2c%20beliefs%20and%20worldviews%20and%20how%20they%20relate%20to%20consciousness.pdf https://doi.org/10.2307/20445443 https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511499975.011 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.002 https://download.cnet.com/g-power/3000-2054_4-10647044.html https://doi.org/10.22237/jmasm/1430453580 https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2019.1670126 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190029 http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7017 https://doi.org/10.1080/09766634.2013.11885600 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 80 feldmanhall, o., son, j., & heffner, j. (2018). norms and the flexibility of moral action. personality neuroscience, 1: e15, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1017/pen.2018.13 flanagan, r. (2020).worldviews: overarching concept, discrete body of knowledge or paradigmatic tool?. journal of religious education 68, 331-344. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40839-020-00113-7 glaser, j. (2005). intergroup bias and inequity: legitimizing beliefs and policy attitudes. social justice research, 18(3). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-005-6825-1 hafer, c. l. j. (2000). do innocent victims threaten the belief in a just world? evidence from a modified stroop task. personality and social psychology, 79(2), 165-73. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.79.2.165 harding, w. g., mcconatha, j. t. & kumar, v. k. (2020). the relationship between just world beliefs and life satisfaction. international journal of environmental research and public health, 17, 6410. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176410 ho, a. k., sidanius, j., kteily, n., sheehy-skeffington, j, pratto, f., henkel, k. e., foels, r., & stewart, a. l. (2017). the nature of social dominance orientation: theorizing and measuring preferences for intergroup inequality using the new sdo 7 scale. journal of personality and social psychology, 109(6), 1003-1028. hu, l. & bentler, p. (1999). cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. structural equation modeling, 6(1), 1-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118 jost, j. t. & hunyady, o. (2005). antecedents and consequences of system-justifying ideologies. current directions in psychological science, 14(5), 260-265. kim, h. (2013). statistical notes for clinical researchers: assessing normal distribution (2) using skewness and kurtosis. restorative dentistry and endodontics, 38(1), 52-54. http://dx.doi.org/10.5395/rde.2013.38.1.52 kleppestø, t. h., czajkowski, n. o., vassend, o., røysamb, e., eftedal, n. h., sheehyskeffington, j., kunst, j. r., & thomsen, l. (2019). correlations between social dominance orientation and political attitudes reflect common genetic underpinning. proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america, 116(36), 17741-17746. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1818711116 kline, r. b. (2005). principles and practice of structural equation modeling. the guilford press. kline, r. b. (2011). principles and practices of structural equation modelling (3rd ed.). the guilford press. koea, j, rahiri, j. l., & ronald, m. (2021). affirmative action programmes in postgraduate medical and surgical traininga narrative review. medical education, 55, 314321. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14350 kpmg. (2016). assessing the impact of right to education act. https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/03/assessing-the-impact-of-rightto-education-act.pdf landström s., strömwall l. a., & alfredsson h. (2015). blame attributions in sexual crimes: effects of belief in a just world and victim behavior. nordic psycholology, 68, 2-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/19012276.2015.1026921 lau, w. w. f., hui, c. h., lam, j., lau, e. y. y., ng, d. & cheung, s. (2015). psychometric evaluation of the spiritual transcendence scale in a chinese sample: is there factorial https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1017/pen.2018.13 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40839-020-00113-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-005-6825-1 https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.79.2.165 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176410 https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118 http://dx.doi.org/10.5395/rde.2013.38.1.52 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1818711116 https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14350 https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/03/assessing-the-impact-of-right-to-education-act.pdf https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/03/assessing-the-impact-of-right-to-education-act.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/19012276.2015.1026921 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 81 invariance across gender, occupation, and religion? the international journal for the psychology of religion, 26, 136-51. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508619.2015.1021654 lerner, m. j. (1980). the belief in a just world: a fundamental delusion. springer, 9-30. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0448-5_2 łowicki, p., zajenkowski, m., & cappellen, p. v. (2020). it's the heart that matters: the relationships among cognitive mentalizing ability, emotional empathy, and religiosity. personality and individual differences, 161, 109976. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.109976 lucas, t. (2009). justifying outcomes versus processes: procedural and distributive justice beliefs as predictors of positive and negative affectivity. current psychology, 28(4), 249265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-009-9066-x lucas, t., alexander, s., firestone, i. j., & lebreton, j. m. (2007). development and initial validation of a procedural and distributive just world measure. personality and individual differences, 43(1), 71-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.11.008 lucas, t., zhdanova, l. & alexander, s. (2011). procedural and distributive justice beliefs for self and others assessment of a four-factor individual differences model. journal of individual differences, 32(1), 14-25. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000032 mahsa, m. (2020). comparison of acculturation and social support among the depressed and nondepressed international students [master’s thesis, near east university]. http://docs.neu.edu.tr/library/6842089900.pdf mccullough, m. e., kilpatrick, s. d., emmons, r. a., & larson, d. b. (2001). is gratitude a moral affect? psychological bulletin, 127(2), 249-266. https://doi.org/10.1037/00332909.127.2.249 mebane, m. e., aiello, a., & francescato, d. (2020). political gender gap and social dominance orientation. politics and elections, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92222 melamed, d., simpson, b., & abernathy, j. (2020). the robustness of reciprocity: experimental evidence that each form of reciprocity is robust to the presence of other forms of reciprocity. science advances, 6(23), eaba0504. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba0504 molleman, l., van den broek, e. & egas, m. (2013). personal experience and reputation interact in human decisions to help reciprocally. proceedings biological sciences, 280(1757), 20123044. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.3044 morgenroth, t. & ryan, m. (2018). quotas and affirmative action: understanding group-based outcomes and attitudes. social and personality psychology compass, 3, e12374. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12374 nilsson, a., & jost, j. t. (2020). rediscovering tomkins’ polarity theory: humanism, normativism, and the psychological basis of left-right ideological conflict in the u.s. and sweden. plos one 15(7), e0236627. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal olonisakin, t. t. (2019). motivated cognitions, xenophobia and ethnocentrism: the moderating roles of cultural intelligence ad group status [doctoral dissertation, ekiti state university]. olonisakin, t. t. & adebayo, s. o. (2021). xenophobia: scale development and validation. journal of contemporary african studies. advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2020.1853686 oriol, x., unanue, j., miranda, r., amutio, a. & bazán, c. (2020). self-transcendent aspirations and life satisfaction: the moderated mediation role of gratitude considering conditional https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1080/10508619.2015.1021654 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0448-5_2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.109976 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-009-9066-x https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000032 http://docs.neu.edu.tr/library/6842089900.pdf https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.2.249 https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.2.249 https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92222 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba0504 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.3044 https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12374 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2020.1853686 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 82 effects of affective and cognitive empathy. frontiers in psychology, 11, 2105. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02105 pantaléon, n., chataigné, c., bonardi, c. & long, t. (2019). human values priorities: effects of self-centredness and age. journal of beliefs & values, 40(2), 172-186. https://doi.org/10.1080/13617672.2018.1554880 piedmont, r. l. (1999). does spirituality represent the sixth factor of personality? spiritual transcendence and the five-factor model. journal of personality, 67(6), 985-1013. https:// doi.org/10.1111/1467-6494.00080 piedmont, r. l. (2010). assessment of spirituality and religious sentiments, technical manual (2nd ed.). timonium. piedmont, r. l. (2012). overview and development of measure of numinous constructs: the assessment of spirituality and religious sentiments (aspires) scale. in l. j. miller (ed.), the oxford handbook of psychology and spirituality (pp. 104-122). oxford university press. piff, p. k., dietze, p., feinberg, m., stancato, d. m., & keltner, d. (2015). sublime sociality: how awe promotes prosocial behavior through the small self. journal of personality and social psychology, 108(6), 883-899. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000018 piotrowski, j. p., żemojtel-piotrowska, m. a., piedmont, r., baran, t., & skrzypińska, k. (2019). the assessment of spirituality and religious sentiments (aspires) scale: examining a spiritual transcendence nomological net in polish context. psychology of religion and spirituality, 13(1), 36-45. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000273 pratto, f., sidanius, j. & levin, s. (2006). social dominance theory and the dynamics of intergroup relations: taking stock and looking forward. european review of social psychology, 17, 271-320. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463280601055772 pratto, f., sidanius, j., stallworth, l. m. & malle, b. f. (1994). social dominance orientation: a personality variable predicting social and political attitudes. journal of personality and social psychology, 67(4), 741-763. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.67.4.741 ratshilaya, a. j. (2017). exploring the social and academic experiences of international students in south african universities. https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/67887/ratshilaya_exploring_2017.p df?sequence=1&isallowed=y scacco, a. & warren, s. s. (2018). can social contact reduce prejudice and discrimination? evidence from a field experiment in nigeria. american political science review, 112(3), 654-677. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055418000151 schwartz, s. h., & rubel, t. (2005). sex differences in value priorities: cross-cultural and multimethod studies. journal of personality and social psychology, 89(6), 1010-1028. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.1010 simkin, h., & piedmont, r. l. (2018). adaptation and validation of the assessment of spirituality and religious sentiments (aspires) scale short form into spanish. revista latinoamericana de psicología positiva, 4, 97–107. https://www.academia.edu/40357553/adaptation_and_validation_of_the_assessment _of_spirituality_and_religious_sentiments_aspires_scale_short_form_into_spanish simpson, b., harrell, a., melamed, d., heiserman, n., negraia, d. v. (2018). the roots of reciprocity: gratitude and reputation in generalized exchange systems. american sociological review, 83(1), 88-110. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122417747290 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02105 https://doi.org/10.1080/13617672.2018.1554880 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000018 https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000273 https://doi.org/10.1080/10463280601055772 https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.67.4.741 https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/67887/ratshilaya_exploring_2017.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/67887/ratshilaya_exploring_2017.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055418000151 https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.1010 https://www.academia.edu/40357553/adaptation_and_validation_of_the_assessment_of_spirituality_and_religious_sentiments_aspires_scale_short_form_into_spanish https://www.academia.edu/40357553/adaptation_and_validation_of_the_assessment_of_spirituality_and_religious_sentiments_aspires_scale_short_form_into_spanish https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122417747290 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 olonisakin, t. t. et al., social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 83 stellar, j. e., gordon, a. m., piff, p. k., cordaro, d., anderson, c. l., bai, y., maruskin, l. a. & keltner, d. (2017). self-transcendent emotions and their social functions: compassion, gratitude, and awe bind us to others through prosociality. emotion review, 9(3), 200207. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073916684557 stevens, j. r. & duque, j. f. (2016). psychology of reciprocal altruism. in t. k. shackelford & v. a. weekes-shackelford (eds.), encyclopedia of evolutionary psychological science. springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3051-1 stroebe, k., postmes, t., täuber, s., stegeman, a., & john, m. (2015). belief in a just what? demystifying just world beliefs by distinguishing sources of justice. plos one, 10(3), e0120145. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120145 sugiura, m., nouchi, r., honda, a., sato, s., abe, t., & imamura, f. (2020). survival-oriented personality factors are associated with various types of social support in an emergency disaster situation. plos one 15(2), e0228875. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228875 tabachnick, b. g., & fidell, l. s. (1996). using multivariate statistics (3rd ed.). harpercollins. verkuyten, m, yogeeswaran, k, adelman, l. (2019). toleration and prejudice‐reduction: two ways of improving intergroup relations. european journal of social psychology, 50, 239255. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2624 wakslak, c., jost, j. t., tyler, t. r., & chen, e. (2007). moral outrage mediates the dampening effect of system justification on support for redistributive social policies. psychological science, 18(3), 267-274. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01887.x werner, m. (2003). identification of multivariate outliers in large data sets [doctoral dissertation, university of colorado ]. http://math.ucdenver.edu/graduate/thesis/werner_thesis.pdf yaden, d. b., haidt, j., hood, r. w., vago, d. r., & newberg, a. b. (2017). the varieties of selftranscendent experience. review of general psychology, 21(2), 143-160. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000102 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073916684557 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3051-1 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120145 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228875 https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2624 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01887.x http://math.ucdenver.edu/graduate/thesis/werner_thesis.pdf https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000102 journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 23 why teachers must defend the first amendment? james moore* cleveland state university *corresponding author: j.moore2@csuohio.edu received : 2018-09-28 accepted : 2018-12-01 how to cite this paper: moore, j., (2018). why teachers must defend the first amendment? journal of culture and values in education, 1(2), 23-41. abstract freedom of expression is a central tenet of american democracy and is essential to civic education in k-12 schools and universities. freedom of expression is crucial to individual liberty, participatory democracy, scientific advancement, and protects citizens from governmental overreach. all citizens have the right to freedom of speech, press, religion, petition, and assembly under the first amendment of the united states constitution. they must have the ability to acquire information, scientific evidence, historical facts, and dissenting opinions on all public issues to make informed and intelligent choices regarding policies, laws, and political candidates. this includes citizens’ rights to express radical, offensive, and controversial ideas that may be unpopular with the government or special interest groups. however, freedom of expression is under attack in universities, the institutions ostensibly committed to protecting the first amendment and academic freedom. in fact, many educational institutions have established speech codes that prevent individuals from making controversial, radical, and offensive statements about individuals or groups based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other classifications. therefore, it is incumbent upon educators to defend the first amendment in k-12 schools and universities. unconstitutional speech codes, overt attempts at censoring students’ rights, and institutional efforts to silence dissenting views are anathema to democracy and social studies education. this article will examine these issues and offer strategies to combat censorship in educational institutions. keywords: first amendment, democracy, liberty, social studies, censorship, teachers introduction on february 1, 2017, a group of protesters—including a small number of rioters engaging in criminal vandalism and battery—succeeded in forcing the university of california at berkley to cancel a planned speech by milo yiannopoulos. the college republicans invited the conservative and controversial editor at breitbart news to discuss his political views (foundation for individual rights in education, 2017). the protesters smashed windows, removed barricades, threw rocks and fireworks at police, and threw molotov cocktails that ignited fires. moreover, six people suffered non-life threatening injuries and the rioting caused $100,000 in property damage (park & lah, 2017). there is no evidence that berkley officials attempted to prevent yiannopoulos from speaking; however, there are questions regarding journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 24 berkley’s response to the rioters and their inability to protect yiannopoulos and his audience (park & lah, 2017). the berkley event is hardly the first time that protesters and rioters have been able to shut down speech by threatening violence, mob censorship, or other methods to disrupt controversial speakers on american campuses. furthermore, there have been numerous examples of secondary school students having their first amendment rights violated by school officials (paulson, 2014). the united states is experiencing a cultural divide among liberals, conservatives, and others on the ideological spectrum; opposing political values over free speech and the first amendment, the role of government, immigration issues, and racial and gender issues animate this significant, and rancorous, division among americans. in fact, many educational institutions have established speech codes that prevent individuals from making controversial, radical, and offensive statements about individuals or groups based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other classifications (american library association, 2017; foundation for individual rights in education, 2018; keierleber, 2015; powers, 2015). ostensibly, the purpose of these speech codes is to ensure that “hate speech”— often defined “as hostile or prejudicial attitudes expressed toward another person’s or group’s characteristics, notably sex, race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation” (dye 2011, p. 508) — are prohibited in the name of tolerance, diversity, and equality. advocates of these prohibitions on freedom of expression assert the need to protect historically disenfranchised groups from prejudiced remarks, racial hatred, hurt feelings, and incivility (powers, 2015). increasingly, many students believe that they have a constitutional right to avoid confrontation with ideas that might cause emotional upset or question their moral universe. this is anathema to a liberal arts education and is incompatible with a pluralistic democracy. however, the central constitutional problem with the vast majority of speech codes, as well as blasphemy laws that prevent criticism of religious ideas, rituals, figures, and practices, is that they are a violation of the first amendment (foundation for individual rights in education, 2018, 2013; haynes 2013; saxe v. state college area school district, 2001). furthermore, these speech codes—if enforced—would have a devastating impact on social studies education in secondary schools. social studies themes, such as war, equality, racial discrimination, poverty, religion, the proper size and scope of government, and many others, are inherently controversial topics that generate passionate debate and motivate individuals to exercise their constitutional rights to political activism via voting, protesting, lobbying congress, filing lawsuits, and freely expressing their views in multiple forums. indeed, censoring ideas, values, beliefs, attitudes, and opinions—no matter how controversial, extreme, offensive, or repugnant they may be—is anathema to a free society and a direct threat to american democracy (foundation for individual rights in education, 2018, 2013; haynes, 2013; paulson, 2014). this article will describe the importance of freedom of expression, and its limited exceptions crafted by judicial review, to american democracy. furthermore, the article will examine the first amendment in universities and secondary schools, including several examples of specific cases in which authorities violated students’ first amendment rights. finally, the article will journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 25 provide guidelines for secondary social studies teachers on how to safeguard students’ rights and teach about the first amendment, specifically freedom of expression, in a pedagogically sound manner that comports with constitutional law. the first amendment: essential to social studies and democracy freedom of expression—defined as the ability to speak, listen, read, write, and publish with very limited government control—is essential to american democracy (dye, 2011; ncss, 2016). expression can be verbal, written, or symbolic and applies to all forms of communication, such as books, newspapers, the internet, radio, art, music, television, and personal contact. citizens cannot acquire information, scientific evidence, and multiple viewpoints that are essential to making intelligent and informed choices regarding political candidates, political parties, and public policies without the first amendment protections of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition (losco & baker, 2017; smolla, 2018). in fact, freedom of expression is crucial to individual liberty and the protection of all individual rights and is a cornerstone of popular sovereignty (smolla, 2018). moreover, freedom of expression is a prerequisite for scientific advancement and intellectual progress; entrenched interests groups try to crush new, dangerous, and radical ideas that pose a threat to the established order. indeed, throughout history, people viewed the ideas of democracy, equality, and individual human rights with hostility (center for civic education, 2009; losco & baker, 2017). contemporary societies continue to debate these competing values and ideas spawned by conflicting religious, cultural, and political worldviews. it is difficult for many people to tolerate ideas, values, and beliefs that they diametrically oppose centered on moral, religious, or political reasons. threats to freedom of expression can emanate from government officials or majorities hostile to minority opinions; therefore, placing basic constitutional rights beyond the reach of majorities demonstrated prudence (center for civic education, 2009; smolla, 2018). hence, individuals are free to express radical, extreme, controversial, and vile opinions irrespective of majority opposition to these views. this is a critical but challenging lesson for secondary and university students to understand: the first amendment protects offensive, controversial, radical, and sacrilegious expression. without this protection, some people would censor political speech, publishing (in print and online), art, literature, music, and other forms of expression. this would have a devastating impact on our democracy; it would retard progress in science, and stifle creativity on multiple fronts. students must learn that personal and educational growth are enhanced when they are exposed to a wide range of ideas, values, and experiences; tolerance must extend beyond race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion to include diversity of thought. however, there are people who argue that the first amendment goes too far in protecting offensive speech. for example, a recent survey found that 40% of millennials (roughly, ages 19 to 35) said that the government should be able to prevent people from making statements that are offensive to minority groups. this is remarkable considering that only 27% of gen xers (ages 36-52) and 24% of baby boomers (ages 52-71) agreed with censorship on this topic (poushter 2015). moreover, there is a significant racial and ethnic divide regarding offensive statements about minority groups, with 38% of non-whites supporting government censorship and 23% of journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 26 non-latino whites in favor of banning offensive speech (poushter, 2015). political affiliation has a dramatic impact on one’s views regarding offensive speech. almost twice as many democrats (35%) said that the government should be able prevent offensive speech against minorities compare with only 18% of republicans. finally, there is a slight difference in views based on educational attainment, with americans possessing a high school diploma or less (31%) arguing that the government should protect minorities from offensive speech compared with 22% of college graduates asserting minority protection (poushter, 2015). overall, 67% of americans say offensive speech is deserving of first amendment protections and the united states is among the supportive countries in the world regarding free speech, freedom of the press and the right to use the internet without government censorship (wike & simmons, 2015). for example, americans are considerably more tolerant of offensive speech compared to europeans; 77% of americans believe that blasphemy should be protected speech; only 57% of england’s citizens think blasphemy deserves protection. less than 50% of citizens in germany, italy, and poland support blasphemous speech (wike, 2016). many factors influence views regarding the first amendment and americans are engaged in passionate debates regarding the boundaries of free expression. it is vital that citizens understand that no constitutional right or liberty is absolute. for example, the united states supreme court, ruling in the district of columbia v. heller (2008), asserted that the second amendment confers on individuals the right to keep and bear arms to protect themselves in public and at home. this controversial 5-4 decision does not mean that individuals can possess other weapons, such as ballistic missiles, weaponized smallpox, or any weapon they choose. one of the purposes of the judicial system is to interpret the constitution and other federal and state laws and establish limitations and exceptions to citizens’ legal rights and obligations (dye, 2011). thus, first amendment protections, like others in the bill of rights and the other seventeen amendments, are subject to judicial scrutiny and political debate among lawyers, politicians, scholars, journalists, and the public. it is important that students understand that laws and limits on behavior are not necessarily an infringement on personal freedoms but rather they serve as the legal and moral foundation balancing individual freedom with social order, safety, and community rights. a society without any laws is not free; it is anarchy accompanied by chaos and barbarism. thus, there several important exceptions to the first amendment protection of freedom of expression. first, incitement to riot and threats of violence are not protected forms of speech; the “clear and present danger” and the “incitement” tests asserts that speech can be prohibited when an obvious and immediate danger exists in a real time situation (center for civic education, 2009). the protection of people from violence becomes paramount in these situations and law enforcement is within their rights to stop speech. (losco & baker, 2017). for example, the supreme court has stated that “true threats as only those statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals” (virginia v. black, 2003).the constitution protects all people from criminal activity and threats. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 27 likewise, harassment — “targeted discriminatory conduct so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively bars the victim’s access to an educational opportunity or benefit” (foundation for individual rights in education, 2013, p. 12) is not protected. furthermore, “fighting words”— language so abusive and incendiary that it might cause the average person to fight—spoken face to face and likely to result in violence are not protected under the first amendment. the supreme court, arguing in chaplinsky v. new hampshire in 1942, asserted that “fighting words” are not an exchange of ideas or opinions and are likely to breach the peace or incite violence and their prohibition to protect social order outweighs free expression concerns. second, defamation is not protected speech. defamation—verbal (slander) or written (libel)— language that is false and hurts someone’s reputation is actionable in the court system (losco & baker, 2017). lying is legal (unless one is under oath, damaging others’ reputations or making false claims in advertising); but false statements must harm an individual and the onus is on the speaker to proof his allegations. truth is an absolute defense to a defamation charge; it is important that students learn to refrain from making false statements and gather evidence before they speak. third, the first amendment does not protect obscenity. this is problematic because defining obscenity has been difficult for the supreme court. the 1973 miller v. california decision argued that the material in question (literature, art, music, scientific, political) must be patently offensive, the material appeals to prurient interest based on contemporary community standards, and lacks artistic, literary, political or scientific value. this is a very high standard designed to protect expression. in the 1982 case of new york v. ferber, the supreme court prohibited child pornography and depicting children under age 18 engaged in any sexual act is a felony regardless of whether the material is obscene. changing community standards and technology—the internet and multiple forms of electronic communication—have presented society and our legal system with a plethora of challenges that are unsolved contemporary issues. cyberbullying, “hate speech,” and internet pornography will continue to challenge the legislative and judicial systems to apply the first amendment. finally, while the government is very limited in proscribing speech based on its content, they have more latitude in regulating the time, place, and manner of speech (center for civic education, 2009). local governments may require permits for protests, rallies, and assemblies; they may regulate the use of loudspeakers, music volume, and sound trucks; establish zoning regulation to protect residents right to quiet and determine if the site is a public forum or nonpublic forum. these regulations ensure safety, balance all competing interests, and minimize disruptions to daily affairs. however, government cannot use these regulations to censor ideas that they find offensive or controversial. narrowly tailored exceptions to freedom of expression attempt to balance the rights of all individuals with the rights of the community and other interested parties. this is difficult in a highly diverse and pluralistic democracy but it is essential to civic engagement and social studies education. however, many universities and secondary schools have established speech codes journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 28 that are unconstitutional and do not comport with any of the established limitations on freedom of expression. free speech under attack in american universities the first amendment protections of religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly applies to all public universities in the united states. the supreme court has consistently ruled that freedom of expression is central to preserving democracy, which depends on an educated population capable of intelligent civic participation. (haynes, 2013). for example, the court, ruling in sweezy v. new hampshire (1957) asserted, “teachers and students must always remain free to inquire, to study, and to evaluate. to gain new maturity and understanding; otherwise our civilization will stagnate and die.” the right to dissent from orthodoxy, question authority, criticize “sacred cows,” debate controversial issues, and form opinions are essential to the democratic processes of lobbying, campaigning, and voting one’s conscience. moreover, freedom of expression is a prerequisite for creating knowledge; scientific, technological, and social progress would be impossible without the right to dissent and question established wisdom. the primary purpose of freedom of expression is to protect radical, controversial, and offensive speech. academic freedom is crucial for a university education and allowing censorship of ideas—even ones viewed as repugnant by many people—is anathema to education in a democratic society (smolla, 2018). in keyishian v. board of regents, state university of new york (1967), the court declared “unconstitutional new york statues and administrative rules designed to prevent employment of subversive teachers and professors in state educational institutions” and asserted the primacy of academic freedom in education. therefore, diversity of thought and opinion—courageous individuals who challenge orthodoxy and “group think”— is needed in all educational institutions (powers, 2015). all ideas on the political spectrum should be welcome in educational settings, exposed to critical scrutiny, and subjected to empirical and rational analysis. this freedom is at the heart of democratic education in the united states. however, over the past several decades, many american universities have implemented campus speech codes, ostensibly designed to protect students from various forms of “hate speech” (fire, 2018). the universities claimed speech codes are necessary to promote tolerance, respect, civility, and diversity on college campuses dedicated to equality. in addition, some groups have used threats and violence to shut down conservative speakers, such as charles murray, at some universities (seelye, 2017). proponents of “hate speech” codes proclaim historically disenfranchised minorities, such as african americans, latinos, and native americans have been the victims of racial/ethnic oppression, segregation, and other forms of discrimination and need protection on campus. indeed, racial, ethnic, and religious bigotry have played a major role in american history (marger, 2016) and the united states has made substantial progress in reducing all forms of discrimination. these efforts include judicial decisions and legislative acts that outlawed school segregation. however, these actions expanded legal protections and rights to all citizens without attempting to prohibit freedom of expression. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 29 while tolerance, respect, and diversity are important educational and social goals, implementing these goals cannot violate the first amendment’s protection of freedom of expression (haynes, 2013). therefore, the courts have struck down many university speech codes (freedom for individual rights in education, 2018). typically, the courts rule that speech codes violate the first amendment because they are vague or overbroad. frequently, the speech codes attempt to censor protected speech and the courts have invalidated them despite universities’ efforts to sanitize the term “speech codes” by calling them “student rights and obligations” or “anti-harassment policies.” normally, these speech codes contain language that prohibits sexist, racist, or anti-homosexual statements deemed offensive or “hate speech.” for example, the university of michigan’s speech code forbade “any behavior that stigmatizes or victimizes any individual on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, creed…and that…creates an intimidating, hostile, or demeaning environment for educational pursuits, employment or participation in university sponsored extra-curricular activities” (doe v. michigan, 1989). the federal district court ruled that this speech code violated the first amendment; universities cannot censor speech because it is offensive. this speech code, if permitted, would not allow a student to state “i don’t accept homosexuality because of my religious beliefs.” enforcing hate speech codes or blasphemy laws would render freedom of expression mute on campus. individuals have a right to make racist, sexist, or blasphemous statements as well as offer radical political and social opinions on all issues, laws, and policies (smolla, 2018). moreover, defining “hate speech” as any speech that is offensive or critical of specific laws, policies, or ideas is unconstitutional (powers, 2015). speech is not synonymous with behavior, and making vulgar, profane, and offensive comments is not synonymous with criminal behaviors. all individuals, regardless of any demographic characteristic, are entitled to protection from criminal acts and equal treatment under the law. universities have an obligation to protect all students, faculty, staff, and visitors from crime and illegal harassment. however, no one is entitled to protection from ideas or speech that offends them. the most effective method to counter offensive speech is with better ideas, empirical evidence, and open discourse. simply calling someone a “racist,” “misogynist,” or “homophobe” may shut down debate—this is the intent for some people who do not tolerate dissent or wish to engage in rational debate—and may indicate a lack of respect for diverse thought (powers, 2015). of course, this defense of the first amendment, supported by a plethora of judicial decisions over the past 60 years, is not an endorsement of incivility, intolerance, or disrespectful language. educators should support civility, rational dialogue, tolerance for dissenting opinions, and respect for evidence in classrooms. nevertheless, these virtues do not supersede the core american ideal of freedom of expression. many universities disregard the judicial decisions that have struck down speech codes and continue to violate students’ rights. for example, many universities have prevented individuals from wearing halloween costumes that are “demeaning,” “offensive,” or engage in “cultural appropriation” (using artifacts, ideas, or material items from another culture. of course, these bans on halloween costumes are journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 30 unconstitutional and no one can be punished for their costumes, even if they are deemed offensive (morey, 2018). in 2018, according to the foundation for individual rights in education (an organization that monitors first amendment violations in american universities), reviewed 461 universities and found that 149 (32.3%) schools received a “red light” rating (foundation for individual rights in education, 2018b, p.6). this indicates these schools maintain highly restrictive speech codes that “clearly and substantially prohibit constitutionally protected speech” (p. 4). two-hundred and seventy universities earned a “yellow light” rating (58.5%). this rating indicates that these universities maintain policies that restrict freedom of expression, albeit to a lesser extent and in relatively narrower categories compared to “red light” universities. thirty-five schools earned a “green light” rating (7.6%). this rating indicates that a school has written policies that do not pose a serious threat to freedom of expression (p. 6). overall, there has been a decline in the number of universities earning a “red light” ranking and the number of schools with a “green light” ranking have quadrupled from eight schools in 2008 to thirty-five in 2018 (p. 6). despite the continual decline in speech codes, threats to freedom of expression remain a serious issue across the country. demands for censorship are ubiquitous and many universities, including some that have lost judicial cases on first amendment law, continue to maintain unconstitutional speech codes. advocates of extensive first amendment rights suggest educating secondary and university students about their rights and defending them using the courts and other pro-speech organizations. this is important to combat unlawful speech codes that pose a threat to democracy and education in the united states (foundation for individual rights in education, 2018b, p. 24). freedom of expression in secondary schools secondary school students have first amendment rights in public schools, but these rights are more restricted than university students because secondary students are minors, they are a “captive audience”, and they have fewer legal responsibilities than university students (haynes, chaltain, ferguson, hudson, & thomas, 2003; hudson, 2018). if school administrators can rationally predict that a substantial disruption may occur, or if the student expression is a true threat, schools can constrict student speech to ensure safety. violence is always a concern in high schools, where immature students often lack self-control and rival gangs may present serious threats to safety and order. in 1967, the supreme court ruled in re gault that minors have distinct rights under the constitution; this was a significant case because prior to this ruling the law generally regarded children as the property of the parents (jacobs, 2008). the case concerned the rights of a 15year-old boy arrested in arizona for making obscene phone calls and sentenced to juvenile detention until he was 21 years old. (an adult charged with the same crime could face two months in jail and/or a $50 fine.) there was no appeal in juvenile cases in arizona at that time and gault’s legal team appealed to the u.s. supreme court; the court ruled that juveniles are entitled to procedural due process under the fifth and fourteenth amendments to the constitution. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 31 in 1969, the supreme court ruled that a des moines high school infringed on the first amendment rights of mary beth tinker, john tinker, and chris eckhardt when the students were suspended for not removing the black armbands they wore to school to protest the vietnam war (tinker v. des moines independent school district, 1969). the supreme court found that the students’ wearing armbands did not cause any violence or disruption to order or discipline. however, balancing first amendment protections with the right of the school to protect all students from violence and ensure a safe learning environment is important. subsequent judicial decisions against a student using profanity and offensive terms in a school speech (bethel school district v. fraser, 1986), and a ruling against a student advocating for illegal drug use (frederick v. morse, 2007) demonstrated the limits of freedom of expression in secondary schools. the tinker, bethel school district v. fraser, and frederick v. morse decisions remain seminal cases regarding freedom of expression in public schools and lower courts have cited these cases on school dress codes, jewelry, dyed hair, and other issues. five recent examples from secondary schools will demonstrate the legal complexities facing judicial authorities and school administrators when making decisions on freedom of expression cases. the rise of the internet and all forms of social media—facebook, twitter, snapchat, instagram, you tube, and many others—have made instant communication of information, ideas, news, skyping, and pictures a reality. simultaneously, these computer-based technologies have made cyber-bullying, harassment, the rapid spread of rumors, and direct threats of violence and vengeance major issues in society and schools. furthermore, these technologies have exacerbated challenges faced by judges when deciding freedom of expression cases characterized by legal nuances, special circumstances, multiple uncertainties, and the need for precise legal language. secondary school students have first amendment protections, albeit less than university students and adults, that schools and social studies courses must protect, precisely the places where young citizens should learn their rights and responsibilities in a democracy (paulson, 2014). on april 20, 2012, wolcott high school, located in a suburb of waterbury, connecticut, held a day of silence event to promote awareness of bullying and harassment against homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgendered people (american civil liberties foundation of connecticut, 2014). seth groody, a junior at the school, wore a t-shirt depicting a rainbow (a common symbol of gay rights) with a slash through it to demonstrate his opposition to gay rights and homosexual marriage. no violence or disruption of educational activities based on groody’s tshirt occurred in school. the administration summoned groody and ordered to remove the shirt, which he did under protest. school officials claim they asked him to remove the shirt and he did so of his free volition (american civil liberties foundation of connecticut, 2014). groody and his father contacted the american civil liberties union of connecticut, which sent a letter to the school asking the school to acknowledge groody’s right to wear the shirt, citing the tinker case. the aclu prepared to file a lawsuit on behalf of groody when there was no response from the school for several months. however, in 2013, the school did send a letter to groody affirming his right to wear the anti-gay rights t-shirt, thus negating the filing of the lawsuit by the aclu (american civil liberties foundation of connecticut, 2014). journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 32 symbols, such as confederate flags, swastikas, armbands, and pictures, can arouse powerful emotions, passions, and ideas that can lead to disruptions or even violence in public schools. some people asserted that groody’s anti-gay message is a prime example of hate speech that warrants prohibition. however, interpreting hate speech—for which there is no legal definition in the united states—is difficult and subject to competing ideologies. simultaneously, some argue that simply expressing a political viewpoint on social issues, such as gay rights, affirmative action, welfare, or capital punishment is not hate speech but is precisely the kind of political speech deserving protection in our democracy. in 2014, angelique clark, a student at west career and technical academy in the clark county, nevada school district, wanted to create a “students for life” club that was anti-abortion and committed to educating students about pro-life positions and resources to help pregnant women. clark followed all of the correct procedures—completing and turning in the application signed by a faculty advisor and a list of 25 interested students, more than double the required minimum—and was denied her request by allan yee, the assistant principal (clark v. clark county school district, 2015). yee informed angelique that her request was denied because her proposed club was not inclusive (it would make pro-choice people feel bad and look bad for the school in the media) and that abortion is controversial. moreover, yee stated there are “far more qualified people who know more about abortion than a high school sophomore,” and public schools are “different” when it comes to first amendment rights (clark v. clark county school district, 2015). ms. clark’s high school has a key club, a bible club, and a gay/straight alliance; the school’s decision to deny ms. clark’s request for a pro-life club violated, not only the first amendment, but the 1984 equal access act, which prevents schools that offer a “limited open forum” to deny any student equal access to that forum based on the content of the student’s speech. this law protects students’ freedom of expression and freedom of religion in public schools; students whose expression emanates from religious beliefs are just as entitled to first amendment protection as students whose speech emanates from non-religious beliefs (haynes et al., 2003). in september 2015, west career and technical academy, under threat of judicial action, formally granted clark’s request to start the students for life club. the club, while having a faculty advisor, is a non-school sponsored, student initiated and student-led pro-life group that allows clark and other students to exercise their first amendment rights. regardless of one’s views on the pro-life and pro-choice debate, clark understood her constitutional rights, possessed knowledge of political affairs, researched the law, obtained legal counsel, fought persistently for her rights, and actively engaged in civic participation. this is a primary of social studies education, as defined by the national council for the social studies and the “college, career, and civic life” framework created in 2013. in 2016, the american civil liberties union of tennessee (aclu-tn) announced a settlement in favor of rebecca young, whose shirt promoting homosexual rights earned her discipline from a school administrator. the principal publicly reprimanded young and said wearing the shirt would make her target and provoke other students; young wore the shirt the entire day without journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 33 any disruptions to the educational process or student safety. the giles county, tennessee school system changed its discriminatory dress that banned pro-lgbt speech. this decision, like the clark case, affirms students’ first amendment rights that content-based school restrictions on political speech are unconstitutional. in 1986, the supreme court ruled, in bethel school district no. 403 v. fraser, that schools might prohibit lewd, vulgar, or plainly offensive student speech even if the speech presents very little risk of disrupting the educational process and the speech lacks any social or political content. however, this standard was successfully challenged in 2014 by brianna hawk and kayla martinez; the two girls attended easton area middle school in 2010 and chose to express their support for breast cancer awareness day by wearing bracelets to school that stated “i ❤ boobies (keep a breast)” and had the sponsoring organization’s logo on the bracelet. the keep a breast foundation desires to destigmatize breasts and breast health by using language that appeals to younger people and can get them engaged in honest discussions about breast cancer (b.h. ex rel. hawk v. easton area school district, 2014). however, school officials gave both girls in-school suspensions and prohibited them from attending the school’s winter bawl for refusing to remove the bracelets, which the school banned because they were considered “lewd, vulgar, indecent, and plainly offensive” (b.h. ex rel. hawk v. easton area school district, 2014). the girls sued arguing there were no educational disruptions or threats to student safety and the school illegally violated their first amendment rights to political speech. the third circuit court ruled by a 9-5 vote that the bracelets are protected speech because they speak to a political and social issue, which despite being “ambiguously lewd,” is protected speech. thus, the third circuit court offered a distinction between plainly vulgar, lewd, or offensive speech that schools could prohibit even if it speaks to political and social issues, and speech deemed lewd but comments on political and social issues. the court conceded that its ruling was controversial, complex, and would require school officials and the judiciary to continue to make difficult decisions in future cases; however, the court believed that this was necessary to protect students’ rights and teach them how to reconcile competing ideas in a democracy. finally, a 2012 case generated enormous controversy and outrage when tanya dixon-neely, a social studies teacher in rowan county, north carolina clearly violated the first amendment rights of students in her class (civitas, 2012). the class was debating several political issues when dixon-neely told students that it was a crime to criticize president obama and she prohibited “slander” or “disrespect” toward the president of the united states. the conservation, which was recorded by a student to show dixon-neely does not allow any dissent in her classroom and constantly indoctrinates students, demonstrated that the students did not slander president obama (which, given that he is a public figure, would be extremely difficult to do in this capacity) but simply criticized him and his policies (civitas, 2012). the situation escalated into a shouting match and the student contacted his father; the episode quickly made national news. after an investigation, the school district suspended dixon-neely for ten days without pay and placed her on a professional growth. it is very disconcerting to social studies educators, scholars, lawyers, and secondary school teachers that a social studies journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 34 teacher displayed a blatant disdain for students’ first amendment rights (civitas, 2012). students have a right to be educated in the art of debate and a free and civil discussion of competing ideas, beliefs, and ideologies; dixon-neely betrayed her professional obligations and the basic tenets of social studies education in a free and pluralistic democracy. these examples demonstrate the complex issues that arise when students’ first amendment rights may conflict with the school’s obligation to maintain an orderly and safe learning environment (hudson, 2018). balancing individual rights with community rights is inherent in a pluralistic democracy where individuals and groups have competing interests, values, and diverse political ideologies. yet, studying these university and secondary school first amendment cases provide educators with excellent opportunities to engage students in civic participation. the final section of this paper will describe how educators can teach and defend the first amendment in social studies courses that comport with the law and are pedagogically sound practices. educators: defending and teaching the first amendment combating censorship and illegal speech codes on university campuses and secondary schools is essential for social studies education; democracy and its correlates of liberty, limited government, equal opportunities, and the rule of law must be continually safeguarded via active citizen participation (first amendment center, 2018; haynes et al., 2003; hudson, 2018; ncss, 2016; paulson, 2014; powers, 2015). however, civic participation requires knowledge of the constitution, as well as history, which is replete with examples of authoritarian or totalitarian regimes destroying peoples’ rights. educators and students can take several measures to expose illegal censorship and defend the first amendment in universities and schools. simultaneously, teachers stress the importance of rational discourse, tolerance for dissent, and civility. first, social studies educators must teach about the first amendment in their classes, this is especially true in american history, comprehensive law studies, and american government. these lessons could include a rationale for defending freedom of expression, the narrow exceptions to freedom of expression crafted by the judicial system, examples of numerous freedom of expression cases. generally, the first amendment is relevant and interesting for students because it relates to their lives in terms of political speech, music, art, literature, and other forms of expression (symbolic speech, such as dress codes). moreover, teaching about the first amendment is a superb method for stimulating critical thought, analyzing competing legal and moral claims, understanding diversity of thought and competing interests, sharpening debate skills, and respecting the judicial process for settling disputes. however, studies reveal that students are ignorant or unappreciative of their first amendment rights (dautrich, 2011; first amendment center, 2018); this often allows violations to go unchallenged. apathy and ignorance can be fatal to self-governance and it would be hubris to believe that a lethargic and ill-informed citizenry could long retain its sovereignty. research shows that students receiving instruction regarding the first amendment demonstrated increased tolerance for the expression of radical, unpopular, and controversial opinions; journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 35 however, in 2011, only 64% of students received instruction on the first amendment. this 8% decline from 2007 is disconcerting to first amendment advocates and social studies educators (dautrich, 2011). furthermore, the 2018 state of the first amendment report, a survey of public knowledge and attitudes regarding the first amendment, shows that 40% of respondents could not name a single first amendment freedom (freedom forum institute, 2018, p. 3). moreover, while 56% of all respondents could name freedom of speech, only 15% or less could identify freedom of religion, assembly, press, and petition (p. 3). in a 2017 survey, the first amendment center found twenty-two percent of respondents believed that the first amendment went too far in protecting individual rights (p.2). forty-three percent of respondents asserted that colleges should have the right to ban controversial speakers thus, a significant minority supports speech codes that are anathema to a liberal arts education, which be definition requires dissent, debates, compromises, and a through discussion of radical and controversial ideas. expanding and improving teaching about the first amendment is essential to maintaining and strengthening our increasingly diverse democracy. second, it is essential that colleges and secondary schools that are violating students’ first amendment rights are exposed and forced—via litigation, media coverage, dialogue, and education—to amend their speech code to ensure they comport with the law. the courts have struck down numerous unlawful speech codes in ohio, texas, michigan, and other states (foundation for individual rights in education, 2013). several organizations monitor universities and assist students whose rights have been violated. for example, the foundation for individual rights in education was founded in 1999 for the express purpose of protecting students’ first amendment rights, as well as 14th amendment rights, such as due process and equal protection under the law. the american civil liberties union (aclu) defends the first amendment and accepts cases from individuals or groups that span the political spectrum. the aclu, which often generates praise and condemnation from all points on the political spectrum, will take on controversial causes understanding that the people holding the most radical and offensive views still deserve first amendment protection. it is important that students understand that supporting free speech is not synonymous with supporting the behaviors, attitudes, or values expressed in the speech. the law can place no restrictions on thought, some narrowly tailored exceptions on expression, and numerous restrictions on behavior. the aclu has been very effective in helping secondary school students whose rights have been violated by school administrators or teachers. the american library association’s (ala) office for intellectual freedom provides education for librarians and the public about the importance of freedom of expression in libraries, including freedom of expression utilizing all forms of social media. this is important because book banning is common in public schools and numerous classics—the adventures of huck finn, the catcher in the rye, or controversial topics—have been removed from libraries (ravitch, 2003). throughout american educational history, numerous groups have attempted to control the curriculum, especially in english, science, and social studies courses, to further specific agendas; journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 36 censoring curriculum materials to indoctrinate students into the “correct” view must be resisted by educators (ravitch, 2003; schubert, 1986). finally, it is crucial that all teacher education programs ensure that all teacher candidates acquire a basic knowledge and understanding of the first amendment, as well as the political ideals—democracy, freedom, equality under the law, individual rights and responsibilities— that are the philosophical foundation for the constitution. several organizations (the bill of rights institute, deliberating in a democracy, the center for civic education, civic mission of schools, and the first amendment center) that can provide university professors and secondary school teachers with guidance, lesson plans, interactive activities, first amendment cases, and supreme court decisions. furthermore, these organizations offer a plethora of resources and materials for teaching about the constitution and the bill of rights, including a comprehensive examination of crucial judicial cases. the first amendment in schools (2003), published by the first amendment center, is an excellent guide for all educators regarding students’ and teachers’ rights in public schools. the book contains fifty legal cases, a brief history of the first amendment, and comprehensive information on all five first amendment rights. if teacher candidates are thoroughly prepared to teach the first amendment in social studies courses, their secondary students will receive a proper civic education. moreover, there will be a significant reduction in secondary school students having their rights violated if teachers and administrators know the first amendment and are faithful to the judicial decisions regarding public school students (haynes et al., 2003; hudson, 2018). effective social studies education requires intellectual discourse—research, readings, debates, discussions, simulations, and lectures—that comports with the law and established guidelines from the ncss (2016). the national council for the social studies (ncss 2016) provides guidelines for teachers concerning their rights and responsibilities as professional educators. academic freedom for social studies teachers includes the right and responsibility to study, investigate, present, interpret, discuss, and debate relevant facts, issues, and ideas in fields of the teacher’s professional competence (haynes et al., 2003; hudson, 2018). however, academic freedom, like all freedoms and rights in a democracy are not absolute; teachers’ freedom of expression must concern a public issue and indoctrination must be avoided (ncss, 2016). thus, educators must present multiple and competing views and ideas, this is especially prudent concerning highly combustible controversial issues, and allow students to dissent without any academic or behavioral recriminations. since public schools are not public forums, teachers face more restrictions on freedom of expression than university professors (haynes et al., 2003) do. academic freedom for students in social studies courses provides the right to study, question, interpret, and discuss relevant facts, ideas, and issues under consideration in those courses. these freedoms imply no limitations, within the guidelines of the subject area (ncss, 2016). democracies thrive when open and honest discussions of all ideas, laws, and policies are allowed and dissent and criticism are welcome; no religion or political ideology should be immune to scholarly analysis. educators and students should be free to examine any controversial and complex topic, including all religious traditions and political ideologies in a journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 37 rational manner where they have access to all relevant materials, diverse viewpoints (however controversial they may be), and scholars are committed to the objective pursuit of knowledge. (ncss, 2016). social studies education is inherently controversial and can spark debates, passionate dissent, and inform students about diversity of ideologies, values, and goals. indeed, for many teachers and students, the passion associated with competing ideas that spawns dynamic and intellectually rewarding discussions that makes social studies courses interesting and informative. thus, squashing dissent, requiring intellectual conformity, ostracizing minority or unpopular viewpoints is anathema to social studies education, as well as american law and damages rational civic participation (ncss, 2016). however, it is imperative that all secondary school teachers realize that they have less academic freedom and more restrictions on their first amendment rights than university professors (haynes et al., 2003; hudson, 2018). moreover, the courts have ruled that secondary school classrooms are not public forums and teachers do not have a first amendment right to undermine the established curriculum, and schools have the right to limit teachers’ freedom of expression for legitimate educational reasons (miles v denver public schools, 1991). teachers must avoid indoctrination, present multiple perspectives, and encourage diversity of thought. students, however, are free from this obligation and will benefit from hearing dissenting views from the teacher or other students. in addition, teachers must model civility and teach students to be respectful, calm, rational, and measured in their behavior; this is even more crucial when students and citizens encounter opinions and values they may find morally repugnant. freedom of expression is not a privilege bequeathed to people by a magnanimous government; it is a natural human right deserving protection. furthermore, repressing freedom of expression based on viewpoint discrimination retards scientific progress and the pursuit of truth, diminishes the dignity of individuals, and presents an existential threat to representative democracy (haynes et al.2003; hudson, 2018). educators must defend freedom of expression and teach students to oppose political groups that advocate for unconstitutional censorship. simultaneously, holding school administrators and others who implement policies that violate the first amendment accountable is crucial to protecting academic freedom. the national council for the social studies in their 2007 position paper defending the rights and obligations of social studies teachers supports academic freedom. advocates of censoring speech based on any political ideology, religion, a desire to prevent hurt feelings, protect minority groups, or stifle offensive opinions would do well to remember the words of louis menard — “the censor always rings twice” (schlesinger 1992, p.163). journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 38 references bethel school district # 403 v. fraser, 478 u.s. 675 (1986). center for civic education. (2009). we the people: the citizen and the constitution. calabasas, ca: center for civic education. chaplinsky v. new hampshire, 315 u.s. 568 (1942). district of columbia v. heller, 554 u.s. 570 (2008). doe v. university of michigan, 721 f. supp. 852 (1989). dye, t. r. (2011). politics in america. (9th ed.). new york: longman. haynes, c.c., chaltain, s., ferguson, j.e., hudson, d.l., & thomas, o. (2003). the first amendment in schools. nashville, tn.: the first amendment center. keyishan v. board of regents, state university of n.y. 385 u.s. 589 (1967). losco, j. & baker, r. (2017). am gov. new york: mcgraw-hill education. marger, m.n. (2016). race and ethnic relations: american and global perspectives. (10th ed.). stamford, ct: cengage learning. miles v. denver public schools, 944 f.2d 773 (10th cir. 1991). miller v. california, 413 u.s. 15 (1973). new york v. ferber, 458 u.s. 747 (1982). powers, k. (2015). the silencing: how the left is killing free speech. washington, dc: regnery press. ravitch, d. (2003). the language police: how pressure groups restrict what students learn. new york: knopf. saxe v. state college area school district, 240 f.3d 200 (3rd cir. 2001). schlesinger, a. (1998). the disuniting of america: reflections on a multicultural society. new york: w.w. norton & company. schubert, w.h. (1986). curriculum: perspective, paradigm, and possibility. new york: macmillan publishing company. sweezy v. new hampshire, 354 u.s. 234, 250 (1957). tinker v. des moines independent school district, 393 u.s. 503. virginia v. black, 538 u.s. 343, 359 (2003). web-based references american civil liberties union of connecticut. (2014). groody t-shirt and the wolcott public schools. retrieved from http://www.acluct.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/acluct-freespeech-teacherfinal.pdf american library association. (2017). censorship and first amendment issues. retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/censorshipfirstamendmentissues b.h. ex rel. hawk v. easton area school district (2014). retrieved from http://apps.americanbar.org/ababoards/blog/blogpost.cfm?threadid=28521&catid=14 911 bill of rights institute. (2017). retrieved from www.billofrightsinstitute.org/ center for civic education. (2017). retrieved from http://www.civiced.org/ http://www.acluct.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/acluct-freespeech-teacher-final.pdf http://www.acluct.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/acluct-freespeech-teacher-final.pdf http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/censorshipfirstamendmentissues http://apps.americanbar.org/ababoards/blog/blogpost.cfm?threadid=28521&catid=14911 http://apps.americanbar.org/ababoards/blog/blogpost.cfm?threadid=28521&catid=14911 http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/ http://www.civiced.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 39 clark v. clark county school district (2014). retrieved from https://www.thomasmoresociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/150813-sflawcta-complaint-with-all-exhibits-filed-redacted.pdf civic mission of schools. (2017). civic education. retrieved from www.civicmissionofschools.org civitas institute. (2012). shredding the constitution and redefining slander in our north carolina public schools. retrieved from https://www.nccivitas.org/civitas-review/shredding-the-constitution-and-redefiningslander-in-our-north-carolina-public-schools/ creeley, w. & steinbaugh, a. (2017). after the smoke clears at berkeley, could more have been done? retrieved from https://www.thefire.org/after-the-smoke-clears-at-berkeley-could-more-have-beendone/ dautrich, k. (2011). future of the first amendment: 2011 survey of students and teachers. retrieved from http://www.knightfoundation.org/media/uploads/article_pdfs/future-of-the-firstamendment-2011-full.pdf deliberating in a democracy. (2017). retrieved from www.consitutioncenter.org/education first amendment center. (2018). the 2018 state of the first amendment. retrieved from https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/06/2018_ffi_sofa_report.pdf first amendment center. (2017). retrieved from https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/wpcontent/uploads/2017/06/fac_sofa17_report.pdf foundation for individual rights in education (2018a). state of the law: speech codes. retrieved from https://www.thefire.org/in-court/state-of-the-law-speech-codes/ foundation for individual rights in education (2018b). spotlight on speech codes, 2018: the state of free speech on our nation’s campuses. retrieved from https://d28htnjz2elwuj.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/20151222/firescr-2018-rev.pdf foundation for individual rights in education. (2017). updated statement on violent protest at university of california, berkeley. retrieved from https://www.thefire.org/updated-statement-on-violent-protest-at-university-ofcaliforniaberkeley/ foundation for individual rights in education (2016). california state university, long beach: censorship of play satirizing racial stereotypes. retrieved from https://www.thefire.org/cases/california-state-university-long-beach-censorship-ofplay-satirizing-racial-stereotypes/ foundation for individual rights in education (2013). the state of free speech on our nation’s campuses. retrieved from http://thefire.org/public/pdfs/spotlight_on_speech_codes_2013.pdf?direct frederick v. morse, 551 u.s. 393 (2007). freedom forum. (2018). 2018 state of the first amendment. retrieved from https://www.thomasmoresociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/150813-sfla-wcta-complaint-with-all-exhibits-filed-redacted.pdf https://www.thomasmoresociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/150813-sfla-wcta-complaint-with-all-exhibits-filed-redacted.pdf http://www.civicmissionofschools.org/ https://www.nccivitas.org/civitas-review/shredding-the-constitution-and-redefining-slander-in-our-north-carolina-public-schools/ https://www.nccivitas.org/civitas-review/shredding-the-constitution-and-redefining-slander-in-our-north-carolina-public-schools/ https://www.thefire.org/after-the-smoke-clears-at-berkeley-could-more-have-been-done/ https://www.thefire.org/after-the-smoke-clears-at-berkeley-could-more-have-been-done/ http://www.knightfoundation.org/media/uploads/article_pdfs/future-of-the-first-amendment-2011-full.pdf http://www.knightfoundation.org/media/uploads/article_pdfs/future-of-the-first-amendment-2011-full.pdf http://www.consitutioncenter.org/education https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2018_ffi_sofa_report.pdf https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2018_ffi_sofa_report.pdf https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/fac_sofa17_report.pdf https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/fac_sofa17_report.pdf https://www.thefire.org/in-court/state-of-the-law-speech-codes/ https://d28htnjz2elwuj.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/20151222/fire-scr-2018-rev.pdf https://d28htnjz2elwuj.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/20151222/fire-scr-2018-rev.pdf https://www.thefire.org/updated-statement-on-violent-protest-at-university-of-california-%20berkeley/ https://www.thefire.org/updated-statement-on-violent-protest-at-university-of-california-%20berkeley/ https://www.thefire.org/cases/california-state-university-long-beach-censorship-of-play-satirizing-racial-stereotypes/ https://www.thefire.org/cases/california-state-university-long-beach-censorship-of-play-satirizing-racial-stereotypes/ http://thefire.org/public/pdfs/spotlight_on_speech_codes_2013.pdf?direct journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 40 https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/06/2018_ffi_sofa_report.pdf haynes, c. (2013). on college campuses, zoning out free speech. retrieved from http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/on-college-campuses-zoning-out-free-speech hudson, d. (2018). k-12 public school student overview. retrieved from https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-ofspeech-2/k-12-public-school-student-expression/ hudson, d. (2003). the silencing of student voices: preserving free speech in america’s schools. retrieved from http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/madison/wpcontent/uploads/2011/03/silencing.intro_.pdf jacobs, t. (2008). 10 supreme court cases every teen should know. retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20080915monday.html c keirleber, m. (2015). first amendment lawsuit says student was punished for wearing a tshirt advocating gun rights. retrieved from http://www.splc.org/article/2015/05/first-amendment-lawsuit-says-student-waspunished-for-wearing-a-t-shirt-advocating-gun-rights morey, a. (2018). halloween costumes on college campuses. retrieved from https://www.thefire.org/halloween-costumes-on-college-campuses/ national council for the social studies. (2016). academic freedom and the social studies educator. ncss position statement number186. retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/may-june2016/academicfreedom-and-social-studies-teacher national council for the social studies. (2013). college, career, and civic life (c3) framework for social studies state standards. retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/c3/c3framework park, m. and kyung lah, k. (2017). berkeley protests of yiannopoulos caused $100,000 in damage. retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/01/us/milo-yiannopoulos-berkeley/ paulson, k. (2014). young americans have free-speech rights, too. retrieved from http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/young-americans-have-free-speech-rightstoo/ poushter, j. (2015). 40% of millennials okay with limiting speech offensive to minorities. retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/20/40-of-millennials-ok-withlimiting-speech-offensive-to-minorities/ seelye, k.q. (2017). protesters disrupt speech by ‘bell curve’ author at vermont college. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/us/middlebury-college-charles-murray-bellcurve-protest.html?_r=0 smolla, r.a. (2018). speech overview. retrieved from https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-ofspeech-2/speech-overview/ https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2018_ffi_sofa_report.pdf https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2018_ffi_sofa_report.pdf http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/on-college-campuses-zoning-out-free-speech https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-of-speech-2/k-12-public-school-student-expression/ https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-of-speech-2/k-12-public-school-student-expression/ http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/madison/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/silencing.intro_.pdf http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/madison/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/silencing.intro_.pdf http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20080915monday.htmlc http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20080915monday.htmlc http://www.splc.org/article/2015/05/first-amendment-lawsuit-says-student-was-punished-for-wearing-a-t-shirt-advocating-gun-rights http://www.splc.org/article/2015/05/first-amendment-lawsuit-says-student-was-punished-for-wearing-a-t-shirt-advocating-gun-rights https://www.thefire.org/halloween-costumes-on-college-campuses/ http://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/may-june2016/academic-freedom-and-social-studies-teacher http://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/may-june2016/academic-freedom-and-social-studies-teacher http://www.socialstudies.org/c3/c3framework http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/01/us/milo-yiannopoulos-berkeley/ http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/young-americans-have-free-speech-rights-too/ http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/young-americans-have-free-speech-rights-too/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/20/40-of-millennials-ok-with-limiting-speech-offensive-to-minorities/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/20/40-of-millennials-ok-with-limiting-speech-offensive-to-minorities/ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/us/middlebury-college-charles-murray-bell-curve-protest.html?_r=0 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/us/middlebury-college-charles-murray-bell-curve-protest.html?_r=0 https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-of-speech-2/speech-overview/ https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-of-speech-2/speech-overview/ journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 moore, j., why teachers must defend the first amendment? 41 stranahan, l. (2017). radical berkeley anti-milo protest leader: ‘no regrets’. retrieved from http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/02/06/radical-berkeley-anti-miloprotest-leader-no-regrets/ wike, r. (2016). 5 ways americans and europeans are different. retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/19/5-ways-americans-andeuropeans-are-different/ wike, r. & simmons, k. (2015). global support for principle of free expression, but opposition to some forms of speech. retrieved from http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/11/18/global-support-for-principle-of-freeexpression-but-opposition-to-some-forms-of-speech/ http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/02/06/radical-berkeley-anti-milo-protest-leader-no-regrets/ http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/02/06/radical-berkeley-anti-milo-protest-leader-no-regrets/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/19/5-ways-americans-and-europeans-are-different/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/19/5-ways-americans-and-europeans-are-different/ http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/11/18/global-support-for-principle-of-free-expression-but-opposition-to-some-forms-of-speech/ http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/11/18/global-support-for-principle-of-free-expression-but-opposition-to-some-forms-of-speech/ journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 tarman, b., editorial: 2019 (2)2, i-iii editorial: 2019 (2) 2 bulent tarman, editor-in-chief dear journal of culture and values in education readers and contributors, as the journal of culture and values in education (jcve), we are excited to be with you through the second issue of 2019. we would like to extend our appreciations to all who contributes by submitting or reviewing manuscripts or have been readers of jcve. this is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access academic e-journal for cultural and educational research. the journal is published regular issues twice a year (june & december) in online versions. the overarching goal of the journal is to disseminate origianl research findings that make significant contributions to different areas of education, culture and values of different societies. the aim of the journal is to promote the work of academic researchers in the humanities, cultural studies and education. in addition to our goal of providing free on-line access to the new journal, we also feel strongly about the necessity of its being very high quality. in this current issue, you will find six articles on various topics of education, culture and values of different societies. the first article written by adaobiagu nnemdi obiagu as titled “influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria.” this study is to investigate the influence of teacher's gender and educational background on teacher's implementation of civic education in nigeria. the findings reveal that a high number of civic teachers did not receive prior training in civic education as well as do not engage in lifelong learning or continuous training in civic education and teaching practice. civic teachers do not also actively engage students in civic instructions. a positive relationship exists between teacher’s training in civic education and teacher’s implementation of civic education. the findings of this study were linked to a number of factors including lack of cognition of the power of civic education in constructing, reconstructing and transforming (dys)functional societal ideologies. promotion of lifelong learning among teachers, training of teachers in civic contents and methods, and utilization of ict for instructional purposes were recommended. michael e. houdyshell is the author of the second article entitled as “teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers”. this research is a case study describes the perceptions and beliefs of undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory course on teaching. the author indicates that data from this study is expected to confirm prior research on the reasons why students choose teaching as a profession, and help teacher preparation programs investigate if students’ perceptions about becoming a teacher have changed. results from this study support prior research on why students choose to become teachers, but also explores students views on how society views teaching, the continued salary gap with other professions, and the future of teaching. with the title of “the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university” in the third article, jacob manu and christopher m. owusu-ansah examine the effects of demographic factors on the perception of pre-service teachers (with diploma as their highest level of education) on the teaching and learning of the educational research course during the fall 2017 semester in journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 tarman, b., editorial: 2019 (2)2, i-iii one of the private universities in ghana. the research is concluded that there were significant correlations among age, years of teaching, and statistics anxiety. in the fourth article with the title of “historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format.” rachel lynn wadham, andrew p. garrett garrett and emily n. garrett gathered and analyzed a sampling of 126 titles of historical fiction picture books to assess trends in the genre. the authors found that there were multiple conflicts between the genre and format. there were many books in the sample that struggled with directing the content to a young audience, giving accurate portrayal of race issues, and maintaining general authenticity and accuracy in the writing. there were also some notable examples of historical picture books that did not display these faults, showing that with the right content and approach, historical fiction picture books have the potential to be invaluable tools for teaching children. the last two articles of this current issue are the book reviews: 1ali muhammad bhat reviewed the book written by prof. k. mohammad ayirur: islamic philosophy of education. 2gonca feyza soyer reviewed the book written by urie bronfenbrenner: the ecology of human development. i would like to thank everyone and express my special appreciation to the people who contributed to make this issues ready for you. i especially would like to thank all authors and reviewers for their contribution to jcve. i hope you will both enjoy and be challenged by the articles in this issue of jcve. i also look forward to seeing your contribution to the development of jcve in the future. per say the future, we have already gratefully announced on our website and relevant platforms that the last issue of 2019 will be guest edited by christopher g. robbins and joe bishop with the special theme issue entitled with “opposing exclusionary democracy: culture and values beyond reactionary populism”. dr. robbins and dr. bishop point out that social and political trends in all around the world raise new questions about education, formal and informal, and the pedagogies requisite of a vital, participatory, and inclusionary democracy. with rare exception, analyses of the new populisms largely overlook educational concerns and questions. the co-guest editors are planning to address very imperative following questions through this special theme issue:  what specific events have led to the current, fragmented situation as it plays out in education?  how have reactions against reactionary populism been stifled in educational and other institutions?  what role does one’s economic situation play in the rise of the new populism?  how can a progressive education counter current exclusionary practices in a context of increasing standardization?  how are various circulating values disseminated and countered? journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 tarman, b., editorial: 2019 (2)2, i-iii  why have identity politics superseded every other form of political grievance, and what might be essential pedagogical considerations to make in broadening and linking related but seemingly disparate interests around values and relationships essential to inclusive and participatory democracy?  reactionary populisms make appeals, as the new right in the 1970s and 1980s did, to “values” and a social order on which those values allegedly rested. how can progressive pedagogies reenter values debates and make values claims? what values?  how might progressive pedagogies and analyses consider the ways in which new populisms have co-opted and manipulated left critiques of truth (e.g., alternative facts, fake news)? looking forward to being with you in 2019 issues... sincerely, bulent tarman, (ph.d) editor-in-chief, jcve journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 138 narratives of racial reckoning: oppression, resistance, and inspiration in english classrooms joanelle morales* nick bardo colorado mesa university *corresponding author: jmorales@coloradomesa.edu received : 2020-9-18 accepted : 2020-12-16 doi: 10.46303/jcve.2020.17 how to cite this paper: morales, j. & bardo, n. (2020). narratives of racial reckoning: oppression, resistance, and inspiration in english classrooms. journal of culture and values in education, 3(2), 138-156. doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.17 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract this narrative inquiry traces the experiences of five racially and ethnically diverse english language arts teachers as they move from their university coursework in a teacher education program to their student teaching and then into their first years teaching in a large urban school district in the southeast. through narrative inquiry, these teachers describe how language was/is used as a tool of racial oppression in their professional lives, how language served as resistance to racist discourses in their classrooms, and furthermore how language functioned to inspire through the disruption of racist discourse. these narratives illuminate the intersections of race, ethnicity, language, education, and power and how teachers can both disrupt and sustain canonical narratives and discourses. keywords: english language arts, narrative inquiry, teacher education introduction four years ago, i taught my first english education course at the pseudonymously named laurel oak university titled “methods of teaching english in secondary classrooms: practicum.” what stood out to me the most, beside the blunders and nervousness of teaching preservice teachers for the first time, was a conference meeting i had with a student who expressed a genuine frustration: “i feel like the college of education did not prepare me to teach this population. i was at a loss trying to figure out how to connect to the students.” we discussed how she felt disillusioned because her expectations were not met, how her own schooling experiences did not align with her students, and how unfair it was to observe how the educational system failed the marginalized students. as a white american, it was her first time in a classroom where racially and ethnically, she was the minority. everything seemed foreign, and the methods to teach the racially and culturally diverse population escaped her. this is not uncommon. https://cultureandvalues.org/ mailto:jmorales@coloradomesa.edu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 139 with the steady growth of a racially and ethnically diverse student population in the u.s., projected by 2029 to comprise 56% of total public elementary and secondary school enrollment (national center for education statistics, 2020), it makes sense to demonstrate how language functions by shaping the myriad discourses surrounding the act of teaching and learning, specifically in regard to race and ethnicity, in the secondary english language arts classroom. research has overlooked the voices and complex racial stories of preservice secondary english teachers of color, which could be valuable in understanding how to teach race and racism through english language arts in the college and secondary levels. hollins (2012) reported preservice teachers often feel inadequately prepared to teach students from diverse backgrounds. one reason, sleeter (2001) suggested, is that white teachers cannot relate to their students’ racial backgrounds. when preservice teachers are unable to be cultural brokers between home and schools, they become ineffective in instructing their students of color (villegas & lucas, 2002). my conversation with this student renewed my previous interest towards race and teacher training. the majority of our teachers are middle class white american women (national center for education statistics, 2020), so i wondered: how do preservice teachers, white and non-white, conceptualize race? what are the stories behind their conceptualizations? do these stories of race influence their pedagogy? if we become more cognizant of how the discourses constituting race plays a part in education, would we be able to better prepare preservice teachers to teach culturally diverse students? as a pilipino1 immigrant student who later became a high school english teacher, i wondered why i never thought of these questions before. even though i had always recognized being asian played a part in people questioning my credibility as an english teacher in a predominantly white workforce, i insisted the topic of race did not matter in the classroom. i was not conscious of race’s role as a means of how power is distributed in the educational system, i rarely discussed it, and i am sure i did not implement teaching practices that empowered students through their cultures or what gay (1999) and ladson-billings (2009) would call “culturally relevant pedagogy”. instead, i imitated what i learned in school and in observations, unknowingly supported normative teaching practices informed by eurocentric social constructions, knowledge, and behaviors (lee, 2013). essentially, i unknowingly perpetuated a hegemonic curriculum and mode of pedagogy based upon the norms of the dominant white racial group. in this study, i began to look at the complexities of the ethnic, racial and cultural incongruence between teachers and their students, which lead to an analysis of our ethnoracial identities and their relationship with discursive formations expressed through stories. despite being an asian-american with an immigrant background, i was unconscious of how race or ethnicity2 played a role in my narrative of teaching. i internalized the notion that english literature and the english language and ultimately, white american culture was superior. critical discussion of race did not belong in the english classroom. but, what if 1 a way to reclaim the identity of a person from the philippines from the colonized label of “filipino” (kohli, 2019). 2 i use the terms “race”, generally defined in terms of biological and physical characteristics, and “ethnicity”, generally referenced as groups characterized in terms of common nationality and language, as related concepts associated with culture (betancourt & lopez, 1993). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 140 teacher educators made preservice secondary english teachers critically conscious of racial discourses and how it factored into their pedagogical decisions and worldviews before they set foot in their future classrooms? could reflecting on these discursive formations determine how they would accept or reject the status quo of the ela (english language arts) curriculum and teaching practices? through narrative inquiry, i explored the following research questions: 1. what were the stories behind the beliefs, attitudes, and experiences with regard to race and ethnicity of four secondary english teachers? 2. in what ways did their perceptions of ethnoracial identities inform their practice during their practicum, internship, and first year of teaching? because i positioned myself as a central participant within the story, i also explored the following: 3. how did the english teachers’ stories about race and ethnicity affect my own understandings of my past to inform my present career as a teacher educator in english education? in exploring these questions, i found ways in which discourse surrounding race oppressed, resisted, and inspired ways in which these future teachers and myself approached teaching and learning in both teacher education classes and their first years teaching. purpose of the study i aimed to contribute to the body of knowledge on english teacher education and preservice secondary english teachers’ (pset) critical examination of race. research has suggested that substantive discussions of race and racism are often missing or deemphasized in preservice teacher preparation programs (sleeter, 2017; matias & mackey, 2016; milner, 2017; ladson-billings & tate, 1995; solorzano & yosso, 2002). the purpose of my study was to explore preservice secondary english teachers’ understandings of the complexities of race and racism in education. i aimed to reveal their discourses regarding how they construct and make meaning of their ethnoracial identities and how these identities related to their beliefs and practices as english teachers. i investigated these connections by following them in their journey in the profession. i did this by interviewing the participants before their field experiences and listening to their stories of their racial experiences in education, including accounts of discrimination, self-blame, or invisibility. i observed these individuals in their practicum and re-interviewed them after their internships and their first year of teaching to discern whether and how their subsequent narratives revealed changes in perspective in relation to race in education. did their consciousness of racial discourses play a role in their practice? studies conducted by bieler (2006) and kirkland (2014) have addressed preservice teachers’ perspectives on race, these studies have foregrounded the voices of white teacher candidates. yet, research remains to be done on how preservice teachers of color also narrate the intersection of their racial identities and their experiences of teaching and learning, especially in english education. i highlighted english language arts education because it is a discipline that often gets misinterpreted as a course that endorses division and exclusion, where “proper english” or “canonical literature” frequently favors white male perspectives and values, maintaining a marginalizing status quo (gere, 1992; borsheim-black, macaluso, & petrone, 2014). however, i argued the ela classroom is quite the opposite, not at all insular https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 141 as some may presume and can actually serve as a rich space to welcome all sorts of languages and cultural backgrounds, inspiring a rationale for inclusion and greater awareness. theoretical framework stuart hall’s interpretation of michel foucault’s discursive formation is applicable to the nuanced ways in which knowledge/power applies to everyday life and disciplining how teachers act, talk, and reflect in relation to race (laclau, 1997). according to stuart hall (2001), a discursive formation can be summarized as follows. first, statements are made about a topic by a dominant group, statements that create an “official” knowledge about the said topic. secondly, hall describes “rules” as created prescribing ways of talking about the chosen topic and excluding other ways. these rules also govern what is “sayable” or “thinkable” about the chosen topic at a particular historical moment. third, subjects in some way embody or personify the attributes of the discourse. after that, the process of how this knowledge acquires authority or a sense of embodying the “truth” must be pinpointed. what are the institutional practices for dealing with the subjects, whose conduct is being regulated and organized according to the “rules”? finally, hall acknowledges the historical context of any discourse, citing that a different “truth” will arise at a different historical moment, replacing the existing one, and opening up a new discursive formation. following this discursive epistemological and ontological starting point, the methodology of narrative inquiry is appropriate. through presenting narratives of participants as findings, what is “told” is already a “node within a system of nodes” according to foucault (1972). in other words, for a participant narrative to enter into representation, the possibilities of the narrative are bounded by discursive knowledge in which the narrative functions. that is to say, these molding forces in many ways have already “told” the story before it is told by the participant – the findings underscoring how powerful discourses related to race in the classroom oppress, resist, and inspire in how they are told. a critical literacy framework is also appropriate for considering narratives about race and ethnicity related to the preparation of teaching preservice english language arts teachers. critical literacy, which focuses on how language practices maintain and disrupt power, is an additional approach to social justice in the ela classroom. english teachers, who use reading and writing as the medium to account for multiple differences situated in a particular sociocultural context (jocson, 2009), benefit from using the critical literacy framework to encourage analysis of how people use language to confront injustices. this analysis allows students of english to examine how cultural discourses work in terms of agency, how language shapes identity, how words and grammar work to privilege certain groups, and how to interrogate classroom tasks by asking about author’s intentions towards particular audiences (guzzetti, young, fyfe, & hardenbrook, 2002). boyd et al (2006) adds that “freireian critical literacy is a fundamental teaching objective in all ela classrooms…if learners do not come to understand that the language they’re learning about can be their own language, they’ll continue to be mere serfs to those who ‘own’ the language and the culture of power” (p. 331). these powerful and purposeful statements assisted me in critiquing the literacy practices english educators perpetuate in teacher preparation programs. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 142 critical race literacy i extended the notion of the importance of critical literacy in ela classrooms with the addition of critical race literacy. why english teachers don’t explicitly address or teach race is puzzling because ela teachers are expected to help develop student voice by empowering their sense of identity through language. questions like, “how does language maintain power?” should be discussed and explored. ela teachers have the responsibility to teach critical literacy skills, but many times critical race literacy is bypassed due to how educational systems are designed. the educational system in the u.s. reifies cultural practices and ways of knowing and being of the white majority (milner, 2017). it encourages the myth of meritocracy, perpetuate deficit mindsets, and colorblindness. preservice secondary english teachers’ and in-service english teachers’ lack of critical race consciousness and inability to address racial issues in their classrooms result in children of color being perpetually underserved. with the gain of popularity of culturally relevant pedagogy, milner (2017) argued race should be its “integral core” (p. 2). hall et. al (2010) posited that negative literacy experiences can influence how preservice teachers identify themselves as literacy teachers. they found attempts to gain “identity capital” affect how students learn to read and write, that students could adopt language and speech patterns to position themselves as a certain type of person. deconstructing this notion of privilege as prospective ela teachers can result in rethinking and transforming the english curriculum and pedagogy in ways that can empower racial identities rather than marginalize them. literature review to understand the ways in which others have approached the issue of conceptualizing personal and professional racial discourses relative to the secondary english language arts classroom, the following section provides an overview. understanding “racially just teacher education” requires understanding the implementation of freire’s (1989) language of critique, the ability to critique society but maintain humility, compassion, and tolerance. as facilitators to help their white preservice teachers confront racism, marx and pennington (2003) discovered that freire’s notion of dialogue generated constructive and respectful conversations. matias and grosland (2016) advised to embody an ethics of care when deconstructing whiteness because although one must have the fortitude to withstand the discomfort of self-interrogation, one must avoid becoming myopic. bissonnette and glazier (2016) have found through their research that cultivating a caring relationship with their students was the most effective way to demonstrate critical race theory in practice. echoing gay (2010), bissonnette and glazier (2016) believed teachers must first forge relationships with their students by being as open and vulnerable by offering their own counterstories. sharing one’s anecdotes about racism was particularly helpful for marx and pennington (2003) who believed doing so helped establish trust among their students and thus created a more constructive conversation. grant and agosto (2008) warned educators to not patronize their students in order to prevent even further resistance in meaningful engagement when deconstructing whiteness. marx and pennington (2003) found that they had to remind themselves that many of their participants had little experience talking critically about race, so it was important not to https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 143 become offended. strategies that open up uncomfortable but necessary racial discussions require an empathetic and supportive disposition. at the same time, teachers and students must be made aware of potential pain when examining one’s self. lac (2017) referenced malcolm x’s famous line, “the examined life is painful” (p. 15), to summarize her analysis of her students’ reflections on institutionalized racism. the process of becoming more critically conscious of one’s historical-socio-political positioning in the world can lead to unpleasant reckonings but may also lead to a sense of empowerment. marx and pennington (2003) learned that their participants felt at first debilitated by their recognition of white privilege, but then eventually moved on to firm resolves as antiracist educators. this review of literature contextualizes how disrupting oppressive ethnoracist discourses in classrooms can serve to resist and inspire educators and students alike. drawing upon this vein of inquiry, the narratives presented in this study further contextualize what some of these practices resemble from the teachers in the classroom. data and method i employed narrative inquiry (clandinin & connelly, 2000) as the qualitative research method because it allowed me to not only tell my participants’ stories, but also because i felt it necessary to include my own personal story. how have i conceptualized racial discourses as a teacher and a teacher educator, and how has this conceptualization changed over time? the narrative inquiry approach was appropriate because it offered an opportunity for participants to narrate their ethnoracial identities in conjunction with their ela teacher identities and share how certain events in their lives have shaped their normative world views in regard to discourse surrounding race. this knowledge can be valuable for english teacher educators interested in incorporating critical race literacies and pedagogies in their programs. by critically analyzing their narratives, prospective english teachers can confront foundational questions like “what makes good literature or writing?” and “who gets to determine what is good literature and what is good writing?” psets could analyze the power of language and how it was manipulated to sustain those in power and demean those who are not. these conversations could lead to a more inclusive ela instruction and a racial justice pedagogy. sample i recruited my participants by sending an email after teaching the methods of teaching secondary english to 18 students enrolled in the course. i made clear this was a voluntary research which meant they could choose to participate or withdraw anytime as part of the informed consent process. i obtained irb permission and employed convenience sampling to determine who would be available for the study. after six students expressed interest, i then purposefully selected four students from this initial pool of respondents due to their different racial backgrounds in response to the lack of literature representing narratives beyond the white/black binary (kohli, 2013). data collection i scheduled four one-on-one interviews with each participant at three points over the course of two years. each of the four participants were interviewed before their student https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 144 teaching internship began, again after their internship, and once more during their first year after graduating. i used a semi-structured interview protocol in order to elicit rich, individual stories. each interview averaged an hour in length, resulting in 150 pages of typed transcripts in total. in combination with the artefactual data, which included classroom observation notes, teaching philosophies from the methods course, lesson plans, and heuristic artifacts that helped them conceptualize race during the interview provided grist for analysis. data analysis given the interplay between the present, past, and future in terms of making meaning, data through the lens of qualitative research is perpetually in the process of analysis (glaser, 1965). this tension was operationalized as a coding method put forth in grounded theory termed “constant comparative” coding (strauss & corbin, 1997). considering the constant comparative method, there is an acknowledgement that the researcher is always making sense of the data, “building the narrative” in their mind before any official analytical stage is broached. narrative methods are rooted in this non-linear and iterative process of data analysis (connelly & clandinin, 1990). in this methodological approach, there is not a proscribed structure with more positivist leaning qualitative methods like those put forth by maxwell (2012). that being said, specific analytical attention was paid to the research questions through a re-storying process. re-storying to re-story, the data collected was arranged in chronological sequence and thematically coded for narrative structure by the researcher. this involved arranging the collected data and taking margin notes for initial organization purposes. from these notes, the bones of a narrative “through line” were ascertained to anchor the re-storied narratives, provide character descriptions, and also a discernable plot that aligned with the research questions (connelly & clandinin, 1990). through this process, i placed myself and my own data into the narrative. this interplay between the researcher and participant data spoke to the collaborative meaning making process of the project and also the innate subjectivity of the researcher’s interpretation. results the following narratives highlight how the participants’ and researcher’s ethnoracial beliefs, attitudes, and experiences demonstrated how language in the english language arts classroom served as a force of oppression, resistance, and inspiration in regard to racial discourses through their personal history, teacher education coursework, and in their first year experiences teaching in the field. language as racial oppression the following narratives demonstrate how discourses surrounding race served to oppress students in the context of the english language arts classroom. themes including immigration, pronunciation, bullying, and representation underscore the nuanced ways in which language marginalizes. with my participants, i addressed our adapted worldviews and our personal histories behind them by sharing my own family stories and struggles with conceptualizing race in order to build a rapport conducive to honest narratives. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 145 joanelle as an immigrant student learning english, i felt how language often served as an oppressive tool that reinforced racial discourse. i remember it was time to read aloud our class novel, little house on the prairie by laura ingalls wilder. by this time, i had finally been released from the esol (english as a second language) program and had read most of the judy blume, beverly cleary, and e.b. white books from the local library. feeling confident, i eagerly raised my hand to volunteer to read. my intonation was accurate, my execution of dialogue was playful, so it sounded like i knew exactly what was going on in the story. then i came to a word, a two-syllable word. i knew its meaning. i can picture it on the front of the book. i read it the way it was spelled. wagon, the horse-drawn carriage with a cover to protect the little bonneted girls who were off for some adventures on america’s frontier. wagon, with a long a. snickering. giggling. i stopped myself. an embarrassingly extended pause settled until the teacher clarified, “it’s wa-ɡən” (emphasizing on the phoneme, the short a /a:/). the memory of mispronouncing “apple” when i was in second grade flashed in my brain again. hadn’t i learned my lesson? i was suddenly angry at apples that my family never ate at home and the wagon that never entered my parents’ lips. but most of all, i was angry at myself, for still falling short in researching the english language and the entirety of american history and culture. i was even more determined to become americanized by diving into american books, hoping to resurface less pilipino and be fully accepted among my white friends. i wanted to understand the idioms, relate to the characters, and empathize with their problems. there is a big problem with this picture. as charming as laura, mary, and carrie were, they were not my people, not my past. the characters in the r.l. stine stories and the goosebumps series were the pre-teens and the teens i watched hungrily on tv, shows like boy meets world, full house, dawson’s creek. but these were not my people; they did not have my problems. in hindsight, i reflected that in the midst of white culture, i seemed to have lost my place. my voice was only heard if it contributed to the normative discourse. i internalized that my pilipino-ness did not matter, and i subconsciously rejected my culture, my language, and my family. freire (1970) would describe my internalized racism as oppression and lack of critical consciousness. when the dominated is subjected to a hierarchy of power for a long time, they deem their native culture worthless and wish to embody the culture of their oppressor (freire, 1970). it is important that teacher educators provide space for prospective teachers to critically reflect upon or heal from their experiences of internalized racism, to unpack their belief systems, and unlearn deficit perspectives (kohli, 2013). ariana ariana identified herself as a black female in her early 20s who comes from a low socio-economic background and lives with her grandmother. she shared a story from her internship about a vietnamese student, mai, who was bullied by a black girl, kali. mai was losing weight, and it was apparent she was not eating lunch with the others. everyone assumed she was anorexic, but behind the scenes, kali was taking her food. when the situation was finally addressed, ariana was able to talk with both kali and mai. mai said she https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 146 readily gave her lunch to kali because kali was “aggressive”, and kali explained that mai was “too passive”. at this point, ariana agreed with kali; mai should have been more assertive. when ariana told kali that what she was doing was bullying mai, kali said, “well, it’s ok, right? we’re supposed to be aggressive.” ariana asked, “where’d you learn that from?” kali responded, “you know, from movies.” this event illustrated how negative stereotypes of black women played out in ariana’s classroom and how both kali and ariana’s internalization that black people are more aggressive affected the interaction. it was also interesting that ariana was hypersensitive towards the stereotype that black people are criminals or thieves. although eventually the situation was resolved, it was evident some unlearning of deficit perspectives was necessary. i think the problem was ariana never had the space and opportunity to interrogate her own narratives (kohli, 2013). she had not purposefully questioned the powers that brought tacit racism her family, her church, and she, herself, may have adopted. for example, ariana tolerates the use of the n-word between “old people” from church, white friends, and black students. the angry black woman trope often play into her stories but are not confronted. ariana would rather avoid the topic of race in her english classroom, unknowingly suggesting that assimilation and suppressing one’s black identity was the best chance for success. hence, home language was dissuaded in speaking and writing, and black stories and experiences were de-emphasized. regarding the previous story about kali and mai, iftika & museus (2018) claimed the valorization of asian americans relative to black communities contribute to the internalization of anti-black perspectives and reinforcement of white supremacist ideology. they suggested this thinking might inform decision-making that reinforces systematic racial inequities, perhaps in the classroom. the model minority category might hinder the development of asian americans’ critical consciousness and racial justice advocacy for other communities of color, even fuel anti-blackness (iftika & museus, 2018), and pit the two groups against each other. georgia georgia identified herself as a caucasian female in her early 20s who has expressed interest in culturally relevant pedagogy due to her conflicting understandings of how her families perceive ethnicities and race. georgia conducted an activity that involved students creating character maps for the characters in amy tan’s, the joyluck club, a novel about four chinese american immigrant families. georgia recounted, “i had several students who decided to be funny and draw the characters with really exaggerated slanty eyes and yellow skin. one kid asked me if he can draw a character eating a cat. i said, ‘that’s not appropriate. did she eat a cat in the book?’ he said, ‘no,’ so i said, ‘then you may not.’ ‘well, can i draw her eating a dog then?’’’ here, she argued the racist act of drawing stereotypical characteristics on a class assignment was “inappropriate” because there was no textual evidence to say that’s what the character looked like. georgia did not have to offend the student by calling the inquiry a racist act and instead simply referred to an ela standard of finding supporting evidence to make a claim. during her internship, georgia also had her students create character maps, this time developing a “hero” that aligned with the greek mythology unit. “i had a kid who said he was gonna name his character donald trump and for his personality, he wrote ‘racist,’ and i said, ‘ok, we need to reel this back in, this is not an opportunity for you to get silly, this is a project https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 147 you’ll be presenting in class.’ he said, ‘i don’t understand what the big deal is.’ and i said, ‘it’s not ok to be racist, it’s not kind.’’’ here, she addressed racism as inappropriate because it is not kind and thus not worth presenting to the class. she told the student to create another “hero” in which he obliged. again, the student was not confronted for thinking being racist was some sort of a heroic quality, but georgia’s strategy of calling racism “unkind” prevented any type of conflict. safe topics may not properly represent marginalized students and thus perpetuate the dominant culture rather than challenging or resisting it (bender-slack, 2010). comber (1999), accounting for one ela classroom exploring critical literacy, argued that educators fear critical analysis will spoil children’s fun by “brainwashing” them with their own ideology, which defeats the purpose of “emancipatory education” (freire, 1970). she continued that teachers often argue children may not be mature enough to tackle these controversial topics and when do they begin to understand the scope of “seriousness,” it may make them cynical. however, her narrative suggested if we encourage students’ interest to drive critical literacy as they discuss how texts work by positioning their thoughts and ideas in the center of the lesson, they could take ownership of their learning (comber, 1999). georgia recalled a time when she heard students singing “build a wall!” in the hallway. she took one of her students aside to reprimand him. she described, “he and i had a discussion about why that wasn’t respectful coz there are kids in our school who would take offense. we need to be more conscious of people around us because we don’t know their backgrounds, we don’t know where they come from. ‘build a wall’ is not a kind thing to say.” i asked her if what she said affected him, and she claimed she didn’t hear him say it anymore (at least out loud where she can hear). however, she remembered another time when she confronted another student about a racist remark: “we have a chinese teacher down the hall and every time she comes out, the kids would yell, “ching ching chong!” so one day i scolded one of my students, ‘that’s enough, you need to apologize to her right now coz she heard it,’ and ms. koo looked at him and waited, but he didn’t apologize. i was mortified, and she just walked away. she’s very zen that way (giggles).” she was concerned because someone heard the offense, demonstrating the pattern of apologizing when you get caught. georgia curtailed the racist action but again did not address the racist issue. as can be seen from the stories above, the ways in which racialized discourses serve to oppress do not have a singular disciplining force, rather they operate in myriad ways. in a similar vein, language can also serve as means for counter stories, an important facet of implementing critical race pedagogies that serve to interrupt and resist dominant racist discourses. language as resistance beyond racial oppression, language can also serve to resist hegemonic racial discourses that may oppress. the following findings highlight how methods teachers encourage critical reflection on ethnoracial positionality in relation to language, and how oppressive discourse can be addressed in the english language arts classroom. joanelle during another session in my methods class, i recalled a passionate debate regarding whose discourse belongs in the english classroom. one student argued, “it is our duty, as english teachers, to tell our students that they’re speaking improper english. if we want them https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 148 to succeed in college or in the professional world, they can’t use slang or “ain’t” or talk in their “ghetto” language.” his classmate quickly retorted, “who are we to judge the way they speak? aren’t we essentially telling them their families and communities don’t matter? you’re diminishing their identities and berating their cultures. have you never been around other cultures before?” another student chimed in, “perhaps what he’s trying to say is that our students need to learn how to code-switch. i mean i don’t talk to my grandma the same way i talk with my friends.” and another argued, “maybe, as english teachers, we can welcome their cultural discourse, but critique their writing…” this discussion went back and forth even through break. the students were heated in the debate because they wanted their voices heard. more importantly, they were thoroughly engaged in the process of grappling with what they thought they knew and what they were hearing from their classmates about their purposes in their future careers. this conversation gave us the opportunity to be honest with each other while at the same time allowed us to challenge our preconceptions. we began to look at how the debate connected to the institutionalization of white supremacy in english teaching expectations. a few weeks later, after participating in a privilege walk, a kinesthetic activity that allow learners to recognize their powers and privileges over others, and debriefing peggy mcintosh’s (1989) “unpacking the knapsack of white privilege” through a socratic seminar, my students unraveled some deep connections they made regarding this topic and reflected how important it was for english teachers to understand where their students are coming from in order to begin to teach their lessons. the activity began with a few seconds of fidgeting and side-eye glances because it seemed no one wanted to start a potentially contentious conversation. however, one student, usually outspoken but contemplative, was itching to say something. finally, he sighed a dramatic sigh and announced, “ok, i’ll start. so, i really hate reading sh*t like this, because come ooooon! i’m not stupid, i know it happens sometimes, but not aaaallll the time!” as the teacher watching from the outside circle, i tried not to show my eyes popping out in response. though i was a little thankful the conversation started with this comment, i anticipated an explosive and angry backlash. thankfully, the comeback was civil, but serious. an older white woman, who was also outspoken, calmly retorted, “you are a white man, of course you would say that. you can’t possibly see the microaggressions people of color experience every day.” maybe because we were in an intimate circle, maybe because everyone had already taken notes in preparation of what to say, maybe because this cohort was already comfortable with each other, or maybe because together we have set expectations about how to respond to each other’s opinions, i was pleasantly surprised by how the conversation flowed. no punches were thrown or no one stood up and left in defiance. instead, my black student, the only black student in the class of 25, who is usually meek and reticent, spoke up, turned to him, and asked him, “do you know how many times i’ve been told ‘you’re pretty for a black girl?’” genuinely aghast, he said, “what? really?” a central american student, also usually more reserved, piped in, “every day i have to remind my own children to stay focused despite the racial remarks they are affronted with so https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 149 they can show them, the other students, their teachers, that they are just as competent or even better. why do i have to do that?” students chimed in with their thoughts and their experiences, and with the time we allotted for the activity, we had a tremendous amount of learning and self-reflecting that i hoped would inform our actions and teaching. at the end of the activity, the male student wrote me a reflective note admitting he still had issues with confronting his privilege, but was happy to be part of the conversation as it was eye-opening about real lived experiences of others. genevieve genevieve identified herself as a lebanese-american female in her early 20s who grew up in a small town. she talked about how in her practicum, a teacher told her that she gives a student extra time because he’s black. genevieve commented, “i had no idea where she was coming from. i just started the program and didn’t know if i was allowed to say anything. now i’d be like, ‘why???’ back then, i was like, ‘oooh, maybe i shouldn’t say anything.’” she then remembered observing a student saying in a class discussion, “well, i don’t understand why black people can’t dig themselves out of the slums,” and the teacher dismissed the comment without addressing it. genevieve struggled with this because she felt she didn’t have the voice to make an argument. however, she did find her voice when she confronted a substitute, who was probably a lot less professionally intimidating than her cooperating teacher: “there was this sub, i don’t think she realizes how racist she sounded. she’s talking about african-american english or ebonics or however you wanna call it. she was saying, ‘i don’t know why teachers let them talk like that,’ and i was like, ‘there’s a time for informal and formal language,’ and was trying to be civil with her. then she has the audacity to be like, ‘i don’t agree with speaking ghetto,’ and i was like, ‘gasp, excuse me?! no, i’m sorry i don’t like that word. nobody uses that word,’ and she was like, ‘then what do you use?’ then, she had students speak like her, ‘oh, i learned it from the sub,’ and i’m like, ‘no, we don’t talk like that!’” this set a precedent to her students that one should be accountable for the language they use and the knowledges they bring into the classroom. the event displayed a sense of intolerance for ignorance in the learning space. this resistance can empower students by understanding multiple englishes and their cultural spaces (ncte, 2018). taking the above narratives a step further, resisting ethnoracist narratives, representation, and language can yield inspiration when put into practice by english teachers dedicated to critical consciousness. one such teacher, orlando, brought his racialized experiences to the classroom to inspire students through challenging dominant discourse. language that inspires freire's theory of conscientização, or critical consciousness, which engages learners to analyze systems of inequality (freire, 1970), was relevant to thinking about how language functioned to inspire in the stories of the participants. as the participants examined their realities and the development of discourses surrounding race, they began to evaluate how their exploration may have impacted their pedagogical practices. were they promoting a racially just education, or were they maintaining an oppressive, racist system? https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 150 orlando orlando identified himself as a puerto rican male in his early 20s who struggled to come to terms with how schools disenfranchised students with different cultural backgrounds. he narrated, “so in one unit, we read i am malala: the story of the girl who stood up for education and was shot by the taliban and discussed globalization, like why should they even care about what’s going on in other countries? and at one point, a student said, ‘oh, well they breed over there like rabbits.’ i addressed this retort with the student and told him, ‘you know you need to watch out, there are other cultures in our class, and we need to be sensitive to that coz we’re all here working together.’” his reprimand reminded me of how georgia handled insensitive comments, but to me, the difference was he added “we’re all working together” to emphasize unity rather than imply division. orlando explained, “maybe this is the wrong thing, but i stop class to take a student aside to talk to them if they have a personal issue. i don’t care if i stop the class coz my priority is you and your success, so i kinda make them feel like they’re more important than the lesson going on, because if i focus on the lesson, and be like, screw what the students are feeling, they’re gonna act crazy while doing the lesson, they won’t letme do the lesson. if a kid wants attention, they’re not gonna let you do that lesson.” i admired how he nipped it in the bud as i usually need time to think about my course of action when an unpopular view starts a debate. orlando continued, “essentially, i let them say what they wanna say, let them express how they feel. so for example, we had a socratic seminar during the chavez unit. there were some racist things said on both sides, from the mexican kids and the white kids, but it lets them get their real beliefs and thoughts, and they came to a common ground, and they saw that there were some fear that they had thought about each other, like white kids felt the mexican kids were taking their jobs, and they found that out, i didn’t teach that, they taught themselves that!” he was truly amazed and proud of his efforts in creating an environment where students were open with each other and counterstories were applied effectively to better understand each other (milner & howard, 2013). orlando utilized counternarratives that challenged majoritarian stories and represented legitimate knowledge that name the “others’” realities (ladson-billings, 1998; lac, 2017). doing so helped raise his students’ critical consciousness and simultaneously, build upon his own. did orlando get scared of resistance? he answered this, “every time i get scared, i like, go say something to my ap, and he would say, ‘you gotta do that.’” i saw this incredible support to strengthen racial literacy as another factor to successful implementation of social and racial justice instruction. it can be a powerful force for our preservice teachers, our first year teachers, and even teacher educators to continue the work of anti-racist education, and it assists in resisting question of place in the profession (sealey-ruiz, 2011 as cited in kohli, 2019). orlando’s experiences in his practicum and internship demonstrated the need for a critical professional development that could provide a space to reveal biases, engage in reflexivity and racial literacy, and interrogate one’s positioning (kohli, 2019; hooks, 1994). again, teachers need to evaluate their biases and determine how they impact their practice. as can be seen in orlando’s experience described above, dialogical pedagogical approaches can inspire meaningful conversations. though their own interactions under the guidance of a teacher who cares about confronting ethnoracist discourses and content, https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 151 students and teachers may be inspired to critically reflect. this critical reflection on how language can resist and inspire in the english classroom is locus of interest in the following discussion section. discussion there are ways in which the narratives presented above can inform decision making for teacher educators in relation to diverse representation, pedagogy, and classroom management. these conscious decisions by english teachers to problematize ethnoracial discourses that oppress are inspiring. through such decisions greater critical reflection can occur in relation to how language creates and sustains sociohistorical constructions of race and ethnicity at the local, national, and global levels. representation in curriculum as georgia struggled to introduce diverse representation into the classroom with the joy luck club, other researchers have found success with texts that critically approach dominant institutional discourse while also expanding ethnoracial representation. grice, murphy, & shanahan (2018) found ya novels like the smell of other people’s houses and ramona blue challenged ya readers to be conscious of white privilege and concluded these powerful counter-narratives can help fight single stories and ultimately encourage teachers to be non-complicit with inequities in the classroom. such narratives, which disrupt dominant ethnoracial discourse, can be seen in orlando’s classroom and his choice of focusing on caesar chavez. counterstorytelling, through the pedagogical use of counternarratives, is a “vehicle through which to subvert the white dominant narrative”, offer opportunities for students to actively engage in critical reading, thinking, writing, and speaking skills, all while complying to common core standards (bissonnette & glazier, 2016). it affords secondary students and preservice teachers a way to engage in cultural and ethnoracial critique, as seen in the debate orlando describes. bissonnette and glazier (2016) found that introducing counterstories in conjunction with canonical texts and conducting explicit discussion challenging the dominant discourses were excellent ways to engage students in racialized conversations in a high school ela classroom. in addition, inviting students to craft their own counterstories have proved successful in engaging students in master narratives like gardner’s “grendel” or shakespeare’s “othello.” this study suggested that english teachers can promote literacy practices that allow secondary students to counter the dominant cultural narratives by generating counterstories. these researchers also suggested the ela classroom offers a safe space for students who are racially diverse to share their experiences while analyzing texts they encounter. is it our responsibility, as “core” class teachers, to expose students to racial issues that saturate many of our modes of communication we are reading and writing in our society? it is a worthy cause to examine how english teacher educators could encourage preservice secondary english teachers to generate narratives of racial identities to function as pedagogical counterstories. critical reflection assignments for students that might be struggling with identifying their positionality in relation to ethnoracial discourses that oppress, similar to the narratives of ariana or georgia, there are https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 152 assignment options that prompt students through systematic sociological introspection to think deeply about how their beliefs, values, and perceptions might be informed by their ethnoracial understandings. mcarthur (2016), who studied secondary students, used autobiographies to promote ways to employ critical media literacy in english classrooms by disrupting narratives on black girls. she shared five different contexts in which counternarratives challenged the normalized racist and sexist views the media portray about this group. under an overarching organization called the black girls literacies collective (bglc), the projects emphasized counternarrative initiatives, which lead to transformative thinking and activism among the students. researcher like this have made it possible now to study how teacher educators can champion critical racial literacy among preservice english teachers. by disrupting hegemonic discourses that oppress, english teachers can shape the language of resistance and inspiration through their conscious choices as related to representation and pedagogy. conclusion highlighting the narratives of a small sample of the ethnoracially diverse ela teachers allowed me to analyze teachers’ stories about oppression, resistance, and inspiration through a critical literacy framework. this narrative inquiry also allowed me to look more deeply at the experiences of four preservice english teachers and myself in regard to how we understand the ways in which racial discourses in the ela classroom affect our communities and our teaching. i realized that the first step to transforming our instruction is generating these stories, critically interrogating them, disrupting normative discourse, and then healing from the miseducation we may have learned and internalized about other races and our own. however, a more important move is to go beyond personalization and examine the connections between institutions, racial discourses, and power. becoming aware of the histories of racial oppression, their relationships to language, and how power can be sustained or reallocated through pedagogical decisions of educators can be inspiring and effective in offsetting inequities. among english educators, we should adopt a newer model of english education to make a deliberate effort to build our racial literacies and advocate a critical race pedagogy. this means offering access to critical theory and supplementing readings especially by women of color (kohli, 2019) in order to develop racial literacy that will prepare teachers how to talk about race and racism in the english language arts classroom. limitations my intention to include stories that extend beyond the white/black binary have been a fruitful cause in understanding diverse perspectives of how racial conceptualizations can affect a preservice english teacher’s instruction. however, how we shared our stories depended on our positionality and our relationships with each other. the fact i was their former instructor can result in responses that they knew would please me. when the participants volunteered to be part of the study, they already understood my position in regard to racial justice education, so that knowledge may have played into how they performed or interviewed. in addition, i am visibly a person of color, so it should not be ignored that my appearance on its own can already influence how they thought about their answers. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 153 future research beyond this, teacher educators can encourage preservice secondary english teachers to interrogate presumptions before acting upon them in the classroom future research should explore how they can explore their family’s biases and this relationship to their own identity development and positioning in today’s society. michael cook (2019) suggested that teacher educators emphasize strengthening teacher identity development and iterate teaching as a political act (morrell, 2005) thus situating all educators to be activists. theories of anti-racist teaching can then be put to practice towards social transformation. such future research directions may then empower psets to enact a critical english education (morell, 2005) in which teachers become explicit about the role of language and literacy in disrupting existing power relations; a use of language that resists and inspires. one of my goals as a teacher educator was to develop thoughtful and strong curriculum that negotiates race, culture, and language differences in the classroom (jupp, barry, & lensmire, 2016). i want to help form future teachers who can confidently resist and challenge the racist discourses that dominate our educational system. i believe that confronting these topics head-on is integral in joining the conversations and issues affecting our political and social climate and undoubtedly, the mindsets of our students. what they bring into our classroom is sincere curiosity often stifled by the discomfort of racial dialogue, but if preservice teachers wrestled with racial discourses first, perhaps they can truly engage their students in these discussions in a meaningful manner that may transform our racially charged world. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 154 references bender-slack, d. (2010). texts, talk…and fear? english language arts teachers negotiate social justice teaching. english education, 42(2), 181-203. betancourt, h. & lopez, s. r. (1993). the study of culture, ethnicity, and race in american psychology. american psychologist, 48(6). 629-637. bieler, d. (2006). changing the subject: building critical and compassionate communities in english and english education classrooms. urban education, 4(1). bissonnette, j. d., & glazier, j. (2016). a counterstory of one's own: using counterstorytelling to engage students with the british canon. journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 59(6), 685-694. borsheim-black, c., macaluso, m., & petrone, r. (2014). critical literature pedagogy: teaching canonical literature for critical literacy. journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 58(2), 123-133. boyd, f. b., ariail, m., williams, r., jocson, k., sachs, g. t., mcneal, k., fecho, b., fisher, m., healy, m. k., meyer, t., & morrell, e. (2006). real teaching for real diversity: preparing english language arts teachers 21st century classrooms. english education, 38(4), 329350. connelly, f. m., & clandinin, d. j. (1990). stories of experience and narrative inquiry. educational researcher, 19(5), 2-14. clandinin, j. & connelly, m. (2000). narrative inquiry: experience and story in qualitative research. jossey-bass. comber, b. (1999, november 18-23). critical literacies: negotiating powerful and pleasurable curricula--how do we foster critical literacy through english language arts? paper presented at national council of teachers of english, denver, co. cook, m. (feb. 2019). (pre-service) teacher-activists: examining pre-service ela teachers'experiences engaging in educational activism. national council of teachers of english assembly for research, birmingham, alabama. foucault, m. (1972). the archaeology of knowledge. routledge. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. continuum. freire, p. (1989). learning to question: a pedagogy of liberation. continuum. gay, g. (1999). ethnic identity development and multicultural education. in sheets, r. h. (ed.), racial and ethnic identity in school practices: aspects of human development (pp. 195211). l. erlbaum associates. gere, a. r. (1992). language and reflection: an integrated approach to teaching english. macmillan prentice-hall. glaser, b. g. (1965). the constant comparative method of qualitative analysis. social problems, 12(4), 436-445. grice, k. m., murphy, c. e., & shanahan, e. m. (2018). taking out the trash: complicating rural working-class narratives in young adult literature. the alan review, 45(3), 19-28. grant, c. & agosto v. (2008). teacher capacity and social justice in teacher education. in m. cochran-smith , s. feiman-nemser , d. j. mcintyre , & k. demers (eds.), handbook of research on teacher education: enduring questions in changing contexts (3rd ed., pp. 175-200). taylor and francis. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 155 guzzetti, b. j., young, j. p., gritsavage, m. m., fyfe, l. m., & hardenbrook, m.(2002). reading, writing, and talking gender in literacy learning. international reading association. hall, l., johnson, a. s., juzwick, m. m., wortham, s.e., & mosley, m. (2010). teacher identity in the context of literacy teaching: three explorations of classroom positioning and interaction in secondary schools. teaching and teacher education, 26, 234-243. hall, s. (2001). foucault: power, knowledge and discourse. in m. wetherell, s. taylor, & s. yates (eds.), discourse, theory and practice (pp. 72-81). sage publications. hollins, e. (2012). learning to teach in urban schools. routledge. hooks, b. (1994). teaching to transgress: education as the practice of freedom, routledge, new york. iftika, j. s., & museus, s. d. (2018). on the utility of asian critical (asiancrit) theory in the field of education. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 31(10), 935949. jocson, k. (2009). steering legacies: pedagogy, literacy, and social justice in schools. urban rev, 41, 269-285. jupp, j. c., berry, t. r., & lensmire, t. j. (2016). second-wave white teacher identity studies: a review of white teacher identity literatures from 2004 through 2014. review of educational research, 86(4), 1151-1191. doi: 10.3102/0034654316629798 kirkland, d. e. (2014). “they look scared”: moving from service learning to learning to serve in teacher education-a social justice perspective. equity & excellence in education, 47(4), 580-603. kohli, r. (2019). lessons for teacher education: the role of critical professional development in teachers of color retention. journal of teacher education, 70(1), 39-50. kohli, r. (2013). unpacking internalized racism: teachers of color striving for racially just classrooms. race, ethnicity and education, 17(3), 367-387. lac, v. t. (2017). in real time: from theory to practice in a critical race pedagogy classroom. i.e.: inquiry in education, 9(1), 1-21. laclau, e. (1997). representation: cultural representations and signifying practices (vol. 2). sage. ladson‐billings, g. (2009) ‘who you callin’ nappy‐headed?’ a critical race theory look at the construction of black women. race, ethnicity and education, 12(1), 87-99. doi: 10.1080/13613320802651012 ladson-billings, g., & tate, w. e. (1995). toward a critical race theory of education. teachers college record, 97(1), 47-68. lee, v. j. (2013). teachers of color creating and recreating identities in suburban schools. the qualitative report, 18(8), 1-16. marx, s. & pennington, j. (2003). pedagogies of critical race theory: experimentations with white preservice teachers. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 16(1), 91-110, doi: 10.1080/0951839022000036381 matias, c. e., & grosland, t. j. (2016). digital storytelling as racial justice: digital hopes for deconstructing whiteness in teacher education. journal of teacher education, 67(2), 152-164. matias, c. e., & mackey, j. (2016). breakin’down whiteness in antiracist teaching: introducing critical whiteness pedagogy. the urban review, 48(1), 32-50. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bardo, n., morales, j., narratives of racial reckoning journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 156 maxwell, j. a. (2012). qualitative research design: an interactive approach. sage. mcarthur, s. a. (2016). black girls and critical media literacy for social activism. english education, 48(4), 362-379. mcintosh, p. (1989). white privilege: unpacking the invisible knapsack. peace and freedom magazine, 10-12. milner, h. r. (2017). where’s the race in culturally relevant pedagogy? teachers college record, 119, 1-32. milner iv, h. r., & howard, t. c. (2013). counter-narrative as method: race, policy and research for teacher education. race ethnicity and education, 16(4), 536-561. morrell, e. (2005). critical english education. english education, 37(4), 302-313. national center for education statistics. (2020). the condition of education [compendium]. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/ national council of teachers of english. (2007). statement on anti-racism to support teaching and learning [position statement]. retrieved from https://www2.ncte.org/statement/antiracisminteaching/ sleeter, c. e. (2001). preparing teachers for culturally diverse schools research and the overwhelming presence of whiteness. journal of teacher education, 52(2), 94-106. sleeter, c. e. (2017). critical race theory and the whiteness of teacher education. urban education, 52(2), 155-169. solorzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for educational research. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 24-44. strauss, a., & corbin, j. m. (1997). grounded theory in practice. sage. villegas, a. m., & lucas, t. (2002). educating culturally responsive teachers: a coherent approach. state university of new york press. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 64 increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective sandra ogechi ajaps* new york university adaobiagu nnemdi obiagu university of nigeria *corresponding author: soa228@nyu.edu received : 2019-09-04 rev. req. : 2019-10-21 accepted : 2019-11-22 how to cite this paper: ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective. journal of culture and values in education, 4(1), 64-87. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.2 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). abstract there is a growing need for increased civic engagement in developing countries. we argue that civic education has not met this need in nigeria because it is uncritical, but it can be reformed through critical consciousness theory emphasizing knowledge and critical thinking. however, for civic education reforms, we need to understand the relationship between sociodemographic factors and civic engagement. therefore, we investigated the influence of six sociodemographic factors (gender, location, age, income, education, and ethnicity) on two civic engagement constructs—environmental civility and community volunteering—using the responses of 372 respondents on the civic engagement scale. results revealed that community volunteerism is mainly influenced by age, gender, and location, while environmental civility is mainly influenced by location and education, and there is a generally low level of civic engagement. the implications of these findings for a critical civic education aimed at increasing critical consciousness and civic action are discussed. keywords: civic engagement, civic education, critical consciousness introduction “there is mounting evidence that volunteer engagement promotes the civic values and social cohesion which mitigate violent conflict at all stages and that it even fosters reconciliation in post-conflict situations.” – leigh et al., united nations volunteers report, 2011 10.46303/jcve.2020.2 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.2 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 65 the evidence on the benefits of volunteering is increasing, as highlighted in the united nations volunteers (unv) report quoted above. community volunteering is one of the civic engagement activities considered in this study, along with environmental civility. volunteerism is the practice of performing some tasks, especially social and health tasks, with the motive of helping or fostering development without planned (or expectation of material) rewards for oneself. volunteering can take the form of social and health services, environmental maintenance, education and religious services, culture and recreation, etc. the altruistic reason of simply helping others has been emphasized as a key motivating factor for volunteering (jack et al., 2011). however, extrinsic motivations (e.g., praise, résumé enhancement, and money) could also influence volunteerism (see beehr et al., 2010). people can volunteer toward conserving the environment and preventing ecocide and other disasters; these are attributes of environmental civility. environmental civility is an act of obeying environmental laws, policies, and guidelines, together with carrying out environmental civic duties such as environmental sanitation, waste management, etc., either for aesthetic, ecological, ethical, or emotional reasons. generally, it is positive behavior toward the environment. in this study, environmental civility specifically refers to the environmental sanitation behavior of participants. in line with the opening quote, we argue that the rapidly increasing rate of conflicts and carnage in nigeria necessitates the promotion of civic values and engagement, which have been found to be poor. for example, environmental attitudes and sanitation practices have been consistently found to be poor (see, e.g., ekong, 2015; ogunbode, 2013) and community volunteering is not popular. however, civic engagement activities have been associated with sociodemographic factors such as age, education, gender, and income (jennings & stoker, 2004; tindall, davies, & mauboulѐs, 2003) in countries other than nigeria. considering the social structures (ethnocentrism, godfatherism, patriarchy, etc.) of nigeria, we anticipate patterns of engagement to differ from existing literature. therefore, in this study, we investigated the relationship between civic engagement (community volunteerism and environmental civility) and sociodemographic factors (gender, location, age, income, education, and ethnicity) in nigeria. employing a critical consciousness theory perspective, we focused on how sociodemographic factors could inform a critical civic education toward increased civic engagement. civic engagement civic engagement is defined as acting upon a heightened sense of responsibility to one’s communities, which involves developing a wide range of activities including developing civic sensitivity, participation in building civil society, and benefitting the commons (jacoby, 2009); the participation of individuals in civil life and groupings (putnam, 2000) is useful for peace and national development. these definitions imply engagement through established institutions; https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 66 however, recent studies have shown that engagement could also be personalized (eimhjellen et al., 2018). there are varied opinions on whether civic engagement is applicable in the african context because of its assumptions of a self-confident citizenry that has already gained some autonomy from state structures. while some see no difficulty in applying the concept to africa since nonstate actors are considered as civil society, others believe that post-colonial africa has remnants of colonial governance in which a majority of the people are under the rule of a designated governor or traditional ruler and do not contribute to governance (paffenholz & spurk, 2006). however, since post-colonial societies are hybrids (bhabha, 2012) comprising a mix of colonial and indigenous cultures with influences from globalization and imperialism, it is more practical to consider a nuanced position where the concept of civil society is adapted to africa. this is necessary because africa’s civil societies execute similar functions as the civil society in the west. yet, nigeria, like many other post-colonial countries, still has so much power invested in state apparatuses that non-state actors are not powerful enough to challenge oppressive administrations. therefore, it is important to study civic engagement in nigeria to understand how individuals are contributing to building a civil society. this is based on the premise of this paper’s opening quote, that civic engagement is necessary for peace and national development. understanding the nature of nigerians’ civic engagement will also provide knowledge for its improvement through civic education and other avenues. specifically, what are the socio-demographic characteristics of the people who are more engaged in civic activities? what patterns can we identify? how might these patterns inform the curriculum content and delivery of civic education so that more action is generated from students? what strategies can be employed to reach the groups of people least engaged in civic duties? before addressing these questions, we describe the nigerian context, civic education in nigeria, and the critical consciousness theory that is the specific viewpoint on which this study is framed. the nigerian context nigeria, a west african country, comprises three major ethnic groups (hausa, igbo, and yoruba) and over 250 others. thus, civic engagement may operate differently in such a context, necessitating this study’s investigation of civic engagement with respect to socio-demographic factors (including location and ethnic group). beyond specific group considerations, the lack of infrastructural facilities like electricity, resulting in crude performance of works and house chores with its antecedents—waste of time and energy—could affect people’s commitment to civic engagement in nigeria compared to the western world. also prevalent in nigeria are gender roles: it is common to find women “behind the scenes” and at home with the kids while men are out working and representing families in communal gatherings. therefore, this study is significant because applying western notions of volunteering and environmental civility in nigeria might suggest low levels of engagement due to incompatible measuring scales. for example, environmental beliefs, consumer behaviors, and global warming perceptions are https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 67 conventional measures for environmental civility, whereas measuring public environmental behavior, such as sanitation exercises, is a more suitable measure for nigeria since waste management is an issue of serious concern in nigeria. next, we discuss civic education in nigeria since the subject is central to civic engagement discourses. civic education in nigeria civic education is now emphasized in nigerian primary and secondary schools, with the basic goal of appreciating diversity and governance, promoting national unity and consciousness, and imbibing democratic values through civic engagement. some contents of civic education such as “respect and maintenance of public places and utilities” (nerdc, 2012) convey environmental civility and community volunteering goals. however, nigeria’s education is still heavily influenced by the colonial education system left behind after the country gained independence from britain in 1960 (hardman et al., 2008). this system lacks critique of established knowledge and critique of governing and other social systems, as well as actions that could have developed from such critical thinking since it was designed to create an obedient and productive workforce—what westheimer and kahne (2004) dubbed “personally responsible citizens.” despite reform efforts in nigeria, the basic structure of colonial education remains, and nigerian civic education remains largely liberal and assimilationist in nature (obiagu, 2019). worth noting is that indigenous education, which was eroded by colonial education, promoted indigenous ways of governance, protecting the environment and protecting each other as a community. thus, nigerians now grapple with foreign concepts and methods of volunteering and environmental civility, which were engaged in differently in precolonial times. civic curriculum across countries is structured to achieve certain civic knowledge, civic skills or abilities, and civic attitude (cox, jaramillo, & reimers, 2005). this study emphasizes a fourth goal outside those identified by cox et al. (2005): civic action—any individual or group activity done with the intent to advocate on behalf of the public, solve individual or community problems, etc. however, these themes are either missing (especially civic skills) or present but not focused on or implemented (especially civic attitude) in nigeria’s civic curriculum by teachers, thereby resulting in uncritical education. importantly, there is a nexus between the nature of civic education (critical or uncritical) emphasized and the patterns and level of civic engagement (westheimer & kahne, 2004). worth noting is the finding of rubin (2007) that students have contrasting civic experiences, suggesting the need for educators to employ classroom practices that will take into account the various civic experiences of students that inform their civic identities if educators are to realize meaningful civic education. hardy et al. (2010) found a positive correlation between identity and civic engagement. the understanding of civic identities of students and that of citizens (i.e., adults) should shape civic educators’ classroom practices, especially because “living in a civically responsive neighbourhood appears to meaningfully support students’ commitments to civic participation” (kahne & sporte, 2008, p. 738), as parents’ political https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 68 knowledge and family political discussion (finkel & ernst, 2005; kahn, david, & lee, 2013; mcintosh, hart, & youniss, 2007) and parents’ socioeconomic status (lott, 2006) influence civic engagement among students. thus, we investigated how sociodemographic factors shape civic engagement in nigeria with the hope that our findings would provide sociodemographic evidence that could positively impact the practice of civic education in nigeria, revealing factors that civic educators should pay attention to in order to make civic lessons meaningful to all learners irrespective of their varying backgrounds, needs, and interests. we reason that the nature of civic education (critical or uncritical) emphasized will affect patterns and level of civic engagement at all stages, especially during adulthood. based on our findings, we suggest how critical civic education might be fostered through critical consciousness for more powerful civic engagement. in what follows, we highlight the guiding theory of the study. theoretical framing: critical consciousness theory this study is guided by paulo freire’s critical consciousness theory. according to freire (1974, p. 4), critical consciousness is “learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality.” it is a process that involves critically analyzing socially constructed norms and beliefs and associated institutions (horton & freire, 1990). freire (1974) posited that ignorance, defined as lack of knowledge and critical thinking skills, is a key tool in the maintenance of oppression. believing that raising people’s critical consciousness of reality could help eliminate oppression, he proposed critical education as a key solution. critical consciousness leads to action against oppressive systems, and such actions include civic engagement activities like volunteering in health emergencies in communities without adequate health workers, supporting environmental organizations to restore neglected environments and ecosystems such as the niger delta region, and protesting or reporting human rights violations. being critically conscious means the ability to apply knowledge and critical thinking skills to examine current situations, develop a deeper understanding of reality, and generate and implement solutions to problems. this should be the purpose of education, rather than the “banking model” (freire, 1996) in which students are regarded as empty vessels to be filled with knowledge. so, civic education should empower students to critically analyze reality and implement solutions to problems through civic engagement activities. however, for civic education reforms, we need to understand the relationship between sociodemographic factors and civic engagement. findings could offer insights into effective ways of creating a critical civic education aimed at increasing critical consciousness and civic engagement. relationship between civic engagement and sociodemographic factors here, we discuss the literature on the relationship between sociodemographic factors and the two civic engagement activities that we focused on in this study. community volunteerism and sociodemographic factors https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 69 according to hackl, halla, and pruckner (2007), volunteering contributes significantly to the economy’s welfare that would otherwise require paid resources. some studies have shown the health benefits of volunteering, especially in aged persons (see morrow-howell, 2010; lum & lightfoot, 2005). just as age is revealed to be a significant factor in volunteering (jennings & stoker, 2004), gender is highlighted (ostrander & fisher 1995). while elite women spend more of their resources on philanthropy, social services, and social action causes than elite men do (ostrander & fisher 1995), low-income women spend more of their resources on informal personal support networks such as caring for the elderly and orphans (roschelle, 1997). furthermore, in an american study of 223 people, mcbride, sherraden, and pritzker (2004) found that low income earners were more heavily involved in church-based volunteering than community volunteering and philanthropism. these studies showed a pattern of volunteering as dependent on socio-demographic factors; however, these studies were conducted in civilized countries. to the knowledge of the researchers, no similar studies have been conducted in nigeria. thus, considering the multifaceted structural disposition of nigeria—patriarchy, ethnocentrism, and the fact that rural areas are less considered in the distribution of social infrastructures, as well as the high rate of social problems in nigeria, including environmental issues, which could be ameliorated through volunteering—it is important to investigate patterns of volunteering common among sociodemographic groups in nigeria. the understanding of the patterns will be useful for developing educational measures more suited to the country and other developing countries with similar characteristics. thus, the present study investigated the influence of six sociodemographic variables on community volunteerism in nigeria. environmental civility and socio-demographic factors studies on environmental behaviors (such as environmental activism, consciousness, concern, or sensitivity) are overwhelming (c.f., ajaps & mclellan, 2015; gatersleben, murtagh, & abrahamse, 2012; hinds & sparks, 2008; kollmus & agyeman, 2002; pinto, nique, aňaňa, & herter, 2011; uyeki & holland, 2000; zsóka, szerényi, széchy, & kocsis, 2013). the overarching interest in environmental behaviors could stem from the belief that the survival of the people, economy, and the society, including institutions, are largely dependent on the survival of nature (earth, biodiversity, and ecosystems). however, even though this study delimits environmental civility to environmental sanitation behavior, other studies’ findings of the relationship between environmental civility (broadly defined) and sociodemographic factors are presented below, after which we highlight the gaps covered by our study. influence of gender on environmental civility: the findings of most studies are congruent with the proposition that women exhibit more environmentally friendly beliefs and behaviors than men (e.g., ajaps & mclellan, 2015; scannell & gifford, 2013). hunter, hatch, and johnson (2004) also found that women are more environmentally friendly in private spheres such as recycling. however, tindall, https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 70 davies, and mauboulѐs (2003) had a discrepant result which found no substantial difference to exist on the environmental behavior of both genders. influence of age on environmental civility: some studies showed age as a significant factor influencing environmental behaviors, with older people showing more positive environmental behavior (see pinto, nique, aňaňa, & herter, 2011; gilg, barr, & ford, 2005). influence of education on environmental civility: research evidence has shown that people with more knowledge or education are more likely to be environmentally concerned and produce more positive environmental behavior (ajaps & mclellan, 2015; chanda, 1999; zsóka, szerényi, széchy, & kocsis, 2013). many studies have argued that education or environmental knowledge is not sufficient for generating positive environmental behaviors (e.g., kollmuss & agyeman, 2002), yet some experimental studies (e.g., duerden & witt, 2010) show that, if implemented strategically, environmental knowledge and education can stimulate positive environmental behaviors. influence of location on environmental civility: in a u.k. study, students who were raised in rural areas showed more positive environmental concerns than students raised in urban areas (hinds & sparks, 2008). similarly, a canadian study found that people in rural areas were more anthropocentric (protective of the environment for satisfaction of human needs) than their urban counterparts (huddart-kennedy, beckley, mcfarlane, & nadeau, 2009). in contrast, a chinese study found that people who live in metropolises were more likely to commit to pro-environmental behaviors than people living in small cities (chen et al., 2011). influence of income on environmental civility: studies on the influence of income on environmental civility or behaviors are mostly seen on national (e.g., vicente-monila, fernandez-sainz, & izagirre-olaizola, 2013; dunlap, gallup, & gallup, 1993) or individual (e.g., uyeki & holland, 2000) levels. in a u.s. study, low-income earners were more environmentally concerned than high-income earners (uyeki & holland, 2000). influence of culture on environmental civility: culture and values are said to influence environmental behaviors (gatersleben, murtagh, & abrahamse, 2012; kollmus & agyeman, 2002). uyeki & holland (2000) found afro-americans to be more environmentally concerned than euro-americans. the reviewed studies are mostly bordered on beliefs (e.g., realism, skepticism, certainty, or absolutism) and reactions that follow the beliefs (e.g., ecocentric, anthropocentric, and proor antienvironmental behavior), or arguments regarding environmental problems (e.g., humaninduced or natural climate change), and not on the environmental civility (sanitation) aspect of https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 71 civic engagement, creating a gap which this study covered by investigating levels of environmental civility among different groups. nigeria’s social structure, including patriarchy and multi-ethnic groups with cultural differences, informed the investigation of whether the six reviewed sociodemographic factors would produce similar influences on environmental civility in the nigerian context as they did in other countries. we proposed that women, rural, older people, and more educated persons are likely to be more engaged in community volunteerism and to be environmentally engaged. method this study’s design is descriptive research, specifically employing the survey method. the rationale for this method is that we seek to investigate the relationship between two civic engagement variables and six sociodemographic variables, as reported by a sample drawn from the nigerian population. sample the study’s sample of 372 people was randomly drawn from post-graduate and undergraduate students of the university of nigeria and community dwellers from eight different ethnic groups. participants were grouped into gender (male and female), location (urban and rural), age (late adolescents: 18-25 years; emerging adults: 26-35 years; and young adults: 36-50 years; mage = 32.38, sd = 8.88), educational qualification (group 1: primary education; group 2: secondary education; and group 3: tertiary education), income level (group 1: ˂ ₦50k; group 2: ₦50k -99k; group 3: ₦100k – 149k; and group 4: ≥ ₦150k),1 and ethnic group (hausa, idoma, igbo, ijaw, isoko, itsekiri, urhobo, and yoruba). see table 1 for the composition of the sample’s variables. consent was first sought and obtained from the participants through written letter. to ensure enough representation of ethnic groups, age groups, income, and educational background, participants were sourced by approaching different “kporakpos” (town unions)2 of different age groups (undergraduate and post-graduate students of regular and sandwich enrollees) at the university of nigeria, as well as communities in nsukka metropolis and rural areas. table 1: profile of study participants (n = 372) frequency percentage gender male 220 59.1 female 152 40.9 location urban 242 65.1 location 130 34.9 age 18 – 25 100 29.9 26 – 35 132 35.5 36 – 50 140 37.6 education primary education 22 5.9 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 72 secondary education 129 34.7 tertiary education 221 59.4 monthly income less than ₦50,000 (< $138.8)* 157 42.2 ₦50,000 – ₦99,000 ($138.8 – $275)* 96 25.8 ₦100,000 – 149,000 ($277.7 – $413.8)* 44 11.8 ₦150,000 & above ($416.6 & above)* 75 20.2 ethnic group hausa 29 7.8 idoma 54 14.5 igbo 153 41.1 ijaw 20 5.4 isoko 20 5.4 itsekiri 13 3.5 urhobo 22 5.9 yoruba 61 16.4 note: *the amount expressed in dollars in brackets is the equivalent or value of the amount expressed in nigeria’s currency, naira. measure the measurement instrument was the civic engagement scale (ces) developed by the second researcher. the instrument has four subscales: political participation, community volunteerism, environmental civility, and human rights activism. the ces, comprised of 10 items, was rated on a 5-point scale (4 = very much to 0 = not at all). this study reports only the results of the responses to the community volunteerism subscale measured with two items (e.g., i volunteer in emergency situations such as flood curtailment, etc.) and the environmental civility subscale containing two items (e.g., i participate in community general environmental sanitation, etc.). three experts face validated the instrument together with the consent letter that accompanied it. it was further trial tested on 73 respondents. the reliability test on their responses yielded a cronbach alpha of .78, and the items loaded from as low as .57 to .79 when subjected to a simple principal component analysis. the instrument was adopted and administered on 386 people, reduced to 372 using a listwise deletion method to eliminate incomplete responses. participants completed the measure on the spot for an average of 40 minutes. the second researcher and her assistant collected the completed measure. a rotation principal component analysis conducted on the responses of the 372 participants on the 10 items using varimax with kaiser normalization showed that all 10 items loaded heavily (from .40 to .92) on one or more of the four factors with eigen values higher than 1 and a cumulative variance percentage of 66.61 of the total variance among the items (see table 2 for details). table 2: rotated principal component analysis of ce items using varimax with kaiser normalization https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 73 items factors 1 2 3 4 ces 1 (vote in elections) .409 ces 2 (participating in political campaigns) .917 ces 3 (discussing politics) .477 .376 -.336 .348 ces 4 (protesting electoral malpractices) .902 ces 5 (volunteering in emergency cases and care of the needy) .357 .801 ces 6 (volunteering in community development services) .865 ces 7 (engaging in general environmental sanitations) .545 .631 ces 8 (clearing littered public place) .725 ces 9 (protesting human rights violations) .801 ces 10 (reporting human rights violations) .718 eigenvalue 2.31 2.01 1.34 1.00 percentage of variance 22.57 20.12 13.37 10.07 note: factors above .30 are reported; percentage of cumulative variance is 66.17; kaisermeyer-olkin measure of sampling adequacy is .62; bartlett's test of sphericity is significant at (chi-square = 869.192; df = 45) p < .001. furthermore, item-total correlation was done on all 10 items and the result showed strong correlations ranging from as low as .28 to .62 (see table 3 for details). the instrument yielded a cronbach coefficient alpha of .72 which, according to cohen, manion, and morrison (2011), is an acceptable level of internal consistency. each civic engagement component is the average of the items measuring it (e.g., environmental civility is the average of the two items measuring it) and the middle of the 5-point scale is defined as possession of a measured construct (see krosnick & presser, 2010). civic engagement is determined by the average of the 10 items. table 3: frequency distribution and corrected item-total correlations for civic engagement scale items items description vm m l vl naa ɼі – ʈ 1 i vote in elections. 7.3 28.5 32.8 27.4 4.0 .287** 2 i participate in political campaigns and rallies. 0.5 3.0 18.0 15.9 62.6 .340** 3 i discuss politics or political issues on faceto-face interactions or on social media. 0.3 13.4 33.1 25.3 28.0 .392** 4 i participate in public protests to disapprove electoral malpractices. 0.5 2.7 20.2 23.9 52.7 .350** 5 i volunteer in emergency situations such as containing the outbreak of diseases and consequences of environmental hazards like flooding, helping the homeless, and/or 3.5 37.9 26.6 20.7 11.3 .619** https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 74 caring for the needy in orphanages or old peoples’ homes. 6 i voluntarily contribute in building and/or maintaining community facilities such as health centers and schools, boreholes, roads, town halls, village squares, markets, etc. 1.1 9.4 24.7 44.9 19.9 .572** 7 i participate in community or statedesignated general environmental sanitations. 1.9 8.9 19.9 49.5 19.9 .600** 8 i pick up dirt in halls, classrooms, or places i share with the public and properly dispose it without first being instructed to do so. 0.2 2.0 8.3 58.9 30.6 .516** 9 i protest human rights violations through social media, public rallies, or petition signing. 0.0 1.9 22.8 28.2 47.0 .464** 10 i report cases of human rights violations like violence against children to the appropriate authorities such as the police. 0.0 0.0 0.5 9.1 90.3 .374** note: *** = p < .001. method of analysis descriptive analysis of the participants’ (as categorized) scores on all measured constructs was done; variance analyses using different variance statistics were done to determine if statistical differences exist between or among categorical variables. results preliminary analyses preliminary assumption tests were conducted to forestall violation of normality, homogeneity of variance, and independence principles. t-test and one-way anova were basically used for data analysis. a kruskal-wallis statistic was used where data violated both normality and homogeneity tests, whereas welch’s anova was used where data violated only homogeneity of variance assumption in cases of three or more categorical variables (field, 2013). a tukey hsd, games-howell test, and dun bonferroni test were conducted for all significant anova, welch’s anova, and kruskal-wallis results, respectively (field, 2013). mann-whitney u was used where data violated only normality test, while the alternative t-test result presented in the spss output table was used where only the equality of variance test was violated, in cases of two categorical variables. the descriptive statistics (mean [m] and standard deviation [sd]) scores of all participants on all measured variables are presented in table 4; the mean and sd scores of each independent variable on the measured variables are presented in table 5. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 75 table 4: mean and standard deviation [sd] of responses on measures (n = 372) measured variables mean sd civic engagement [ce] political participation [pp] 1.21 .68 community volunteerism [cv] 1.64 .79 environmental “civility” [ec] 1.03 .68 human rights protection [hrp] .45 .47 total [ce] 1.07 .41 table 5: mean and standard deviation [sd] of responses of each independent variable on measures (n = 372) gender location age ses (monthly income [₦] ) education m⃰ f⃰ u* r* 1825 2635 3650 ≥ 150k 100k – 149k 50k 99k ˂ 50k pe* se* te* measured construct mean (sd) mean (sd) mean (sd) mean (sd) mean (sd) ce pp 1.31 (.74) 1.06 (.52) 1.23 (.68) 1.18 (.66) 1.08 (.66) 1.35 (.70) 1.23 (.63) 1.35 (.78) 1.39 (.78) 1.20 (.63) 1.10 (.59) .89 (.44) 1.07 (.52) 1.32 (.74) cv 1.83 (.72) 1.37 (.81) 1.51 (.79) 1.88 (.74) 1.45 (.63) 1.95 (.76) 1.71 (.76) 1.82 (.86) 1.74 (.62) 1.75 (.79) 1.46 (.77) 1.75 (.81) 1.67 (.78) 1.62 (.79) ec 1.16 (.68) .97 (.69) .85 (.56) 1.46 (.76) 1.03 (.56) 1.14 (.78) .91 (.66) 1.63 (.70) .88 (.66) 1.00 (.67) 1.18 (.69) 1.06 (.76) 1.13 (.68) .96 (.67) hr p .55 (.50) .29 (.39) .45 (.47) .43 (.49) .39 (.48) .54 (.48) .40 (.46) .61 (.56) .56 (.52) .38 (.41) .39 (.45) .34 (.45) .52 (.46) .42 (.49) ce 1.19 (.39) .92 (.39) 1.00 (.39) 1.21 (.42) .91 (.37) 1.23 (.39) 1.05 (.40) 1.29 (.44) 1.14 (.39) 1.17 (.38) 1.00 (.41) 1.00 (.46) 1.10 (.38) 1.07 (.43) note: *₦ = naira; m = male, f = female; u = urban, r = rural; h = hausa, id = idoma, i = igbo, y = yoruba, its = itsekiri, ur = urhobo, iso = isoko; pe = primary education, se = secondary education, te = tertiary education. table 5 (cont’d): mean and standard deviation [sd] of responses of each independent variable on measures (n = 372) https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 76 community volunteerism [cv] the results showed a statistically significant difference between the cv mean scores of male (m rank = 211) and female (m rank = 149) participants (u = 11,158, p < .01) and a statistically significant difference between the cv mean scores of rural (m rank =217) and urban (m rank = 169) participants (u = 19,730, p < .01). there is also a significant difference in the mean scores of cv of the different age groups (f (2,369) = 36.01, p < .001, ƞ2 = .63). tukey post hoc comparison showed that the mean score of participants aged 18-25 (m = 1.45) differed significantly from that of participants aged 26-35 (m = 1.95) and 36-50 (m = 1.71), and that the mean score of g2 significantly differed from g3. there is no significant difference in the mean scores of cv of the different education groups (f (2,369) = .371, p = .69). one-way anova on data for income variable showed that there was a significant difference in cv between the different income groups (f (3,368) = 5.15, p = .04). tukey post hoc comparison showed that only the mean score of participants in group 1 (m = 1.46) differed significantly from that of participants in group 2 (m = 1.75) and group 4 (m = 1.82). the kruskal-wallis test on data for the ethnic group variable showed that there was no significant difference in cv between the different ethnic groups (𝑥2(7) = 8.43, p = .29). environmental civility [ec] preliminary analysis showed a mean difference in ec between male (m = 1.16; sd = .68) and female (m = .97, sd = .69) participants. however, the independent-samples t-test on gender variable showed that there is no statistically significant difference between the mean scores of male and female participants (t (370) = 1.40, p = .16). with respect to location, the results showed a statistically significant difference between the ec mean scores of rural (m rank = 234) and urban (m rank = 160) participants (u = 22,000, p < .01). the kruskal-wallis test on data for age variable showed that there was a significant difference in ec mean score between the different age groups (𝑥2(2) = 9.27, p = .008). dun bonferroni test post hoc comparison showed ethnic group h⃰⃰ id⃰ i* ijaw iso* ist* ur* y* measured construct mean (sd) ce pp 1.18 (.72) 1.25 (.68) 1.18 (.64) .81 (.55) 1.43 (.53) 1.03 (.48) 1.14 (.64) 1.38 (.78) cv 1.57 (.68) 1.87 (.75) 1.65 (.75) 1.47(1.1 3) 1.78(1.0 4) 1.77 (.94) 1.64 (.56) 1.56 (.75) ec .93 (.49) 1.05 (.77) 1.08 (.60) 1.13 (.65) 1.40 (.72) 1.57 (.95) .47 (.52) .84 (.71) hrp .43 (.46) .55 (.51) .43 (.47) .55 (.43) .60 (.38) .69 (.48) .16 (.17) .43 (.47) ce 1.03 (.34) 1.27 (.43) 1.08 (.38) .97 (.46) 1.32 (.37) 1.37 (.47) .83 (.19) .99 (.48) https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 77 that only the mean score of participants aged 36-50 (m rank = 165) and those aged 26-35 (m rank = 204) differed significantly (p =.007). there is significant difference in the ec mean scores of participants in the different education groups (𝑥2(2) = 6.04, p = .049). dun bonferroni test post hoc comparison showed that the mean score of participants in group 2 and group 3 significantly differed (.042). one-way anova test on data for the income variable showed no significant difference in the ec mean scores of the different income groups (f (3,368) = 1.16, p = .32). the kruskal-wallis test on data for ethnic group variable showed significant difference in ec mean score across the different ethnic groups (𝑥2(7) = 35.45, p < .01). dun bonferroni test post hoc comparison showed that the mean score of yoruba participants differed from that of itsekiri participants, while the mean score of urhobo participants differed from those of idoma, igbo, ijaw, isoko, and itsekiri participants. discussion on the whole, the participants in the study reported low environmental civility and community volunteerism, as shown in table 4. this could be attributed to low knowledge and critical thinking about these civic engagement components, because indigenous education was deemphasized by colonial rulers and the colonial or western education in its place either ignores these issues or addresses them from a foreign standpoint that is not very relevant to nigerians. thus, we argue that increasing people’s knowledge about these components by combining indigenous and western ideas, guiding them to think critically about causes and solutions, and motivating them to act could result in increased civic engagement. this idea is expanded in the ensuing discussion of each of the civic engagement components. socio-demographic factors and community volunteerism age was found to predict and have a large influence on community volunteerism. late adolescents (18-25) were least involved in community volunteerism, and emerging adults (2635) who are transitioning to full adulthood were most involved in community activities. this finding contradicts the finding of jennings and stoker’s (2004) longitudinal investigation of a 1965 cohort across ages 18 to 50, which revealed that engagement in civic organizations was lowest during the transition to adulthood and highest in adolescence and midlife. this contradiction may be because of the pressure from modern day employers on volunteer experiences of their intended employees who are mostly in the transition period (i.e., the emerging adults), or it could be because jennings and stoker (2004) focused on belonging to civic organizations while the present study looked at participation irrespective of belonging or not belonging to a civic organization since the new wave of volunteering is more individualized (eimhjellen et al., 2018). furthermore, unlike previous studies (e.g., ostrander & fisher, 1995) that found women to volunteer in social services more than men, this study found that more men undertake community volunteerism than women. this finding could be due to the nature of the measure’s https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 78 items (volunteering in emergency cases such as flooding and disease outbreak, road maintenance, etc.), which are tasks often left to men. intriguingly, rural participants reported more community volunteering than their urban counterparts. this finding could be associated with the communal nature of rural areas coupled with the fact that rural participants are more likely to have the time to care for non-relatives and to volunteer in emergency and community services since they are usually less engaged in formal job sectors that are mostly non-flexible and time consuming. socio-demographic factors and environmental civility even though there was no statistically significant difference between the male and female participants in this study, there was a mean difference that suggests men to be more environmentally engaged than women. this is inconsistent with previous studies (e.g., hunter, hatch, & johnson, 2004; scannell & gifford, 2013) and is rather difficult to explain. perhaps this discrepancy with the findings of other studies could be explained by the fact that one of the two items (“participation in general environmental sanitation”) that measured environmental civility is mostly done in places outside the home (e.g., parks, roads, streets, village squares, social infrastructures), and women have been found to be more environmentally conscious in private spheres such as the home (see hunter, hatch, & johnson, 2004). another intriguing finding is that location influences environmental civility. rural participants were more environmentally civilized than urban participants. this result is in consonance with previous research findings that have found rural residents to be more protective of and interactive with the environment (e.g., hinds & sparks, 2008; huddart-kennedy, beckley, mcfarlane, & nadeau, 2009). these studies suggested the variance between rural and urban residents to be as a result of the closeness of rural residents to nature. the result could also be explained by place attachment (an emotional bond between a person and a place), especially because rural residents in nigeria usually have ancestral ties to their location, unlike urban dwellers with residences in rural areas that they call home. that is, rural residents are most likely “at home” and so are more likely to preserve their environment than when in someone else’s home or land. in addition, this finding could also be the result of strong customs and the communal nature of rural areas in nigeria, whose dwellers are most times not privileged to have the services of government-employed sanitation workers but have to engage in environmental sanitation on a communal basis. therefore, the higher environmental civility of rural participants could be due to their environmental independence, unlike their urban counterparts who are more likely to depend on government sanitation services. although environmental hygiene is a universal culture and value, it appears more pronounced in rural nigeria, as non-compliance with environmental customs attracts customary sanctions such as stigmatization, fines, denial of certain rights, etc., especially in igbo-speaking parts of nigeria. this finding supports the positions that social and cultural factors as external factors and values as internal factors https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 79 influence environmental behaviors (e.g., gatersleben, murtagh, & abrahamse, 2012; kollmus & agyeman, 2002). moreover, the finding is consistent with studies that found education to be a significant factor in determining environmental behavior (e.g., chanda, 1999; zsóka, szerényi, széchy, & kocsis, 2013). but, quite surprisingly, unlike other studies where environmental behavior increased with education, this study’s participants from secondary education backgrounds were more environmentally civilized than participants from primary education backgrounds, while participants from tertiary education backgrounds were the least environmentally civilized. this unprecedented finding may be attributed to the fact that most participants from secondary and primary education backgrounds were rural dwellers, who are shown to be more environmentally conscious, while 75% of participants with tertiary education backgrounds were urban dwellers. implications for civic education generally, following from rubin’s (2007) and hardy et al.’s (2010) studies in different countries linking civic identities to civic engagement, the findings of this study suggest the need for civic educators to explore the civic identities of their learners from different contexts such as gender, location, socioeconomic background, and ethnic (cultural) background. this is because civic identities can hinder or encourage community volunteering and environmental protection through means such as environmental sanitation. civic educators can engage in suggested exploration through initial class discussions and probing prior to delivery of main instruction so as to identify and employ strategies that could hinder negative civic identities and encourage positive civic identities. this will promote meaningful civic education in nigeria, which could forestall the reported low civic engagement among adults. adult educators should also bear in mind the disparate backgrounds of adult learners in their implementation of civic education. men were found to be more engaged in civic engagement components requiring strength or outdoor work not considered “homely” and therefore unsuitable for women in africa. thus, civic educators need to emphasize and encourage female participation in civic activities. to make the emphasis meaningful, the educators have to first identify and hinder thoughts and female students’ adaptation to social structures limiting their human rights, including rights of freedom of movement and association. higher income was also found to strongly correlate with higher civic engagement. therefore, civic education should spur action in students so that regardless of wealth status, everyone can be involved in civic activities. location matters for civic engagement; rural residents were more likely to be engaged in environmental civility and community volunteering. this may be extended to mean that culture or ethnic group is equally important because of nigeria’s geographic segregation, where ethnic groups are usually clustered in particular locations, forming majorities in such locations. for example, this study’s site is in an igbo region, so it is most likely that participants in rural areas are igbos (an ethnic group) and in their ancestral homes, while the urban residents are a mix of https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 80 igbo and many other ethnic groups that are in the town because of their university studies or jobs, and have their homes (villages) in other parts of the country. so, how can urban residents, who may not have strong attachments to their temporary homes, become more engaged in civic activities? this is a task for civic education. a suggestion would be for civic education to become more critical in exploring the experiences of people in both urban and rural areas and encouraging students to act to make these experiences better. civic identities of nigerian urban students (and rural students) hindering or encouraging community volunteering and environmental protection through environmental sanitation (or protection) should be identified by teachers so as to make civic education practical and meaningful to them. a critical civic education is necessary because with critical consciousness (i.e., knowledge and critical thinking skills) comes more awareness of oppressive systems and vulnerable people who need society’s help. people are empowered to step in when the government neglects its duties with respect to volunteering, environmental sanitation, provision and maintenance of social infrastructure, disaster management, etc. as critical consciousness theory posits, ignorance feeds oppression; therefore, civic education has a duty to raise people’s knowledge and critical thinking about their society. it is probable that a critical civic education would raise people’s critical consciousness and result in sustained civic engagement. incentives such as awards (e.g., the most environmental friendly student) should be provided for students who are environmentally civilized. in addition, the infused environmental education content in many school subjects, especially in civic education, should be given conscious attention. efforts should also be geared toward eliminating the adoption of environmental sanitation as a form of punishment in schools. adopting environmental sanitation as a form of punishment could make students dislike it: this, to some extent, defeats sustainable development goal 6: clean water and sanitation. environmental sanitation should not be left for cleaners alone, as is seen in most urban and private schools. a school sanitation day could be fixed and teachers participate so as to lead examples for their students. this will create a democratic atmosphere and forestall the case of older people abandoning sanitation to younger people. environmental clubs should also be established in schools at all levels with a focus on linking students to nature and engaging them in protection and sustenance of the environment. furthermore, field trips in civic education and related disciplines should not be limited to sightings in museums, parks, nature, etc., but should be extended to volunteering for community causes such as care of the elderly, needy, the environment, etc. moreover, the government and ngos should provide volunteering opportunities for individuals. schools and other institutions should also let individuals understand their role in creating opportunities and effecting changes. in addition, government environmental agencies should stop limiting their functions on general environmental sanitation days to restricting movements; they could visit neighborhoods or communities to democratically and respectfully implore and persuade households to participate. environmental ngos could also mobilize people to participate in general environmental sanitation. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 81 toward a critical civic education in nigeria a critical civic education is one that empowers learners to apply knowledge and critical thinking skills to examine current situations, develop a deeper understanding of reality, and generate and implement solutions to problems. inferences from the patterns observed between civic engagement and socio-demographic factors can inform the improvement of civic education curriculum and delivery, especially if guided by the theory of critical consciousness. to achieve a critical civic education for all groups in nigeria, students should be involved in actions that include the following:  exploring questions related to freedom, authority, social responsibility, and personal purpose in local and global contexts.  engaging in conversations about known (e.g., through the media) and unknown (e.g., personal experience) oppressive systems, maltreated people, etc.  engaging in self-reflection to develop critical consciousness.  telling stories, analyzing news articles, pictures, and videos of oppressed people.  sharing motivating stories of people’s lives being improved because of raised critical consciousness and civic engagement activities.  engaging in diverse civic engagement activities in and out of school environments, individually and in groups. additionally, educators should consider the following in their instructional practices:  peculiar challenges (e.g., exclusive cultural rules inhibiting the full realization of women’s potential) affecting female participation in civic activities.  special circumstances affecting community volunteerism and environmental protection skills of urban residents and learners. generally, civic education needs to incorporate more indigenous knowledge in order to be relevant to nigerians and raise their critical consciousness, thereby empowering them to understand and improve their society. primary and secondary schools’ civic education curricula should be structured in such a way as to create participatory opportunities for students. this could be achieved by liaising with youth forums and ngos to create interactive sessions on key societal issues with students. limitation of the study and suggestion for further studies certain limitations may affect this study’s generalizability. first, some of the study’s participants are both indigenes and residents of the study area while many others are only residents and have their indigenous origins in other parts of the country. therefore, even though participants were grouped by ethnicity (indigenous origins), there could be some social or culture-contact impact, especially for those who have lived in the study area for longer periods, and this could influence their views and actions. therefore, a future study in this area should consider a sample that would comprise both indigenes and residents of a particular area to reduce the effect of culture-contact. furthermore, the civic engagement scale we used in this study is new and the items did not capture all civic activities for each subscale. even though preliminary https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 82 assessments and tests indicate high validity and reliability, further testing and application with other samples should be done to establish the scale’s robustness. conclusion with the urgent need for increased civic engagement in nigeria, a critical civic education in nigeria is crucial. understanding the relationship between civic engagement and sociodemographic factors is also vital for civic education reforms. a critically conscious civic education in nigeria would consider sociodemographic differences in empowering students to apply knowledge and critical thinking skills to build a civil society through civic engagement. this is important because civic engagement contributes to the reduction of problems like neglected community members (especially the aged and physically challenged), environmental degradation, human rights violations, political apathy, oppression, and inter-ethnic intolerance and violence. however, civic education needs to be culturally respectful of the place and people, and promote activities that spur increased knowledge and critical thinking around local and global issues of volunteering, the environment, and other aspects of civic life. these could empower students to strive for positive changes in their immediate environment, their country, and the world. endnotes 1. some of the participants have at least one dependent, indicating that income may not have a direct effect. 2. kporakpo (town union) is a term used to refer to communal or ethnic clubs or unions formed outside the immediate community or ethnic group. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 83 references ajaps, s., & mclellan, r. (2015). “we don’t know enough”: environmental education and proenvironmental behaviour perceptions. cogent education, 2, 1–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2015.1124490 beehr, t. a., legro, k., porter, k., bowling, m. a., & swader, w. m. (2010). required volunteers: community volunteerism among students in college classes. teaching of psychology, 37(4), 276–280. doi: 10.1080/00986283.2010.510965 bhabha, h. k. (2012). the location of culture. london: routledge. chanda, r. (1999). correlates and dimensions of environmental quality concern among residents of an african subtropical city: gaborone, botswana. journal of environmental education, 30(2), 31–39. chen, x., peterson, m. n., hull, v., lu, c., lee, g. d., hong, d., & liu, j. (2011). effects of attitudinal and sociodemographic factors on pro-environmental behaviour in urban china. environmental conservation, 38(1), 45–52. doi:10.1017/s037689291000086x cohen, l., manion, l., & morrison, k. (2011). research methods in education (11th ed.). london: routledge. cox, c., jaramillo, r., & reimers, f. (2005). education for democratic citizenship in the americas: an agenda for action. new york: inter-american development bank. retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254423036 duerden, m. d., & witt, p. a. (2010). the impact of direct and indirect experiences on the development of environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. journal of environmental psychology, 30(4), 379–392. dunlap, r. e., gallup, g. h., & gallup, a. m. (1993). ‘of global concern’: results of the health and planet survey. environment: science and policy for sustainable development, 35(9), 7–39. eimhjellen, i., steen-johnsen, k., folkestad, b., & odegard, g. (2018). changing patterns of volunteering and participation. in b. enjolras and k. stromsnes (eds.), scandinavian civil society and social transformations, nonprofit and civil society studies (pp. 25–65). norway: springer international publishing ag. ekong, i. e. (2015). an assessment of environmental sanitation in an urban community in southern nigeria. african journal of environmental science and technology, 9(7), 592–599. https://cultureandvalues.org/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2015.1124490 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254423036 journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 84 field, a. (2013). discovering statistics using spss: (and sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll) (4th ed.). london: sage. finkel, s. e., & ernst, h. r. (2005). civic education in post-apartheid south africa: alternative paths to the development of political knowledge and democratic values. political psychology, 26(3), 333–364. freire, p. (1974). conscientisation. cross currents, 24(1), 23–31. freire, p. (1996). pedagogy of the oppressed (revised). new york: continuum. gatersleben, b., murtagh, n., & abrahamse, w. (2014). values, identity, and pro-environmental behaviour. contemporary social science, 9(4), 374–392. doi:10.1080/2158204.2012.682086 gilg, a., barr, s., & ford, n. (2005). green consumption or sustainable lifestyles? identifying the sustainable consumer. futures, 37(6), 481–504. doi:10.1016/j.futures.2004.10.016 hackl, f., halla, m., & pruckner, g. j. (2007). volunteering and income – the fallacy of the good samaritan? kyklos, 60(1), 77–104. hahn, c. l. (1999). citizenship education: an empirical study of policy, practices and outcomes. oxford review of education, 25(1-2), 231–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/030549899104233 hardman, f., abd-kadir, j., & smith, f. (2008). pedagogical renewal: improving the quality of classroom interaction in nigerian primary schools. international journal of educational development, 28(1), 55-69. hardy, s. a., pratt, m. w., pancer, s. m., oslen, j. a., & lawford, h. l. (2010). community and religious involvement as contexts of identity change across late adolescence and emerging adulthood. international journal of behavioral development, 35(2), 125–135. hinds, j., & sparks, p. (2008). engaging with the natural environment: the role of affective connection and identity. journal of environmental psychology, 28(2), 109–120. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2007.11.001 horton, m., & freire, p. (1990). we make the road by walking: conversations on education and social change. temple university press. huddart-kennedy, e., beckley, t. m., mcfarlane, b. l., & nadeau, s. (2009). rural-urban differences in environmental concern in canada. rural sociology, 74(3), 309–329. doi:10.1526/003601109789037268 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1080/030549899104233 journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 85 hunter, l. m., hatch, a., & johnson, a. (2004). cross-national gender variation in environmental behaviors. social science quarterly, 85(3), 677–694. jack, b. a., kirton, j. a., birakurataki, j., & merriman, a. (2011). the personal value of being a palliative care community volunteer worker in uganda: a qualitative study. palliative medicine, 26(5), 753–759. doi: 10.1177/0269216311413628 jacoby, b. (2009). civic engagement in higher education: concepts and practices. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. jennings, k. m., & stoker, l. (2004). social trust and civic engagement across time and generations. actapolitica, 39(4), 342–379. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ap.5500077 kahne, j., david, c., & lee, n. (2013). different pedagogy, different politics: high school learning opportunities and youth political engagement. political psychology, 34(4), 419–441. kahne, j. e., & sporte, s. e. (2008). developing citizens: the impact of civic learning opportunities on students’ commitment to civic participation. american educational research journal, 45(3), 738–766. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831208316951 kollmuss, a., & agyeman, j. (2002). mind the gap: why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior? environmental education research, 8(3), 239– 260. doi: 10.1080/13504620220145401 krosnick, j. a., & presser, s. (2010). question and questionnaire design. in p. v. marsden & j. d. wright (eds.), handbook of survey research (2nd ed.). bingley, uk: emerald group publishing. leigh, r., smith, d. h, lough, b. j, mati, j. m., giesing, c., león, m. j., … strassburg, s. (2011). state of the world’s volunteerism report: universal values for global wellbeing. bonn, germany: united nations volunteers (unv). lott, j. l. ii. (2006). racial identity and black students’ perceptions of civic skills. race, gender & class, 13(3/4), 239–254. lum, t. y., & lightfoot, e. (2005).the effects of volunteering on the physical and mental health of older people. research on aging, 27(1), 31–55. doi: 10.1177/0164027504271349 mcbride, a. m., sherraden, m. s., & pritzker, s. (2004). civic engagement among low-income and low-wealth families: in their words. working paper no. 04-14, center for social development global service institute, george warren brown school of social work, washington university. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831208316951 journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 86 mcintosh, h., hart, d., & youniss, j. (2007). the influence of family political discussion on youth civic development: which parents qualities matter? political science and politics, 40(3), 495– 499. doi:10.1017/s1049096507070758 morrow-howell, n. (2010). volunteering in later life: research frontiers. journal of gerontology: social sciences, 65b(4), 461–469. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbq024 nigerian educational research and development council (nerdc). (2012). federal ministry of education junior secondary education curriculum. abuja: ubec. obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria. journal of culture and values in education, 2(2), 1–20. retrieved from https://cultureandvalues.org/index.php/jcv/article/view/32 ogunbode, c. a. (2013). the nep scale: measuring ecological attitudes/worldviews in an african context. environment, development and sustainability, 15(6), 1477–1494. doi:10.1007/s10668013-9446-0 ostrander, s., & fisher, j. (1995). women giving money, women raising money: what difference for philanthropy? new directions for philanthropic fundraising, 1995(8), 67-78. rubin, b. (2007). “there’s still not justice”: youth civic identity development amid distinct school and community contexts. teacher college record, 109(2), 449–481. paffenholz, t., & spurk, c. (2006). civil society, civic engagement, and peacebuilding. social development papers, paper no 36, 10-55. conflict prevention and reconstruction social development department, world bank. retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/conflict pinto, d. c., nique, w. m., aňaňa, e. d. s., & herter, m. m. (2011). green consumer values: how do personal values influence environmentally responsible water consumption? international journal of consumer studies, 35(2), 122–131. putnam, r. d. (2000). bowling alone: america’s declining social capital. in culture and politics (pp. 223-234). new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. roschelle, a. (1997). no more kin: exploring race, class, and gender in family networks. thousand oaks, ca: sage. scannell, l., & gifford, r. (2013). personally relevant climate change: the role of place attachment and local versus global message framing in engagement. environment and behavior, 45(1), 60–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916511421196 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://cultureandvalues.org/index.php/jcv/article/view/32 http://www.worldbank.org/conflict journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 ajaps, s. o. & obiagu, a. n. (2021). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 87 tindall, d. b., davies, s., & mauboulѐs, c. (2003). activism and conservation behavior in an environmental movement: the contradictory effects of gender. society and natural resources, 16(10), 909–932. doi: 10.1080/08941920390231478 uyeki, e. s., & holland, l. j. (2000). diffusion of pro-environment attitudes? american behavioral scientist, 43(4), 646–662. vicente-monila, m. a, fernandez-sainz, a., & izagirre-olaizola, j. (2013). environmental knowledge and other variables affecting pro-environmental behaviour: comparison of university students from emerging and advanced countries. journal of cleaner production, 61, 130–138. doi:10.10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.05.015 zsóka, a., szerényi, m. z., széchy, a., & kocsis, t. (2013). greening due to environmental education? environmental knowledge, attitudes, consumer behavior and everyday proenvironmental activities of hungarian high school and university students. journal of cleaner production, 48, 126–138. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.11.030 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 26 the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america1 joshua l kenna university of tennessee william b. russell iii* university of central florida *corresponding author: russell@ucf.edu received : 2018-04-26 revision request : 2018-05-31 accepted : 2018-06-24 how to cite this paper: kenna, j.l. & russell, w. b. (2018). the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america. journal of culture and values in education, 1(1), 26-49. abstract there is no surprise that the culture of america’s public education system is continually changing. more than a decade ago the federal initiative no child left behind (nclb) was signed into law; a law that many consider the pinnacle of the standards-based educational reform (sber). today, the sber is common and widespread across the educational landscape of america and other parts of the world; however, the historical roots of the sber within the u.s. predate nclb by some 30 years originating in state and federal initiatives from the 1980s and 1990s and in activities conducted by professional organizations. keywords: standards-based educational reform, educational policies, social studies education each initiative was established as a response to a real-world scenario, such as a lack of competiveness in a global marketplace, a decline in sat scores, or a decrease in the high school graduation rates (wong, guthrie, & harris, 2004). the sber has become so common and widespread across the public educational landscape of america that a whole generation knows nothing but a culture of standards and accountability. however, despite the long and persistent presence of standards in schools there is no universal definition of the sber. according to hamilton, stecher, and yaun (2009) most discussions about the sber consist of some or all six of the following elements: 1) transference of responsibility, 2) academic expectations, 3) alignment, 4) support and technical assistance, 5) assessment, and 6) accountability. 1 sections and/or parts of this manuscript were previously published as part of a book chapter in "getting at the core of common core standards with social studies" published by information age publishing. this material was used with written permission and information age publishing retains the copyright to the material. mailto:russell@ucf.edu journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 27 to explain it further, first the sber involves some official or governing educational agency that creates content and curriculum standards, which promote academic excellence and indicates what students should know and be able to do. next, the standards are aligned with key elements of the educational system (i.e. textbooks) to support the attainment of the expectations. subsequently, teachers are expected to up hold the standards through their precise teaching. meanwhile, support (financial, technical, training, etc…) is often given by federal, state, and/or local officials to foster the improvement of the educational services schools and teachers provide to students. finally, students are expected to reveal their acquisition or attainment of the standards through some form of high-stakes assessment. consequently, students, teachers, schools, and districts are held accountable (either rewarded or punished) based on the assessment scores of students, which indicate whether the standards had been meet or not. in florida, for example, students must pass the florida standards assessment (fsa) in reading, writing, and mathematics, or an end-of-course (eoc) exam, in order to be promoted or be eligible to graduate (florida statute 1008.22, 2018). the accountability for teachers is built into their annual evaluation, as 50 percent of it is based on the average fsa/eoc scores of their students (florida statue 1012.34, 2018). schools, on the other hand, receive letter grades (i.e. a, b, c, d, or f) and the fsa/eoc scores of their students is a key component; furthermore, schools stand in line to receive a financial incentive based on the grade they receive; the higher the grade the higher the incentive (florida statute 1008.34, 2018). the sber mirrors a joining of political trends in education, at both the federal and state levels, and there is a growing emphasis on using high-stakes tests to monitor development and hold students, teachers, and schools accountable. over the decades, the sber has received its fair share of criticism and research initiatives (tanner, 2010). in fact, there is a budding realization that “standards-based educational reform” has largely given way to the “test-based reform” and it is the test-based reform that changes teaching practices (hamilton, stecher, & yaun, 2009, p. 4). what is noticeably missing; however, in the sber, is an emphasis on social studies education (vogler & virtue, 2007). in florida, students are only withheld from grade promotions if they do not meet the determined criteria in reading, writing, science, or mathematics, which implies a lack of relevancy for social studies education (florida statute 1008.25, 2018). while social studies standards exist in florida and in each of the other 49 states, without a high-stakes test associated with the standards little may change in regards to teaching practices and culture. social studies though is not entirely forgotten, as 11 states test it at the elementary level, 14 at the middle school level, and 17 at the high school level (education commission of the states, 2018); although few make it a requirement for graduation or promotion. vogler and virtue (2007) said it well when they wrote, “social studies teachers may not like testing, but, in many respects, it is more advantageous to be on the field than on the sidelines” (p. 57). while standards are not bad the question is how did america’s public educational system get to a point where for social studies to matter it must be tested? while there are several journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 28 commentaries on this topic, there are none that trace the historical steps of both federal and state initiatives, particularly with an emphasis on how those actions influenced the culture and nature of social studies instruction. theoretical framework although this paper simply sought to trace the historical steps of both federal and state initiatives, it became clear that at the heart of the sber is a “theory of change” (massell & perrault, 2014, p. 196). that is, due to the u.s.’s educational structure—state based rather than federally based—disjointed collections of practices were produced among states, which primarily shared a focus on low-level knowledge and skills. yet, those achievements affected the nation. thus, with a theory of change it is believed that “…the power of a large collective with the same high aspirations can harness the institutional forces that have consistently undermined reformist goals” (massell & perrault, 2014, p. 197). furthermore, the theory of change relies heavily on a system of alignment. first of which are a set of standards. methodology the purpose of this study was to define the nature, culture, and meaning of the contemporary sber movement, and to trace the historical roots of the sber via federal and state educational policies, as well as the work of various professional organizations. this study examined the mirrored actions and responses taken by social studies education organizations within the larger picture of the sber, placing the focal point largely upon actions taken by the national council for the social studies (ncss). as such, a historical research methodology was utilized as described in cohen, manion, and morrison (2007). historical research is the systematic approach to locating, evaluating, and synthesizing evidence in order to ascertain facts and make assertive conclusions concerning past events. adhering to the historical research guidelines, historical evidence dealing with the sber movement was analyzed and evaluated. pertinent academic journals were searched for pieces on the sber movement, and federal and state records concerning sber initiatives, act, and strategies were examined. the analysis included cross-checking dates, statements and other facts with other sources to ensure accuracy and a clear understanding of the past events surrounding the many sber movements. as expected, the origins of the sber can be traced back to the actions of both the federal government and several state governments, which are chronicled below beginning with federal and then state initiatives. federal initiatives the soviet satellite, sputnik, was launched in 1957, which confirmed the fears and criticism of the american educational system and there by “unleashed funds for educational reform” (evans, 2004, p. 115). america would spend hundreds of millions of dollars for the improvement of mathematics, science, and foreign-language instruction (evans, 2004). social studies journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 29 education too would receive funding as it was heralded as the “new social studies” (byford & russell, 2007). despite the grand curriculum reforms little changed in america’s classrooms; in fact, evans (2004) contends that, “analysts of the nsf [national science foundation] case studies reported that fewer than 20% of teachers had heard of or used the [new social studies curriculum] materials” (pp. 145-146). meanwhile, in 1975, the college board pointed out the decline of the nations average sat scores. in 1983, the sber would officially begin with the national commission on excellence in education’s (ncee) landmark report a nation at risk: the imperative for educational reform! finally, after various federal initiatives, the sber would blossom with president george w. bush’s signing of the no child left behind act (nclb) of 2001. currently at the federal level, the sber continues with the obama administration’s “race to the top” (rttt) and the ever student succeeds act (essa) of 2015. additionally, states have voluntarily adopted the common core state standards; although, due to public outcry many states have chosen to repeal those standards, but more on that later. a nation at risk: the imperative for educational reform! on august 26, 1981, ronald reagan’s secretary of education, honorable t. h. bell, formed the ncee; an 18-member commission made up of college and university presidents, scientists, school administrators, and business representatives whose goal was to “…present a report on the quality of education to [him] and the american people by april of 1983” (ncee, 1983 p. 1). it took the ncee eighteen months to compile dozens of research papers, hold eight meetings, perform six public hearings, two panel discussions, a symposium, and a series of regional meetings before their report, a nation at risk: the imperative for educational reform! was complete by the required deadline (here after simply referred to as a nation at risk) (ncee, 1983). david gardner, president elect of the university of california and chairman of the ncee, explained in the introduction of a nation at risk that the committee’s purpose was to “…define the problems afflicting american education and to provide solutions, not search for scapegoats” (ncee, 1983, p.1) additionally, gardner explained that the report is candid of both the strengths and weaknesses of america’s educational system. furthermore, he expressed the committee’s optimism in righting america’s educational ship citing the committee’s unity despite their diversity, an obvious reference to what the committee believed should be america’s actions. in the opening paragraph of a nation at risk (ncee, 1983) the committee stated that: …the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and a people. what was unimaginable a generation ago has begun to occur—others are matching and surpassing our educational attainments (p. 9). the ncee would later indicate three weaknesses of the american educational system. the first woe dealt with the state of the economy, as asian and european nations were quickly overtaking america’s manufacturing and high-tech industries. as the report stated: journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 30 the risk is not only that the japanese make automobiles more efficiently than americans and have government subsidies for development and export. it is not just the south koreans recently built the world's most efficient steel mill, or that american machine tools, once the pride of the world, are being displaced by german products. it is also that these developments signify a redistribution of trained capability throughout the globe (ncee, 1983, p. 10). the committee believed that the last generation of educational graduates was ill prepared to compete with other nations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. america’s evident lack of technological competitiveness also carried over to the military arena and america’s relations with the soviet union. not only did america’s workforce appear to create lowquality domestic vehicles, but they also created low-quality weapons, tanks, and aircraft. the report indicated this with its military language, citing that in the days after the “sputnik challenge,” america was engaging in a “unilateral educational disarmament” (p. 10). finally (and most fervently) the ncee revealed america’s high illiteracy rates, low average test scores, and drastic increase in the remedial courses at colleges and universities, as compared to other industrialized nations. the committee’s concern of an uneducated society went farther than industry and commerce though; they believed that: a high level of shared education is essential to a free, democratic society and to the fostering of a common culture, especially in a country that prides itself on pluralism and individual freedom. for our country to function, citizens must be able to reach some common understandings on complex issues, often on short notice and on the basis of conflicting or incomplete evidence. education helps form these common understandings… (ncee, 1983, p. 10). it is clear that the ncee believed that america’s ills were a direct result of its failing schools and that citizens must use their intuition and common sense to right the ship. the ncee made recommendations that fell into five categories: 1) “standards and expectations”, 2) “academic content”, 3) “time”, 4) “teacher quality”, and 5) “school leadership and fiscal support”. one of the greatest legacies of a nation at risk according to wong, guthrie, and harris’s (2004) twenty year reappraisal was the, “subsequent implementation of its recommendations about raising standards” (p. 3). excellence in education was not just a portion of the committee’s title but it was an urgent message that the report expressed, one in which would stir responses and start the sber that is so common place today. america 2000: an education strategy as the 1980s were coming to a close, president george h. w. bush and the national governors association responded to the concerns raised in a nation at risk, and articulated a national strategy at the “education summit” at charlottesville, virginia. these articulations would help create six national education goals that would be implemented later in america 2000 (department of education, 1991). 1. all children in america will start school ready to learn; 2. the high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90 percent; journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 31 3. american students will leave grades four, eight, and twelve having demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter including english, mathematics, science, history, and geography; and every school in america will ensure that all students learn to use their minds well, so they may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our modern economy; 4. u.s. students will be first in the world in science and mathematics achievement; 5. every adult american will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship; [and] 6. every school in america will be free of drugs and violence and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning. (p. 61-65). despite president george h. w. bush’s involvement with the creation and delivery of america 2000 it is important to remember that it was not a federal policy but a national strategy, a federal-state partnership if you will, formed by the president and the national governors association, as well as other state policymakers, and professional organizations. in fact, in july 1990, president george h. w. bush and the national governors association created a group to monitor america’s progress towards its achievement of the national education goals. the national educational goals panel (negp), as the group would be titled, was made up of governors, administrative officials, and members of congress. in 1991, president bush said this to the negp, “there are only a few moments in our lives when we are called upon to join a crusade, and i honestly believe this is one of them. we have a crisis in american education, and we’ve simply got to do something about it…” (bush, 1991). unfortunately, president bush ran into some political trouble (miller, 1992) as conservative policymakers were interested in school choice measures while liberal policymakers were interested in enhancing student achievement by getting more money to schools (brown, 2009). president bush tried to implement america 2000 by circumventing the legislation and working with the business community, who were asked to invest up to $200 million in a “new american schools development corporation” but his actions lead to a turf war between the legislative and executive branches (brown, 2009, p. 5). after further debates and compromises, the education council act was passed in 1991, creating the national council on education standards and testing (ncest), an advisory group similar to negp but with a higher proportion of democratic representation and whose job was to examine, “the desirability and feasibility of establishing national standards and testing in education” (united states congress, 1991, p. 2– 3). tensions continued to mount in 1991 as the interested parties debated who should develop and evaluate the national standards. that same year, the negp would release its first report, which strongly advocated for national standards but failed to urge congress to take action (stedman & riddle, 1992). meanwhile, in january of 1992, the ncest utilized terminology and definitions that would begin to shape the sber (e.g. “leaving no one behind”), when it published journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 32 its first report titled, raising standards for american education, which, among other things, proposed the establishment of content, performance, and delivery standards (brown, 2009; hamilton, stecher, & yaun, 2009). the ncest (1992) stated that with the, “absence of welldefined and demanding standards, education in the united states has gravitated toward de facto national minimum expectations” (p. 8). therefore, the committee concluded that: …national standards and a system of assessments are desirable and feasible mechanisms for raising expectations, revitalizing instruction, and rejuvenating educational reform efforts for all american schools and students. thus, the national council on education standards and testing endorses the adoption of high national standards and the development of a system of assessments to measure attainment of those standards (p. 14). one of the glaring topics of debate that ensued from the beginning of the sber was the idea that national standards would enhance the federal control of education and thereby reduce the control of state and local policymakers. the ncest (1992) report curtailed that fear by suggesting that the national standards would be voluntary and that another advisory panel should be created to assist states with the development and creation of standards and assessment. one of the most controversial suggestions the ncest proposed was the idea of a national assessment; in fact, “50 prominent educators and testing experts” issued a statement the same day the report was released (chira, 1992) the ncest report, raising standards for american education, did little to help the america 2000 bill become law. president bush, though, would not go down without a fight, even in the midst of a presidential election; he began awarding grants through the u.s. department of education for the development of, “voluntary national standards in seven school subjects (science, history, geography, the arts, civics, foreign languages, and english)… that could be used by teacher educators, textbook publishers, and test developers” (ravitch, 2000, p. 432). despite the failed attempt of america 2000 much of what it tried to implement would be included in 1994 legislation the goals 2000: educate america act (kosar, 2005). goals 2000: educate america act upon bill clinton’s election, the new president and former chair of the national governors association, when it had a significant role in conceiving the national educational goals, tried to rejuvenate the sber with three new initiatives: goals 2000: educate america act, improving america’s schools act, and voluntary national tests (vnt) (brown, 2009). the clinton administration faced two major hurdles during his tenure. one dealt with the “school delivery standards”, which emphasized how schools delivered the necessary instruction to ensure that students acquired the appropriate information as depicted in future content and performance standards. while the other continued to deal with the perceived federal takeover of education, via assessments and accountability, despite the strong tradition for local control. as the goals 2000 bill was working its way through legislation it, like the america 2000 bill, emphasized a voluntary standards program but unlike its predecessor, goals 2000 wished to journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 33 fund states to create their own standards, which would then in turn be certified by a new federal council titled the “opportunity to learn commission”. in the goals 2000 legislation, the school delivery standards were re-titled “opportunity-to-learn” standards. unfortunately, the law did not provide for clear incentives for states to attend to the opportunity-to-learn standards (hamilton, stecher, & yaun, 2009). therefore, of the 47 states who applied for funding, in the summer of 1995, none were refused, even though, according to kosar (2005), “few developed adequate standards and assessments” (p. 133). meanwhile, the negp was given considerable authority over the national education standards and improvement council as a means to appease those who feared that the goals 2000 legislation would lead to an increase in the federal government’s control over education. the negp would nominate numerous state members (12 of the 16) to the council who had little motivation to make certification standards so difficult that they might be setting up their states to fail and in this way, the standards were further diluted (kosar, 2005). additionally, the law prohibited the use of high-stakes testing as a component for graduation, grade promotion, or retention of students until four years after the initiation of the act (brown, 2009). the clinton administration also reauthorized the elementary and secondary education act, called improving america’s schools act on october of 1994. the law “required each state to develop state content and performance standards for mathematics and reading by the 1997– 1998 school year and assessments by the 2000–2001 school year appropriate for all students, including the disadvantaged” (watt, 2000, p. 13). states would then have to test students between grades 3 through 8. the demands of the improving america’s schools act were a precursor to the no child left behind act (nclb) signed by president george w. bush. another assessment initiative that began in the mid-1990s was president clinton’s proposed “voluntary national tests” (vnt) for both mathematics and reading. the vnt would utilize the national assessment of educational progress (naep) frameworks but provide school-level scores as well as individual scores (hamilton, stecher, & yaun, 2009). naturally, this proposal proved to be problematic, especially to conservatives who feared the excessive involvement of the federal government (armour-garb, 2007). congress would ultimately reject president clinton’s vnt idea and therefore, the states continued to have the primary responsibility for developing high-stakes assessments and measuring students’ performance. the creation of the sber was not always led by the federal government as work had already been undertaken by some states and by various professional organizations, such as the curriculum standards developed by the national council of teachers of mathematics (nctm). the u.s. department of education viewed both the mathematics content frameworks created in california during the 1980s and the 1989 nctm curriculum and evaluation standards for school mathematics report as models of how to develop standards that reflect widespread consensus (wixson, dutro, & athan, 2003). the national standards created as a result of the grants provided by the u.s. department of education, however, did not receive the widespread consensus as had hoped. in fact, there was journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 34 more discrepancy about the mathematics standards than was ostensible at the time, and other subject areas experienced even greater disagreement. the history standards that had been released in 1994 by the national center for history in the schools at the university of california at los angeles for example, received significant media attention thanks in large part to lynne cheney’s “the end of history” article, published in the wall street journal. she suggested that the standards had too much of a multicultural focus and an “obsession with such topics as mccarthyism (19 references), racism (the ku klux klan is mentioned 17 times), and mistreatment of indigenous peoples, but gave little attention to some of the core developments and figures of american history (evans, 2004, p. 166). in the science standards a disagreement erupted over the inclusion of evolution. while in the mathematics standards parents began to chafe over the perceived over-reliance on calculators. hamilton, stecher, & yaun, (2009) state that: these disagreements became more pronounced as the standards development process expanded to include a variety of stakeholder groups, such as business leaders and parents, and ultimately led to a decision by the governors at the 1996 national education summit to continue the state-level standards-development activities that had been launched in response to earlier federal legislation rather than pursue the national efforts (p. 23-24). the national standards discussion would be tabled for now but would be revived with the inception of common core state standards in 2009. in 1995, the national governors association met and invited various american business leaders particularly ibm’s chief executive officer, louis v. gerstner jr., who told the governors not to wait for democrats and republicans to agree on national standards but, as a state, to take charge (horn & raymond, 2004). in 1996, the second national education summit convened in palisades, new york but this time the president was not the host but rather a guest of gerstner’s. various ceos from blue chip american companies were also in attendance and they came with a preference and agenda for the creation of state generated standards that had a consideration of workforce development (brown, 2009). soon after the second national education summit, a group of ceos and governors established achieve inc., a nonprofit, bipartisan organization geared for supervising the process of setting and implementing standards at the state level. in addition, three other business interest groups (the business roundtable, the national alliance of business, and the u.s. chamber of commerce) announced a common agenda to help educators and policymakers (achieve inc., n.d.). no child left behind act the third national education summit assembled in 1999, again at the request of gerstner but no longer was standards the sole focus; rather many attendees discussed holding schools accountable for students' achievement through measures, such as testing and issuing school report cards to the public. by the time clinton’s second presidential term ended in 2001 every state had drafted standards, except for iowa, where local school districts still decided what to teach (brown, 2009). in january of 2002, president george w. bush signed into law a landmark journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 35 educational reform named after his presidential campaign mantra, “no child left behind” (frontline, 2002). technically, nclb was just a reauthorization of the 1965 elementary and secondary education act signed by president johnson. throughout history, educational standards were often divided between political parties; yet, president bush’s nclb had bipartisan support, indicating a significant shift on capitol hill. despite the bipartisan support nclb was not free from dangers. the first was underfunding, and as with any political reform funding is a vital component. democrats, though, were familiar with the issue. plus the u.s. department of education had lax enforcement policies, while at the same time granting lots of waivers to states. the greatest danger dealt with a comparability loophole in the bill, which could not prevent states from using unreasonably easy tests or changing tests year after year. supporters of the bill wanted a national benchmark with which to measure states against and the logical choice was to utilize the naep, a national achievement test given every other year to a statistical sample of students in every state. conservatives were against it; however, the administration held fast on the principle of naep comparability despite the fact that no consequences were associated with it. administrators of the bill believed that having the naep comparability would self-regulate states. the naep comparability would force states to compare its scores to naep, and publish the results. if a state’s scores keep falling behind the naep scores year after year they will be forced to account for the disparity and face an embarrassment factor from the media. the landmark education reform managed to considerably and noticeably expand the role of the federal government in education while at the same time continuing to respect state control over standards. in fact, much of the current sber movement can be directly tied to nclb. like previous legislation, nclb, requires each state to institute a system of standards-based accountability that includes standards, assessments, and annual targets for performance. yet, much of the requirements for testing are more stringent, like requiring that all students in grades 3 through 8 be tested annually (no child left behind act, 2002). additionally, nclb required that states create performance standards based on proficiency cut scores. despite the additional requirements associated with nclb, today’s state systems maintain similar features from previous sber movements; although, the glaring difference is the increase in testing. perhaps most importantly, the increase in accountability under nclb prompted many to contend that, “standards-based educational reform” has transformed into a “test-based reform,” which alters educators’ schema, where tests communicate expectations and inform practice more than standards (hamilton, stecher, & yaun, 2009). one of the toughest components to nclb’s accountability is the increased emphasis on minority students. schools and districts were given a “report card” based on the test scores of their students; however, to help ensure that all groups of students were progressing at an adequate rate, the test results were broken down and reported according to various subgroups such as: poverty, race, ethnicity, disability, and limited english proficiency. this disaggregation of data was intended to prevent schools from lumping test results together to journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 36 garner an overall average for the school that would effectively hide the achievement gaps between groups of students. this in large part is where nclb namesake originated. states had until the 2005-06 school year to develop and implement their standards and tests; although many states already had them in place. in fact, according to vinson, ross, and wilson (2011) nclb has “…put a federal stamp of approval on what was going on already in most states--predetermined subject-by-subject content standards to be measured by frequent highstakes testing” (p. 158). schools and districts were given 12 years to use these frequent highstakes testing to prove that all students had reached the 100 percent proficiency level in reading and mathematics. each year leading up to 2014-15 would become progressively more rigorous as states would monitor their "adequate yearly progress" (ayp). interestingly, states themselves decided what was proficient and what an adequate rate of progress for each group was. schools who failed to meet ayp were subject to various school improvement measures imposed by the state. many states offered a “safe harbor” for underperforming schools, if they could demonstrate a ten percent reduction in the number of students that were not meeting the annual proficiency goals. race to the top in 2007, nclb was up for reauthorization by congress, who failed to rewrite it. this lack of reauthorization; however, did not exempt states from meeting the goal of having all students at a 100 percent proficiency level in reading and mathematics by 2014 (what many critics deemed the toughest part of nclb). in the 2008 presidential campaign, barack obama promised to release states from the 2002 law. on february 17, 2009, shortly after obama became president, he signed into law the american recovery and reinvestment act of 2009 (arra). the arra would lead to what is referred to as obama’s race to the top (rttt) initiative (us department of education, 2009a), and according to the executive summary, arra is a, “…historic legislation designed to stimulate the economy, support job creation, and invest in critical sectors, including education” (p. 2). race to the top sought to provide $4.35 billion to states but the funds would be awarded through a competitive grant program. states then competed with each other to showcase their acceptance of and ability to meet certain educational reforms, such as adopting new college and career standards and utilizing student test data within the teacher evaluation process. states that wished to receive funds from the rttt grant had two phases with which to apply. during the first phase only delaware and tennessee were awarded funds (us department of education, 2009b). during phase two, nine states (florida, georgia, hawaii, maryland, massachusetts, new york, north carolina, ohio, and rhode island) and the district of columbia were awarded funds (us department of education, 2009a). a third phase was introduced in 2011, and seven states (arizona, colorado, illinois, kentucky, louisiana, new jersey, and pennsylvania) were rewarded funds, bringing the total states to receive funds from rttt to 18 (us department of education, 2009d). journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 37 finally, in 2011, president obama announced that states could apply for waivers from nclb’s 2014 deadline. in exchange for the waiver states adopted parts of president obama’s education agenda, such as: adopt college and career readiness standards, create an accountability system that reports the lowest performing five percent of schools and the ten percent with the largest achievement gaps, and develop teacher and principal evaluations that include student performance (white house press, 2011). under the president obama’s education agenda, only about 15 percent of each state's lowest-performing schools would be penalized. common core state standards initiative in 2009, a state-led effort coordinated and funded by the national governors association (nga) and the council of chief state school officers (ccsso) began in order to develop college and career standards. common core state standards initiative also received additional support from various business leaders including the bill and melinda gates foundation and the charles stewart mott foundation among others (anderson, 2010). common core state standards were created with the collaboration of teachers, school administrators, and educational experts with the hopes of providing a clear and consistent framework for preparing america’s children for a future college and/or career (common core state standards [ccss], 2012). common core state standards went through various drafts, including a public draft that received nearly 10,000 comments (ccss, 2012). furthermore, the common core state standards website states that “the standards were informed by the highest, most effective models from states across the country and countries around the world, and provide teachers and parents with a common understanding of what students are expected to learn (n.p.). in essence, common core state standards gathered and refined some of the best performance standards states had to offer; however, they refrained from creating content standards. on june 2, 2010 common core state standards were officially released for mathematics and english language arts with a majority of the states adopting the standards in the subsequent months. in fact, approximately a year after the standards were published 45 states, four territories, and the district of columbia had fully adopted the standards. the american samoa islands were the last to adopt common core state standards on october 3, 2012 (ccss, 2012). states were expected to implement the standards by 2015, although, some did so earlier (walsh, 2010). although, ccss was a state-led initiative the federal grant program rttt had an integral role in its adoption, as states that wished to receive a nclb waiver were required to adopt college and career readiness standards, such as those found in the ccss. not every state who applied to receive an executive waiver from the federal mandates of nclb adopted the ccss; such as texas, alaska, and virginia. however, the majority of the states, 45 to be exact, did. one cannot say with certainty if states adopted them for the sake of receiving the nclb waiver (ccss, 2012; u.s. department of education, 2012). some conservative groups, such as the heritage foundation, contend that the wide adoption and acceptance of ccss, especially for the sake of receiving an executive waiver from nclb, “…will end up further centralizing education policy” journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 38 (burke, 2012, n.p.). others have also criticized the quick adoption of ccss by states before they examined the “underlying assumptions of the initiative” (tienken, 2010, p. 14). every student succeeds act the most current federal initiative, every student succeeds act (essa), is a reauthorization of nclb, and was signed into law by president obama in december of 2015. the bill, like nclb, had bipartisan support and still requires students to complete assessments in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. it, however, shifted more control back to the states, and this became even more apparent with the trump administration. state initiatives many people attribute the sber movements as being led by the central government; however, states have long been pushing for increased accountability and standards in education. in fact, states such as: california, kentucky, maryland, massachusetts, north carolina, florida, and texas all began their own sber initiatives in the 1980s while using their own funds. according to hamilton, stecher, & yaun (2009), “states played an important role in the evolution of [federal education] reforms” (p. 24). once states received federal funding from the goals 2000 legislation nearly all the states began to develop their own standards (armour-garb, 2007). the next few paragraphs will describe four states (california, kentucky, texas, and florida) and their sber initiatives. although, the actions taken by these four states are not intended to be representative of all states it will provide an illustration of some of the steps states took and some of the challenges they faced in their attempt to increase accountability in education. california california was a vanguard in the sber movement, as it was developing challenging and ambitious standards in the mid-1980s while under the guidance of superintendent bill honig; well before the central government enacted the goals 2000 legislation (o’day, 1995). california utilized a three-pronged approach to achieve its educational reform. the first prong sought to establish “rich and rigorous” core curriculum for all students. the second prong aligned the state policy components to support the content in the new rich and rigorous curriculum. the third prong focused on the development of strategies for supporting schools. in order to establish the rich and rigorous core curriculum california released its first mathematics framework in 1985. then in 1992, california updated the framework and called for greater attention to mathematical problem solving and multiple representations of relationships. in fact, the 1992 framework served as a model for the national standards development efforts later promoted by ncest. in addition to the mathematics framework california also released an english language arts framework in 1987. o’day (1995) states though that the “…framework was intended as a manifesto and guide for curriculum developers, not for teachers and the general public (p. 20). journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 39 the second prong focused primarily on the alignment of two factors, textbooks and assessments. in the years following 1985 few textbooks were aligned with california’s new mathematics framework; although, the state responded by developing replacement chapters. later california would rely on textbook publishers to provide better textbooks, which better aligned with the frameworks. california also invested heavily in the development of new and more challenging assessments that would replace the old california assessment program (cap). the california learning assessment system (clas) not only reflected the contents of the new frameworks; it pushed the boundaries for large scale assessment by including many extendedresponse and performance tasks. california also linked several professional development efforts to the sber initiatives and reevaluated its teacher credentialing. the last prong was achieved through site interventions and subject-specific initiatives. in mathematics, california created the math renaissance thanks in part to a grant from the national science foundation. in english language arts, california established a pilot program titled reach, which sought to get every third grade student at or above grade level proficiency in reading. hamilton, stecher, & yaun, (2009) state that, “california was also a leader in terms of controversy, and many of the efforts undertaken in the early 1990s were modified or eliminated over the next few years” (p. 25). kentucky the sber began in kentucky in 1990 with the passage of the landmark kentucky education reform act (kera), which was in response to a 1989 kentucky supreme court ruling (knoeppel & brewer, 2011). in 1985, 66 property-poor school districts filed suit against the commonwealth of kentucky contending that the method of financing public schools was unjust and insufficient. therefore, the learning outcomes were significantly limited for those poorproperty districts causing a sizeable schism between them and the wealthier districts. rose v. council for better education, as the suit is known, was finally settled in 1989 when the kentucky supreme court ruled in favor of the poor-property districts. the kentucky supreme court, in addition to favoring the council for better education’s position, ruled that the entire k-12 public school system was unconstitutional due to inadequacies in the educational opportunities and lack of efficiency in student achievement levels across the state (knoeppel & brewer, 2011) in fact, in the rose v. council for better education case the court defined “efficient” as adequate. lawmakers and practitioners were then tasked with providing “substantial uniformity, substantial equality of financial resources and substantial equal educational opportunity for all students” (rose v. council for better education, 1989, p. 4). with the adoption of kera the kentucky legislature addressed several issues of adequacy that were stipulated by the court including significant changes in curriculum, governance, and finance. the kentucky education reform act also launched a comprehensive system of student learning and school accountability that would proficiently predate the national priority depicted in the federal law nclb (kannapel, aagaard, coe, & reeves, 2001). journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 40 in total, kera established broad learning goals in several areas including but not limited to mathematics, reading, and social studies. student and school accountability was determined by a new assessment system called the kentucky instructional results information system (kiris) that included multiple-choice testing, constructed-response questions, and portfolios in the subjects of writing and mathematics (hamilton, stecher, & yaun, 2009). an unfortunate byproduct of kentucky’s innovative assessment and accountability system kiris, required a large demand for time—both proctoring and scoring. attempts were made to improve kiris but the legislature abandoned it in 1998 in favor of a more traditional assessment, which they titled the commonwealth accountability testing system (cats) (catterall et al., 1998). kentucky would continue to utilize cats until governor steve beshear signed senate bill 1, which suspended cats for three academic years (2008-2011) and called for the development of a new accountability system by the 2011-2012 academic years (knoeppel & brewer, 2011). the new accountability system tests students in reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies. texas texas began its sber in the early 1980s. texas utilized two minimum competency tests during that time, the texas assessment of basic skills (tabs) and the texas educational assessment of minimal skills (teams). meanwhile, in 1981, house bill (hb) 264 required that schools implement a new curriculum of "essential elements" starting in the 1984-1985 academic year for every subject in the state curriculum (causey-bush, 2005). then in 1983, governor mark white appointed a commission of business leaders (chaired by dallas billionaire businessman h. ross perot) to recommend educational reforms. the commission’s recommendations led to the passage of hb 72 in 1984, which included several new education mandates including increased learning standards for student achievement, assessments for teachers, and a new funding formula for schools. for example, hb 72 required that 11th grade students take the teams exit examination as a graduation requirement starting in 1985 (causey-bush, 2005). in the early 1990s, the texas assessment of academic skills (taas) replaced the minimum competency tests in order to emphasize academic, higher-order thinking skills, and problemsolving ability (texas education agency, 2002). however, according to causey-bush, (2005) the taas was simply a rebranding of the minimal skills tests that it replaced. in 1996, under the leadership of governor george w. bush, new standards, called texas essential knowledge and skills (teks), were being developed. in september of 1997, the texas school board of education officially adopted teks. schools had to fully implement the standards into the school curriculum by the 1998-1999 school year, and the taas had to be entirely teks-based by the spring of 2000 (texas education agency, 2002). meanwhile, texas created a student information system that tracked several important elements related to education including student attendance and performance. texas also began using test scores as the basis for rewards and sanctions, including the texas successful schools award system (hamilton, stecher, & yaun, 2009). journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 41 in 2003, texas adopted a more difficult testing system known as the texas assessment of knowledge and skills (taks), which was used to assess students in grades 3 through 11 (texas education agency, 2010). however, in the spring of 2007 senate bill 1031 would repeal taks in favor of end-of-course (eoc) exams for the high school grades. in 2010, the state adopted its newest and most rigorous assessment system, state of texas assessments of academic readiness (staar), which has been used for grades 3 through 8, and for the 12 end-of-course assessments for grades 9 through 11. florida the florida statewide assessment program (fsap) began in 1971 and has been an important part of the state’s sber. the fsap was created to evaluate students' academic strengths and weaknesses, particularly in communication and mathematics (florida department of education [fldoe], n.d.). florida’s sber would at first focus primarily on students in high schools before later incorporating those in middle and elementary schools. in 1978, florida would become the first state to have made graduation contingent on passing an exit exam known as the high school competency test (hsct) (fldoe, n.d.). the hsct was developed in response to the educational accountability act of 1976, which outlined a system for defining and measuring the attainment of basic educational objectives in communications and mathematics. shortly after the educational accountability act of 1976 was passed florida utilized a long list of interested parties to develop the new minimum objectives including: the division of public schools, florida department of education; faculty of the state universities and community colleges; school district teachers, curriculum and testing supervisors, administrators; and laypersons (fldoe, n.d.). in 1998, florida would introduce the florida comprehensive assessment test (fcat) and the hsct would be phased out by the year 2000. in 1991, florida created blueprint 2000, which sought to return responsibility for schools to those closest to the students. blueprint 2000 was created in response to federal initiative america 2000. as a continuation of blueprint 2000 the florida commission on education reform and accountability began to conceptualize the fcat in 1995, as a means to measure new, more rigorous educational standards for students that would help them compete for jobs in a global economy. the state board of education adopted the commission’s recommendations that same year and titled it the comprehensive assessment design (fldoe, n.d.). the new, more rigorous standards were titled the sunshine state standards (sss). initially the fcat was designed to evaluate reading, writing, and mathematics for students in grades 4, 5, 8, and 10 but governor jeb bush expanded it to include grades 3 through 10. additionally, the graduation class of 2003 would be the first class that needed to pass the fcat before obtaining their high school diplomas. beginning in 2007, florida would revise the sunshine state standards and rebrand them as the next generation sunshine state standards. consequently, florida would also update fcat turning it into fcat 2.0. currently, florida is phasing out fcat 2.0 and has adopted a new assessment, titled florida standards assessment, and several eocs. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 42 sber and social studies education throughout the standards movement, both at the federal and state levels, social studies education had often been an afterthought (evans, 2004; vinson, ross, & wilson, 2011). post a nation at risk the majority of the standards created focused on mathematics, reading and writing. social studies education was not immune from the actions taken by the policy makers though; in fact, policy makers called for the revival of “history, geography, and civics”, while ignoring the term “social studies” all together (evans, 2004). although, as evans (2004) points out, “in the early 1990s, leaders of ncss attempted to persuade policy makers that the term social studies (emphasis in original) [was] a useful umbrella term, and that history, geography, and the other social sciences could coexist within the social studies curriculum…” (p. 164). the truth was there was little room for any social science discipline in the standards movement, and professional organizations had to take it upon themselves to organize and develop standards in order to remain relevant during the movement (vinson, ross, & wilson, 2011). some of the discipline specific standards that were created in response to the standards movement were: the center for civic education’s (1994) national standards for civics and government, the geography education national implementation project’s (1994) geography for life: national geography standards, the national council for economic education (1997) voluntary national content standards in economics, and the national center for history in the schools (1994) the national history standards. today, all 50 states have developed or adopted standards for social studies, which include history, geography, economics, and civics/government. yet, as mentioned earlier in the paper, without high-stakes tests associated with the standards little can be expected to change in regards to teaching practices and culture, as nearly no incentives exist to change the status quo (russell, 2010). only 21 of the 50 states require statewide social studies testing (walker, 2012) and 12 states (alabama, florida, louisiana, mississippi, missouri, new mexico, new york, ohio, south carolina, tennessee, texas, and virginia) require students to pass a social studies test in order to graduate from high school (gewertz, 2018). for those few states that do test, researchers are seeing a greater disconnect between what the standards expect—analysis, evaluation, and synthesis—and what tests value—rote memorization of names, dates, and loosely connected facts (fogo, 2010). while no high-stakes social studies tests exist for students in the elementary or middle grades, because of the mathematics and english language arts test, little time is left for social studies instruction (bisland, 2011; heafner & fitchett, 2012). thus proponents of social studies education have had to work harder in order to ensure that social studies remain relevant. in 2006, 24 states required statewide social studies tests while, again, today only 21 states are on that list, it is just another unfortunate statistic that reveals the deteriorated perception that policy makers have on the importance of social studies education. though some have argued that social studies education is getting the short end of the stick (singer, 2012) professional organizations are continuing to rally for support and demonstrate to policy makers the error of marginalizing social studies instruction. in fact, no professional organization has worked harder for the cause than the ncss (vinson, ross, & wilson, 2011). journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 43 the ncss has published various works such as, social studies curriculum guidelines in 1971 (ncss task force on curriculum guidelines, 1971), statements on the essentials of the social studies in 1981 (ncss, 1981), “in search of scope and sequence for the social studies” in 1989, and (ncss task force on scope and sequence, 1989) charting a course: social studies for the 21st century also in 1989 (national commission on social studies in the schools, 1989). vinson, ross, & wilson (2011) contend that these “early” works by the ncss, as they put it, indicates four things: 1. the growing strength of the sber movement; 2. the “necessity” for social studies professionals and their representative organizations to participate in it; 3. the desire on the part of the ncss that social studies [emphasis in original] be considered a distinct “field”that is, it [is] supported as “social studies” rather than history, geography, economics, and civics (etc.) standards as distinctive of separate disciplines; and 4. social studies’ defensiveness with respect to the burgeoning centrality of reading, writing, and mathematics; the perception that us students were historically, culturally, and socially (etc.) “illiterate”; and the notoriety and controversy surrounding national standards in “constituent” disciplines such as history over, for instance, the extent to which proposed history standards were “patriotic enough,” “multicultural enough,” and so on (p. 160). conclusion when one wishes to trace the lineage of the modern sber movement all roads seem to begin with the 1983 report, a nation at risk, which proclaimed that america’s economic woes were in large part due to the failing public educational system. during the end of the 1980s, president george h. w. bush would announce america 2000, a voluntary education plan that wished to establish rigorous standards; although, it would never truly materialized due to political turf wars. in 1994, president clinton would sign into law, goals 2000, a piece of legislature that was similar to america 2000; however, it gave greater control to states. finally, in 2001, president george w. bush would sign into law nclb, which is considered the pinnacle of the sber movement. today, the sber movement is led by the rttt, essa, and common core state standards initiatives. however, prior to a nation at risk several states were funding their own accountability initiatives; yet, many of their standards lacked the rigor sought by the federal initiatives. many would sum up the sber movement with the words “rigor and accountability” but in accordance to the “theory of change” it must also contain alignment within and between all parts and parties (massell & perrault, 2014, p. 196). unfortunately, a tracing of the history suggests that the sber utilized a top-down initiative, led by elite businessmen and politicians as a means to correct america’s lack of competiveness in the global economic market with little alignment (fogo, 2010). each new step, however, has sought to fix the alignment. social studies, conversely, has not always had a prominent role in the sber movement. many do not see social studies as a viable skill or resource for the global marketplace. yet, the ncss journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 44 and several other professional organizations continue to campaign in favor of a strong social studies curriculum. the true importance of social studies education does not lie in federal mandates but rather in the people. scholars, researchers, and policy makers all have important roles to ensure the existence of social studies but the most important key lies with teachers and their perspective students. rigorous standards should not be something that is forced on teachers but something that teachers naturally require of their students. references achieve inc. (n.d.) retrieved from http://www.achieve.org/about-us anderson, n. (2010, march 10). common set of school standards to be proposed; achievement is chief goal governors, state chiefs develop blueprint. the washington post, p. a1. retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/03/10/ar2010031000024.html?hpid%3dtopnews&sub=ar armour-garb, a. (2007). intergovernmental approaches for strengthening k-12 accountability systems. albany, ny: nelson a. rockefeller institute of government. bisland, b.m. (2011). the marginalization of social studies in the elementary grades. in w. russell iii (ed.), contemporary social studies: an essential reader (pp.173-191). charlotte, nc: information age. brown, b. (2009). standards-based education reform in the united states since “a nation at risk”. honolulu, hi: curriculum research & development group. retrieved from http://www.hawaii.edu/hepc/pdf/reports/final-history_of_standardsbased_education_reform.pdf burke, l. (2012). no child left behind waivers: bogus relief, genuine overreach. the heritage foundation retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/09/no-child-leftbehind-waivers-bogus-relief-genuine-overreach bush, g. h. w. (1991, june 3). remarks to the national education goals panel. retrieved from http://bulk.resource.org/gpo.gov/papers/1991/1991_vol1_599.pdf byford, j & russell, w. (2007). the new social studies: a historical examination of curriculum reform. social studies research and practice, 2(1), 38-48. catterall, j., mehrens,w., ryan, j., flores, e., &rubin, p. (1998). kentucky instructional results information system: a technical review. frankfort, ky: office of education accountability, kentucky general assembly. http://www.achieve.org/about-us http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/10/ar2010031000024.html?hpid%3dtopnews&sub=ar http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/10/ar2010031000024.html?hpid%3dtopnews&sub=ar http://www.hawaii.edu/hepc/pdf/reports/final-history_of_standards-based_education_reform.pdf http://www.hawaii.edu/hepc/pdf/reports/final-history_of_standards-based_education_reform.pdf http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/09/no-child-left-behind-waivers-bogus-relief-genuine-overreach http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/09/no-child-left-behind-waivers-bogus-relief-genuine-overreach http://bulk.resource.org/gpo.gov/papers/1991/1991_vol1_599.pdf journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 45 causey-bush, t. (2005). keep your eye on texas and california: a look at testing, school reform, no child left behind, and implications for students of color. journal of negro education, 74(4) chira, s. (1992b, january 29). prominent educators oppose national tests. new york times retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/29/education/prominent-educatorsopposenationaltests.html common core state standards (2012) retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/articles/9-nga-and-common core state standardso-commenton-common core state standardsi-governance-suggestions cohen, l., manion, l., & morrison, k. (2007). research methods in education. new york: routledge. department of education. (1991). america 2000: an education strategy sourcebook. washington, d.c.: usgpo, retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/29278340/109america-2000-an-education-strategy education commission of the states (2018, april). 50-state comparison: social studies assessments grade (if any). retrieved from http://ecs.force.com/mbdata/mbquestrt?rep=sum1804 evans, r. (2004). social studies wars: what should we teach the children? new york: teachers college press. florida department of education. (n.d.). history of statewide assessment retrieved from programhttp://www.fldoe.org/asp/hsap/hsap9000.asp florida statute 1008.25. (2018). retrieved from http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?app_mode=display_statute&url=10001099/1008/sections/1008.25.html florida statute 1008.34 (2018). retrieved from http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?app_mode=display_statute&url=10001099/1008/sections/1008.34.html florida statue 1012.34 (2018). retrieved from http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?app_mode=display_statute&url=10001099/1012/sections/1012.34.html fogo, b. (2010). “what every student should know and be able to do”: the making of california’s framework, standards, and tests for history-social science. (doctoral dissertation). http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/29/education/prominent-educators-opposenationaltests.html http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/29/education/prominent-educators-opposenationaltests.html http://www.corestandards.org/articles/9-nga-and-common%20core%20state%20standardso-comment-on-common%20core%20state%20standardsi-governance-suggestions http://www.corestandards.org/articles/9-nga-and-common%20core%20state%20standardso-comment-on-common%20core%20state%20standardsi-governance-suggestions http://www.scribd.com/doc/29278340/109-america-2000-an-education-strategy http://www.scribd.com/doc/29278340/109-america-2000-an-education-strategy http://www.fldoe.org/asp/hsap/hsap9000.asp http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?app_mode=display_statute&url=1000-1099/1012/sections/1012.34.html http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?app_mode=display_statute&url=1000-1099/1012/sections/1012.34.html journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 46 retrieved from https://stacks.stanford.edu/file/druid:mg814cd9837/fogo-dissertationaugmented.pdf frontline. (2002). no child left behind: the new rules. pbs. retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/schools/nochild/nclb.html gewertz, c. (2018, june 15). which states require an exam to graduate? an interactive breakdown of states’ 2016-17 testing plans. education week. retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/states-require-exam-to-graduate.html hamilton, l., stecher, b., & yuan, k. (2009). standards-based reform in the united states: history, research, and future directions. washington, d.c.: center education policy, retrieved from http://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/2009/rand_rp1384.pdf heafner, t. l. & fitchett, p. g. (2012). national trends in elementary instruction: exploring the role of social studies curricula. the social studies, 103(2), 67-72. horn, j. & raymond a. (2004). standards primer. new york: peter lang. kannapel, j. p., aagard, l., coe, p., & reeves, c. (2001). the impact of standards and accountability on teaching and learning in kentucky. in s.h. fuhrman (ed.), from the capitol to the classroom: standards-based reform in the states. chicago, il: the university of chicago press. knoeppel, r. c., & brewer, c. a. (2011). education reform, equal opportunity and educational achievement: do trend data adequately report progress?. education policy analysis archives, 19 (10). retrieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/903 kosar, k. r. (2005). failing grades: the federal politics of education standards. boulder: lynne rienner publishers. massell, d. & perrault, p. (2014). alignment: its role in standards-based reform and prospects for the common core. theory into practice, 53: 196-203. miller, j. a. (1992, october 7). reform measure dies-except as campaign issue? education week. retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1992/10/07/05omni.h12.html?qs=reform+measure+die s-except+as+campaign+issue? ncss annual conference (2012). college, career, and civic life (c3): the state standards for social studies session. seattle, wa. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/schools/nochild/nclb.html http://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/2009/rand_rp1384.pdf http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/903 http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1992/10/07/05omni.h12.html?qs=reform+measure+dies-except+as+campaign+issue http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1992/10/07/05omni.h12.html?qs=reform+measure+dies-except+as+campaign+issue journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 47 national commission on excellence in education’s (1983) a nation at risk: the imperative for educational reform. retrieved from http://datacenter.spps.org/uploads/sotw_a_nation_at_risk_1983.pdf national commission on social studies in schools. (1989). charting a course: social studies for the 21st century. washington, d.c.: a joint project of the american historical association, carnegie foundation, national council for the social studies, and organization of american historians. national council for the social studies (1981). statements on the essentials of the social studies. washington, d.c.: national council for the social studies national council for the social studies (2012). draft framework for state standards in social studies to be released a conference. retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/conference/draftframeworkrelease national council for the social studies task force on curriculum guidelines. (1971). social studies curriculum guidelines. washington, d.c.: national council for the social studies national council for the social studies task force on scope and sequence. (1989). in search of a scope and sequence for social studies. social eduation, 53, 376-387. national council on education, standards, and testing. (1992). raising standards for american education. washington, dc: national council on education, standards, and testing. no child left behind act. (2002). retrieved from http://www2.gov/policy/leg/esea02/index.html o’day, j. (1995). systemic reform in california. in goertz, m.e., floden, r.e., o’day, j. (eds.), studies of education reform: systemic reform, vol ii: case studies. new brunswick, nj: rutgers, the state university of new jersey, consortium for policy research in education. race to the top for student success act. (2011). retrieved from http://www.flsenate.gov/session/bill/2011/0736/billtext/filed/pdf ravitch, d. (2000). left back: a century of failed school reforms. new york: simon & schuster. rose v. council for better education. (1989). retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/edfin/pdf/lawsuits/rose_v_cbe_ky.pdf russell, w. b. (2010). teaching social studies in the 21st century: a research study of secondary social studies teacher’s instructional methods and practices. action in teacher education, 32(1), 65-72. http://datacenter.spps.org/uploads/sotw_a_nation_at_risk_1983.pdf https://bluprd0711.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?c=j-f7etmqnemitfxld0dfkkrwosgsj88izgggvio2hpuebz0p7g0srvjt2blqb3jyx-xjvfgv1su.&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.socialstudies.org%2fconference%2fdraftframeworkrelease http://www2.gov/policy/leg/esea02/index.html http://www.flsenate.gov/session/bill/2011/0736/billtext/filed/pdf http://nces.ed.gov/edfin/pdf/lawsuits/rose_v_cbe_ky.pdf journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 48 singer, a. (2012) social studies get the short end of the stick, again. huffington post. retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/social-studies-get-thesh_b_843552.html stedman, j. b., & riddle w.c. (1992). national education goals and federal policy issues: action by the 102nd congress. washington, dc: library of congress. tanner, l. (2008). no child left behind is just the tip of the iceberg. the social studies, 99(1), 41-45. texas education agency. (2002). texas assessment of knowledge and skills: a standardsetting plan for the state board of education. retrieved from http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/taks/standards/ texas education agency. (2010). an overview of the history of public education in texas retrieved from http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=148 u.s. department of education. (2009a). press release: nine states and the district of columbia win second round of race to the top. retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/nine-states-and-district-columbia-win-second-round-race-top-grants u.s. department of education. (2009b). press release. retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2010/03/03292010.html u.s. department of education. (2009c). press release: race to the top executive order. retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/executive-summary.pdf u.s. department of education. (2009d). press release: department of education awards 200 million. retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/department-educationawards-200-million-seven-states-advance-k-12-reform u.s. department of education. (2012). press release. retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/esea/flexibility united states congress. (1991). national council on education standards and testing act. report by mr. ford of michigan, committee on education and labor, house of representatives, 102nd congress, 1st session, june 10, 1991. report to accompany h.r.2435, the national council on education standards and testing act. washington, dc: usgpo. vinson, k., ross, e., & wilson, m. (2011). standards-based educational reform and social studies education: a critical introduction. in w. russell iii (ed.), contemporary social studies: an essential reader (pp.153-172). charlotte, nc: information age. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/social-studies-get-the-sh_b_843552.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/social-studies-get-the-sh_b_843552.html http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/taks/standards/ http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=148 http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/nine-states-and-district-columbia-win-second-round-race-top-grants http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/nine-states-and-district-columbia-win-second-round-race-top-grants http://www2.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2010/03/03292010.html http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/executive-summary.pdf http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/department-education-awards-200-million-seven-states-advance-k-12-reform http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/department-education-awards-200-million-seven-states-advance-k-12-reform http://www.ed.gov/esea/flexibility journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kenna & russell the culture and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america 49 vogler, k. e., & virtue, d. (2007). “just the facts, ma'am”: teaching social studies in the era of standards and high-stakes testing. the social studies, 98(2), 54-58. walker, t. (2012) in standardized testing era, civic education getting left behind. nea today. retrieved from http://neatoday.org/2012/10/17/in-standardized-testing-era-civic educationgetting-left-behind/ walsh, m. (2010, september 14). "vermont joins 30 others in common core". burlington free press, burlington, vermont:. p. 1b. retrieved from http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100914/news02/100913028/vermontschools-study-new-standards. watt, m. g. (2000). applications of information technology for standards-based reform in the united states of america: their implications for the discovering democracy program in australia. conference of the new zealand association for research in education. hamilton, new zealand. white house press release. (2011). retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pressoffice/2011/09/23/remarks-president-no-child-left-behind-flexibility wixson, k.k., dutro, e., & athan, r.g. (2003). the challenge of developing content standards. review of research in education, 27, 69-107. wong, k. k., ed, guthrie, j. w., ed, & harris, d. n., ed. (2004). a nation at risk: a 20-year reappraisal /. peabody journal of education, 79(1), 7-176. http://neatoday.org/2012/10/17/in-standardized-testing-era-civic%20education-getting-left-behind/ http://neatoday.org/2012/10/17/in-standardized-testing-era-civic%20education-getting-left-behind/ http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100914/news02/100913028/vermont-schools-study-new-standards http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100914/news02/100913028/vermont-schools-study-new-standards http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/23/remarks-president-no-child-left-behind-flexibility http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/23/remarks-president-no-child-left-behind-flexibility 39 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 newton, j., williams, m. c., & feeney, d. m., implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges jennifer r. newton1*, mira c. williams2, and danielle m. feeney1 1department of teacher education, ohio university 2department of educational foundations and exceptionalities, james madison university *jennifer r. newton: newtonj@ohio.edu received : 2019-nov-01 accepted : 2020-may-20 doi: 10.46303/jcve.03.01.3 how to cite this paper: newton, j. r., williams, m. c., & feeney, d. m. (2020). implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges. journal of culture and values in education, 3(1), 39-51. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.3 abstract assessment and grading in higher education have traditionally focused on “a” through “f”, or point-based alpha-numeric letter grades and subjective, independent grading systems. despite the ubiquity of this system, there are no universal guidelines on how to assess student learning on that scale. what can be problematic about “the way things have always been” is that students are frequently de-humanized; higher education faculty often focus on compliance and authoritarian teaching rather than engaging in the learning process alongside the students. in contrast, some faculty members have explored non-traditional assessment practices in their coursework to enhance the learning process and improve individualized student support. this article offers strategies for implementing non-traditional assessments, specifically mediated office hours, mastery learning, and ungrading strategies are addressed. keywords: assessment, ungrading, mastery learning, teacher preparation, collaborative learning https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.3 40 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 newton, j., williams, m. c., & feeney, d. m., implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org introduction teaching and assessing the learning of future teachers is a primary responsibility for education faculty; yet faculty may not be learning or implementing the best pedagogical and assessment practices (debettencourt et al., 2016). there is a dearth of literature about the ways in which faculty in teacher preparation programs are trained to design instruction, teach in face-to-face and online environments, and assess preservice teacher learning. given the lack of evidence of intentional preparation in meaningfully assessing student learning, most faculty subscribe to the traditional model of grading alone, without collaborating with colleagues for reliability checks on assessments (brookhart et al., 2016). disrupting traditional means of assessment provides both opportunities and challenges for faculty. colleague and student beliefs and perceptions about assessment are one challenge confounded by the accountability measures, such as the state education departments and higher education accreditation bodies, required of teacher education programs. quality teacher preparation programs are accredited by a council or board. the purpose of accreditation is to provide standards that ensure students who complete programs know the content, understand students, and engage in clinical experiences that allow them to enter the classroom prepared to teach effectively. the council for the accreditation of education preparation (caep) is an accrediting agency that is approved through state education departments as a body to oversee teacher preparation. caep serves as an example here to illustrate how these standards guide and influence teaching, learning, and assessments in teacher education programs. there are five different caep standards designed to ensure that “graduates are competent and caring educators” and that faculty “have the capacity to create a culture of evidence and use it to maintain and enhance the quality of the professional programs they offer” (caep, 2013). faculty are tasked with creating “key” assessments aligned to assess each standard and collect data for accreditation. these key assessments are scored on a rubric assigned a value of exceeds, meets, or below expectations. traditional assessment key assessments are one component of traditional measures of preservice teacher learning. student work is assessed on an approved, standards-based rubric and recorded as a numerical score for communicating the degree of student mastery of the caep standard to which it is aligned. in fact, some key assessments are standardized tests, such as the praxis®, that are also used as state licensure test requirements. since these assessments are required and standardized to an extent, there is no flexibility in their traditional implementation or reporting procedures. whereas key assessments are fixed, faculty do have the academic freedom to determine the various additional ways learning will be assessed in their courses (guskey & link, 2019). what is measured, how it is measured, and the weight each measure carries is determined by the instructor. gullickson (1985) divided traditional assessment strategies into the following four types: ● standardized objective tests; https://cultureandvalues.org/ 41 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 newton, j., williams, m. c., & feeney, d. m., implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org ● teacher-made objective tests; ● essay tests; ● oral quizzes. it is considered the norm to allot specific percentages to the final grade and compute a grade mathematically to determine the ultimate letter (e.g. “a”, “b”... “f”) to symbolize the students’ learning. additionally, the percentage of points correlated with the letters on the grading scale can also be determined by the instructor (e.g. 90 to 100 points is determined to be an “a”; 94 to 100 points is determined to be an “a”). therefore, all “a” grades, for example, are not created equally. non-traditional assessment while operating within the letter grade system in place across institutions of higher education, some faculty have explored and adopted alternative, non-traditional means of authentically assessing learning. these authentic assessments intend to build the skills in future teachers that they will experience when they are in-service teachers (villarroel et al., 2017). self and peer feedback, reflections, revise and resubmit, and narrative feedback lend themselves naturally to a more qualitative approach to making the process of learning visible. the focus in a course where the assignments are “ungraded”, a non-traditional model of assessment, shifts from assigning a grade to engaging in ongoing conversation and reflection about the learning. jesse stommel, a leader in this work wrote, “ungrading is not as simple as just removing grades. the word ‘ungrading’ (an active present participle) suggests that we need to do intentional, critical work to dismantle traditional and standardized approaches to assessment” (stommel, 2020, para. 10). this critical work helps to humanize the learning process as ungrading creates spaces for conversation and honest reflection. research suggests that grades do not track learning (schinske & tanner, 2014), but that feedback increases student learning. teacher educators must navigate numerous departmental, university, local, state, and national standards, practices, and norms that guide the profession. navigating this landscape with a non-traditional approach to assessment can be met with opportunities and challenges from both students and colleagues in and outside of the university setting. in this article, the authors discuss these opportunities and challenges as they examine strategies for eschewing traditional assessment practices to implement a non-traditional approach intended to humanize and deepen the learning experiences for both faculty and students. specifically, traditional approaches to office hours, feedback, and grading will be disrupted by presenting strategies for mediated office hours, mastery learning, and "ungrading.” disrupting traditional office hours research has shown that increased student-faculty involvement is a critical component of student engagement (kuh, 2003). this happens in many different ways in teaching and learning contexts; a specific way is in the traditional implementation of office hours. faculty office hours serve as a chance for students to come in, pose a question or concern, have the question or concern addressed, and leave. when asked about traditional office hours, smith et al. (2017) found that students stated, “office hours are kind of weird” https://cultureandvalues.org/ 42 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 newton, j., williams, m. c., & feeney, d. m., implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org (p. 17). students indicated two distinct frustrations about the traditional use of office hours: (1) there is a lack of knowledge about their purpose, and (2) traditional office hours may have some potential, but they are not sure what it is. in contrast to students who were uncertain about office hours, a few students indicated that they did identify a purpose for office hours as a chance to pose a question they are unable to ask through email or find independently (smith et al., 2017). during this time, faculty spend individual time with the student and then expect the student to push forward with the learning process on their own. this is done during a set faculty schedule, often discouraging or even prohibiting students from coming at any other time. when inquiring about student recommendations for creating more advantageous mediated office hour experiences, students suggested that professors differ from the norm by being available and approachable (smith et al., 2017). what do mediated office hours look like? mediated office hours change the structure of office hours to offer open collaboration with a focus on shared workspace encourages students to think more critically about the content through continued discourse and collaboration. this practice of mediated office hours allows for faculty and students to interact in intentional, collaborative ways outside of the classroom setting. fostering student-faculty relationships that go beyond the classroom walls allows for instructors to better understand the future teachers they are preparing for a career in education (cress, 2008). by maintaining frequent communication, learning about individual needs, and engaging in the learning process together, barriers inherent in hierarchical relationships are diminished (hoffman, 2014). office hours provided as a mediated learning time is rooted in the learning theories of vygotsky and feuerstein (kozulin & presseisen, 1995). students present a topic or assignment that they would like to be more masterful at and the faculty and student work collaboratively towards the student’s goal. during the mediated office hours, the instructor and student engage in discourse about the topic, work on the assignment or research together, reach a deeper understanding of the content, and create a shared vision for moving forward. when preparing future teachers, this method not only models the importance of providing individualized support but also illustrates the value of studentfaculty relationships on the learning process (hoffman, 2014). this mediated learning time also provides additional, intentional support to students who are more vulnerable and benefit from more supported instruction (quick, 2013). student experiences decades of research indicate that frequent student-faculty contact outside of class is a critical factor in student motivation and involvement, enhancing student intellectual and social development and supporting student persistence and resilience (chickering & gamson, 1987; cress, 2008; hoffman, 2014; tinto, 1997). initiating interaction outside of the classroom can take many forms: emailing, texting, or calling, and is maintained through frequently shared work sessions in a common space. although this is traditionally in the faculty member’s office, it can occur in more neutral spaces, such as study rooms on campus or nearby coffee shops. interacting with students in these ways creates student-faculty https://cultureandvalues.org/ 43 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 newton, j., williams, m. c., & feeney, d. m., implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org interactions that support students as individuals. as the faculty member and student better know each other, mediated office hours become increasingly more intentional, collaborative, and goal-oriented. this gives students a greater sense of belonging and increased academic achievement, empowering, and including students more than traditional methods allow for. increased student interaction outside of the classroom requires faculty to make themselves available for students. as students request support, increase self-advocacy, and find benefits in mediated office hours, they may maintain more frequent communication. reliably responding to student needs in order to facilitate relationships and learning experiences requires the faculty member to answer emails, texts, and calls with a sense of urgency, hold open office hours instead of mandating strict time constraints, and encourage students to visit without a specific question in mind. this presents challenges for faculty in balancing the multitudinous demands on their time (hoffman, 2014). colleague experiences in some cases, faculty who see the benefits of the mediated learning sessions, immediate communication, and collaboration between students and instructors attempt to implement similar strategies with their own students. as faculty see the improved outcomes first-hand, more want to learn about incorporating these mediated office hour practices into their daily work. for others, however, the challenges, particularly in time and accessibility, outweigh the benefits. traditional office hours are offered so students are able to get targeted support when they are unable to make progress on their own. when colleagues see the amount of support that is provided to a student or the amount of time spent engaged in collaborative learning outside of the classroom, it may be perceived as infantilizing the students or being too “easy.” questions are often posed: “how much support is too much?” or, “why don’t you tell them to go look at the syllabus?” while those are questions worthy of investigating, the work of teaching is collaborative and iterative and dynamic. mediated office hours provide opportunities to build the culture of learning within a community for students and allows for more intentional dialogue about student progress towards mastery. disrupting traditional feedback traditionally, students submit work for an instructor to grade. the feedback returned to the student is often a letter grade or a number/percentage correct out of the total possible points. the student may then look to find what they missed or they may not. this approach is ubiquitous, however, concerns about the reliability, validity, and usefulness of this practice are as well (allen, 2005). bloom (1971) observed that traditional methods of teaching practice involved organizing instruction by units or standards and then assessing students’ knowledge at the end. these culminating assessments did not allow for meaningful feedback loops during the learning experience. simultaneously, providing targeted, specific, actionable, and intentional feedback to students preparing to be teachers who will persist in the field has been a top priority. research suggests that, in kindergarten-12th grade school settings, teacher feedback has a https://cultureandvalues.org/ 44 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 newton, j., williams, m. c., & feeney, d. m., implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org direct impact on student mindsets (hattie & temperley, 2007) and can encourage a child to persevere through a challenge and increase achievement. while this research examined the teacher’s role in primary and secondary education environments, it also pertains to teacher preparation programs. modeling these feedback skills in teacher preparation and throughout the learning process is vital to the success of preservice teachers and their future students. mastery learning is one strategy that allows for this continued discourse and feedback loops. what does mastery learning look like? from the work of bloom (1971, 1976, 1984), mastery learning is rooted in the idea that with time, appropriate learning conditions, and individualized instruction all students will reach a high level of achievement (guskey, 2010). bloom (1971) also notes that when checks for understanding occurred throughout learning, the teacher had intentional opportunities to provide feedback on students’ individual learning needs and provided further information or activities to help them master content and increase achievement. mastery learning approaches are defined by the organization of time and resources to ensure that most students are able to master instructional objectives. a criterion level of performance is established to represent “mastery” of a given skill or concept, rather than the traditional model of providing content and then testing the degree to which students master it. frequent assessment (or, “formative assessment”) of student progress toward the mastery criterion, such as those defined by the professional preparation standards, incorporates iterative feedback and ongoing revisions (block & anderson, 1975; bloom, 1976). helping students understand their own learning enhances their achievement and also establishes a foundation on which life-long learning can build (struyven et al., 2005). this method can look different depending on the course, the content, and even the readiness of the student but in terms of the assessment, mastery learning means that there is no “oneshot, do or die” experience (guskey, 2010, p. 55). student experiences faculty can implement formative assessments that provide students with on-going and prescriptive feedback when completing an assignment. assessments are not restricted to a one time due date with a grade determined by faculty at the end, but instead, students are encouraged to: (a) turn in the assignment; (b) receive feedback; (c) engage in reflection and processing (i.e. re-reading content, conferencing, revising) of this feedback; (d) revise the assignment; (e) turn in the assignment again without a loss of points. this is not a “one and done” process, but can instead include multiple iterations. this affords students additional learning experiences and improved levels of achievement. in addition, mastery learning often opens doors for faculty-student conversations (e.g., mediated office hours) and feedback loops that do not occur when a letter grade is assigned with no room for questions, revisions, or improvement. these conversations are vital to a student’s learning experience and lead to a deeper understanding of course content. mastery learning requires extra time and a commitment to engage in reflection and sometimes difficult conversations. these processes take additional energy and focus even as https://cultureandvalues.org/ 45 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 newton, j., williams, m. c., & feeney, d. m., implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org the course content moves forward. students may not be familiar and comfortable with receiving feedback and applying it to improve their work (gustafson & thompson, 2013). therefore, since the process of revise and resubmit can be more time consuming and cumbersome for faculty, it is imperative to thoughtfully and intentionally develop meaningful assessments. mastery learning challenges students to conceptualize learning beyond the grade, which can be difficult in systems that ultimately require faculty to assign a letter grade at the end of the semester. colleague experiences mastery learning enables colleagues preparing future teachers to model best practices in teaching, as this method is one that allows for individualized learning experiences. rather than teaching to the course objectives in a “one size fits all” format, mastery learning affords colleagues opportunities to get to know each individual student. these shared learning experiences help colleagues build relationships that extend beyond the course (tinto, 1997). finally, engaging in mastery learning practices enables colleagues to help students gain confidence in their own abilities as learners (anderson, 1994; kulik et al., 1990; guskey, 2010). it can be difficult to engage students in mastery learning as colleagues may feel that it undermines these traditional learning formats. critics of mastery learning challenge the time required to give meaningful, individual feedback and express concern it makes courses less rigorous and students less responsible (newbold et al., 2017). confusion often occurs with grading in mastery learning as one key attribute is to focus on the learning process and student growth instead of letter grades. as we are bound to a system that requires the assignment of a final letter grade (i.e., “a” through “f”), many colleagues believe mastery learning allows every student to get an “easy a”. this misconception perpetuates from a lack of clarity that mastery is determined by the student in conversation with the faculty. mastery may not result in an “a” for every student, but it will be the student’s best work in the context the learning took place. this approach measures the individual student’s growth in relation to their personal goals and contexts. pushing back on the notion that an “a” is the only outcome in mastery learning is yet another disruptive assessment practice. disrupting traditional grading we learn to grade work from our experiences as learners. the only consistent facet of grading in higher education in the united states is the assigning of a letter (i.e., “a” through “f”) to symbolize a composite measure of student performance (brookhart et al., 2016). grading scales are perplexing since the work of teaching is not as easily reduced to a numeric value as the traditional norms seem to propose. in traditional models, faculty members are required to provide a course syllabus that outlines course assignments, sets grading expectations, and explains practices that will be used to measure mastery of course objectives, including any key assessments aligned to the course. due dates are set by faculty before the semester begins and learning is offered through class lectures, outside reading, and assigned work such as exams, papers, and projects. grades are then assigned and are https://cultureandvalues.org/ 46 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 newton, j., williams, m. c., & feeney, d. m., implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org most often based on attendance, class participation, adhering to the assignment rubrics, and turning in all assignments in compliance with the predetermined due dates. the purpose of final grades should be to communicate the degree to which content is mastered and, as such, the only items included in the final grade should be artifacts reflecting learning (allen, 2005). in other words, including participation, attendance, and compliance with policies, as is typical in traditional course assessment, diminishes what the final letter grade communicates. the non-traditional assessment strategies presented thus far focus on student learning and growth, rather than on evaluating or grading. what does ungrading look like? eliminating letter grades on student work, assessments, and evidence of learning is a movement referred to as ungrading (tannock, 2017). there are various ways to assess learning in an ungraded model; however, at the end of the semester, a letter grade is required. this is one of the biggest challenges faced by teacher educators who engage in ungrading as a disruptive practice. current discussions among scholars who are attempting to remedy this concern have resulted in the following strategies for determining the final letter grade within an ungrading model: ● the goal approach; ● the conferencing approach; ● the reflection approach; or, ● a combination of the three (flaherty, 2019). goal approach. in this approach to ungrading, students set goals for themselves, aligned with the learning objectives of the course, to determine what “a” level mastery of content will look like to them. when the student and instructor come to consensus on the goals and the correlating evidence, the student knows what they need to do in order to get the grade they want on the official university transcript. students may also determine a “b” or “c” will be their goal and align their evidence to that end as well. utilizing mastery learning supports the students to determine their goal and the corresponding letter grade. conferencing approach. here, students and instructors meet throughout the semester, ideally twice at a minimum, to qualitatively assess the student’s understanding of course content as aligned with course objectives. through written products and discussion, students and instructors come to a consensus about how the student’s learning can best be represented by a letter grade. they can also set flexible due dates, establish procedures for revisions and resubmissions, and plan to utilize mediated office hours. reflection approach. using this strategy, students write their learning reflection or meet with the instructor to share their learning at the end of a semester. this is an openended strategy for students to reflect on their own role in their learning, the strategies and opportunities that supported their learning, and what could have helped push them further in their experience. faculty may provide prompts for students to reflect on since this kind of metacognition may feel new and unfamiliar. the specific approaches, or combinations of approaches, all have two things in common: 1) de-emphasizing faculty assessment of learning with a letter grade and 2) emphasizing students’ role in their learning and in evaluating their learning. research shows https://cultureandvalues.org/ 47 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 newton, j., williams, m. c., & feeney, d. m., implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org that grades diminish creativity, risk-taking, and motivation (brilleslyper et al., 2012). implementing ungrading strategies shifts the focus from letter grades to feedback focused on improvement (giles et al., 2010). student experiences as educators of future teachers, it is critical to teach the limitations of traditional assessment and the value of authentic assessment (chen & bonner, 2017). when doing so, faculty afford students the opportunity to take control of their learning, which enhances student-faculty relationships and life-long learning (finsterwald et al., 2013). even when students are initially hesitant, faculty are able to shift their focus to constant learning, questioning, growing, and experimenting. this eventually builds trust in the process and supports students as they create a more intentional relationship with learning. students may not feel trusting of faculty who implement an ungraded approach, apprehensive of the “gotcha” at the end of the course. the “gotcha” happens when students are surprised or unaware of their final grade in a course until the grades are posted at the completion of the semester. faculty must be consistently reliable and trustworthy, responsive, and available to guide student learning in this way. students may need support in thinking about their own learning and identifying personal learning goals. given the limitations of the semester time frame, getting to know each student, their learning profile, and their strengths and needs is a substantial time commitment on faculty. colleague experiences conversations with colleagues about the strategies discussed here can be thoughtprovoking and result in pedagogical discourse that perhaps was not happening before. typically, colleagues have not questioned their grading scale, what is included in the graded assessments, or how student behaviors are reflected in grading. these conversations could lead to creating program expectations for nebulous and ubiquitous terms in education like “responsible” or “professional,” providing students more consistent expectations throughout their preparation program. faculty have opportunities to align some of their policies and procedures, as well, to make the “hidden curriculum” (i.e. the unwritten, unstated expectations) more transparent for students (jackson, 1968). traditionally assessed courses and courses implementing the strategies here look different from the syllabi all the way to the final assignment of a letter grade. in an ungraded course, the focus is on individualized support which faculty who hold more traditional assessment values may feel is unsustainable or coddling. anecdotally, colleagues report that ungrading challenges what they have long known to be true about how to effectively prepare and support future teachers. therefore, it can be challenging for colleagues to consider the benefits for students and faculty in implementing non-traditional approaches. conclusion “one hundred years of grading research have generally confirmed large variation among teachers in the validity and reliability of grades, both in the meaning of grades and in https://cultureandvalues.org/ 48 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 newton, j., williams, m. c., & feeney, d. m., implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org the accuracy of reporting” (brookhart et al., 2016, p. 35). what can be problematic about “the way things have always been” is that students are frequently de-humanized; higher education faculty often focus on compliance and authoritarian teaching rather than engaging in the learning process alongside the students. while disrupting typical assessment practices can present many challenges, most notably the challenge of time, the strategies presented here have built-in member checks with the students who are engaged in the learning. introducing and implementing non-traditional approaches to the assessment of learning in teacher preparation clearly presents both opportunities and challenges. for instructional and untenured faculty, specifically, the urge to blend into program and department norms can be powerful and the consequences for disrupting those norms swift and severe. when faculty feel challenged or threatened by these ideas, finding value in each other’s perspectives and experiences becomes limited. this response then results in a broad disconnect for students across coursework, as they navigate widely variable expectations and assessment practices. when faculty feel challenged or threatened by these ideas, finding value in each other’s perspectives and experiences becomes limited. this response then results in a broad disconnect for student learning across coursework, as they navigate widely variable expectations and assessment practices. and is student learning not the goal? https://cultureandvalues.org/ 49 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 newton, j., williams, m. c., & feeney, d. m., implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org references allen, j. d. (2005). grades as valid measures of academic achievement of classroom earning. the clearing house: a journal of educational strategies, issues and ideas, 78(5), 218– 223. https://doi.org/10.3200/tchs.78.5.218-223 anderson, s. a. (1994). synthesis of research on mastery learning. (eric document reproduction service no. ed 382 567). brilleslyper, m., ghrist, m., holcomb, t., schaubroeck, b., warner, b., & williams, s. (2012). what's the point? the benefits of grading without points. primus: problems, resources, and issues in mathematics undergraduate studies, 22(5), 411-427. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2011.571346 block, j. h., & anderson, l. w. (1975). mastery learning in classroom instruction. macmillan. bloom, b. s. (1971). mastery learning. in j. h. block (ed.), mastery learning: theory and practice (pp. 47–63). holt, rinehart and winston. bloom, b. s. (1976). human characteristics and school learning. mcgraw-hill. bloom, b. s. (1984). the search for methods of group instruction as effective as one-to-one tutoring. educational leadership, 41(8), 4–17. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1175554 brookhart, s. m., guskey, t. r., bowers, a. j., mcmillan, j. h., smith, j. k., smith, l. f., stevens, m. t., & welsh, m. e. (2016). a century of grading research: meaning and value in the most common educational measure. review of educational research, 86(4), 803–848. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316672069 chen, p. p., & bonner, s. m. (2017). teachers’ beliefs about grading practices and a constructivist approach to teaching. educational assessment, 22(1), 18–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/10627197.2016.1271703 chickering, a. w., & gamson, z. f. (1987). seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. aahe bulletin, 3–7. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed282491 council for accreditation of educator preparation. (2013). caep standards for accreditation of educator preparation. https://caepnet.org/standards/introduction cress, c. m. (2008). creating inclusive learning communities: the role of student-faculty relationships in mitigating negative campus climate. learning inquiry, 2(2), 95–111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11519-008-0028-2 debettencourt, l. u., hoover, j. j., rude, h. a., & taylor, s. s. (2016). preparing special education higher education faculty: the influences of contemporary education issues and policy recommendations. teacher education and special education, 39(2), 121– 133. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406416641007 finsterwald, m., wagner, p., schober, b., lüftenegger, m., & spiel, c. (2013). fostering lifelong learning – evaluation of a teacher education program for professional teachers. teaching and teacher education, 29, 144–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.08.009 flaherty, c. (2019, april 2). when grading less is more. inside higher ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/04/02/professors-reflections-theirexperiences-ungrading-spark-renewed-interest-student https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.3200/tchs.78.5.218-223 https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2011.571346 https://www.scirp.org/(s(i43dyn45teexjx455qlt3d2q))/reference/referencespapers.aspx?referenceid=393037 https://www.jstor.org/stable/1175554 https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316672069 https://doi.org/10.1080/10627197.2016.1271703 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed282491 https://caepnet.org/standards/introduction https://doi.org/10.1007/s11519-008-0028-2 https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406416641007 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.08.009 https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/04/02/professors-reflections-their-experiences-ungrading-spark-renewed-interest-student https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/04/02/professors-reflections-their-experiences-ungrading-spark-renewed-interest-student 50 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 newton, j., williams, m. c., & feeney, d. m., implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org giles, a., martin, s. c., bryce, d., & hendry, g. d. (2004). students as partners in evaluation: student and teacher perspectives. assessment & evaluation in higher education, 29(6), 681-685. https://doi.org/10.1080/0260293042000227227 gullickson, a. r. (1985). journal of educational research, 79(2), 96. www.jstor.org/stable/27540176 guskey, t. r. (2010). lessons of mastery learning. educational leadership, 68(2), 52-57. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/oct10/vol68/num02/lessons-of-mastery-learning.aspx guskey, t. r., & link, l. j. (2019). exploring the factors teachers consider in determining students’ grades. assessment in education: principles, policy & practice, 26(3), 303– 320. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594x.2018.1555515 gustafson, t. & thompson, j. (2013, nov 11). demystifying the links between feedback and revision: ideas for teachers of writing enriched courses. techniques in learning and teaching. https://uminntilt.com/2013/11/11/demystifying-the-links-betweenfeedback-and-revision-ideas-for-teachers-of-writing-enriched-courses/ hattie, j., & temperley, h. (2007). the power of feedback. review of educational research, 77(1), 81–112. https://doi.org/10.3102/003465430298487 hoffman, e. m. (2014). faculty and student relationships: context matters. college teaching, 62(1), 13-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2013.817379 jackson, p. w. (1968). life in the classroom. wiley. kuh, g. d. (2003). what we're learning about student engagement from nsse: benchmarks for effective educational practices. change: the magazine of higher learning, 35(2), 24-32. www.jstor.org/stable/40177261 kulik, c.-l. c., kulik, j. a., & bangert-drowns, r. l. (1990). effectiveness of mastery learning programs: a meta-analysis. review of educational research, 60(2), 265–299. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543060002265 newbold, c., seifert, c., doherty, b., scheffler, a., & ray, a. (2017). ensuring faculty success in online competency-based education programs. the journal of competency-based education, 2(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/cbe2.1052 kozulin, a. & presseisen, b. z. (1995). mediated learning experience and psychological tools: vygotsky’s and feurstein’s perspectives in a study of student learning. educational psychologist, 30(2), 67-75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep3002_3 schinske, j., tanner, k. (2014). teaching more by grading less (or differently). cbe-life sciences education, 13, 159-166. smith, m., chen, y., berndtson, r., burson, k. m., & griffin, w. (2017). “office hours are kind of weird”: reclaiming a resource to foster student-faculty interaction. insight : a journal of scholarly teaching, 1, 14-29. https://insightjournal.net/current-and-pastissues/volume-12/ stommel, j. (2020, march 3). what if we didn’t grade? a bibliography. https://www.jessestommel.com/ungrading-a-bibliography/ struyven, k., dochy, f., & janssens, s. (2005). students’ perceptions about evaluation and assessment in higher education: a review. assessment & evaluation in higher education, 30(4), 325–341. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930500099102 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1080/0260293042000227227 http://www.jstor.org/stable/27540176 http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct10/vol68/num02/lessons-of-mastery-learning.aspx http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct10/vol68/num02/lessons-of-mastery-learning.aspx https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594x.2018.1555515 https://uminntilt.com/2013/11/11/demystifying-the-links-between-feedback-and-revision-ideas-for-teachers-of-writing-enriched-courses/ https://uminntilt.com/2013/11/11/demystifying-the-links-between-feedback-and-revision-ideas-for-teachers-of-writing-enriched-courses/ https://uminntilt.com/2013/11/11/demystifying-the-links-between-feedback-and-revision-ideas-for-teachers-of-writing-enriched-courses/ https://uminntilt.com/2013/11/11/demystifying-the-links-between-feedback-and-revision-ideas-for-teachers-of-writing-enriched-courses/ https://uminntilt.com/2013/11/11/demystifying-the-links-between-feedback-and-revision-ideas-for-teachers-of-writing-enriched-courses/ https://doi.org/10.3102/003465430298487 https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2013.817379 http://www.jstor.org/stable/40177261 https://doi-org.proxy.library.ohio.edu/10.3102/00346543060002265 https://doi.org/10.1002/cbe2.1052 https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep3002_3 https://insightjournal.net/current-and-past-issues/volume-12/ https://insightjournal.net/current-and-past-issues/volume-12/ https://www.jessestommel.com/ungrading-a-bibliography/ https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930500099102 https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930500099102 51 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 newton, j., williams, m. c., & feeney, d. m., implementing non-traditional assessment strategies in teacher preparation: opportunities and challenges journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org tannock, s. (2017). no grades in higher education now! revisiting the place of graded assessment in the reimagination of the public university. studies in higher education, 42(8), 1345–1357. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1092131 tinto, v. (1997). classroom as communities: exploring the educational character of student persistence. journal of higher education, 68(6), 599-623. https://doi.org/10.2307/2959965 quick, r. l. (2013). exploring faculty perceptions toward working with academically vulnerable college students. college quarterly, 16(4). http://www.collegequarterly.ca/2013-vol16-num04-fall/quick.html villarroel, v., bloxham, s., bruna, d., bruna, c., & herrera­seda, c. (2017). authentic assessment: creating a blueprint for course design. assessment & evaluation in higher education, 43(5), 840­-854. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2017.1412396 . https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1092131 https://doi.org/10.2307/2959965 https://doi.org/10.2307/2959965 http://www.collegequarterly.ca/2013-vol16-num04-fall/quick.html https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2017.1412396 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 1 in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education agnes krynski* eastern michigan university *corresponding author: akrynski@emich.edu received : 2019-10-01 accepted : 2019-11-01 how to cite this paper: krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education. journal of culture and values in education, 2(3), 1-24. abstract the dominant ideological and material framing of the work of public school communities in the united states prevents schools from contesting the indignities they themselves or their neighbors suffer. leaving this frame intact means permitting exclusionary policies and violent practices to incapacitate learning communities to work toward the attainment of inclusive democracy. inclusive communities understand themselves to be in connection with other historically delineated groups in a web of affiliation and care. communities that flourish as other communities wither compromise their own self-respect when they do not call out such injustice. learning communities can redefine the work they do through an institutionally-grown advocacy of connection that actively nurtures intercommunity solidarity. i situate this reorientation within a tradition of thinking about civic agency, dissent, and indignation. i then suggest that public institutions carve out an ethos of connection as a source of selfunderstanding to take on the task of informal ethical oversight. such a community ethos encourages schools to respond to economic, environmental, and social realities and to recognize, respect, and work through past and present civic grievances relationally. keywords: inequality, indignation, dignity, advocacy introduction we have learned to respond to manifestations of extreme inequality such as homelessness the way communities have, during certain eras, been directed to respond to leprosy. persons of health and wealth mobilize to contain, to exclude, to marginalize. the affected are relegated to modern-day lepers’ colonies, left to fend for themselves while managing to create needsbased communities spun with the sturdy fabric of mutual aid and sewn with the needle of solidarity. yet, all the wealthy see, while shielding themselves with handkerchiefs, are vagabonds and trespassers. the exiled wanderers are tolerated outside the gates of the city as long as they keep moving when the wealthy come to reclaim their land for those deemed to be worthier residents. until one day, in the advent of a whole system collapse, the healthy are caught off guard when what they are faced with is no longer manageable leprosy, but the journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 2 plague. and there is no escaping the plague. it cannot be contained. the affected cannot be excluded. the death the plague brings spills over the margins. joining the caravan heading into unknown lands, the wealthy succumb in equal measure. in a state of delirium, they realize that the fortress they thought would afford them total immunity is a fragile sand castle indeed. we all live in a world defined by states of fragility with a variety of plague-like crises on our collective horizon. the fragility of the state of democracy is never more evident than in folding times. intermittent watershed events increase in number and magnitude and cause us to reconsider the path we are taking. this inquiry takes a variety of forms. many ask if the state is doing enough with our ample financial contributions. we judge whether these funds are applied justly to our collective societal project. we weigh how well our representatives advocate for our communities. at our civic best, we inquire about the well-being of those communities in which we do not put our children to bed. we care about the viability of those times in which we personally will not have to breathe and drink. finding clarity about what matters to us now and concern about the legacy we will leave for kin and non-kin alike leads us to evaluate the quality of state responsiveness to the crises of our times as a criterion of legitimacy. it is through this evaluation that we enact our civic agency. for in the absence of an established civic practice of contestation, even if a degree of meaningful structural change occurs, diminished public participation contributes to unbalanced political representation. protest emerges as an attempt to redress this imbalance. youth-led social movements draw everyone’s attention to future impacts of current decision-making. we are confronted with the question of who is most affected by the indifference and inaction of representatives. for we know that legal and political equality alone does not prevent blight from being suffered disproportionately. acknowledging the precariousness of representative democracy leads us to ask what the consequences are if successive administrations governing a country fail to attend to systemic suffering and display no desire to alleviate it. such a society needs to confront a growing cascade of critical questions. why is such a tradition of governance, and the society of apparent indifference upholding it, not discredited in the mind of every citizen? what prospects does a democratic society hold if it, in turn, delegitimizes the raising of this question by its citizens? and what if the dominant framing of public education undermines the very nature of democratic citizenship and prevents schools from contesting inequality? within such a narrow field of action, how are schools to promote just ways of being and working in community with others? in the following, from my place as an educator in the united states working within a public education system steeped in residential segregation and exclusivity of access to educational opportunities, i argue that thinking about the value of dignity, public outcries motivated by indignation, and institutional incapacitation is necessary to make sense of how learning communities can respond to wider exclusionary developments. a public education of shared aims and easily mitigated vulnerabilities is based in a sense of association that confers an obligation to strive for equal respect for and value of all who partake of it. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 3 my concerns translate into two related objectives for this article. first, i want to contextualize my argument in a discussion of larger cultural conditions as they come to bear on public education. second, i want to propose the outlines of a theoretical model of the work of learning communities and wider communities as advocatory, relational, and responsive to an era’s given cultural conditions. the need for such a commitment rests on the pedagogical value of teaching about and through democratic civic contestation of unequal economic and social living conditions anywhere in the web of affiliation. it also depends on a refutation of the often dangerously concomitant exclusionary and authoritarian voices presenting themselves as solutions to unjust and inhumane conditions affecting parts of the polity. these attempts at group appeasement hearken back to the spirit of segregation. they rely on fragmentation of the demos as both method and desired outcome and legitimize indifference to the fate of oppressed communities. as they coalesce into an explanatory framework, these efforts deny the effects of specific historical trajectories and their colonizing, enslaving, and segregating initiators and promulgators. yet, it is these histories that predict and constrain group attainment of highly coveted community characteristics such as relative personal safety and readily available material resources. the impetus for my analysis is zygmunt bauman’s interrogation of the dilemmas that continually pose a challenge to the ideal of a just society and that, i believe, public schools should help students understand and take to heart: moral indifference (bauman, 2013; bauman & donskis, 2013, 2016) and the fragile creation of community at the nexus of freedom and security with security often winning the upper hand (bauman, 2001). through ulrich beck’s identification of shared vulnerabilities as inherent in a “(world) risk society” (beck, 1992, 1999, 2009) and his delineation of “metamorphosis” (beck, 2016) as a construct denoting the destabilization of epistemological certainty about the world in which we live, i think about schools as institutions affected by and embedded within an ever-changing and often elusive cultural, material, and emotional landscape, often clearer in retrospect than in real time. i turn to james jasper’s (2018) work around political emotions and his conception of emotions as essential to understanding civic protest and political action in order to arrive at a clearer understanding of this landscape as it relates to education. of illustrative value and of particular interest to me in tracing the need for a public school ethos of intercommunity connection and solidarity is a converging line of inquiry about the causes of worldwide indignation as indicators and catalysts of a variety of ethical crises of our times (appadurai, 2017; fraser, 2017; hochschild, 2016; kimmel, 2017). as these ethical crises often mask as mere political upsets, revisiting how civic actors have successfully unmasked injustices before is a worthwhile pedagogical endeavor. in the second part of this essay, i consider how educational practice and institutionally-grown advocacy can repudiate proposed solutions that do harm to a vision of democratic political community. i ask how we can incorporate ethical responsiveness and awareness of structural group inequality (anderson, 2010; tilly, 1998) and the emotions driving collective agency (jasper, 2018) into a meaningful public school ethos. following nick couldry’s (2010) articulation of a contemporary “crisis of voice” (p. 1) and the need for the renewal of “public voices” (p. 140), such an ethos requires and enables educators to call out the disproportionate journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 4 impact under which impoverished communities endure violence of various sorts, ranging from conceded bodily well-being due to targeted environmental degradation (taylor, 2014) to impeded community meaning-making through eliminating schools as community support hubs (ewing, 2018). such an ethos also requires educators to repudiate a dehumanizing economic system that betrays working class communities and fuels resentment that divides (williams, 2017). i argue that well-off communities that do not acknowledge those sources of suffering that suppress their neighbors’ flourishing compromise their own dignity in the process. true communities of excellence—an image that affluent communities work tirelessly to project—do not cultivate the success of their own at the expense of the thriving of other historically delineated groups. instead, dignified communities refuse to benefit from what eddie glaude (2017) calls a “value gap” (p. 34), which he understands to be a pernicious organizing principle of white people mattering the most by design. this principle of competition by way of exclusion and segregation sustains what elizabeth anderson (2010) terms a “racialized social hierarchy” (p. 187). we can trace this hierarchy to powerful historical processes, exemplified in, just to cite one prominent example, noel ignatiev’s (2009) classic study of the phenomenon of irish identity and caste transformation and his key observation that for the irish “to enter the white race was a strategy to secure an advantage in a competitive society” (p. 3). securing such an advantage persists as an objective for communities with various degrees of economic power and political clout. competition as a motivating force is an impediment to inclusive democracy. schools, however, have been made to compete for resources and students. as this competitive thinking takes hold of educational institutions, it becomes naturalized in school curricula and a community’s self-understanding. seeking a pedagogical response to such realities, i want to think of school districts as epistemic centers of community knowledge and understanding. schools sustain a community’s beliefs and opinions about itself and guide how its members learn to relate to other communities. schools can be places in which we nurture a responsive public school ethos that centers mutuality and relationality to other communities as central to a learning community’s mission. democracy, dissent, and an ever more fragile public education carving out a responsive public school ethos requires an understanding of the nature of dissent and the role it plays in creating relationships that sustain the democratic project. what schools need to address is this core phenomenon: a world of ever-increasing vulnerability and continuous inequality causes us to grow skeptical about the legitimacy of our representatives’ decision-making. whatever their entry point, many people engage in some form of spontaneous critique of such realities. whether raw or more deliberate, this evaluation manifests itself in a variety of attitudes toward our larger societal endeavor. the nature of our critique depends on how we understand our positionality within this project. our beliefs about belonging to a greater political community affect the stance we take in the face of injustice. a public education that does not help students articulate these critiques is becoming ever more brittle. we know that endeavors that aim to contest the legitimacy of influential policies and practices do not take root in all soils. whereas a totalitarian government’s source of legitimacy, once journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 5 obtained through violence, remains the threat of renewed retributive violence at the hand of the state, a democratically elected government has to ensure it stays legitimate in the eyes of its citizens through much less forceful means. it is a totalitarian government’s prime objective to rule with an iron fist to build a tower of legitimacy that cannot be reached, budged, or questioned. an uncritical support of repressive nation-state policies contributes to the building of ever higher towers. in contrast to such authoritarianism, a democratic project needs to support dissent because the state must not be so fragile as to break, but not so solid that it fails to yield to widely desired change. as an integral part of the democratic process, the inherent fragility of legitimacy necessitates continuous oversight by the people. hence, in a democratically-oriented society, governance is held in balance through democratic acts of legitimization and contestation. as the people bestow initial legitimacy on government, so is maintaining that legitimacy predicated upon government establishing conditions of trust and well-being. a vote of no confidence is never far off after the initial stamp of approval the people may have given. constituting a regulatory democratic tension, such unease contributes to the state of fragility characteristic of a state born or reimagined under the aegis of democratic ideals. schools that pay attention to these processes understand themselves to be at the heart of this regulatory impulse. these ideals are at stake if this already fragile legitimacy is slowly but surely eroded as a result of government inaction, and by extension inaction on the part of institutions of public education, in the face of moral and material matters such as systemic poverty and environmental degradation. ever weary of being at the peril of losing a broad mandate because of its potential inability to foster well-being for all, a democratically elected government has to chart a course that reconciles measured authority with democratic freedoms. for it is up to the art of democratic governance that the tension between holding power and the uncertainty of governing with a temporary mandate not be cause for opting for authoritarian and totalitarian methods. the stronger the state feels it needs to be and the more afraid it is about being delicately nested, the more likely it is to resort to principles and procedures of strict orderliness, perpetual fabrication of crises, and desperate attempts at internal and external fortification. many school districts, currently upheld by hierarchical structures, share similar characteristics and motivations. the pedagogical value of teaching about civic contestation efforts learning about the phenomenon of democratic dissent and the democratic undercurrents of legitimacy of governance means understanding that there have been many times in the past in which it was vital for those who reside within communities of various scales to strengthen their standing in the eyes of their government through actions that preserved democratic structures and modes of being. the question at the heart of this continuing process is: which principles, procedures, relationships, practices, and outcomes inherent in governance are legitimate and which are not? this is in essence also a pedagogical question that alludes to the constant negotiation and renegotiation of trust and distrust, voice and silencing, as well as autonomy and coercion that is on many communities’ daily agenda. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 6 animated by this question, distrust of centralized government and of public schools has been a long-time reality for many marginalized groups. this marginalization prevented those engaged in opposition efforts from seriously threatening the stability, maintained at any cost, of the western nation-state and the schools that sustained its guiding images. in this political context, successive administrations, designated and legitimized by the electorate, failed to extend the curtesy of codified agency to groups with interests different from those of the democratic majority. yet, stephen pimpare (2008) describes historical cases in which “indignity is rightly met with rebellion, resistance, insolence, and indignation” (p. 205): food riots in times of economic depression, petitions for the implementation of public works, protest marches in response to pervasive unemployment. people were able to rediscover common causes. processes of contestation have taken many forms, ranging from dissent to various forms of group activism and social advocacy. such precedents point toward a long civic tradition of thoughtful and impassioned critique regarding the validity of state policy and of ways of organizing community life that serve plutocratic factions. democratic contestation is a democratic skill that schools can foster because, as a form of dissent in a democracy, it is an expression of voice. couldry (2010) discusses political deliberation and the need for “wider acts of retelling” (p. 147) and “acts of contention” (p. 148), while calling for democratic political exchanges that can transpire under conditions of vital disagreement with the forces of domination. as a form of political voice, engaging in civic contestation is part of learning to be on guard. as sheldon wolin (1994) explains, “democracy was born in transgressive acts, for the demos could not participate in power without shattering the class, status, and value systems by which it was excluded” (p. 17). engaging in such intellectual disobedience exposes the injustices of various systems of oppression. wolin’s observation points toward the need for the constant telling of stories about how things could be otherwise and how unjust policies shape everyday lived experience. contestation efforts are actions that embody voice and enable autonomy. they involve questioning behavioral norms and evaluating the appropriateness of a variety of practices. when such autonomous practices thrive, the injustice of an established ideology and the system of justification upholding it become evident. castoriadis (1997) conceives of autonomy in both an individual and collective sense as freedom; this freedom, as the basis of a democratic way of life, is based on when the public sphere “is effectively open to the participation of all” (p. 7). it follows that being autonomous does not mean being independent of the consideration of others, for it is in dialogue with others that we come to shared insights about the legitimacy of governmental authority. being autonomous and being dialogic are entwined. dissent and dialogue are interlocking processes. engaging in autonomous thinking means freeing our thought processes from the yoke of unchecked authority. questioning the legitimacy of unequal community flourishing contesting the legitimacy of policies and modes of being in the world that fall out of the realm of what can be considered humane and just is at the core of what it means to educate and to become educated. learning to challenge injustice is a vital aspect of supporting a democratic journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 7 mode of living. public institutions of learning can take on true relevance as they induce communities to challenge their self-perception as independent bastions only marginally related to a larger polity of communities that ought to flourish. instead of tending appeasingly to their meadows of complacency and complicity, such a shift in orientation means breaking down the fences holding in decades of privately felt moral indignation. dissenting voices arise when a variety of views collide as they do every day in schools. educators and students deserve to be able to express indignation publically without fear of being chastised and as a matter of educational routine and civic obligation. understanding democratic contestation efforts is therefore vital to educational thought and practice. visceral indignation and an epistemology of emotions as communicative beings, silent indignation is not in our nature, and yet toned-down resentment has been a recurring societal tendency in western industrialized nations. we cannot understand contestation efforts and how protest relates to public education without understanding the role emotions play in meaning-making. james jasper (2018) offers a typology of emotions relevant to politics (p. 35) spanning reflex emotions, urges, moods, affective loyalties, and moral commitments. jasper challenges conventional and wellentrenched notions that construct feeling and thinking as separate processes. instead, he replaces this false dichotomy with the amalgamated term “feeling-thinking processes” (p. xi). this reconceptualization contests our understanding of emotions in political life as inevitably leading to turmoil and uncertainty, an understanding deliberately fostered since the dawn of democracy to malign and thwart people’s collective agency. what emerges out of his project is, in effect, an epistemology of emotional energy that follows the regularity of the tides, is everything but impetuous, and is informative and comforting in the potential it offers to upset unjust living conditions. no matter the general spirit of the times, be the seas turbulent or calm, all educators face the small child that displays deep-seated wonder in the face of distress and the adolescent slowly growing accustomed to the consequences of state-sanctioned and state-promulgated inequality. tugging at our shirt, and expressed through their budding lexicon, small children ask visceral questions at the sight of a person living in a state of homelessness. growing into adolescence, many such children become outraged at the societal acceptance of such a reality. in contrast, encountering similar scenes of suffering, fully-formed and vote-holding citizens might not register, and eventually actively avoid, the misery staring them in the face. hurt and anguish, too painful to witness and not do anything about, diminish agency. children learn to avert their gaze as they learn from our example. what they learn is skillful avoidance and expert unresponsiveness. a default mode of intergenerationally transmitted fatigued indifference sets in. it is this indifference, as bauman (1989) explains, that as part cause, part symptom, and part outcome sets the stage for moral catastrophes. democracy cannot be sustained without respecting the child’s tentative inquiry into the causes of suffering and the adolescent’s growing indignation in the face of resigned complacency of an electorate they are soon to join. whereas undemocratic forces will do everything in their journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 8 power to suppress signs of such sensitivity, a democratic society must value these moral intuitions. it is a danger to the ideal of democracy if a society does not. as bauman (2000) notes, taking a “morally neutral stance” (p. 89) is equal to being complicit in the perpetuation of inequality. a supposedly democratically-minded government’s paradoxical undermining of the very democratic public sphere which justifies its existence (a public sphere that it itself is appointed to guard) leads to the creation of a vacuum to be filled by a recurring set of shallow characters. corporate activists and populist agitators seize the remnants of democratic public institution and public trust in elected government and deploy these societal and cognitive infrastructures for their own ends. equipped with such fodder, politically ambitious persons may initiate movements that channel visceral indignation into expressions of violence through hateful rhetoric. this outcome is not inevitable. writing about the brexit vote in great britain, paul mason (2017) observes, “only by understanding the source of anger can you defuse it” (p. 96). whoever shall be perceived to respect the people’s indignation shall gain their trust, goodwill, and vote. indeed, rather belatedly, it has become clear that a formidable storm of indignation has already been forming across the world. a plurality of voices and motivations are enmeshed. educators need to recognize that these ideas affect their students in their families and in their wider communities. judging from current bestseller lists, political commentators and former statespersons are rushing to make sense of this ominous climate. many are foreseeing the advance of a fascist deluge of western democracies. cultural critics observe that the decline in democratic commitment has been decades in the making. arjun appadurai (2017) posits a “democracy fatigue” (p. 7) setting in among citizens, a phenomenon he attributes to a modern culture of acceleration that no longer accommodates the “slow temporalities of democracy” (p. 8). when many people perceive democratic processes as inconvenient and statesperson politeness as out of step with our efficiently blunt times, why would citizens contest undemocratic rhetoric if its originators offer easy assurances and swift measures to erase what ails them? nancy fraser (2017), evoking “electoral mutinies” (p. 40), lays out the equally unsatisfactory options available to voters as they wish to demonstrate their grievances. fraser (2017) identifies a “progressive neoliberalism” (p. 41) characterized by a “faux understanding of emancipation” (p. 48) and a “reactionary populism” (p. 47) that seduces many but offers “no resolution to the present crisis” (p. 48). fraser takes issue with progressive efforts that, in their quest for culture change, have left on the side of the road the dream and necessity of working toward economic equality and the attendant dignity due to all people. chantal mouffe (2019) proposes a populism of the left as a political strategy for western europe when she calls for a “mobilization of common affects in defence of equality and social justice” (p. 6). both fraser and mouffe observe that there is potential in this political moment and in people’s indignation for democratic reinvigoration. in a similar vein, ethnographic studies reveal a variety of groups expressing widespread indignation at their diminished life chances and the particular ways in which they make sense of the causes they attribute as leading to such setbacks. michael kimmel (2017) paints a picture journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 9 of indignation that defines and permeates the lifeworlds of his participants. in particular, kimmel (2017) focuses on how nostalgia, fading guiding images of reassuring masculinity and fulfilling motherhood, and white men’s perception of “dispossession” (p. 9) of their partially lost entitlements contribute to a political identity that arises out of a visceral reaction to overall downward mobility. through his conversations with participants, kimmel (2017) identifies a conflation in their minds of greater social equality, perceived through distant and mediatized images, with increased class inequality, their lived reality. this perception is also evident in arlie hochschild’s (2016) research when participants speak about feeling left behind, their lived reality, as they conclude that others “cut in line” (p. 137), a conclusion likely drawn based on repeated claims made by distant authorities they respect. in both research contexts, we see the merging of the pain of people’s deeply felt reality with the comfort-inducing storytelling that distant meaning-making apparatuses such as people’s preferred media outlets provide. this line of inquiry takes seriously the real economic plight that affects people. as a response to the disdain coming out of the mouths of and shining through the policies of real or imagined elites, these difficulties lie at the heart of indignation. appadurai (2017) sees an “accidental and partial overlap” (p. 2) in voters’ apprehensions and populist leaders’ promises. fraser (2017) sees “mal-directed” (p. 46) rage where the root issues are so buried under a heap that the first person to be seen in its vicinity with a shovel appears as the hero who saves the day by appearing to do something, anything at all. hochschild (2016), rejecting a simplistic hypothesis of gullibility (p. 14), suggests that “deep stories” (p. 16) of people’s anguish reveal the complex constellations of factors contributing to the architecture of their beliefs. kimmel (2017), identifying a pernicious process of “manufacturing rage” (p. 31), examines a concerted media effort to channel people’s moral indignation into politicized anger. what emerges from this line of inquiry is the unearthing of deliberate efforts at camouflage and manipulation that lead to misattributions of the real causes of people’s suffering. kimmel (2017) stresses that people’s grievances are “real” but not “true” (p. 9), in that their experiences are sincerely felt but inaccurately assessed. writing about social movements that express a variety of affective and moral commitments (jasper, 2018, p. 4), donatella della porta (2017) explains how “anti-austerity movements” (p. 31) are in their protest and contestation inclusive and committed to democratic ideals. these groups differ from those who make up “regressive movements” (p. 37) that are in their protest and contestation exclusive, xenophobic, and committed to authoritarian models. most importantly, della porta (2017) emphasizes that upon probing, we find “the same discontent” (p. 37) fueling both factions’ fires. there are then still options in terms of which protest movement someone might join or with which party’s vision a voter might sympathize. can those who perceive a vital need for sustained political action and who stand for inclusion and respect sway the cultural mood and the votes toward their side? as these various scholarly perspectives reveal, people’s diverse perspectives on what is and is not being done to help them thrive is relevant to how learning communities understand their work as epistemic hubs that serve the needs of their communities and the larger web that makes up the polity. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 10 silencing indignation learning communities that realize the importance of the political moment and their responses to it need to consider past institutional responses to indignation. ideally, communication flows in both directions as confident democratic governance seeks out critique in order to bring about societal advancement. just governments do not quell the expression of indignation. a society that fears dissent recasts principled ethical acts as impulsive unstructured incidents. these acts of civil disobedience are downgraded to the lowly and dubious status of unsophisticated outrage and threatening anger. jasper (2018) points out that protestors have traditionally been portrayed as displaying fear and anger in a “panic model of emotions, the dark flip side of the exaggerated calculating-brain model of thought and rationality” (p. xi). privileged groups, feeling threatened in the integrity of their social and economic vision, act swiftly to delegitimize efforts that might expose their decision-making as based in profiteering self-interest. when disenfranchised minorities fight to have their voices heard, these actions are cast as subversive; hence, the systematic civil disobedience of the civil rights movement in the united states is portrayed as individual riotous dissent (kurashige, 2017; robinson, 1987) and women’s resistance to patriarchal oppression and structural and personal violence is attributed to supposed hysteria and surreptitious pledges to sorcery (merchant, 1989). in more recent times in the united states, we witness how indignation can also be silenced when group resistance efforts are portrayed as traitorous, disrespectful, and disloyal. myths of moral superiority, propagated in schools, can serve to deflect questions about the legitimacy of policies and the adequacy and sustainability of prevalent oppressive and alienating modes of being-in-the-world. through such discursive and material practices, powerful interests attempt to suppress visceral indignation through erasing its spontaneous (that is, democratic, in wolin’s sense) impulse by cruelly cutting short its potential “self-institution” (castoriadis, 1997, p. 10) into a concrete lived democratic mode of existence. in essence, these instances of silencing indignation are examples of not honoring voice and of actively suppressing political participation, which dalton (2017) sees as hurting the polity when “the loud voice of some drowns out the weaker voices of others” (p. 18) and, as a result, the government is ignorant of people’s needs (p. 5). this means that absent an awareness of people’s grievances, government is illiterate when it comes to reading the prevalent zeitgeist. as a result, government makes “suboptimal” (p. 5) decisions. in addition, whose voice is “weak” and whose voice is “loud” does not rest solely on numerical strength. when majorities fight to have their voices heard, their indignation is similarly inconvenient to the authorities. but majorities in contrast to minorities are much harder to ignore and more difficult to silence outright. both groups experience indignation, but numbers spell an advantage in terms of whose demands get acknowledged, even if not genuinely heard. this gives rise to the unfortunate conflation on the part of majorities suffering from economic hardship of their own lived experiences with those of historically violently oppressed groups. the self-perceptions of those understanding themselves to constitute a majority that has heretofore remained “silent” and that suffers from estrangement (hochschild, 2016) from a changing country that has the potential to transform established voting power dynamics via journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 11 reforms can be fed by those wishing to appear to attend to people’s concerns while downplaying the true sources of their suffering. being encouraged to dub oneself a silent majority communicates clear undercurrents of threat and reminders of dormant potency, while reaffirming one’s right and entitlement (see kimmel, 2017) to and the legitimacy of a renewed, because clearly threatened (krastev, 2017), “tyranny of the majority.” this concept is worth revisiting per lani guinier’s (1994) analysis of the original madisonian skepticism about the beneficial effects of universal suffrage, as she herself has also done to demonstrate its relevance to questioning the ideal of meritocracy in higher education (guinier, 2015). dalton (2017) sees this concern about the end of self-disfranchisement as resurfacing in contemporary debates when he states that “elite pessimism about democracy continues” (p. 213). this is a pessimism and a silencing mechanism that jasper (2018) terms “democracy’s shadow” (p. 171). on the one hand, we wish to empower everyone, but at the same time, we fear the supposed irrationality of the masses and how they will influence the group’s vision of progressive politics. dalton (2017) explains how unequal participation in democratic processes has allowed governments to ignore the needs of various groups making up the polity. once these fears are sown, unequal participation does not strike us as quite as dire a state as it is. the affluent minority establishes its own tyranny as its prominence eclipses the reality that all of us have become victims of its cultural dominance and political agenda-setting. speaking about dominant majorities within democratic systems, kathleen sullivan (2009) notes that a pluralizing feminist philosophy can chip away at what she calls the “gentle democratic tyranny of public opinion that arises from the sameness of democracy” (p. 201). natalie masuoka and jane juhn (2013) understand this public opinion to be “the product of group interactions and historical memory structured by the person’s position in the american racial order” (p. 3). whoever wishes to silence indignation in a democratic society will have to shape public opinion as a factor that also has the potential to mitigate the relatively weak position in which minority groups find themselves in a democratic political system. all of this points toward the importance of asking how the work of learning communities shapes public opinion. this beckons the question to what extent schools can mitigate some of the issues scholars raise about the problematic nature of public opinion in a democracy. the work of communities and a responsive public school ethos given these concerning cultural conditions, one would expect schools to be places in which we can attempt to make sense of the political currents of our times. this is not so in a politicized school climate where the official goals of public education appear petty when they should never be. theodor adorno (2005) articulated this most pointedly: “every debate about the ideals of education is trivial and inconsequential compared to this single ideal: never again auschwitz” (p. 191). this “never again” is the essence of moral indignation and should strike a chord with a subjugated citizenry. instead, we find widespread acceptance of schools that suppress indignation, avoid difficult questions, and do not dare critique openly and with confidence unethical state policy and associated modes of being-in-the-world. this makes difficult the articulation of a public ethos that allows schools to advocate for a citizenship ideal that is rooted journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 12 in ethics, a tradition of successful civil disobedience, nonconformity, and depth of thought conducive to autonomous ways of being. such an ideal of ethical responsiveness requires, at a minimum, a form of democratic education that gives schools shared authority with parents to decide what is important for students to learn (gutmann, 1987). however, ethical responsiveness involves deep critique of harmful cultural trends that are sure to challenge some parents’ sensibilities. as our emergent political realities paint a picture of deeply felt injustice, how do educators weave discussions about this “orientation toward the world” (jasper, 2018, p. 120) into the institutional fabric? a public school ethos that captures the motivation behind moral indignation and sees it for the common denominator it can be is true to the sense of “public” as connecting all members of the polity. to achieve this aim, public schools must honor voice and cultivate dialogue to counter a pervasive divide-and-conquer ethos that denies commonalities and disregards our political level of existence. such an orientation requires a sense of advocacy that is based in intergroup connection. one of the essential questions citizens should ask themselves is to what degree their felt indignation corresponds to the felt indignation of their fellow citizens. educators need to pose this solidarity-sparking question to students to encourage the development of ethical solidarity as a democratic mode of being. political beings are aware of the role of assent and dissent in a democratic system and learn how to express both in everyday life and in moments of concerted public effort at political communication. just as social movements provide such venues, public education also holds the promise of allowing us to communicate our grievances and search for democratic solutions together. as settings in which we can enact democracy, schools have the potential to be sites of democratic contestation. despite his often disillusioning account of democratic governance, wolin (1994) posits a definition of democracy that is well suited to theorizing democratic modes of being in public education. according to wolin (1994), “democracy is a project concerned with the political potentialities of ordinary citizens, that is with their possibilities for becoming political beings through the self-discovery of common concerns and of modes of action for realizing them” (p. 11). a responsive public school ethos encourages such necessary protest and ensuing dialogue. the complexity of the political emotional landscape as it shapes civic identity requires of us dialogic inquiry anchored in careful ethical deliberation. this includes countering indifference about public issues with an ardent commitment toward the world (bourdieu, 2000). it also includes engaging students in conversations to examine the degree to which a world of consumption attempts to erase visceral indignation. if we wish to be ethically responsive, we cannot rely exclusively on the cultivation of personal virtues. van hooft (2006) insists that any ethical project must strive to reconcile virtue and justice (p. 110). justice, in jasper’s (2018) conceptualization, is “how people are treated when they interact” (p. 130). according to paul ricoeur (1994), justice “extends further than face-to-face encounters” (p. 194). dialogic inquiry is essential to an education that enables children to learn how to interact with those they love and with those to whom they commit morally (jasper, 2018, p. 128). dialogue based in moral commitment fosters a sense of being-in-community with others. dedication to a public ethos journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 13 suggests an obligation to the common good as an extension of the care we usually reserve for those within the city gates. an impassioned public school ethos can provide the fertile ground needed to nurture ethical advocates who will redefine what the gates mean. as bauman (2001) writes poignantly, “security sacrificed in the name of freedom tends to be other people’s security; and freedom sacrificed in the name of security tends to be other people’s freedom” (p. 20). in contrast, an ethically responsive ethos takes everyone’s needs into consideration. because indignation and teaching are affective and relational processes at their core, educators can work to expose government and community apathy toward injustice as part of their educational practice. this is a possible outcome of appealing to students’ sense of what is just, our conscience thoreau (1992) saw as being able to guide us toward more just decisions than the amalgamated opinions of the political majority ever could. the development of such a public conscience requires, as castoriadis (1997) maintains, a “political educational process” (p. 11) that strives to develop “corresponding abilities” (p. 11) in emerging citizens as they participate in the democratic process. these abilities do not simply inform a democratic modus operandi, castoriadis explains, but go deeper as they shape citizens’ conceptions of political equality. we can draw parallels here to anderson’s (2010) insistence on engaging in political philosophy through problem-oriented and empirically informed “non-ideal theory” (p. 3). anderson (2010) points to the importance of starting with “a diagnosis of injustices in our actual world, rather than from a picture of an ideal world” (p. 3) and sees this process as consisting of explanations of causes and mechanisms and identifications of “the responsibility of different agents to alter these mechanisms” (p. 22) and, lastly, undo them. taking cues from the realm of political philosophy and anderson’s (2010) methodological approach, we can begin to imagine a non-ideal approach to teaching about how communities ought to relate to one another. such an approach is rooted in contestation, advocacy, and democratic institutional agency that defies rationalizing storytelling. ethical advocacy as an affirmative practice a responsive public school ethos carves out space in schools for the cultivation of both contestation and advocacy. as a grassroots ethical and political practice, advocacy is an affirmative practice because advocacy honors voice. when we teach for advocacy rather than categorically treating everyone’s voice as equally valid, we treat everyone’s voice as equally worthy of being ethically probed. we tell our intertwined stories and engage in processes of “retelling” (couldry, 2010, p. 147) to develop and amplify our civic voices. we can encourage such habits through educational practices that respect moral indignation as integral to our ethical development. we pay attention to moral emotions because, as jasper (2018) puts it in clear terms, “it feels good to do the right thing” (p. 5). at the risk of sounding politically naïve, we should not discount that what we feel and think in reaction to injustice takes on a public dimension and public relevance. as community challenges increasingly coalesce with global concerns, a commitment to the public dimension of community life brings with it planetary commitment. engaging in a sustained and collaborative thought process in our educational institutions allows us to cultivate an ethic with which to approach such boundary-crossing challenges. such an ethic is rooted in place and gives rise to local responses to the crises of our journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 14 times. yet, it examines the cosmopolitan condition (beck, 2016) of identifying “‘world problems” (beck, 1999, p. 15) as reverberating in our local places without hiding their global scale. educational practice as advocatory work a teacher identity that encourages critical thought rests on the willingness of educators to probe deeply within to identify their own sources of indignation and how these motivate their work. becoming a teacher requires a commitment to initiate conversations about the legitimacy of policies and unjust ways of being-in-the-world. teachers who examine the role moral emotions play in past and present protest and political action (jasper, 2018) do important work to help their students develop such understanding. such educators challenge a culture of apparent indifference and outward half-heartedness. as a case in point, paul gorski (2018) distinguishes between spheres of influence (p. 177) in teachers’ work; teachers have control over certain material aspects of their practice, but “another commitment is developing deep understandings of the barriers outside our spheres that impact students within them” (p. 178). with such understanding of obstacles comes a commitment to “not replicate them unwillingly” (p. 178). this is an example of ethical responsiveness through an advocatory process gorski (2018) calls “expanding our spheres of influence” (p. 177). this process serves to support a variety of equity and justice commitments. what teachers need to engage in advocacy work is the support and protection of the institutions in which they work. no matter their age, many students look to their teachers to see if they are as affronted by the state of things as they are. many educators are but are not free to show it lest they raise topics deemed controversial (see hess, 2009), or rather, when they upset the worldviews (especially the economic and social visions) of members of the communities in which they teach. this not only infantilizes the teaching force, it constitutes one of the challenges of reimagining public schools as community schools. public school teachers are committed to being facilitators of dialogue, but they may worry that their commitment to justice has no place in their teaching practice. this practical concern of a figure invested with authority wishing to provide a safe classroom atmosphere is not the same as requiring public school teachers to be, as is often ambiguously termed, “neutral.” for educators, disclosing political affiliations can be counterproductive. disclosing one’s identity as an ethical thinker is vital. demonstrating ethical neutrality is out of the question. it is often precisely those people who profess distaste for moral relativism who are the first to call for educators and schools to remain neutral in times of moral upheaval. as teachers model and encourage ethical citizenship, they advocate for just living conditions precisely because they respect students’ various backgrounds. incapacitating public schools such a view of education and teacher identity goes against commonly accepted educational paradigms. many adhere to the view that it is not up to public institutions to invite students to contest the legitimacy of state policy, market-based modes of being, and a world of economic and political inequality. david archard (2015) identifies a fear in a liberal society of “a single journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 15 collectivist ideology” (p. 240) driving public education. it is not up to schools, the well-known argument goes, to evaluate the adequacy of state responses to a variety of contemporary issues and to offer opportunities for critique lest schools inculcate particular perspectives. any mention of politics evokes not ethical and civic concerns but party-political doctrines. this, according to archard (2015), means that any attempt to tailor teaching to bring out cooperation, group well-being, and striving for equality is conflated with indoctrination into one demonized ideology. as a result, educators are categorically not to challenge inequality, among a long list of other taboo subjects, and to stay off the prohibited terrain of encouraging protest of those suffering indignities, in particular if they happen to live in the vicinity. educators are not to ask students to probe too deeply into this rarely clearly delineated terrain. instead, they are to transmit a certified body of information only thinly disguised as stateapproved standards. such prohibitions cut deeply into how teachers working in particular learning communities understand the nature of their work. teaching in such a state is like navigating a minefield. what pervades the field is an overall lack of political vision for the institutions into whose care we entrust our young people. a shared political identity might lead us to ask who planted the mines and for what reason and how we can work together to remove them. it would involve understanding motivations, emotional undercurrents, and why people avoid unpleasant emotions (jasper, 2018, p. 95). barring public education from doing this is an educational arrangement that is anathema to democratic ideals and equals inconsequence. it is a short step from here to arguing away the relevance of funding public schools altogether if all they are supposed to do is prop up individual students. public schools remain incapacitated to foster nuanced understanding in the citizenry of the persistence of pervasive inequality and calamitous decision-making on the part of successive political administrations. in people’s minds, such administrative incompetence equals government inadequacy. in charles tilly’s (1998) analysis, in a democracy the ruling classes comprise a significant number of high-status groups. this phenomenon of the thriving of oases of well-being in a desert of unmet needs discourages the raising of questions about inclusion and exclusion in our public schools. educational policy reroutes public funds toward the maintenance of the country’s artificial oases and feeds what tilly (1998) refers to as the “exploitative side” (p. 193) of democratic government. this translates into, as david labaree (1997) explains, discourse about public education in the united states being dominated by what he calls a “social mobility goal” (p. 50), a paradigm that works against the “ideal of civic virtue” (p. 65). labaree (1997) details how public education is increasingly posited as a private good rather than a public good. bauman (2013), considering why there is little resistance to the worldview that ultimately feeds these ideas about the purpose of education, identifies three responses in the face of injustice—resistance, submission, and collaboration—and comes to the conclusion that the promise of mobility and the “precious currency of social acceptance, position and prestige” (p. 26) overshadows the option of resistance. market ideologies, when invoked in schools, lure people into a system that makes no room for critique. in times of rampant economic inequality and downward mobility and the presence of widespread moral indignation, public education for “democratic equality” (labaree, 1997, p. 43) takes on renewed relevance. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 16 education in a fractured polity: fragmentation, fortified communities, ownership larger intercommunity dynamics play an important role in understanding civic dissent efforts. when we search for ways to support democratic contestation efforts in public schools, we engage in what maria lugones (2000) has described as a “process of reconsidering the place and meaning of community and home within a politics of resistance and liberation” (p. 467). living in a community indicates demarcation whereas living in community points toward connection. even if we engage students in conversations about the necessity of just governance, we may not ask them to look inward and examine their own thinking about being-in-community with others. yet, it can be argued, as adorno (2005) maintained, that “the only education that has any sense at all is an education toward critical self-reflection” (p. 193). if we were to engage in such self-reflection, would we find the old community image of a cordoned-off, fortified town in our supposedly democratically-oriented minds? without working together to confront this lingering guiding image, we will likely not arrive at a concrete resolution of unequal living conditions in and among our communities. in a system in which communities have varied degrees of political clout, turning inward contributes to the fragmentation of the greater political community. as each community sustains its own schools, it risks losing a sense of embeddedness within a greater polity. when schools do not develop an ethos for a greater whole, then we cannot expect young people to carry in them an ethos that will cause them to identify with this greater whole as adults. bauman (2013) notes the faulty view of people being understood as having “different abilities by nature rather than having different capacities to develop their potential because they are cast in different social conditions” (p. 22.). if we accept that there will be communities that are prevented from offering a particular baseline quality of life for their residents by way of their geographic location and historical trajectory, we have acquiesced to unlink from the polity as a web of affiliation and attachment. this is the opposite of democratic contestation of injustice and a tendency bauman (2000) warned about when he spoke about the “departure from politics and withdrawal behind the fortified walls of the private” (p. 88). bauman’s admonition critiques a frame of thinking that, if left unchecked, by way of justifying a withdrawal from a shared project, contributes to the weakening of democracy. when the affluent few retreat to an ultra-private sphere of gated communities, exclusive neighborhoods, and affiliated—in effect, privately sponsored—schools, they continue to benefit from the relative safety and freedom democratic systems provide. but as supra-citizens with blank checks and no obligations, they do not concern themselves with the difficult work of preserving these democratic privileges. the rest of us are tasked with carrying the democratic torch through the storm. the fragmentation of the larger polity is predicated on foregrounding ownership as a mode of being in the world. ownership rests on separating a former whole into parts. bauman (2013) notes that the gap between the rich and the poor has transformed into “a picture of two worlds, with few if any interfaces or meeting points between them, and so also with their inter journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 17 communication all but broken” (p. 14). this hyper-separation fosters a way of being-in-theworld that is based on recasting selfishness as a virtue. it also assures the continuity of hereditary wealth as a guarantor of having the illusion of a better life than others and, thus, the persistence of a pernicious social determinism that allows some greater power to legitimize policies that ensure their own continued thriving. fragmentation permeates all aspects of public education. the very idea of school districts and their ensuing attendance boundaries precludes such a community ethos. in demarcating boundaries, we set to protect what is ours. we fortify the private and unlink from the polity. it is this process that we must continue to critique. this is particularly the case in a school system partially funded by local property taxes, in which residents might develop a sense of purchasing educational services as they have come to think of purchasing other commodities. an ownership framework reinforces schools as firmly planted on service industry terrain and teachers as service providers. the ensuing unequal customer and client relationship does not allow for teachers to subvert their own role as already minimal agents of the state. this ownership model can also be superimposed on the parent-child relationship (archard, 2006, 2015). but if we posit that children are not the automatic extensions of their parents and their values, schools ought to have the right to challenge the community and introduce children to a variety of points of view. for when children enter our public schools, they encounter a different sphere of influence, using gorski’s (2018) shade of the expression. if children do not learn to respect other points of view in a public space, they become voters who get to decide for all of us without knowing about all of us. public schools cannot be trapped in a loyalty to their community that precludes the intellectual space necessary for supporting a democratic public ethos. teachers need to respect the communities in which they teach without being completely beholden to them. establishing connections: dialogue, vulnerability, intercommunity solidarity “this notion of dialogue and common consciousness suggests that there is some way out of our collective difficulties. and we have to begin at the grass roots, as it were, not to begin at the top of the heap with the united nations and the president” (bohm, 1996, p. 41). to counter a system of inequality and its manifestation in unequal communities, public schools as institutions need to be actively in community—and thus outwardly communicative and in dialogue—with one another. this requires overcoming decades of competitive thinking, for communities and schools that are hermetic are incapacitated to keep the fire of the democratic spirit burning. it is in a horizontal embrace, not in vertical tower building, that public education can cradle the fragile state of democracy. it is this kindness and respect we want to model for young people as they learn to establish respectful interpersonal and intergroup relationships and develop mutuality in an integrating (anderson, 2010) political community. here is the potential for those elusive and spontaneously arising moments that wolin considers to be constitutive of a vibrant democracy. they can be found when people come together and, as wolin (1994) puts it, “through public deliberations, collective power is used to promote or journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 18 protect the well-being of the collectivity” (p. 11). establishing connections within and among communities is necessary to create a political spirit of solidarity to counteract destructive cultural tendencies that further fracture the polity. in the absence of a sense of interconnectedness, we harm our chances to strive for justice, but a call for social cohesion can be a reminder to many marginalized groups of the imposition of a dominant culture. to distinguish between such an ideology and an intercommunity solidarity anchored in autonomy that acknowledges interdependence, teena gabrielson (2016) proposes a conception of agency as “relational, socially distributed, and embodied” (pp. 399-400). in this conceptualization, communities ultimately decide to what degree they would like to join any wider effort to work together. establishing connections to achieve intercommunity solidarity goes hand in hand with an awareness of shared vulnerabilities (beck, 2016). more a necessity than a choice, beck (2016) sees the intensification of global risks leading to what he calls “moments of shared fate” (p. 59). these moments allow us to establish meaningful connections. a sense of urgency compels us toward collective agency as the interests of one community intersect with the interests of other communities when it comes to access to water, for example. as patricia hill collins (2013) notes, such intercommunity solidarity might lead to “coalitions of conscience” (p. 242), which she describes as rooted in ethical frameworks. as communities work together in coalitions to counter common threats in reaction to and anticipation of boundary-crossing crises, being in community with others has the potential to become a genuinely supportive mode of existence. the collective agency of public schools: shared aims, authorship, freedom such a vision for being-in-community is predicated on fostering relational modes of being in and through public institutions of learning. we can conceive of autonomy and agency as individual and collective endeavors. it follows that autonomy and agency are just as much personal projects as they are institutional potentials and vital characteristics of a democratic polity. public education is in need of a conceptualization of such collective institutional agency because such an orientation allows us to address shared goals and a common vision of justice for all communities while also respecting our different needs. how can public schools generate such agency? we must search for a conceptualization of agency that is appropriate to educational contexts and their potentialities and constraints as well as the developmental readiness of children and their safety. ruth lister (2004) proposes a definition of agency as individual and collective “authorship” (p. 126) that brings with it a “capacity to act” (p. 124). authorship implies a search for meaning, an orientation different from consumptive modes of being in the world. as people mutually engage when they gather together in schools, they work in community to generate and sustain authentic modes of being-in-the-world. this is authorship that defies conventions reminiscent of bauman’s (2004) understanding of agency in terms of making choices about “the way we live” (p. 31), particularly what kinds of modes of being we as social actors privilege. bauman focuses on freeing ourselves from market-based ideologies, on not letting our lives become scripted as a result of passive consumption. to lister (2004), agency consists of taking journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 19 strategic actions to fulfill social objectives. at these intersections, bauman and lister are both concerned with the particularity of life designs, as these open up what castoriadis (1997) theorizes to constitute a break with “a closure of meaning” (p. 4). castoriadis sees such shutting down of creative thought as preventing questions to arise that are, in effect, “mentally and psychically impossible for the members of that society” (p. 4). a democratic revolution is a break with this closure through which “any source of meaning other than the living activity of human beings” (p. 4) is rejected. such collective agency is authorship. it is also dissent. as castoriadis (1997) further maintains, “it therefore implies the rejection of all ‘authority’ that would fail to render an account and provide reasons, that would not offer de jure justifications for the validity of its pronouncements” (p. 4). this requirement points to authorship as a form of voice (couldry, 2010) that breaks the molds in which we encase our educational aims. public schools can provide the literal and metaphorical pen and paper that enables such authorship if a child’s parents or guardians can’t currently afford pen and paper, or if they are in effect dictating what their children are to write. as democratic institutions, schools have a capacity to act if they have the freedom to animate just ways of being-in-community. schools require autonomy to make choices that nurture a democratic spirit. this requires a degree of independence from local communities. schools ought to have the right to challenge the communities in which they are located, even if those communities partially fund them, just as children have the right to challenge the parents who clothe and feed them. institutional agency in schools consists of the ability to contest wider societal phenomena and continuously carve out a public ethos rooted in ethical interactions. schools display agency when they encourage educational practices that dispute the legitimacy of unethical modes of being in the world and expose associated practices, discourses, and relationships. schools also exhibit agency when they become spaces in which calling out unethical policies becomes the order of the day. ethical oversight and the work of public schools in times of widespread moral insensitivity and “adiaphorization” (bauman & donskis, 2013, p. 40), a process that bauman and donskis understand as a form of rationalization resulting in the boycotting of ethical concerns and the positing of a judgement-free consumer zone, it is to schools that we need to look to forge ethical paths for the polity. in an era of weakened unions and a polarized media landscape at war with itself, public schools remain standing as one of the few lines of defense. in a deliberate attempt to help young people channel indignation into a commitment to justice, through an ethical advocatory conception of public education, we can cultivate habits in emerging citizens so that they may take up advocacy for just communities everywhere. in so far as schools engage students in contestation efforts, they can be said to take on an informal oversight function. as neoliberal governance superimposes market exchange behavior on interpersonal interactions (harvey, 2005), it distracts from the necessity of engaging in ethical inquiry and attempts to eliminate those spaces in which such questioning can occur. neoliberal ideology rewards undignified policies and practices. the core democratic skill of being willing to question and to raise questions, as castoriadis (1997) explained, is essential to journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 20 learning to be individually and collectively autonomous. public schools are threatened in part because they provide such space. walter parker (2010) maintains that by engaging with other people in dialogue in schools, we “reclaim and reconstitute the democratic public sphere as a fertile site for political critique and action” (p. 2831). when the work of communities includes a commitment to connection, schools become places in which we can find and learn to appreciate democratic community. in this essay, i argue that public education is incapacitated to fulfill its vital role as a democratic institution. first, i maintain that public education presently does not provide a space that allows for critical inquiry into the legitimacy of what are unethical, unjust, and unsustainable modes of being in the world. this type of critical inquiry would support civic dissent at the grassroots school-yard level. dissent as a form of inquiry is only one part of the larger advocacy puzzle. i also see the need for an institutionally-grown advocacy of connection that nurtures intercommunity solidarity. second, i propose that public education cultivate ways-of-being that are based in a conceptualization of distinct communities as being in connection with others and forming a greater polity. this type of orientation respects self-determination of communities while also embedding community identity within a larger web of affiliation and care. finally, i suggest that public education take on an informal function of ethical oversight rooted in a strong sense of collective institutional agency. through such agency, schools can recognize and respect and help us work through past and present civic grievances. teachers can foster this commitment to advocacy in those they encounter daily through their professional practice. besides advocating for structural change, learning communities can take concrete steps to construct a public school ethos conducive to democratic life that enables teachers to do the following: 1. extend social-emotional teaching and learning to include analysis of the political dimension of emotions. teach children to be aware of the larger role emotions play in civic life. jasper (2018) offers a typology for conceptual clarity, clearly distinguishing between affective and moral commitments while also presenting a historical overview of how emotions have been portrayed negatively for the purpose of political manipulation. scholarship in the tradition of the sociology of emotions (see harris, 2015) can inform educational thought as to the nature of social-emotional processes at the political level of our existence. 2. teach about the ethical significance of events that arise in the political moment. the experience of living in fragile times can evoke a variety of civic responses to undemocratic governance. it can legitimize surveillance. whereas surveillance implies monitoring and supervision indicates distraction, vigilance rests on careful observation and attentiveness. cultivating an attitude of attentiveness to issues of justice and inequality can counter a culture of negligence. 3. build intercommunity solidarity. love of place is an affective commitment (jasper, 2018), giving rise to questions of how to live together in one’s local community. but public education must also consider larger moral commitments as they reverberate throughout the polity (ricoeur, 1994; van hooft, 2006). this includes fostering an journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 21 ecological sensibility that supports a sense of common vulnerability, care, and crossboundary connection. this sensibility includes an awareness of the unequal distribution of risks (beck, 2009, 2016; taylor, 2014) that affect impoverished communities. a public school ethos influences how learning communities conceive of their work. although public schools are frequently incapacitated to take on ethical advocacy aims, this incapacitation does not equate with an incapacity to act. public schools can provide needed spaces for cultivation of connection and solidarity. as an ethical response to injustice, boundary-crossing conceptualizations of community encourage discourses and practices of connectedness as one way in which we can work to overcome relational inequality (anderson, 2010; tilly, 1998). public schools can help cultivate in children a sense of ethical advocacy through a public school ethos of intercommunity solidarity so that visceral indignation does not fade and become subdued indifference or transform into expressions of hatred as it has many times, with tragic consequences, in our shared history. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 22 references adorno, t. (2005). critical models: interventions and catchwords. new york, ny: columbia university press. anderson, e. (2010). the imperative of integration. princeton, nj: princeton university press. appadurai, a. (2017). democracy fatigue. in h. geiselberger (ed.), the great regression (pp. 1 12). malden, ma: polity. archard, d. (2006, march). the moral and political status of children. public policy research, 13(1), 6-12. archard, d. (2015). children: rights and childhood. new york, ny: routledge. bauman, z. (1989). modernity and the holocaust. ithaca, ny: cornell university press. bauman, z. (2000). on writing: on writing sociology. theory, culture, & society, 17(1), 79 90. bauman, z. (2001). community: seeking safety in an insecure world. malden, ma: blackwell publishing. bauman, z. (2013). does the richness of the few benefit us all? malden, ma: polity. bauman, z. (2017). retrotopia. malden, ma: polity. bauman, z., & donskis, l. (2013). moral blindness: the loss of sensitivity in liquid modernity. malden, ma: polity. bauman, z., & donskis, l. (2017). liquid evil: living with tina. malden, ma: polity. beck, u. (1999). world risk society. malden, ma: polity. beck, u. (2009). world at risk. malden, ma: polity. beck, u. (2016). the metamorphosis of the world. malden, ma: polity. bohm, d. (1996). on dialogue. london, uk: routledge. bourdieu, p. (2000). for a scholarship with commitment. profession, 40-45. castoriadis, c. (1997). democracy as procedure and democracy as regime. constellations, 4(1), 1-18. collins, p. h. (2013). on intellectual activism. philadelphia, pa: temple university press. couldry, n. (2010). why voice matters: culture and politics after neoliberalism. thousand oaks, ca: sage. dalton, r. j. (2017). the participation gap: social status & political inequality. oxford, uk: oxford university press. della porta, d. (2017). progressive and regressive politics in late neoliberalism. in h. geiselberger (ed.), the great regression (pp. 26-39). malden, ma: polity. ewing, e. l. (2018). ghosts in the schoolyard: racism and school closings on chicago’s south side. chicago, il: the university of chicago press. fraser, n. (2017). progressive neoliberalism versus reactionary populism: a hobson’s choice. in h. geiselberger (ed.), the great regression (pp. 40-48). malden, ma: polity. gabrielson, t. (2016). bodies, environments, and agency. in t. gabrielson, c. hall, j. m. meyer, & d. schlosberg (eds.), the oxford handbook of environmental political theory (pp. 399412). oxford, uk: oxford university press. glaude, e. s. (2017). democracy in black: how race still enslaves the american soul. new york, ny: broadway books. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 23 gorski, p. c. (2018). reaching and teaching students in poverty: strategies for erasing the opportunity gap (2nd ed.) new york, ny: teachers college press. guinier, l. (1994). the tyranny of the majority: fundamental fairness in representative democracy. new york, ny: the free press. guinier, l. (2015). the tyranny of the meritocracy: democratizing higher education in america. boston, ma: beacon press. gutmann, a. (1987). democratic education. princeton, nj: princeton university press. harris, s. h. (2015). an invitation to the sociology of emotions. new york, ny: routledge. harvey, d. (2005). a brief history of neoliberalism. new york, ny: oxford university press. hess, d. e. (2009). controversy in the classroom: the democratic power of discussion. new york, ny: routledge. hochschild, a. r. (2016). strangers in their own land: anger and mourning on the american right. new york, ny: the new press. ignatiev, n. (2009). how the irish became white. new york, ny: routledge. jasper, j. m. (2018). the emotions of protest. chicago, il: the university of chicago press. kimmel, m. (2017). angry white men: american masculinity at the end of an era. new york, ny: nation books. krastev, i. (2017). majoritarian futures. in h. geiselberger (ed.), the great regression (pp. 65 77). malden, ma: polity. kurashige, s. (2017). the fifty-year rebellion: how the u.s. political crisis began in detroit. oakland, ca: university of california press. labaree, d. f. (1997). public goods, private goods: the american struggle over educational goals. american educational research journal, 34(1), 39-81. lister, r. (2004). poverty. cambridge, uk: polity press. lugones, m. (2000). community. in m. jaggar & i. m. young (eds.), a companion to feminist philosophy (pp. 466-474). malden, ma: blackwell publishing. masuoka, n., & junn, j. (2013). the politics of belonging: race, public opinion, and immigration. chicago, il: the university of chicago press. merchant, c. (1989). the death of nature: women, ecology and the scientific revolution. new york, ny: harper one. mouffe, c. (2019). for a left populism. london, uk: verso. parker, w. (2010). listening to strangers: classroom discussion in democratic education. teachers college record, 112, 2815-2832. pimpare, s. (2011). a people’s history of poverty in america. new york, ny: the new press. robinson, j. a. g. (1987). the montgomery bus boycott and the women who started it: the memoir of jo ann gibson robinson. knoxville, tn: the university of tennessee press. ricoeur, p. (1994). oneself as another. chicago, il: the university of chicago press. sullivan, k. (2009). toward a generative theory of equality. in j. locke & e. h. botting (eds.), feminist interpretations of alexis de tocqueville (pp. 199-223). university park, pa: the pennsylvania state university press. taylor, d. e. (2014). toxic communities: environmental racism, industrial pollution, and residential mobility. new york, ny: new york university press. thoreau, h. d. (1992). walden and other writings. new york, ny: modern library. tilly, c. (1998). durable inequality. berkeley, ca: university of california press. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 krynski, a. (2019). in a state of fragility: the compromised dignity of communities, indignation, and the incapacitation of public education 24 van hooft, s. (2006). understanding virtue ethics. stocksfield, uk: acumen. van hooft, s. (2007). cosmopolitanism as virtue. journal of global ethics, 3(3), 303-315. williams, j. c. (2017). white working class: overcoming class cluelessness in america. boston, ma: harvard business review press. wolin, s. (1994). fugitive democracy. constellations. 1(1), 11-25. wolin, s. (2008). democracy incorporated: managed democracy and the specter of inverted totalitarianism. princeton, nj: princeton university press. journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 116 the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education helen weston* qld university of technology *corresponding author: hwest84@eq.edu.au received : 2019-12-12 rev. req. : 2020-02-21 accepted : 2020-07-13 how to cite this paper: weston, h. (2021). the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education. journal of culture and values in education, 4(1), 116-134, https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.8 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract upon transitioning to higher education, emirati students bring their cultural values and sentiments into the teaching and learning environment. using the explanatory sequential component of mixed methods approach, this research focused on emirati students enrolled in higher education. the exploration of national culture revealed insights into how information use is experienced. this research provides empirical data contributing to the discussion of how culture intersects with information use in higher education. new contributions underpin the relationship between culture and information use. they also support the design and implementation of pedagogical approaches that recognize cultural diversity of learners. keywords: culture, information use, hofstede introduction the information use behaviour of emirati students at the tertiary institution level is a constant source of curiosity for western-trained information professionals and educators. interesting mannerisms based upon accessing information, synthesizing information and referencing surface regularly. having observed emirati students in a college setting for seven years, it became apparent to me that there are some unique traits that are observable within an information seeking context that may be attributed to national culture. as a librarian, i worked closely with faculty and students in the role of information literacy coordinator and eventually supervisor of three federal college libraries. the way students used information became a point of great interest to me and caused me to consider the relationship between information use and culture. 10.46303/jcve.2020.8 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.8 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 117 one easily observable behaviour is the tendency for students to head explicitly approach the teacher or librarian for direction, without independently problem solving the research question first. on the surface this may seem like students are lazy or unimaginative. however, in the emirati culture, teachers signify authority and it is considered a sign of respect to confer first and be guided by your teacher. however, observations made by educators and library staff are simply points of discussion and without the empirical data to support them, there is no data on which to focus understanding of how to better support emirati students engaging with information. an overview of the contextual setting will help explain the complexities of studying information use through the lens of culture and why mixed methods was an obvious choice to conduct empirical research of the phenomenon of culture and information use. the culture context the research on culture and its impact is diverse and abounding. when dealing with cultural research, the most challenging aspect is “defining culture itself” (gauvain et al., 2011, p.126). in fact, jones (2007) suggests that there are “164 working definitions for culture” (p.2). when trying to obtain a working definition of culture, researchers may end up excluding many elements of culture (gauvain et al., 2011) however, it is important to generate a definition that works within the field of research involving aspects of information literacy development. furthermore, when considering the possibilities of cultural definitions and frameworks, it is important to settle on a model that will allow the best possible exploration of emirati national culture in the context of information use. after reviewing a variety of cultural models, hofstede’s framework of cultural dimensions and his definition of culture was considered for this study. this model was followed bearing in mind that the focus of this research was first and foremost, information use of emirati college students. hofstede’s model utilizes national culture to explore values and dimensions, and literature reviewed on the national culture suggests the uae is a nation which has a strong sense of national identity due to lack of, or resistance to, exposure factors that influence change (burden-leahy, 2009). the strong monarchy, homogenous national religion, national education system for emiratis only and social media expectations to express pride and love for the uae, all contribute to create an impenetrable nucleus of national identity (raven & o’donell, 2010). this, combined with the informed discussion hofstede provides around the cultural dimensions and learning in the context of education (hofstede et al., 2010), provides the rationale to use hofstede’s model. it is important to note that a relational perspective to information use is the area that should remain in the foreground of this research; and culture is to be explored in terms of the relationship that may exist with information use. for example, the findings of heinström (2010) and steinwachs (1999) support that external phenomena can influence the way information is used or experienced, thus encouraging the exploration of culture in this research. while culture has been studied in the emirati esl context, there is a significant gap in the research which would reveal whether an external element such as culture would influence student information use and ultimately the information literacy experience. when considering methodology to explore this research, it became evident that using a mixed methods approach would add value to understanding how emirati higher education students experience https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 118 information via a relational exploration. the ability to use both qualitative and quantitative approaches is aligned to the belief that there are “singular and multiple realities that open to empirical inquiry” which are positioned “toward solving practical problems in the ‘real world’” (feilzer, 2010, p.8). mixed methods research allows the researcher to shift between philosophical frameworks of quantitative and qualitative research, in an attempt to “‘know’ the social world” (cresswell & plano clark, 2011, p.45). by adopting a “pluralistic stance” in being allowed to gather all dimensions of data, mixed methods researchers can effectively answer their research question (cresswell & plano clark, 2011).this branch of research would contribute to discovering a way forward to use these findings in order to support emirati students to use information to learn comprehensively, incorporating all the critical elements of information use that are evident in higher education contexts. the cultural context informed phase one of the research and data was gathered and analysed quantitatively. phase two focused on information use and was gathered and analysed qualitatively. the information use context there is an expectation on uae higher education institutes to enrol national students so that they can obtain degrees in order to fill managerial positions. simultaneously, the institutes attempt to preserve national culture (dada, 2011, p.206). this process is called emiratization. while this is a cultural consideration, emiratization also provides the context as to the growth of enrolments in order to obtain a degree to support a managerial career. also due to the growth of education in the uae over the past fifty years, it is likely that the broad range of emirati students have not been exposed to and supported by the same constructivist, sociocultural pedagogy in the methodical way their western counterparts have (dahl, 2010; sowa & de la vega, 2009). information literacy skills and higher order critical thinking are curriculum bound, tied to skills (arab knowledge report 2010; 2014) and little application is given to independent knowledge construction (dada, 2011, p.207). whilst the uae higher education system has embraced the western approaches of constructivism and socioculturalism in their pedagogical frameworks, many institutions bought franchises of flourishing overseas universities and colleges. upon facing information use situations in the higher education context of the uae, faculty and information professionals tend to approach information literacy as a set of skills to be learned and demonstrated in a certain time frame (competency), rather than supporting the relationship between the user and the information which provides an experience (relational) (gunton et al., 2016). this acknowledges an approach due to existing esl teaching frameworks, which also rely on a competency-based method of teaching and learning. this also supports the sociocultural approach more readily adopted by university and college educators in the uae therefore highlighting the gap in the literature, which considers a relational approach to information use in higher education in the uae. the phenomenon of information use in the uae context formed phase two of the mixed methods approach. aim of the study https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 119 this study addressed the limited research about emiratis in higher education (johnston, partridge & hughes, 2014; martin, 2013; van den hoven, 2014) and in particular the gap in the research considering the relevance of culture in using information. the aim of this research was to explore the relationship between culture and information use. the guiding research question for this study was, “what are the cultural dimensions of information use among postgraduate emirati students?” in order to explore this in detail, two sub questions were used to guide the study and research phases. the first sub question is, “what are the cultural dimensions of emirati postgraduate students?” and this guided phase one quantitative section of the research. the second sub question, “what is the relationship between these cultural dimensions and the students’ information use?” steered phase two qualitative stage of the research. theoretical framework for this study the study undertaken, adopted the theoretical framework of pragmatism. this worldview is associated with mixed methods research. pragmatism utilises both quantitative and qualitative research methods but stands alone as a philosophy. it accommodates the belief that there is more than one system of philosophy and that researchers have a freedom of choice in their perspectives. pragmatism is concerned with the problem or question to be researched and producing knowledge which best represents reality (creswell, 2009; feilzer, 2010). pragmatists believe that reality can be both singular and multiple, or “truth is what works at the time”, therefore grounding the research in social, historical or political context (creswell, 2009). ormerod (2006) clarifies that this philosophy does not accommodate an “anything goes” belief. even though pragmatists are more focussed on the answer as opposed to the method, there is no excuse for “sloppy” research and this philosophy should never be “confused with expedient” research (feilzer, 2010, p.14). therefore more than one system of philosophy may be used and pragmatic researchers have a freedom of choice in their perspectives. “pragmatists look[ed] not at the origins of the idea but instead to its destination” (tashakkori and teddlie, 2003, p.75). ultimately a paradigm should be appropriate for the purpose of the research. in the case of this research, the pragmatic approach was used because the desire was to produce socially useful knowledge. there was no way of knowing if the results of this research would show interdependent relationships, although pragmatism allows for a “commitment to uncertainty” and that any “knowledge produced is relative and not absolute” (feilzer, 2010, p.14). mixed methods approach a mixed methods approach was a choice that would address the complexities of culture and information use in this research. the classic definition of mixed methods is “the collection or analysis of both quantitative and/or qualitative data in a single study in which the data are collected concurrently or sequentially, are given a priority, and involve the integration of the data at one or more stages in the process.” (cresswell et al., 2003, p. 209) it is increasingly used https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 120 amongst education (martin 2013; igo et al., 2008), health science (nicholson et al., 2011; mayo et al., 2011) and behavioral sciences disciplines. the published outcomes of this methodology are on the increase, with a focus on exploring how qualitative and quantitative research combine to transform data into original and innovative holistic research. even specific mono methods, including grounded theory and phenomenography are incorporated into the mixed method approach. grounded theory and phenomenography are used extensively to explore information use, but mixed methods as an approach to exploring information literacy, research or information use is still marginal compared to other disciplines. researchers use it because of its ability to triangulate data, produce rich data and guide the researcher. this is the case for this research on culture and information use. the decision to use the mixed methods approach was because of the complex nature of the overarching question – “what are the cultural dimensions of information use among postgraduate emirati students?” exploration of emirati students’ information use experience whilst taking into account culture, is complex because it combines the two phenomena of information use and culture. a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches better addressed the research question. this is because it allows this research to draw upon the nuances of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. these in combination enrich the study by yielding a greater and diverse range of data. collectively these approaches under the umbrella of a mixed method study will strengthen the study (cresswell et al., 2003; greene & caracelli, 1997). more specifically, when addressing the main research question, the quantitative approach allows the exploration of the ‘what’, while the qualitative allows exploration of the ‘how’ in terms of the students’ information use experience. this study aimed to explore the cultural dimensions evident in thinking about and using information. the design used for this mixed methods research was explanatory sequential, meaning that the design has a two-phased approach, which began quantitatively, and those results were followed up with qualitative research. traditionally this design is beneficial when quantitative data needs further explanation, or when the trends and relationships in the aforementioned data need explaining. however, the design of this explanatory sequential approach takes on a slight variation of the mainstream method (figure 1). although the quantitative phase precedes the qualitative research, priority is placed on the second qualitative phase. cresswell and plano clark (2011) refer to this as participant selection variant. in the first quantitative phase of the research set out to answer the first sub question which was, “what are the cultural dimensions of emirati post graduate students?” geerte hofstede’s 2008 value survey module (2008) was used to ascertain a cultural profile for the sample group. the participants combined results determined whether this group scored higher or lower on the dimensions integer scale developed by hofstede. the results lead to the exploration of these students as information users through the interviews conducted for the second qualitative phase. phase two was guided by a second sub question, “what is the relationship between these cultural dimensions and the students’ information use?” the interview questions were developed using a combination of data results and hofstede’s research findings https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 121 as to how the dimensions manifest in learners or generally within education. finally, the phase one and two data was mixed or further integrated using thematic analysis to gain an understanding of how emirati students’ in higher education experience information use. this eventually led to establishing cultural dimensions of information use. figure 1. visual model for explanatory sequential mixed methods design participants and phase one – questionnaire the participants for the phase one data collection were emiratis who were currently completing or recently completed their master’s degree. these students were chosen particularly because they were known to be actively involved in research. as the higher colleges of technology is an applied research college and students are english as second language learners, the level at which bachelor’s students were participating in independent research or information use was not always consistent. therefor the master’s cohort were considered the more stable group to collect data from. from the 297 possible responses, 100 students participated returning complete survey responses, providing a response rate of 33.67%. research question1 what are the cultural dimensions of postgraduate emirati students? web based questionnaire (vsm08) enter quant data to spss read and proof read results decide if cultural dimensions exist ascribe cultural dimensions research question 2 what is the relationship between these cultural dimensions and the students’ information use? interviews transcribe interviews read and proof read results thematic coding open coding frequency counts overall analysis -interpretation and exploration of the quant and qual results discussion implication future research quantitative phase 1 data collection data analysis qualitative phase 2 data collection data analysis mixing data results phase 1 informs phase 2 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 122 95% were studying part time and employed in full time work. the programs of study were chosen largely support their current career paths. the students have followed on from diploma level or bachelor level programs from the same institution, although not necessarily from the same emirate. cultural dimensions of emirati higher education students looking at the first phase of data collection, the rationale for using hofstede’s vsm08 (hofstede et al., 2008) aligns with the research paradigm which is pragmatism, where there can be multiple truths contextualized in social, political and historical frameworks (feilzer, 2010). there were many instruments that could have been utilised, but this quantitative instrument was chosen because of the specific cultural traits it explores and defines, and because of its reliability and validity. the vsm08 survey instrument was administered via google forms in a questionnaire, which was in likert scale format. the questionnaire contained the specific sets of questions which measured national culture. at the time of administering the online format of this questionnaire, vsm08 was the latest version of the survey available. seven cultural dimensions are assessed via 28 questions. the dimensions are: power vs. distance, individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. feminism, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation vs. short term orientation, indulgence vs. restraint and monumentalism vs. self-effacement. each set of questions uses a five-point likert scale to measure the participant response. the questions are grouped in sets with participants being asked to respond to levels of importance for the first fourteen questions. they were then asked to consider the levels of frequency in the next nine sets – with one question focusing on level of importance included in that grouping. the final set of five questions asks respondents to agree or disagree. analysis of the questionnaire data involved following the formula used to calculate each of the dimensions detailed in the values survey manual (hofstede et al., 2008) however it is useful to consider the evolution of the instrument and its calculations, most of which is explained in culture’s consequences (2001). originally, hofstede had set specific calculations which were an essential part of the initial ibm international survey containing 126 questions 60 core, 66 recommended and local managers were also able to add their own questions if needed (hofstede, 2001, p.45). by 1982, vsm82 contained 47 specified questions, as well as six demographic questions (hofstede, 2001, pp.493-494). by the time vsm94 was developed in 1994, only 20 content questions remained as well as the usual 6 demographics. at this stage the fifth dimension long term orientation vs short term orientation was added. an index formula for calculating the five dimensions was developed, whereby the mean score of each question (question numbers appear in brackets) is calculated and multiplied by a set of coefficients and constants. the vsm08 questions are essentially the same as vsm94 but two more dimensions were incorporated, extending the questionnaire. the added dimensions were individualism vs. restraint and monumentalism vs. self-effacement. at this time, hofstede altered his prescribed formula calculations to allow researchers to manipulate the last constant in the equation so https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 123 that the final index numbers fell into the zero to 100 ranges. this formula is designed to compare correlations between countries and as the vsm is a widely used instrument, previously there were often great differences in scores derived for countries. hofstede has set the coefficients in the vsm08 to correct for this and try to make the contribution of each question to the index as equal as possible (hofstede et al., 2010, p32-33). therefore, the coefficients remain as hofstede prescribes in the formula. however, depending on the nature of the samples, the constant “c” can be chosen to shift the “values between 0 and 100” (hofstede et al., 2008, p. 7). an index formula for calculating the five dimensions was developed, whereby the mean score of each question (question numbers appear in brackets) is calculated and multiplied by a set of coefficients and constants. the dimensions and calculations as outlined in the vsm08 are as follows (hofstede et al., 2008): power vs distance the extent to which people obediently accept a hierarchical distribution of power. pdi = 35(m07 – m02) + 25(m23 – m26) + c (pd) in which m07 is the mean score for question 7 and m02 is the mean score for question 2, etc; and c (pd) is the constant for power distance, etc. individualism vs collectivism – this refers to people’s need to be dependent on a “tightly-knit framework in society”, for example family and extensions of that family (collectivism) over a preference to be very responsible for one’s individual needs including immediate family (individualism). idv = 35(m04 – m01) + 35(m09 – m06) + c(ic) masculine vs feminine – the masculine side of this dimension represents a preference for achievement, heroism, assertiveness, material rewards for success and is more competitive. its opposite, femininity, stands for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life (hofstede et al., 2010). mas = 35(m05 – m03) + 35(m08 – m10) + c(mf) uncertainty avoidance – the degree to which people in a country prefer structure versus unstructured situations, expresses the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity (hofstede et al., 2010). uai = 40(m20 m16) + 25(m24 – m27) + c(ua) long term orientation vs short term orientation – societies who score low on this dimension, prefer to uphold tradition and cultural practices and are suspicious of change. those with a culture that scores high are forward planning, encouraging saving and advances in education and science. lto = 40(m18 – m15) + 25(m28 – m25) + c(ls) indulgence vs restraint indulgence – https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 124 “indulgence” stands for a society that allows relatively free gratification of basic and natural human drives related to enjoying life and having fun (hofstede, hofstede & minkov 2010). “restraint” stands for a society that suppresses gratification of needs and regulates it by means of strict social norms (hofstede et al., 2010). ivr = 35(m12 – m11) + 40(m19 – m17) + c(ir) monumentalism – “monumentalism” positions people in society to be, metaphorically speaking, like monuments: proud and unchangeable. its opposite pole, self-effacement, positions people to be humble and flexible (hofstede et al., 2010). mon = 35(m14 – m13) + 25(m22 – m21) + c (mo) the data gathered here informed the next phase of qualitative study and provided rich data about the national culture of these uae masters students. the data retrieved was extremely pertinent to devising the qualitative interview questions. overall, the results indicated the two dimensions, power distance and monumentalism indicate a more authoritative, rules based, nationalistic culture; whereas the remaining dimensions were a little more egalitarian in their outlook. participants and phase 2 – interviews the second instrument used was a purpose-developed interview and designed to tap into the phenomenon of culture and the information use experience. this was a challenging task as so many combinations of questions could have been derived from the phase one results. however, the questions were generated from the findings on cultural dimensions and aligned with questions directly associated with information use. hofstede’s guidelines were used regarding the characteristics you would expect to see in a student profiling as high in all the cultural dimensions. this group scored low on the index for uncertainty avoidance, therefor the guidelines for low uncertainty avoidance characteristics were consulted. the actual scores for this groups’ cultural dimensions are detailed in the findings section, p.18. these guidelines were then used to create interview questions related to using information. this allowed the researcher to tap into the experiences of the emirati participants as they used and engaged with information. the same pool of participants from phase one were approached for phase two interviews, although some had graduated and moved on but were replaced with fresh cohorts who may not have been approached to complete the survey. in total, twenty participants were interviewed. most of the participants were female with a ratio of four females to one male. this was not surprising given the cultural restrictions of male and female interaction. in devising the questions, it was important to keep the overall concept of each dimension at the core, as well as to hone in to some of the applicable characteristics. each dimension had many relevant characteristics; however, in an effort to keep the interview sessions manageable, not all aspects could be addressed. for example, hofstede lists the following descriptors for the masculine dimension within the “school and consumerism” sector: https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 125  best student is the norm; praise for excellent students  competition in class; trying to excel  failing in school is a disaster  more nonfiction is read  the internet is used for fact gathering. (hofstede et al., 2010). the interview questions generated from these descriptors tapped into competitiveness, the need to produce the best research and non-fiction and internet use. the questions are as follows:  what sort of criteria determine whether you have found the best information?  how long are you prepared to search for information?  when you are not working on your formal study, what other types of information do you like to find? prior to the questions exploring hofstede’s dimensions and information use, it was important to build a set of more general questions. these questions set the scene and provide a context. the scene setting questions settled the participant in to the interview situation. this was effective as the participant focused on their research topics and were very comfortable explaining them to the researcher. the rest of the discussion flowed relatively straightforwardly into the dimension-based questions. thematic analysis the process of integrating the phase one and phase two data within this mixed methods research utilized thematic analysis. formal thematic analysis uncovered the trends and relationships from the emerging and consequently integrated the data. the work of braun and clarke (2006) was instrumental in guiding this phase of the research analysis because of their commitment to using thematic analysis in a measured and rigorous manner. the transcripts were coded using inductive and deductive analysis. the inductive approach is data driven (braun & clarke, 2009) and encourages the researcher to remain open minded to themes surrounding participants information use experiences. it is an interpretative task but at the same time requires the researcher to engage in processes that will ensure understanding. these processes included meetings with supervisors, checking understanding with participants, transcribing, keeping memos, reading and coding data, establishing themes (ezzy, 2013). the deductive approach allows the researcher to identify already established themes; in this case, the cultural dimensions identified in phase 1 data collection surface in the interview discussions. table 1 below shows the deductive coding process. table 1. deductive coding process interview transcript interviewer: ok – thinking about some of the assignments you’ve had to do can you tell me a little bit about how you go finding information? https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 126 participant: first of all as we learn things we have to learn all information. (1) first of all ask our doctor what is the deadline? (2) after that we collect all our data from many places (3) for example from library as we have many electronic books we don’t have so many books as hard copy, and from website maybe newspaper, magazines, some of the direct website for example the agricultural company and from that i can see from the company their items, content, what i need. then also from google scholar. (4) deductive coding (1) information is also background support material ensuring deadlines (2) power distance – teacher sets initiatives (3) information described as data (4) information is found in multiple places, but usually online (5) masculine – internet used for fact gathering whilst transcribing the interviews, i kept detailed closely scrutinized memos, examined by supervisors to ensure analysis truly reflected the data in a reliable and valid way. this was true for coding and thematic analysis as well. to ensure rigor and validation, codes and themes were analysed at each iteration and coding memos were also created. decisions to include or discard were only actioned after sound discussion with the supervisors associated with this research. both quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques were used sequentially after data collection, but interpretations were also paralleled and integrated at various points of the analysis, for example when the interview questions were developed, resulting in the final merging of data for interpretation. when it comes to the discussion of mixed methods validity, it is not as simple as stating that the researcher validates the quantitative part of the study using measures appropriate to that phase and then applies appropriate measures to validate the qualitative study. whilst this essentially does occur, the key objective and a strong argument for using mixed methods is that it uses the strengths of both approaches. if there are weaknesses in one study, the other approach should more than compensate (onwuegbuzie & johnson, 2006). this is a commonly held principle amongst mixed methods researchers and is used most constantly to justify this research approach. aspects of this will be discussed in the findings. findings in this mixed methods study, two sub research questions were employed in order to answer the main research question, “what are the cultural dimensions of information use among post graduate emirati students?” the first sub research question was, “what are the cultural dimensions of emirati post graduate students?” and the findings of this phase were the assigning of cultural dimensions according to geert hofstede’s framework. the quantitative phase one of this research used the 2008 version of the values survey module developed by hofstede. this instrument determined the scores of these students within the dimensions. the following scores were revealed: https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 127  power vs. distance the results scored by this sample group was 95.2%. this means that according to these results the sample group is a high on the power vs. distance index, which is what hofstede concurs in his results from collective arab nations (hofstede et al., 2010).  individualism vs. collectivism the sample group scored 72.10%, placing them higher on the index, indicating an individualism ranking. this is completely different to hofstede’s findings where as his results from collective arab nations determined the uae to be collectivist (hofstede et al., 2010).  masculinity vs. feminine in the case of this sample group, the index score was 75.98, placing the students higher on the index, indicating a masculine ranking. the research results may be indicative of the sample group being selected from a particular micro culture. this is true for the rest of the following results.  uncertainty avoidance in the case of this sample group, the index score was 18.15, placing the uae higher on the index, indicating a weak uncertainty avoidance ranking. hofstede’s original findings in his results from collective arab nations determined the uae to be ranked at 68 on the index that leans slightly more towards a higher uncertainty-avoidance or anxiousness level (hofstede et al., 2010).  long term orientation vs. short term orientation in the case of this sample group, the index score was 77.78, placing the uae higher on the index, indicating long term orientation. hofstede’s original findings in his results from collective arab nations determined the uae to be ranked at 23 on the index, which leans slightly more towards short term orientation (hofstede et al.,2010).  indulgence vs. restraint in the case of this sample group, the index score was 100.32, placing the sample group higher on the index, indicating an indulgence culture. hofstede’s original findings in his results from collective arab nations determined the uae to be ranked at 34 on the index, which leans more towards restraint (clearly cultural, 2102).  monumentalism vs. self-effacement in the case of this sample group, the index score was 74.24, placing them higher on the index towards monumentalism. hofstede has no scores for monumentalism in arab nations in his published dimensions. scoring highly on this index infers the unchangeable values and beliefs of a nation. additionally, these nations very rigid view of their identity and “cultural flexibility” is seen as a betrayal of “national interests” (raven, 2010, p.19). this data was used to explore components of this cohort’s information use experience in light of these cultural values and sentiments in phase 2. having understood how this cohort presented culturally, the phase 2 sub research questioned went on to determine the cultural characteristics of these emirati students’ information use. the second sub question is, “what is the relationship between these cultural dimensions and the students’ information use?” clear intersections around cultural values, sentiments and information use are evident for this emirati masters cohort. these are described by the seven themes. the data revealed that when this group of students used information, the following cultural dimensions of information use were noted: https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 128 information personified – this involves the information users accessing information via people. in the case of the emirati students, there was a reluctance to take control of their information use especially in the early stages of their degree. as a result, they would tend to rely on their teachers or supervisors to make decisions on their behalf regarding their information use. this same characteristic showed that students tended to approach people with industry experience as they are seen to be more authentic and reliable due to their corporation experience and more available than written academic information sources. information for personal needs – this encompassed the sense that students were fulfilling personal information needs when using information. information use should have a clear purpose when applied to learning. this was evidenced in the data by connecting with key information online using information to fill personal information gaps and equating value with information. information for personal development – this reflects assertive and focused information users. the data showed the students preferred to use non-fiction or factual information for both study and personal use. the students indicated they preferred to access this information online. ambiguous information (acceptable in spoken context) – this identified how students preferred to draw clear and well-formed conclusions when working with written information. openended situations within written information frustrated and confused them. however, in oral discussions, the situation was different. most students were quite comfortable if open ended or even unclear, as in an oral situation they welcome differences of opinion. using information purposefully – this indicated that the students showed grit, determination and general staying power when using information to learn. this cohort uses information in their second language, which is english. students recounted that it was difficult to work with at times especially when using information to produce their dissertations as they were dealing with processing information, using dictionaries to understand terminology and finally creating a written work to reflect their learning. in addition, there were frustrations with not being able to find published academic information in their field of study. the participants detailed the challenges associated with using information to learn. however, those who pushed though these challenges applying staying power and determination found the experience very rewarding. they expressed that they could see the long-term benefits of becoming confident and independent researchers. enjoyment in the flow of information use – students expressed their enjoyment in using information in two main ways: the ease with which they used information, and when they discovered new information. as students became more confident in their information use towards the end of their master’s degree, they found ways to use information more effectively easing the challenges of using information. in addition, students expressed a deep enjoyment in the discovery of new information, which increased their learning. an added advantage for this cohort was the increase in leisure time resulting in the ability to use information with ease. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 129 information contributors – this characterized these students as extremely proud of their nation and culture. the students looked to their leaders as inspirational sources of information as they followed their information, they shared on snap chat. simultaneously, they expressed disappointment and frustration with the lack of published academic resources and the limited accessibility to government or company information often needed to reference the dissertation work they produced. this reinforced the desire to contribute to the knowledge economy of the uae. they communicated the desire to publish their dissertation and project work as well as share their knowledge at a global level. mixed methods afford a “fuller picture” (erzberger & kelle, 2003, p. 469) of the intended research, combining the best possible outcomes of quantitative and qualitative methods. owing to using mixed methods, cultural values and sentiments were examined in more detail and small inconsistencies were noted between the uncertainty avoidance scores of phase one data and the ambiguous information (acceptable in spoken context) cultural dimension of information use from phase two data. the interview data gathered in phase two did not correspond overwhelmingly with the data in phase one. in phase one, the indication was that the sample group scored low on hofstede’s index, indicating a lack of anxiety in new or unknown situations and the tendency to be easier going and laid back. however, in phase two, many comments appeared to reflect the need for certainty or closure in information use scenarios, rather than an acceptance of ambiguous information indicating a tendency towards apprehension and frustration in situations, which are new or unknown. therefore, experiences around information use related to the characteristic of ambiguous information (acceptable in spoken context) as reflected in the uncertainty avoidance dimension suggest a slight disagreement with phase one results. whilst students did not appear to experience anxiety over inconclusive or ambiguous information, they certainly expressed frustration or displeasure in instances when information did not draw clear conclusions for them to access. open ended and more flexible discussion around information was welcomed. in situations where information was obtained orally, these students were definitely relaxed and welcomed the exchange of different ideas and opinions. even though, the questions developed for phase two were developed with the knowledge gained from phase one data collection, phase two data to produced distinct, observable and meaningful findings. the mixed methods design of this research revealed that although this cohort presented as low on the uncertainty avoidance dimension because of the questionnaire delivered in phase one; in the phase two interviews it was discovered that these results might not have been conclusive. whilst these students welcomed the exchange of ideas and respected different opinions in oral contexts, the research suggested that when it came to their written information, these students liked to form very clear conclusions. open-ended information situations made them feel confused; they preferred to read information that contained clear findings, which in turn guided their research. an ongoing awareness that emiratis are an oral culture and contextually these higher education students were more comfortable in spoken discussions where intertextual clues are more clearly available than in written textual information should be noted. at any time, i could check and compare the sets of data findings for clarification if there were any concerns but either most importantly the findings combined or mixed to produce resilient, focused and multilayered results because the two types of data collection were employed. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 130 limitations as with all research, there are contributions and there most certainly will be limitations. in the case of this research the limitations were: limitation 1: working with students using their second language. although english is the language of instruction and communication in tertiary institutions, there was always the potential for confusion or misunderstanding from both parties. this concern was more heightened at the survey stage (phase 1) of the research where students could not ask clarification questions. the pilot study was crucial in mitigating any potential misunderstandings. the participants were carefully questioned around whether this survey should be delivered in arabic or english. the participants were very clear that they found the survey in english clear to follow. limitation 2: during the interviews, i was careful to check for understanding and ensured that the participant understood that it was perfectly acceptable to ask questions. again, i was careful to ensure that all of the participants felt comfortable enough so that at any stage they could ask for the question to be rephrased. there are instances where it was clear intentions of the questions were not understood and in those cases, the responses were set to the side of the data and not considered overall. limitation 3: using a small cross section of society to explore information use through the lens of national culture. hofstede’s model was used as a data collection and analysis framework. whilst the study did not intend to study national culture, the master cohort (297 students) was a very small section of the overall emirati higher education students. they were selected because i considered them to be using information in sustainable periods. limitation 4: three of the cultural dimensions in phase one findings scored around the 50th percentile range on their indexes. i noted that individualism vs. collectivism scored 52, long term vs. short term scored 57 and monumentalism vs. self-effacement scored 54. therefore, a limitation was knowing whether to assign a high, low or medium descriptor to each of these. it also followed that there was a choice as to which characteristics to use to describe how the student cohort profiled. hofstede has described countries that have received similar rankings as “upper-medium and medium” (hofstede et al., 2010, p. 80) and gone on to discuss the characteristics associated with scoring on the high end of the index. i chose to err towards the high-end descriptors but remained aware that other lower end characteristics might also be present. discussion mixed methods is definitely a more time consuming approach compared to undertaking one round of data collection. however, rich and robust data was evident because of using this approach. this explanatory sequential approach not only provided a holistic picture of national cultural sentiments and national values, but also how they form part of the relationship that exists between the individual and the information those individuals are engaging with. groundhttps://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 131 breaking work that has gone on before regarding the information use experience, research and information literacy using many approaches to research. however, in this case, the approach of mixed methods is proving to be a very successful vehicle with which to explore information use through a cultural lens. added to this, the suitability of a pragmatic position allowed the production of socially useful knowledge whilst taking into account the social, historical or political context of the phenomenon being explored. it was previously outlined that pragmatism is best suited to this research because it enables the connection of technical concerns and epistemological concerns used to understand and generate knowledge. furthermore, it argues “for a properly integrated methodology for the social sciences” – such as information science (morgan, 2007, p.73). the ways researchers can seek to explore where information literacy and culture intersect amongst those who use information in academic environments are various. mixed methods allowed a mature analysis of culture and information use experience within this growing population of emirati researchers. more widely, in the context of globalization and international education, the findings contribute to cross cultural understandings. as educators seek out teaching opportunities overseas, and particularly the uae, an awareness of the information use amongst postgraduate emirati students will better prepare teachers to support these students in using information to learn. educators who work with emirati students in these situations may understand their information use more meaningfully by taking into account the cultural dimensions of these students’ information use. the study revealed that cultural dimensions of information use exist within the context of the uae and internationally. when the challenges of using information such as perceived limited resources, using a second language to use information and knowing how to take control of your information use are brought to light ethical, creative and critical use of information will become a key part of the information literacy experience. similarly, the experiences that encourage learning when using information, such as encountering new information, enjoying the experiences around being a confident research and contributing to a national resource band of information, all contribute to ethical, critical and creative information use. the research has made a significant contribution to new understandings about emirati students’ use of information to learn. this is partly due to using a mixed methods approach. this framework allowed culture and information use to be fully explored but also due to the thirteen findings which emerged illuminating the way information use is experienced by higher education emirati students. these findings pave the way for further work to be explored firstly in culture and information use within nations which have united cultures similar to the uae’s situation; and secondly around cultural influences on information literacy in other less similar contexts. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 132 references braun, v., & clarke, v. (2006). using thematic analysis in psychology. qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa burden-leahy, s. (2009). globalisation and education in the postcolonial world: the conundrum of the higher education system of the united arab emirates. comparative education, 45(4), 525-544. retrieved october 8, 2019, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40593193 clearly cultural. (2012). geert hofstede’s cultural dimensions. retrieved september 26, 2019, from https://clearlycultural.com cresswell, j.w., plano clark, v.l., gutmann, m.l, & hanson,w.e. (2003) advanced mixed methods research designs in tashakkori, a., & teddlie, c. (2003). handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research. thousand oaks, calif.: sage publications. cresswell, j.w., & plano clark, v.l. (2011). designing and conducting mixed methods research. thousand oaks, ca: sage. dada, r. (2011). teacher leadership in the arab gulf: expatriates and arab educators mentor each other. in gitsaki, c. teaching and learning in the arab world. (pp.203-228). new york, ny: peter lang. dahl, m., (2010). failure to thrive in constructivism: a cross cultural malady. rotterdam, netherlands: sense. erzberger, c. and kelle, u. (2003). making inferences in mixed methods: the rules of integration. in a. tashakkori & c. teddlie (eds). handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioural research (pp.457-488). thousand oaks, ca: sage. ezzy, d. (2013). qualitative analysis. florence, sc: routledge. https://doi:10.4324/9781315015484 feilzer, m. (2010). doing mixed methods research pragmatically: implications for the rediscovery of pragmatism as a research paradigm. journal of mixed methods research, 4(1), 6-16. https://doi:10.1177/1558689809349691 gauvain, m., beebe, h., & zhao, s. (2011). applying the cultural approach to cognitive development. journal of cognition and development, 12(2), 121-133. https://doi.10.1080/15248372.2011.563481 greene, j.c., & caracelli, v.j. (eds). (1997). advances in mixed method evaluation: the challenges and benefits of integrating diverse paradigms (new directions for evaluation, no. 74). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.10.1080/15248372.2011.563481 journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 133 gunton, l., bruce, c., & davis, k. (2016). information literacy research: the evolution of the relational approach. in management association (eds.) professional development and workplace learning: concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications (pp.1943-1963). hershey, pa: igi global. https://doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-8632-8.ch106 heinström, j. (2010). from fear to flow: personality and information interaction. oxford: chandos. hofstede, g. (2001). culture’s consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations. (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. hofstede, g; hofstede, g.j.; minkov, m & vinken, h. (2008). values surveys module 2008. may 25, 2015, from http://geerthofstede.com/research-and-vsm/vsm-08/ hofstede, g., hofstede, g.j., & minkov, m. (2010). cultures and organizations: software of the mind: intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival. new york, ny: mcgraw hill. igo, l.b., kiewra, k.a., & bruning, r., (2008). individual differences and intervention flaws: a sequential explanatory study of college students' copy-and-paste note taking. journal of mixed methods research, 2(2), 149-168. https://doi:10.1177/1558689807313161 johnston, n., partridge, h., & hughes, h. (2014). understanding the information literacy experiences of efl (english as a foreign language) students. reference services review, 42(4), 552–568. https://doi:10.1108/rsr-05-2014-0015. jones, m. (2007). hofstede – culturally questionable? oxford business & economics conference, 24th june, 2007. oxford, united kingdom. retrieved september 12, 2019, from http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1389&context=commpapers mayoh, j., todres, l., & bond, c.s. (2011). exploring the online health information seeking experiences of older adults. indo pacific journal of phenomenology, 11(2), 1. martin, j. (2013). technology, education and arab youth in the 21st century: a study of the uae. the university of queensland, school of education morgan, d. l. (2007). paradigms lost and pragmatism regained: methodological implications of combining qualitative and quantitative methods. journal of mixed methods research, 1(1), 48-76. doi: 10.1177/2345678906292462 nicholson, d., j., knapp, p., gardner, p., & raynor, d.k., (2011).combining concurrent and sequential methods to examine the usability and readability of websites with information about medicines. journal of mixed methods research, 5(1), 25-51. https://doi:10.1177/1558689810385694 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 weston, h. (2021), the cultural dimensions of information use: a focus on the experience of emirati students in higher education journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 134 ormerod, r. (2006). the history and ideas of pragmatism. the journal of the operational research society, 57(8), 892-909. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602065 onwuegbuzie, a. j., & johnson, r.b. (2006). the validity issue in mixed research. research in the schools, 13(1), 48-63. retrieved september 10, 2019, from http://gateway.library.qut.edu.au/login?url=https://search-proquestcom.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/211030483?accountid=13380 http://search.proquest.com/docview/1465055951?accountid=1215 raven, j. (2010).emiratizing the education sector in the uae: contextualization and challenges. in m. o’brien (ed.), hct teacher education series, book 3. developing a nation through educational emiratization: reflections on the development and implementation of a transformational teacher education program in the uae. (pp 1322). abu dhabi, united arab emirates: hct press. raven, j. and o'donnell, k. (2010), "using digital storytelling to build a sense of national identity amongst emirati students", education, business and society: contemporary middle eastern issues, vol. 3 no. 3, pp. 201-217. https://doiorg.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/10.1108/17537981011070118 sowa, p.a., & de la vega, e. (2009). one corner at a time: collaborating for educational change in the uae. childhood education, 85(2), 102-104. https://doiorg.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/10.1080/00094056.2009.10523072 steinwachs, k. (1999). information and culture the impact of national culture on information processes. journal of information science, 25(3), 193-204. https://doi:10.1177/016555159902500303 tashakkori, a., & teddlie, c. (2003). handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research. thousand oaks, ca: sage. van den hoven, m. (2014). the use of english in the arab world. in k.m. bailey & r.m. damerow. teaching and learning english in the arabic-speaking world (pp.65 – 82). new york, ny: routledge. . https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://www-emerald-com.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/insight/publication/issn/1753-7983 https://www-emerald-com.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/insight/publication/issn/1753-7983 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 soyer, g.f. (2019). book review: the ecology of human development by urie bronfenbrenner 77 book review: the ecology of human development by urie bronfenbrenner gonca feyza soyer.* university of north texas *corresponding author: gonca.soyer@unt.edu received : 2019-05-08 accepted : 2019-06-10 how to cite this paper: soyer, g.f. (2019). book review: the ecology of human development by urie bronfenbrenner, journal of culture and values in education, 2(2), 77-80. urie bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) was an influential, russian developmental psychologist. he was mostly known for developing the ecology of human development, which altered the way researchers understand child development in relation to the environment. he earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology and music in cornell university. in 1940, he received his master’s degree in education from harvard university; and in 1942, he received his doctoral degree in psychology from university of michigan. in 1948, bronfenbrenner joined the faculty in cornell university and served there until his journey in this world ended in 2005. he was titled as jacob gould sherman professor emeritus of human development and psychology in cornell university (ceci, 2006). bronfenbrenner was an influential scholar in the field of developmental psychology, creating a new point of view to human development by incorporating the context in which a child develops. according to bronfenbrenner, the development of human beings is not only psychological, but it consists of four sources: culture, society, economy and politics. the book, in which he explained these sources in relation to the human development process, the ecology of human development was accepted as one of his benchmarks. even though it was criticized, ecological theory is an important contribution to the field, leading to the foundation of head start program in united states. in addition, bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory created the path towards an interdisciplinary approach to human development studies (ceci, 2006). part one: ecological orientation the book, the ecology of human development, consists of four parts. in the first part, bronfenbrenner explains the perspective behind the ecology model, the purpose and theory’s basic concepts. according to his theory, development is a lifelong process which reflects the individual’s understanding of the environment and his or her relation to it. this definition is different from the traditional perspective of development, which focuses on the characteristics of the individual and the inheritance. while explaining ecology theory, bronfenbrenner points out that environment is similar to russian dolls, various structures nested in each other (bronfenbrenner, 1979). the core of the environment is the immediate environment of the individual, including himself, which is called as microsystem. microsystem includes the relations of the individual with the materials or characters within that system, for example a day care center. in this immediate journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 soyer, g.f. (2019). book review: the ecology of human development by urie bronfenbrenner 78 setting, the individual has different roles. microsystem is nested in the mesosystem, which emphasizes the relationships between two or more settings that the individual interacts with. for example, the relationship between a child’s home environment and school environment and how this interaction affects the child developmentally is the focus of mesosystem. the next environment including the former two is exosystem. exosystem is not directly related to the individual’s active participation in the environment, but the events occurring in one or more environments that have an effect on the individual leading various effects on the development process. last one is the macrosystem; the one accommodates all the environments in it and focuses on the uniformity between the systems. culture plays a role in macrosystem as within a culture the environments are expected to be similar, whereas among different cultures, the environments will differ from each other. therefore, macrosystem points out the consistencies among the settings in different cultures (bronfenbrenner, 1979). bronfenbrenner (1979) points out that to be able to determine the developmental influences of the environment on the individual, one must observe the individual closely. in addition, as there are many macrosystems, one must have a theoretical model that will let the observation process be equal among all macrosystems. moreover, to derive conclusions about the effects of environment on the development, longitudinal studies must be done (bronfenbrenner, 1979). the first part of the book includes the definitions of basic concepts of bronfenbrenner’s theory. however, the definitions are present not only in the first section but also throughout the book. in addition to the definitions, bronfenbrenner presents propositions as fundamentals of theory and hypotheses that should go under empirical investigations. at the end of the first section, as the ecology theory is a brand-new theory, bronfenbrenner (1979) emphasizes that the hypotheses included in the book are the ones he foresees as effective on development. therefore, he implies that the lack of empirical evidence about the validity of the hypotheses should not be approached as drawbacks. moreover, as it is pointed out earlier, every hypothesis should be based on a theory, and bronfenbrenner emphasizes that the hypotheses and propositions should be judged in relation to theory. part two: elements of the setting the second part of the book explains how ecological system works in relation to its elements and the individual. every ecosystem’s focus is on the balance of power and each ecosystem is different from each other in regard to imbalance. as ecosystems are unique, they develop their own self-correction techniques (bronfenbrenner, 1979). setting is defined as environments in which individuals participate in activities and each of them have their roles in that environment. roles are identified as the actions an individual displays, the expected actions of society on the individual, and the relation of other individuals’ actions with the individual. individuals’ roles may change over time, a role transition, which leads to ecological transitions (bronfenbrenner, 1979). part three: analysis of settings with the third section of book, the analysis of the environment is added to the context. bronfenbrenner (1979) evaluates the environment as an ecological context in terms of laboratory. he proposes that individuals display unique behaviors in every setting as they interact with the environment by ascribing social meaning. therefore, every unique experience journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 soyer, g.f. (2019). book review: the ecology of human development by urie bronfenbrenner 79 will affect the behavior being observed in a particular environment. as a result, bronfenbrenner (1979) argues that laboratory studies, especially the ones with infants, do not yield valid data in terms of development if the researcher is not aware of the understanding of the individual. according to ecological theory, the development of individuals should be judged in relation to their environment, not from a well-controlled laboratory (bronfenbrenner, 1979). furthermore, bronfenbrenner also points out that to ensure validity, it does not only take an environmental observation or a laboratory-based investigation, but the observer should weigh the meaning if the environment from the eyes of the individual. in addition, the individual should be observed several times. by this way, the validity may be reached. bronfenbrenner calls this validity as ecological validity (horowitz, 1980). part four: beyond the microsystem in the last section of the book, bronfenbrenner (1979) moves from the more individualized system, microsystem, and focuses on the human development process in mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem. these three systems are different than microsystem, as they do not directly influential to the individual, but the individual is affected indirectly from the experiences in these ecological systems. bronfenbrenner points out that the implementations of laws and policies provide changes and transitions in the development of the individual, therefore developmental psychology is in need of social policies (horowitz, 1980). critique bronfenbrenner’s theory of human development went through major changes throughout his life time (rosa & tudge, 2013). this piece is a review of one of his earlier versions of the theory, and this review should be considered accordingly. in later developments of the theory, bronfenbrenner’s focus has shifted from ecology to bioecology, meaning that the individuals are still influenced by their environment and at the same time, their personal characteristics become important; especially through the interactions between the individual and other influencers in each of the systems. most of his work seems to be focused primarily on the individual surrounded by the systems, but at the same time, bronfenbrenner had been concerned about the family as an institution (rosa & tudge, 2013). however, in this earlier work that i reviewed, his main focus is on the interaction between the individual and the contextual environment that surrounds the individual. he reviews human development from this interaction lens and the proximal processes. the ecology of human development, although the concept has changed and matured over time, is a big contribution to the fields of human development and family science and family psychology as it opened a new door to understand the developmental process of an individual in terms of his or her interactions with the environment. with growing application of the theory and empirical evidence backing up how the theory describes and explains an individual’s development, it is safe to say that ecological theory will be useful for researchers and family scientists for a long time as long as it is applied correctly in research (tudge, mokrova, hatfield, & karnik, 2009). journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 soyer, g.f. (2019). book review: the ecology of human development by urie bronfenbrenner 80 references bronfenbrenner, u. (1979). the ecology of human development: experiments by nature and design. cambridge, massachusetts: harvard university press. ceci, s. j. (2006). urie bronfenbrenner (1917–2005). american psychologist, 61(2), 173-174. doi: 10.1037/0003-066x.61.2.173 horowitz, f. d. (1980). the ecology of human development by urie bronfenbrenner. science, 207(4431), 634-635. doi: 10.1126/science.207.4431.634 rosa, e.m., & tudge, j.r.h. (2013). urie bronfenbrenner’s theory of human development: its evolution from ecology to bioecology. journal of family theory & review, 5, 243-258. doi: 10.1111/jftr.12022 tudge, j.r.h., mokrova, i., hatfield, b. e., & karnik, r.b. (2009). uses and misuses of bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of human development. journal of family theory & review, 1(4), 198-210. journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 1 culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? dana k. donohue* northern arizona university *corresponding author: dana.donohue@gmail.com received : 2019-09-07 rev. req. : 2019-12-14 accepted : 2020-01-09 how to cite this paper: donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning?, journal of culture and values in education, 4(1), 1-14, https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.3 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract this research explored the cultural and cognitive factors that promoted college students’ intrinsic value for academic learning, which has been shown to be an important correlate of college students’ gpa. cultural values and theories of intelligence were both hypothesized to predict students’ intrinsic value, but only cultural values were shown to be an important predictor in these relationships. explanations and implications for these findings are explored. keywords: cultural values; theories of intelligence; intrinsic value for learning introduction with travel, migration, and technology, people are exposed to individuals from different cultural backgrounds in their school, work, and home lives. culture influences the goals that people set, why they set goals, and the degree of motivation they put forth to achieve those goals. for example, when cross-country comparisons are made for science and math achievement, secondary school students in collectivist countries like japan, hong kong, and south korea consistently outperform students in the united states (leung, 2002). these achievement differences have been attributed, in part, to cultural values that differ in their emphasis on the importance of education and the effort it takes to achieve (zha, walczyk, griffith-ross, tobacyk, & walczyk, 2006). people in collectivist countries, like those in asia, tend to subscribe to theories of intelligence that view intelligence as more malleable than do people in places like the united states (heine et al., 2001; mizokawa & ryckman, 1990). those who 10.46303/jcve.2020.3 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.3 journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 2 adhere to malleable theories have been shown to put more time and effort into their studies because they view intelligence as something that can be enhanced through academic work (blackwell, trzesniewski, & dweck, 2007). people vary in their cognitive strategies and value for learning. those who intrinsically value learning have higher motivation and self-efficacy, which can be important for academic achievement (wang & guthrie, 2004; wigfield & guthrie, 1997). this research explores the cultural and cognitive factors that promote students’ intrinsic value for academic learning, which has been shown to be an important correlate of college students’ gpa (richardson, abraham, & bond, 2012). vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural learning theory provides the theoretical paradigm for cultural values’ influence on intrinsic value for learning. vygotsky suggested that learning is strongly influenced by people’s culture because it determines the important things to learn about in people’s environments. dweck and leggert’s (1988) socialcognitive theory of motivation provides a competing explanation for students’ intrinsic value for learning. they suggested that people differ in their theories about intelligence and how it is formed; these beliefs subsequently affect how people strategize about learning and achievement. the focus of this research is whether cultural values or theories of intelligence was a stronger predictor of college students’ intrinsic value for learning. cultural values culture can be conceptualized as a group’s values and beliefs that influence their behavior and goals. people interact in a variety of cultures in their daily lives; depending on what they do, these could include “university culture,” “work/corporate culture,” as well as the culture of different sports and activities in which they participate (e.g., “yoga culture”) (endicott, bock, & narvaez, 2003). culture has been linked with intrinsic motivation. when comparing american and asian children in studies of personal choice for anagram tasks and how it influenced their intrinsic motivation to complete these tasks, iyengar and lepper (1999) found that freedom of choice had more of an influence on american children’s intrinsic motivation for tasks than it did for asian children’s intrinsic motivation. these findings suggest that culture can affect cognition. people are often formally and informally socialized to act and embrace values in accordance with their culture (chiu & chow, 2010; vygotsky, 1978). these cultural values can influence academic thoughts like whether learning is a worthwhile endeavor. ethnic cultural values both between and within countries are often studied through the individualism-collectivism paradigm, where people give priority to either individual goals or the goals of the group (triandis, 1996). when considering school performance, chiu and chow (2010) suggest that students who belong to a collectivist culture may have higher intrinsic value for achievement because they view it as a way to obtain success for the group; moreover, when academically struggling, they seek help and learn from one another, which may boost their individual performance. the paramount role of family in collectivist cultures also may influence ideas https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 3 about the importance of learning. different terms have been used in the literature to explain why family obligation drives achievement, including “relative functionalism” for asians (sue & okazaki, 1990) and “familismo” for latino americans (taggart, 2018). conversely, commitment to family can undermine academic achievement. for example, sometimes the obligation of “family first” drives latino adolescents to eschew attending college in order to begin contributing to family finances immediately after high school (stein et al., 2014). indeed, duties to the family and/or group may be a source of stress for people with collectivist mindsets. individualist values have been linked with achievement goals. in cross-cultural research between denmark and the united states, both countries were ascribed individualist values, but the values of denmark were considered more egalitarian (i.e., horizontal individualism) whereas the values of the united states were deemed more competitive (i.e., vertical individualism) (nelson & shavitt, 2002). the adult participants from both countries were asked questions about the importance of life achievement goals such as the desire for achievement, power, tradition, conformity, and security. americans reported more adherence to the importance of achievement goals and valued achievement more when compared to the responses of danes, who reported more value in humbleness. cultural values have also been differentiated in terms of hierarchy (i.e., verticalism) versus equality (i.e., horizontalism) (triandis & gelfand, 1988). it has been suggested that more egalitarian cultural views can promote achievement through smaller perceived status differences and more equal learning opportunities for students (chiu & khoo, 2003). also a potential motivator, verticalism may exert positive effects on achievement-related cognitions through a desire to be on the top of the hierarchy and viewing academic achievement as a means to accomplish this. in sum, cultural values can influence the value placed on academic learning through the values that are formally and informally instilled in people (vygotsky, 1978). both individualistcollectivist and vertical-horizontal values may promote or impede behaviors that foster achievement. people who adhere to collectivism may value learning because of their dedication to group and family values as well as a propensity to seek academic help when needed. students who identify as individualistic also may have values that can enhance value for learning; feelings of competition, autonomy, and a desire to be “the best” may promote their desire to learn and achieve. theories of intelligence theories of intelligence can be “entity” or “incremental”; entity theorists see intelligence as a fixed trait, whereas incremental theorists see it as something that can grow with effort (dweck & leggett, 1988). research suggests that students of different ages from various backgrounds who hold incremental views of intelligence have higher achievement than those who hold entity views (aronson, fried, & good, 2002; blackwell et al., 2007; dweck & leggett, 1988; https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 4 henderson & dweck, 1990; robins & pals, 2002).the reasons for this are myriad, including more positive expectations for effort and thus more effort-based strategies for success, fewer helpless attributions of behavior, and more intrinsic value for academic learning (blackwell et al., 2007). incremental theorists take the stance that everyone, no matter their current intellectual ability, has room to grow (aronson et al., 2001). in this research, incremental theories of intelligence were expected to positively predict intrinsic value for learning. intrinsic value for learning pintrich and degroot (1990) suggest that students’ achievement motivation involves several components, including their achievement goals and beliefs about whether achievement is of value; intrinsic value encompasses people’s answers for "why am i doing this task?" (p. 36). those who place high intrinsic value for learning will engage in more cognitive and selfefficacious achievement strategies than those with lower intrinsic value (credé and phillips, 2011; pintrich & degroot, 1990). students with high intrinsic value, motivation, and selfregulation have higher achievement outcomes than students who do not engage in these thoughts and behaviors (schunk & zimmerman, 1994). for these reasons, the factors that predict intrinsic value for learning were explored. purpose the aim of this research is to determine whether cultural values (vygotsky, 1978) or theories of intelligence (dweck & leggert, 1988) more strongly predicted college students’ intrinsic value for learning. cultural values have been suggested to influence behaviors like intrinsic value for learning, for example, as a means of success for the family and the group (chiu & chow, 2010). theories of intelligence similarly have been suggested to influence intrinsic value through their influence on beliefs about the sources of intelligence as fixed or malleable (blackwell et al., 2007). the competing hypotheses were exploratory because there was no previous research indicating which should be a more powerful predictor. h1: cultural values will predict intrinsic value for learning. h2: incremental theories of intelligence will predict intrinsic value for learning. h3: cultural values and theories of intelligence will correlate. method participants the participants in this study were 1,094 undergraduates at a university in the southwestern united states. participants ranged from 18 to 49 years of age (m = 18.91, sd = 2.26), with n = 236 males, n = 849 females, and n = 9 stated they preferred not to disclose their gender. in terms of ethnicity, n = 255 identified as latino, n = 630 white, n = 58 black or african american, https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 5 n = 46 native american, n = 42 asian, n =19 pacific islander, n = 5 middle eastern, and n = 39 identified as “other.” because the data were collected online and participants were forced to answer one question before moving on to the next, there were no missing data. measures individualism and collectivism scale (triandis & gelfand, 1998). the individualism and collectivism scale is a nine-point likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. individualism and collectivism, conceptualized as orthogonal constructs in this measure, can emphasize equality (termed “horizontal”) or hierarchy (termed “vertical”) (triandis & gelfand, 1998). for example, those high in individualism can desire to be unique but not of higher status than others (e.g., horizontal individualism; characteristic of sweden) and/or want to be unique and superior to others (e.g., vertical individualism; characteristic of the united states). those high in collectivism can emphasize the goals and equality of the group (e.g., horizontal collectivism; characteristic of the israeli kibbutz) or, as is the case with vertical collectivism, be attuned to the group, but with differential social statuses among group members, like with the caste system in india (singelis, triandis, bhawuk, & gelfand, 1995; triandis & gelfand, 1998). it contains four subscales: 1) horizontal individualism (e.g., i’d rather depend on myself than others), 2) vertical individualism (e.g., winning is everything), 3) horizontal collectivism (e.g., i feel good when i cooperate with others), 4) vertical collectivism (e.g., parents and children must stay together as much as possible). the items for each subscale are summed to calculate subscale totals. for this research, horizontal individualism α = .70, vertical individualism α = .68, horizontal collectivism α = .72, vertical collectivism α = .72. motivated strategies for learning questionnaire (pintrich & degroot, 1990). the mslq is a 44item self-report measure that utilizes a seven-point likert scale (1 = not at all true of me, to 7 = very true of me) to measure students’ motivation orientation for learning and self-regulated strategy use. this version of the mslq has five subscales: intrinsic values, self-efficacy, test anxiety, cognitive strategies, and self-regulation, where the items are summed to compute subscale totals. the intrinsic value subscale was used for this research with α = .81. implicit theories of intelligence (dweck, 1999). theories of intelligence were assessed using dweck’s eight-item scale. the items comprise four questions that tap incremental (malleable) and four questions that tap entity (fixed) theories of intelligence. participants respond on a fivepoint likert scale. in order to calculate score totals, the four incremental items are reverse scored; all items are then summed and averaged. higher scores suggest adherence to more fixed intelligence beliefs. for this research, full scale α = .89. procedure this study was approved by the irb board at the university at which the research occurred. the data were collected over two academic semesters. undergraduate students who were enrolled https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 6 in a psychology class signed up to participate in this online study. when the students were ready, they signed in to the study and were brought to an online data collection program (i.e., qualtrics). the participants were provided an informed consent that explained the general purpose of the study and were informed that it would take about 30-45 minutes to respond to all of the items. when they had completed the questionnaires, the students were provided a debriefing where they were provided a more specific purpose of the study and were given the contact information of the primary investigator if they had any questions or concerns. results statistical analyses structural equation modeling was used for the primary analyses because it provided a method of analyzing latent variables (indicated by a circle in the figure) with measured variables (indicated by rectangles) in one analysis. latent variables are constructs that cannot be directly measured but are constructed with multiple measured variables. in this analysis, cultural values was a latent variable, with four measured variables as its indicators: horizontal collectivism, vertical collectivism, horizontal individualism, and vertical individualism. theories of intelligence and intrinsic value for learning were both measured variables. preliminary analyses were conducted using spss 25.0, and sem analyses were conducted using amos 21.0 (arbuckle, 2012). first, to determine whether the questionnaires were internally consistent, alpha coefficients were computed for each scale (see alphas in measures). internal consistency indicates when participants are responding to the items in a questionnaire in a way that is consistent and is one method of determining whether a questionnaire is an appropriate way to measure the construct of interest. the alphas for the cultural values subscales were somewhat low, ranging from α = .68 .72, but these scores are likely low because only four items comprise each subscale. data were then checked for normality of the distributions; normal distributions allow for certain statistical analyses whereas non-normal distributions require different statistical analyses. values for skewness (whether the distribution tilted to the left or the right) ranged between -.013 and -.397, and the values for kurtosis (whether the distribution was peaked or flat) ranged from .000 to -.600, which are considered in an acceptable range for normality (george & mallery, 2001). however, the shapiro-wilk test indicated non-normality of distributions for each of the measured variables (w = .954 .996, p < .01). for this reason, the structural equation models (sem) were analyzed with asymptotically distribution-free estimation, which is the appropriate analysis for non-normal distributions. the results of the sem analyses can be found in figure 1 and table 2, while ranges, means, and standard deviations are presented in table 1. table 1 shows that, of the cultural values, horizontal individualism had the highest mean score while vertical individualism evinced the lowest mean score. all of the questionnaires had means https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 7 in the moderate range and moderate variability, as indicated by the values of the standard deviations. the baseline hypothesized sem and final sem are shown in figure 1, with the post hoc modifications illustrated in bold. post hoc modifications are changes to the initial model based on the results of the initial analysis. it was hypothesized that cultural values (a latent variable with two collectivism and two individualism indicators) and theories of intelligence were predictors of intrinsic value for learning. the hypothesized model did not fit the data with a ꭓ2 (8) = 110.99, p < .001; cfi = .75, gfi = .96, rmsea = .11; rmsea 90% ci: .09 .13. the standardized residual covariances were examined to determine what alterations could improve model fit. standardized residual covariances provide values that show which of the variables in the model are preventing the model from reaching a good fit and guide the subsequent post hoc modifications. the standardized residual covariances revealed that vertical individualism was problematic for model fit; however, there was concern about modifying the theory underlying the cultural values latent variable based on post hoc, data-driven evidence. the decision was made to keep vertical individualism in the model. next, the modification indices were examined to determine if there were minor, theoretically sensible changes that could improve fit. correlating the error covariances for the individualism variables and the collectivism variables was theoretically sensible and would improve model fit. error variances are variances in the measured variables that are not related to the latent factors; when they correlate with one another, they are called error covariances. when these two error covariances were added, model fit improved to a more acceptable range with ꭓ2 (6) = 37.67, p < .001; cfi = .92, gfi = .99, rmsea = .07; rmsea 90% ci: .05 .09. the direct and total effects of the sem and the correlations and factor loadings can be seen in table 2. the bottom row of table 2 shows how much theories of intelligence (𝛃 = .01 p > .05) and cultural values (𝛃 = .71, p < .01) influence intrinsic value for learning, with an r2 of .50. this indicates that about half of the variability in intrinsic value was accounted for by these two predictors, but mainly by cultural values. table 1. ranges, means, and standard deviations among variables in the model (n = 1094) observed variable range mean standard deviation horizontal ind 9 36 27.65 5.12 vertical ind 5 36 20.73 5.75 horizontal coll 6 36 26.68 4.92 vertical coll 6 36 26.87 5.43 intrinsic value 9 63 48.37 9.00 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 8 theories of int 1 5.75 2.60 .90 figure 1. hypothesized model and final model with post hoc modifications of correlated error variances in bold. ꭓ2 (6) = 37.67, p < .001; cfi = .92, gfi = .99, rmsea = .07; rmsea 90 ci: .05 09. table 2. direct/total effects for structural equation model (sem; n = 1094) model 𝛃 b 𝛃 b theories of intelligence cultural values r2 direct/total effects hor coll vert coll vert ind hor ind theories of intrinsic value culture e e e e e .50 .71 .08 .23 .01 .1 .01 -.4 .34 -.09 .48 .28 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 9 hor ind .00 .00 .34 1.13 .12 vert ind .00 .00 -.09 -.32 .01 hor coll .00 .00 .48 1.54 .23 vert coll .00 .00 .28 1.00 .08 int value .01 .10 .71 4.17 .50 correlations and factor loadings the correlation between cultural values and theories of intelligence was (r = -.42, < .01), which indicated that cultural values were associated with incremental theories of intelligence (see figure 1). in table 2, it can be seen that on the cultural values latent variable, both horizontal collectivism (β = .48, p < .01, r2 = .23) and horizontal individualism (β = .34, p < .01, r2 = .12) loaded more strongly than vertical collectivism (β = .28, p < .01, r2 = .08) and vertical individualism (β = -.09, p < .05, r2 = .01). this means that, rather than individualism or collectivism, the horizontal component of cultural values comprised the cultural values latent variable the most. discussion it was hypothesized that both cultural values and theories of intelligence would predict intrinsic value for learning, but which would be a stronger predictor was unknown. a model was developed to explain these relationships where both variables were analyzed simultaneously to determine if one was a stronger predictor than the other. while slight post hoc modifications were made in order to improve model fit, the final model suggested that cultural values were a strong predictor of intrinsic value for learning whereas theories of intelligence were not. cultural values accounted for about half of the variability in intrinsic value, which means that students’ cultural value backgrounds made a substantial contribution to their beliefs about whether learning was a meaningful endeavor or not. these values are likely instilled at an early age, both through formal (e.g., parental teachings) and informal (e.g., role models) means (vygotsky, 1978). this finding refutes previous research that found that cultural values were not related to achievement or achievement-related motivations (chiu & chow, 2010). however, there were substantial differences in how cultural values were measured between these two studies. in their research, chiu and chow (2010) assigned cultural values to each of the 41 countries they assessed. then, based on these cross-cultural (i.e., cross-country) differences, it was assessed whether cultural values influenced student achievement and achievement values. although there are often broad differences between countries in their cultural values, this methodological approach of assigning cultural values can be problematic because 1) there is https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 10 considerable variability in culture and cognition within countries, and 2) cultural values are being assigned rather than directly measured. without direct measurement of cultural values, a more appropriate interpretation of chiu and chow’s (2010) findings may be that very broad cultural differences between countries do not account for variability in students’ achievement and achievement goals between these countries. theories of intelligence had no significant influence on students’ intrinsic value for learning, which refutes previous research (dupeyrat & marine, 2005; robins & pals, 2002) examining theories of intelligence in college student samples. robins and pals (2002) found that theories of intelligence “...were related to the goals individuals pursue in college as well as to their attributions, emotions, and behavioral responses to challenging academic circumstances” (p. 329). when examining adults returning to college, dupeyrat and marine (2005) found no influence of incremental (i.e., malleable) theories of intelligence on academic goals, but did find that students’ entity (i.e., fixed) theories of intelligence negatively predicted academic goals related to mastering the learning content. thus, students only reported a desire to master the content when they did not believe in fixed intelligence, but this same desire was not evident for those who believed in malleable intelligence. in this study, theories of intelligence may have not evinced an effect on college students’ intrinsic value for learning because cultural values was a variable in the model that was competing for the variance in intrinsic value. once theories of intelligence and cultural values were both conceptualized as predictors, cultural values was a stronger predictor. perhaps theories of intelligence have more influence on other indicators of achievement or achievement-related cognitions, like students’ gpa or attributions for failure (hong, chiu, dweck, lin, & wan, 1999). the factor loadings for the cultural values latent variable indicated that the horizontalism was an important part of cultural values. horizontally construed cultural values emphasize equality in both individualist and collectivist values: horizontal individualists value an egalitarian autonomy (e.g., socialist ideology) and horizontal collectivists value the equality of their group/community (e.g., communal ideology). to a lesser degree, vertical collectivism contributed to the cultural values latent variable. vertical collectivism is sometimes referred to as “familism” in the literature (e.g., gaines et al., 1997) because of its emphasis on the importance of the family. vertical individualism was the least important indicator for the cultural values latent variable (in terms of factor loadings) and was the only indicator to load negatively. unlike the other three cultural values, vertical individualism emphasizes competition and a desire to be the best. these results suggest that there are commonalities between the two horizontal cultural values along with vertical collectivism, which emphasizes hierarchy but within the family structure. vertical individualism may be a more distinct cultural variable in comparison to the other three values. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 11 a negative correlation between theories of intelligence and cultural values was found, which means that cultural values were associated with incremental theories of intelligence (rather than entity theories of intelligence). the cultural values latent variable was largely egalitarian and familial in nature, and this corresponds with findings in the literature linking incremental theories and collectivist beliefs (heine et al., 2001; mizokawa & ryckman, 1990). thus, college students who reported that intelligence can be enhanced with effort were more likely to adhere to cultural beliefs that were horizontally construed and family-oriented. limitations and future directions there were limitations to this research. one limitation is that the sample was restricted to college students at one university in the southwest. although the sample was relatively ethnically diverse, the generalizability of the results to students of other ages and at other universities may be limited. another limitation is the self-report nature of the data. participants may have been less inclined to state that learning holds little intrinsic value to them, knowing that they were participating in a university research study. however, the nature of this type of research (e.g., assessing people’s values) most often relies on self-report data. future research may want to establish causality between the relationship between cultural values and intrinsic value for learning. research that has experimentally primed either entity or incremental theories of intelligence in children found that these beliefs influenced students’ learning goals (bempechat, london, & dweck, 1991) and attributions for failure (hong et al., 1999). in an experiment that manipulated cultural values (kogut, slovic, & västfjäll, 2015), priming an individualist or collectivist mindset created a propensity for people to donate to either individuals or groups. similar experimental research could be used to determine if cultural values cause achievement-related cognitions or are merely associated with them. conclusion in conclusion, this research suggests that cultural values were a stronger predictor of college students’ intrinsic value for learning when compared to theories of intelligence. this suggests that cultural considerations should be made when trying to promote the academic achievement of college students. because education is vital for upward mobility for cultures around the world, understanding the factors that can foster positive academic experiences for students of all backgrounds should continue to be explored. references https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 12 aronson, j., fried, c. b., & good, c. (2002). reducing the effects of stereotype threat on african american college students by shaping theories of intelligence. journal of experimental social psychology, 38, 113–25. arbuckle, j. l. (2012). ibm spss amos, 21 users’ guide. chicago, il: amos development corporation. bempechat, j., london, p., & dweck, c. s. (1991). children’s conceptions of ability in major domains: an interview and experimental study. child study journal, 21, 11–36. blackwell, l. s., trzesniewski, k. h., & dweck, c. s. (2007). implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: a longitudinal study and an intervention. child development, 78, 246–263. bronfenbrenner, u. (1979). the ecology of human development: experiments by nature and design. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. chiu, m. m., & chow, b. w. y. (2010). culture, motivation and reading achievement: high school students in 41 countries. learning and individual differences 20, 579–592. chiu, m. m., & khoo, l. (2003). rudeness and status effects during group problem solving: do they bias evaluations and reduce the likelihood of correct solutions? journal of educational psychology, 95, 506−523. credé, m., & phillips, l. (2011). a meta-analytic review of the motivated strategies for learning questionnaire. learning and individual differences, 21, 337–346. deci, e. l., & ryan, r. m. (1985). the general causality orientations scale: self-determination in personality. journal of research in personality, 19, 109–134. dupeyrat, c., & marine, c. (2005). implicit theories of intelligence, goal orientation, cognitive engagement, and achievement: a test of dweck’s model with returning to school adults. contemporary educational psychology, 30, 43–59. dweck, c. s. (1986). motivational processes affecting learning. american psychologist, 41, 1040–1048. dweck, c. s. (1999). self-theories: their role in motivation, personality, and development. philadelphia: psychology press. dweck, c. s., & leggett, e. l. (1988). a social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. psychological review, 95, 256–273. endicott, l, bock, t., & narvaez, d. (2003). moral reasoning, intercultural development, and multicultural experiences: relations and cognitive underpinnings. international journal of intercultural relations, 27, 403–419. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 13 gaines, s. o., marelich, w. d., bledsoe, k. l., steers, w. n., henderson, m. c., granrose, c. s., et al. (1997). links between race/ethnicity and cultural values as mediated by racial/ethnic identity and moderated by gender. journal of personality and social psychology, 72, 1460– 1476. george, d., & mallery, p. (2001). spss for windows. boston: allyn and bacon. heine, s. j., kitayama, s., lehman, d. r., takata, t., ide, e., leung, c., et al. (2001). divergent consequences of success and failure in japan and north america: an investigation of selfimproving motivations and malleable selves. journal of personality and social psychology, 81, 599–615. henderson, v. l., & dweck, c. s. (1990). motivation and achievement. in s. s. feldman & g. r. elliott (eds.), at the threshold: the developing adolescent (pp. 308–329). cambridge, ma: harvard university press. hong, y., chiu, c., dweck, c. s., lin, d., & wan, w. (1999). implicit theories, attributions, and coping: a meanings system approach. journal of personality and social psychology, 77, 588– 599. iyengar, s. s., & lepper, m. r. (1999). rethinking the value of choice: a cultural perspective on intrinsic motivation. journal of personality and social psychology, 3, 349–366. kogut, t., slovic, p., & västfjäll, d. (2015b). scope insensitivity in helping decisions: is it a matter of culture and values? journal of experimental psychology: general, 144, 1042–1052. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1037/a0039708 leung, f. k. s. (2002). behind the high achievement of east asian students. educational research and evaluation, 8, 87–108. mizokawa, d. t., & ryckman, d. b. (1990). attributions of academic success and failure: a comparison of six asian-american ethnic groups. journal of cross cultural psychology, 21, 434– 451. nelson, m. r., & shavitt, s. (2002). horizontal and vertical individualism and achievement values: a multimethod examination of denmark and the united states. journal of cross cultural psychology, 33(5), 439–458. pintrich, p. r., & degroot, e. v. (1990). motivated and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. journal of educational psychology, 82, 33–40. richardson, m., abraham, c., & bond, r. (2012). psychological correlates of university students' academic performance: a systematic review and metaanalysis. psychological bulletin, 138(2), 353–387. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 donohue, d. k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 14 robins, r. w., & pals, j. l. (2002). implicit self-theories in the academic domain: implications for goal orientation, attributions, affect, and self-esteem change. self and identity, 1, 313–336. schunk, d. h., & zimmerman b. j. (eds.). (1994). self-regulation of learning and performance. hillsdale, nj: erlbaum. singelis, t. m., triandis, h. c., bhawuk, d. p. s., & gelfand, m. j. (1995). horizontal and vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism: a theoretical and measurement refinement. cross-cultural research, 29, 240–275. stein, g. l., cupito, a. m., mendez, j. l., prandoni, j., huq, n., & westerberg, d. (2014). familism through a developmental lens. journal of latina/o psychology, 2(4), 224–250. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000025 sue, s., & okazaki, s. (1990). asian-american educational achievements: a phenomenon in search of an explanation. american psychologist, 45(8), 913–920. doi: 10.1037/0003066x.45.8.913 taggart, a. (2018). latina/o students in k-12 schools: a synthesis of empirical research on factors ınfluencing academic achievement. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 40(4), 448– 471. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986318793810 triandis, h. c. (1996). the psychological measurement of cultural syndromes. american psychologist, 51, 407–415. triandis, h. c., & gelfand, m. j. (1998). converging measurement of horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism. journal of personality and social psychology, 74, 118–128. vygotsky, l. s. (1978). mind in society. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. wang, j. h. y., & guthrie, j. t. (2004). modeling the effects of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, amount of reading, and past reading achievement on text comprehension between u.s. and chinese students. reading research quarterly, 39, 162–184. wigfield, a., & guthrie, j. t. (1997). relations of children’s motivation for reading to the amount and breadth of their reading. journal of educational psychology, 89, 420–432. zha, p., walczyk, j., griffith-ross, d. a., tobacyk, j. j., & walczyk, d. f. (2006). the impact of culture and individualism-collectivism on the creative potential and achievement of american and chinese adults, creativity research journal, 18(3), 355–366. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986318793810 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 1, 2019 lafer, s. & tarman, b., editorial: 2019 (2)1, i-v editorial 2019: (2)1, special issue the problem of culture stephan lafer, special issue editor & bulent tarman, editor-in-chief culture is a phenomenon that is a potent force in the lives of human beings and many believe that respect for a person’s culture is essential to respecting the person. the adverse, that to disrespect a person’s culture is to disrespect the person, gives rise to an important concern that is to be considered in this edition. because culture does influence character and is a force in shaping character, honest critique of culture and cultures is too often avoided for concern for the personal offense such might cause. out of what is said to be the respect for individuals who are culture bound and sensitive about their culture, honest criticism of culture is pursued with overabundance of caution. for this edition, it is expected from contributors that they take an honest look at culture and how culture can or does act to limit the development of the minds, the growth of individuals as individual thinkers. in this sense, culture exists in some instances, perhaps all, as an oppressive force, a particularly devastating force if it is thought important that individuals be allowed to discover the uniqueness of self as an intellectually competent human being. the original purpose of this edition was to explore the limitations placed on cultural criticism and the profound problems for individuals and societies that that arise from unwillingness to explain culture fully, for what it is and the effect it has in limiting freedom and limiting thought. the original editor desired that articles explore the ramifications for culturally sponsored and culturally enforced limitation on the development of the human intellect and on the freedom of individuals to think as individuals. what harm is done when people are not allowed or discouraged from discovering the powers of their own minds, such discovery an essential phase in becoming fully human. as freire tells us, the main problem plaguing our existence is dehumanization, actions by some that steal from others their basic humanity. he argues that humanization is a possibility, the motive for moving toward it a respect for others that is based in a proper respect for oneself, respect that comes with knowing that, as a human being, a person is capable of contributing to the betterment of the society in which he or she lives, a being of worth. that value to self and beyond of self to others resides in the uniqueness journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 1, 2019 lafer, s. & tarman, b., editorial: 2019 (2)1, i-v of individual mentality, in the ability of each to think originally. valuing uniqueness is reason to value others enough to treat them humanely, the purpose of schools should be to help their students discover their own intellectual powers, their ability to make sense of the world for themselves. instead, they most often train them to accept and conform to cultural norms that may be virtuous and humane, but which are not. schools, as conveyors of culture, prepare their students to be amenable to being controlled, to be accepting and uncritical of the culture in which the school is based. right and wrong are made right and wrong without individuals being asked to consider much why right is right and wrong is wrong. authority takes precedence over reason. the asking of necessary questions is discourage for what they might uncover. religion overtly trains in this way. schools are usually more subtle in their indoctrination, presenting as true the thought of other the culture recognizes to be its good thinkers, students make to know that they are not amongst these. the original editor argued that a different kind of school is needed if humanization is to be the direction in which we human beings wish to head and humanization, as a goal, is absolutely necessary for the survival of human being and decent human societies. people have to know of their power to shape destiny and they have to know that it is by the force of human minds like their own that the better life will be found, the better way of life. culture too often wants to hold back, to keep in place what is in place and those institutions that are bound to the culture, to its preservation, get in the way of change by convincing individuals that change is not possible, that they do not have the power to make change even when they know that change is necessary for living life decently and well. ivan illich called for the “deschooling of society because, in his analysis, schools prevented people from becoming wise enough about what is real to participate effectively in the decision-making processes of democratic societies. to a great extent, people are taught to allow others to make decisions for them because, they are made to understand, they are not smart enough to do so for themselves. this is a cultural teaching, widespread, and it allows the many to be dominated by a relative few. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 1, 2019 lafer, s. & tarman, b., editorial: 2019 (2)1, i-v the editor asked for articles that would address the claims he had made, to discuss in any variety of ways, the problems, and too, the virtues of culture and the possibility of schools that educated people in such a way that they would have the ability and know they had the ability to not only criticize culture but change culture so that life could be made more livable. the editor asked for response to the problem of cultural criticism, the sensitivities involved and the cost for individuals and societies in allowing culture to deprive people of their individuality and keep them from participating actively in creating cultures in which they truly want to live. in this special issue, you will find nine articles. the first article written by ricky dale mullins as titled ‘using dewey to problematize the notion of disability in public education’. the main aim of this paper is examining ways in which students with disabilities have the capacity to be full, contributing citizens within a participatory, communicative, and pluralistic democracy. mullins argued that in a deweyian democracy, all students must have not just the right, but be allowed to grow in their capacity to develop into fully participating, contributing citizens. alexis jones is the author of the second article entitled as ‘parallel oppressions: culturally-enforced limitations on the individual’s humanity’. this article is a philosophical piece with snippets of empirical data shared to give an elaborate picture of what is currently done versus what is possible. jones started with a review of theorists, old and new, who suggested that what is often implemented in american schools is very literally de-human-izing, especially as it relates to human nature, culture, and emotion. after developing the theoretical perspective, jones presented several arguments that address what enormous potential american schools have, not only for educating our students in a way freire would respect, but also for respecting our teachers’ humanity at the same time. the third article is written by lori turner meier as entitled ‘questioning the problematic nature of school culture in elementary teacher education’. in this article, meier aimed to serve as both commentary and plea to elementary teacher educators and gatekeepers. meier asked the reader to consider that the culture of elementary teacher education, while characteristically an honorable and moral vocation, can indeed function as an oppressive and marginalizing force in the development, humanization, and growth of aspiring new teachers. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 1, 2019 lafer, s. & tarman, b., editorial: 2019 (2)1, i-v meier concluded with suggestions for ways the reader might consider a different, more humanized approach to individuality in elementary teacher education. the forth article written by stefani boutelier as titled ‘limiting learning environments through domestication’. the author analyzed the proliferation of domestication in american education systems inside and outside of the classroom. boutelier used don miguel ruiz’s definition of domestication of children frames and engaged the reader to question their current practices and expectations of children and/or students. in the fifth article ‘toward a brilliant diversity’, stefani boutelier put forward a theoretical argument in support of culturally consonant character education. the author employed charles mills’ the racial contract (1998) to not only account for the moralities of exclusion, but put forward a character education philosophy that accounts for cultural distinctiveness. the author tried to find an answer of the question, how can non-white, minority cultures foster their cultural distinctiveness in the character development process? boutelier stressed that any character development process recognizes the collective memory, both cultural and historical, of non-white persons. abbie strunc is the author of the sixth article entitled as ‘the politics of culture: a discourse analysis of the texas social studies curriculum’. in this article, strunc aimed to examine texas social studies curriculum to determine how the educational culture is impacted by the social studies curriculum by using van dijk’s socio-cognitive theory as a framework for discourse analysis. strunc concluded that the language of the standards, the influence of outside sources, and the mandate from the state of texas to teach these standards for the next ten years cultivate a social culture in public schools, which inserts a worldview, that does not consider other perspectives; and excluding ideologies from the curriculum is a dangerous practice. the sevent article is written by freyca calderon-berumen entitled as ‘resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home’. in this article, calderon-berumen indicated that immigrants from diverse cultural and ethnic groups that try to keep some of their cultural traditions might encounter conflict when trying to adapt to their life in the new context. calderon-berumen contends for a cultural curriculum of the home journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 1, 2019 lafer, s. & tarman, b., editorial: 2019 (2)1, i-v endorsing family cultural values and traditions that is overlooked by schools and educators, disregarding its potential for enhancing children’s learning process and academic achievement. the author concluded the study by proposing that schools keep trying to convince multicultural parents to do practices of parental involvement aligned with the dominant culture standards rather than recognizing and legitimizing the practices they already do and value as relevant and meaningful to their culture. matthew etherington is the author of the eighth article entitled as “the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty” . in this article, etherington argued that the challenge for this current generation of educators is to first recognize how they have been indoctrinated by ideas that ignore issues related to the diversity of the world’s cultural commons. in the last article, chelsea t. morris and lindsey a. chapman reviewed the ‘timeless learning: how imagination, observation, and zero-based thinking change schools’ written by i. socol, p. moran, and c. ratliff (2018). we would like to thank everyone and express our special appreciation to the people who contributed to make this special issue ready for you. we especially would like to thank all authors and reviewers for their contribution to jcve. we hope you will both enjoy and be challenged by the articles in this issue of jcve. we also look forward to seeing your contribution to the development of jcve in the future. looking forward to being with you in 2019 issues... journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 96 the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty matthew etherington* trinity western university *corresponding author: matthew.etherington@twu.ca received : 2018-12-10 accepted : 2019-04-29 how to cite this paper: etherington, m., (2019). the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty, journal of culture and values in education, volume 2 (1), 96-112. abstract the digital culture is a challenge for a sustainable future because it adopts the same values embraced by proponents of the industrial period of the 18th century. the digital culture, in the same way as the industrial culture, promote the values of consumerism, progress, change, innovation and individualism, all of which contribute to a decline in the conversations, and collaborative problem solving that comprise the pool of collective ideas and sources of intergenerational knowledge of local self-sustaining communities. in order for this conversation to begin, educators must first engage themselves in understanding the metaphors that are carried forward by words such as progress, change, innovation and individualism and the advantages of encouraging the revitalization of the local cultural commons. keywords: cultural commons, traditions, consumerism introduction schoolteachers are busy people and schools are often hectic places. with a lack of adequate time and available resources, schools strive to offer students various learning opportunities and experiences. however, because assets are scarce, the average schoolteacher and school administration must prioritize what occurs in and outside of the classroom. i have selected the topic of change in education as an important subject for teachers and educators to consider by way of the losses and gains inherent with an education system that advances change as an inherently progressive and positive force. i have chosen the late american educator, author, lecturer and environmental activist, chet bowers as an important representative for that critique. over many decades, bowers stressed the importance of preserving the cultural commons in an era of educational change. mailto:matthew.etherington@twu.ca journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 97 one important theme to discuss was the notion of change in education, which bowers believed educators had accepted as a progressive force. the second theme concerned the necessity of revitalizing what he described as the ‘cultural commons.’ bowers argued that hyper-consumerism and conservation of the environment were important issues to discuss and the cultural commons was the obvious place to start that conversation. a revitalization of the cultural commons, he noted, should be prioritized by k-12 schools and higher education because the cultural commons acts to preserve the self-sufficiency of communities, which are in direct opposition to the individualism that is so often advanced through abstract thought and theory. individualism is then advanced through the digital culture, which proclaims and promotes hyper-consumerism, i.e. “you deserve this”. as a result, students have a weak commitment to the common good (van brummelen, 2007). the digital culture is a challenge for a sustainable future because it adopts the same values embraced by proponents of the industrial period of the 18th century. the digital culture, in the same way as the industrial culture, promote the values of consumerism, progress, change, innovation and individualism, all of which contribute to a decline in the conversations, and collaborative problem solving that comprise the pool of collective ideas and sources of intergenerational knowledge of local self-sustaining communities. in order for this conversation to begin, educators must first engage themselves in understanding the metaphors that are carried forward by words such as progress, change, innovation and individualism. these types of words have been accepted by educators without consideration or critique and yet are metaphors which have contributed in various ways to the problems that human beings face today and into the future such as environmental degradation, loss of intergenerational knowledge, hyper-consumerism, non-monetized skills and activities, all aspects of the local cultural commons (see bowers, 2005; 2008 and 2011). the personalization of curriculum the emphasis and direction that school curriculum has taken today is that of ‘personalization.’1 personalization is a metaphor, which conveys the idea that autonomy, and the individual’s perspective and choice is always paramount. although personalized learning has its advantages such as a relevancy of subject matter to one’s life, there are also losses with personalization. the most obvious loss is the inconsistency with public education as a social institution. because personalization encourages an emphasis on personal autonomy, choice and the individual’s perspective, it tacitly wields against interdependent face to face relationships, the conservation of the local environment and ignores the legacy of learning from the past because the past is perceived as backward. this ideology assumes personalization is always good and encourages learners to accept an industrial-consumer-dependent lifestyle (see bowers, 2007). when the rational individual perceives herself as the supreme source of authority, there is an overemphasis on oneself and the individual’s perspective supersedes what is essential to living as a 1 see bc curriculum https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/overview journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 98 member within a community. personalization, which encourages individualism, ignores the tacit understandings and moral commitments that work towards “a common memory, and a vision based on a balance between personal and the public good” (van brummelen, 2007, p. 64). a personalized curriculum has been influenced by the elitist and political ideas of the educator and political theorist paulo freire and educator john dewey who perceived change as transformative, linear, scientific and always positive. they adopted a binary western way of thinking about change and progress. for example, freire’s cultural bias led to thinking that change should be understood only as ‘binary opposites’ (e.g. oppressor –oppressed, subjectobject, action-reflection, etc.) however, binary thinking ignores diversity, complexity, context, past traditions, intergenerational knowledge, and the losses that are manifest in a culture that perceives change and progress only in linear ways (allman, 1999). the humanities and the commons the humanities, which have documented the human experience or condition with particular attention given to our diverse heritage and traditions by means of philosophy, literature, comparative religion, art, music, history and language, reflect several features of the commons. in a similar way the humanities have served their communities for thousands of years, giving us groundwork to describe where we have been and a vision for where we are going. however, both are under siege. the mid-twentieth century experienced a shift away from the humanities in educational institutions towards a more utilitarian, career oriented paradigm (see prior, 2014). in the process, the traditional liberal arts or humanistic commons, was portrayed by some as unnecessary in a day and age of progress, innovation and technology (see thielman, 2015). this has resulted in a shift away from the humanities to a greater focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, i.e. stem. this is not necessarily unreasonable, especially if one is thinking of the liberal arts primarily in terms of group think and political correct ideas (see gaposchkin, 2015); however, the humanities and the commons include the process of deep self-reflection, critique, the sharing and passing down of traditional ways of living, and about who its people are, who they want to be and how they should live in this world. the humanities and the commons are not entirely concerned with the content that is taught, but rather in the method of combined learning, teaching, sharing and community problem solving. it is not simply about what to know, rather the humanities and the commons are about learning how to think, sort through ambiguity; work with inexact or incomplete information, and act in collaboration which can lead to living a good and just life (gaposchkin, 2015). the digital culture and the commons the digital culture is interrelated with certain market orientations. one of these orientations is the advancement of consumerism. the digital culture purports itself to be the answer to many of the problems that human beings face today such as lack of knowledge, the destruction of journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 99 the environment, global communication. yet the digital culture also encourages people to become ever more consumer driven, isolated and less reliant on one other (see bowers, 2008). with all the benefits that the digital-consumer culture generates— and there are many, there are equally if not more disadvantages and losses. some of these include losses related to learning particular skills and activates that incur a low carbon footprint, face to face relationships and interactions, the sharing of intergenerational knowledge, mutual support and the protection of personal privacy which the digital culture puts an end to. it is of no surprise that bowers (2014) asks if the “loss of privacy, communication between generations, economic security, being displaced by robots and from hackers, and the loss of the diversity of cultural ways of knowing” is really worth it, even if this is all in the name of “progress”, which is an unhealthy and environmentally damaging type of commons. rather than learning from non-digital cultures which have survived for centuries, the digital culture of consumerism resorts to solving problems through technology, which generates more consumerism. the increasingly widespread use of computers in the classroom contributes to undermining the local cultural commons because although computers are useful—indeed, now indispensable, there are two inherent characteristics of the digital culture that have gone largely unrecognized. first, as bowers (2007) notes, the digital culture reinforce a pattern of thinking that is also the basis of the west’s industrial, consumer-oriented culture. there are certain patterns of thinking that demonstrate the west’s industrial, consumer-oriented mindset. these include thinking of language as a conduit in a sender/receiver process of communication. this is problematic because words have a history and are mostly metaphoric. the second is viewing the individual as constructing their own knowledge, which is through data and information accessed through a computer. the third is thinking of abstract, out-of-context data and information as being free of cultural influence. the forth is thinking of the past and future as matter of the individual’s subjective judgments and shifting preferences; and finally viewing moral values as individually chosen. in short, the pattern of thinking reinforced through the digital culture, while being highly valuable in many areas of life, contributes to undermining the world’s diverse nonmonetized cultural ways of knowing—and thus undermines the local non-monetized cultural commons. hence, one might describe the digital culture as a type of colonizing technology (see arnold, 2006). the digital culture promises that scientific and technological endeavors will solve the greatest challenges we face today. some of these challenges are social segregation, hyper-consumerism, a reduction in privacy, and alternate non-monetized relationships, which paradoxically the digital culture advances. the digital culture does not endorse a preserving of the skills and intergenerational knowledge of local communities in non-consumer ways. by understanding how hyperconsumerism and ethnocentrism are tacitly promoted by the digital culture, people may understand how the digital culture provides no alternative to its lack of ability to preserve and withstand change and shock from outside systems (hopkins, 2008). we need the selfsustaining non-monetized local cultural for self-preservation. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 100 turning knowledge, relationships, skills and even the environment into commodities is not always the expression of progress (bowers, 2011). this thinking can be traced all the way back to the ideas advanced by the greek philosopher plato who endorsed a progressive nature of change, which involved ethnocentric and abstract thought. in my own province of british columbia, canada, a newly designed competency based curriculum underscores societal change with a human centered focus assuming that ‘personalization’ of learning is the solution to the persistent challenges we face in the world. the answer is a human centered personalized education, together with a technological saturated education and the acceptance and approval of rapid societal change because all change is good.2 the curriculum assumes that in the 21st century change is the only constant in life and that a changing world is obviously a better world. cultural change, which the curriculum propose is inevitable, must include personalized learning to support students becoming ‘successful citizens’. a changing world requires a curriculum that will advance a scientific-technological student centered epistemology. other epistemologies such as face-to-face storytelling and the sharing of local resources is described as ‘passive’ learning. a scientific-technological epistemology aligns with the concept of personalization; however, this has fundamental inconsistencies between it and public education as a social institution. personalization, which seems to be an obligation of the digital culture, may become just another means for social separation of races, classes, cultures and religions. unless action is taken to reduce social segregation, and not advance it through a personalized ontology, a danger grows in the face of the many complex challenges we face in the future, which requires collective problem solving, and community solidity, not personalization. a personalized ontology leads to a culture of asking ‘who can we blame? instead of ‘how can we solve this problem together?’ the personalization of learning is a most common educational discourse and has its genesis in a philosophy of individualistic enlightenment notions about human development and social progress. this is advanced through a digital consumer culture whose “basic structures and values are unthinkingly and naively accepted as leading to continuous progress and empowerment” (van brummelen, 2007, p. 64). the digital culture assumes other cultures as essentially backward and non-progressive requiring modernization via a model of technological growth and personalization. understood as an inherently progressive force the metaphor of change ignores non-digital conservative values and practices upheld by various cultures such as those of indigenous groups and the non-monetized traditions of the local cultural commons. dewey and freire as transformative theorists surely, one of the most cited and iconic figures in the contemporary education literature is paulo freire (1921-1997). in fact, his impact has been large enough to affect thinking in such areas as social work, communications, nursing, community development, theology, philosophy and sociology (mayo, 2017). another well-quoted and iconic figure in contemporary education 2 see british columbia curriculum, https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/sites/curriculum.gov.bc.ca/files/pdf/redesign.pdf journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 101 is the american pragmatist john dewey who assumed the common generative metaphors of liberalism, human self-emancipation, knowledge as power, and change as linear as taken for granted. what freire and dewey had in common was a similar faith in autonomous individualism, indubitable rationality, and evolutionary progress. for example, dewey believed that when plato said that philosophers should be kings, “this may be best understood as a statement that rational intelligence and not habit, appetite, impulse, and emotion should regulate human affairs” (dewey 1961, p. 263). in other words, “the former secures unity, order, and law; the latter signify multiplicity and discord, irrational fluctuations from one estate to another” (dewey 1961, p. 263). their ideas have disallowed a common paideia to flourish in our society since it undercuts communal authority as well as shared moral commitments” (van brummelen, 2007, p.63). the theme of growth is, of course, also at the core of dewey and freire’s philosophy. as western thinkers, dewey and freire assumed learning to occur through high status abstract knowledge and critical thinking compared with the ‘passive’ knowledge resulting from oral teachings and traditions such as those of indigenous, religious and cultural groups. the most prominent mistake made by both dewey and freire— and is an error that is also evident today; was to assume that there should be one-true approach to education (see bowers, 2005). for dewey, it was the experimental method of inquiry while for freire it was critical consciousness leading to the individual continually transform, rename or recreate the world (freire, 1970). by employing abstract critical reflection, which he claimed would enable students to emancipate themselves from the control of previous generations and become free; his views represent the problems that are still apparent in public education today, that is, western elitism and a lack of awareness of one’s own cultural and exclusive bias. consequently, indulging in a ‘personalized’ learning experience, students are encouraged to ignore previous generations, construct their own knowledge and assess only themselves. in arguing that knowledge could not (and should not) be transferred from one generation to the next, which is essentially epistemological prejudice, dewey and freire could be charged with having failed to take into account the different knowledge and value systems of the world’s diverse cultures. by doing so they took-for-granted their own western cultural assumptions. these assumptions, which are prevalent in education today, consisted of a linear view of progress, a human-centered world, an autonomous form of individualism, and an evolutionary view of cultural development (see bowers, 2011). these assumptions are the basis of the west’s industrial culture. they have their own language, i.e. ‘progress’, ‘efficiency’, and ‘empowerment’. because language is a social practice in which to participate (kramsch, 1993) language leads to the normalizing of particular behaviors. just consider the behaviour food choices, such as the eating patterns of highly industrialized foods, i.e. mcdonalds (see bowers, 2005). the transformational thinking of freire and dewey embodied a western model of thought, which privileged abstract thinking and technology as journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 102 the answer to the world’s problems. by doing so, they ignored the possibility of other cultural ways of knowing and solving problems (bowers, 2011). in terms of the world’s problems, there are also the major world religions that guide the lives of huge numbers of people, provide the basis of people’s value and knowledge systems and consequently, understand human relationships and behaviour in other ways (tucker, 2003). the problem with freire and dewey is that their thinking weakened other forms of knowledge, wisdom and intergenerational renewal that are essential to resisting the spread of individualism and consumerism. (bowers & apffel-marglin, 2005). in the name of progressive education, educational reformers have borrowed from dewey and freire. this is apparent when educators argue that students should construct their own knowledge and values (see bada, 2015). such views contribute to a world monoculture that lacks diversity, and is both environmentally damaging and increasingly dependent upon consumerism. ironically, dewey and freire used the same language to justify undermining the local cultural commons, which western educated elites use to justify their colonizing agenda. this includes using words such as freedom, emancipation, individualism, progress, development and democracy, all metaphors derived from the industrial era of the 18th century (see bowers, 2008; 2009). in the west, the dominant view of language that influences social psychological theory and reinforced in western universities is perceived as a conduit in a sender/receiver process of communication (maynard & peräkylä, 2003; reddy, 1979). the reality is that when a person is born into a language community she/he learns to think in terms of the assumptions and categories that have been passed down over generations through the languaging processes of the culture and these assumptions and categories are the basis of the person’s taken-forgranted experiences (see bowers, 2007). to make the criticism more direct, the language used by transformative learning theorists such as dewey and freire fail to recognize the importance of the culturally diverse approaches for accepting natural systems and cultural traditions of mutual aid and community self-sufficiency. if this is true, then educators need a complex and contextual understanding of how language provides the assumptions that influence how students think about themselves, others and culture, as well as what they should ignore. the transformative theories of dewey and freire are grounded in an evolutionary based pride, which can be seen in how they “understood the more culturally evolved nature of their respective one true-approach to knowledge” (dewey, 1916, pp. 394, 396). this was also obvious in their total indifference to the possibility that we can learn anything about environmentally sustainable practices from non-western cultures that dewey referred to as “savages” (1916, pp. 394, 396). similarly, freire perceived other cultures by using a “spectator theory of knowledge” which he referred to as backward cultures and “living an existence little advanced over that of animals” (bowers, 2007; 2008). in education for critical consciousness (1973), freire describes the characteristics of the “backward regions of brazil” in the following way: “men of semi-intransitive consciousness cannot apprehend problems situated outside their sphere of biological necessity. “their interests,” he continues, “center almost totally journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 103 around survival, and they lack a sense of life on a more historical plane” (p. 17). as cultures evolve beyond this near animal state of existence, they move to what he called “naïve transitivity” where they begin to respond to questions that arise from the context they live in; but their “permeable” state of existence is still limited by their tendency to rely upon polemics and magical explanations. the most evolved cultures are characterized by what freire called a “critically transitive consciousness”—, which is the state of consciousness that he identifies himself with (bowers, 2009). transformative theorists are correct when they advocate unsustainable and discriminatory practices, which need to be reformed, but as previously stated, there should also be an awareness of what needs to be conserved as sources of resistance to being inhabited by the requirements of a consumer dependent western culture. double binds / losses and gains western culture and education is caught in a series of double binds. for example, although technology creates many positive opportunities for learning, students also become increasing addicted to finding their sense of community in cyberspace instead of in face-to-face, intergenerationally connected communities (see bowers, 2011). face-to-face communities, which have been free and publicly accessible, are becoming increasingly monetized and privately owned. this is an example of ‘enclosure’ which is the process of transforming aspects of a culture (broadly understood) such as the right to express her/his ideas freely, and are shared by members of the community into what is now privately owned turning what was once free into a commodity or service that has to be purchased (see bowers, 2009). i have recently experienced the enclosure of research and publication of peer reviewed articles. retrieving an academic article was once free but these are now becoming increasingly locked behind paywalls. academics producing peer reviewed research, now experience commercial journals and book publishers who claim copyright and charge excessive publication and subscription fees. these are sophisticated and novel ways to enclose the intellect with concepts such as ‘intellectual property rights’. boyle (2002, p.14) refers to “the enclosure of the intangible commons of the mind” as the “new kind of enclosure movement”. however, the academic commons have experienced more open access scholarly journals owned and controlled by academics themselves. now academics are discovering the virtue of publishing their works online under creative commons licenses, making them free to everyone in perpetuity. another example is the open educational resources movement, which shares curricular materials, open textbooks and curricula and learning materials online for free. the commons offers an alternative to a private consumer dependent lifestyle. the initial challenge for educators, however, is to help students recognize the types of enclosures they have uncritically accepted and participate on a daily basis. progress the idea of “progress” stems from the same assumptions of the past with the autonomous individual, the cartesian way of privileging the individual’s perspective, the assumption about journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 104 the linear nature of progress, and no limits on human freedom. this originated from the enlightenment period, reinforced in the industrial era and again carried forth today through the digital industrial era (see bowers, 2011). these analogs of progress do not taken into account other cultural ways of knowing especially cultures that do not assume that the individual is the primary social entity. as has been previously suggested, in western culture, among some of the key assumptions that schools and universities share in common is thinking of change, empowerment, individualism, transformation, abstract thought and innovation as an inherently progressive force. the following example is from a canadian university describing itself as innovative and empowering: the world needs a daring culture of innovation and collaborative research—one that empowers students, faculty and staff to work together with communities to confront humanity’s greatest challenges and opportunities. at this university, we are uniquely positioned to act upon this need, with our leading work in water and food security, indigenization, environmental science and engineering and in agriculture, veterinary and food sciences. together we will change the world.3 the problem here lies in the use of words such as ‘empowering’, ‘change’ and ‘innovative’. these ideas seem to have been borrowed from the transformative theories of dewey and freire, which are grounded in an evolutionary based superiority, and a respective one true-approach to knowledge. moreover, the assumption is that change is always good, that culture need altering, yet nothing is said about the threat of hyper-consumerism, or the loss of the cultural commons through enclosure. the idea of change, innovation and transformation assumes traditions are bad, the new is always good, and that transformation and change are always an inherently progressive force. bowers (2008, p. 326) described such assumptions as embedded within a “deep seated ethnocentrism that is masked by abstract references to values cultural differences”. the key assumption here is that critical thought and western technology will lead to overcoming the many problems we face today such as failing pseudo-communities and environmental destructive practices. ironically, the contradiction with combining change, science, innovation with an abstract reference to indigenization is the lack of any mention of what should be conserved and no mention of the less consumer lifestyle of the cultural commons. there has been a failure of western educational institutions to understand how the assumptions of ‘progress’ and ‘innovation’ has led to the destruction of the commons. it would seem that the commons would be a constraint on innovation, progress, individual self-expression and autonomy. this would lead to educational reformers such as dewey to claim that traditions, i.e., non-scientific traditions, as “habits that enslave the individual just to the degree in which intelligence is disconnected from them”. such ethnocentrism, which assumes progress and innovation impelled dewey to claim, “routine habits are unthinking habits” and thus must be continually reconstructed through the community’s reliance upon the experimental method of inquiry (1918, pp. 58-59). 3 retrieved from the globe and mail canadian university report, 2019. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 105 traditions inside the cultural commons one of the first stories shared with me at a new place of work concerned the limited money available to repair broken machinery, furniture and so forth. to purchase and replace damaged items was not an option. instead of throwing away broken items and replacing these with new products, community insiders used their skills and knowledge to repair these objects on site. i witnessed the mutual support, patience, intergenerational sharing of knowledge and skills, and less-consumer-dependent mindset that the community had created for itself. there are obviously good and bad versions of the cultural commons so we should not romanticize the commons. however, what we are currently losing is access to collectively produced knowledge, skills and insights that the cultural commons can offer and have provided for thousands of years. the nature of the commons varies from culture to culture, but what they share is that much of the culture’s symbolic patterns as well as the natural systems of the bioregion are available to the members of the community on a non-monetary basis (see bowers, 2009). the local traditions of knowledge sharing and patterns of mutual support that enabled communities to be relatively self-sufficient represent what is described as the cultural commons. a key reason that the commons is so innovative and so important to preserve is that it is able to draw upon social behaviors that the mainstream economy rejects as trivial or irrelevant. in this way, they provide an alternative to the typical markets, which players are supposed to be a hard-bitten, competitive rationalist seeking to maximize their material self-interest. in a commons, what is valued is friendship and cooperation because it is all about social exchange and trust. members within the commons know what is best for them. for example, von hippel suggests that most innovations in scientific instruments and sports originates from users (cohen, 2011). the commoners, in short, are co-producers and co-innovators. in a time when global markets, government are steam rolling over our communities, the commons offers a way to reassert a sense of place and re-embed markets in social community. just think of thee number of farmers markets which have increased rapidly over the past few years, and many people are rediscovering local crops and plants. the commons can also withstand “conflict where changes in the narrative then become more important for some members, and so over time, conflicts embedded within the original narrative can be challenged, such as debates over purpose, which actually confirm and illuminate the normative foundations of a commons” (madison, frischmann & strandburg, 2009, p.375). it is especially noteworthy that the word “commons” is not part of the emancipatory liberal discourse. the cultural commons are uniquely social and conserve the traditions of their culture. an example of the social nature of the cultural commons is the notion of undergraduate students participating in college commons, grounded in the classroom and reinforced by social traditions and rituals associated with communal living (maddison, fishburn journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 106 & strasburg (2009). this is contrasted with a key characteristic of freire’s thinking. freire spoke of conscientization, which is critical reflection that leads to a transforming praxis (bowers, 2007). in pedagogy of the oppressed (1974 edition), freire writes, “to speak a true word is to transform the world” (p. 75). bowers suggests that western intellectuals identical with freire “reject the intergenerational knowledge achieved by all the world’s cultures by claiming that once named, the world in its turn reappears as a problem and requires of them a new naming. the silences here, bowers argues, include avoiding any recognition of the traditions of different cultures that sustain their commons, which are sources of empowerment and self-sufficiency. these silences in the writings of the earlier liberal/enlightenment thinkers led to ignoring the differences in cultural ways of knowing. in reality, it was not really a case of ignoring these differences; rather, it was a matter of viewing other cultures as primitive, uncivilized, and as heathens” (bowers, 2013, n.p). now it seems to me that many students in university classes have a superficial understanding of traditions. for example, they associate traditions only with holidays and family gatherings, while also viewing traditions in general as obstacles to social progress and as a source of backwardness. what is not understood by most students of western universities, and the general public should be included here too, is that traditions are like an iceberg with deep complex roots underneath which is not always visible (see shils, 1981). the cultural commons reveals the difference between reading about a ceremony in a book or from a computer screen and participating in one, as well as the difference between reading about a narrative in the abstract and participating in the culture’s way of passing on and renewing its collective memories (bowers, 2008). the argument against the present ‘tradition’ of using the latest technology to learn languages or complex cultures and their way of life, “helps to perpetuate the same western biases that represented print as the basis of high-status knowledge and progress, and the dismissing of oral traditions and face to face teaching as a source of cultural backwardness and superstition” (bowers cited in ryder & visnovsky, 2004, p.162). consequently, the word tradition has a pejorative meaning for all of the proponents for change and innovation in education even though they are entirely reliant on the traditions in their use of language and most other areas of their daily lives. sale (1995) summarizes the problems that have penetrated culture and schools: all that ‘community’ implies—self-sufficiency, mutual aid, morality in the marketplace, stubborn tradition, regulation by custom, organic knowledge instead of mechanistic science—had to be steadily and systematically disrupted and displaced. all of the practices that kept the individual from being a consumer had to be done away with so that the cogs and wheels of an unfettered “machine” called the economy could operate without interference, influenced merely by the invisible hands and inevitable balances and all the rest of the benevolent free-market system (p. 18). it was necessary to “liberate” individuals from the intergenerational knowledge of their communities which is the current tradition of total freedom and autonomy of the individual. thus, the current goal promoted by many educational reformers for fostering autonomous journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 107 individuals through the personalization of learning who can construct their own knowledge turns out to be what is required by industrial, consumer values. i agree with bowers that this is a western enlightenment abstraction that ignores the interdependencies and historical continuities that characterize how all individuals are nested in cultures that sustain life. the local commons stands in sharp contrast to the ethnocentrism of the promoters of western ideas who have ignored the differences in cultural ways of knowing. root metaphors the term metaphor means to “transfer or carry over” (verbrugge & mccarrell, 1977). there are root metaphors, which underlie the west’s industrial/consumer culture and influence our way of thinking (bowers, 2007. root metaphors are images, narratives, or facts that shapes an individual's perception of the world and are the basic interpretative framework for understanding different aspects of cultural life. some examples of root metaphors in the west include mechanism, innovation (the western assumption that equates innovations with a linear form of progress, progress (thinking of change as contributing to a linear form of progress and as in opposition to traditions), empowerment, transformation, and individualism (thinking of the individual as the source of ideas, values, and as essentially free) (bowers, 2007, p.4). in regards to culture, the myth of progress entails thinking of cultures as evolving from a state of backwardness to being developed and modern—with the west as representative of the most evolved. this myth was a large part of the legacy of enlightenment thinkers, which led to thinking of traditions as constraints on progress (see also shils, 1981). metaphors may lead to emphasizing, suppressing or reorganizing features of an event, issue, relations, function or object and are carried forward over many generations. the analogs, which are the assumptions and values of previous generations that once made sense, were established before there was an awareness of environmental limits (bowers, 2011). less understood is that words have a history (shils, 1981). when their meaning is framed by the analogs settled upon in the past, they carried forward earlier forms of cultural intelligence as well as the era’s misconceptions. educators need to help their students recognize how the assumptions and values of previous generations within a culture are reproduced as they learn the language of their cultural group (bowers, 2011). the oldest form of cultures that needs to be revitalized is the culture that conserves the non-monetized intergenerational knowledge, skills, and activities that enabled people to live more mutually supportive and less money dependent lives. the overriding perception is that “anything you do out of allegiance to tradition and social expectation is inauthentic and not you, because the real you is the choices you make” (choi, 2014, par.3). a contrast to this is the amish and finnish cultures of learning that encourages belonging and collective decision-making, not personal choice, happiness, material success, or self-realization. although finnish education has undergone recent educational reform and constructivist theories of learning are not absent from those reforms; the fact that constructivism assumes that individuals should be emancipated from the knowledge of earlier generations and this can journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 108 only be achieved as they construct their own knowledge and learn what interests them is not given primacy within the finnish education system. rather they include a self-limiting principle, which is not the dominant motivation in the west, which is to achieve more and do so with faster progress. other countries have realized the problems inherent with adopting a western worldview that encourages individualism and autonomy as a goal for a successful life. for example, choi (2014, par.19) suggests that in india, studies have found that even while young college students become megaconsumers, that picking clothes or music without consideration for what their parents might think is not considered particularly moral. in japan, advertisements explicitly encourage individuals to “follow the trend” and “fit in.” similarly, in korea, choi notes that advertisements now encourage that “you might be able to make a dish almost as good as your mother-in-law’s — because the ability to uphold tradition is most valued in driving personal choices, not innovation or individuality” (choi, 2014, par.19). conclusion the challenge for this current generation of educators is to first recognize how they have been indoctrinated by ideas that ignore issues related to the diversity of the world’s cultural commons. educators in schools, as well as those who function in other social settings, must begin to address the challenge of root metaphors, patterns of thinking and consumerist values that accompany the use of western technologies and consumer fads, which are cultural tools, carried over from the industrial revolution. an educator must recognize the dominant root metaphors that underlie the west’s approach to reality, values and knowledge and how they differ from the basic assumptions of the local cultural commons. progressive and transformational change reformers such as freire and dewey drew on a tradition of thinking that emphasized a western linear understanding of transformation— that is, progress from simple to complex, decolonization and reinhabitation. when considering the local cultural commons these two thinkers are important because schools and educational institutions have adopted—in most cases unconsciously—many of their suggestions. however, what if the ideas espoused by these thinkers were fundamentally mistaken and a mask for advancing a deep seated ethnocentrism and consumerist mindset with abstract references to valuing differences. what if their vocabulary about change and innovation had underlying deep cultural assumptions in the grip of centuries old ways of thinking that exclude other vocabularies. helping students understand the cultural non-neutrality of computers is essential if they are to have the ability to know when computers should and should not be used. if students are left with the idea that technology, including computers, as a culturally neutral tool, decisions about their use will more likely be dictated by the western assumption that equates the use of technology with a modern, and progressive ways of thinking. educators should continually engage the students in a discussion by giving particular attention to what is causing the journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 109 marginalization of the cultural commons and an increasing dependence upon western technology and consumerism. together with their local communities, educators must establish, assess and determine what aspects of the cultural commons should be conserved or renewed, and have the language necessary for providing a thick rich description of the problems faced in contemporary culture, including what has already been lost in western culture such as one’s privacy, face-to-face interactions, craft knowledge and skills. metaphors of change, innovation, progress and personalization are distractions in education, and carry with them patterns of thinking that encourage epistemological bias and social segregation that is inconsistent with public education as a social institution. the local cultural commons reassert education as a free, public and diverse social institution. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 110 references allman, p. (1999). revolutionary social transformation: democratic hopes, political possibilities and critical education, westport: bergin & garvey. arnold, d. (2006). europe, technology, and colonialism in the 20th century. history and technology an international journal, 26, https://doi.org/10.1080/07341510500037537: 85106. bada, s. (2015). “constructivism learning theory: a paradigm for teaching and learning”. retrieved from file https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1c75/083a05630a663371136310a30060a2afe4b1.pdf bowers, c. a. (2004). “the double binds in using dewey’s epistemology to address eco-justice issues”. in, pragmatism and values, eds. ryder & visnovsky, eds. new york: rodopi. bowers, c. a. (2005). the false promises of constructivist theories of learning: a global and ecological critique. new york: peter lang publishing inc. bowers, c. a. (2007). critical essay on the enclosures of the cultural commons: the conceptual foundation of todays’ mis-education. retrieved from file http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/bitstream/handle/10535/33/critical_essays_on_the_enclosure _of_the_cultural_commons_the_conceptual_foundations_of_todays_miseducation.pdf;jsessionid=08915b94fdc579c55a309ffed5e08580?sequence=1 bowers, c.a. (2008). why a critical pedagogy of place is an oxymoron, environmental education research, 14:3, 325-335. bowers, c. a. (2009). “educating for a revitalization of the cultural commons”. retrieved from file:///c:/users/matthew.etherington/downloads/896-2666-1-pb.pdf bowers, c. a. (2009). educating for a revitalization of the cultural commons. canadian journal of environmental education, 14. retrieved from file https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej842749.pdf bowers, c. a. (2011). university reform in an era of global warming. eugene, or: eco-justice press. bowers, c. (2013). in the grip of the past: educational reforms that address what should be changed and what should be conserved. eco-justice press llc. boyle, j. (2002). “fencing off ideas: enclosure & the disappearance of the public domain”. daedalus, 131(2): 13-25. https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ghat20/current https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ghat20/current https://doi.org/10.1080/07341510500037537 https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1c75/083a05630a663371136310a30060a2afe4b1.pdf https://www.bookdepository.com/publishers/peter-lang-publishing-inc http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/bitstream/handle/10535/33/critical_essays_on_the_enclosure_of_the_cultural_commons_the_conceptual_foundations_of_todays_mis-education.pdf;jsessionid=08915b94fdc579c55a309ffed5e08580?sequence=1 http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/bitstream/handle/10535/33/critical_essays_on_the_enclosure_of_the_cultural_commons_the_conceptual_foundations_of_todays_mis-education.pdf;jsessionid=08915b94fdc579c55a309ffed5e08580?sequence=1 http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/bitstream/handle/10535/33/critical_essays_on_the_enclosure_of_the_cultural_commons_the_conceptual_foundations_of_todays_mis-education.pdf;jsessionid=08915b94fdc579c55a309ffed5e08580?sequence=1 file:///c:/users/matthew.etherington/downloads/896-2666-1-pb.pdf https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej842749.pdf journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 111 cecilia gaposchkin, c. (2015). here are some more reasons why liberal arts matter. retrieved from http://theconversation.com/here-are-some-more-reasons-why-liberal-arts-matter-49638 choi, s. (2014). “how cultures around the world make decisions”. retrieved from file https://ideas.ted.com/how-cultures-around-the-world-make-decisions/ dewey, j. (1961). democracy and education: an introduction to the philosophy of education. london: the macmillan company. freire, paulo (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york: continuum publishing co. freire, p. (1973). education for critical consciousness. new york: seabury press. kramsch, c. (1993). context and culture in language teaching. oxford, oxford university press. madison, m.j., frischmann, b.m., & strandburg, k.j (2009). the university as constructed cultural commons (30), wash. u. j. l. & pol’y 365, retrieved from file http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_journal_law_policy/vol30/iss1/12 maynard, d.w & peräkylä, a. (2003). “language and social”. retrieved from file interactionhttp://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.470.7152&rep=rep1&t ype=pdf mayo, p. (2017). “editorial introduction. 20th anniversary of paulo freire’s death”. retrieved from file http://www.rizoma-freireano.org/editorial-introduction-22 michael j. madison brett m. frischmann katherine j. strandburg, (2009). the university as constructed cultural commons, washington university journal of law & policy, (30) open source and proprietary models of innovation. retrieved from file https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1112&context=law_journal_la w_policy miller. p. (1965). the life of the mind in america. from the revolution to the civil war. new york: harcourt, brace and world. prior, k. (2014). “faith in the humanities”. in, m. etherington (ed.), foundations of education: a christian vision. oregon: wipf and stock. reddy, m. j. (1979). the conduit metaphor. in a. ortony (ed.), metaphor and thought (pp. 284– 324). cambridge: cambridge university press. robbins, r. (1999). global problem and the culture of capitalism. london: allyn and bacon. http://theconversation.com/profiles/cecilia-gaposchkin-200146 http://theconversation.com/here-are-some-more-reasons-why-liberal-arts-matter-49638 https://ideas.ted.com/how-cultures-around-the-world-make-decisions/ http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_journal_law_policy/vol30/iss1/12 http://www.rizoma-freireano.org/editorial-introduction-22 https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1112&context=law_journal_law_policy https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1112&context=law_journal_law_policy journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 etherington, m., the challenge with educational transformation: rethinking the mission to educate in an era of change, progress and uncertainty 112 shils, e. (1981). tradition. chicago: university of chicago press. thielman, g. (2015). “the liberal arts are dead; long live stem”. retrieved from http://thefederalist.com/2015/06/02/the-liberal-arts-are-dead-long-live-stem/ van brummelen, h. (2007). reconciliation, constructivism, and ecological sustainability: a review essay. journal of education & christian belief, 11(1), 63–71. https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca:2420/10.1177/205699710701100107 verbrugge, r . r., & mccarrell, n . s . (1977). metaphoric comprehension: studies in reminding and resembling. cognitive psychology, 9(4):494-533, doi: 10.1016/0010-0285(77)90018-4. http://thefederalist.com/2015/06/02/the-liberal-arts-are-dead-long-live-stem/ https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca:2420/10.1177/205699710701100107 https://www.researchgate.net/journal/0010-0285_cognitive_psychology http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(77)90018-4 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 61 defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education yasmin snounu* eastern michigan university *corresponding author: yasminsnounu@fulbrightmail.org received : 2019-10-02 revision: : 2019-11-18 accepted : 2019-11-28 how to cite this paper: snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education. journal of culture and values in education, 2(3), 61-78. abstract through a mode of critical ethnography, this article analyzes disability in palestine and the experiences and practices of professors and administrators on accommodating disabled students in palestinian institutions of higher education. i discuss disability in palestine within the context of what i as the researcher call “segregated/exclusionary democracy.” the term “segregated/exclusionary democracy” refers to the political bonds between israel and the united states of america that often lead to exclusion of the indigenous palestinian community from the rights and privileges of civil government and from participation as members of a nation in the affairs of the world. segregated/exclusionary democracy and its consequences on disability in palestine are the context in which the experiences of the palestinian faculty and administrators are analyzed. using critical disability studies while also drawing from elements of teacher development theories, this paper identifies transformational ways of thinking about disability in which palestinian educators defy exclusionary democracy through promoting/adopting inclusive pedagogical practices toward accommodating disabled students in higher education. keywords: segregated/exclusionary democracy, palestinian higher education institutions, disability, pedagogical advocacy introduction this critical ethnography discusses how macro factors, the israeli apartheid, and the support israel receives from the united states of america contribute to maiming the indigenous palestinians. this ethnography also elaborates ways in which palestinian higher education defies exclusionary democracy through inclusion. disability in palestine is intertwined with local and international political factors. locally, the israeli occupation maintains practices of maiming palestinians through the israeli military policy of targeted shooting of the heads, spine, and legs of protestors and deliberately harming unarmed palestinians (jaffee, 2016). puar (2015) described this as shoot to kill and shoot to maim, which is part of the israeli exercise of political power and domination. internationally, on the other hand, the u.s., as a core country with the journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 62 largest capitalist system and one of the most powerful global economies in the world, has overwhelmingly supported israel and its practices against the indigenous palestinians. and “because of the dishonest brokering of the u.s. and europe’s impotence in international affairs, israel continues to enjoy immunity in this process” (chomsky & pappé, 2015, p. 38). the relationship between israel and the united states has led to social injustice and exploitation of indigenous palestinian resources while simultaneously enhancing privileges for israelis. such a political relationship creates a new form of colonialism in which peace agreements between israel and palestine keep palestinians dependent on israel (chomsky & pappé, 2015). this constitutes the context in which i examine disability in palestine in general and in palestinian higher education in particular. this article seeks to advance the field of disability studies through examining the political implications of disability in palestine. most importantly, the article highlights values of what price (2011) called ethics of care, which palestinian academics in higher education practice through pedagogical considerations. practices of accommodation and pedagogical inclusion in palestinian higher education are ways to challenge the current populist american-israeli relationships and the direct israeli policies that constantly target palestinian bodies. first, this paper discusses the ways in which the political relationship between the u.s. and israel result in segregated/exclusionary democracy and lead to social injustice for the palestinians living in gaza and the west bank (internationally recognized together as the state of palestine). the study also provides a brief history of disability in higher education and disability laws in palestine. second, through palestinian academic voices, this study highlights the consequences of such segregated/exclusionary democracy on disability in palestine. third, it describes how faculty and administrators find ways to support their disabled students in higher education as a means of resilience in the face of segregated/exclusionary democracy. research questions this study examines the following questions:  what are the macro political factors affecting disability in palestine (mainly gaza and the west bank)?  what is the role of higher education in promoting negative/positive perceptions of disabled students and in accommodating them?  what are possible pedagogical practices toward achieving an inclusive educational environment in higher education? the study findings show that israel continues to maim the palestinians with the support of the supposedly democratic u.s. although u.s. foreign policies contribute to maiming the palestinians by providing israel military funds and weapons, the study identifies transformational pedagogical practices which academics in palestinian higher education use to accommodate disabled students. through this resilience in supporting students with disabilities, they defy the segregated/exclusionary democracy of the u.s. and israel. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 63 segregated/exclusionary democracy: the u.s., israel, and palestine in the last few years, there have been debates on what democracy looks like in the u.s. under the administration of donald trump. in reference to the economic intelligence unit’s (eiu) democracy index, the u.s. is no longer a full democracy (yakabuski, 2019). yakabuski maintains that the eiu categorized democracy in the u.s. as “flawed” (para. 1), especially since donald trump’s tantrum over the refusal of democrats in congress to approve funds for building a wall at the american-mexican border. yakabuski further argues that americans have lost their trust in the current democracy. the flaws of american democracy exist not only internally through inequalities within the u.s. such as racism and mass incarceration, but also tend to inflict injustices on other nations through u.s. foreign policies, such as those applying to palestine. here, i contend that american democracy is a segregated/exclusionary democracy because its foreign policy contributes massively to preventing palestinians from attaining their right to selfdetermination and from participating as members of a nation on the world stage. the influence of american foreign policy has powerful effects because of the u.s. position as a core country in the world system. i argue that u.s. foreign policy decisions contribute to the maiming of both the bodies of palestinians and palestinian geography. there are myriad examples of enormous support to israel from the u.s. the most recent examples are the u.s.’s unilateral decision and declaration in late 2017 of jerusalem as the state capital of israel (jakes & halbfinger, 2019) and secretary of state mike pompeo’s announcement in november 2019 that the u.s. does not consider israeli settlements in the west bank to be a violation of international law (jakes & halbfinger, 2019). another example is the 2019 u.s. senate bill that included providing israel a $38 billion aid package as part of combating the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (bds) against israel (wier, 2019). in fact, american administrations have promoted the zionist project as early as 1887, when president grover cleveland appointed a jewish ambassador to turkey because of “palestine’s importance to zionists” (weir, 2014, p. 5). for years, american military aid to israel has been calculated at approximately $10.5 million per day, while the u.s. provides zero dollars in military aid to palestine (if americans knew, n.d.). furthermore, multiple forms of apartheid policies against the indigenous palestinians have been identified. collins (2008) elucidated that israel has colonized gaza through its technologydriven military to maintain control using drones and the siege imposed since 2006. israel has also promoted building an apartheid wall (bennis, 2009; carter, 2006); the wall is now built on 50 percent of the west bank (bennis, 2009; horowitz, ratner, & weiss, 2011). israeli justification of the forms of control they impose on the palestinians include, but are not limited to, “self-defense” and “protecting themselves” from the palestinians. in that regard, chomsky and pappé (2015) identified israel as a settler-colonial society. as carter (2006) and bennis (2009) have pointed out, the oslo agreement, which was signed between the israelis and the palestinians under american mediation, gave very little power to the palestinian authority (pa), thus establishing a new form of control by giving israel more freedom to establish complete jurisdiction over gaza and the west bank. thus, the oslo agreement gave the israeli army more journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 64 freedom to exercise hegemony within the occupied palestinian territories (carter, 2006), which places peripheral palestine at the mercy of both semi-peripheral israel and the core u.s. segregated/exclusionary democracy is further manifested and represented by an ideology of western superiority over the east, which has created a system of knowledge full of stereotypes and misrepresentations about the middle east (said, 1979). ethnocentric european ideas of the east as backward and uncivilized comprised the foundation of american political and economic policies in the middle east and led as well to inaccurate and incomplete understandings of the middle east (said, 1979). the west has viewed the east in a way that distorts the actual realities of the east and eastern culture to make the people of the arab region look threatening and to suggest that the only way to deal with them is through violence (said, 1979). all of this distortion is manifested through inaccurate descriptions in art and other fields to show the east, and arabs in particular, as barbaric, ignorant terrorists, creating an “other” (said, 1979). the foreign policy of the u.s. perpetuates this “othering” by asserting political differences between israelis and palestinians, keeping palestine as a nation in the periphery. said (1979) argues that western christian-judaic ideologies that consider islam, the east, and arab countries the enemy are a result of the west’s producing false and inaccurate knowledge. such false representations are created through fabricating images of arabs (shaheen, 2003), thus producing misrepresentations and stereotypes of the east. for example, american textbooks often indicate a negative image of arabs. as wingfield and bucher (1995) described it, the textbooks show “an over-portrayal of deserts, camels and nomads in the chapter on the middle east” (p. 5), images that are threatening to the west. shaheen (2003) and yin (2010) conclude that arabs and muslims in the american media and hollywood are vilified and depicted as subhuman. similarly, when palestinians resist the israeli colonizer, they are described as terrorists, while israeli violence against them is ignored or justified as simple law enforcement. such distorted, internalized knowledge is highly politicized and motivated by the american relationship with israel, and that information is used to legitimize and retain the systemic relation between the two states (said, 1979). such a relationship contributes to increase the number of disabled palestinians maimed by the israeli army, which uses american money and american-made weapons. since the palestinian authority started governing gaza and the west bank around 1993, it has attempted to counteract israeli damage by using laws and education to address disability. a brief history of disability and higher education in palestine in light of the political situation in palestine, the most important palestinian disability law, on the right of the disabled act (rda), was enacted in 1999 under the leadership of then-president yasser arafat. it stipulated that persons with disabilities must be provided with an equal opportunity for enrollment in schools and universities, and they should be provided with all necessary pedagogic means and facilities (arafat, 1999; the disability rights education and defense fund, n.d.). the rda was followed by the establishment of a department for disabled people under the responsibility and supervision of the ministry of social affairs (amro, 2001). although the rda guarantees rights and entitlements for disabled people, particularly in education, palestinians with disabilities have never had the basic rights of living (e.g., access to journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 65 food, water, electricity, etc.). this is because the palestinian authority (pa) has continuously experienced political turbulence, including american government threats to cut off american humanitarian assistance to the palestinian people, internal division between the palestinians, and the israeli army’s continual massive attacks on gaza that make it almost impossible to implement the rda (diakonia, 2015; world health organization, 2013). consequently, the pa cannot offer more than 20 percent of necessary services to disabled people (amro, 2001). despite the unstable political situation, the pa—the recognized government of palestine— remains focused on improving living conditions for disabled people in palestine, especially because they are twice as vulnerable as those with no disabilities (amro, 2001). in 2004, the rda was revised by the palestinian legislative council (qure’a, 2004). the rda stipulated that the ministry of education and higher education must provide an environment in schools, colleges, and universities that is appropriate for the needs of persons with disabilities. this can be done through modifications and accommodations including elevators, technological equipment, accessible restrooms, and fields and sports rooms appropriate for the mobility of people with disabilities (qure’a, 2004). nevertheless, implementing the rda and its executive procedures of 2004 remains difficult in higher education due to the political and financial obstacles. many higher education institutions have been working to support and include disabled students. birzeit university, in the west bank, started accelerating efforts to support students with disabilities to combat cultural attitudes that accept current conditions and to ensure inclusion for these students. for instance, birzeit university’s committee for students with disabilities was founded in 2008 as a student organization advocating for an inclusive environment for students with disabilities. this organization is now providing tools and assistive technology and is working to renovate university buildings by making them accessible through installing more ramps and elevators (birzeit university, 2015). methods this paper relies on critical ethnography for its methodology. critical ethnography is orientational research that is launched with clear and explicit “ideological frameworks” (glesne, 2006, p. 16). the purpose of critical ethnography, as glesne (2006) explained it, is to reveal “unexamined assumptions and the ways in which people may be accepting explanations of the dominant cultural group that serve to oppress those without power” (p. 16). hence, my understanding of experiences and practices of palestinian faculty and administrators in higher education is derived from semi-structured interviews, observations, field notes, and pictures taken between october 2015 and december 2015, and september and december 2017. the two stages were approved by the institutional review board (irb) of eastern michigan university. in analyzing data and translating the arabic interviews, i made translation decisions about the meanings of the arabic transcriptions and adhered mainly to literal translation of the original arabic verbatim texts. it is important to elaborate on my translation procedure, which was critical to the meaning and analysis of data in this study. in order for me as a researcher to grasp a deep understanding of my data, i chose to transcribe and translate myself, and i journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 66 confidently used my extensive experience in translation to work on translating the data of this research. i also printed out all the transcriptions in both arabic and english and used the hard copies to compare translations and identify themes using color coding. subjectivity self-reflexivity (peshkin, 1998; watt, 2007) has been an integral part of this research. knowing where i stand politically influenced the process of this research. born and raised in gaza until the age of 23, i experienced living under israeli occupation as a palestinian. this experience and identity allowed me to connect with the palestinians in this study. for instance, because i am palestinian, i had easy access to participants who share the same identity and who have similar experiences under the israeli occupation. even though i never lived in the west bank, participants there were thrilled to be part of my study; they all continually affirmed how important it is to study disability in palestine because of the increasing numbers of palestinians with disabilities, as well as lack of support on the medical, economic, labor, and social levels. they often expressed how proud they were to meet a palestinian working on a ph.d. palestinians have always invested in education, especially after losing their indigenous land. palestinian families often encourage their children to become educated because we consider it a tool of resistance. this is one reason my participants were happy to be part of my study. the second reason is the topic of the study: many of them were excited that my research is focused on disability, as they explained to me that it would contribute to the field because there is a lot to be improved for palestinians with disabilities. for these two reasons, i had easy access to academic personnel despite difficulty reaching the locations of these universities due to high demand for local transportation. in addition, meeting all participants of this study, interacting with them, and observing them on a daily basis was an eye-opening experience for me, especially in an area of palestine where i have never lived. i came to learn about my fellow palestinians in the west bank. i had thought that we, in gaza, suffered more than palestinians in the west bank. nevertheless, spending four months in ramallah in the west bank allowed me to witness that the suffering of the palestinians in the west bank due to the israeli occupation was as severe as in gaza, but in different forms. in gaza, israel imposes siege where palestinians are not allowed to move freely or travel, the levels of poverty and unemployment increase constantly, and more civilians are killed or maimed through periodic, extensive bombing on gaza. on the other hand, i had never before experienced the agony of the apartheid israeli practices in the west bank, manifested in the wall that cuts the west bank cities into small cantons with checkpoints between the cities where palestinians in the west bank often need permits from israel to cross from one city to another. despite that, resilience is yet pervasive in the efforts of palestinian educators. they create ways to establish inclusive environments, as will be presented in the next sections. in this study, i alternate between the terms “disabled” and “persons with disability.” this is to emphasize, after having interacted with participants, diversity and different ways disabled individuals asserted their choices and identity. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 67 participants i interviewed and observed a total of 15 college faculty members and administrators in gaza and the west bank. interviews were done in two stages. the first stage was between october and december, 2015; the second stage was between september and december, 2017. observations took place at the university of eastern palestine and the university of western palestine in the west bank. (all names used in this study, with the exception of those of public figures to whom i refer, are pseudonyms to protect the identities of participants and institutions.) during this time, i observed 15 class sessions, taking notes and pictures, over a time period ranging from one hour to an hour and a half. i also observed 10 workshops, educational sessions, meetings, and ceremonies relevant to students with disabilities on these campuses, e.g., sign language training. table 1 provides details and characteristics about the study participants. table 1: participant titles and affiliations name title affiliation dr. adel professor and head of architectural engineering department the university of western palestine dr. adham professor of linguistics the university of western palestine amany lab assistant and supervisor at lab for blind students the university of eastern palestine dr. fadel professor of philosophy and cultural studies the university of western palestine dr. fadwa professor of sociology the university of eastern palestine hatem director at service center for students with disability southern university of gaza majed director of student affairs the university of eastern palestine dr. niveen psychological counselor, academic advisor, and part-time instructor the university of western palestine raeda social worker/counselor and part-time instructor the university of western palestine rana assistant officer working with students with disabilities the university of western palestine dr. said dean of student affairs the university of eastern palestine dr. shaban professor of sociology and social work the university of eastern palestine shadi acting director of committee for disabled students the university of western palestine dr. suhail professor of information technology the university of eastern palestine tala sign language interpreter assistant the university of eastern palestine results and discussion some of the themes derived from the data highlight that participants repeatedly made reference to u.s. and israeli practices. data gathered identified the following themes: journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 68 1. intentional maiming of palestinians as an exclusionary israeli practice 2. progressive pedagogical practices in palestinian higher education subthemes also emerged under the second theme as follows: a. accommodation, support, and expectations b. pedagogical advocacy practices c. faculty’s involvement in advocacy for the community themes describe in detail how israel maims palestinians and the practices against palestinians that impede them from self-determination, all of which contradicts the principles of democracy. in addition, participants also discussed their progressive approaches in higher education to resist such segregation practices that cause palestinians harm and physical disabilities. intentional maiming of palestinians as an exclusionary israeli practice due to the empowerment and support that the u.s. grants to israel, the crimes of the israeli occupation make the percentage of people with disabilities in palestine among the highest in the world (abu fedala, 2009; amro, 2001). for instance, according to the palestinian ministry of social development, 49,000 individuals have some type of disability in gaza (united nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs [ocha], 2017). the continuous killing and maiming of palestinians occur on a daily basis, as my participants explained. dr. fadwa, for instance, describing the daily life of palestinians, claimed that “anyone may receive a bullet [from israelis] any time.” the israeli army often targets specific parts of the body when shooting at palestinians (abu fedala, 2009). majed described that “most of the physical disabilities are caused by the [israeli] occupation.” dr. niveen added that “the bullets used are internationally prohibited, the type of bullet that smashes the bones, so bones can never heal.” shadi also explained that “the occupation tries to focus on causing a disability if it does not want to kill. most of the injuries . . . are focused on causing disabilities in the leg, in the spinal region, meaning injuries that will create physical disabilities.” these examples given by study participants illustrate what medical personnel in both gaza and the west bank describe as a notable “shoot to cripple” phenomenon (puar, 2015, p. 3). this phenomenon reflects what smith (2005) referred to, discussing ghettoizing people with intellectual disabilities, as “normalized culture” built on “otherizing” (p. 89). identically, israel created itself as a jewish state, while othering/otherizing indigenous palestinians; israel here reflects “a normative ideology,” a term smith (2005) used to describe white supremacy in creating taxonomies that consider whites to be superior and persons with intellectual disabilities to be inferior. israel in that sense falls into a normative ideology that produces behaviors of prejudice, discrimination, and exclusion. behaviors, whether by the israeli army or israeli settlers, are mainly represented in attacking and shooting palestinians to kill and to cripple, as a daily practice. besides the daily israeli attacks on palestinians, several extensive military operations against the palestinians have increased the numbers of palestinians with mobility, visual, and/or journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 69 hearing disabilities. for instance, during the first intifada (uprising) in 1987, 80,000 palestinians were injured, and 15,000 of them were left with permanent disabilities (amro, 2001). as for the second intifada in 2000, 23,336 palestinians were shot by the israeli army, resulting in thousands with physical disabilities (abu fedala, 2009; diakonia, 2015). participants also spoke about the policy of breaking bones (amro, 2001) to deter palestinians from protesting during the first intifada; as shadi pointed out, “breaking bones is practically part of the [israeli] colonizer’s policies.” the practice of torturing those who protest and breaking their bones perpetuates incursive control and power relations between the israelis and palestinians. here, critical disability studies (cds) explore social meanings and power hierarchies in connection with systems of oppression and exclusion (siebers, 2008). from a cds perspective, the israeli practices create and reproduce social meanings related to their race as god’s chosen people (newcomb, 2008), referring back to abraham's race (newcomb, 2008), and thus excluding the palestinians who are punished by breaking their bones or shooting them to inflict physical disability or to kill them if they resist the colonizing power and its domination. moreover, the participants also described other extensive bombings on gaza. dr. said, for example, referred to the extensive attack on gaza that occurred in late 2008 and early 2009 as “the barbaric bombing that hit even schools.” during that attack, the israeli army killed around 1,400 palestinians using phosphorus bombs, which caused physical disabilities in thousands of other individuals suffering internal phosphorus burns and “focused lethality ammunition” (horowitz et al., 2011, p. 144). the united nations development programme’s (undp) assistance to the palestinian people and the applied research institute-jerusalem (2014) confirmed that during that attack in late 2008, 9,986 were injured, mostly women and children. in 2014, israel launched another massive 50-day attack on gaza, which killed 2,145 and injured over 11,000 palestinians (undp’s programme of assistance to the palestinian people & fayyad, 2014). similarly, jaffee (2016) stated that israel imposes a blockade and prevents palestinians from accessing health care while it maintains practices of paralyzing palestinians as an israeli military policy, targeting the heads and legs of protestors, and deliberately harming unarmed palestinians. these behaviors show the inhumane discursive practices of domination, while the large-scale destruction israel inflicts on the bodies of palestinians and the palestinian infrastructure prevents local and international healthcare providers from addressing the needs of palestinians (puar, 2015). the numbers of palestinians who are maimed by israel increases daily. participants such as dr. niveen, shadi, dr. fadwa, tala, dr. fadel, dr. shaban, and dr. adham shared stories of palestinians maimed or killed at the israeli checkpoints while heading to the university or while at home. tala indicated she has “a student who was shot in his eye from the occupation. he lost his sight.” dr. shaban also pointed out that the israeli army in his village in jerusalem “stops students [heading to school] and restrains them, makes them step down from the bus, attacks them, and assaults them.” these practices also apply to gaza but take different forms. on march 30, 2018, thousands of palestinians in gaza demonstrated during land day at the “israeli” gazan borders, and in one day, israel killed 16 unarmed palestinians, injured more than 1,500, and caused over 100 to lose their legs due to lack of medical support (cunningham & balousha, 2018). the united nations-ocha (2018) indicated that “between 30 march and 31 july 2018, journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 70 164 palestinians were killed and over 17,000 injured by israeli forces” (p. 1). according to the united nations news (2019), top united nations officials warned that hundreds of peaceful protestors are at risk of limb amputation due to lack of medical services and the siege israel imposes on gaza. such practices are not accidental or collateral damage, as the american and western media often claim. rather, the practices are the essence of the discriminatory and prejudiced culture of colonizing israelis. on the other hand, collins (2008) illustrated how the israeli application of force, intimidation by the israeli army, and control of all aspects of life restrict and confine palestinians’ lives; israel tightens its control over palestine, over gaza in particular, through technology-driven methods such as surveillance, bombing, assassination, and using satellite-guided weapons. all of these practices debilitate the lives of millions of palestinians. in addition, there are myriads of examples of israeli atrocities, such as burning alive a palestinian child in jerusalem and slaying whole families in gaza (pappé, 2014), all of which are “still publicly licensed and approved by the president of the united states, the leaders of the european union and israel’s other friends in the world” (pappé, 2014, para. 4). the israeli’s systematic oppressive practices in maiming the indigenous palestinians are part of a colonizer’s agenda supported by the west. the intentional maiming of palestinians is a result of a “normalized” system that positions palestinians as inferior and worthy of harm and exclusion. such a system relies on discourse about “self-defense” and “states’ rights” in order to segregate and maintain an ideology of superiority. the indigenous palestinian population living in gaza and the west bank have been enduring fatal implications of segregated/exclusionary democracy; the u.s. and state of israel claim to take pride in their alleged “democratic political systems,” yet their actions translate principles of segregation, injustice, and oppression. nevertheless, palestinian higher education plays a crucial role in challenging such segregated/exclusionary dynamics through progressive pedagogical practices of inclusion. progressive pedagogical practices in palestinian higher education palestinian faculty consider supporting disabled students as part of their national duty towards their occupied country. dr. fadwa asserted her service commitment: “i consider my belonging to the palestinian human community as a type of resistance and fight . . . . my role makes me responsible to be with the society, and not hide from problems.” disability is an equally revolutionary experience for palestinians, which means that fighting for disabled palestinians is considered a way to resist the israeli occupation that causes these disabilities. all professors and administrators highlighted how they accommodate disabled students despite the absence of any specific mandates or codes from the university. academics promote the pedagogical practices they adapt in their classrooms in an attempt to advocate for disabled individuals and to support resistance of the israeli occupation. in addition, participants demonstrated a sense of care through their commitment to advocate for disabled individuals not only on campus, but also off campus, through being involved with the community. accommodation, support, and expectations journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 71 faculty and administrators in palestine demonstrated a willingness to accommodate disabled students without a letter of accommodation. they all demonstrated a high level of taking initiatives towards accommodating disabled students. they all provided several examples of actions they have taken to accommodate and make sure students know that they would accommodate any needs. the palestinian professors not only accommodate disabled students, but they also extend support to them in many ways while still communicating high expectations. accommodating students without a letter of accommodation is a norm among professors in the palestinian universities. the examples vary. dr. fadel allows blind students to bring someone to write for them; he once said to a student: “i have full trust in you; you can bring anyone; i do not have any problem.” professors not only accommodate disabled students on campus, but they are also willing to extend accommodation off campus based on the circumstances. for instance, in the case of the student with bullous erythroderma, “professors go to her house to give her exams,” raeda stated. similarly, professor fadwa went to the hospital many times to give exams to her students who had been shot by the israelis. dr. adel insisted that there is “an ethical code” among professors in his engineering department that they do not even discuss accommodations; they provide them to students without any concerns. from a teacher development perspective, the practices of the palestinian professors show what bowers (1993) indicated as the teachers’ consciousness of complexities of a reality. the palestinian professors are conscious of the political situation that debilitates the palestinians to the extent that, in any moment, one of their students may become disabled. they are conscious, and they act upon that consciousness. as a result, they adhere to the emotional aspect of their job as educators, as teaching is a job that has been described by sociologists as “emotional labor” (price, 2011, p. 46). to care for students, especially those with disabilities, is considered an emotional turn in academic discourse. at the same time, all professors held high expectations for disabled students. dr. adham insisted that he is “against exempting disabled students from anything,” which indicates that faculty maintain a positive attitude and respect towards students with disabilities and their capabilities to succeed and excel like others. drago-severson (2009) suggests that clear expectations should be identified so mutual respect and trust are built and understanding is shared. in fact, many participants in the study argued that maintaining high expectations helps disabled students have high self-esteem and work hard. rana, for instance, mentioned a disabled student in the architecture major who wanted professors to pass him even though he was not able to pass. university personnel kept encouraging him until he changed majors to study languages, and he is now on top of the honor list. thus, instead of pitying disabled students, professors promote them to achieve their full potential. maintaining clear and high expectations from faculty means not exempting disabled students from assignments or tasks. dr. said associated exempting students from their academic duties with a lack of self-esteem. he argued, “we do not exempt them because not exempting them has a positive reflection on them and how they perceive themselves.” that way, people with disabilities start rejecting pity as “the new thinking by disabled people that there is no pity or tragedy in disability, and that it is society’s myths, fears, and stereotypes that most make disabled difficult” (shapiro, 1993, p. 5). faculty members in palestinian higher education promote inclusion, equity, and academic success by being deeply conscious of the needs of their students, emotionally supporting them, journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 72 actively responding to their needs, and strongly rejecting any exemptions. instead, faculty adapts pedagogical alternatives as a way not to exempt disabled students and as a way to advocate for them. pedagogical advocacy practices the palestinian professors have been able to accommodate and advocate for disabled students due to their flexible academic practices. they would not abide by any one-way, rigid academic practice. price (2011) provides examples of one-way, rigid academic practices that eliminate those with mental disabilities, for instance, from spaces or locations, or what she rhetorically calls “kairotic spaces” (p. 60). kairos is a greek word meaning “time,” “occasion,” “opportunity,” or “right proportion,” and kairotic spaces means appropriate locations where people exchange knowledge. price (2011) explained that such spaces are challenging for people with mental disabilities and how these spaces work in academia to exclude other ways of “making sense.” price (2011) urged educators to adopt a universal design that must be accessible to all learning styles, different personalities, and abilities, a design that should always be under revision. dr. adel provides an example of universal design by urging students with hearing impairments to pull up a chair and sit next to him. dr. adel’s practices are parallel to what price (2011) called for as “a way to move” (p. 87) in redesigning the kairotic space of the classroom. the pedagogical practices are also evident when palestinian professors come up with alternatives in their pedagogy to create an inclusive environment and equal opportunities for their disabled students. professors do that in different ways, whether by changing the format of tests or formats of test questions from an essay question to multiple choice for those who cannot write, as rana explained, or watching and listening to a documentary instead of reading a book that is not available in braille, as dr. fadel does. from a teacher development standpoint, it seems that the palestinian faculty are immersed in what drago-severson (2009) described as a transformational learning process, where they are able to adjust and adopt alternative pedagogical practices. the approaches of the palestinian faculty also reflect the transformational ways of knowing that howard (2006) suggested as an attempt to embrace diversity in the classrooms: knowing my practices, knowing myself, and knowing my students. when applying this model to accommodating students with disabilities, knowing my practices enables professors to examine their curriculum, pedagogy, instructional design, history, and human relations and check if they are inclusive. knowing myself enables educators to question their assumptions, and knowing my students enables faculty to relate to their students through knowing their students’ backgrounds, cultures, and social and economic situations. as a result, immersion in different ways of knowing helps educators question labeling and ableism. all of this is in practice by the palestinian faculty, and thus they trust, care for, and include their students instead of judging them. furthermore, faculty discussed in detail how they raise the topic of disability in the classroom and how the topic of disability is part of the course content. for example, dr. adel always urges his students to think about disabled individuals when designing a building. the first question he journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 73 asks his students is “where is the ramp?” he lectures his students: “just like you assume there is someone who can take the stairs, you want to know that someone else needs to take the ramp.” professor fadwa also raises questions on disability such as the location of the palestinian disability union and what radio stations focus on disability. all of these practices contribute to avoiding what is culturally taken for granted and to making appropriate teaching decisions, according to bowers (1993). in that regard, teachers and faculty can make a change through their course content, which will help students learn to consider any minority groups who are being devalued; disability is one of these groups (bowers, 1993), as palestinian academics demonstrate through their inclusive pedagogical practices. faculty’s involvement in advocacy in the community the support and advocacy the palestinian faculty demonstrated in this study was not only a result of their awareness of the israeli colonizer that debilitates the palestinian body and infrastructure, but also a result of their involvement with community work on disability. dr. shaban, for example, explained how he helped secure a wheelchair for a young man in his village and, most importantly, how crucial it was to help provide a wheelchair. socially, the young man with a disability was now able to be included, as dr. shaban indicated: “he [the young man with disability] went to every street with the wheelchair. you here realize the need for this person to access places and to build social relationships with others.” faculty and administrators in the palestinian universities in this study were socially involved in disability matters, so their perceptions on disability focused on the social aspect rather the medical. differing from the medical model, the social model of disability “shifted the power to define disability from church and hospital to society and from individual bodies to social mechanisms” (davis, 2015, p. 228; loewen & pollard, 2010). this model acknowledges that disability was generated by society through placing barriers and lack of accommodation. in the case of the palestinian community, the israeli occupation has placed barriers by maiming palestinians and building the apartheid wall and checkpoints between the cities, as well as placing restrictions on equipment and medicine entering palestine. nevertheless, albeit surprisingly under the continuous challenges of the political circumstances, “disability in the palestinian context has become a promising arena for educational inclusion (crabtree & williams, 2011, p. 151), through using inclusive educational approaches participants shared in this study. in addition, the palestinian faculty support their disabled students in every possible way on campus or off campus by encouraging them to lead activities, funding these activities from their own pockets, advocating for students, validating student voices through listening to them, and addressing their issues. most importantly, faculty are also engaged in matters of disability in the community. as far as cds is concerned, palestinian institutions of higher education play an important role in shifting the idea that “suffering produces weak identities” (siebers, 2008, p. 14). that misunderstanding of disability reinforces the ideology of ability, and the shift away from it demonstrates that “disability is not a pathological condition, only analyzable via individual psychology, but a social location complexly embodied” (p. 14). journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 74 in this study, university personnel in palestinian institutions of higher education are immersed in what drago-severson (2009) calls a transformational learning process, embedded in pedagogical alternatives in the classrooms that accommodate and fit the needs of disabled students. many of the faculty members who participated in his research would go to their disabled students’ homes or hospitals and rehabilitation centers to give exams or accommodate their needs without accommodation letters from the student affairs office. the palestinian faculty in this study care about all their students. teaching is a job that has been described by sociologists as “emotional labor” (price, 2011, p. 46); the palestinian faculty relate to their disabled students by encouraging them to speak up, giving them time out of their office hours, and listening to them. the palestinian faculty’s practices demonstrate a high level of “ethics of care” (p. 47). conclusion the findings of this ethnographic study show that when examining disability in palestine, it is crucial to consider the macro factors of the israeli occupation and the international relationships between the countries involved in palestine. such relations are root causes for dominant and exclusionary practices against the palestinians and continue to debilitate palestinian life, increase physical disabilities among the palestinians, and ghettoize palestinian bodies and territory. israel and the u.s., while claiming to be democracies that include all voices, segregate the palestinians and deprive them of their rights of self-determination. the study also concluded, through the participants’ voices, that a segregated/exclusionary democracy is manifested through practices of maiming palestinians as an israeli military policy, which targets the heads, legs, and spines of protestors and deliberately harms unarmed palestinians (puar, 2015). through such oppressive practices, israel attempts to subdue palestinians’ resistance to eliminate a culture and erase a nation (jaffee, 2016). another theme that emerged in this study is the reaction of faculty and administrators to the segregation and exclusion imposed on the palestinians, via forming what smith (2015) called a circle of support for disabled students and individuals. circles of support are demonstrated through the extensive accommodation that palestinian professors provide, which they consider an “ethical code” in academia, according to dr. adel. faculty members in the institutions of this study do not dispute providing accommodations of any kind for disabled students. the palestinian faculty and administrators also support disabled students on campus in many forms, through discussing disability topics in class, supporting disabled students financially from faculty’s own funds as dr. shaban and dr. fadwa have been doing, conducting training for disabled students, and providing pedagogical alternatives while at the same time maintaining high expectations. palestinian higher education is informed by maul and singer’s (2009) suggestion of “moving from the tragedy metaphor to resiliency theory” (p. 155). the work of transforming the current discourses on disability in palestine is led mainly by institutions of higher education. this study reveals their role in raising awareness of disability and in decreasing stigma and ableism against disabled students and individuals. in this study, palestinian institutions of higher education journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 75 manifest what smith (2018) calls “alternative representations of the lives of disabled people” (p. 27). for example, while faculty and administrators discussed the challenges disabled students face under the israeli occupation, they also described disabled students as students with high potential for success. finally, although the u.s. supplies israel with the means to maim the palestinians, the palestinians still offer a resilient model for addressing disability. in this study, the questions are still emerging; the arena of disability in palestine is still open for additional exploration. the most significant aspect in this study, and in any study exploring disability, is the complexity of the phenomenon, which cannot be ignored. the political factors that deepen debilitation, stereotypes, exclusion, and segregation, exacerbated by countries and systems that claim to be “democracies” such as israel and the u.s, must not be ignored. acknowledgment the author appreciates the editing services that laura kovick, who works at the university writing center at eastern michigan university, provided, and the editing support dr. edward morin provided as well. the author also gratefully acknowledges the support provided by dr. michael sayler, dean of the college of education at eastern michigan university. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 76 references abu fedala, a. (2009). general study on the reality of persons with disabilities in the palestinian society: goals and expectations. the ministry of social affairs website: http://www.mosa.pna.ps/ amro, z. (2001). report of the rights of those in special needs in the current legislative laws in palestine. series of legal reports number 25, published by the palestinian independent commission for human rights, ramallah. retrieved from http://ichr.ps/ar/1/10#2001 arafat, y. (1999). law no. (4) for the year 1999: on the rights of the disabled. retrieved from https://dredf.org/legal-advocacy/international-disability-rights/internationallaws/palestinian-territory-law-on-the-rights-of-the-disabled/ bennis, p. (2009). understanding the palestinian-israeli conflict: a premier. olive branch press. birzeit university. (2011). bzu center for development sbzu for development studies announces results of disabled persons studies: news. retrieved from https://www.birzeit.edu/en/news/bzu-center-development-sbzu-center-developmentstudies-announces-results-disabled-persons birzeit university. (2015). students with special needs find place at birzeit university, along with more plans for integration. retrieved from http://www.birzeit.edu/en/news/studentsspecial-needs-find-place-birzeit-university-along-more-plans-integration bowers, c. a. (1993). education, cultural myths, and the ecological crisis: towards deep changes. new york, ny: state university of new york press. carter, j. (2006). palestine: peace not apartheid. avon, ma: simon & schuster. chomsky, n., & pappé, i. (2015). on palestine. chicago, il: haymarket books. christina, r., mehran, g., & mir, s. (2003). education in the middle east: challenges and opportunities. in r. f. arnove & c. a. torres (eds.), comparative education: the dialectic of the global and the local (pp. 357-383). lanham, ma: rowman & littlefield. collins, j. (2008). confinement under an open sky: following the speed trap from guernica to gaza and beyond. globalizations, 5(4), 555-569. crabtree, s. a., & williams, r. (2011). ethical implications for research into inclusive education in arab societies: reflections on the politicization of the personalized research experience. international social work, 56(2), 148-161. cunningham, e., & balousha, h. (2018, april 28). blasted limbs, broken dreams: israeli gunfire is taking a severe toll on the lower limbs of palestinian protestors. the washington post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/04/28/feature/scores-ofpalestinians-have-been-shot-in-their-legs-and-some-faceamputation/?utm_term=.2745746d1b92 davis, l. (2015). enabling acts: the hidden story of how the americans with disabilities act gave the largest us minority its rights. boston, ma: beacon press. diakonia. (2015). disability rights programme. retrieved from http://www.diakonia.se/en/where-we-work/middle-eastnorth-africa/disability-rightsprogramme/ disability rights education and defense fund. (n.d.). palestinian territory: law on the rights of the disabled. retrieved from http://dredf.org/legal-advocacy/international-disabilityrights/international-laws/palestinian-territory-law-on-the-rights-of-the-disabled/ http://ichr.ps/ar/1/10#2001 https://dredf.org/legal-advocacy/international-disability-rights/international-laws/palestinian-territory-law-on-the-rights-of-the-disabled/ https://dredf.org/legal-advocacy/international-disability-rights/international-laws/palestinian-territory-law-on-the-rights-of-the-disabled/ https://www.birzeit.edu/en/news/bzu-center-development-sbzu-center-development-studies-announces-results-disabled-persons https://www.birzeit.edu/en/news/bzu-center-development-sbzu-center-development-studies-announces-results-disabled-persons http://www.birzeit.edu/en/news/students-special-needs-find-place-birzeit-university-along-more-plans-integration http://www.birzeit.edu/en/news/students-special-needs-find-place-birzeit-university-along-more-plans-integration https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/04/28/feature/scores-of-palestinians-have-been-shot-in-their-legs-and-some-face-amputation/?utm_term=.2745746d1b92 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/04/28/feature/scores-of-palestinians-have-been-shot-in-their-legs-and-some-face-amputation/?utm_term=.2745746d1b92 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/04/28/feature/scores-of-palestinians-have-been-shot-in-their-legs-and-some-face-amputation/?utm_term=.2745746d1b92 http://www.diakonia.se/en/where-we-work/middle-eastnorth-africa/disability-rights-programme/ http://www.diakonia.se/en/where-we-work/middle-eastnorth-africa/disability-rights-programme/ http://dredf.org/legal-advocacy/international-disability-rights/international-laws/palestinian-territory-law-on-the-rights-of-the-disabled/ http://dredf.org/legal-advocacy/international-disability-rights/international-laws/palestinian-territory-law-on-the-rights-of-the-disabled/ journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 77 drago-severson, e. (2009). leading adult learning: supporting adult development in our schools. thousand oaks, ca: corwin press. glesne, c. (2006). becoming qualitative researchers: an introduction. (3rd ed.). new york, ny: pearson education, inc. horowitz, a., ratner, l., & weiss, p. (2011). the goldstone report: the legacy of the landmark investigation of the gaza conflict. new york, ny: nation books. howard, g. r. (2006). we can’t teach what we don’t know: white teachers, multiracial schools. (2nd ed.). new york, ny: teachers college press. if americans knew. (n.d.). u.s. military aid and the israel/palestine conflict. retrieved from http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stat/usaid.html jaffee, l. j. (2016). disrupting global disability frameworks: settler-colonialism and the geopolitics of disability in palestine/israel. disability & society, 31(1), 116-130. jakes, l., & halbfinger, d. m. (2019, november). in shift, u.s. says israeli settlements in west bank do not violate international law. the new york times. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/world/middleeast/trump-israel-west-banksettlements.html levy, g. (2017, december). the israeli military first took his legs, then his life. haaretz. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/the-military-first-took-his-legs-then-his-life1.5628827 loewen, g., & pollard, w. (2010). the social justice perspective. journal of postsecondary education and disability, 23(1), 5-18. newcomb, s. t. (2008). pagans in the promised land: decoding the doctrine of christian discovery. golden, co: fulcrum. pappé, i. (2014). israel’s incremental genocide in the gaza ghetto. retrieved from https://electronicintifada.net/content/israels-incremental-genocide-gaza-ghetto/13562 pappé, i. (2018). finding the truth amid israel’s lies. retrieved from https://electronicintifada.net/content/finding-truth-amid-israels-lies/24531 peshkin, a. (1998). in search of subjectivity: one’s own. educational researcher, 17(7), 17-21. price, m. (2011). mad at school: rhetorics of mental disability and academic life. ann arbor, mi: university of michigan press. puar, j. k. (2015). the “right” to maim: disablement and inhumanist biopolitics in palestine. borderlands, 14(1), 1-27. qure’a, a. (2004). decision number (40) of the palestinian legislative council of year 2004, with executive procedures of law 1999 regarding the rights of disabled. retrieved from http://muqtafi.birzeit.edu/pg/getleg.asp?id=14620 said, e. (1979). orientalism. new york, ny: vintage books. shaheen, j. g. (2003). reel bad arabs: how hollywood vilifies a people. the annals of the american academy of political and social science, 588(1), 171-193. shapiro, j. p. (1993). no pity. new york, ny: three rivers press. siebers, t. (2008). disability theory. ann arbor, mi: university of michigan press. smith, p. (2005). off the map: a critical geography of intellectual disabilities. health & place, 11(2), 87-92. smith, p. (2015). disability and diversity: an introduction. dubuque, ia: kendall-hunt. http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stat/usaid.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/world/middleeast/trump-israel-west-bank-settlements.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/world/middleeast/trump-israel-west-bank-settlements.html https://electronicintifada.net/content/israels-incremental-genocide-gaza-ghetto/13562 http://muqtafi.birzeit.edu/pg/getleg.asp?id=14620 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 snounu, y. (2019). defying exclusionary democracy through resilience in palestinian higher education 78 smith, p. (2017). defining disability studies and its intersection with madness. disability studies quarterly, 37(3). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v37i3.5940 undp’s programme of assistance to the palestinian people, & fayyad, s. (2014). the 2014 palestine human development report: development for empowerment. retrieved from http://www.ps.undp.org/content/dam/papp/docs/publications/undp-papp-researchphdr2015.pdf united nations news. (2019, may). hundreds of wounded gaza protestors risk limb amputation without immediate help, warns top un official. retrieved from https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1038101 united nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs. (2017, september). gaza: people with disabilities disproportionately affected by the energy and salary crisis. retrieved from https://www.ochaopt.org/content/gaza-people-disabilitiesdisproportionately-affected-energy-and-salary-crisis united nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs. (2018). the humanitarian impact of restrictions on access to land near the perimeter fence in the gaza strip. retrieved from https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-impact-restrictionsaccess-land-near-perimeter-fence-gaza-strip wallerstein, i. (2004). world-systems analysis: an introduction. durham, nc: duke university press. watt, d. (2007). on becoming a qualitative researcher: the value of reflexivity. the qualitative report, 12(1), 82-101. weir, a. (2014). against our better judgment: the hidden history of how the u.s. was used to create israel. north charleston, ca: createspace independent publishing. weir, a. (2019, january 9). first senate bill of 2019 would give israel billions of dollars, combat bds. retrieved from https://israelpalestinenews.org/first-senate-bill-of-2019-would-give-israel-billions-of-dollarscombat-bds/ wingfield, m., & karaman, b. (1995). arab stereotypes and american educators. retrieved from http://www.shankerinstitute.org/ world health organization. (2013). mainstreaming the rights of people with disability in palestinian ministries. retrieved from http://www.emro.who.int/palestine-pressreleases/2012/seminar-mainstreaming-disability-rights-in-palestinian-ministries.html yakabuski, k. (2019, january). democracy in america is down, but not out. the globe and mail. retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-democracy-in-theunited-states-is-down-but-not-out/ yin, t. (2010). through a screen darkly: hollywood as a measure of discrimination against arabs and muslims. duke forum for law and social change, 2, 103. http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v37i3.5940 http://www.ps.undp.org/content/dam/papp/docs/publications/undp-papp-research-phdr2015.pdf http://www.ps.undp.org/content/dam/papp/docs/publications/undp-papp-research-phdr2015.pdf https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1038101 https://www.ochaopt.org/content/gaza-people-disabilities-disproportionately-affected-energy-and-salary-crisis https://www.ochaopt.org/content/gaza-people-disabilities-disproportionately-affected-energy-and-salary-crisis https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-impact-restrictions-access-land-near-perimeter-fence-gaza-strip https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-impact-restrictions-access-land-near-perimeter-fence-gaza-strip https://israelpalestinenews.org/first-senate-bill-of-2019-would-give-israel-billions-of-dollars-combat-bds/ https://israelpalestinenews.org/first-senate-bill-of-2019-would-give-israel-billions-of-dollars-combat-bds/ http://www.shankerinstitute.org/ http://www.emro.who.int/palestine-press-releases/2012/seminar-mainstreaming-disability-rights-in-palestinian-ministries.html http://www.emro.who.int/palestine-press-releases/2012/seminar-mainstreaming-disability-rights-in-palestinian-ministries.html https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-democracy-in-the-united-states-is-down-but-not-out/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-democracy-in-the-united-states-is-down-but-not-out/ 52 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy andrea smith1* early childhood through secondary education, university of west georgia *corresponding author: andreas@westga.edu received : 2019-nov-01 accepted : 2020-may-20 doi: 10.46303/jcve.03.01.4 how to cite this paper: smith, a. (2020). critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy. journal of culture and values in education, 3(1), 52-71. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.4 abstract teacher education programs are charged with preparing teacher candidates to successfully educate student populations that are more racially and culturally diverse than ever. however, a look at graduation rates among teacher education programs proves that the majority still produce, on average, a teaching force that is 80% white, although white students make up less than 49% the total kindergarten-12th (k-12) grade public school population (u.s. department of education, 2016). absent from the dialogue on diversity in teacher education is a discussion on how race and racism are institutionalized and maintained within such programs (sleeter, 2017). in this article, the use of critical race theory (crt) offers tools to examine the role of race and racism in teacher education. i further consider the role crt can play in the disruption of postsecondary rhetoric about teacher education programs. focus is placed on my own experiences in a teaching internship seminar course when applying the structures of crt to encourage conversations on disruptive practices that facilitate social justice in a course within a teacher preparation program. the tenets of interest convergence and permanence of racism are examined in the context of course development as pedagogical practices that disrupt normative patterns in teacher education. i conclude by envisioning how faculty in teacher education programs might address these challenges in such a way that offers suggestions derived from these tenets. keywords: critical race theory, pedagogy, teacher education, disruptors, race, racism https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.4 53 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org introduction in this article, i use a critical race theory (crt) framework as an analytic tool to examine and challenge the tensions, opportunities, and successes inherent in a teaching internship seminar course for preservice teachers as it relates to race in education. in particular, crt allowed a space for more significant analysis of the socio-historical impact of race and racism in schools and, more importantly, the students in those schools. in particular, i visit two tenets of crt, interest convergence, and permanence of racism (ladson-billings & tate, 1995), in an attempt to disrupt the normative pedagogical patterns of hegemony in teacher education. as gramsci (1971) argued, hegemony is not a top-down approach. instead, it is maintained through the compliance of subordinate groups by the dominant ones. a significant means for winning this compliance entails the universalizing of the dominant group's interests as the interests of society as a whole. thus, because schools are microcosms of the larger society, children (often those who are part of the marginalized groups) are taught values, objectives, and cultural and social underpinnings of the dominant class (giroux, 1983). although teacher preparation programs (tpps) often highlight their commitment to diversity and social justice through mission and value statements, research suggests the overwhelming majority of programs maintain the existing social order through social and cultural reproduction of hegemonic ideas (akiba, 2011; bryan, 2017; cook, 2015). for example, policies such as access to diversity in the teacher preparation curriculum, licensure and evaluation policies that adversely impact teachers of color, and recruitment and retention of teachers of color continue to reinforce normative patterns of social and cultural reproduction (cook, 2015). additionally, as the student population has grown more diverse in k-12 schools around the country, the teacher population has had an inverse effect on its ability to produce a racially diverse group of teachers (zeichner, 2014). of the nearly four million primary and secondary teachers in the united states, 83% are white, and only 8% are black, even as more than 15% of the nation’s school-age children are black (florian, 2017). as a solution to addressing this issue, some teacher education programs attempt to prepare preservice teachers for racially and culturally diverse classrooms by requiring students to take a course or attempt to embed these skills across the curriculum. however, such courses and pedagogical practices are not sufficiently potent to disrupt deficit theorizing about students of color (amina, 2011). many scholars have addressed racial injustices in the united states in a theoretical fashion (adams et al., 2007; derman-sparks & phillips, 1997; frankenberg, 1997; helms, 1993; pack-brown, 1999; tatum, 1992, 2001) and have experimented with, and presented models in, practically addressing racism in their respective fields. concerning the field of education, scholars offer a framework using crt in education (ladson-billings, 1998; ladsonbillings & tate, 1995; solorzano, 1997). specifically, the use of crt in education provides a foundation for addressing inequities in the educational system that center on race and racism while examining the social, political, and historical context. as such, the use of crt pedagogy in my teaching internship seminar course has provided me with a space to utilize disruptive practices for counteracting traditional teacher education patterns that perpetuate racism in education. with this in mind, i have chosen to openly address issues of race and https://cultureandvalues.org/ 54 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org racism in education within a teacher education program to help students become more aware of the advantages and biases inherent in their positionality that will impact their future classrooms. future projections show the white student population shrinking to a smaller and smaller proportion of the whole, and the combined populations of students from other ethnic groups increasing so that together, they make up a steadily growing majority (bohrnstedt et al., 2015). in the subsequent sections of this article, i elucidate and discuss how i utilized crt pedagogy in my teaching internship seminar. inherent in the discussion, crt pedagogy focuses on two disruptive practices: permanence of racism and interest convergence. i also explain the various methods i use, in addition to highlighting the challenges and implications of using crt pedagogy in higher education to disrupt the normative patterns in teacher education. the origins of critical race theory critical race theory, or crt, builds on critical legal studies (cls) and radical feminism. activists and scholars developed crt during the 1970s as a response to the failure of cls to address racial inequalities within the legal system effectively. during this time, legal scholars and activists such as derrick bell, alan freeman, and richard delgado realized that the pronounced advances of the civil rights era of the 1960s had stalled and, in many respects, were dissipating (delgado & stefancic, 2007). crt challenges the dominant discourse on race and racism as it relates to the law by examining how legal doctrine is used to subordinate certain racial and ethnic groups (bell, 1995; crenshaw et al., 1995; matsuda, 1995). according to matsuda (1995), six unifying themes define crt (see figure 1): figure 1: critical race theory themes source: matsuda, m. j. (2018). words that wound: critical race theory, assaultive speech, and the first amendment. routledge. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 55 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org although crt was intended as an analytical tool for understanding the law (particularly civil rights law), it is theorized in education as a tool for understanding sustained inequity that students of color experience (ladson-billings, 1998). in particular, i highlight two themes of crt, interest convergence, and permanence of racism, to frame my rationale for implementing disruptive practices in my course. the permanence of racism a core assertion of crt is that race is institutional and systemic, and society has maintained power and structures through racism (solórzano & bernal, 2001). the notion of the permanence of racism denotes that racist structures are embedded within all aspects of society. such structures further privilege white cultural values and norms while othering people of color in all spaces, including education (decuir & dixson, 2004). since issues of race and racism are deeply embedded in u.s. society and the world as a whole, they are embedded in policies and practices within every sector of society (milner, 2008). consequently, more in-depth analyses of race and racism are needed to address vast inequities that continue to permeate education. interest convergence bell (1987) argued that white people advance the interests of people of color only when they converge with and advance white interests, a term he coined as "interest convergence." similarly, milner et al. (2013) posit interest convergence as "pivotal in underscoring the past and present inequities in education and the larger maintenance of privilege" (p. 343). this perceived loss in milner et al.'s (2013) view creates fear among white people that systemic changes will threaten power structures that reinforce privileges or result in gains for people of color that equate to losses for them. for example, when the interests of people of color are opposed to or at "odds with those in power," it becomes challenging to expose racism and achieve racial equality (leigh, 2003). moreover, socially and racially progressive initiatives are systematically scaled back in sectors such as law and education when those initiatives don't serve the dominant population. critical race theory in education ladson-billings and tate (1995) ushered crt into education, challenging scholars and educators to raise questions, engage in conscientious dialogue, and produce research in which crt would serve as a tool and framework to disrupt racelessness in education. accordingly, crt in education demonstrates how race and racism manifest themselves in the k-12 pipeline and within pedagogy, curriculum, funding, teacher expectations. for example, crt "refutes dominant ideology and white privilege while validating and focusing on the experiences of people of color in education" (yosso, 2005, p. 69). since race has and continues to be an important issue in american society, racial inequality can be examined in the areas of access, opportunity, and outcomes in k-12 education as it relates to the permanence of racism according to crt. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 56 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org issues of diversity in education are sometimes addressed, particularly in the last halfcentury, through multicultural education (banks, 2006). however, similar to sleeter (2017), i feel this approach tends to broach the issues of racial and ethnic differences by focusing on the diversity children bring with them to the classroom resulting in a method that further fails to name and address the significant implications of race and racism in education settings. this need to limit talk about race and its implications also highlights the interest convergence that is often commonplace in the policies and practices in american society that continue to situate white interests as a priority when considering how racial justice should be met (bell, 1980). critical race theory in teacher education discussions of race and racism are not highly emphasized in teacher education nor the preparation of teacher educators (quaye, 2014). over the past decade, many teacher education programs have attempted to include some form of diversity-related content in their courses (warren, 2018). however, that coursework often takes the form of one or two separate classes, with the rest of the program giving minimal attention to race, ethnicity, and culture (king & butler, 2015). the failure to incorporate race issues in coursework is often due to fear from faculty that students will become angry and upset, fear among some faculty that they are limited in their knowledge of these issues, and feelings that race and racism are not relative (marx, 2010). additionally, the previously described general pattern of separating diversity work from the rest of the program characterizes teacher education and its role in reinforcing the status quo that maintains deficit theorizing about students of color (cochran-smith et al., 2014). to this end, a crt approach to education entails a commitment on the part of institutions to recognize the various strengths that students and communities of color have to offer so that educators move toward social and racial justice. although race has been undertheorized in education in general, milner, pearman, and mcgee (2013) note that "race is grossly under-theorized in teacher education" (p. 339). as such, it provides a helpful lens for analyzing racelessness, definitions of racelessness, in the field of teacher education, and conceptualizing how racelessness might be addressed within teacher education programs. this means that the continued graduation of teachers who lack cultural competence, and who are primarily unprepared to teach racially and ethnically diverse students, is not an aberration. instead, it is a product of a system that is endemic of racism designed to meet the needs of a white population (rogers-ard et al., 2013). two tenets of crt are particularly helpful for addressing such issues in teacher education: permanence of racism and interest convergence. the use of crt pedagogy in teacher education is essential for preparing the next generation of teachers for diverse schools. while it is not uncommon for courses to have themes of multicultural education, diversity, and cultural competence embedded, i have found that it is still difficult to engage students in discussions about race. my experiences with preservice teachers feel strongly about teaching for equity, but they explicitly ignore the significance race and racism play concerning their teaching. the research on how to teach about race and racism using crt points to the possibilities and challenges. in particular, lac (2017) highlights the experience of implementing crt in a course by using a https://cultureandvalues.org/ 57 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org range of critical texts that facilitate analysis of racism and student dialogue to co-construct knowledge. implications from this study posit the need for more models that support crt practices for teachers to use and the need for teachers to ground antiracist work within a more extensive structural analysis of race and racism (parker & stovall, 2004). therefore, as a teacher educator in a faculty position, i am charged with being a catalyst for change and progression in my program to ensure that students become influential teachers of racially and ethnically diverse students. in 2019, i chose to implement crt practice in my teaching internship seminar during a fall semester course. this course was designed as a seminar course for students who are in the final semester of the teacher preparation program and is completed simultaneously with a student teaching internship in preschool or elementary settings. the course is designed to engage interns in a critical examination of issues, topics, materials, and skills appropriate to their professional development and teaching experience during their internship. it also serves as a capstone experience for satisfying the exit requirements of the program. the demographics were similar to national data (florian, 2017), encompassing 29 students (three black students-two females and one male, and 26 white female students). so, this course provides an extensive opportunity to engage preservice teachers in crt pedagogy that disrupt normative patterns in teacher education, which reinforce and maintain racism and deficit thinking in education. i chose, in this course, to use this opportunity to engage students in the crt tenets of interest convergence and permanence of racism as a way to address hegemonic ideas and values in teacher education. the two tenets further help preservice teachers examine critical issues such as racism, especially as it relates to their role as teachers in diverse classrooms. courses related to racial justice may have a variety of learning goals, such as increasing empathy, challenging misconceptions, expanding theoretical perspectives, cultivating analytic skills, or developing tools for productive dialogue (harbin et al., 2019). wiggins and mctighe's (2005) note understandings are the "constructivist result of attempts by the student to make sense of the work and lessons, using inquiry, performance, and reflection" (p. 58). for example, the understanding that race is a social construction was vital for students to understand when discussing race. although there are vast variations in human ethnicity and culture, there is no biological basis for racial categories (spencer, 2014). this understanding was essential since education policy and practices that are perpetuated by teachers have underpinnings from the eugenics movement, which highlights theories about fixed intelligence, personality traits, and the educability of marginalized groups (winfield, 2007). additionally, the understanding that racism is a system of advantage based on race that is perpetuated through institutions, policies, practices, ideologies, and interpersonal interactions was equally important (tatum, 1992). these understandings guided my course redesign and helped to serve as a framework for developing instructional activities and assessments aligned with crt as they relate to examining the permanence of race and racism and interest convergence in education. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 58 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org course (re) design with crt historically, teacher education programs have been a space dominated by white, english-monolingual, middle-class perspectives in the united states (bryan, 2017). as the student population has grown more diverse in k-12 schools around the country, the teacher population has failed to diversify in a manner that reflects the diverse student population (zeichner, 2014). in addition to the limited diversity among preservice teachers in teacher preparation programs, the curricular content of teacher education programs tends to reflect white, middle-class culture. likewise, "the curriculum of teacher education mirrors, in many ways, the k-12 curriculum in that it is eurocentric and white dominated" (milner et al., 2013, p. 346 as cited in sleeter, 2017). milner (2008) stresses interest convergence is based on the premise that racial equity and equality for people of color will only be advanced when they converge with the interests, needs, and values of white people. as such, when considering interest convergence, my initial assumption about the lack of integration of topics about race and equity centered on evidence that white teacher educators tend to focus on the emotional needs of white students rather than those of students of color (matias, 2016; warren & hotchkins, 2015). lichty and palamaro-munsell (2017) noted that many colleges are reexamining their curriculum to expand the representation of marginalized groups and perspectives. for example, i analyzed a past syllabus for my assigned course before i taught it. i found more than half of it stressed celebration of difference rather than systemic inequalities; only 8% of the syllabi topics explored issues of bias, racism, and systemic power relationships that impact teachers in the classroom through topics such as response to intervention (rti) and interview strategies. to my dismay, the topics only skimmed the surface of diversity and failed to account for how race and racism impact pedagogy. this, in my view, further failed to center race and racism as the cause and context for unequal and inequitable education outcomes (cook, 2015). diversity is often separated in the curriculum, resulting in interests of people of color not being privileged (cochran-smith et al., 2014). as such, institutions serve as a mechanism for maintaining separation of interests while maintaining the status quo, which is problematic to deficit theorizing about people of color. to this end, i chose to examine and select content for the course — a constellation of texts, media, images in powerpoint presentations, and learning activities. for example, i selected the required readings in which at least 50% were authored by scholars of color or other marginalized groups. additionally, although many courses in the teacher preparation program at my university relied heavily on academic articles or books, i recognized this as limited in scope to address issues of race in education. other possibilities included analyzing (auto)biographical narratives and memoirs that could surface feelings, lived experiences, as well as new understandings about their identity and how it impacted their teaching pedagogy (delano-oriaran & parks, 2015; winans, 2005). tatum (2007) noted that by framing institutionalized racism in terms of the systematic ways the dominant group often implicitly benefits, it represented an accessible way for my students to understand the concept of institutionalized racism and how it impacts the field of education. as part of normalizing discomfort, i asked students to write https://cultureandvalues.org/ 59 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org down concerns they had about talking about race/racism in the facebook group (e.g., appearing racist, or being a target of other's microaggressions), or their feelings about the topic (estrada & matthews, 2016; rothschild, 2003). moreover, to prepare my students to engage in difficult conversations, i equipped them with strategies they could use to deconstruct their perspectives and consider new ways of thinking about racism in education. discussions about race have become increasingly difficult in university classrooms, and failure to engage students in such issues as racism often yields teachers who reproduce deficit, hegemonic thinking when they encounter students of color. examination of the findings from marx's (2010) study highlighted the permanence of race in interactions and teaching strategies employed by the participants. in that study, the beliefs of nine white english-only speaking preservice teachers who tutored english language learners of mexican origin as part of a university field service requirement. in particular, the study highlighted that the good intentions of the participants were frequently undermined by the whiteness and the racism that influenced their beliefs about and interactions with the children. in order to address the difficulty of preservice teachers to examine their own identity and how it intersects with beliefs about race and its impact in education, the use of a social media platform, facebook, was used in the course to encourage students to serve as active participants in virtual discussions about the permanence of racism in education. this activity promoted an open discussion of course materials and free access to course materials that focus on race in education. it further allowed students' views of race, racism, and racial inequality to be expressed, challenged, and expanded in a virtual race-critical classroom and, ultimately, in their field placements and personal classes in k-12 and post-secondary schools. social media platforms such as facebook are, in many ways, responsive to current students' familiarity, comfort, and media sharing abilities. specific texts and resources were used as a guide for course discussion centered on three major themes for addressing race and its impact on my students: a) implicit bias and microaggressions, b) white privilege and fragility, and c) social justice. these three themes challenge assumptions about race and look at the underlying social, economic, and political factors that disproportionately allocate advantages and privileges to white citizens in the united states. ultimately, the resources i selected for use in my course helped foster a classroom in which students were provided opportunities to engage in critical dialogue and recognize patterns of racism and interest convergence in education and society (see table 1). https://cultureandvalues.org/ 60 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org table 1 resources on race in education theme resources implicit bias and microaggressions project implicit. (2011). implicit association test. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html niemann, y. (2017, may 14). microaggressions in the classroom. [video file]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zahtlxw2ciq white privilege and fragility diangelo, r. (2015, april 9). white fragility: why it’s so hard to talk to white people about racism. http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/white-fragility-why-its-so-hard-to-talkto-white-people-about-racism-twlm/ smith, l. (writer). (2003). the house we live in. [television series episode]. in smith, l. (producer). race: the power of illusion. los angeles, ca: public broadcasting service. social justice sue, d. w. (2016). race talk and the conspiracy of silence: understanding and facilitating difficult dialogues on race. john wiley & sons. kivel, p. (2017). uprooting racism-: how white people can work for racial justice. new society publishers. luvvie a. (2018, january 2). get comfortable with being uncomfortable. [video file]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qijh4uaqgd8 my course (re)design set the stage for creating a productive learning environment that encouraged meaningful engagement in activities to support student understanding about race and its impact on education. however, i recognized that it alone was insufficient for addressing unexpected challenges that can arise in teaching about race. while teaching race-related content, i was aware of the research that notes that students often express emotions such as anger or indifference as means to discredit the hegemony of whiteness in society (evans-winters & hoff, 2011). i further knew that any number of events could spark strong reactions in the classroom, such as an inappropriate remark from a student, a raciallymotivated attack about specific individuals or groups, an act of hate speech on campus. in essence, sue and colleagues (2009) posit that these moments require instructors to be astute in their facilitation; however, preparation to handle these moments is often neglected in teacher training programs and courses. lessons learned my work is grounded in helping students understand how educators' perspectives are impacted by socio-historical factors concerning minority groups and access to education. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/white-fragility-why-its-so-hard-to-talk-to-white-people-about-racism-twlm/ http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/white-fragility-why-its-so-hard-to-talk-to-white-people-about-racism-twlm/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qijh4uaqgd8 61 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org while implementing non-normative work based on race in my courses, i found that my passion and awareness for such a topic was met with many emotions. foremost, my feelings included knowledge of the importance of using disruptive practice. next, i was conscious of the possible backlash and risk of lower student evaluations due to such a high-risk topic (smith & hawkins, 2011), a thought that resonates with me since i am a junior faculty member seeking tenure. i was able to situate these feelings within two lessons learned as they relate to white fragility and the burden of representation. white fragility race and racism proved to be an unsettling topic among many of the white students in my course when placed in the context of bias and the possibility that one could harbor deficit thinking tied to beliefs about race. i was very mindful of the fragility among many of my students. in particular, numerous white students expressed concern when discussing race. the lesson i learned in this course about white fragility was to proactively seek resources to support me with empathizing with the emotions among some of my students. diangelo (2015) defines white fragility as a "state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. these moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation" (p. 57). i proactively sought to find resources that would highlight this fragility and guide student reflection in a meaningful way. they explored the endemic nature of institutionalized racism—a core principle of crt. moreover, i was very intentional about the selection of resources for this class. each resource served as a framework for discussions about the permanence of racism in schools and our education system. the burden of representation students of color provided perspectives that centered on feelings of value and voicelessness. since the student demographics at my university are mostly white on my campus and in my classes (university of west georgia, n.d.), i wanted to be especially thoughtful about the experiences of students of color in my courses. sue (2010) highlights the heightened pressure among students of color to feel like they are targeted to be the 'spokespersons' of their racial group, especially when discussing race and racism issues. this form of microaggression, although covert, results in feelings such as anxiety and isolation (mccabe, 2009). having shared similar experiences during my education at predominantly white institutions (pwis), i have first-hand shared experiences that contributed to my own emotions as i acknowledge and often feel the burden of representation within my role at the university that students potentially felt. many students of color in my classroom spoke up often to discuss issues related to race and racism; however, there were times when they remained silent even when i expected them to provide their perspectives on various topics. so, i was very cognizant of how i evaluated participation during discussions as i realized that some of my students of color chose not to participate to retain their personal and cultural identity (white, 2011). it was crucial to determine how it would be evaluated in the course. i knew traditional assessment strategies (e.g., exams, quizzes, or research papers) were not appropriate, as the https://cultureandvalues.org/ 62 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org course's goals required performance-based assessments. for example, equipping students with tools for constructive dialogue about educational topics was a key learning objective. while many courses in the program typically assess student learning only in terms of cognitive development, for example, through quizzes, exams, or research papers, assessments in my course included self-and peer reflections on student participation in large and small group dialogue in class. matias & mackey (2016) highlight the benefits of utilizing alternative modes of informal assessment to engage students in critical discussion about race. essentially, my presence as a black professor helped mitigate the burden of representation effects by signaling to students that they need not represent their race in the classroom and that i serve as a counterexample to negative stereotypes about people of color. implications crt scholars argue the analysis of structural inequality without sufficient attention to the endemic nature of race and racism in this country is naive and incomplete, at best (parker & stovall, 2004; stovall, 2006). in particular, topics such as race and racism are often under-examined in k-12 and college settings. consequently, students and faculty harbor limited understanding of the racial history or policies that shape our lives and educational institutions (kohli et al., 2017). for my course redesign, i addressed the gap that persists between teacher education programs and the continued production of teachers, mostly white, who, by and large, are limited in their scope and understanding to offer racially/ethnically diverse students a culturally responsive education. using crt, i discussed pedagogical approaches that catalyzed the disruption of the normative patterns of teacher education in an attempt to alter the deficit lens that many teachers use to inform their pedagogy and understanding of their students, particularly students of color. this approach and redesign of my course helped disrupt the often ignored issue of race and racism in society. despite identifying and defining interest convergence and permanency of racism, i recognize that students and faculty, mainly white, feel “uncomfortable” and often feel forced to be “politically correct” (shih, 2017) when such issues are explored. however, the silence of race and racism is an issue that permeates all areas of society, and education is not immune to its impact on students of color. in the next section, i present three implications for teacher educators that will guide them with essential implications about developing and implementing course redesign using crt pedagogy as a disruptive practice. expect and welcome difficulty education in and of itself is a discomforting process. but, when adding a layer that challenges hegemonic beliefs, it becomes one that requires intentionality about the development of a safe environment for students to explore such perspectives. when exploring topics that center on individual, cultural, and national identities, instructors need to anticipate, welcome, and prepare for conflict (danowitz & tuitt, 2011; ford & malaney, 2012; housee, 2008). kumashiro (2000) asserts that "educators should expect their students to enter a crisis," and in doing so, "provide space in the syllabus for students to work through their crisis in a way that changes oppression" (p. 7). for example, i was able to https://cultureandvalues.org/ 63 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org normalize difficulty through initial communication in my syllabus. a statement was provided to remind students about the course's goals but, more specifically, how the purposes of the course will challenge previously held beliefs that relate to the permanence of racism and situate race and racism as significant factors that impact educators and society as a whole. although i tried to establish a safe space, i quickly recognized that the idea behind a safe space in my classroom had to be modified to ensure that students would not become defensive and expect their beliefs not to go unchallenged. leonardo and porter (2010) challenges the myth behind the safe space. they concluded, "for marginalized and oppressed minorities, there is no safe space...mainstream race dialogue in education is arguably already hostile and unsafe for many students of color whose perspectives and experiences are consistently minimized” (leonardo & porter, 2010, p. 149). as such, instructors should aim for what arao and clemens (2013) call a brave space in which students are encouraged to consider the perspectives and ideas that may be new, difficult, and discomforting to their preconceived values and beliefs. as such, the brave space further opened up a critical dialogue about how many of my students' behaviors, whether intentional or not, misaligned with pure intentions of teaching for social justice; a reality that often benefited personal and professional interests without consideration of one's privilege (french, 2019). meet students where they are consideration must be given to the campus context and individual students. in some settings, it is not uncommon for college students never to have experienced a black instructor, never to have deeply considered the history of interest convergence or the permanence of racism and never to have examined bias or their own identity, relationships, or broader societal conditions. as a result, a large deficit presents in many students' ability to talk about race and racism (delano-oriaran & parks, 2015). sue (2010) noted that even for contexts in which students have experienced some form of diversity, the vast majority of students, often white, carry beliefs and understandings rooted in misinformation, bias, or internalized beliefs in white superiority (sue, 2010). additionally, students’ anger and frustration with discussions on race issues can be expressed in course evaluations, which can undermine faculty (evans-winters & hoff, 2011). thus, meeting students where they are requires consideration of students' knowledge base, constructing course materials to foster meaningful engagement, and facilitating new understandings. this can be done by applying the principle of interest convergence and the permanence of racism as an analytical tool for examining race and racism in teacher preparation courses that serve to disrupt and privilege normative values while marginalizing the experiences of people of color. this, as my students expressed, was very eye-opening. one of the most common responses to my course is, "i had no clue this happens." or "no one ever told me." these responses provided a framework for many discussions and course engagement because it helped students see that they were not alone in their limited understanding, thus establishing openness and receptiveness to learning. for example, in response to students’ statements which might lend toward microaggressive comments about individuals or groups (sue, 2010), an instructor might consider some of the following prompts: https://cultureandvalues.org/ 64 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org ● tell me more about that… ● it sounds like you have strong views on this – have you had some personal experience that might help us understand where you are coming from? ● i'm glad you brought this up, because this sentiment is something we hear a lot in popular culture, and it's essential to understand and unpack. what are the concerns underlying this statement? (zembylas, 2012) zembylas (2012) further suggests using "strategic empathy" to engage students who may be misinformed or not exposed to alternative viewpoints. this, in turn, helps to integrate their misinformed views into anti-racist and socially just perspectives. instructor credibility upon considering interest convergence in my tpp, i found it essential to bring racism and racism issues to the forefront as such issues are often ignored due to fears about student discomfort and a possible backlash in the form of negative course evaluations. further, such issues have been politicized, and there lies a presumption that race and racism is just opinion, rather than a scholarly field (ladson-billings, 1998). this, in my view, is far from the truth. such a presumption about race further catalyzes the implicit bias and discrimination that often presents in teachers of students of color (sue, 2010). so, i recognize that instructor credibility is vital when teaching in higher education. to establish credibility, i found it valuable to describe my background and training that prepared me to discuss the content and issues of race and racism. however, establishing credibility when discussing issues of race and racism can be a challenge. as an african american junior faculty member, it is essential to note the added layer of challenges that must be considered for faculty of color, and as a woman. research shows that faculty of color are more likely to be challenged on their credibility and subjected to criticism and even disrespect in the classroom (schueths et al., 2013). i do not imply that these issues are more challenging or distressing than the experiences that i, or other faculty of color, have reported in the teaching of race-related content. but, i recognize the privilege that my white counterparts encompass when entering a classroom and automatic perception of credibility related to preconceived notions of white privilege in academia (tuitt et al., 2009). while credibility is essential for an african american junior faculty member who teaches race-related content, it is also crucial for white faculty. smith et al. (2017) posit that in addition to mastering subject matter, white faculty must engage in an ongoing process of personal exploration about racial identity and privilege. this means examining how the constructs above inform perceptions of self and racial “others”. it further means examining how implicit and explicit bias is exhibited in educational environments and classrooms among students of color (sue, 2010). smith et. al (2017) argue, "the notion that racism is a system of privilege from which white people can never completely step outside, but to which they can stand in opposition, can in and of itself provoke the beginnings of a cognitive shift for some students" (p. 662). primarily, white professors can use their credibility to play an influential role in bringing issues of race and racism to the forefront through adoption and modeling a transparent and non-defensive tone about these issues that permeate our society. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 65 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org conclusion in this article, i discussed ways in which faculty can utilize crt to disrupt postsecondary normative patterns in teacher education. specifically, i provided my personal experiences from my teaching internship seminar course. i outlined how i applied critical race pedagogy to encourage a classroom centered on disruptive practices that facilitate social justice in the teacher preparation program at my university. the examples above demonstrate the benefit and significance of examining interest convergence and the permanence of racism in teacher education preparation programs through crt pedagogy. additionally, the patterns based on the tenets of crt, as mentioned above of crt, highlight the pedagogical practices and challenges that faculty endure when disrupting oppressive systems in k-12 and higher education that disadvantage students of color. in essence, teacher preparation programs have a long way to go, and crt can and should be used as an essential tool for studying and transforming them to promote social justice. as junior faculty and a teacher educator, i am fully committed to the disruption of normative patterns in teacher education that serve to reproduce inequities and deficit thinking among teacher candidates. nevertheless, i am hopeful that crt pedagogy can be a catalyst for informing change. i fully acknowledge that teacher preparation programs cannot serve as the sole apparatus through which racism and discrimination are disrupted. the growth and conceptualization of crt in higher education and the k-12 education system demonstrate that although educational institutions have often reproduced inequities, they can also exist and serve as spaces in which educators can commit to racial justice. as weldon (2009; 2010) emphasizes in his work with teachers, unless professional development creates space for teachers to engage with painful personal legacies of the past, no transformative pedagogies have much chance of succeeding. in closing, teacher educators, and faculty as a whole, must collectively re-envision the future of higher education in a manner that does not merely educate students, but also educates and prepares them to disrupt racism and other forms of racism in our society. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 66 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org references adams, m., bell, l. a., & griffin, p. (eds.). (2007). teaching for diversity and social justice (2nd ed.). routledge/taylor & francis group. akiba, m. (2011). identifying program characteristics for preparing pre-service teachers for diversity. teachers college record, 113(3), 658-697. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286805295_identifying_program_charac teristics_for_preparing_pre-service_teachers_for_diversity banks, j. a. (2006). race, culture, and education: the selected works of james a. banks. routledge. bell, d. (1980). brown and the interest-convergence dilemma. shades of brown: new perspectives on school desegregation. teachers college press. bell, d. (1987). and we are not saved: the elusive quest for racial justice. basic books. bell, d. a. (1995). who’s afraid of critical race theory? university of illinois law review, 893. bohrnstedt, g., kitmitto, s., ogut, b., sherman, d., & chan, d. (2015). school composition and the black-white achievement gap. nces 2015-018. national center for education statistics. bryan, n. (2017). white teachers’ role in sustaining the school-to-prison pipeline: recommendations for teacher education. the urban review, 49(2), 326345. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-017-0403-3 cochran-smith, m., ell, f., ludlow, l., grudnoff, l., & aitken, g. (2014). the challenge and promise of complexity theory for teacher education research. teachers college record, 116(5), 1-38. https://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=17415 cook, d. a. (2015). shifting the center in teacher education: an introduction to the special issue on critical race theory and teacher education. the urban review, 47(2), 233236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-014-0290-9 crenshaw, k., gotanda, n., peller, g., & thomas, k. (1995). critical race theory. the key writings that formed the movement. the new press. danowitz, m. a., & tuitt, f. (2011). enacting inclusivity through engaged pedagogy: a higher education perspective. equity & excellence in education, 44(1), 40-56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2011.539474 decuir, j. t., & dixson, a. d. (2004). “so when it comes out, they aren’t that surprised that it is there”: using critical race theory as a tool of analysis of race and racism in education. educational researcher, 33(5), 26-31. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x033005026 delano-oriaran, o. o., & parks, m. w. (2015). one black, one white: power, white privilege, & creating safe spaces. multicultural education, 22, 15-19. https://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:yfoqjltlrhaj:scholar.googl e.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,11 delgado, r. & stefancic, j. (eds) (2007). the derrick bell reader. new york university press. derman-sparks, l., & phillips, c. b. (1997). teaching/learning anti-racism: a developmental approach. teachers college press. diangelo, r. (2011). white fragility. international journal of critical pedagogy, 3(3), 54-70. http://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/view/249 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286805295_identifying_program_characteristics_for_preparing_pre-service_teachers_for_diversity https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286805295_identifying_program_characteristics_for_preparing_pre-service_teachers_for_diversity https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-017-0403-3 https://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=17415 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-014-0290-9 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2011.539474 https://doi.org/10.3102%2f0013189x033005026 https://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:yfoqjltlrhaj:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,11 https://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:yfoqjltlrhaj:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,11 http://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/view/249 67 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org diangelo, r. (2015, april 9). white fragility: why it’s so hard to talk to white people about racism. the good men project. http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/whitefragility-why-its-so-hard-to-talk-to-white-people-about-racism-twlm/ estrada, f., & matthews, g. (2016). perceived culpability in critical multicultural education: understanding and responding to race informed guilt and shame to further learning outcomes among white american college students. international journal of teaching and learning in higher education, 28(3), 314-325. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1125096 evans‐winters, v. e., & hoff, p. (2011). the aesthetics of white racism in pre‐service teacher education: a critical race theory perspective. race ethnicity and education, 14(4), 461-479. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2010.548376 florian, l. (2017). teacher education for the changing demographics of schooling: inclusive education for each and every learner. in l. florian & n. pantic (eds.), teacher education for the changing demographics of schooling (pp. 9-20). springer. ford, k. a., & malaney, v. k. (2012). “i now harbor more pride in my race”: the educational benefits of inter-and intraracial dialogues on the experiences of students of color and multiracial students. equity & excellence in education, 45(1), 14-35. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.643180 frankenberg, r. (ed.). (1997). displacing whiteness: essays in social and cultural criticism. duke university press. french, k. (2019). the paradox of teaching for social justice: interest convergence in earlycareer educators. advance online publication. urban education. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0042085919850259 gramsci, a. (1971). selections from the prison notebooks. international publishers co. giroux, h. a. (1983). theory and resistance in education: toward a pedagogy for the opposition (2nd ed.). praeger. harbin, m. b., thurber, a., & bandy, j. (2019). teaching race, racism, and racial justice: pedagogical principles and classroom strategies for course instructors. race and pedagogy journal: teaching and learning for justice, 4(1), 1. https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/rpj/vol4/iss1/1 helms, j. e. (1993). i also said, "white racial identity influences white researchers". the counseling psychologist, 21(2), 240-243. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0011000093212007 housee, s. (2008). should ethnicity matter when teaching about ‘race’ and racism in the classroom? race, ethnicity, and education, 11(4), 415-428. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320802478960 king, e., & butler, b. r. (2015). who cares about diversity? a preliminary investigation of diversity exposure in teacher preparation programs. multicultural perspectives, 17(1), 46-52. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320802478960 kohli, r., pizarro, m., & nevárez, a. (2017). the “new racism” of k–12 schools: centering critical research on racism. review of research in education, 41(1), 182– 202. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x16686949 kumashiro, k. k. (2000). toward a theory of anti-oppressive education. review of educational research, 70(1), 25-53. https://doi.org/10.3102%2f00346543070001025 https://cultureandvalues.org/ http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/white-fragility-why-its-so-hard-to-talk-to-white-people-about-racism-twlm/ http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/white-fragility-why-its-so-hard-to-talk-to-white-people-about-racism-twlm/ https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1125096 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2010.548376 https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.643180 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0042085919850259 https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/rpj/vol4/iss1/1 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0011000093212007 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320802478960 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320802478960 https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x16686949 https://doi.org/10.3102%2f00346543070001025 68 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org lac, v. t. (2017). in real time: from theory to practice in a critical race pedagogy classroom. inquiry in education, 9(1), article 3. https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/ie/vol9/iss1/3 ladson-billings, g., & tate, w. f. (1995). toward a critical race theory of education. teacher college record, 97(1), 47-68. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej519126 ladson-billings, g. (1998). just what is critical race theory and what's it doing in a nice field like education? international journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 7-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/095183998236863 leigh, p. r. (2003). interest convergence and desegregation in the ohio valley. journal of negro education, 269-296. https://doi.org/10.2307/3211248 leonardo, z., & porter, r. k. (2010). pedagogy of fear: toward a fanonian theory of ‘safety’ in race dialogue. race ethnicity and education, 13(2), 139-157. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2010.482898 lichty, l. f., & palamaro‐munsell, e. (2017). pursuing an ethical, socially just classroom: searching for community psychology pedagogy. american journal of community psychology, 60(3-4), 316-326. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12199 luvvie a. (2018, january 2). get comfortable with being uncomfortable. [video file]. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qijh4uaqgd8 marx, s. (2010). regarding whiteness: exploring and intervening in the effects of white racism in teacher education. equity and excellence in education, 37(1), 31-43. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665680490422089 matias, c. e. (2016). feeling white: whiteness, emotionality, and education. sense publishers. matias, c. e., & mackey, j. (2016). breakin’ down whiteness in antiracist teaching: introducing critical whiteness pedagogy. the urban review, 48(1), 32-50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-015-0344-7 matsuda, m. (1995). looking to the bottom: critical legal studies and reparations. in k. crenshaw, n. gotanda, g. peller, & k. thomas (eds.), critical race theory: the key writings that formed the movement (pp. 63-79). the new press. matsuda, m. j. (2018). words that wound: critical race theory, assaultive speech, and the first amendment. routledge. mccabe, j. (2009). racial and gender microaggressions on a predominantly-white campus: experiences of black, latina/o and white undergraduates. race, gender & class, 16(1/2),133-151. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41658864 milner iv, h. r. (2008). critical race theory and interest convergence as analytic tools in teacher education policies and practices. journal of teacher education, 59(4), 332346. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0022487108321884 milner iv, h. r., pearman, f. a., iii, & mcgee, e. o. (2013). critical race theory, interest convergence, and teacher education. in m. lynn & a. d. dixson (eds.), handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 339-354). routledge. niemann, y. (2017, may 14). microaggressions in the classroom. [video]. youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zahtlxw2ciq pack‐brown, s. p. (1999). racism and white counselor training: influence of white racial identity theory and research. journal of counseling & development, 77(1), 8792. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.1999.tb02425.x https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/ie/vol9/iss1/3 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej519126 https://doi.org/10.1080/095183998236863 https://doi.org/10.2307/3211248 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2010.482898 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12199 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qijh4uaqgd8 https://doi.org/10.1080/10665680490422089 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-015-0344-7 https://www.jstor.org/stable/41658864 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0022487108321884 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zahtlxw2ciq https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zahtlxw2ciq https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.1999.tb02425.x 69 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org parker, l., & stovall, d. o. (2004). actions following words: critical race theory connects to critical pedagogy. educational philosophy and theory, 36(2), 167-182. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2004.00059.x project implicit. (2011). implicit association test. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html quaye, s. j. (2014). facilitating dialogues about racial realities. teachers college record, 116(8), 1-42. https://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=17500 rogers-ard, r., knaus, c. b., epstein, k. k., & mayfield, k. (2013). racial diversity sounds nice; systems transformation? not so much: developing urban teachers of color. urban education, 48(3), 451-479. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0042085912454441 rothschild, t. (2003). “talking race” in the college classroom: the role of social structures and social factors in race pedagogy. journal of multicultural counseling and development, 31(1), 31-38. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2003.tb00528.x schueths, a. m., gladney, t., crawford, d. m., bass, k. l., & moore, h. a. (2013). passionate pedagogy and emotional labor: students’ responses to learning diversity from diverse instructors. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 26(10), 1259-1276. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2012.731532 shih, d. (2017, april 7 ). a theory to better understand diversity, and who really benefits. national public radio. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/19/523563345/a-theory-tobetter-understand-diversity-and-who-really-benefits sleeter, c. e. (2017). critical race theory and the whiteness of teacher education. urban education, 52(2), 155-169. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0042085916668957 smith, b. p., & hawkins, b. (2011). examining student evaluations of black college faculty: does race matter? the journal of negro education, 80(2), 149162. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41341117 smith, l. (writer). (2003). the house we live in. [television series episode]. in smith, l. (producer). race: the power of illusion. los angeles, ca: public broadcasting service. solorzano, d. g. (1997). images and words that wound: critical race theory, racial stereotyping, and teacher education. teacher education quarterly, 24(3), 5-19. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23478088 solorzano, d. g., & bernal, d. d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0042085901363002 spencer, q. (2014). a radical solution to the race problem. philosophy of science, 81(5), 1025-1038. https://doi.org/10.1086/677694 stovall, d. (2006). forging community in race and class: critical race theory and the quest for social justice in education. race, ethnicity, and education, 9(3), 243-259. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320600807550 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2004.00059.x https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html https://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=17500 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0042085912454441 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2003.tb00528.x https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2012.731532 https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/19/523563345/a-theory-to-better-understand-diversity-and-who-really-benefits https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/19/523563345/a-theory-to-better-understand-diversity-and-who-really-benefits https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0042085916668957 https://www.jstor.org/stable/41341117 https://www.jstor.org/stable/23478088 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0042085901363002 https://doi.org/10.1086/677694 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320600807550 70 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org sue, d. w. (2010). microaggressions, marginality, and oppression: an introduction. in d. w. sue (ed.), microaggressions and marginality: manifestation, dynamics, and impact (pp. 3–22). john wiley & sons inc. sue, d. w. (2016). race talk and the conspiracy of silence: understanding and facilitating difficult dialogues on race. john wiley & sons. sue, d. w., lin, a. i., torino, g. c., capodilupo, c. m., & rivera, d. p. (2009). racial microaggressions and difficult dialogues on race in the classroom. cultural diversity and ethnic minority psychology, 15(2), 183. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0014191 tatum, b. d. (1992). talking about race, learning about racism: the application of racial identity development theory in the classroom. harvard educational review, 62(1), 125. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.62.1.146k5v980r703023 tatum, b. d. (2001). professional development: an important partner in antiracist teacher education. in s. h. king & l. a. castenll (eds.). racism and racial inequality: implications for teacher education (pp. 51-58.) aacte publications. tatum, b. d. (2007). can we talk about race?: and other conversations in an era of school resegregation. beacon press. tuitt, f., hanna, m., martinez, l. m., salazar, m., & griffin, r. (2009). teaching in the line of fire: faculty of color in the academy. thought & action, 25, 65-74. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej930465 u.s. department of education (2015). enrollment in teacher preparation programs. https://title2.ed.gov/ university of west georgia (n.d.). composition of student body. https://www.westga.edu/administration/vpaa/iea/composition-of-student-body.php warren, c. a. (2018). empathy, teacher dispositions, and preparation for culturally responsive pedagogy. journal of teacher education, 69(2), 169-183. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0022487117712487 warren, c. a., & hotchkins, b. k. (2015). teacher education and the enduring significance of “false empathy.” the urban review, 47, 266-292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256014-0292-7 weldon, g. (2009). memory, identity and the politics of curriculum construction in transition societies: rwanda and south africa. perspectives in education, 27, 177– 189. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc87519 weldon, g. (2010). post-conflict teacher development: facing the past in south africa. journal of moral education, 39(3), 353–364. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2010.497615 white, j. w. (2011). resistance to classroom participation: minority students, academic discourse, cultural conflicts, and issues of representation in whole class discussions. journal of language, identity & education, 10(4), 250-265. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2011.598128 wiggins, g., & mctighe, j. (2005). understanding by design (2nd ed.). association for supervision and curriculum development. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0014191 https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.62.1.146k5v980r703023 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej930465 https://title2.ed.gov/ https://www.westga.edu/administration/vpaa/iea/composition-of-student-body.php https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0022487117712487 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-014-0292-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-014-0292-7 https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc87519 https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2010.497615 https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2011.598128 71 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 smith, a., critical race theory: disruption in teacher education pedagogy journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org winans, a. e. (2005). local pedagogies and race: interrogating white safety in the rural college classroom. college english, 67(3), 253–274. https://www.jstor.org/stable/30044636 winfield, a. g. (2007). eugenics and education in america: institutionalized racism and the implications of history, ideology, and memory. peter lang. zembylas, m. (2012). pedagogies of strategic empathy: navigating through the emotional complexities of anti-racism in higher education. teaching in higher education, 17(2), 113-125. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2011.611869 zeichner, k. (2014). the struggle for the soul of teaching and teacher education in the usa. journal of education for teaching, 40(5), 551-568. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2014.956544 . https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://www.jstor.org/stable/30044636 https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2011.611869 https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2014.956544 microsoft word editorial-i-v journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 1 2023 pp. i-v innovations in education: moral education, social cohesion, and culture diplomacy eric king-man chong* * school of education and languages, hong kong metropolitan university, hong kong, china email: kmchong@hkmu.edu.hk how to cite chong, e. k. m. (2023). innovations in education: moral education, social cohesion, and culture diplomacy. journal of culture and values in education, 6(1), i-v. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.1 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract this special issue contains three interesting articles which provide some innovating teaching experiences across different east asian societies. they have presented some salient educational issues across different societies in this east asia, which can possibly provide some references for other societies when they embark on educational reforms. this collection of papers further upfront recent issues such as moral education, community participation for social cohesions, and using educational institutes to promote culture as soft power. keywords moral education; social cohesion; culture diplomacy; citizenship education; hong kong; japan 10.46303/jcve.2023.1 ii chong, e. k. m. jcve 2023, 6(1): i-v special issue editorial this special issue contains three interesting articles which provide some innovating teaching experiences across different east asian societies. glancing at the articles in this issue, while they may be limited in geographical coverage, they have presented some salient educational issues across different societies in this east asia, which can possibly provide some references for other societies when they embark on educational reforms. while citizenship may focus on teaching on rights and responsibilities of citizens as a specific level of equality (janoski, 2014) and that citizenship manifests itself in a wide range of practices and in diverse places, locally, nationally and supra-nationally (sassen, 2002, 2003), there are certainly much more challenges to handle in east asian societies. for example, apart from recent issues such as enhancing global citizenship (chong, 2020), both active and global citizenship such as community participation about understanding the world can be found alongside their emphasis on enhancing national citizenship (shi et al., 2019), what to teach citizenship to young people during a global pandemic era (chong, 2021), catering for student participation and voice in experiential learning (wong et al., 2022). and then the chinese experience of citizenship shows that de-westernism needs to be considered by adopting more diverse perspectives to de-westernise and enrich our understanding of citizenship (guo, 2022), this collection of papers further upfront recent issues such as moral education, community participation for social cohesions, and using educational institutes to promote culture as soft power. in this special issue, wang has provided an in-depth ethnographic study of secondary schools’ moral education in a mainland city of greater bay area shenzhen. moral education in china, just like many parts of the world, has seen both problems and challenges on aspects such as curriculum and teaching methods. the study takes place in one of the fastest growing region of greater bay area of china, and wang’s article has given us some interesting observations on how moral education has been developed in a fast changing environment. this study investigates the school-level implementation and teachers’ perspectives of moral education to find out the facilitating and inhibiting factors across different layers in the ecological systems of students’ morality advancement. using bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, a twoyear-long ethnographic case study was carried out in the case school, with a total of 18 teachers participated in the semi-structured interviews. the findings are revealing in the sense that lack of communication and mutual understanding contributes to moral education teachers’ emotionally exhaustive experience in schools. these findings also possibly find echo across many education systems in the world. wang also found that school teachers are not given enough support, protection, and communication opportunities, and there aren’t efficient and measurable strategies to uphold a tight alliance across different layers. while the context is china, many readers would possibly find their own educational system sharing similar challenges in pushing ahead moral education in such a challenging environment presented by expansion of technological developments and information flows. a bundle of suggestions have iii jcve 2023, 6(1): i-v been made by wang, which include future research is needed on alternative moral education models, decision-making processes, and school management style. in fact, the post-global pandemic may have ended by the early of 2023, but the challenges and suggestions for developing moral education remains pretty much alive for and educational setting in this world. a sharing culture of good practices and joint practice development can also be encouraged for local school authorities, schools, teachers and students to learn from each other (chapman & ainscow, 2019). chong and tsbuota presented two interesting case studies of community participation to tackle social and community issues in hong kong and japan. both places face similar problems of ageing communities in some areas, while both schools found themselves having unique roles to help the communities to achieve social cohesion by providing chances for their young students to develop social understanding and empathy skills through community participation. in particular for hong kong schools, they have been facing the needs to prepare their school students to develop various skills for improving the communities (chong, 2018). therefore, both schools have planned and developed social understanding learning units for their students. after all, the purpose of education is to help learners understand the society in which they live and develop the skills to participate in it (davies, et al. 2019). the implications for teaching and learning from these action research as a set of case studies (sáez bondía & cortés gracia, 2022) is that even as young as primary school kids, they can be assigned learning tasks such as devising living tools for the elderly people (the case of hong kong) and joining community festival and doing community research (the case of japan). young students can be regarded as pillars of future society and so educators should provide opportunities for them to practice various skills and knowledge, thus teaching ‘active citizenship’ has been called for, which urges for providing active learning activities for pupils within community, whole-school and classrooms (peterson and knowles, 2009). after all, citizenship is something that must be learnt and that rights must be accompanied by corresponding duties (delanty, 2003). “new civics” have also considerably extended the definitions of civic participation and the purposes of civic education (carretero, et al., 2016). giving young students a chance in community participation means enabling them to act with social compassion and imagination, apart from being taught deliberative argumentation and the recognition of difference and otherness (waghid, 2005). of course, the readers shall bear in mind the issue that with such community observation which force us to view that particular place in sharp focus and to direct our attention to the specific citizenship practice emerging there, it can help us to take notice of the singular way in which citizenship and community play a role (reyskens et al., 2011). however, the related mainstream concepts in policy discourse such as social cohesion and active citizenship may actually close off the space in which an original contribution to education can be developed rather than opening it up (reyskens et al., 2011).we need to rethink our being-together-with-others in terms of concrete observable things in a community. iv chong, e. k. m. jcve 2023, 6(1): i-v sun has written an analytical essay on the confucius institutes by using a swot analysis. his paper outlined the china’s approaches to disseminating cultural soft power through overseas confucius institutes. in a world of intense competition on exercising soft power, sun’s article has given us an updated assessment on how confucius institutes carries out the functions of promoting chinese language and culture, fostering a favourable recognition of china and cultural power, and improving its cultural connections worldwide. yet, sun has also identified the limitation of confucius institutes since they carry not just cultural functions but also chinese government’s missions to promote china. this is not an acceptable model for foreign government-funded organizations and its presence on the university campus therefore, confucius institutes have faced constraints in translating its soft power into the desired outcomes, especially in the united states and european union under an international political climate which seems not so favourable to any attachments to china. the reaction to the confucius institutes has been mixed in the western world: while some universities or societies appreciate the contributions of confucius institutes to bring about chinese culture to overseas, skepticism has arisen about them. china has utilized cultural diplomacy through education institutions such as confucius institutes to achieve its national interests. however, the credibility has been undermined. the case of confucius institutes show that china’s cultural diplomacy can still be made more tailored efforts. in fact, while china has been successful on using two general rationales of persuasion of narratives of origin and narratives of promise in the chinese textbooks to build up china's citizenship project by the state (zhenzhou, 2014), as well as calling on individuals to self-reform for national rejuvenation (zhang, 2022), the party-sate of china shall place more skilled efforts to manage its on-going cultural diplomacy in the western world, though its cultural powers have also been pushed ahead in other parts of the world. we hope that this special issue shall give the readers some sense of what is happening here in east asia. at the same time, the updated lessons learnt about the challenges of moral education faced by school teachers, the unique roles of schools in promoting social cohesion through community participation, and that using an educational institute to promote soft power can shed some lights for other educational systems to learn from. references carretero, m., haste, h., bermudez, a. (2016). civic education. in l. corno & e.m. anderman (eds.) handbook of educational psychology (3rd ed. (pp.295–308). london: routledge. chapman, c. & ainscow, m. (2019). using research to promote equity within education systems: possibilities and barriers. british educational research journal, 45(5), 899–917. v jcve 2023, 6(1): i-v chong, e. k. m. (2018). developments and challenges of civic education in hong kong sar, china (1997-2017). the journal of social studies education in asia, 7, 47-63. chong, e. k. m. (2020). how does globalization shape the interdisciplinary curriculum development in hong kong’s education reform? curriculum and teaching, 35(1), 23 51. chong, e. k. m. (2021). hong kong under covid-19: active self-mobilisation, freedom and responsibilities, and learnings. citizenship teaching & learning, 16(2), 272-284. davies, i., evans, m., fülöp, m., kiwan, d., peterson, a., sim, j.b.y. (eds.) (2019). preface. taking action for change: educating for youth civic engagement and activism a resource for educators. york: university of york. delanty, g. (2003) citizenship as a learning process: disciplinary citizenship versus cultural citizenship. international journal of lifelong education, 22(6), 597–605. janoski, t. (2014). citizenship in china: a comparison of rights with the east and west. journal of chinese political science, 19(4), 365–385. peterson, a. & knowles, c. (2009) active citizenship: a preliminary study into student teacher understandings. educational research, 51(1), 39–59. reyskens, p., vandenabeele, j., & wildemeersch, d. (2011). diverse views on citizenship, community and participation: exploring the role of adult education research and practice. european journal for research on the education and learning of adults, 2(2), 193–208. https://doi.org/10.3384/rela.2000-7426.rela0017 sáez bondía, m.j. & cortés gracia, a.l. (2022). action research in education: a set of case studies?, educational action research, 30(5), 85064, doi: 10.1080/09650792.2020.1866631 sassen, s. (2002). global networks, linked cities. new york: routledge. sassen, s. (2003). citizenship destabilized. liberal education, 89(2), 14-21. shi, y., chong, e.k.m. and li, b. (2019), chinese civic education being globalised: what changes have been made in civic education curriculum in china, hong kong and macao. social transformations in chinese societies, 15(1): 37 63. https://doi.org/10.1108/stics-11-2018-0016 waghid, y. (2005). action as an educational virtue: toward a different understanding of democratic citizenship education. educational theory, 55, 323–342. wong, k. l., chong, e.k.m., leung, w.t. and leung, y.w. (2022). experiential learning for civic education: student participation and voice. citizenship teaching & learning, 17:2 zhao, z.z. (2014) pedagogisation of nation identity through textbook narratives in china: 1902–1948, citizenship studies, 18(1), 99-112, doi: 10.1080/13621025.2014.865895 zhang, l. (2022). practicing citizenship privately: ethical self-fashioning and citizen-making in the revival of “chinese traditional culture", social transformations in chinese societies (pre-print), https://doi.org/10.1108/stics-06-2022-0012 microsoft word kagema.docx journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 9 the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya josphat kagema* karatina university *corresponding author: jkagema@karu.ac.ke received : 2018-05-07 accepted : 2018-06-10 how to cite this paper: kagema, j. (2018). the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya. journal of culture and values in education, 1(1), 9-25. abstract a review of empirical studies on teacher motivation indicates decreasing levels of motivation among secondary school teachers ultimately leading to minimal achievements of the projected kenya’s vision 2030. this study examined the school curriculum as a determinant of secondary school teacher motivation in kenya in curriculum implementation. the research adopted a survey study design, adopting mixed methods research approach with an aim of fortifying and converging both quantitative and qualitative data. the respondents were sampled from 46 secondary schools located in nyeri and kirinyaga counties of kenya. the findings of this study inform curriculum planners, education leadership and policy makers on the school curriculum as a core determinant of teacher motivation in secondary schools that influence curriculum implementation in kenya. keywords: school curriculum, teacher motivation, curriculum implementation introduction background to the study the education sector has experienced a radical paradigm shift in kenya and the world at large. governments, curriculum planners, parents and the students themselves are concerned with quality service delivery from our teachers. the kenya’s vision 2030 envisages providing a ‘globally competitive quality education, training and research to her citizens for development and enhanced individual well-being. this is through among others; to raise the quality and relevance of education. education has the purpose of catalyzing the transformation of society for its development. it involves the art and act in which people are prepared to create new working habits and values for their changing lives in a dynamic environment (unesco, 2004). among other functions, education increases productivity of societies and attendant political, economic and social institutions (digolo, 2006: pg15). journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 10 the understanding is that every citizen has a fundamental right to education. implicit in this is the fact that relevant and quality education should be provided to the people; at least the basic of it. the fundamental cycle of formal instruction provides learners with a firm foundation of knowledge for further learning and development (koech, 1999, pg 271); which embraces the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of learning. the aspirations of the nation are expressed in the national goals of education (republic of kenya, 2006: x). the context of education in kenya education is a major concern of human societies. it transcends the mere acquisition of knowledge and skills hence a development of an individual who is transformed with the ability to understand and manipulate this world (otunga, odeo & barasa, 2011).this conceptualization premises that the child is exposed to three dimensions to help them acquire education: formal dimension known to be planned, organized and systematic, often associated with institutions such as schools. the second one is informal dimension entrenched as life long process with attendant agents of socialization including the mass media, peer groups and religious institutions. thirdly, the non formal dimension is a framework of learning outside the school though organized and planned. it is these dimensions that help to impart the knowledge, skills and values to the learner (sifuna & otiende, 2004). education has the potential to equip people with the skills, attitudes and norms needed to hold governments to account, to challenge autocracy and to assess policies that affect their lives (glaeser et al., 2006). at an individual level, education is a crucial determinant of whether people have the capabilities – the literacy, the confidence, and the attitudes that they need to participate in society. as a concrete example, when poor and marginalized people are educated, they are often more likely to participate in meetings of local political bodies and devolved bodies managing education, health and water resources (alsop & kurey, 2005). the government of kenya has undertaken many reforms addressed to the education sector. these reforms target both the overall goals of the national economic recovery strategy, as set out by the government in its policy documents and international commitments. these documents include the millennium development goals (mdgs), the education for all (efa), the vision 2030 and the session paper no.1 of 2005 among others. the millennium development goals (mdgs) are a set of numerical and time-bound targets that express key elements of human development. they include halving income-poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education and gender equality; reducing under-five mortality by two-thirds and maternal mortality by three quarters; reversing the spread of hiv/aids; and halving the proportion of people without access to safe water. these targets are to be achieved by 2015, from their level in 1990 (unesco, 2006). the point of reference is that education focuses on the acquisition of knowledge, skills as well as provision of life-long learning and the provision of a holistic, quality education and training journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 11 that promotes the cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains of a learner. these virtues are articulated in the national goals of education which the school curriculum interprets and implement. this study is an analysis of the school curriculum as a determinant of secondary school teachers’ motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya in achievement of these broad goals of education and especially on critical determinants of their motivation. to achieve the expected learning proficiencies, content is outlined in segments such as preprimary, primary and secondary education. the secondary curriculum in kenya is a unified one (barasa, 2005). it was first created in 1967 to replace or eliminate the differences between the former african, asian and european school systems (sifuna & otiende, 1992). secondary education therefore enables the learners to acquire proficiency in both academic and some applied subjects. the ultimate purpose of this segment is to fulfill the objective of providing equal opportunities to have exposure to essential education for their future life’s choices. more specifically, secondary education should promote harmonious co-existence among the people of kenya; develop the individual mentally, socially, morally, physically and spiritually; enhance an understanding and respect for own and other people's cultures and their place in contemporary society; enhance understanding and appreciation of interrelationships among nations; promote positive environmental and health practices; build a firm foundation for further education and training; develop ability for inquiry, critical thinking and rational judgment; develop into a responsible and socially well adjusted person; promote acceptance and respect for all persons; enhance enjoyment in learning and finally, identify individual talents and develop them. to achieve the broad long-term and short-term statements of intended performance, it becomes important for the teacher to play a cardinal role at transmitting a curriculum that promotes holistic development and individual excellence…with a capacity for developing too the domains in an individual: cognitive, psychomotor and affective as well as spiritual, social and cultural aspects (otunga, 2010). the country may not achieve this if teachers are not well motivated and committed to the realization of these objectives. the most critical finding that emerges from this study is that very sizeable proportions of secondary school teachers, particularly in nyeri and kirinyaga counties of kenya, have low levels of job satisfaction and are poorly motivated. many learners are, therefore, not being taught properly and are not receiving the acceptable education1. the unavoidable conclusion is that most schooling systems are faced with what amounts to a teacher motivation crisis, which has far reaching implications for the education millennium development goals for basic education and for development as a whole, and the achievement of kenya’s vision 2030. the study therefore explores the key determinants of teacher motivation in secondary schools in kenya and delineates the school curriculum. in view of these aspirations, the education sector has had a myriad of challenges that directly impacts on the teacher. notably, snail pace reforms in the school curriculum, high teaching loads, high handed school administrations, unwarranted transfers, low salaries, school strikes and indisciplined students do contribute to low level of teacher motivations. teachers are almost losing the battle to check on student discipline since the children’s act of 2010 insists journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 12 that the rights of the child must be met. the backdrop is that cases of indiscipline are on the rise. several schools in nyeri and kirinyaga counties have had boycotts, strikes and even tragedies in 2010 (gachigua, 2005). review of literature teacher motivation and the implementation of the school curriculum teacher motivation is an important field of research, especially in countries where teacher retention and quality have become prominent concerns. individuals are motivated by many factors to pursue a teaching career, including the desire for personal growth and continued learning, to have a positive impact on others’ lives and contribute to society, and to attain stable, secure employment. this in turn impacts on curriculum implementation. teacher motivation research has conceptualized the reasons individuals choose to become teachers as intrinsic and extrinsic factors (sinclair, 2008), and altruistic factors (chong & low, 2009). intrinsic factors include desire for personal growth and extrinsic factors include material benefits and job security. according to nzuve (1999) motivation is the individual’s internal process that energizes, directs and sustains behaviour. okumbe (1998) see it as ‘… that process which starts with a physiological to psychological deficiency or need that activates behaviour or a drive that is aimed at a goal or incentive. this implies that motivation is an activity that managers do to employees in an attempt to boost their productivity in an organization. motivated employees exert extra effort to perform a given task than those who are less motivated. intrinsic factors are generally described in terms of a desire to work with children and contribute to society (chong & low, 2009). furthermore, studies have suggested teacher motivation is related to professional commitment, efficacy, organizational citizenship and participation in professional development (morgan, kitching, & o'leary, 2007). teacher motivation has also been examined from particular theoretical perspectives. for example, riley (2009) in a study focusing on attachment and student-teacher relationships suggests that individuals may enter the teaching profession “partly motivated by an unconscious desire for corrective emotional experiences, through the formation of new attachments to their students” (p. 628). such unconscious motivations to teach may be important in teacher motivation, although challenging to investigate. in kenya, a number of studies have been undertaken on teacher motivation. the study by karugu (1980) show that teachers are motivated to stay in job if physical socio economic and security dimensions associated with conditions of work is satisfactory. to curb what he called’ dissatisfactions among teachers’ then there must be provisions of proper salaries, good journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 13 working conditions, food supervision, teaching materials and overtime payments. mumo (2000) used a similar model to study technical school teachers in nairobi and found out that 63% expresses slight satisfaction with their overall job. in a study on performance improvement in kenya public service, marangu (2004) note: “…motivation is an aspect of management that requires human behavior to be manipulated in order to harmonize an individual employee’s goals to this of the organization”. therefore we argue that well motivated employees are those who work along clearly defined goals and who take action which will result in these goals being met. employees who manage to motivate themselves seek, find and carry out work that satisfies their needs. however, majority of employees need to be motivated by the management through pay, praise, promotion, transfer, training and development in order to improve their performance. teachers are employees who need to be well motivated to improve their performance. the implementation of the school curriculum curriculum implementation is an interaction between those who have created the curriculum programme and those who are charged to deliver it, implementation requires educators to shift from the current programme which they are familiar with to the new or modified programme (ornstein & hunkins, 1998). it involves changes in the knowledge, actions and attitudes of people hence seen as a process of professional development and growth involving ongoing interactions, feedback and assistance. implementation involves change which requires effort and will produce a certain amount of anxiety and to minimize these, it is useful to organize implementation into manageable events and to set achievable goals. implementation requires a supportive atmosphere in which there is trust and open communication between administrators, teachers educators, and the board of governors as in kenya (kindiki, 2009). curriculum implementation is thus seen as the trying out of a new practice and what it looks like when actually used in a school system. the key to getting teachers committed to an innovation is to enhance their knowledge of the programme. this means teachers need be trained and workshops have to be organized for professional development. unfortunately, in any curriculum implementation process not all teachers will have the benefit of such exposure. there are just too many teachers and insufficient funds. the most common approach is to have one-day workshops given by experts from the kenya institute of curriculum development with the lecture method being the dominant pedagogical strategy. among the many extrinsic factors identified that may impede curriculum change are adequacy of resources, time, school ethos and professional support. the intrinsic factors are; professional knowledge, professional adequacy and professional interest and motivation. this research therefore argues that teachers must be well motivated to be able to implement the curriculum in kenya’s schools so that the overall goals of educations are met. research design and methodology survey design journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 14 this study adopted the survey research design with a mix of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to gather more insights into the teacher motivation and their effect on curriculum implementation. surveys are conducted in case of descriptive research studies. survey-type research studies usually have larger. thus, the survey method gathers data from a relatively large number of cases at a particular time (yauch & steudel, 2003, p. 476; jenkins, 2001, p. 215; creswell, shope, plano clark, & green, 2006). surveys are concerned with describing, recording, analyzing and interpreting conditions that either exist or existed. the researcher does not manipulate the variable or arrange for events to happen. surveys are only concerned with conditions or relationships that exist, opinions that are held, processes that are going on, effects that are evident or trends that are developing. they are primarily concerned with the present but at times do consider past events and influences as they relate to current conditions. thus, in surveys, variables that exist or have already occurred are selected and observed (kothari, 2004). this study justifies the use of survey as a distinctive research methodology because the survey analyzed and evaluated the many aspects that determine teacher motivation in secondary schools in kenya. the research survey allowed comprehensive use of data collection tools such as the questionnaire and the interview. the data collected was quantifiable and for the information was easily open ended information was easily codified for analysis and quantification. data interpretation analysis and discussion data was collected using survey questionnaires from 460 secondary school teachers and interview schedules for 46 principals and 92 heads of departments. the respondents were found in nyeri and kirinyaga counties of kenya. the data collected was analyzed thematically and descriptively using descriptive statistics. not only did the triangulation of the qualitative and quantitative data secure the validity of their study, but the complementarity of the two datasets produced a more thorough comprehension of the determinants of teacher motivation in question. kothari (2004) says: “…processing of the data involved transcription, editing, coding, classification and tabulation of collected data so that they are amenable to analysis” p.122. the analysis of data entailed the several sub-processes. the school curriculum and its influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation the research sought to find out the influence of the curriculum on teacher motivation. to achieve this research designed the following research question: what is the influence of the school curriculum on teacher motivation in secondary schools in kenya? this was generated from the hypothesis: h01there is no significant relationship between the school curriculum and secondary school teacher motivation. an analysis of teachers’ workload revealed that 56.4% claimed of having a high workload for teaching (n= 248; sd=80.44). hours of work, larger class journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 15 sizes, more subjects, and constantly changing curricula are cited as major de-motivators in many countries. what is expected from teachers (the ‘social contract’) is not pitched at a realistic level in many countries given material rewards, workloads, and work and living environments. large class sizes and heavy workloads in relation to pay (the effort-price of work) also make teachers resistant to the introduction of new teaching methodologies and other innovations. high workload limit on teacher preparation for the lessons as attested by 72.6% of the teachers. only a paltry 0.9% of the teachers said that they have inadequate load and conclusively affirm that majority of the teachers are constrained by huge classroom teaching loads. table 1: teacher workload analysis level of workload adequacy distribution frequency percentage i. highly adequate 248 56.4 ii. quite adequate 119 27.0 iii. neither adequate nor inadequate 60 13.6 iv. not adequate 9 2.0 v. highly inadequate 4 0.9 n 440 100.0 source: researcher, 2013 sd=80.440 item 4 sought to describe the teacher pedagogical practices in the classroom. successful teaching practices by the teachers can make a difference in children’s learning outcomes in all teaching contexts. aside from mastery of the contents of the subjects, teachers need to effectively plan and employ a wide range of teaching strategies appropriate to children's characteristics as well in a variety of classroom settings. effective and challenging classroom practices could also ensure quality education for children (chandra, 2004). for this to happen, there is need for emphasize on the ongoing professional development of teachers to enable them to be at the forefront not only on pedagogical techniques but also on school curriculum and communications technologies. the implementation of suitable pedagogical techniques such as individualized learning programmes, peer tutoring, independent study and small group teaching will help children find learning meaningful and in turn they will profit from schooling in any teaching circumstance. data reveals that there is relatively a high classroom pedagogical practice at 60.2 %; n=265) thus a positive trend among the teachers. table 2: teachers use of effective pedagogical practices in the classroom level of use of effective pedagogical practices distribution frequency percentage i. highly use effective pedagogical practices 265 60.2 journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 16 ii. quite use of effective pedagogical practices 141 32.0 iii. not using effective pedagogical practices 30 6.8 iv. never use effective pedagogical practices 4 0.9 n 440 100.0 source: researcher, 2013 sd=77.11 item 5 under the section argued that teachers needed to attend workshops, symposium and seminars on curriculum implementation to make them effective in its delivery to the learners. it concurs that 38.0% felt that great need to attend such functions that promote teacher sensitization on best curriculum practices. table 3: teachers satisfaction with the school management on sensitization of teachers level of satisfaction with the school management on sensitization of teachers. distribution frequency percentage i. highly satisfied 167 38.0 ii. quite satisfied 63 14.3 iii. neither satisfied nor unsatisfied 50 11.4 iv. not satisfied 71 16.1 v. highly dissatisfied 89 20.2 n 440 100.0 source: researcher, 2013 sd= 47.879 teachers need to be effective curriculum planners. this is exemplified in writing of proper schemes of work, wring of lesson plans and keeping of updated classroom records. table 8 gives an overview of the mean scores of all the variables of the curriculum: curriculum content; assessment practices knowledge skills, learning-centered approach, 21st century skills and adequate ict skills. the mean on curriculum resources is 3.9161 (sd=0.458) on the 5 point likert-scale indicates that respondents agreed that teachers use all the proper methods in teaching especially on the use of teaching resources. furthermore, teachers also possess characteristics that allow them in delivering an effective teaching in their lecture. table 4: descriptive statistics of curriculum variables variable mean ( ) sd i. resources 3.9161 0.45834 ii. curriculum content 3.9902 0.3992 iii. assessment practices 4.017 0. 3758 iv. ict skills 4.0243 0.47077 journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 17 v. knowledge skills 4.0112 0.4356 vi. learning-centered approach 4.0178 0.4915 vii. 21st century skills 3.8673 0.3856 source: researcher, 2013 the mean on learning-centered approach is 4.0178 on 5 point likert-scale and the mean on 21st century skills is 3.8673 indicate that majority of the respondents are not too sure on some of the teaching methods suggested in the questionnaire could increase their level of understanding. knowledge on ict among the teachers was found to be wanting. this is manifested by the fact that 44.3% of the teachers and 52.7% of the principals and heads of departments exhibited low levels of ict knowledge. although not exhaustive, the range of ict that have been used in the delivery of education to improve access, teaching, learning, and administration includes: electric board, audio cassette, and radio for interactive radio instructions (iri), video/tv-learning, computer, integrated ict infrastructure and support application systems (sas). the major challenge in respect to this component is limited digital equipment at virtually all levels of education. while the average access rate is one computer to 15 students in most of the developed countries, the access rate in kenya is approximately one computer to 36 students. in addition, it is noted in the education policy framework (epf) that there are a number of challenges concerning access and use of ict in kenya. these include high levels of poverty that hinder access to ict facilities, limited rural electrification and frequent power disruptions. where there is electricity, hindrances to application of ict include high costs of internet provision, costs associated with digital equipment, inadequate infrastructure and support. the policy makes a commitment for provision of digital equipment to educational institutions, particularly colleges, secondary and primary schools. whereas most secondary schools in kenya have some computer equipment, only a small fraction is equipped with basic ict infrastructure. in most cases equipment of schools with ict infrastructure has been through initiatives supported by the parents, government, development agencies and the private sector. table 5: teachers’ ict skills level of ict skills distribution f percentage i. highly knowledgeable 142 32.3 ii. quite knowledgeable 103 23.4 iii. not knowledgeable 195 44.3 n 440 100.0 source: researcher, 2013 journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 18 the impact of icts on the education goals is still inconclusive, reported observations include rapid expansion of knowledge, improved examination outcomes, enhanced communication and technical efficiency, as well as greater decentralization in the delivery of education services. it is not in doubt, however, that ict has the potential to play a more powerful role in increasing resources and improving the environment for learning. icts can also play a role in preparing students to acquire skills, competencies and socio skills that are fundamental for competing in the emerging global “knowledge” economy as envisaged in the kenya’s vision 2030. summary this objective explored the role of the school curriculum on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation. the curriculum plays an important role in determining the motivational level of the teachers. hours of work, larger class sizes, more subjects, and constantly changing curricula are cited as major de-motivators in the research. large class sizes and heavy workloads in relation to pay (the effort-price of work) also make teachers resistant to the introduction of new teaching methodologies and other innovations. an analysis of teachers’ workload revealed that 56.4% claimed of having a high workload for teaching (n= 248; sd=80.44). high workload limited on teacher preparation for the lessons as attested by 72.6% of the teachers. the pedagogical practices by the teachers can make a difference in children’s learning outcomes in all teaching contexts. aside from mastery of the contents of the subjects, teachers needed to effectively plan and employ a wide range of teaching strategies appropriate to learners’ characteristics as well in a variety of classroom settings. effective and challenging classroom practices could also ensure quality education. the implementation of suitable pedagogical techniques such as individualized learning programmes, peer tutoring, independent study and small group teaching were found to help children find learning meaningful and in turn they will profit from schooling in any teaching circumstance. data revealed that there is relatively a high classroom pedagogical practice at 60.2 %; n=265) thus a positive trend among the teachers. teachers need to be effective curriculum planners. this was exemplified in writing of proper schemes of work, writing of lesson plans and keeping of updated classroom records. furthermore, teachers also possess characteristics that allow them in delivering an effective teaching in their lecture. 67% of the teachers had good classroom practices while the 33% remaining attested to the fact that they do realize the purpose of prudent curriculum practices; only that they were reluctant to implement them. motivation and lack of it was alleged to be the reason for their practice. icts skills among the teachers can also play a role in preparing students to acquire skills, competencies and socio skills that are fundamental for competing in the emerging global “knowledge” economy. this therefore affirms that the curriculum has an important function in determining the level of teacher motivation in secondary schools. conclusion journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 19 the study raises major concerns about the behaviour and performance of teachers, which relate directly to low levels of job satisfaction and motivation. poor professional behaviour (lateness, absenteeism, laziness) seriously compromises schooling quality and learning outcomes. also, weak teacher management and lack of a sense of accountability means that public school teachers often get away with under-performance and, at times, gross professional misconduct. lack of motivation may cause teachers to be less successful. unreasonable demands of administrators, discouraging team spirit, neglecting rewards, financial problems are the factors related to demotivation. it should not be forgotten that every teacher is not motivated entirely by the same demands and needs. job motivation of each employee is different from the other. without having intrinsic motivation, lack of success is inevitable. if there are not any factors motivating teachers, the productivity will decrease dramatically. it is obvious that intrinsic rewards outweigh extrinsic ones in educator motivation. the thesis statement of this study is captured within the epistemological dimensions of the cognitivist orientation to research. qualitative methodological approaches stress the importance of multiple subjective realities as an important source of knowledge building. epistemology, “the study of the nature of knowledge and justification” (schwandt, 2001, p. 71). in this paradigm holds that knowledge gathering and truth are always partial; that researcher values, feelings, and attitudes cannot be removed from the research relationship but instead should be taken into consideration when interpreting the data as part of the knowledge construction process; and some of these approaches also argue that the researcher should establish a reciprocal relationship with research participants to promote an interactional, cooperative co-construction of meaning. teacher motivation is a critical field of emerging research (richardson & watt, 2010). while perspectives regarding intrinsic, extrinsic and altruistic motives have been valuable in developing understandings about what motivates teachers and attracts individuals to the teaching profession, these perspectives focus mainly on motivating factors related to individuals. because motivation research more broadly has begun to take account of the contexts in which individuals participate, and teaching is an inherently social occupation, there is benefit in moving beyond individual motives better to understand the complexity of teacher motivation in context. conceptualizing teacher motivation in terms of self and self-in-context is important for understanding teacher attrition and wellbeing. much of the teacher burnout and stress literature cites context-related reasons for teacher distress and attrition. context must be considered when examining factors that contribute to teacher retention. conceptualizing teacher motivation to reflect both the self and the context may help elucidate some of the nuances of motivation in the teaching profession and contribute to greater understandings about how social interactions of the self-in-context can sustain motivation throughout professional careers. recommendations journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 20 the research recommends the following concerning the school curriculum: apart from the preparatory course, structured in-service training programmes should be conducted focusing on various aspects associated with pedagogic approaches to better learning, and classroom organization. all these will enhance teacher motivation as the teachers become effective in curriculum delivery. introducing technology and developing relationships between teachers and administration would prove helpful. there should be developed a progressive assessment framework which identifies the knowledge, skills and competencies that will be assessed at each cycle. a review and development of print and electronic teaching and learning materials to ensure that the curriculum content addresses the skills and competencies framework, and that they are aligned with the constitution (2010), especially with regards to equal opportunity, gender and civil rights should be emphasized. teachers should be adequately prepared in enhancing effective pedagogical practices such as lesson planning, teaching strategies and evaluation mechanism. this should be enhanced at all curriculum levels. the teachers’ workload should be managed to an appreciable level. it calls for a relative teacher: student ratio in the classroom as this will enhance lesson preparation and effective teaching. the government should undertake a major reform of the curricula and the assessment thereof across all levels of education and training in order to align it with the constitution and to ensure that the aspirations of kenya vision 2030 are met and emphasis placed on developing the repertoire of skills and competencies necessary to achieve these goals so that it bears to the demand of 21st century and bring curriculum relevance to the socio, political, economic and technological needs of the country. suggestion for further research the literature reviewed and the study results reveal that there is a rich ground in dissecting the field of teacher motivation. because motivation research more broadly has begun to take account of the contexts in which individuals participate, and teaching is an inherently social occupation, there is benefit in moving beyond individual motives better to understand the complexity of teacher motivation in context. secondly, future studies should investigate conditions for school improvement over time because this approach to organizational analysis assumes that the development of conditions for school improvement and their subsequent effects on the quality of teaching are dynamic and changing rather than static. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 21 references alsop, r. & kurey, b. (2005). local organizations in decentralized development: their functions and performance in india. washington, dc, world bank). barasa, l. (2005). english language teaching in kenya: policy, training and practice. moi university press, eldoret. chandra, r. (2004). education for the 21st century: reflections on what is needed in fiji. address at the fiji institute for educational research conference, 5-th january, 2004, university of the south pacific. chong, s., & low, l. (2009). why i want to teach and how i feel about teaching formation of teacher identity from pre-service to the beginning teacher phase. educational research policy and practice, 8, 59-72. collins, k. m. t., onwuegbuzie, a. j., & jiao, q. g. (2006). prevalence of mixed methods sampling designs in social science research. evaluation and research in education, 19(2), 83– 101. creswell,j.(2004). educational research: planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. prentice hall. new jersey. creswell, j. w., plano clark, v. l., gutmann, m., & hanson, w. (2003). advanced mixed methods research designs. in a. tashakkori & c. teddlie (eds.), handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research (pp. 209–240). thousand oaks, ca: sage. crotty, m. (1998).the foundations of social research. london: sage publications day, c. (2000). “stories of change and professional development: the costs of commitment”. in c. day & a. fernandez & t. hauge & j. moller (eds.), the life and work of teachers: international perspectives in changing times (pp. 109-129). london: falmer press. denzin, n., & lincoln, y. (2000). handbook of qualitative research. london: sage publications denzin, norman k. & lincoln, yvonna s.(eds.). (2005).the sage handbook of qualitative digolo, o.o (2006). the challenges of education in kenya in 21st century. the educator. vol 1 no. 1 moi university press; eldoret. gachigua, e. (2005). parental role in students’ discipline: a comparative study between disciplined and less disciplined secondary school students in mathira division, nyeri district. unpublished med thesis, kenyatta university. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 22 glaeser,e. l., ponzetto, g. and shleifer, a. (2006) why does democracy need education? cambridge, mass., national bureau of economic research. (working paper, 12128. greene, j. c., benjamin, l., & goodyear, l. (2001). the merits of mixing methods in evaluation. evaluation, 7, 25–44 guba, e. g., & lincoln, y. s. (1994). competing paradigms in research. in n. k. denzin & y. s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research (pp. 105–107). thousand oaks, ca: sage. guba, e. g., & lincoln, y. s. (2005). "paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging influences" in n. k. denzin & y. s. lincoln (eds.), the sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed.), pp. 191-215. thousand oaks, ca: sage. hlas, a. & hildebrandt, s. (2010). demonstrations of pedagogical content knowledge: spanish liberal arts and spanish education majors' writing. l2 journal, 2(1), 122 jackson, c. (2009). student demographics, teacher sorting, and teacher quality: evidence from the end of school desegregation. journal of labor economics, 27, 213–256. jenkins, j. e. (2001). rural adolescent perceptions of alcohol and other drug resistance. child study journal, 31(4), 211–224. karugu, g. (1980). an investigation of job satisfaction/ dissatisfaction among elementary school teachers and head teachers in nairobi, kenya and a comparison of their perceptions on selected job factors from herzberg’s two factor theory, unpublished phd thesis, northern illinois university. kazdin, a. e. (2003). research design in clinical psychology (4th ed.). boston: allyn & bacon. kenya economic survey (2009) kenya integrated household budget survey –2005-2006; government printers, nairobi. kenya national bureau of statistics; constituency report on well-being in kenya survey 2011/2012) kenya constitution (2010): government printers, nairobi. kenya institute of education (2008) secondary education syllabus, vol. 1. nairobi: k.i.e. kindiki, j. (2009). effectiveness of boards of governors in curriculum implementation in secondary schools in kenya educational research and reviews, v4 n5 p260-266 koech, d.k (1999) totally integrated quality education and training (tiqet): report of inquiry into the education system of kenya. nairobi: government printers. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 23 kothari, c. (2004) research methodology: methods & techniques. new age international publishers; new delhi mactavish, j. & schleien, j. (2004). re-injecting spontaneity and balance in family life: parents’ perspectives on recreation in families that include children with developmental disability. journal of intellectual disability research, 48(2),123–141. marangu, k. (2004). a thesis on performance improvement in kenya civil service. nairobi, ken: esami. marsh, c.j. (2009). key concepts for understanding curriculum, 4th ed.newyork: routledge mertens, d. (2005). research and evaluation in education and psychology: integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. thousand oaks, ca: sage. mitchell, h. (2006) multivariable analysis a practical guide for clinicians. 2nd edition. cambridge university press morgan, m., kitching, k., o’leary, m., (2007, april). the psychic rewards of teaching: examining global, national and local influences on teacher motivation. paper presented at the aera annual meeting, chicago. mumo, d. (2000). job satisfaction of tutors in technical training institutes in nairobi province. unpublished med thesis, kenyatta university, nairobi. nagy, s & hesse, b. (2010). mixed methods research: merging theory with practice; the guilford press: new york nzuve, a. (1999). elements of organizational behaviour; nairobi university press. okumbe, j. (1998). elements of organizational behavuiour; university of nairobi press. onwuegbuzie, a. j., & collins, k. m. t. (2007). a typology of mixed methods sampling designs in social science research. the qualitative report, 12(2), 281–316. available at www.nova.edu/ssss/qr/qr12-2/onwuegbuzie2.pdf. ornstein, a. & hunkins, f,. (1998). curriculum: foundations, principle and issues. boston, ma: allyn & bacon. otunga, r. (2010). the dilemma of curriculum relevance in kenya. moi university inagural lecture series 10 no.2. moi university press, eldoret journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 24 otunga, r., odero, i & barasa, p.(2011).a handbook for curriculum & instruction. eldoret: moi university press. patton, m. q. (2002). qualitative research & evaluation methods (3rd edition). thousand oaks, california: sage publications. quintana, s. m., troyano, n., & taylor, g. (2001). cultural validity and inherent challenges in quantitative methods for multicultural research. in j. g. ponterotto, j. m. casas, l. a. suzuki, & c. m. alexander (eds.), handbook of multicultural counseling (2nd ed., pp. 604– 630). thousand oaks, ca: sage. republic of kenya (2005).the sessional paper no. 5 of 2005; government printer :nairobi republic of kenya (2006).secondary english teacher’s handbook; government printer :nairobi republic of kenya (2007). the kenya vision 2030. government printer: nairobi. republic of kenya (2010). economic survey 2010 government printer: nairobi. republic of kenya (2012).a policy framework for education. aligning education and training to the constitution of kenya (2010) and kenya vision 2030 and beyond: government printer: nairobi. richardson, p. w., & watt, h. m. g. (2010). current and future directions in teacher motivation research. in t. urdan & s. a. karabenick (eds.), the decade ahead: applications and contexts of motivation and achievement (vol.16b, pp. 139173). uk: emerald group publishing limited. riley, p. (2009). an adult attachment perspective on the student-teacher relationship & classroom management difficulties. teaching and teacher education, 25(5), 626635. rosnow, r. l., & rosenthal, r. (2002). beginning behavioral research: a conceptual primer. (4th ed.). upper saddle river, nj: prentice hall. schwandt, d. & marquardt, m. (2000). organizational learning: from world-class theories to global best practices. boca raton, fl: crc press llc shiundu, j. s. & omulando, s, j. (1992). curriculum: theory and practice in kenya. nairobi: oxford university press. sifuna, d & otiende, j., (2004) an introductory history of education. nairobi: university of nairobi press. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 kagema, j., the school curriculum and its’ influence on teacher motivation in curriculum implementation in kenya 25 sinclair, c. (2008). attracting, training, and retaining high quality teachers: the effect of initial teacher education in enhancing student teacher motivation, achievement, and retention. in d.mansfield,et al , (eds.), teaching and learning: international bestpractice (pp.133167).charlotte, northcarolina: informationage publishing. unesco (2004). efa global monitoring report 2005. education for all: the quality imperative. paris, unesco. unesco-iiep (2006). review of national education planning documents in 45 countries. background paper for the efa global monitoring report 2006. unesco (2008) efa global monitoring report education for all. oxford: oxford university press united nations (2008a) fact sheet: goal2 achieve universal primary education. united nations department of public information, publication number dpi/2517 h, september. yauch, c.a., & steudel, h. j. (2003). complementary use of qualitative and quantitative cultural assessment methods. organizational research methods, 6(4), 465–481 journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 100 a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families gabriel berges-puyó uned *corresponding author: jberges10@alumno.uned.es received : 2019-10-15 rev. req. : 2020-01-09 accepted : 2020-07-07 how to cite this paper: berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education, 4(1), 100-115, https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.7 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract the aim of this article is to provide some insight on the implementation of a series of values in the educational system. the approach sought is holistic, considering that we weigh the effects of those values not only related to students and teachers, but also to families, government, and school administrators. this approach is new since many values and character education studies are centered on either students or teachers, or both. also, this article tackles the concept of values and character education, adding the review of several related studies, providing valuable information about the benefits and advantages that this educational model offers based on the expectation that those values must be present in all factors of the learning process. finally, this article delivers a reflection on those same elements with the goal to use it as a thought-provoking tool to consider more solutions to help students face academic challenges and those related to life. keywords: values education, character education, educational leadership. introduction we live in conflictive times. different problems affect our societies—poverty, belligerent conflicts, dictatorships, corruption, extreme ideologies, etc.—and have done so throughout history. this article centers on the review of some literature regarding the implementation of a series of values in school systems and how those values have helped students, teachers, and communities. the hope is that by implementing universal values into schools’ curricula, present and future generations will benefit from those principles (saith, 2006). 10.46303/jcve.2020.7 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.7 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 101 it is important to stress the holistic approach of this endeavor: universal values should be considered not only in connection with students, but also related to teachers, administrators, families, and governments responsible for the legislative process affecting our educational systems (epstein, 2018). the purpose of this paper is to show how the use of these values in schools around the world is helping students be better and happier, so that their lives are also better and more fruitful. if our students are independent, pro-active, inspired, hardworking individuals who love and enjoy their learning experience, all the world around them will be affected in a positive way, and kindness, patience, respect, compassion, and love will serve as daily instruments for a wonderful and meaningful life. values and character education the incorporation of values in education has been present since the mandatory obligation to send children to school. as far back as in ancient judea (11th century bce), there are records of jewish leaders recommending that parents be mindful about the need for educating their children. later, plato’s the republic (360 bce) advocated for the urgent convenience of setting a system of compulsory educational services. the aztec empire, an alliance of three city-states (mexico-tenochtitlan, texcoco, and tlacopan), was the first organized state that obliged to provide a formal education for all children. within this frame of mandatory schooling for children, and as farmer and farmer (2015) state, “in the 1870s and 1880s, values were written into the charters of many states and territories in a number of countries, particularly australia” (p. 22). during those times, it was expected that schools would teach values. after this time, it was preferred that schools would remain neutral or not involved in the teaching of values. later came a period that farmer and farmer (2015) call “the values clarification period” (p. 22), according to which students are entitled to believe in personal or moral values that they consider appropriate. the role of the teacher was to help students understand those values. however, in the 21st century, there has been an increased effort in schools to enhance the values or character education model. (the massacre at columbine high school in colorado, usa, in april of 1999, where two adolescents murdered 13 people and injured 21 others, may have had something to do with that.) values education, positive education, character education, or resilience learning are concepts used in many countries to express the need to help students develop their values and character. with that purpose, different organizations have been created in order to help children around the world: the association for living values education, character.org, and human values foundation, to name a few. values and character are interconnected. according to farmer and farmer (2015), “good character and the five human values are of course synonymous” (p. 44). the five values journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 102 mentioned are love, truth, peace, right conduct, and non-violence. character is understood as the practical implementation of positive values by the individual (lickona, 2008). values education zajda (2014) defines the concept of values education as “a multifaceted process of socialization in schools, which transmits dominant values, in order to provide and legitimate the necessary link between the individual, the group and society” (p. 835). it seems that values education is the teaching of a series of values to students in order to improve the society in which we live. but what are the values in question? zajda (2014) mentions a specific list of 22 values: tolerance, altruism, asceticism, benevolence, honesty, courage, fairness, moderation, conscientiousness, selflessness, sincerity, humility, modesty, magnanimity, sympathy, tactfulness, diligence, nobleness, trust, self-mastery, solidarity, and frugality. this author warns us about the character of these values, since he considers them to be subjective and relative. lovat, clement, dally, and toomey (2011) stress the importance of considering the process of education as a holistic mechanism that determines the necessity of valuing all of the student’s learning factors: cognitive, emotional, and social. this approach is essential if we want to find out what an effective learning process should look like since it is not limited to just one aspect of this mechanism. newmann (1996) pointed to the learning atmosphere or ambience of learning as the key to effective teaching and learning. farmer and farmer (2015) declare that there are five core universal human values: love, truth, peace, right conduct, and non-violence. these authors advocate for these values to be followed in schools, to become an integral part of our educational systems. they ask for a change in ourselves as human beings: “human values education is about changing ourselves so that our children, our students can change” (p. 26). the australian government has been a pioneer in the implementation of values education in its educational system by creating the australian values education program. this program was responsible for conducting a values education study in 2003, and the final report came to important conclusions (dest, 2003). this study was followed by the establishment of a national framework for values education (dest, 2005). in addition, the australian values education program was responsible for a series of research and practice projects from 2005 to 2009. two of those important projects were the values education good practice school project (vegpsp) (dest, 2006a, 2006b) and the project to test and measure the impact of values education on student effects and school ambience (lovat, toomey, dally, & clement, 2009). these studies and reports will be addressed in more detail later in this article. in europe, the values in education in europe project (veep) was inaugurated in 1991. it was based on three goals: to provide guidelines on values education, to develop and publish an annotated bibliography, and to undertake a questionnaire survey on values in europe. taylor (1993) offers a comparative overview regarding the implementation of the values education system in 26 different european countries. another european values project is the european journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 103 values study, which has attempted to draw conclusions regarding values since the late 1970s. in 2008, the last phase of this study took place, gathering information about values related to specific topics such as politics, religion, work, family, society, well-being, and europe. outside of europe, other countries like india, indonesia, japan, the philippines, singapore, and thailand have established values education systems in their educational systems. in india, especially in the last 10 years, the central board of secondary education (cbse) has started a process in all cbse-affiliated schools by which these schools promote an educational approach where values are central. also, organizations like values based education (vbe) are promoting the addition of a values system in the schools’ curriculum by helping students be better citizens, good communicators, eager contributors to society, positive thinkers, and eager learners. the philippines conceptualized its values education framework in 1987. in 2012, a values model was implemented in public k-12 schools. some courses designed to reinforce these values are required, such as introduction to philosophy of the human person and personal development. character education over the last 30 years, hundreds of schools throughout the world have been adding to their curriculum specific aspects to promote, enhance, and support a series of values that would shape the character of the students in a positive manner. many researchers (berkowitz & bier, 2005; carr, 2008; lickona, 2008) stress this fact, adding that a fundamental educational reform is taking place, given the “spiritual emptiness of much of the modern life” (lickona, 2008, p. 33). this educational movement is possible due to different organizations. one of these organizations is character.org, founded in 1993 by a group of educators, business leaders, and researchers with the goal of helping individuals and groups develop their character through an inspiring and compassionate approach. in connection with schools, this group of professionals developed the 11 principles of effective character education: principle 1: core values are defined, implemented, and embedded into school culture. principle 2: the school defines “character” comprehensively to include thinking, feeling, and doing. principle 3: the school uses a comprehensive, intentional, and proactive approach to develop character. principle 4: the school creates a caring community. principle 5: the school provides students with opportunities for moral action. principle 6: the school offers a meaningful and challenging academic curriculum that respects all learners, develops their character, and helps them succeed. principle 7: the school fosters students’ self-motivation. principle 8: all staff share the responsibility for developing, implementing, and modeling ethical character. journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 104 principle 9: the school’s character initiative has shared leadership and long-range support for continuous improvement. principle 10: the school engages families and community as partners in the character initiative. principle 11: the school assesses its implementation of character education, its culture and climate, and the character growth of students on a regular basis. this group of professionals considers these principles to be a guide for schools and districts. the application of these principles is oriented to be worldwide. in the united states alone, character.org has given the denomination “school of character” to schools that have decided to implement the above 11 principles into their daily practices: 87 schools and 3 districts in 18 different states. overall, at the present time, more than 500 schools of character are recognized, and more than 3 million educators, families, students, and other community members have benefited from this character development action plan. goodcharacter.com is another organization that promotes the implementation of character in schools. this company born in 1987 developed materials such as teaching guides, videos, etc., that are intended to be used by schools to incorporate character education into their curricula. the goodcharacter.com website discusses its aim and mission: helping young people making good and productive choices in life. in order to attain that goal, they offer a series of media resources to inspire and inform. according to berkowitz (2011), other examples of organizations and initiatives regarding character education include the center for character and citizenship; collaborative for academic, social and emotional learning; developmental studies center; the character project; character plus; character education partnership; manners of the heart, educators for social responsibility, etc. studies on character education as mentioned earlier, australia developed the values education good practice school project (vegpsp), active from 2005 to 2009. this project involved two different stages, in which 316 schools around the country, with approximately 100,000 students, 10,000 teachers, and 50 college institutions, added a values education approach to their daily educational practices. the findings were expressed in two different documents related to each of the two stages: stage 1 findings (dest, 2006b) showed a correlation between the use of values and a better pedagogical practice. specific improvements were strengthening the learning environment, great student attention, students more respectful and trying to strive to do their best, happier faculty and students, and a much calmer school. stage 2 findings (deewr, 2008) corroborated the correlation between the implementation of values in school curricula and students’ improved academic behavior and learning. dietsch and bayha (2005) investigated the short-term effects of the implementation of character literature in the lesson plans among 372 fourth grade students. table 1 summarizes the different categories considered and the effects found. journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 105 table 1. implementation of character literature in the lessons plans of fourth grade students categories significant effects 1. math grades yes 2. attendance yes 3. reading grades no 4. citizenship grades no 5. support and care by teachers and staff yes 6. shaping the environment yes 7. friendship and belonging no 8. student respect no we observe in this table that the implementation of character literature produced significant effects on four of the eight categories used in this study. the positive influence of the character approach was over math grades, attendance, support and care by teachers, and shaping the environment. lovat, clement, dally, and toomey (2010) present a series of findings derived from several values projects carried out in australia. gathering evidence from the values education good practice schools project and the project to test and measure the impact of values education on student effects and school ambience, they conclude that the implementation of values education contributes to an improvement in education, academic achievement, school culture, and classroom ambience. berkowitz (2011) mentions a list of 15 categories (see table 2) of educational practices that enhance the fostering of an individual’s values, presented as a result of a review of research. table 2. research supported character education implementation strategies research supported character education implementation strategies peer interactive strategies cooperative learning moral dilemma discussion service to others developmental discipline role-modeling and mentoring nurturance trust and trustworthiness high expectations school-wide character focus family/community involvement pedagogy of empowerment teaching social-emotional competencies induction professional development elements in this section, we address the question of how a values-oriented school can help the lives of the members of that school and community. we will focus on the elements that have an influence in the educational process, and the different possibilities available for them, with journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 106 the common goal of helping students become the best possible versions of themselves as human beings, which ultimately will help them to be better prepared for life and its continuous challenges. the order in which we address these elements is not random. we believe that the main influences students have in life is home and family. schools, then, help support the education and readiness of students for life. however, schools and teachers must follow the guidelines imposed by governments and administrators. addressing the question of values education and leaving some of these elements out (government, administrators, and family) would tackle the issue in a partial manner, not in a holistic way as we envisioned from the beginning. also, we wish to stress that the approach toward these elements is based on the perspective of values. family family values represent an essential influence in children’s lives in school in the united states (ginsburg & hanson, 1985; weisner & garnier, 1992). different families have different sets of values depending on their own backgrounds, cultures, education, experiences, and beliefs. for instance, reese et al. (1995) mention the concept of agrarian values as opposed to an academic occupational model. judd et al. (2006) state that agrarian values are proper for those living in rural areas, farming communities, or small and isolated areas, in which live stoic, self-reliant individuals prone to coping with problems, suffering in silence, and inclined to rely more on family and friends than on professionals. also, the residents of these areas are likely to assume more self-responsibility. reese et al. (1995) consider that “under certain conditions, these values may be complementary to those of the school and in fact serve to support educational adaptation and achievement” (p. 57). jorge puyó (1898-1990), an illustrious selftaught shepherd and author, embodies the perfect example of what those agrarian values are. he reminds us of the importance of being loyal and truthful to these values, which helped him in his insatiable eagerness to keep learning and improving in every way. he was the last person who wore the traje típico ansotano as a symbol of his loyalty and commitment to a set of values that helped him be a remarkable member of his community. those values influenced every page of his books (puyó, 1950, 1967). regarding the academic occupational model, on the other hand, reese et al. (1995) state that it “is characterized by a competitive labor market, social mobility, schooling as preparation for economically specialized occupations, and mass participation in national government” (p. 76). at the same time, parents’ involvement in education is considered a positive influence on students’ performance (anderson & minke, 2007). hoover-dempsey and sandler (1995) distinguish three main causes of parents’ involvement: they developed a sense of participation in their children’s education, they believe that their help is beneficial for their children’s success in school, and they see opportunities for getting involved with the school. regardless of the different reasons that parents decide to get involved in education, the values that the family transmits generation after generation has a powerful influence on their children. also, those same values produce specific effects in the interactions between families and teachers and administrators, as essential elements of the schools (ginsburg & hanson, 1985; weisner & garnier, 1992). journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 107 government the government as a representative institution has the responsibility to represent its citizens and transmit the values upon which a society has been founded. in any activity, in any profession, in order to deliver the responsibilities related to that post in the best way possible, it is essential to respect and appreciate the members and the organizations that represent a specific field. those people must feel respected, appreciated, and treated with dignity. they need government support. this is an essential factor that entails the support that politicians offer to schools to deliver the best education possible (friedman, 1955). the program for international student assessment (pisa) is a study by the organization for economic co-operation and development (oecd) to evaluate the educational systems of 72 different countries in the fields of math, reading, and science. the study started in 2000 and takes place every three years. during the 2015 study, 540,000 15-year-old students took part. each student was given two hours to complete the assessment. results of the 2015 pisa study are shown in table 3. table 3. top 10 countries of pisa (2015) study in math, reading, and science # math reading science 1 singapore singapore singapore 2 china, hong kong china, hong kong japan 3 macau canada estonia 4 taiwan finland taiwan 5 japan ireland finland 6 china estonia macau 7 south korea south korea canada 8 switzerland japan vietnam 9 estonia norway china, hong kong 10 canada new zealand china given these results, it is suitable to ask ourselves: what is the educational model in those countries that allow them to obtain such results? what are the principles and values that their governments apply to their educational models to be successful? what are the government values and principles that teachers are encouraged to implement to be effective? specifically, table 4 shows the amount of disciplines in which those countries’ results allow them to be in the top 10 of the pisa. table 4. countries and disciplines within the top 10 of pisa results. top 10 countries in all categories top 10 countries in two categories top 10 countries in one category singapore china taipei (math & science) south korea (math) japan taiwan (math & science) switzerland (math) estonia macau (math & science) norway (reading) china (hong-kong) finland (reading & science) ireland (reading) canada new zealand (reading) vietnam (science) it is obvious that further research is necessary to answer the above questions. journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 108 governments are chosen to represent their citizens. the vision that a government holds about a specific issue is extrapolated into specific measures. education is one of the most important aspects in our societies. being able to provide a high-quality education will help to create a much better world. but in order to provide that level of service in education, governments must help the educational institutions to ensure they can offer good conditions for their teachers, administrators, and students (friedman, 1955). governments have the possibility to influence the culture of schools by developing a vision in which administrators, teachers, and students believe in high expectations, where high standards are part of any school’s main core of values. as berges-puyó (2018) declares, students in the united states are not helped enough, since the general expectations are becoming less demanding with the passing years. it is time, then, to change that culture and help students be who they are: amazing human beings capable of extraordinary things, under the right culture, vision, and direction. school administration administrators are leaders in educational institutions. under their vision, leadership, and guidance, schools can create a specific culture that influences all the elements involved in the school system: students, parents, faculty, and staff. if schools want to be successful, they must develop a plan where all these elements are acknowledged and invited so that they become a part of the common goal: helping students succeed (greenfield, 1995). administrators have the crucial possibility to develop an environment in which all the people inside the school feel safe, heard, and protected, knowing that in times of struggle, their administrators will come to help, to support. administrators will lead schools to develop a set of values that they envision to be the guiding principles for that institution. based on those values, administrators can build a foundation where leaders put others first. consequently, teachers will do the same, putting students first. if administrators as leaders make the choice to put the safety of others first, to sacrifice themselves first, teachers will develop a feeling of trust, loyalty, and cooperation, and then they will be willing to do the same not only for the administrators but also for the students. kersaint et al. (2007) mention administrative support as an important factor that influences teacher retention and resignation. margolis and nagel (2006) show in their study how beneficial administrative support is when teachers are included in conversations related to school policies and their daily work is acknowledged. administrators also have the responsibility to establish a mission, based on their own vision and philosophy. all of that will be reflected in the day-to-day decisions at the school, which at the same time will consolidate the above-mentioned culture, a culture that will embrace some chosen values to guide the people in that school. that culture will impact everything and everyone. having approachable, open, caring, and respectful communication among all the elements will serve the purpose to help students flourish in life (murphy, 1992). teachers journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 109 “we live in a society that celebrates executives, coaches, and other leaders yet doesn’t put a very high value on teaching as a profession” (carroll, 2010). as a reflection of that, it has long been claimed that the salary of teachers is lower in comparison to other jobs. strauss (2017) cites in table 5 the eight college degrees with the lowest starting salaries in 2017. among those eight degrees, three are in education (pre-k & kindergarten; elementary education; special education), and two more are most likely carried out by educators (english & history). table 5. college degrees with lowest starting salaries in 2017. # college degrees with lowest starting salaries in 2017 average starting salary ($) 1 pre-k & kindergarten education 35,626 2 social work 37,115 3 anthropology/sociology 37,672 4 elementary education 37,803 5 special education 38,002 6 psychology 38,079 7 english 38,303 8 history 38,361 if we want an educational system of prestige, it is necessary to facilitate the conditions to attract professionals that, apart from their inner passion, are incentivized to do their best. in this sense, politicians as the representatives of the different governments should develop a vision in which the educational sector is attractive and fulfilling for the professionals in the field. a vision based on the value of respect seems to be logical to retain devoted professionals. as the global teacher status index for the year 2018 (gtsi18) states, “now we can say beyond doubt that respecting teachers isn’t only an important moral duty, it’s essential for a country’s educational outcomes” (p. 2). according to the global teacher status index for 2013, among all the countries reviewed, teachers occupied a mid-ranking status, china being the country where teachers had the highest status. there is a major emphasis on teachers in values education. teachers must teach their content, but also communicate with administrators and parents to make sure that they can help the students in any way possible. they are expected to be role models of good character for the students and parents alike. society holds high expectations for the teaching profession, but teaching retention is decreasing and teachers’ resignations are more common in schools worldwide. at the same time, teaching ranks as one of the most stressful jobs (johnson et al., 2005). some authors (farmer & farmer, 2015; lickona, 2013; lovat, 2007) stress the need for the teacher to become an exemplary leader in morals and character to benefit students. berges-puyó (2018) conducted a study in which 173 l2 learners were asked about the most valued teacher behaviors, and the first four most important aspects in the view of their students were related to personal features of the teacher: sense of humor, respect and care, promoting good relationships in the classroom, and being kind, patient, and fair. it is clear, then, that students value the teacher first as a human being, as an individual with whom they hope to have a good relationship. as kersaint et al. (2007) point out, teachers need support in order to balance the growing obligations of their occupation with family responsibilities. if we want anybody to perform at their best level, it is essential that the person feels supported, journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 110 respected, and fulfilled. if we want teachers to perform at their best, parents, administrators, government, and students must work together, making sure that all are heard and a caring environment is established where a series of values will enhance the school experience for all: respect, communication, support, fairness, care, and love. students schools serve students by providing content that will help them obtain a job and earn a living in the future. as mentioned earlier, several studies (berkowitz, 2011; deewr, 2008; dietsch & bayha, 2005; lovat et al., 2010) showed that a values/character-oriented school helps promote academic success, a better school ambience, and a better predisposition for learning. students need to be taught, guided, advised, helped, and supported by the different members of any educational institution. they are the future generations of parents, professionals, and leaders who will affect the world in its different aspects. therefore, schools, with the cooperation of families, have the crucial mission to prepare the students to lead healthy, happy, and successful lives. to be able to carry out that noble mission, it is important that teachers develop a caring and respectful relationship with their students, where all feel respected, supported, and guided. on the other hand, students must take responsibility for the learning process since teachers and parents cannot learn for them. cook-sather (2010) shows an example of students’ responsibility through teaching and learning together (tlt) and students as learners and teachers (salt) models, advocating for the active participation of the students in teaching/learning aspects, which “strengthens students’ sense of connection, affording them opportunities to build their capacity, and making room for them to take responsibility” (p. 571). being a part of that conversation, in which teaching and learning are discussed, may help students understand the motivations and goals of the teachers’ decisions. a values and character education system promotes the implementation of a series of values like responsibility based on the different roles that the individuals involved should have. providing feedback is always beneficial and helps to prepare the conditions for further conversations conducive to improving the learning and teaching processes. the mission of teachers, administrators, and parents is to provide the best possible environment where students feel safe, protected, and supported. that type of atmosphere can only be sustained by the pillars of a series of values, so that in times of difficulty, those pillars help maintain a firm and stable environment where all individuals involved respect and help one another. conclusion educators, parents, administrators, governmental institutions, and authorities have the immense privilege to affect the lives of thousands of students with the purpose of preparing them for life, with the goal to make this world a better place. the great news is that this is possible! it is possible if we become aware of a set of values that help us be better, whether we are parents, students, educators, or government officials. we can do better if we all decisively remember that love, tolerance, respect, compassion, humility, etc., are crucial values in human existence. we can help share the notion that these values unite us all. we journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 111 can develop a culture where we see individuals as human beings, as hearts, as brothers and sisters. schools can play an essential role in all of this. we advocate here for schools committed to developing this awareness, adopting a curriculum-values approach, and pointing out the need to treat students holistically as learners and above all as human beings. these schools can develop an ethical leadership, filling the students’ minds but also their hearts, reminding them that the knowledge must be used for the benefit of the entire society. different studies cited in this article prove that the implementation of a values-based education system favors academic excellence and a sense of fulfillment in the students, based on a higher development of self-awareness, empathy, compassion, and understanding. what is next, then? i believe that there is no better time than now for teachers and administrators to speak up about the meaning of life and about values to live by. the present article and the following conclusions serve to break this silence and try to join this beautiful endeavor: (1) the character and values education model is implemented worldwide in different school systems. the toogoolawa school in australia is one example of many schools in which the entire school curriculum is based on a values education model. on their website, www.toogoolawa.com.au, the first message we see along with the name of the school is its motto: “a place in the heart.” this sends a powerful message to students, teachers, and the community about what is considered important. (2) studies (dest, 2006; deewr, 2008) show that there is a correlation between the use of values and an improvement in pedagogical practice, student attention, happier faculty, and a much better learning environment. those values can come from different sources, as miller (2015, p. 137) states: “spiritual presence, guidance, and values can come from extended family, close friends, psychologists, youth workers and clergy, coaches, and educators.” creating a learning environment based upon a series of values has a crucial impact on the lives of others, making those lives happier and more fulfilling. (3) educating our children is a mission in which all the people involved should be willing to communicate and work together. developing a sense of “being heard” would promote a sense of empathy and understanding. (4) agrarian values represent a series of principles that help individuals become more resilient, with a propensity to be more focused on solutions than on problems. these values help individuals rely mainly on family and friends rather than on professionals. reese et al. (1995) remind us of the value of these principles, being complementary to those present in academic occupation models. being exposed to those values is an enormous asset for the education of our children, since there is a correlation between the implementation of those principles and a major degree of responsibility and capacity to deal with difficulties. (5) governments have the faculty to help develop school culture with the pursuit of the implementation of a series of values conducive to bring together all the actors involved in education. also, they can propose legislation to provide all the means necessary to better serve students, teachers, parents, and administrators. according to the results of the pisa http://www.toogoolawa.com.au/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 112 study (2015), a majority of eastern countries excel in math, reading, and science. further research on these educational systems would be beneficial to learn how they are able to obtain these results, which show the effectiveness of their methods and practices. (6) administrators as leaders in schools are responsible to take care of their employees, faculty and staff alike, making sure that all aspects of the school as an institution are transparent. we agree with sinek (2009) that transparency in the workplace creates a working atmosphere where there is trust, and trust promotes loyalty and cooperation. once the teachers and staff feel that they can trust their leaders, they will serve their students better knowing that the administrators are there to support and protect them. also, administrators can have a decisive influence over teacher retention and resignation, promoting conditions in which teachers can deal better with stress with the administrative support they need (margolis & nagel, 2006). (7) teachers are the leaders in the classroom. as farmer and farmer (2015) state, “teachers and the school environment have a vital role to play in the development of students’ character” (p. 23). the implementation of a school environment based on a series of human values is going to help students be better not only as students but as human beings. hundreds of schools around the world are implementing these values with remarkable results. values like courage, justice, resilience, compassion, responsibility, respect, humility, gratitude, civility, integrity, love, truth, peace, right conduct, and non-violence are shaping the minds and spirits of the next generations of learners because of the culture that is being set in those schools. a culture is established based upon a series of actions that affect all the individuals and communities around them. as berger (2003) notes, excellence is born from a culture. a culture based on the above-mentioned values is going to help children and students acquire powerful principles where ethics become their norm. teachers, in this respect, must be the first to follow those values, leading by example. farmer and farmer (2015, p. 67) declare that “the teacher needs to become a blazing log whose example in living the human values will set a fire the student’s latent impulse to excel in both moral and performance character.” (8) students need to be inspired and guided by their teachers. if students are led by their teachers with a consistent set of values, students will be inspired to follow the same path. students will perform according to the expectations that teachers establish. lower expectations produce low levels of achievement. responsibility, honor, hard work, a sincere love for learning, independent learning habits, and a predisposition for embracing academic challenges will help students develop their academic skills and facilitate the development of confidence and reliance. students need to be directed and guided to help them be their best possible selves. students will follow their leaders, teachers, and administrators if they feel that those leaders deeply care about them, because of the actions they carry out day after day. actions always show our priorities. schools around the world are doing a remarkable job, helping students and families teach not only content but also preparing students for life. knowledge itself should be an instrument not only to pass examinations but to serve others. when we make someone’s life better, we journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 113 are making this world a better place. a values and character educational system promotes a caring and inspiring environment and helps our future generations to thrive not just academically but as human beings. helping students be respectful, caring, hardworking, empathetic, understanding, tolerant, compassionate, and loving is a noble way to remind them of how wonderful and amazing they can be, how amazing we all can be. references anderson, k. l., & minke, m. k. (2007). parent involvement in education: toward an understanding of parents’ decision making. the journal of educational research, 100(5), 311-323. berges-puyó, j. g. (2018). motivational factors in learning an l2: a study on intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, classroom materials, and teachers’ behaviors. available from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/jorge_bergespuyo2/publication/325204332_motivational_factors_in_learning_an_l2_a_study_on_i ntrinsicextrinsic_motivation_classroom_materials_and_teacher%27s_behaviors/links/ 5c057694458515ae5444b28f/motivational-factors-in-learning-an-l2-a-study-onintrinsic-extrinsic-motivation-classroom-materials-and-teachers-behaviors.pdf berkowitz, m. (2011). what works in values education. international journal of educational research, 50, 153-158. berkowitz, m., & bier, m. c. (2005). what works in character education: a research-driven guide for educators. washington, dc: character education partnership. billing, s. h. (2002). support for k-12 service-learning practice: a brief review of the research. educational horizons, 184-189. carr, d. (2008). character education as the cultivation of virtue. in l. p. nucci & d. narvaez (eds.), handbook of moral and character education (pp. 99-116). new york: routledge. carroll, p. (2010). win forever. london: penguin. cook-sather, a. (2010). students as learners and teachers: taking responsibility, transforming education, and redefining accountability. curriculum inquiry, 40 (4), 555-575. davidson, m., kmelkov, v., & lickona, r. (2010). the power of character: needed for and developed from. in l. terence, r. toomey, & n. clement (eds.), international research handbook on values education and student wellbeing (pp. 427-454). newcastle university, australia: springer. deewr. (2008). australian government department of education, employment and workplace relations. the heart of what we do: values education at the centre of schooling. report of the values education good practice school project, stage 2. melbourne: curriculum corporation. available from http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/vegpsp-2_final_3.pdf dest. (2003). values education study final report. australian government department of education science and training. melbourne: curriculum corporation. available from http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/ves_final_report14nov.pdf dest. (2005). national framework for values education in australian schools (canberra, australian government department of education, science and training). available from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/jorge_berges-puyo2/publication/325204332_motivational_factors_in_learning_an_l2_a_study_on_intrinsicextrinsic_motivation_classroom_materials_and_teacher%27s_behaviors/links/5c057694458515ae5444b28f/motivational-factors-in-learning-an-l2-a-study-on-intrinsic-extrinsic-motivation-classroom-materials-and-teachers-behaviors.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/jorge_berges-puyo2/publication/325204332_motivational_factors_in_learning_an_l2_a_study_on_intrinsicextrinsic_motivation_classroom_materials_and_teacher%27s_behaviors/links/5c057694458515ae5444b28f/motivational-factors-in-learning-an-l2-a-study-on-intrinsic-extrinsic-motivation-classroom-materials-and-teachers-behaviors.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/jorge_berges-puyo2/publication/325204332_motivational_factors_in_learning_an_l2_a_study_on_intrinsicextrinsic_motivation_classroom_materials_and_teacher%27s_behaviors/links/5c057694458515ae5444b28f/motivational-factors-in-learning-an-l2-a-study-on-intrinsic-extrinsic-motivation-classroom-materials-and-teachers-behaviors.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/jorge_berges-puyo2/publication/325204332_motivational_factors_in_learning_an_l2_a_study_on_intrinsicextrinsic_motivation_classroom_materials_and_teacher%27s_behaviors/links/5c057694458515ae5444b28f/motivational-factors-in-learning-an-l2-a-study-on-intrinsic-extrinsic-motivation-classroom-materials-and-teachers-behaviors.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/jorge_berges-puyo2/publication/325204332_motivational_factors_in_learning_an_l2_a_study_on_intrinsicextrinsic_motivation_classroom_materials_and_teacher%27s_behaviors/links/5c057694458515ae5444b28f/motivational-factors-in-learning-an-l2-a-study-on-intrinsic-extrinsic-motivation-classroom-materials-and-teachers-behaviors.pdf http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/vegpsp-2_final_3.pdf http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/ves_final_report14nov.pdf journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 114 http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/framework_pdf_version_for_the_we b.pdf dest. (2006a). implementing the national framework for values education in australian schools: report of the values education good practice schools project, stage 1: executive summary, september 2006. melbourne: curriculum corporation. available from http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/vegps1_final_report_exec_summary _081106.pdf dest. (2006b). implementing the national framework for values education in australian schools: report of the values education good practice schools project, stage 1: final report, september 2006. melbourne: curriculum corporation. available from http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/vegps1_final_report_081106.pdf dietsch, b., & bayha, j. l. (2005). short-term effects of a literature-based character education program among fourth grade students: report to the young people’s press, inc. available from https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/study/64544 epstein, j. (2018). school, family, and community partnerships. preparing educators and improving schools. london: routledge. farmer, r., & farmer, s. (2015). handbook for teachers in human values education: scientifically grounded teaching strategies for a meaningful life. australia: dr. ron and suwanti farmer. friedman, m. (1955). the role of government in education. available from http://homepage.fudan.edu.cn/jfeng/files/2011/08/role-of-government-ineducation_friedman.pdf ginsburg, a., & hanson, s. (1985). values and educational success among disadvantaged students. washington, dc: u.s. dept. of education (eric # ed 268 068). global teacher status index. (2018). varkey foundation. available from https://www.varkeyfoundation.org/media/4867/gts-index-13-11-2018.pdf greenfield, w. (1995). toward a theory of school administration. the centrality of leadership. educational administration quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x95031001005 jarvis, f. w. (2000). with love and prayers. boston: david r. godine. johnson, s., cooper, c., cartwright, s., donald, i., taylor, p., & millet, c. (2005). the experience of work-related stress across occupations. journal of managerial psychology, 20(2), 178187. judd, f., jackson, h., komiti, a., murry, g., fraser, c., grieve, a., & gomez, r. (2006). helpseeking by rural residents for mental health problems: the importance of agrarian values. australian and new zealand journal of psychiatry, 40, 769-776. kersaint, g., lewis, j., potter, r., & meisels, g. (2007). why teachers leave: factors that influence retention and resignation. teaching and teacher education, 23(6), 775-794. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.12.004 lickona, t. (2008). the power of modelling in children’s character development. in d. streight (ed.), parenting for character: five experts, five practices (pp. 33-50). portland, or: council for spiritual and ethical education. lickona, t. (2013). a comprehensive approach to character building in catholic schools. journal of catholic education, 1(2), 159-175. lovat, t. j. (2007). values education: the missing link in quality teaching and effective learning. in d. n. aspin & j. d. chapman (eds.), values education and lifelong learning http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/framework_pdf_version_for_the_web.pdf http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/framework_pdf_version_for_the_web.pdf http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/vegps1_final_report_exec_summary_081106.pdf http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/vegps1_final_report_exec_summary_081106.pdf http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/vegps1_final_report_081106.pdf https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/study/64544 http://homepage.fudan.edu.cn/jfeng/files/2011/08/role-of-government-in-education_friedman.pdf http://homepage.fudan.edu.cn/jfeng/files/2011/08/role-of-government-in-education_friedman.pdf https://www.varkeyfoundation.org/media/4867/gts-index-13-11-2018.pdf https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0013161x95031001005 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.12.004 journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 berges-puyó, g. (2021). a value and character educational model: repercussions for students, teachers, and families. journal of culture and values in education e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 115 (pp. 199-210). lifelong learning book series, vol 10. dordrecht: springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6184-4_11 lovat, t., toomey, r., dally, k., & clement, n. (2009). project to test and measure the impact of values education on student effects and school ambience. report for the australian government department of education, employment and workplace relations (deewr) by the university of newcastle, australia. canberra: deewr. available from http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/project_to_test_and_measure_the_i mpact_of_values_education.pdf lovat, t., clement, n., dally, k., & toomey, r. (2010). values education as holistic development for all sectors: researching for effective pedagogy. oxford review of education, 36(6), 713-729. lovat, t., clement, n., dally, k., & toomey, r. (2011). the impact of values education on school ambience and academic diligence. international journal of educational research, 50, 166-170. margolis, j., & nagel, l. (2006). education reform and the role of administrators in mediating teacher stress. teacher education quarterly, 4, 143-159. miller, l. (2015). the spiritual child. new york: st. martin’s press. murphy, j. (1992). the landscape of leadership preparation. reframing the education of school administrators. london: corwin. newmann, f. m. (1996). authentic achievement: restructuring schools for intellectual quality. san francisco: jossey-bass publishers. puyó navarro, j. (1950). ansó. sus montes y ganadería. huesca: imprenta y librería aguarón. puyó navarro, j. (1967). notas de la vida de un pastor. huesca: imprenta provincial. reese, l., balzano, s., gallimore, r., & goldenberg, c. (1995). the concept of educación: latino family values and american schooling. international journal of educational research, 23(1), 57-81. saith, a. (2006). from universal values to millennium developmental goals: lost in translation. international institute of social studies, 37(6), 1167-1199. sinek, s. (2009). start with why. london: portfolio. solomon, d., watson, m. s., & battistich, v. a. (2001). teaching and schooling effects on moral / pro-social development. in v. richardson (ed.), handbook of research on teaching (4th ed.), pp. 566-603. steinberg, l. (2014). age of opportunity. boston: houghton mifflin harcourt. stenson, j. (2003). compass. a handbook on parent leadership. new york: scepter. strauss, k. (2017). college degrees with the highest (and lowest) starting salaries in 2017. forbes. available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2017/06/28/collegedegrees-with-the-highest-and-lowest-starting-salaries-in-2017/#30651cb52343 taylor, m. (1993). values education in europe: a comparative overview of a survey of 26 countries in 1993. dundee: scottish consultative council on the curriculum. weisner, t. s., & garnier, h. (1992). nonconventional family life-styles and school achievement: a 12-year longitudinal study. american educational research journal, 29(3), 605-632. zajda, j. (2014). values education. in d. phillips (ed.), encyclopedia of educational theory and philosophy (pp. 835-838). thousand oaks, ca: sage. http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/project_to_test_and_measure_the_impact_of_values_education.pdf http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/project_to_test_and_measure_the_impact_of_values_education.pdf https://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2017/06/28/college-degrees-with-the-highest-and-lowest-starting-salaries-in-2017/#30651cb52343 https://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2017/06/28/college-degrees-with-the-highest-and-lowest-starting-salaries-in-2017/#30651cb52343 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 2 2023 pp. 51-65 the effect of using educational mapping as a game in teaching english language on university students' motivation saddam riad kobari*a fayez mahamidb, & mohamed shaheena * corresponding author: email: saddam.kobri1@gmail.com a. faculty of graduate studies, alquds open university, ramallah, palestine. b. an-najah national university, nablus, palestine. article info received: march 8, 2023 accepted: april 20, 2023 published: may 23, 2023 how to cite kobari s.r., mahamid, f. & shaheen, m. (2023). the effect of using educational mapping as a game in teaching english language on university students' motivation. journal of culture and values in education, 6(2), 51-65. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.8 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract this study interrogated the effect of using educational mapping in teaching english language on university students' motivation. a quasi-experimental design (training program), along with a quantitative approach, was used. the study was implemented at alquds open university in palestine. the participants comprised 36 master's degree students who were randomly divided into two equal groups: controlled (n=18) and experimental (n=18). the experimental group was taught by using educational mapping while the controlled group was taught by using common and traditional methods of teaching english language. the study questions were: 1) are there statistically significant differences in students' means responses of english language motivation due to group? 2) are there statistically significant differences in students' means responses of english language motivation due to gender? the data were analyzed by using spss, ancova and mancova. the results of the study showed that using educational mapping in teaching english language positively influenced university students' motivation. in addition, the results of the study indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in students' means responses of motivation according to the variable of gender. thus, the study recommended using educational mapping as a game to foster students' motivation. keywords educational mapping; english language motivation; university students 10.46303/jcve.2023.8 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.8 52 jcve 2023, 6(2): 51-65 introduction most of arab learners face many problems in learning english language (almehmadi, 2013). these problems are represented by: lack of english language self-efficacy, inability to present the ideas, transferring the stylistic features from their first language, writing long sentences, keeping repeating the same ideas around the topic, replicating phrases without targeting the main idea and having low motivation towards learning the language (almehmadi, 2013). besides, most of efl learners experience fear and high level of anxiety while speaking, writing and summarizing, and they have low motivation towards learning english language (aydin, 2008). one of the prominent obstacles that encounters lecturers and teachers is dealing with diverse group of learners. that is, learners have various backgrounds; hence, their abilities, skills, motivation and confidence vary. ahmed and wais (2012) interrogated the factors that lead to low academic achievement. the study found that the lack of attention and motivation is a basic factor; the study advised lecturers and teachers to use educational games that can increase their motivation. azriel et al. (2005) indicated that the language of playing is common among all people regardless of their knowledge, age and social backgrounds. the researcher tried to convert the educational mapping into a game to test its effect on university students' motivation. several studies showed the positive effect of using games in teaching. for example, kramer (2000) found that games increase students' motivation, which enables them to participate and play their roles zealously; kramer also stated that using games has many benefits. first of all, they develop many skills and abilities such as planning, thinking, training the parts of the mind, processing different kinds of information, concentrating, making decision, and grasping the impact of systems. furthermore, they develop the emotional and social aspects by improving learners' ability and skills in various fields such as using fantasy, accepting loss, creativity, accepting the laws, discovering oneself and others, learning and working with others. goehle (2013) stated that using games could foster students' engagement, interaction and enthusiasm. that is, using games in teaching helped students to trust their abilities and skills; hence, using games increased learners' enthusiasm and motivation to learn. educational mapping one type of graphic organizers is mapping; using mapping is very beneficial because it assists students to be encouraged and motivated while learning; that is, it helps learners to apply and use words correctly. mapping increases the level of confidence that they have towards their abilities (miao, 2007). using mapping helps learners to organize the content of knowledge, which they are learning properly. that is, using mapping could help learners in writing research since it could help them to organize the literature review properly (kotcherlakota et al., 2013). in addition, the structure of mapping aids learners to develop their learning skills; hence, using mapping increased students' level of confidence in their abilities (hanewald, 2012). using mapping has several advantages. first, it can be used as a note-writing guide that develops teachers' abilities and skills. second, it can be shown as an effective visual learning tool 53 jcve 2023, 6(2): 51-65 that illustrates the relationships of concepts and words. third, the structure of mapping motivates students to participate and take feedback. fourth and last, it enriches the process of recalling words and understanding (boyson, 2009). moreover, buzan and buzan (2010) stated that mapping assists learners to be distinguished and creative, and it helps them a lot while summarizing texts, lectures and conversations. thus, using mapping is vital for summarizing, organizing thoughts, explaining information, reading and writing since it connects different topics through a meaningful visualization; using mapping in teaching develops students' abilities in recalling and memorization. besides, it also develops learners' involvement and engagement in learning; in addition, it positively increases their confidence (spencer et al., 2013). grabe (2009) found that educational mapping is an effective teaching strategy that can increase students' motivation and curiosity to pay attention and participate while learning. kotcherlakota et al. (2013) stated that using mapping helps learners to organize the content of knowledge that they are learning. hanewald (2012) found that the structure of mapping aids learners to develop their learning skills. farrand et al. (2002) indicated that mapping assists students to study and arouse their motivation to learn since the design of mapping provides effective elaborations. mapping also can be considered as a helpful studying tool because it organizes the data properly. goodnough and woods (2002) indicated that learners found educational mapping as an enjoyable and encouraging aid because it could motivate them to share ideas, participate, answer questions and express themselves in various academic contexts. mona and adbkhalick (2008) found that mapping helps students to organize their understanding, motivating them to be productive. brinkmann (2003) found that mapping could foster learners' creativity and motivation. it helps learners to categorize information properly; using mapping in teaching can largely arouse students' enthusiasm and attention since it illustrates the lesson simply. in addition, using mapping in teaching accounting course made the process of learning enjoyable and interesting by providing visual aids and illustrations, as well as using pictures, links and colors. fiktorius (2013) stated that educational mapping is a powerful teaching aid that encourages students to participate by increasing their motivation. using mapping assists learners to introduce new ideas and connect different ideas together. goldberg (2004) stated that educational mapping is an effective teaching and learning aid that fosters students' engagement and involvement. kobari (2018) found that using educational mapping as a game positively affected 11th grade students' achievement and attitudes. however, the current research was conducted to test the effect of using educational mapping in teaching english language on university students' motivation. the current study aimed to answer the following questions: 1) are there statistically significant differences in students' means responses of english language motivation due to group? 2) are there statistically significant differences in students' means responses of english language motivation due to gender? 54 jcve 2023, 6(2): 51-65 methodology participants the sample of the study comprised 36 students who were randomly divided into two groups: experimental (n=18) and control (n=18). the sample was selected as a stratified random sampling. the population of the study was master's degree students from al-quds open university in palestine; the number of master's degree students at al-quds open university is about 800 students in the year 2022/2023. an english language motivation scale (ratanawalee, 2012) was distributed to participants before and after the intervention. a two-group quasiexperimental design (training program) was used to answer the questions of the study. the performance of the two groups was measured before and after the intervention period. study instruments english language motivation scale the instrument used in this study was a 5-point likert scale which was adapted from the original 7-point likert scale format of gardner’s attitude/ motivation test battery (ami), 909 ranged from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’ (gardner, 1960). some of the questions used in the questionnaire were adopted from prapphal’s attitudes testing (prapphal, 1981) to gather information on participants’ motivation. there were 20 questions in the questionnaire. the questionnaire consists of two main parts: instrumental motivation (items 1-10) and integrative motivation (items 1120), related to various variables of english language learning. the researcher validated the scale in the palestinian context by using construct and content validity; the scale ended up with 18 modified items, and it was changed to a 4-likert scale after being reviewed by a committee of psychology and english language specialists. moreover, the reliability coefficients of the scale was α=0.877. training program the slides of educational mapping were formulated according to the texts used from preintermediate english language book, which is taught at different local universities in palestine. in addition, the project of designing the book co-founded by the erasmus program of the european union; the mapping slides were designed on the lessons extracted from the book. besides, the mapping slides are divided into four parts. the first part covers language (grammar), the second part covers writing, and the third part covers vocabulary and reading comprehension. the training program consisted of 8 lectures, one lecture per a week; each lecture lasted for 180 minutes. groups' members attended all the lectures, which were given by the researcher. the researcher taught the experimental group by using the educational mapping slide while the researcher taught the control group the same lessons by using traditional methods. table 1 shows the training program. 55 jcve 2023, 6(2): 51-65 table 1. training-program lectures. lecture content lessons 1st lecture (units one and two) grammar sentences, questions transitive and intransitive verbs regular and irregular verbs present simple and wh-questions 2nd lecture (units three and four) grammar past simple passive voice (present simple and past simple) imperative 3rd lecture (units five and six) grammar present progressive, present perfect comparative adjectives superlative adjectives 4th lecture (units one and two) reading comprehension and vocabulary greetings from around the world, netiquette food and health, what is in your food? cuisines and countries, get healthy 5th lecture (units three and four) reading comprehension and vocabulary wonders of the world, jerusalem and bethlehem full day tour, biomes fashion ….are you interested? palestinian traditional customs: the story of place and memory 6th lecture (units five and six) reading comprehension and vocabulary learning and technology a new era of entertainment technology palestine got home e-sports 7th lecture (units one, two and three) writing topics capitalization commas application and assessment 8th lecture (units four, five and six) writing topics giving reasons (because and so) contrasting (but) application and assessment study procedures after selecting the population of the study (masters' degree students from al-quds open university), the researcher tested the two scales on 23 students as a pilot study. when the number of participants reached 36, they were divided randomly into two groups according to the time of the lecture. some students chose to take the lecture on sunday at 4p.m. while other students chose to take the lecture on thursday at 2p.m. the researcher taught the experimental group by using the new method in teaching english language while the researcher taught the control group by using common traditional methods. teaching the two groups lasted nearly for 56 jcve 2023, 6(2): 51-65 two months during the summer course. the intervention period started on (1/7/ 2022) and finished on (1/9/2022). the performance of the two groups was measured before and after the intervention. data analysis to test the effect of using educational mapping in teaching english language on university students' motivation, means and standard deviation of the control and experimental groups in the preand post-tests were used. ancova, mancova and spss program were used to analyze the statistical data. analysis of covariance(ancova) was used to test the differences in students' means responses of motivation on preand post-tests due to the study variables, as well as multiple analysis of covariance (mancova) was used to test the effect of the intervention on the scale dimensions and study variables. ethics a permission to conduct this study was taken from the faculty of graduate studies at al-quds open university .besides, informed consent was received before collecting the required data from the participants. findings means and standard deviations were calculated for study variables (group and gender) on pre and post-tests for motivation as shown in table 2 and fig.1 & fig.2 table 2. means and standard deviations for study variables on pre and posttests for motivation scale. dependent variable variables pre –test _____________________ post –test ___________ no. m s.d m s.d instrumental motivation experimental 18 1.71 0.22 3.80 0.23 controlled 18 2.07 0.18 2.14 0.73 male 13 1.89 0.34 3.04 1.35 female 23 1.93 0.20 2.93 1.64 total 36 1.89 0.26 2.97 1.53 integrative motivation experimental 18 1.72 0.31 3.90 0.08 controlled 18 2.30 0.23 2.48 0.15 male 13 1.89 0.41 3.26 0.89 female 23 2.08 0.39 3.16 0.47 total 36 2.01 0.40 3.10 0.78 57 jcve 2023, 6(2): 51-65 table (2) elaborates the means of motivation scale for the experimental and controlled groups. that is, regarding instrumental motivation, the mean of the experimental group in the pre-test was 1.71 while the mean of the controlled group was 2.07. moreover, regarding the post-test results, the mean of experimental group was 3.80 while the mean of controlled group was 2.14. furthermore, regarding the integrative motivation, the mean of the experimental group in the pre-test was 1.72 while the mean of the controlled group was 2.30. moreover, regarding the post-test results, the mean of experimental group was 3.90 while the mean of controlled group was 2.48. to test the significance of these differences, ancova test was calculated as shown in table 3. table 3. analysis of covariance for total score of motivation scale according to group and gender. dependent variable source of variance ss df ms f p motivation pretest 0.258 1 0.258 3.038 .092 group 1.226 1 1.226 14.424 .001** gender 0.007 1 0.007 0.082 .777 group * gender 0.028 1 0.028 0.325 .573 error 2.549 30 0.514 .085 **p ≤ 0.01 table (3) demonstrates that there were no statistically significant differences in the pretest between the two groups (p=0.92). moreover, regarding the post-test, there was a statistically significant difference according to group (p=.001**), and there were no statistically significant differences according to gender (p= 0.777). 58 jcve 2023, 6(2): 51-65 table 4. multiple analysis of covariance for motivation dimensions according to group and gender. dependent variable source of variance ss df ms f p instrumental motivation (post) group 11.900 1 11.900 122.050 .000** integrative motivation (post) 8.381 1 8.381 73.280 .000** instrumental motivation (post) gender 0.029 1 0.029 0.294 .592 integrative motivation (post) 0.014 1 0.014 0.125 .726 instrumental motivation (post) group * gender 0.010 1 0.010 0.101 .753 integrative motivation (post) 0.008 1 0.008 0.074 .787 instrumental motivation (post) instrumental motivation (pre) 0.247 1 0.247 2.529 .122 integrative motivation (post) integrative motivation (pre) 0.105 1 0.105 0.916 .346 **p ≤ 0.01 finding of table 4 illustrates that there were statistically significant differences in instrumental motivation and integrative motivation according to group (p=.000** and p=.000**) respectively. in addition, there were no statistically significant differences in instrumental motivation and integrative motivation according to gender (p=.592 and p=.726) respectively. 59 jcve 2023, 6(2): 51-65 figure 1. the differences in means of instrumental motivation between the experimental and controlled groups in the preand post-tests. figure 2. the differences in means of integrative motivation between the experimental and controlled groups in the preand post-tests. discussion the results of the pre-test demonstrated that there were no statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups in students' means responses of motivation. however, the results of the post-test indicated that there were statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups. the significant difference in 3.8 2.14 1.712.07 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 experimental group instrumetnal motivaton post-test pretest control group pretest post-test 0 1 2 3 4 experimental group 1.72 2.3 3.9 2.48 integrative motivation pretest post-test control group 60 jcve 2023, 6(2): 51-65 students' means responses of motivation in the post-test demonstrated the positive and significant effect of using educational mapping in teaching english on students' motivation. it also showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group; hence, using educational mapping in teaching english was more beneficial than using other common methods. the findings of the current research confirmed the results of several studies. for example, grabe (2009) found that using mapping is an effective teaching strategy that can increase students' motivation and curiosity to pay attention and participate while learning. in addition, goehle (2013) stated that using games could foster students' engagement, interaction and enthusiasm. that is, using games in teaching helped students to trust their abilities and skills, hence, using games increased learners' enthusiasm and motivation to learn. moreover, miao (2007) indicated that using mapping is very beneficial because it assists students to be encouraged and motivated while learning. it helps learners to apply and use words and phrases correctly. the researcher thinks that there are many reasons for these results. first of all, using educational mapping in teaching english was introduced as a game and new method. therefore, it attracted their attention and helped them to concentrate. then, they felt that they could understand the given topics since the structure of mapping could simplify the content by showing the major and minor ideas. when the students felt they understood the given topics; it helped them not to feel nervous, reduced their fears and created an enjoying learning atmosphere. these interpretations came in line with several studies. firstly, kotcherlakota et al. (2013) stated that using mapping helps learners to organize the content of knowledge that they are learning. secondly, hanewald (2012) found that the structure of mapping aids learners to develop their learning skills. thirdly, stephen and hermus (2007) indicated that using educational mapping is a powerful teaching tool that makes the process of teaching interactive, enjoyable and interesting since it connects ideas together. in addition, the researcher thinks that the simple structure of mapping helped students to learn, memorize and recall words easily. thus, it enriched their vocabulary and helped them to express themselves easily. therefore, their skills and abilities to form sentences and answers were increased. hence, they were encouraged to participate and answer questions. when the students noticed that their abilities improved, and they could play their roles as students effectively, their motivation was increased. the interpretation and results of this study confirmed the results of several studies. first, farrand et al. (2002) indicated that mapping assists students to study and arouse their motivation to learn since the design of mapping provides effective elaborations. mapping also can be considered as a helpful studying tool because it organizes the data properly. second, goodnough and woods (2002) stated that learners find educational mapping as an enjoyable and encouraging tool since it could motivate them to share ideas, participate, answer questions 61 jcve 2023, 6(2): 51-65 and express themselves in various academic contexts. third, mona and adbkhalick (2008) found that mapping helps students to organize their understanding, and it motivates them to be productive. fifth, brinkmann (2003) found that mapping could foster learners' creativity and motivation. it helps learners to categorize information properly; using mapping in teaching can largely arouse students' enthusiasm and attention since it illustrates the lesson simply. in addition, using mapping in teaching accounting course made the process of learning enjoyable and interesting by providing visual aids and illustrations, and using pictures, links and colors. sixth, fiktorius (2013) stated that educational mapping is a powerful tool that encourages students to participate by increasing their motivation. using mapping assists learners to introduce new ideas and connect different ideas together. seventh, goldberg (2004) indicated that educational mapping is an effective teaching and learning aid that could foster students' engagement and involvement. on the other hand, the development of the controlled group was not statistically significant. the researcher thinks that there are many interpretations and reasons can be provided. obviously, the students did not find anything new when the traditional method was used in the lectures. that is, it did not attract their attention or concentration. they received it as a regular routine while they were learning; therefore, it did not encourage them to concentrate while learning. moreover, the traditional method did not simplify the content as educational mapping did. hence, it could not assist them to know the basic and minor ideas of the content; thus, it negatively affected their general understanding. when the general understanding is negatively affected, students can notice others' low interactions; hence, they will not be enthusiastic to participate. when lectures lack enthusiasm, a boring learning atmosphere is created. the boring learning atmosphere does not encourage students to play their roles and participate effectively. besides, the traditional method is not based on scaffolding, comparing it with using mapping as a game. that is, the traditional methods do not take into account the individual differences such as using educational mapping. therefore, the results of using traditional methods in teaching made the students feel either depressed or bored. that is, if the level of the content is above the students' level, they will be depressed. on the other hand, if the level of the content is under the students' level, they will be bored. the traditional methods cannot deal with individual differences appropriately, however, using educational mapping in teaching english language allows the teacher to scaffold and assist students according to their level, leading to positive results. on the other hand, traditional methods do not activate all students' interaction since they do not simplify the content according to students' level as using educational mapping does. therefore, the students will not be active and encouraged. when the students lack the suitable enthusiasm to participate, their motivation will decrease. thus, the motivation of the control group was low. however, according to the findings of the study, students' motivation was not affected by the variable of gender. that is, there were no statistically significant differences attributed to 62 jcve 2023, 6(2): 51-65 gender in the post-test. the researcher thinks that there are many reasons for the results of the current study according to gender. first, using educational mapping in teaching english language influenced and improved the motivation of males and females nearly in the same way; that is, both males and females liked the method, and it affected their motivation approximately in the same way. second, the sample of this study was master's degree students, and when they were encouraged to learn english language using this method, they were affected roughly in the same way. indeed, relying on scaffolding strategy enriched and developed the process of teaching; that is, it simplified the content, increased students' understanding, aroused enthusiasm and helped students to play their roles, participate, communicate and build their knowledge. the scaffolding strategy helped the lecturer to deal with the individual differences appropriately and activate all students regardless of their previous academic level. it created an enjoyable and challenging learning atmosphere that encouraged students to pay attention, concentrate, communicate and compete with each other. conclusion the current study recommends using educational mapping as a game in teaching english language to foster university students' motivation. the researcher thinks that the simple structure of educational mapping helped students to learn, memorize and recall words easily. thus, it enriched their vocabulary, and they felt that they could express themselves. therefore, their skills and abilities to form sentences and answers were increased. consequently, they were encouraged to participate and answer questions. when the students noticed that their abilities improved and they could play their roles effectively, their motivation was increased. hence, the study suggests conducting future research to investigate the impact of using educational mapping on students' writing, reading, speaking and listening skills. limitations of the study the main limitations of the study were: objective limitations using educational mapping as a game in teaching english language. time and place limitations atime of the study: the study was conducted in the summer semester of the academic year 2022 -2023. blocation of the study: the study took place at al-quds open university in ramallah. procedural limitations amethodology: the researcher used the quasi-experimental design (training program). bsample: the researcher used stratified random sampling. the participants of the study were master's degree students from al-quds open university; that is, the sample was 36 students. ctools: the researcher used an english language motivation scale 63 jcve 2023, 6(2): 51-65 dvalidity and reliability: the researcher tested content and construct validity; besides, the researcher tested the reliability of the scale by finding cronbach's alpha. estatistical programs: the researcher used spss, ancova and mancova to analyze the data. 64 jcve 2023, 6(2): 51-65 references ahmed, h. & wais, s. (2012). the low level of academic achievement among high school students from teachers and students perspective. journal: surra man raa, 28(8), 1-38. almehmadi, m. m. (2012). a contrastive rhetorical analysis of factual texts in english and arabic. frontiers of language and teaching, 3, 68-76. https://www.academia.edu/2365208/a_contrastive_rhetorical_analysis_of_factual_texts_in_eng lish_and_arabic. aydin, s. (2008). an investigation on the language anxiety and fear of negative evaluation among turkish efl learners. asian efl journal, 31(1), 1-35. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed512266.pdf azriel, j., erthal, m., starr, e. (2005). answers, questions, and deceptions: what is the role of games in business education? journal of education for business, 9-13. https://doi.org/10.3200/joeb.81.1.9-14 boyson, g. (2009).the use of mind mapping in teaching and learning. the learning institute, assignment 3. brinkmann, a. (2003). graphical knowledge display–mind mapping and concept mapping as efficient tools in mathematics education. mathematics education review, 16(4), 35-48 buzan, t. & buzan. b. (2010). the mind map book. london, bbc worldwide limited. farrand, p., hussain, f., & hennessy, e. (2002). the efficacy of the ‘mind map’ study technique. medical education, 36, 426-431. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2002.01205.x fiktorius t. (2013). the use of mind-mapping technique in the efl classroom: a critique and demonstration of methods. http://www.academia.edu/3823093/the_use_of_mindmapping_technique_in_the_efl classroom. goehle, g. (2013). gamification and web-based homework. primus: problems resources, and issues in mathematics undergraduate studies, 23(3), 234-246. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2012.736451 goldberg, c. (2004). brain friendly techniques: mind mapping. school library media activities monthly, 21(3), 22-24. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej720682 goodnough, k., & woods, r. (2002). student and teacher perceptions of mind mapping: a middle school case study. paper presented at the american educational research association annual meeting, new orleans, la. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed470970.pdf grabe, w. &stoller, f.l. (2002). teaching and researching reading. harlow: longman. hanewald, r. (2012). cultivating lifelong learning skills in undergraduate students through the collaborative creation of digital knowledge maps. procedia social and behavioral sciences, 69, 847–853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.12.007 kobari, s. (2018). the impact of using mapping as a game on 11th grade students' achievement and attitudes. [unpublished master's thesis], birzeit university. https://www.academia.edu/2365208/a_contrastive_rhetorical_analysis_of_factual_texts_in_english_and_arabic https://www.academia.edu/2365208/a_contrastive_rhetorical_analysis_of_factual_texts_in_english_and_arabic https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed512266.pdf https://doi.org/10.3200/joeb.81.1.9-14 https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2002.01205.x http://www.academia.edu/3823093/the_use_of_mindmapping_technique_in_the_eflclassroom http://www.academia.edu/3823093/the_use_of_mindmapping_technique_in_the_eflclassroom https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2012.736451 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej720682 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed470970.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.12.007 65 jcve 2023, 6(2): 51-65 kotcherlakota, s.(2013). developing scholarly thinking using mind maps in graduate nursing education. nurse educator, 38(6), 252–255. learning institute, assignment 3. https://journals.lww.com/nurseeducatoronline/abstract/2013/11000/developing_scholarl y_thinking_using_mind_maps_in.12.aspx kramer, w. (2000). what is a game? the games journal. a magazine about board games. http://www.thegamesjournal.com/articles/whatisagame.shtml. miao, x. (2007). combined research on the teaching of vocabulary in middle school metacognitive strategies and mind map. [unpublished doctoral dissertation], university of alabama. mona, i. & adbkhalick, f. (2008). the influence of mind mapping on eighth graders’ science achievement. school science and mathematics, 108(7), 298-312. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1949-8594.2008.tb17843.x ratanawalee, w. (2012). a survey study of motivation in english language learning of first-year undergraduate students at sirindhorn international institute of technology (siit), thammasat university, thailand. https://bit.ly/43elzaw spencer, j. r., anderson, k. m., & ellis, k. k. (2013). radiant thinking and the use of the mind map in nurse practitioner education. the journal of nursing education, 52(5), 291 293. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20130328-03 stephen, p. & hermus, c. (2007). making art connections with graphic organizers. school arts: the art education magazine for teachers, 106(8), 55. https://journals.lww.com/nurseeducatoronline/abstract/2013/11000/developing_scholarly_thinking_using_mind_maps_in.12.aspx https://journals.lww.com/nurseeducatoronline/abstract/2013/11000/developing_scholarly_thinking_using_mind_maps_in.12.aspx http://www.thegamesjournal.com/articles/whatisagame.shtml https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1949-8594.2008.tb17843.x https://bit.ly/43elzaw https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20130328-03 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 57 historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format rachel l. wadham* brigham young university andrew p. garrett brigham young university emily n. garrett brigham young university *corresponding author: rachel_wadham@byu.edu received : 2019-05-08 accepted : 2019-06-10 how to cite this paper: wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format, journal of culture and values in education, 2(2), 57-72 abstract historical fiction picture books represent a small subset of titles in the broader scope of the format. however, these books are important to both readers and educators. as books are used in educational settings it is critical to assess their effectiveness in helping teach children. this is especially true of historical fiction which generates its own unique challenges. to deeply assess historical fiction picture books, we gathered and analyzed a sampling of 126 titles to assess trends in the genre. we found that there were multiple conflicts between the genre and format. there were many books in the sample that struggled with directing the content to a young audience, giving accurate portrayal of race issues, and maintaining general authenticity and accuracy in the writing. there were also some notable examples of historical picture books that did not display these faults, showing that with the right content and approach, historical fiction picture books have the potential to be invaluable tools for teaching children. keywords: historical fiction, picture books, social studies education, literary analysis introduction teachers use books as tools for instruction almost every day. for social studies education, both fiction and nonfiction books have become staples of the curriculum. short (2012, p. 9) asserts that stories “are the way our minds make sense of our lives and world. we work at understanding events and people by constructing stories to interpret what is occurring around us. in turn, these stories create our views of the world and the lens through which we construct meaning about ourselves and others.” recently, we have seen more historical content included in books, films, television shows, and general popular culture (howell, 2014). this popularization has led many to reevaluate the use of historical fiction in a wide variety of journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 58 mediums in the classroom, especially since these discussions have shown just how polarizing history can be. within this conversation we must also assess how historical fiction is used in the social studies curriculum as a tool to help students learn historical content while at the same time helping students to empathize and connect with what it would have been like for people living in the past. gilbert (2014, p. 18) notes that educators need to be “teaching with our eyes wide open to all of the resources we have at hand, as well as to how our young students are responding.” to effectively integrate literature as a part of children’s educational experience, it becomes significantly important for educators to look critically at these tools. research has shown that children are able to learn from historical fiction. egan (1982) posits that while young children lack a concept of historical causality, they do understand the causality that holds a story together. thus, it seems that historical fiction would be an ideal way to develop children’s historical understanding through their existing understanding of story structure. additionally, the value of young children being exposed to history though historical fiction has been clearly demonstrated as it, among other things, allows students to grapple with complex ideas with details that are often left out of traditional textbooks (rycik & rosler, 2009). while its usefulness is clear there are also challenges with the genre. with a blend of fact and fiction it can be challenging for readers to discern between the two (kiefer, hepler, & hickman, 2007). there are also challenges when readers don’t have enough background knowledge to navigate the historical context and vocabulary contained in these texts (youngs & serafini, 2011). these issues become especially critical when addressing the needs of early childhood education. for it is with the youngest who have the least background knowledge where misrepresentation or stereotype could become the most damaging. in the classroom in order to engage the expressed benefits of historical fiction while addressing the many challenges it is critical to not only assess the genre of historical fiction but also how it is expressed in the form of a picture book. the focus of the study was to take a critical look at the intersection of genre and format with the hope of finding a stronger understanding of how professionals can evaluate historical fiction picture books and their applications in the classroom. our research used a comprehensive overview of the genre and format to determine if a collective structure would reveal itself that could then be used to assess the quality range of historical fiction picture books. to this end we gathered a large sample of historical fiction picture books and analyzed each in order to find common trends might make these books more or less effective for use in class rooms. our study revealed a number of themes and ideas that help us to articulate a range of challenges that come with the writing and educational use of historical fiction picture books. we found that many books struggled with directing the content to a young audience, in giving an accurate portrayal of critical issues, and in maintaining general authenticity and accuracy in the writing. these three main aspects that emerged address key areas that can be significant for teachers to understand as they assess and use historical fiction picture books in their classrooms. method in order to better understand the scope of historical fiction picture books we began by gathering a large enough sample to be representative. we first defined the limits of the scope journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 59 of texts we desired to include. only books categorized as both picture books and historical fiction were included in this project. we defined a picture book as a book containing full page illustrations meant for children. that does not include chapter books that contain some illustrations that were meant for an older audience. historical fiction was defined as a book where the story takes place in the past with an imaginative reconstruction of events. that does not include books that are entirely historical such as a biography or books that are entirely fictional such as fantasy. to assemble the sample, we searched through the several local library catalogs along with the caldecott, newberry, belpre, scott king, and children’s notable award lists from the last 20 years for every book which met the aforementioned criteria. the resulting list contained 162 books which we then found in the local library’s collection. the entire group of sample texts came from a single collection that was expressly designed for pre-service teachers. since central to our focus was that the books should connect to the classroom drawing books from a collection that was designed for curricular integration makes it uniquely suited to this type of study. this is a sampling so it does not include every possible text, but we feel it is was large enough to show us important trends that are generalizable to the whole genre. once the books were selected we generated a list of data points that would then be collected though deep readings of each of the books. for each book three researchers performed three different in-depth readings and the data for each reader was recorded on separate spreadsheets. after each reader completed their coding all the data points where combined into one sheet so as to more easily comparable. readers were drawn from a pool of students and faculty at the researcher’s institution. the readers represented a range of ages, genders, and professional experience. while some aspects of diversity may not have been fully represented in the readers’ backgrounds, we designed the research so that multiple readings for each book could provide a more diverse range than just one reader could provide. the variables on which data was gathered included: true story, famous figure, author’s note, categories, and assessment of book quality. for the variable true story, the reader was to mark “yes” if the plot was based on something that actually happened to someone and “no” or if the story was more fictional but still included other historical attributes. this fact was often mentioned in the author’s note or book description. for the variable famous figure, the reader was to mark “yes” if the book includes a known historical figure as one of the characters and “no” if none of the characters were well known or famous historically. for the author's note the reader was to mark “yes” if the author included any further information or historical explanations before or after the story. for the categories variable the reader was asked to place the book within one of nine common subjects developed by the researchers. these categories are historical experience, war time, slavery, racial discrimination, immigration, cultural awareness, rural america, great depression, and the holocaust. it is the researchers experience that these were common subjects among historical fiction picture books. historical experience was designed to be a general option while the other areas were designed to be more specific. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 60 the assessment of book quality served as an open variable where readers would write a note giving their impressions of the authenticity of the book, the topics it covers, and the ages it is best targeted towards. this data was designed to give us a qualitative overview of each readers’ impression of the book so as to provide us with information about an individual’s assessment of the quality of books included in the sample. the main limitation of this aspect of the data is that it was open to each reader’s interpretation. while this data proved useful as readers picked up on trends and identified outliers there was also some conflicting notes about the same books. while assessments of quality can certainly be a matter of individual taste overall, this data proved insightful as we looked for trends within the data we collected. findings struggles addressing a young audience historical fiction is often under scrutiny for addressing topics in ways that were not appropriate for the audience (bruner, 1988; carver, 1988). when books fictionalize history there are even greater problems with representation and accuracy. these problems are especially in the forefront when looking at picture books since this format is often associated with the youngest readers. these children may not have the historical literacy or background knowledge to be able to really navigate issues of representation and accuracy. some researchers even note that “history is a subject whose meaning is properly appreciated only in our maturity.” (egan, 1982, p. 439). our findings seem to bear out this claim since we found a significant mismatch between what we perceive to be the expectations of the format of the picture book and the historical genre content. in our sample we found that the majority of the books were targeted towards a somewhat older audience of 3rd graders and up. we expected that we could find a range of books even for the youngest children. anticipating that this format is often associated with preschoolers and writers would want to expose this age group to historical topics in order to start building a sense of social justice, it was interesting to see that there are few books that really target this age. though it was clear most of the books in the sample were better suited towards older audiences there were still select examples of books that suited the needs of preschoolers. an important aspect of these books is that they are able to tell the story in few enough words so as to be able to keep a small child’s attention while at the same time presenting the content in an age appropriate way. one of these books was ox-cart man (hall, 1979), a short narration of a farmer going to town to sell some goods. it contains beautiful and informative illustrations alongside a few lines of text that is often repetitive and uses simple words a young child would understand. the author, donald hall, is a well-known poet who says he based the story on an oral tradition of farmers in new hampshire. in its simplicity the book does an excellent job helping children to experience what it was like to be self-sufficient while living on a small farm in america centuries ago. in contrast to this fine example, there were many books that readers deemed inappropriate for young children because of advanced vocabulary or large amounts of text that could be boring and difficult to understand. one example, that stagers under the weight of line upon line of journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 61 text is the 5,000 year-old puzzle (logan, 2002). written as a boy’s journal while at an excavation site, this book has small realistic looking postcards, reports, and contracts in the corner of each page. one reader reported that this books was “chock-full of information about ancient egypt and archaeology in the 1900s, very informative, [but it] would take some time for children to acknowledge all the details, better for older readers.” yet another example is quest for the west in search of gold (kent, 2997), where each page is written in numbered stages like a “how to guide.” accompanied by “i spy” type illustrations this book had a strange fixation on all the different ways that travelers could die. one reader noted, “a bohemian family journeys all the way to california -very thick text and detailed illustrations, older children could spend some time pouring over it, younger children would likely be bored by it.” a review of this book in booklist (weisman, 1997) mentions how tough it is to place this book within the genre, “the only problem with this book is deciding where to shelve it; cip data suggests fiction, but with its oversize, picture-book format and emphasis on visual historical details, this will probably find more takers on the nonfiction shelves.” both of these books then seem more like textbooks or school lecture notes that are crammed in beside children illustrations. this style was found to be ill-suited to both the informational needs of the historical fiction genre as well as the readers’ expectations for the picture book format. another aspect of several books that made them less appropriate for younger audiences was mature emotional content. one example was danger at sand cave (ransom, 2000), a book about a boy’s childish admiration for the famous floyd collins and cave exploration. for most of the story floyd is trapped in a cave in and the boy fetches coffee for the workers trying to free him. in the end, they finally break in and find floyd dead. a resolution that is summed up in a few halting lines, “on monday, the diggers broke into floyd’s tunnel. everyone shouted for joy. but floyd collins was dead. arly cried.” readers were left wondering what deeper meaning children are supposed to take from such a statement or from the rest of the story in general. one reader remarked, “good paced story, but the end is sad and unexpected with feeble resolution.” an even more stark example of a book that contains a sense of hopelessness not usually found in literature meant for young children is mississippi morning (zee, 2014). this book has a boy talking about why he loves his father and expresses his worries about the kkk terrorizing his black friends. in the end the boy finds out that his father is a kkk member. the ending feels quite hopeless and the boy never resolves anything with his father. the last few lines say, “i still loved my pa. but i never really looked into his eyes again. and he never really looked into mine.” history is rarely clean and topics are not always child appropriate, but by trying to glaze over the grittier details many of these books make tragedies seem all the more shocking without providing much meaning or real context to help the reader process it. the booklist (rochman, 2004) review of mississippi morning confirms this assessment when it notes that this book may be best used in teaching young teens is in a format meant for young children. “the picture-book format may keep older readers from picking up the book on their own, but the subject will spark classroom discussion even among some young teens.” (**) in contrast an example of a book that presented a tragic historical event without heavy or overwhelming emotional content is benno and the night of broken glass (wivott, 2010). the book features a cat in germany who watches his friends all over the neighborhood. one night his jewish friends have their businesses destroyed and they eventually leave. the booklist journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 62 (rochman, 2010) reviewer wrote, “it is not easy to tell young kids the horrifying truth about the holocaust, but this picture book is a good place to start. using the fictionalized viewpoint of a cat, benno, it shows what happened to families in one berlin community.” since the cat is such an impartial observer the terrible facts are presented without being emotionally charged or overly distressing. the story ends with the line, “but life on rosenstrasse would never be the same.” readers feel the connection the cat has to friends and it is easy to empathize with the sadness and tragedy he experiences. one reader commented, “it [makes] it easier to read to younger children by telling the story of kristallnacht through the perspective of a cat.” a tragic emotionally charged event is presented in an emotionally authentic way that is appropriate for children to be able to understand and appreciate. finding texts that accurately cover important topics without oversimplifying or trivializing them is especially important when we consider the difficulty of covering topics such as racism and slavery. accurate portrayals in our sample we found a range of books that covered the topics of slavery and racism. these are certainly important issues to address as we help children build a strong sense of social justice. however, these topics can also be challenging to express accurately in that they have to balance historical realities with modern understanding. when these aspects are out of balance then representations can become quite biased or represent inaccurate views that we do not want to perpetuate. edmonds (1986, p. 30) claims that, “because many psychologists believe that young children perceive racial differences and form racial attitudes at an early age, it seems particularly important to evaluate picture books to see if they are likely to help young children see more than "fragments" of minority characters. and because picture books represent a distinct publishing market, examining them also provides a way to monitor the degree to which publishers present pluralistic images in books for children.” it is a significant struggle to “find age-appropriate ways to help students confront painful stories from the past.” (gilbert, 2014, p. 18). from our sample it would seem that the painful stories from past which american authors wish children would better empathize include the topics of slavery and racial discrimination. 44% of the books included in this project dealt overtly with different racial perspectives in american history (see table 1). many of the books in the sample seemed to do well in their coverage of racism in american history. for example, the other side (woodson, 2001), was described by one reader as, “a sweet story about two girls, one white and one black, who forge a friendship despite the rules and restrictions based on their interactions together. a good first look at racial discrimination for younger readers.” the other side (woodson, 2001), does a fine job of explaining a difficult topic in an approachable way. booklist (rochman, 2001) reports that “the girls sit together on the fence … then one day annie rose jumps down to join clover and her friends jumping rope. even young children will understand the fence metaphor and they will enjoy the quiet friendship drama.” there is also an overwhelming optimism presented that one day we will be able to overcome the things divide us. on the last page it says, “‘someday somebody’s going to come along and knock this old fence down,’ annie said. and i nodded. ‘yeah,’ i said. ‘someday’.” the other side (woodson, 2001) approaches the topic of race so well by not journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 63 offering a bigoted character as an easily blamed villain. the adversity our heroin’s face comes from the racism in their society that separates them, symbolized by the fence. researchers have found that young children are able to understand the moral dilemma brought on by the separation of the races as presented in the other side (woodson, 2001)as they explore how the characters must feel living that way (lysacer; sedberry, 2015). it is clear that the other side (woodson, 2001) excellently covers a difficult topic that makes history an accessible for children. table 1 frequency of topic categories in historical fiction picture books topic frequency percentage war time 31 19.1% slavery 27 16.7% racial discrimination 44 27.2% immigration 17 10.5% cultural awareness 18 11.1% rural america 37 22.8% great depression 7 4.3% holocaust 9 5.6% there are also historical fiction picture books that much less aptly covered issues of race. we found that books that less accurately depicted racism and slavery seemed to be trying to make these issues simpler for children to understand but in doing so the story actually trivialized them. on example was the bus ride (miller, 1998), a story about an african american girl who lives in the segregated south, she gets arrested when she decides to see what she is missing by never riding in the front of the bus. after reading the book one reader remarked, “a good story, but a picture book about the actual rosa parks would have been better instead of a loose retelling that didn't actually happen.” the school library journal (greengrass, 1998) confirms our readers’ assessment when it says "the story, in fact, trivializes the entire incident rather than bringing it to life." rosa parks acted definitely as a symbolic resistance used as peaceful protest. it does not seem as brave when a little girl named sara does it because she just “wanted to see what was so special. “this book shows that it can be difficult offering a retellings of historical events that are fictionally embellished while remaining authentic. a better take on these important events is back of the bus (reynolds, 2010) about an african american boy sitting in the back of the bus with his mother who sees when rosa parks gets arrested. he still feels the fear of the moment yet knows how empowering such a protest was. the boy remarks, “don’t know why. but instead of feelin’ all shaky, i feel a little strong.” the children’s literature (courtot, 2010) review states that, “reynolds and cooper bring a new interpretation … that will certainly start discussions about prejudice, jim crow laws, and more.” the contrast between these two books demonstrate that even a single aspect of a book can make the coverage of a topic like racism much more effective. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 64 authenticity and accuracy gilbert (2014, p. 18) notes that teachers need to “present authentic stories … [of] real people and lived experiences.” but this can get tricky and all muddled up when you present fictional stories. the line between fiction and authenticity is hard to draw, and especially for young children it may be even more difficult to navigate. so, when presenting historical fiction, we must “consider the ways in which our life experiences and our identities today affect how we relate to … history … realizing that our experiences and identities influence the teaching and learning that happens in our classrooms (gilbert, 2014, p. 19).” reading an inauthentic story is uncomfortable at best and it could even be very harmful. one book we found to be unauthentic in our sample was escape from pompeii (balit, 2003). kirkus (review, 2003) describes escape from pompeii as, “a sketchily told, if more elaborately illustrated, tale of pompeii's destruction as witnessed by two young natives.” the intent of this book is introduce children to this horrific event and the illustrations really are impressively elaborate. the story feels inauthentic with its heavy handed foreshadowing and slow moving introspective narration. lines drip with irony. the protagonist reflects, “could any place feel safer then [pompeii]” or when he remarks that his favorite song is “rumble down, tumble down.” one of our readers remarked critically that, “the foreshadowing in the book was painful and juvenilized the intended age group more than it should have. although the art was interesting and reflected the period, the story telling lacked any true emotion or empathy with the characters. in all honesty, the book insulted children's emotional and literary intelligence by half-heartedly depicting the fictional characters of a truly traumatic and historical event.” in this same way, many of the books in the sample seemed to trivialize events and characters to the extent that they were emotionally inauthentic leaving little for children to connect or empathize with. another book found to be inauthentic was hallelujah handel (cowling, 2002). the book was described in the kirkus (review, 2003) to be a “leadenly earnest rewrite of cowling's samenamed audio drama, a london street child finds healing in music-specifically handel's music-as he's wrested from the clutches of a villain dubbed the keeper by two young compatriots and the composer himself.” one reader wrote, “probably one of the worst children's books i've ever read so many weird logical jumps, awkward storytelling, limp characters the illustrations are pretty nice, but it reads like a crappy netflix rip-off of a disney movie.” the book is over romanticized. when handel speaks to the “ragged street boys” it is described as “growled playfully.” when one of them faints and falls from the stage handel catches him. the moment shows handel holding his “trembling body in a safe embrace”. the heavy handed attempt to overemphasize handel’s benevolence feels wrong because he is an unknown man speaking to these boys he does not know. this meshed with an evil villain who in the end “slipped into the darkness” and a composer whose music alone is so magical that it can keep the boys safe makes the story feel fake. in addition to these examples of inauthentic representations we also found in our sample books that were inaccurate. accuracy is a critical aspect of historical fiction and is one of the most often mentioned criteria for assessment in research (brown, 1998; freeman & levstik, 1988; journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 65 harms & lettow, 1994). determining accuracy is especially critical when assessing works for young children who may have difficulty discerning between fact and fiction. one example of inaccuracy we found in our sample was, milly and the macy's parade (corey, 2002). this is the story of the first macy’s parade. by including mr. macy as one of the characters though he died long before the first parade the book represented inaccurate facts. the first paragraph of the author’s note was devoted to pointing out why artistic license was taken in that regard. throughout the sample we found that author’s notes are extremely important in the genre often for the author to disclose how much of the story is historical and which aspects are not. in fact, 86% of the books in the sample included an author’s note. however, as teachers we question if authors notes are sufficient to address blatant or even hidden inaccuracies for young readers. in contrast to these poor examples we did find books in that sample that portrayed more authentic and accurate views. across the blue pacific (bodren, 2006) is a story of a boy living in america during wwii. publishers weekly (review, 2006) writes that, “the free-verse narrative travels easily between molly's life back home and what she imagines ted's experience might be like aboard a submarine. this elegant book speaks to the far-reaching effects of war and the healing power of memory.” the author trusts in the reader’s emotional understanding, especially when the protagonist’s neighborhood friend dies at war. the protagonist finds a way to mourn and move on from the tragedy in a healthy way remarking that, “every story we told about ted walker became a story we never wanted to forget. every story seemed important enough to keep.” in a way the book is about something terrible, but because it feels so real in actuality it functions a soothing introspective space for children to explore important feelings. another example of a book that is strikingly authentic is a knock at the door (sonderling, 1997). this story is about a girl who escapes from a concentration camp and hides out on an isolated farm with an elderly couple. one reader described the, “beautiful picture [offered a] simple account of a brave girl in a true situation, good for a first exposure to wwii and the holocaust.” the book mentions the raw emotions of the characters on each page so the reader understands the hunger, exhaustion, empathy, kindness, fear, and sadness. the reader can tell how helpless it must feel to hide from nazi soldiers while presenting events in a way that a child would easily be able to understand. conclusions through a review of a large sample of historical fiction picture books we found that when assessing these texts teachers must consider age issues, topic coverage, and authenticity. our study found that the most common failings of historical fiction picture books is that while trying to target young audiences who lack historical context books are often trivializing what happened or oversimplifying a complex event. it is clear that it is a balancing act to try and present mature historical topics in a way that is appropriate for children while still doing the history justice. the best books are able to simplify events while trusting the readers to be perceptive and emotionally intelligent. we offer a list of the top 55 titles we found to have the best quality as assessed by the criteria above in appendix 1. we have arranged the books by broad categories with the hopes that social studies teachers may find a quality book to fit into their curriculum. picture books can be used to contextualize and teach about tragic moments journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 66 in history, but not if they over simply, take out of context, trivialize, or present inaccuracies. in our view to create the best books authors must be willing to risk creating enough authenticity that children will be able to accurately understand historical events while at the same time building empathy that allows readers to connect with the characters and learn from the experience. in this study we found many titles that did not create the best view of history, but we found may others that did. references balit, c. (2003). escape from pompeii. new york: henry holt and company. bodren, l. (2006). across the blue pacific. boston, ma: houghton mifflin company. brown, j. (1998). historical fiction or fictionalized history? problems for writers of historical novels for young adults. alan review, 26(1), 7-11. bruner, k. e. (1988). stereotypes in juvenile historical fiction. school library journal, 35(1), 124. carver, n. l. (1988). stereotypes of american indians in adolescent literature. english journal, 77(5), 25-32. corey, s. (2002). milly and the macy’s parade. new york: scholastic press. courtot, m. (2009). [review of back of the bus by a. reynolds]. children's literature, retrieved from https://www.clcd.com. cowling, d. (2002). hallelujah handel. new york, ny: scholastic press. edmonds, l. (1986). the treatment of race in picture books for young children. book research quarterly, 2(3), 30-41. egan, k. (1982). teaching history to young children. phi delta kappan, 63(7), 439-41. freeman, e. b. & levstik, l. (1988). recreating the past: historical fiction in the social studies curriculum. the elementary school journal, 88(4), 329-337. doi: 10.1086/461542 gilbert, l. (2014). "don't be uneasy, my children": finding strength in stories of the enslaved. social studies and the young learner, 27(2), 18-21. doi: 10.3102/0034654308324653 greengrass, l. (1998) [review of the bus ride by w. miller]. school library journal, 44(10), retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com hall, d. (1979). ox-cart man. new york: the viking press. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 67 harms, j. & lettow, l. (1994). criteria for selecting picture books with historical settings. social education, 58(3), 152-154. howell, j. (2014). popularizing history: the use of historical fiction with pre-service teachers. australian journal of teacher education, 39(12), n.p. doi: 10.14221/ajte.2014v39n12.1 kent, p. (1997). quest for the west: in search of gold. brookfield, ct: the millbrook press. kiefer, b. hepler, s. & hickman, j. (2007). charlotte huck’s children’s literature. new york: mcgraw-hill. logan, c. (2002). the 5,000-year-old puzzle. new york: melanie kroupa books lysaker, j. & sedberry, t. (2015). reading difference: picture books retellings as contexts for exploring personal meanings of race and culture. literacy, 49(2), 105-111. doi: 10.1111/lit.12055 miller, w. (1998). the bus ride. new york: lee & low books, inc. ransom c. f. (2000). danger at sand cave. minneapolis, mn: carolrhoda books, inc. [review of across the blue pacific by l. bodren]. (2006). in publishers weekly, 253(22), retrieved from https://www.clcd.com [review of escape from pompeii by c. balit]. (2003). in kirkus, 19, retrieved from https://www.clcd.com [review of hallelujah handel by d. cowling]. (2003). in kirkus, 20, retrieved from https://www.clcd.com reynolds, a. (2010). back of the bus. new york: philomel books. rochman, h. (2010). [review of benno and the night of broken glass by m. wivott]. booklist, 106(17), retrieved from https://www.clcd.com. rochman, h. (2004). [review of mississippi morning by r. v. zee]. booklist, 101(4), retrieved from https://www.clcd.com. rochman, h. (2001). [review of the other side by j. woodson]. booklist, 97(12), retrieved from https://www.clcd.com rycik, m. t. & rosler, b. (2009). the return of historical fiction. reading teacher, 63(2), 163166. short, k. g. (2012). story as world making. language arts, 90(1), 9-17. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 68 sonderling, e. (1997). a knock at the door. austin, tx: steck-vaughn company. youngs, s. & serafini, f. (2011). comprehension strategies for reading historical fiction picture books. reading teacher, 65(2), 115-124. doi:10.1002/trtr.01014 weisman, k. (1997) [review of quest for the west: in search of gold by p. kent]. booklist, 94(7), retrieved from https://www.clcd.com wivott, m. (2010). benno and the night of broken glass. minneapolis, mn: kar-ben publishing. woodson, j. (2001). the other side. new york, ny: g.p. putnam’s sons. zee, r. v. (2004). mississippi morning. grand rapids, mi: eerdmans books for young readers. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 69 appendix 1 top 55 historical fiction picture books by topic categories category title author reading level summary world history little sap and monsieur rodin lord, michelle 2/3 grade girl in the cambodian dance troupe goes to france and is painted by auguste rodin. my napoleon brighton, catherine k/1 grade girl living on the island of st. helena meets napoleon when he is exiled there. hana in the time of the tulips noyes, deborah 2/3 grade dutch girl and rembrandt help her father when he is caught up in tulip speculation. caravan mckay, lawrence k/1 grade boy in afghanistan accompanies his father who leads a merchant caravan. the firekeeper's son park, linda sue k/1 grade korean boy goes in his father's place to light the signal fire to signal that all was well. colonial america redcoats and petticoats kirkpatrick, katherine 2/3 grade story of a spy ring on long island during the revolutionary war. ox-cart man hall, donald pre-k describes a new england family's life through the changing seasons. pilgrim cat peacock, carol antoinette k/1 grade pilgrim girl discovers a stray cat on the mayflower. a big cheese for the white house: the true tale of a tremendous cheddar fleming, candace 2/3 grade a small new england town tries to make the country's biggest cheese for the president. slavery ellen's broom lyons, kelly starling k/1 grade a young girl 's parents can finally be married in the time of reconstruction. night boat to freedom raven, margot theis 2/3 grade slave boy rows escaped slaves across the river to freedom. blacksmith's song van steenwyk, elizabeth k/1 grade enslaved blacksmith signals to travelers on the underground railroad journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 70 immigration miss bridie chose a shovel connor, leslie k/1 grade young woman goes to america to start a new life. small beauties: the journey of darcy heart o'hara woodruff, elvira 2/3 grade girl's family is forced to leave for america during the irish potato famine. american west ride like the wind fuchs, bernie k/1 grade orphan boy and his beloved horse ride the pony express. the klondike cat lawson, julie k/1 grade boy secretly brings his cat when they travel to california during the gold rush. squirrel and john muir mccully, emily ar0ld k/1 grade daughter of the first man to build a hotel in yosemite meets the naturalist john muir. coolies yin k/1 grade chinese brothers work on the transcontinental railroad. coyote school news sandin, joan 4/5 grade mexican-american boy's life on a ranch in arizona. civil war hope's gift lyons, kelly starling 2/3 grade slave girl's father leaves to fight with the union army. freedom ship rappaport, doreen k/1 grade slaves capture a confederate ship and escape to the union side. dadblamed union army cow fletcher, susan k/1 grade cow follows its owner to join the union army and march south. the yankee at the seder weber, elka 2/3 grade just after the war a jewish yankee soldier joins a southern family’s passover meal. native american i am not a number dupuis, jenny kay 4/5 grade first nation girl is removed from her family and put in a catholic boarding school. home to medicine mountain santiago, chiori 2/3 grade native american boys leave the boarding school to visit their family for the summer. priscilla and the hollyhocks broyles, anne k/1 grade slave girl sold to a cherokee family and goes with them on the trail of tears. crossing bok chitto: a choctaw tale tingle, tim 2/3 grade choctaw girl helps slaves escape across the river. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 71 of friendship & freedom world war ii coming on home soon woodson, jacqueline k/1 grade girl's mother needs to go away to chicago to work during the war. flowers from mariko noguchi, rick 2/3 grade girl lifts her father's spirits after the family leaves the internment camp. blueberries for the queen paterson, john k/1 grade new england boy meets the queen of the netherlands after her country is invaded. the cats in krasinski square hesse, karen 2/3 grade jewish girl's involvement in outsmarting the gestapo at the train station in warsaw. a knock at the door sonderling, eric pre-k farmer and his wife help hide a girl who has escaped from a concentration camp. benno and the night of broken glass wiviott, meg 2/3 grade neighborhood cat witnesses’ changes leading up to the night of broken glass. the secret seder rappaport, doreen 2/3 grade jews hiding in nazi-occupied france gather and celebrate the seder in secret. the little ships borden, louise 2/3 grade girl disguises herself as a boy in order to sale with the rescue ships to dunkirk. ruby in the ruins hughes, shirley k/1 grade girl lives with her mother during the london blitz. across the blue pacific: a world war ii story borden, louise 4/5 grade american girl thinks about her neighbor serving aboard a cruiser in the south atlantic. racial discrimination ruth and the green book ramsey, calvin a. 2/3 grade african-american girl's family tries to travel through the south in the 1950s. these hands mason, margaret h. k/1 grade african-american workers fight to be allowed to work in a bread factory. grandmama's pride birtha, becky 2/3 grade a grandmother tries to shield her granddaughters from the prejudice in her town. finding lincoln malaspina, ann 2/3 grade librarian secretly lets an africanamerican boy check a book out from the library. back of the bus reynolds, aaron k/1 grade african-american boy sees rosa parks get arrested. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 wadham, r.l., garrett, a.p., & garrett, e.n. (2019). historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format 72 the other side woodson, jacqueline k/1 grade a black and white girl become friends by sitting on the fence together. art/science the amazing air balloon van leeuwen, jean k/1 grade young boy in baltimore makes first flight in a hot air balloon. sky boys: how they built the empire state building hopkinson, deborah k/1 grade boy watches the empire state building be constructed. lightship floca, brian pre-k learn about a ships that anchored in waters where lighthouses could not be built. hello lighthouse blackall, sophie pre-k describes the life of a lighthouse keeper and his family. vivaldi and the invisible orchestra costanza, stephen k/1 grade girl writes vivaldi's sheet music for the orchestra of orphan girls he taught to play. in the garden with dr. carver grigsby, susan 2/3 grade dr. craver teaches a community in the rural south how to restore the soil. sports willie and the all-stars cooper, floyd k/1 grade boy goes to see the first all-star game between major leaguers and negro leaguers. dirt on their skirts rappaport, doreen 2/3 grade girl watches a historic game of the allamerican girls professional baseball league adventure the road to santiago figueredo, d. h. 2/3 grade family tries to travel for christmas but rebels have kept the train from running. pig on the titanic crew, gary k/1 grade a musical pig comforts children on a lifeboat. radio rescue barasch, lynne k/1 grade boy picks up a distress signal with his ham radio. abbie against the storm vaughan, marcia k. 2/3 grade girl keeps the lighthouse burning while her mother is sick and her father is away journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 1 influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria adaobiagu nnemdi obiagu* university of nigeria *corresponding author: adaobiagu.obiagu@unn.edu.ng received : 2019-04-24 accepted : 2019-06-01 how to cite this paper: obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria, journal of culture and values in education, 2(2), 1-20 abstract there is evidence of dissatisfaction of millennials with democracy and rising populist support for non-democratic forms of governance and nationalism among them. this presents challenges for civic education implementation and calls for promotion of constructivist civic teachers. motivated by the need to apply deep civic education in inhibiting non-democratic beliefs and promoting viable strong democracy through active citizens, the present study employed a descriptive survey to investigate the influence of teacher's gender and educational background on teacher's implementation of civic education using data collected from randomly selected 16 secondary school civic education teachers and 320 secondary school students comprising 20 students of each teacher participating in the study. two instruments were used for data collection on teachers’ initial and continuous training in civic education, and teachers’ implementation of civic education. two research questions answered using mean and standard deviation, and three null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance using correlation, mann-whitney and kruskal-wallis h test guided the study. the findings showed that a high number of civic teachers did not receive prior training in civic education as well as do not engage in lifelong learning or continuous training in civic education and teaching practice. civic teachers do not also actively engage students in civic instructions. a positive relationship exists between teacher’s training in civic education and teacher’s implementation of civic education. while civic teachers’ educational background did significantly influence implementation of civic education, gender did not. the findings were associated to a number of factors including lack of cognition of the power of civic education in constructing, reconstructing and transforming (dys)functional societal ideologies. promotion of lifelong learning among teachers, training of teachers in civic contents and methods, and utilization of ict for instructional purposes were recommended. keywords: civic education, instructional implementation, teacher education introduction citizenship connotes not only membership in a given state, but also corresponding rights and duties of citizens. citizens can be effective or non-effective depending on performance or nonperformance of ascribed constitutional duties and obligations (mofoluwawo & oyelade 2012) journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 2 and non-constitutional duties directed at actualizing social justice. effective (good) citizens are classified into three namely personally responsible, participatory, and justice oriented citizens (see westheimer & kahne, 2004; kılınc & tarman, 2018) where personally responsible citizens religiously abide by the values of the land, participatory citizens move beyond abiding by the values to mobilizing for collective enforcement of the values, and justice oriented citizens critically assess institutional structures for social inequalities and then take actions for social change and social justice . another type of good citizen that requires recognition in global and digital age is humanist oriented citizen, that is, one who greatly values life, nature and security and hence, refrain from applying legal, biological, nuclear, chemical, biochemical and technological knowledge in causing overt or covert destructions of life, nature and properties or committing cybercrimes, but apply them for the betterment of life and nature. sadly, production of personally responsible citizens which do not promote strong democracy is commonly and exclusively emphasized in civic curriculum content and practice of most states (westheimer, 2019; westheimer & kahne, 2004; torney-purta, et al., 1999). effective citizenship can, however, be fostered and promoted through critical education, deep civic education specifically. civic education [ce] is a political and directional instrument employed by governments in shaping the character, thinking and actions of their citizens: it is deep when it presents rich and multiple convergent and divergent contents (economic, social, political, civil, historical, and technological contents of relative and universal contexts) in comparative approaches that allow for interpretations, perspectives, attitudes and actions that transcend self, sectional and immediate societal interests to incorporate ‘others’ and future needs and interest. it is according to sears and hughes (2006) a topical issue worldwide and many countries have made initiatives to introduce it in schools. nigeria identifies with this initiative: although ce was introduced in colleges of education curriculum as a major subject in 1990 (alutu & ifedili, 2012), it became a core subject separate from social studies at primary and secondary levels of education in nigeria in 2009 sequel to its development by the national technical committee on civil education (ntcce) in collaboration with the national orientation agency (noa) on the order of the presidential forum on education (see egwu, 2009). it is introduced in nigeria to address the root causes (corruption, poor attitude to work, lack of contentment, dishonesty, ethnicity, lack of social cohesion, etc.) of nigeria’s social, nation-building and developmental challenges. it is taught at all levels of pre-higher education as compulsory subject both at entrance and exit examinations (e.g. west african senior school certificate examination) mainly to promote national consciousness, deepen and reinforce democracy and democratic culture in nigeria. however, nigerian civic education curriculum suffers the same problem that behoves the civic curriculum of some other states: it emphasizes mostly assimilationist and liberal contents, and the production of personally responsible citizens. yet, powerful, critical and asentimental implementation strategies can be advanced to produce participatory and justice oriented citizens most required to transition emerging and weak democracies, and even fixated consolidated democracies (ones that are regressive, dissatisfactory and frustrating to their citizens as a result of declining freedom, rule of law and institutional performance orchestrated by high clientelism, abuse of power and low government accountability; see, westheimer, 2019; journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 3 pharr & putnam, 2018; banks, 2017; foa & mounk, 2016; fukuyama, 2015; diamond, 2015 for reports on democratic recession and rise of non-democratic and nationalist thinking among millennials) into viable strong democracies. a viable democracy is one that is lively and wellfunctioning reflecting effectively the principles of democracy and is satisfactory to and endorsed by the citizens. coupled with democratic recession and rise in populist support for non-democratic form of governance among millennials even in nigeria as is gleaned from their discussions including posts and comments on social medias such as facebook and twitter, civic attitude and engagement –the major pursuit of ce has been generally low in nigeria (obiagu & ajaps, 2019; ajaps & obiagu, 2019). poor achievement of civic goals or decline in exhibition of characteristics of citizenship as evidenced in indiscipline, unpatriotism, national disintegration and underdevelopment, etc. (see falade & adeyemi, 2015; ityonzughul et al. 2014; iyamu & obionu, 2005) have been linked to instructional implementation of civic goals (see okam & lawal, 2011; finkel & ernst, 2005; kahne, david & lee, 2013; levinson, 2014a; reimers et al., 2014). this established correlation between poor civic goals achievement and instructional implementation raises the need for investigation of factors such as gender and educational background of civic teachers that could influence civic education instructional implementation with a view of promoting critical civic education –one that brings into spotlight inclusive, participatory and justice oriented strategies– through practical and feasible recommendations. this study therefore aims at investigating the correlation between civic teacher's characteristics and teacher's implementation of civic education curriculum in nigeria. theoretical framework effective implementation of civic instruction involves critical understanding of powerful pedagogies, the taxonomy of learning outcomes, specific learning conditions required for the attainment of each outcome, gagne’s (1985) nine events of instruction, and knowledge of the subject matter. knowledge is important for practice and can be gained through training and experience. this study is therefore shaped by the theory of knowledge or epistemology. this theory encapsulates everything about knowing – what can be known, how it can be known, the scope of the knowing, the validity of the known and the metacognition of the knowing. philosophers including plato, st. augustine, david hume and immanuel kant expounded how knowledge can be formed and the problems with formed knowledge. their propositions about how knowledge is formed explicate idealism, rationalism and empiricism sanctioning correspondency, coherency, and pragmatism respectively. bodner (1986) explained the traditional and constructivist view of knowledge. critiquing the traditional view which underlying principle is that a real world exists irrespective of whether we believe it or not (i.e. only one reality exists irrespective of differences) bodner argued that it leads to an iconic understanding of knowledge where our mental schemes correspond to reality as though the schemes were prototypes of reality. this certainly limits one’s ability to question concepts, reflect on one’s own ideas, examine the factuality of ‘facts’, explore new ideas and approaches to solving problems. in other words, traditional view of knowledge is antithetical to change and reflexive practices and therefore dangerous for teachers to rely solely on it. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 4 constructivist view of knowledge championed by philosophers including piaget, vygotsky, and john dewey involves structuring, restructuring and reorganization of knowledge, and is based on the assumption that knowledge is built in the mind of the learner i.e. each learner is original in his ideas and realities. this approach seems potent for creating chaos and thus, presents the challenge of promoting uniformity and serenity of knowledge and actions where reasonable and practicable. clearing the misconceptions and harmonizing the differing ideas require cooperative methods that allow people test their knowledge, accept valid and workable ones tested for reliability, and then integrate them into a valid whole or complex knowledge viable for that context and time. this promotes tolerance and cooperation advocated as imperative for present time (e.g. noddings, 2012). relating this theory to teaching, constructivist civic teachers –who move beyond the contents of textbooks and curriculum in their instructions to considering the needs of their learners in specific contexts in relation to societal needs through practical knowledge, engaging pedagogies and reflexive practices– are important because civic education must fit the realities of specific context and time if it is to be effective and practical. keeping track with the realities of a subject and the context and time within which it is taught require deep and continuous training in and reflection on that subject as well as understanding of the implications of social dynamics on the content and practice of that subject. therefore, this study by investigating the influence of teachers’ civic training on implementation of civic education hopes to infer from findings civic teachers’ level of knowledge (including methodological knowledge) of the subject and suggest ways of improving civic education implementation through knowledgeable and constructivist teachers. conceptual and empirical framework civic education is broad and can cover solely the specific rights and duties of every member of a political system but usually used more capaciously to indicate the knowledge, skills and attitudes that children are expected to learn to be virtuous and civically productive members of society (levinson, 2014b; margaret, 2000). civic education in most states both democratic and non-democratic largely serve the role of indoctrinating the citizens to the values and rules of the state. this is evidenced in civic curricular of most countries (see torney-purta et al., 1999) which according to cox, jaramillo, & reimers (2005) is structured along three components namely civic knowledge (knowledge of basic concepts of democracy and its institutions, individual and collective rights, nature of volunteer and political action, etc.), civic skills or abilities (critical reasoning, interpreting public information, cooperation), and civic attitude (appreciation of democratic system and its practices and institutions, valuing of human dignity and equality, etc.). a number of western scholars have described the scope and goals of civic education to transcend producing personally responsible citizens to that of transformative and justiceoriented citizens (e.g westheimer & kahn, 2004; banks, 2008; wheeler-bell, 2012; banks, 2017; westheimer, 2019). their understanding possibly is grounded on the need for citizens who advance the state forward through critical critics of existing systems and taking actions beyond stipulated rules to change unjust system: less is not expected of advanced democracies. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 5 nigerian scholars, on the other hand, still share the perspective that civic education is geared towards the production of selfless, responsible and patriotic citizens who obey the rules and regulations guiding the civil society by exercising their rights and duties (e.g. ogundare, 2002; falade, 2008; falade & adeyemi, 2015). the understanding of nigerian scholars sanctions indoctrination of citizens through liberal civic education. the focus of iyamu and obionu (2005) study on raising youths’ awareness of desirable values and civic responsibility through a holiday citizenship education programme further illustrates attention on promoting personallyresponsible citizens even through informal settings. the reason for this perception is not farfetched: the content of nigerian civic education is liberal and the textbooks used for its implementation suffer what freire (1993) dubbed “narration sickness” in terms of teaching – in relation to writing, i take it to mean written contents that limit students ability to only factual knowledge i.e. they are largely descriptive or enumerative and tell students the facts without engaging or raising their critical, inquisitive, reflective, reflexive and action minds or abilities. nigeria’s democracy is also very weak and battles a lot of issues like interpersonal violations of human rights, poor attitude to work, extortion and bribery, corruption, and varying conflicts alongside government’s violation of its citizens’ rights. this array of issues appears to make the production of personally responsible citizens more critical, the reason it is being emphasized by nigerian scholars. this delimiting conception, however, runs the risk of uncritical implementation of the subject by teachers, not advancing and sustaining critically powerful engagement among citizens, and perpetuating injustice and weak democracy through uninformed obedient citizenry or destructive disobedient citizenry. teachers are believed to be agents of change and social justice (e.g. pantic & florian, 2015) and more important than materials for curriculum implementation (banks, 1988 cited in hammerness et al., 2005). they could therefore adopt critical pedagogies in implementing doctrinal contents provocatively thereby raising students’ critical consciousness and empowering them with patriotic, participatory and justice-oriented skills. supportively, a number of studies have found teachers’ characteristics and teaching pedagogies enacted to influence achievement of civic education goals (e.g. hahn, 1999; finkel & ernst, 2005; kahne et al., 2013; hart & wandeler, 2018). finkel and ernst (2005) found that the kind of pedagogical methods employed by civic instructors register different students’ gains in democratic knowledge, values and skills. they found that while students taught with a high degree of active, participatory instructional methods showed significant gains on virtually all of the democratic orientations (knowledge, values, and skills) examined, students taught by instructors of highly perceived competence, likeability, interest and knowledge showed more significant gain in democratic values and skills. in a multi-national study, hahn (1999) found that young people (ages 15-17) appear to be more interested in the political arena in contexts in which civic education includes political context and opportunities for students to explore and express opinions on public policy issues, and to engage in decision-making than in those contexts in which they do not have such experiences. similarly, kahne et al. (2013) in their california and chicago study of sampled high school students’ found open discussion and service learning to promote participatory citizenship (which in the context of their study was a hybrid of expressive and youth centred action and volunteering activity on the one hand and interest in politics, interest in diverse perspectives, and interest to vote on the other hand) in both samples than civic education did. some of these methodologies implicated as effective including journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 6 dramatization, discussion method, debates, use of resource persons, analytical essay and group work or cooperative learning are recommended by nerdc (2012) for teaching and learning civic education in nigeria. civic education emphasizes to great degree seemingly controversial concepts like democracy, political participation, human rights, etc., and gender has been implicated as influencing the nature or volume of these civic education defining concepts in different contexts and directions. for example, women are consistently found to participate less in politics (e.g. cicognania, et al., 2011; agbalajobi, 2010; hooghe, & stolle, 2004). thus, it is logical to anticipate that female teachers may not be too active or practical in discussing civic contents with their students as would male teachers. also, the importance of knowledge and competence in civic education has been noted as prominent in promoting effective implementation of the subject (ali, hayatu & badau, 2015) and attainment of civic education goals. falade and falade (2013) in their study of teachers’ competence in teaching civic education in southwestern nigeria found that majority of the sampled teachers do not possess civic knowledge required to effectively teach civic education in their classes. their finding is similar to that of wing (2009) which found primary school teachers in hong kong to possess insufficient understanding of moral and civic education. falade and falade’s findings suggest the need to investigate the source of civic teachers’ lack of knowledge. the present study therefore, unlike previous ones which considered only teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the traditional subject matter, investigated teachers’ training in civic education and continuous learning of civic contents and practices through conferences and electronic media as well as implementation of civic education by civic teachers (i.e. whether students are actively engaged in classroom activities). the study uniquely added to civic education literature the relationship between teachers’ gender and educational background, and teachers’ civic education implementation. more hypothetically, this study sought to ascertain teacher's characteristics (specifically gender and educational background) influencing teacher's implementation of civic education in nigeria. statement of the problem poor performance of students in civic education in nigeria and recent poor engagement of nigerian citizens in civic activities such as voting, community volunteering like volunteering in vigilante, environmental and water maintenance services question the effectiveness of civic education in realizing its goals which are increasing civic life and social capital –“social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trust to which those networks give rise” (sander & putnam, 2010, p. 9), producing effective and patriotic citizens, and promotion of justice and democracy among other aims. the increasing rate of civil unrest and high rate of youth irresponsibility and criminality such as fraud, rape of women including infants even inside school environments, armed robbery in street roads both during the day and night, burglary, assaults, etc. in nsukka, enugu state and beyond which civic education aims to prevent raises the need to investigate how teachers implement the subject. this investigation is necessary because implementation of instruction is implicated in learning outcomes which is inclusive of behavioural outcome. the present study, therefore, is conceived to investigate the implementation of civic education and teachers’ characteristics influencing the implementation of the subject in nsukka, enugu state, nigeria. the findings are anticipated to lead insight into possible actions that could promote journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 7 students’ performance in civic education as well as reduced (or eliminate) social problems sought to be tackled through civic education. research questions the following research questions guided the study; 1) how trained or learned in civic education are civic teachers? this question investigates civic teachers’ initial and continuous training in civic education. it is important to investigate this since teachers’ certification in subject area is found to influence students’ achievement in that subject (see goldhaber & brewer, 2000). 2) how do civic teachers implement civic education instructions? this question seeks answer into the methodologies and strategies adopted by civic teachers for civic instructions. this is also important to investigate as some methodologies are held more powerful in achieving civic goals (see kahne et al., 2013). research hypotheses the null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. ho1: there is no correlation between teachers’ civic training and students’ reported teachers’ implementation of civic education. ho2: gender has no significant influence on students’ reported teachers’ implementation of civic education. ho3: educational background has no significant influence on students’ reported teachers’ implementation of civic education. method the design of the study was a descriptive survey. a descriptive survey gathers data at a specific time and report the nature of existing conditions as explained by the collected data at that time (cohen, manion & morrison, , 2011). the rationale for choosing this method is that the study is aimed at ascertaining and describing the relationship between secondary school civic teachers’ characteristics (gender and educational background) and implementation of civic education as gathered from the collected data. sample the study was carried out in nsukka local government area of enugu state, nigeria. thirty-one public schools are located in this area (ppsmb, 2018). simple random sampling technique was used to draw eight schools out of the 31 public secondary schools. the participants of the study comprised of 16 civic education teachers (2 from each school) and 320 secondary school civic education students (40 from each school) randomly sampled from the eight schools. the profile of sampled teachers is reported in table 1. more clearly, 20 students are drawn from each participating teacher’s class to respond to that teacher’s implementation of civic education so as to effectively compare the teacher’s gender and educational background to the students’ reported teachers’ implementation of civic education. the choice of using students’ reported journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 8 responses to investigate teachers’ implementation of civic education is to eliminate cases of self report bias by teachers. worth noting is that it was decided forehand to randomly sample 20 students from each teacher’s class to fill the questionnaire. table 1: profile of participant teachers frequency year of practice gender male 6 female 10 educational background education/social studies (b.sc. ed.) 2 6 education/political science (b.sc. ed.) 2 4 political science (b.sc.) 3 3 – 8 others (adult education; public administration; economics; business administration) 9 2 – 11 instrument two questionnaires developed by the researcher, one for teachers and another for students, were used for data collection. the teachers’ questionnaire entitled, “civic education teacher’ trainings and employment of ict for enrichment of civic instructions” consisted of two parts: a and b. part a contained instructions and sought information on teachers’ gender and discipline or course of study in higher institution (defined in this study as educational background) while part b contained 5 items on teachers training on civic education, continuous learning in civic education and employment of ict facilities for enrichment of civic contents. the students’ questionnaire entitled “civic education teachers’ engagement of students in civic instruction” comprised of two parts: a and b. part a contained instructions on how to fill the questionnaire while part b contained 9 items (these items were considered appropriate for this query because previous studies showed practices reflected in the items as either effective or non-effective in realizing the goals of civic instructions) sought to ascertain teachers’ implementation of civic education such as use of inclusive and experiential methods to actively engage students in civic instruction. the instruments were rated on a four-point scale of strongly agree (sa) 4; agree (a) 3; disagree (d) 2; strongly disagree (sd) 1. validation and reliability of the instrument the instruments were validated by three higher education experts, one in social studies education, curriculum studies, and measurement and evaluation respectively, and two secondary school civic teachers with 7-years post teaching experience. teachers’ instrument and students’ instrument were then trial tested on 5 teachers and 20 students respectively in a school located outside nsukka l.g.a. and the reliability was measured using cronbach alpha journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 9 which yielded an alpha of .86 and .82 respectively indicating high level of internal consistency of each construct’s items and thus, an acceptable level of internal reliability (field, 2013). data collection and analysis copies of the questionnaires were administered on sampled civic education teachers and students of selected schools with their informed consent. the researcher supervised the filling and ensured that teachers and students appropriately filled the instruments. mean and standard deviation were used in analysing responses to the research questions. although de winter (2013) in his simulation study proved that analyzing data collected from small and unequal sample sizes with t-test raises no objection insofar as the data met the assumption of equal variance and has large effect size, pearson product moment correlation coefficient, mann-whitney test (the equivalent of independent sample t-test) and kruskal-wallis h test (the equivalent of one-way anova) were used in testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance since the study data met their assumptions and violated only normality test. a teacher’s civic training and employment of ict for civic instruction or implementation of civic education is rated high were the mean score is 2.50 and above or low were the mean score is below 2.50. analysis of teachers’ civic training and employment of ict for civic instruction: the mean score of teachers’ responses on the only item that sought to ascertain if teachers had prior training in civic education was used to determine if teachers are trained in civic education or not: this is also used to infer their knowledge of civic education since studies have shown that teachers’ with standard certification in a subject significantly impact students’ achievement than do teachers without certification in that subject (e.g. goldhaber & brewer, 2000). the mean score of teachers’ responses on the only item about teachers’ attendance of conferences, workshops, and reading of civic education journal articles or scholarly books was used to determine if civic teachers do engage in lifelong learning. the mean score of teachers’ responses to three questions based on use of ict facilities to explore civic materials were used to determine if civic teachers employ ict facilities in enriching civic contents and practice. it is considered worthwhile to investigate teachers’ use of ict devices, since most persons have android phones now, in sourcing instructional resources considering that studies have reported unavailability and non-accessibility of ict in nigerian public secondary schools (e.g. adelabu & adu, 2014) which leads to non-utilization of ict for direct class instructions in such schools. analysis of civic teachers’ implementation of civic education: teachers’ civic implementation is the sum of teachers’ activities or approaches in delivering civic instruction. to get the mean score of each teacher’s civic education implementation, the mean score of the responses of the 20 students sampled from each participating teacher’s class on the items were summed to arrive at the overall mean score of each teacher’s implementation of civic education. more clearly, a teacher’s implementation of civics is the total mean score of his or her students’ responses on students’ questionnaire administered for that purpose. survey instead of observation is used so as to reduce the non-reliability that could arise from a few times observations. also, survey is considered over interview in order to reach a large number of student respondents for a robust and more reliable result. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 10 results the findings of the study are presented in tables 2 and 3. table 2: civic teachers’ training in civics, engagement in lifelong learning and employment of ict for civic instruction s/n items x sd decision 1 i studied citizenship or civic education as a course under my area of specialization in higher institution. 1.70 .953 low 2 i attend civic education conferences and workshops; or i read civic education articles published in journals, scholarly civic education books, etc. 1.59 .542 low 3 i use information communication technology devices such as personal computer or android/ios phone to access and read current materials on civic issues and civic education 1.94 .854 low 4 i use online materials and daily newspapers to support or enhance contents in government prescribed civic education materials i.e. civic education curriculum, scheme of work, textbooks, and materials. 2.25 .683 low 5 i read civic education contents only from education board authority recommended textbooks for learning 2.69 .704 high teachers’ mean score on having undertaken civic education as a course in higher institution is low. this indicates that civic teachers are not trained in the subject. also, civic teachers reported low attendance of civic education conferences or private reading of civic education journal articles, scholarly books, etc. this indicates low engagement in lifelong learning. their mean score on use of information and communication technology for accessing instructional materials and use of online sourced materials to enhance civic instruction is low while mean score of sole reliance on government prescribed civic education textbooks is high. this indicates that civic teachers are not utilizing the educational benefits of ict for teaching. the result reported in table 2 revealed a generally low civic education implementation among teachers. students’ mean scores on items that suggest innovative, active and inclusive pedagogies such as planned debates, deliberative discussions, fieldtrips, role play, and use of resource persons are low. students reported non-democratic civic classrooms where they are not giving opportunity to express their opinions and views concerning civic issues. they also reported use of lecture method by civic teachers, and planned interactions in form of questions and answers between them and their civic teachers during civic instructions. only teachers who studied education/political science or education/social studies reported undertaken, in their programmes, some citizenship education contents. the result of correlation analysis conducted showed no significant but modest positive correlation (r = .426, p = > .05; see, cohen et al., 2011, p. 617) between teachers’ training in civic education and implementation of civic education. the positive relationship indicates that an increase in teacher’s training in civic education accidently occasions an increase in teacher’s effective implementation of civic education while a decrease in teacher’s training in civic education journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 11 occasions a decrease in teacher’s effective implementation of civic education. on the whole, the mann whitney u test ran on gender showed no significant difference (u = 24.000; p = > .05) in the mean scores of female teachers (m rank = 9.10,) and male teachers (m rank = 7.50) on implementation of civic education. female teachers, however, had higher mean scores on implementation of civic education than do male teachers. table3: students’ reported civic teachers’ implementation of civic education s/n items x sd decision 1. our civic education teachers engage us in planned debates for some topics. 1.12 .320 low 2. we are divided into groups to discuss political and civic issues or topics by our civic education teacher. 1.17 .402 low 3. our civic education assignments are sometimes on current political and civic issues in our community, l.g.a., state, or nigeria. 1.26 .592 low 4. our civic teacher takes us out for excursions/fieldtrips 1.17 .378 low 5. our civic teacher does allow us to say our minds on civic and national issues during and after the class 2.43 .860 low 6. our civic teacher organizes us to act/recreate social and political scenes 1.18 .409 low 7. our civic teacher asks us questions and we ask our civic teacher questions in turn 2.74 .746 high 8. our civic teacher reads out from his or her lesson note, writes on the chalk or white board, and explains the lesson to us while we listen, answer his or her questions and ask him or her questions too. 2.86 .702 high 9. our civic teacher invites guest speakers to talk to us on some topics 1.16 .375 low with respect to educational background, kruskal-wallis h test analysis showed a statistically significant difference in civic education implemention score between the four groups (f ( (3) = 8.85; p = .032) with a mean rank score of 14.50 for teachers who studied education/social studies, b.sc. ed, 14.25 for teachers who studied education/political science, b.sc. ed., 8.50 for teachers who studied political science b.sc., and 5.89 for teachers who studied other courses. dun bonferroni test post hoc comparison, however, showed that the mean score of teachers who studied “other” courses differed significantly with those of teachers who studied education/political science (p = .024) and education/social studies (p = .020). . the whole model of the regression analysis conducted explained 19.9% of the variance (r square change = .199, f change (2,13) = 1.62, p > .05) in findings. after controlling for gender, educational background explained additional 14.0% of change in teacher’s implementation of civic education (r square change = .145, f change (1,13) = 2.28, p > .05) but did not significantly predict teachers’ civic classroom practices. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 12 discussion overall, the findings revealed civic teachers are not trained in civic education; civic education is poorly implemented as conventional methods dominate civic instructions as much as students are not actively engaged in civic instructions; and educational background significantly influenced civic teachers’ implementation of civic education while gender did not. the result of non-democratic civic classrooms and non-employment of active and inclusive pedagogies implying low engagement of students in civic instructions by teachers agree with previous concerns that nigerian teachers rely heavily on friere’s (1993) banking method of teaching (e.g. okobia, 2016) characterized by uncriticality, dominance and autocracy as well as recycling of uncriticality and noncooperation. the non employment of active and inclusive practices for civic education instructions could be explained by the additional finding that civic teachers lack training in civic education either as a unit or full course which further suggest the reason for falade and falade’s (2013) finding that nigerian civic teachers have poor knowledge of civic contents. lack of knowledge of a subject matter and pedagogy questions a teacher’s effectiveness in civic education implementation. in fact, lack of knowledge of civic education is an impediment to civic education implementation given that studies have shown teachers’ knowledge to influence students’ learning (e.g. finkel & ernst, 2005). the finding is also associated with high number of teachers without background in either education/social studies or education/political science in which some of the contents of civic education are covered. this is especially as correlation analysis conducted suggests that increase in civic education training (which is provided in these two disciplines though minimally) is associated with increase in effective civic education implementation though to a lesser degree, and variance analysis showed that educational background statistically influenced teachers’ implementation of civic education with the teacher who studied education/political science recording the highest mean score followed by the teacher that studied education/social studies. this supports findings of previous studies (e.g. goldhaber & brewer, 2000) that teachers’ certification impacts teachers’ effectiveness. however, the teachers who studied education/political science and education/social studies cannot be said to be adequately equipped to teach civic education considering that minimal attention is paid to citizenship education in these programmes. these programmes constitute only some topics such as values, human rights, citizenship and civic duties featured in civic curriculum, but not the underlying assumptions (e.g. liberalism, conservatism, multiculturalism, republicanism, nation building, strong democracy, etc.) for introducing civic education or how to teach these topics or the vital questions surrounding these topics: for instance, how do you teach students to appreciate the rights of other persons which seem to be against their moral or cultural beliefs or practices? how do you convince students that one vote can make a difference? how do you convince students that their attitudes and behaviours towards the environment have implications for public health and sustainable development? how do you get them into practicing the virtues they learn? in other words, because of the way these journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 13 programmes are structured, civic contents covered in them are taught prospective teachers in the same way they are taught students in pure social science disciplines. logically, novice civic teachers characterized by “rigid adherence to taught rules and plans, little situational perception, and no discretionary judgement” (eraut, 1994:124) and fragmented knowledge of the subject matter dominate nigerian teaching cycle irrespective of their number of years of practice or experience. teachers’ report of low attendance of civic conferences and workshops on civic education could be a result of lack of support for and funding of staff development by the government. nigerian teachers’ salary is inadequate to fund participation in paid conferences or workshops which participating in one could cost up to one-third of most nigerian teachers’ monthly salary. it could also be a result of unwillingness or underrating of the need to upgrade one’s knowledge and expertise in a subject area especially as teaching is misunderstood as simple and unprofessional: this is more likely since they reported low engagement in reading of civic education journal articles or scholarly books. this poor attitude to updating of knowledge and practice of civic education suggest low engagement in lifelong learning defined as necessary for providing “people with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in a rapidly changing world” (sharples, 2000:177). moreover, civic teachers reported low use of information and communication technology (ict) in sourcing civic materials and contents for enriching their civic instructions. this could be as a result of the digital divide between developed and developing countries. adelabu and adu (2014) found that secondary schools in nigeria lack ict and internet facilities. therefore, the low use of ict devices for instructional purposes among civic teachers could be attributed to its non-availability and/or accessibility in schools. it could be that some of the teachers who have android phones that could access electronic materials lack finance to subscribe for internet data bundle or lack knowledge of the usability of the device for accessing online materials or lack power supply or internet network in their localities. the challenges of using ict by teachers in sub-saharan africa were documented by hennessy, harrison and wamakote (2010). the attitude of civic teachers towards implementation of civics and the attitude of government towards employment of untrained teachers with no effort to train them could be associated to lack of cognition of the power of civic education in constructing, reconstructing and transforming functional or dysfunctional societal ideologies or systems. conclusion this study, deemed important for the high rate of incivility and social problems, investigated the influence of teacher characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria. the findings of the study revealed that civic teachers lack training background in civic education and do not employ participatory and experiential methods in civic education instructions. also, civic teachers do not engage in lifelong learning or utilize ict services for enrichment of civic instructional content. my assumption that male teachers would implement civic education better than do female teachers since men are consistently found to be more politically journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 14 engaging was not met. educational background or course of study of civic teachers significantly influenced teachers’ implementation of civic education. training of civic teachers on civic education content and methodologies, lifelong learning, and ict use are strongly recommended. recommendations generally, employers of teachers should consider employing for civic education implementation teachers whose educational background is education/social studies or education/political science since the finding showed teachers with these qualifications as implementing civic education more effectively than teachers with unrelated qualifications. the following recommendations are specifically suggested for promotion of effective implementation of civic education. training of civic teachers on civic content and methodologies: civic education lessons should be deep and practical –engaging students with key civic issues around them both in their school and in larger society. knowledge of subject matter is valuable for impacting change in students’ achievement and behaviours (ball et al., 2008; gess-newsome, 1999; shulman 1987). therefore, efforts should be directed at developing civic teachers’ content knowledge of civic education (i.e. knowledge about civic education) through nuanced, deep and adequate training on civic education content and practice. this is especially because the subject is subtly technical and complex considering the underlying assumptions behind it and the dynamic society and diverse nature of humankind which it serves. some methodologies such as discussion methods, service learning, etc. are implicated as uniquely and highly effective for civic instruction (kahne et al., 2013; finkel & ernst, 2005; westheimer & kahne, 2004). special training should also be provided nigerian civic teachers on these methods. although, emphasis on teachers’ knowledge of civic education contents is important, focus should be placed more on knowledge of how to impact civic values, knowledge, and skills in learners since the subject is largely affective, and more than responsible citizens is required to engender viable strong democracy and sustainable development of a society implying the need for civic education practice that advance beyond producing personally responsible citizens. civic teachers should be encouraged to reflect on their civic knowledge as well as their civic and teaching practices with the view of improving their civic knowledge, attitude, skills and teaching practices especially as teachers’ perceived characteristics such as competence, likeability, interest, and knowledge are found to influence students’ learning (see finkel & ernst, 2005; tarman & doganay, 2017). the constructivist theory of knowledge which guided this study suggests that teachers be encouraged to be constructive in their knowledge acquisition, structuring, restructuring and dissemination. training programmes should, while exposing teachers to constructivism as a method of teaching, expose them to constructivism as a powerful tool for reflecting on ones knowledge and practices as well as improving ones expertise. this will promote effective implementation of the subject; reduce poor performance in the subject; most likely reduce or eliminate social problems such as ethnocentrism, social injustice, political apathy, ‘victimness’ of human rights violation, etc. associated with poor civic knowledge, skills, and attitudes; and journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 15 also reduce non-democratic beliefs by preparing citizens to take workable actions to attain desired and viable democracy. promotion of ict use and lifelong learning among civic education teachers: fme recognizes the right and power of a teacher to deviate from lesson plan where the interest of a learner is involved (fme, 2016). nigeria needs proficient and expert teachers who have strong and coherent grasp of holistic situational causes and the courage to tactically dissent from prescribed teaching rules and routines where there is cogent reason to so do or where the interest of the students so demands. however, proficiency and expertise cannot be attained through standardized or modelled teacher education programmes but through experiences, practices, and especially lifelong learning “used interchangeably with lifelong education, advanced education, continuous education, and adult education” (sahin, akbasil, & yelkin, 2010) and which “has emerged as a policy response to the needs of changing society” (coolahan, 2002:8). hammerness et al. (2005) have suggested the need for teacher education candidates to be equipped for lifelong learning. therefore, teacher education programmes in nigeria should be broadened to emphasize lifelong learning so as to forestall the situation where teachers in general and civic teachers in particular do not attend civic education conferences or workshops, read papers or articles on civic education, enrich contents of prescribed textbooks with discretionary materials sourced from quality papers and trusted newspapers, etc. importantly, free or sponsored in-service training opportunities via workshops, seminars, and conferences on civic education and teaching should be made regularly available for teachers in order to make the emphasized lifelong learning fruitful. civic teachers should also be taught how to use their android phones in accessing quality civic materials since most schools lack ict facilities in nigeria. they should be encouraged to utilize their personal computers, tablets and android phones for continuous and self-dependent learning through accessing materials on civic education from google scholar, research gates, institutional repositories, other academic websites, and broadcasting channels and newspapers’ online pages such as cnn, bbc, tvc, channels, daily news, vanguard, etc. this requires financial sacrifice on their part. thus, there is need to prepare them to perceive themselves as social agents. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 16 references adelabu, o. & adu, e.o. (2014). assessment of accessibility and utilization of information and communication technology (ict) for effective teaching of biological science in secondary schools. mediterranean journal of social sciences, 5 (23), 1439 – 1444. agbalajobi, d.t. (2010). women’s participation and the political process in nigeria: problems and prospects. african journal of political science and international relations, 4 (2), 075 – 082. ajaps, s. & obiagu, a. (2019). increasing civic engagement through civic education: a critical consciousness theory perspective. manuscript submitted for publication. ali, m.a., hayatu, g.b. & badau, k.m. (2015). assessment of the implementation of civic education in secondary schools in adamawa state, nigeria. journal of education and literature, 3(4), 141-146. alutu, a.n. & ifedili, c. j. (2012). realizing the objectives of citizenship education: the need for collaborative effort of teachers and counselors. interdisciplinary journal of contemporary research in business, 4(1), 571-579. ball, d.l, thames, m.h., & phelps, g. (2008). content knowledge for teaching: what makes it special. journal of teacher education, 59 (5), 389 – 407. banks, j.a. (2017). failed citizenship and transformative civic education. educational researcher, xx (x), 1 – 12. doi:103102/0013189x17726741 banks, j.a. (2008). diversity, group identity, and citizenship educational in a global age. educational researcher, 37 (3), 129 – 139. doi:10.3102/0013189x08317501 bodner, g.m. (1986). constructivism: a theory of knowledge. journal of chemical education, 63, 873 – 878. cicognania, e., zania, b., fournierb, b., gavrayc, c., & bornd, m. (2011). gender differences in youths’ political engagement and participation. the role of parents and of adolescents’ social and civic participation. journal of adolescence xxx, 1-16, doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.10.002. cohen, j. (1998). statistical power analysis for the behavioural sciences. hillsdale, nj: erlbaum. cohen, l., manion, l., & morrison, k. (2011). research methods in education (11th ed.) london: routledge. coolahan, j. (2002). teacher education and the teaching career in an era of lifelong learning. oecd working papers, no. 2, oecd publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/226408628504. cox, c., jaramillo, r. & reimers, f. (2005). education for democratic citizenship in the americas: an agenda for action. new york: inter-american development bank. retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254423036 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254423036 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 17 de winter, j.f. (2013). uisng the student’s t-test with extremely small sample sizes. practical assessment, research & evaluation, 18 (10), 1 – 12. diamond, l. (2015). facing up democratic recession. journal of democracy, 26 (1), 141155. doi:10.1353/jod.2015.0009 egwu, s. (2009). national orientation agency presentation of civics education textbooks. retrieved on june 2013 from allafrica.com/stories/200908310860.html. eraut, m.e. (1994). developing professional knowledge and competence. london: falmer press. falade, d.a. & adeyemi, b.a. (2015). civic education in nigeria’s one hundred years of existence: problems and prospects. journal of emerging trends in educational research and policy studies, 6 (1), 113-118. falade, d.a. & falade, m., (2013). an assessment of primary school teachers’ competence in the teaching of civic education in southwestern, nigeria. international journal of research and development (ijrd), 1 (2), 19-26. falade, d. a. (2008). civic education as a tool for nation building in nigeria. nigerian journal of social studies, xi (1), 15 – 27. federal ministry of education (2016). national education quality assurance handbook for basic and secondary education in nigeria. abuja: fme. foa, r.s. & mounk, y. (2016). the danger of deconsolidation: the democratic disconnect. journal of democracy, 27 (3), 5 – 17. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2016.0049 field, a. (2013). discovering statistics using spss: (and sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll). 4th ed. london: sage. finkel, s.e. & ernst, h.r. (2005). civic education in post-apartheid south africa: alternative paths to the development of political knowledge and democratic values. political psychology, 26 (3), 333-364. freire, p. (1993). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york: continuum. fukuyama, f. (2015). why is democracy performing so poorly?. journal of democracy, 26 (1), 11 20. doi:10.1353/jod.2015.0017 gagne, r.m. (1985). the conditions of learning (4th ed.). new york: holt, rinehart & winston. gess-newsome, j. (1999). pedagogical content knowledge: an introduction and orientation. in j. gess-newsome and n.g. lederman (eds.). pck and science education. (pp. 3 – 17). netherlands: kluwer academic publishers. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2016.0049 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 18 goldhaber, d.d. & brewer, d.j. (2000). does teacher certification matter? high school teacher certification status and student achievement. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 22 (2), 129 – 145. hammerness, k., darling-harmmond, l., bransford, j., berliner, d., cochran-smith, m., mcdonald, m., & zeichner, k. (2005). how teachers learn and develop. in l. darling-hammond & j. bransford (eds.) preparing teachers for a changing world: what teachers should learn and be able to do. (pp. 358 – 389). san francisco: john wiley. hart, s. & wandeler, c. (2018). the impact of action civics service-learning on eight-grade students’ civic outcomes. international journal of research on service-learning and community engagement, 6 (1), 1 – 17. hennessy, s., harrison, d., & wamakote, l. (2010). teacher factors influencing classroom use of ict in sub-saharan africa. itupale online journal of african studies, 2, 39 – 54. hooghe, m. & stolle, d. (2004). good girls go to the polling booth, bad boys go everywhere: gender differences in anticipated political participation among american fourteen-year-olds. journal of women politics & policy, 26(3/4), doi: 10.1080/1554477x.2004.9971042. ityonzughul, t.t., ochelle, j.o. &aniwen, n.r. (2014). the role analysis of civic education in nigeria’s national development. journal of development, 1 (4), 36-45. iyamu, e.o.s. & obiunu, j.j. (2005). impact of citizenship education on the civic consciousness of nigeria youth. journal of instructional psychology, 32 (4), 305-309. kahne, j., david, c. & lee, n. (2013). different pedagogy, different politics: high school learning opportunities and youth political engagement. political psychology, 34 (4), 419-441. kılınc, e. & tarman, b. (2018). global citizenship vs. patriotism: the correlation between preservice teachers’ perception of patriotism and global citizenship. in a. rapoport (ed.), competing frameworks: global and national in citizenship education. charlotte, nc: information age publishing. levinson, m. (2014a). action civics in the classroom. social education, 78 (2), 68-72. levinson, m. (2014b). citizenship and civic education. in philips, d.c. (ed.) encyclopaedia of educational theory and philosophy. thousand oaks, ca: sage. retrieved from http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.instrepos:12701475margaret, s.b. (2000).the role of civic education: a forthcoming education policy task force position paper from the communitarian network. retrieved from http://www.civiced.org/papers/articles_role.html. mofoluwawo, o.e., jarimi, m. & oyelade, t. (2012). the instruction mentality of civic education in molding the youths: a case study of college of education students in oyo town, nigeria. international journal of humanities and social science. 2(3), 269-276. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.instrepos:12701475 http://www.civiced.org/papers/articles_role.html journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 19 noddings, n. (2012). peace education: how we come to love and hate war. cambridge: cambridge university press. obiagu, a. & ajaps, s. (2019). sociopolitical development perspective to action citizenship in emerging democracy: what civil societies and (in)formal educators need know and do. manuscript submitted for publication. ogundare, s.f. (2002). social studies: a character education for ethnic conflict management. nigerian journal of social studies, vi (1&2), 178-190. okam, c.c. & lawal, h. (2011). exploring civic education for effective citizenship in the task of national building in nigeria. nigerian journal of social studies, xiv (1), 1-20. okobia,e.o. (2016). an assessment of teaching methods used by social studies teachers in junior secondary schools in edo state, nigeria. educational research international, 5 (2), 32 – 43. pantic, n. & florian, l. (2015). developing teachers as agents of inclusion and social justice. education inquiry, 6 (3), 333 – 351.doi:10.3402/edui.v6.27311. pharr, s.j. & putnam, r. d. (2018). disaffected democracies: what’s troubling the trilateral countries. princeton, nj: princeton university press. reimers, f.m., ortega, m.e., cardanas, m., estrada, a. & garza, e. (2014). empowering teaching for participatory citizenship: evaluating the impact of alternative civic education pedagogies on civic attitudes, knowledge, and skills of eight-grade students in mexico. journal of social science education, 13 (4), 35-50. doi:10.2390/jsse-viz-i4-1357. sahin, m., akbasil, s., & yelken, t.y. (2010). key competencies for lifelong learning: the case of prospective teachers. educational research and review, 5 (10), 545 – 556. sander, t.h. & putnam, r.d. (2010). still bowling alone? the post-9/11 split. journal of democracy, 21 (1), 9 – 16. doi: 10.1353/jod.0.0153 sharples, m. (2000). the design of personal mobile technologies for lifelong learning. computers and education, 34, 177 – 195. shulman. l.s. (1987). knowledge and teaching: foundations of the new reform. harvard educational review, 57, 1 – 22. tarman, b. & doganay, a. (2017). active democratic citizenship education: a curriculum for preventing gender bias and bullying, brown, elinor, rhonda craven, george mclean (ed.) international book series: international advances in education: global initiatives for equity and social justice gender equity volume 10, information age publishing journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 obiagu, a. n. (2019). influence of teacher's characteristics on civic education implementation in nigeria 20 torney-purta, j., schwille, j., & amadeo, j. (1999). civic education across countries: twenty-four national case studies from the iea civic education project. netherlands: eburon publishers. wheeler-bell, q. (2012). educating the spirit of activism: a "critical" civic education. educational policy, xx (x), 1 – 24. doi: 10.1177/0895904812465113 westheimer, j. (2019). civic education and the rise of populist nationalism. peabody journal of education, 94 (1), 4 – 16. doi:10.1080/0161956x westheimer, j. & kahne, j. (2004). what kind of citizen? the politics of educating for democracy. american educational research journal, 41 (2), 237 – 269. wing, y. l., (2009). understanding and attitudes towards moral and civic education among primary school teachers in hong kong. asian social science. 5 (7). journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 2 2023 pp. 123-137 freirean utopian didactic: a retrospective view of education in the south african education environment doniwen pietersen*1 & bernadictus plaatjies2 * corresponding author: email: doniwen.pietersen@spu.ac.za 1. department of education studies, sol plaatjie university, kimberley, south africa 2. faculty of education, university of the free state, south africa article info received: february 16, 2023 accepted: april 12, 2023 published: june 21, 2023 how to cite pietersen, d., & plaatjies, b. (2023). freirean utopian didactic: a retrospective view of education in the south african education context. journal of culture and values in education, 6(2), 123-137. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.12 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract this study investigates how the utopian didactic in education can be achieved in south africa. it is foregrounded by brazilian educator paulo freire’s collective and forward-looking dreams about what education, in the shattered sense of the “now”, can look like if teachers and students participate democratically in the learning process. education, in a general sense, is a form of learning in which knowledge, skills and habits are transferred and nurtured from one generation to the next. but, in the freirean utopian didactic, education involves so much more than the mere transfer of knowledge. it is about transformation, both internal (the individual) and external (society). by allowing students to critically reflect and engage in honest dialogue with their teacher, education can lead to social injustices being challenged and, hence, being overcome. freire’s utopian vision of education is one in which hope and imagination are celebrated in the quest for a better world. this vision is sorely lacking in south african educational environment today, which is still bruised by decades of inequality. using a literature review, this conceptual article explored whether a freirean utopian didactic can be applied to the current education system in south africa and bring about the much-needed transformation. we have examined whether a utopian education can be considered a basic right in south africa, according to the constitution, and whether it can be applied more broadly to the african continent. for education to meet the needs of all learners in the education system, a utopian education system based on quality educational skills, values and equal distribution of resources is highly recommended. keywords democracy; utopian philosophy; south african education; paulo freire; relationship 10.46303/jcve.2023.12 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.12 124 jcve 2023, 6(2): 123-137 introduction the education process is simple and logical, consisting of teachers or lecturers and students. multiple levels are found in a school, but i am going to focus mostly on higher education and how utopian philosophy relates to other aspects of schooling (lapum et al., 2022). what does a utopian philosophy in an education system entail? according to stein (2018), utopia is about creating intellectual enlightenment and coming up with creative systems to allow students to succeed. it is also a philosophical system that fosters moral and cultural development designed to make sure that quality education will always replenish itself through its youth (stein, 2018). numerous studies have shown that utopian education studies concentrate on developing socially conscious people in closed-off classrooms, distant from the broader context (dube et al., 2023; haavelsrud & stenberg, 2012; garcia & weiss, 2017; kennedy, 2022). but not many studies have framed utopian education around learning, specifically learning that is integral to social, political and economic systems, the environment and life, in general. what we are interested in is the process of schooling and the reciprocal relationships between teachers and learners in the education environment, which allows the whole system to operate optimally and achieve its goals. for integration of these relationships to happen effectively, we need to consider the thoughts of kennedy (2022), who affirms that: …to create dialogue between the individual receiving education and the educational system disposing of it all leads to a democratic education space, which if compared to a psycho class for which intra-human dialogue both produces and is produced by interhuman dialogue (democracy), has emerged in the midst of a dialectical process of dismantling three major modes of self-understanding: plato’s hierarchical tripartite self with its clear (both internal and external) class positions; descartes’ discrete, isolated subject – homo clausus. in addition to freud’s queering of the platonic hierarchy, reflecting the crisis of the enlightenment, the revenge of the unconscious and the postfreudian project, though tragically hampered, of the emancipation of eros are examples of descartes’ discrete, isolated subject, homo clausus, as a function of the radical individualism of the rising bourgeoisie and the capitalist ethos (p. 587). all of these philosophical underpinnings are directed towards reshaping and positioning an education that is not only democratised, but also emancipatory. south africa is a country with a very dark past. during the years of apartheid (1948 to 1993), institutionalised racism was the norm. people of colour (black, coloured and indian) were not allowed to vote, nor were they permitted to mix with white people, who were seen as superior. at every level of society, people of colour were undermined and looked down upon (wilson-fadiji & reddy, 2021). education was no exception. people of colour were placed in schools where the infrastructure alone was demoralising. the group areas act of 1966 caused people to live in the worst of circumstances. people of colour were forcibly removed from white suburbs and 125 jcve 2023, 6(2): 123-137 dumped in locations that were far from the city centre. there, they would have to live and fend for themselves in very harsh circumstances (ledwaba, 2022). avvisati (2022) more recently added that the educational environment provided for black, coloured and indian learners was inconducive to good schooling the facilities provided were not of the highest standard, the government did not provide sufficient textbooks and inadequate funds were allocated, compared to what was given to affluent white schools. apartheid’s cruelty has scarred south africa for generations to come, but worst of all has been its effect on our education system (zuze et al., 2017). this is in stark contrast to john dewey’s philosophy of education, which aspired to break down social barriers by exposing students to multiple viewpoints: ... the increase in the number of individuals who participate in an interest, so that each has to refer his own action to that of others and to consider the action of others to give point and direction to his own, [which] breaks down barriers of class, race and nationality, leading to more numerous and more varied points of contact and, as such, greater diversity of stimuli to which an individual has to respond, which puts a premium on variation in our actions, which is linked in turn to the liberation of a greater diversity of personal capacities, a widening area of shared concerns and greater individualisation and a broader community of interest (dewey, 1916, p.87). to understand from whence this article moves in terms of utopian education, it can be framed as: …the utopian ideals of democracy, social justice and sustainability. educational research cases are positive examples of a phenomenon and were selected for their illustrative value, particularly for the way in which they were able to demonstrate how young people can become engaged with wider concepts and ideals (e.g., democracy, social justice, sustainability) and situated knowledge and experience (lotz-sisitka, 2008, p.136). this study explores how utopian ideology, which places a premium on democratic ideals and an equitable allocation of resources with respect to high-quality education, helps the south african educational system to manage participation. the aim is to facilitate an improvement in education, in addition to making sure that the learning environment is secure and welcoming. the conceptual underpinnings of the study, including the philosophy of freire and other authors, will be examined. the paper will then go over the utopian strategy proposed for the south african environment before drawing some conclusions. conceptual framework this article engages in an open form of critical inquiry into utopian discourse, using the love for utopia which freire espouses: utopia involves a certain course, a certain type of people. it is a love that has to do with the creation of a society that is less perverse, less discriminatory, less racist and less machoistic than the society we now have. this love seeks to create a more open society, a society that 126 jcve 2023, 6(2): 123-137 serves the interests of the always unprotected and devalued subordinate classes and not only the interests of the rich, the fortunate, the so-called well-born (freire, 1993b, p.140). pietersen (2022) further alludes to the fact that the foundation of freire’s epistemology is human interaction, which has a significant impact on his educational theory and his dialectical understanding of reality. according to freire, understanding is a uniquely human process that involves engaging in conversation with people and interacting with a dynamic environment, which can be compared to a utopian educational universe. the term “world of education”, in this context, refers to both the natural environment and the social world of institutions, as well as to freirean and utopian education structures, policies and practices. through our interactions with others and the world of education, the inner realm of subjective experience is constantly “on the move”. given a complex reality that is constantly changing, the quest for knowledge is an ongoing endeavour (roberts, 2015, p.379– 380). freire’s work has always been strongly utopian in nature, particularly as it relates to learning. it is not always simple to define the fundamental components of a uniquely freirean view of utopia and its pedagogical importance. freire himself experienced a great deal of annoyance when his intentions and ideas were misunderstood. this may be summarised as follows: according to roberts and peters (2015) a lack of trust is built into the fabric of institutional life and this is reflective of a broader ethos of mean-spiritedness, of ruthless competition between individuals, corporations and countries (p.389). critics of freire assert that he is supporting anti-intellectualism, oppressiveness and colonialist tendencies (walker, 1980; ellsworth, 1989 & margonis, 2003). others, in the form of weiler (1991), believe freire is not strong enough in his stance against oppressive education systems. however, we believe that by placing his ideas in their appropriate context, we will gain an understanding of his utopian pedagogy and how it can be applied to south african education. literature review the freirean and utopian pursuit of education the difference in the quality of education during apartheid was easily discernible. not only was education afforded to the white population better in terms of access and quality (see bush, 2020; world bank, 2020), but it also enabled them to access better jobs due to certain types of work being reserved for whites only. in contrast, urban black youth had to make do with township education, which was of a very poor standard (naidoo, 2021). although formerly black schools now receive proportionally more funding than they did during apartheid, standards have not improved dramatically. for example, south african grade 9 learners ranked second to last in a study of 39 countries by the international association for the evaluation of educational achievement in mathematics and last in science in 2015. sadly, less than 5% of black students in primary school will end up with a university qualification (mlachila & moeletsi, 2019). based 127 jcve 2023, 6(2): 123-137 on these and other available evidence, it is undeniable that schools located in underdeveloped areas will hardly achieve the same level of education as schools in wealthy areas, due to vast socio-economic disparities. in his controversial book, cultural action for freedom, freire (1972) presents a vision of a utopian philosophical and educational didactic, setting it apart from the views of those on the political right who want to contribute to well-functioning education systems. he asserts: utopia tends to be dynamic rather than static; tends to life rather than death; to the future as a challenge to man’s creativity rather than as a repetition of the present; to love as a liberation of subjects rather than as pathological possessiveness; to the emotion of life rather than cold abstraction; to living together in harmony rather than gregariousness; to dialogue rather than muteness; to practice rather than ‘law and order’; to men who organise themselves reflectively for action, rather than men who are organised for passivity; to creative and communicative language rather than prescriptive signals; to reflective challenges rather than domesticating slogans; and to values which are lived rather than myths which are imposed (freire, 1972, p.72) the different areas lay forth different class systems. different class systems will mould different types of individuals. south africa’s history has irrevocably traumatised many, and although we would like to leave behind the almost incurable wounds of the past, we are faced with its daunting legacies daily in our schools. today there may not be an institutionalised separation of people based on class or colour, but there is a clear distinction between the level of education seen in different schools (world bank, 2020). evolution of the education system in south africa the question we would like to ask is: is it too late to fix the problem or has south africa’s history ruined our education system in many ways? according to dewey (1922), in order for education systems to move toward a genuine interaction between the individual receiving education and the system dispensing it, the following needs to happen: habits can be formed which are more intelligent, more sensitively percipient, more informed with foresight, more aware of what they are about, more direct and sincere, more flexibly responsive than those now current. then they will face their own problems and propose their own solutions (dewey, 1922, p.128). everything in life has a purpose. just as the caterpillar becomes a butterfly, so does the education system guide the student toward their dream of becoming a lawyer, doctor, accountant or engineer. taking this viewpoint into account, it can be said that it is the responsibility of teachers to pass on that knowledge, so that students’ dreams for the future can be fulfilled. as teachers teach and learners learn, there are many different processes taking place. there are social and psychological dynamics at play, either positive or negative, depending on the teacher’s pedagogical style and the student’s attitude toward the teacher or subject. teachers may refine their educational content and adapt their pedagogical approach based on their students’ ability to understand what they are being taught (badaru & adu, 2022; 128 jcve 2023, 6(2): 123-137 crawford & jenkins, 2017). learners, in turn, may acquire different skills and knowledge based on the expectation of which career they want to pursue. no education system is flawless. in accepting an imperfect education system, we must, nevertheless, aim for it to be complete to the extent to which there is room for improvement. it should be constructed by a panel that is knowledgeable enough to provide guidance in terms of internationally recognised educational standards. by nature, education systems are constantly evolving, either for the better or worse, with unprecedented growth in participation and attainment levels (oecd, 2022). they are always in a state of flux because they encompass an entity that is ever-changing: people. education systems should have appropriate policy frameworks, which should place all schools on the same level. whether private or public schools, those in rural areas and townships or previously model c schools1, government policy and planning should allow all south african learners, regardless of their colour or background, the opportunity to advance in life. the emphasis should be to enrich all learners with knowledge in their respective fields of study and to guide and nurture them to achieve standards of excellence in their education. the report of the oecd (2022) is in agreement that the goal of education should be to empower learners, both individually and collectively. and as societies continue to change, education systems need to provide opportunities for learners to develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that enable them to realise their potential throughout their lives. as milojevic rightly puts it: the great social problems of a society cannot be solved without changing the entire structure of the society within which these problems reside... [utopian philosophers] saw a twofold necessity for education: first, for educating men to the need for great and important changes and second, they saw education as a vehicle for enabling the man to adjust to these changes (milojevic, 2002). education in human society has generally focused on two issues. firstly, the need to know and secondly, the ability to retain information and reproduce what has been learnt. is education purely education or has it always been a process of trial and error? are children enrolled as the guinea pigs of their respective schools? in our experiences as teachers, it seems as if every four to six years, the south african curriculum changes and teachers and children are forced to adapt. curriculum 2005 with its underlying philosophy of outcomes-based education (obe), for example, was a curriculum introduced shortly after south africa became a democracy in 19942. it was meant to prepare learners for further education and training, but unsurprisingly, it failed and was replaced with the more streamlined national curriculum statement. in south africa, one has to be very cautious when trying to implement a utopian education system because of the country’s complex network of social dynamics. the challenges pertaining to the curriculum, 1 model c is a common term in south africa, used to describe previously whites-only schools. 2 according to botha (2010), obe, introduced in 1998 by former education minister kader asmal, was an attempt to reverse the wrongs of apartheid education by creating a skilled workforce. 129 jcve 2023, 6(2): 123-137 as well as the complex social dynamics, are some of the factors that are some of the factors that should be considered when piecing together a utopian education system. utopia in education: challenges, and perspectives education, then, in utopia is not just a means of intellectual enlightenment; it is a programme of moral and cultural development designed to make sure that utopia will always replenish itself via the learners (milojevic, 2002). in this utopian way of thinking, there are many changes that need to occur in order for the implementations to work for long periods of time. the changes that the education system would have to undergo would be major, as this has a ripple effect on many aspects of society. social change is one of the objectives of an education system and, therefore, if changes are implemented, it would have to be on a large scale within the society and involve parents and keep them up to speed with the latest changes. allow the parents and elders of the community to have a say and get involved, as these are people who are in direct contact with their children daily. an advisory panel should be set up and this panel on the governing body should guide the school in terms of direction and focus areas. schools should have a central department that serves as the planning and structural body that will establish the curriculum; that will be their sole task. in this way, the focus is on education and in which direction it is heading. this implies that a real change in a utopian context is possible through a critical reflection of the current education system. freire (2018) describes this crucial involvement as follows: reflection and action in close interaction are the necessary conditions for dialogical action and if one of them is prevented, the word becomes an empty word, one which cannot denounce the world, for denunciation is impossible without commitment to transform, and there is no transformation without action (freire, 2018, p.87). it is important to mention that, according to freire, utopia is not a blueprint for the future in which every aspect of social organisation and operation is predetermined. however, the utopia of the freirean reflection should be considered an integral part of the educational process; it is not something that should be added to the “real work” in schools, universities and other institutions as a kind of patronising afterthought. the very idea of keeping alive, through our teaching, research and wider community activities in the education sphere, the robust consideration of social alternatives is itself an important element of this kind of utopia (roberts, 2015, p.377-378). a pedagogical case for utopian education education is a basic necessity, like healthcare. the south african constitution is clear that everyone has a right to education, and we are convinced that the execution of this right is critical if south africa is to compete successfully in the global economy. however, to reach that point, which is related to the utopian freirean education philosophy, it means that resources need to be made available for all educators up to the level of higher education. this needs to take on a streamlined approach, so that students who come through primary, secondary and tertiary education are well equipped to become active citizens. this includes reimagining the disparities 130 jcve 2023, 6(2): 123-137 that exist at the school level, where parents of learners who attend former model c and private schools can afford these schools, whereas impoverished parents cannot. this is especially vital, as garcia & weiss (2017) point out that extensive research has conclusively demonstrated that children’s social class is one of the most significant predictors of their educational success. the government should, therefore, direct resources back into disadvantaged and state schools, providing them with basic necessities, such as textbooks, a classroom roof that does not leak and windows that are not cracked. garcaia and weiss (2017) add that greater investment is needed, as the undeniable relationship between economic inequalities and education inequalities represents a societal failure. an environment thus needs to be created where learners are provided with facilities that are of benefit to them, so that they can appreciate their importance and use these resources to their full potential. however, this needs to be done with proper stakeholder engagement, so that communities take ownership of the facilities that are given to them. dohrmann, porche, ijadi-maghsoodi & kataoka (2022) propose that addressing these persistent disparities to move toward educational equity requires clinicians, educators and school administrators to collaborate in reducing barriers and increasing support for minoritized students through innovative policy and practice change. education and skill training are a major component in the establishment of a utopian education system. this shows one important direction that postmodern utopian education theory might take in order to inform a related critical and transformative education theory, turning problems into endless possibilities. this is poignantly expressed by the modern utopianist, fredric jameson, who places hegelian emphasis on dialectical solutions to failed educational approaches: …peaceful images [educational] are also, in and of themselves, violent ruptures with what is, breaks that destabilise our stereotypes of a future that is the same as our own present, interventions that interrupt the reproduction of the system in habit and in ideological consent and institute that fissure, however minimal and initially little more than a hairline fracture, through which another picture of the future and another system of temporality altogether might emerge (jameson, 2010, p.415) disruption constitutes a utopian vision. a kind of vision from jameson, it would seem, that breaks down systems in the south african educational space (primary, secondary and higher education), where the government is at the top of the hierarchy, but remains as an advisory panel, not as the body in charge. this gives way for schools and higher education institutions to be run by principals, directors and vice chancellors, with the governing body acting in an advisory capacity. mcmaster (2013) points out that a utopian vision is based on the fundamental belief that human beings can take an active role in changing and shaping their reality. in a more practical example, the vision for a utopian school and education system would be one where there are highly proficient teachers. teachers and lecturers alike would be very goal-oriented and efficient in what they do. this will serve the majority of students. they will realise that there are some 131 jcve 2023, 6(2): 123-137 students who need more attention than others; this would prompt teachers and lecturers to empathise more with their students’ struggles. any teacher and university lecturer who places the well-being and success of any student above all else in the school and higher education context would be the ideal teacher. this includes a belief that pedagogical approaches should include head, heart and soul (mcmaster, 2013). in today’s world, we are faced with technological advances and whiteboard systems and calculators; it is as if things are designed to allow us more free time. teachers and lecturers should use this free time to spend with students and use technology to their advantage in their classrooms. a teacher’s effectiveness should reflect in their students’ test results, not just a selected few. this is a perfect measure of how effective teaching styles and methods ought to align with utopian thinking. this will enable students to achieve their objectives in the classroom and to create active citizenry for south africa. mcmaster (2013) adds that translating through translating the tasks of the progressive educator to the classroom, would be through an educator with the responsibility to critically analyse how society works and challenge leaners to think critically about their social realities. the major focus area in any utopian education system would be the transition from primary to secondary school, and then from secondary school to higher education institutions in order for graduates to make a greater impact to the broader society (ferri et al., 2020). utopian educational philosophy in education: a salto morte leap critics would argue that this utopian philosophy is just what it claims to be: utopia. however, many researchers have indicated that changing the format of instruction due to the influence of utopian educational philosophy often translates in positive learning performance by students (sepulveda-escobar & morrison, 2020). interestingly, they argue that the difference in employing utopian philosophy in education can affect learning effectiveness, although some of them convey that this kind of philosophy, in its practical form, can only work on an individual basis. also, teachers practise education, but they have to be collaborative in their teaching and learning approaches to make utopian education possible, without any significant issues arising (choi & chung, 2021). in realising all of the above, it must be said that there will always be a component of misrecognition involved, but that the utopian educational philosophy and disruption foregrounds the fundamental tool for identifying, representing and trying to fulfil the desire to turn learners and students into quality citizenry. in other words, a postmodern educational utopian leap requires a necessary but impossible salto mortale3, or leap of faith, into an idealised future, but with the understanding that it can never be fully formed or taken as perfect (rancière 1991; noddings 2003; levitas 2009 & kasparek 2016). put differently, investing in people and safeguarding skills development that compliments employment creation are critical platforms on which to build future prosperity for utopian education philosophies to be fully comprehendible (kraak et al., 2006). 3 italian for “risky leap”. 132 jcve 2023, 6(2): 123-137 levitas (2013) is confident in her conviction that any kind of social and economic structure can provide the means for a quality education, but that it should be a system that benefits everyone with a secure and enduring means of subsistence. for those who maintain that utopia is about the unachievable, the reality is that continuing with social and economic systems that benefit a select few, while ignoring the needs of the impoverished majority, is equally untenable. finding an alternative means of education is essential to our very survival (mair et al., 2020). a utopian and idealistic education system for south africa and the continent according to waghid and davids (2018), south africa’s education system is intentionally a mirror of society, most visible at the local level. as a result, there has been a growing awareness of the necessity of eradicating discriminatory educational practices in favour of contextualising education. the socio-political changes in south africa have enhanced our understanding of education in context and accelerated the abolition of educational practices that disenfranchise students. in terms of education, south africa's transition post-democracy has had a profound effect on mainstream schools and on the creation of utopian philosophical and educational settings (or lack thereof), as well as on the creation of educational policies (engelbrecht, 2020). if the aforementioned is well considered, then utopian education can be a vibrant vision that can be developed to produce a quality citizenry and a better south africa and continent. this is echoed by the african educational philosopher, ojah uti egbai: system building [like utopian philosophical education] is part of the overall goal of creating conversational philosophy [including the principle of ubuntu4], which has been demonstrated in some quarters as the future direction of african philosophy (egbai, 2018, p.34). the adoption of a system building approach will enhance the intended goal of a utopian philosophical education and establish the groundwork for teachers and students participating in the teaching process to propose significant and lasting change. an alternative education system for south africa (and indeed africa) may include the following: 1. more focus on critical thinking and problem-solving skills, rather than rote memorisation. 2. multilingual education, with instruction in both english and at least one of the country’s official languages. 3. a strong emphasis on stem education5 to prepare students for the jobs of the future. 4. a more equitable distribution of resources and funding to ensure that all schools have access to the same quality of education. 5. incorporation of cultural and historical education that is inclusive and reflects the diversity of south africa’s population. 6. a more flexible and personalised approach to education, with a focus on the individual needs and learning styles of each student. 4 ubuntu is a nguni term for humanity: “i am because we are.” 5 stem education emphasises the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. 133 jcve 2023, 6(2): 123-137 7. a greater emphasis on teacher training and development to ensure that educators are well-equipped to meet the diverse needs of their students. 8. a strong emphasis on community involvement and partnerships to ensure that the education system is responsive to the needs of the community it serves. 9. a focus on developing the whole person, not just academic skills, by incorporating extracurricular activities, physical education life skills education, as well as educational philosophy. conclusion this article contributes to the literature that examines the history of south african education and where we are today in terms of educational philosophy: there is a clear distinction between the past and the present mindset regarding utopian education. changes to the education system hint that we have not yet arrived at a system that meets the needs of our students or the country’s economy. the search for this elusive system is causing our students and teachers to feel as if they are on a treadmill, with their goals in sight but virtually unattainable due to the lack of proper infrastructure, guidance and qualified advisory structures at the top of the hierarchy (in other words, the government). this article proposes an alternative utopian education system based on quality educational skills (teachers and learners), values, equal distribution of resources and effectively trained teachers who can manage diversity and teach effectively (stronge, 2018). for comparison purposes, similar cases and countries facing similar problems can be cited in countries such as nigeria, which, as a country with a large population and diverse cultures, faces several problems, such as lack of resources, inadequate infrastructure, and a shortage of qualified teachers. the other two countries that could benefit from an alternative utopian educational system are india and bangladesh (bokova, 2016). according to freire, utopia and our incompleteness as human beings are inextricably linked. if we are dedicated to continuing our educational development, we must accept that the future is always in flux, since we are creatures who are constantly in the process of becoming. in his later years, freire emphasised that we must be prepared not only to tolerate, but also to actively welcome uncertainty. since it indicates that we will continually have to accept the truth that there is much we do not know, this calls for both courage and humility. this is a motivation to strengthen commitment, rather than forsake it (roberts, 2015). the true definition of commitment is not in standing by what is most familiar and comfortable, but in being prepared to act in a world that is always shifting and unpredictable. according to freire, pursuing political clarity is crucial, but this is not the same as sticking steadfastly to a stance when circumstances call for a subtle and nuanced re-evaluation of the options available to us (pietersen, 2022). this has never been truer than now in the light of the educational crisis facing south africa. references 134 jcve 2023, 6(2): 123-137 avvisati, f. (2020). the measure of socio‐economic status in pisa: a review and some suggested improvements. large-scale assessment in education, 8(8), 1–37. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40536-020-00086-x badaru, k., & adu, e. (2022). platformisation of education: an analysis of south african universities’ learning management systems. research in social sciences and technology, 7(2), 66-86. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2022.10 bokova, i. g. (2016). unesco director-general 2009–2017 writer of foreword. culture: urban future global report on culture for sustainable urban development; unesco: paris, france. botha, r.j. (2010). outcomes-based education and educational reform in south africa. international journal of leadership in education, 10(1), 361–371. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603120110118831 bush, t. (2020). school leadership management in south africa: findings from a systematic literature review. school leadership and management, 47(7), 843-867. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1093208 choi, l., & chung, s. (2021). navigating online language teaching in uncertain times: challenges and strategies of efl educators in creating a sustainable technologymediated language learning environment. sustainability, 13(14), 7664. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147664 crawford, r., & jenkins, l. (2017). blended learning and team teaching: adapting pedagogy in response to the changing digital tertiary environment. australasian journal of educational technology, 33(2), 51-72. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.2924 dewey, j. (1916). democracy and education. macmillan. dewey, j. (1922). human nature and conduct: an introduction to social psychology. henry holt & co. https://doi.org/10.1037/14663-000 dohrmann, e., porche, m., ijadi-maghsoodi, r., & kataoka, s. (2022). racial disparities in the education system opportunities for justice in schools. child adolescent psychiatric clinics, 31(2), 193–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2022.01.001 dube, b., mahlomaholo, s., setlalentoa, w., & tarman, b. (2023). creating sustainable learning environments in the era of the posthuman: towards borderless curriculum. journal of curriculum studies research, 5(1), i-x. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcsr.2023.1 engelbrecht, p. (2020). inclusive education: developments and challenges in south africa. prospects, 49(3), 219–232. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-020-09499-6 egbai, o.u. (2018). why african philosophers should build systems: an exercise in conversational thinking. filosofia theoretica: journal of african philosophy, culture, and religions, 7(1), 34-52. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-eef060f1b https://doi.org/10.4314/ft.v7i1.2 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40536-020-00086-x https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2022.10 https://doi.org/10.1080/13603120110118831 https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147664 https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.2924 https://doi.org/10.1037/14663-000 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2022.01.001 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcsr.2023.1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-020-09499-6 https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-eef060f1b https://doi.org/10.4314/ft.v7i1.2 135 jcve 2023, 6(2): 123-137 ellsworth, e. (1989). why doesn't this feel empowering? working through the repressive myths of critical pedagogy harvard educational review, 59(3), 297–325. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.59.3.058342114k266250 ferri, f., grifoni, p., & guzzo, t. (2020). online learning and remote emergency teaching: opportunities and challenges in emergency situations. societies, 10(86), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10040086 freire, p. (1972). cultural action for freedom. penguin. freire, p. (1993). pedagogy of the city. continuum. freire, p. (2018). pedagogy of the oppressed, 50th anniversary edition. bloomsbury academic. garcia, e., & weiss, e. (2017). educational inequalities at the school starting gate. gaps, trends and strategies to address them. economic policy institute. https://www.epi.org/publication/education-inequalities-at-the-school-starting-gate/ haavelsrud, m., & stenberg, o. (2012). analysing peace pedagogies. journal of peace education, 9(1), 65–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2012.657617 jameson, f. (2010). valences of the dialectic. verso. kennedy, d. (2022). paths to utopia: schools as a holding environment for the dialogical self. journal of constructivist psychology, 35(2), 586–604. https://doi.org/10.1080/10720537.2020.1848668 kraak, a., young, m., & young, m.f. (2001). education in retrospect: policy and implementation since 1990. hsrc press. ditto? lapum, j., bailey, a., st-amant, o., garmaise-yee, j., hughes, m., & mistry, s. (2022). equity, diversity and inclusion in open educational resources: an interpretive description of students' perspectives. nurse education today, 116(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105459 ledwaba, r. (2022). the influence of socioeconomic status and parental educational background on young adults' career aspirations [doctoral dissertation, university of south africa]. https://uir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/28939 levitas, r.a. (2009). the imaginary reconstitution of society: utopia as a method. in r. levitas (ed.), utopia, method, vision: the use value of social dreaming (pp. 47–68). peter lang international academic publishers. levitas, r. (2013). utopia as a method: the imaginary reconstitution of society. springer. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137314253 lotz-sisitka, h. (2008). utopianism and educational processes in the united nations decade of education for sustainable development. canadian journal of environmental education, 13(1), 134–152. mair, s., druckman, a., and jackson, t. (2020). a tale of two utopians work in a post-growth world. ecological economics, 173, p.106653. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106653 https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.59.3.058342114k266250 https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10040086 https://doi.org/10.1080/10720537.2020.1848668 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105459 https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137314253 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106653 136 jcve 2023, 6(2): 123-137 margonis, f. (2003). paulo freire and postcolonial dilemmas. studies in philosophy and education, 22(2), 145–56. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1022280930241 mcmaster, c. (2013). setting sail for that country: the utopian urge behind inclusion. international journal of whole schooling, 9(2), 1-24. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1016788 milojevic, i. (2002). future of education: feminist and post-western critiques and vision [unpublished doctoral thesis, university of queensland]. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/ivanamilojevic/publication/43466412_futures_ of_education_feminist_and_postwestern_critiques_and_visions/links/628f1fd088c32b 037b5099ce/futures-of-education-feminist-and-post-western-critiques-andvisions.pdf mlachila, m. m., & moeletsi, t. (2019). struggling to make the grade: a review of the causes and consequences of the weak outcomes of south africa’s education system. international monetary fund. https://doi.org/10.5089/9781498301374.001 naidoo, r.r. (2021). instructional leadership roles of school management teams. an exploratory study in five township secondary schools [doctoral thesis, university of the free state]. https://scholar.ufs.ac.za/handle/11660/11657 noddings, n. (2003). happiness and education. cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511499920 oecd, (2022). building the future of education. https://www.oecd.org. pietersen, d. (2022). engaging paulo freire on deliberative democracy: dialogical pedagogy, deliberation, and inclusion in a transformative online education space for higher education. transformation in higher education, 7(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.4102/the.v7i0.211 rancière, j. (1991). the ignorant schoolmaster (vol. 1). stanford university press. roberts, p. & m.a. peters. (2008). neoliberalism, higher education, and research. sense publishers. roberts, p. (2015). paulo freire and utopian education. review of education, pedagogy and cultural studies, 37(5), 376–392. https://doi.org/10.1080/10714413.2015.1091256 sepulveda-escobar, p., & morrison, a. (2020). online teaching placement during the covid-19 pandemic in chile: challenges and opportunities. european journal of teacher education, 43(4), 587–607. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2020.1820981 stein, s. (2019). beyond higher education as we know it: gesturing towards decolonial horizons of possibility. studies in philosophy and education, 38(2), 143–161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-018-9622-7 stronge, j.h. (2018). qualities of effective teachers. ascd. waghid, y., & davids, n. (2018). toward a post-humanist ethics of care in teaching and learning waghid. chapter in teaching and learning as a pedagogic pilgrimage: cultivating faith, hope, and imagination. routledge. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1022280930241 https://doi.org/10.5089/9781498301374.001 https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511499920 https://doi.org/10.4102/the.v7i0.211 https://doi.org/10.1080/10714413.2015.1091256 https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2020.1820981 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-018-9622-7 137 jcve 2023, 6(2): 123-137 walker, j. (1980). the end of dialogue: paulo freire on politics and education. in r. mackie (ed.), in literacy and revolution: the pedagogy of paulo freire (pp. 120–50). pluto press. weiler, k. (1991). freire and feminist pedagogy of difference. harvard educational review, 61(4), 449–75. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.61.4.a102265jl68rju84 wilson fadiji, a., & reddy, v. (2021). school and individual predictors of mathematics achievement in south africa: the mediating role of learner aspirations. african journal of research in mathematics, science and technology education, 25(1), 65–76. https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.1080/18117295.2021.1874687 the world bank. (2020). the education crisis: being in school is not the same as learning. shlc country reports. world bank. zuze, l., reddy, v., visser, m., winnaar, l., & govender, a. (2017). timss 2015 grade 9 national report: understanding mathematics and science achievement amongst grade 9 learners in south africa. human sciences research council press. https://www.iea.nl/sites/default/files/201904/timss%202015%20grade%209%20nati onal%20report%20south%20africa.pdf https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.61.4.a102265jl68rju84 https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.1080/18117295.2021.1874687 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 2 2023 pp. 107-122 the unnoticed few: exploring the challenges confronting international students and staff at a rural university in south africa bonginkosi hardy mutongoza*1 & babawande emmanuel olawale1 * corresponding author: email: bmutongoza@outlook.com 1. faculty of education, university of fort hare, east london, south africa article info received: march 26, 2023 accepted: may 15, 2023 published: june 21, 2023 how to cite mutongoza, b. h. & olawale. b. e. (2023). the unnoticed few: exploring the challenges confronting international students and staff at a rural university in south africa. journal of culture and values in education, 6(2), 107-122. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.11 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract globalisation and international student and staff mobility are not new phenomena, and south african universities have been fairly successful in the recruitment of internationals – particularly from other african countries, yet the challenges associated with internationalising universities remain persistent. this study sought to examine the challenges faced by international students and staff at a rural university in south africa. we relied on a qualitative research approach which enabled us to rely on semi-structured interviews with international students, staff, and managers from the university’s international office. the findings revealed that while some of the opportunities for studying and working abroad are to widen one's horizons and experience new cultures, international students and staff often experience difficulties such as language barriers, culture shocks, mental health issues, and financial pressures when adapting to their new context. we recommended that there be behavioural interventions, cultural interventions, and also financial support for student and staff expatriates. keywords higher education; integration; internationalisation; international education; rural university 10.46303/jcve.2023.11 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.11 108 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 introduction the internationalisation of higher education is by no means a new discipline. the seminal work by altbach and knight (2007), reveals that the internationalisation of higher education is a result of globalisation which has seen goods, capital, and people flocking to economies that are more developed than those of their home countries. arguments have been made to the extent that higher education is increasingly becoming commodified as universities are said to be becoming more identical to corporates as opposed to their erstwhile collegial outlook (fan & stark, 2007; ilieva et al., 2014; knight, 2011; yemini & sagie, 2016). this can be explained by three aspects namely, idealism (the assumption that internationalism is inherently virtuous), instrumentalism (that education is a means to other ends such as revenue and enriching labour) and educationalism (that internationalisation is meant for deeper learning and human development) (stier, 2004). as such, the internationalisation of higher education is often seen as a response to globalisation and has oftentimes been lauded for respecting the sanctity of individual cultures (gacel-ávila, 2005). globally, universities are rapidly chasing the goal of ‘becoming internationalised’ (bamberger et al., 2019; wihlborg & robson, 2018), yet the quest to internationalise universities has remained contentious. on the one hand, some clamour for globalised universities that are awake to the prescribed notion of universities that are ‘global’, while on the other, there are those that challenge this notion, opting instead for decoloniality in its varied forms (de wit, 2020; harrison, 2016; ndlovu-gatsheni, 2021). according to de wit et al. (2015) and uzhegova and baik (2022), internationalisation happens as a result of academic, political, economic, and sociocultural rationales. studies have demonstrated that the internationalisation agenda has been driven by universities’ agendas to soar in terms of reputation, rankings, and excellence ( albusaidi, 2019; de wit & altbach, 2021; ergin, de wit, & leask, 2019). with the current outlook of the global market of higher education, there has been increased migration of students that has resulted in an explosion in the population of international students (frança & cairns, 2020; nada & araújo, 2019). however, it has been contended that this migration has not been immune to challenges, some of which are general to the experiences of migrants (caruana, 2014; ching et al., 2017; helen, 2016; masud, 2020). according to nada and araújo (2019), some of the prominent challenges faced by international students and staff include language difficulties, cultural shocks, and xenophobia increasingly experienced by tendencies of blaming migrants for some of the problems extant in receiving populations. this is contrary to the ideals of multiculturalism and inclusivity that are often preached by universities attracting international students (arasaratnam & doerfel, 2005; bertram et al., 2014; ching et al., 2017; titrek et al., 2016). in discussing cultural shock, griffith et al. (2005) and lichan (2015) define cultural shock as the extreme disorientation that affects people getting into new cultures. it is therefore not surprising that international students and staff from countries that share culture, language, and racial traits often experience less shock than those from unrelated contexts (majee & ress, 2020; robson & wihlborg, 2019; tight, 109 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 2022). seemingly small cultural aspects such as social interactions are vastly different when an individual enters a new culture, hence, ching et al. (2017) contend that cultural adaptation is a never-ending pursuit. the transition to new educational contexts has also been known to be disrupted by the teaching styles and strategies that are utilised in different learning environments. lichan (2015:9) argues that learning challenges need to be emphasised when studying the challenges associated with transitioning to universities outside one’s country of origin because oftentimes international students and staff find themselves exposed to “unfamiliar learning and teaching methods, bombarded by unexpected and disorienting cues and subjected to ambiguous and conflicting expectations”. studies conducted in this realm also reveal that adapting to different accents may also be a huge challenge for international students and staff, especially in cases where they do not share similar languages with the host communities (griffith et al., 2005; jones et al., 2021; mok & marginson, 2021; stein, 2021). in fact, ching et al. (2017: 477) conclude, “learning in a foreign environment involves the learners’ prior knowledge about cultural taboos, social expectations, learning approaches, and the subject matter. what is common sense for learners from the mainstream… culture may be novel to…international students”. this study, therefore, sought to explore against this background, this study sought to answer the question, “what are the challenges confronting international students and staff at rural universities in south africa?” methodology this study was underpinned by a qualitative approach because this approach allowed the researcher to interrogate the experiences of international students and staff (leavy, 2017). the study took a single case study design because this design allowed for an in-depth understanding of these experiences (creswell & creswell, 2018; yin, 2018). the researchers conveniently sampled nineteen (19) international students, five (5) international teaching staff, and three (3) managers from the university’s international office. below is a table showing the profiles of the student participants. 110 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 table 1. profiles of student participants psuedonym gender age level of study student 1 non-binary 22 bachelor student 2 male 30 phd student 3 non-binary 23 honours student 4 female 20 bachelor student 5 female 27 master’s student 6 female 26 phd student 7 male 21 bachelor student 8 female 33 phd student 9 female 23 honours student 10 male 36 master’s student 11 male 27 honours student 12 female 24 phd student 13 male 30 honours student 14 female 30 master’s student 15 female 28 phd student 16 male 47 master’s student 17 male 20 bachelor student 18 female 31 master’s student 19 female 26 phd data were collected using qualitative interviews with the participants, each of which lasted for about fifteen (15) minutes. interviews were found to be very useful because they enabled the researchers to probe further and understand the problem through the experiences of the participants, as argued by leavy (2017). it is worth noting that the interviews were conducted in english and recorded using a voice recorder with the consent of the participants. afterwards, the recordings were transcribed verbatim by a professional transcriber who captured everything that was said by the participants. once the data were collected, the data were analysed using thematic analysis because the thematic analysis was useful in the examination of different participant perspectives and it also helped the researchers to summarize the key features of the collected data (nowell et al., 2017; saldana, 2014). to ensure data trustworthiness, the researchers triangulated the units of analysis, namely the students, staff, and managers from the international office as prescribed by leavy (2017). during data collection, the researchers upheld ethical considerations such as informed consent, confidentiality, anonymity, and privacy. these considerations were communicated and agreed upon by the researchers and the participants prior to conducting the interviews. 111 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 results and discussion based on the study’s main question, participants were asked, “what challenges do foreign nationals face at this university that impede their full involvement in teaching and learning, and general social life at the university?” the findings revealed four main sub-themes that emerged in the inquiry of challenges faced by international students at a rural university in south africa, namely language barriers, culture shocks, mental health issues, and financial pressures. the following subsections constitute the discussion of these factors. language hurdles the participants revealed that language barriers constitute a significant challenge in navigating student life while away from their home countries. participants retold how language barriers were affecting international students and staff participation in academic activities and social life. a case can be drawn from a student who noted, i often struggle with participation in groups because of language. most of the students in my class are xhosa-speaking and those who cannot speak the language are just a minority. when we do group work and communicate through whatsapp groups, but most of the communication flies over my head because i barely understand the language. i have tried to request the use of english, but some of the groupmates have their fair share of struggles with english. it is very hard to be active. (student 17) a manager from the international office at the university corroborated these sentiments by noting, …when we usually have meetings where we discuss problems faced by international students and staff, one of the most prominent ones is usually language. presently, we do not have a programme where new students and staff are acclimatised to the language spoken by the majority of this community. language governs the majority of interactions, so to minimise the exclusion of internationals, helping them with language training can alleviate this challenge. (manager 2) one can also draw from another student who argued that the use of local languages was complicating non-speakers’ ability to learn effectively in classes. the student reckoned, when i joined this university, it was because it was said to be using english as the medium of instruction but when i got here, i realised that what is on paper is different from reality. some lecturers tend to use xhosa when making examples, and those of us that struggle with the language usually get lost. when you keep asking for clarification, it sometimes feels like you are being a problem. i am not blaming anyone, but it is that thing of being more expressive in one’s mother tongue that often results in the use of local languages. it is just that i never thought of it before making this move. (student 9) a staff member also added, as a staff in this university, some of the challenges that deter me from fully participating in social activities as well as engaging thoroughly with students is the language barrier. because most of these students feel very open and lively when you communicate with them in the local 112 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 language. so, coming from a country where i am not really familiar with the click sounds, communication with students is usually just at the surface level (staff 4) in terms of social wellness, participants also revealed that language was making it difficult for them to adjust to their new contexts. an example can be drawn from a student who posited, my friends from the same country as i often talk a lot about how language difficulty complicates our life here. i am very much willing to learn but the xhosa language has several clicks which are difficult to differentiate and speak. all the languages in my country do not even have a link to xhosa, so i have a lot to learn unlike students from zimbabwe where some of their languages are related to xhosa and other south african languages. adapting has been a real challenge for me. (student 14) research findings revealed language barriers appeared to have created a significant challenge in both interacting and building friendships across nationalities. in fact, the problem of language adaptation lowered the participants’ desire to socialize with the locals, hindering their integration into the community. these conclusions corroborate kuo (2011) and freeman et al. (2019), who posited that language barriers are the main factors that exclude international cohorts from student group discussion, validate the feeling of inequalities, and serve as knowledge transition barriers. kuo (2011) adds that being unable to engage in activities such as negotiating, shopping, arguing, and communicating – which can be done easier when one is in the comfort of their home country – can lower self-esteem and increase dislike based on foreignness. consequently, gong et al. (2021) posit that to overcome the challenges of cultural adaptation, foreign nationals involved in academia must endeavour to become competent communicators by actively trying to understand and speak the languages spoken by their hosts. this competence is defined as having the overall internal ability to decode and encode information in accordance with the communication customs of the host culture, which is capable of assisting international cohorts to utilize the target language and immerse themselves in the target culture (gong et al., 2021; larrinaga & amurrio, 2015; moore, 2016). culture shocks in addition to language barriers, participants also reported on culture shocks as being significant challenges that international students and staff have faced. examples of cultural shocks included religious beliefs, food traditions, dress and sexuality, and general cultures of violence extant in south africa. one can consider the perspective of a staff who reasoned, the practice of traditional religion in south african communities, including here at university really shocked me. where i come from, traditional medicines and religion are not that common, so being in a place where this is celebrated was scary for me initially…it must be the same for several others who hold conservative beliefs like me. where i come from, traditional african practices are usually seen as being dangerous – black magic, and stuff like that you see. it took me time to wrap my head around it and become more accepting. i also struggled to get a religious home because none of the churches here does things like what i was raised to believe. 113 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 religion is really part of my personhood and struggling to find this here was a huge problem. (staff 3) in relation to perspectives on food traditions, one can consider the view offered by another student who lamented, …the food here is quite different from what we have in my country and adjusting was quite a big thing…sometimes you get the odd student who taunts you for some foods that are not eaten here. it is not everyone, but when that happens it hurts a lot – it is essentially being humiliated for who you are. some say the food we eat smells bad, and i just fail to understand how a normal human being can say this to others. (student 10) a manager also corroborated these experiences by adding, …here at the university, although culture promotes respect, most of our foreign nationals act in different ways. for instance, people from west africa prostate and kneel as a form of greeting or respect for elders. some of our locals may not be respectful of such cultures and traditions, hence we sometimes field complaints from international students who feel isolated and frowned upon because of the differences in cultures. we have to work towards becoming more inclusive and welcoming despite the inherent differences we may have. (manager 3) a limited number of participants also spoke about the challenge of adapting to the cultures of violence extant in south african communities. one can consider the sentiments of another staff member who claimed, the levels to which violence is commonplace have been shocking to me and adjusting to the reality of violence as a common occurrence has been difficult for me. this is a problem across the whole of south africa and i am constantly feeling unsafe. for some people who have grown up here, they know how to cope – but for me, i have been robbed at knifepoint a couple of times and have been left traumatised. some traditions oppress women, where i come from we are a matrilineal society, here it is the opposite. making that adjustment has been a huge challenge for me. (staff 2) some participants alleged that they were being singled out based on their sense of dressing. this was most evident by a student who argued, the general way of dressing at this university is very different from what i am used to. i have been singled out by some very unkind students who have said mean things to me and have name-called me. it is like the way i dress causes me to be an easy target for bullies. sometimes it is subtle, but in other instances, it is obvious. the respect for diverse sexualities has also been a problem for me – here minority sexualities are celebrated but where i come from it is a crime. it has been a challenge for me to learn to respect these differences. there is a course that we do in the first year of undergrad that helped me see things differently. (student 1) the findings highlighted differences in cultural norms, the complexities of violence, and issues of cultural authentication in dressing as some of the issues that cause stress and keep international cohorts away from exhibiting full potential in getting involved in teaching and learning, and general social life at the university. this is consistent with studies by newsome 114 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 and cooper (2016) and costello (2019) who argued that people travelling abroad often experience intense emotions, especially when they are trying to adjust to unfamiliar academic, and cultural circumstances, as well as to a new sociocultural environment. some of the documented challenges include a variety of personal and practical difficulties, such as day-today living (such as housing accommodations), cross-cultural gender relationships, social rules governing respect and politeness which most ‘foreigners’ find confusing, anxiety, social norms, depression, stress, cultural fatigue, and other cultural issues (brown, 2008; brown & holloway, 2008; newsome & cooper, 2016). newsome and cooper (2016) therefore argue that one of the most important factors in international student survival in a foreign host culture is social support as this assists them in adjusting their culturally based expectations to fit in with the new cultural environment. mental health concerns it also became apparent that international students and staff sometimes battled with mental health issues when they moved abroad to join their universities. participants claimed that international students and staff often felt isolated, invisible, anxious, and homesick, among other psychological challenges associated with being foreign internationals. one can draw from a student who noted, …i often feel like a nonentity here – i am isolated and almost invisible. i have struggled to make friends and i am finding it difficult to cope. i feel like the university has not provided sufficient networking platforms for us…and also educating the local students and staff on how to be more welcoming and accepting of us as foreign nationals. (student 5) this was corroborated by another student who confessed, i have these constant feelings of being out of place because of being in a new place and trying to adapt…in some instances, i feel like everyone is looking at me because i am the different one in my class and res [university residence]. i have been embarrassed and laughed at when i fail to pronounce some words…as a result, i find myself battling anxiety. i get so nervous when i get into spaces where there are many people. (student 13) a staff member also complained, being a foreigner can be quite challenging mentally because most of the time you feel excluded based on your nationality..you feel excluded. i often feel excluded and unwelcome in my department. i am saying this because when it comes to benefits in the university, foreign nationals are often sidelined – i mean being disregarded in terms of getting access to teaching and learning tools and other such things which can enhance teaching and social life. i have a colleague who has repeatedly tried to get a laptop and wifi router for almost a year, and he kept chasing shadows being sent from pillar to post, yet when another local lecturer joined recently, he was given these things as a priority. i can go on and on about these issues. i can mention accommodation issues here, and so many other things that make it difficult to cope and feel welcomed and accepted. the issue of internationalisation in this university is bothersome. (staff 1) 115 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 a manager from the international office also affirmed these experiences, adding that the onset of the covid-19-related lockdowns was particularly devastating for international students. the manager admitted, over the critical period of the covid-19 pandemic, there were several challenges regarding mental health, especially among international students. while our local students had the opportunity to return home and have the benefit of family interactions, the restrictions on international travel made this impossible for international students and staff. the limitedness of physical connections with families made it very difficult for our international cohort. we were caught off-guard and international students felt the impact greatest when it comes to mental health. (manager 3) further perspectives also revealed that the mental health pressures were being exacerbated by homesickness. this was well-articulated by a student who acknowledged, i tend to battle homesickness because of being far away from home. the cost of travel makes it very difficult for me to frequently visit home, even in cases where relatives die, and i fail to attend funerals. getting closure in such situations is very difficult. my peers who come from communities closer to the university appear happier and mentally healthier. there is an emptiness that comes from being away from home and close relatives. (student 8) the findings suggest that although students and staff migrate in search of the proverbial greener pastures, this movement across international borders resulted in mental health costs such as isolation, invisibility, distress, homesickness, and other such psychological problems. these findings appear to find a correlation in previous studies that reveal that international students and staff are often neglected by their host communities because they are usually minorities (brunsting et al., 2018; chen et al., 2020; lillyman & bennett, 2014;). in the same vein, owing to the complexities associated with migration, psychosocial wellness is usually strained and exacerbated by factors such as perceived and actual social exclusion, stigmatization, and discrimination (forbes-mewett & sawyer, 2016; forbes-mewett, 2019; schouler-ocak et al., 2020). as advocated by chen et al. (2020), it thus becomes imperative for universities and communities hosting international students and staff to reach out to this cohort in a culturally-sensitive manner. financial stresses the findings also demonstrated that financial pressures constitute a significant challenge faced by international students and staff. participants alleged that international students and staff regularly grapple with limited financial support from their families, the realisation of a higher cost of living, are prone to abuse in return for financial returns, and sometimes have to support their families with limited resources. an example can be drawn from a student who contended, moving to a different country for study purposes is tough. adapting to the new environment while studying is difficult, especially with the financial costs associated with it…most of us are from poorer countries and have come here in search of better opportunities, rarely do you find people moving to countries worse than theirs. personally, my estimation of the cost of living 116 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 was below the reality i was confronted with, so i have had to work a couple of piece jobs to subsidize my living. (student 16) a staff member also reiterated this and remarked, at this university, it is very difficult for some of us from neighbouring countries to be fully involved given that we are being sidelined from funding that’s usually reserved for locals. as a result, the salary you receive has several competing interests – house rent, utility bills, taking care of relatives back home, then talk of the issue of publication costs too because such help is heavily tilted towards benefiting our local colleagues. the scales look like they set you up for a very serious struggle. (staff 5) participants also revealed that manipulation and abuse were also commonplace as students grappled with financial well-being. this was adequately captured by a student who noted, the honest truth is that we are easy pickings for abuse here. financially, you tend to get manipulated because the ones with money can use you for their own benefit. i am talking about students, strangers, and staff here. my own academic supervisor has repeatedly forced me to do his work, his daughter’s work, and other personal things just because he gave me a part-time job. because he pays me, it is difficult to bite the hand that feeds you so i can say i have been abused like that repeatedly. (student 2) the financial pressures associated with being an international student were also detailed by a manager from the university’s international office who reasoned, our international cohort often struggles to adjust to the financial dynamics here. in some cases, you find that these students are expected to send money to support their families because of the realities of where they come from. i have spoken to many students who tell me that as soon as they earn money – be it a bursary, a stipend, or a salary, most of it goes towards supporting family members. the pressure to support home and maintain life here has caused some to drop out or fail in their studies. survival often takes precedence, and studies are sometimes secondary. (manager 1) this was corroborated by another student who claimed, you find that as a foreigner you have little to no access to bursaries. i know people who have started to lead immoral lives because of the pressure to survive – some have started doing assignments and research in exchange for payment, and some are into transactional sex relations just to remain afloat. all this comes from the pressure to survive because you know that your family can barely survive, let alone fund your studies away from home. (student 6) the findings revealed that international students and staff have a significant load of financial stresses that they battle owing to the many responsibilities they usually juggle while being in their host country. the findings are consistent with previous studies that demonstrate that the majority of international students and staff battle financial stress owing to stringent immigration laws that restrict access to employment, tuition fee burdens, and limited access to funding opportunities (kono et al., 2015; smith & khawaja, 2011). because of the multiple 117 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 responsibilities that are usually associated with migrants in general and student migrants in general, it is not uncommon to have international students and staff either working extra jobs to remain afloat or reorganising their lives to meet their incomes (sherry et al., 2010; titrek et al., 2016). some of the financial challenges associated with international students and staff include having expenses that are more than savings, constantly worrying about financial resources, lack of savings, and increased problems with concentrating during classes because of financial difficulties (daud et al., 2018; robson & wihlborg, 2019). it thus becomes essential for universities to be more transparent concerning the cost of living associated with their locales, particularly when it comes to clarity on fees, rentals, and other such expenses. conclusion and recommendations we set out to explore the challenges faced by international students and staff at a university located in rural south africa. the findings from the study revealed that students and staff are confronted by challenges that significantly affect their adaptation to their host communities and these challenges included language hurdles, culture shocks, mental health concerns, and financial stresses associated with being in new environments. while internationalisation has been lauded for being a critical aspect of global universities, the findings reveal a worrisome outlook that needs to be addressed with the urgency it warrants. granted, this study was limited to a small sample and cannot claim to have thoroughly unpacked the challenges faced by international students and staff, nevertheless, we move to make three broad recommendations in this regard. firstly, there is an urgent need to implement behavioural interventions that will help ease the psychological disruption associated with student and staff migration – these could include setting up dedicated counselling services. secondly, we recommend that because international students contribute a significant stream of revenue for universities, there is a need to establish a form of a financial cushion in the form of awards, bursaries, scholarships, and tuition waivers for excelling students – this would be essential in ensuring that the relationship is not exploitative. finally, because of the cultural disruptions that happen through migration, there is a need for multicultural interventions for the international community and their hosts – this will help to improve social ties and ease some of the subtle tensions reported in this study and elsewhere. references albusaidi, s. (2019). critiquing a qualitative study using tracy’s big-tent criteria. research in social sciences and technology, 4(1), 105-122. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.04.01.6 altbach, p. g., & knight, j. (2007). the internationalisation of higher education: motivations and realities. journal of studies in international education, 11(3/4), 290-305. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315307303542 https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.04.01.6 https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315307303542 118 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 arasaratnam, l. a., & doerfel, m. l. (2005). intercultural communication competence: identifying key components from multicultural perspective. international journal of intercultural relations, 29, 137-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2004.04.001 bamberger, a., morris, p., & yemini, m. (2019). neoliberalism, internationalisation and higher education: connections, contradictions and alternatives. discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 40(2), 203-216. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2019.1569879 bertram, d. m., poulaski, m., elsasser, b. s., & kumar, e. (2014). social support and acculturation in chinese international students. journal of multicultural counselling and development, 42(2), 107-124. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2014.00048.x brown, l. (2008). the incidence of study-related stress in international students in the initial stage of the international sojourn. journal of studies in international education, 12(1), 5-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069880701715689 brown, l., & holloway, i. (2008). the initial stage of the international sojourn: excitement or culture shock? british journal of guidance & counselling, 36(1), 33-49. brunsting, n. c., zachry, c., & takeuchi, r. (2018). predictors of undergraduate international student psychosocial adjustment to us universities: a systematic review from 20092018. international journal of intercultural relations, 66, 22-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2018.06.002 caruana, v. (2014). re-thinking global citizenship in higher education: from cosmopolitanism and international mobility to cosmopolitanism, resilience and resilient thinking. higher education quarterly, 68(1), 85-104. https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12030 chen, j. h., li, y., wu, a. m., & tong, k. k. (2020). the overlooked minority: mental health of international students worldwide under the covid-19 pandemic and beyond. asian journal of psychiatry, 54, 102333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102333 ching, y., renes, s. l., mcmurrow, s., simpson, j., & strange, a. t. (2017). challenges facing chinese international students studying in the united states. educational research and reviews, 12(8), 473-482. https://doi.org/10.5897/err2016.3106 costello, j. (2019). students’ stories of studying abroad: reflections upon return. journal of international students, 50-59. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v5i1.442 creswell, j., & creswell, d. (2018). research design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. thousand oaks: sage. daud, n., norwani, n. m., & yusof, r. (2018). student financial problems in higher education institutions. international journal of academic research in business & social sciences, 8(10), 1558-1565. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v8-i10/5312 de wit, h. (2020). internationalization of higher education: the need for a more ethical and qualitative approach. journal of international students, 10(1), i-iv. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v10i1.1893 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2004.04.001 https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2019.1569879 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2014.00048.x https://doi.org/10.1080/03069880701715689 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2018.06.002 https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12030 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102333 https://doi.org/10.5897/err2016.3106 https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v5i1.442 https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v8-i10/5312 https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v10i1.1893 119 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 de wit, h., & altbach, p. g. (2021). internationalization in higher education: global trends and recommendations for its future. policy reviews in higher education, 5(1), 28-46. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2020.1820898 de wit, h., hunter, f., howard, l., & egron-polak, e. (2015). internationalisation of higher education. brussels: european parliament. ergin, h., de wit, h., & leask, b. (2019). forced internationalization: an emerging phenomenon. international higher education, 97, 9-10. https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2019.97.10939 fan, c. s., & stark, o. (2007). international migration and 'educated unemployment'. journal of development economics, 83(1), 76-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2006.05.002 forbes-mewett, h. (2019). mental health and international students: issues, challenges and effective practice. melbourne: international education association of australia. forbes-mewett, h., & sawyer, a. m. (2016). international students and mental health. journal of international students, 6(1), 661-677. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v6i3.348 frança, t., & cairns, d. (2020). south-south student migration: socially integrating students from portuguese-speaking africa at unilab, brazil. globalisation, societies and education, 18(5), 578-588. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2020.1805301 freeman, k., nga, e., & mansori, s. (2019). psychological and language challenges faced by international students. international journal of education and pedagogy, 1(3), 1-10. gacel-ávila, j. (2005). the internationalisation of higher education: a paradigm for global citizenry. journal of studies in international education, 9(2), 121-136. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315304263795 gong, y., gao, x., li, m., & lai, c. (2021). cultural adaptation challenges and strategies during study abroad: new zealand students in china. language, culture and curriculum, 34(4), 417-437. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2020.1856129 griffiths, d. s., winstanley, d., & gabriel, y. (2005). learning shock: the trauma of return to formal learning. management learning, 36, 275-297. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507605055347 harrison, n. (2016). practice, problems and power in 'internationalisation at home': critical reflections on recent research evidence. teaching in higher education, 20(4), 412-430. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2015.1022147 helen, a. (2016). at the bridging point: tutoring newly arrived students in sweden. international journal of inclusive education, 21(4), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2016.1197325 ilieva, r., beck, k., & waterstone, b. (2014). towards sustainable internationalisation of higher education. higher education, 68, 875-889. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-014-9749-6 jones, e., leask, b., brandenburg, u., & de wit, h. (2021). global social responsibility and the internationalisation of higher education for society. journal of studies in international education, 25(4), 330-347. https://doi.org/10.1177/10283153211031679 https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2020.1820898 https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2019.97.10939 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2006.05.002 https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v6i3.348 https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2020.1805301 https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315304263795 https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2020.1856129 https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507605055347 https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2015.1022147 https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2016.1197325 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-014-9749-6 https://doi.org/10.1177/10283153211031679 120 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 knight, j. (2011). regional education hubs: mobility for the knowledge economy. in r. bhandari, & p. blumenthal (eds.), international students and global mobility in higher education (pp. 211-230). new york: palgrave macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230117143_11 kono, k., eskandarieh, s., obayashi, y., arai, a., & tamashiro, h. (2015). mental health and its associated variables among international students at a japanese university: with special reference to their financial status. journal of immigrant minority health, 17, 1654-1659. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-0100-1 kuo, y. h. (2011). language challenges faced by international graduate students in the united states. journal of international students, 1(2), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v1i2.551 larrinaga, a., & amurrio, m. (2015). internationalisation in higher education and its impact in multilingual contexts: redefining identities of basque-speaking academics. language, culture and curriculum, 28(2), 158–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2015.1027215 leavy, p. (2017). research design: quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, arts-based, and community-based participatory research approaches. new york: the guilford press. lichan, x. (2015). transitional challenges faced by post-secondary international students and approaches for their successful inclusion in classrooms. international journal for leadership in learning, 1(3), 1-28. lillyman, s., & bennett, c. (2014). providing a positive learning experience for international students studying at uk universities: a literature review. journal of research in international education, 13(1), 63-75. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475240914529859 majee, u. s., & ress, s. b. (2020). colonial legacies in internationalisation of higher education: racial justice and geopolitical redress in south africa and brazil. compare: a journal of comparative and international education, 50(4), 463-481. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2018.1521264 masud, m. m. (2020). international student migration and polymedia: the use of communication media by bangladeshi students in germany. research in social sciences and technology, 5(3), 95-110. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.03.5 mok, k. h., & marginson, s. (2021). massification, diversification and internationalisation of higher education in china: critical reflections of developments in the last two decades. international journal of educational development, 84, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102405 moore, e. (2016). conceptualising multilingual higher education in policies, pedagogical designs and classroom practices. language, culture and curriculum, 29(1), 22–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2016.1132652 nada, c. i., & araújo, h. c. (2019). 'when you welcome students without borders, you need a mentality without borders' internationalisation of higher education: evidence from https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230117143_11 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-0100-1 https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v1i2.551 https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2015.1027215 https://doi.org/10.1177/1475240914529859 https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2018.1521264 https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.03.5 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102405 https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2016.1132652 121 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 portugal. studies in higher education, 44(9), 1591-1604. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1458219 ndlovu-gatsheni, s. j. (2021). internationalisation of higher education for pluriversity: a decolonial reflection. journal of the british academy, 9(s1), 77-98. https://doi.org/10.5871/jba/009s1.077 newsome, l. k., & cooper, p. (2016). international students’ cultural and social experiences in a british university: “such a hard life [it] is here. journal of international students, 6(1), 195-215. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v6i1.488 nowell, l. s., norris, j. m., white, d. e., & moules, n. j. (2017). thematic analysis: striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. international journal of qualitative methods, 16(1), 113. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847 robson, s., & wihlborg, m. (2019). internationalisation of higher education: impacts, challenges and future possibilities. european educational research journal, 18(2), 127134. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474904119834779 saldana, j. (2014). coding and analysis strategies. in p. leavy, the oxford handbook of qualitative research (pp. 581–605). new york: oxford university press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199811755.013.001 schouler-ocak, m., kastrup, m. c., vaishnav, m., & javed, a. (2020). mental health of migrants. indian journal of psychiatry, 62(3), 242-246. https://doi.org/10.4103/psychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_358_20 sherry, m., thomas, p., & chui, w. h. (2010). international students: a vulnerable student population. higher education, 60, 33-46. smith, r. a., & khawaja, n. g. (2011). a review of the acculturation experiences of international students. international journal of intercultural relations, 35(6), 699-713. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.08.004 stein, s. (2021). critical internationalization studies at an impasse: making space for complexity, uncertainty, and complicity in a time of global challenges. studies in higher education, 46(9), 1771-1784. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1704722 stier, j. (2004). taking a critical stance toward internationalization ideologies in higher education: idealism, instrumentalism and educationalism. globalisation, societies & education, 2(1), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/1476772042000177069 tight, m. (2022). internationalisation of higher education beyond the west: challenges and opportunities the research evidence. educational research and evaluation, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2022.2041853 titrek, o., erkiliç, a., süre, e., güvenç, m., & pek, n. t. (2016). the socio-cultural, financial and education problems of international postgraduate students in turkey. universal journal of educational research, 4(12a), 160-166. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2016.041320 https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1458219 https://doi.org/10.5871/jba/009s1.077 https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v6i1.488 https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847 https://doi.org/10.1177/1474904119834779 https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199811755.013.001 https://doi.org/10.4103/psychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_358_20 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.08.004 https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1704722 https://doi.org/10.1080/1476772042000177069 https://doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2022.2041853 https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2016.041320 122 jcve 2023, 6(2): 107-122 titrek, o., hashimi, s. h., ali, a. s., & nguluma, h. f. (2016). challenges faced by international students in turkey. anthropologist, 24(1), 148-156. https://doi.org/10.1080/09720073.2016.11892000 uzhegova, d., & baik, c. (2022). internationalisation of higher education in an uneven world: an integrated approach to internationalisation of universities in the academic periphery. studies in higher education, 47(4), 847-859. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1811220 wihlborg, m., & robson, s. (2018). internationalisation of higher education: drivers, rationales, priorities, values and impacts. european journal of higher education, 8(1), 818. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2017.1376696 yemini, m., & sagie, n. (2016). research on internationalisation in higher education exploratory analysis. perspectives: policy & practice in higher education, 20(2/3), 90-98. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603108.2015.1062057 yin, r. k. (2018). case study research and applications: design and methods. sage books. https://doi.org/10.1080/09720073.2016.11892000 https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1811220 https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2017.1376696 https://doi.org/10.1080/13603108.2015.1062057 journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 49 students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics in secondary schools in the nsukka local government area of enugu state ezinne orie idika* university of nigeria, nsukka *corresponding author: ezinne.idika@unn.edu.ng received : 2019-07-07 rev. req. : 2019-08-19 accepted : 2020-01-24 how to cite this paper: idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state. journal of culture and values in education, 4(1), 49-63. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.4 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). abstract students’ and teachers’ factors that affect effective teaching and learning of economics in secondary schools in the nsukka local government area of enugu state, nigeria, was investigated using 10 out of 31 public schools in the study area. data was collected using a questionnaire titled “teachers’ & students’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics in secondary schools (tsfetle),” developed by the researchers and rated on a fourpoint scale. the instrument had 26 items arranged in three clusters. cluster a elicited information on teacher-related factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics, cluster b sought information on student-related factors that hinder effective teaching and learning of economics, and cluster c sought information on strategies for effective teaching and learning of economics. the 52 teachers in the 31 government-owned secondary schools and 349 ss2 students of economics in 10 randomly selected secondary schools in the nsukka local government area of enugu state were included in the study. data elicited from three research questions were analyzed descriptively using mean and standard deviation, while t-test was used to compare the teachers’ and students’ responses. the results of the study showed that teachers’ qualifications, teaching methods, and students’ attitudes and disposition toward economics are the key factors affecting effective teaching and learning of economics. keywords: teacher factors, student factors, effective teaching & learning of economics 10.46303/jcve.2020.4 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.4 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 50 introduction economics is one of the electives or group of subjects expected to be studied at the senior secondary school (sss) level in nigeria. according to the nerdc (2008), the objectives of the subject in secondary schools are to enlighten students to understand basic economic principles and concepts as well as the tools for sound economic analysis. it enables students to contribute intelligently to discourse on economic reforms and development as they affect or would affect the generality of the citizens, as well as understand the structure and functioning of economic institutions. economics education is extremely important because it is vital to the future health of our nation’s economy. wion (2008) observed that the purpose of economic education is to create responsible citizens and effective decision-makers. sadly, our education system is still striving to produce citizens that can discover a way out of our economic state. examinations have always played a major role in defining and monitoring educational standards because their results are used to measure and assess students’ academic achievements. consequently, students’ performance in external examinations such as those conducted by the west african examination council (waec) and the national examination council (neco) in economics remain one of the most objective means of evaluating whether or not teaching and learning of economics are effectively done in secondary schools. the key players in achieving these objectives are the teachers, although students also have major roles to play. teachers are pivotal in the transmission of knowledge, values, and skills in the learning process. kimani, kara, and njagi (2013) noted that if the teacher is ineffective, the students will achieve inadequate progress academically. it is nevertheless the responsibility of students to recognize that they are accountable for their academic success by making choices and taking actions that will lead them toward their educational goals. hence, this study was designed to investigate students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics at secondary school levels. this study is theoretically anchored on bandura’s social learning theory (1977), which posits that people learn from one another via observation, imitation, and modeling. social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences. it states that learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a social context (school environment) and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction (teaching), even in the absence of motor reproduction or direct reinforcement. this relates to the present study, which seeks to understand the roles of certain factors that have significant influence on the teaching and learning of economics. akinsolu (2010) observed that teachers are vital for student attainment of educational goals and objectives. a teacher is therefore a professional who consciously and deliberately uses a wealth of experience, training, skills, competencies, attitudes, interests, and knowledge of content, with the help of instructional materials and methods/techniques, to impart knowledge to less experienced persons (mkpa, 2009). teachers are, therefore, absolutely essential in the entire educational system of any nation and are pivots on which education’s wheels revolve. thus, effective teaching and learning of economics in secondary schools will mainly revolve around the quality and capability of the teachers (carpenter, 2011). a study by akinsolu (2010) https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 51 on teachers and students’ academic performance in nigerian secondary schools and its implications for planning in a sample of schools drawn from local government areas (lgas) of osun state showed that the teachers’ qualifications, experience, and teacher-student ratio were positively and significantly related to students’ academic performance. this researcher recommended that the finding be used to guide planners about the need for qualified teachers to facilitate effective teaching and learning in secondary schools in nigeria. similarly, ololube (2006) studied influences of academic and professional qualifications on teachers’ job effectiveness in nigerian secondary schools and demonstrated that teachers require professional knowledge and professional teaching skills, as well as a broad base of general knowledge (e.g., morality, service, cultural capital, institutional survey). the researcher recommended that in order to carry out instructional processes effectively, teachers should be trained both academically and professionally. statement of problem economics is a growing subject in secondary education and probably one of the most popular elective subjects offered in secondary schools. therefore, the importance of effective teaching and learning of economics in the secondary schools cannot be over-emphasized. however, despite the popularity of economics as a secondary school subject, there has been persistent poor achievement by students, as indicated in recent annual chief examiner’s reports of the west african senior certificate examinations. in addition, most university teachers of economics have expressed the view that prospective university students of economics should not study economics in secondary schools. they contend that it is easier to teach economics to students with no previous knowledge of the subject than to those who were taught economics badly in secondary schools. therefore, there seem to be several potential problems with the teaching and learning of economics at the secondary school level. the present study is set to investigate the problems hindering effective teaching and learning of economics in secondary schools and to add to already existing knowledge. the following are the research questions that guided the study: 1. what are the teacher-related factors that hinder effective teaching of economics in senior secondary schools in the nsukka local government area of enugu state? 2. what are the student-related factors that hinder effective learning of economics in secondary schools in the nsukka local government area of enugu state? 3. what strategies are to be adopted for effective teaching and learning of economics in senior secondary schools in the nsukka local government area? https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 52 method design of the study a descriptive survey design was used for this study. according to nworgu (2015), descriptive survey aims at collecting data and describing in a sequential and systematic manner the characteristics of a specific population. this is the design most appropriate for this study. sample and sampling technique a simple random sampling technique was used to select 10 schools out of the 31 public schools in the study area. all 52 economics teachers in the 31 schools and ss2 students studying economics in the 10 selected schools were included in the study. students in ss1 classes were excluded from the study because they are new to economics classes and do not have complete sessional results. likewise, ss3 students were excluded because they were busy with preparations for external examinations. data collection tool a structured questionnaire developed by the researcher, problems of teaching and learning of economics in secondary schools (ptless), was used for data collection. the instrument consists of sections a and b. section a elicited information on the respondents’ demographic data while section b had three clusters: cluster a elicited information on teacher-related factors that hinder effective teaching of economics, cluster b sought information on student-related factors that hinder effective learning of economics, and cluster c sought information on strategies to be adopted for effective teaching and learning of economics. the clusters were structured on a four-point rating scale of strongly agree (sa), weighted four points, agree (a), weighted three points, disagree (d), weighted two points, and strongly disagree (sd), weighted one point. the instrument was validated by three experts from different specialties in the faculty of education, university of nigeria, nsukka: two from the department of social science education (economics education) and one from science education (measurement and evaluation). the experts validated the items, ensuring appropriateness and clarity. their comments and suggestions were effected and used to produce the final copy of the instrument. data collection the researcher visited all 31 public secondary schools in order to reach out to all the economics teachers, administering the questionnaire to the teachers and students in the 10 selected schools. the researcher waited and collected the questionnaires as soon as the respondents filled in their responses to ensure that all questionnaires were collected. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 53 data analysis the data generated was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and results presented as mean scores and standard deviations were used in answering the research questions that guided the study. the following decision rules were used in ranking the responses by the respondents: decision level (dl) mean range strongly agree (sd) 3.5 4.0 agree (a) 2.50 3.49 disagree (d) 1.50 2.49 strongly disagree (sd) 0.05 1.49 a mean value of 2.5 was set as the critical mean below which a response is regarded as nonsignificant. findings the results of this study are presented in tables 1-4, according to the three research questions that guided the study. results presented in table 1 revealed that items in cluster a—items 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, and 14—had means that ranged from 2.60 to 3.43, which are above the criterion mean of 2.5. this means that the majority of the respondents agreed that these teacher-related factors listed in the items hinder effective teaching and learning of economics in secondary schools in nsukka lga. on the other hand, items 2, 6, and 12 had mean scores of 2.45, 2.41, and 2.38, which are below the criterion mean of 2.5 set ab initio for the study. this means that the majority of respondents disagreed that those teacher-related factors hinder effective teaching and learning of economics in secondary schools in nsukka lga. results on the student-related factors that hinder effective teaching and learning of economics in secondary schools in nsukka lga (items 1-20) are presented in table 2. all the items in the table had mean scores above 2.5, which was the acceptance mean for the study. items 18, 19, and 20 had very high mean scores of 3.5, 3.22, and 3.50, respectively. this implies that students’ lack of interest in economics, negative attitudes about economics, and their non-conversance with figures and calculations are serious problems that hinder effective teaching and learning of economics. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 54 table 1: weighted mean response scores on teacher-related factors that hinder effective teaching and learning of economics. s/n items mean standard deviation decision 1 teachers’ inexperience in the choice of appropriate teaching method 3.23 0.64 a 2 unqualified teachers are employed to teach economics 2.45 0.97 d 3 teachers’ lack of knowledge of the subject of matter 2.75 0.71 a 4 nonpayment of teachers’ salaries as and when due 2.60 0.81 a 5 poor attendance to classes as stipulated in the time table 2.95 0.83 a 6 personality of the teacher, e.g., dressing and comportment during lessons 2.41 1.07 d 7 non-usage of student-centered teaching methods 3.01 0.76 a 8 poor teacher-student interaction in the classroom 2.97 0.88 a 9 improvised instructional materials are provided by the teachers 2.91 0.76 a 10 lack of competence on the use of available instructional materials 3.43 0.72 a 11 lack of computer literacy 2.38 1.05 d 12 high student-teacher ratio, which does not encourage teachers’ attention to various ability levels of students 2.84 0.80 a 13 unavailability of current and relevant economics textbooks 3.20 0.69 a 14 proximity of the teacher’s residence to the school 3.22 0.86 a https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 55 table 2: weighted mean response scores on student-related factors that hinder effective teaching and learning of economics table 3: weighted mean score of respondents on strategies that should be adopted for effective teaching and learning of economics s/n items mean standard deviation decision 21 problem-based learning strategies should be used in teaching economics 3.04 0.70 a 22 student-centered learning methods should be used by the teachers 3.22 0.75 a 23 field trips and excursions should be in cooperation with the teaching of economics 2.90 0.74 a s/n items mean standard deviation decision 15 students with high mental ability achieve better than those with low ability in economic lessons 3.04 0.85 a 16 students from high socio-economic backgrounds achieve better than their counterparts from low socio-economic backgrounds 3.00 0.85 a 17 the age of the learner affects his mastery of abstract information given in the classroom 2.64 1.01 a 18 lack of student interest in economics hinders effective learning of the subject 3.35 0.85 a 19 learner’s negative attitudes such as truancy affects learning of economics 3.22 0.72 a 20 students who are not conversant with figures and calculations find the learning of economics difficult 3.50 0.71 sa https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 56 24 formation of school-industry linkage in the teaching of economics 2.81 0.80 a 25 integrating information and communication technology (ict) in the teaching of economics 2.99 0.83 a 26 in-service training such as conferences, workshops, and seminars to update the teachers’ knowledge 3.40 0.69 a all the items in table 3 had mean scores that ranged from 2.81 to 3.40 and fall within the acceptance mean for the study. this implies that the respondents agreed that all the strategies raised in the table will enhance effective teaching and learning of economics in secondary schools in nsukka lga. table 4: t-test analysis of the difference between the mean ratings of teachers’ and students’ responses with regards to effective teaching and learning of economics in nsukka lga items respondents mean standard deviation decision p values 1 teachers 3.50 0.53 a 0.15 students 3.10 0.57 a 2 teachers 3.00 0.76 a 0.05 students 2.30 0.67 d 3 teachers 3.00 0.53 a 0.02 students 1.90 1.10 d 4 teachers 3.13 0.35 a 0.10 students 2.50 0.53 a 5 teachers 3.13 0.64 a 0.94 students 3.10 0.74 a 6 teachers 2.40 0.64 d 0.08 students 1.40 0.70 sd 7 teachers 2.75 0.71 a 0.20 students 3.50 0.53 sa 8 teachers 3.25 0.71 a 0.70 students 3.10 0.88 a 9 teachers 3.25 0.46 a 0.38 students 3.00 0.67 a 10 teachers 3.75 0.46 sa 0.40 students 3.50 0.71 sa https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 57 11 teachers 2.38 0.74 d 0.02 students 3.20 0.63 a 12 teachers 1.88 0.83 d 0.05 students 2.60 1.17 a 13 teachers 3.38 0.74 a 0.80 students 3.30 0.48 a 14 teachers 3.63 0.74 sa 0.26 students 3.20 0.79 a 15 teachers 3.25 0.46 a 0.37 students 2.90 0.99 a 16 teachers 3.50 0.53 sa 0.10 students 3.00 0.67 a 17 teachers 3.25 0.71 a 0.00 students 1.90 0.74 d 18 teachers 3.75 0.46 sa 0.06 students 3.00 0.94 a 19 teachers 3.13 0.64 a 0.63 students 3.30 0.82 a 20 teachers 3.88 0.35 sa 0.22 students 3.60 0.52 sa 21 teachers 3.00 0.53 a 1.00 students 3.00 0.67 a 22 teachers 2.63 0.52 a 0.06 students 3.30 0.82 a 23 teachers 3.63 0.52 sa 0.46 students 3.40 0.70 a 24 teachers 3.00 0.76 a 0.59 students 3.20 0.79 a 25 teachers 2.63 0.52 a 0.20 students 3.10 0.88 a 26 teachers 3.25 0.89 a 0.47 students 3.50 0.53 sa the t-test analysis as shown in table 4 showed that the mean scores of the teachers’ responses were significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) from those of the students in items 2, 3, 6, 11, 12, and 17. this implies that the teachers and students disagreed notably regarding the items. discussion data presented in table 1 showed that the respondents agree that teacher inexperience in the choice of appropriate teaching methods hinders the effective teaching of economics in the secondary schools. this finding agrees with the study by wion (2008), who noted that one of the major problems with the teaching of economics is the strategies teachers use to teach the https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 58 subject. the ability to choose and use appropriate teaching or instructional methods is a skill that develops with experience. the results also showed that the respondents agree that the usage of non-student-centered learning approaches hinders effective teaching and learning of economics. according to kini and podolsky (2016), teacher effectiveness is on average directly proportional to stages of the teaching career, such that the most effective 20-year teachers are significantly more effective than the most effective first-year teachers, and these positive effects reach beyond the experienced teacher’s individual classroom to benefit the school as a whole. in this study and as shown in table 1, that lack of instructional materials in schools and lack of competence in the use of available instructional materials as well as unavailability of current and relevant economics textbooks also ranked high among teacher-related factors that hinder effective teaching of economics in the secondary schools. the use of instructional materials has been shown by many researchers to improve academic performance of secondary school students in the west africa school certificate examinations (wasce) (isola, 2010; moronfola, 2002). popoola (1990) also observed that schools with adequate instructional materials performed better than those with inadequate instructional materials. lack of competence in the use of instructional materials is probably a function of the teachers’ quality and experience. a study by ibrahim (2011) showed that teachers’ qualifications and experience were the major factors affecting the use of instructional materials to influence students’ academic performance in agricultural science in secondary schools. olumorin, yusuf, ajidagba, and jekayinfa (2010) observed that instructional materials help teachers to teach conveniently and the learners to learn easily. they asserted that instructional materials have direct contact with all sense organs. in this study, the participants in general (teachers and students) disagreed that unqualified teachers are employed to teach economics, as seen in table 1. however, a separate analysis of the teachers’ and students’ responses, as seen in table 4, showed that the teachers agreed that unqualified teachers are employed to teach economics, whereas the students disagreed. this discrepancy in the response is due to the fact that the students know little or nothing about their teachers’ qualifications and as such are not in the best position to judge, unlike the teachers. therefore, disregarding the students’ responses, the study showed that teacher qualification is a factor that hinders effective teaching and learning of economics. the study also indicated teachers’ lack of knowledge of the subject as a factor hindering effective teaching of economics in the secondary schools. it has been observed that teaching and learning depends largely on teachers (ashimole, 2011). therefore, no educator can effectively teach the students the skills and content of economics when he or she in fact does not have the requisite knowledge and skills. the lack of qualified economics teachers in secondary schools has been noted by others (adeyemi, 2010; yala & wanjohi, 2011; yusuf, 2009) as a major factor affecting academic achievement. yusuf (2009) observed that social studies teachers whose specialty areas are outside economics are the ones who are saddled with the responsibility of teaching secondary school economics in most schools, and a typical social studies educator on average has only completed four to eight credit hours of economics course work in nigerian universities. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 59 in such cases, some topics of economics are not well comprehended by the teachers themselves and they struggle with the teaching. the respondents also agreed that nonpayment of teachers’ salaries as and when due contributes to the problems hindering effective teaching (table 1). it is a dictum that a hungry man is an angry man. when salaries of teachers are either delayed unnecessarily or not paid at all, the teachers most times become disenchanted and uncommitted to their duties. the results in table 1 also showed that teachers’ poor attendance to classes as stipulated in the time table hinders effective teaching. such teachers find it difficult to cover the scheme of work, and when they do, it is hurriedly done without giving the students enough time to learn. conversely, the results showed that a teacher’s comportment during lessons does not affect the teaching and learning of economics. this implies that teacher quality is the force driving effective teaching and learning. this agrees with harris and sass (2011), as it is generally accepted that promoting teacher quality is a key element in improving primary and secondary education in the united states. on the student-related factors that affect the effective teaching of economics in secondary schools in nsukka lga, the respondents strongly agreed that students who are not conversant with figures and calculations find the learning of economics difficult. some topics in economics require calculation, graphs, and charts, so students who are weak in mathematics tend to struggle with economics. the poor performances in economics examinations could be due to the fact that the majority of students who take the course in senior secondary levels are mostly non-science-based students. it is known that non-science students are usually weak in mathematics compared to their science-based counterparts. therefore, these students who take economics in the secondary schools could be ab initio weak in mathematics, hence their poor performance in economics. the results equally showed that students’ lack of interest in economics and negative attitudes such as truancy affect their learning. this agrees with perkins et al. (2005) that students who come into a class with more favorable attitudes are more likely to achieve high learning gains. these researchers observed that the students who learn more tend to be those who have more positive attitudes about the contents of the studies. thus, it is reasonable to believe that attitudes and beliefs are a leading factor in learning. the kind of attitude a child has affects his school work and learning in general; if he has a positive attitude about the teacher and the subject, success is inevitable. students’ attitudes toward economics determine the degree to which they pass economics, and negative attitudes toward the subject and teachers will definitely have adverse effects on their academic achievement in the subject. the participants unanimously agreed that students with high intelligent quotient (iq) achieve better results in economic lessons than those with low ability. economics has been argued to involve deduction and abstract reasoning. the findings of this study agree with the findings of obeamata (1991) that student iq plays a role in the learning of economics. for this reason, it was contended that economics cannot be taught effectively to pupils before they reach the age of 16, before their iqs are developed (obeamata, 1991). it is also interesting to note that the teachers’ response agreed that the age of the learner affects the mastery of abstract https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 60 information given in the classroom (table 4), whereas the students disagreed. since teachers are in the best position to give an unbiased assessment of student performance, the teachers’ response on this item was accepted. in this study, both teachers and students agreed that students from high socio-economic backgrounds achieve better than their counterparts from low socio-economic backgrounds. this finding is believed to be due to the ability of students from high socio-economic backgrounds to afford relevant economics textbooks and access technology-based learning such as the internet. simkins (1999) suggested that incorporating technology into the classroom, even with traditional teaching methods, can enhance learning for students with a variety of learning styles, and at the same time make economic content more relevant, interesting, and fun for teachers and students. the internet is a rich source of economic news, data, and information that can make economics relevant and understandable for students in ways that lectures and textbooks alone cannot. data presented in table 3 revealed the mean scores of the participants’ responses on the strategies that should be adopted for effective teaching and learning of economics. in the result, both the teachers’ and students’ responses were in agreement that the following teaching strategies should be adopted: problem-based learning strategies, student-centered teaching methods, field trips, integration of information and communication technology (ict), and formation of school-industry linkages in the teaching of economics. many researchers have looked at the different teaching strategies that are implemented in the economics classroom. it is obvious that every student has a particular learning style from which he or she benefits most; therefore, one specific teaching strategy should not be the sole means of presenting the information to the students in the classroom. rather, teachers should utilize a variety of teaching methods. this allows the students to be actively involved in several different ways without boring them with the same repetitive routine as well as focusing on every student’s learning style. the results equally revealed that in-service training such as conferences, workshops, and seminars should be held from time to time to update the teachers’ knowledge on the subject. yusuf (2009) observed the lack of specific conferences or workshops for economics teachers as a major problem hindering effective teaching of economics, and further noted that the ministries of education in the country have not thought it necessary to organize or sponsor refresher courses, workshops, or conferences for secondary school teachers of economics. he therefore recommended that the various state ministries of education should sponsor or organize conferences, workshops, and refresher courses for secondary school teachers of economics as they have done for other secondary school subjects such as languages, history, and sciences. a subject taught by virtually all schools and offered in the examination by about 90 percent of all candidates annually should be of special interest not only to principals of secondary schools but also to officers of the ministries. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 61 conclusions this study examined teachers’ and students’ factors that hinder effective teaching and learning of economics in secondary schools in the nsukka local government area of enugu state. based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn. an overview of the results of the study showed that teachers’ qualifications and adaptability to appropriate teaching methods and students’ attitudes and disposition toward economics are the key elements affecting effective teaching and learning of the subject. the availability and use of instructional materials were also identified as important factors, as well as inadequate government interventions and support to teachers’ welfare and wellbeing. recommendations from the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made: 1. the relevant government agencies should endeavor to recruit candidates with at least a degree or diploma in education economics or an economics major to teach economics in secondary schools. 2. the ministry of education and other relevant authorities should regularly organize refresher courses such as trainings, seminars, conferences, and workshops for economics teachers to keep them abreast of current and productive student-centered teaching and learning methods. 3. economics teachers should be encouraged to use relevant instructional materials, current textbooks, and examples. 4. the government should do more to ensure teacher welfare through payment of salaries as and when due, provision of accommodation in the form of housing or allowance, office facilities, introduction of reward systems, etc. references adeyemi, b. (2010). teacher related factors as correlates of pupils achievement in social studies in south west nigeria. electronic journal of research in educational psychology, 8(1), 313-332. akinsolu, a. o. (2010). teachers and students’ academic performance in nigerian secondary schools: implications for planning. florida journal of educational administration and policy, 3(3), 86-103. ashimole, a. u. (2011). developing teaching manpower through emerging myths and realities in nigeria institutions. proceedings of the 2011 international conference on teaching, learning and change. international association for teaching and learning (iatel). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 62 carpenter, b. w. (2011). developing turn around leadership: pragmatic guides and contextually specific lessons from the field. journal of education for students placed at risk (jespar), 16(4), 292-298. harris, d. n., & sass, t. r. (2011). teacher training, teacher quality and student achievement. journal of public economics, 95(7). ibrahim, u. k. (2011). influence of instructional materials on the academic performance of students in agricultural science in secondary schools in kwara state, nigeria (m. ed thesis). ahmadu bello university, zaria. isola, o. m. (2010). effects of standardized and improvised instructional materials students’ academic achievements in secondary school physics (m. ed thesis). university of ibadan, nigeria. kimani, g. n., kara, a. m., njagi, l. w. (2013). teacher factors influencing students’ academic achievement in secondary schools in nyandarua county, kenya. international journal of education and research, 1(3), 1-14. kini, t., & podolsky, a., (2016). does teaching experience increase teacher effectiveness? a review of the research. palo alto, ca: learning policy institute. retrieved from https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/our-work/publications-resources/does-teachingexperience-increase-teacher-effectiveness-review-research mkpa, n. d. (2009). teaching methods and strategies. in u. m. ivowi (ed.), curriculum theory and practice. lagos: curriculum organization of nigeria. moronfola, b. (2002). effects of instruction resources on the academic achievements of secondary school students in ilorin local government of kwara state (unpublished m. ed research thesis). nerdc. (2008). economics for senior secondary school. nigerian educational research and development council (nerdc). nworgu, b. g. (2014). educational research: basic issues and methodology (2nd ed.). nsukka: university trust publishers. obemeata, j. o. (1991). effective teaching of economic in senior secondary school. west african journal of education, 1(1) 9-13. ololube, n. p. (2006). teacher education, school effectiveness and improvement: a study of academic and professional qualifications on teachers’ job effectiveness in nigerian secondary schools (phd thesis). university of helsinki, faculty of behavioral science. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4 issue 1, 2021 idika, e. o. (2021). students’ and teachers’ factors hindering effective teaching and learning of economics ın secondary schools ın the nsukka local government area of enugu state journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 63 olumorin, c. o., yusuf, a., ajidagba, u. a., & jekayinfa, a. a. (2010). development of instructional materials from local resources for art-based courses. asian journal of information technology, 9(2), 107-110. http://dx.doi.org/10.3923/ajit.2010.107.110 perkins, k. k., adams, w. k., pollock, s. j., finkelstein, n. d., & wieman, c. e. (2005). correlating student attitudes with student learning using the colorado learning attitudes about science survey. 2004 physics education research conference. melville, ny: american institute of physics. popoola, t. a. (1990). an investigation into the relationship between instructional resources and students’ academic performance in secondary schools in abeokuta local government area of ogun state of nigeria (unpublished m. ed thesis). simkins, s. (1999). promoting active student learning using the world wide web in economics courses. journal of economic education, 30, 278-91. wion, w. m. (2008). teacher perspectives on economic education (msc thesis). ohio university. yala, p. o., & wanjohi, w. c. (2011). performance determinants of kcse in mathematics of secondary schools in nyamaiya division, kenya. asian social science, 7(2), 107-112. yusuf, a. (2009). economics education. ilorin journal of education (ije). retrieved from http//:www.musero.org.ng/economics_education.pdf. pp 10 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 2 2023 pp. 158-171 language education and artificial intelligence: an exploration of challenges confronting academics in global south universities sive makelenia, bonginkosi hardy mutongoza*a, & manthekeleng agnes linakea * corresponding author: email: bmutongoza@ufh.ac.za a. faculty of education, university of fort hare, east london, south africa. article info received: march 21, 2023 accepted: june 2, 2023 published: july 5, 2023 how to cite makeleni, s., mutongoza, b. h., & linake, m. a. (2023). language education and artificial intelligence: an exploration of challenges confronting academics in global south universities. journal of culture and values in education, 6(2), 158-171. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.14 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract while the global south universities have made significant strides in adopting digital technologies, there remain huge gaps, particularly when it comes to the acceptance of artificial intelligence (ai) in institutions of higher learning. as such, this study sought to explore global south academics’ reported ai-related challenges in the language education domain from published literature. to achieve this, the researchers employed a literature review methodology which entailed meticulous searches for published literature using key words. the challenges reported in literature revealed four broad challenges namely limited language options, academic dishonesty, biases and lack of accountability, and laziness among students and lecturers. based on these findings, the study recommended that there be an urgent prioritisation of the development of ai-based language education tools that are specifically tailored to the needs and contexts of learners in the global south. the study also recommended the development of accessible and affordable aibased language education tools, that will promote the development of digital literacy skills among educators and learners in the global south. keywords artificial intelligence (ai); assessment; global south; language; learning; teaching. 10.46303/jcve.2023.14 mailto:bmutongoza@ufh.ac.za https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.14 159 jcve 2023, 6(2): 158-171 introduction while some african countries have made significant progress in adopting new digital technologies, there remain pertinent challenges that need to be addressed urgently if africa is to reap the rewards promised by the fourth industrial revolution (4ir) (ayanwale, 2023; mkansi & landman, 2021; ostrowick, 2021). studies conducted in this regard reveal that africa remains the perennial weakling that continues to lag in the adoption of new technologies, scoring a paltry 3.3 out of 7, against a global average of 4.1 out of 7 in terms of technological readiness (ayentimi & burgess, 2019; vashchenko et al., 2018). nonetheless, there is a need to acknowledge the various systemic and endemic challenges that continue to stifle africa’s (and indeed other developing countries’) adaptation to current trends in technological advancement (kayembe & nel, 2019; mhlanga et al., 2021; mkansi & landman, 2021). regrettably, the realities of globalisation have revealed that the problems of rapid technological advancement affect all contexts, more particularly the developing nations that are often reported to have a dearth of policies and resources that regulate use of these technologies (lubinga et al., 2023; ndung’u & signé, 2020). in this study, ‘global south’ is used to refer to less industrially developed countries, generally located below the equator, and mainly in africa, latin america, and asia, while ‘global north’ refers to the more developed countries that are in north america, europe and australia/new zealand (parnell, 2016). one such facet has been the adoption of artificial intelligence (ai) into learning systems. ai is a computer science field that focuses on the development of non-human technologies that can perform tasks that have been traditionally known to require human intelligence such as decision-making, perception, and problem-solving (mintz & brodie, 2019; zhang & lu, 2021). proponents of ai argue that using ai in language education offers numerous benefits that outweigh any potential or perceived costs. firstly, some advocates contend that ai-powered language education tools can provide personalized learning paths, real-time feedback, gamification, and increased accessibility (nazaretsky et al., 2022; pokrivčáková, 2019; ruan, et al., 2021). since these tools can be used anywhere and anytime, they make language learning more accessible to learners who may not have access to traditional language classes (chou et al., 2022; fitria, 2021; guilherme, 2019). additionally, ai-powered language education tools can be less expensive than traditional language classes, saving students and educators lots of money (pokrivčáková, 2019). in other contexts, ai has also been praised for saving time for educators by automating grading and assessment as became more evident during the covid19 pandemic (başar & şahin, 2021; yang & kyun, 2022). finally, ai-powered language education tools provide data-driven insights into learners' progress and areas for improvement, optimizing the learning process for both teachers and learners (kholis, 2021; marais, 2021; zou et al., 2023). unlike humans, ai systems are built to process large quantities of data, learn from patterns, and make predictions based on such data – this usually happens through techniques such as machine learning, natural language processing, and robotics (guilherme, 2019; holmes & tuomi, 2022). ai has challenges, and this has led to technophobia among some academics. 160 jcve 2023, 6(2): 158-171 some of the principal concerns raised in some quarters include ethical and social concerns such as job displacements, biases, issues of privacy, and accountability among others (berendt et al., 2020; furey & martin, 2019; hamakali & josua, 2023; kim et al., 2022; rudolph et al., 2023). while the benefits of ai in language education have been widely published globally, there are limited resources when it comes to how the global south is being negatively affected by the adoption of ai in education in general, and language education specifically. the purpose of this study was to investigate the difficulties that academics in the developing world encounter when incorporating artificial intelligence (ai) in language education. methodology this study used the literature review methodology the framework, which involved analysing and synthesising existing peer-reviewed publications (belur et al., 2021; synder, 2019). to conduct this review, the researchers first defined the research question and set the scope of the study, as described by templier and paré (2015). the researchers investigated the challenges faced by academics in the global south in relation to the adoption and use ai in language education. according to gough et al. (2017), the second step in a literature review is to identify identified relevant sources of information and collect data using appropriate search strategies. in this study, the researchers searched google scholar articles using the keywords (artificial intelligence, assessment, language, learning, teaching) and limited the search to the most recent 100 articles from global south contexts published between 2017 and 2023. next, the researchers assessed the quality, relevance and reliability of the data collected, taking care to exclude publications from known predatory publishers. to uphold quality, the researchers only considered studies that were well-designed, used appropriate data collection and analysis methodologies, and had been conducted with high levels of rigour. relevance was assessed in line with the studies’ ability to address the specific objective of the present study. on the other hand, reliability was upheld by considering the consistency of the findings with other studies. the researchers ended up with 53 articles that were utilised in this study. as prescribed by paré and kitsiou (2017), the researchers began the analysis process by organising and summarising the data, identifying patterns and trends, and drawing conclusions from the findings. table 1 below represents an overview of the distribution of some of the literature that was utilised in this study. 161 jcve 2023, 6(2): 158-171 table 1 a snapshot of the literature distribution theme articles setting of study language problems mackenzie (2022) phiri (2022) tshabangu & salawu (2022) brandt & lageman (2022) ngouo (2022) zaugg et al. (2022) onyenankeya (2022) sharma et al. (2022) colombia zimbabwe africa turkey cameroon ethiopia & eritrea africa developing countries academic integrity mutongoza (2021) surahman & wang (2022) mutongoza & olawale (2022) sharma et al. (2022) mphahlele & mckenna afram et al (2022) ismail & jabri (2023) okolo et al. (2023) ngouo (2022) south africa taiwan botswana, south africa & zimbabwe developing countries south africa ghana & ivory coast indonesia africa cameroon bias and accountability gupta & krishnan (2020) lee et al. (2020) choi (2022) kholis (2021) mphahlele & mckenna (2019) omari et al. (2022) tehzeeb & raza (2022) vashchenko et al. (2018) india republic of korea republic of korea indonesia south africa ghana pakistan switzerland, ukraine, south africa laziness tehzeeb & raza (2022) yalçin-incik & incik (2022) omari et al., 2022 wiratman & rahmadani (2022) yazici et al. (2023) aziz & silfiani (2020) lubinga et al (2023) pakistan turkey ghana indonesia turkey indonesia south africa 162 jcve 2023, 6(2): 158-171 results and discussion the findings of this study revealed four broad categories of challenges faced by academics namely the limited language options in ai-powered systems, academic dishonesty, biases and lack of accountability, and issues of laziness. in the following subheadings, the study explores these challenges as presented in line with the literature. limited language options despite the positive advancements that were brought by the introduction of ai, many ai systems are developed primarily in english or other widely spoken languages to the detriment of the ai systems based on the languages spoken in the global south, (mackenzie, 2022; phiri, 2022; tshabangu & salawu, 2022). the lingua franca of business, academia, and technology are english, chinese, spanish, and french, and have a large user base and thus a larger market potential for ai developers (brandt & lagemann, 2022; ngouo, 2022). the cumulative effect of this is that this prioritisation of the most-spoken languages makes it difficult for people in the global south to access digital tools and services in their own language, which in turn impacts language education (liang, et al., 2022; zaugg et al., 2022). language education in the global south has been reported to face multiple challenges related to resources, infrastructure, and funding, thus ai systems with limited language options can further exacerbate these challenges, making it harder for educators and students to access high-quality language learning materials (onyenankeya, 2022; taylor & kochem, 2022). one must however note the advances that have been made concerning language options for the global south. although slow-paced, there is growing recognition of the importance of developing ai systems for languages other than english, particularly for languages that are less widely spoken (nemorin et al., 2023; sharma et al., 2022). this is critical to ensure that students and lecturers benefit from the potential of ai technologies regardless of their languages being marginalised. the researchers recognise the various efforts being made to develop ai systems that can understand and generate text and speech in a variety of languages, and there has been progress in this area in recent years (kim et al., 2022; nemorin et al., 2023). nonetheless, much more work needs to be done to ensure that ai systems are accessible and effective for speakers of all languages. academic dishonesty on steroids academics in the global south have argued that ai has led to the proliferation of automated cheating. with the rise of online learning and remote assessment practices, students have been known to use ai-powered tools to cheat in assignments and examinations (mutongoza, 2021; surahman & wang, 2022). students have been known to use ai-powered essay-writing tools that can generate essays that are indistinguishable from those written by humans, and some of these ai-powered tools have been known to fool plagiarism detectors by text-spinning tools that reword sentences to avoid detection (cotton et al., 2023; mutongoza & olawale, 2022). students have thus been known to complete high-quality assessments without putting any significant effort – in this regard, language lecturers sometimes witness work submissions that 163 jcve 2023, 6(2): 158-171 contain errors from ai-software-generated tools (rudolph et al., 2023; sharma et al., 2022). moreover, while these ai tools have improved significantly in recent years, they are not always accurate and can produce awkward or nonsensical translations (afram et al., 2022). in these cases, language students in developing contexts sometimes use ai to cheat by using machine translation tools to translate their assignments from their native language to the target language (klimova et al., 2023; shiri, 2023; straume & anson, 2022). unlike their counterparts in the developed contexts who can access ai-detection software, language academics in the global south have been known to lag in access owing to various reasons (okolo et al., 2023). many universities and research institutions in the global south have limited funding and resources, which can make it difficult to invest in expensive ai-detection technologies (ismail & jabri, 2023; wylde et al., 2023). equally instructional is the argument that ai technology is typically developed and trained using datasets in english, mandarin, or other widely spoken languages (ngouo, 2022; zaugg et al., 2022). it is essential to emphasise that many african languages are not well-represented in ai datasets, and this has the potential to limit the accuracy and effectiveness of ai-detection software for african academics teaching indigenous languages (mphahlele & mckenna, 2019; mutongoza & olawale, 2022). biases and lack of accountability it is also argued that academics in the global south lament how ai biases significantly impact language education in various ways. these biases can occur through the training data used to develop ai-powered systems (luengo-oroz et al., 2021; tehzeeb & raza, 2022). while the researchers do not seek to make it appear as though there were no biases in language educators, we contemplate a principal concern raised by ai sceptics who argue that, unlike erstwhile human biases that were localised to limited geographical locations, the impact of ai biases spread more easily because of globalisation (gupta & krishnan, 2020; kholis, 2021). according to currie and rohen (2022), this bias manifests as a result of a lack of diversity in teams that design and develop ai tools. we hasten to argue that because the global south continues to be underrepresented, indigenous languages spoken in these territories are not adequately represented. the result is usually that there is increased difficulty in recognizing or generating language patterns that are associated with non-standard varieties of a language or with non-native speakers (gallacher et al., 2021; lee et al., 2020; vashchenko et al., 2022). this has grave repercussions when it comes to the use of ai systems for language proficiency assessments as this can lead to biases in evaluation, as certain systems may unfairly penalize students who use non-standard language varieties (lawrence, 2023; mphahlele & mckenna, 2019). additionally, a lack of transparency and limited oversight can lead to unethical or inappropriate use of these technologies in language learning, which can negatively impact student learning outcomes (omari et al., 2022; silva et al., 2022; winke & isbell, 2017). as such, without accountability, there may be no recourse for educators or students if something goes wrong with these technologies, which can lead to dissatisfaction and frustration. 164 jcve 2023, 6(2): 158-171 classrooms on autopilot: issues of laziness while ai-powered technologies have many benefits, they have been blamed for leading to laziness among students and lecturers. it is argued that ai-powered technologies make tasks easier and eliminate the need for students and lecturers to put in the same level of effort they would have had to previously (tehzeeb & raza, 2022; yalçin-incik & incik, 2022). through their ability to do things such as automatically grading exams, there is a general sentiment that ai tools leave lecturers with less work to do in comparison to other traditional tools (omari et al., 2022; wiratman & rahmadani, 2022). on the other hand, students have also been known to generate essays, making it easier for them to produce work without putting in much effort (cotton et al., 2023; yazici et al., 2023). in the same breath, students and lecturers who overrely on ai tools sometimes become too dependent on ai-powered technologies and may find it challenging to do things manually (lubinga et al., 2023; rudolph et al., 2023). over-reliance can lead to a lack of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic success, and restricts students’ and lecturers’ development of important skills that are critical for educational development (mikalef et al., 2022; stoica, 2022). one must also note that while ai-powered technologies are designed to make tasks more efficient, they are not designed to be creative (omari et al., 2022), thus, students and lecturers who rely solely on these tools may fail to develop their creativity, which is an essential aspect of learning (sharma et al., 2022). because ai technologies can only perform specific tasks that they are programmed to do, their scope is sometimes limited, and this can lead to a lack of diversity in the types of assignments and projects that students and lecturers undertake (aziz & silfiani, 2020; gallacher et al., 2021). as such, those who overly rely on ai-powered tools may not explore different approaches to problem-solving or develop innovative ideas. conclusion: a way forward for academics in the global south the researchers do not claim that this study is comprehensive and gives the full picture of the challenges faced by academics in the global south in relation to ai and language education, however, the study offers a glimpse into the current state of technology adoption in this domain. although the use of ai in language education has the potential to revolutionize the way we learn and teach languages, its implementation in the global south faces unique challenges that must be addressed to ensure that its benefits are widely accessible. the researchers are convinced that there is an urgent need to prioritize the development of ai-based language education tools that are specifically tailored to the needs and contexts of learners in the global south. this must involve working with local experts and educators to identify the linguistic and cultural characteristics of learners in the developing world to design ai tools that take these factors into account. the researchers further advocate for accessible ai-based language education tools that are equitable and affordable. this may involve partnering with governments, non-governmental organisations, and private sector organizations to provide funding and resources to universities and students in underserved global south education communities. additionally, it is vital to promote the development of digital literacy skills among educators and learners in the global 165 jcve 2023, 6(2): 158-171 south. this can include providing training and support for teachers to effectively integrate aibased language education tools into their teaching practices, as well as developing programs to help learners develop the skills needed to effectively use these tools. finally, it will be important to continuously evaluate the effectiveness and impact of ai-based language education tools in the global south. to achieve this, stakeholders will need to be involved in conducting research and evaluations to assess their effectiveness in improving language learning outcomes, as well as identifying any potential risks or unintended consequences that may arise. references afram, g. k., benjamin, a. w., & adebayo, a. f. (2022). twieng: a multi-domain twi-english parallel corpus for machine translation of the twi language, a low-resource african language. journal of mathematical techniques & computational mathematics, 1(1), 4857. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202203.0303.v1 ayanwale, m. (2023). can experience determine the adoption of industrial revolution 4.0 skills in 21st century mathematics education?. research in social sciences and technology, 8(1), 74-91. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2023.6 ayentimi, d., & burgess, j. (2019). is the fourth industrial revolution relevant to sub-sahara africa? technology analysis & strategic management, 31(6), 641-652. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537325.2018.1542129 aziz, z. a., & silfiani, f. m. (2020). plagiarism among junior lecturers in indonesia: how and why? humanities & social sciences reviews, 8(3), 86-94. https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2020.8310 başar, t., & şahin, l. (2021). technology integration in teaching english as a foreign language: a content analysis study. journal of educational technology & online learning, 5(1), 204-222. https://doi.org/10.31681/jetol.972577 belur, j., tompson, l., thornton, a., & simon, m. (2021). interrater reliability in systemic review methodology: exploring variation in coder decision-making. sociological methods & research, 50(2), 837-865. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124118799372 berendt, b., littlejohn, a., & blakemore, m. (2020). ai in education: learner choice and fundamental rights. learning, media & technology, 45(3), 312-324. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2020.1786399 brandt, h., & lagemann, m. (2022). language demands of the labour market: a predictor of students’ investments into multilingual skills? in h. brandt, m. krause, & i. usanova, language development in diverse settings (pp. 133-165). springer fachmedien wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-35650-7_5 choi, l. j. (2022). interrogating structural bias in language technology: focusing on the case of voice chatbots in south korea. sustainability, 14(20), 13177. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013177 https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202203.0303.v1 https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2023.6 https://doi.org/10.1080/09537325.2018.1542129 https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2020.8310 https://doi.org/10.31681/jetol.972577 https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124118799372 https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2020.1786399 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-35650-7_5 https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013177 166 jcve 2023, 6(2): 158-171 chou, c. m., shen, t. c., shen, t. c., & shen, c. h. (2022). influencing factors on students’ learning effectiveness of ai-based technology application: mediation variable of the human-computer interaction experience. education & information technologies, 27(6), 8723-8750. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10866-9 cotton, d. r., cotton, p. a., & shipway, j. r. (2023). chatting and cheating: ensuring academic integrity in the era of chatgpt. innovations in education & teaching international, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2023.2190148 currie, g., & rohen, e. (2022). social asymmetry, artificial intelligence and the medical imaging landscape. seminars in nuclear medicine, 52(4), 498-503. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.semnuclmed.2021.11.011 fitria, t. n. (2021). grammarly as ai-powered english writing assistant: students’ alternative for writing english. metathesis: journal of english language, literature, & teaching, 5(1), 65-78. https://doi.org/10.31002/metathesis.v5i1.3519 furey, h., & martin, f. (2019). ai education matters: a modular approach to ai ethics education. ai matters, 4(4), 13-15. https://doi.org/10.1145/3299758.3299764 gallacher, a., thompson, a., & howarth, m. (2021). "my robot is an idiot!" students' perceptions of ai in the l2 classroom. in p. taalas, j. jalkanen, l. bradley, & s. thouësny, future-proof call: language learning as exploration and encounters: short papers from eurocall (pp. 70-76). research-publishing.net. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2018.26.815 gough, d., oliver, s., & thomas, j. (2017). an introduction to systematic reviews (vol. 2). sage. https://doi.org/10.53841/bpsptr.2017.23.2.95 guilherme, a. (2019). ai and education: the importance of teacher and student relations. ai & society, 34, 47-54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-017-0693-8 gupta, d., & krishnan, t. s. (2020). algorithmic bias: why bother. california management review, 63(3), 1-7. hamakali, h., & josua, l. (2023). engendering technology-assisted pedagogy for effective instructional strategy in the university of namibia language centre. research in educational policy and management, 5(1), 18-32. https://doi.org/10.46303/repam.2023.3 holmes, w., & tuomi, i. (2022). state of the art and practice in ai in education. european journal of education, 57(4), 542-570. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12533 ismail, i., & jabri, u. (2023). academic integrity: preventing students’ plagiarism with turnitin. edumaspul: jurnal pendidikan, 7(1), 28-38. https://doi.org/10.33487/edumaspul.v7i1.5392 kayembe, c., & nel, d. (2019). challenges and opportunities for education in the fourth industrial revolution. african journal of public affairs, 11(3), 79-94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10866-9 https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2023.2190148 https://doi.org/10.1053/j.semnuclmed.2021.11.011 https://doi.org/10.31002/metathesis.v5i1.3519 https://doi.org/10.1145/3299758.3299764 https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2018.26.815 https://doi.org/10.53841/bpsptr.2017.23.2.95 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-017-0693-8 https://doi.org/10.46303/repam.2023.3 https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12533 https://doi.org/10.33487/edumaspul.v7i1.5392 167 jcve 2023, 6(2): 158-171 kholis, a. (2021). elsa speak app: automatic speech recognition (asr) for supplementing english pronunciation skills. pedagogy: journal of english language teaching, 9(1), 114. https://doi.org/10.32332/joelt.v9i1.2723 kim, h., yang, h., shin, d., & lee, j. h. (2022). design principles and architecture of a second language learning chatbot. language learning & technology, 26(1), 1-18. kim, j., lee, h., & cho, y. h. (2022). learning design to support student-ai collaboration: perspectives of leading teachers for ai in education. education & information technologies, 27(5), 6069-6104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10831-6 klimova, b., pikhart, m., benites, a. d., lehr, c., & sanchez-stockhammer, c. (2023). neural machine translation in foreign language teaching and learning: a systematic review. education & information technologies, 28(1), 663-682. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11194-2 lawrence, c. d. (2023). hidden in white sight: how ai empowers and deepens systemic racism. crc press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003368755 lee, j. h., yang, h., shin, d., & kim, h. (2020). chatbots. elt journal, 74(3), 338-344. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccaa035 liang, w., tadesse, g. a., ho, d., fei-fei, l., zaharia, m., zhang, c., & zou, j. (2022). advances, challenges and opportunities in creating data for trustworthy ai. nature machine intelligence, 4(8), 669-677. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-022-00516-1 lubinga, s., maramura, t. c., & masiya, t. (2023). the fourth industrial revolution adoption: challenges in south african higher education institutions. journal of culture & values in education, 6(2), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.5 luengo-oroz, m., bullock, j., pham, k. h., lam, c. s., & luccioni, a. (2021). from artificial intelligence bias to inequality in the time of covid-19. ieee technology & society magazine, 40(1), 71-79. https://doi.org/10.1109/mts.2021.3056282 mackenzie, l. (2022). linguistic imperialism, english, and development: implications for colombia. current issues in language planning, 23(2), 137-156. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2021.1939977 marais, e. (2021). a journey through digital storytelling during covid-19 students preparedness to use technology for learning in the language classroom. research in social sciences and technology, 6(2), 169-182. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.17 mhlanga, d., ndhlovu, e., & hofisi, c. (2021). assessment of the 4ir challenges of radical innovation in service delivery in africa. journal of public administration, 56(4.1), 10021017. mikalef, p., conboy, k., lundström, j. e., & popovič, a. (2022). thinking responsibly about responsible ai and the 'dark side' of ai. european journal of information systems, 31(3), 257-268. https://doi.org/10.1080/0960085x.2022.2026621 https://doi.org/10.32332/joelt.v9i1.2723 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10831-6 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11194-2 https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003368755 https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccaa035 https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-022-00516-1 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.5 https://doi.org/10.1109/mts.2021.3056282 https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2021.1939977 https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.17 https://doi.org/10.1080/0960085x.2022.2026621 168 jcve 2023, 6(2): 158-171 mintz, y., & brodie, r. (2019). introduction to artificial intelligence in medicine. minimally invasive therapy & allied technologies, 28(2), 73-81. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645706.2019.1575882 mkansi, m., & landman, n. (2021). the future of work in africa in the era of 4ir–the south african perspective. african journal of management, 7(sup1), 17-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322373.2021.1930750 mphahlele, a., & mckenna, s. (2019). the use of turnitin in the higher education sector: decoding the myth. assessment & evaluation in higher education, 44(7), 1079-1089. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1573971 mutongoza, b. h. (2021). impetuses for cheating in covid-19-induced online assessments at a rural university in south africa. 4th international conference on advanced research in social sciences (pp. 29-40). oxford: diamond publishing. mutongoza, b. h., & olawale, b. e. (2022). safeguarding academic integrity in the face of emergency remote teaching and learning in developing countries. perspectives in education, 40(1), 234-249. https://doi.org/10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.14 nazaretsky, t., ariely, m., cukurova, m., & alexandron, g. (2022). teachers' trust in ai‐ powered educational technology and a professional development program to improve it. british journal of educational technology, 53(4), 914-931. ndung’u, n., & signé, l. (2020). the fourth industrial revolution and digitalization will transform africa into a global powerhouse. foresight africa. nemorin, s., vlachidis, a., ayerakwa, h. m., & andriotis, p. (2023). ai hyped? a horizon scan of discourse on artificial intelligence in education (aied) and development. learning, media and technology, 48(1), 38-51. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2022.2095568 ngouo, h. r. (2022). evaluating the pertinence of foreign languages (german, spanish, arabic, chinese, italian) in cameroon’s education curriculum: needs for reform of the curriculum and language in education policy. journal of the cameroon academy of sciences, 18(1), 361-388. https://doi.org/10.4314/jcas.v18i1.6 okolo, c. t., aruleba, k., & obaido, g. (2023). responsible ai in africa—challenges and opportunities. in d. o. eke, k. wakunuma, & s. akintoye, responsible ai in africa (pp. 35-64). pelgrave macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08215-3_3 omari, e. b., salifu yendork, j., & ankrah, e. (2022). university students’ perspectives on the benefits and challenges of emergency remote teaching during the covid-19 pandemic in ghana. education & information technologies, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639022-11401-0 onyenankeya, k. (2022). indigenous language newspapers and the digital media conundrum in africa. information development, 38(1), 83-96. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266666920983403 https://doi.org/10.1080/13645706.2019.1575882 https://doi.org/10.1080/23322373.2021.1930750 https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1573971 https://doi.org/10.18820/2519593x/pie.v40.i1.14 https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2022.2095568 https://doi.org/10.4314/jcas.v18i1.6 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08215-3_3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11401-0 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11401-0 https://doi.org/10.1177/0266666920983403 169 jcve 2023, 6(2): 158-171 ostrowick, j. (2021). moral risks and government policy in south africa in the context of 4ir. south african journal of philosophy, 40(2), 195-212. https://doi.org/10.1080/02580136.2021.1921933 paré, g., & kitsiou, s. (2017). methods for literature reviews. in f. lau, & c. kuziemsky, handbook of ehealth evaluation: an evidence-based approach (internet) (pp. 157-180). university of victoria. parnell, s. (2016). defining a global urban development agenda. world development, 78, 529540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.10.028 phiri, a. m. (2022). experiences and challenges in pioneering the teaching and learning of formerly marginalised indigenous languages: the case of nambya at the great zimbabwe university. journal of african languages & literary studies, 3(1), 75-100. https://doi.org/10.31920/2633-2116/2022/v3n1a4 pokrivčáková, s. (2019). preparing teachers for the application of ai-powered technologies in foreign language education. journal of language & cultural education, 7(3), 135-153. https://doi.org/10.2478/jolace-2019-0025 ruan, s., jiang, l., xu, q., liu, z., davis, g. m., brunskill, e., & landay, j. a. (2021). englishbot: an ai-powered conversational system for second language learning. 26th international conference on intelligent user interfaces (pp. 434-444). acm digital library. https://doi.org/10.1145/3397481.3450648 rudolph, j., tan, s., & tan, s. (2023). chatgpt: bullshit spewer or the end of traditional assessments in higher education? journal of applied learning and teaching, 6(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2023.6.1.9 sharma, h., soetan, t., farinloye, t., mogaji, e., & noite, m. d. (2022). ai adoption in universities in emerging economies: prospects, challenges and recommendations. in e. mogaji, v. jain, f. maringe, & r. e. hinson, re-imagining educational futures in developing countries: lessons from global health crises (pp. 159-174). springer international publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88234-1_9 shiri, a. (2023). chatgpt and academic integrity. information matters, 3(2), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4360052 silva, s., fernandes, j., peres, p., lima, v., & silva, c. (2022). teachers' perceptions of remote learning during the pandemic: a case study. education sciences, 12(10), 698. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12100698 stoica, e. (2022). a student's take on challenges of ai-driven grading in higher education. unpublished bachelor's thesis, university of twente. straume, i., & anson, c. (2022). amazement and trepidation: implications of ai-based natural language production for the teaching of writing. journal of academic writing, 12(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.18552/joaw.v12i1.820 https://doi.org/10.1080/02580136.2021.1921933 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.10.028 https://doi.org/10.31920/2633-2116/2022/v3n1a4 https://doi.org/10.2478/jolace-2019-0025 https://doi.org/10.1145/3397481.3450648 https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2023.6.1.9 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88234-1_9 https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4360052 https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12100698 https://doi.org/10.18552/joaw.v12i1.820 170 jcve 2023, 6(2): 158-171 surahman, e., & wang, t. h. (2022). academic dishonesty and trustworthy assessment in online learning: a systematic literature review. journal of computer assisted learning, 38(6), 1535-1553. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12708 synder, h. (2019). literature review as a research methodology: an overview and guidelines. journal of business research, 104, 333-339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039 taylor, j., & kochem, t. (2022). access and empowerment in digital language learning, maintenance, and revival: a critical literature review. diaspora, indigenous, & minority education, 16(4), 234-245. https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2020.1765769 tehzeeb, n., & raza, a. (2022). understanding social and ethical implications of artificial intelligence. pakistan journal of social research, 4(4), 708-716. templier, m., & paré, g. (2015). a framework for guiding and evaluating literature reviews. communications of the association for information systems, 37(6), 112-137. https://doi.org/10.17705/1cais.03706 tshabangu, t., & salawu, a. (2022). indigenous-language media research in africa: gains, losses, towards a new research agenda. african journalism studies, 43(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2021.1998787 vashchenko, m., taraniuk, l., danko, y., & taraniuk, k. (2018). assessment of the technological readiness of the countries of the world for the radical innovations. marketing & management of innovations, 4, 86-97. https://doi.org/10.21272/mmi.2018.4-08 winke, p. m., & isbell, d. r. (2017). computer-assisted language assessment. in s. l. thorne, & s. may, language, education and technology (pp. 313-326). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02237-6_25 wiratman, a., & rahmadani, e. (2022). the covid-19 pandemic and online learning: challenges for university students. etdc: indonesian journal of research and educational review, 1(3), 316-325. wylde, v., prakash, e., hewage, c., & platts, j. (2023). ethical challenges in the use of digital technologies: ai and big data. in r. montasari, v. carpenter, & a. j. masys, digital transformation in policing: the promise, perils and solutions. advanced sciences and technologies for security applications (pp. 33-58). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09691-4_3 yalçin-incik, e., & incik, t. (2022). generation z students' views on technology in education: what they want what they get. malaysian online journal of educational technology, 10(2), 109-124. https://doi.org/10.52380/mojet.2022.10.2.275 yang, h., & kyun, s. (2022). the current research trend of artificial intelligence in language learning: a systematic empirical literature review from an activity theory perspective. australasian journal of educational technology, 38(5), 180-210. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.7492 https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12708 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039 https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2020.1765769 https://doi.org/10.17705/1cais.03706 https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2021.1998787 https://doi.org/10.21272/mmi.2018.4-08 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02237-6_25 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09691-4_3 https://doi.org/10.52380/mojet.2022.10.2.275 https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.7492 171 jcve 2023, 6(2): 158-171 yazici, s., yildiz durak, h., aksu dünya, b., & şentürk, b. (2023). online versus face‐to‐face cheating: the prevalence of cheating behaviours during the pandemic compared to the pre‐pandemic among turkish university students. journal of computer assisted learning, 39(1), 231-254. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12743 zaugg, i. a., hossain, a., & molloy, b. (2022). digitally-disadvantaged languages. internet policy review, 11(2), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.14763/2022.2.1654 zhang, c., & lu, y. (2021). study on artificial intelligence: the state of the art and future prospects. journal of industrial information integration, 23, 100224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jii.2021.100224 zou, b., guan, x., shao, y., & chen, p. (2023). supporting speaking practice by social networkbased interaction in artificial intelligence (ai)-assisted language learning. sustainability, 15(4), 2872. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15042872 https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12743 https://doi.org/10.14763/2022.2.1654 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jii.2021.100224 https://doi.org/10.3390/su15042872 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 2 2023 pp. 85-106 cultural competency of clinical students in a caribbean medical school dev kumar shah*1, yuliya modna1 & jamil ibrahim2 * corresponding author: email: dev.shah@tmsu.edu.vc 1. department of physiology, trinity medical sciences university, st. vincent and grenadines 2. department of clinical sciences, trinity medical sciences university, st. vincent and grenadines article info received: march 22, 2023 accepted: may 14, 2023 published: june 3, 2023 how to cite shah, d. k., modna, y., & ibrahim, j. (2023). cultural competency of clinical students in a caribbean medical school. journal of culture and values in education, 6(2), 85106. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.10 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract we aimed to find out the clinical students’ scores on cultural competencies and its different components (awareness and sensitivity, behavior, patient-centered communication, practice orientation, and self-assessment); to check the correlation between different components of cultural competency; and to examine the influence of students’ demographic characteristics on their cultural competency. a 48-item schwarz’s healthcare provider cultural competence instrument (hpcci) comprising five scales was used to measure the cultural competency of trinity medical sciences university students in clinical years. the descriptive statistics, pearson’s correlation, and multivariable regression analysis were done using spss. the students obtained 81.8% in overall cultural competency, 83.3% in awareness and sensitivity towards cultural competency, 75.8% in behavior, 82.6% in patientcentered communication, 83.3% in practice orientation, and 92% in selfassessment of cultural competency. a significant positive correlation was found among different scales of hpcci with some exceptions. age, gender, race, school semester of study, and birth country of students and their fathers were found as independent predictors for different components of cultural competency measured. the medical students’ awareness/sensitivity toward cultural competence, concerning behavior, their patient-centered communication, and practice orientation skills need attention and have to be a driving point in the planning, developing, and implementing focused effective cross-culture curricula to better prepare the medical students for the benefit of diverse patients and communities they will serve. keywords awareness; behavior; communication; cultural competency; selfassessment 10.46303/jcve.2023.10 mailto:dev.shah@tmsu.edu.vc https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.10 86 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 introduction a number of countries around the world continue to experience demographic changes and diversification, including those in the united states (schim & doorenbos, 2010). in these circumstances, healthcare personnel will likely serve an increasingly diverse society with widening inequality in the near future. therefore, medical students need to become skilled in cultural competence during their training in medical school. a doctor-patient relationship reinforced by culturally sensitive healthcare personnel can result in greater patient satisfaction and better health outcomes (giger et al., 2007; krupat et al., 2000). even after statistically controlling for a range of medically relevant factors, minority and stigmatized groups around the world experience lower quality healthcare than dominant groups (dovidio et al., 2016). healthcare professionals’ implicit biases influence diagnosis and treatment decisions and levels of care in some cases and need to be explored further (fitzgerald and hurst, 2017). for example, black children with respiratory infections received significantly fewer antibiotics than white children even after controlling for relevant medical and socioeconomic factors, according to an analysis of over one million clinical visits in the usa (gerber et al., 2013). according to another study, women and african americans were less likely to be referred for cardiac catheterization than white men, while sharing the same indications and symptoms (schulman et al., 1999). such cultural biases in the health sector exacerbate the problem of differential morbidity and mortality among races in a diverse population. the correct use of a culturally competent health worker, on the other hand, helped a covid-19 icu patient recover successfully from delirium when a lack of understanding of the patient's culture had resulted in assumptions on the part of the healthcare provider, prolonging the delirium (lomiguen et al., 2020). this illustrates the importance of culturally competent manpower in hospitals. a survey showed medical teachers of 11 european institutions considered the importance of incorporating and assessing cultural competence topics into the medical curriculum (lanting et al., 2019). cultural competence training improves the knowledge, attitudes, and skills of health professionals (beach et al., 2005). while assessing the medical schools’ curriculum in the netherlands, cultural diversity was more prominently described in undergraduate than in postgraduate education (paternotte et al., 2014). while some medical schools have longitudinally integrated cultural competency education into the 4-year curriculum rather than focusing on the first or second years of medical school, many medical schools include it in compulsory courses (crandall et al., 2003; rapp, 2006; tervalon, 2003). in our university, trinity medical sciences university (tmsu), students discuss some culturally challenging questions in their preclinical and clinical courses, however, this topic has not been explicitly included in our medical curriculum so far. therefore, the purpose of this study was to: • find out the overall cultural competencies score of tmsu students in their clinical years. 87 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 • investigate the medical students’ 1. awareness/sensitivity toward cultural competence; 2. the behavior demonstrated concerning cultural competence; 3. patient-centered communication skills; 4. practice orientation; and 5. self-assessment of cultural competence and correlation between these five scales. • examine the influence of participants’ demographic characteristics on their cultural competency. students' overall cultural competencies score will provide insight into our current curriculum effectiveness in this regard. participants’ scores on five different elements of cultural competence and the correlation between them will guide in planning, developing, and implementing a focused effective program or cross-culture curricula to better prepare the students for the benefit of diverse patients and communities they will serve in the future. methods the study was conducted in an offshore caribbean medical school “trinity medical sciences university” with its preclinical part of the md program in saint vincent and the grenadines in the caribbean and clinical part in georgia, united states. culturally diverse students from different parts of the world like north america, asia, the caribbean, and the middle east are enrolled in medical education at this university. during preclinical years, the students get familiar with caribbean culture and values in the local community and hospital before they advance into clinical years to be completed in georgia. all tmsu students in their clinical years were invited to participate in this study because of accessibility and also due to the reasons of being trained in different cultures during preclinical years. after taking the informed consent, the participants were requested to respond to the online questionnaire anonymously. the clinical students who did not fill out the questionnaire completely and/or did not agree with the consent form were excluded from the study. the questionnaire was adapted from schwarz’s healthcare provider cultural competence instrument (hpcci). the 48 items hpcci measures a health care provider’s cultural competence along 5 primary dimensions (see appendix): scale 1, awareness/sensitivity toward cultural competence (11 items); scale 2, behavioral indication concerning cultural competence (16 items); scale 3, patient-centered communication (3 items); scale 4, practice orientation (9 items); and scale 5, self-assessment of cultural competence (9 items). the validity and reliability of the items within each scale of this instrument were found to have strong results when measured across a broad range of different types of healthcare providers (schwarz et al., 2015). participants’ responses for scales 1 and 2 were recorded on a 7-point likert scale while responses for scales 3, 4, and 5 were recorded on a 5-point likert scale. on a 7-point scale, students’ responses to awareness and sensitivity toward cultural competence varied from strongly disagree to strongly agree while their responses to the behavioral demonstration were noted from never to always. on a 5-point scale, participants’ responses to patient-centered communication ranged from never to very often while their views on practice orientation and 88 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 self-assessment of cultural competence were recorded to range from strongly disagree to strongly agree. for all questions, the responses included an option of neutral/neither disagree nor agree. negative items (# 5, 8, 31-35, 37, 39) of the instrument were scored reversely. apart from participants’ educational background, their demographic characteristics, age, gender, country of birth (for parents as well), and racial/ethnic background were also recorded as a part of the study. statistical analysis spss version 26 was used to analyze the data. cronbach's alpha was used to assess the instrument's dependability. descriptive statistics were used to study the sociodemographic characteristics of the participant and the hpcci score. the correlation among different scales of hpcci was tested with pearson’s correlation and multivariable regression analysis was done to find out the predictors of cultural competency skills. statistical significance was defined as a pvalue of 0.05. results in total 68 tmsu students in clinical years completed the questionnaire entirely and their responses were used for analysis. the participants’ age ranged from 23 to 39 years with an average age of 30.5 ± 4.4 years. the sociodemographic details of the participants are shown in descriptive statistics in table 1. table 1 descriptive statistics of the participants (n=68) sociodemographic characteristics n % gender male female 36 32 52.9 47.1 country of birth usa other country 44 24 64.7 35.2 parents’ country of birth father usa other country mother usa other country 20 48 24 44 29.4 70.5 35.2 64.7 race white american/caucasian caribbean latino african american (black) indian asian american 20 16 12 8 8 4 29.4 23.5 17.6 11.8 11.8 5.9 89 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 cronbach's alpha value of hpcci in this study was found to be 0.75. the analysis revealed a significant positive correlation among different scales of hpcci. however, the self-assessment of students was found to have no significant correlations with other scales except awareness and sensitivity. practice orientation was found to have only a significant correlation with patientcentered communication while indicated behavior was only correlated with two scales (awareness and sensitivity, and patient-centered communication). similarly, the total score of cultural competency did not show a significant correlation with the two scales (practice orientation and self-assessment). the correlation between different scales and the total score of cultural competency is shown in table 2 below. table 2 pearson correlation among different scales and total score of hpcci scale 1 (awarenes s and sensitivity) scale 2 (behavio r) scale 3 (patient centered communicat ion) scale 4 (practice orientati on) scale 5 (selfassess ment) total score scale 1 (awareness and sensitivity) 1 .374** .281* .008 .258* .646** scale 2 (behavior) .374** 1 .586** -.203 .043 .878** scale 3 (patient centered communicatio n) .281* .586** 1 .536** .192 .587** scale 4 (practice orientation) .008 -.203 .536** 1 .029 .020 scale 5 (selfassessment) .258* .043 .192 .029 1 .204 total score .646** .878** .587** .020 .204 1 note: the numbers indicate the pearson correlation values. **. correlation is significant at p< 0.01 (2-tailed). *. correlation is significant at p< 0.05 (2-tailed). the hpcci had 48 items for a range of 48 to 294 total points possible. the overall mean score of the participants was 240.5 (81.8%), which was found to be satisfactory. the scores obtained for five different scales of hpcci are shown in table 3. 90 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 table 3 participants score for five different scales of hpcci scales max. possible score mean score ± sd min.max. score score % 1. awareness and sensitivity 77 64.2±5.2 49-74 83.3 2. behavior 112 84.9±8.5 66-101 75.8 3. patient-centered communication 15 12.4±1.9 9-15 82.6 4. practice orientation 45 37.5±2.8 32-42 83.3 5. self-assessment 45 41.4±3.1 36-45 92 overall score 294 240.5±12.7 214-268 81.8 the lowest score (75.8%) for scale 2 (behavior demonstrated concerning cultural competency) was followed by 82.6 % score for the scale 3 (patient-centered communication). in 9 out 16 items in scale 2, participants scored less than six out of seven in likert scale which is a major concern (figure 1, table 4). for other items in this scale, students’ scores were satisfactory (≥6 out 7) indicating appropriate behavior in some areas. in scale 3, the score was satisfactory (≥4 out 5 in likert scale) for two items (#28 & 29) while for one item (# 30) the score was less than 4 which needs attention (figure 2, table 4). 91 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 figure 1 participants response to items of scale 2 (behavior demonstrated concerning cultural competence) note: items were scored in likert scale 1-7, 1 being never to 7 being always. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 scale 2: behavior never (1) rarely (2) sometimes but infrequently (3) neutral (4) sometimes (5) usually (6) always (7) 92 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 figure 2 participants response to items of scale 3 (patient centered communication) note: items were scored in likert scale 1-5, 1 being never to 5 being very often. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 28. when there are a variety of treatment options, how often do you give the client and their family a choice when making a decision? 29. when there are a variety of treatment options, how often do you make an effort to give the client and their family control over their treatment? 30. when there are a variety of treatment options, how often do you ask the client and their family to take responsibility for their treatment? scale 3: patient-centered communication never (1) rarely (2) sometimes (3) often (4) very often (5) 93 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 table 4 areas considered for further improvement in behavior and patient centered communication among tmsu students scales items maximum possible score mean score lowhigh score behavior 12. i include cultural assessment when i do client or family evaluations 7 4.4 2-6 13. i seek information on cultural needs when i identify new clients and families in my practice 7 4.8 2-7 14. i have resource books and other materials available to help me learn about clients and families from different cultures 7 3.3 1-5 15. i use a variety of sources to learn about the cultural heritage of other people 7 4.1 1-6 16. i ask clients and families to tell me about their own explanations of health and illness 7 4.4 1-6 17. i ask clients and families to tell me about their expectations for health services 7 4.1 1-7 19. i recognize potential barriers to service that might be encountered by different people 7 5.9 4-7 25. i document cultural assessments 7 4.8 2-6 26. i document the adaptations i make with clients and their families 7 5.5 4-6 patientcentered communi cation 30. when there are a variety of treatment options, how often do you ask the client and their family to take responsibility for their treatment? 5 3.8 2-5 although, the scores for scale 1 (awareness and sensitivity of the students towards cultural competence) and scale 4 (practice orientation of the students in terms of power/control relationship with patients) were a bit higher – 83.3%, but there are still some areas which need the academic attention (figures 3, 4 and table 5). in scale 1 the students scored higher (≥6 out 7 in likert scale) in majority of the items (figure 4). however, for the item no. 1, 2 and 6 in this scale their scores were in between 3.9 to 5.8 which can be worked on for the improvement (table 5). for most of the items (7 out of 9) in scale 4 the students scored higher (≥4 out 5 in likert scale) indicating in favor of positive practice (figure 4). however, for two items (#37 & 38) of this scale the score was found to be below 4 which can be improved in the future with appropriate measures (table 5). 94 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 figure 3 participants response to items of scale 1 (awareness and sensitivity towards cultural competence) note: items were scored likert scale 1-7, 1 being strongly disagree to 7 being strongly agree while items no. 5 and 8 were reverse scored. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 scale 1: awareness and sensitivity strongly disagree (1) disagree (2) somewhat disagree (3) neither disagree nor agree (4) somewhat agree (5) agree (6) strongly agree (7) 95 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 figure 4 participants response to the items of scale 4 (practice orientation) note: items were scored in likert scale 1-5, 1 being strongly disagree to 5 being strongly agree while items no. 31-35, 37 and 39 were reverse scored. table 5 areas considered for further improvement in awareness and sensitivity towards cultural competency and practice orientation among tmsu students scales items maximum possible score mean score low-high score awareness and sensitivity 1. race is the most important factor in determining a person’s culture. 7 3.9 1-7 2. people with a common cultural background think and act alike 7 4.7 2-7 6. spirituality and religious beliefs are important aspects of many cultural groups 7 5.8 3-7 practice orientation 37. when the client and their family disagree with their health provider, this is a sign that the health care provider does not have the client and their family’s respect and trust 5 3.7 2-5 38. a treatment plan cannot succeed if it is in conflict with a client and their family’s lifestyle or values 5 3.7 2-5 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 scale 4: practice orientation strongly disagree (1) disagree (2) neither disagree nor agree (3) agree (4) strongly agree (5) 96 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 for all items of scale 5 measuring the selfassessment of the participants on their cultural competence, the students scored higher (≥4 out 5 on the likert scale) showing confidence in their communication skills, ability to foster a friendly environment to work with a diverse group of people and establish a genuine sense of trust (figure 5). figure 5 participants response to items of scale 5 (self-assessment on cultural competence) note: items were scored in likert scale 1-5, 1 being strongly disagree to 5 being strongly agree. in a multivariable regression model, overall cultural competency and five different scales of hpcci were treated as dependent variables while different sociodemographic characteristics of the participants were considered as the predictor variables. table 6 presents the results from the multivariable regression models. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 scale 5: self-assessment strongly disagree (1) disagree (2) neither disagree nor agree (3) agree (4) strongly agree (5) 97 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 table 6 predictors of overall cultural competency score and five different scales of hpcci predictor variables regression coefficients overall cultural competency scale 1 scale 2 scale 3 scale 4 scale 5 age -0.116 0.024 0.060 -0.186** 0.279** 0.292** gender (male)1 4.757 1.837 -0.489 1.270* -2.302** 4.431** school semester -0.991 0.088 -1.969** -0.895** 1.683** -0.198 birth country of participants (usa)2 9.285* 6.301** 5.662* -0.495 -1.135* -1.048 birth country of father (usa)2 15.776** 2.555 12.594** 1.524* -1.700* 0.803 birth country of mother (usa)2 0.477 -0.520 0.516 0.043 0.146 0.292 race 2.770 1.762* 1.456 -0.606* 0.639 -0.480 note: 1female is the reference group. 2other countries are the reference group. *. coefficient is significant at p<0.05 (2-tailed). **. coefficient is significant at p<0.01 (2-tailed). based on multivariable regression analyses, the predictors of cultural competency of clinical students found in this study are as follows: • age: older students had lower scores on the patient-centered communication and selfassessment of cultural competence scales in comparison with younger but showed a higher score on a practice orientation scale. • gender: female students showed higher scores on the practice orientation scale in comparison with male students. male students scored higher on the patient-centered communication and self-assessment of cultural competence. • school semester (term) in clinical years: the upper-term clinical students had lower scores on behavior demonstrated regarding cultural competency and patient-centered communication but higher scores on the practice orientation scale in comparison with the initial term clinical students. • the birth country of students and their parents: students and their parents (only father) who were born in the usa showed higher scores on awareness/sensitivity and behaviors demonstrated concerning cultural competency but lower scores on the practice orientation scale in comparison with other students. 98 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 • student’s race: the caribbean and white american/caucasian students were the top scorer for awareness/sensitivity toward cultural competence and patient-centered communication respectively. discussion this study assessed the self-reported cultural competency of our clinical students and explored the areas in which school can help them to better learn the skills of respecting and valuing other cultures for gaining patients’ respect and trust in the future. the reliability of the instrument used to measure cultural competency, hpcci, was found acceptable. there were correlations between different scales with some exceptions. using a jigsaw analogy, schwarz jl et al. emphasized the interconnection and significance of the elements that make up the idea of cultural competency (schwarz et al., 2015). however, our study failed to show the significant correlation among total score, practice orientation, and self-assessment that catechize the inclusion of these two scales in the measurement of cultural competency. the overall score on cultural competency among students was found to be satisfactory. however, our study revealed areas of improvement in some aspects of awareness and sensitivity of students, their patientcentered communications, practice orientation, and special attention to several aspects of behavioral issues. recognizing the effects of racism and cultural insensitivity in medicine, reform in medical education started across the united states in the late 1960s (ludmerer, 1999). the liaison committee on medical education (lcme) established the following cultural competency criteria in 2000: “the faculty and students must demonstrate an understanding of how people of diverse cultures and belief systems perceive health and illness and respond to various symptoms, diseases, and treatments. medical students should learn to recognize and appropriately address gender and cultural biases in health care delivery while considering first the health of the patient (association of american medical colleges, 2005).” despite multiple efforts from various sectors, problems associated with race and culture in medical practice continues. the majority of participating medical programmers agree that the training provided to medical students is insufficient in terms of cultural competency for future careers in the healthcare system in their countries (sorensen et al., 2019). awareness and sensitivity refer to the health care provider's awareness of and receptivity to cultural expressions, attitudes, and behaviors of various patient groups, including variations in language, religion, dietary preferences, familial patterns, and medical procedures. healthcare professionals' behaviors are seen as the outward expression and evidence of their views and beliefs (schwarz et al., 2015). the most crucial element in establishing someone's culture is their race. people from similar cultural backgrounds think and behave similarly, and many cultural groups place a high value on their spirituality and religious beliefs. to teach our students about other people's cultural history, it is crucial to give them access to a variety of resources. we 99 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 need to help them identify potential cultural barriers and gather data on the cultural needs and expectations of the patients. health professionals' attitude toward the patient-provider power dynamics in a particular provider's practice is referred to as "practice orientation" (krupat et al, 2000). patient-centered communication techniques involve gathering information about patients' feelings, beliefs, and expectations and incorporating them into the conversation (cooper et al., 2003). encouraging our students to incorporate the patient’s and their family's lifestyles or values in the treatment plan and inviting them to share the responsibility of their treatment will improve our students’ practice orientation and patient-centered communication. these areas of cultural competency have to be emphasized in our clinical courses in different formats. these could be in the form of lectures, workshops, case discussions in groups, role play, etc. first-year medical students at the university of california, san francisco (ucsf) participate in a diversity workshop to increase their awareness of their own and their peers' cultural backgrounds and to foster or reinforce respect and tolerance for others' differences (goldstone et al., 2000). a presentation on cultural diversity and spirituality is presented to firstyear medical students at the university of arkansas for medical sciences, as well as when they begin their introduction to clinical medicine course (deloney et al., 2000). to encourage cultural diversity in medical education, several elements must be taken into account, including curriculum design and development, student experience, faculty development, and institutional support (dutta et al., 2021). the findings of our study support the need for the educational system to tackle this issue more seriously and adopt fresh strategies for its solution. when evaluating the effects of studying and working in a culture that is different from one's own, gender should also be taken into consideration (monrouxe et al., 2022). it might be beneficial to provide representative case studies, talk about social and structural variables that affect health outcomes, and encourage students to consider their own unconscious biases (forrest et al., 2022). our study indicated the following realities about factors to be considered as predictors of the cultural competency of clinical students: • overall cultural competency of medical students cannot be predicted by their age, gender, semester of study, race, and birth country of their mother. students whose father was born in the usa scored higher than others in overall cultural competency score. • awareness and sensitivity of medical students towards cultural competency cannot be predicted by their age, gender, semester of study, and birth country of a student’s parents. students born in the usa and caribbean students scored higher than others on this scale. • the behavior of medical students concerning cultural competency cannot be predicted by the age, gender, race, and birth country of a student’s mother. students whose father 100 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 was born in the usa scored higher than others on this scale. surprisingly, students’ scores were found to be decreasing with the progression of the school semester of the study. • patient-centered communication among medical students can be predicted neither by their birth country nor by the birth country of their mother. male students compared to females, and white american/caucasian students compared to others scored higher on this scale. like the behavioral component, the student’s scores on this scale were also found to be decreasing with the progression of the school semester of the study. • the practice orientation of medical students cannot be predicted by their race and the birth country of their mother. this scale score was found to be increasing with participants advancing in age and semester of the study. interestingly, female students compared to males, and the students whose parents (only father) were born outside the usa compared to others scored higher on this scale. • self-assessment of cultural competence cannot be predicted by medical students’ race, semester of study, and country of birth (students or their parents). male students scored higher than females and the score was found to be decreasing with the advancing age of the students on this scale. most of these predictors of cultural competency were found to be non-modifiable. in advanced terms of clinical years, the low score of students in behavior and patient-centered communication skill despite higher scores in practice orientation is a serious matter of concern. this could be the effect of inadequate reinforcement of cultural competency in the courses, and burnout in higher terms which has been proven to be increasing with the training level in medical school (dyrbye and shanafelt, 2016). the other associated factors and approaches to improve these areas of cultural competency need to be explored. limitation of study all of the scales used to measure cultural competency are self-reports. students might have answered the questions that they believed will make them look good to others (social desirability bias). having a clinical preceptor evaluating especially the behavior demonstrated by the students concerning cultural competency would have been ideal. also, the small sample size limits this study’s generalizability. conclusion in the era when patient-centered health care is being advocated, the need to equip future doctors with cultural competency skills is even more important. the medical students’ awareness/sensitivity toward cultural competence, concerning behavior, their patient-centered communication, and practice orientation skills need attention and have to be a driving point in the planning, developing, and implementing focused effective cross-culture curricula to better prepare the students for the benefit of diverse patients and communities they will serve. especially, practice orientation and patient-centered communication scales gained a lot of 101 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 points from both sides, overachievement, and underachievement, where five out of seven predictors respectively indicated the correlation with these cultural competency scales. the study indicates the need to develop our university guidelines and assessment to minimize the biases in health care delivery and explore the role of cultural competencies in increasing transcultural knowledge of medical students, generous expression of their beliefs and attitudes towards others and respect patient’s feelings and belief in their communication and clinical practice. funding this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. conflict of interest the authors have no conflict of interest to declare. ethical approval this study was approved by the institutional review board of trinity medical sciences university, st. vincent and grenadines (ref. no. 148/22) consent students included in this study provided informed consent to participate before completing the questionnaire. authors’ contributions d.k.s. conceptualized and designed the study, contributed to data collection, and the writing of the original draft and final version of the manuscript; y. m. designed the study and assisted in drafting the manuscript, and reviewed the manuscript. j. i. designed the study, assisted in data collection, and reviewed the manuscript. all authors have critically reviewed and approved the final draft and are responsible for the content and similarity index of the manuscript. acknowledgment we would like to extend our sincere thanks to dr. brielle marks cartwright, assistant dean for clinical clerkship, for encouraging the students in clinical years to participate in this research and collect the data. we very much appreciate our trinity students in clinical years who volunteered to take part in this study for their time and input. appendix the items of five different hpcci scales are mentioned in the appendix. references association of american medical colleges. (2005). cultural competence education for medical students. https://www.aamc.org/media/20856 beach, m. c., price, e. g., gary, t. l., robinson, k.a., gozu, a., palacio, a., smarth, c., jenckes, m. w., feuerstein, c., bass, e. b., powe, n. r., & cooper, l. a. (2005). cultural 102 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 competence: a systematic review of health care provider educational interventions. medical care, 43(4), 356-373. https://doi: 10.1097/01.mlr.0000156861.58905.96. cooper, l. a., roter, d. l., johnson, r. l., ford, d. e., steinwachs, d. m. & powe, n. r. (2003). patient-centered communication, ratings of care, and concordance of patient and physician race. annals of internal medicine, 139, 907-915. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-139-11-200312020-00009 crandall, s. j., george, g., marion, g. s., & davis, s. (2003). applying theory to the design of cultural competency training for medical students: a case study. academic medicine, 78(6), 588–594. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-200306000-00007 deloney, l. a., graham, c. j. & erwin, d. o. (2000). presenting cultural diversity and spirituality to first-year medical students. academic medicine, 75(5), 513-514. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-200005000-00032 dovidio, j.f., eggly, s., albrecht, t.l., hagiwara, n., & penner, l.a. (2016). racial biases in medicine and healthcare disparities. testing, psychometrics, methodology in applied psychology, 23(4), 489-510. http://dx.doi.org/10.4473/tpm23.4.5 dutta, n., maini, a., afolabi, f., forrest, d., golding, b., salami, r. k., & kumar, s. (2021). promoting cultural diversity and inclusion in undergraduate primary care education. education for primary care, 32(4), 192-197. https://doi.org/10.1080/14739879.2021.1900749 dyrbye, l. n. & shanafelt, t. (2016). a narrative review on burnout experienced by medical students and residents. medical education, 50(1), 132–149. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.12927 fitzgerald, c. & hurst, s. (2017). implicit bias in healthcare professionals: a systematic review. bmc medical ethics, 18(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-017-0179-8 forrest, d., george, s., stewart, v., dutta, n., mcconville, k., pope, l., & kumar, s. (2022). cultural diversity and inclusion in uk medical schools. clinical teacher, 19(3), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1111/tct.13472 gerber, j. s., prasad, p. a., localio, r., fiks, a. g., grundmeier, r.w., bell, l. m., & zaoutis, t. e. (2013). racial differences in antibiotic prescribing by primary care pediatricians. pediatrics, 131, 677-684. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2012-2500 giger, j., davidhizar, r. e., purnell, l., harden, j.t., phillips, j., & strickland, o. (2007). american academy of nursing expert panel report developing cultural competence to eliminate health disparities in ethnic minorities and other vulnerable populations. journal of transcultural nursing, 18, 95-102. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659606298618 goldstone, r. & drake, m. (2000). setting the culture of medical school from the start: appreciating and affirming diversity. academic medicine, 75(5), 513. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-200005000-00031 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=deloney+la&cauthor_id=10824784 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=graham+cj&cauthor_id=10824784 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=erwin+do&cauthor_id=10824784 103 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 krupat, e., rosenkranz, s. l., yeager, c. m., barnard, k., putnam, s.m., & inui, t.s. (2000). the practice orientations of physicians and patients: the effect of doctor-patient congruence on satisfaction. patient education and counseling, 39, 49-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0738-3991(99)00090-7 lanting, k., dogra, n., hendrickx, k., nathan, y., sim, j., & suurmond, j. (2019). culturally competent in medical education – european medical teachers’ self-reported preparedness and training needs to teach cultural competence topics and to teach a diverse class. mededpublish, 8, 98. https://doi.org/10.15694/mep.2019.000098.1 lomiguen, c. m., rosete, i., & chin, j. (2020). providing culturally competent care for covid19 intensive care unit delirium: a case report and review. cureus, 12(10), e10867. https:// doi: 10.7759/cureus.10867 ludmerer, k. m. (1999). time to heal: american medical education from the turn of the century to the era of managed care. new york: oxford university press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195181364.001.0001 monrouxe, l. v., chandratilake, m., chen, j., chhabra, s., zheng, l., costa, p.s., lee, y-m., karnieli-miller, o., nishigori, h., ogden, k., pawlikowska, t., riquelme, a., sethi, a., soemantri, d., wearn, a., wolvaardt, l., yusoff, m. s. b., & yau, s-y. (2022). medical students’ and trainees’ country-by-gender profiles: hofstede’s cultural dimensions across sixteen diverse countries. frontiers in medicine, 8:746288. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2021.746288 paternotte, e., fokkema, j. p., van loon, k. a., van dulmen, s., & scheele, f. (2014). cultural diversity: blind spot in medical curriculum documents, a document analysis. bmc medical education, 14, 176. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-14-176. rapp, d. e. (2006). integrating cultural competency into the undergraduate medical curriculum. medical education, 40,704–710. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.13652929.2006.02515.x schim, s. m., & doorenbos, a. z. (2010). a three-dimensional model of cultural congruence: framework for intervention. journal of social work in end-of-life & palliative care, 6, 256-270. https://doi.org/10.1080/15524256.2010.529023 schulman, k. a., berlin, j. a., harless, w., kerner, j. f., sistrunk, s., gersh, b. j., dubé, r,, taleghani, c. k., burke, j. e., williams, s., eisenberg, j. m., & escarce, j. j. (1999). the effect of race and sex on physicians’ recommendations for cardiac catheterization. new england journal of medicine, 340, 618–626. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm199902253400806 schwarz, j.l., witte, r., sellers, s. l., luzadis, r. a., weiner, j. l., domingo-snyder, e., & page, j. e. (2015). development and psychometric assessment of the healthcare provider cultural competence instrument. inquiry: the journal of health care organization https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=kerner+jf&cauthor_id=10029647 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=sistrunk+s&cauthor_id=10029647 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=gersh+bj&cauthor_id=10029647 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=dub%c3%a9+r&cauthor_id=10029647 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=taleghani+ck&cauthor_id=10029647 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=burke+je&cauthor_id=10029647 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=williams+s&cauthor_id=10029647 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=eisenberg+jm&cauthor_id=10029647 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=escarce+jj&cauthor_id=10029647 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=schwarz+jl&cauthor_id=25911617 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=luzadis+ra&cauthor_id=25911617 104 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 provision and financing, 52, 0046958015583696. https://doi.org/10.1177/0046958015583696 sorensen, j., marie, n. m., suurmond, j., carter-pokras, o., garcia-ramirez, m. & krasnik, a. (2019). need for ensuring cultural competence in medical programmes of european universities. bmc medical education, 19, 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-018-1449-y tervalon, m. (2003). components of culture in health for medical students' education. academic medicine, 78(6), 570–576. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-20030600000005 appendix healthcare provider cultural competence instrument (hpcci) items scale 1: awareness and sensitivity 1. race is the most important factor in determining a person’s culture. 2. people with a common cultural background think and act alike. 3. many aspects of culture influence health and health care. 4. aspects of cultural diversity need to be assessed for each individual, group, and organization. 5. if i know about a person’s culture, i do not need to assess their personal preferences for health services. 6. spirituality and religious beliefs are important aspects of many cultural groups. 7. individual people may identify with more than 1 cultural group. 8. language barriers are the only difficulties for recent immigrants to my country/ united states 9. i understand that people from different cultures may define the concept of “health care” in different ways. 10. i think that knowing about different cultural groups helps direct my work with individuals, families, groups, and organizations. 11. i enjoy working with people who are culturally different from me. scale 2: behavior 12. i include cultural assessment when i do client or family evaluations. 13. i seek information on cultural needs when i identify new clients and families in my practice. 14. i have resource books and other materials available to help me learn about clients and families from different cultures. 15. i use a variety of sources to learn about the cultural heritage of other people. 16. i ask clients and families to tell me about their own explanations of health and illness. 17. i ask clients and families to tell me about their expectations for health services. https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12909-018-1449-y#auth-allan-krasnik 105 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 18. i avoid using generalizations to stereotype groups of people. 19. i recognize potential barriers to service that might be encountered by different people. 20. i act to remove obstacles for people of different cultures when i identify such obstacles. 21. i remove obstacles for people of different cultures when clients and families identify such obstacles to me. 22. i welcome feedback from clients and their families about how i relate to others with different cultures. 23. i welcome feedback from coworkers about how i relate to others with different cultures. 24. i find ways to adapt my services to my clients and their families’ preferences. 25. i document cultural assessments. 26. i document the adaptations i make with clients and their families. 27. i learn from my coworkers about people with different cultural heritages. scale 3: patient-centered communication 28. when there are a variety of treatment options, how often do you give the client and their family a choice when making a decision? 29. when there are a variety of treatment options, how often do you make an effort to give the client and their family control over their treatment? 30. when there are a variety of treatment options, how often do you ask the client and their family to take responsibility for their treatment? scale 4: practice orientation 31. the health care provider is the one who should decide what gets talked about during a visit. 32. it is often best for the client and their family that they do not have a full explanation of the client’s medical condition. 33. the client and their family should rely on their health care providers’ knowledge and not try to find out about their condition(s) on their own. 34. when health care providers ask a lot of questions about a client and their family’s background, they are prying too much into personal matters. 35. if health care providers are truly good at diagnosis and treatment, the way they relate to client and their family is not that important. 36. the client and their family should be treated as if they are partners with the health care provider, equal in power and status. 37. when the client and their family disagree with their health provider, this is a sign that the health care provider does not have the client and their family’s respect and trust. 38. a treatment plan cannot succeed if it is in conflict with a client and their family’s lifestyle or values. 39. it is not that important to know a client and their family’s culture and background to treat the client’s illness. 106 jcve 2023, 6(2): 85-106 scale 5: self-assessment 40. as a medical student/health care provider, i understand how to lower communication barriers with clients and their families. 41. i have a positive communication style with clients and their families. 42. as a medical student/health care provider, i am able to foster a friendly environment with my clients and their families. 43. i attempt to demonstrate a high level of respect for clients and their families. 44. as a medical student/health care provider, i consistently assess my skills as i work with diverse groups of clients and their families. 45. i attempt to establish a genuine sense of trust with my clients and their families. 46. i make every effort to understand the unique circumstances of each client and her or his family. 47. i value the life experience of each of my clients and their families. 48. the use of effective interpersonal skills is very important in working with my clients and their families. microsoft word 1.omodan.1-12 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 1 2022 pp. 1-12 virtual management of students' unrest during the covid-19 new normal: the need for an innovative approach bunmi isaiah omodana a. faculty of education, walter sisulu university, butterworth campus, south africa. article info received: november 25, 2021 revised: january 7, 2022 accepted: february 22, 2022 how to cite omodan, b. i. (2022). virtual management of students' unrest during the covid-19 new normal: the need for an innovative approach. journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.2 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract covid-19 has changed the face of universities in terms of their operation, which include but are not limited to teaching, learning, researching, and management system. however, this does not exclude the management of students' unrest. despite the covid-19 inversion, students' unrest did not stop; instead, it took a more sophisticated dimension. such dimensions include virtual protests and virtual meetings using social media. this significantly affects the culture of teaching and learning and also attempt to blackmail the image of the universities. therefore, this conceptual paper argues that an innovative approach to virtual management is required in the pandemic. it also proffered an up-to-date management style suitable for managing student unrest during covid-19. the argument is located within diffusion of innovation theory to understand the university stakeholders' behaviour and adaptability to new ways of doing things during the covid-19-inflicted change. therefore, the study argued the need for a change in the management styles towards managing students' unrest. the challenges that hinder the university towards effective management of virtual protest/unrest and the possible solutions to the new methods of students' protest/unrest was also presented. the study recommends, among others, the incorporation of strategic leadership and communication in the universities' management styles to meet the unavoidable dynamics of human behaviours in the system. keywords virtual management; students' unrest; virtual protest; covid-19; universities. 10.46303/jcve.2022.2 2 jcve 2022, 5(1): 1-12 introduction student unrest has been a challenge to universities all over the world. students' movements and strikes range from the protest against the violation of human rights, protest against economic policies, protest against discrimination on ethnic, disability and colour basis; protest against rising in tuition fees (barton, 2020; frederick & shifrer, 2019; pickard, 2014), among others. student movement must be viewed in perspective. it is important because students play a huge role in society at large (they graduate later and become active members of society). student unrest is complex and necessitates management action based on experience with a determination to address genuine issues that lead to complaints by students and subsequent unrests, which in most cases results in a bad image of the universities (birya, 2020). as a result, universities lose reputation and trust among stakeholders, affecting their financial stability and productivity among stakeholders of the societies. hence, university management has faced many challenges when dealing with student unrest situations, including disruption to the academic process, violation of human rights, and low visibility due to internet connection (czerniewicz et al., 2019). however, a new dimension brought by covid-19 makes it difficult for university authorities to handle student unrest and strikes. the entire world was recently trapped due to the coronavirus epidemic, otherwise known as covid-19, which is said to have originated in wuhan, china, in late 2019 (varalakshmi & arunachalam, 2020; tarman, 2020). the virus was detected as communicable through social interaction and subsequently labelled a pandemic (who, 2020a). most people are infected with the virus through coughing, sneezing, and close contact with a carrier (who, 2020b). covid-19 has wreaked havoc worldwide due to its uncontrollable spread to almost all countries, including south africa. the government of numerous nations, including south africa, has complied with who's recommendations by closing the nations against all activities, including education sectors. though a larger percentage of activities have resumed operations, many activities are still done online, including teaching and learning and meetings. covid-19 seems to have revolutionised university student activism by shutting down the physical space and forcing activity into the cyber realm (hove & dube, 2022). this is because the lockdowns at universities forced student activism to adapt into online crusading as a viable alternative to make demands in the form of protest on twitter, facebook, and whatsapp, among others (white, 2020). this virtual dimension of student unrest is done without the usual mass mobilisation of students at the university premises or in any public place. it is worth noting that the advent of covid-19 requires universities to operate within their normal system, which includes handling virtual operations of all the university stakeholders (madimabe & omodan, 2021), including the student protests and meetings. management of student unrest during the covid-19 new normal is likely to have a significant effect on the teaching-learning process because, during this online protest, students do not attend lectures or laboratory exercises), it affects examination grading (withdrawals by students due to disruption of academic work) and affects both students and university productivity. virtual/online student unrest also disrupts the management of 3 jcve 2022, 5(1): 1-12 universities because the university has to keep adjusting and re-adjusting activities to ameliorate the lost time during the protest. this unrest seems to affect students as well, mostly first-year degree students because they are new to a university environment and have no previous study habits. some of them were admitted to universities during the covid-19 new normal, and they do not know how to manage their time effectively. this agrees with kaisara and bwalya (2021) argument that first-year students struggle to cope with the new academic environment during the covid-19 new normal. however, the effect of this may not be as obvious as it is, but sooner or later, the lacuna will be created against the students. therefore, as universities have been responding by managing or preventing students' unrest during the contact session, concerted efforts must also be made to respond, prevent and manage virtual unrest. literature, however, confirms that universities face many challenges when dealing with student protests due to changes brought by covid-19 (almossa, 2021; hove & dube, 2022; matarirano et al., 2021). this is because student movements become more systematically violent as a result of the internet which spreads news faster than before (zhuravskaya et al., 2020). it has been noted that some students hide their identity on the internet using masks for various reasons such as drug abuse, deceiving families about their activities and making derogatory comments (zhu et al., 2017). this new dimension is somewhat sophisticated to the extent that virtual committees among the students have been formed through social media to mobilise themselves to engage in online activism. such committees have various objectives, including organising sit-ins, boycotts of classes, and virtual meetings organised by students to discuss future plans without physically gathering within or outside the university gates as before covid-19 (soled et al., 2020). the most common between the old activism (physical protest) and the new activism (virtual protest) is that the causes are the same, that is, the issues related to tuition fees, poor infrastructure, lawlessness in universities, human rights, better student's conditions and inclusive management are still the causes of unrest. also, students' attitudes against social inequalities (olonisakin et al., 2021) propels social unrest even in the wake of covid-19. based on this, it is expedient for the universities, and their management system must be rejigged to meet up with the dynamics of the covid-19 new normal. this is the premise upon which this study aims to explore. therefore, this conceptual paper aimed to respond by proffering an up-to-date management style suitable for student unrest during the covid-19 era. research question the following research question was formulated to guide the study and its conceptual and theoretical argument towards new ways of managing students' unrest in universities:  how can virtual students' unrest and its activism be managed during the covid-19 pandemic in universities? 4 jcve 2022, 5(1): 1-12 research objectives to respond to the above research question, the following two objectives will be perused to give ways to the analysis of the adopted theory:  the study argued possible challenges that may hinder the management of virtual students protest/unrest/activism in universities.  the study also presented possible solutions based on the adopted theory towards the effective management of virtual students' unrest in universities. methodology this study is a conceptual paper laced with concepts to understand the issues of online student unrest and or activism. the argument is located within diffusion of innovation to understand the university stakeholders' behaviour and the new ways of doing things during the covid-19 inflicted change. first, the origin of the theory was explored, followed by the assumptions/principles/purposes within which the argument towards effective management of student unrest during covid-19 was derived. the sense from this article is located and brought out from the ingredient of diffusion of innovation supported by relevant literature. this is expedient because the guiding philosophy for this study is the transformative paradigm. this perspective is also utilised as a guiding approach for this argument. this is relevant because the goal of the study is to improve university operations during emergencies such as covid-19 in university education, which has been plagued by several problems. according to jackson et al. (2018), the transformative paradigm (tp) embraces the exploration of solutions to the problem of marginalised communities as well as transforming the power plays and various contradictions that have degenerated the community. as a result, this paradigm allows me to view the students and the university authorities as one family that must work together to ensure the university system's success (mertens, 2009). this is in line with the argument of jackson et al. (2018), who claim that the distinguishing feature of this paradigm is to recognise links between powerful (university authorities) and powerless (students), which creates openness to the minds of the researched. furthermore, it is clear from dube's (2016) and omodan (2020) definitions that tp's major goal is to improve the lived experience the researched for better. therefore, the study argued the need for a change in the management styles towards managing students' unrest. the challenges that hinder the university towards effective management of unrest and the possible solutions towards effective management of the new methods of students' unrest was also presented. this study is taken from a larger project with ethical clearance number fedrec 03-11-21 approved by the ethical committee of the walter sisulu university, south africa. underpinning theory: the diffusion of innovation (doi) the diffusion of innovation (doi) theory, propounded by e.m. rogers in 1962, is one of the most well-known social science theories. it began as communication to explain how an innovation or 5 jcve 2022, 5(1): 1-12 product spreads over time through a specific population or social system. doi states that people's perceptions of innovation and its newness will determine their decision to adopt or reject it (rogers, 2003). the ultimate consequence of this diffusion is that individuals, as part of a system, should do something different than before (buying or utilising a new product, learning and performing a new behaviour) (rogers, 2003). doi has limitations but uses innovation to describe any change perceived as new by members of a social system (rogers, 2003). as a result of diffusion processes, a new idea, behaviour, or physical innovation may be accepted or penetrated. relativity advantage, complexity, compatibility, trialability, and visibility are five attributes identified by rogers as having major impacts on adoption behaviours (al-jabri & sohail, 2012). the doi is a well-known theory that understands why and how individuals embrace new ideas and technologies. this is in consonance with the argument of dearing (2009) that doi is a social science model that explains how, when, and at what speed innovation and technology is accepted and spread across cultures. according to rogers (2003), there are five recognised adoption categories. while the majority of the adopters fall into the middle ones, it is still critical to understand the characteristics of people when promoting or adapting to innovation. the categories are innovators, early adapters, early majority, late majority and laggards.  innovators: these are individuals who want to be the first to try out new things. they are enterprising and open to new ideas. as a result, these individuals are often the first to come up with innovative solutions. because this group is so eager to take chances, little, if any, modifications are required in order for them to be attracted.  early adapters: these are individuals who have much influence. they enjoy positions of leadership and embrace change chances. they are already aware of the need to change and find new ideas quite easy to adopt. this category does not require facts to persuade them that something must change.  early majority: people like the ones are rare. however, they do adopt new ideas before the average person. they typically require proof that the innovation works before adopting it, however. stories of success and evidence of effectiveness may be effective in appealing to this group.  late majority: since they are wary of change, those who make up this group will only embrace an innovation after the majority has tried it. information on how many other people have attempted the innovation and succeeded may be used to appeal to this demographic.  laggards: this is the most difficult group to attract. they are restricted by custom and tradition, and they are cautious of change. this is the most difficult demographic to win over because they are the most guarded. statistics, scare tactics, and peer pressure from people in other adopter groups might all be used to appeal to these individuals. 6 jcve 2022, 5(1): 1-12 this theory is relevant because it enables the researcher to understand the dynamics of people in the social system and the extent to which they are open to change. there are individual differences when it comes to change adjustment towards development. in the case of this study, one could see that universities need to galvanise the knowledge of various innovators who can swiftly think and find a way to manage virtual protest and unrest in universes. this case will assist the early adapters who are already aware of the need to develop new ways of managing students' unrest. in the same vein, this will convince the early majority on the need to kin into the ideas and which could stand as proof of such innovation. the trend and readiness of innovators, early adapters, and the early majority will motivate all the university managements members, including the late majority and laggards, towards an innovative management style that could respond adequately to the new dimension of students' unrest in universities. the argument here is that the new trend of students' protest orchestrated via social media needs an up-to-date management style that understands the sophistication of 21st-century university operations. this theory also takes solace in the transformative worldview as indicated in the methodology. it preaches that capability must be gathered from the innovation and collaboratively implemented by university management in covid-19. however, some challenges may hinder its implementation towards managing virtual unrest in the university system. the challenges and the possible solutions are elaborated on below. challenges of virtual management of students unrest in universities this section discusses the challenges associated with managing virtual protest/unrest in the university system during the covid-19 new normal. these challenges are perceived as a cogent hindrance for university management to adequately respond to virtual unrest among university students. among many challenges, literature is consistent in the lucrativeness of lack of coordination and feedback, lack of physical response mechanism as a major hindrance to managing virtual protest among students. lack of coordination and feedback one of the problems of managing human capital is the lack of coordination and feedback (abbasi et al., 2013). this effect university as well as employees in the corporate world. management is done through guiding, controlling and coordinating, such as the combination of activities that ensure that an organisation plans to achieve its objectives (comfort, 2007). however, effective management will only occur if there is coordination and feedback between each individual and the group include all activities that facilitate the creation and re-creation of organisational resources towards mentioning physical and virtual peace. therefore, coordination and feedback enable an organisation such as a university to attract, develop, and retain people who can contribute value to the organisation. however, this indicates a lack of coordination and 7 jcve 2022, 5(1): 1-12 feedback mechanism to enable the system to respond to all kinds of issues arising from stakeholders. since students’ use of social media as a medium of protest is not under the university authority, it becomes complex and challenging to coordinate and or regulate how they use social media. this also results in a lack of feedback. at most times, students protest online, and the majority of their agitations are not taken to the appropriate authority for solutions to come in time. though, over the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of internet protests as people around the globe fight for human rights and legal justice. the internet has allowed people to freely express themselves on social and political issues through social media. according to scholars, the internet assists marginalised groups in developing their deliberative forums, connecting up, and then contesting dominant meanings and practices (sen, 2012). alternative media's contribution to the ability of subaltern groups to challenge established power structures is demonstrated (downing, 2000). this evidence further contributes to the university's inability to coordinate the students' activities on social media, which automatically gives no right to an opportunity to feedback, whether from students or any meaningful stakeholders. not only that, it becomes difficult for the university management to respond to the students' agitations made via social media because some university policies and modes of operation only recognise agitation made via official channels of such universities. the internet and social media platforms like twitter and facebook are driving today's student activists to be more active, connected, and committed (hernández, 2015; wong, 2015). the energy and enthusiasm of online campaigners appear to have been renewed, with students appearing more energised than in the past. it has been shown that it can be a useful tool for student activism (hove & dube, 2022), making it difficult to manage. lack of virtual response mechanism in this study, the response mechanism is how the universities respond to crisis/protest situations. in the past, it was a physical response that used to come by addressing the protesters, using security forces to disperse the crowd of students within the university facilities (fomunyam, 2017; gusfield, 1971). however, this is not the case during the covid-19 new normal where students do not need to stage any physical protest, instead, they take to social media to make their agitations known (wahid et al., 2020). in the present time, students from various online committees plan and mobilise themselves towards online protest. in most cases, they come out with attractive hashtags such as #feesmustfall, #rhodesmustfall (hodes, 2017; laurore, 2016; soled et al., 2020). according to movement researchers, this further confirms the argument that online networks offer the foundation for organising and coordinating protestors and organisations (diani, 2003; diani, 2015; melucci, 1996). as a result, the capacity of social media to enhance the inherently relational nature in the collective action of the students by providing a global technological infrastructure that supports the rapid development 8 jcve 2022, 5(1): 1-12 of communication networks is precisely what makes them so appealing and difficult to manage (rainie & wellman, 2012). deducing from the dynamics of such development, it sounds difficult to manage and may stand as an obstacle to university productivity and could also result in the destruction of university image. this calls for the implementation of doi theory where all the stakeholders in the university should get together based on their behaviours to innovation as indicated above to find lasting and or situational solutions to the challenges. below are the possible solutions argued from the doi perspectives solutions to the challenges of virtual management of students unrest having highlighted and discussed the challenges of managing student unrest/protest in the wake of covid-19, the following solution was argued as one of the ways in which university management could adequately respond to the virtual unrest in universities. this solution is strategic leadership and communication management. strategic leadership and communication management during catastrophes, strategic leadership communication is vital for the formation and management of crisis networks in order to rescue organisations and authorities. that is, the place of collaboration and communication of information is imminent. networking has been identified as one way to enhance an organisation's crisis management capabilities (hyvärinen & vos, 2015), including universities. according to several studies, poor networking and/or communication may be a major barrier in the process of crisis management (kapucu et al., 2010). according to research, difficulties in networking during crises have been documented as a major hindrance to managing crisis situations (kapucu et al., 2010). however, according to boal and hooijberg (2000), strategic leadership involves changing, learning, and applying managerial wisdom towards problem-solving. this study argues that to effectively manage student unrest of any kind, either physical or virtual, the place of strategic leadership cannot be underestimated. this also connects the need for effective management with strategic communication. this implies concerted efforts of a system involving "purposeful actor, rational and deliberate decision-making, and the implementation" of the plan of action in the process of managing issues and or crises (sandhu, 2009). strategic communication is fundamental to the management of virtual students' unrest and predominantly to management in general because of reasons such as: "(a) supporting communication in the response network, (b) monitoring stakeholder needs, and (c) communicating with citizens and news media" (johansson & bäck, 2017, p. 324). this strategy is useful because it enhances sharing of information to understand the issues and organisational needs towards solving issues. based on this, this study argues that strategic leadership communication is prominent in managing and or responding to the virtual student unrest in the universities. this aligns with johansson and bäck (2017) that strategic leadership communication helps organise networks and significantly enhances 'disaster resilience'. 9 jcve 2022, 5(1): 1-12 according to paton (2006), disaster resilience is the adaptive capacity to identify, activate, and alleviate response resources to the crisis situation. furthermore, strategic leadership communication also synchronises the innovators' categories as indicated by doi: early adapters, early majority, late majority and laggards and the strength of an organisation needed in the wake of the covid-19 new normal. conclusion and recommendations this study explored and established that students' unrest in universities took a new dimension where students no longer rely on their physical strength to make their agitations known to the public through virtual protest. this study argued the need for an up-to-date and virtual management style by exploring the challenges and possible solutions. diffusion of innovation theory was explored as the brain behind the urge for innovation to respond to the student unrest during covid-19 new normal. based on this, the study concluded that lack of coordination and feedback and lack of physical response mechanism are the major challenges, while strategic leadership and communication management was suggested as a means by which virtual unrest could be managed in universities during the covid-19 pandemic. based on this, the university authorities must make a concerted effort to understand the core value of doi and leverage its strength to ensure that the behaviours and capability of organisational members are explored towards managing virtual unrest in the system. references abbasi, a., owen, c., hossain, l., & hamra, j. (2013). social connectedness and adaptive team coordination during fire events. fire safety journal, 59, 30-36. al-jabri, i. m., & sohail, m. s. (2012). mobile banking adoption: application of diffusion of innovation theory. journal of electronic commerce research, 13(4), 379-391. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2523623 almossa, s. y. (2021). university students' perspectives toward learning and assessment during covid-19. education and information technologies, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10554-8 barton, k. c. (2020). students' understanding of institutional practices: the missing dimension in human rights education. american educational research journal, 57(1), 188-217. https://doi.org/10.3102%2f0002831219849871 birya, g. d. (2020). the role of communication in crisis management in institutions of higher learning in kenya: a case of daystar university student unrest (doctoral dissertation, daystar university, school of communication). http://repository.daystar.ac.ke/handle/123456789/3383 boal, k. b., & hooijberg, r. (2000). strategic leadership research: moving on. the leadership quarterly, 11(4), 515-549. 10 jcve 2022, 5(1): 1-12 comfort, l. k. (2007). crisis management in hindsight: cognition, communication, coordination, and control. public administration review, 67, 189-197. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00827.x czerniewicz, l., trotter, h., & haupt, g. (2019). online teaching in response to student protests and campus shutdowns: academics' perspectives. international journal of educational technology in higher education, 16(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-019-01701 dearing, j. w. (2009). applying diffusion of innovation theory to intervention development. research on social work practice, 19(5), 503–518. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731509335569 diani, m. (2003). networks and social movements: a research programme. in m. diani & d. mcadam (eds.), social movements and networks: relational approaches to collective action (pp. 299–318). oxford: oxford university press. diani, m. (2015). the cement of civil society: studying networks in localities. cambridge university press. downing, j. d. (2000). radical media: rebellious communication and social movements. sage. dube, b. (2016). a socio-religious hybridity strategy to respond to the problems of religious studies in zimbabwe. phd thesis, faculty of education, university of the free state. https://scholar.ufs.ac.za/handle/11660/5424 fomunyam, k. g. (2017). student protest and the culture of violence at african universities: an inherited ideological trait. yesterday and today, 17, 38-63. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2223-0386/2017/n17a3 frederick, a., & shifrer, d. (2019). race and disability: from analogy to intersectionality. sociology of race and ethnicity, 5(2), 200-214. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f2332649218783480 gusfield, j. r. (1971). student protest and university response. the annals of the american academy of political and social science, 395(1), 26–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/000271627139500104 hernández, e. (2015). #hermandad: twitter as a counter space for latina doctoral students. journal of college and character, 16(2), 124–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/2194587x. 2015.1024795 hodes, r. (2017). questioning 'fees must fall'. african affairs, 116(462), 140-150. hove, b., & dube, b. (2022). what now for the zimbabwean student demonstrator? online activism and its challenges for university students in a covid-19 lockdown. international journal of higher education, 11(2), 100-108. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v11n2p hyvärinen, j., & vos, m. (2015). developing a conceptual framework for investigating communication supporting community resilience. societies, 5(3), 583–597. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc5030583 11 jcve 2022, 5(1): 1-12 jackson, k. m., pukys, s., castro, a., hermosura, l., mendez, j., vohra-gupta, s., & morales, g. (2018). using the transformative paradigm to conduct a mixed-methods needs assessment of a marginalised community: methodological lessons and implications. evaluation and program planning, 66, 111-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2017.09.010 johansson, c., & bäck, e. (2017). strategic leadership communication for crisis network coordination. international journal of strategic communication, 11(4), 324-343. https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118x.2017.1341889 kapucu, n., arslan, t. & demiroz, f. (2010). collaborative emergency management and national emergency management network. disaster prevention and management, 19(4), 452-468. https://doi.org/10.1108/09653561011070376 kaisara, g., & bwalya, k. j. (2021). investigating the e-learning challenges faced by students during covid-19 in namibia. international journal of higher education, 10(1), 308-318. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v10n1p308 laurore, c. l. (2016). rhodes must fall: student activism and the politics of memory at the university of cape town, south africa (doctoral dissertation). http://hdl.handle.net/10166/3752 madimabe, m., & omodan, b. (2021). investigating the effects of e-learning as a method of curriculum dissemination for rural tvet college students. research in social sciences and technology, 6(3), 82-92. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.27 matarirano, o., gqokonqana, o., & yeboah, a. (2021). students' responses to multi-modal emergency remote learning during covid-19 in a south african higher institution. research in social sciences and technology, 6(2), 199-218. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.19 melucci, a. (1996). challenging codes. collective action in the information age. cambridge university press. mertens, d. m. (2009). transformative research and evaluation. guilford. olonisakin, t., adebayo, s., & idemudia, e. (2021). social worldviews and social attitudes: examining the psychological correlates for other-concern. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 65-83. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.7 omodan, b. i. (2020). the vindication of decoloniality and the reality of covid-19 as an emergency of the unknown in rural universities. international journal of sociology of education, 20, 1-26. http://doi.org/10.17583/rise.2020.5495 paton, d. (2006). disaster resilience: integrating individual, community, institutional and environmental perspectives. in d. paton & d. m. johnson (eds.), disaster resilience: an integrated approach (pp. 320–341). charles c. thomas. pickard, s. (2014). keep them kettled! student protests, policing and anti-social behaviour. in anti-social behaviour in britain. palgrave: macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137399311_7 12 jcve 2022, 5(1): 1-12 rainie, l., & wellman, b. (2012). networked. the new social operating system. massachussets: the mit press. rogers, e. (2003). diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). new york: free press. sandhu, s. (2009). strategic communication: an institutional perspective. international journal of strategic communication, 3(2), 72-92. https://doi.org/10.1080/15531180902805429 sen, a. f. (2012). the social media as a public sphere: the rise of social opposition. in a paper presented at the international conference of communication media and technology design (iccmtd). soled, d., goel, s., barry, d., erfani, p., joseph, n., kochis, m., uppal, n., velasquez, d., vora, k., & scott, k. w. (2020). medical student mobilisation during a crisis: lessons from a covid-19 medical student response team. academic medicine: journal of the association of american medical colleges, 95(9), 1384–1387. https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000003401 tarman, b. (2020). editorial: reflecting in the shade of pandemic. research in social sciences and technology, 5(2), i-iv. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.02.ed varalakshmi, r., & arunachalam, k. (2020). covid-19: role of faculty members to keep mental activeness of students. asian journal of psychiatry, 51, 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102091 wahid, r., pribadi, f., & wakas, b. e. (2020). digital activism: covid-19 effects in campus learning. budapest international research and critics in linguistics and education (birle) journal, 3(3), 1336-1342. https://doi.org/10.33258/birle.v3i3.1174 white, c. (2020). wielding social media in the cyber-arena: globalism, nationalism, and civic education. research in social sciences and technology, 5(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.01.1 who. 2020a. pneumonia of unknown cause – china. https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2020-don229 who. 2020b. coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) situation report – 46. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/331443 wong, a. (2015). the renaissance of student activism. the atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/05/the-renaissance-of-studentactivism/393749/ zhu, q., skoric, m., & shen, f. (2017). i shield myself from thee: selective avoidance on social media during political protests. political communication, 34(1), 112-131. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2016.1222471 zhuravskaya, e., petrova, m., & enikolopov, r. (2020). political effects of the internet and social media. annual review of economics, 12, 415-438. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-081919-050239 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 1 2022 pp. 211-222 integrated music education in primary school: a position paper eurika jansen van vuuren* * faculty of education, university of mpumalanga, siyabuswa, south africa e-mail: eurikajansenvanvuuren@gmail.com article info received: december 6, 2021 revised: january 19, 2022 accepted: march 12, 2022 how to cite van vuuren, e. j. (2022). integrated music education in primary school: a position paper. journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), 211-222 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.16 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract owing to a number of reasons, including covid-19, the life skills subject in south african primary schools, which includes music education, has been sent backstage to make space to accommodate the ‘more important’ subjects such as literacy and numeracy. this was not advocated by the department of basic education but rather a way for teachers to ensure that they cover all their important work in reduced time. an important manner to reduce time spent on teaching in silo’s, is by using arts-integrated teaching, as with integrated teaching, various topics from different subjects can be covered simultaneously, albeit in a creative manner. this position paper is important as it can provide lecturers, teachers, and curriculum planners and implementers with a framework for the planning of integrated teaching. integrated teaching in all its variances is known, yet very few teachers implement it owing to various reasons, including insufficient training. the author provides insight into the process of designing an integrated teaching programme. this study was executed using the appreciative inquiry model as a framework and provides feasible and interesting ideas for teachers for successfully using musical arts to enhance teaching and learning. keywords integrated teaching; numeracy; literacy; music education; arts 10.46303/jcve.2022.16 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.16 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 212 jcve 2022, 5(1): 211-222 introduction in south africa, ‘foundation phase’ (fp) refers to the first years of schooling, which include grades r, 1, 2 and 3. children from the age of 6 attend grade r. it is in the fp where life skills as a subject have been neglected and contained in the wings owing to a multitude of reasons. the emergence of the covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the neglect of life skills and sent the subject (which includes music education) backstage to make space to accommodate the ‘more important’ subjects such as literacy and numeracy. this was not suggested by the department of basic education but rather a manner that teachers used to make sure they covered all the important work required of them in reduced time. this attitude amongst teachers emphasises the lesser regard of the life skills subject. the value and importance of life skills as a subject, especially music, is underestimated and not given its rightful place in the classroom. many teachers do not realise the value of the life skills arts component in creating a positive learning space and adding to the learning of mathematics and languages. the subject life skills, is a compounded subject with aspects that require specialist teachers, who are not usually found in the fp. in south african universities, fp teachers are trained as generalists and are required to teach all the subjects of the fp, i.e., the main language, english first additional language (efal), mathematics and life skills. while teaching life skills, generalist fp teachers have to educate learners on various themes, as depicted in figure 1. figure 1. life skills composition life skills physical education personal and social wellbeing social and emotional wellbeing sexuality and health education safety creative arts visual arts dance/creative movement drama music beginning knowledge social science: history and geography natural science technology 213 jcve 2022, 5(1): 211-222 the above-mentioned facets of life skills require a vast amount of content knowledge along with diverse styles of teaching, especially for practical subjects. many south african preservice fp students who come from previously disadvantaged backgrounds have not been exposed to all the facets of the subject and therefore must acquire content knowledge as well as didactical skills during their training. personal and social well-being can mostly be taught with general knowledge. however, as far as beginning knowledge is concerned, special teaching methodology such as inquiry-based teaching and technological process, are required for success. physical education requires specialised training to ensure safe and fruitful lessons that develop the fundamental movement skills required for learning. the biggest challenge, however, lies within the creative arts section, where most topics require specialised training that cannot easily be acquired in one or two semesters while pursuing a bachelor of education in the fp programme. teacher education students, when they start their first year of teaching, take their limited knowledge of arts to schools where they often avoid teaching it altogether, letting their learners miss out on skills that are essential in this post-humanist era. the author argues that music integration in the classroom is not getting the attention it deserves since pre-service teachers are not taught how to integrate their teaching. music integration has the potential to support literacy and numeracy in numerous ways whilst addressing several other issues, e.g., the lack of time for teaching all the components of the curriculum, bringing a positive atmosphere into the classroom, developing creativity and social skills, and providing learners with diverse learning styles with better access to the content. music-integrated teaching is a teaching tool that can put back the joy in the learning of mathematics and literacy where negativity often has a psychological bearing on learning. this study is important as it assists lecturers, generalist teachers, and curriculum planners and implementers, with a framework for the planning of integrated teaching, even with having limited skills in music. it contributes to the existing body of knowledge, as integrated teaching in all its variances is known, yet very few teachers implement it owing to the above-mentioned reasons. in essence, the author provides a framework for the planning of integrated teaching, focussing on music, to assist in developing knowledge about integrated teaching. the literature review focussed on fourth industrial revolution (4ir) skills that could be enhanced through music activities, types of integrated teaching, the value of integrated teaching, the value of music-integrated teaching and a design method for an integrated teaching approach. literature review fourth industrial revolution (4ir) skills when training educators it is important to plan their training that it will assist them to provide their learners with skills needed for the post-humanist era also referred to as the fourth industrial revolution(4ir). armstrong et al., (2018, p. 4) defined some of the skills required for optimal functioning in the 4ir as ‘[c]ommunication, critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, adaptability, initiative, leadership, social emotional learning, teamwork, self 214 jcve 2022, 5(1): 211-222 confidence, empathy, growth mindset, cultural awareness’. this belief was substantiated by oke et al., (2020). these skills are easily obtained through the use of the arts – especially music – and are essential in fp classrooms. the acquisition of skills required for the 4ir rests largely on the shoulders of a teacher, and therefore, pre-service teachers must be prepared to learn these skills in an effective manner. when pre-service teachers receive sufficient training in creative arts, they gain the requisite knowledge and confidence to explore integrated teaching, which requires various skills. as integrated teaching techniques are not known to many teachers, this study hopes to provide a better understanding and a framework to assist teachers when planning an integrated curriculum. types of integrated teaching when asking pre-service teacher education students to integrate arts (dance, drama, music, visual art) into their lesson planning, the outcome is often the addition of a random song or asking learners to draw what they have focused on during the lesson. this is a misunderstanding of true integrated teaching and allows arts to become an add-on for entertainment value, and its true potential in augmenting teaching and learning is not realised. although there are different definitions of integrated teaching, the one that is the most congruous with this study is by russell-bowie (2009, p. 5), who named three models of arts-integrated teaching: the service connection model, symmetric correlation model, and the syntegration model. with the service connection model, a subject is taught, e.g., mathematics and then an activity from another subject, e.g., a life skills song, is used to assist with retention. an example of this method could be teaching about the history of water transport in the life skills class and then using the song ‘row, row, row your boat’ as a fun activity to help learners remember what they learnt during the lesson. the learning about water transport could have taken 90% of the lesson and the song 10%. this sought of learning is focused on one subject, and the add-on subject is not important. the symmetric correlation model places equal emphasis on both subjects. the same example can be used as before; however, in this instance, there is equal emphasis on learning about water transport in the past and about the song as music aspect. the song, in this case, receives the same emphasis as the water transport and might be taught as a round, and students learn how to sing it in round form and understand the song type whilst also learning about water transport. syntegration happens when all the teachers in one grade decide to use one overarching theme across all subjects. subjects thus remain in isolation, but they use the same theme; for example, if all the grade-2 teachers decide to use water transport (life skills) as a theme and integrate it into all the lessons they teach (languages, mathematics, etc.). the author would like to suggest a fourth model for integrated teaching – the synergy model. according to kariger and fierro (2021, n.p.), ‘synergy is the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, 215 jcve 2022, 5(1): 211-222 contributions, etc’. in the case of fp teaching, synergy entails the integrated use of life skills, language, and mathematics in a ratio-friendly (unrestricted) format. the synergy model suggests the use of a wide array of subjects in even or uneven combinations to improve the quality of teaching. the main aim is to keep the integrity of each subject intact such that some subjects do not become mere add-ons and, at the same time, generate an outcome of better learning. the value of using integrated teaching there are a number of reasons for the use of integrated teaching. in south african context, integrated teaching is stipulated by the department of basic education (dbe) in the foundation phase caps (dbe, 2011) as it is acknowledged as a good teaching practice. the dbe further implies the value of using life skills integration to strengthen teaching, saying ‘life skills is a cross-cutting subject that should support and strengthen the teaching of the other core foundation phase subjects namely languages (home and first additional) and mathematics’ (caps, 2011, p. 9). the caps curriculum is known for being overcrowded (du plessis, 2020), and with the pandemic situation, where learners were kept away from school or spent only two or three days per week in the classroom, the content was too much to cover within a limited time. with integrated teaching, the problem of overcrowding could have been reduced (ewing, 2011; russell-bowie, 2009) as it assists in accomplishing more than one task during a single lesson. according to dewey (1986) and gardner (1993), using integrated teaching provides learners with multiple access points because it considers a range of learning styles and intelligences. different subjects have different approaches, e.g., more practical, inquiry-based, and creative and therefore promote inclusion of different learning styles. when learners are taught using varied learning styles, the changes are good that their specific learning languages will be used which will provide them with ‘multiple access points’. eisner (2005, p. 342) defines language as ‘the use of any form of representation in which meaning is conveyed or construed’, meaning that a variety of teaching methods, becomes different teaching languages. the value of music integrated teaching humans are rhythmical beings and even before birth experience the heartbeat of their mothers and their own. the influence of rhythm and music on the brain has been widely researched and can be summarised in the domains of influence mentioned by shin (2017) as including the psychomotor, emotional, social, cognitive, and affective facets of being. many learners fear mathematics (ashcraft & moore, 2009), and this fear results in negativity when this subject is learnt. szczygieł (2020) stated the relationship between the high incidence of stress and the learning outcomes. when learners fear a subject, they do not deliver optimum results. in contrast with the fear of mathematics is the enjoyment that learners associate with music, rhythm, and singing. negativity can thus be alleviated through the use of something as pleasurable as singing, rapping, creative movement and rhythmical activities. 216 jcve 2022, 5(1): 211-222 there are many points of intersection between mathematics and music. pattern in mathematics is also observed in rhythm patterns. furthermore, mathematics is learnt through language, and with the use of suitable songs, language can be acquired to understand mathematical concepts. interesting findings by lawson-adams, et al., (2022) indicate the difference between teaching vocabulary using picture card-only teaching, compared to singing or rhythmically speaking the words. the sung and rhythmically spoken words yielded significantly better results than the sole use of picture cards. improving reading can also be achieved through the use of music, e.g., where standard or any other forms of notation are used, the beat of the music must be maintained, and learners need to read the notation in advance to be able to maintain the rhythm, whether with an instrument or with body percussion. this assists in developing eye span, direction and rhythm when reading. through song repetition, vocabulary is better remembered. design method for an integrated teaching approach kerry (2015, p. 170) presented some support points for the successful planning of crosscurricular (integrated) work. the points that the author focused on in this study is ‘[c]onsider having a lead subject (or two), which drive(s) the topic and provide(s) opportunities for in-depth study. identify selected subject knowledge and transferable skills that will be the focus of particular attention for teaching and assessment. use the statutory curriculum programmes of study and attainment targets to inform the planning but do not allow them to restrict the range of knowledge and skills.’ in the context of this study, there are only three main subjects involved, so they will usually be easy to accommodate in each lesson; however, refrain from forcing integration where it is not obvious. remain within the guidelines of the caps curriculum but do not become restricted by what is provided in the departmental workbooks, creative thinking is required for successful integrated teaching. if the school is using an annual teaching plan (atp) provided by the dbe, it becomes difficult to accomplish integration, unless teachers have the freedom to alter the order used in the plan. when designing the arts-integrated teaching plan the researcher kept the appreciative enquiry (ai) model in mind. this model focuses on what is good and positive, to bring about change, which in this case is the use of the musical arts to enhance teaching and learning. the ai model has been extensively employed to improve quality of teaching and learning in school subjects (carter et al., 2007). at the heart of this technique is the appreciative aspect, which in the present context is music. carter et al., (2007, p. 196) averred that the ai consists of four steps, namely, ‘discover, dream, design, and destiny’. shuayb et al., (2009, p. 3) presented three similar stages of ai, namely, ‘discovering, dreaming, designing,’ and used delivering, instead of destiny. for the purpose of this study, the shuayb et al., (2009) interpretation is preferred as the final phase of ‘delivering’ rather than ‘destiny’ is better aligned with the aim of providing a framework for planning integrated teaching. 217 jcve 2022, 5(1): 211-222 for this paper, the stages of ai were interpreted as follows: • discovering: the globally successful use of music in integrated teaching, through a study of the literature. • dreaming: thinking of different ways for incorporating the existing caps music component into teaching to alleviate the scarcity of time in the school curriculum, whilst bringing the positive influence of music. the dreaming phase occurred mainly during the observation of pre-service education students and their fragmented teaching methods, mostly inspired by their mentoring teachers. • designing: developing a basic framework to guide even generalist teachers into integrating the musical arts into their lessons. the design was based on ideas obtained from the literature study and the researcher’s personal teaching experience. • delivering: providing an example of a detailed music-integrated programme for teaching in the fp. the delivery phase was grounded in an analysis of the caps document. the different topics in the different teaching aspects of life skills were done in table format and moved around to find alignment between the curricula. as these ideas will in future be taught to pre-service students, the refinement of the music-integrated programme will be a recurring process where betterment shall always be sought. the following section provides insight into the process of developing a program of musicintegrated teaching for a grade-1 class. the programme design process when planning a music-integrated lesson programme for the week, the teacher needs to keep the following steps in mind. • step 1: prepare a web diagram (see figure 2) with slots for the subject and each topic you want to include in the week. • step 2: visit the life skills caps document, decide on an overall theme and use the subtopics as a guide. • step 3: go to the caps documents for each of the other subjects and choose the facet you want to teach. • step 4: now, decide how you are going to incorporate the theme into every subject. • step 5: remember that language should be an important aspect of each lesson in each subject. • step 6: ensure that you have infused an array of practical activities from the other facets of the life skills document, e.g., music, drama, creative movement, and art. • step 7: now that you have the framework, you can plan each lesson and plot it on your timetable. 218 jcve 2022, 5(1): 211-222 figure 2. web diagram for integrated teaching as there is a large overlap between the different subjects, it might be that the one lesson just flows naturally into the next lesson, albeit with a different focus subject, e.g., when a teacher is teaching mathematics after home language, it will be a continuation with a shift in focus. using the synergy model, the overlapping theme is fully explored and covered in more depth than when it is taught in an isolated subject format. analysing the benefits of life skills integration in the fp curriculum the benefits of life skills integrated teaching using the chosen topics indicated in figure 1, is provided below. additionally, the use of music, sound pictures or rhythm is highlighted in its different forms in shaded lines. tables 1, 2, 3, and 4 explore life skills, home language, efal, and mathematics, respectively. theme: the weather subject: life skills • weather vocabulary • weather types • create a storm using body percussion or any found objects (sound picture) • what do we wear, eat, do in different weather? • what is a weather chart? subject: home language • weather vocabulary • video: what will the weather be like today? paul rogers • discussing pictures and answering questions about the video • eensy weensy spider song with actions • eensy weensy spider song using loud and soft (dynamics) subject: mathematics • weather vocabulary • using a thermometer • collecting data from the weather chart about the daily weather, temperature, conditions • making a pictograph with collected data • learn a rap song about data collection and march to the beat. subject: efal • weather vocabulary • singing – i hear thunder • teaching song in round format • description of sounds made by rain, thunder, hail, wind, etc. thermometer and weather chart we can do it because we’re smart learning is such fun to do tell me that you love it too. 219 jcve 2022, 5(1): 211-222 table 1. life skills with integration life skills topics value added through integration weather vocabulary augmenting language learning weather types learning geography what do we wear, eat, do in different weather? learning about personal and social-well-being what is a weather chart? learning about geography and data collection in mathematics what is a symbol? symbols are connected to visual literacy and mathematics table 2. home language with integration home language topics value added through integration weather vocabulary augmenting language learning video: what will the weather be like today? paul rogers. story read on video with pictures displayed. helps with development of visual literacy. discussing pictures and answering questions about the video learners’ comprehension is tested, and they are using the vocabulary learnt, to answer the questions. eensy weensy spider song with action singing a song about rain and sunshine assists with retention of vocabulary and provides a positive ambience in the class. the actions enforce the meaning of the words. eensy weensy spider song singing it loudly and softly singing the song and using elements of music, provides integrity to the music component of life skills. 220 jcve 2022, 5(1): 211-222 table 3. english first additional language (efal) efal topics value added through integration weather vocabulary augmenting language learning singing – ‘i hear thunder’ using a song to mimic the theme and for enjoyment. teaching ‘i hear thunder’ in round format teaching a specific song type, the round, as required in life skills. description of sounds made by rain, thunder, hail, wind, etc. imaginative description of sounds, which is part of language development as well as musicking. create a storm using body percussion or any found objects (sound picture) creating sound pictures are part of musicking and creativity. the music element of dynamics is once again used as storms build up and die down, and that will include the use of dynamics. table 4. mathematics mathematics topics integration weather vocabulary adding to language development and better understanding of mathematics. using a thermometer part of natural science and mathematics. collecting data from the weather chart about the daily weather, temperature, and conditions. slots in with life skills topic and data handling. making a pictograph with collected data integrating life skills arts. what is rapping? it has a constant beat and uses the rhythm of the words. music knowledge is gained through learning about the structure of rapping. learn a rap song about data collection and march to the beat. mathematical language learning is enhanced through the lyrics, whilst the fun aspect of rapping provides positive emotions around the subject. psychomotor development is also enhanced through rhythmical marching whilst having to cope with the lyrics. 221 jcve 2022, 5(1): 211-222 conclusion this position paper explored the literature regarding the use of integration in the classroom by focussing on fourth industrial revolution (4ir) skills, types of integrated teaching, the value of integrated teaching, the value of music-integrated teaching and a design method for an integrated teaching approach. activities proposed for the integrated teaching approach in this paper, do not necessitate specialized teachers. however, more can be achieved when preservice teachers are adequately trained in different subjects, such as the specialist subject contents of life skills. well-trained generalist music teachers will ensure that the benefits of music will be available to all south africa’s children. without additional in-service training and enhanced arts programmes, the integrated way of teaching will not become the reality that it is supposed to be. it is through integrated teaching, and specifically arts integration, that our learners will benefit and get a holistic education. the worth of music in the classroom has been proven over many years and if it can be infused appropriately, the learning of numeracy and literacy will no longer be the cause of anxiety, as music will take the negative edge off learning. references armstrong, k., parmelee, l., santifort, s., burley, j., & van fleet, j. w. (2018). preparing tomorrow’s workforce for the fourth industrial revolution for business: a framework for action. deloitte & the global business coalition for education. ashcraft, m. h., & moore, a. m. (2009). mathematics anxiety and the affective drop in performance. journal of psychoeducational assessment, 27(3), 197–205. carter, c. a., ruhe, m. c., weyer, s., litaker, d., fry, r. e., & stange, k. c. (2007). an appreciative inquiry approach to practice improvement and transformative change in health care settings. quality management in healthcare, 16(3), 194–204. department of basic education. (2011). curriculum and assessment policy statement (caps). pretoria, south africa: department of basic education. dewey, j. (1986). experience and education. the educational forum, 50(3), 241-252). taylor & francis group. du plessis, e. c., & letshwene, m. j. (2020). a reflection on identified challenges facing south african teachers. the independent journal of teaching and learning, 15(2), 69–91. durgin, j. (2021). how to plan a thematic unit. the clutter-free classroom, ttps://jodidurgin.com/tips-for-planning-integrated-teaching/ eisner, e. w. (2005). reimagining schools: the selected works of elliot w. eisner. routledge. ewing, r. (2011). the arts and australian education: realising potential. australian council for educational research. http://www.acer.edu.au gardner, h. (1993). multiple intelligences: the theory in practice. basic books. kariger, b & fierro, d. (2021). synergy. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/synergy kerry, t. (ed.). (2015). cross-curricular teaching in the primary school: planning and facilitating imaginative lessons (2nd ed.). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315766010 https://www.dictionary.com/browse/synergy https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315766010 222 jcve 2022, 5(1): 211-222 lawson-adams, j., dickinson, d. k., & donner, j. k. (2022). sing it or speak it?: the effects of sung and rhythmically spoken songs on preschool children's word learning. early childhood research quarterly, 58, 87–102. oke, a., & fernandes, f. a. p. (2020). innovations in teaching and learning: exploring the perceptions of the education sector on the 4th industrial revolution (4ir). journal of open innovation: technology, market, and complexity, 6(2), 31. russell-bowie, d. (2009). syntegration or disintegration? models of integrating the arts across the primary curriculum. international journal of education & the arts, 10(28), 1–23. shin, j. k. (2017). get up and sing! get up and move! using songs and movement with young learners of english. in english teaching forum 55(2), 14-25. us department of state. bureau of educational and cultural affairs, office of english language programs, sa-5, 2200 c street nw 4th floor, washington, dc 20037. shuayb, m., sharp, c., judkins, m., & hetherington, m. (2009). using appreciative inquiry in educational research: possibilities and limitations. national foundation for educational research. szczygieł, m. (2020). more evidence that math anxiety is specific to math in young children: the correlates of the math anxiety questionnaire for children (maqc). international electronic journal of elementary education, 12(5), 429-438. https://iejee.com/index.php/iejee/article/view/1115 journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 81 resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home freyca calderon-berumen* pennsylvania state university, altoona *corresponding author: fxc85@psu.edu received : 2018-11-15 accepted : 2019-04-29 how to cite this paper: calderon-berumen, f. (2019). resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home, journal of culture and values in education, volume 2 (1), 81-95. abstract the melting pot metaphor suggest that people from different backgrounds come to the united states and through the process of assimilation adapt to a new lifestyle integrating smoothly into the dominant culture. this article argues that immigrants from diverse cultural and ethnic groups that try to keep some of their cultural traditions may encounter conflict when trying to adapt to their life in the new context. the author contends for a cultural curriculum of the home endorsing family cultural values and traditions that is overlooked by schools and educators, disregarding its potential for enhancing children’s learning process and academic achievement. keywords: resisting assimilation, education, educación, cultural curriculum of the home introduction part of american history is explained through the metaphor that american society is a melting pot of different cultures. however, if the new culture does not assimilate or is not allowed to assimilate into the dominant culture, then it becomes absent from the discourse and ignored from the practices of educational processes. the notion of assimilation does not permit different cultures to interact interdependently. the melting pot metaphor conveys the idea that people from different cultures or backgrounds join the american society by a process of “assimilation” in order to resemble one another and to blend in with the dominant culture. fraga et al. (2010) maintain that “assimilation was characterized as a ‘straight-line’ progression whereby all immigrants eventually conform, abandoning their original cultural attributes and adopting the behaviors and customs of the anglo-saxon majority as they advance both socially and economically” (p. 41), setting the precedent of erasure of home cultures in order to fit into the new environment, more even so to the new generations. nonetheless, individuals acknowledge that assimilation is not a simple or easy process— it is a complex and multilayered one. becoming an immigrant implies a process of adapting and integrating into the host country. such a process produces changes in regards to personal and cultural identity, and those journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 82 changes make sense only in this context. that is, if a person migrates to another country the transformations he or she is going to experience will be different depending on the new social, cultural, economic, and political context. in this sense, as diverse groups of immigrants integrate into american society, they shape it through both a demographic transformation and constructing new ways of being and doing. in this way, american society is also morphing and evolving along with its inhabitants. these changes are happening whether one is aware of them or not. they emerge as immigrant children grow up and merge the learning from their households with the outside culture they acquire from their communities, schools, and other institutions. if one agrees with the premise that knowledge is constructed through tangible, active, and intersubjective interactions between individuals, then it is appropriate to recognize families and communities as sites of knowledge production. there is a documented effort to highlight the significance of the knowledge that one develops from the home and community and the relationships we form with others (grumet, 1988; delgado-gaitán, 1994; springgay and freedman, 2012; malewski, 2012;). for instance, erik malewski (2012) recalls the ways in which his mother supported and empowered him through ways of knowing engendered and embodied that are not included as “public/official” knowledge. he argues for scholarly work that aims to break down mainstream canonical and disciplinary models of education, calling for more diverse scholarship on mothering to discompose socially constructed categories and frameworks that essentialize mothering, and “that enable its subjugation and erasure” (2012, p. 348). although the need is acknowledged, the task is still messy and incomplete. the scholarship studying and theorizing mothering practices and the role of mothers as educators and as carriers of cultural knowledge is still scarce. in the educational research field, the role of mothers as educators is frequently underestimated, overlooked, or even erased. the focus of such a role has changed from one that identifies mothers as primary educators— who teach values, mores, cultural traditions, interpersonal relationships, and household activities, among other things — to one that deems them as merely helpers with schoolwork (moreno & valencia, 2011). this is particularly relevant to ethnic groups that are categorized as non-dominant or minoritized groups that have cultural traditions and ways of being which diverge from the dominant culture, and to the ways these groups are racialized in the united states (villenas, 2001). of particular interest for the purpose of this article is the case of latina mothers. deficit culture perspectives applied to latina mothers too often lead to schools and educators recommending that they attend parenting classes. latina mothers are often seen as lacking the right skills to prepare their children for schooling, at least in the way that the dominant culture expects them to do so (monzó, 2013). the experiential and cultural knowledge (delgado bernal, 1998; elenes & delgado bernal, 2009) acquired at home is too often disregarded as an input for the relevant to the development of the child’s learning processes. typically, children and their mothers develop a strong bond through their daily interactions. this a determinant in how that child will engage with the rest of the world and form other relationships in the future. interacting with other people through different kinds of relationships is how individuals form their own epistemologies or ways of knowing pertaining to their communities or surroundings. as communities are diverse, each journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 83 community constructs its own ways of knowing and doing, and sometimes those ways of knowing and doing conflict with others, sometimes with those of the mainstream culture. this article presents a critical perspective in regards of the melting pot metaphor and ways that minoritized parents resist the assimilation to the dominant culture. the aim is twofold: (1) to argue for parents from diverse groups to claim their right as educators and to define their involvement in that process, and (2) to call school-based educators and policy makers to reconsider a broader and more positive perception of parent involvement in schools as well as outside in a way that includes the culture of the home. in doing so, i reclaim the role of mothers as educators and producers of cultural knowledge, specifically latina immigrant mothers, from a chicana/latina feminist perspective. first, i articulate a distinction between education and educación, a difference when recognizing parents as educators as opposed to complying to a parental involvement determined by schools, and the detriment assigned to minoritized groups by the deficit model. second, i argue for a reconceptualization of parents as educators centered in the notion of the pedagogies of the home framed within a chicana/latina feminist perspective validating the cultural curriculum of the home mothers create. lastly, i present a discussion of the implications to education highlighting the need to dismantle the myth of deficit around diverse families and concentrating our efforts in endorsing a variety of parent involvement recognizing them as creators of a cultural curriculum. education and educación president barack obama declared, “if we want america to lead in the 21st century, nothing is more important than giving everyone the best education possible — from the day they start preschool to the day they start their career” (national archives and record administration). this raises questions as to what exactly it means to get the best education possible. does it mean simply to attend good schools? does that imply that a person who completes 20 years of schooling will be well educated and that those who do not will not? does it mean there are schools that are “better” than others? by what criteria is the best education determined? according to what standards? the answer to these questions hinges on the answer to the one that asks, what exactly does education mean? the word education comes from the latin educere, that means to pull out, or educare, that means to form or to guide. thus, to educate would mean a process through which individuals acquire knowledge, values, ways of being, expected behavior, and understandings of the world aligned with the cultural environment in which he/she is immersed. this process, when carried out in formal institutions such as schools, involves transmission through particular forms of oral and written language, the language of the school, by individuals officially prepared to conduct such transmission, and through particular patterns of action, behaviors, feelings, attitudes, and thoughts that are not exclusive to schools but are endorsed by the dominant culture. the definitions of the word education usually refer to a person receiving systematic instruction at a school or other institution, connote the practice of teaching, and indicate that a body of knowledge will be acquired. this conceptualization of education suggests while the experience is a personal one, it takes place within a particular social context. individual development occurs as the person is surrounded by groups of people or communities, who influence the process in journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 84 many ways. the most influential people in a child’s development are the parents and/or the people (extended family or other caregivers) who take care of the child and spend the most time with him or her affecting his/her ways of being. hence, education is multifaceted and involves processes that occur within and outside school settings. despite the fact that the education of a person is influenced by many forces, mothers play an essential and critical role in the education of their children. however, the scholarship on mother as educator is still scarce. arguing for a validation of experiential knowledge acquired through family interactions, madeleine grumet (1988) indicates, “the experiences of family life, of bearing, delivering, and nurturing children, were absent from [curriculum theory] discourse” (p. xv). she further affirmed, “as we study the forms of our own experiences… we are also recovering our own possibilities” (grumet, 1988, p. xv), calling us to be attentive to how schools might be dismissive to the cultural experiences of the students, and thus to the potential learning that could be integrated from them. another important assertion that grumet (1988) makes is that one’s knowledge evolves through human relationships. as mentioned above, one of the first and most important relationships a child has is with his/her mother and it is determinant for the formation of future relationships. it is through these future relationships that a child learns and appropriates the culture. the mother, then, influences how the child interacts with others, affecting his/her ways of knowing, thinking, and doing. hence, by interacting with other people in ways determined by the relationships they form, an individual develops his or her own epistemologies, his or her own ways of knowing. what happens then, when the culture of the parents and immediate family differ from the mainstream culture, and when the parents’ role of being primary educators responsible for the development of the child’s ways of being, doing, and knowing are subsumed by the societly sanctioned educational institutions and different and contradictory ways of thinking and being are endorsed? in the latino culture, it is not uncommon to hear that la educación empieza en la casa, meaning that one’s first learning starts at home from the parents. espinoza-herold (2007) affirms that educación, in the latino community is a broader concept about personal development than the notions of intellectual development and academic learning that the term education traditionally conveys. rebeca burciaga (2007) argues that, “in the mexican american culture, education, or schooling, is no more important than educación, or integrity” (p. 74), integrity in this context meaning being respectful, honest, and with good behavior. according to her, educación, along with integrity, teaches selflessness, dignity, humbleness, and community. these are morals, attitudes and values possessed by those latinos consider to be personas bien educadas, well-educated people. parents acknowledge that it is their responsibility to teach these elements of integrity which they demand their children to enact towards teachers. latino parents consider teachers and educators to be important authority figures so children are expected to show them respect and take responsibility for their own actions when in school (valdes, 1996; valenzuela, 1999; yosso, 2005). villenas and foley (2011) declare that the concept of being bien educado “is a broad moral notion of education that includes respeto [respect], humility, hard work, and family loyalty” (p. 179), and explain that that ethnographic studies of working-class latino families provide evidence of how their practices differ from those of the mainstream. while these parental practices preserve latino cultural traditions, seen through the lens of the dominant culture they might not be deemed as appropriate or journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 85 correct. therefore, often times these parental practices contradict what children learn from the american culture in which they live, and moreover, from the school culture that seems to be disconnected from their community practices. the ways in which latino parents understand their role in raising their children and the concrete actions that schools expect them to take to demonstrate their involvement might not be aligned all the time. in order to seek a balance in the acquisition of both cultures, it is essential for educational institutions to revise their conceptualization of required parental involvement and actions. parents as educators vs. parental involvement in the united states, and more specifically, in the context of educational research, the exploration of the role of parents in relation to their children’s education is somewhat limited to their involvement in the school and the support the school needs for the children’s academic achievement. parent involvement is considered a key component for students’ academic achievement, yet it is not quite clear what exactly that involvement entails (olivos, jiménezcastellanos, and ochoa, 2011). poza, brooks, and valdés, (2014) denote that parent involvement entails the resources that parents provide the child including time, materials, skills, social activities, athletics, and morals. such an understanding of parent involvement requires noting important distinctions among differing cultures. moreover, monzó (2013) notices that the notion of parent involvement that schools demand is conceptualized from the dominant culture’s perspective that perpetuates certain values, attitudes and dispositions. accordingly, parents are expected to meet schools’ expectations that might contradict their own traditions and customs. annette lareau indicates that research informing schools’ policies and practices conceptualize a notion of parental involvement that includes: “preparing children for school (for example, teaching children the alphabet; talking and reading to children to promote language development), attending to school events (for example, parent-teacher conferences), and fulfilling any requests teachers make of parents (for example, to play word games with their children at home). others include in the definition providing children a place to do homework and ensuring the completion of homework.” (as cited in moreno and valencia, 2011, p. 197) within educational discourse, lopez (2001) indicates that parent involvement is generally understood in terms of specific practices such as bake sales, fundraisers, pta/pto membership or participation, open-house nights, and/or parent-teacher conferences. these parent involvement practices denote volunteering in schools, attending school activities, as well as serving on parent advisory boards. in addition, parent involvement within educational discourse also refers to activities performed in the home to supplement classroom instruction, such as reviewing student homework and becoming familiar with the curriculum and pedagogical strategies implemented by school teachers, such as reinforcing literacy practices. hidalgo (1997) suggests that even the term “parent involvement” delimits who the primary players are – or ought to be – in terms of deciding how and when parents are supposed to be involved or intervene in their children’s education. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 86 a comprehensive understanding of parent involvement is problematic, particularly when it comes to culturally diverse families. olivos, jiménez-castellanos, & ochoa (2011) stressed that policy makers and researchers define parents’ involvement in schools, and that school officials and other educators rather than the parents themselves are the ones who determine the extent of that involvement: “for bicultural parents, meaningful and authentic participation in the schools is elusive, despite professed intentions by educators and decision makers to the contrary” (p. 2). given the multicultural demographics currently represented in the united states, this situation might be problematic for families with culturally diverse background, including transnational families, as there are almost 200 million migrants living transnationally around the world (sánchez and machado-casas, 2009). transnational parenting practices are very likely influenced by cultural customs resembling those of the homeland; and therefore, these are likely diverging from the dominant culture standards that are the ones validating in schools. when children of a minoritized group do not meet academic standards, the blame falls on their personal and cultural background. as a counternarrative, valdés (1996) offers a different perspective for understanding poor academic achievement from children of color, specifically, for mexican-american communities. she describes the genetic argument, the cultural argument, and the class analysis argument on blaming the children and their communities or backgrounds for school failure, and explains how schools might perceive non-mainstream parents as not valuing education or not being as involved in their children’s education as it is required by schools’ standards. the phenomenon of parental involvement is quite complex as it implicates many factors such as, socioeconomic status, parents’ level of education, family dynamics, language proficiency, immigration status, and so on. furthermore, valdés indicates, “teachers’ views about parent involvement seem to center around the notion that parents should receive training so that they can adequately work with their children at home” (1996, p. 38), showing that teachers have limited knowledge regarding cultural and linguistic backgrounds and tend to perceive communities of diverse people negatively (villenas and foley, 2011), and as uncaring, or uninterested (monzó, 2013). from an education stance, a parent involvement perspective aims to instruct parents with certain behaviors and expectations to meet educators’ requirements or schools demands disregarding parents desires or expectation of their children. as a result, the kind of parental involvement needed is: “parents helping children learn at home, with most targeting a change in academic performance, including reading skills, mathematics skills, spelling, and homework completion” (fishel & ramírez, 2005, as cited in olivos, jiménez-castellanos, and ochoa, 2011, p. 3). since parenting practices of latino families tend to differ from schools’ expectations, the nature of the involvement in latino households is often disregarded or not appreciated by schools (stanton-salazar, 2001). in order to understand parents’ involvement in a culturally diverse context it is necessary to recognize the home site as a rich sociocultural context and as a resource of learning and cognition, even if it ‘differs’ from that of the dominant culture (olivos, jiménez-castellanos, and ochoa, 2011). to legitimize the learning acquired at home and community sites it is necessary to revise and contest the assumptions implied by the cultural deficit model assigned to cultural groups and find ways to validate the educación and integrate other models of parent involvement. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 87 cultural deficit model the cultural deficit is a model that entails beliefs and assumptions in regards to the ability, aspirations, and values of systematically marginalized groups of people (irizarry, 2009), ascribing them as deficient. under this model’s lens, students of color and low-income students fail to achieve school’s standards due to perceived “cultural deprivation” or lack of exposure (irizarry, 2009) to cultural models more consistent with the dominant culture. flores asserts, “historically, latino/a students’ underachievement in school has been explained from an intrinsic cause-and-effect point of view. usually, it has been attributed to their cultural or linguistic background or both” (2005, p. 75). delgado-gaitan (1991) affirms that deficit perspectives depict the lack of presence or active participation of parents in the school as incompetency and an inability to help their children because they have a different language, work long hours away from home, belong to different ethnic groups, or are just not interested. the cultural deficit model blames children’s academic, social, and economic success, or lack of it, on the home and community environment. moreover, garcia (2014) notices that current practices in us classrooms use a subtractive bilingualism approach in which the child’s first language is subtracted as the second language is taught, which she calls disglossia. using a disglossia approach is a way of erasure the first language, reinforcing the belief that non-english languages spoken at home fall into the deficit category. instead, she proposes transglossia, an approach that involves language practices of bilingual and multilingual societies disrupting colonial practices and resisting the privilege of the dominant culture and language. the deficit model brings about or sustains inequalities in schools and other social institutions that keep latinos and other minoritized groups at the margins. perceptions of deficit prevent marginalized communities from really advancing or achieving social and economic mobility, which makes the idea of social justice and equal opportunity for all something hard to believe and impossible to achieve. in order to attain different results and truly contribute to the construction of a democratic society, all members of the society should get access to the same resources and have the same perception as human beings as they deserve. reconceptualizing parents’ role as educators without a doubt, parental commitment, involvement, participation, or contribution has a direct influence on children’s achievement and academic success. as long as teachers and educators continue perceiving children as “deficient” because their parents have limited english proficiency, low levels of education, and/or lack of presence at schools without accounting for other ways they participate or are involved in their children’s education, the cultural deficit model will continue stigmatizing minoritized families in the united states. parent-children interactions occur mainly at home and community settings and are not necessarily visible or accountable as meeting the expectations of mainstream schools. while many educators and policy-makers continue ignoring and even denying the learning outcomes that emerged from the interactions among family and community members at home and in the community, there will not be a comprehensive understanding of what it means to be bilingual, bicultural, or multicultural within a society that mostly privilege dominant culture practices. bridging the gap between school and home cultures requires expanding the understanding and journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 88 conceptualization of parental involvement, the meaning of such involvement for all parts, and the validation of the role that parents decide to play in their children’s education. a reconceptualization of parent involvement must take into account personal experiences related to cultural knowledge and cultural practices among diverse groups, multiple linguistic interactions and recognition of the values and practices of diverse families. instead of viewing the home as a learning environment parallel to the classroom, moreno and valencia (2011) suggest a more balanced approach in which educators develop a new understanding of familyschool relationship as collaborative. recognizing the need of this reconceptualization, a growing body of scholarship (guo, 2012; guzmán, 2013; villenas, 2001; durand, 2011; delgadogaitan, 1994), aiming at influencing educators and policy makers, endorses the cultural knowledge that parents practice at home and thus children bring to school that can enrich the learning outcome. for instance, reese et al. (1995) argue that latino/a immigrants are often from an “agrarian model,” which favors loyalty and intergenerational reciprocity, obedience and respect for elders, and relies on kinship networks. however, they maintain that agrarian values are not in opposition to educational achievement if seen as supporting the attainment of both emotional support and a strong sense of personal and cultural identity. hidalgo (2005) identifies a latino/a epistemology as the collective experience of oppression within a racialized system that is founded on shared cultural values, resistance to subjugations, and validation of their cultural values and traditions through the connections to the homeland and the relationships with and among multigenerational extended family members. an essential component of latino/a families’ epistemologies is the concept of “familism,” the strong emotional commitment and identification with family life, where the pedagogies of the home emerge and are cultivated. a reconceptualization of parents as educators necessarily compels educators to focus on identifying cultural parent practices of their particular community and work together with families in developing an approach to parent involvement in their schools that is suitable for both the cultural practices of the families and the schools’ requirements for students’ academic achievement and success. endorsing the the experiential knowledge and validating cultural practices, chicana/latina scholars (delgado bernal, elenes, godínez and villenas, 2006) developed a framework that serves the purposes of reconceptualizing the role of parents as educators, named pedagogies of the home. pedagogies of the home as mothers are pivotal in children’s socialization and interactions with the world (hatfield, ferguson, & alpert, 1967; macdonald & carrillo, 2010), it is pertinent to pay attention to the ways in which they develop and embody theories, methodologies, and methods that serve as pedagogical tools of survival/subversion of patriarchy, poverty, and discrimination (villenas, 2006). in their book chicana/latina education in everyday life, delgado bernal, elenes, godínez and villenas (2006) provide several examples to establish how the everyday life experiences of chicana/latina women inform their practices of teaching and learning, and their understanding of their realities in order to build communal knowledge as education. these pedagogical tools are significant to mothers’ ways of educating their children as well as to the advancement of journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 89 feminist thought. pedagogy, broadly understood as the method and practice of teaching, particularly focused on an academic subject or a specific content, is a concept still undertheorized outside of academic institutions and informal education settings (delgado bernal, 1998). chicana/latina feminists have battled to expand the academic notion of pedagogy to include everyday ways of learning and teaching that occur in a variety of activities such as conversations at the kitchen table, family gatherings in the backyard, dialogues while driving the car, or during interactions with other members of the society that still remain untheorized as pedagogical forms (galvan, 2001), or ways of educating. the pedagogies of the home are the specific actions that latina mothers enact when interacting with their children. from everyday conversations to taking long trips to spend time with extended family, these women consciously have made decisions regarding what their children need to learn from them at home and in community settings. these pedagogies of the home are ways of being, doing, and knowing that extend beyond formal school settings and that place culture and cultural knowledge at the center, juxtaposed to the dominant culture. delgado bernal (2001) suggests that women shape their chicana feminist pedagogies by personal and collective experiences and community memory. these ways of knowing not only function as cultural knowledge, but are also taught through cultural means such as legends, oral history, sayings, storytelling, customs, habits, and consejos y platicas (advice and conversations) intended to be strategies of resistance and survival. these pedagogies of the home convey much more than a list of behaviors, they entail cultural knowledge and intuition (delgado bernal, 1998) that children would not acquire from school curricula. i argue that these pedagogies of the home act as a vehicle for the formation of a cultural curriculum of the home. the pedagogies of the home have to do with the use of spanish language, immigration, class, social and economic status, generational status, religion and spirituality, ethnicity, nationality, and how all of these factors shape personal, cultural and communal identities. the pedagogies enacted at home stand as a foundation of the cultural curriculum of the home. by endorsing these pedagogies of the home, latina immigrant women act as educators and (re)producers of cultural knowledge that often differ from the dominant culture and, thus, position them as different, minoritized, and/or marginalized within the mainstream. in this sense, when enacting those pedagogies of the home, latina women are constructing the cultural curriculum of the home. implications to education latina immigrant mothers’ own experiences and personal processes of adjusting to living in the united states provide them with experiential knowledge. that experiential knowledge plus their own educational experience and educación inform them on how to create a unique cultural curriculum of the home, rather than just assimilating to a melting pot. a cultural curriculum of the home is one constantly under construction. the experiences of the everyday life nurture and (re)shape it incessantly. as creators of such a cultural curriculum, latina immigrant mothers are the constructors of their own roles as educators. in assuming such a role, these mothers attest their commitment and involvement in their children’s education. in their narratives, latina immigrant mothers include many diverse ways of their involvement in journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 90 their children’s educación and education that too often are neglected by institutions of formal education. because these ways of educar or being involved are not the ones traditionally defined by american schools (lopez, 2001), the knowledge implicit in the cultural curriculum of the home is absent in formal education processes; it is thus erased from the developmental expectaction of the child. parent involvement already has specific expectations dictated by formal education in a broader sense, as a systemic social institution dedicated to sustain and reinforce the dominant culture. parental behavior that does not fit into such specific expectations and falls out of the “norm” is thus not considered as parental involvement under schools’ standards keeping those parents at the margins and subjecting them to inequalities. contrary to the common belief of cultural deficit, scholars have extensively revealed that latino parents indeed care about their children’s education, showing the relevance of respeto (valdés, 1996), the value of consejos (delgado-gaitán, 1994), the benefits of using funds of knowledge (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzález, 1992; gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005), and ways of developing chicana epistemology for resistance (delgado-bernal, 1998). in addition, other scholars have also expose the existence of a latino/a epistemology that validates latino/a ways of being, doing, and knowing (hidalgo, 2005), as well as the constant demotion of the spanish language as sign of deficit to blame parents for not reaching for the designated standards of the dominant culture (macdonald & carrillo, 2010); and still how these parental practices are identified as subaltern forms of involvement (lópez, 2001). as long as schools’ educators, administrators, and policy makers keep rejecting the idea that parents are the ones responsible for defining their roles in their children’s education the problem of parental involvement as it is conceptualized right now will remain unaddressed. the narrative of effective schools is to foster and engender a caring environment and equal opportunity for all children to succeed (lopez, 2001). however, the reality for minoritized and marginalized groups is that such an environment does not exist when parents are not at liberty to design and determine the ways in which they can be and the role they should play in their children’s educación and education. schools keep trying to convince multicultural parents to do practices of parental involvement aligned with the dominant culture standards (monzó, 2013; lópez 2001; trumbull, rothsteinfisch, & hernandez, 2003) rather than recognizing and legitimizing the practices they already do and value as relevant and meaningful to their culture. the social and cultural capital that hispanic/latino families and communities — as well as other ethnic and cultural groups —endorse would be of utmost value if integrated into school learning; the achievement gap would narrow as the students gain confidence on their cultural knowledge and background, and, ultimately, this integration would contribute to the construction of a society where social justice is a reality, not just a dream. as presented in this work, mothers are a source of (re)producing social and cultural capital as they create and embody their own ways of mothering, or what i call here a cultural curriculum of the home. glenn (1994) affirms that family is a source of alternative values and is the place where children are socialized to know their place in society. for that reason, she asserts that family is a central locus for resistance to imperial control. thus, the erasure of the cultural curriculum children bring from home perpetuates the cultural deficit discourse that infiltrates in formal education institutions and sustains such imperialism. the cultural deficit myth will continue pervading educational institutions as long as educators and policy makers are not willing to take cultural journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 91 differences as a valid source of enhancing learning. cultural differences are a factor that block and control parental participation in schools that endorse only mainstream hegemony. subsequently, the practices of parent involvement that other cultures bring about are rarely considered as such, except as a source of deficiency in parenting skills (trumbull, rothsteinfisch, & hernandez, 2003). parents and schools together should find other ways of parental involvement that are fit for both sides and are truly beneficial to the children’s academic and familial success. rodríguez brown suggests the use of a cultural model’s approach that integrates cultural and social resources that people bring to their understanding of social situations, and cites gee to provide a definition, “cultural models as ‘storylines’ or scripts that people have in their mind when they engage in meaning-making activities. cultural models influence not only what parents teach their children at home but also how they do it” (2010, p. 355). the inclusion of cultural models will not only provide continuity but will also strengthen school-home relationship. having better school-home relationships, more effective ways of communicating and understanding, and an acknowledgement of multicultural ways of being and doing will undoubtedly aid in closing the academic achievement gap between minoritized and mainstream groups. in a similar way to the funds of knowledge project (moll, et al.,1992), the integration of the cultural curriculum of the home that each child brings to school into formal education processes will enrich the learning and development of that student not only at the individual level but also in enriching the learning process of others members of the learning community, as they will learn from and about other ways of being and doing. trumbull, rothstein-fisch, greenfield, and quiroz (2001) insist on educators’ lack of exposure to models for understanding how culture and schooling relate to each other as one of the main reasons of their failure to improve home-school relationships. the creation of a cultural curriculum of the home that each mother builds along with her children is unique and deserves a distinct attention as part of the development of personal and cultural identity. this article aims at challenging the representation and interpretation of latina mothers as uninterested and uninvolved to a perspective that is more complex and multifaceted as their lived experiences and identities. conclusions my argument here is that latina immigrant mothers are the creators of a cultural curriculum of the home as they (re)produce cultural and experiential knowledge while educating their children. a cultural curriculum of the home is continuously under construction in accordance to the living experiences and circumstances of each mother and their children. a cultural curriculum of the home gives an account of the multiple and diverse ways in which mothers (and fathers) are involved in their children’s education and educación. the problem that i highlighted here is that institutions of formal education only take into account only those ways that they already indicate as valid, constructive, and significant parent involvement for educational processes, and too often neglect the aspects related to educación. i urge teachers, administrators, educators, and policy makers to recognize the multiple and diverse ways in which multicultural parents, and in particular latina immigrant mothers, are involved in their children’s education and educación rather than continuing to categorize as deficient and subaltern forms of education. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 92 i differentiate education and educación as separate processes; however, i should also emphasize that they complement each other. these processes must go hand in hand, intertwining at times and detached at others, but even when separated, they are still parallel without underscoring one over the other. both are equally important for achieving not only academic success as defined by the dominant culture, but also an acknowledgement and validation of other languages, communities, and cultures. eventually, the ultimate goal would be to value all cultures equally and to dismantle the power of one as dominant. as some of the literature presented here has showed, when schools and families work together they build a bridge connecting personal and cultural knowledge with the school’s curriculum; consequently, they improve learning outcomes not only on standardized tests results but also on lifelong learning skills, as they are concerned with students’ individual interests and needs. i urge all parties involved — teachers, administrators, policy makers, as well as parents, extended family, and community members— to take initiative towards the next step and demand projects that are inclusive of cultural knowledge and that serve as a model for bridging cultures between home-community and schools. whether requesting professional development relevant to cultural knowledge, designing their own model that works for a specific school because it responds to the community needs, or accepting parents proposals of their own ways of involvement that benefits their children and other students and community members, we all are responsible for taking actions that truly provoke social change and contribute to democratizing american schools. note: although this paper focuses specifically on latina immigrant mothers and latino families, it is my intention that its scope might also be useful in bringing new understandings and create change for other minoritized cultural groups living in and shaping american society. every child from any group or background brings with him or her a cultural curriculum of home. it is school’s responsibility to stop privileging only the dominant culture and begin to welcome and recognize those curricula of the home that differ from the standard. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 93 references burciaga, r. (2007). chicana ph.d. students living nepantla: educación and aspirations beyond the doctorate. doctoral dissertation, university of california los angeles. delgado bernal, d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555-583. delgado bernal, d. (2001). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(5) 623-639 delgado bernal, d., elenes, a. c., godinez, f. e., and villenas, s., eds. (2006). chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology. albany: state university of new york press. delgado-gaitan, c. (1991). involving parents in the schools: a process of empowerment. american journal of education, 100(1), 20-46. delgado-gaitan, c. (1994). consejos: the power of cultural narratives. anthropology & education quarterly, 25(3), 298-316. “education.” national archives and records administration, natioal archives and records administration, 18 aug. 2012, www.obanawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/education. elenes, c. a., & bernal, d. d. (2009). latina/o education and the reciprocal relationship between theory and practice: four theories informed by the experiential knowledge of marginalized communities. in handbook of latinos and education (pp. 89-115). routledge. espizona-herold, m. (2007). stepping beyond si se puede: dichos as cultural resource in mother-daughter interaction in a latino family. anthropology and education quarterly, 38(3), 260-277 fraga, l., garcía, j. a., segura, g. m., jones-correa, m., hero, r., & martinez-ebers, v. (2010). latino lives in america: making it home. temple university press. galván, r. t. (2001). portraits of mujeres desjuiciadas: womanist pedagogies of the everyday, the mundane, and the ordinary. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(5) 603-621. garcía, o., (2014). countering the dual: transglossia, dynamic bilingualism and translanguaging in education. in rubdy, r., & alsagoff, l. (eds.) the global-local interface and hybridity: exploring language and identity, 100-118. http://www.obanawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/education journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 94 glenn, e. n. (1994). social constructions of mothering: a thematic overview. in glenn, e. n., chang, g., & forcey, l. r. (eds.). mothering: ideology, experience, and agency. psychology press. 1-29. gonzález, n., moll, l., and amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households and classrooms. new jersey: lawrence erlbaum associates. grumet, m. r. (1988). bitter milk: women and teaching. univ of massachusetts press. hatfield, j. s., ferguson, l. r., & alpert, r. (1967). mother-child interaction and the socialization process. child development, 365-414. hidalgo, n. m. (1997). a layering of family and friends: four puerto rican families' meaning of community. education and urban society, 30(1), 20-40. hidalgo, n. m. (2005). latino/a families’ epistemology. latino education: an agenda for community action research, 375-402. irizarry, j. (2009). cultural deficit model. education.com. retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/cultural-deficit-model/ lópez, g. r. (2001). the value of hard work: lessons on parent involvement from an (im) migrant household. harvard educational review, 71(3), 416-438. macdonald, v. m., & carrillo, j. f. (2010). 2 the united status of latinos.handbook of latinos and education: theory, research, and practice, 8. malewski, e. (2012). m/othering as un(der)studied in curriculum studies: an epilogue. in springgay, s. and freedman, d. (eds.) mothering a bodied curriculum: emplacement, desire, affect. moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d. and gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, xxxi (2) 132-141. monzó, l. d. (2013). a mother's humiliation: school organizational violence toward latina mothers. school community journal, 23(1), 81-110. moreno, r. p. and valencia, r. r. (2011). chicano families and schools: challenges for strengthening family-school relationships. in valencia, r. r. (ed.) chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future. 3rd ed. new york: routledge. 197-210. olivos, e. m., jimenez-castellanos, o., & ochoa, a. m. (2011). bicultural parent engagement: advocacy and empowerment. teachers college press: new york. http://www.education.com/reference/article/cultural-deficit-model/ journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 calderon-berumen, f. resisting assimilation to the melting pot: validating the cultural curriculum of the home 95 poza, l., brooks, m. d., & valdés, g. (2014). " entre familia": immigrant parents' strategies for involvement in children's schooling. school community journal, 24(1), 119-148. reese, l., balzano, s., gallimore, r., & goldenberg, c. (1995). the concept of educación: latino family values and american schooling. international journal of educational research, 23(1), 57-81. rodríguez-brown, f. v. (2010). latino families: culture and schooling. in handbook of latinos and education: theory, research, and practice, 350-360. sánchez, p., & machado-casas, m. (2009). at the intersection of transnationalism, latina/o immigrants, and education. the high school journal, 92(4), 3-15. springgay, s., & freedman, d. (eds.). (2012). mothering a bodied curriculum: emplacement, desire, affect. university of toronto press. stanton-salazar, r. d. (2001). manufacturing hope and despair: the school and kin support networks of us-mexican youth. teachers college press. trumbull, e., rothstein-fisch, c., greenfield, p. m., & quiroz, b. (2001). bridging cultures between home and school: a guide for teachers. routledge. trumbull, e., rothstein-fisch, c., & hernandez, e. (2003). parent involvement in schoolingaccording to whose values?. school community journal, 13(2), 45-72. valdés, g. (1996). con respeto: bridging the distances between culturally diverse families and schools. new york: teachers college. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. new york: state university of new york press. villenas, s. a. (2001). latina mothers and small-town racisms: creating narratives of dignity and moral education in north carolina. anthropology & education quarterly, 32(1), 3-28. villenas, s. a. (2006). mature latina adults and mothers: pedagogies of wholeness and resilience. in delgado bernal, et.al. (eds.) chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology. albany: state university of new york press. villenas, s. a. and foley, d. e. (2011). critical ethnographies of education in the latino/a diaspora. in valencia, r. r. (ed.) chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future. 3rd ed. new york: routledge. 175-196. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 2 2023 pp. 34-50 an interventive collaborative scaffolded approach with a writing center on esl students’ academic writing lulama mdodana-zide1 & tafirenyika mafugu*2 * corresponding author: email: mafugut@ufs.ac.za 1. university of the free state, qwaqwa campus, phuthaditjhaba, south africa 2. faculty of education, university of the free state, qwaqwa campus, phuthaditjhaba, south africa article info received: december 28, 2022 accepted: april 19, 2023 published: may 18, 2023 how to cite mdodana-zide, l . & mafugu, t. (2023). an interventive collaborative scaffolded approach with a writing center on esl students’ academic writing. journal of culture and values in education, 6(2), 34-50. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.7 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract the expected transition in higher education from students’ schoollevel assignments to university-level assignments provides challenges and development prospects for students and the academic world. academic support programs have been introduced in south african higher universities to assist under-prepared university students to benefit from lectures, writing centers, and tutorials. however, the problem of poor academic writing by university students persists. the study aimed to examine students’ academic writing difficulties. english second language (esl) students’ university-level writing experience, and the impact of a collaborative approach between a lecturer and a south african university writing center, to support esl students with their academic writing, was explored. the study used the scaffolding theory as a lens. the mixed methods approach was used, with data collected in three phases, comprising a pretest, posttest, and questionnaire. a sample of 216 first-year senior phase and fet students were chosen. findings revealed that esl students experienced challenges in academic writing skills such as structure, organization, coherence, table of contents, paraphrasing, referencing, and in-text citations. the collaborative intervention between a lecturer and the writing center assisted students to progress in their academic writing. the paper recommends exploring more collaborative strategies between lecturers and writing centers, to optimally support students. keywords scaffolded; collaborative; academic writing; english second language; writing center 10.46303/jcve.2023.7 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.7 35 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 introduction and background to the study in 2014 the south african council on higher education sought to increase previously disadvantaged students’ access to higher education, in what has popularly become known as the massification of higher education. massification meant less prepared students’ transition from school-level assignment writing to university-level assignment writing caused challenges but also gave developmental prospects. in its attempt to increase access to higher education by previously disadvantaged students, the council on higher education (2014) indicated that academic support programs should be introduced in south african higher education institutions such as universities, to assist underprepared students to benefit from lectures, writing centers, and tutorials. globally, scholars agree that one of the most critical skills for esl students upon entering university is academic writing (bulqiyah et al., 2021; jabali, 2018; solikhah et al., 2022; toba et al., 2019). however, literature attests that academic writing skills are, and have been, problematic in several different contexts worldwide, with students experiencing writing difficulties involving several aspects and in various domains such as: ‘structure’, ‘grammar’, ‘mechanics’, and ‘vocabulary’. (ariyanti & fitriana, 2017; sabarun, 2019; toba et al., 2019; kotamjani & hussin, 2017; altınmakas & bayyurt, 2019; mahmood, 2020). this is evident in studies conducted by bulqiyah et al. (2021) in indonesia, and ajani and gamede (2020) in south africa. the two studies from both international and local contexts found that esl students experienced difficulties in essay/ assignment writing. lea and street (2006) have long lamented that academic writing challenges mostly affect students coming from linguistic minority community backgrounds. both earlier and extant literature agree that high school students are not prepared for the transition into university. the esl students from rural schools find the transition to university even more difficult in terms of higher reading and writing skills required (lea & street, 2006, pineteh, 2014; van dyk & weideman, 2004). the transition becomes challenging for students as their writing must suddenly undergo an evolution process in academic writing. as much as it is acceptable to “use colloquial expressions, abbreviations and time buying expressions such as ‘that’s cool’, ‘by the way’, ‘mmm...it’s all right’ but in the academic writing context, respect to punctuation rules, grammar, and other conventions take center stage” (hanafi, 2020, p. 133). the study focus is basically on academic essay writing in which students must analyze given topics based on literature sources to strengthen their arguments and create interest in the reader, whether fellow students or scholars at large. higher education institutions expect students to quickly acclimatize to the rigours of academic writing through the various discourses of disciplines offered. the belief is that students will acquire this prospective skill as they navigate the various systems within the universities. it is expected that students would have been developed at the high school level on how to write essays properly. however, arifin (2018) indicates that most teachers often 36 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 overlook this skill for many reasons, with the emphasis being on the result rather than the process. academic writing skills are challenging to acquire, and as such, require support structures such as various collaborative strategies between students, between students and writing centers, between lecturers and students, and between lecturers and the writing centers. positive effects of collaborative strategies on students’ achievement in writing academic descriptive texts have been reported as playing a significant role (jacobs, 2010; harlena et al., 2020). collaborative strategies, like “a joint production of a text by two or more writers” (storch, 2011, p. 275), are believed to develop students to be independent writers through skills such as self-editing and revising their writing more effectively than when working alone (anwar, 2018; rollison, 2005). within these establishments, the project of a collaborative scaffolded approach between a lecturer and a university writing center emerged as an intervention to assist firstyear senior and further education training (sen & fet) students in developing academic writing skills. the objective of the study the study’s objective was to explore academic writing difficulties esl students experienced at the university level, and the impact thereof, of a collaborative approach between a lecturer and a south african university’s writing center as an intercession to support esl students with their academic writing. theoretical framework the study used as its lens the zone of proximal development (zpd) theory and the scaffolding concept by vygotsky (1978) in his sociocultural theory. according to vygotsky (1978, p. 86), zpd refers to “the distance between the developmental level determined by independent problemsolving and the level of potential development determined through problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers.” the zpd serves as a dipstick that determines and assesses the level at which a student can solve a problem independently, and the next level at which a student can attain it under the guidance of a capable adult or a more experienced person. the zpd promotes the provision of support to students and collaboratively assists them to attain their full potential and self-efficacy. as specified by margolis (2020, p. 17), “the various explanations of the concept of the zpd addressed boil down to a simplified view of the zpd as a special type of assistance provided by a teacher to a pupil to help solve tasks that the child cannot solve on his or her own.” most importantly, the zpd identifies that individuals learn at their optimum level when there is assistance from others through collaborative activities, with more skilled persons contributing to students’ learning at their best, processing new concepts or skills (shabani et al., 2010). scaffolding is any form of assistance that is given to students to enable them to understand concepts (al mumun et al., 2020). this can include guidance on experimental investigations, provision of resources, explanations, and many other forms of guidance. 37 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 these two concepts are blended in this study as they complement each other when explaining collaborative strategies to assist students in reaching their full potential. collaborative interventions focus on providing evidence for the “maturing psychological functions” of a student. the assumption is that students can afford to make use of the interventive collaboration “because the maturing function supports an ability to understand the significance of the support being offered” (shabani et al., 2010, p. 239; chaiklin, 2003). research methodology this paper employed mixed-methods research to explore students’ writing challenges, their effect, and how a writing center-based scaffolding approach intervention would help alleviate the students’ challenges. in mixed methods research, quantitative and qualitative data are gathered, analyzed, and combined for either a single study or a series of studies (bulsara, 2015). the premise of this research approach is the understanding that combining quantitative and qualitative approaches allows for a complete understanding of the problem being investigated, other than using either approach alone (creswell, 2014). the data were collected qualitatively to establish the challenges students experienced with academic essay writing. it was complemented by quantitative data in the form of collected students’ scores. a pragmatic research paradigm was employed. a researcher can use a pluralistic strategy for data collection to best answer the study objectives by adopting a pragmatic stance. the paper is part of a longitudinal project designed to assist first-year teaching practice module students enrolled in the sen & fet phase level. the project was a collaboration between the lecturer and the university writing center. the writing center was established to assist students with academic writing for the various assessments they are expected to submit. the students wrote an essay assignment that was assessed. during her class session, the lecturer invited the writing center to hold a workshop for the students on how it operates. after the class, the students submitted their first draft for marking. the lecturer sent the students to the writing center for assistance with the second and final draft. to strengthen the methodology of the study the “analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (addie) model” was also employed as a framework (hess and greer, 2016, p. 11; branch, 2009). as noted by hess and greer (2016), the addie model was developed by id scholars to create effective learning interactions. these frameworks include “merrill’s (2002) first principles of instruction, dick and carey’s (1985) systems approach model, and kirkpatrick’s (1994) evaluation model” (hess and greer, 2016, p. 5). although the addie instructional design framework is the most popular, these and other frameworks provide practitioners who want to systematically design and assess learning extensive requirements. five steps were blended with the methodology sections of the research. the stages as presented by branch (2009) are outlined below, but their incorporation is explained in the data collection instruments. 38 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 figure 1. the addie model • “analyzing a learning situation.” (p. 11) • “designing objectives and principles to address the issues in the learning situation” (p. 11) • “developing resources to meet these specifications” (p. 11) • “implementing the learning resources in the learning situation” (p. 11) and • “evaluating how these resources addressed instructional needs” (hess and greer, 2016, p. 11; branch, 2009). participants and study setting the study used a sample of 216 sen & fet students enrolled for the teaching practice 1 module in 2022 under the bachelor of education degree (b.ed.) program and seven markers. in purposive sampling, a specified group of people is selected to participate in a study (mc combes, 2019), and the researcher deliberately chooses where and from whom to get data (leedy & ormrod, 2020) according to the requirements of the study. the 216 participants comprised 133 male and 83 female students. however, not all the students followed the instruction of consulting the writing center for assistance because of various reasons. some booked but were late as the due date had already passed, resulting in a limited number of students attending the writing center sessions. the sen & fet students are students trained to teach at the secondary school level. the rationale for choosing participants in this phase was the belief that academic writing skills start at the secondary school level within the school system. the markers were employed as adhoc markers in the university. five of them were employed by the university’s centre for teaching and learning (ctl) while two were employed as junior lecturers in the faculty of education. the markers were given pseudonyms of marker 1, marker 2, marker 3, marker 4, marker 5, marker 6, and marker 7. the sampled students were enrolled at one south african university, on a campus categorized as a rural campus. the campus is considered rural as most students accepted and enrolled come from quintile 1 and 2 secondary schools (figure 2). the quintile system is a south african school ranking system that categorizes schools according to their poverty status, from poor to poorest (dieltiens & motala, 2014). quintiles 1 to 3 are categorized as poor schools while quintiles 4 and 5 schools are not categorized as poor in this school ranking system. 39 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 figure 2: demographic results of the study settings figure 3. demographic results of the students’ mother-tongue data collection instruments and procedure for this study, data were collected in three phases using a pretest, marker’s comments, and a posttest. the pretest was designed in the form of an essay assignment in a teaching practice module, and students submitted their first draft which they produced without the assistance of 1 demographics of students: mother-tongue sasse data, 2018 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 quintile 1 quintile 2 quintile 3 quintile 4 quintile 5 p e rc e n ta g e o f st u d e n ts grade 12 school quintiles table 1. quintile of the school where the student completed grade 12 campus 1 campus 2 40 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 the writing center a rubric for marking was designed to mark the students’ essay assignments, looking at various language conventions. the markers provided comments to the students on how they performed in their assessment, for both the pretest and the posttest. for the posttest, the students were required to go back and review their first draft with the writing center and rewrite the essay assignment with the assistance of the writing center. the assessment for the posttest was the same assignment given in the pretest and was marked using the same rubric. the three phases were aligned with the analysis, design, development, and implementation stages in the addie model. the lecturer and the seven markers marked the students’ work and allocated grades. they also provided comments on the students’ work and compiled summaries of the various strengths and weaknesses (challenges) students’ essays showed according to the specified language conventions. after the first submission, students were asked to go with their first draft and the rubric to the writing center for assistance prior to their final submission. for the quantitative part of the study, students were allocated into groups namely – the control and the experimental group. the control group did not get guidance from the students’ writing assistance site, while the experimental group was assisted in different ways to improve comprehension, writing, and presentation style. both groups had to write initially, and the work was assessed. the marks for both the control group and the experimental group were compared. the experimental group then went for consultations for a semester and submitted their assignment. the control group wrote a similar essay assignment without any consultations from the students’ writing assistance site. the pretest and posttest results were compared through the paired sample t-test. to compare the two groups before and after the intervention, the independent sample t-test was applied. data analysis to analyze the qualitative data, the study adopted qualitative content analysis. according to luo (2019), qualitative content analysis is gathering information in written, spoken, or visual form to discover the purpose of the intended study. in qualitative content analysis, data is based on written human language categorized into different phrases, images, or words (reis & kowalczyk, 2021). roller (2019) defines qualitative content analysis as an orderly process in which the researcher reduces content and analyzes it by extracting meaningful concepts that are relevant to the data generated. quantitative data were examined using the statistical package for social scientists (spss), to produce informative and inferential statistics. the spss version 27 was used to compare and compute the paired sample as well as the independent sample t-tests, to generate the relevant data needed for comparison and conclusions. ethical considerations self (2014) suggests that for research to be credible, the researcher needs to evaluate any potential harm and risk involved to safeguard the dignity, confidentiality, and identity of the participants. the study obtained ethical clearance from the university where the study was conducted. the gatekeeper’s approval permitted students to be participants in the study. the participants’ identities were protected, and pseudonyms were used to protect their identities 41 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 (creswell, 2020). participants were consulted and consented to the data being used for publication. all participants were informed that they could withdraw from participating in this study at any time (clark-kazak, 2017) and that there were no penalties for any student who did not consult with the writing center. findings qualitative findings: markers’ comments assignment content the findings indicated that students experienced challenges with comprehending the content of the topic given on the essay assignment. the markers concurred that some students’ discussions related to the topic, but the information was scant and not discussed in-depth. the participants shared the following: most students had the correct content, but more information could have been given. (marker 1). several essays presented content that is not in any way related to the content, especially on professionalism. the students were unable to connect professionalism with teaching; especially the concept of professionalism within the education/teacher space. (marker 2) they need to improve on conceptualizing the content and know more about how to write an academic essay, the reason why some got below 10 marks. (marker 3) responding to the essay question: some students did not or failed to respond to the essay/assignment question. their responses did not reflect a level of understanding, not fully answering the question: some responded to the first half of the question neglecting the second part or vice versa. (marker 7) the students’ assignment on the content required showed a lack of mastery of the skill of writing in relation to the question, leading to students lacking the conceptualization of the concept. organization of the assignment the findings showed that the students faced challenges with organizing their assignments academically. the participants shared that many students lacked proper alignment in their essay assignments. one of the participants had the following to say: the introduction lacked a roadmap, and it mainly was the definition of the words. some were using bullet points instead of paragraphs. students need to learn to use subheadings and the number of sentences needed per paragraph. some had a reasonable conclusion. others continued and raised new points in the conclusion. (marker 6) the other participants shared the following: they (students) do not know how to create a manual table of contents through word and some of them do not know how to structure an academic paragraph. there are students who did not follow the instructions thoroughly (marker 5) secondly, the students performed poorly when it comes to the structuring of the essay. there were several essays that did not have an introduction and a conclusion. for those that had 42 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 an introduction and conclusion, critical elements such as the road map, the brief conceptualization of both professionalism and professional teacher identity were missing, and the thesis statement (the introduction) and summary of main ideas and rephrasing of the thesis statement (the conclusion). (marker 4) language and mechanics among the challenges noted, the study indicated that students experienced challenges with maintaining coherence in the essay assignment. the participants alleged that the students did not proofread their work as many struggled with editorial and grammatical errors. the following statements from the markers illustrate this: proofreading and editing are needed to ensure an easy and coherent flow of ideas (marker 7) furthermore, the students still lack the ability to provide a sound and coherent argumentation in their essays; there is no flow of ideas, the student’s voices, and perspectives (are mostly missing), and their ideas are not supported by academic literature. in addition, the essays had several structural, language, and grammatical errors. (marker 4) coherence also seemed to be a problem (marker 3) the markers’ dissatisfaction with students’ inability to argue and ensure meaningful discussions backed by literature in their essay assignment, as well as their lack of proofreading of their work, indicated unprofessional and non-academic work. in-text referencing and referencing list the participants complained that the students did not know how to reference using the harvard style, both in-text and in a reference list. they could not paraphrase and had high similarity indices as they just copied and pasted. the participants further lamented that the students seemed to use google paraphrasing tools, which removed the meaning from their discussions. the participants had the following to share: this student needs to improve on in-text referencing and know how to compile reference lists according to the harvard style of referencing. some just copied links to their reference list which does not follow the academic style of referencing. some just copied and pasted without paraphrasing the essay which contributed to the higher plagiarism percentage recorded in the assignment (marker 1) high plagiarism due to poor paraphrasing skills and such students were advised to visit the writing site for proper tutelage. most of the learners could not adhere to the prescribed referencing style and more so some of them don’t know how to use in-text citations. some had a high similarity percentage due to complete copying and pasting of another student’s assignment. (marker 2) still, on the information, most of it was not referenced. or if referenced, it was not done correctly. one could not tell if the reference was a direct quotation or a paraphrased one. also, a lot of students had a bibliography without in-text references. which means there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to referencing. (marker 3) 43 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 students still struggle with how to reference using harvard style and, another critical issue noted is that some appear to have used paraphrasing tools sites, which in the end made their work incomprehensible. (marker 4) most students neglected or did not create in-text referencing. they do not understand the concept that a reference list consists of because of in-text referencing. the reference list was poorly written with numbering and bullets included (marker 7) the marker’s comments showed that the students lacked proper skills in writing essay texts in the expected academic format and as such, suggested that students need to develop such skills. high plagiarism was one factor that the markers highlighted, as students copied other writers’ work without acknowledging them. quantitative findings: experimental and control groups’ pre and final drafts assignment scores the quantitative data was collected from scores students received when the first and final drafts of the essay assignments were marked for both the experimental and control group. the markers marked the students’ first draft and allocated scores. after the first draft scores were published on the students’ page and the students were instructed to visit the writing center for assistance. the experimental group then went for consultations and submitted their final draft assignment. the control group wrote a similar essay assignment without any consultations from the students’ writing assistance site. the markers marked the final drafts from both the experimental and control groups and final scores were allocated. the control group did not get guidance from the students’ writing assistance site, while the experimental group was assisted in different ways to improve comprehension, writing, and presentation style. the marks for both the control group and the experimental group from the first draft and the final draft were analyzed using spss version 27. the pretest and posttest results were compared through the paired sample t-test. to compare the two groups before and after the intervention, the independent sample t-test was applied. the tables below detail the analysis of the student’s scores. table 1. mean and standard deviation of the experimental and control group before the intervention n mean scores std. deviation std. error mean group experimental 108 10.44 4.322 .415 control 108 11.44 4.315 .415 the mean scores are the average scores obtained by the students in the control and experimental groups on their essay assignments before the intervention. 44 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 table 2. independent samples test the experimental and control groups before the intervention levene’s test for equality of variances t-test for equality of means f sig. t df significance mean differen ce std. error differen ce 95% confidence interval of the difference onesided p twoside d p lowe r upp er exp 000 01 equal varia nces assu med .16 8 .68 3 1.68 6 214 .047 .093 -.990 .587 2.149 .167 equal varia nces not assu med 1.68 6 213 .99 9 .047 .093 -.990 .587 2.149 .167 levene’s test for equality of variances revealed that the variances were homogenous for competence, p > . 05 (table 2). hence, in conducting the test, equality of variance was assumed. the 108 participants who received writing intervention (m = 10.44, sd = 4.322) in comparison to the 108 participant students in the control group (m = 11.44, sd = 4.315), did not show a significant difference in scores before the intervention, t(214) = -1.686, p = .09 (table 1 and table 2). the two groups of students can, therefore, be assumed to be of similar ability. table 3. mean and standard deviation of the experimental group preand post-intervention the mean scores as specified in table 3 are the average assessment score for the experimental group on pre-and post-intervention. more detail on the mean scores and the deviations shown is given in the explanation of table 4 below. mean n std. deviation std. error mean experimental group pre-intervention 10.44 10 8 4.322 .415 experimental group post-intervention 13.88 10 8 2.824 .272 45 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 table 4. paired samples test for the experimental group preand post-intervention paired differences t df significance mean std. deviation std. error mean 95% confidence interval of the difference onesided p twosided p lower upper 3.435 3.814 .367 -4.163 -2.708 9.360 107 <.001 <.001 there was a significant improvement a month after the intervention by the writing center (m = 13.88, sd = 2.824) compared to the week before the writing center intervention (m = 10.44, sd = 2.824), t(107) = -9.360, p < .001 (tables 3 and 4). table 5. mean and standard deviation of the control group preand post-intervention mean n std. deviation std. error mean control group initially 11.44 108 4.315 .415 control group after a semester 11.22 108 3.826 .368 the mean scores as specified in table 5 are the average assessment score for the control group on pre-and post-intervention. more detail on the mean scores and the deviations shown is given in the explanation of table 6 below. table 6. paired samples test for the control group preand post-intervention paired differences t df significance mean std. deviation std. error mean 95% confidence interval of the difference onesided p twosided p lower upper .21296 4.44499 .42772 .63494 1.06087 .498 107 .310 .620 there was no significant effect of time for the 108 participants who did not receive the writing intervention in the initial stage (m = 11.44, sd = 4.315) and a month later (m = 11.22, sd = 3.826), t(107) = 0.498, p = .62 (table 5 and 6). table 7. mean and standard deviation of the experimental and control group after intervention var00007 n mean std. deviation std. error mean experimental group 108 13.88 2.824 .271 control group 108 11.22 3.826 .368 46 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 table 8. independent samples test the experimental and control group after the writing aid intervention levene’s test for equality of variances t-test for equality of means f sig. t df significance mean differ ence std. error differen ce 95% confidence interval of the difference one side d p twosided p lowe r uppe r equal variances assumed 9.163 .003 5.8 07 214 <.00 1 <.001 2.657 .458 1.755 3.559 equal variances not assumed 5.8 07 196. 898 <.00 1 <.001 2.657 .458 1.754 3.559 levene's test for equality of variances showed heterogeneity of variances for competence, p < . 05 (table 8). hence, equality of variance was not assumed in the test. the 108 student participants in the experimental group (m = 13.88, sd = 2.824) compared to the 108 student participants in the control group (m = 11.22, sd = 3.826) exhibited scores that were significantly higher than their counterparts after the intervention, t(214) = 5.807, p < .001 (table 7 and table 8). the intervention had a significant effect on the scores of students who went for consultations at the writing center. discussion most participants indicated that students experienced challenges with their academic writing, which ranged from language barriers such as a lack of comprehension of content to an inability to express themselves, resulting in a lack of in-depth discussions. moreover, the participants’ comments and the areas of development students are required to attain, such as referencing, the conceptualization of the essay, language, and mechanics; confirm that writing skills are critical, but remain a challenge for esl students entering university (bulqiyah et al., 2021; altınmakas & bayyurt, 2019; mahmood, 2020). the participants’ comments confirm what hanafi (2020) notes, that academic writing requires respect for the various language conventions, and acceptable grammar structures, as colloquial phrases are unacceptable. 47 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 the study findings concur with several studies, which indicate that developing writing abilities for academic purposes is, and has been, a challenge for many different contexts around the world (see ariyanti & fitriana, 2017; sabarun, 2019; toba et al., 2019). studies conducted by bulqiyah et al. (2021) in indonesia and ajani and gamede (2020) in south africa further confirm the results of the investigation. as identified earlier by lea and street (2006), such challenges mostly affect students coming from linguistic minority community backgrounds, where english is taught as a second language. both current and previous studies agree that students are ill-prepared to transition to university, and therefore, need significant assistance as they enter tertiary institutions, where the only medium of instruction is english (lea & street, 2006, naidoo, 2015; pineteh, 2014; jabali, 2018; toba et al., 2019). according to naidoo (2015), instructional language development should begin early in high school to equip students with the required degree of language competency. further evidence for the need to get support was obtained from the quantitative data, where students who got assistance in writing skills were observed to perform better than their counterparts who did not get support in comprehension and writing skills. the results showed that there was a significant improvement between the students' initial drafts and their final drafts following the writing center's intervention. the results from the quantitative data collected concur with jacobs’ (2010) and harlena et al.’s (2020) observation that, when there is a collaborative intervention to assist students with academic writing, positive effects are yielded. the student’s performance was improved after the writing center’s intervention. according to various scholars, collaborative strategies develop students’ ability to be independent writers, as they acquire writing skills from collaboration and assistance from others (anwar, 2018; rollison, 2005). the collaborative strategy with the writing center, in which the student’s zpd is identified, and assistance provided using a scaffolding approach, yielded constructive outcomes for students’ academic writing. this concurs with the notion that collaborative activities with more skilled persons contribute to students’ learning and processing of new concepts or skills (shabani et al., 2010). furthermore, the scaffolding approach, through the provision of resources, explanations, and any other guidance given by the writing center, enabled students to understand concepts (al mumun et al., 2020) and the effects were visible in the quantitative results. conclusion in conclusion, the study established that esl students experience challenges with academic writing skills when they enter higher education institutions. collaborating with the students for enhancing their academic writing skills, is one of the important tools that can be used to assist students to navigate the academic writing requirements in higher education institutions. therefore, it is recommended that more collaborative strategies be explored to enhance and ensure sustainability in students’ academic writing skills. 48 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 references ajani, o. a., & gamede, b. t. (2020). challenges of high school learners’ transition into universities: a case of a south african rural university. gender & behaviour, 18(2), 1580315812. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342889551 altınmakas, d., & bayyurt, y. (2019). an exploratory study on factors influencing undergraduate students’ academic writing practices in turkey. journal of english for academic purposes, 37, 88-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2018.11.006 arifin, s., & anwar, c. (2018). the impact of collaborative writing strategy at students’writing skill in descriptive text. prominent, 1(1). https:// doi. org/10.24176/pro.v1i1.2487 ariyanti, a., & fitriana, r. (2017). efl students’ difficulties and needs in essay writing. international conference on teacher training and education 2017 (ictte 2017) (pp. 3242). atlantis press. branch, r. m. (2009). instructional design: the addie approach (vol. 722). springer science & business media. bulqiyah, s., mahbub, m., & nugraheni, d. a. (2021). investigating writing difficulties in essay writing: tertiary students’ perspectives. english language teaching educational journal, 4(1), 61-73. http://journal2.uad.ac.id/index.php/eltej/index creswell, j. w. (2020). educational research: planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative (vol. 7). prentice hall. clark-kazak, c. (2017). ethical considerations: research with people in situations of forced migration. refuge: canada's journal on refugees, 33(2), 11-17. https://doi.org/10.7202/1043059ar bulsara, c. (2015). using a mixed methods approach to enhance and validate your research. brightwater group research centre. https://www.academia.edu/23767180/using_a_mixed_methods_approach_to_enhanc e_and_validate_your_research chaiklin, s. (2003). the zone of proximal development in vygotsky's analysis of learning and instruction. in a. kozulin, b. gindis, v. ageyev & s. miller, s. (eds.), vygotsky’s educational theory and practice in cultural context. cambridge university press. council on higher education. (2014). annual report 2013/2014. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/qgrcjhsnhnbrxtfnrdpjtnzmwnjpglbzzzv? projector=1&messagepartid=0.2 creswell, j. w. (2014). qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. sage. dieltiens, v., & motala, s. (2014). quintile ranking system, south africa. in m. poisson (ed.), achieving transparency in pro-poor education incentives (p. 69). unesco-iiepe. hanafi, a. (2020). academic writing learning skills: teaching facts and expected remedies. the online journal of new horizons in education, 10(3), 132. https://www.tojned.net/journals/tojned/articles/v10i03/v10i03-01.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2018.11.006 http://dx.doi.org/10.24176/pro.v1i1.2487 49 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 harlena, d. (2020, march). collaborative writing strategy for teaching writing descriptive text. in 7th international conference on english language and teaching (icoelt 2019) (pp. 276-279). atlantis press. kotamjani, s. s., & hussin, h. (2017). perceptions of challenges in writing academically: iranian postgraduate students’ perspectives. international journal of applied linguistics and english literature, 6(4), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.6n.4p.1 mahmood, k. (2020). academic writing challenges of efl learners and teachers' proficiency in pakistani higher education. journal of research in social sciences, 8(2), 56-76. https://doi.org/10.52015/jrss.8i2.55 nichols hess, a., & greer, k. (2016). designing for engagement: using the addie model to integrate high-impact practices into an online information literacy course. communications in information literacy, 10(2), 264-282. https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2016.10.2.27 jabali, o. (2018). students’ attitudes towards efl university writing: a case study at an-najah national university, palestine. heliyon, 4(11), e00896. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00896. jacobs, c. (2010). collaboration as pedagogy: consequences and implications for partnerships between communication and disciplinary specialists. southern african linguistics and applied language studies, 28(3), 227-237. https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2010.545025 lea, m. r., & street, b. v. (2006). the “academic literacies” model: theory and applications. theory into practice, 45(4), 368-377. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4504_11 leedy, p., & ormrod, j. (2020). practical research: planning and design, ebook, global edition (12th ed.). pearson. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uovsebooks/reader.action?docid=6142159&query=participatory+action+research luo, a. (2019). content analysis guide, methods and examples. https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/content-analysis/ margolis, a. a. (2020). zone of proximal development, scaffolding and teaching practice. cultural-historical psychology, 16(3), 15-26. https://doi.org/10.17759/chp.2020160303 mccombes, s. (2019, may 8). how to do a case study? scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/case-study/ naidoo, l. (2015). educating refugee-background students in australian schools and universities. intercultural education, 26(3), 210-217. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2015.1048079 pineteh, e. a. (2014). the academic writing challenges of undergraduate students: a south african case study. international journal of higher education, 3(1), 12-22. http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v3n1p12 http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.6n.4p.1 https://doi.org/10.52015/jrss.8i2.55 https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2016.10.2.27 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00896 https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2010.545025 https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4504_11 https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uovs-ebooks/reader.action?docid=6142159&query=participatory+action+research https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uovs-ebooks/reader.action?docid=6142159&query=participatory+action+research https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/content-analysis/ https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2015.1048079 50 jcve 2023, 6(2): 34-50 reis, k., & kowalczyk. d. (2021). content analysis in social research. https://study.com/learn/lesson/content-analysis.html roller, m.r. 2019. a quality approach to qualitative content analysis: similarities and differences compared to other qualitative methods. forum: qualitative social research, 20(3). https://researchdesignreview.com/2019/10/15/quality-approach-qualitative-contentanalysis/ rollinson, p. (2005). using peer feedback in the esl writing class. elt journal, 59, 23-30. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/cci003 sabarun, s. (2019). need analysis developing efl, paragraph writing materials at kalimantan l2 learners. english language teaching, 12(1), 186-193. l: https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v12n1p186 self, c. c. (2014). credibility. in an integrated approach to communication theory and research (pp. 449-470). routledge. shabani, k., khatib, m., & ebadi, s. (2010). vygotsky's zone of proximal development: instructional implications and teachers' professional development. english language teaching, 3(4), 237-248. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v3n4p237 solikhah, i., tarman, b., budiharso, t. (2022). improving argumentative writing through imrad to indonesian efl learners. eurasian journal of applied linguistics, 8(1), 241-253. https://dx.doi.org/10.32601/ejal.911533 storch, n. (2011). collaborative writing in l2 contexts: processes, outcomes, and future directions. annual review of applied linguistics, 31, 275288. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0267190511000079 toba, r., & noor, w. n. (2019). the current issues of indonesian efl students’ writing skills: ability, problem, and reason in writing comparison and contrast essay. dinamika ilmu, 57-73. http://doi.org/10.21093/di.v19i1.1506 van dyk, t., & weideman, a. (2004). switching constructs: on the selection of an appropriate blueprint for academic literacy assessment. journal for language teaching= ijenali yekufundzisa lulwimi= tydskrif vir taalonderrig, 38(1), 1-13. https://journals.co.za/toc/langt/38/1 vygotsky, l. (1978). interaction between learning and development. readings on the development of children, 23(3), 34-41. https://www.scirp.org/(s(vtj3fa45qm1ean45vvffcz55))/reference/referencespapers.asp x?referenceid=2549880 https://dx.doi.org/10.32601/ejal.911533 https://doi.org/10.1017/s0267190511000079 microsoft word 2.makura.13-22 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 1 2022 pp. 13-22 south african female academics’ work from home experiences during the covid-19 pandemic: challenges and opportunities alfred henry makuraa a. faculty of humanities, central university of technology, bloemfontein campus, south africa corresponding author: e-mail: amakura@cut.ac.za article info received: december 12, 2021 revised: january 10, 2022 accepted: february 17, 2022 how to cite makura, a. h. (2022). south african female academics’ work from home experiences during the covid-19 pandemic: challenges and opportunities. journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), 13-22 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.3 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract the covid-19 pandemic has triggered pedagogical ramifications in many higher education institutions. the work from home (wfh) phenomenon as an offshoot of this development has not been adequately investigated in so far as female (university) academics experienced it. this paper reports on ten female academics’ wfh instructional experiences with blended learning during the covid-19 pandemic era. the wfh concept has necessitated the ‘virtualisation of pedagogy’ through blended teaching and learning of academics. the sample was purposively extracted from some higher education institutions in gauteng, free state and eastern cape provinces of south africa. the sampling was done irrespective of geographical location or ‘status’ of the institution. each female academic responded to an open-ended structured questionnaire whose questions broadly focused on: their understanding of the working from home (wfh) phenomenon; the influence of home environment on their academic activities and the place of blended learning in a south african higher education context. the data were collated and analysed for its content with supporting excerpts to discern and support themes. the female academics viewed wfh as relocating offices to their homes with the attendant plethora of academic challenges this entailed. the wfh constrained their abilities to complete academic activities particularly instructional related ones. despite the myriad challenges identified, the pandemic has presented female academics with opportunities for professional growth through the blended mode of learning and newer perspectives on the apparently shifting gender roles. such opportunities promote female academics’ quest for the reconfiguration of education pedagogy and gender autonomy in higher education post covid-19. keywords work from home; female academics; higher education; covid-19; instructional management; blended learning. 10.46303/jcve.2022.3 14 makura, a. h. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(1): 13-22 introduction a body of knowledge on the pedagogical ramifications of the covid-19 on female academics is slowly emerging (deryugina et al., 2021; kim & patterson, 2020; mavin & yusupova, 2020; minello, 2020; minello et al., 2021; parlak et al., 2021; walters et al., 2021). women are known to experience several challenges, chiefly patriarchy and gender discrimination. the covid-19 pandemic is an additional ill that has compounded female academics’ woes. the same extended to issues related to assessment, quality assurance and student support systems (owolabi, 2020). patriarchy for instance, has blurred the social identity (woman), and the nature of the job some women are expected to perform (mavin & yusupova 2021). yildirim and eslen-ziya (2020) and cui et al (2021) concede that men and women have been impacted differently. this reportedly stem from the traditionally gendered division of labour in most societies. female academics with young children are mostly affected since children need closer attention. such women are constrained when it comes to academic research productivity. consequently, the academic (research) production levels of the women folk have reportedly plummeted (gabster et al., 2021; staniscuaski, 2021; yildirim & eslen-ziya, 2021). in the case of the united states of america, cui et al (2021) have demonstrated that women academics have produced proportionately (up to 13.9%) fewer research papers than male academics in the social sciences. thus, structurally, i only include the effects of the pandemic and its attendant wfh on female academics. thereafter, i account for the factors that explain those negative consequences and finally, i give scholars’ suggestions to mitigate the challenges. staniscuaski (2021) showed that most academics conceded that they were negatively affected by the pandemic. they concluded that gender, parenthood and race are responsible for a decline in women’s productivity during the covid-19 pandemic. male academics without children were least affected by the pandemic as regards research productivity. whites as a group were less impacted compared to black academics. south african female university academics have not been spared (khosa & pillay, 2021; walters et al, 2022). hence the uniqueness of the inert talents and “indomitable spirit” (khosa & pillay, 2021, p. 139) particularly of the women academic leaders for instance, cannot be fully delineated due to the distortions of the work from home strategy adopted during the covid-19 pandemic era. robbins et al., (2019, pg. i) citing musician bob dylan implored ‘average citizens’ such as women to ‘…find their own way through the mess’ [such as the covid-19 pandemic] (own emphasis) and what they describe as ‘reactionary populism’ in education. the wfh platform thus presented female academics an opportunity to find their way amid a ravaging pandemic. the work from home (wfh) strategy (deryugina et al., 2021; stadnyk & black, 2020; yildirim & eslen-ziya, 2021) was adopted by many formal organisations in response to the ravages of the covid-19 pandemic. the intention was to slowdown infections among a population while ensuring that productivity or output of goods and services were sustained. hence, many academic institutions particularly universities directed their workforce to work from home using enhanced online platforms. 15 south african female academics’ work from home jcve 2022, 5(1): 13-22 cultureandvalues.org likewise, students shifted to online pedagogical platforms to receive an education (shatunova et al., 2021). this strategy appears to have worked in many instances despite the potential threats of innovations hitherto unknown in many societies. kasymova et al (2021) report on challenges faced by female academics who are mothers and suggest strategies the female academics need to adopt to mitigate the impact of motherhood on research productivity. the researchers implore institutions to shoulder the burden of childcare responsibilities of their academics who are mothers. it is slowly being realised that the work from home concept is disproportionately affecting individuals operating in in academe. literature points to the fact that women are immensely adversely affected by the work from home phenomenon that arose after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic (kasymova et al., 2021; mavin & yusupova, 2020; muller & nathan, 2020; parlak et al., 2021; walters et al., 2022; yıldırım-şahin, 2020; yildirim & eslen-ziya, 2021). a seminal study by parlak et al (2021) shows that the pandemic ‘has deepened gender inequalities and [plummeted women] productivity’. this appears to stem from increased domestic burdens, reduction in research time (deryugina et al., 2021), increased caring labour and differentiated power relations (zabaniotou, 2020), negative attitudes of spouses towards academia (parlak et al., 2021) and an increase in teaching and administrative workloads of women in addition to their traditional roles (khosa & pillay, 2021; minello et al., 2021; walters et al., 2022). it is in this context that kasymova et al (2021) suggest a policy-praxis shift at institutional level. because of such challenges, the wfh concept has necessitated the ‘virtualisation of pedagogy’ through blended teaching and learning of academics. an earlier study by bennett (2015) outlined the massive benefits that are associated with the virtualisation of teaching and learning. the resultant strategy fused traditional teaching approaches with technology. the implementation of such a blended or hybrid approach was not without other unintended challenges. hove and dube (2021) warm against the exclusionary practices of online learning, which, in some instances, have been commercialised. given that almost the entire academic labour force in many institutions recoiled to the captive domestic environment, pedagogy had to be offered through digital platforms. the advent of pedagogically friendly digital platforms was meant to mitigate the academic disruption caused by the pandemic. in other societies millions of girls were thrown out school (muller & nathan, 2020) and technically lost out on an online education system presented by the pandemic. adedoyin and soykan (2020) explain that the crisis response migration to digital platforms was met by logistical challenges, digital incompetence, attitudinal challenges, heavy workload and compatibility issues. hove and dube (2021) aver that the digitalisation and commercialisation of online platforms created ‘virtual elite schools’ which have widened the digital gap between the privileged and underprivileged learners. within that matrix, as stadnyk and black (2020) observe, challenges faced by female academics will persist in post pandemic era. in their view, the area of research productivity or output is likely to bear the brunt of the deleterious impact of the pandemic. 16 makura, a. h. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(1): 13-22 research question  what are the south african female academics’ understanding of work from home (wfh) phenomenon?  how do female academics perceive the influence of home environment on their academic activities?  what do female academics perceive as the place of blended learning during the covid-19 pandemic era in a south african higher education context? methodology design this study utilises qualitative data generated from a larger study and is thus grounded in the interpretivist paradigm. this paradigm is premised on the notion that knowledge is a social construct with multiple ‘truths.’ the assumption was that, in keeping with a qualitative design, the selected female (university) academics were well positioned to narrate their unique lived experiences during the covid-19 pandemic. holmes (2015) contends that intercultural encounters are socially constructed and bounded by cultural contexts of the research participants. in this case, the female academics operating in varying socio-economic contexts narrated their honest experiences, albeit, in writing. hence, i was able to create a unique form of knowledge which enables us to communicate to the end user. the sample this consisted of ten purposively selected female academics from some targeted higher education institutions located in the gauteng, free state and eastern cape provinces of south africa. the sample selection was arrived at irrespective of geographical location or ‘status’ of the institution. the sample was part of a larger one (inclusive of male academics). only data on, and from female academics is reported herein. instrument each female academic responded to an open-ended structured questionnaire whose questions broadly focused on: their understanding of the working from home (wfh) phenomenon; the influence of home environment on their academic activities and the place of blended learning in a south african higher education context. data collection the questionnaire was administered through direct email to each participant. direct contact with the participants was not possible due to the covid-19 pandemic protocols or restrictions. in keeping with research ethics, each participant was allocated a coded nom de plume, and these ranged from codes fa1 to fa10 where fa stood for female academic (number 1, 2,3, 4 etc.). data analysis the rich data were thematically collated and analysed for its content with supporting excerpts to discern and support themes in line with the declared research questions. 17 south african female academics’ work from home jcve 2022, 5(1): 13-22 cultureandvalues.org results after collecting usable questionnaire instruments, they were later scrutinised for their content. de vos (2010) advises that data should be processed to bring order structure and meaning. with that in mind, i set to analyse the data in line with thematic areas embedded in the three declared research questions. hereunder is a detailed narrative of the areas of focus. female academics’ understanding of work from home (wfh) phenomenon most participants indicated that working from home entailed executing formal work from the comfort of one’s home in a “…designated space” [fa29] i.e., away from the office “…or at a remote location other than my physical work address to perform my duties [fa29]. female academic 1 (fa1) submitted a compelling description indicating that it is “involving in work related activities while you in the comfort of your home/house without office space, office furniture but use available space and your house furniture to make yourself comfortable to cope with the adjustments and new environment for teaching and learning.” this reasoning was echoed by both fa21 and fa23 with the former averring that “working from home means working from my house, flat etc. or any other setting either than [sic] the traditional office.” participant fa23 expounded on the spinoffs of working from home indicating that it offered “…greater flexibility in working hours but the output remains the same” another academic, fa8, was mindful of the official working hours when she indicated that working from home was akin to “using working hours to do the job you are employed for, doing it from home.” participants fa3 and fa11 from an eastern cape province-based institution indicated that wfh meant “completing the work that you are unable to do at work due to uncertain circumstances, for instance, in the case of covid19 where we had to be locked in our homes” [fa3]. this reasoning presupposes that only ‘uncompleted work’ qualified for being taken to the (comfortable) home environment. both academics cited the covid-19 situation as a special circumstance warranting working from home. our study went further to probe how the home environment influenced their academic activities. how the female academics perceived the influence of home environment on their academic activities the general feeling among the female academics was that working from home had constrained their ability to execute official tasks and duties. fa1 was bold when she declared that “very difficult situation as i am working 24/7 without rest and relaxation. it is total different environment where you need adjustments as well as balance and prioritise between work and home chaos.” another participant, fa21 added that the wfh requirement “…made it difficult to complete academic activities…” due family related demands. fa23 indicated that she has a “home office” but the increased workload (stemming from the covid-19 pandemic) negatively impacted her family life. an academic based at a gauteng higher education institution, fa11 claimed that she incurred expenses and inconveniences because of working from home. “i have had to convert my dining room into a replica of my work office. we have not had a dining room 18 makura, a. h. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(1): 13-22 since march! i have had to upgrade my laptop (at my own expense) and get a printer from my husband’s office.” in summation, she metaphorically mocked the power utility giant, eskom for compounding her woes through disrupting internet connectivity “thank goodness we have fiber but that goes down when eskom decides”. fa1 disclosed that it was difficult and expensive to work from home as regards data, electricity, food etc. despite its challenges, fa29 and fa8 indicated that the home environment positively impacted on their ability to complete academic activities. the later indicated that she had “almost all the tools to work with” while the former indicated that she would “…work for hours on end without getting disturbed”. other participants cited time as a godsent given that they would work for longer hours after ‘official’ hours. hence, the study notes that the pandemic presented academics with both positive and negative aspects. a common theme in the academics’ narrative relates to the ease with which technology assisted them in executing their academic mandates by adopting blended learning. female academics’ perceptions on the role of blended learning during the covid-19 pandemic era it was gratifying to note that almost the entire female academics’ cohort perceived blended learning as a positive aspect during the pandemic. they were emphatic in their responses while offering several reasons to buttress their assertions. the following captions offer insights into the issue: fa8 posited that the “lockdown made me realized [sic] the importance of using blended learning instead of mostly face-to-face…. i used learning management systems (lms) just to complement the face-to-face learning and teaching” fa1 used the blended learning approach to “accommodate vulnerable students who may not be able to use online or remote teaching due to technological issues” fa23 indicated that “blended learning will create the opportunities for a wider range of students to enrol at universities” perhaps a very compelling submission regarding the instructional advantages of blended learning during the pandemic came from fa11 who argued that “i have seen first-hand the benefits of being able to deal with questions, issues etc. – right there and then in ‘the real world’ as opposed to online. a lot of students became very ‘needy’ and kept wanting reassurances even when things were crystal clear and explained in various forums!” despite these positive academic spinoffs, an academic at an eastern cape university bemoaned the inadequate support from ict section of the institution arguing that “the thought of teaching in a new environment seemed initially excited. however, the support from itc sustained the swift was not aligned with the change. one person supporting all the lecturers is not sufficient. in the past if you had a request, it was done. nowadays you have to follow all the steps with the facilitator. it is time consuming and not the support to proceed faster (or to what i was used too in the past)”. from this caption, it was apparent that the ict section had inadequate labour to service its clientele. 19 south african female academics’ work from home jcve 2022, 5(1): 13-22 cultureandvalues.org discussion from the forgoing, it is apparent that female academics at some south african universities hold similar views regarding the working from home phenomenon. they agree that wfh entailed executing formal work within the comfort of one’s home i.e., transferring the official workplace office to their respective homes. some female academics have created spaces within their household parameters to host the formal offices. this phenomenon has confined people (in general) to their domestic boundaries with varying degrees of consequences. female academics revealed both negative and positive aspects of working from home. married women particularly experience several family responsibilities due to the gendered nature of domestic labour (zabaniotou, 2020; muller & nathan, 2020). most south african participants reported an increase in the workload by working from home (khosa & pillay, 2021; walters et al., 2022). regarding the issue of female academics’ perceptions of the influence of home environment on their academic activities the general feeling among the female academics was that working from home had constrained their ability to execute official tasks and duties. most participants indicated that they had experienced an increased workload. consequently, this trend caused most female academics to experience reduced research output (cui et al., 2021; gabster et al., 2020; parlak et al., 2021; staniscuaski, 2021; yildirim & eslen-ziya, 2021). some participants experienced increased costs by working from home while others had connectivity related challenges. technical related challenges compromised the female academics’ quest to offer an education through the blended mode. the blended mode of teaching and learning was perceived by female academics as a positive pedagogical tool during the pandemic. it assisted them in executing their instructional duties. as adedoyin and soykan (2020) observe, blended learning presents many benefits. some of them are related to the virtualisation of pedagogy in spheres of assessment, quality assurance and student support systems (owolabi, 2020). most instructional related challenges that will be faced by some female academics, post-covid-19 will persist (stadnyk & black, 2020). hence the critical role played by the blended mode of learning and teaching will come in handy. additionally, omodan and diko (2021) suggest the adoption of ubuntugogy as an alternative liberation pedagogy to the instructional challenges besetting african higher education systems. conclusions and recommendations this study sought to report on the wfh instructional experiences with blended learning of some female academics during the covid-19 pandemic era. three research questions were posed and data from the research participants were used to address them. the covid-19 pandemic necessitated the working from home concept, initially as a way of mitigating the spread of the virus. the study concludes that female academics understood the working from home (wfh) phenomenon as the taking of formal work to their place of residence. this practice constrained the already overburdened female academics. their research productivity plummeted during the 20 makura, a. h. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(1): 13-22 pandemic era. lastly, this study showed that the wfh concept has necessitated the ‘virtualisation of pedagogy’ through blended teaching and learning. the female academics fully embraced the role played by blended learning in a higher education context. this is despite the increased workload that they experienced. the female academics reported several advantages associated with the blended learning format. these included complementing the face-to-face mode of instruction, creating more opportunities especially for the marginalised candidates and improving one’s pedagogical skills. based on the foregoing, the study implores female academics to sustain their instructional offerings despite the pedagogical challenges presented by the pandemic. the academics also need to tackle patriarchy head on. the data obtained herein showed that married or child rearing mothers faced several (more) challenges than other social categories. universities thus need to institute policies that protect and enhance female academic participation in education with minimal interference. in parting, the pandemic has presented female academics with opportunities for professional growth through the blended mode of learning and newer perspectives on the apparently shifting gender roles. such opportunities promote female academics’ quest for the reconfiguration of education pedagogy and gender autonomy in higher education post covid-19. references adedoyin, o. b., & soykan, e. (2020). covid-19 pandemic and online learning: the challenges and opportunities. interactive learning environments, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2020.1813180 bennett, r.e. (2015). the changing nature of educational assessment. review of research in education, 39, 370-407. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x14554179 cui, r., ding, h., & zhu, f. (2021). gender inequality in research productivity during the covid19 pandemic. manufacturing & service operations management, 1-25. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3623492 deryugina, t., shurchkov, o., & stearns, j. (2021). covid-19 disruptions disproportionately affect female academics. in aea papers and proceedings, 111, 164-68. https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pandp.20211017 de vos, a. s (2010). qualitative data analysis and interpretation. in a. s. de vos, h. strydom, c. b. fouche & c. s. l. delport (eds.). research at grass roots: for the social sciences and human service professions (3rd ed., pp. 333-348). van schaik. gabster, b. p., van daalen, k., dhatt, r., & barry, m. (2020). challenges for the female academic during the covid-19 pandemic. the lancet, 395(10242), 1968-1970. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(20)31412-4 holmes, p. (2015). intercultural encounters as socially constructed experiences: which concepts? which pedagogies? in the routledge companion to cross-cultural management (pp. 287-297). routledge. 21 south african female academics’ work from home jcve 2022, 5(1): 13-22 cultureandvalues.org hove, b., & dube, b. (2021). covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school: rethinking education policies in zimbabwe. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 84-94. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.5 kasymova, s., place, j. m. s., billings, d. l., & aldape, j. d. (2021). impacts of the covid-19 pandemic on the productivity of academics who mother. gender, work & organization, 1-15. https://doi:10.1111/gwao.12699 khosa, p., & pillay, p. (2021). celebrating the indomitable spirit of south african female academics during the covid-19 pandemic. in et. pereira, c. costa. & z. breda (eds.), 4th international conference on gender research, icgr 2021 (pp. 139-147). academic conferences international limited. http://doi:10.34190/igr.21.013 kim, e., & patterson, s. (2020). the pandemic and gender inequality in academia, 1-19. available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3666587 mavin, s., & yusupova, m. (2020). gendered experiences of leading and managing through covid-19: patriarchy and precarity. gender in management: an international journal, 35, (7/8), 737-744. https://doi:10.1108/gm-09-2020-0274 minello, a. (2020). the pandemic and the female academic. nature, 17, 2020. http://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01135-9 minello, a., martucci, s., & manzo, l. k. (2021). the pandemic and the academic mothers: present hardships and future perspectives. european societies, 23(sup1), s82-s94. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2020.1809690 muller, j.e., & nathan, d.g. (2020). covid-19, nuclear war, and global warming: lessons for our vulnerable world. the lancet,395 (10242), 1967-1968. https://doi.org/10.1016 okeke-uzodike, o., & gamede, v. (2021). the dilemma of unrelenting workload amidst covid-19 pandemic: an agenda for university female academics. journal of research in higher education, 5(1), 12-46. https://www.ceeol.com/search/articledetail?id=978319 omodan, b. i., & diko, n. (2021). conceptualisation of ubuntugogy as a decolonial pedagogy in africa. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 95-104. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.8 owolabi, j. o. (2020). virtualising the school during covid-19 and beyond in africa: infrastructure, pedagogy, resources, assessment, quality assurance, student support system, technology, culture and best practices. advances in medical education and practice, 11, 755-759. https://doi.org/10.2147/amep.s272205 parlak, s., cakiroglu, o. c, & oksuz gul, f.o. (2021). gender roles during covid-19 pandemic: the experiences of turkish female academics. gender, work & organization, 28 (2), 461-483. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12655 22 makura, a. h. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(1): 13-22 robbins, c. g., bishop, j., & tarman, b. (2019). against reactionary populism: opening a needed conversation in education. journal of culture and values in education, 2(3), i-vi. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.02.ed shatunova, o., bozhkova, g., tarman, b. & shastina e. (2021). transforming the reading preferences of today’s youth in the digital age: intercultural dialog, journal of ethnic and cultural studies, 8(3), 62-73. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/347 stadnyk, t., & black, k. (2020). lost ground: female academics face an uphill battle in postpandemic world. hydrological processes. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13803 staniscuaski, f., kmetzsch, l., soletti, r. c., reichert, f., zandonà, e., ludwig, z. m., lima, e. f., neumann, a., schwartz, i., mello-carpes, p. b., tamajusuku, a., werneck, f. p., ricachenevsky, f. k., infanger, c., seixas, a., staats, c. c., & de oliveira, l. (2021). gender, race and parenthood impact academic productivity during the covid-19 pandemic: from survey to action. frontiers in psychology, 12, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.663252 walters, c., mehl, g. g., piraino, p., jansen, j. d., & kriger, s. (2022). the impact of the pandemic-enforced lockdown on the scholarly productivity of women academics in south africa. research policy, 51(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2021.104403 walters, c., ronnie, l., jansen, j., & kriger, s. (2021). “academic guilt”: the impact of the pandemic-enforced lockdown on women's academic work. in women's studies international forum (vol. 88, p. 102522). pergamon. http://doi.org/10.1016/i.wsif.2021.102522 yildirim, t. m., & eslen-ziya, h. (2021). the differential impact of covid-19 on the work conditions of women and men academics during the lockdown. gender, work & organization, 28, (1) 243-249. https://doi.org/1111/gwao.12529 yıldırım-şahin, e. (2020). impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the daily life of female academics. in j. dobreva, e. alaverdov & e. yildirim-sahin (eds.), geopolitics, discrimination, gender & immigration, pp115-129. ijopec. http://www.ijopec.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020_15.pdf#page=116 zabaniotou, a. (2020). towards gender equality in higher education institutions: equal female academics in the mediterranean during and after the covid-19 pandemic, (pp18). global university network for innovation (guni). https://www.guninetwork.org/files/paper_for_guni_covid-19.pdf journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 1 using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education ricky dale mullins* eastern kentucky university *corresponding author: ricky.mullins@eku.edu received : 2018-12-10 accepted : 2019-04-29 how to cite this paper: mullins, r.d., (2019). using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education, journal of culture and values in education, volume 2 (1), 1-17. abstract in this paper i examine ways in which students with disabilities have the capacity to be full, contributing citizens within a participatory, communicative, and pluralistic democracy. in many instances, institutions such as schools provide barriers that disallow and dissuade students with disabilities from full participation in society and their education, which prevents them from becoming co-creators of their educational experience. i argue that in a deweyan democracy, all students must have not just the right, but be allowed to grow in their capacity to develop into fully participating, contributing citizens. my hope is that by situating disability and special education within deweyan democratic discourse it will be possible to render that discourse more genuinely inclusive of all students, so that the needs of all are met and the unique contributions of each become a part of the educational process. keywords: democratic education, citizenship, special education, civic education, social foundations introduction “the democratic faith in human equality is belief that every human being, independent of the quantity or range of his personal endowment, has the right to equal opportunity with every other person for development of whatever gifts he has” (lw 14:226-227). “the belief in the capacity of our people, then, requires a continual affirmation, and a sensitivity to the ways it can be diminished” (rose, 2004, p. 214). as acknowledged and explicated in the call for proposals for this special issue of the journal of culture and values in education, the american educational system often restrains and limits the intellectual growth of students, despite the fact that embedded in american education is the rhetoric of inclusion. as educational researchers, we like to talk about inclusion, but we do not actually know how to do it. therefore, the implementation of inclusion has been sharply journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 2 criticized in the literature. for example, baglieri, bejoian, broderick, connor, and valle (2011) note: imagining schools as places where children can find belonging and community conjures values and ideas with which few would argue. democracy is posed as the political ideal of our culture. even federal education policy asks us to leave no child behind. how is it, then, that an idea and a value that upholds social equity—embodied within the now-familiar educational term inclusion—ends up as the source of contention in a polarizing debate now spanning decades? (p. 2123) arguably, the word inclusion itself is most typically associated with special education. although a major focus in special education is tailoring instruction to support the needs of students with disabilities (swds) in the form of an individualized education plan (iep), this document often limits, constrains, and silences the uniqueness of the student (martin, van dyke, christensen, greene, gardner, & lovett 2006), although it was intended to be a solution to the problems faced by swds. nespor and hicks (2010) further note: the iep is a peculiar technology of ‘performativity’ (ball 2006) in that it can be used both as an instrument of control by schools – defining the limits of what they are obligated to do, specifying how the child is to be made visible, and accountability in institutional terms – and, less frequently, by parents, who can use it to specify what the school should provide their child and make the teacher and school accountable in terms of specific goals. (p. 316) to prevent ieps from continuing to serve as a means of control, we need to break away from “pedagogies of the same” (lingard, 2008, p. 248), and start recognizing all students present unique instructional needs and contributions to the classroom and society. offering a way to make such a break, john dewey’s concept of democratic education provides a realistic, even necessary path to the intellectual liberation of all students, and in particular, swds. i came to understand the necessity of a deweyan lens as a social studies educator, special educator, and administrator. in this paper, i draw on that experience and use swds as a focal point to show what it would look like if we reconceptualized citizenship to extend beyond what is commonly associated with civic engagement, voting for instance. i therefore begin with a discussion of dewey’s pluralistic, participatory, and communicative democracy. next, i examine citizenship in american society and deweyan democracy. i conclude by arguing that by using deweyan democracy as a guide for supporting the needs of swds, schools can reimagine education to help swds develop their potential to become fully participating citizens and leaders. the current status of disability: two diverging models extensive involvement by the united states federal government in the education of individuals with disabilities began with the adoption of the education for all handicapped children act (eha, 1975). in 1990 congress reauthorized eha, renaming it the individuals with disabilities education act (idea, 2004). since that time, the rights of students with disabilities has “had to journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 3 be reinterpreted time and time again” (bérubé, 2003, p. 55). under the current authorization in 2004, idea has 14 categories of disability including: autism, deaf-blindness, deafness, developmental, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, intellectual disability delay, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, and visual impairment, including blindness. a student is considered to have a disability if he or she meets the federal guidelines and criteria and is eligible for special education services when this identified disability adversely affects his or her educational performance (center for parent information and resources, 2017). idea guarantees certain rights for individuals with disabilities. within public education, these rights are generally granted and guaranteed when a student is eligible to receive special education services (ben-porath, 2012). nevertheless, there is scholarship that is critical of the very nature and underpinnings of special education. for example, gabel and connor (2008) argue that, “many critical scholars question the very foundation of the field of special education” (p. 377). this is because some scholars believe that “once captured by the special education industry, the individual becomes an unending object of study for a well-intentioned cadre of professionals” (baglieri et al., 2011, p. 2133), meaning that the child who is now part of the special education system will forever have decisions made for them by the experts who decided they belonged in the system in the first place. the system of special education has often been seen as an overall failure and giving it a nominal distinction as a separate field, professionalizes and legitimatizes the concept of special education (baglieri et al., 2011). while these issues are of importance and merit further scholarship, resolving this ongoing controversy is beyond the scope of this paper. here, the goal is to expand avenues and possibilities of deweyan democracy while operating within this unsettled, ever shifting configuration of public education. in pursuit of such an expansion of democratic possibilities, it is useful to reflect on the dominant models of disability. currently there are two dominant models used to examine disability: the medical model of disability and the social model of disability. my own approach more closely aligns with the latter. advocates of the medical model approach disability as if it were a disease that needs treated, the ideal outcome being an individual achieves “normality” (shyman, 2016, p. 367), depending on what normal means in the context of their culture. within public education, the medical model is more prevalent, especially within special education. therefore, a student’s performance is assessed by a series of observations and checklists that add up to pathological societal assessments, these prevalent in addressing issues of disability in public education (garrison, 2010). moreover, in public education, once a student has been identified as having a disability and is deemed eligible to receive special education services, the goal then is to help the child “catch up” to their peers. therefore, the impression is given that having a disability is a condition that prevents one from achieving at an ideal level. in contrast, advocates of the social model posit that disability is a societal construct (danforth, 2008), which could vary depending on the cultural context. that is not to say biological factors such as dysfunctional limbs do not affect the manner in which individuals can engage in certain activities, such as climbing stairs (anastasiou & kauffman, 2013). nevertheless, lekan (2009) journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 4 argues, “justice requires that we repair the environments not the people” (p. 216). if individuals with disabilities have issues accessing physical structures, or struggle to have academic success, it is, according to social model advocates, the environments that need altering, not the individuals. my paper suggests altering the social and political environments to be more pluralistic, participatory, and communicative, which aligns directly with the concept of deweyan democracy, which i will explicate in more detail later on in this paper. such a deweyan approach confronts and rejects the medical model. for instance, o’brien (2016) notes: [i]nstead of focusing on what children cannot do, educators would view all children as strong, capable, and competent. and “disability” would be thought of as an addition to the concept of diversity, that is, a difference in degree, not type. (p. 481) examining disability from this non-pathological perspective problematizes the notion of how the citizenship of individuals with disabilities is approached in an institutional setting because “inclusive education is about the participation of all children and young people and the removal of all form of exclusionary practices” (barton, 1998, p. 84-85). dewey and disability examining dewey sheds light on possible ways to reconstruct the environments that currently prohibit and discourage individuals with disabilities from achieving that needed to participate in democratic citizenship. although dewey did not discuss disability directly, his theoretical underpinnings help to situate him within the discourse of disability, aligning him more closely with the social model. to dewey, the focus of education should be “continuity of growth” and that looks different for every student and cannot be measured by a standardized assessment of any sort (garrison, neubert, & reich, 2016, p. 186). given the uniqueness of each individual, there is no test that can provide a valid assessment of growth in every person. besides, it is not up to a test to determine growth, but it is up to the teacher who must be able to identify “what experiences best promote growth” (mason, 2016, p. 92). additionally, growth can be observed and “is present wherever life exists” (danforth, 2008, p. 58). for example, if one day a student is not able to do a given task and then later that student can complete it, simply put, that student has experienced growth. dewey had “discomfort with intelligence testing” because the results are used as evidentiary support to label or categorize someone as inferior or superior (danforth, 2008, p. 50). danforth (2008) indicates that these labels serve to stigmatize “while claiming scientific neutrality” (p. 59). additionally, “labeling directs the teacher’s attention to conformity instead of the uniqueness of each person” (furman, 2015, p. 62). in fact, no one has a cognitive disability until he or she takes an iq test (garrison, 2012). dewey argues that inferiority and superiority can only be in relation to a task (danforth, 2008). thus, dewey wrote: there are many modes of superiority and inferiority as there are consequences to be attained and works to be accomplished. and until society becomes static new modes of activity are continually developing, each of which permits and exacts its own specific inferiorities and superiorities. there is doubtless some degree of correlation between traits which promote journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 5 superiority in more than one direction. but the idea of abstract, universal superiority and inferiority is an absurdity. (mw 13:49) consider a student i taught, justin.1 the intelligence test he was given indicated that he had an intellectual disability, suggesting that he was intellectually inferior when compared to his sameage peers. however, justin knew how to do a variety of tasks valued in the social context of the vocational classroom such as, but not limited to, stacking lumber, sawing, hammering, and sweeping. his peers probably did not know how to do many of the aforementioned tasks. so, given a variety of tasks to complete in a woodshop, who then is inferior, justin or his peers of putatively “normal” iq’s? deweyan democracy pluralistic democracy within a deweyan democracy, perceptions of ability and disability labels begin to break down and lose meaning, which i will discuss momentarily. within american society, the word democracy is often spoken, but rarely truly understood and applied in a deweyan sense. most american citizens are familiar with the term because they are familiar with the notion of american democracy. in fact, “we tend to think of democracy as something that exists somewhere else, typically in washington, d.c., or the state capitol, and is supported by the voting of dutiful individuals” (stitzlein, 2014, p. 66). although democracy is related to government, it is as well and more so a way of life, a way of looking at the world. democracy is something that emerges and, should it thrive, repeatedly reinvents itself to reflect the will of a democratic people. thus, it is not a static entity to be preserved in a singular form. it is an intellectual space where experiences of citizens are blended to discover the best ideas for the transformation of reality so that the realities created best serve the aspirations of the people. when speaking of democracy, dewey proposes two questions as standards for evaluating any society. the first (internal) standard is based in the question of “how numerous and varied are the interests which are consciously shared?” (mw 9:89). he asks this question as a way of assessing if a particular configuration is actually a democracy. this question is meant to address the issue of whether everyone’s’ interests are being represented and if there is a direct effort to ensure that the views of all are being shared among the members of the democracy and considered in the decision-making process. it urges the society to discover interests held in common that, when properly addressed, leads to decisions that serve well the whole of the people, the common good. the second (external) question that must be considered, according to dewey, is “how full and free is the interplay with other forms of association?” (mw 9:89). this question concerns whether the group has free and open exchanges with other ways of life different from those currently found within the society. it urges openness to otherness and offers hospitality to strangers. both standards point toward an inclusive pluralism. dewey examines his two standards by considering a non-pluralistic situation where interests are shared, but not varied or open to other forms of exchange. he asks us to consider a band 1 here and elsewhere in the paper, pseudonyms have been used to protect the student’s or teachers’ identity. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 6 of thieves. thieves share a common interest in stealing. however, this common interest is limited, and the thieves do not have any open exchanges with those affected who are outside the group. doing so, opening out to a broad public, would result in the demise of the organization as an organization. although each group member may have a voice, the group lacks diversity of perspective, and as dewey notes, “hence, the education such a society gives is partial and distorted” (mw 9:89). however, if a group forms where community organizations, schools, for instance, in which a broad range of participants, in schools, for example, students, teachers, administrators, parents, and other stakeholders are involved in a dialogic relationship, then deweyan democracy starts to form. in such organizations, the interests are shared and varied and the exchange between the external (community) and internal (school) is open and unrestrained. ideally, every citizen in a democracy has a role and a contribution to make to help that democracy not just survive, but thrive. dewey’s two standards point toward a participatory, pluralistic democracy. garrison et al. (2016) argue that, “we can say that a plurality of interests shared within a community is a necessary precondition of education for democracy” (p. 98). for example, the standard of plurality within a community is realized when those within a group share common interests. this can be explained by examining educational decisions made within a school itself. when a school shares a common interest in helping students find their unique place in society, the school has the potential to provide democratic education. if this school is to provide effective democratic education, the faculty has to make a concerted effort to include the voices of outside members such as social services, disability advocates, local colleges, parents, and other stakeholders. garrison et al. (2016) argue, “the key point here is that for the development of its democratic relations and experiences, a given group, community, or society needs generous and unhindered exchanges taking place with other groups, communities and societies,” (p. 98), these are people with some common interests. in order to educate for democracy these external exchanges are of utmost necessity. therefore, it is sufficient to say that a school, when educating for democracy, must have an openness to the local, national, and global community. this relationship should benefit and edify both the school community and the community in which the school resides. for example, consider a program that one of my colleagues had in which swds operated a consignment shop on the school property. the students did everything in the store from working with and waiting on customers to taking donations. the public would donate, buy, and interact with the students on a daily basis. this relationship helped to upset a binary present in modern society, that is the distinction between manual and mental labor. the students solved problems and dealt with customer issues. therefore, the public could gain insight into: the mental processes that enable service. the aesthetics of physical labor. the complex interplay of the social and mechanical. the choreography of hand, eye, ear, brain. the everpresence of abstraction, planning and problem solving in everyday work. (rose, 2004, p. xx) this situation helped the public to not miss the interplay of mind and work because they could observe the swds engaging and thriving in this space. this dialogical relationship also allowed journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 7 the students to become fully engaged with the local culture and community, and allowed for meaningful interaction between the students and the public. democratic participation in a deweyan democracy, everyone has more than solely a right to participate; saying someone has a right to do something can mean very little. dewey argues that everyone also has the capacity, or ability to participate in some way. when someone has a right to do something that simply means that his or her freedom is secured by law, such as the right to free speech in america. however, arguing that everyone has the capacity adds an extra element because then the argument moves beyond formal rights secured by law, towards critical consideration of the notion that no one is excluded based on perceived lack of capacity, which entails that everyone has the potential to participate as a contributing citizen. therefore, if the capacity is lacking it must be developed and nurtured whenever possible. educating individual democratic capacity is essential to any vibrant democracy. it enables positive, active, substantive freedom. for example, dewey posits that, “it is the aim of progressive education to take part in correcting unfair privilege and unfair deprivation, not to perpetuate them” (mw 9: 126). education should seek to develop that which a person is capable of, which is unknown until a student is allowed to explore that capacity in various settings. therefore, it is clear that dewey was not in favor of anyone being excluded; instead, he supported the inclusion of all that are affected by a policy, decision, or law. however, the inclusion of all is only possible in educational environments that are democratic. garrison et al. (2016) speak to the nature of democratic education when they say, “education in a democratic sense has to prepare sufficient opportunities for individuals to realize their autonomy de facto in the complex contexts of modern power constellations” (p. 148). therefore, the individual citizen must realize that he or she has autonomy within a genuinely pluralistic democracy and some students may miss this realization if they do not have the opportunity to participate. in american democracy, as it presently exists, not everyone can participate, even in the restricted legal sense, sometimes because it is claimed of a person that he or she is intrinsically lacking in capacity. in fact, there are laws in certain states that prohibit and restrain individuals with disabilities from civic engagement such as voting. this is an example of individuals having a right, here, to vote, by virtue of their being american citizens of proper age, but that right is affected by laws set around evaluation of their capacity. for example, disability justice (2016) notes:  7 states deny the right to vote to: “idiots or insane persons”  others deny the vote to those of “unsound mind, non compos mentis”, or those who are not of “quiet and peaceable behavior”  16 states bar those adjudged mentally incompetent or incapacitated from voting  4 state constitutions bar people “under guardianship” from voting (par. 5) therefore, when looking at the concept of right to participation, one should consider exactly what it means to be a democratic citizen. if participation is conferred by citizenship, and citizenship is defined by civic engagement through participation in activities such as voting, journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 8 what then does exclusion for the reasons described in the laws mean for the citizenship and active civic participation of individuals with severe disabilities? if citizenship is reduced to the aforementioned elements, then people with disabilities are essentially not citizens in their own country or state. nussbaum (2010) takes up the argument of participation and identifies three levels of impairment that are pertinent to this discussion, one that allows for a person to fully participate; one recognizes that a person may be able to make political decisions but needs the assistance of the guardian of some type to do so; and the last in which the person is completely dependent upon a guardian to speak on his or her behalf because a disability prevents the person from doing so on his or her own. nussbaum (2010) argues that every person should have a vote. nussbaum (2010) even goes so far as to say in the case of individuals with significant disabilities, “there is no good reason to refuse a surrogate arrangement in this area, and very strong reasons to accept it” (p. 93). some could argue that this is dangerous because the person being represented may not have the capacity to reason through certain issues, and if a surrogate voted for them, they could misrepresent the person they are aiding. however, what is the difference between surrogates who may misrepresent someone’s wishes and people who do not vote or does so while being uninformed? it seems when examining this situation closely, nussbuam (2010) appears to be correct in that “there is no good reason to refuse a surrogate” (p. 93). democratic communication full citizenship in democratic societies for individuals with disabilities is not possible unless communication is present, acknowledging that communication in this instance does not necessarily mean speaking. for example, dewey notes, “communication insures participation” (mw 9:7). without communication involving all members of the democracy, neither of dewey’s standards can be met, as there is not communication among all members both inside and outside of the group. as dewey notes, “in order to have a large number of values in common, all members of the group must have an equable opportunity to receive and take from others. there must be a large variety of shared undertakings and experiences” (mw 9:90). without full and free communication individuals cannot know if they have shared interests with others. dewey argues that, “lack of free and equitable intercourse which springs from a variety of shared interests makes intellectual stimulation unbalanced” (mw 9:90). therefore, inclusive communication is a must to maintain the integrity of the democracy. consideration of participation in the societal discourse of individuals with disabilities must be recognized as essential to the inclusion of such individuals in the democratic process and, for one to be included, he or she has to be able to explain to others, to the fullest extent possible, his or her needs, desires, and aspirations. dewey is adamant about the centrality of communication in participatory democracy. he tells us that: society not only continues to exist by transmission, by communication, but it may fairly be said to exist in transmission, in communication. there is more than a verbal tie between the words common, community, and communication. men live in a community in virtue of the things which they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come to possess things in common. (mw 9:7) journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 9 for a society to persist, open communication must also persist. communication in a community creates new shared interests, as well as revealing already existing interests. thus, if individuals with disabilities are excluded from the conversation, they cannot know of others interests and conversely, others cannot know of their interests. the notion of communication becomes problematic when thinking of individuals with severe disabilities, especially if such an individual cannot communicate in the usual sense by speaking or writing. this person can still be a contributing and participating citizen in a democracy and that he or she is allowed to be is essential in regard to dewey’s democratic principle of everyone possessing the right and the capacity to be a participating member of a true democracy. the first step in this process is the individual being present during the unhindered and open exchanges between the members of the democracy, because as dotts (2016) notes, “[democratic education],” the kind that occurs through open exchange of ideas among citizens, “changes the participants involved in interaction” (p. 112). additionally, garrison et al. (2016) argue, “at the bottom of this understanding of deep democracy lies the insight that direct faceto-face encounters are powerful experiences” (p. 105). these face-to-face encounters are often necessary for someone to fully consider the needs of someone else. as dewey notes: the extension in space of the number of individuals who participate in an interest so that each has to refer his own action to that of others, and to consider the action of others to give point and direction to his own, is equivalent to the breaking down of those barriers of class, race, and national territory which kept men from perceiving the full import of their activity. (mw 9:93) here dewey helps to address the necessity of individuals with severe disabilities being present when face-to-face interaction between members of a democracy is occurring. in these instances, those involved, because they are in close proximity to those with disabilities, are made to consider actions suggested will affect all, those with disabilities now included. by being in the room, even those who cannot themselves communicate directly participate by being present in the room. to tie the forgoing notion of a pluralistic, participatory, communicative democracy together, one should consider another observation dewey makes: an undesirable society…is one which internally and externally sets up barriers to free intercourse and communication of experience. a society which makes provision or participation in its good of all its members on equal terms and which secures flexible readjustment of its institutions through interaction of the different forms of associated life is in so far democratic. (mw 9:105) the key word in this passage is “on equal terms” (mw 9:105), which entails that the interaction of individuals may look different in different contexts, as exemplified by the example of a person with a significant disability participating by solely being present in a democratic space. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 10 an aristocracy of everyone when a pluralistic, participatory democracy based in communication amongst participants forms within a school, students can begin to realize their unique potential and develop the skills and attitudes that will allow them to make unique contributions to the society in which they live. dewey argues that in such a society every citizen has something to offer. for example, a prominent scholar of dewey, jim garrison (2012) states, “the specific needs, desires, and interests, along with moral, artistic, and cognitive development give each individual a unique perspective on existence; hence, the unique ability to make a unique contribution” (p. 354). the notion of unique contribution means that every person has not just an important place in society but possesses something so significant that once society experiences it, the society is unable to live fully without it (garrison, 2012). it is only possible for a student to find what he or she possesses that is unique when presented with opportunities to explore that in which he or she is uniquely interested. there is tremendous power in students finding their unique contribution for the reason that when this occurs, the individual—each individual—is able to discover his or her capacity for leadership (barber 1992); everyone is capable of being a contributing citizen and a leader in some capacity, which i will discuss in the coming paragraphs. leadership does not just lie in the elite. leadership is present within every individual, varying only with context. benjamin barber speaks to such potential of this in his book an aristocracy of everyone. similar to dewey, barber (1992) argues everyone has not just the right, but also the capacity to govern his or her own life and become a citizen. barber (1992) argues: citizens are women and men educated for excellence-by which term i mean the knowledge and competence to govern in common their own lives. the democratic faith is rooted in the belief that all humans are capable of such excellence and have not just the right but the capacity to become citizens. (p. 5) barber (1992) is not being idealistic. in fact, he recognizes that, in some instances, students may be unable to master the content, but they can in the very least, be self-governing and master their own lives. barber (1992) argues, “not everyone can master string physics or string quartets, but everyone can master the conduct of his or her own life” (p. 13). therefore, no matter the person, situation, ability, or disability, every person has the capacity to become a contributing citizen and an aristocrat in his or her own right, even if that role of being an aristocrat is being a leader of their own lives. the notion of unique contribution can be exemplified by re-considering justin, a student with an intellectual disability to whom i taught vocational skills. in a vocational class there are activities such as sawing or hammering that require objects to be held in a vice. hammering objects in a vice easily jars the objects out of the vice and onto the floor. justin was the only person in the class capable of tightening the vice enough that objects could not break free. he was also the only one who could loosen the vice once it was tightened. in regard to being able to operate the vice, justin was an aristocrat and a leader. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 11 in the previous example, justin realized some of his unique potential, found his unique contribution, and this in turn allowed him to find a trait within himself that allowed him to assume a position of leadership. by doing this, he not only helped the others be more productive, but also helped the other students to see that they too had a unique ability that, once discovered, would allow them to assume a similar position in the classroom and perhaps in society. additionally, physical labor in general contributes to the liberation of the student. tiboris and danforth (2016) note, “dewey seemed to think that this sort of training [practical labor skills] was a crucial element of individual freedom and meaningful activity of life” (p. 653). therefore, when justin leaves the classroom, he may be able to reflect back on this situation and think about how since he was successful in a previous environment, then he could be successful in other environments, which could continue to contribute to the renewal process of democratic society. democracy for and by the people much of what is called democracy today is only democratic in name. as parker (1996a) argues, “… it is not so much ‘we the people’ who govern in these fledgling democracies as it is power elites that govern” (p. 182). therefore, the argument that everyone has the potential to be a leader is an argument for the disruption of the status quo present in modern politics and in education, too, because it infers that government can and should not only be constructed for the people, but also by the people, which is in line with ideals stated in the founding documents of the united states of america but not yet actualized in the conduct of the american society. in dewey’s time, as in ours, many have, while posturing to support the original intent for a government by the people, are actually in favor of a superior class comprised of the intellectual elite (westbrook, 1993). during dewey’s time, “democratic realists” identified a putative problem with democracy and argued that the average citizen was incapable of governing (westbrook, 2012, p. 293). to react to this claim made by the realists, dewey “turned to a democratic realist [walter lippman] with whom he had the greatest affinity, trading on lippmann’s descriptions and explanations of the plight of democracy while rejecting his solutions to it” (westbrook, 2012, p. 294). lippmann’s solution was to transition decision making away from ordinary citizens and give authority to the “governing elites” (westbrook, 2012, p. 299). however, dewey argues that in instances when the masses are not capable of governing, the solution is to educate the masses, which is reasonable because all are educable. as westbrook (2012) argues, “the enlightenment of the public,’ dewey said, “took precedence over the enlightenment of government administrators” (p. 310). the version of democracy to which lippmann subscribes is likely to occur in a society in which its schools are places where education is created strictly for the students, instead of by the students. if swds are placed in situations where “experts,” such as administrators, teachers, school psychologists, or central office personnel construct education for them, instead of providing opportunities for the students to co-construct their educational experience, a class of democratic elitists is formed. for example, if students do not have control over their own education, then they are likely not to take control over their life, and then in turn allow themselves to be controlled by others. as dewey notes, “the man who wears the shoe knows best that it pinches and where it pinches, even if the expert shoemaker is the best judge of how journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 12 the trouble is to be remedied” (lw 2:364). the voice of the student is of utmost importance, as without that voice the group cannot fully know the extent of the problems “to be remedied” (lw 2:364). experts have a place in a democracy. when commenting on dewey’s position, westbrook (2012) argues, “the role of the expert was not as a policy maker but as a technician who would discover and make known to the public and its representatives the facts on which policy making depended” (p. 312). of course, for sound decision making to take place, members of the public need to understand those facts and what they mean. however, the position of the expert can have differing effects depending on how he or she is first encountered. in the case of swds, for instance, before a student qualifies for special education services, experts evaluate him or her. when the meeting occurs to discuss the results, the experts often lead and dominate the discussion. this meeting can send a strong message to the student about her or his role as a student and a citizen. in this type of situation, the student learns from an early age that being a citizen means that he or she is expected, even required, to take a passive role. schools that frame the education of students by relying primarily on the insight of “experts” initiates a cycle in which decisions are made by the more knowledgeable, and those decisions are directly experienced by the others deemed “incapable” to make decisions for themselves. relevant is garrison’s (2012) observation that, “we must cease believing that leadership means government by an elite group of experts. instead, we must seek government not only for, but also by the people” (p. 373). along the same lines of sentiment, democratic education is not possible in school systems where education is strictly for the students; all participants must have an opportunity to speak and be heard. nevertheless, swds are often caught in this cycle, ironically when the conversation turns to how to best meet their needs. in these instances, the school often focuses on how it is best to govern the student’s life, instead of allowing him or her to govern his or her own life. how can schools educate responsible citizens when the educational system robs them of the responsibilities of citizenship? citizenship standard views of citizenship one of the goals commonly said to be of most importance for american schools is to produce future citizens. as parker (1996b) notes, “citizenship education is probably the most popular stated mission for schooling in the united states” (p. 104). the question then arises as to exactly how citizenship is defined? answering this question proves difficult, as many scholars disagree on the precise definition of citizenship. this is because the concept of citizenship, similar to disability, is a contingent societal construct. johnson (2016) notes, “…. citizenship is a societal construct that functions within the political world of a democracy (at least by western standards)” (p. 48). perceptions/conceptions of citizenship depends upon what one has been allowed or disallowed to do in the society in which he or she lives. therefore, since democratic citizenship is complex and contingent upon previous interactions, situations, events, and environments, attempts to define the concept are ongoing. henceforth, positions taken in american society regarding the meaning of citizenship fall on one of two sides of a conceptual journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 13 divide. parker (1996b) says that this division has produced two standard views of citizenship: the traditionalist view and the progressive view. in the view of traditionalists, as it pertains to education, students, it is argued, should be taught about citizenship. in contrast, the progressives demand opportunity for students to practice holding the “office of citizen” in order to help them to become effective as contributing members of society (parker, 1996b, p. 111). in summation, parker (1996b) writes, “traditionalists want more study, progressives want more practice” (p. 112). in both views, citizenship and the teaching of citizenship, are present in all approaches to education. the traditionalists would argue that students, properly taught, are learning information that they will put to later use when they engage in the act of citizenry. an example of this would be students learning about the responsibilities of civic participation so they know the ways in which they can engage in the act of citizenry when they are of legal age. progressives, on the other hand, would argue that the school serves as a space for students to engage, then and there in activities where citizenship is being directly practiced. however, neither approaches are in line with dewey’s concept of citizenship, which we will turn our attention to next. deweyan citizenship dewey identifies the notion of “good citizenship”, or “civic efficiency” (mw 9:127). he argues that to be a citizen, one must have a position, function, or contribution to society (i.e. a unique contribution). when the concept of citizenship is defined or described in this manner, individuals with disabilities have the potential to be citizens. this is related to the earlier argument of vibrant democracies nurturing students’ unique potential so that they can find their unique contribution, which helps them to engage in citizenry. as dewey notes: the aim of civic efficiency has at least the merit of protecting us from the notion of a training of mental power at large. it calls attention to the fact that power must be relative to doing something, and to the fact that the things which most need to be done are things which involve one’s relationship with others. (mw 9: 127) here dewey ties many of the previous arguments together. for example, he emphasizes that for someone to acquire the position of a leader or an aristocrat, that individual has to be able to do something unique for that society, as in the example of the student with a disability who tightened the vice. this position is not given because of his or her family lineage or the amount of money he or she makes, but is acquired based on the contribution that person makes to the society in which he or she lives. therefore, here one can see that dewey views the position of education as cultivating students’ unique potential, so they can find their unique contribution, and be not just a citizen, but a good citizen in a creative democracy. conclusion in this paper i first examined the nature of disability and education, and then provided a conceptualization of the underpinnings of dewey’s pluralistic, participatory, and journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 14 communicative democracy. i then interrogated the concept of citizenship as it pertained to american society and deweyan democracy. deweyan democracy should occur everywhere, all the time. enacting deweyan democracy has powerful possibilities, especially in the lives of swds. although there are laws and policy initiatives that focus on how to support and protect individuals with disabilities, those efforts do very little if students lack opportunities to explore their educational interests, which, in turn, allows them to realize their unique potential and contribution. approaching all students with the mindset that they have the potential to be contributing citizens is controversial, although most people may agree that this is a good idea, conceptually speaking. i believe this is because perhaps we are scared, as a populous, to consider the fact that if all people are allowed to actively participate, that they may not do so the correct way or have the right mindset or answers to societal issues and problems. however, if we really want to see the franchise of citizenship expanded and extended to everyone, it must start in our schools with our students. in schools across the nation we encourage our students to go forward and succeed, but then when they actually enter life outside of k-12 education, they see that the world is not very equitable, especially for traditionally marginalized groups, like people with disabilities. we encourage the active citizenship of all people verbally, but do we actually mean it? do we actually embody and enact inclusivity? the evidence suggests that in schools we do not and in society, we still restrict some people from even having the right to vote, suggesting we do not actually seek to include everyone’s’ voice in the conversation. we have to create students who know they are capable of initiating democratic reform, which is what i am suggesting in this paper. every student has the capacity for citizenship and that capacity is not fixed or static, but malleable. students who engage in democratic education can build their capacity that they can become contributing members of a vibrant democracy. the result is the production of citizens who are capable of leadership. if education maintains the status quo, the field as a whole is contributing to the demise of democracy. nevertheless, engaging in a true, thriving, democracy has the potential to produce a citizenry where everyone has not just the right to lead, but also the capacity. journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 15 references anastasiou, d., & kauffman, j. (2013). the social model of disability: dichotomy between impairment and disability. journal of medicine and philosophy, 38(4), 441-459. doi:10.1093/jmp/jht026 baglieri, s., bejoian, l. m., broderick, a. a., connor, d. j., & valle, j. (2011). [re]claiming “inclusive education” toward cohesion in educational reform: disability studies unravels the myth of the normal child. teachers college record, 113(10), 2122-2154. ball, s. (2006). education policy and social class: the selected works of stephen ball. new york: routledge. barber, b. (1992). an aristocracy of everyone: the politics of education and the future of america. new york: ballantine books. barton, l. (1998). markets, managerialism, and inclusive education. in p. clough (ed.) managing inclusive education (pp. 79-91). london: paul chapman publishing. ben‐porath, s. (2012). defending rights in (special) education. educational theory, 62(1), 25-39. bérubé, m. (2003). citizenship and disability. dissent, 52-57. center for parent information and resources. (2017). categories of disability under idea. retrieved from http://www.parentcenterhub.org/categories/ citations of the works of dewey are to the critical edition, the collected works of john dewey, 1882-1953 published by southern illinois university press, carbondale. volume and page numbers (or chapter) follow the initials of the series. for instance, mw 9: chapter 7 refers to democracy and education, “the democratic conception in education.” abbreviations for the volumes used are: mw the middle works (1899-1924) lw the later works (1925-1953) danforth, s. (2008). john dewey’s contributions to an educational philosophy of intellectual disability. educational theory, 58(1), 45-62. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.2007.00275.x disability justice. (2016). the right to vote. retrieved from http://disabilityjustice.org/right-tovote dotts, b. w. (2016). dewey anticipates habermas's paradigm of communication: the critique of individualism and the basis for moral authority in democracy and education. education and culture, 32(1), 111-129furman, cara e. "" why i am not a painter": developing an inclusive classroom." education and culture 31, no. 1 (2015): 61-76. http://www.parentcenterhub.org/categories/ http://disabilityjustice.org/right-to-vote http://disabilityjustice.org/right-to-vote journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 16 eha (1975). education for all handicapped children act of 1975 (public law 94-142). essa (2015). every student succeeds act of 2015, pub. l. no. 114-95 § 114 stat. 1177 (20152016). gabel, s.l. & connor, d.j. (2008). theorizing disability: implications and applications for social justice in education. in william ayers, theresa quinn, & david stovall’s (eds.) the handbook for social justice in education (pp. 377-389). new york: routledge. garrison, j. (2010). dewey and eros: wisdom and desire in the art of teaching. charlotte: information age publishing. garrison, j. (2012). individuality, equality and creative democracy: the task before us. american journal of education, 118(3), 369-379. garrison, j., neubert, s., & reich, k. (2016). democracy and education reconsidered: dewey after one hundred years. new york and london: routledge. individuals with disabilities education act. (2004). 20 u.s.c. § 1401 et seq. johnson, a. p. (2016). how is citizenship represented in theory and research in social education (trse)? a content and discourse analysis. (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from https://vtechworks-lib-vtedu.ezproxy.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/5534/browse?type=author&value=johnson%2c+aaron +paul lekan, t. (2009). disabilities and educational opportunity: a deweyan approach. transactions of the charles s. peirce society, 45(2) 214-230. doi:10.2979/tra.2009.45.2.214 lingard, b. (2008). pedagogies of indifference. international journal of inclusive education 11(3), 245-266. doi: 10.1080/13603110701237498. martin, j. e., van dycke, j. l., christensen, w. r., greene, b. a., gardner, j. e., & lovett, d. l. (2006). increasing student participation in iep meetings: establishing the self-directed iep as an evidenced-based practice. exceptional children, 72(3), 299-316. mason, l. e. (2016). cultivating civic habits: a deweyan analysis of the national council for the social studies position statement on guidelines for social studies teaching and learning. education and culture, 32(1), 87-110. no child left behind (nclb) act of 2001, pub. l. no. 107-110, § 115, stat. 1425 (2002). nespor, j., & hicks, d. (2010). wizards and witches: parent advocates and contention in special education in the usa. journal of education policy, 25(3), 309-334. https://vtechworks-lib-vt-edu.ezproxy.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/5534/browse?type=author&value=johnson%2c+aaron+paul https://vtechworks-lib-vt-edu.ezproxy.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/5534/browse?type=author&value=johnson%2c+aaron+paul https://vtechworks-lib-vt-edu.ezproxy.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/5534/browse?type=author&value=johnson%2c+aaron+paul journal of culture and values in education volume 2, issue 1, 2019 mullins, r.d., using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education 17 nussbaum, m. (2010). the capabilities of people with cognitive disabilities. in eva feder kittay & licia carlson’s (eds.) cognitive disability and its challenge to moral philosophy (pp. 75-95). john wiley & sons. o’brien, l.m. (2016). democracy for all? john dewey, teacher education, and young children with disabilities. teacher education and practice 29 (3), 476-497. parker, w. (1996a). curriculum for democracy. in r. sober (ed.), democracy, education, and the schools (pp. 182-210). san francisco: jossey-bass pub. parker, w. c. (1996b). " advanced" ideas about democracy: toward a pluralist conception of citizenship education. teachers college record, 98, 104-125. rose, m. (2004). the mind at work. viking shyman, e. (2016). the reinforcement of ableism: normality, the medical model of disability, and humanism in applied behavior analysis and asd. intellectual and developmental disabilities, 54(5), 366-376. stitzlein, s. m. (2014). habits of democracy: a deweyan approach to citizenship education in america today. education and culture, 30(2), 61-86. tiboris, m., & danforth, s. (2016). learning to occupy yourself: the substantive content of educating for autonomy. social theory and practice, 42(3), 636-654 westbrook, r. b. (1991). john dewey and american democracy. cornell university press. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 21 teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers michael e. houdyshell, phd.* assist. prof., florida gulf coast university *corresponding author: mhoudyshell@fgcu.edu received : 2019-04-10 accepted : 2019-06-10 how to cite this paper: houdyshell, m.e. (2019). teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers, journal of culture and values in education, 2(2), 21-37. abstract as fewer and fewer students choose teaching as a career, the teaching profession struggles to understand how to recruit more students into the field, and prevent current teachers from leaving. data shows the need for new teachers will continue to increase (sutcher, darlinghammond and carver-thomas (2016), while almost 70% of schools reported at least one unfilled vacancy to begin the 2011-12 school year (malkus, hoyer, & sparks, 2015). teacher preparation programs are also graduating fewer students into teaching (2016). this qualitative case study investigated the perceptions and beliefs of undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory course on teaching. data from this case study is expected to confirm prior research on the reasons why students choose teaching as a profession, and help teacher preparation programs investigate if students’ perceptions about becoming a teacher have changed. results from this study support prior research on why students choose to become teachers, but also explores students views on how society views teaching, the continued salary gap with other professions, and the future of teaching. keywords: emerging teachers, new teacher recruitment, teacher preparation, teacher shortage introduction the size of the teaching force in the united states is expected to grow at least until 2025 (institute of educational sciences, 2015), however, the continued shortage of teachers to fill existing and new vacancies is not allowing districts to find qualified or interested candidates (malkus, hoyer, & sparks, 2015). they report that as far back as the 2011-12 school year, 68% of schools in the united states had at least one unfilled teaching vacancy (2015). according to sutcher, darling-hammond and carver-thomas (2016), the demand for new teachers is projected to plateau at about 300,000 in the 2017-18 academic year. of the four factors they cite driving this emerging and current teacher shortage “based on the evidence available”, one in particular is concerning for teacher preparation programs across the country-a decline in teacher preparation enrollments (sutcher, et al., 2016, p. 37). with colleges and universities graduating fewer and fewer students with degrees in education prepared to teach in the journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 22 classroom, the demand for new teachers coupled with higher teacher attrition rates (sutcher, et al., 2016) will only continue exacerbating the issue of teacher shortages. the 50th annual phi delta kapa (pdk) poll of the public’s attitudes toward the public schools, released in 2018, further highlights the issue of fewer teacher preparation enrollments. of the over 1,000 parents randomly surveyed, 54% of respondents indicated they do not want their child to become a public school teacher, a majority response for the first time since this question was asked in 1969 (pdk poll, 2018). in addition, as recently as 2015, 50% of parents who were randomly surveyed said they believed that high achieving students should be recruited to become teachers (pdk poll, 2015). while 46% still support a teaching career for their child, that’s down sharply from 2009 when it was 70% and from the high of 75% in 1969 when the pdk poll was first launched (2018). broken down by race, 77% of hispanics in the survey favored their child working as a teacher vs. 51% for african-american parents, and only 40% of white parents (pdk poll, 2018). this may reflect the fact that in today’s classroom, nearly 50% are students of color vs. 82% of public school teachers that are white (boser, 2014). this also may suggest that while for white respondents, becoming a teacher as a sign of economic upward mobility may not have the same impact as in the past, for african-american and especially hispanic parents, teaching is still seen as a viable career path. in addition, because students of color are seen in a more positive manner by teachers of color and benefit from it academically and behaviorally (partelow, brown & johnson, 2014), it suggests those parents would also accrue some of the same benefits including viewing teaching as a positive career path for their children. in an open-ended question posed about why parents wouldn’t want their child to become a teacher, the responses ranged from low salaries and benefits, followed by student behavior and lack of discipline (pdk poll, 2018). finally, white respondents without a college degree were also much less likely to favor their child becoming a teacher, 69% for males and 59% for females respectively (pdk poll, 2018). clearly, a continuing qualified teacher shortage and decreasing support for becoming a teacher creates even more difficulties in addressing the future of teacher education preparation programs and the teaching profession. literature on emerging and pre-service teacher attitudes to becoming a teacher with an ongoing teacher shortage and changing attitudes about becoming a teacher impacting the teaching profession, research over the last 10 plus years has illuminated why students choose to become teachers. understanding these reasons may help teacher education preparation programs stem the tide of fewer students entering the teacher profession, and arrest the continued teacher shortage across the united states. past education experiences for some students, traditional gender-related influences played a role in their decisions to become teachers. bruinsma and jansen’s (2010) study of six first-year teachers highlighted the influences of gender-related influences including: growing up ‘playing teacher’; female teachers as strong influencers while growing up; and the flexibility teaching offered in relation to having a family. in their study of current and former teachers, howes and goodmandelahunty (2015) also reported many participants cited a “personal fulfillment incorporated a journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 23 feeling of personal suitability for a teaching role which was often related to enjoyment of their own past school experiences” (p. 23). additionally, they reported for a number of participants, “the idea of teaching had been a childhood dream” (p. 23). wilson, bell, galosy, and shouse (2004) also report the influence of former teachers is not to be discounted. their research showed up to 32% of individuals deciding to enter teacher did so because of the influence of a former teacher (2004). in their study of australian pre-service teachers, manuel and hughes (2006) also found a significant portion of participants reported having a mentor of a significant teacher who influenced their decision to become a teachers. hennessy and lynch’s (2017) study of irish pre-service teachers highlighted the significant influence that participants’ “prior teaching and learning experiences…had on their decision to pursue a teaching career” (p. 123). while prior experience with a teacher or in an educational setting influenced the decisions of many pre-service teachers to pursue teaching, other factors also influenced this decision. in reviewing past empirical studies on international work exploring teacher choice, researchers also found prior teaching and learning experiences had “positive impact on decisions to become teachers” (p.265) for students in the united states, australia, uk, and ireland (heinz, 2011; heinz, 2013c; heinz, 2015; manual & hughes, 2006; richardson & watt, 2005; watt & richardson, 2007). intrinsic and extrinsic factors for some pre-service teachers, the decision to enroll in a teacher-preparation program to become a teacher in some cases is driven as much or slightly less by the past influences of teachers, learning experiences, or more traditional gender-based view of teaching roles, and more by intrinsic factors including enjoyment of teaching, job satisfaction, and creativity. additionally, intrinsic factors for becoming a teacher are sometimes combined with extrinsic factors such as status of the profession, levels of pay, and job security, but to a much lesser extent than when viewed separately. in könig and rothland’s (2012) study of german preservice teachers, intrinsic factors such as the desire to work with children/adolescents was of significant importance influencing future teachers’ motivation to become teachers. they also cite intrinsic motivation as positively influencing being successful during teacher preparation education (2012). their research also shows some strong influence of extrinsic factors such as job security, as a predictor of what motivates students to enter a teacher-education program to become a teacher (2012), citing more “pragmatic views on motivations which teachers actually have” (p. 306). they conclude, understanding the “motivations for choosing teaching as a career are of high relevance…” (p. 306). richardson and roosevelt (2004) cite modeling recruitment programs like teach for america as a way to recruit teachers. in their own experience, they conclude “…there is a segment of the college-going population for whom the intellectual challenges of teaching, in combination with the social commitment aspects and powerful human-relations component of teaching, are, if properly presented, a potential draw. a review of international empirical studies exploring student teachers’ career motivations found intrinsic factors most influence students’ choice to pursue a teaching career in countries like the united states, australia, germany, norway, uk, canada, china, malaysia, and turkey (aksu, et al., 2010; clarke, 2009; könig & rothland, 2012; heinz, 2015; manuel & hughes, 2006; su, et al., 2001; watt & richardson, 2007). however, many of these same studies found extrinsic factors such as job security, hours, pay, and status, had some influence on the journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 24 decisions of students to become teachers in countries like australia, canada, united states, republic of ireland, turkey, germany, and norway but to a much lesser degree than intrinsic factors (aksu, et al., 2010; clarke, 2009; heniz, 2011; manuel & hughes, 2006; richardson & watt, 2007; tarman, 2012; watt & richardson, 2007). it was in this context that the purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes, and perceptions of pre-service teachers and why they chose a major in teacher education. it also investigated what influences they may cite in their lives as reasons for wanting to become a teacher despite negative perceptions in society about the teaching as a profession. the research questions addressed from this case study are the following: 1. what do emerging or pre-service teachers perceive about becoming a teacher? 2. what influences in their lives helped them decide to become a teacher? method a qualitative case study approach was used for this inquiry/study (creswell, 2013; yazan, 2015; yin, 2014). a case study approach was used for this research because it lends itself to using detailed analysis and descriptors, in as single environment for this study (baxter & jack, 2008). this case study was conducted in an introductory or foundational 3-credit course on teacher education offered by a college of education. many teacher preparation programs require an entry-level or foundations course designed to introduce pre-service teachers to the field of teaching. this course often highlights the general themes and ideas about the teaching profession such as the history and theories of education, and contemporary issues of social, political, and legal contexts of schooling (darling-hammond, et al., 2005). darling-hammond, et al. (2005) also state these foundations courses are stronger if connected to some field experience in local schools, “it can support a much deeper understanding of educational purposes” (p. 192). however, because the landscape of teacher preparation programs in the united states is so diverse, there is “little centralized information about how teachers are prepared for their profession”, including curriculum (national research council, 2010, p. 54). consequently, no accurate data is compiled on how many teacher education preparation programs offer a similar course. the introductory or foundations course used for this study is required by a college of education at a university in southern florida, and is designed as a pre-requisite for all majors entering one of six teacher preparation programs. this particular college of education offers lower and upper-level programmatic structure of courses to complete one of the six teacher preparation majors. this introductory course is required to be completed by the end of their first year for first-time in college students. this particular course includes required field experience hours where students travel to assigned elementary, middle and high schools for observation time with current teachers and their students during the normal school day. participants from this specific introductory teaching course were gathered during the fall 2018 term, with 40 students enrolled. 35 of the students were female, and five were male. there were 23 elementary education majors, six special education majors, seven early childhood majors, one secondary math major, two secondary social science majors, and one undecided major enrolled in the course. 84% of the students identified as white/non-hispanic, 11% as journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 25 hispanic, 1% as asian-american, and 4% as unreported. human subjects’ approval was requested and deemed not necessary by the university irb office for this study. data collected involved anonymous online small pre and post open-ended question surveys, end of term reflections and course assessments, and online discussion postings. additionally, the researcher for the course has taught this course twice, and served as assistant dean for two years where he oversaw all recruitment efforts for new students into the teacher education programs for the college. the researcher views this study as an important investigation of the perceptions, thoughts, and influences about becoming a future teacher. as research has shown, the types of influences students receive often can help shape their choice of wanting to become a teacher (heinz, 2015; könig & rothland, 2012; manuel & hughes, 2006; richardson & roosevelt, 2004). results from this case study are intended to be disseminated among teacher preparation programs across the united states, especially ones facing enrollment challenges in their teacher education majors. the student participants for this study were chosen based on their enrollment in the introductory course on becoming a teacher. this type of sampling, called purposeful sampling, was used because all of the students were already in the course. the course runs over the span of about four months (one academic term) which allows ample time to gather data and refine questions, and it’s less time consuming (stake, 2005). all 40 students enrolled in the course were undergraduate students with less than 60 credit hours earned. 60 earned credit hours is required for admittance into any of the six teacher preparation programs offered by the college. as stated earlier, this is a required course to be taken by the end of their first year at the university as an education major. to increase validity, this study employed triangulation during data collection, this included open-ended surveys, online discussion posts and in-class observations and discussions. using triangulation during the study as a data collection method allows the researcher to create validity in the study with the use of multiple data sources (hussein, 2009). the introductory course used for this case study was taught entirely face-to-face, meeting once a week for two hours and 45 minutes. in addition, much of the course content and work was accessed and submitted via the university’s learning management system. during the class meetings and online, students were asked questions about influences of teaching, becoming a teacher, and the future of teaching. students were given the opportunity to answer similar questions online either via discussions or anonymous survey links. this also allowed the researcher to expand on online responses during the face-to-face class sessions. the only text used for the course is called teachers, schools, and society: a brief introduction to education (sadker & zittleman, 2018). as stated earlier, the students were sent an anonymous online survey twice during the term, once at the beginning and again around mid-term. discussion items about teaching were also posted throughout the term for student response. finally, at the end of the term students were sent a student perception of instruction (spoi) course evaluation. this course evaluation is voluntary for all students in the course. each instructor has the ability to add up to five additional and specific questions to this survey instrument. five questions were added to the spoi related to this research study (see table 1). again, an irb was requested and deemed not necessary for this case study by the university office of research. all data collected for the study was anonymous or part of a larger class discussion. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 26 table 1 online survey and spoi responses date sent # of responses first online survey 8/24/18 33 second online survey 10/6/18 5 spoi responses 12/3/18 14 note. all responses list are gathered via checkbox or learning management system software. in reviewing data, all in-class discussion notes were reviewed after each class session. responses to all online survey responses and the spoi additional questions were also reviewed after each submission. using a context analysis approach, the research is able to systematically categorize textual and conversational data in order to make sense of it (forman & damschroder, 2007). the use of content analysis allowed the researcher to review online responses and probe further with additional questions or to adjust questions on future surveys which allowed each student to reflect multiple times throughout the course on the beliefs about becoming a teacher and respond at their own pace. in this study, in-class discussions and online surveys were the preferred method of inquiry. this data combined with document analysis of all online responses including the spoi, increased study validity through the use of data triangulation (hussein, 2009). at the conclusion of the course, all in-class discussions, online survey responses, and spoi course evaluation additional questions were investigated for themes using content analysis. the entire set of data created individual participant and study themes which were then analyzed for relevancy and presented in this case study. in this study, the role of the researcher was as the instructor for the course where participants were enrolled. all data was collected, written, and analyzed by the researcher. the researcher attempts to present the findings and discussions as it’s reported and coded without interjection of his own views. any personal opinions and other findings outside of the coded information are presented in the discussion section. to ensure validity and reliability of the study, the researcher utilized the following procedures: a) data triangulation all findings have been presented based on in-class discussions, online survey responses, and final course evaluation questions. after each in-class session, students were able to provide anonymous individual feedback to the researcher or as a posted online discussion question/response. this allowed students to amend any comments or provide further clarification for the researcher and for fellow students in the course. this was a 15 week course which allowed for several conversations interactions with some participants maybe consider revising, sounds a bit ahem, and repeated attempts at clarification of data. b) direct quotations have been used where necessary and appropriate when presenting the findings. all data was reviewed for the reporting phase to reach common conclusions on findings, and possible codes and themes were then determined. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 27 results analysis of the in-class discussion, online survey responses, and evaluation results, shows participants see the importance of early exposure to teachers in their lives in wanting to become a teacher. many also cited family members who were either teachers or worked in education who encouraged them to become a teacher, but also sometimes conveyed realistic messages about how difficult it can be as a teacher. regardless of their education program, participants described hearing negative messages about becoming a teacher either from others or society in general. yet despite not always receiving encouragement from family or friends to become a teacher or hearing negative messages in society about teaching, there was an overwhelming sense of fulfillment or enjoyment when selecting teaching as a career. additionally, participants described how society views teaching, how the importance of teaching as a career could be emphasized, and what the future of teaching looks like from their view as future teachers. the most identified themes or beliefs about becoming a teacher and teaching as a career were: becoming a teacher for reasons of enjoying the field or personal fulfillment, the difficult messages students hear about becoming a teacher, and what the future of teaching looks like and what participants look forward to most as future teachers. not surprisingly based on research on why individuals choose teaching as a career, intrinsic reasons for becoming a teacher were the most cited by participants. research supports the idea that more students choose teaching as a career because of their interest in teaching (aksu, et al., 2010; clarke, 2009; könig & rothland, 2012; heinz, 2015; manuel & hughes, 2006; su, et al., 2001; watt & richardson, 2007), and not just in the united states. the idea that the early life influence of a teacher or educator also can impact the decision to become a teacher is also supported by the literature (hennessy & lynch, 2017; manuel & hughes, 2006; wilson, et al., 2004). however, participants were not isolated from hearing negative views about teaching as a career. as fewer and fewer parents and family members encourage teaching as a career choice for their children (pdk, 2018), participants are not immune from feeling the impact of how society views becoming a teacher. even with a continued loss of individuals entering teaching and increasingly negative attitudes about becoming a teacher, participants still saw an encouraging future for teaching, despite the changes and challenges they would face ahead. while participants were certainly aware of the difficulties in being a teacher (as they have witnessed or heard), based on their responses, they were not necessarily planning to enter the field with an idealized view about their future profession. the literature supports how the practical application of teaching including issues like job security and intellectual stimulation, appeal to a certain segment of the college-age population with a nod to future enhancements like the use of technology (könig & rothland, 2012; richardson & roosevelt, 2004). theme one: intrinsic value and personal influences when considering a career path, individuals are no less influenced by outside factors as they are internal motivations. when participants were surveyed about their reasons for becoming a future teacher, many mentioned a desire to work with children. “i love working with kids” was an often repeated response to this question. when probed for more detail, participants journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 28 responded with ‘i’m excited to work with children’, ‘i want to make a difference’, and ‘i know i for sure want to work with children’. at the end of the term when surveyed again about why students decided to become a teacher, similar responses were given if not a bit more pointed including ‘i love being around kids and helping people succeed’, ‘i like working with young children’, and ‘i love working with kids and want to get them excited about learning’. bruinsma and jansen’s (2010) study of pre-service teachers in the netherlands focused on intrinsic and extrinsic adaptive motives (nineteen motives were used to indicate whether or not it had been important to their decision to become a teacher) for becoming a teacher. they found intrinsic adaptive motives such as a desire to feel competent, satisfy curiosity, or promote long lasting and effective engagement in a task, scored higher on intrinsic motives than on extrinsic motives (2010). an example of these motives was “working with children or adolescents” (bruinsma & jansen, 2010, p. 190). studies in the united states, australia, republic of ireland, slovenia, turkey, germany, norway, and canada show similar results in which intrinsic and altruistic motivations have a large influence on why students’ choose teaching as a career including contributing to society and working with children/adolescents (aksu, et al., 2010; clarke, 2009; könig & rothland, 2012; heinz, 2015; könig & richardson, 2012; manuel & hughes, 2006; su, et al., 2001; watt & richardson, 2007). participants also cited influences of family, friends and especially former teachers as reasons for wanting to become a teacher. when asked more about why choosing to become a teacher or to list any influences, participants listed parents and other family members as influencers or having a family member who was already working as a teacher or in education. however, the most cited outside influencer to become a teacher in the lives of many participants were former teachers. participants more often cited former teachers as major influencers on their decision to pursue teaching as a career. example responses include ‘...good teachers that i have had in the past’, ‘my interest in becoming a teacher stemmed from my 8th grade algebra teacher…he believed in me’, ‘seeing how teachers have change and influenced my life so much’, ‘i had some extremely influential teachers growing up’, ‘so many teachers love their job and their enthusiasm inspired me’, and finally ‘…since the third grade because i loved my teacher and wanted to be like her’. as one participant put it, ‘in high school i was able to teach kindergarten and i loved it’. younger, brindley, pedder and hagger (2004) reported that about one third of respondents in their study of uk pre-service teachers explained that their desire to become a teacher originated from their own positive learning experience in school. after intrinsic motivators, the importance of former teacher influences on the decisions of many participants choosing to become teachers can’t be overstated. research supports this result, as prior teaching and learning experience, and the influence of others including family members and especially former teachers have a strong influence on students pursuing teaching as a career (akar, 2012; heinz, 2011; manuel & hughes, 2006; su, et al., 2001; watt & richardson, 2007). theme two: choosing teaching as a career path when deciding to become a teacher, participants were asked about what types of information or messages they received about becoming a teacher and from whom. often these messages were from the very same individuals who were influencers in their lives about choosing teaching as a career; teachers and to a lesser extent guidance counselors. these messages journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 29 ranged from simple reinforcements about teaching such as ‘they have all really supported me’, ‘teachers were supportive and helped me (in) how they could to get me where i am today’ or ‘i have been told that my personality would make me a great fit to be a teacher’. however, some participants cited a much stronger response from teachers specifically about their desire to become a future teacher, in some cases reinforcing the intrinsic motivators teachers observed. ‘many of my counselors have mentioned it to me because i was a big role model in school’ and ‘some of my teachers and mentors in high school continuously told me that i should work with children…teaching can be incredibly rewarding and that choosing to be a teacher was the best decision they had made’. research on students entering pre-service teaching to become a teacher supports how the influence of others, especially teachers, can have a positive impact on their decision (akar, 2012; clark, 2009; heinz, 2013c; howes, & goodman-delahunty, 2015; manuel & hughes, 2006). in deciding to pursue a career as a teacher, participants commented on the positive messages and influencers they received from former teachers and others. they were also asked about how the importance of teaching as a career choice could be emphasized in our society outside of teaching. as the pdk survey indicated, for the first time since the survey was given in 1969, more parents do not wish for their children to become teachers (2018). this was not lost on many participants as they looked to the future when responding to this question, and commenting on the continued need for teachers, ‘we always need teachers, no matter what. without teachers we wouldn’t be where we are today,’, ‘…by emphasizing that teachers help future generations become successful,’ and ‘…they (teachers) literally set everyone up for success or failure.’ participants also discussed how teachers can influence the children they are teaching, similar to the previous paragraph about the strong influence of former teachers on the decision to become a teacher. ‘they (children) need great influences,’ and ‘…emphasizing how much a teacher can influence a student.’ finally, participants connected back to theme one-the influence of intrinsic values on becoming a teacher when considering teaching as a career path. ‘i believe our society looks down on teachers, however, without teachers there would be no society. if teachers teach their students with passion and inspire their kids, our society might change and respect teachers more.’ theme three: the future for future teachers finally, participants were asked to reflect on the future of teaching and their own lives as future teachers. many participants reported what they were most looking forward to in becoming a future teacher. much of the responses dealt with helping children learn or making an impact in the classroom. some participants also associated it with a deeper idea of learning and making an impact, similar perhaps to the impact made on some of them by former teachers. words such as change, inspire, and impact were often used by participants. from the idea of ‘changing children(s’) lives’, ‘…being able to inspire them’ or ‘…being able to make an impact on my students’ to ‘helping shape and guide my students’, ‘to make students enjoy learning and accomplish their goals’, ‘helping children achieve their highest potential’ to a real focus on learning, ‘having kids learn to love learning and teaching them the importance of it’ and ‘instilling in children from a young age the importance of learning’. these responses represent journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 30 what hennessy and lynch’s (2017) cite as the significant influence prior teaching and learning experiences with teachers have on students’ decisions to become a teacher. for participants in the study, when also asked about other types of messages they heard about becoming a teacher, many reported hearing negative information related almost entirely too low salaries. fortunately, many that mentioned hearing about low teacher pay also were not as influenced and often referred back to choosing something they love to do or wanting to make a difference with responses including ‘i don’t care about the money as long as i am enjoying what i am doing’, ‘it’s not about the money it’s about helping our future generations gain a love for learning’, ‘the negative i constantly hear about is low pay, but this hasn’t stopped me from pursuing this career because i am more focused on finding a career that i enjoy and where i can have an impact on others lives’. finally, one participant perhaps summed it up best when they said ‘the only negative i’ve heard is with the pay and it is not that big of a deal to me, i want to be a teacher to change lives, the pay is just a perk’. these responses align with research on altruistic or intrinsic motivators as strong influencers on wanting to become a teacher (akar, 2012; aksu, et al., 2010; clark, 2009; heinz, 2013c; könig & richardson, 2012; su, et al., 2001; watt & richardson, 2007; younger, et al., 2004). however, the participants responses are also contradictory yet encouraging, in relation to the research suggesting that in some countries (united states, australia, uk, republic of ireland, germany, norway and canada), extrinsic motivators, while much lower, do influence the decision to become a teacher (aksu et al., 2010; brookhart & freeman, 1992; clarke, 2009; heinz, 2013c; manuel & huges, 2006; watt & richardson, 2007). it might suggest intrinsic or altruistic motivators are becoming more of a factor influencing the decision to become a teacher in a new generation of future teachers. finally, participants were asked once at the beginning of the term and again at the end about the future of teaching and what it might look like. responses from the first survey were a bit more pessimistic about the future, and responses from the second survey were more optimistic. during the first survey, participants cited issues of teacher respect and pay, and test scores as problems in the future. however, in the second survey with the same type of question about the future of teaching, participants had more hopeful responses about the teaching profession becoming more appreciated. ‘it looks tough but worth it,’ ‘the future of teaching looks like students who actually want to learn…’, and ‘i think with all the people interested in making schools better, it looks like it has a great future.’ one idea that dominated both surveys from the beginning and end of the term involved technology. many participants cited the increasing use of technology to teach students in the classroom and online. ‘teaching in the future will involve double the amount of technology’, ‘i feel like there will start to be less classes with an actual teacher and more online’, ‘lots of technology and apps to help the learning process…’ and finally this remark from a participant, ‘teaching is always evolving. i believe technology now plays and will continue to play a large role in the classroom.’ according to stumpenhorst, in his book the new teacher revolution: changing education for a new generation of learners, he views technology as the “true linchpin in learning” (2015, p. 65). he believes “…the use of technology will not only benefit you as an educator but also the learning of your students” (2015, p. 71). it appears many of these emerging teachers also understand and feel that the use of technology will figure prominently in their future teaching careers. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 31 discussion and conclusion participants in this study were enrolled in a 3-credit required introductory course on the teaching profession. this course is not unlike similar courses found in teacher preparation programs across the country and is considered a common requirement for emerging teachers (darling-hammond, et al., 2005). with no solution to the continuing shortage of individuals wanting to become teachers (malkus, hoyer, & sparks, 2015), and demand for new teachers continuing to increase (sutcher, darling-hammond and carver-thomas, 2016), it is important to understand what motivates individuals to pursue teaching as a career, and how to capture those motivations early on. even in 2018, the motivations and influencers behind individuals wanting to become new teachers often mirror those found in research from over 10 years ago. however, it’s also important to understand if those influencers might be shifting or in some cases have started to change with a new generation of future teachers. the literature supports understanding what motivates individuals to become new teachers in different countries around the world (akar, 2012; aksu, et al., 2010; brookhart & freeman, 1992; clarke, 2009; heinz, 2013c; könig & rothland, 2012; maneul & hughes, 2006; su et al., 2001; watt & richardson, 2007; younger et al., 2004). however, in several countries, including the united states, the research is not current, and hasn’t necessarily kept pace with the changing face of individuals entering college. this case study was designed to first, validate and test outcomes from prior research on pre-service teachers, but also seek to understand if any outcomes had changed. with this in mind, this case study did in fact confirm that many of the intrinsic and altruistic motivators or influences found in the literature did still matter to participants in this case study. however, it also showed there might be a shift in at least one extrinsic motivator from past research teacher pay. according to the national education association (nea) (2017), the average starting teacher salary in the united states for 2016-17 was $38,617 per year. the average starting teacher salary in the state of florida in 2016-17, where this case study was conducted, was $37,405 annually (nea, 2017). most of the participants in this study who finish their teaching degree at the same university where the case study was conducted will go on to teach in florida where their teacher certification is valid. this means many of these participants as new teachers will be receiving a smaller starting salary than the national average for new teachers. this is significant in that many participants cited teacher pay as not an important extrinsic influencer in their decisions to become new teachers. however, many of the same participants are not immune to data that shows that teacher pay lags behind many other professions when comparing salaries and compensation. according to data from the website careerbuilder.com, the average starting salary for graduates in engineering in 2018 was $66,521, for business graduates it was $56, 720, and for humanities and social sciences majors is was $56, 688/$56, 688 (tarpey, 2018). salary issues remain a key issue for new and continuing teachers. carver-thomas and darlinghammond’s report (2017) on teacher turnover listed teacher compensation as one of the key factors associated with teacher turnover. in this case study, when asked about how the importance of teaching as a career choice could be emphasized in our society (united states), journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 32 increasing teaching salaries was still the most frequent response from participants. while these future teachers from the case study were not as motivated extrinsically by salary as in other research, participants are not immune to the ongoing issues of low teacher pay across states, and how the work of teaching is not properly compensated in the view of how to decrease teacher attrition (2017). carver-thomas and darling-hammond cited addressing early teacher attrition as critical to stopping the country’s continuing teacher shortage crisis (2017). teacher attrition is two times what it is in other countries such as singapore, finland and canada (2017). carver-thomas and darling-hammond (2017) reported that it can cost as much as $20,000 for a district to replace a teacher who leaves. creating better compensation for new and current teachers as a way to not only attract but also retain teachers, is supported by data from this case study, and research in the field. while this case study of emerging future teachers was conducted at a university in the united states, it has broader implications among other countries also struggling with teacher shortages and how to attract more students into the teaching profession. much of the research cited in support of the data from this case study was from countries other than the united states, including norway, canada, the republic of ireland, turkey, germany, the united kingdom, and australia (akar, 2012; brookhart & freeman, 1992; clarke, 2009; goodson, 2003; heinz, 2013c; könig & rothland, 2012; manuel & hughes, 2006; watt & richardson, 2007). the data from the case study indicates enough similarity in how students from the united states feel about becoming teachers with their counterparts in other countries, regardless of differences in educational policies, school structure, and teaching requirements. many of the studies about motivating influencers for students choosing to become teachers are between 5-10 years old, which means countries are probably still grappling with how to attract students into the teaching profession, teacher shortages, and how to retain teachers. as this was a small sample from a single case study at an institution in the united states, a limitation of the study is in the sample size. as described in the previous paragraphs, while the sample was small, the findings in many ways do mirror research on the same topic in other countries even if many of the studies are becoming dated based on when the research was conducted. while the results could be generalized across different countries, individual educational systems in other countries does present a challenge in using too broad of a stroke with the data to make sweeping declarations about what students are thinking when they choose to become teachers. it was also not a racially diverse sample (as represented by 84% of participants identifying as white), and there were no questions regarding how becoming a teacher might be influenced by one’s race or ethnicity, so it’s hard to determine if this is a factor or not in the decision to become a teacher. only two studies looked at minority teacher candidates and inequalities as a motivating factor in becoming a teacher (king, 1993; su, 1997). they were both from the united states, and found that some minority teacher candidates believe that teaching can contribute to the betterment of society (1993; 1997). a second limitation stems from when these participants were part of this case study. all of the participants were in the their first year of university, with for most, involves another three years of course work, internship, and mandatory state testing before graduating with a degree allowing them to be eligible to teach. as is the case for many college-age individuals, influences journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 33 and motivations can occur at any point during their university studies, which have the potential to alter how they feel about career or major choices. as the case study was conducted with participants in an introductory level course, their motivations and influences can change over time as they mature and develop their identities. it may mean issues such as salary and career prestige while not important initially, can have more of an influence by the time they are ready to graduate. it would be important to conduct a similar study on career motivations and influences with these same students when they are much further along in their teacher preparation to interpret any changes in attitudes or beliefs about choosing teaching as a career. a final limitation involves the course used to conduct the case study. the course is viewed as an introductory course for students wishing to become future teachers. this would suggest that many of these participants are enrolled in the course with similar attitudes about becoming a teacher, and have perhaps already negotiated through the same issues that study cites, namely issues of becoming a teacher, influences on that decision, and how the future of teaching is viewed. it suggests, perhaps a more ideal time to study emerging teacher attitudes is earlier in the scholastic career, before entering university when students are often still considering career options in the midst of influences and experiences that may help shape those decisions. implications the results of this study show that even with changes in how we view decisions about career choice, for a new generation of emerging teachers, what motivates them to choose teaching as a profession, and what influences those decisions hasn’t changed. it is still largely dependent on internal and altruistic motivations (helping others learn, working with children/adolescents), and influences of former teachers and prior teaching experiences. in addition, it also showed that while salary and compensation are not the main drivers behind decisions to become teachers, it still matters, and will continue to matter until the teaching profession is viewed at least in the united states, with increased admiration and the compensation rises in accordance. additionally, with a specific nod to the influence of former teachers on career choice, the field of teaching can’t sustain itself let alone flourish if the profession does not self-promote, and actively recruit students in high school or younger to become teachers through the use of information about the benefits of teaching but more importantly from current teachers. teachers must convey the message that teaching is a career choice that while has its limitations like any professional field, also has many benefits that appeal to the intrinsic motivators inside students who want to work with children or adolescents, and have a positive and affirming role model in their classroom a teacher. as an individual who used to recruit high school students to become future teachers, so often teachers of many of these students use negative comments to describe the teaching profession. this amounts to unnecessary self-inflicted damage, in which students considering career choices are receiving negative messages about becoming a teacher from a very important influencer in their lives a teacher. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 34 references akar, e. o. (2012). motivations of turkish pre-service teachers to choose teaching as a career. australian journal of teacher education, 37(10). 66-84. https://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2012v37n10.7 aksu, m., demir, c. e., daloglu, a., yildirim, s., & kiraz, e. (2010). who are the future teachers in turkey? characteristics of entering student teachers. international journal of educational development, 30, 91-101. https://doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2009.06.005 baxter, p. & jack, s. (2008). qualitative case study methodology: study design and implementation for novice researchers. the qualitative report, 13(4), 544-559. retrieved from http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol13/iss4/2 boser, u. (2014). teacher diversity revisited: a new state-by-state analysis. washington, d.c.: center for american progress. brookhart, s. m. & freeman, d. j. (1992). characteristics of entering teacher candidates. review of educational research, 62, 37-60. http://doi:10.3102/00346543062001037 bruinsma, m. & jansen, e. p. (2010). is the motivation to become a teacher related to pre‐ service teachers’ intentions to remain in the profession? european journal of teacher education, 33(2), 185-200. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619760903512927 carver-thomas, d. & darling-hammond, l. (2017). teacher turnover: why it matters and what we can do about it. palo alto, ca: learning policy institute. retrieved from https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/teacher-turnover-report clarke, m. (2009). choosing post-primary teaching as a career: perspectives from the republic of ireland. in s. drudy (ed.), education in ireland: challenge and change (168-192). dublin, ireland: gill & macmillan. creswell, j. w. (2013). a case study. quality inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, inc. darling-hammond, l., banks, j. zumwalt, k., gomez, l. gamoran sherin, m., griesdorn, j., & finn, l. (2005). educational goals and purposes: developing a curricular vision for teaching. in l. darling-hammond & j. bransford. (eds.), preparing teachers for a changing world: what teachers should learn and be able to do (169-200). san francisco: jossey-bass. forman, j. & damschroder, l. (2007). qualitative content analysis. in l. jacoby & l. a. siminoff (eds.), empirical methods for bioethics: a primer, 11. 39-62. doi:10.1016/s1479-3709(07)11003-7 https://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2012v37n10.7 https://doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2009.06.005 http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol13/iss4/2 http://doi:10.3102/00346543062001037 https://doi.org/10.1080/02619760903512927 https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/teacher-turnover-report journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 35 goodson, i. (2003). professional knowledge, professional lives: studies in education and change. maidenhead, united kingdom: open university press. heinz, m. (2015). why choose teaching? an international review of empirical studies exploring student teachers’ career motivations and levels of commitment to teaching. educational research and evaluation, 21(3). 258-297. https://doi.10.1080/13803611.2015.1018278 heinz, m. (2013c). why choose teaching in the republic of ireland? –student teachers’ motivations and perceptions of teacher as a career and their evaluations of irish second-level education. european journal of educational studies, 5, 1-17. heinz, m. (2011). the next generation of teachers: selection, backgrounds and motivations of second-level student teachers in the republic of ireland (unpublished doctoral dissertation). national university of ireland, galway, ireland. hennessy, j. & lynch, r. (2017). “i chose to become a teacher because.” exploring the factors influencing teaching choice amongst pre-service teachers in ireland. asia-pacific journal of teacher education, 45(2), 106-125. https://doi.10.1080/1359866x.2016.1183188 howes, l. m. & goodman-delahunty, j. (2015). teachers' career decisions: perspectives on choosing teaching careers, and on staying or leaving. issues in educational research, 25(1), 1835. retrieved from http://www.iier.org.au/iier25/howes.html hussein, a. (2009). the use of triangulation in social sciences research: can qualitative and quantitative methods be combined? journal of comparative social work, 4(1). 1-12. retrieved from http://journal.uia.no/index.php/jcsw/article/view/212/147 institute of educational sciences, national center for educational statistics (2015). digest of educational statistics (nces 2016014). washington, d.c.: u.s. department of education. king, s.h. (1993). why did we choose teaching careers and what will enable us to stay?: insights from one cohort of the african american teaching pool. the journal of negro education, 62(4). 475-492. https:// doi:10.2307/2295518 könig, j. & rothland, m. (2012). motivations for choosing teaching as a career: effects ongeneral pedagogical knowledge during initial teacher education. asia-pacific journal of teacher education, 40(3). 289-315. https://doi.10.1080/1359866x.2012.700045 malkus, m., hoyer, k., & sparks, d. (2015). teaching vacancies and difficult-to-staff teaching positions in public schools. (nces 2015065). washington, d.c.: u.s. department of education. manuel, j. & hughes, j. (2006). ‘it has always been my dream’: exploring pre‐service teachers’ motivations for choosing to teach. teacher development, 10(1), 5-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530600587311 https://doi.10.1080/13803611.2015.1018278 https://doi.10.1080/1359866x.2016.1183188 http://www.iier.org.au/iier25/howes.html http://journal.uia.no/index.php/jcsw/article/view/212/147 https://doi.10.1080/1359866x.2012.700045 https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530600587311 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 36 national education association. (2017). 2016-17 average starting teacher salaries by state. http://www.nea.org/home/2016-2017-average-starting-teacher-salary.html national research council of the national academies. (2010). preparing teachers. building evidence for sound policy (1st ed.). washington, dc: the national academies press. pdk poll of the public’s attitude toward the public schools (2018). pdk poll of the public’s attitude toward the public schools (2015). partelow, l, brown, c., & johnson, s. (2014). america needs more teachers of color and a more selective teaching profession. retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/ issues/education-k-12/reports/2017/09/14/437667/america-needs-teachers-color selective-teaching-profession richardson, p. w. & watt, h. m. (2005). ‘i’ve decided to become a teacher’: influences on career change. teaching and teacher education, 21(5), 475-489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.03.007 richardson, v. & roosevelt, d. (2004). teacher preparation and the improvement of teacher education. in m. a. smylie & d. miretzky (eds.), developing the teacher workforce (pp. 105-144). chicago, il: the university of chicago press. sadker, d.m. & zittleman, k. r. (2018). teachers, schools, and society: a brief introduction to education. new york, ny: mcgraw-hill education. stake, r.e. (2005). qualitative case studies. in n. k. denzin & y.s. lincoln (eds.). the sage handbook of qualitative research (pp. 443-466). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, inc. stumpenhorst, j.d. (2015). technology as a linchpin to change. the new teacher revolution: changing education for a new generation of learners (pp. 59-72). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, inc. su, z. (1997). teaching as a profession and as a career: minority candidates’ perspectives. teaching and teacher education, 13, 325-340. https://doi: 10.1016/s0742 051x(96)00021-2 su, z., hawkins, j. n., huang, t., & zhao, z. (2001). choices and commitment: a comparison of teacher candidates’ profiles and perspectives in china and the united states. international review of education, 47, 611-635. https://doi:10.1023/a:1013184026015 sutcher, l., darling-hammond, l., & carver-thomas, d. (2016). a coming crisis in teaching? http://www.nea.org/home/2016-2017-average-starting-teacher-salary.html https://www.americanprogress.org/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.03.007 https://doi:10.1023/a:1013184026015 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 houdyshell, m.e., teaching as a career choice: a case study on the perceptions of emerging teachers 37 teacher supply, demand, and shortages in the u.s. palo alto, ca: learning policy institute. tarman, b. (2012) prospective teachers’ beliefs and perceptions about teaching as a profession, educational sciences: theory & practice 12(3), 1-24. tarpey, w. (2018). 8 bachelor’s degree majors with high starting salaries (2018). retrieved from https://www.careerbuilder.com/advice/8-bachelors-degree-majors-with-high-startingsalaries watt, h. m. g. & richardson, p. w. (2007). motivational factors influencing teaching as a career choice: development and validation of the fit-choice scale. the journal of experimental education, 75, 167-202. https://doi: 10.3200/jexe.75.3.167-202 wilson, s. m., bell, c., galosy, j. a., & shouse, a. w. (2004). “them that’s got shall get”: understanding teacher recruitment, induction, and retention. in m. a. smylie & d. miretzky (eds.), developing the teacher workforce (pp. 145-179). chicago, il: the university of chicago press. yazan, b. (2015). three approaches to case study design in education. the qualitative report, 20(2), 134-152. retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol20/iss2/12 yin, r.k. (2014). case study research: design and methods (5th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, inc. younger, m., brindley, s., pedder, d., & hagger, h. (2004). staring points: student teachers’ reasons for becoming teachers and their preconceptions of what this will mean. european journal of teacher education, 27, 245-264. https://doi:10.1080/0261976042000290787 https://www.careerbuilder.com/advice/8-bachelors-degree-majors-with-high-starting-salaries https://www.careerbuilder.com/advice/8-bachelors-degree-majors-with-high-starting-salaries https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol20/iss2/12 microsoft word 11.uleanya&alex.168-182 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 1 2022 pp. 168-182 impacts of covid-19 pandemic on selected rural university students’ emotional lives: a south african perspective from a global study chinaza uleanya*a & jogymol alexb * corresponding author: e-mail: uleanc@unisa.ac.za a. department of business management, university of south africa, pretoria, south africa. b. department of mathematics education, walter sisulu university, eastern cape, south africa. article info received: november 23, 2021 revised: february 16, 2022 accepted: march 21, 2022 how to cite uleanya, c., & alex, j. (2022). impacts of covid-19 pandemic on selected rural university students’ emotional lives: a south african perspective from a global study. journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), 168182. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.15 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract the emotional lives of students are paramount in that it influences their learning abilities as well as their academic performance. the covid-19 pandemic seems to have affected the emotional lives of students, especially those in rural areas. this study explored the impact of covid-19 on the emotional lives of students in a selected rural university in south africa. a quantitative research approach was adopted whereby questionnaires were used to collect data from 274 undergraduate students who were selected through simple random sampling technique. data was analysed using descriptive statistics and themes. the study findings indicate that many of the students are no longer as joyful and hopeful as they used to be because they are not in touch with their fellow students nor with their lecturers. students are frustrated, with rising degrees of anger and anxiety. the study recommends, amongst other things, the need for the services of counsellors to be engaged at the rural university so that students can receive counselling regarding these problems. keywords covid-19 pandemic; emotional lives; rural university students; south africa. 10.46303/jcve.2022.15 169 jcve 2022, 5(1): 168-182 introduction student academic success is dependent on various factors (abaidoo, 2018; uleanya, 2018). as pointed out by various authors like abaidoo (2018), uleanya (2018), uleanya (2020), uleanya, et al. (2020a), some of the factors giving rise to problems with student academic success are irregular studying, lack of self-motivation, lateness, and non-attendance of class activities, lack of interest in specific subjects, demography of student. teacher factors, on the other hand, include non-completion of course content, lack of the use of learning teaching support materials (ltsms), poor or lack of feedback to students, and poor lecturer-student relationships. parent factors include poor or very little concern about students’ academic pursuits, nonprovision of academic needs, and poor children-parent relationships. higher education institution (hei) factors include non or limited availability of required books, non or limited learning teaching support materials (ltsms) and unfavourable lecturer-student ratios. the identified factors from the different categories tend to be peculiar to both urban and rural based heis additionally, rural environments are areas characterised by certain peculiar features such as high rate of unemployment, poverty, illiteracy, underdevelopment, untarred roads, etc (uleanya & yu, 2019; uleanya et al., 2020b). thus, following the peculiar nature of the rural environment, heis in such areas tend to be exposed to certain peculiar challenges due to the nature of their environment (uleanya et al., 2020b). aristovnik et al., (2020) state that the covid-19 pandemic has in different ways affected students both socially and in their learning experiences. studies such as cao, et al, (2020), elmer et al. (2020), pragholapati (2020), zhai and du (2020) are suggestive of how the lives of students have been affected by the occurrence of the pandemic referred to as covid-19. for instance, issues regarding emergency remote teaching (ert), quick response to transition from face-toface teaching to online teaching, learning and assessment, amongst others are considered and explored. these are done without due consideration of the emotional state of mind of students at this point of covid-19. thus, studies regarding the issue of the emotional lives of students and how this is likely to affect the learning abilities of students during the period of covid-19 are not very prolific. it is for this reason that a study on how emotional factors affect students’ learning abilities and their academic performances, was conducted. this study attempted to investigate how the covid-19 crisis affected the emotional lives of undergraduate students and, by extension, their learning abilities and academic performance. this was done by considering the perspectives of students from a selected rural hei in south africa. extant literatures such as cao et al. (2020), elmer et al. (2020), pragholapati (2020) as well as zhai and du (2020) show that various emotions affect students’ learning abilities and their academic performances. furthermore, the submission of the international board of credentialing and continuing education standards (ibcces) (2020) suggests that depression, which can be an aftermath of lack of joy is traceable to one of the major hindrances affecting the learning abilities of students. learning is expected to be fun (ibcces, 2020). however, following students’ lack of joy, fun learning does not happen. as shown by various authors like 170 jcve 2022, 5(1): 168-182 aristovnik et al. (2020), pragholapati (2020), and zhai and du (2020), students’ mental health is expected to be protected to ensure stability and to enhance their learning abilities. some of the emotions that are contributory to the learning abilities and academic performances of students include hope, frustration, anger, anxiety, and shame (aristovnik et al., 2020). considering the emotional lives of students in south african heis during the pandemic, it is traceable that there was no participation in any comprehensive large-scale global surveys by south african heis. the focus of this study is on the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the emotional lives of students in a selected rural south african hei. the study focuses on how covid-19 affected the students’ learning abilities as well as their academic performances. rural south africa has been considered in this study because of the rate of underdevelopment in the rural areas and the bad effect the occurrence of covid-19 has had on rural areas. research question the research question guiding this study is: what are the emotions of students in the selected south african rural heis towards studies since the covid-19? review of literature the covid-19 pandemic affected different walks of life and different sectors (oecd, 2020), including the education sector, in various ways (elmer et al. 2020). the work of hove and dube (2021) as well as pellini, david, jordan and phillips (2020) show that covid-19 affected students across the world and led to a lockdown of institutions of learning. this was regardless of the level. the effects of covid-19 on students include the sudden transition from onsite teaching and learning to online teaching and learning (butnaru et al., 2021), as well as issues revolving around their emotional state of mind (aristovnik et al., 2020; tarman, 2020). emotions on the other hand, comprise a fundamental part of the lives of people and cultures (ivanova & dimovaseverinova, 2021). a review of the work of johnson and hinton (2019) shows that the emotions of students with regard to learning is a major concern as it can affect their level of success and or failure. for instance, johnson and hinton (2019) whilst explaining “affect” as one of the five (5) cultural features which contributes to forming the character-oriented actions and goals of individuals, states that “affect" places value on feelings and is most clearly illustrated in the explicit sharing of emotions in the classroom (johnson & hinton, 2019, 65).” according to ivanova and dimova-severinova (2021, 366), “ […] emotions such as interest, joy, contentment, and awe have the capacity to broaden an individual's thought-action repertoires.” these suggest the extent to which the emotions of students can affect and possibly determine happenings in class. conversely, mudiono (2019) holds the view that “teachers are the pillars of any educational institute and emotional intelligence of the students really depends upon their attitude and teaching behavior.” in other words, the emotions of lecturers and their abilities to control them are paramount. however, in the case of this study, the focus is on the emotions of students. sequel to the foregoing, the emotional state of mind of students is considered 171 jcve 2022, 5(1): 168-182 significant to the teaching and learning environment in any given situation. thus, this study is targeted at exploring the impacts of covid-19 on students, with regard to their emotional lives. sequel to the foregoing, there is thus a need for rurality and emotional lives to be understood, especially as they apply to the context of this study, before proceeding to the section of theoretical framework. this leads to the following sub-heading: conceptualisation of terms. conceptualisation of terms rurality the concept rurality can be described and measured following different dimensions and/or approaches. this includes geographical positioning of a place and people in a given settlement. following the work of fandi (2019), rurality is usually characterised by high-rate settlements where the occupations of the people are predominantly related to local natural resources. fandi (2019) further states that rurality entails settlements of ethnic group(s) of people in (forest) areas and along riverbanks. rurality also entails issues revolving around small communities (fandi, 2019), low population density, close contact with nature, limited social interactions, and strong adherence to customs and traditional beliefs (economic research service, u.s. department of agriculture, 2021). according to the rural health information hub (2020), rural areas are considered as places with high poverty rates, unemployment and poor infrastructure, amongst others. in this study, rurality is used to mean areas that are characterised by less development, untarred roads, poor health facilities, and high illiteracy and unemployment rates. emotional lives emotional lives of people revolve around their feelings in relation to various subjects and social phenomena (anthony, 2021). this includes feelings of sadness, feelings of being strong, motivation (cherry, 2020), sympathy and empathy (cherry, 2018). on the other hand, donohue (2021) adds that the students’ culture can influence their degree of motivation. according to herbert (2020), the academic success of students can be ensured when a conducive classroom environment which supports their social and emotional well-being is provided. this implies that the emotional lives of students go a long way in determining their success or failure. in the context of this study, emotional lives imply the feelings of students regarding their academic performance and their ability to study during the crisis caused by covid-19. the feelings comprise happiness, sadness, anger, joy, pride, hope, and hopelessness. emotional intelligence theory the key to success in life has been attributed to emotional intelligence, which is commonly known as “eq” (craig, 2021). success in this regard includes career, academics, business and health. however, for the purpose of this study, the success under consideration includes students’ academic success. according to mayer et al. (2008, cited in craig 2021), intelligence means the distinctive mental ability of a person to handle and reason about information. in order words, intelligence entails how individuals deal with information. mayer et al. (2008, cited 172 jcve 2022, 5(1): 168-182 in craig 2021) further state that eq entails the ability of an individual to carry out precise and perfect mental cognition about emotions. in other words, eq can be viewed from involving the ability(ies) of a person to enhance thought(s) by putting emotional knowledge and emotions to use. for the purpose of this study, eq suggests how students’ emotions can influence and affect their learning abilities and their academic success. cherry (2018) holds the view that there are five (5) components of eq identified as self-awareness, social skills, self-regulation, motivation, and empathy. these components influence the students in this study. the authors have attempted to explain the identified components of eq and how they relate with the present study. self-awareness this refers to a student’s ability to identify and comprehend how their attitudes and actions take effect. it entails keeping track of emotions and taking note of different reactions to emotions and being able to correctly ascertain them. it is linked to being exposed to diverse experiences and learning from social interactions (cherry, 2018). in relation to this study, students are expected to identify and understand their emotions and to have an idea of how their attitudes, actions and the emotions of others take effect while faced with covid-19 crisis. students are supposed to keep record of emotions and different reactions to them. this helps them to understand that how they feel and what they do are related, hence, they are to ensure that the right emotions are displayed. social skills this explains how a person interrelates with others in society. it encompasses understanding one’s emotions as well as those of other people in order to interrelate well with them (cherry, 2018). in other words, a student’s inability to understand their emotions and those of others would affect their ability to interrelate well with them. according to cherry (2018), active listening, leadership, and the development of rapport, verbal and non-verbal communication skills are examples of social skills. all these influences how people interrelate with others in society. this implies that students who lack good social skills may have trouble relating with other students, considering the tense and unrelaxed situations in which people and society find themselves. self-regulation this is a component of eq which entails a person expressing emotions appropriately. it involves being flexible, ensuring coping with changes, as well as managing conflicts, regardless of the situation. self-regulation also comprises a person’s ability to diffuse difficult or tense situations and, at the same time, be aware that one’s actions have an effect on others. hence, people are to take ownership of their actions (cherry, 2018). in this study, students are expected to be flexible by adapting to the learning environment in which they find themselves during the time of covid-19. students are also expected to understand that their actions have an effect on other people and it has consequences. 173 jcve 2022, 5(1): 168-182 motivation this can be viewed from two perspectives known as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (cherry, 2020). however, cherry (2018) views motivation as a component of eq from an intrinsic perspective. this implies a person who is determined to meet personal goals needs to set goals, instead of being moved by the desire for external rewards like money, recognition, and fame. according to cherry (2018), a person who is motivated intrinsically tends to flow continuously with whatever activity they are involved with. this implies that external forces or circumstances do not hinder the person from achieving the set goals and from meeting the desired needs. in the context of this study, the implication is that if students are intrinsically motivated, learning can still occur, and good academic performances can be achieved regardless of the occurrence of the covid-19 pandemic and the rural hei where such students are studying. empathy this denotes a person’s ability to recognise and comprehend the feelings of other people. this component of eq permits an individual to recognise the emotions of others and respond aptly. it makes people to sense different dynamics that come to play in various social interrelationships (cherry, 2018). in this study, empathy would denote a student’s ability to understand how other students feel during the occurrence of the covid-19 crisis and how to relate to them. following the different components that have been identified in the eq theory and the envisaged experiences of students in this study, a study of this nature is important. the focus of this study is on the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the emotional lives of students in a selected rural south african hei. the study focuses on how the covid-19 crisis affected the students’ learning abilities as well as their academic performances. method a quantitative research method was used. this study’s target population was all undergraduate students. the researchers employed a random sampling technique to select respondents for the study from all the faculties of the chosen rural university in this study. random sampling gave the researchers the opportunity to avoid bias by availing the opportunity to participate in the study to all qualifying respondents. this is in alignment with the work of kumar (2019) and creswell (2014). 274 undergraduate students were randomly selected. data collection and data analysis data was collected using an online questionnaire with a 5-point likert rating scale ranging from 1 (lowest value) to 5 (highest value) which was sent to students to complete anonymously. the questionnaire composed of two sections. section a was targeted at collecting information on the demography of respondents. section b was used to gather information on the emotional life of the respondents in relation to the covid-19 pandemic. the researchers did not coerce any student to complete the questionnaire but for those that were initially reluctant to respond 174 jcve 2022, 5(1): 168-182 to the online voluntary questionnaire, a follow up was made. the collected data was analysed using descriptive statistics and themes which are discussed in the following section. results and discussion since no respondent was obliged to supply answers to all the items of the online questionnaire, this affected and led to a disparity in the number of responses in each identified questionnaire item. it is necessary to state that rural areas experience challenges when dealing with internet connectivity as well as electricity. this was envisaged to affect students in the completion of all included questionnaire items. the collected data was coded and analysed using descriptive statistics and themes. table 1 presents the study’s demographic information of respondents. table 1. biographical information of students from the rural hei the results presented in figure 1 show how the emotions of respondents have been affected negatively in various ways due to covid-19. the emotions of students considered in this study are joy, hope, pride, frustration, anger, anxiety, shame, relief, hopelessness, and boredom. the results of each of the identified emotions are presented and interpreted hereunder. gender percentages (%) male female gender not disclosed field of study arts and humanities social sciences applied sciences natural and life sciences 42 57 1 11 67 10 12 175 jcve 2022, 5(1): 168-182 figure 1. respondents’ emotions towards studies since the covid-19 pandemic at a selected south african rural hei theme 1: emotion of joy the analysed data in figure 1 shows that 46% of the respondents were never joyful compared to how they used to be prior to covid-19, 20% were rarely joyful, 24% sometimes joyful, 5% often and 5% always joyful. this shows that most respondents were affected emotionally by covid-19. the results from figure 1 suggest that the learning abilities of students are likely to be affected. this coincides with the work of cherry (2018) who, considering the components of eq, explains how people in this instance feel and what they do are related. in other words, joyful students are likely to perform better academically compared to those who are sad. the ibcces (2020) also states that depression which can be caused by lack of joy ranks amongst the most common hindrances hampering the learning abilities of students. learning is expected to be fun, however, following students’ lack of joy, such becomes impossible (ibcces, 2020). views by various authors aristovnik et al. (2020), pragholapati (2020) and zhai and du (2020) show the need for different stakeholders in education to collectively ensure that facilities are put in place to enhance students’ well-being which is corroborative of their joy. this implies that students who are emotionally down and sad can become depressed and this will in turn affect their learning abilities, consequently affecting their academic performances negatively. joyful (n=132) hopeful (n=130) proud (n=131) frustrat ed (n=131) angry (n=130) anxious (n=129) ashame d (n=131) relieved (n=130) hopeless (n=131) bored (n=130) never 46 16 36 5 20 11 39 45 26 14 rarely 20 18 21 11 14 12 20 17 10 8 sometimes 24 34 24 18 40 29 29 25 34 32 often 5 12 8 28 14 29 8 7 15 21 always 5 20 10 37 12 19 5 7 15 25 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 pe rc en ta ge o f s tu de nt s respondents emotions towards studies since the covid-19 pandemic in the selected south african rural hei (%) never rarely sometimes often always 176 jcve 2022, 5(1): 168-182 theme 2: emotion of hope results from figure 1 show that 16% of the respondents were never hopeful compared to how they used to be prior to covid-19, 18% were rarely hopeful, 34% sometimes, 12% often and 20% always. this finding suggests that most respondents were hopeful. the finding agrees with aristovnik et al. (2020) which shows how students are hopeful about teaching and learning regardless of the covid-19 pandemic. meanwhile, elmer et al. (2020), pragholapati (2020) as well as zhai and du (2020) suggest that being hopeful contributes to protecting the emotional lives of students. thus, the need arises for students to be assured following their emotions of hope despite the covid-19 pandemic. moreover, following the work of händel et al. (2020), the lack of a sense of hope in students can hamper their learning abilities and academic performances. hence, hope is vital for students’ learning. theme 3: emotion of pride figure 1 shows that 36% of the respondents never displayed the emotion of pride, 21% rarely, 24% sometimes, 8% often and 10% always. this finding shows that most respondents never exhibited pride. this could be because pride is not one of the emotional responses expected to be exhibited in a teaching and learning environment. this finding suggests the extent to which learning can occur amongst students without pride, thus corroborating the work of etherington (2019) who holds the view that pride does not rank as one of the significant emotional responses to be promoted in the classroom. in other words, the emotion of pride does not promote teaching and learning activities. theme 4: emotion of frustration figure 1 shows that 5% of the respondents were never frustrated compared to how they used to be prior to covid-19, 11% were rarely frustrated, 18% sometimes frustrated, 28% often frustrated and 37% always frustrated. this shows that many of the students were experiencing frustration. this finding corresponds with aristovnik et al. (2020) which shows that covid-19 has brought about frustrations for students. this is likely to affect students’ learning abilities. this concurs with the works of brooks et al. (2020), cao et al. (2020), liu, liu and zhong (2020), ma and miller (2020) as well as perz and lang (2020) who aver that frustration is one of the factors affecting their emotional health and consequently also students’ learning abilities and academic performances. this suggests that when students feel frustrated, their emotional state of mind together with their learning abilities are negatively affected. theme 5: emotion of anger figure 1 shows that 20% of the respondents never displayed emotions of anger due to covid19, 14% were rarely angry, 40% sometimes, 14% often and 12% always. this finding shows that the emotion of anger tends to be common amongst students as most of the respondents agreed that they sometimes get angry. this result is in alignment with elmer et al. (2020) who opine that anger is one of the emotions displayed by students under lockdown. in this regard, the learning abilities of students are likely to be affected. this is in alignment with the findings of 177 jcve 2022, 5(1): 168-182 the works of aristovnik et al. (2020), cao et al. (2020), liu, liu and zhong (2020), ma and miller (2020) as well as perz and lang (2020) who state that anger is considered as one of the factors affecting the emotional health, consequently also the learning abilities and academic performances of students. the finding implies that during lockdown based on the covid-19 pandemic, anger is one of the emotions that is envisaged to be expressed by students and is likely to have a negative impact on their learning abilities as well as their academic performances. theme 6: emotion of anxiety the emotion of anxiety during the covid-19 pandemic as presented in the results shown in figure 1 is a common emotion often displayed amongst the respondents. for instance, the result shows that 11% of the respondents were never anxious, 12% were rarely anxious, 29% of the respondents were sometimes anxious, 29% of the respondents were often anxious and 19% of the respondents were always anxious. this result shows that anxiety is one of the emotions affecting students to some extent during the covid-19 pandemic. this suggests that students’ learning abilities and academic performances are at risk of being negatively affected due to anxiety. this agrees with the submission of the ibcces (2020), which shows that anxiety is one of the most common obstacles hampering the learning abilities of students. the ibcces (2020) further opines that anxiety hinders learning from taking place, thereby making students perform poorly academically and otherwise. this finding therefore suggests that if nothing is done with regard to stabilising the emotion of anxiety in students, their learning abilities and academic performances may be adversely affected. theme 7: emotion of shame figure 1 shows that 39% of the respondents never displayed the emotion of shame during covid-19, 20% rarely displayed shame, 29% sometimes displayed shame, 8% often displayed the emotion of shame and 5% always displayed the emotion of shame. this finding shows that shame is not a commonly displayed emotion amongst respondents. this finding agrees with aristovnik et al. (2020) who hold the view that shame is not a commonly displayed emotion for students during the time of covid-19. meanwhile, efforts need to be made to ensure that shame is not inclusive of the emotions experienced by students during the period of covid-19. this is due to the effect that such may have on the students following walker’s (2017) findings which state that shame is capable of preventing students from taking part in educational programmes, thereby hampering their learning abilities. theme 8: emotion of relief figure 1 shows that 45% of the respondents never displayed the emotion of relief during the period of covid-19, 17% rarely displayed relief, 25% sometimes displayed relief, 7% often displayed the emotion of relief and 7% always displayed relief. this finding suggests that the respondents were mostly in tense situations as most of them agreed that they never displayed relief. this finding agrees with the work of aristovnik et al. (2020) who opine that relief was not 178 jcve 2022, 5(1): 168-182 commonly displayed amongst students for the period of the covid-19 pandemic. this suggests that students are likely to be affected in their learning and academic performances due to the lack of feelings of relief. this concurs with the review of the submissions of the american psychological association (2014), and agolla and ongori (2009) which suggest that students tend to be more stressed than adults, and such academic stress affects their learning abilities as well as their academic performances. this finding also concurs with the submission of the accredited schools online (2021), which states that students who are in tense situations and who never experience some form of relief are likely to perform poorly academically as their learning abilities would have been negatively affected. this finding implies that the selected rural university students’ academic performances are likely to be poor. theme 9: emotion of hopelessness figure 1 shows that 26% of the respondents never displayed hopelessness during covid-19, 10% rarely displayed hopelessness, 34% sometimes displayed the emotion of hopelessness, 15% often displayed emotion of hopelessness and 15% always displayed hopelessness. this finding suggests that some of the respondents were somewhat hopeless, while others were hopeful. the display of hopelessness is likely to affect the learning abilities of those students who seem to have fallen victim of such. this finding supports aristovnik et al. (2020) who hold the view that some students remain hopeful despite the circumstances presented by covid-19. however, the works of cao et al. (2020), elmer et al. (2020), pragholapati (2020) as well as zhai and du (2020) suggest that any display of hopelessness by students can affect their emotional lives, consequently their learning abilities and their academic achievements. this implies that because of covid-19, the learning abilities and academic achievements of hopeless students who do not receive help are likely to be hampered. theme 10: emotion of boredom figure 1 shows that 14% of the respondents never experienced boredom compared to how they used to be prior to covid-19, 8% rarely experienced boredom, 32% sometimes experienced boredom, 21% often experienced boredom and 25% always experienced boredom. this finding coincides with aristovnik et al. (2020), which reveals how students experienced boredom during the covid-19 pandemic the finding shows that boredom is a relatively major emotion experienced by students following their response to the questionnaire. according to the findings of the works of aristovnik et al. (2020), cao et al. (2020), elmer et al. (2020), pragholapati (2020) as well as zhai and du (2020) boredom can affect the emotional health as well as the learning capabilities of students negatively. in brief, due to covid-19, students have experienced various forms of emotions which tend to have impacted their learning abilities as well as academic performances. following the submission of eq theorists as explained by craig (2021) and chery (2018), students can still afford to learn and have their academic performances boosted. however, such would be 179 jcve 2022, 5(1): 168-182 dependent on how they would be able to identify and understand the different components of eq and how they relate to them, especially with the case of intrinsic motivation. conclusion and recommendations this study explored how the covid-19 pandemic impacted the emotional lives of undergraduate students. this was done using a selected rural university in south africa. a quantitative research approach was adopted where a closed-ended questionnaire was used for data collection. the collected data was analysed and presented using descriptive statistics and themes. the findings of the study amongst others showed that covid-19 had impacted the emotional lives of students in various ways. for instance, most of the respondents were no longer as joyful and hopeful as they used to be. in the same vein, many of the students were frustrated, their anger levels were high, and anxiety had set in, all of which are bound to affect their learning abilities negatively and consequently, also their academic performances. following the findings of the study, it is apparent that if nothing is done to assist students with regard to stabilising their emotional lives through the period of the covid-19 pandemic, teaching and learning which have already been affected, would be even more adversely affected. consequently, the learning abilities as well as academic performances of students are also likely to be affected negatively. sequel to the outcome of the research, the identified recommendations are made:  the services of counsellors should be engaged in rural universities. this can be done through the student affairs department (sad) in order to help boost the morale of students and motivate them to come alive again in their studies. this would help to encourage students and make them believe in themselves again, regardless of the negative effect that covid-19 might have had on them.  lecturers should be orientated on how to assist students in being motivated towards wanting to learn and succeed. this can be done through seminars and workshops. in this regard, lecturers would know the right approach to adopt in order to assist students in rural universities, especially considering their peculiarity.  orientation programmes on ways of coping amidst the covid-19 pandemic and adjusting regardless of the challenges posed by the pandemic should be organised for students in rural universities. this would help in orienting them on ways of aligning their minds towards learning and wanting to succeed.  students should be exposed to the different components of eq and be made to allow such find expression in them. this can be done by organising various sections where the components of eq are discussed with students and they are assisted to imbibe the notions of such. for instance, students can be taught to motivate themselves based on the idea of intrinsic motivation. 180 jcve 2022, 5(1): 168-182 acknowledgments the authors acknowledge that this article is part of a global study, which involved different countries and continents across the globe. however, the presented data is a reflection of only a selected institution in south africa. aleksander aristovnik – the leading principal investigator of the global study is also duly acknowledged as well as other members of the team. references abaidoo, a. (2018). factors contributing to academic performance of students in a junior high school. https://www.grin.com/document/450284. accredited schools online. (2021, april 22). stress in school. https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/student-stress/. agolla, j.e., & ongori, h. (2009). an assessment of academic stress among undergraduate students: the case of university of botswana. educational research and review, 4(2), 63-70. http://www.academicjournals.org/err. american psychological association (apa). (2014). american psychological association survey shows teen stress rivals that of adults. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/02/teen-stress. anthony, m. (2021). the emotional lives of 8-10 year olds. https://www.scholastic.com/parents/family-life/social-emotionallearning/development-milestones/emotional-lives-8-10-year-olds.html. aristovnik, a., keržic, d., ravšelj, d., tomaževic, n., & umek, l. (2020). impacts of the covid19 pandemic on life of higher education students: a global perspective. sustainability, 12, 8438 – 8472. 10.3390/su12208438. brooks, s.k., webster, r.k., smith, l.e., woodland, l., wessely, s., greenberg, n., & rubin, g.j. (2020). the psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. lancet, 395, 912–920. butnaru, g.i., nit ă, v., anichiti, a., & brînz ă, g., (2021). the effectiveness of online education during covid-19 pandemic – a comparative analysis between the perceptions of academic students and high school students from romania. sustainability, 13, 5311. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095311. cao, w., fang, z., hou, g., han, m., xu, x., dong, j., & zheng, j. (2020). the psychological impact of the covid-19 epidemic on college students in china. psychiatry res, 287, 1–5. cherry, k. (2020). differences of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. https://www.verywellmind.com/differences-between-extrinsic-and-intrinsicmotivation-2795384. cherry, k. (2018). 5 components of emotional intelligence. very well mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/components-of-emotional-intelligence-2795438 craig, h. (2021). the theories of emotional intelligence explained. positive psychology. https://positivepsychology.com/emotional-intelligence-theories/. 181 jcve 2022, 5(1): 168-182 creswell, j.w. (2014). research design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (4th edn), thousand oaks, ca: sage. donohue, d.k. (2021). culture, cognition, and college: how do cultural values and theories of intelligence predict students’ intrinsic value for learning? journal of culture and values in education, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.3. elmer, t., mepham, k., & stadtfeld, c. (2020). students under lockdown: comparisons of students’ social networks and mental health before and during the covid-19 crisis in switzerland. plos one, 15, 1–22. etherington, m. (2019). pride in education: a narrative study of five finnish schoolteachers. sage open. 10.1177/2158244019845489. fandi, r. (2019). characteristics of rural settlements. https://rashidfaridi.com/2019/09/16/cha racteristics-of-rural-settlements/. händel, m., stephan, m., gläser-zikuda, m., kopp, b., bedenlier, s., & ziegler, a. (2020). digital readiness and its effects on higher education student socio-emotional experiences in the context of covid-19 pandemic. journal of research on technology in education, 113. doi: 10.1080/15391523.2020.1846147. herbert, t.p. (2020). understanding the social and emotional lives of gifted students (2nd edition). routledge: washington dc. hove, b., & dube, b. (2021). covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school: rethinking education policies in zimbabwe. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 84-94. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.5 international board of credentialing and continuing education standards (ibcces) (2020). impact of anxiety and depression on student academic progress. https://ibcces.org/blog/2019/05/01/impact-anxiety-depression-student-progress/. ivanova, g., & dimova-severinova, d. (2021). the role of happiness in applying suggestopedia and fostering the language learning process. journal of social studies education research (jsser), 12(4), 365-383 johnson, c.s., & hinton, h. (2019). toward a brilliant diversity. journal of culture and values in education, 2(1), 56-70. kumar, r. (2019). research methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners. sage pub.: australia liu, x., liu, j., & zhong, x. (2020). psychological state of college students during covid-19 epidemic. lancet prepr. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3552814. ma, h., & miller, c. (2020). trapped in a double bind: chinese overseas student anxiety during the covid-19 pandemic. health communication, 19.10.1080/10410236.2020.1775439 mudiono, a. (2019). teaching politeness for primary school students in indonesia: mediating role of self efficacy and self esteem of learners. journal of social studies education research (jsser), 10(4), 427-445. 182 jcve 2022, 5(1): 168-182 oecd (10 november 2020). the territorial impact of covid-19: managing the crisis across levels of government. oecd. https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/the territorial-impact-of-covid-19-managing-the-crisis-across-levels-of-government d3e314e1/ pellini, a., david, r., jordan, k., & phillips, t. (2020, may 11). education during the covid-19 crisis opportunities and constraints of using edtech in low-income countries [policy brief]. ukfiet, the education and development forum https://www.ukfiet.org/2020/education-during-the-covid-19-crisis-opportunities-and constraints-of-using-edtech-in-low-income-countries/ perz, c.a., lang, b.a., & harrington, r. (2020). validation of the fear of covid-19 scale in a us college sample. international journal of mental health and addiction, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00356-3 pragholapati, a. (2020). covid-19 impact on students. osf. 10.17605/osf.io/nuyj9.rural health information hub (2020, march 24). social determinants of health for rural people. https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/social-determinants-of-health. economic research service, u.s. department of agriculture (2021, june 17). rural classifications. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/ruralclassifications/. tarman, b. (2020). editorial: reflecting in the shade of pandemic. research in social sciences and technology, 5(2), i-iv. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.02.ed uleanya, c. (2018). comparative rural university students’ demography nexus learning abilities. gender & behaviour journal, 16(3), 12035–12053. uleanya, c. (2020). exploring effects of lecturers–students’ relationship on students academic performances in selected rural universities. interchange, 51(4), 345-360. uleanya, c., gamede, b.t. & kutame, a.p. (2020b). rural and irrelevant: exploration of learning challenges among undergraduates in rural universities. african identities,18(4), 377-391. uleanya, c., iwaloye, b.o., & gamede, b.t. (2020a). exploring factors contributing to poverty trap nexus learners’ academic performances in selected nongoma secondary schools. ubuntu: journal of conflict and social transformation, 9(1), 87-104. https://dx.doi.org/10.31920/2050-4950/2020/9n1a5 uleanya, c. & yu, k. (2019). review of preparedness of rural african communities nexus formal education in the fourth industrial revolution. south african review of sociology, 50(3-4), 91-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/21528586.2019.1639074. walker, j. (2017). shame and transformation in the theory and practice of adult learning and education. journal of transformative education, 15(4). zhai, y., & du, x. (2020). addressing collegiate mental health amid covid-19 pandemic. psychiatry res, 288, 1–2. journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 1 2022 pp. 183-194 transformations in higher educational institutions: a review of the post-covid-19 era oluwayemi ibukunoluwa odularu*a, mandisa eunice puzia, kholekile h. ngqilaa, & tolulope ayodeji olatoyeb * corresponding author: e-mail: oodularu@wsu.ac.za a. department of social science, faculty of humanities, social sciences and law, walter sisulu university, mthatha, south africa b. department of geography and environmental science, faculty of science and agriculture, university of fort hare, alice campus, south africa. article info received: november 11, 2021 revised: march 2, 2022 accepted: april 4, 2022 how to cite odularu, o. i., puzi, m. e., ngqila, k. h., & olatoye, t. a. (2022). transformations in higher educational institutions: a review of the postcovid-19 era. journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), 183-194. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.13 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract the covid-19 epidemic was initially experienced in china, in a city called wuhan (december 2019), and europe, the usa and australia were not left behind. south africa was the worst-hit country, with a total of 88,914 deaths recorded on october 24, 2021, and like many other countries of the world, it suffered the loss of human lives and livelihoods. in 2021, almost 65,000 south africans had been lost to the pandemic. this pandemic has destabilised systems and processes that define human existence, thereby wreaking havoc on many facets of human life, with education being predominantly affected. covid-19 has fostered global readjustments in education with the advent of online teaching or, as referred to in some studies, emergency online education. this paper examined many of the challenges faced by students and lecturers, including adaptation problems among lecturers and students, internet connectivity issues, an unconducive teaching and learning workspace, and associated health risks. this study also reviewed positive developments that took place since the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, such as the wiseup moodle training, academic discourse, and capacity development. in addition, it is suggested that researchers carry out further studies on the effects of covid19 with reference to teaching and learning. the paper concludes by reviewing the positive and negative teaching and learning outcomes of the transformations that higher educational institutions underwent after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. keywords digital education; higher education; teaching; learning; post-covid-19 era. 10.46303/jcve.2022.13 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.13 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 184 jcve 2022, 5(1): 183-194 introduction online learning was hastily imposed due to the covid-19 pandemic. several stakeholders in the e-learning processes of higher educational institutions (heis) underwent a myriad of challenges while adapting to the covid era. over 300 new infectious diseases have emerged around the world from 1940 to 2021 (tabish, 2020). hence, over 30% of the incidence of disabilities in humans are associated with infectious diseases, affecting life expectancy, resulting in reduced work efficiencies and increasing morbidity (tabish, 2020). men and microorganisms have been co-existing since the advent of civilisation, although the situation has worsened on account of the ever-increasing human populations sizes. in addition, several human interventions have been carried out across the globe, culminating in higher infection rates. as of october 2021, nearly 90,000 south africans had been lost to covid-19. the world reacted to the covid-19 pandemic, mobilising generous amounts of resources at a considerable speed (affouneh et al., 2021). the causal agent of the disease was recognized and hitherto sequenced by scientists in china (bergquist, 2020). several potential treatments were proposed and with ongoing research, vaccines have been produced to reduce causalities associated with covid-19 (yan et al., 2020). however, underprivileged individuals that have limited access to good living conditions are seriously challenged and will likely be negatively impacted (ghaebi et al., 2020). as the world experiences a pandemic, it is important for policymakers and governments across the globe to seek preventive measures and proper health care services with regard to the levels of poverty and hunger ravaging the poor. the covid-19 pandemic could also facilitate the spread of other preventable diseases, thereby making the economic recovery covid-19 much harder (hall, 2020; yi et al., 2020). clinical analyses of the symptoms associated with covid 19 are carried out and include chest imaging data (shaw et al., 2020). however, the infection is confirmed by a genetic evaluation of samples derived from the respiratory organs (e.g., throat swabs) and infected patients are kept in intensive care. it is also imperative to state that social distancing is vital to regulate the spread of the virus on global scale (lotfi & hamblin, 2020) as it reduces infection rates, keeping our healthcare facilities from becoming overpowered. there is a strong relationship between stress responses and perceived social connectedness, and more visible effects are observable among isolated and lonely individuals. consequently, enhancing mental health is vital to improving the physical health of the infected persons being treated (walsh, 2020). thus, mental health should be considered the utmost priority. from the foregoing, technology plays a vital role in mitigating negative effects of social distancing, as it enables communication between family and friends, even from afar. be that as it may, social distancing should be considered as a momentary phenomenon and not a permanent occurrence. several strategies involving opinion leaders, community leaders, and responsible print and electronic media should be adopted to control the pandemic and the virus from spreading further. covid-19 could become widespread like the human immuno-deficiency virus (hiv). 185 jcve 2022, 5(1): 183-194 thus, with effort, the disease may be controlled to reduce risks, and it is the responsibility of all persons to contribute to ameliorating the pandemic (raoofi et al., 2020). it is also imperative to state that factors that promote good living habits, such as food, shelter, and adequate healthcare facilities should be provided to deprived human populations. equally crucial is the care for refugees and internally displaced people (idps), as they require special attention (alio et al., 2020). the current covid-19 pandemic has suddenly and dramatically influenced social relationships, work ethics and living on a global level (hua & shaw, 2020). accordingly, piccarozzi et al. (2021) highlighted the importance of technology, which has assumed a crucial role in encouraging higher educational institutions (heis) to begin and/or complete their digital evolution processes, especially in the covid 19 era. technological tools have greatly enhanced teaching and learning in numerous forms since the initial stages of the pandemic and have brought significant changes to the administration of heis globally, which faced new challenges and new curriculum requirements (mishra et al., 2020). covid-19 has guided academia all around the world to the observation and in-depth research of the aftermath and impacts of the pandemic on educational management, learning and teaching, with many studies on this field surfacing within a short period of time. hence, numerous studies have highlighted the importance of fully conceptualising the repercussions of this pandemic and of developing strategies to withstand the epidemic within heis (egron-polak et al., 2015). studies have investigated some of the strategies adopted by heis to fight the covid-19 pandemic (elsaid et al., 2021). such strategies are essential to help heis overcome the lockdown, which continued from 2020 to 2021. for example, the qs, educations, and study portals websites recently conducted research surveys concerning the covid-19 impact on education for the academic staff and students covid-19. however, it is also crucial to note that very few empirical studies have assessed this phenomenon. furthermore, few studies that seek to correlate the performance of students in online distance learning during the lockdown with the conventional classroom education approach are available. this research is premised on the clarion call made by the world health organization soliciting the development of scientific research. this paper reviews how heis are handling the major transformations associated with the migration to online education in teaching and learning (blin & munro, 2008). this investigation contributes to knowledge on insightful teaching on the transition from the interrupted “face-to-face” learning (ftfl) period to online education (rensburg, 2020). this paper also elucidates the usage of technological platforms and tools used to obtain online information (e.g., to stream conferences, for video conferences and web-based learning platforms), which bring innovative e-learning methodologies. additionally, the recommendations based on findings of this paper will speed up the improvement of how heis deal with the pandemic and enhance the adaptation of heis to the covid situation by making recommendations of further investigations on effective and practical e-learning methods. consequently, it will enhance research studies conducted by academic staff and 186 jcve 2022, 5(1): 183-194 students through the usage of online education in their academic plans, especially in heis challenged by a lack of it infrastructure and skills. literature review the pandemic has seriously impacted academic activities in heis, thereby transforming educational activities (marinoni et al., 2020; mishra et al., 2020). the unprecedented disruption caused by the covid-19 has resulted in world economies cutting down budgets and in some heis of many developing countries downsizing academic personnel (garcía-morales et al., 2021, krishnamurthy, 2020; nicola et al., 2020). in addition, social distancing measures, the imposition of lockdowns and the stoppage of personal contact have also been entrenched by governments at local and international scales in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the virus. all over the world, and since the beginning of 2020, there has been only one topic of interest – the covid-19 pandemic. numerous studies have sought to determine the correlation between student performance in heis when in ftfl and online (remote) education (hicham et al., 2020). covid-19 with the health crisis it caused and the number of infected people still on the rise, it is difficult to foresee its impact on the economy and society at large (hodgson et al., 2021). first detected in china, coronavirus has travelled to 213 countries and territories, infected over eleven million citizens, and claimed the lives of over 530,000 people at the time of this writing. several countries have implemented health, economic and social measures to face the contagion, seeking to “flatten its curve” until vaccines to combat the disease are developed (anderson et al., 2020). how long the impact of covid-19 will last and how efficient the measures taken to face it are not known (karabag, 2020). hence, the pandemic has compelled several heis to make substantial adjustments to their usual academic engagements and processes, thereby leading many academics and students in heis across the world to promptly adapt to online teaching methods. accordingly, many academics have adopted new online teaching techniques, despite the minimal prior experience (dhawan, 2020; alhammadi, 2021). khan et al. (2021) reviewed studies published in the united kingdom, china, usa, and several other countries that focused on the impact of covid-19 on heis and predicted covid-19 developments after the onset of the pandemics seeking to analyse the impact of technology in transforming digital learning during the covid19 era. this review, in turn, examined emerging evidence on the effects of the covid-19 pandemics on heis and assessed changes in e-learning that occurred in the sector. hence, the evaluation of knowledge gaps related to the effects of the covid-19 pandemics on education and of the need to transform traditional education methods into enhanced e-learning and teaching techniques will result in empirical solutions to some of the aforementioned challenges covid-19 (sun et al., 2008). nachit and belhcen (2020) stated that several countries, especially the emerging ones, are still struggling with the development of their digital education, which requires an initial construction and maturation of a digital infrastructure (i.e., fibre-optic networks, wireless-based 187 jcve 2022, 5(1): 183-194 ict, digital technologies, artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, etc.) including software that would ensure a 24/7 online real-time connectivity. the development of a certain level of awareness regarding the importance of digital transformation within heis improves the skills of staff members and students, results in a better understanding of the changes occurring in the global academic environment, and significantly increases the ability of heis to embrace and use digital technologies (i.e., digital readiness). studies report educational disruptions within heis on account of the covid-19 pandemic in over thirty countries under three main categories, namely (1) exacerbated inequities and gaps in the use of technology, (2) different evaluation and assessment methods, and (3) the use of online control of unethical academic behaviour (elsaid et al., 2021). in addition, hjelsvold et al. (2020) examined the feedback of 300 undergraduate students and 56 lecturers on distance education during the covid-19 lockdown in norway and reported that the lack of resources available and short time reduced their preference for online learning. the main factors influencing the online experience of students included the need to give feedback to their lecturers, participation in group discussions/assignments, usage of online tutorials for group work exercises, and the lecturers reported to provide a prompt communication regarding summative and formative assessments, assignments, examinations, and to use teaching support tools that enable the online interactions between students and lecturers, and among students, enhancing home-study experience (hjelsvold et al., 2020). hei administrators reported that online education favoured timely communication with students, particularly concerning examination petitions and regulations, provided student support as regards teaching approaches, and enhanced collaboration between the academic staff (cahill et al., 2010). additionally, pholotho and mtsweni (2016) stated that the general online (remote) learning experience resulting from the covid-19 lockdown experienced in some egyptian heis was positive, and therefore recommended the future application of this learning method. digital transformation can be better termed as the complete result or an important development in societal transformation (kalimullina et al., 2021; mbunge, 2020). accordingly, digitisation and technology are perceived as developments in many studies. emerging technologies are urgently required for efficient global efforts in preventing, monitoring, predicting, tracking and treating the covid-19 pandemic, as well as in the allocation of resources and development of vaccines (greiner et al. (2019). also, covid-19 effects have been reported to cause a radical transformation of education and training in heis, which led students and lecturers to swiftly imbibe an e-learning culture (dwivedi, 2020; garcía-morales et al., 2021). in a review, carolan (2020) reported that the sudden shift in education strategies caused heis to evolve into online teaching in the fastest possible time. consequently, the teaching staff executed and acclimatised to the use of technological resources, despite lacking the technological abilities for online teaching. hence, heis should make provisions for digital transformations and foster a culture of online education. there is no doubt that the advent of disruptive innovation comes with uncertainty and risk, but it also encourages new opportunities 188 jcve 2022, 5(1): 183-194 which foster an innovative culture (habibu et al., 2012). it is also imperative to state that the positive evolution of heis from obsolete teaching and learning methods should promote participatory strategies, which support the transparent assessment of outcomes as well as evidence-based decision-making (mishra et al., 2020). hence, the pandemic will accelerate technological developments of heis worldwide (krishnamurthy, 2020). accordingly, it is imperative for heis to redesign their learning and teaching strategies to face the covid-19 situation, and to be aware of potential barriers, thereby recognising new systems and tools that incorporate online education into the teaching-learning processes (carolan, 2020). dwivedi (2020) reported that online teaching saved time in delivering lectures compared with physical, face-to-face, teaching and learning methods. also, learning must be more effective and prompter in online than in a physical face-to-face session. students enjoyed the online learning method, which may be more effective than the conventional person-to-person teaching approaches. for example, academics share their screens for practical demonstrations that students could follow on their laptops, and consequently respond to problems associated with their course. this screen-sharing approach may have fostered an increased the independence among students compared to when they would ask each other for help in a physical group environment. the students may also solicit help from their colleagues in more subtle ways, such as posting queries or questions in their online chat groups, thereby feeling less self-conscious than when they raise their hands amid their peers in classroom environments (davison, 2020). thabankadimene (2020) reviewed higher education prefaces of academic and researchbased responses to the research question ‘what are the challenges of implementing e-learning in rural heis in south africa?’, focusing on the multimodal learning and e-learning protocols developed during covid-19 lockdown in rural and under-privileged south african heis. the researchers stated that e-learning refers to learning with the use of technology and of the internet. therefore, e-learning can be defined as “the use of technology to deliver learning and training programmes”. jereb and šmite (2006) defined e-learning as the use of information and communications technology in the operationalisation of synchronous/asynchronous learning activities. the academy and students believe that e-learning broadens access, increases flexibility and is a preferred modality due to its cost-effectiveness (ellis, 2009). the main challenges faced by students from poor family backgrounds are having access to educational technologies and internet connectivity (abdullah, 2016). the covid-19 era has compelled heis across the world to shift from traditional strategies of curriculum delivery to digital platforms, requiring drastic changes from the ftfl that took place within four-walled lecture halls, despite the inequality among countries and institutions, and the unveiled and exposed students (mahaye, 2020). mahaye (2020) further elucidated that navigating blended learning that combines physical contact learning with online and virtual learning was not a novelty for privileged heis and students, because teaching and learning continued during covid-19 lockdown without 189 jcve 2022, 5(1): 183-194 spectacular challenges for such privileged institutions and students covid-19. more privileged institutions experienced a minimal loss of learning time during the pandemic, while it was a challenging task for the less privileged institutions to put infrastructure and plans in place to ensure that the academic year was not lost due to access challenges. nearly 80% of the south african students in heis were isolated during phases 4 and 5 of the covid-19 lockdown, with no teacher-learner interaction, relying on the tv and radio media, when such devices were available (spaull, 2013). similarly, public heis and especially the disadvantaged institutions from apartheid south africa, experienced a lot of challenges and could not easily transit knowledge through virtual and online learning without existing learning platforms, thereby being limited by the heis’ infrastructural capacity, lack of digital skills of faculty members, and the critical access challenges experienced by students. these historically disadvantaged heis experienced technological, infrastructural and academic staff capacity limitations, once many of the heis used blackboard learning management and had limited internal capacity. according to pholotho & mtsweni (2016), to ensure continued learning during covid-19, the blackboard function must be incorporated to enhance interactive learning. additionally, the lack of interactive learning infrastructure was aggravated by the lack of digital skills of the faculty members, as has been previously reported (lekgothoane & thaba-nkadimene, 2019). according to harding et al. (2018), stated that the lack of time is a considerable barrier to staff usage of the vle and staff usage is primarily for the distribution of resources, communication and assignment submission. as an intervention strategy, the university started providing blackboard training that included introduction to blackboard, blackboard ultra, and blackboard assessment. access challenges faced by students in heis were identified as the biggest challenge and required increased infrastructure quality. hei students did not have laptops and lacked internet connectivity in remote rural communities. following a promissory note, the minister of higher education was obliged to provide students with laptops and data. however, helping students residing in deep rural areas where there is no internet connectivity was still a challenge. this raised resistance to continuous teaching and assessment by students and assessment was put on hold by the student representative councils (src) until all deserving students got laptops and data. in support, mafolo (2020) reported a limited access to university sites among students staying in remote areas without internet and those in disruptive environments that militated against meaningful learning. examples of these institutions include the university of limpopo, wits, and the university of johannesburg, illustrating the dichotomies in access and resource availability. this paper has reviewed numerous contributions of empirical studies conducted by researchers, which elucidate the positive and negative transformations in heis during the covid -19 period. paradigm shifts from ftfl to online (remote) learning and teaching to reduce some of the learning challenges faced during covid-19 period are recommended to heis. these paradigm shifts involve technology, culture, and human behaviour, where important viewpoints must be considered. according to nachit and belhcen (2020), shifting to online learning is the 190 jcve 2022, 5(1): 183-194 most suitable approach for understanding the phenomenon and addressing emerging questions (creswell et al. 2017). according to gustafsson (2017), multiple case studies are more likely to provide valuable insights than single case studies. this paper reviewed empirical literature from other researchers that studied transformation within heis during the covid-19 era. conclusion the effects of the period after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, and the use of technologies and skills that foster online education present exceptional opportunities to transform heis on the global scale. the importance of online teaching has increased and will continue even in the post-covid-19 pandemic. based on this premise, this paper revealed the usage of technological platforms and tools to support online knowledge attainment strategies (e.g., streaming conferences, video-conferencing tools, web-based learning platforms, educational apps, virtual presentation, online curricula, online messaging tools and others) to support new methodologies that foster e-learning. online learning, which was hastily forced due to covid19 circumstances, caused various players involved in the learning processes in heis to experience adaptation challenges. hence, heis consider these challenges and mobilise resources to overcome them in the shortest possible time. in addition, e-learning processes must be explained and the required technical training and support must be provided to academia in general. it is not yet envisaged what implications the shift to online learning and teaching will have on heis on the global scene. nonetheless, heis should develop specialised elearning technologies to harness the use of tools that enhance teaching and learning expectations on the global scene. this paper thus reviewed several studies on the transformations of heis faced by covid-19, while considering the positive and negative effects associated with online education during the covid-19 eracovid-19 . on this note, the authors recommend that more studies be conducted on workable education models that can be adapted to current and unanticipated changes in the higher education sector due to the lack of preliminary concerns, thereby promoting a conducive learning environment. further investigative studies and initiatives channelled towards reducing the covid-19 impacts will contribute with knowledge and provide important future directions in the advancement of higher education. acknowledgement the authors wish to acknowledge the funding granted for this research by the directorate of research and innovation department, walter sisulu university, mthatha, south africa. 191 jcve 2022, 5(1): 183-194 references abdullah, h. (2016). the role of self-stigma in seeking mental health services in the muslim american community (doctoral dissertation, alliant international university). affouneh, s., khlaif, z. n., burgos, d. & salha, s. (2021). virtualization of higher education during covid-19: a successful case study in palestine. sustainability, 13(12), 6583. alhammadi, s. (2021). the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on learning quality and practices in higher education—using deep and surface approaches. education sciences, 11(9), 462. alio, m., alrihawi, s., milner, j., noor, a., wazefadost, n. & zigashane, p. (2020). by refugees, for refugees: refugee leadership during covid-19, and beyond. international journal of refugee law, 32(2), 370-373. anderson, r. m., heesterbeek, h., klinkenberg, d. & hollingsworth, t. d. (2020). how will country-based mitigation measures influence the course of the covid-19 epidemic? the lancet, 395(10228), 931-934. bergquist, w. (2020). formulating covid-19 policies: a psychological perspective on consideration and compassion. library of professional psychology. blin, f. & munro, m. (2008). why hasn’t technology disrupted academics’ teaching practices? understanding resistance to change through the lens of activity theory. computers & education, 50(2), 475-490. cahill, j., turner, j. & barefoot, h. (2010). enhancing the student learning experience: the perspective of academic staff. educational research, 52(3), 283-295. carolan, c., davies, c. l., crookes, p., mcghee, s., & roxburgh, m. (2020). covid 19: disruptive impacts and transformative opportunities in undergraduate nurse education. nurse education in practice, 46, 102807. dhawan, s. (2020). online learning: a panacea in the time of covid-19 crisis. journal of educational technology systems, 49(1), 5-22. egron-polak, e., howard, l., hunter, f. & de wit, h. (2015). internationalisation of higher education. directorate-general for internal policies, european union. ellis, r. a., ginns, p., & piggott, l. (2009). e‐learning in higher education: some key aspects and their relationship to approaches to study. higher education research & development, 28(3), 303-318. elsaid, k., olabi, v., sayed, e. t., wilberforce, t. & abdelkareemd, m. a. (2021). effects of covid19 on the environment: an overview on air, water, wastewater, and solid waste. journal of environmental management, 112694. garcía-morales, v. j., garrido-moreno, a. & martín-rojas, r. (2021). the transformation of higher education after the covid disruption: emerging challenges in an online learning scenario. frontiers in psychology, 12, 196. 192 jcve 2022, 5(1): 183-194 ghaebi, m., osali, a., valizadeh, h., roshangar, l. & ahmadi, m. (2020). vaccine development and therapeutic design for 2019‐ncov/sars‐cov‐2: challenges and chances. journal of cellular physiology, 235(12), 9098-9109. greiner, b., ottwell, r., vassar, m. & hartwell, m. (2020). public interest in preventive measures of coronavirus disease 2019 associated with timely issuance of statewide stay-at-home orders. disaster medicine and public health preparedness, 14(6), 765-768. gustafsson, j. (2017). single case studies vs. multiple case studies: a comparative study. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1064378/fulltext01.pdf%20(10 habibu, t., abdullah-al-mamun, m. d. & clement, c. (2012). difficulties faced by teachers in using ict in teaching-learning at technical and higher educational institutions of uganda. international journal of engineering, 1(7), 1-10. hall, g., laddu, d. r., phillips, s. a., lavie, c. j. & arena, r. (2021). a tale of two pandemics: how will covid-19 and global trends in physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour affect one another? progress in cardiovascular diseases, 64, 108. harding, s. d., sharman, j. l., faccenda, e., southan, c., pawson, a. j., ireland, s. & nc-iuphar. (2018). the iuphar/bps guide to pharmacology in 2018: updates and expansion to encompass the new guide to immuno-pharmacology. nucleic acids research, 46(d1), d1091-d1106. hicham, b. & bachir, b. (2020). using writing assistive technology to improve efl university students performance. quarterly of iranian distance education journal, 2(2). hjelsvold, r., nykvist, s. s., lorås, m., bahmani, a., & krokan, a. (2020, november). educators’ experiences online: how covid-19 encouraged pedagogical change in cs education. in norsk ikt-konferanse for forskning og utdanning (no. 4). hodgson, s. h., mansatta, k., mallett, g., harris, v., emary, k. r. & pollard, a. j. (2021). what defines an efficacious covid-19 vaccine? a review of the challenges assessing the clinical efficacy of vaccines against sars-cov-2. the lancet infectious diseases, 21(2), e26-e35. hua, j. & shaw, r. (2020). corona virus (covid-19). “infodemic” and emerging issues through a data lens: the case of china. international journal of environmental research and public health, 17(7), 2309. jereb, e. & šmitek, b. (2006). applying multimedia instruction in e‐learning. innovations in education and teaching international, 43(1), 15-27. kalimullina, o., tarman, b. & stepanova, i. (2021). education in the context of digitalization and culture: evolution of the teacher's role, pre-pandemic overview. journal of ethnic and cultural studies, 8(1), 226-238. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/629 karabag, s. f. (2020). an unprecedented global crisis! the global, regional, national, political, economic and commercial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. journal of applied economics and business research, 10(1), 1-6. http://dx.doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/629 193 jcve 2022, 5(1): 183-194 khan, d. s., kolarik, j. & weitzmann, p. (2021). application of an occupant voting system for continuous occupant feedback on thermal and indoor air quality–case studies in office spaces. energy and buildings, 251, 111363. krishnamurthy, s. (2020). the future of business education: a commentary in the shadow of the covid-19 pandemic. journal of business research, 117, 1-5. lekgothoane, r. l., & thaba-nkadimene, k. l. (2019). assessing principals' and teachers' perceptions on the implementation of e-education policy: a case study of four limpopo project schools. african renaissance, 16(3), 27-47. lotfi, m., hamblin, m. r. & rezaei, n. (2020). covid-19: transmission, prevention, and potential therapeutic opportunities. clinica chimica acta, 508, 254-266. mafolo, k. (2020). the poor at universities left behind in lockdown, says student union. daily maverick, 25. mahaye, n. e. (2020). the impact of covid-19 pandemic on education: navigating forward the pedagogy of blended learning. research online. marinoni, g., van’t land, h. & jensen, t. (2020). the impact of covid-19 on higher education around the world. iau global survey report. mbunge, e. (2020). integrating emerging technologies into covid-19 contact tracing: opportunities, challenges and pitfalls. diabetes & metabolic syndrome: clinical research & reviews, 14(6), 1631-1636. mishra, l., gupta, t. & shree, a. (2020). online teaching-learning in higher education during lockdown period of covid-19 pandemic. international journal of educational research open, 1, 100012. nachit, h. & belhcen, l. (2020). digital transformation in times of covid-19 pandemic: the case of morocco. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3645084 nicola, m., alsafi, z., sohrabi, c., kerwan, a., al-jabir, a., iosifidis, c., ... & agha, r. (2020). the socio-economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic (covid-19): a review. international journal of surgery, 78, 185-193. pholotho, t. & mtsweni, j. (2016, may). barriers to electronic access and delivery of educational information in resource constrained public schools: a case of greater tubatse municipality. in 2016 ist-africa week conference (pp. 1-9). ieee. piccarozzi, m., silvestri, c. & morganti, p. (2021). covid-19 in management studies: a systematic literature review. sustainability, 13(7), 3791. raoofi, a., takian, a., sari, a. a., olyaeemanesh, a., haghighi, h. & aarabi, m. (2020). covid-19 pandemic and comparative health policy learning in iran. archives of iranian medicine, 23(4), 220-234. rensburg, i. (2020). transformation of higher education in south africa, 1995–2016: current limitations and future possibilities. in transforming universities in south africa (pp. 2038). brill sense. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3645084 194 jcve 2022, 5(1): 183-194 shaw, r., kim, y. k. & hua, j. (2020). governance, technology and citizen behavior in pandemic: lessons from covid-19 in east asia. progress in disaster science, 6, 100090. spaull, n. (2013). south africa’s education crisis: the quality of education in south africa 19942011. johannesburg: centre for development and enterprise, 21(1), 1-65. sun, p. c., tsai, r. j., finger, g., chen, y. y. & yeh, d. (2008). what drives a successful e-learning? an empirical investigation of the critical factors influencing learner satisfaction. computers & education, 50(4), 1183-1202. tabish, s. a. (2020). covid-19 pandemic: emerging perspectives and future trends. journal of public health research, 9(1). thaba-nkadimene, k. l. (2020). covid-19 and e-learning in higher education. journal of african education, 1(2), 5-11. unesco, (2020). guidance on open educational practices during school closures: utilizing oer under covid-19 pandemic in line with unesco oer recommendation. beijing: smart learning institute of beijing normal university. walsh, f. (2020). loss and resilience in the time of covid‐19: meaning making, hope, and transcendence. family process, 59(3), 898-911. yan, y., shin, w. i., pang, y. x., meng, y., lai, j., you, c., ... & pang, c. h. (2020). the first 75 days of novel coronavirus (sars-cov-2) outbreak: recent advances, prevention, and treatment. international journal of environmental research and public health, 17(7), 2323. yi, y., lagniton, p. n., ye, s., li, e. & xu, r. h. (2020). covid-19: what has been learned and to be learned about the novel coronavirus disease. international journal of biological sciences, 16(10), 1753. microsoft word 6.shava.78-91 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 1 2022 pp. 78-91 reinforcing the role of ict in enhancing teaching and learning postcovid-19 in tertiary institutions in south africa elvin shava* * school of public management, university of johannesburg, south africa. e-mail: ellyshava@gmail.com article info received: december 6, 2021 revised: january 21, 2022 accepted: february 24, 2022 how to cite shava, e. (2022). reinforcing the role of ict in enhancing teaching and learning post-covid-19 in tertiary institutions in south africa. journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), 78-91. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.7 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract the use of information communication technology (ict) in higher education is becoming more and more prevalent with the overproliferation of technological development we find ourselves in. the educational landscape in south african tertiary institutions has been affected by the covid-19 pandemic, resulting in increased use of ict. in turn, this has transformed these institutions' teaching, learning, and research. central to this transformation has been challenges facing both teachers and administrators, including the need for a great demonstration of the value of ict through improved output on teaching, learning and research. this paper examines the use of ict in enhancing teaching and learning in south african tertiary institutions during and post covid-19. using an extensive secondary review approach, the report observes that ict has been widely embraced in tertiary institutions during the covid-19 pandemic lockdown. however, a minority of students and lecturers still lack the technological expertise to utilise modern technologies. in addition, limited funding in some rural universities hinders the purchasing of modern ict equipment to support teaching and learning in tertiary institutions. the paper recommends increasing the value of ict usage in the teaching and learning process post-covid-19. regular workshops and in-service training of both teaching staff, students and administrators in pedagogical issues and administration should be increased. keywords information communication technology; ict; teaching and learning; academic transformation; technological innovations; covid-19 10.46303/jcve.2022.7 79 jcve 2022, 5(1): 78-91 introduction the use of information communication technology (ict) in higher education is becoming increasingly critical with the over-proliferation of technological development we find ourselves in (mlambo et al. 2020). technology use allows learners to increase their willingness to acquire extensive knowledge and improve their learning processes more than what educators could offer (sima et al. 2020). in south africa, icts are crucial in spearheading social and economic development. the ict policy white paper (2016) regards icts as a wide range of technologies that include fixed wireless telephony, computing and information technology, broadcasting, internet, audio and visual content including traditional methods of communication and postal deliveries. clarke (2020) argues that icts can transform how citizens interact, socialise, conduct business, run the government, and uphold accountability to citizens. the unprecedented outbreak of covid-19 globally triggered large-scale institutional and behavioural shock effects in different facets of human activity, including education and health of students and families (morris and chapman, 2020). as noted by unesco (2020), covid-19 affected an estimated 1, 5 billion students globally, ranging from primary to tertiary institutions, as they failed to attend school, fearing the severity of the virus. in south africa, covid-19 wreaked havoc in many tertiary institutions, as these were not adequately prepared to migrate to online learning as a responsive measure to curb the spread of the virus (masha, 2021; mhlanga & moloi, 2020). the massive and urgent closures primarily affected tertiary institutions globally as the urge to adopt quick fixes in various digital learning platforms became a reality (jandrić, 2020). among the teaching and learning icts adopted in some south african universities during covid-19 are zoom, telegram, microsoft teams, blackboard, google classroom and modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment (moodle). teras et al. (2020) warn that using these icts in tertiary education has redefined and reduced teaching and learning concepts. nonetheless, the rapid migration from contact classes to online teaching was the only viable option for many tertiary institutions in south africa to continue learning. although nobody anticipated covid-19 to transform the teaching and learning landscape, bastani (2019) draws researchers to the previous proclamation by selwyn (2010), who predicted that ict would somehow ‘disrupt’ or revolutionarise’ education. the outbreak of covid-19 inevitably allowed for more technology use in tertiary institutions in south africa and other nations to increase student engagement with their educators (williamson, 2020). utilising digital platforms during covid-19 was meant to ensure continuity of teaching and learning, although recent research criticises these quick-fix measures as unsustainable in the long term. post covid-19 may require tertiary institutions globally to revisit the blended learning approach in universities because online teaching in low-income countries can widen the skills and poverty gap due to lack of access to ict gadgets (fuchs, 2020). although recent research confirms the use of ict in improving teaching and learning in south african tertiary institutions, it is vital to provide a critical evaluation of how icts, as innovative technology, can help close the gap created by migration to online learning covid 80 jcve 2022, 5(1): 78-91 19. examining new approaches that can be used post-covid-19 is significant to ensure educators deliver quality education to learners. with this understanding in mind, the article responds to the following questions: what challenges are there in using ict to enhance online teaching and learning during and post-covid-19 in tertiary institutions? how can icts be integrated into teaching and learning to enhance post-covid-19 epistemic access? what is the future of teaching and learning post-covid 19 in south african tertiary institutions? the remainder of the article focuses on the literature review followed by the methodology adopted. the third section provides a presentation and discussion of findings, followed by a section on the conclusions of the study. the last section offers recommendations and direction for further studies. literature review the implementation of ict as part of learning depends on the acceptance and understanding of students' and educators' potential benefits (baytak et al., 2011; tadeu et al., 2019). many theories, such as the technology acceptance model, illustrate how end-user acceptance of technology can improve productivity. however, this article adopted the knowledge gap theory as it helps explain the dangers ict can pose to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. according to the knowledge gap theory, knowledge is not equally obtained by all members of society as persons of respectable economic and social standing have strong capabilities to obtain information (weng, 2000). as a result, two groups emerge, namely those with higher education based on several topics, and those with lower education who know less (tichenor et al. 1970). as the covid-19 pandemic is still haunting nations, the future of education at all levels will be online learning. this theory draws researchers’ attention to worrying trends that may further widen the digital gap in tertiary institutions as students from low-income families may be left behind due to poor internet connection, absence of data, and poverty. ict and educational transformation during covid-19 questions are being posed in the literature regarding the effectiveness of icts in transforming tertiary education, and whether icts will be more influential post-covid-19. albion et al. (2015) argue that using digital technologies in classrooms has not yet produced systemic transformation or promoting "islands of innovation" resulting from teachers’ ability to utilise icts to innovate in their teaching practices without involving a formal lifelong learning process. the study by williamson et al. (2019) addressed the critical concerns in education technology research before the outbreak of covid-19. they argue that educational research should prove how technology can fix existing problems and new challenges caused by education technology. selwyn et al. (2020) advocate creating a crucial ed-tech agenda and proactivity months before the pandemic. long before the pandemic, leading researchers had already stated advocating for urgent education technology research (bulfin et al. 2015; jandrić, 2017). this proposition gathers momentum as the covid-19 pandemic progresses. 81 jcve 2022, 5(1): 78-91 since past studies have predicted that icts will be used in education, there are three main aspects that are likely to be considered: autonomy, capability and creativity (macgilchrist, 2019). jandri (2020) suggests that autonomy is achieved by those students who control their learning by working alone and in groups. educators can provide students the chance to demonstrate their teamwork capabilities to finish a given task; hence, icts can be utilised to gather detailed information that can be risky, and at the same time educating students on failure. through icts, educators gain autonomy by preparing study material for students as a strategy to empower students to look for more information as compared to being spoofed in a traditional classroom context (dooley et al. 2016). as mertala (2020) denotes, students demonstrate their capabilities by using icts and acquiring relevant information on various topics and applying such skills to enhance their learning processes. while engaging students in ict, educators can make knowledge acquisition more accessible and concepts in learning areas well understood. during the covid-19 pandemic, icts are widely regarded as the only tool to support teaching and learning in tertiary institutions. this may remain the situation in case of a prolonged covid-19 pandemic period; hence, transforming the education curriculum towards ict use is fundamental. deconstruction of contact lectures and adoption of online learning the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic was arguably the departure point for deconstructing contact lectures and integrating online learning as a strategic and most viable means to continue offering education in tertiary institutions. according to maribe (2016), there is a perception that integrating technology in higher education would automatically improve students' performance. nevertheless, there is limited empirical evidence to support the role of technology in enhancing learning. this lack of proof affects all levels of education, notably higher education. several unanswered questions still exist regarding the efficacy of ict in teaching despite technology use (linda & kirkwood, 2014). in countries such as liberia and sierra leone, icts promoted online education to respond to the covid-19 pandemic (montoya, 2021). ghana delayed migrating to online education as the country was undertaking preparations to ensure that both educators and students adjust to the new ‘normal’ of online education, by especially ensuring that students with disabilities would gain accessibility (montoya, 2021). nonetheless, the way digital technology is employed today is (maybe unwittingly) exacerbating existing socio-economic gaps. the usage of ict in modern day societies is based on access, attitudes, discourses, skills, structures and availability of infrastructures that are connected to individual societal domains and life chances. furthermore, ict use helps in improving citizen participation in political affairs, promote entrepreneurship growth across various races and gender. noting these contestations, therefore, it can be argued that deconstructing contact lecture sessions and adopting online learning became apparent as institutions in south africa and globally battled to continue with education while minimising the risk of spreading the covid-19 virus. given these sentiments, the post-covid-19 era may 82 jcve 2022, 5(1): 78-91 require tertiary institutions to normalise and get prepared to embrace online education as a contingency measure to respond to pandemics such as covid-19. institutional preparedness and ict use post-covid-19 the e-readiness of tertiary institutions globally can promote the ease of adoption of ict in online teaching and learning. the lessons drawn from the current dilemma of covid-19 challenge tertiary institutions to reconfigure their institutional systems and be ready to utilise icts; evidence on the ground indicates that the covid-19 pandemic may be in existence for a long time. the study by hove and dube (2021) attests to this viewpoint by suggesting that since covid-19 revolutionaries the future of education, institutions need to devise alternative strategies to promote online education as the most viable option to continue teaching and learning. similarly, kanyemba and hofisi (2019) argue that embracing digital technologies to support teaching and learning requires tertiary institutions to be e-ready, in that their systems and infrastructure should be in place to avoid delays or derailing of students' progress. the use of ict-related virtual platforms (computers, cell phones, projectors, etc.) requires adequate preparation, as the post-covid-19 era might be dictated by the recurrent virus and may take a long to end. drawing from these discussions, institutional preparedness remains a key imperative in promoting online teaching and learning post-covid-19. since the knowledge gap theory suggests that knowledge cannot be equally accessible to all members of society, tertiary institutions stand a chance to rectify the digital divide by ensuring that every student has ict skills and is provided with data and computer to access virtual learning. tertiary institutions in south africa need to draw lessons from the current education landscape, with its own problems, and they should capitalise on the weaknesses to prepare institutions for better education delivery in times of pandemics or other natural occurrences that may affect contact lectures. methodology to examine the role of ict in enhancing teaching and learning post-covid-19 in tertiary institutions in south africa, the article adopted an explorative qualitative design based on an extensive secondary review approach. a qualitative research as kumar (2011) holds draws on deductive reasoning, which maintains that the conclusions and findings are valid when assumptions and theories are precisely aligned in a study. the study utilised peer reviewed journal articles, dissertations and other expansive secondary data sources that inform icts, covid-19, and educational transformation in south africa. the methodology helps interrogate the use of icts in transforming tertiary education in the post-covid-19 era. content analysis was therefore utilised to analyse secondary data, which was organised into themes following the objectives of this study. leedy and omrod (2015) argue that content analysis helps with detailed and systematic examination of the content of certain body of material with the intention of identifying patterns, themes or biases. 83 jcve 2022, 5(1): 78-91 results this section offers a discussion of the qualitative findings drawn from documents sampled for this study. lack of integration of students and educators in ict adoption the adoption of icts in tertiary institutions might not be a consultative process; hence, teras and kartoglu (2017) posit that online learning often takes various forms that enable modern methods of delivery education assessments. different education-philosophical and pedagogical bases might sometimes inform and mould online learning. the analyses of data indicated the need to integrate both educators and learners in technology integration sessions to reinforce the online culture amid pandemics such as covid-19. the merits of using icts in tertiary education lie in their ability to provide online designed education such as videos as part of digital learning. the study by herrington et al. (2010) reiterates that absorbing icts within a virtual learning environment is fundamental for establishing relations with stakeholders in research because the online management framework fosters complex and authentic learning. from the review of documents, the researcher noted that involving educators and learners in the creation, implementation and usage of educational technology could also impact how sound technology can support meaningful teaching and learning. the digital divide in online education the review of documents revealed that post-covid-19 tertiary institutions in rural towns of south africa might experience considerable setbacks in terms of ict use. this is because the existing digital divide and limited skills can affect rural students who are enrolled in tertiary institutions for the first time. montoya (2021) argues that promoting remote education requires adequate access to ict devices such as computers, internet/mobile and educational resources, and access to network, and training for students and educators. nonetheless, the complexities of distance education have been felt in south african universities, as rural students may be left behind due to their poverty and low household income (mhlanga and moloi, 2020). apart from poverty and inequalities post-covid 19, hodges et al. (2020) criticise online learning by citing its failure to uphold sound pedagogical principles and best practices. selwyn (2020) concurs that quick fixes in education using technology trigger adverse effects on students' learning. as argued by harwell (2020), online platforms used during the covid-19 and likely to be used post covid19 are blamed for their limited privacy and surveillance, which can adversely impact students' lives and human dignity. these discussions indicate that in the event covid-19 ceases, the future of education should be returned to traditional methods as a way of integrating other students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including those who struggle to embrace online teaching and learning. this phenomenon concurs with research from south africa since covid19 has exposed the deep structural inequalities among students who may deter proper learning due to the inaccessibility of ict, inclusive of, among other things, the internet and modern technological devices. 84 jcve 2022, 5(1): 78-91 icts as ‘magic bullets ‘in online education implementing icts in tertiary education in south africa is not a panacea to ending the problems triggered by covid-19. the review of extant literature indicated that in many tertiary institutions, icts long existed but educators and students were not fully taking advantage of the technological gadgets to improve academic work. cuban and jandric's (2015) study corroborates these views, stating that access to icts in tertiary education can improve student’s academic performance. however, limited evidence supports the idea that educators and students benefitted from using ict. however, these assertions are subject to criticism given the current educational environment marred by the largescale use of icts to promote online learning during covid-19. many tertiary institutions globally have transformed their teaching and learning through digital platforms that encourage accessibility and continuity while neglecting the growing digital divide among poor students. furthermore, bayne (2015) criticised how certain ontological assumptions, such as 'technology-enhanced learning,' may limit critical discussion of educational technology. in another study, knox et al. (2020) argue that digital learning platforms have been chastised for redefining, simplifying, and lowering the concept of learning to fit the education technology revolution narrative better. as a result, manolev et al. (2019) postulate that although icts have redefined and redirected the future of education in many tertiary institutions, they are not ‘magic’ bullets to tertiary education, though signs of acceptance are high in the event covid-19 surge persists. in south african tertiary institutions, it is evident that icts were widely used when the covid-19 pandemic broke out. however, post-covid-19 has shown the need for moving back to contact classes as the feasible means for delivering university education. therefore, future academic space may be balanced between contact and online classes depending on the severity of the covid-19 pandemic. limited ict skills the migration from the old teaching approach towards an ict based approach to delivering education during covid-19 was met with unintentional resistance due to scarce digital skills in both educators and learners in south africa. however, digital skills are vital for full participation in society hence governments globally are expected to harness their energies to provide ict access to bridge the digital divide. in south africa, the absence of digital skills among educators and students was reported in a study by masha (2021), who regarded digital inequalities as an obstacle to online teaching and learning. similarly, songca's (2021) survey reports on some disadvantages of online education and learning in rural universities such as walter sisulu university (wsu) in south africa, where socio-economic inequalities already exist among students. dismantling the legacy of apartheid in many rural tertiary institutions remains a stumbling block for ict adoption. this is because many first-year students, for example, enter university with limited skills to navigate school online portals and other teaching and learning tools, which unintentionally triggers a massive digital divide that may hinder rural students from 85 jcve 2022, 5(1): 78-91 acquiring quality education during the covid-19 pandemic. nonetheless, the analysis of documents has shown that the benefit of using icts in teaching and learning during covid-19 was unevenly distributed depending on a tertiary institution's economic and social status. the adoption of various online approaches to teaching and learning was necessitated by the desire by tertiary institutions to ensure continuity in education, although under challenging circumstances. however, the skills deficit was a backdrop to ensuring that ict transformed education in south african tertiary institutions. minimal investment in icts investing in ict infrastructure is one of the crucial ways of ensuring that teaching and learning continues in the post-covid-19 era in many countries. this is because the future is uncertain as to when the pandemic will end; hence, preparation for online education is strategic on the part of tertiary institutions. for years, tertiary institutions have not fully utilised icts as a model for teaching and learning. as goodloe and ardley (2021) observe, ongoing and continuous training is necessary to ensure that educators and students embrace modern icts that are influential in teaching and learning post-covid-19. for example, in some south african universities modern ict was already available, but both educators and learners were used to contact classes where close engagement is experienced. the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown presented numerous challenges as transforming the face of education using icts became inevitable. the review of documents has shown that investing in icts can be costly in terms of infrastructure, equipment, technical support staff, and training of educators and students (kirkwood & price, 2013). despite the widespread growth in practice, concerns continue to be expressed about the extent to which effective use is being made of ict to improve the learning experience of students during covid-19 in south africa. nevertheless, limited evidence exists in the literature to support learning enhancement by introducing technology (ict) into the classroom; hence, its value in transforming education remains equivocal. from these debates, it can be noted that during covid-19 pandemic lockdown in south africa, icts were employed as innovative alternative mechanisms that replace the traditional contact classes approach, although their effectiveness is largely debatable. high costs of data the primary goal of institutions of higher learning is to produce skills by offering quality education in the process ensuring the university reputation remains intact in the global scene (kandiri, 2014). the outbreak of covid-19 triggers various challenges for students in south africa in terms of data. although many universities provided data to students, it was not enough to surf the internet and conduct all school-related work. this is evidenced in jarke and breiter's (2019) study, which notes the dangers of limited student data. it may derail academic progress and create further inequalities among students who cannot afford data due to low-income family backgrounds. 86 jcve 2022, 5(1): 78-91 apart from the high costs of data to purchase ict, a behavior change was noted among students in tertiary institutions as they became uncontrollable owing to the wide use of digital machines (knox et al. 2020). the study by williamson (2020) affirms that excess exposure of students to online services may create a negative outcome in terms of academic performance. therefore, it can be argued that although icts helped a lot in ensuring that students continue with schoolwork amid covid-19, the absence of monitoring and evaluation on how icts are being used triggers other challenges because exposure to harmful sites is rife during remote learning. it remains the call for territory institutions to ensure that in the case of data provided to students, the ict department must flag unfruitful or harmful websites such as pornographic sites to help students limit their exposure to websites that are not developmental. icts, in this case, need proper governance to ensure that they are used positively to respond to the needs of students during and post covid-19. cyber-attacks in online education the transition from formal, contact learning to virtual learning posed various challenges that included cyber-attacks in tertiary institutions. a cyber-attack refers to the intentional breach of information of an organisation or an individual by a person who intends to benefit by disrupting the victim’s work (goud, 2018). cyber-attacks manifest themselves in different forms, and during covid-19, threats emanating from such attacks became many. kshetri (2021) argues that during the covid-19 lockdown in america for example, cyberattacks struck schools and universities harder than any other industry. in south africa, as sekgololo (2021) holds, cyberattacks threaten e-learning (online teaching and learning) due to the lack of cybersecurity systems to protect both educators and students from the online space. online learning using tablets, cellphones, pcs and laptops may result in security breaches as some students are unaware of the latest security patches and recommendations, which gave hackers leverage (naik, 2020). in most circumstances, hackers would cyberbully their victims or access home networks and accounts of unsuspecting students, resulting in data loss or log-in details to access user accounts. fa news (2020) notes that universities face cyber risks that may affect storing of institutional and student data, engagement of vendors, independent contractors, or service providers that may pose as third parties, among others. such threats may affect university systems or lead to data leakage through hacking. south africa’s poor ranking exacerbates cybercrime (cybersecurity breaches with criminal intent); the country is the third affected country globally after russia and china. financially, projects have revealed that south africa loses close to r2.2 billion annually owing to cybercrime, and the percentage is ever-increasing. in tertiary institutions, phishing, hacking, and other forms of cybersecurity breaches are experienced in various institutions. it appears like a growing culture that threatens the future of education even post-covid-19. the fear associated with cybercrime is that neither students nor educators can avert the cyberattacks, resulting in students or institutional data being compromised. based on the threat of cyberattacks nationally, the south african government 87 jcve 2022, 5(1): 78-91 has a long way to ensure that solid cybersecurity systems are in place to minimise data breaches that may derail or compromise the integrity of tertiary institutions among other government departments. providing cybersecurity resiliency should inform future planning of tertiary institutions as threats emanating from cyberattacks should be avoided in the short term and post-covid-19 to promote online teaching and learning. conclusion the analysis of documents revealed that icts were widely embraced in tertiary institutions during the covid-19 pandemic lockdown. however, a minority of students and lecturers still lack the technological expertise to utilise modern technologies. the growing digital divide associated with poverty and inequalities was a significant constraint to using icts in tertiary institutions, as students from low-income families are excluded from online learning. the lack of integration of students and educators is another hindrance that needs to be considered in south african tertiary institutions when planning to adopt icts as part of teaching and learning. the analysis of documents further revealed that threats from cyber-attacks may hinder education transformation in tertiary institutions during covid-19. the review of literature revealed that in some tertiary institutions in south africa, students and educators do not possess the vital digital expertise to avoid hacking, phishing, and other forms of cyberattacks. this creates a gap for tertiary institutions to invest in sophisticated software that guarantees cyber security resilience, which is vital for protecting institutional data. based on these conclusions, next section offers recommendations in the of the study. recommendations policy level: at this level, the government of south africa needs to have the political will to address challenges facing tertiary institutions regarding ict. by increasing funding to tertiary institutions, the government can help promote online teaching and learning in times of pandemics such as covid-19. in addition, the government can design more ict policies that are supported with dedicated budgets to support tertiary institutions to meet the demands of online educations, such as buying data and laptops for vulnerable students. organisational level: at the organisational level, universities in south africa are encouraged to prepare their educators and students to embrace ict as a responsive measure to the effects of the covid-19 pandemic. this can be done by initiating regular workshops and in-service training of teaching staff and administrators in pedagogical issues and digital platforms such as teams and zoom. equipping staff and students makes universities stand stronger post-covid-19 as preparedness for disasters like covid-19 is key to continuing education. the study was limited by reliance on ict and tertiary education documents in south africa. future qualitative studies may be conducted to examine students' perceptions in selected universities in south africa on how they used icts to improve their academic performance during the covid 19 pandemic. 88 jcve 2022, 5(1): 78-91 references albion, p., forkosh-baruch, a., & tondeur, j. (2015). thematic working group 3: professional development for policy makers, school leaders and teachers. in k. w. lai (ed.), technology advanced quality learning for all: edusummit 2015 summary report (pp. 22-28). dunedin, nz: university of otago college of education. bastani, a. (2019). fully automated luxury communism: a manifesto. london and brooklyn: verso. bayne, s. (2015). what’s thematter with ‘technology-enhanced learning’? learning, media and technology, 40(1), 5–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2014.915851 baytak, a., tarman, b., & ayas, c. (2011). experiencing technology integration in education: children's perceptions. international electronic journal of elementary education, 3(2), 139-151. bulfin, s., johnson, n., & bigum, c. (eds.). (2015). critical perspectives on technology and education. new york: palgrave. clarke, a. (2020). digital government units: what are they, and what do they mean for digital era public management renewal?, international public management journal, 23(3), 358379, https://doi: 10.1080/10967494.2019.1686447 cuban, l., & jandrić, p. (2015). the dubious promise of educational technologies: historical patterns and future challenges. e-learning and digital media, 12(3–4), 425–439. https://doi.org/10.1177 /2042753015579978. dooley, mc munn, t. lewis ellison, m. welch, m. allen., & bauer, d. (2016). “digital participatory pedagogy: digital participation as a method for technology integration in curriculum.” journal of digital learning in teacher education, 32(2), 52–62. doi:10.1080/21532974.2016.1138912. fanews (2020). covid-19 ramps up cyber risks facing education sector. retrieve from: https://www.fanews.co.za/article/risk-management/32/general/1218/covid-19-rampsup-cyber-risks-facing-education-sector/30049 fuchs, c. (2020). communicative socialism/digital socialism. triplec, 18(1), 1–31. goodloe, a.r.w., & ardley, j.n. (2021). social justice: a missing link in a literary review of successful strategies utilized by principals for retaining african american teachers. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 105-119. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.9 goud n. (2018). ways to prevent cyber-attacks on your company. retrieved from: https://www.cybersecurity-insiders.com/ways-to-preventcyber-attacks-on-yourcompany/ harwell, d. (2020, 1 april). mass school closures in the wake of the coronavirus are driving a new wave of student surveillance. washington post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/04/01/onlineproctoring-collegeexams-coronavirus/ 89 jcve 2022, 5(1): 78-91 herrington, j., reeves, t. c., & oliver, r. (2010). a guide to authentic e-learning. london: routledge. hodges, c., moore, s., lockee, b., trust, t., & bond, a. (2020). the difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning. educause review. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/thedifference-between-emergency-remoteteaching-and-online-learning hove, b., & dube, b. (2021). covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school: rethinking education policies in zimbabwe. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 84-94. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.5 jandrić, p. (2020). postdigital research in the time of covid-19. postdigital science and education, 2(2), 233–238. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00113-8 jandrić, p. (2017). learning in the age of digital reason. rotterdam: sense publishers jarke, j., & breiter, a. (2019). editorial: the datafication of education. learning, media and technology, 44(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2019.157383 kandiri, j.m. (2014). effective implementation of technology innovations in higher education institutions: a survey of selected projects in african universities. (phd thesis, kenyatta university). kanyemba, d., & hofisi, c. (2019). e-government innovation for improved service delivery. journal of public administration, 54(2), 207-222. kirkwood, a., & price, l. (2013). technology-enhanced learning and teaching in higher education: what is ‘enhanced’ and how do we know? a critical literature review. open research online, 1-44. knox, j., williamson, b., & bayne, s. (2020). machine behaviourism: future visions of ‘learnification’ and ‘datafication’ across humans and digital technologies. learning, media and technology, 45(1), 31–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2019.1623251 kshetri, n. (2021). cybercriminals use pandemic to attack schools and colleges. retrieved from https://theconversation.com/cybercriminals-use-pandemic-to-attack-schools-andcolleges-167619 kumar, r. (2011). research methodology: a step by step guide for beginners. 3rd edition. london: sage publications. leedy, d.p. & ormrod, e.j. (2015). practical research: planning and design. eleventh edition. boston: pearson education linda, p., & kirkwood, a. (2014). using technology for teaching and learning in higher education: a critical review of the role of evidence in informing practice. higher education research & development, 33(3), 549–564. https://doi:10.1080/07294360.2013.841643 manolev, j., sullivan, a., & slee, r. (2019). the datafication of discipline: classdojo, surveillance and a performative classroom culture. learning, media and technology, 44(1), 36–51. https://doi.org/10.1080 /17439884.2018.1558237. 90 jcve 2022, 5(1): 78-91 masha, a.k. (2021). challenges of remote learning during covid-19: the case of a rural university. international journal of innovation, creativity and change, 15(10), 606-627. macgilchrist, f. (2019). cruel optimism in edtech: when the digital data practices of educational technology providers inadvertently hinder educational equity, learning, media and technology, 44(1), 77-86, https://doi: 10.1080/17439884.2018.1556217 mertala, p. (2020). paradoxes of participation in the digitalization of education: a narrative account, learning, media and technology, 45(2), 179-192, https://doi: 10.1080/17439884.2020.1696362 mhlanga, d., & moloi, t. (2020). covid-19 and the digital transformation of education: what are we learning on 4ir in south africa? educational science, 10(180), 1-11. mlambo, s., rambe, p. & schlebusch, l. (2020). effects of gauteng’s provinces educators’ ict self-efficacy on their pedagogical use of icts in classrooms. heliyon, 6(4): 1-14. montoya, s. (2021). the importance of monitoring and improving ict use in education postconfinement. retrieved from http://uis.unesco.org/en/blog/importance-monitoringand-improving-ict-use-education-post-confinement moribe, pp. (2016). the role of education technology in transforming education at university of technology. ma dissertation, cape peninsula university of technology. morris, c. t., & chapman, l. a. (2020). special issue editorial: disrupting norms in teacher preparation programs: navigating challenges and sharing successes. journal of culture and values in education, 3(1), i-iv. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.ed naik, s. (2020). covid-19 in sa: online learning cybercrime warning. retrieved from https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/covid-19-in-sa-online-learningcybercrime-warning-47758259 republic of south africa. national integrated ict policy white paper (2016). pretoria. government printer. selwyn, n. (2010). looking beyond learning: notes towards the critical study of educational technology. journal of computer assisted learning, 26(1), 65–73. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2009.003 sima, v., gheorghe, i.g., subic, j., & nancu, d. (2020). influences of the industry 4.0 revolution on the human capital development and consumer behavior: a systematic review. sustainability, 12, 4035; doi:10.3390/su12104035 songca, r.n., ndebele, c., & mbodila, m. (2021). mitigating the implications of covid‑19 on the academic project at walter sisulu university in south africa: a proposed framework for emergency remote teaching and learning. journal of student affairs in africa, 9(1), 41‑60. sekgololo, j. (2021). cybersecurity, e-learning and the rise of online student protests. retrieved fromhttps://mg.co.za/opinion/2021-06-09-cybersecurity-e-learning-and-the-rise-ofonline-student-protests/ 91 jcve 2022, 5(1): 78-91 tadeu, p., fernandez batanero, j., & tarman, b. (2019). ict in a global world. research in social sciences and technology, 4(2), i-ii. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.04.02.ed tichenor, p.j., donohue, g.a., & olien, c.n. (1970). mass media flow and differential growth in knowledge. public opinion quarterly 34. colombia: colombia university press teras, m., juha, s., hanna, t., & mark, c. (2020). post-covid-19 education and education technology ‘solutionism’: a seller’s market. postdigital science and education, 2, 863– 878. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00164-x teras, h., & kartoglu, m. (2017). a grounded theory of professional learning in an authentic online professional development program. international review of research in open and distributed learning, 18(7), 1-22. unesco. (2020). covid-19 educational disruption and response. unesco https://en.unesco.org/covid19 /educationresponse williamson, b. (2020). making markets through digital platforms: pearson, edu-business, and the (e)valuation of higher education. critical studies in education, https://doi.org/10.1080 /17508487.2020.1737556 williamson, b., potter, j., & eynon, r (2019). “new research problems and agendas in learning, media and technology: the editors’ wishlist.” learning, media and technology, 44(2), 87–91. doi:10.1080/17439884.2019.1614953. weng, s. (2000). mass communication theory and practice. taipei: san-ming. journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 2 2023 pp. 138-157 twinned teachers’ mathematical discourse using problem-solving tšhegofatšo phuti makgakga* *department of mathematics education, university of south africa, pretoria, south africa email: makgatp@unisa.ac.za article info received: february 08, 2023 accepted: april 24, 2023 published: june 22, 2023 how to cite makgakga, t. p. (2023). twinned teachers’ mathematical discourse using problem-solving. journal of culture and values in education, 6(2), 138-157. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.13 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract discussing and debating mathematical ideas through integrating natural and mathematical language is vital for conceptual understanding and ultimately for learner performance. in schools with low performance, it is likely that teaching mathematics follows an approach largely involving rote learning. in rural limpopo where schools are isolated, professional development takes the form of twinning, where a well-functioning school twins with a school in need. in this study two teachers twinned to teach algebraic word problems to grade 11 to improve learner performance through a problem-solving approach. a central aspect of the study was attention to discourse informed by the commognitive framework, where both natural language (learners home language and the language of instruction) and language of mathematics spoken by the teachers and encouraged in the learners, was the focus. this quasiexperimental design was implemented to examine the effect of the twinned teachers discourse in a class where english, the language of instruction, was a second language. in the study a pre-test and posttest were administered to the experimental group of 34 learners, and to a comparison group of 40 learners. the study aimed at testing the hypothesis that the twinned mathematics teachers’ discourse using a problem-solving approach informed by the commognitive framework has a significant effect on learner performance in algebraic word problems. in summary, using the commognitive framework in implementing problem-solving approach with the twinned teachers’ mathematical discourse had significant effect in improving learner performance of algebraic word problems in the target group. keywords algebraic word problems; twinning; learner performance; mathematical discourse; problem solving 10.46303/jcve.2023.13 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.13 139 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 introduction this paper investigated the effectiveness of the twinned teachers’ mathematical discourse in teaching grade 11 algebraic word problems by using a problem-solving approach with english second language learners in a rural secondary school in limpopo province, south africa. english in south africa is used as a language of learning and teaching (lolt) from grade 4 to tertiary education (department of basic education, 2010): it mediates comprehensibility and comprehension of mathematical language (siyepu & ralarala, 2014). siyepu and ralarala further note that english is a pre-requisite for learner understanding of mathematics. robertson and graven (2019) add that many former colonies of great britain, including south africa, selected english rather than their own indigenous languages as the official language for teaching and learning, and for government communications. in this context the lolt plays a pivotal part in solving mathematical problems. mathematical problem-solving (ps) was given prominence by polya (1945) and has since gained popularity in the late 1980s and 1990s internationally (hiebert et al. (1996) and in south africa with the work of, murray, olivier and human (1998). studies have been conducted in mathematical problem-solving, and concluded, for example, that ps can be applied as an approach to teaching for deeper understanding of mathematical concepts (gurat, 2018). in the martins and martinho’s (2021) study they found that ps encouraged learner collaboration in the exchange of ideas, justifying those ideas and understanding peer ideas in the process of developing critical thinking. ps can also develop learner abilities to select appropriate strategies to solve mathematical problems (hoon et al., 2013). learner self-confidence and creativity can be developed in mathematical ps and learners can become independent thinkers (özreçberoğlu & çağanağa, 2018). ps was found to have significant effect when used by the twinned teachers teaching grade 11 financial mathematics (makgakga, 2022). twinning is an engagement of two or more schools sharing knowledge, skills, expertise, and resources. lock (2011) describes twinning as a cluster of schools with teachers working together to promote the schools, providing peer support to teachers by presenting lessons at the other schools. lock (2011) and collaborne and west-burnham (2008) postulate that twinning can prevent the isolation of schools in rural areas and encourage working together among teachers. communities are likely to succeed when they embark and participate in twinning; they become interdependent and heterogeneous. in this study, two teachers are twinned from two schools, one well performing, and the other less well-performing in teaching grade 11 algebraic word problems using a problem-solving approach during classroom mathematical discourse to improve performance. the mathematical discourse of the twinned teachers teaching grade 11 algebraic word problem using ps is the focus of this paper. wisniewsk (2006) postulates that discourse has its genesis in the latin "discursus" which denotes "speech, conversation" (cohen, manion & morrison, 2018). a discourse is a way of thinking, a cultural or institutional condition which is legitimated by communities, often those with power. crystal (1992) defines discourse as an 140 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 unremitting expanse of language larger than a sentence, often found in a logical unit such as an argument, a joke, a narrative, or sermon. drawing from all of the above, we can define mathematical discourse as language used in the mathematical classroom which abides by the mathematical canon and engages both natural language and mathematical language to communicate and debate concepts and procedures. this approach consists of firstly understanding the problem, then secondly analysing the word problems by translating words into mathematical expressions or equations. word problems are important for mathematics learning as they provide learners with understanding of the nature of story problems (morin, watson et al., 2017; vula et al., 2017; zhu, 2015), and they highlight lack of reading comprehension skills (kurshumlia & vula, 2019). however, studies have shown word-problems (wp) to be problematic for most mathematics learners (emanuel et al, 2021; verschaffel et al., 2020). verschaffel et al. report that the challenges learners face in solving word problems in mathematics emanate from the problem of comprehension which involves transformation of words into equations or expressions. wp represent a series of actions by the learners when solving problems (zhu, 2015); it requires a high-level of thinking, more than just procedural knowledge or memorizing procedures to solve problems (bhagwonparsadh & pule, 2023; kurshumlia & vula, 2019). in solving wp, learners need to recite, comprehend, and use mathematical comprehension (fatmanissa et al., 2020). fatmanissa et al. (ibid) hold the view that the inability of learners to comprehend vocabulary, to transform everyday vocabulary into mathematical forms, or to understand symbols when solving wp, is fundamentally a linguistic difficulty. this paper explores the effect of the mathematical discourse of the twinned teachers when teaching grade 11 algebraic word problems using a problem-solving approach to improve learner performance. one school performed well, and the other school performed poorly in mathematics. the primary intent of this article is to explore how the twinned teachers used the ps approach in their mathematical discourses to improve learner performance. this study sought to test the following hypotheses: h0: the twinned teachers’ mathematical discourse has no significant difference in effect between the experimental group and comparison group on learner performance when teaching grade 11 wps using a ps approach. h1: the twinned teachers’ mathematical discourse has a significant difference in effect between the experimental group and comparison group on learner performance when teaching grade 11 wps using ps approach. theoretical lens the teachers mathematical discourse requires representations of mathematical concepts and ideas that involve communication. communication can be interpersonal for individuals and can be either verbal or non-verbal using cognitive processes (sfard, 2015). this study espoused sfard’s (2007) commognitive framework which offers conceptual tools for capturing and exploring social participation and mathematical discourse during teaching. commognition is the 141 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 amalgamation of cognitive process and communication in the discourse of mathematics (siyepu & ralarala, 2014). mbhiza (2021) views this form of communication as an illustration occurring at an interpersonal (communication in a social space) level and intrapersonal (cognitive) level in teaching mathematics. sfard (2008) regards communication and the cognitive process as dissimilar expressions of the same phenomenon. sfard (2006, p.157) views this theory as a unit of analysis in a discursive activity, referring to the “collective doing, patterned,” in the activity. this article focuses on the twinned teachers’ mathematical discourse when teaching algebraic word problems using a problem-solving approach to improve learner performance. sfard (2008) provides four distinct traits of discourse in mathematical: texts and how they are used (1), visual mediators (2). narratives that are endorsed (3), and routines (4). visual mediator. 1. words and their uses entail the unique vocabulary, specific words, are used by the learners and teachers in the discourse of mathematics teaching. siyepu and ralarala (2014) argue that mathematics language shares words similar with ordinary english but provides dissimilar meaning in the mathematics situation. the mathematics register can be improved by means of extending the mathematical vocabulary. cuevas (1984) defines a mathematics register as the meaning that aligns to the natural language utilised in mathematics teaching and learning. siyepu and ralarala (2014) add that the mathematics register includes ways of presenting arguments and styles of meaning within the mathematics situation. 2. in this study, keywords need to be identified to differentiate the meanings as use in natural language, ordinary english, and the mathematics situation. 3. visual mediators are the visual objects identified as objects of their discourse and coordinates the communications (siyepu & ralarala, 2014). mbhiza (2021) views visual mediators as objects within mathematics that are operated upon in discursive practice. algebraic visual mediators could be tables used to make explicit patterns to assist learners to make sense of those problems in preparation for answering the given questions. 4. endorsed narratives refer to the facts and ideas presented in mathematics knowledge (siyepu & ralarala, 2014), relations between processes that are performed, and the mathematical objects that are rejected or endorsed within mathematics communities (mbhiza, 2021). examples of endorsed narratives are mathematical definitions and equations that could be used by teachers during mathematical discourse teaching algebraic wps using ps approach. 5. making sense of algebraic wps and identifying keywords to analyse the problems during mathematical discourse are key issues within this study to communicate ideas at the interpersonal and intrapersonal levels. 6. lastly, routines are repetitive actions (mbhiza, 2021), or procedures following repeated steps to determine the solutions of mathematical problems. routines are fundamentally 142 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 helpful in mathematics discourse as learner actions in the new situations depend on their past experiences or prior knowledge (tabach & nachlieli, 2011). mbhiza (2011) argues that few concepts and ideas about mathematics routines are needed in classroom practices, which could be applicable in the teaching and learning of algebraic wps. ritual and exploration routines are distinguished in sfard and prusak’s (2005) work. ritual routine is a practice whose aim is collective, and which supports creating and maintaining connections with others (berger, 2013, p.3). while exploration routines focus on the goal that produces new descriptions (sfard, 2015, p.131), which could be related to routines that emphasise the analysis of repetitive examples of mathematical discourse. this study concentrates on narratives, word use and routines with learners determining the unknown values of the wps, translating words into mathematical equations, characterizing the teacher mathematical discourse when teaching wps using a ps approach. visual mediators could be used whenever teacher lessons are analysed. sfard has made the following claims for teaching mathematics: 1. focus on the object of learning: what significant effect/no significant effect could occur because of mathematical discourses in teaching algebraic wps using ps approach to improve learner performance. 2. focus on the process: how do teachers and learners collaborate in the mathematical discourse towards bringing significant difference or effects using the ps approach to improve learner performance? 3. focus on the outcome: has the ps approach had significant effect or difference in the outcomes following the twinned teachers mathematical discourse teaching wps? siyepu and ralarala (2014) postulate that the shift from an acquisitionist to a participationist approach emerged as a concern of the educationists and researchers when observing learners learning mathematical concepts. learners need to participate in their own learning to make sense of mathematical concepts to improve their performance. related literature literature sources in this paper focus on mathematical discourse, difficulties in word problem solving, and the problem-solving approach. mathematical discourse language culture in the mathematics classroom is outlined by adler (2001) in her study on language issues in south african schools. firstly, urban, and suburban, schools have a strong english language culture, with other languages also in use. secondly, township or rural schools have less english language background than other indigenous languages. then thirdly, there are other foreign language conditions where learners mainly speak and hear english at school with learners sharing same language other than english at home or in the playground. this last scenario appears to have a direct bearing on this study because all the learners who participated in this study hail from one of the rural districts in limpopo province, where there has been little 143 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 research into the teaching strategies in mathematics within these farm and rural schools (mbhiza, 2019). this study can therefore expand and diversify the scope of research in mathematical discourse in rural schools, to make sense of their classroom discourse and investigate how this discourse facilitates or constrains learner comprehension of mathematics (mbhiza, 2021). kersaint (2015) argues that for a meaningful mathematical discourse, teachers need to have a plan, then to initiate and orchestrate discourse in ways that can encourage learning of the subject. in planning a meaningful discourse, five teacher practices that may be considered in their planning, that is selecting, sequencing, anticipating, connecting and monitoring (smith & stein, 2011) are briefly outlined. firstly, teachers need to anticipate approaches learners use when solving mathematical problems in which they could be guided by the questions (how might learners interpret the problem? what approaches they might employ? what are the errors and misconceptions they commit?). secondly, the teacher can pay attention to learner mathematical thinking and solution strategies individually or in groups to know which ideas to emphasise during whole class discussion. thirdly, selecting learners who can do presentations after group discussion could be informed in advance to prepare, organize, and gather their thoughts. fourthly, sequencing the order of learner presentations, i.e. starting with the group with the incorrect approach and outcome highlighting common misconceptions, and then moving to the group with the correct approach and outcome. lastly, the teacher needs to understand how learners make connections between their solutions by comparing with the solutions given by other learners. the following questions may be used to guide how learners make connections (how are these two ideas similar? how are they different? how does the second idea build on the new idea?). these practices can build on each other for grade 11 mathematics teachers to orchestrate mathematical discourse in meaningful ways when teaching wps using ps approach to improve learner performance. difficulties in mathematical word problem solving informative studies have been conducted on difficulties when solving mathematical word problems (for example, emanuel et al., 2021; fatmanisa et al., 2020; kurshumlia & vula, 2019; mingke & alegre, 2019; seifi, haghverdi, & azizmohamadi, 2012). seifi et al. (2012) used an interview guide with 52 teachers in their study to detect learner difficulties when solving word problems. their study revealed the challenges in solving word problems as not understanding texts, encountering unfamiliar contexts and using inappropriate strategies. emanuel et al. (2021) showed that learners have difficulties when translating words into mathematical expressions or equations, that is identifying known and unknown variables, and have difficulties with transformation. mingke and alegre (2019) investigated learner difficulties in solving word problems using a survey questionnaire with 100 learners. these scholars concur that learner difficulties comprise firstly, translations of mathematical word problems into mathematical symbols, and secondly, there is a resistant attitude towards wp solving. 144 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 some studies revealed language issues as a challenge in solving mathematical word problems (for example, fatmanisa et al., 2020; rahman et al., 2015; mulyadi et al., 2015). these scholars concur that learner inability to comprehend vocabulary, translate texts to mathematical equations and comprehend symbols resides fundamentally in linguistic difficulties. the linguistic problem in understanding word problems impedes learners making meaning of given texts and translating these into mathematical equations (fatmanissa et al., 2020). multiple representations such as comprising everyday language, using symbols, and visual representations were found as one of the difficulties in solving wps (o’halloran, 2010, 2015). problem-solving as a strategy problem-solving is referred to as key in mathematics teaching and this skill contributes towards learners participating in modern society (gravemeijer et al., 2017). lester and cai (2016) postulate that ps as a teaching approach permits learners to apply, integrate and connect isolated pieces of information which then contribute to a deeper conceptual understanding of mathematical models. ps is largely influenced by the work of george polya (1945) in which he outlined four steps: understanding a problem, analysing a problem, executing a plan, and reflecting upon the suggested solutions. degrande et al. (2016) point out that learners’ experience difficulties in ps, especially in wps whereby they cannot identify the underlying model but can only provide superficial characteristics of the problem. klang et al. (2021) suggest that small group discussion can enhance learner ps abilities. small group discussions focused on problem solving, provide a space in which learners are enabled to explain their solutions, to think using language for reasoning, and to gain understanding of peer perceptions around the given question (fujita et al., 2019). gurat (2018) introduced mathematical ps strategies among pre-service teachers which appeared to be influential in academic performance. gurat (ibid) classifies ps strategies as metacognitive, cognitive, and other strategies. thus, cognitive approaches are identified as elaboration, rehearsal, and organization, while metacognition strategies are classified as self-regulation and critical thinking. some strategies such as orientation or prediction, monitoring, planning, and evaluation, are considered in the category of other strategies. research methods this article espoused a quantitative research approach within a non-equivalent pre-testintervention-post-test design because it is not practical to perform random assignment in this research design (mcmillan & schumacher, 2014). quantitative research tests hypotheses and theories using quantitative data to confirm or disconfirm (johnson & christensen, 2014). the primary purpose for this research approach is to test the hypotheses to see if the results confirm the null hypothesis or alternative hypothesis. a non-equivalent pre-test and post-test design consists of a treatment group and a comparison group in which the two tests were administered in the two groups without random assignment (creswell & creswell, 2018). the experimental 145 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 group in this study refers to the school that under-performed in mathematics, and the comparison group is the school that performed better when compared to its counterpart school. this study has used two schools that performed differently to allow the teacher from the comparison group to share expertise and knowledge to improve practice and performance in the experimental group. the treatment condition was administered in the experimental group immediately after administering the pre-test to the two groups, the study then implemented an intervention or exposed the experimental school to treatment and after a certain period of time the researcher administered a posttest in the two-study group. the same instrument was given for the pretest and posttest, at the beginning and the end of the study. mcmillan and schumacher (2014) identified in this design type the threats to validity for the improvement of the results, for example, the history, maturation, testing, instrumentation, and regression artefacts which can influence the post-test results. the timeframe provided may have been enough for learners to not remember the questions and not to remember the responses of the post-test as noted by creswell & creswell (2018). history is an event that co-occurs with the treatment, and that can be experienced by the participants outside of that treatment but that could affect the post-test results in the two schools. in this study the experimental school received only this treatment and the comparison group received only the standard teaching, therefore any improvement in performance could be due to the treatment. maturation implies that it is the change in age and experience rather than the treatment which affects the outcome. in this case both the comparison and the experimental group increased in age. research participants the research participants comprised 78 grade 11 learners (experimental group = 38 and comparison group = 40) who wrote the two tests, and two teachers who implemented the experimental treatment in one of the secondary schools in limpopo province. the grade 11 learners needed to be prepared for subsequent grade 12 year, in a school that under performed in mathematics over the past three years. the two participating teachers from each of the two schools were purposively selected, as they participated in the twinning project teaching algebra. the two teachers needed to possess skills and knowledge of teaching secondary school mathematics in rural areas. permission to visit schools was sought from the college of education ethics committee chairperson under the auspices of the departmental engaged scholarship research project in mathematics education. the researcher also sought permission from the two mathematics learners and teachers in the experimental group. this study aimed at elucidated the purpose of the study to the participants and participation was declared voluntary. table 1 shows the biographical information of the teachers who took part in the study. pseudo names were used for schools and teachers to protect their identities and ensure their anonymity. table 1 teacher information 146 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 pseudo name gender name of school qualifications teaching experience institution trained malesela male maletswai secondary school (comparison group) honours in mathematics education 20 university of limpopo raesibe female reratile secondary school (experimental group) bachelor of education major in mathematics education 6 years university of limpopo data collection data was collected between march and april 2022 before the mid-year examination was administered. the collected data was managed using microsoft excel to prepare for analysis. the data set was mined from the pre-test administered to 78 learners in both study groups where experimental group has learners [n = 38, females = 19 and males = 15] and the comparison group has learners [n = 40]. learner answer scripts were marked and analysed quantitatively a day after administering the pre-test. after analysing the pre-test results of the two study groups, the researcher implemented the treatment (explained the next section) in the experimental group, with twinned teachers using ps approach in their mathematical discourse to teach grade 11 wps with the aim of improving performance. after the intervention, the researcher then administered the post-test which was then marked and analysed quantitatively to measure the effects of the experimental treatment. the rationale for administering the pre-test and the post-test was to confirm the hypotheses test, whether the use of ps approach has significant effects or not when grade 11 teachers adapted the mathematical discourse through a problem-solving approach to teach wps, on learner academic achievement in the two groups. 147 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 table 2 pre-test and post-test instrument items questions 1 form equations to describe the following scenarios (use x and/or y as the unknown number) 1.1 the sum of two numbers is 18, and the product of these two numbers 56. (2) 1.2 the product of two successive even integers is 452. (2) 1.3 a certain number is doubled and increased by twenty. the answer is ten less than 3 times the number. (2) 2 determine the unknown number(s): (use x and/or y as the unknown number) 2.1 the sum of three successive natural numbers is 18. what are the numbers? (4) 2.2 the product of two consecutive integers is 72. find the numbers. (6) 2.3 nolo’s father is six times as old as nolo. the product of their ages is 150 years. what are their respective ages? (5) 2.4 a small rectangular vegetable garden is enlarged by increasing the length by 3m and width by 1m. the area of the new garden is three times larger than that of the original garden. determine the original dimensions of the garden if its area was 6m2. (7) 2.5 a man travels 180km from his farm to town in a loaded truck. on the return journey he is able to travel 30km/h faster having unloaded his produce in town. it takes him one hour less on the return trip. at what speed did he travel to town? (7) twinning process the two grade 11 mathematics teachers whose schools in the same vicinity performed differently in grade 12 mathematics for the past four years embarked on a twinning project. one school performed well, and the other school performed poorly in mathematics. the primary aim for this project was to focus on grade 11 wps as it was found to be one of the topics that learners perform well in, but it was also revealed by their teacher in the low-performing school that most of the learners even in other grades do not attempt the wp questions. the two teachers met and planned how twinning could be implemented in the low-performing school to see how they can assist learners to understand wps. prior to implementing the treatment in the experimental group, the researcher organised a meeting with the twinned teachers to plan the intervention. the researcher had discussed with the twinned teachers about the goals and activities that would roll out during the treatment and ensured that they understood their responsibilities and roles within the project. the responsibilities and roles of the twinned teachers were outlined as firstly, understanding what twinning is, secondly, to share skills and resources for the change in 148 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 practice to improve performance, and thirdly to respect each other’s thoughts and present lessons using ps approach. the role of the teacher from the comparison school was to share skills and expertise with the teacher in the experimental school. the researcher’s role was to facilitate the two-mentioned meetings. two one-and-half hour meetings were conducted to discuss how ps approach could implemented in the experimental school prior to the treatment. the twinned mathematics teachers discussed lesson plans to agree with the types of activities that would be given to the learners. the twinning project took six consecutive weeks; lessons were conducted twice a week for one and half hours after school to avoid disrupting the smooth running of the school. during the treatment, small groups of four to five learners discussed activities on wps with the guidance of the teacher, and the learners used the language of their choice when discussing wp in their lessons. prior to the intervention stage, two baseline lessons were observed in the respective schools to establish the teaching strategies used to teach wps. the teacher from the comparison group was found to be exposed to ps approach and used it to teach wps during baseline lesson observations. the intention was also to avoid replication of approaches which could not serve the purpose in the experimental school. table 3 shows the dates and activities planned over six weeks by the twinned teachers. table 3 describes the activities that the twinned teachers planned together prior the implementation of twinning using ps approach teaching wps in their mathematical discourse. in their planning they outlined the topics on wps to be presented and the skills that the learners in the experimental school could acquire through mathematical discourses using ps approach. the teacher from the experimental school showed to have learned skills and knowledge of how to use ps approach to wps as was the one who facilitated lesson 4, 5 and 6 with the help of the teacher from the comparison school. 149 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 table 3 dates and activities planned during experimental treatment date topic skills facilitator(s) 03/05 and 05/05/22 solving problems with equations (transition from algebraic expressions to algebraic equations: time, month and age) how to translate word problems to form equations involving time, months and age malesela/ raesibe 10/05 and 12/05/22 algebraic language (time, months, and age) how to interpret and solve word problem involving time, months and age malesela/ raesibe 17/05 and 19/05/22 solving problems with equations (transition from algebraic expressions to algebraic equations: speed, distance, time) how to translate word problems to form equations involving speed, distance and time malesela/ raesibe 24/05 and 26/05/22 algebraic language (speed, distance, time) how to interpret algebraic language to solve problems involving speed, distance and time malesela/ raesibe 31/05 and 02/06/22 algebraic language and solving word problems equations (rate and problem solving with integers) how to interpret algebraic language to solve word problems involving rate and problem solving with integers malesela/ raesibe 07/06 and 09/06 solving problems with equations (general word problems) how to interpret word problems to find the solution malesela/ raesibe data analysis for statistical data capturing and management, the researcher used microsoft excel (microsoft, 2013), and used wilcoxon rank-sum test for statistical data analysis using strata 13 software. as data was not normally distributed, a non-parametric test was used. the interpretation of statistical data was performed at a 95% confidence limit. results and interpretation 150 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 seventy-eight grade 11 mathematics learners participated in the pre-test and post-test focused in solving wps. two teachers were twinned to introduce the ps approach to teaching wps. commognition as a combination of cognitive process and communication was espoused in the discourse of mathematics with the twinned teachers. though this is a quantitative study, the researcher presented the background finding of the baseline lesson observations conducted before the treatment could be implemented. prior to the treatment being implemented in the baseline lesson observations, learners in the experimental school appeared to be more passive as compared to the comparison group during lesson observations. furthermore, the teacher in the experimental school appeared not have used the ps approach to teach learners and used the traditional teaching method. the teacher in the comparison group has complemented his traditional way of teaching with ps approach to teach wps in the baseline lesson observations and most of the learners participated in his lessons. further, the teacher from the comparison group used small group discussion of five to seven learners to discuss activities. imagine a line along a white wall. this line represents normal mathematical functioning according to the dbe. now your experimental group functions far below the line. the comparison group functions on a par with that line. why, because this class has progressive teaching. now in this study the researcher wants to see whether twinning would enable your experimental group to improve to the level of the comparison group. all the variables are not normally distributed (all p-values < 0.05). the non-parametric test is warranted due to abnormality distribution of learners’ marks. wilcoxon rank-sum (mannwhitney) test was used to test the significant difference between the experimental and comparison groups. the two study groups were compared by using rank-sum test. the statistical interpretation is performed at 95% confidence limit. table 4.1 presents the two sample wilcoxon rank-sum test testing the statistically significant difference between the two groups. table 4.1 pre-test results group | rank sum obs expected comparison | 2266 40 1806 experimental | 1389 38 1849 combined | 3655 78 3655 z = -4.052 prob > |z| = 0.0001 table 4.1 shows that the experimental and comparison groups yielded significantly differently in the pre-test, comparison group (rank-sum score = 2266), the experimental group (rank-sum score = 1389) yielded significantly differently with the p-value (prob > |z| = 0.0001) which was less than 0.05 at the 95% interval. the results reveal that the comparison group has recorded rank-sum score greater and the experimental group in the pre-test which assessed learner wp solving abilities and skills. most of the experimental group learners were shown to 151 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 have lacked understanding of translating wps into mathematical expressions and equations as fatmanisa et al. (2020) have found. the teaching approach used in the experimental group used in the baseline lesson observations may have contributed to the poor learner performance in solving wps. in addition, emanuel et al. (2019) and mingke and alegre (2019) note that most learners have challenges in translating word statements into mathematical expressions and equations. by contrast, learner performance in the comparison group may have been affected the traditional teaching approach and ps approach used by their teacher to teach wps. this supports what lester and cai (2016) postulated that ps approach permits learners to apply, integrate and connect isolated pieces of information which then contribute to a deeper conceptual knowledge of concepts in mathematics. table 4.2 presents post-test results after the intervention. table 4.2 post-test results group | rank sum obs expected comparison | 2476.5 38 2085 experimental | 1727.5 40 2018 combined | 4103 78 4103 z = -1.972 prob > |z| = 0.0486 table 4.2 depicts that the comparison group still recorded higher rank-sum score as compared to the experimental group even after the intervention when solving wps using a problem-solving approach. the results show statistically significant difference between the two study groups with the comparison group (rank-sum score = 2476.5) performing better than the experimental group (rank-sum score = 1727.5) in the post-test with the p-value (prob > |z| = 0.0486). learners who received treatment showed to have improved in solving wps using ps during mathematical discourse. mathematical discourse showed to have yielded positive results in learners’ learning wps using ps. this concurs with kersaint’s (2015) study that a meaningful mathematical discourse, teachers need to have a plan, then initiate and orchestrate discourse in ways that can encourage learning of the subject. the twinned teachers in planning their discourse, focused on how learners interpreted the wps, methods used to solve problems, and errors learners committed when solving wps. learners appeared to have been able to identify keywords to analyse and create visual objects to interpret wps to execute the solutions to the problems. for learners to effectively solve wps, teachers need to anticipate the approaches learners use such as learners’ interpretation to the problem, strategies they use and errors, and misconceptions they have (smith & stein, 2011). 152 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 discussion this article shed light on grade 11 mathematics teacher discourse in teaching wps using a ps approach. there was a significant difference between the experimental and comparison schools. the comparison school (rank-sum score = 2266) performed significantly better than the experimental group (rank-sum score = 1389) when solving grade 11 wps with the p-value (prob > |z| = 0.0001) which less than 0.05 at 95% confidence level. the performance in the experimental could have been affected by the issue of understanding vocabulary as learners in this study are english second language speakers, which could have led to being unable to translate words into mathematical expressions and equations. fatmanissa et al. (2020) and mulyadi et al. (2015) showed that the inability of learners in understanding vocabulary can affect them in translating word statements into mathematical expressions and equations. emanuel et al. (2021) and mingke and alegre (2019) support that learners have challenges in translating word statements into mathematical expressions and equations, identifying the known and unknown variables. in other words, learners could have lacked an understanding of identifying keywords to interpret wps in order to translate word statements into mathematical expressions and equations. morin et al. (2017) and vula et al. (2017) postulate that learners need to understand the story problems for them solve wps. learners’ comprehension of story problems in mathematics would enable them to translate those problems, as these problems need higher order thinking of learners than just procedural knowledge using memorised procedures (verschaffel et al. 2020; kurshumlia and vula, 2019), in which learners may forget those procedures to solve wps. similarly, the two groups reported statistically significant difference after the intervention in the post-test. the comparison group recorded higher scores (rank-sum score = 2476.5) than the experimental school (rank-sum score = 1727.5) after the intervention with the p-value (prob > |z| = 0.0486) less than 0.05 at 95% confident limit. the assumption was that the experimental group would perform significantly better as compared to the comparison group in the post-test. however, the experimental school improved significantly in the post-test (rank-sum score = 1727,5) than the pre-test (1389). the small group discussions in the mathematics discourse have enhanced learners’ abilities in identifying words used and visual mediators used during mathematics discourse in wps using ps (klang et al., 2021; sfard, 2008). martins and martinho, (2021) add that ps during mathematics discourse encourages learner collaboration and exchange of ideas, justifying those ideas and understanding peer ideas to develop critical thinking, and to translate word statements into mathematical expressions and equations. mecer and sams (2006) note that ps solving in the discourse of mathematics assists learners in explaining their solutions, thinking using language for reasoning, and deeper conceptual understanding, therefore can influence academic achievement (gurat, 2018). the post-test results after the intervention revealed that learners were able to understand the wps, devising a plan to solve wps, executed the wps and reflected upon the suggested solutions (polya, 1945). 153 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 though this study investigated the effectiveness of the implementation of ps in mathematical discourses in wps, the study did not focus on how ps mathematical can facilitate and/ or constrain learner understanding of wps. kersaint (2015) highlighted that teachers’ plans, initiations, and orchestration of meaningful discourse in mathematics can have an effect in learning and teaching. smith and stein (2011) suggested five practices in planning mathematical discourse: monitoring, anticipating, sequencing, selecting, and connecting as the ones that can be used in implementing effective mathematical discourse in wps. it was also found that learners experience challenges in understanding how to translate words into equations or expressions. fatmanissa et al. (2020) revealed that the issue of language plays a role in learners’ difficulties in solving wp, and translating daily vocabulary into mathematical form. teachers also identified other challenges as understanding texts, unfamiliar contexts and using inappropriate strategies (seifi et al., 2012). in addition, degrande et al. (2016) showed that leaners in solving wps can experience difficulties in identifying the underlying models but can only provide superficial characteristics of the problem. smith and stein (2011) identified the teaching practices that could be used in planning a meaningful mathematical discourse, which includes, monitoring, anticipating, selecting, sequencing and connecting. since the comparison group has performed significantly better in the post-test than in the experimental group and did not participate in the intervention, it provides a challenge as what contributed to the better performance of the group in the two tests. özreçberoğlu and çağanağa (2018) highlighted that learners who have abilities in solving wps appear to have selfconfidence, creative and are independent thinkers in mathematics ps. makgakga (2022) found that learners with mathematical ps abilities perform significantly better than those who lack those ps abilities in wps. in addition, hoon et al. (2013) postulated that learners with mathematical ps abilities can select appropriate strategies to solve problems in mathematics. conclusion the results of this study indicated the effect of mathematics discourse in teaching wps using a ps approach. however, the comparison group showed significantly better performance in the pre-test and post-test in which the study cannot confirm the various factors that the study can account for. the communication and cognition of commognitive theory supports that mathematics discourse when teaching wps using ps approach, was implemented. the experimental group was equipped to a point where they could be given the post-test after the treatment, in which the mathematics discourse in the teaching of wps using ps approach was implemented. in other words, the ps approach in mathematical discourse teaching wps accounts for the two test results. in dealing with the learners who struggle with mathematical wps, one approach like this intervention cannot be sufficient to improve their performance. although the mathematical discourse, informed by commognitive theory, in teaching wps was used as an intervention in this study, teaching cannot hold other factors constant to obtain the desired results. teachers 154 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 may use other approaches, models, and strategies to account for an improvement in the performance of learners. therefore, the education stakeholders have a responsibility to explore more strategies to empower mathematics teachers, among others, providing them continuous support and training for effective mathematics teaching and learner support. understanding a meaningful mathematics discourse teaching wps using a ps approach may aid other mathematics teachers to know how to offer learner support and guidance to improve performance in wps. further study may be conducted teachers and learners’ perceptions/ experiences on mathematics discourse when teaching wps using ps approach. references adler, j. (2001). teaching mathematics in multilingual classrooms. dordrecht: kluwer academic publishers. berger, m. (2013). examining mathematical discourse to understand in-service teachers' mathematical activities. pythagoras, 34(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.4102/pythagoras.v34i1.197 bhagwonparsadh, y., & pule, k. (2023). learning support strategies to overcome the effects of promoting condoned senior phase mathematics learners to the fet phase. research in social sciences and technology, 8(1), 16-30. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2023.2 cohen, l, manion, l., & morrison, k. (2018). research methods in education. routeledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315456539 collaborne, p., & west-burnham, j. (2008). understanding systems leadership: london: continuum international. creswell, j. w., & creswell, j. d (2018). research design. qualitative, quantitative & mixed methods approaches. los angeles ca: sage publication. crystal, d. (1992). the cambridge encyclopedia of language. oxford: blackwell cuevas, gilberto javier 1984. mathematics learning in english as a second language. journal for research in mathematics education 15(2), 34-144. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.15.2.0134 degrande, t., verschaffel, l., & van dooren, w. (2016). proportional word problem solving through modelling lens: a half-empty full glass? in posing and solving mathematical problems. research in mathematics education, editor p. felmer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28023-3_13 emanuel, e. p. l., kirana, a., & chamida, a. (2021). enhancing students’ ability to solve word problems in mathematics. journal of physics: conference series, 1-11. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1832/1/012056 fatmanissa, n., kusnandi, k., & usdiyana, d. (2020). effect of schema use in solving word problems: emphasis on linguistic difficulties. contemporary mathematics and science education, 1(2), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.30935/conmaths/8495 https://doi.org/10.4102/pythagoras.v34i1.197 https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2023.2 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315456539 https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.15.2.0134 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28023-3_13 https://doi.org/10.30935/conmaths/8495 155 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 fujita, t., doney, j., & wegerif, r. (2019). students’ collaborative decision-making process in defining and classifying quadrilaterals: a semiotic approach. educational studies in mathematics, 101, 341-356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-019-09892-9 gravemeijer, k., stephan, m., julie, c., lin f. l., & ohtani, m. (2027). what mathematics education may prepare students for the society of the future? international journal of science and mathematics education, 15(2), 1-19. http//doi.org10.1007/s10763-0179814-6 gurat, m. g. (2018). mathematical problem-solving strategies among student teachers. journal on efficiency and responsibility in education and science, 11(3), 53-64. https://doi.org/10.7160/eriesj.2018.110302 hoon, t., kee k., & singh, p. (2013) ‘learning mathematics using heuristics approach’, procedia social and behavioral sciences, 90, 862-869. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.07.162 johnson, r. b., & christensen, l. b. (2014). educational research: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches. los angeles ca: sage publications. kersaint, g. (2015). orchestrating mathematical discourse to enhance student learning. retrieved june, 19, 2017. klang, n., karlsson, n., kilborn, w., eriksson, p., & karlberg, m. (2021). mathematical problemsolving through cooperative learning-the importance of peer acceptance and friendships. frontiers in education, 6, 1-10. doi:10.3389/feduc.2021.710296 kurshumlia, r., & vula, e. (2019). the impact of reading comprehension on mathematics word problems solving. education and new development, 330-335. doi: 10.36315/2019v2end076 lester, f. k., & cai, j. (2016). can mathematical problem solving be taught? preliminary answers from 30 years of research. in posing and solving mathematical problems; felmer, p., pehkonen, e., kilpatrick, j., eds.; springer: new york, ny, usa, 117-135. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28023-3_8 lock, a. (2011). clustering together to advance school improvement: working together in peer support with an external colleague. full report, national college for leadership of schools and children’s services: schools and academies. makgakga, t. p. (2022). problem-solving as an instructional approach used by twinned teachers to improve grade 11 financial mathematics performance. in proceedings of the 27th annual national congress of the association for mathematics education of south africa, 27 june -01 july 2022. martins l. g., & martinho, m. h. (2021). strategies, difficulties, and written communication in solving a mathematical problem. bolema, rio claro (sp), 35(70), 903-936. https://doi.org/10.51986/ijrcs-2021.vol3.01.02 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-019-09892-9 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10763-017-9814-6 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10763-017-9814-6 https://doi.org/10.7160/eriesj.2018.110302 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.07.162 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.710296 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28023-3_8 https://doi.org/10.51986/ijrcs-2021.vol3.01.02 156 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 mbhiza, h. (2021). rural teachers’ teaching of algebraic functions through a commognitive lens. interdisciplinary journal of rural and community studies,3(1), 10-20. https://doi.org/10.51986/ijrcs-2021.vol3.01.02 mcmillan, j., & schumacher, s. (2014). research in education 7th ed. harlow: pearson education limited. mercer, n., & sams, c. (2006). teaching children how to use langauge to solve maths problems. language and education, 20, 507-528. https://doi.org/10.2167/le678.0 microsoft (2013). micrsoft excel [computer software]. redmond, washington. mingke, g. p., alegre, e. m. (2019). difficulties encountered in mathematical word problem solving of the grade six learners. international journal of scientific and research publication, 9(6), 336-345. http://dx.doi/10.29322/ijsrp.9.06.2019.p9053 morin, l. l., watson, s. m. r., hester, p., & raver, s. (2017). the use of a bar model drawing to teach word problem solving to students with mathematics difficulties. learning disability quarterly 40(2), 91-104. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731948717690116 mulyadi, m., riyadi, r., & subanti, s. (2015). analisis kesalahan dalam menyelesaikan soal cerita pada materi luas permukaan bangun ruang berdasarkan newman’s error analysis ditinjau dari kemampuan spasial. elektronik pembelajaran matematika, 3(4), 370-382. murry, h., olivier, a., & human, p. (1998). learning through problem solving. in a. olivier & k. newstead (eds.), proceedings of the twenty-second international conference for the psychology of mathematics education, 1,169-185. stellenbosch, south africa. o’halloran, k. l. (2015). the language of learning mathematics: a multimodal perspective. journal of mathematical behavior, 40, 63-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmathb.2014.09.002 özreçberoğlu, n., & çağanağa, c. k. (2018). making it count: strategies for improving problemsolving skills in mathematics for students and teachers’ classroom management. eurasia journal of mathematics, science and technology education,14(4), 1253-1261. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/82536 pólya, g. (1945). how to solve it. princeton university press: princeton, nj, usa; oxford, uk. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400828678 rahman, r., uno, h. b., & nurwan. (2015). analisis kesulitan siswa dalam menyelesaikan soal cerita pada materi kpk dan fpb di kelas vii smp negeri 1 batudaa. universitas negeri gorontalo. robertson, s. a., & graven, m. (2019). language as an including or excluding factor in mathematics teaching and learning. mathematics education research journal, 32, 77101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-019-00302-0 seifi, m., haghverdi, m, & azizmohamadi, f. (2012). recognition of students’ difficulties in solving mathematical word problems from the viewpoint of teachers. journal of basic and applied scientific research, 2(3), 2923-2928. https://doi.org/10.51986/ijrcs-2021.vol3.01.02 https://doi.org/10.2167/le678.0 https://doi.org/10.1177/0731948717690116 https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/82536 https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400828678 157 jcve 2023, 6(2): 138-157 sfard, a., & prusak, a. (2005). identity that makes a difference: substantial learning as closing the gap between actual and designated identities. in proceedings of the 29th conference of the international group for the psychology of mathematics education. sfard, a. (2006). participationist discourse on mathematics learning. in new mathematics education research and practice (pp. 153-170). brill sense. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789087903510_015 sfard, a. (2007). when the rules of discourse change, but nobody tells you: making sense of mathematics learning from commognitive standpoint. journal of learning science, 16(4), 567-615. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508400701525253 sfard, a. (2008). thinking as communicating: human development, the growth of discourses, and mathematizing. new york: cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511499944 sfard, a. (2015). learning, commognition and mathematics. the sage handbook of learning, 129-138. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473915213.n12 siyepu, s. w., & ralarala, m. k. (2014). making sense of mathematical discourse: implications for success in the learning of differentiation in a university classroom. alternation special edition, 12, 326-357. smith, m., & stein, m. k. (2011). five practices for orchestrating productive mathematics discussions. thousand oaks, ca: corwin press tabach, m., & talli, n. (2011). combining theories to analyze classroom discourse: a method to study learning process. in pytlak, m, t rowland & e swoboda (eds): proceedings of the seventh congress of the european society for research in mathematics education. working group16. verschaffel, l., schukajlow, s., star, j. r., & van dooren, w. (2020). word problems in mathematics education: a survey. the international journal on mathematics education, 52(1), 1-16. doi: 10.1007/s11858-020-01130-4 vula, e., avdyli, rr., berisha, v., saqipi, b., & elezi, s., (2017). the impact of metacognitive strategies and self-regulating processes of solving math word problems. international electronic journal of elementary education, 10(1), 49-59. https://doi.org/10.26822/iejee.2017131886 zhu, n. (2015). cognitive strategy instruction for mathematical word problem-solving of students with mathematics disabilities in china. international journal of disability, development, and education, 62(6), 608–627. https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912x.2015.1077935 https://doi.org/10.1163/9789087903510_015 https://doi.org/10.1080/10508400701525253 https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511499944 https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473915213.n12 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11858-020-01130-4 https://doi.org/10.26822/iejee.2017131886 https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912x.2015.1077935 microsoft word 7.tshelane.92-105 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 1 2022 pp. 92-105 reimagining responsible research innovations regarding professional teaching standards for curriculum practice molaodi david tshelane* * department of educational and professional studies, central university of technology, free state, south africa e-mail: mtshelane@cut.ac.za article info received: november 20, 2021 revised: january 24, 2022 accepted: february 25, 2022 how to cite tshelane, m. d. (2022). reimagining responsible research innovations regarding professional teaching standards for curriculum practice. journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), 92-105 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.8 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract applying teacher capabilities is widely considered to be a technique for enriching the quality of teaching in all teaching spaces, worldwide. education reformists have a responsibility to ensure that education accommodates the best interests of all learners. standards depend largely on teacher capabilities and the context of a country. this paper reflects on responsible research innovation techniques that are crucial for improving teacher capabilities and advancing professional standards that are needed to improve education in south african schools. an architecture theory, which draws heavily on the famous quotation of adolf loos, was used as the main lens for the study. critical participatory action research (cpar) was used to generate data. cpar was preferred, since it pilgrimages three principles of responsible research innovations, that is, recognising participants, establishing professional learning communities, and engaging in critical reflection that deliberately embraces capabilities, to address the inequalities that characterise the context of the south african education space. critical discourse analysis was used to arrive at the following broad findings: (i) a practical learning experience must be created for all teachers; and (ii) teacher training institutions are central to edifying teacher capabilities. the paper concludes with a recommendation that the preconfigured standards for professional teaching practices should be reconfigured to involve a de-hierarchical list, and to avoid decontextualized performance and false dichotomies. keywords professional teaching standards; curriculum practice; capabilities; architecture theory. 10.46303/jcve.2022.8 93 jcve 2022, 5(1): 92-105 introduction the state of being capable has always been a central issue of debate in curriculum practice worldwide (khalaily, 2021). recent debate on how education ought to be reformed as a result of the covid-19 pandemic has, once more, placed the quality of teaching and learning under the spotlight (barnes & cross, 2021). at the same time, a much more stimulating debate on the standard and the state of education cannot be evaded, since the disruption caused by the unfortunate occurrence of the pandemic propelled researchers to look for lasting solutions (ghazala & elshall, 2021). the view that the standard of education is a barometer that verifies the capabilities of teachers, and helps us to understand the contexts of countries, thus, needs to be tested. thus, this study reflects on responsible research innovation techniques that are crucial for understanding teacher capabilities and advances in professional standards that make education effective universally. the vantage point of smith et al. (2021) is that broad debates about the necessity to strengthen the power of science, technology and innovation are revealed through the expression of responsible research and innovation (rri). this notion can also be seen in the work of dube (2020), who demonstrates how covid-19 crystallised the need for the notion of rri, by explaining how rural students have been hampered and have had to pay a heavy price due to exclusionary acts, because they are unable to receive education remotely, as rural schools received no resources to deal with the interruption of teaching and learning caused by the pandemic. thus, it is worth noting that rri seems to be an elusive notion, as education inequality is being perpetuated, and the digital divide continues to exist, despite curriculum reformists continuing to search for lasting solutions for education (smith et al., 2021). additionally, budiharso and tarman (2020) list six national education association (nea) issues of quality, namely (a) “share understanding and committed to high goals”; (b) “open communication and collaborative problem solving”; (c) “continuous assessment for teaching and learning”; (d) “personal and professional learning”; (e) “resources to support teaching and learning”; and (f) “and curriculum and instruction”. therefore, the study hopes to evoke debate and to interrogate the means and ends of science, technology, and innovation. furthermore, rri flags the intention to promote and pursue the sustainable development goals and offers guidance on what to do and how to do it (jiya, 2021). evidently, rri is a catalyst for striving to attain a set of standards. in 2015, the european association for quality assurance in higher education et al. (2015) adopted standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the european higher education. in south africa, the council on higher education is responsible for quality assurance, including the accreditation and reaccreditation of programmes, institutional reviews, and national reviews on fields of study (heqc, 2013). thus, for nations to achieve rri, the playing field must be levelled by legislative framework; by doing so the capabilities of the workforce can be leveraged better. hence, this paper reflects on teacher capabilities, with an understanding that legislative frameworks have been put in place to cater for training on professional teaching standards. the conceptualisation of professional teaching standards in south africa is informed by an 94 jcve 2022, 5(1): 92-105 international literature review done by the joint education trust (jet) services for the centre for development enterprise, while teacher professionalisation research is done by the south african council of education (sace), and standard setting is done by the department of higher education and training and the department of basic education (nel et al., 2021; thomas, 2021). the following standards have been proposed for south african teachers (sace, n.d., pp. 8–11):  an ethical commitment to the learning and well-being of all students should form the foundation of teaching.  teaching and learning, and teachers’ own professional growth, specifically, depend on collaboration.  social justice and the eradication of injustices in their classrooms, and society at large, should be of concern to teachers.  teaching necessitates the creation and maintenance of well-managed and safe learning environments, within reason.  the ability to educate is inextricably linked to teachers’ knowledge of the subject(s) they teach.  all students achieving learning objectives requires teachers to make deliberate choices about the way they teach.  teachers acknowledge how important language is in teaching and learning.  teachers are able to organize learning events into logical sequences.  teachers know how to implement their instructional methods to be effective.  teaching entails keeping track of and evaluating students' progress. although the department of basic education has not yet embarked on the implementation of the professional teaching standards that must be embodied by all teachers in south african schools, the desire to professionalise teaching and learning and to standardise curriculum practice seems to be on record. problem statement in south african schooling, curriculum practice has certainly not enjoyed the status that it was initially, three decades ago, expected to exemplify. enthusiasm for and high standards of curriculum practice have yet to be seen in south africa. the highly anticipated notion of people’s education for people’s power (pepp) was first advocated in september 1987. research suggests that pepp achieved the highest form of wide, grassroots participation, which no rri has ever achieved in africa, or elsewhere (randall, 1993). unfortunately, as reported by kruss (1988), realising the high hopes and promises was riddled with complexities, and uncertainties marked an unstable and uncertain vortex that changed over time and from place to place. curriculum reformists have adapted the promises and assured the people that they (the people) will always be involved in the planning stages of education to achieve liberation – though, without consultation to explain why the initial intentions were abandoned. it is not clear why, after 27 95 jcve 2022, 5(1): 92-105 years of democracy in south africa, inequalities are still being perpetuated in curriculum practice. it is because of these reasons that this paper reflects on rri techniques, which are crucial for understanding teacher capabilities and advances in professional standards, to make education work in south african schools. research question as such, the study’s overarching purpose was to reimagine responsible research innovations regarding professional teaching standards for curriculum practice. to achieve the purpose of the study the following question was pursued:  why does it seem that responsible research innovation techniques that are crucial for teacher capabilities and advances in professional standards to improve education in south african schools, being overlooked? theoretical framework it can never be disputed that knowledge will always be guided by principles, whilst research is a tool through which knowledge is advanced. thus, this study adopted architectural theory as the main lens of the study. architectural theory is based on the present and the future, and how to build or organise the future (avermaete, 2021). architectural theory describes reflection on the origin and evolution of architectural form, style, ideologies, movements, and architects of diverse eras (vattano, 2022). architectural theory is relevant for this study, since its assumptions are that nobody can be taught architecture, and that people can only be guided. thus, teachers cannot learn the 10 professional teaching standards proposed by sace (n.d., pp. 8–11) by merely reading and interpreting the standards, instead, they ought to acquire professional standards through practice thereof. the philosophy of architecture is relatively new, but it is a growing subdiscipline, and regarding key conceptual issues, we can look to a tradition spanning two millennia of theoretical treatises in architecture (swope, 2021). architectural theory focuses on critical commentary. the theory, furthermore, provides reasons for the kinds of style, design, and policy stance that researchers and co-researchers assume; thus, in our reflection on responsible research innovations, a deliberate focus was more of a critical questioning, with the intention to expose how hegemonic power is intermingled. as such, it can be argued that those who wield power turn out to be overwhelmed by the power, which results in less recognition of, relations with, and reflection on the situation at hand. above all, the theory advocates for inclusivity and, as such, complements critical participatory action research (cpar), which was adopted in this study and will be elaborated on later (swope, 2021). in the renaissance sciences, architectural theory was used to delve deeper into the maker’s knowledge tradition, and we acquire a kind of knowledge through doing – as in the trial and error of design and construction – which we then transmit to others for their enlightenment and benefit, as celebrated by descartes and bacon (lang & moleski, 2016). 96 jcve 2022, 5(1): 92-105 we used face-to-face and virtual discussion forums to form a community of practice for we used face-to-face and virtual discussion forums to form a community of practice for a group of university lecturers and teachers, of whom most were enrolled for master's or doctoral studies, and a preservice teacher. we met twice per week, and we engaged in providing social support for each other by, for instance, celebrating birthdays together and bonding. it is also worth noting that cpar entails looking into actual practices, rather than hypothetical ones (zeller-berkman et al., 2020). doing so entails learning about the real, tangible, and concrete practices of specific individuals in specific areas. while it is impossible to avoid the inevitable abstraction that accompanies using language to name, explain, analyse, and assess things, cpar differs from other types of action research in that it is more adamant about changing the habits of the participants (ross, 2020). kemmis et al. (2014, p. 20), on the other hand, claim to be interested in classroom practice and their first inquiry is, “which component of practice are we interested in?” the common answer tends to be “’assessment’, ‘consonant blends’ or ‘behaviour management’”, all of which are relatively abstract and fragmented notions when compared to the dramatic and multifaceted experience of classroom life (kemmis et al., 2014, p. 20). according to kemmis et al. (2014), critical participatory action researchers, like everyone else, are fascinated by activities in general or in abstraction, but their primary purpose is to change current practices, or “the way we do things around here” (p. 20). it is the assumption that critical participatory action researchers do not need to apologise for seeing their work as mundane and entangled in history; rather, some philosophical and practical dangers of idealism suggest that a more abstract view of practice might allow one to rise above the past (kemmis et al., 2014). cpar is an innovative vision of practices as a learning process with tangible results that affect people’s lives, and involves the following:  what individuals think and say (their sayings), as well as the cultural and discursive structures that shape their perceptions of the world (such as languages and expert discourses). in this study, we reflected on how curriculum practice used to be done, prior to the new dispensation. we invited experienced and retired teachers to share their views on professional teaching standards exhibited in the contemporary teaching setting. we were critical in a constructive way and resolute about thinking prudently about our words and actions (dansereau & wyman, 2020).  what participants perform (their deeds), as well as the material and financial structures that allow them to observe and act in the teaching profession, as well as the persons who normally conduct cpar. we took precautions and adhered to covid-19 restrictions, and only had face-to-face meetings once lockdown restrictions had been relaxed; even then we wore masks and practiced social distancing while we engaged in discussions and reflected on how research was to be done and practiced.  the social and political structures that define how people engage with the world and with others, as well as how they relate to others and the world (mohr, 2021). 97 jcve 2022, 5(1): 92-105  through cpar, teachers gain an understanding of how distinct cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political circumstances that pertain to a specific region at a specific period in history influence their social and curriculum practices, and due to the endurance of certain situations, how these behaviours are duplicated in everyday social contact in a given location, along with their responsibilities (fine & torre, 2019). critical participatory action researchers become aware of ideas about how to enhance the practices they are producing and reproducing through their existing ways of working, by recognising their practices as products of circumstances. other (or transformed) practices could be produced and repeated under multiple (or modified) intentions, conditions, and circumstances if their current practices are the outcome of a single set of objectives, conditions, and circumstances. by focusing on behaviours in a concrete and precise way, they become more accessible for examination, argument, and reconstruction, as products of former circumstances that can be changed in and for current and future contexts. the term “action research” refers to a variety of activities, including cpar. cpar is unique in that it sees itself as a social practice – in fact, as a practice that changes practices (sandwick et al., 2018).  cpar emphasizes a shared goal of making our actions, understandings of our practices, and the environment in which we practice more rational and reasonable, productive and sustainable, and just and inclusive.  when people who are involved in or affected by a practice choose to work together to establish intersubjective agreement on the meaning of the words and concepts they use, as well as mutual understanding of one another's viewpoints, they create a communicative space for communicative action. cpar presents a unique perspective on what it means to participate, by concentrating not just on people’s participation in a practice, but also on their participation in public spheres where people involved in or affected by a practice come together (mctaggart et al., 2017).  according to brooks et al. (2021), critical participatory action researchers are able to develop a theoretical language for discussing their practice. this enables a better understanding of how their practices, which are composed of sayings, doings, and relating bundled together in a project of a practice, are prefigured by, and embedded in historically formed architectural practices (cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political arrangements) (brooks et al., 2021). methods this section will present the design, sample, and the instrument used to generate data. this study used discourse analysis to understand how the hegemonic power behind the discourses, consciously or unconsciously, operates. i also looked, with an architecture lens, to see the deeper meaning of the style, and the ways participants react and interreact through their conversations. 98 jcve 2022, 5(1): 92-105 design this study adopted a cpar approach, because the methodology is complementary to architectural theory in that it relates to action, which is a major principle in architectural theory. cpar offers an opportunity to create professional teaching standards that will encourage teachers to work together as co-participants in the struggle to remake the practices through which they interact in a democracy, without artificial separation (fine et al., 2021). at its best, cpar is a social process of collaborative learning with the aim of individual and communal selfformation, accomplished by groups of people who band together to change the ways they interact in a shared social world – a shared social world in which we live with the repercussions of one another's actions, for better or worse (brooks et al., 2021). a cohort of lecturers who work collaboratively, and who were registered for master’s and doctoral studies, were recruited to participate in the study. a preservice teacher acted as a resource person, and ultimately became a team member in the research endeavour. sample a total of nineteen researchers and co-researchers were recruited, because they were registered for the academic year in question. a sample of six lecturers and twelve master’s and doctoral students participated in the study (tshelane & mahlomaholo, 2015). some of the lecturers possessed master’s degree qualifications, and were registered for doctoral studies. the last participant, a student assistant, was registered as a final-year preservice student teacher, and acted as a resource person, particularly in relation to information communication that was required by the study. instruments virtual and face-to-face contact was used to generate data, and free attitude interview techniques were used as instruments to generate data (tshelane & mahlomaholo, 2015). an audio-visual device was used to capture data, which was later transcribed into text representing the reflections of the researchers and co-researchers (waters et al., 2021). data generation and analysis the data generated for the purpose of this study were presented, interpreted, and analysed through cda. cda is a type of discourse analysis that has a foundation based on linguistic terms, whether verbal or non-verbal (maposa, 2015), and that “is concerned with the way abuse of social power, discrimination, inequality, and dominance is enacted, reproduced, and resisted by text and talk in social contexts” (macgilchrist, 2016; tshelane, 2015; van dijk, 2004). cda is mainly used to describe, interpret, and explain how text is represented, to enhance “understanding of social phenomena” (maposa, 2015). for scholars who are interested in using cda for data interpretation and analysis, there is a close relationship between language choices and texts, since language can be represented through text (macgilchrist, 2016; machin & mayr, 2012; maposa, 2015; tshelane, 2015). 99 jcve 2022, 5(1): 92-105 when using cda for data analysis, it is important to consider the context of the text, hence, it is of utmost importance to extract relevant and abandon irrelevant information, since people tend to speak in messages “– verbal or non-verbal – not necessarily in sentences” (maposa, 2015; sriwimon & zilli, 2017; thompson, 2004; tshelane, 2015). therefore, for the purpose of this study, the verbal and non-verbal discourses of language were considered, to maintain coherence and to understand the meaning of data from the way it was exploited. the discourse can be discussed on three levels, namely analysis of text, the spoken word, and social and discursive practices, to provide a report of findings. findings and discussion the promotion of professional teaching standards has become a central issue of debate globally, including in south africa. the south african council of educators is the body that is responsible for improving teacher conduct; it is the institution that has already taken the necessary steps to develop a professional teaching standard. this initiative goes a long way to edify teacher curriculum practice capabilities. curriculum practice is concerned with the way teaching, learning and assessment are conducted in a professional setting. higher learning institutions in south africa are obliged to conduct research that enables all related bodies to work to improve the workforce in south africa, especially in the area of curriculum practice. south african higher learning institutions are also legally compelled to follow current trends in the research fraternity by engaging in research into epistemologies that provide much-needed training to improve teacher capabilities. two major findings of the study will be reported on below. creation of practical learning experience for all teachers it is essential to create practical learning experiences for all teachers, because they operate in diverse learning spaces that are characterised by standards that are embodied in the context of eradicating education inequalities in south african society, in general. crafting, or architecting, professional learning is crucial for generating curriculum content and methodology to deliver the content, which is a key facet of teacher professionalism. sace has legislated professional standards that are in line with sustaining, supporting and creating inclusive working conditions. when they have a good understanding, teachers become more assured and honest about contributing to decision-making at the workplace. evidence of this assertion could be seen in one of the virtual discussion forums, in which one of the teachers argued as follows: i have always noticed that we must protect our profession. i’ve taken it upon myself to assist the new teachers in our school. you know one day as i was passing a colleague’s class, i found a young colleague teaching whilst seated, i never supposed that that could happen in our school. truly, i was bothered by what i saw, initially i thought the colleague was not well but on inquiry i realised it was her preference. something just struck me – and after you emailed that sace document on professional teaching standards that we 100 jcve 2022, 5(1): 92-105 discussed in one of our forums i made a copy for my colleague in question and highlighted some standards and requested her to read the highlighted sections just for us to have a conversation the next day: teaching is based on an ethical commitment to the learning and wellbeing of all learners, teachers collaborate with others to support teaching, learning and their professional development and teachers support social justice and the redress of inequalities within their educational instructions and society more broadly. considering the extract above, and analysing it as text and spoken word, it became obvious that the understanding of the term “profession” has traditionally been linked to merely an expectation, without deeper thought on the meaning of, for instance, the phrase “teaching is based on an ethical commitment to the learning and wellbeing of all learners”, which clearly indicates that “knowledge”, and distinguishing “professional practice” from other forms of practice is pivotal for providing goods or services in any society. after engaging in research innovation, the participant became aware of the expected code of practice that must displayed by professional teachers. the participant shows clearly that, after internalising the expected professional teaching standards, precautionary measures must be taken to protect practice. it might be that the young teacher had been taught the correct way to teach, but never thought much about her actions and how those actions might render her incapable and unprofessional in the view of her colleague. the language aspect of any social activity is more than the mere reflection and expression of social processes and practices, but is a part of those processes and practices (fairclough, 2017). as fairclough posits, language is part of society, and, on the one hand, linguistic phenomena are social, and on the other hand, social phenomena are linguistic. cda sees discourse as a social practice and implies a dialectical relationship between a particular discursive event and the situation, institution, and social structure, that frames it (wodak, 2021). discourse, according to ruíz-gómez (2021), entails any behaviour by which individuals fill reality with meaning. discourse comprises text, talk, and media, through which ways of knowing, experiencing, and valuing the world are expressed (ruíz-gómez, 2021). in cda, discourse is socially constitutive, in that it sustains and reproduces the social status quo while also contributing to transforming it (wodak, 2021). discursive practices are considered as having major ideological effects, in that they produce, reproduce, and maintain unequal power relations between groups of people (wodak, 2021). teacher training institutions are central to edifying teacher capabilities the real sense of teachers being committed to teaching and being able to display a high level of teaching can be credited largely to the quality of teaching provided by teacher training institutions. it is likely that a well-trained teacher will display knowledge of how to teach. a welltrained teacher has a relatively good sense of duty, commitment and passion, and a high moral sense, which resonates with professional skills. these teachers also embody a set of professional 101 jcve 2022, 5(1): 92-105 teaching standards that resemble standards proposed by sace. higher learning institutions that engage in rri are likely be in a better position to produce teachers with high levels of teacher capability. these institutions will add value to the way societies view their graduates. this view was exemplified by a participant in the following comment: i have a confession to make, … please don’t get me wrong, you know during my tenure as a school principal, i always did not look at the student teachers from baobab university,1 well i can tell you know those teachers were not well trained. the extract above shows how one person may be seen as an agent of an institution, because society views someone as the product of an institution, and sometimes their behaviour binds all the members of the institution as a collective. this analysis has its basis in a functional view of language (hernández rojas, 2008). its focus is mainly the text, either spoken or written. with cda, texts are considered to be sites of social struggle, in that they show traces of differing ideological fights for dominance, and of hegemony (richardson & wodak, 2009). textual analysis pays attention to the use of figures of speech that, in a given environment, dominate the discourse (jeremia, 2013). cda considers discourse as “an object, giving it the objectivity and making it especially interesting for those who approach discourse analysis from positivist scientific positions” (ruíz-gómez, 2021, p. 12). however, ruíz-gómez (2021) cautions against treating discourse solely as an object act, because someone who is subjective might reading the texts, selecting the relevant pieces, and establishing the necessary relationships or significances behind the seeming objectivity of textual analysis. this suggest that text can, thus, be regarded as either objective or subjective. an example may be the use of words, concepts, and phrases that suggest the meaning that a particular higher learning institution is responsible for ensuring professional teaching standards, which are expressed through the capabilities of teachers who graduate from that institution. these words are loaded with power and have social justice connotations. the research participants were able to identify the key priorities for ensuring the success of the study and balanced power relations (jeremia, 2013). thus, using textual analysis enabled the research participants to unveil underlying meanings of power domination. power can be exercised directly or indirectly – indirectly through syntax, rhetoric, or turn-taking. it can also be exercised through linguistic surface structures that include “tone, hesitation, pauses, laughter, or forms of address, or by controlling context” (mullet, 2018, p. 131). mullet (2018) explains that power influences, among other things, knowledge, beliefs, understandings, ideologies, norms, attitudes, values, and plans, and cda seeks to uncover, reveal, and disclose implicit or hidden power relations in discourse. the first step of textual analysis is usually to translate a discourse into its textual form. as ruíz-gómez (2021, p. 10) asserts, “this translation of non-textual discourse into a textual form constitutes the first phase of textual analysis and should therefore be done according to criteria and procedures”, to ensure these two procedures, namely, description and 1 pseudonym 102 jcve 2022, 5(1): 92-105 transcription, are applied. description applies to non-verbal discourse, while transcription applies to spoken discourse. furthermore, according to ruíz-gómez (2021), the description and transcription should include all of the text's antecedents and contextual aspects that can aid in its understanding. as a result, all nonverbal events, such as silences and their duration, modulations, and emphasis, should be included in the transcription. all elements of the context in which the discourse has been produced should be included in meaningful movements and expressions. conclusion from the discussion of the findings of this study, it is clear that teacher capabilities and professional teaching standards cannot be separated. it is, therefore, key to note that teachers are the architects of their own profession. higher learning institutions are compelled to continuously improve on their research initiatives; they should continually find new solutions to education-related challenges, which are predominantly displayed through inequality. higher education institutions should use a policy framework for professional teaching standards to take the opportunity to engage in rri, to architect practical skills. the rational of professional teaching standards is to minimise education inequality, unemployment, poverty and social upheavals. rri on curriculum practice would enable teachers to employ a variety of strategies to ensure that learners not only acquire knowledge and skills, but also benefit and learn in a manner that indicates that learners are able to do what they have been taught. hence, the discussion on rri shows that curriculum practices that are driven by genuine participation by people at grassroots levels, as a strategy employed by teachers, could be an essential tool to ensure that professional teaching standards are achieved. thus, rri is a strategy that is useful for improving professional teaching standards worldwide. this study recommends that the preconfigured standards for professional teaching practice are reconfigured, to provide a de-hierarchical list, and to avoid decontextualized performance and false dichotomies. the process of engaging teachers as communities of practice must be fully integrated in developing the standards that have bearing on the future of teachers. lessons can also be drawn from participatory ways of allowing people to contribute to compiling standards for professional teachers. references avermaete, t. (2021). constructing the commons: towards another architectural theory of the city? in l. medrano, l. recamán, & t. avermaete (eds.), the new urban condition. criticism and theory from architecture and urbanism (pp. 54–72). routledge. barnes, m. & cross, r. (2021). ‘quality’ at a cost: the politics of teacher education policy in australia. critical studies in education, 62(4), 455–470. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2018.1558410 103 jcve 2022, 5(1): 92-105 brooks, k., kandel-cisco, b., & bhathena, c. (2021). transforming educator identities and roles in family engagement through critical participatory action research. theory into practice, 60(1), 62–71. budiharso, t., & tarman, b. (2020). improving quality education through better working conditions of academic institutes. journal of ethnic and cultural studies, 7(1), 99–115. dansereau, d. r., & wyman, b. (2020). a child-directed music curriculum in the montessori classroom: results of a critical participatory action research study. journal of montessori research, 6(1), 19–31. dube, b. (2020). rural online learning in the context of covid 19 in south africa: evoking an inclusive education approach. multidisciplinary journal of educational research, 10(2), 135–157. european association for quality assurance in higher education, european students’ union, european university association, european association of institutions in higher education, education international, businesseurope, & european quality assurance register for higher education. (2015). standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the european higher education area. eurashe. https://www.enqa.eu/wpcontent/uploads/2015/11/esg_2015.pdf fairclough, n. (2017). cda as dialectical reasoning. in j. flowerdew, & j. e. richardson (eds.), the routledge handbook of critical discourse studies (pp. 13-25). routledge. fine, m., & torre, m. e. (2019). critical participatory action research: a feminist project for validity and solidarity. psychology of women quarterly, 43(4), 433–444. fine, m., torre, m. e., oswald, a. g., & avory, s. (2021). critical participatory action research: methods and praxis for intersectional knowledge production. journal of counselling psychology, 68(3), 344. ghazala, a.f. & elshall, s.e. (2021). application of national education technology standards as perceived by nursing students and its relation to their problem solving skill during covid-19 disaster. international journal of higher education, 10(2), 172–187. hernández rojas, g. (2008). los constructivismos y sus implicaciones para la educación [constructivisms and their implicaitons for education]. perfiles educativos, 30(122), 38– 77. heqc (2013). framework for qualification standards in higher education. council on higher education. jeremia, m. t. (2013). schools as sustainable learning environments: a framework for enhancing parental engagement (doctoral dissertation, university of the free state). jiya, t. (2021). responsible data governance in projects: applying a responsible research and innovation (rri) framework. journal of technology management & innovation, 16(1), 31–37. kemmis, s., mctaggart, r., & nixon, r. (2014). the action research planner. springer. 104 jcve 2022, 5(1): 92-105 khalaily, m. (2021). facilitating the development of critical thinking skills and self-directed learning: an exploration of leadership and curriculum practice in a palestinian kindergarten (doctoral thesis, university of derby). kruss, g. (1988). people's education. an examination of the concept. people's education research project no. 1. centre for adult and continuing education, university of the western cape. lang, j., & moleski, w. (2016). functionalism revisited: architectural theory and practice and the behavioral sciences. routledge. macgilchrist, f. (2016). fissures in the discourse-scape: critique, rationality and validity in postfoundational approaches to cds. discourse & society, 27(3): 262–277. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926516630902 machin, d., & mayr, a. (2012). how to do critical discourse analysis: a multimodal introduction. sage. maposa, m. t. (2015). reflections on applying critical discourse analysis methodologies in analyzing south african history textbooks. yesterday and today, 14, 58–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2223-0386/2015/nl4a3 mctaggart, r., nixon, r., & kemmis, s. (2017). critical participatory action research. in l. l. rowell, c. d. bruce, j. m. shosh, & m. m. riel (eds.), the palgrave international handbook of action research (pp. 21–35). palgrave macmillan. mohr, k. (2021). targeted intervention for distance learning students: a critical participatory action research approach (doctoral dissertation, rowan university). mullet, d. r. (2018). a general critical discourse analysis framework for educational research. journal of advanced academics, 29(2), 116–142. nel, c., botha, c., & marais, e. (2021). a covid-19 re-envisioned teaching practicum curriculum. research in social sciences and technology, 6(2), 249–266. randall, s. (1993). people's education and ‘nation building’ for a new south africa. review of african political economy, 20(58), 43–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056249308704019 richardson, j. e., & wodak, r. (2009). the impact of visual racism: visual arguments in political leaflets of austrian and british far-right parties. controversia, 6(2), 45-77. ross, e. w. (2020). why are things as they are? action research and the transformation of work and education in the neoliberal age. canadian journal of action research, 21(1), 10–26. https://journals.nipissingu.ca/index.php/cjar/article/view/515 ruíz-gómez, a. m. (2021). innovación de la práctica educativa en la enseñanza del inglés como lengua extranjera [innovation of educational practice in the teaching of english as a foreign language]. sace. (n.d.). professional teaching standards. https://www.sace.org.za/assets/documents/uploads/sace_31561-2020-10-12professional%20teaching%20standards%20brochure.pdf 105 jcve 2022, 5(1): 92-105 sandwick, t., fine, m., greene, a. c., stoudt, b. g., torre, m. e., & patel, l. (2018). promise and provocation: humble reflections on critical participatory action research for social policy. urban education, 53(4), 473–502. smith, r. d. j., kamwendo, z. t., berndt, a., & parkin, j. (2021). taking knowledge production seriously in responsible research and innovation. journal of responsible innovation, 8(2), 199–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2021.1935584 sriwimon, l. & zilli, p. j. (2017). applying critical discourse analysis as a conceptual framework for investigating gender stereotypes in political media discourse. kasetsart journal of social sciences, 38(2): 136–142. swope, c. (2021). is green the new red? marxism, ecology, and contemporary architectural theory. humanities, 10(1), 45. thomas, c. (2021, march). indicators of excellent provision [presentation]. umalusi accreditation forum. https://www.umalusi.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/1.indicators-of-excellent-provision-ms-cindy-thomas.pdf thompson, b. (2004). exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis: understanding concepts and applications. washington, dc, 10694. tshelane, m. d. (2015). enhancing the principal’s leadership role in the usage of information and communication technology at school (doctoral dissertation, university of the free state). tshelane, m., & mahlomaholo, s. (2015). creating sustainable learning environments for professional curriculum leadership through information and communication technologies. journal of higher education in africa/revue de l’enseignement supèrieur en afrique, 13(1–2), 193–212. van dijk, t. (2004). critical discourse analysis. in d. schiffin, d. tannen, & h. e. hamilton (eds.), the handbook of discourse analysis. blackwell. vattano, s. (2022). theory and practice of the architectural project at vchutemas. graphic interpretations. in c. bartolomei, a. ippolito, & s. h. tanoue vizioli (eds.), digital modernism heritage lexicon (pp. 609–623). springer. waters, s., pellegrino, a., hensley, m., & kenna, j. (2021). forming school and university partnerships to learn and teach with primary sources. journal of social studies education research, 12(3), 47–78. wodak, r. (2021). crisis communication and crisis management during covid-19. global discourse, 3(11), 329–353. https://doi.org/10.1332/204378921x16100431230102 zeller-berkman, s., barreto, j., & sandler, a. (2020). amplifying action: theories, questions, doubts, and hopes related to the ‘action’ phase of a critical journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 tarman, b., editorial: 2018 (1)2, i-iii editorial: 2018 (1) 2 bulent tarman, editor-in-chief dear journal of culture and values in education readers and contributors, we are excited to be with you through the second issue of journal of culture and values in education (jcve). we would like to extend our appreciations to all who contributes by submitting or reviewing manuscripts or have been readers of jcve. this is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access academic e-journal for cultural and educational research. the journal is published twice a year (june & december) in online versions. the overarching goal of the journal is to disseminate origianl research findings that make significant contributions to different areas of education, culture and values of different societies. the aim of the journal is to promote the work of academic researchers in the humanities, cultural studies and education. in addition to our goal of providing free on-line access to the new journal, we also feel strongly about the necessity of its being very high quality. in our second issue, you will find four articles on various topics of education, culture and values of different societies. the first article written by kelsey evans, william b. russell, brian furgione and allison sheridan as titled “won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states” the purpose of this research is to investigate family perceptions of character education and social emotional learning in public broadcasting service (pbs) kids educational media programming. it is indicated by the researchers that many parents who were exposed to pbs in their youth and are returning to pbs for foundational support when in raising their children. the wholesome messages depicted on pbs shows, like daniel tiger’s neighborhood, are helping parents teach their children about complex topics, such as how they feel, what they value, and cleanliness in the home. the authors concluded out that lessons presented on pbs are valuable for parents and children alike, as it fosters important content for character and moral educationsomething that is easily available and accessible to all people. parents and children desire quality programing that promotes values and lessons for all. james moore is the author of the second article entitled as “don't shut up: why teachers must defend the first amendment in secondary schools”. this paper describes the importance of freedom of expression, and its limited exceptions crafted by judicial review, to american democracy. furthermore, the article examines the first amendment in universities and secondary schools, including several examples of specific cases in which authorities violated students’ first amendment rights as well as provides guidelines for secondary social studies teachers on how to safeguard students’ rights and teach about the first amendment, specifically freedom of expression, in a pedagogically sound manner that comports with constitutional law. the author concludes the study by emphasizing that freedom of expression is not a privilege bequeathed to people by a magnanimous government; it is a natural human right deserving protection. educators must defend freedom of expression and teach students to oppose political groups that advocate for unconstitutional censorship. simultaneously, holding school administrators and others who implement policies that violate the first amendment accountable is crucial to protecting academic freedom. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 tarman, b., editorial: 2018 (1)2, i-iii with the title of “a culture of equality? equitable access to education as viewed through academic scholarship” in the third article, douglas e. carothers examines trends in professional literature during four decades by using the proquest education database and selected search terms to retrieve records of publications. patterns were found in scholarship related to disproportionate representation of black students in special education programs and the use of exclusionary suspension and expulsion with black students as well as the underrepresentation of black students in gifted programs. the research is concluded that scholarly findings of reduced adult outcomes caused by inequitable access to educational opportunities and encourage additional research into effective provision of culturally responsive teacher preparation and continuing education as alternatives to reliance on zerotolerance and other policies that increase educational segregation of black students. in the last article with the title of “multicultural for who? a review of a comprehensive multicultural textbook.” clarisse halpern reviewed the book written by bennett, c. i. (2019). comprehensive multicultural education: theory and practice (9th ed.). hoboken, nj: pearson. the author emphasized at the beginning of the review that bennett’s (2019) book comprehensive multicultural education: theory and practice is an essential read for anyone involved in the field of education because it encompasses several concepts of multicultural education. it includes discussions on the main aspects of multicultural education: from its origins, conceptual models, and core values, to topics on race/ethnicity, gender, class, special education, religious pluralism, the roots of cultural diversity and immigration in the u.s., as well as culturally responsive teaching and how to reach all learners through curriculum transformation. i would like to thank everyone and express my special appreciation to the people who contributed to make this issues ready for you. i especially would like to thank all authors and reviewers for their contribution to jcve. i hope you will both enjoy and be challenged by the articles in this issue of jcve. i also look forward to seeing your contribution to the development of jcve in the future. per say the future, we have already gratefully announced on our website and relevant platforms that there will be two issues with guest editors in 2019. the first one is planned to be launched at the end of march and will be guest edited by stephen k. lafer. dr. lafer is planning to argue in this special issue that a different kind of school is needed if humanization is to take place and, too, that humanization is absolutely necessary for the survival of human beings and human societies. dr. lafer is “calling upon authors for this edition of the journal to wrestle honestly with the question that arise when culture is made problematic and the problem of culture is studied without the constraints, without fear for offending, this made a civil exercise by the goal of the process, to determine what the effects of culture are on people, particularly in terms of the constraints it imposes on the development of individuality and the intellect of individuals. writers are invited to contend with the premises offered by the editor, to support them, or offer different perspectives that should be explored to get at the true meaning of culture for the lives of people living lives in the present era and into the future. this is not a call for the traditional research paper though, if some are doing research that deals with the fundamental issues described above, they will be welcomed for consideration. so will papers that are thought pieces, theoretical and philosophical essays that explore the interface of culture, individuality, and the role of schools in relation to the transmission of cultural journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 tarman, b., editorial: 2018 (1)2, i-iii values and the potential of educating for the liberation of individuals through engagement in meaningful and honest cultural critique.” the second one will be guest edited by christopher g. robbins and joe bishop with the special theme issue entitled with “opposing exclusionary democracy: culture and values beyond reactionary populism”. dr. robbins and dr. bishop point out that social and political trends in all around the world raise new questions about education, formal and informal, and the pedagogies requisite of a vital, participatory, and inclusionary democracy. with rare exception, analyses of the new populisms largely overlook educational concerns and questions. the co-guest editors are planning to address very imperative following questions through this special theme issue:  what specific events have led to the current, fragmented situation as it plays out in education?  how have reactions against reactionary populism been stifled in educational and other institutions?  what role does one’s economic situation play in the rise of the new populism?  how can a progressive education counter current exclusionary practices in a context of increasing standardization?  how are various circulating values disseminated and countered?  why have identity politics superseded every other form of political grievance, and what might be essential pedagogical considerations to make in broadening and linking related but seemingly disparate interests around values and relationships essential to inclusive and participatory democracy?  reactionary populisms make appeals, as the new right in the 1970s and 1980s did, to “values” and a social order on which those values allegedly rested. how can progressive pedagogies reenter values debates and make values claims? what values?  how might progressive pedagogies and analyses consider the ways in which new populisms have co-opted and manipulated left critiques of truth (e.g., alternative facts, fake news)? looking forward to being with you in 2019 issues... sincerely, bulent tarman, (ph.d) editor-in-chief, jcve journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 2 2023 pp.172-191 exploring the school management team’s perspectives about the challenges of addressing learner-on-teacher violence in secondary schools: implications for invitational leadership sekitla daniel makhasane*a & nomase sarah majonga * corresponding author: email: makhasanesd@ufs.ac.za a. department of education management, policy, and comparative education, faculty of education, university of the free state, qwaqwa campus, south africa article info received: february 18, 2023 accepted: may 03, 2023 published: july 12, 2023 how to cite makhasane, s. d. & majong, n. s. (2023). exploring the school management team’s perspectives about the challenges of addressing learner-on-teacher violence in secondary schools: implications for invitational leadership. journal of culture and values in education, 6(2), 172-191. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.15 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract addressing learner-on-teacher violence remains a severe challenge to school management teams worldwide. school violence is a worldwide challenge, and it also seems to be getting worse in south africa, where it is not sufficiently reported or addressed. thus, this study aims to explore school management teams' perspectives on the challenges of addressing learner-on-teacher violence in selected south african secondary schools. the paper adopted the invitational leadership theory to guide and interpret the findings. a qualitative research approach was used to understand leadership challenges in addressing learner-on-teacher violence in secondary schools. eight participants were purposively selected for the study. the data was generated through one-on-one semi-structured interviews with principals, heads of departments, and teachers. the findings revealed that the challenges smts face when addressing learner-onteacher violence include inadequate policies, lack of parental involvement, insufficient department of basic education support, and lack of support from other stakeholders. therefore, this paper recommends that the department of basic education capacitates smts in reviewing policies and supporting them in implementing them. keywords challenges; discipline; invitational leadership; school violence. 10.46303/jcve.2023.15 mailto:makhasanesd@ufs.ac.za https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.15 https://ufsacza-my.sharepoint.com/personal/baartmanch_ufs_ac_za/documents/desktop/cindy%20desktop%202022/vice%20dean%20office%202020/exam%20committee%202021/exam%20committee%202022/faculty%20exam%20board%202022/faculty%20exam%20board%20agenda%2017%20november%202022.docx?web=1 173 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 introduction learner-on-teacher violence remains a vastly spread calamity that school leaders continue to battle globally, with manifestations increasing alarmingly. learner-on-teacher violence is all acts of malice or violent behavior that learners use to disempower teachers' professionalism and humiliate them in the process (anderman et al., 2018). this phenomenon is an issue that may better be understood from the perspective of school violence. de wet (2010) defines learneron-teacher violence as a sub-category of school violence committed by learners against teachers within the social contexts of schools. these violent acts are perceived to be multi-systemic since they include various variables that affect teachers. from a global perspective, learner-onteacher violence manifests differently from one country to another (igu & ogba, 2019). kolbe (2020) asserts that the serious form of learner-on-teacher violence that school leaders in the united states of america (usa) face is school gun violence, which is perceived to make the school environment hostile. a study conducted by chen and chen (2019) found that asian countries such as taiwan, hong kong, and china have experienced and continue to experience various forms of school violence. in africa, igu and ogba (2019) argue that nigeria's political diversity and long history of mistrust account for being one of the most violent nations in africa. in addition, ogba and igu (2019) assert that school violence is a product of violent communities in nigeria, which has serious implications for schools since learners are aggressive and violent. like other nations, south africa is not exempt from school violence. makhasane and mthembu (2019) argue that south africa is one of the world's most violent nations, so its schools are inevitably exposed to violence. similarly, lunneblad (2019) argues that violence, which continues to be the most pressing contemporary issue, is a persistent concern in south africa. in the same way, singh and steyn (2014) assert that violence is a catastrophe that can happen in both public and private settings, the south african national department of basic education (dbe) has been working to address an increase in violent incidents that are occurring in schools at alarming rates. accordingly, the leadership responsibility of the school management team (smt) in south african schools is to address various challenges in the school, including learner-teacher violence. from a south african perspective, smt comprises of the principal, deputy principal(s) and the department heads (department of education, 2000). to ensure that schools are free from violence, smts must take the lead in addressing violence perpetrated by learners against the teachers (bipath, 2017). ntuli (2018) points out that smts should consult several national policies and a learners’ code of conduct to warn learners who perpetrate violence against teachers. they must oversee the practical application and execution of such policies. although smts members employ policies to address violent incidents, grobler (2018) argues that such incidents continue to manifest in schools, showing that policies and procedures are insufficient to address learner-on-teacher violence. moreover, ngidi (2018) contends that the current regulations and rules only apply to post-violent acts, making it appear they are failing to avoid the issue. 174 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 netshitangani (2018) warns that creating free violent schools is not easy and that all role players must be involved. teachers should be part of stakeholders partaking in addressing learner-on-teacher violence. decordova et al. (2020) state that teachers are offered several preparation training programs to address the phenomenon. however, teachers can use only a few guidelines and directives to deal with the catastrophe. the manifestation of learner-on-teacher violence has various implications for victims, perpetrators and school leaders. however, this phenomenon is severely understudied, especially from a school leadership perspective. this is evident through increased school violence that makes news headlines regularly, especially learner-on-teacher violence. netshitangani (2018) cautions that a conducive school climate promoting effective teaching and learning is unattainable: school violence remains a national concern. in that light, nhambura (2020) notes that schools experiencing learner-on-teacher violence exhibit poor learner performance, which conflicts with the goals of the dbe. petso (2021) agrees that many teachers resign from the teaching profession due to insecurities in the teaching profession, which will have severe repercussions in the long term as illiteracy, difficulty in recruiting teachers, and the struggle to retain the best teachers become prevalent. woudstra et al. (2018) maintain that most school violence victims suffer emotional and financial trauma, eventually affecting the recruitment and retention of qualified teachers. apart from the consequences of failing to address the manifestation of learner-on-teacher violence, a study conducted by davids and waghid (2016) revealed that school principals are not trained to deal with violent encounters. thus, they tend to respond against perpetrators with harshness, verbal abuse, and sometimes equal violence, creating more problems. therefore, this study aims to explore various challenges facing smts in addressing learner-on-teacher violence. the study seeks to answer the following questions: • what are school management teams' perspectives on the challenges of addressing learner-on-teacher violence in secondary schools? • what invitational leadership implications can be drawn from the school management teams' perspectives about the challenges of addressing learner-on-teacher violence? review of the literature given the significance of addressing learner-on-teacher violence, studies conducted by botha and zwane (2021), nhambura (2020), grobler (2018) govender (2015) suggest that school leaders' coping strategies to prevent or address learner-on-teacher violence are limited. in the same way, de cordova et al. (2020) further contend that despite several preparation training programs offered to teachers, few guidelines or directives exist that can be used to address learner-on-teacher violence. in that light, the literature suggests that addressing learner-onteacher violence remains challenging due to various shortcomings resulting from insufficient policies, lack of parental involvement, inadequate departmental support, and lack of support from other stakeholders. 175 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 inadequate policies as per the sace (2020), school leaders utilize various policies to promote discipline and high ethical standards. manamela (2021) asserts that responsible personnel use the learners’ code of conduct and the school safety policy concerning learner discipline. in the same way, mohlala (2021) found that among the identified policy challenges, the main loophole was linked to the implementation due to various factors, including limited powers. in agreement, hanslo (2020) highlighted that in terms of implementing sanctions as per the learners’ code of conduct, learners get away with many misconducts since there are no proper structures in place. in this light, a gap between policy and implementation hinders attempts to address learner-on-teacher violence. on the other hand, du plessis and mncube (2018) found that principals become dictators in disciplinary procedures as per policies and sometimes make unilateral decisions. makhasane and khanare (2018), who argue that leaders with positions, including principals, struggle to establish and preserve a climate where teachers encounter less learner-on-teacher violence. in the same light, mkandla (2021) shares that, in other instances, the same policies contradict each other. hence the identified loopholes in addressing various learner behavioral problems at school remain challenging. for example, the learner ‘s code of conduct and safety policies have sanctions that include expelling learners; however, this is a contravention of the children's act 38 of 2005, which addresses issues relating to children's right to care, including safeguarding them from any prejudice, exploitation, moral, physical, and other physical risks. this finding is consistent with the findings by segalo and rambuda (2018), who indicate that responsible people are not sure how to discipline learners due to human rights principles outlined by the constitution of the republic of south africa, south african schools act, and the south african council of educators' act 31 of 2000. another known factor linked to complicating leadership's ability to address learner-on-teacher violence is outdated school policies. hanslo (2020:84) reports that policies are not reviewed as expected in some schools for various reasons. lack of parental involvement studies have suggested that addressing learner-on-teacher violence cannot only be done at school, as parents are believed to have the power to change this problem significantly. this idea is supported by đurišić and bunijevac (2017), who contend that involving parents in handling various issues at school is directly linked with the outcome of positive behavior of learners. in the same way, seoka (2019) believes that teachers struggle with learners who instigate violence against them due to a lack of parental discipline at home. moreover, according to sasa, parents must support the school by monitoring their children's behavior. in other words, parents must play a role in the discipline of their children. despite a great need for parental involvement, segalo and rambuda (2018) caution that parents are deliberately absconding from their responsibilities regarding disciplining their children. zwane (2021) shared the same sentiments that lack of parental involvement was portrayed as uncaring because educators believe that wealthy parents add salt to their wounds 176 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 as they disrespect and treat them as lower class. in agreement, josiah et al. (2018) reported that when disciplinary measures are implemented against their children, some parents have a history of threatening school leaders, particularly those in positions of authority in the community. this means that parents with influence make it difficult for leaders to implement disciplinary measures against learners who instigate violence against teachers. sitoyi (2020) argues that parents do not guide their children; they do not want to intervene. instead, they leave everything to teachers. parents' resistance to supporting schools is believed to contribute to the prevalence of learner-on-teacher violence. knowing that their parents will defend them can encourage learners to disrespect teachers. nhambura (2020) indicates that instead of supporting schools, parents are defensive and always side with their children. manamela (2021) also shares the sentiment that in instances where disciplinary measures are implemented, parents question the process and claim they were unaware of such measures, which indicates that parents do not fulfil their role of disciplining their children and supporting teachers is contributing to the problem. insufficient departmental support the [south african] department of basic education (dbe) supports the schools in achieving their educational mandate. however, manamela (2021) asserts that there frequently appears to be a breakdown in communication between the dbe and schools and insufficient school leadership preparation for implementing policies. manamela (2021) further contends that school leaders fail to enforce disciplinary policies due to inadequate training in school leadership, indicating that the communication breakdown between schools and the dbe is one of the reasons why implementing policies still presents several gaps. biyela (2018) states that although the dbe, in partnership with the crime and prevention institute and human research council, provides statistics on school safety and security issues, these organizations never address the problems directly. mohlala (2021) believes that the dbe must provide trained security personnel to minimize the incidents of teachers being victimized by learners; however, this is not possible as schools are under-resourced. furthermore, zwane (2021) states that the general mindset of learners becomes compromised if they learn without extra mural activities. still, schools lack adequate sports facilities, and the dbe is slow to respond to these needs meaning that learner-on-teacher violence is inevitable in schools where sports are not supported. lack of support from other stakeholders according to manamela (2021), school leaders must collaborate with educators, support staff, the school community, smts, and school governing bodies (sgbs) by developing connections and networks to deal with various violence at school. this means that all relevant stakeholders, including educators, support staff, the school community, smts, and sgb need to play a role in addressing learner-on-teacher violence. 177 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 to maintain law and order, which may lead to minimizing the prevalence of learner-onteacher violence, mutual participation of all relevant stakeholders and the school must occur. however, obadire and sinthumele (2021) caution that society and media have normalized acts of violence, making the instigation of violence against teachers by learners inevitable. apart from that, manamela (2021) reports that in addressing disciplinary problems, some stakeholders start questioning the approaches without approaching school leaders, instead complaining through the media. other than media influence, political interference is also seen as a challenge. due to that, josiah et al. (2018) state that sometimes principals fail to use appropriate disciplinary measures because politicians use their influence and intimidate principals. aman, moorad and mukhopadhyay (2020) found that school leaders fail to discipline learners because they fear parents will take them to court. in this light, josiah et al. (2018) argues that the rule of law costs school principals their respect and honor when cases are decided in favor of learners and their parents, thus making it more challenging to address the ill behavior of learners. methodology interpretive paradigm the study used an interpretive paradigm because its goal was to explore smts' challenges in addressing learner-on-teacher violence in secondary schools. according to denzin and lincoln (2017), a research paradigm is a set of beliefs, agreements, and assumptions that direct human action to comprehend questions for in-depth research. rahi (2017, p.1) describes an interpretive paradigm as "real knowledge acquired via greater understanding and interpretation of a phenomenon under inquiry". the interpretive paradigm was pertinent to this research since it enabled an understanding of the multiple realities that the participants highlighted about the challenges of addressing leaner-on-teacher violence. qualitative research approach in this paper, a qualitative research methodology was employed. according to merriam and grenier (2019), qualitative research focuses on narrating, comprehending, and examining phenomena utilizing classification and subjective measurement techniques. williamson et al. (2018) define a qualitative method as a tool to explore and research people's understanding and perspectives of a specific human situation. according to tracy (2020), a researcher can use qualitative research to make an effort to understand a phenomenon in a variety of settings, including interviews, company meetings, and public events. multiple case studies of two schools the paper used a multiple-case study research design. case studies are verifiable investigations that incisively explore an existent phenomenon (tracy, 2020). according to creswell and poth (2018), a multiple case study examines a current issue employing participants from various 178 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 research settings. two secondary schools in the eastern free state served as the case studies for this investigation. selection of the participants participants were selected from two south african secondary schools to explore smts' challenges in addressing learner-on-teacher violence in secondary schools. the two secondary schools were purposively selected with a focus on geographical location, as one is in a rural area whilst the second one is in a township. the decision was informed by an underlying view that teachers in township schools experience learner-on-teacher violence compared to their rural counterparts. in addition, both schools were close to the domicile of both researchers, making it convenient and cost-effective to collect data. the sample included eight participants. they are divided into two groups, five smt members and three teachers. secondary school teachers were included in the study to elicit data from non-smt members. their participation and responses informed researchers of the challenges seen when smts deal with cases of learneron-teacher violence. the diagrammatic table below summarizes the information of participants from the two case study schools that served as research sites. the composition table displays the participants' school roles, work experience, and gender. table 1 breakdown of sample participants. school participant position participant role experience in current position gender code a principal school head 3 years male psa a hod hod 1 year male hsa a teacher member of disciplinary committee 2 years male tsa1 a teacher member of disciplinary committee 32 years male tsa2 b principal school hod 5 years male psb b hod hod 3 years male hsb1 b hod hod 24 years male hsb2 b teacher class teacher 17 years female tsb data collection methods semi-structured and individual interviews were used to generate data. according to leavy (2017), semi-structured interviews enable participants to provide in-depth responses to topics 179 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 that were not predefined. for this study, semi-structured interviews are regarded as appropriate since they are adaptable and use open-ended questions to encourage unexpected and genuine responses. howitt (2019) defines one-on-one interviews as a method in which the interviewer investigates and poses pertinent questions to one participant to learn more about a particular subject of interest. data analysis thematic analysis was used to analyze data for the study. howitt (2019) defines thematic analysis as a method that involves categorizing collected data into descriptive categories of themes. through thematic analysis, a professional transcriber's transcription of interview recordings is done in stages to ensure that no vital information is omitted. as per the recommendation by lester et al. (2020), the process of thematic analysis was done by adopting the stages that include becoming familiar with the data, generating initial codes, searching for themes, reviewing those themes, defining the themes, and writing up the report. trustworthiness the study adhered to the principles of trustworthiness concerning credibility. since the study used semi-structured interviews, information on the audio recorder was transcribed and sent to participants to verify all information. moreover, to abide by the principle of honesty, data was only collected from participants willing to share information freely. ethical considerations obtaining ethical approval from the university of the free state ethics committee was necessary before beginning the data collection procedures. it was also done according to protocol by asking the free state dbe for authorization to conduct the research in the selected free state schools. additionally, the research was explained to the principals of the two school, who were then asked to grant permission for undertaking research in their respective schools. the participants were adequately informed about data security, sensitivity, confidentiality, and privacy. before the interviews, a consent form was provided. all information was stored electronically on a password-secure icloud account only to be accessed by the researchers. findings the participants from the two selected schools agreed that while different leadership practices are utilized to address learner-on-teacher violence, they are limited since they have several challenges. these challenges include parents who refuse to support schools, ineffective policies, constrained support networks from other stakeholders, and a lack of departmental support. we now turn to present the findings regarding the identified challenges. parents unwilling to support school. according to empirical evidence, parents do not provide smts with enough support to address the challenge of learner-on-teacher violence. the participants stated that addressing the prevalence of learner-on-teacher violence cannot be a one-way street, as parents are expected to support school leaders and teachers. the participants lamented that when a learner commits 180 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 misconduct, and parents are called in to intervene, parents become defensive, side with their children, curse at teachers, and refuse to be corrected. psa from school a said: you'll sometimes give a learner a letter to summon the parent, but then the learner will always give only her side or his side of the story and then the parent will come here being angry without even giving us a chance to present our own story and once you start coming with a sanction, the parents start becoming defensive. in the same school, tsa2 spoke about cases in which parents failed to play their part because their children are very disciplined at home but at school become the opposite: learners tend to play double standards by being very disciplined at home but the opposite at school, but parents always jumping the gun when they are summoned to school due to illbehavior of their children makes it hard to deal with the prevalence of learner-on-teacher violence. another participant from school a revealed that parents do not want to take accountability and responsibility for their children. hsa said: parents don't have time, you call the parent, and the parent is not there. it's like they have decided that these children are for teachers; therefore, every morning, they should come to teachers, but at the end of the year, parents are marching at the school gate demanding their children to pass. the problem of parents not being prepared to support the school is confined to school a, as the issue resurfaced when school a participants were interviewed. hsb1 shared: "we also involve the parents, but unfortunately, most parents do not support the effort because they are summoned to the school; they don't pitch." when parents are summoned to schools to intervene in school a, they swear at teachers. tsb highlighted: but here at the school, when let me say, for example, sometimes you call in a parent when they get here, they start swearing at us. parents swear at us, and when they are like that, we must at all times remain calm and humbled and not swear or even shout back because if you, as a teacher, can shout back, it's going to be regarded as unprofessional behavior. the principal psb took the idea further by referring to an incident involving some parents who did not want to be corrected: we once had an incident where we called parents to intervene in discipline issues concerning their children, but parents did not want to listen, and they told us that we cannot come now and tell them what they've been doing for the past 20 years is wrong. the role of parents in addressing various school issues, including the prevalence of learner-onteacher violence, is critical. however, parents' unwillingness to play their part makes it difficult for school leaders to address the issue. according to participants from both schools, one of the challenges of addressing learner-on-teacher violence is that parents do not support school 181 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 leaders. participants also revealed that parents shield their children and become defensive instead of supporting schools and teachers in dealing with learner-on-teacher violence. empirical data from school a suggests that efforts to address learner-on-teacher violence were hampered due to parents' resistance to support school leaders in an effort to address learner-on-teacher violence. these findings are in line with petso's (2021) contention that a lack of appropriate parenting and involvement in school activities contributes to increased learneron-teacher violence. the findings are also similar to botha and zwane’s (2021) belief that close relationships between teachers and parents promote learner self-discipline and reduce the prevalence of learner-on-teacher violence. in the absence of such close relationship learner-onteacher violence is likely to prevail. inadequate policies the participants from the two selected schools revealed that smts and the teachers use learners' code of conduct, safety policies, and classroom rules policies to address the prevalence of learner-on-teacher violence. however, the participants indicated that these policies do not help alleviate the problem of learner-on-teacher violence for various reasons, including the lack of regular amendments and school leaders' inability to review the policies. participant psa shared: i must say that in our schools, particularly township schools, we don't usually amend policies because we concentrate on catch-up and results. we don't have time, and we sometimes find ourselves using very old policies and don't even refer to them. hsa said their school policies are not reviewed regularly: "i got here last year in july. and from then until now, the policy is still the same; it has not been reviewed this year." the hsa has been revealed: sometimes we are not capacitated to work on amendment of policies that align with the south african schools act or the constitution. furthermore, we don't have a straight policy that addresses learner-on-teacher violence. it's a general policy; we don't have a specific policy; we only have a code of conduct for learners. despite the psa and hsa outlining that their policies are not reviewed, the tsa from the same school highlighted: "policy amendments are normally dependent on situations. for example, if there's a new arising challenge which is not covered by policies, then that would force policy review." on the other hand, although psa from school a complained that they are not capacitated to deal with the amendment of policies, in school a, hsb2 reported: "we attend workshops, where we are trained and equipped, and people are invited, consultants, to come and train us on an array of issues." hsb1 further outlined that in school a, policies are reviewed: "we review them annually; if it's not annually, it can be when necessary, but we have to amend them." 182 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 hsb2 shared the same sentiment: "by bi-annually, we come together and review policies because you, in other instances, reviews are being attended to by other authorities in high positions where new policies are enacted." although the code of conduct is clear that when addressing severe misconduct, including learner-on-teacher violence, learners must be suspended or even expelled, psb advocates: my role in a disciplinary hearing, in a law language, they call it to adduce evidence. when you adduce evidence, you don't sit as a constant member of a disciplinary committee, even the prescripts of the law. so once the hod receives a message that the principal was sitting in the disciplinary hearing, they know that the learner wins the case; it is thrown out. it's scrapped because we are instructed even if you have suspended that learner, the supervisor of that school is instructed to ensure that the learner the next day sits in class. after all, the process becomes flawed. the findings suggest a glaring discrepancy between policies and their implementation. the constitution protects the learner by stating that they must be protected and that suspending them would violate their constitutional right to attend school. participants at school a revealed that their policies are not reviewed, in contrast to participants in school a who highlighted that their rules are reviewed annually or bi-annually. participants from school a indicated that although their policies are reviewed as appropriate, the fact that the principal defends learners when sanctions are applied revealed the inconsistent and contradictory ways in which policies are put into practice. this result supports the findings of du plessis and mncube (2018), who contend that principals take on a dictatorial role in disciplinary procedures and make arbitrary choices. the results also agree with hanslo (2020), who warns that even if the learner code of conduct needs to be revised at least once a year, responsible individuals fail to do so. lack of support from other stakeholders data suggests that all stakeholders, including sgb members, parents, the government, politicians, and community structures, must be included to address the learner-on-teacher violence in the participant schools. empirical evidence, however, showed that these stakeholders are a part of the issue, not the solution. regarding sgb members who are tasked with assisting smts in updating various policies to verify their applicability, psa from school a reported: "one of the responsibilities of the sgb is to represent all parents and amend school policies, but they are not literate can go to the extent of being able to amend the policies." regarding the role performed by community members, psa emphasized that they keep quiet when schools struggle with various problems, such as incidents of learner-on-teacher violence. however, they begin to take a defensive stance when leaders implement sanctions as outlined in policies. he said: "and as it is of now, we've got suspensions of learners due to various misconducts, and i will not be surprised if next week i might see the politicians taking this up instead of supporting us." tsa1 shared the same sentiments and added: 183 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 these learners are well informed with politics more than school-related information because of influence. they know how the system protects them over us through community political leaders, and because of that, they do as they please. in instances where school support structures are active, psb states: the unfortunate thing is people serving in various committees and those who are schoolbased supportive coordinators; are ordinary teachers trained to be ordinary teachers. only a few who majored in psychology are appointed as school-based support coordinators, and that's where we are also missing the point. for example, you cannot take a nurse and say that because you have a nursing qualification now, we want you to be a doctor and operate on a patient. these results showed that the neighborhood where school a is located has a lot of politically active families. these families are thought to use their political clout to assist children in getting away with various offences, including learner-on-teacher misconduct, following aman et al. (2020), who found that school administrators don't punish learners because they fear legal action from parents. participants from school b were silent on the subject, but they concurred that the community should do more to promote order at home so that the school may expand on what it has already begun. aman et al. (2020), who emphasized that school discipline can only be maintained if parents at home instill valuable skills and morality in the children, reiterated this sentiment. the empirical data also showed that there are various coordinators for school-based support at school b. the fact that its employees did not pursue psychology degrees makes them unable to address the pervasiveness of learner-on-teacher violence. the results further confirm nhambura's (2020) assertion that schools cannot solve the issue of violent learners without the help of social workers, psychologists, legislators, and law enforcement. lack of departmental support the participants from the two participating schools suggested that school leaders take the dbe policies' approach to addressing learner-on-teacher violence and apply it to discipline. participants disclosed that the dbe does not assist them with learner-on-teacher violence problems. participants also reported a lack of infrastructure, teachers, security personnel, and psychologists who work in schools. in school a, hsa stated: the department does not support us; i know it will be like i'm anti-department, but they are doing nothing to support us with addressing violence. the only time the district officials come to us is when we were underperforming as a school or as a particular subject teacher, but they do not come to support us. one participant from school a then brought up a crucial point: if schools wish to keep disciplined students, they must also foster extracurricular activities that do not currently exist. participant tsa outlined: it is challenging to encourage learners to be disciplined without exposing them to extramural activities because. but we have what we call extra-mural activities so that learners can 184 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 play. but where will the learners play because we don't have governmental support to clean and maintain those grounds? from the same school, tsa2 also shared that government does not want to be accountable for anything: and in different issues at schools, the government always looks for loopholes to protect itself by making sure that principals take a fall, to the extent that government even presents new policies that we don't even know of when a trouble has presented itself at school. participant hsa voiced concern that, due to power limitations, teachers were powerless to defend themselves against violence committed against them, "teachers don't have power, we don't have power as teachers, our power has been stripped away by our same government. it's all about the learner. i mean, everything is all about the learner." in line with hsa's assertion that teachers' ability to protect themselves is constrained, hsb2 stated: "the saddest part is that our constitution has spoiled learners or children in south africa. teachers are so helpless nowadays; many feels like leaving this dear profession because they feel they are not protected." moreover, tsb spoke about an incident where learners opened a case against him: most of the time, when you do anything to learners trying to discipline them, they go to the police station and open the case for us. especially the learners of location b, they opened a case for me, and earlier today, the police were here looking for me because of the same thing. participant psb believes that there is a gap as the department does not assist in addressing learner-on-teacher violence: as township schools, we have realized that we are on our own, and thus, we continue to have disciplinary problems among our learners because even our department is not assisting in closing the gap, and i don't see a time where the gap would be closed. the findings from the two participating schools showed how a lack of departmental assistance had aggravated the difficulty in addressing the pervasiveness of learner-on-teacher violence. school a participants reported feeling overworked and that the government provided inadequate support. this aligns with nhambura's (2020) study, which claims that nonparticipation in sports, particularly for athletically inclined students, may lead to anger and violence. participants in school a also bemoaned that teachers' authority is constrained while the government refuses to accept responsibility for tackling learner-on-teacher violence. in the same way, participants in school b concurred that government regulations designed to discipline learners serve to shield them rather than bridge the gap in the discipline problem. even though participants at school a never revealed anything about students filing charges against them, one participant in school a claimed that police had previously been seeking him due to a learner filing a case against him. this relates to the findings by aman et al. (2020), who noted that school l leaders refrain from disciplining learners because of fear that parents will sue them. 185 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 discussion this section discusses the finding about the smts' perspectives on challenges in addressing learner-on-teacher violence. in doing so, the paper also highlights the invitational leadership implications whenever such implications are apparent. the primary goal of this study is to explore the perspectives of smts on the challenges of addressing learner-on-teacher violence. participants from the two case study schools stated that learner-on-teacher violence poses several challenges for the school, including disrupting the smooth operation of the school and making it difficult to achieve its goals. participants agreed that various leadership practices are used to address learner-on-teacher violence; however, due to several identified gaps, all measures are insufficient. the shared challenges of addressing learner-on-teacher violence in the selected secondary schools include some parents' unwillingness to support schools, inadequate policies, limited support from other stakeholders, and a lack of support from the dbe. participants expressed concern about some parents' reluctance to support school leaders in addressing learner-on-teacher violence, citing the belief that a better outcome can be achieved if parents are involved in disciplinary matters. nonetheless, participants reported that parents interfere with disciplinary procedures by seeking help from influential community members. this finding is consistent with the findings of a study conducted by josiah et al. (2018), who found that when disciplinary measures are imposed on their children, some parents have a history of threatening school leaders, particularly parents in positions of authority in the community. the findings also revealed that parents do not want to be involved in their children's education. this finding is consistent with zwane's (2021) assertion that a lack of appropriate parenting and involvement in school activities contributes to increased learner-on-teacher violence at school. because parents are thought to play an essential role in the disciplinary process, addressing the prevalence of learner-on-teacher violence is complicated. the view that school leaders invite parents to various school activities, but some choose not to support these efforts suggests that school leaders in the two participating schools are invitational. according to this viewpoint, the challenge of some parents' refusal to participate in school activities directly contradicts the ideals of invitational leadership. the use of various policies, including the learner code of conduct and safety policy, to instill discipline and address learner-on-teacher violence cases was highlighted in empirical data from two participant secondary schools. participants identified a policy-implementation gap due to various factors, including principals acting as dictators in disciplinary processes and policies not being reviewed. according to a study by du plessis and mncube (2018), principals become dictators in disciplinary procedures and make unilateral decisions. hanslo (2020) also highlighted that policies are not being reviewed as expected in some schools for various reasons. regarding policy review and implementation, participants indicated they were not trained to implement and review policies. in line with the findings, manamela (2021) claims that there frequently appears to be a breakdown in communication between the dbe and schools 186 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 and insufficient preparation of school leadership for policy implementation. participants stated that principals obstruct the process when a disciplinary committee has decided on implementing sanctions, particularly the suspension of learners. this finding is consistent with hartnack's (2017) findings, who reported that the education district frequently pressures school leaders to return learners to school because learning is a priority, as stated in section 7 of the constitution. as a result of the factors mentioned above, it is generally believed that policies are insufficient, making it challenging to address learner-on-teacher violence. policies are one of the tenets of ilt, and the emphasis is on policies communicating and inviting guidelines to all interested stakeholders. on the contrary, in cases where policies were claimed to be inadequate in the two selected schools, the school leaders appear to be uninviting to some extent. in terms of policy implementation and review, ilt emphasizes that once policies are adopted, it is the responsibility of school leaders to train or communicate with all interested stakeholders. the realization that messages about how policies should be implemented were not communicated to participants is a contradiction of ilt, thus further revealing that the school leaders in the participant schools were not invitational. one of the challenges in addressing learner-on-teacher violence in the selected secondary schools was a lack of support from the dbe and other stakeholders. participants expressed a strong desire for a specialist to be permanently assigned to schools in this regard. participants also revealed that politics interfere with disciplinary processes, making it difficult for school leaders to apply sanctions as specified in policies consistent with aman et al. (2020), who found that school leaders do not discipline students because they are afraid of being sued by their parents. similarly, manamela (2021) reports that when dealing with discipline issues, some stakeholders question the approaches without approaching school leaders, instead complaining through the media. the findings support nhambura's (2020) assertion that school leaders cannot address the issue of violent students without the support and assistance of social workers, psychologists, politicians, and law enforcement. participants lamented that the dbe is not accountable for addressing learner-on-teacher violence. participants, for example, revealed that it came to their attention that some incidents of learner-on-teacher violence are caused by the frustrations of pupils who excel in sports but do not have the resources to support extracurricular activities. this was also found by nhambura (2020), who claims that non-participation in sports, particularly for gifted learners, can lead to frustration and aggression. similarly, zwane (2021) reports that learning without extra-mural activities compromises learners' general mindset, and thus the doe is slow because schools lack adequate sports facilities. according to the scope of ilt, inviting leaders must be capable of developing programs that can distract learners from misconduct. in this case, participants acknowledged that combining sports and academics distracts students from engaging in inappropriate behavior, such as learner-on-teacher violence. however, the dbe's refusal to help with this effort contradicts one of the tenets of ilt. 187 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 conclusion and recommendations this qualitative study aimed to investigate the smt's perspectives on the challenges of addressing learner-on-teacher violence in secondary schools. according to this study, addressing learner-on-teacher violence remains challenging for smt members. despite various efforts to address learner-on-teacher violence in the selected participant schools, schools continue to experience learner-on-teacher violence. in this regard, insufficient policies, parental support, support from other stakeholders, and a lack of support from the dbe are obstacles to addressing learner-on-teacher violence. although the study identified inadequate policies, limited support systems from other stakeholders, and a lack of departmental support as challenges in addressing learner-on-teacher violence, the study also found a lack of support from some parents as a significant challenge for school leaders dealing with it. concerning policies, it was found that some principals and smt members do not understand their roles outlined in policies for dealing with learner misconduct. furthermore, some schools' policies are not reviewed to ensure their relevance in addressing issues such as learner-on-teacher violence. to address learner-on-teacher violence, school leaders must invite all key role players to participate in designing programs that will help address this issue. the dbe should make emotional intelligence one of the mandatory subjects in secondary schools because it can change learners learned violent behavior and thus help to address learner-onteacher violence. acknowledgements the nrf supported this work under grant number ttk23020467298 references aman, h. a., moorad, f. r., & mukhopadhyay, s. (2020). stakeholders' perceptions of their roles in enhancing discipline in rural community schools. journal of education research and rural community development, 2(2), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4023101 anderman, e.m., espelage, d.l., reddy, l.a., mcmahon, s.d., martinez, a., lane, k.l., reynolds, c., & paul, n. (2018). teachers' reactions to experiences of violence: an attributional analysis. social psychology education, 21, 621-653. https://doi..org/10.1007/s11218-018-9438-x bipath, k. (2017). challenges faced by the school management team (smt) regarding school safety in south africa. international journal of science and research, 73(3), 65-85. https://doi:10.21506/j.ponte.2017.3.36 biyela, m. (2018). the role of school safety and security committees in the welfare of learners in combined schools [unpublished dissertation]. university of kwa-zulu natal. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4023101 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11218-018-9438-x http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11218-018-9438-x http://dx.doi.org/10.21506/j.ponte.2017.3.36 188 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 botha, r. j. & zwane, r. p. (2021). strategies to prevent leaner-on-educator violence in south african schools. international journal of learning, teaching and educational research, 20 (9), 1–-17. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.9.1 chen, j., & chen, l. (2019). a cross-national examination of school violence and nonattendance due to school violence in taiwan, hong kong, and mainland china: a rasch model approach. journal of school violence, 19(2), 177-191. https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2019.1568882 creswell, j. w., & poth, c. n. (2018). qualitative inquiry & research design: choosing among five approaches, 4th ed. sage publications. davids, n., & waghid, y. (2016). responding to violence in post-apartheid schools: on school leadership as mutual engagement. education as change, 20(1), 28-42. https://doi 10.17159/1947-9417/2016/557 decordova, f., berlanda, s., pedrazza, m., & fraizzoli, m. (2019). violence at school and the well-being of teachers. the importance of positive relationships. frontiers in psychology, 10(1807), 1-9. https://doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01807 de wet, n. c. (2010). south african english newspapers' depiction of learner-on-teacher violence. communicare, 40(2), 21-42. https://doi:10.36615/jcssa.v40i2.1309 denzin, n. k., & lincoln, y. s. (2017). the sage handbook of qualitative research, 5th ed. sage publications. department of education (doe). (2000). school management teams: managing and leading schools. government printers. du plessis, p., & mncube, v. (2018). formulation and implementation of a code of conduct for learners: a strategy for improving discipline in schools. retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326919045_formulation_and_implem entation_of_a_code_of_conduct_for_learners_a_strategy_for_improvin g_discipline_in_schools đurišić, m., & bunijevac, m. (2017). parental involvement as a important factor for successful education. center for educational policy studies journal, 7(3), 137-153. https://doi 10.26529/cepsj.291 govender, k. (2015). primary school teachers' experiences of violence towards them perpetrated by learners [masters dissertation, university of kwazulu-natal.]grobler, g. w. (2018). narratives of teachers' experiences of school violence and ethics of care [masters dissertation, stellenbosch university]. hanslo, h. d. (2020). educators' perspectives on a code of conduct for learners at selected high schools [masters dissertation, stellenbosch university]. hartnack, a. (2017). background document and review of key and international literature on school dropout. retrieved from https://dgmt.co.za/wp content/uploads/2017/08/school-dropout-background-paper-final.pdf. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.9.1 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2019.1568882 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2019.1568882 http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1947-9417/2016/557 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01807 http://dx.doi.org/10.36615/jcssa.v40i2.1309 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326919045_formulation_and_implementation_of_a_code_of_conduct_for_learners_a_strategy_for_improving_discipline_in_schools https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326919045_formulation_and_implementation_of_a_code_of_conduct_for_learners_a_strategy_for_improving_discipline_in_schools https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326919045_formulation_and_implementation_of_a_code_of_conduct_for_learners_a_strategy_for_improving_discipline_in_schools http://dx.doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.291 189 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 howitt, d. (2019). introduction to qualitative research methods in psychology: putting theory into practice, 4th ed. pearson. igu, n. c. n., & ogba, f. n. (2019). managing education for curbing the spread of violence in nigeria: implications for schools' growth and national development. in r. papa (ed.), school violence in international context: perspectives from educational leaders without borders. (pp. 57-58). springer international publishing. josiah, o., zeniatu, a., & oluwatoyin, k. b. (2018). challenges encountered by principals in enforcing students' discipline in secondary schools in edo north senatorial district, nigeria. european journal of educational and development psychology, 6(2), 35-47. https://doi.org/10.37745/ejedp.2013 kolbe, l. j. (2020). school gun violence in the united states. journal of school health, 90(3), 245-253. https://doi:10.1111/josh.12866 leavy, p. (2017). research design: quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, arts-based, and community-based participatory research approaches. the guilford press. lester, j. n., cho, y., & lochmiller, c. r. (2020). learning to do qualitative data analysis: a starting point. human resource development review, 19(1), 94-106. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484320903890 lunneblad, j. & johansson, t. (2021). violence and gender thresholds: a study of the gender coding of violent behaviour in schools. gender and education, 33(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2019.1583318 makhasane, s. d., & khanare, f. p. (2018). teacher's perspectives about causes of learneronteacher violence in two south african schools: implications for school leadership. anthropologist, 31(1-3), 15-24. doi: 10.31901/24566802.2018/31.1-3.1953 makhasane, s. d., & mthembu, p. (2019). exploring school violence misconceptions and professional development of teachers. african renaissance, 16(3), 49-66. https://doi 10.31920/2516-5305/2019/v16n3a3 manamela, m. g. (2021). collaborative leadership strategies to enhance learner discipline in secondary schools [masters dissertation, university of the free state]. merriam, s. b., & grenier, r. s. (2019). qualitative research in practice: examples for discussion and analysis, 2nd ed. jossey-bass. mkandla, c. a. (2019). teachers' experiences of learner indiscipline during teaching and learning in a johannesburg east secondary school [masters dissertation, university of witwatersrand]. mohlala, a. (2021). the role of school governing bodies in the implementation of safety policy: a case study of the mamabolo circuit, limpopo province, south africa [master’s dissertation, university of limpopo]. netshitangani, t. (2019). voices of teachers on school violence and gender in south africa urban public school. journal of reviews on global economics, 9, 21-29. https://doi 10.6000/1929-7092.2019.08.03 https://doi.org/10.37745/ejedp.2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/josh.12866 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1177/1534484320903890 https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2019.1583318 http://dx.doi.org/10.31920/2516-5305/2019/v16n3a3 http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1929-7092.2019.08.03 190 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 nhambura, m. (2020). handling of violent behaviour of learners in secondary schools: a case study of vryburg cluster in north-west province [doctoral dissertation, university of the north west]. ngidi, l. c. (2018). reducing school violence: a peace education project amongst stakeholders in umlazi [doctoral dissertation, durban university of technology]. ntuli, l. t. (2018). managing curriculum implementation at selected primary schools in the sekhukhune district, limpopo province [doctoral dissertation, university of south africa]. obadire, o. t., & sinthumele, d. a. (2021). learner discipline in the post-corporal punishment era: what an experience! south african journal of education, 41(2), 1-8. https://dx.doi.org/10.15700/saje.v41n2a1862 ogba, f., & igu, n. (2019). violence in nigerian secondary schools: implications for educational management and sustainable development. in: r. papa (ed.). school violence in international context: perspectives from educational leaders without borders (pp. 5758). springer international publishing. petso, z. r. (2021). educators as victims of learner-on-educator violence in south african schools: a model for countering the violence against teachers [thesis]. university of south africa. rahi, s. (2017). research design and methods: a systematic review of research paradigms, sampling issues and instruments development. international journal of economics & management science, 6(2), 1-5. https://doi 10.4172/2162-6359.1000403 sace. (2020). handbook for teachers' rights, responsibilities and safety. government printer. segalo, l., & rambuda, a. m. (2018). south african public school teachers' views on right to discipline learners. south african journal of education, 38(2), 1-7. https://doi:10.15700/saje.v38n2a1448 seoka, m. f. (2019). challenges facing school governing bodies in managing discipline among youth at selected rural secondary schools in the shiluvane circuit in limpopo province [masters dissertation, university of limpopo]. singh, g. d., & steyn, t. (2014). the impact of learner violence in rural south african schools. journal of sociology and social anthropology, 5(1), 81-93. https://doi.org/10.1080/09766634.2014.11885612 sitoyi, c. p. (2020). teacher and learner experiences of violence in a cape flats school, western cape [masters dissertation, university of the western cape]. tracy, s. j. (2020). qualitative research methods: collecting evidence, crafting analysis, communicating impact. 2nd ed. wiley blackwell williamson, k., given, l. m., & scifleet, p. (2018). qualitative data analysis. elsevier woudstra, m. h., van rensburg, e. j., & visser, m. (2018). learner-to-teacher bullying as a potential factor influencing teachers' mental health. south african journal of education, 38(1), 1-10. https://doi 10.15700/saje.v38n1a1358 https://dx.doi.org/10.15700/saje.v41n2a1862 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2162-6359.1000403 http://dx.doi.org/10.15700/saje.v38n2a1448 https://doi.org/10.1080/09766634.2014.11885612 http://dx.doi.org/10.15700/saje.v38n1a1358 191 jcve 2023, 6(2): 172-191 zwane, p. r. (2021). educators as victims of learner-on-educator violence in south african schools: a model for countering the violence against teachers [doctoral dissertation, university of south africa]. journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 2 2023 pp. 66-84 difficulties and coping behaviors in interpersonal relationship formation among japanese students in france: implications for crosscultural social skills for studying abroad in france yuri okunishi*1 & tomoko tanaka2 * corresponding author: email: okunishi@ped.ous.ac.jp 1. faculty of education, okayama university of science, okayama, japan 2. graduate school of humanities and social sciences, okayama university, okayama, japan article info received: january 17, 2023 accepted: april 23, 2023 published: june 2, 2023 how to cite okunishi, y. & tanaka, t. (2023). difficulties and coping behaviors in interpersonal relationship formation among japanese students in france: implications for cross-cultural social skills for studying abroad in france. journal of culture and values in education, 6(2), 66-84. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.9 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract this study examined cross-cultural difficulties experienced by japanese students in france and their coping strategies. this study consists of 2 parts: in study i, difficulties in interpersonal relationship formation and coping strategies were explored from the perspective of japanese students in france. in study ii, japanese students’ coping behaviors in france were evaluated from the hosts’ perspective. additionally, expected coping behaviors in specific sociocultural contexts were examined. data were obtained through questionnaire surveys and interviews. study i demonstrated that interpersonal difficulties fell under three major categories: assertiveness, sociability, and schedule fluidity. these comprise eleven medium and four minor categories. in study ii, active coping, in which a guest student actively attempted to address a challenge, and receptive coping, in which a guest accepted the host’s behavior and perspective, received high evaluations. finally, the use and teaching of cross-cultural social skills with french people are discussed. keywords japanese students in france; cross-cultural social skills; social support; study abroad; interpersonal relationship formation; crosscultural adaptation 10.46303/jcve.2023.9 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.9 67 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 introduction to date, japan has been promoting japanese students' foreign education as part of its globalization strategy. however, because transitioning to an intercultural environment is a psychologically burdensome experience, japanese students abroad often experience maladjustment and mental health problems (inamura, 1980). like immigrants, international students move voluntarily; however, students stay abroad for relatively shorter periods and are expected to return home (ward et al., 2001). during their stay, they seek opportunities for academic and professional skills development and have relatively clear goals (ward et al., 1994). to achieve their academic goals and have a fulfilling experience within a limited period, they must maintain their physical and mental health and smoothly adapt to a new culture. according to the stress-buffering hypothesis proposed by fontaine (1989), intercultural residents’ interpersonal relationships with their hosts provide social support, which buffers stress and maintains psychological health. in reality, however, forming interpersonal relationships between people from different cultural backgrounds is difficult. tanaka (2003) examined the perceived causes of difficulties in interpersonal relationship formation between international students in japan and japanese students and identified the international students’ lack of culture-specific skills as an impediment. social skills primarily refer to behavioral skills, which are expected to facilitate the formation, maintenance, and development of interpersonal relationships. because socially expected behaviors differ in each culture, cross-cultural residents may lack requisite skills, resulting in discrepancies, discord, and inconveniences in social life, including interpersonal difficulties. although cross-cultural misunderstanding and friction can occur, appropriate social skills can facilitate the successful transition to a new environment (furnham et al., 1982). a study of japanese students in the us suggested that acquiring social skills helped them expand their social network, which positively impacted their cross-cultural adjustment (takahama et al., 2008). in a practical study by tanaka et al. (2013), in which social skills were taught to japanese students as pre-departure training for education in the us, social skills facilitated friendship and social network development, leading to positive evaluations of their foreign education. these studies suggest that learning and acquiring intercultural social skills in preparation for overseas education can enhance social support and ultimately promote intercultural adjustment. other studies on japanese expatriates have reported specific behaviors considered useful in host societies and discussed their implications (yashima et al., 2001; chen et al., 2014, & sako et al., 2018). this study focuses on social skill development among japanese residents in france. france was once a model country for japan's 100,000 international student plan, which was later revised to the 300,000 international student plan (ministry of education, culture, sports, science and technology (2008). having already received over 300,000 international students a year, france envisions to have 500,000 international students in higher education by 2027 (campus france, 2018). accordingly, the "welcome to france" strategy has been developed, 68 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 and laws have been amended to increase the number of english courses, overseas campuses, and scholarships. in 2014, france and japan were globally ranked 4th and 8th, respectively, in terms of the number of international students received, and 2nd and 4th, respectively, among non-english speaking countries (sugimura, 2015). france could be an appropriate model for japan because it has a similar scale of student exchange—although it is a step ahead. a survey of japanese students’ interpersonal relationships in france (nakano et al., 2019) revealed that they had developed relationships with their hosts; however, the crucial question of how they created their relationships remains unanswered. this study aims to investigate the challenges experienced by japanese students in france and their coping strategies and provide suggestions for acquiring appropriate social skills. in study i, japanese students in france reported difficulties in interpersonal relationship formation and coping strategies. in study ii, french students evaluated japanese students’ reported coping strategies from the hosts’ perspectives, and the expected coping behaviors in the specific sociocultural context were examined. finally, the applications of the findings to international student education are discussed. study i purpose this study aims to understand the difficulties experienced by japanese students in france in intercultural contact situations with french people and identify practical ways of coping with these difficulties to form interpersonal relationships. methods survey participants the survey sessions were held at university x in october 2014 and january 2015. six international japanese students (three females and three males) from university x as exchange students in a regional city in france participated in the study (table 1). they were selected using the nepotistic method and snowball technique commonly used in qualitative studies. a, b, c, and d participated in both sessions, whereas e and f participated only in the second session. procedures a questionnaire was developed based on tanaka (2000) in an open-ended format, asking japanese students how they related to french people (table 2). the study’s purpose and ethical considerations were explained to the participants. in the sessions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with one person at a time. a questionnaire survey was administered, and respondents were asked to elaborate upon their answers; the same questions were used in both sessions. during the interviews, the researcher asked questions from an objective standpoint as an investigator and listened attentively and actively. with permission, the narratives were recorded on an ic recorder, and a verbatim transcript was produced. the narratives were then synthesized for analysis. 69 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 table 1 overview of japanese participants ag e sex affiliation & grade major period of study abroad french learning history proficiency in french a 23 female undergraduate 4th year humanities sep. 2014aug. 2015 3 years & 6 months intermediat e b 22 male undergraduate 3rd year humanities sep. 2014june 2015 2 years & 6 months beginner c 21 female undergraduate 3rd year humanities sep. 2014dec. 2014 2 years & 6 months intermediat e d 20 male undergraduate 3rd year sciences sep. 2014aug. 2015 4 months beginner e 20 male undergraduate 3rd year humanities sep. 2014may 2015 3 years intermediat e f 20 female undergraduate 3rd year humanities sep. 2014may 2015 2 years & 9 months intermediat e table 2 questions about the methods of relating to the french in france intention question 1. cultural differences in interpersonal behavior: france what kind of french behavior have you found difficult to understand, different from your behavior, or difficult for you to acquire? please briefly list up to three examples of these specific situations or behaviors, and explain how you felt about them. 2. cultural differences in interpersonal behavior: japan have you ever felt that the french found it difficult to understand your behaviors as a japanese person? or, have you ever had your behavior misunderstood or misinterpreted? please briefly list up to three examples of these specific situations or behaviors. 3. interpersonal behavioral difficulties in your interactions with the french, have the differences in how they interact with each other ever confused you? please briefly list up to three examples of these specific situations. 4. coping practices how did you behave in the above situations? what were the results? for each situation, please briefly list your main responses and the results. 5. tips in interpersonal behavior please briefly list up to three things that you try to do to relate well with the french. 70 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 results difficulties in forming interpersonal relationships with french people japanese students in france described situations where they felt confused, different, surprised, uncomfortable, or had difficulties interacting with french people. the results are summarized in figure 1. the number of respondents in each category is indicated by the numbers in parentheses. the interpersonal difficulties fell under three major categories: 1) assertiveness, 2) sociability, and 3) schedule fluidity. the difficulties and how they were handled are described below, citing the narratives in quotation marks where appropriate. words are added in parentheses for parts that require clarification. difficulties related to assertiveness (i) insufficient assertiveness in france, higher assertiveness was expected than in japan; however, a few japanese students were too bashful, resulting in poor communication. (ii) impossibility of sensing others it was difficult for japanese students to perceive the mood of the conversation. it seemed as if the other party was expressionless while listening to the conversation. (iii) frankness hosts were extremely assertive and opinionated. a few japanese students encountered direct speech and cold facial expressions and attitudes from french people. (iv) conversation japanese students experienced challenges owing to limited language ability, uncertain speech timing, and the loudness of the interlocutor's voice. the slow pace of their japanese made it difficult to speak french. it was difficult for them to ascertain when to initiate a conversation. figure 1 difficulties experienced by japanese students in france in forming interpersonal relationships with their hosts i. insufficient assertiveness (7) ・explicit self-presentation ・refusing ・positive statements and actions iii. frankness (4) ･tiring them out with lack o explanation ･direct speech ･cold facial expressions and attitudes ･discussing during meal ii. impossibility of sensing others (3) i. myself (1) ii. hosts (2) ･communication through vagueness or atmosphere not working ･not perceiving atmosphere ・finding hosts expressionless ･loudness of voice ･not knowing when to enter a conversation iv. conversation (5) v. french-style greetings (5) ･sense of proximity ･biz, shaking hands ・being warned about way of shaking hands ･biz, shaking hands when meeting for the first time vi. no splitting of meal costs (1) vii. socializing with the opposite sex (3) ･bringing own instead of splitting meal costs ･ladies first ･being invited to hose of opposite sex ･going out with someone of opposite sex viii. active involvement (5) ⅲ. frankness (4) ･casually having meal with stranger ･lots of conversation at first meeting ・lack of hierarchical relationship ･often invited ･getting angry for not invited by japanese iv. invitation (2) ix. looseness (6) ･meeting time not fixed even on the day ･more people than expected on the day ･undecided what to do on the day ･not knowing how to get to meeting place ・meeting places limited x. environmental constraints (3) xi. uncertainty (4) ･schedule change ･forgetting promise ･being late for scheduled appointment ･misunderstanding due to incorrect use of french ･french not understood ･slow pace of japanese making it difficult to speak french 3.schedule fluidity (12) 2.sociability(14)1.assertiveness(15) 71 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 difficulties related to sociability (v) french-style greetings a student was puzzled by the peculiar greeting style in france—the french “biz,” a greeting with a kiss on the cheek. japanese students felt that the french were intimate with people because they shook hands and exchanged the “biz” even when meeting for the first time. (vi) no splitting of meal costs japanese students were surprised at the french method of paying for meals. unlike the japanese, the french pay for their own meals. (vii) socializing with the opposite sex students were perplexed by the differences in behavioral patterns. they were not accustomed to the social practice of “ladies first,” being invited to the house of someone of the opposite sex, going out with someone of the opposite sex, and so on. (viii) active involvement the students felt that their passivity hindered exchange. they were puzzled by the frank involvement of the french. they were surprised that the french could have a casual meal with a stranger, engage in conversations even when meeting for the first time, and disregard hierarchical relationships among students. the japanese students could not respond appropriately to their invitations. “french people became angry for not being invited by the japanese, saying, ‘why do i always have to ask first?’” difficulties related to schedule fluidity (ix) looseness japanese students found it perplexing that talks proceeded without a definite time, place, number of people, and so on, and the meeting time was not fixed even on the day of the event. they were confused that the number of participants continuously increased, and most remained unaware of the agenda. (x) environmental constraints geographic unfamiliarity restricted the students’ activities. “the meeting places were limited.” “i did not know how to reach the meeting place.” (xi) uncertainty the students had difficulty with the flexibility of schedules. they were also perplexed that plans changed along the way. “at first, i was puzzled by their lack of punctuality. they did not show up at the venue for 20–30 minutes. i realized that was just how it was.” “when i promised to meet someone, i thought it would be just the two of us, but it often happened that some of his friends came along.” coping with difficulties in forming interpersonal relationships with french people the narratives about the students’ coping with challenging situations and tips for building good relationships with french people were extracted and organized by major categories of difficulty. the approximate levels of difficulty were evaluated and presented in ascending order. there were four types of coping: 1) active coping—actively trying to resolve difficult situations or 72 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 anticipating them; 2) receptive coping—accepting a difficulty with a positive attitude; 3) passive coping—passively responding to another person’s approach; and 4) avoidant coping—avoiding a situation or giving up on a response. the following are brief descriptions of the applicable types of coping. coping with difficulties regarding assertiveness (1) dealing with coldness “i kept the conversation to a minimum and did not meet with them afterward” (avoidant coping). (2) listening again “i listened again and understood the conversation” (active coping). (3) unconcernedness “i did not think they meant more than what they said; therefore, i did not dwell upon it” (receptive coping). (4) non-verbal communication “i compensated my lack of linguistic expression with facial expressions, gestures, and body language” (active coping). (5) instrumental aids “i conveyed what i was about to say in the end by reinforcing it with tools, such as another language, a dictionary, or the internet” (active coping). (6) deciphering facial expressions “even when they appeared expressionless, i interpreted that favorably, as evidence that they were listening to me attentively” (receptive coping). (7) clear expressions “i made efforts to clearly express my thoughts, ideas, and opinions in words” (active coping). coping with difficulties of socialization (1) returning greetings “if someone shook hands or gave me a ‘biz,’ i reciprocated” (passive coping). (2) receipt of invitation “when invited to the house of someone of the opposite sex with several people, i accepted the invitation” (passive coping). (3) contact “i contacted people by e-mail, sns, phone, etc.” (active coping). (4) smile “i communicated with a smile” (active coping). (5) start of conversation “i greeted people and engaged in conversations” (active coping). (6) eye contact “i made eye contact with others, greeted them, and engaged in conversations” (active coping). (7) friendliness 73 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 “i practiced disregarding relationship hierarchies, willingly accepted introductions from friends, and treated others convivially” (receptive coping). (8) extreme joking “i tried using profanities” (active coping). (9) drinking communication “i drank and ruffled feathers” (active coping). coping with difficulty in schedule fluidity (1) dealing with cancellations “i gave up, realizing that cancellations were a matter of course” (avoidant coping). (2) interaction with unexpected participants “i was introduced to friends i had not planned to meet and was passively involved” (passive coping). (3) schedule change “i made alternative plans” (active coping). (4) tolerance for time “i felt that they were not punctual; however, i tolerated this” (receptive coping). discussion this study identified three types of interpersonal behavioral difficulties. these can be discussed in terms of cultural differences in interpersonal behavior between the japanese and the french. the first, regarding assertiveness, can be attributed to differences in expressiveness. japanese students in france felt that they were more reserved when confronted with the frankness of the french. they felt intimidated to participate in conversations and experienced their hosts’ lack of japanese-style sensitivity. in contrast, international students in japan were puzzled and discomforted by japanese students’ preference for indirect expressions. yokota (1991) indicated that international students in japan struggled to make friends with japanese people because the latter were regarded as less assertive and, therefore, less interesting. in iwasaki's survey of japanese students in france (2001), subjects were asked to name words that described french characteristics, and “assertiveness” was prominently mentioned. japanese students in the us were also puzzled by americans’ high assertiveness (takahama et al., 2009). thus, moving to a culture with a higher level of assertiveness creates difficulties for japanese students. the second difficulty, related to sociability, may reflect differences in cultural grammar in social behavior. first, in terms of formality, japanese people greet one another with a bow that does not involve physical contact, whereas in france, handshakes and the “biz” are common. a study of japanese and american college students comparing the degree of nonverbal physical contact with their family and friends revealed that the japanese had less contact with those favorable to them than the americans had with those unfavorable to them (barnlund, 1975). it is quite possible that refraining from communication involving physical contact could lead to discomfort in greeting situations. in french, the subject may be varied to 74 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 make expressions more polite. for example, in english, “you” is always used for the second person, whereas in french, “tu (you)” is often used for family and close friends, and “vous (you)” for other people. in japanese, honorifics are used for superiors, and the attitude toward them becomes polite. although the subject may be changed in french, the attitude is unchanged, as in japanese. this sense of distance may also affect the recognition of discomfort. regarding behavioral styles, kobayashi (1987) noted that the japanese and french differed in how they socialized. the japanese place greater emphasis on internal relationships with mutual friends, whereas the french seek to expand their circle of friends and acquaintances. japanese university students have reported feeling uncomfortable communicating with strangers or acquaintances (goto & daibo, 2003). unfamiliarity with french-style interpersonal interaction—that is, students looking forward to social gatherings where they could meet and socialize with strangers—and a lack of communication involving cultural differences might have hindered their active involvement with others. the examples of japanese students who feel apologetic about accepting active invitations and the french who become unhappy when not invited back by the japanese can be interpreted in terms of the cultural difference in invitations. from the french viewpoint, it would be disappointing not to be invited by a japanese student whom they had previously invited. the third difficulty regarding schedule fluidity can be interpreted in terms of cultural differences in norms. in japan, it is a social norm to keep one’s word—it is a virtue. the japanese proverb, “be slow to make promises and quick to fulfill them,” reflects a culture where promises are deeply honored. meanwhile, collett (1996) describes france as a society that is indifferent to punctuality. iwasaki (2001), asking japanese residents in france about words that described french people’s characteristics, identified the category of “looseness.” these findings support the existence of relative cultural differences regarding commitment norms. the coping behaviors listed above were organized into four types. considering the relatively modest one first, avoidant coping is a response that involves escaping or avoiding a difficult situation. rather than changing the familiar interpersonal behavior in japan, the troublesome situation itself is dismissed. eliminating burdensome relationships makes mental adjustment temporarily easier; however, obtaining social support from the hosts may become difficult. in this case, the effect on cross-cultural adjustment would be partial, as no relationship formation would promote sociocultural adaptation. this response is similar to aversive coping with stress, which avoids stressors (kamisato et al., 2002). the other three types use cognitive-behavioral responses. they can be characterized by modeling of behavior, cognitive responses, and behavioral coping. in the first, passive coping, the guests did not actively attempt to address a difficult situation; instead, they began to cope with the situation in response to the french person’s prompting. in other words, they attempted to cope with the situation through their hosts’ instructions and teachings. if they were taught interpersonal behaviors in the french sociocultural context, it could be a starting point for expanding social support. ward et al. (1999) stated that good interpersonal contact with hosts 75 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 in different cultures facilitates international students’ sociocultural adjustment. this may be a useful coping strategy because there is a contact, albeit reluctant, and cultural learning is likely to occur because of that contact. the second type, receptive coping, entails adjusting the cognitive aspects of accepting a difficult situation from a positive perspective. this cognitive coping strategy for dealing with stress reduces the threat of stress through psychological interpretation. this is similar to the cognitive coping strategy for stress, which reduces the threat of stress through psychological interpretation (kamisato et al., 2002). understanding the host’s behavior as a reflection of the french sociocultural context facilitates a positive perception and reduces cultural discomfort. by observing french people’s interpersonal behavior and striving to interact with them, guests can gradually improve their understanding of the meaning of cultural behavior, which is a useful coping strategy. finally, the third type, active coping, involves consciously devising a solution preemptively or when a difficulty arises. the japanese students practice interpersonal behavior consistent with the culture of the society in question through individual efforts and ingenuity. they learn new methods of interpersonal interaction unfamiliar to japanese culture by observing and imitating their hosts’ behavior. they actively attempt to judge situations and assess relationships with hosts. these actions encourage the initiation, maintenance, and development of relationships and strengthen social support. forming intercultural interpersonal relationships requires significant motivation and a willingness to expand one’s behavioral repertoire. this coping strategy may be the most useful among those found in this study, as it most directly promotes sociocultural adaptation. study ii purpose considering that interpersonal relationships are reciprocal, the views of host french students should also be explored. the purpose is to evaluate japanese students’ coping regarding interpersonal behavioral difficulties in interactions with french people from the hosts’ viewpoints. this study was conceived as an independent study, based on the results of study 1, to determine whether the coping strategies extracted in study i were effective responses from the perspective of the french hosts. methods survey collaborators five french students (two males and three females) born, raised, and residing in france and attending the same university were recruited as collaborators in study ii (table 3). as this was a survey on japanese behavior, a certain level of understanding of japanese culture was desired; thus, using the nepotistic method, the japanese language learners were asked to cooperate in the research. few french people study japanese in france, and understanding the japanese language and culture is uncommon, resulting in a small sample. table 3 76 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 overview of french informants age sex affiliation & grade japanese learning history h 22 female graduate 5th year 5 years i 24 male graduate 6th year 5 years j 22 male graduate 4th year 5 years k 23 female graduate 5th year 5 years & 6 months l 23 female graduate 1st year 5 years study period the survey was conducted at university b in december 2015. questionnaire based on the japanese students’ coping behaviors in france obtained in study i, 16 hypothetical situations were created in which japanese students were likely to encounter interpersonal difficulties in their interactions with french people while studying abroad. based on the coping behaviors identified in the previous study, three representative coping patterns were presented. the students were asked to rate each pattern’s appropriateness on a 100-point scale and provide reasons for their responses. the questionnaire was prepared in japanese and then translated into french in consultation with two individuals (one japanese and one french) experienced in mutual language learning and studying abroad. procedures after explaining the study's purpose and ethical considerations, a descriptive questionnaire survey was administered to the french survey collaborators. the hypothetical responses of japanese students in france were presented. participants were asked whether the responses were appropriate and effective as strategies for forming interpersonal relationships; their views on the expected behavior in such situations were elicited to provide insight into effective responses in the sociocultural context under investigation. results the hypothetical situations and coping behaviors, mean scores and standard deviations (sd) of their ratings, and main comments made by the hosts are shown in table 4. hypothetical scenes are summarized from the questionnaire. in the following section, we consider the relatively high-graded responses for each situation and refer to the hosts’ comments. assessment of coping difficulties related to assertiveness in the “1(1) cold attitude” situation, in which the host was perceived as cold, the response of shifting to a topic of interest and continuing the conversation was relatively highly evaluated. in the “1(2) conversation” situation, in which the understanding of the conversation was delayed, active responses, such as seeking explanations and relistening to understand the conversation, were preferred. the participants also suggested that guests try involving another friend in their conversation. in the “1(3) denial” situation, in which a guest’s preferences were unmet, 77 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 participants recommended not overthinking or searching for meaning beyond what is spoken. in the “1(4) expression” situation, in which a guest could not express themselves well in french, active responses using facial expressions and gestures to express their thoughts were preferred. when using tools to complement language, interrupting the flow of the conversation should be avoided. in the “1(5) expressionless” situation, in which the other party appeared to be expressionless, receptive coping was relatively valued, implying that the french attentively listened even when they appeared expressionless. table 4 hosts’ evaluation of japanese students’ coping difficulties in forming interpersonal relationships rating points hypothetical scenes coping/tips? procedures? m sd comments (recommended behavior) assertive ness (1) cold attitude (given the cold shoulder) change the subject to something of interest. keep the conversation to a minimum and leave that person. give a cold shoulder too. 86.0 36.0 24.0 8.9 36.5 25.1 it is awful to avoid. it is a little too early. a cold response creates a negative impression and an uncomfortable atmosphere. if there is no interest, little can be done. if you do not want to be friends, so be it. (2) conversation (not able to understand what they said) say, “i did not understand what you just said,” and seek an explanation. pretend to understand and smile. stumble over words with a troubled face. 92.6 42.0 16.0 15.5 23.9 25.1 i want them to tell me what is troubling them. if they are friends, they should not be shy, but it is futile to overdo it. smiling while pretending to understand, or stumbling over your words with a troubled look, is rude and obnoxious. (3) denial (explicitly being denied one’s preferences) accept the fact that my taste is different, and do not overthink. saddened by the lack of consideration. angry at being denied preferences. 94.0 18.0 10.0 8.9 20.5 14.1 grieving over what one considers a lack of consideration or being upset when one’s preferences are denied does not align with the french attitude of respecting differences in opinions and choices. (4) expression (not able to express myself well in french) use facial expressions and gestures. use tools (another language, dictionary, the internet). abruptly stop whatever you are saying. 90.0 66.0 23.0 12.2 32.1 26.4 using a language, dictionary or the internet should be limited to what is significant because that interrupts the conversation flow. stopping speech mid-sentence hinders language improvement and is disrespectful. (5) expressionless (being listened to without facial expression) assume that the listener is attentive. assume that my speech is boring. assume that the listener is angry. 62.0 58.0 32.0 16.4 32.7 30.3 they may be angry or find it boring. one should enquire whether they have a problem, are okay, and so on. sociabilit y (1) exchanging french greetings with which i am not good wait for the other person to shake my hand or biz me. say a word of greetings only. 80.0 78.0 50.0 14.1 29.5 48.0 words only can give a sense of distance. the french may also observe the other person’s reaction. bowing is acceptable to those who are 78 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 give a bow. aware of japanese culture, but it may seem rude to refuse to greet others. (2) interacting with the opposite sex (multiple men invited to a woman’s place) understand it is normal in france and accept the invitation. ensuring that i can really enter the room. refuse because i am not intimate with them and feel embarrassed. 94.0 38.0 13.0 8.9 39.6 12.0 daring to confirm may seem insistent and may cause negative feelings. if you decline the invitation, you will miss the opportunity to interact; thus, if you intend to integrate, accept the frank invitation. (3) invitation (wanting to invite friends, but the room is too small) invite them without worrying about the room size. contact them, but do not invite them yourself. plan to meet without finalizing the venue. 68.0 50.0 32.0 27.7 7.1 21.7 not inviting them and only contacting them gives the impression of being slightly cold and rude. it is acceptable to plan a meeting without finalizing a venue, but it is advisable to decide in advance. (4) mental attitude (mental attitude when dealing with french people) treat people genially. make eye contact when talking / shaking hands. smile at people. 100.0 84.0 70.0 0.0 11.4 18.7 a smile is more comforting than a grim face. making eye contact while talking is a sign of interest in them. however, excessive smiling and eye contact should be avoided. (5) encounter (meeting a friend on the street by chance) greet and invite them to a café. greet them, and no more. greet them and walk away. 90.0 84.0 35.0 10.0 19.5 43.9 if you have time to spare and intend to talk longer, a café is particularly suitable, especially if you are good friends. saying hello and standing around talking is frequent in an open relationship. leaving after just saying hello may seem slightly cold but not unfriendly. (6) seniority (meeting people older than oneself) converse without using honorifics. verify whether honorifics should be used. use honorifics when speaking to people in a higher grade. 90.0 66.0 18.0 12.2 27.0 20.5 if you are in the same position, it feels better and equitable not to use polite expressions. you may verify whether honorifics be used, but it may appear silly. honorifics are avoidable among students because they make them feel distant; however, they are advisable when meeting strangers. (7) party (having a party with friends) wait for someone to talk to me. drink and get out of line. jokingly use profanities, saying, “i know this word.” 42.0 35.0 10.0 23.9 18.7 10.0 waiting to be spoken to is acceptable but not recommended; you should be proactive. ruffling feathers in an inebriated state or jokingly uttering profanities does not leave a good impression and will not earn you their friendship, even if they laugh at your jokes. (8) meal (dining at a friend’s house with several people) invite a friend to dinner as a host next time. eat more than what i brought. pay for food for one person. 78.0 62.0 18.0 14.8 16.4 19.2 hospitality displays good manners and good relationships that are natural and equal. in case you bring your own food, it is polite to eat a quantity commensurate with your contribution and not feel guilty about it. paying for food for one person makes one feel uncomfortable. you should avoid unnecessary moneyrelated issues between friends. (1) last-minute cancellation suggest rescheduling the event. 83.0 24.4 postponing reflects congeniality. canceling the plan may signify that 79 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 schedule fluidity (cancellation of plans on the day of the event) go shopping alone and do not reschedule. complain to the person about the last-minute cancellation. 70.0 42.0 21.2 37.7 you do not intend to go out together and may damage the relationship. going alone and not postponing is acceptable and does not damage the image, depending on the nature and urgency of the situation. complaining about a cancelation is impolite and may damage the relationship if you are not close. (2) introduction of a friend (doing something with a friend of a friend with whom i meet for the first time) talk to that person proactively. if that person asks me something, i respond. listen quietly to my friend talking to that person. 84.0 84.0 42.0 26.1 23.0 37.0 talking to them is an opportunity to make friends. if people are talking, avoid interrupting or interjecting. it is not a good idea to remain a passive listener; it is advisable to enter the conversation proactively. (3) being late (a friend came in late) tolerate their being late and not say anything. ask why one was late. complain about frequent tardiness. 68.0 64.0 46.0 21.7 37.8 35.8 they may wish to explain to each other; thus, if tardiness is an issue, it should be carefully interpreted. complaining about frequent tardiness is not welcome, even among good friends. assessment of coping with difficulties related to sociability in the “2(1) greeting” situation, responses such as “waiting for the other party to shake hands,” “offering a biz,” or simply saying a few words of greeting were relatively highly evaluated. in the “2(2) opposite sex” situation, in which a guest was invited to the house of someone of the opposite sex, the preferred response was to accept the situation as normal. in the “2(3) invitation” situation, the response of inviting someone without worrying about the size of the room was preferred. in the “2(4) attitude” situation, which is about socializing with french people, all the respondents assigned 100 points to the active approach of being friendly. in the “2(5) encounter” situation, in which a guest met an acquaintance by chance, the active response of greeting and asking them to go to a café was preferred. this response was considered particularly effective for those who wanted to be mutually acquainted. in the “2(6) seniority” situation, in which a friend was older than the respondent, the receptive response of talking without using honorifics was preferred. in the “2(7) party” situation, the responses were generally not highly evaluated. bad manners were evaluated poorly. in the “2(8) dinner” situation, in which the participants ate at a friend’s house, a combination of active and passive coping was highly evaluated—that is, when invited, the next step was to be the host and invite the friend. assessment of coping with difficulties related to schedule fluidity in the “3(1) last-minute cancellation” situation, active coping, such as offering an alternative proposal, was rated relatively highly. in the “3(2) introducing a friend” situation, active coping, such as proactively talking to others, and passive coping, such as responding when spoken to, 80 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 were evaluated relatively highly. in the “3(3) tardiness” situation, the receptive response of tolerating tardiness and not saying anything was preferred. discussion the respondents were students at the same university as the japanese students, which permitted a bidirectional perspective on the interactions. although individual and situational differences may exist in real cases, these can be considered concrete examples of the kind of attitude that the japanese students’ hosts may have toward them. the various coping strategies collected were assigned overall high evaluations. generally, active coping, in which a guest actively attempts to address a difficulty, and receptive coping, in which a student accepts the host’s behavior and perspective as they are, received high evaluations. it is suggested that making efforts to relate well to others and accepting the behavior of people from different cultures positively impacts interpersonal relationship formation. this result is similar to that obtained by tanaka et al. (2011), who identified that the attitudes of international students in japan who endeavored to integrate with the japanese culture were highly evaluated by those around them. although there is a limit to the comprehensiveness of specific behaviors’ effectiveness because the present study only examined case studies, the acceptance and adoption of positive and receptive cultural behaviors may be significant for intercultural sojourners. in the case of french assertiveness, which seems to be stronger than that of the japanese, a cultural acceptance approach is advised. intercultural sojourners should actively express their opinions and adhere to the host country’s cultural norms. therefore, when conflicts arise, the guest is expected to acknowledge the host’s perspective and behavior and actively express their own opinion. meanwhile, if one habitually uses the japanese way of “sensing” and “holding back,” or exercises these behaviors because they are useful, they will likely be evaluated negatively. it has been reported that for japanese students in the us, japanese cultural refrains may lead to disadvantages (takahama et al., 2009). as the cultural transition occurs, mother-culture skills may be maintained or adjusted to new ones (tanaka et al., 2016). although the maintenance of cultural behavior itself is not generally denied, awareness of hosts’ reactions and considering explanations for them may help resolve or prevent misunderstanding. in social situations, the active attitudes of the guests, who are initially perplexed when they encounter situations different from those in japan but gradually accept the behavior of french people, are highly appreciated. however, bad manners, such as excessive drinking or the use of profanities, are unlikely to lead to favorable impressions. although the present study seems to have answered general questions at relatively early stages of relationships, examining the differences in social behavior demands as relationships deepen is necessary. to avoid problems involving promise-making, clarifying promises to confirm time and schedule while paying attention to discrepancies in communication would be helpful. however, it is doubtful whether the expectation of the same level of compliance as in the mother culture is realistic. in 81 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 this study, exercising tolerance was recognized as an option. according to hofstede et al. (2013), uncertainty avoidance varies globally. the level of flexibility in a destination country may not be the same as in the home country. comprehensive discussion in this study, japanese students in france identified major cross-cultural characteristics they experienced as interpersonal behavioral difficulties, including strong assertiveness, skills to demonstrate sociability, and flexibility in promises and scheduling. requirements for social skills can be influenced by the content of cultural differences and the degree of intercultural distance. as the informants continued their education abroad, they learned through trial and error by observing and understanding how french people felt, thought, and acted. upon experiencing difficulties in a foreign culture, they endeavor to address them via trial and error—the natural learning process for intercultural social skills. having international students artificially acquire such social skills can be a countermeasure against culture shock and a form of cross-cultural adaptation support (furnham et al., 1982). the present study's findings can be applied to the education of international students to facilitate preparing a french version of the social skills learning framework by enacting specific task situations based on difficult cases and preparing a list of candidate skills based on the assessed coping strategies. task scenes can be created based on foreseeable situations such as meeting a friend, being invited to dinner, being at a loss for expressions, having a preference denied, or wanting to return an invitation, and so on, and then roleplaying in french in small groups. prospective students can attempt to positively interpret the cultural behavior of the other person and explain it in a supportive environment. the students would then reflect on their performances and practice, summarizing the cognitive and behavioral guidelines. expansion of the behavioral repertoire is recommended for international students to advance incrementally. gains and losses from emotion-focused coping strategies that aim to avoid problems should be understood, and constructive coping strategies should be encouraged as effective alternatives. a successful example is a study in the us in which students who received pre-skills training did not easily forsake relationship building because they knew what to do and how to do it positively (takahama et al., 2013). learning externally manifested behaviors and how to interpret cultural behaviors would support appropriate behavior choices. although direct, cross-cultural comparisons were not intended in the present study, positive responses to high assertiveness were found in us (takahama et al., 2009) and brazilian studies (sako et al., 2018). differences in social behavior and flexibility in promises were similar to those in taiwan (chen et al., 2014). these findings provide an opportunity to recognize the unique characteristics and relative position of japanese culture. finally, the possibility of cultural versatility skills awaits further research development. the limitations of the present study include its limited sample size and the fact that it remains an overview survey that does not examine individual differences and diversity of 82 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 attributes. future work should examine the changes that occur with longer stays and the psychological impact of social skills acquisition on guests and hosts. acknowledgments this work was supported by jsps kakenhi grant number 21k02963. references barnlund, d. c. (1975). public and private self in japan and the united states (sen nishiyama and masako sano, trans.). simul press. campus france. (2018). announce de la strategie d'attractivite des etudiants internationaux par le premier ministre edouard philippe. https://www.campusfrance. org/fr/annoncede-la-strategie-d-attractivite-desetudiants-internationaux-par-le-premier-ministreedouard chen, x., tanaka, t., & nakano, s. (2014). interpersonal behavioral difficulties and coping among japanese and former international students in taiwan: implications for social skills for interaction with taiwanese hosts. abstracts of the 19th annual conference of the association for international student education. collett, p. (1996). strange gestures of europeans (kenji takahashi, trans.). soshisha. fontaine, g. (1989). managing international assignments. prentice-hall inc. furnham, a., & bochner, s. (1982). social difficulty in a foreign culture: an empirical analysis of culture shock. pergamon press. goto, m., & daibo, i. (2003). what kinds of interpersonal situations do college students have difficulty with and excel at? relationship between free descriptions of communication situations and social skills. journal of interpersonal and social psychology, 3, 57–63. hofstede, g., hofstede, g. j., & minkoff, m. (2013). the multicultural world (yuhikaku, hachito, & noriko iwai, trans.). (3rd ed.). inamura, h. (1980). japanese maladjustment to foreign countries. nihon hoso shuppan kyokai kumiko. iwasaki, k. (2001). the structure of japanese social identity: educational perspectives in international society. a survey on the social interaction of japanese in france (research report of grant-in-aid for scientific research, incentive research (a)). kamisato, i., miura, m., & noguchi, k. (2002). stress and health. in japanese society of health psychology (ed.), introduction to health psychology (pp. 45–57). practical education publishing. kobayashi, y. (1987). wisdom and ideas of france. hakusuisha. ministry of education, culture, sports, science and technology (2008). outline of the student exchange system study in japan and abroad. https://www. mext.go. jp/ a_ menu/koutou/ryugaku/081210/001.pdf https://www.campusfrance.org/fr/annonce-de-la-strategie-d-attractivite-desetudiants-internationaux-par-le-premier-ministre-edouard https://www.campusfrance.org/fr/annonce-de-la-strategie-d-attractivite-desetudiants-internationaux-par-le-premier-ministre-edouard https://www.campusfrance.org/fr/annonce-de-la-strategie-d-attractivite-desetudiants-internationaux-par-le-premier-ministre-edouard 83 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 nakano, s., & tanaka, t. (2019). social support networks of japanese students in france: a case study to explore the structure of interpersonal relationships. international student education, 24, 51–59. sako, k., & tanaka, t. (2018). an examination of social skills of 26 intercultural residence among japanese in brazil: from the perspective of social life skills and interpersonal skills. multicultural relations, 15, 3–17. sugimura, m. (2015). international student trends toward 2025 and internationalization of japanese institutions of higher education. recruit college management, 193, 20–23. takahama, a., & tanaka, t. (2009). an attempt to learn social skills for preparing students to study in the us: focusing on assertion. intercultural education, 30, 104–110. takahama, a., & tanaka, t. (2013). study abroad preparation education for university students planning to study abroad: social skills learning in the general education course “study abroad skills training” in the year 2011. journal of global education 4，87–96. https://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/hermes/ir/re/26696/kokusai0000400870.pdf takahama, a., nishimura, y., & tanaka, t. (2008). the influence of social skills on getting social support for adolescents during study abroad: a case study of japanese short-term exchange student. journal of international student exchange and guidance, 10, 69–83. tanaka, t. (2000). social networks and social skills of international students. nakanishiya shuppan. tanaka, t. (2003). a comparison of causal perceptions of difficulties in forming interpersonal relationships between japanese and international students. student counseling research, 24(1), 41–51. tanaka, t., & okunishi, y. (2016). social skills use of international students in japan. japanese psychological research, 58(1), 54–70. tanaka, t., & takahama, a. (2013). cross-cultural adjustment and social skill use among japanese students in the us: a longitudinal study of skill learning session participants. journal of cultural conviviality, 12, 65–80. tanaka, t., hatanaka, k., & okunishi, y. (2011). behavioral expectations of japanese students toward their international student friends in japan: implications for intercultural interpersonal relationship formation through intercultural social skills practice. multicultural relations, 8, 35–54. ward, c., & kennedy, a. (1994). acculturation strategies, psychological adjustment, and sociocultural competence during cross-cultural transitions. international journal of intercultural relations, 18, 329–343. ward, c., & kennedy, a. (1999). the measurement of sociocultural adaptation. international journal of intercultural relations, 23(4), 659–677. ward, c., bochner, s., & furnham, a. (2001). the psychology of culture shock (2nd ed.). routledge. 84 jcve 2023, 6(2): 66-84 yashima, t., & tanaka, t. (2001). roles of social support and social skills in the intercultural adjustment of japanese adolescent sojourners in the usa. psychological report, 88, 1201–1210. yokota, m. (1991). a study on the intimacy between foreign students and japanese students. intercultural education, 5, 181–197. journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 2 2022 pp. 16-31 the assessment in sustainable remote teaching and learning environments during emergency situations makeresemese rosy mahlomaholo*a & sechaba geoffrey mahlomaholob * corresponding author e-mail: qhosolam@ukzn.ac.za a. university of kwazulu-natal, south africa b. university of mpumalanga, south africa article info received: november 29, 2021 revised: february 14, 2022 accepted: march 23, 2022 how to cite mahlomaholo, m. r., & mahlomaholo, s. g. (2022). the assessment in sustainable remote teaching and learning environments during emergency situations. journal of culture and values in education, 5(2), 16-31. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.17 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract this paper explores how quality assessment is maintained in the covid-19 protocols mandatory remote teaching and learning higher education environments. the argument being pursued is that, despite the pandemic, the e-assessment ensures the sustainability of quality thereof even in remote teaching and learning environments. we compare e-assessments in these environments to how conventional assessments happen in in-person contexts. in this comparison, we unearth several challenges afflicting the conventional in-person assessments. these range from ill-prepared lecturers sometimes, who do not take time to formulate meaningful assessment tasks, to students who demand special treatment just because they are physically present and are able to 'bully' lecturers. in the covid-19 mandatory remote e-assessments teaching and learning environments, despite the attended challenges of costs to install the learning management system and train academics, there seem to be many more positive outcomes. these include lecturers' ability to ensure that all students enrolled in the module read the materials provided, spend enough time doing so, and engage meaningfully with the learning subject content. that feedback is provided almost immediately to ensure quality in remote teaching and learning environments. design research principles that serve as the overarching theoretical framework for this paper are used to identify the challenges to e-assessments, the responses to these challenges, the contextual factors that make the responses effective, those that pose threats thereto and how they are resolved and circumvented. keywords assessment; e-assessment; remote teaching and learning; covid19; pandemic; sustainable learning environments. 10.46303/jcve.2022.17 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.17 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 17 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 background this paper explores how quality assessment of learning is conducted in sustainable remote teaching and learning environments during emergency situations. quality assessment tends to deepen and expand learning (jones & sharma, 2020). it is assessment that ensures that competencies required for the fourth industrial revolution 4c's are acquired by students through their learning experiences, especially in the context of the covid-19 pandemic. the 4cs refer to collaboration, compassion, critical thinking and creativity. these competencies are regarded as unique attributes necessary for the students to acquire and cultivate in order for them to thrive in the era of 4ir (ţălu, 2019). however, quality assessment does not happen in isolation, especially now that the world faces the coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic. it also requires social distancing that led to the country's lockdown, which happened in many countries worldwide, including south africa. the above has driven the institutions of higher learning, in particular, to revert to the assessments that should happen remotely. these require technologically facilitated environments through the various use of learning management systems (lms). this paper focuses on moodle (koh & kan, 2020). even though assessment is said to be conducted remotely, it is still essential that it is of good quality and should also take place in a manner that promotes sustainability of the learning environments advocated for in the policies for quality assurance in many institutions (camilleri, 2021). sustainable learning environments (sule) are those contexts that promote the acquisition of the 4cs. these are environments that are aligned with the educational legislative imperatives of the country stipulated in the south african qualification authority (saqa) documentation. saqa, through its national qualification framework (nqf), sets out the descriptors as the minimum requirements of competencies that should be attained at different levels of study (ramrathan, 2020). therefore, the quality of assessment in remote learning environments is determined by the extent to which they are sustainable. the attention given to remote assessments exposes the limitations of the traditional face-to-face ones. there seems to be a lack of well-defined methods to assess how the student interacts with the subject content in the face-to-face environments. for example, a lecturer cannot track whether the majority of the students actually open their books, even once. the lecturers cannot determine whether the students read or use their readings to compile their assignments or assessment tasks (khogali & arabia, 2021). in remote learning environments, tracking is done, including even on the number of students who accessed the lms, and for how long. another issue with face-to-face assessment is lecturers' proclivity for reproducing and using old and outdated previous question papers for tests, assignments, and examinations (altbach et al., 2019), which frequently occurs as a result of lecturers' proclivity for waiting until the last minute to set the question papers. in many instances, these are finalised just before the due dates, sometimes at the end of the quarter or the semester or the end of the year. so, the limited time afforded to the planning of assessments results in poor quality of assessment in 18 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 face-to-face situations (altbach et al., 2019). another challenge in face-to-face assessment environments is time management, which may lead to a backlog in assessment task administration due to unreliable electricity, a miscalculation of the number of assessment papers needed and to be photocopied, or lengthy proofreading of the papers, and, in some cases, poor printing where graphs or pictures copied are not clear to students (cahapay, 2020). the other popular challenge of the face-to-face assessment is plagiarism. students are, in many instances, 'caught' with the answers they have prepared prior to the examination/test by typically following the guides given by the lecturer in good faith (levine & pazdernik, 2018). the lack of rapid and constructive feedback is another challenge. many lecturers take some days to mark, and when they do, they do not provide constructive feedback to the students; only grading tends to be provided in such cases (mccarthy, 2017). the face-to-face assessment is usually given through printed papers, limiting the use of multimodal resources like videos and thus limiting the link between the real-life experience and the assessed information. many institutions of higher learning have come up with various strategies to address the urgent call to move to the remote assessment mode as the students were sent back to their homes due to the pandemic and the need for social distancing (cahapay, 2020; dube et al., 2022). however, these are still not perfect. many institutions in south africa are in positive talks with the data service providers, and the students may be getting zero tariffs when using the data to access the lms like moodle (butler-henderson et al., 2020). however, this may still be a problem for students who live in deep rural areas (remote areas) where there is an inconsistent connection to electricity and the internet. some students studying in south african higher education institutions from foreign countries sometimes experience connectivity challenges when they do not use local internet service providers that partner with institutions for zerorating data usage in south africa (butler-henderson et al., 2020). furthermore, many institutions are urgently rolling out staff training to use the lms. however, if the issue of resistance to the use of technology to teach and learn is not well attended to at the same time, the training may be futile (deneen & boud, 2014). the universities have specific time frames for assessment. if these are not well planned, this can be an obstacle to students who reside in other parts of the world where there are different time zones. it should be noted that, in a country like south africa, most students are provided with financial aid in the form of the national student financial aid scheme (nsfas), which has an allocation for students to buy laptops or tablets. students may use the allocated funds to purchase other things if this support is not well monitored. current research on this matter shows that many students now claim they have no devices to access the lms despite the allocation being made (makombe, 2021). some of the biggest threats to effective remote e-assessment are financial constraints, the cost of ensuring that the lms works optimally, and the training of staff that sometimes requires enlisting external expertise. on the other hand, the institution must ensure that the staff members can work from home, thus providing data to them (ali, 2020). students also 19 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 require training in the use of the lms due to them not being in the exact location because the lockdown regulations demand exceptional expertise to provide online training. the additional load to the lecturers to prepare online material, and by extension, e-assessment and its instruments present other challenges. quality assessment is said to be sustainable if it enables students to be creative and critical thinkers, implying that a student can demonstrate the ability to integrate knowledge, evaluate types of knowledge, and explain typical within the area of study or practice (saqa, 2012). so, when the lecturer uses multimodal resources, it inspires students' interest and inquisitiveness. these resources encourage students to delve beyond simple answers and investigate the reasons behind the solution; this is how problem-solving abilities, which are crucial for creativity and critical thinking, are developed (ali, 2020; brits, 2018). in line with the above, the multimodal assessment approach provides real-life situations that require some judgement to be applied to novel situations. these force learners to think and integrate their existing knowledge in decision-making. through such assessments, they are required to evaluate the alternative solutions to gather enough evidence to motivate their final decision (knyviene, 2014). furthermore, quality assessment is said to be sustainable if it renders students compassionate and collaborative (ali, 2020; brits, 2018; ramrathan, 2020). when the students are provided with prompt feedback, they tend to be able to identify their gaps and make sense of their gradings, thus motivating them for their next challenge (brits, 2018; ramrathan, 2020). most of them, when afforded the opportunity for peer assessment, they tend to learn about discipline, collaboration and to be compassionate towards each other because they know that if you unfairly mark another student down today, tomorrow she/he might be your assessor and might do the same to you too. the prompt feedback made possible by lms, whether from peers or the lecturers, is crucial because it gives them a sense of control and motivation (deneen & boud, 2014; makombe, 2021). these tend to enable them to realise their responsibility to reflect on the feedback to prepare for subsequent tasks. problem statement the fourth industrial revolution (4ir) discussion has been prominent lately in many institutions' platforms. however, many institutions were still not even closer to optimising their online teaching and learning capabilities. the digitisation of their environments (4ir) seemed distant until the world was attacked by the covid-19 pandemic that forced the implementation of lockdown strategies to enhance social distancing, among others. the pandemic led many institutions to promptly formulate various strategies to ensure that the learning process continued remotely, in particular quality assessment. this paper thus aims to explore how quality assessment is maintained in the sustainable remote teaching and learning environment. 20 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 research question how can we achieve sustainable quality assessment in remote teaching and learning environments? research objectives the research objectives are to: • explore what the challenges are concerning ensuring remote quality assessment, • investigate what solutions could be possible to these, • suggest improvements on the successes that have been achieved so far. literature review and theoretical framework in this paper, we use the principles of design research to enable us to make sense of the aim and objectives of the study as explained above. design research came into the sharp focus of the education researchers mainly around 1986 following the publication of david perkins' important book titled knowledge as design (perkins, 2013). many more publications came to the fore, mainly from the massachusetts institute of technology's (mit) design thinking projects (bjögvinsson et al., 2012). this kind of research emphasises investigating the design of strategies, models, and existing frameworks and allows the author to improve where possible. this process abides by the following standard operating procedures: situational analysis, where needs are identified originating from local to the international. then looking at the new ways of researching while searching for the best and promising practices to inform the sustainable quality assessment approach(es) possible (perkins, 2013). however, it is essential to understand the condition of the strategies identified as successful and meaningful in the provision of remote quality assessment (bjögvinsson et al., 2012; perkins, 2013). in other words, the best strategies are not just plugged out of their place of origin and then inserted in the new context without understanding why and how they were successful in the first place (bjögvinsson et al., 2012). therefore, the principles of design research provide such an opportunity through making sense of theory and practices. however, such principles also caution the researcher that finding the best sustainable remote assessment approach would not come without possible threats and risks (bjögvinsson et al., 2012; perkins, 2013). thus, the researcher should anticipate such and build mechanisms to circumvent them. finally, the design research tends to assist the researcher if he/she reaches the goal of producing the evidence that indeed the chosen approach that is sustainable truly works and is effectively sufficient in responding to the challenges of remote assessment by rendering it of a good quality (perkins, 2013). the world has drastically changed in the wake of a coronavirus responsible for covid19, leaving institutions of higher learning to prepone some of their planned remote teaching and learning processes (watermeyer et al., 2021). however, research nationally and internationally shows that the challenges of remote assessment across the world's universities are similar and only differ in a few respects in terms of the extent and degree (watermeyer et al., 2021). the main challenge seems to be the sustainable remote – technologically facilitated 21 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 environment. on the other hand, the institution carries the financial burden to install or update the lms (watermeyer et al., 2021). the above gives rise to the challenge of fair and quality assessment in real-time. for example, when the assessor is located in his/her office or any other remote location at a particular time, and the students are at their different geographical areas but yet are only able to be assessed within a specified period (ferrell & gray 2013; watermeyer et al., 2021). it is firstly the problem because of the possibility of plagiarism on the side of the students, in a sense that the students may enlist the help of other people to assist them. the other problem is the lack of control by the assessor in terms of the quality of the gadget a student is using and how reliable it will be during the period of the evaluation (ferrell & gray 2013). this issue is a significant problem at the institutions based in the rural areas and predominantly serve the marginalised community of students. poverty leads students to see the opportunity to secure food and survival for their families rather than securing quality or gadgets with the money they may have. thus, when students are assessed, they have to borrow or depend on the public available facility for that activity; this, in turn, has dire consequences to students' distributive justice, fairness, and quality of assessment. the other challenge is training both the staff and the students to maximise their benefits in using the lms (ferrell & gray, 2013; watermeyer et al., 2021). the biggest problem here is the resilience on the side of the staff and students accordingly. on the side, if the staff is well-motivated, the issue of providing prompt feedback to students can be dealt with, and students, in turn, may be motivated to be at the centre of their learning with the necessary control thereof. many institutions continue to use different lms's including moodle, to try and bring solutions to the many challenges, including the ones mentioned above. moodle functionality allows institutions to conduct diagnostic, formative (teacher assessment, peer assessment and self-assessment) and summative assessments, grade learners' and report performance, and provide feedback. the e-assessment process involves “assessment scheduling submission of assignment; submission of assignments; tracking of submissions, extension requests and approvals; academic integrity; academic misconduct processes; examinations; marks recording; moderation and external examining” (ferrell & gray 2013, p.78). thus, an integrated e-assessment system facilitates e-submission, e-marking, e-grading, e-feedback and e-reports. however, through moodle, those tasks cannot be automatically emarked and would require students to submit them via moodle but will then be marked by tutors/ lecturers. these include questions such as essays, short narrative answers and problemsolving exercises. these questions are generally used to assess the higher-order cognitive objectives such as analysis, synthesis, judgment, comprehension, and application (scully, 2017); this is done to accommodate different cognitive levels. in south africa, this is clearly documented in the saqa's nqf level descriptors. however, even though the use of moodle may sound fascinating and easy to use, many institutions are still grappling to take full advantage of the moodle package, as discussed above (ferrell & gray 2013; watermeyer et al., 2021). among other factors mentioned before is the financial burden to all parties involved the 22 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 limited period of thorough training because now staff and students are required to maximise moodle use due to pandemic covid-19. the fear of compromising distributive justice, fairness and quality of assessment is another critical factor. the above notwithstanding, the institutions of higher learning more than ever are expected to take the lead as they are producers of knowledge, and it is indeed through assessments that they can certainly tell if students are learning (ferrell & gray 2013; watermeyer et al., 2021). investment in the lms is thus a priority. training both staff and students is vital to reap the fruits of remote assessment. the process of designing and planning assessment activities is given attention to engage the students cognitively (ferrell & gray 2013; watermeyer et al., 2021). these are important to meet the demands of the global knowledge economy and add to the 4ir labour pool of students who are likely to possess the 4c's. the preceding paragraph explored the conditions conducive to the sustainable remote assessment approach in teaching and learning. however, one must consider the possible threats and risk factors that might prevent the possible strategy or approach that an institution may want to follow. thus, it is imperative to develop ways to circumvent the threats that may arise. lack of resilience on the part of staff and students can obstruct the achievement of long-term remote assessment, which means that leadership should emphasise the importance of a shared vision through various training because the reality of a shared vision entails shared planning, decision-making, and power. the investment risk (finance) at many institutions that are hardly surviving with little or no reserves is the issue as a more financial burden may pose a severe threat. it is, however, noteworthy that in the wake of the pandemic, many governments, nongovernmental organisations (ngo) and world health organisation (who), to mention but a few, have made more resources available for those in need (national treasury, 2021). many institutions have acknowledged the use of zero-rating data offered by many service providers lately. methods we conducted in-depth desktop research mounted on critical discourse analysis (cda) focusing on answering the research question (van dijk, 2015). the relevant documents were analysed to gain insight into the remote quality assessment and the possibility of using it to create sustainable learning environments. interviews were conducted with sixteen (16) students from the two universities in south africa, nine (9) of whom were female in their third year in the bed programme. in this group there were also 7 males at the same level and similar academic programmes. there were six lecturers, three females and three males who have been teaching at these two institutions respectively. their average experience in higher education was seven years of teaching and researching in higher education. all the above agreed to talk to us after they wrote emails confirming that they were aware of why we were asking to talk to them. they also confirmed that they were informed that their identities would be kept anonymous and that they could drop out of the project without any negative consequences. their respective universities they come from are located at the central part of south africa, one in the rural and 23 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 the other in the more peri urban setting. the rural university was mainly residential with a total population of 23 000 students while the other had a student population of around 32 000. the interviews were conducted on the phone and on a one-on-one basis. only one interview per participant was conducted and each lasted about thirty minutes covering many aspects of remote e-assessment. we assured them that their data would remain anonymous to the extent that even the universities they enrolled or worked at would not be identified in the research paper. we adhered to highest standard of research ethics where we assured and ensured that there would be no harm to any of the participants in whatever manner possible. we then identified themes from the literature for the analysis and used them as subheadings. furthermore, there is an opening paragraph under each subsection, followed by an excerpt from the literature, followed by the paper's five objectives, which serve as the guiding concept throughout the work. four illustrative materials are presented below as bases for analysis. the study was conducted mainly on materials available in the public domain that did not require permission to use. we adhered to high research ethical standards, and these guided our analysis. cda enabled the study to use the texts gleaned from the mentioned sources to go deeper to the level of the discursive practices and to understand the meaning at the social structural level (van dijk, 2015). the reason to analyse four illustrative and relevant articles in the study area is that analysing more would not have added any further valuable information. it is believed that the study may contribute significantly to the institutions that are converting their traditional face-to-face teaching into remote teaching and learning, especially when facing the outbreak of covid-19 that requires a quick reaction by the universities. findings and discussion a comparison and similarity between face-to-face and remote evaluation are made under the subheadings below, using the aforementioned resources. effectiveness of tracing students' interaction with the assessment content online learning theorists are keen on implementing learning management systems (lms) or virtual learning environments (vles). the focus is mainly on the interactions occurring in them. these generate a wide array of data that some researchers relate positively to student effort and good performance (iglesias-pradas et al., 2015). researchers agree that tracking students in an lms poses a significant challenge since their databases store a massive amount of data (iglesias-pradas et al., 2015). furthermore, it is encouraged that the theoretical and empirical bases have to be established to make sense of the learning analytics occurring on lms. in the area of the study, there are three classifications as follows: (1) agent-based interactions; (2) frequency of use-based interactions; and (3) participation mode-based interactions. there seem to be significant relations between some types of interactions and student outcomes for all three classifications. this research considers the suitability of a similar approach to study the 24 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 relationship between the interactions occurring in an lms and the development of crosscurricular competencies more specifically, commitment and teamwork. in addition, collaborative learning theorists argue that teamwork and commitment provide spaces for collaboration among teachers, learners and other stakeholders (bernacki et al., 2020). the excerpt below demonstrates a lack of commitment in which an assignment was given at the eleventh hour, and the students did not work as a team due to a lack of time on their part. the student was given an assignment that was explained repeatedly and in more than one lecture on moodle. however, this student decided to do the opposite and now expects the lecturer to conduct himself in an unethical manner. below is the back-to-back emails from the student to the lecturer: student: hope you are well, mam you have already received, marked and graded the report from girl x. the only thing you have to do now is to combine the marks for the report from her and my slides as i have mentioned to you how we made our submission, and you said you will see to it when marking. lecturer: it doesn't work like that. i will have to re-assess them as a whole document. i will adjust the marks accordingly. let's make a typical example. what if for each part of the assignment you got 60 and the other 60 that it means you were going to get 120/100. the point i am trying to make is that the assignment has two parts, and it should be assessed as one assignment with two sections not finding the other person claiming to submit section a while the other person submits section b when they see that they are failing. from the above extract, it appears that the student is dictating how the lecturer should assess the task. however, it should be a case if they work as a team and submit a whole document, not individual learners submitting a section of an assignment and the other section. the other issue is that if the students were committed enough, they would have submitted their work in time, and the lecturer was going to advise on time to do one complete task as per instruction. however, they submitted late and queried the process and marks only when the marking was completed. because of the pressure of failing, they suggested things without the thought of validity or whether it is ethical. the lecturer stuck by the praising "you cannot assess what you did not teach", which is a popular quote in many teachings and learning environments. one of ensuring that learners have indeed learned what was taught is ensuring that they indeed interact with content. however, without commitment and teamwork, the effort by one only party goes in vain without the other. furthermore, according to del blanco et al. (2017), even from a remote environment, the lecturer can usually assess whether a user accessed the content; in many cases, contents lms provide support tools for all aspects of the teaching-learning process, from course creation to student evaluation features. furthermore, it gives a lecturer an idea by showing how much time the learner took in his/her interaction with the content. in this student's case, he only accessed 25 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 the task the day before the due date and for a limited period. disregarding that exposure to the assessment content through the lms enables learners to be more literate in terms of technology and reduces the risk of struggling to access more readings and other material on their own. unlike with the face-to-face environment where they were dependent on the hard copies or sometimes depended on the readily available material from the lectures only. simple learning analytics data/traces (logins, number and frequency of online contributions, etc.) can be beneficial in alerting you to students who are in danger of dropping out, getting lost, etc. if an instructor is designing sequences of tasks for students to engage in (individually, in groups or teams, etc.), then that, by its nature, provides you with another window into student engagement. as a learning analytics strategy, teachers and students can use personalised qualitative feedback as well as automatic feedback for receiving immediate responses, a variety of instruments and assessment strategies (self, peer, and group assessment), collecting data generated by the system, and informing about the learning process to support and scaffold learning at any time. equitable workload for staff members the extract below is from the literature regarding the workload of the lecturers: in face-to-face teaching, the process, or series of suggested steps, that teachers can use to plan, implement and evaluate their teaching and learning process implicit in the decision-making processes used by lecturers. however, when it comes to using online learning technologies as a main or the only means of teaching, the explicit use of some type of design process is necessary. this may seem to be overloading the lectures but it seem to pay in when the process has been initiated. this is especially the case in the covid-19 emergency situation, teachers have, almost overnight, been asked to become both designers and tutors, using tools which few have fluently mastered. (rapanta et al., 2020, p. 925). the nostalgia that a remote assessment cannot replace traditional face-to-face assessment seems to be something of the past as the world faces the covid-19 pandemic. however, literature agrees that going online does not come easily, especially for the lecturers. they must cover long, detailed and extensive tasks in preparation for the assessment and design the assessments activities and their accompanying feedback and consume much time (udugama & perera, 2019). in the wake of the transition to the remote assessment, research shows that it is only in the initial stage where the lecturer's workload becomes high as they must put mergers in place for the transition. however, as time goes, the load is reduced as the material is already there and requires mainly the refinement or updating post reflection of grades from the lecturer (gamage et al., 2019). relating evaluation to grades enables the lecturer to take proactive measures in the class, such as changing instruction, reviewing lecture materials and 26 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 assignments, providing extra resources to students, and setting up prerequisites' courses (fernando, 2020). automated evaluation processes used in some online assessment tools such as moodle quizzes enable instructors to identify patterns between a student's response to a question and overall course performance using inbuilt statistical features of the platform (gamage et al., 2019). furthermore, in the case of examination, it should be noted that setting up multiplechoice questions may be labour intensive and a bit time-consuming. however, the grading is instantaneous through prompt feedback. by contrast, essay-type questions are quick to set up but time-consuming to grade as they require a lecturer to mark personally (gamage et al., 2019). so, the load is manageable after the initial mergers are put in place in the remote assessment. thus, as time passes, lecturers are mainly updating, refining, and modifying their assessment tasks in response to the grades, new technologies and educational design methodologies; most importantly because student learning in 4ir is a process that involves the restructuring of curriculum, assessment and reporting practices in education to reflect the achievement of higher-order learning and mastery rather than just mere accumulation of course credits. the central part of the world is in quarantine due to the severe outbreak of this global pandemic, covid-19. therefore, many cities have turned into phantom cities, and its effects can be seen in schools, colleges, and universities. betwixt all this online teaching and online learning can be termed as the panacea for the crisis. the corona virus has made institutions go from offline to online pedagogy, and this crisis will force institutions reluctant to change to accept modern technology. this catastrophe will show us the lucrative side of online teaching and learning. with the help of online teaching modes, we can sermonise many students at any time and in any part of the world. all institutions must scramble different options of online pedagogical approaches and try to use technology more aptly. many universities worldwide have fully digitalised their operations, understanding the dire need of this current situation. online learning is emerging as a victor ludorum amidst this chaos. therefore, the quality enhancement of online teaching-learning is crucial at this stage. online education in chinese universities has increased exponentially since the covid-19 outbreak. there was an overnight shift of normal classrooms into e-classrooms; educators have shifted their pedagogical approach to tackle new market conditions and adapt to the changing situation. plagiarism and validity of assessment the extract below comes from one of the students during the interviews. she was from one of the two universities selected for this study (see the section on method). she wrote an online test and did not perform well. she claims the following in her email: we complain about the test. most of the answers were not correct and those answers that were marked after we wrote are not counted as part of our total 27 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 marks. there were some questions that did not appear when we attempted the quiz but appear after the answer section. the student above claims that not all the questions she prepared for, appeared in the test and that the lecturer's answers were wrong, but that hers were correct. when using the online assessment, almost every activity is pre-planned. the lecturers would typically take his/her time to provide feedback on both the questions and memos to the assessment software so that it automatically marks the learners’ work. according to the lecturer participating in the study, the matter was investigated, and it was discovered that the student did not complete the work, the time limit had expired, and only the marks for the written responses had been assigned. so, two things might have happened either the students had personal challenges not to complete the task, or he/she might have taken the better part of his/her time trying to check answers from his reading and realised late that the time is gone and this resulted in him/her making unfounded claims. thus, online assessment allowed the issue to be investigated and the logical facts to be understood because the learner was now desperate and wanted to use any excuse to be afforded a second chance. the subsequent paragraph looks at how face-to-face assessment versus online teaching differs, especially with the above case that needed evidence and recordings to prove the claims wrong. the face-to-face assessment had an inherent aspect of students trying to copy or plagiarise, whether being an assignment or test. with assignments, they would copy direct without acknowledging other people's work they have used, and this was made easier by submitting hard copies. so, if the lecturer is not aware, they may get away with it. on the test issue, many were found to have brought the answers or other materials that will assist them in answering the questions, and if not found, they were able to copy and pass. however, in the case of online assessment, a lecturer may minimise plagiarism and copying in two ways. for the assignment, the lms has the feature that enables a lecturer to check the similarity, e.g. turnitin, or instruct the learner to bring the report with his/her work. in terms of the test, the foremost important thing is for the lecturer to understand the settings as this will assist her/him to ensure validity and minimise plagiarism. for example, putting a time limit for your test limits time for them to refer to the readings and other material since the time is limited and they might fear not completing the test. shuffling questions and sometimes deactivate prompt feedback for the period when the test is still being written so that those who accessed it first cannot take pictures and send them to those still to write. resilience and multimodal resources the meeting was in the department where colleagues shared some information about the online assessment, in this particular instance, it was one lecturer’s session to share his information. from the preceding paragraphs it has been mentioned that our participants where both students and lecturers and that gender biasness was minimised. the following extract comes from the one-on-one meeting with the lecturer: 28 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 lecturer: having been working on a hard paper was better than this computergenerated thing! abdullah et al. (2020) attested that resilience is possible if the university provides resources and adequate support to its staff members. the fact that the lecturer should ensure that diversity is achieved in a class is essential. however, so many teachers were not obliged to do online teaching for many years but their face-to-face teaching. so, it became a challenge to many to acclimatise to online teaching and assessment. when lectures are resistant to the changes, it poses a risk to the progress in terms of reaching and learning and assessment. they have observed a new way of assessing learners. if they do not have a positive attitude from academics' students might not survive the pandemic and win in the fourth industrial revolution because lecturers do not have enough knowledge in the technological system. the other extracts below show the student who decided to defy the instruction to use the available resources like other students but, in the end, demands his results. i hope the email finds you well, madam. i can't see my marks on student central. well, you don't see any attachments in learn 2021, but we sent you assignment via email. i was hoping you could mark the one we sent on emails. yes, i failed to resubmit but also the assignment is there on your emails. can you please tell me what to do, madam, because now i'm confused? the student seems to be demanding that his case be treated, especially in the sense that when all other students use moodle to submit on time, he/she is waiting to submit late at the platform she/he prefers. the student does not show remorse when she asks the lecturer whether the lecturer can't see the email sent and the difference because the assignment is there, so the lecturer is to keep quiet and mark him since he is unique to any other students. moodle again plays a crucial part in keeping the record and showing that the student never really interacted with the resources there.; this can be how the student is becoming resilient towards other modes of teaching and learning conclusion the above discussion has shown that even in the hardest of times, humanity can still survive and even perform better than before. e-assessment in remote teaching and learning environments has provided the opportunity for higher education to be innovative and implement mechanisms that have maintained quality and enhanced it exponentially, primarily if it is implemented well with adequate provision of resources. sustainable remote teaching and learning environments seem to be enhanced even more by e-assessment that enable lecturers to account for the learning of all their students. it enables them to work more collaboratively and thus enhance their compassion, resulting in improved critical thinking levels. the latter then becomes the basis for greater creativity. 29 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 references abdullah, m., husin, n. a. & haider, a. (2020). development of post-pandemic covid -19 higher education resilience framework in malaysia. archives of business review, 8(5), 01-210. https://doi.org/10.14738/abr.85.8321 ali, w. (2020). online and remote learning in higher education institutes: a necessity in light of covid-19 pandemic. higher education studies, 10(3), 16-25. https://doi.org/10.5539/hes.v10n3p16 altbach, p. g., reisberg, l. & rumbley, l. e. (2019). trends in global higher education: tracking an academic revolution. brill. bernacki, m. l., greene, j. a. & crompton, h. (2020). mobile technology, learning, and achievement: advances in understanding and measuring the role of mobile technology in education. contemporary educational psychology, 60, 101827. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.101827 bjögvinsson, e., ehn, p. & hillgren, p. a. (2012). design things and design thinking: contemporary participatory design challenges. design issues, 28(3), 101-116. https://doi.org/10.1162/desi_a_00165 brits, h. j. (2018). assessing employer satisfaction: an attempt to enhance graduate employability at an institution of higher learning. south african journal of higher education, 32(5), 39-53. https://doi.org/10.20853/32-5-2571 butler-henderson, k., crawford, j., rudolph, j., lalani, k. & sabu, k. m. (2020). covid-19 in higher education literature database (cheld v1): an open access systematic literature review database with coding rules. journal of applied learning & teaching, 3(2), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2020.3.2.11 cahapay, m. b. (2020). rethinking education in the new normal post-covid-19 era: a curriculum studies perspective. aquademia, 4(2), 20018. https://doi.org/10. 29333/aquademia/8315 camilleri, m. a. (2021). evaluating service quality and performance of higher education institutions: a systematic review and a post-covid-19 outlook. international journal of quality and service sciences, 13(2), 268-281. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijqss-03-20200034 del blanco, á., torrente, j., fernández-manjón, b., ruiz, p. & giner, m. (2017). using a videogame to facilitate nursing and medical students' first visit to the operating theatre. a randomized controlled trial. nurse education today, 55, 45-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2017.04.026 deneen, c. & boud, d. (2014). patterns of resistance in managing assessment change. assessment & evaluation in higher education, 39(5), 577-591. https://doi.org/10. 1080/02602938.2013.859654 30 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 dube, b., makura, a., modise, a., & tarman, b. (2022). covid-19 and the quest for reconfiguration of disciplines: unpacking new directions. journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), i-viii. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2002.12 fernando, w. (2020). moodle quizzes and their usability for formative assessment of academic writing. assessing writing, 46, 100485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw. 2020.100485 ferrell, g. & gray, l. (2013). electronic management of assessment: business processes, system requirements and institutional capability. https://www.jisc.ac.uk/full-guide/electronicmanagement-of-assessment-processes-and-systems# gamage, s. h., ayres, j. r., behrend, m. b. & smith, e. j. (2019). optimising moodle quizzes for online assessments. international journal of stem education, 6(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-019-0181-4 iglesias-pradas, s., ruiz-de-azcárate, c. & agudo-peregrina, á. f. (2015). assessing the suitability of student interactions from moodle data logs as predictors of crosscurricular competencies. computers in human behavior, 47, 81-89. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.chb.2014.09.065 jones, k. & sharma, r. (2020). on reimagining a future for online learning in the post-covid era. reimagining a future for online learning in the post-covid era. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3578310 khogali, h. a. & arabia, r. c. (2021). assessment for the evaluation of e-learning and teaching by the quality matter standards post covid-19. modern applied science, 15(4), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.5539/mas.v15n4p1 knyviene, i. (2014). a new approach: the case study method in accounting. ekonomia i zarządzanie, 158-168. http://yadda.icm.edu.pl/yadda/element/bwmeta1.element. baztech-4c7fc55e-0087-4279-9e97-058ada8fbc96/c/knyviene_a_new_4_2014.pdf.pdf koh, j. h. l. & kan, r. y. p. (2020). perceptions of learning management system quality, satisfaction, and usage: differences among students of the arts. australasian journal of educational technology, 36(3), 26-40. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.5187 levine, j. & pazdernik, v. (2018). evaluation of a four-prong anti-plagiarism program and the incidence of plagiarism: a five-year retrospective study. assessment & evaluation in higher education, 43(7), 1094-1105. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938. 2018.1434127 makombe, r. (2021). the covid-19 pandemic as a platform to rethink the decolonisation of higher education in south africa. in t. mgutshini, k. oparinde & v. govender (eds.), covid-19: interdisciplinary explorations of impacts on higher education (1-16). sun press. mccarthy, j. (2017). enhancing feedback in higher education: students’ attitudes towards online and in-class formative assessment feedback models. active learning in higher education, 18(2), 127-141. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787417707615 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2002.12 31 jcve 2022, 5(2): 16-31 national treasury – republic of south africa. (2021). budget 2021. budget review. government publishers. perkins, d. n. (2013). knowledge as design. routledge. ramrathan, l. (2020). what knowledge is most worthwhile in crisis conditions? reengineering our curriculum in the context of covid-19. in l. ramrathan. n. ndimandehlongwa, n. mkhize & j. a. smit (eds.), alternation african scholarship book series (aasbs). vol.1, 7-21. cssall publishers. rapanta, c., botturi, l., goodyear, p., guàrdia, l. & koole, m. (2020). online university teaching during and after the covid-19 crisis: refocusing teacher presence and learning activity. postdigital science and education, 2(3), pp.923-945. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00155-y scully, d. (2017). constructing multiple-choice items to measure higher-order thinking. practical assessment, research, and evaluation, 22(1), 4. south african qualifications authority (saqa). (2012). level descriptors for the south african national qualifications framework. south african qualifications authority. ţălu, ş. (2019). implications of modern digital technologies in higher education. advances in economics, business and management research, 105554, 554-557. https://doi.org/ 10.2991/iscde-19.2019.107 udugama, l. s. k. & perera, s. n. (2019). converting a course from traditional teaching to online learning for a blended programme. http://oasis.col.org/bitstream/handle/ 11599/3364/pcf9_papers_paper_243.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y watermeyer, r., crick, t., knight, c. & goodall, j. (2021). covid-19 and digital disruption in uk universities: afflictions and affordances of emergency online migration. higher education, 81, 623-641. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00561-y microsoft word 13.mudau-et-al.195-210 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 1 2022 pp. 195-210 health course lecturers managing online teaching in a historically disadvantaged university in south africa: the raging waves tshimangadzo selina mudau*a, livhuwani tshivhasea & moreoagae bertha randaa * corresponding author e-mail: selimgc4@gmail.com a. department of nursing science, school of health care sciences, sefako makgatho health sciences university, pretoria, south africa article info received: november 30, 2021 revised: january 18, 2022 accepted: february 21, 2022 how to cite mudau, t. s., tshivhase, l., & randa, m. b. (2022). health course lecturers managing online teaching in a historically disadvantaged university in south africa: the raging waves. journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), 195-210. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.14 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic (covid-19) required the sudden closing of educational institutions to save lives. universities had to adopt and adapt to new teaching strategies to ensure that no learner was left behind. the purpose of this study is to describe the challenges experienced by university lecturers teaching health courses in adopting online teaching strategies. the objective of the study is to explore challenges experienced by university health course lecturers in a university from south africa in managing online teaching platforms and the strategies employed by them to enhance online teaching. the study adopted a qualitative interpretative phenomenological approach engaging six purposefully sampled lecturers teaching health courses in a historically disadvantaged university in south africa. data were obtained through online methods such as blackboard meetings, in addition to face-to-face and telephone interviews. preliminary findings revealed both positive and negative experiences in offering health courses online. positive experiences included flexible time management, fuel-saving, and multi-tasking. negative experiences included challenges such as lack of experience in designing online content, lack of knowledge to create a conducive teaching environment, students’ incapacity to engage in learning tools, poor lecturer-student interaction, and difficulty integrating theory into practice. so far, it has been concluded that a sudden shift to online teaching needs to consider the skill-level of lecturers, learners, and the courses offered. a one size fits all approach may not be an option. keywords online teaching; interpretative phenomenology; university; health courses; experiences. 10.46303/jcve.2022.14 196 mudau, t. s. et al. jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 introduction and background this paper discusses the raging waves experienced by healthcare science lecturers from a historically disadvantaged university (hdu) in south africa in managing online teaching. managing online teaching entails designing and organizing for better learning experiences and creating distinctive learning environments using digital technology (rapanta et al., 2020). fry (2001, as cited in adedoyin & soykan, 2020) defined online teaching as the use of the internet and some other technologies to develop materials for educational purposes, instructional delivery, and management of programs. the general south african education system is tainted by the historical challenges of inequality and inequity (tanga et al., 2020). most universities in the republic of south africa (rsa) are considered historically disadvantaged universities (henceforth, hdus) (tanga et al., 2020). such hdus include under-resourced universities like the university of fort hare, limpopo, venda, western cape, zululand, walter sisulu university, mangosuthu university of technology, and sefako makgatho health sciences university (wangenge-ouma & kupe, 2020). the broad social gap, inequality, and inequity in the rsa are also experienced in the universities where students from high-income groups are mostly registered at well-equipped universities where there are better teaching and learning resources, including internet and information communication technology (ict) devices rather than at the hdus. such a division leads to digital distinctions between the “haves” and the “have nots” (mpungose, 2020), thus leaving some students behind and ultimately increasing segregation and perpetuating social classes. online teaching was adopted in institutions of higher learning for teaching to take place in an online platform rather than in person which was not possible due to the covid-19 pandemic. universities were forced to deeply rethink, restore, and redesign the educational system to address the unprecedented situation, moving from traditional classroom-based teaching to modern teaching online or blended teaching (martinez, 2020). online teaching is, therefore, a move from classroom-based teaching to zoom, virtual classes, seminars, and webinars (mishra et al., 2020). the adoption of online teaching during covid-19 was a solution to provide psychological safety in the learning environment (mishra et al., 2020). the literature shows that the acceptance of online teaching differed among countries, affected as they were by different factors such as readiness to use e-learning, age, and gender, social factors such as interpersonal and instructor influence, and organizational factors comprising technological, financial, and infrastructural factors (zalat et al., 2021; medhat & elkassas, 2020; chawinga, 2016). likewise, briliannur et al. (2020) posit that online teaching is less effective where there is a lack of facilities, infrastructure, and preparedness for technological education. in china, it was reported that online experiments were poorly implemented due to the lack of teacher experience and unequal learning outcomes caused by diverse experiences, informational gaps, and environmental difficulties experienced by teachers in their homes (zhang et al., 2020). 197 jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 several barriers to online teaching were cited, for example, the e-learning curriculum, and the organizational and structural factors that needed more collaboration for their solution (zalat et al., 2021). naylor and nyanjom (2021) reported that online teaching caused teachers to feel major embarrassment and inadequacy. additionally, educators felt the embarrassment of constantly seeking help for being unfamiliar with technology. several studies highlighted the challenges experienced by lecturers using online teaching, which ranged from unfamiliarity with the online teaching platform, difficulties in monitoring/assessing students’ learning, unstable internet connectivity, electricity challenges, technical problems, and lack of computers/laptops (zalat et al., 2021; subur, 2021; mpungose, 2020). teaching involves students. therefore, hermanto and srimulyani (2021) reported student-related challenges such as lack of discipline, lack of internet access, and lack of social interaction in “person” classes. in the event of the covid-19 pandemic, medical and other healthcare students were initially restricted to online teaching and to using simulated patients and other technologies to supplement real clinicalbased work-integrated learning (rose, 2020). unfortunately for most african universities, this was not the case. for example, the university of malawi experienced challenges due to infrastructural limitations and lacking skills/incapacity among academics, which made online teaching unsuccessful (kayange, 2019). most of the academic staff believed that the benefits and opportunities of online learning outweighed the challenges; therefore, it was reinforced in malawi. a study conducted in rsa by the department of higher education and training [dhet], (2020a) revealed that issues with the lack of internet and connectivity problems ranked number one among learners in rural areas, with internet affordability also in the center of the findings. mustakim (2020) reported that online teaching exposed teachers to fatigue and burnout and that the teachers had to be creative to overcome such factors. in contrast, hikmatiar et al., (2020) argued that google classroom was an environment for positive learning outcomes, interesting and that fostered creative attitudes toward students. however, they also reported that online teaching was insufficient to teach subjects related to calculation and practice (hikmatiar et al., 2020). similar results from a study on medical students showed that online learning was unsuitable for medical education (stoehr et al., 2021). the findings further revealed that the medical students require live patient contact obtained through face-to-face interactions to develop clinical skills. however, online teaching has been reported to have advantages such as flexible work hours and learning time, being economical as it reduces transportation and accommodation costs, providing access to numerous updated information through published e-library and journals, and accommodating various religious practices (ghafur, 2021; kayange, 2019). maatuk et al., (2021) reported that lecturers at the university of benghazi view online learning as beneficial and helpful in developing students’ technological skills, while students claimed difficulties such as the low quality of the internet as the largest barrier. teaching online was perceived by the teaching staff as beneficial in terms of the flexibility, speed of teaching, and for increasing the 198 mudau, t. s. et al. jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 technological skills and enhancing the educational experience (zalat et al., 2021; rose, 2020; sun et al., 2020). in indonesia, hermanto and srimulyani (2021) found that the success of online teaching depends on several integrated components, i.e., students, educators, learning resources, and the technology used. this study aims to describe the challenges experienced by university lecturers teaching health courses in adopting online teaching strategies. the objective of the study is to explore challenges experienced by university health course lecturers in managing online teaching platforms, and strategies employed to enhance online teaching by lecturers teaching health courses in the university in south africa. research problem healthcare courses include both theory and many clinical components to ensure competency. the researchers are health professional lecturers with academic teaching experience ranging from six to over 10 years. the universities were obliged to save the academic year after the loss of teaching time during the level-five global lockdown. thus, the researchers studied the challenges and frustrations faced by lecturers and students related to the emergency transition to online teaching in 2020. a plethora of studies, especially in healthcare courses, reported that online teaching caused various issues, including insufficient resources, ineffective teachers, and challenges related to personal attitudes and to the curriculum (hermanto & srimulyani, 2021; rose, 2020; sun et al., 2020; zalat et al., 2021). the limited literature available shows that few studies have been conducted in a historically disadvantaged university in rsa exploring the challenges experienced by health professional lecturers regarding online teaching. therefore, this study aims to examine and describe the experiences of health course lecturers using a phenomenological approach. research question the study aimed to answer the following research question: what are the experiences of health course lecturers at a historically disadvantaged university in rsa? method the study adopted a qualitative interpretative phenomenological approach engaging six purposefully sampled lecturers teaching health courses in a south african historically disadvantaged university. the study was guided by the constructivist theory. this theory was appropriate as it focused on lecturers who were faced with emergency shifting from the traditional teaching methods to online teaching and who had to quickly adopt and adapt to new technological skills. furthermore, the constructivist theory challenges the traditional passive learning approach with active engagement where both the students and the lecturer co-learn as they adapt to new online teaching methods (darchinian et al., 2021). according to the constructivist theory, people use previous knowledge to learn new ones (phillips, 1995). in the 199 jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 context of this study, it means that lecturers had to replace previous ways of sharing information with the students with innovative ways of sharing information using online media platforms. setting the setting was an hdu university in south africa that offers healthcare courses. the university has a population of over 6000 students enrolled in the academic year 2021. most of the students are black from low-to-middle income families of the rural areas, followed by a few colored, indian, and white people. the highest staff members are academics aged over 50 years, while a few staff members and academics are younger than 40 years old. the study settings were the offices of the participant lecturers in their different departments, such as nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, natural and biological sciences, and medicine. with all the participants, a private room was used to conduct the interviews where no interruptions occurred, and privacy and comfort were ensured. a “please do not disturb” sign was placed on the door. study population the target population consisted of a sample from the population that the study intended to evaluate and make inferences, and that had specific characteristics (brink et al., 2017). the study population consists of lecturer participants and the study sample consists of participants from a larger ongoing study. the study population comprised about 600 lecturers. the participating lecturers were responsible for teaching theoretical content and/or clinical modules. all participants had an average of more than four years of teaching experience in healthcare courses in the university studied. they were suitable for inclusion once they had information on the phenomenon being studied, i.e., their experiences regarding online teaching and learning of healthcare courses. recruitment and sampling process sampling refers to the researcher’s process of selecting the sample from a population to obtain information regarding a phenomenon in a way representing the population of interest (lobiondo-wood & haber, 2018). a purposive non-probability sampling method was used to select six participants who met the inclusion criteria. a total of six participants consisting of two male and six female lecturers took part in the study. participants were recruited by emailing several departments heads. interested members consulted the researchers individually. the purpose of the study and its benefits were explained before the data collection process commenced. individual appointments were made, and meetings to collect data were scheduled. data collection methods and instruments data were obtained through online methods such as blackboard (bb) meetings, in person, and telephone interviews. participation was voluntary, and the lecturers were informed that they could withdraw from the study at any time without penalty or any explanation. informed written and verbal (virtual) consent was obtained from the lecturers before the interviews (creswell & poth, 2018). confidentiality and anonymity were ensured using pseudonyms instead of real 200 mudau, t. s. et al. jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 names. the data were collected over a period of four months (july to october 2021) by means of in-depth individual interviews (flick, 2018). a minimum of six lecturers participated in the study. the researchers ensured consistency by asking the same questions to participants. ethical clearance to conduct the study was provided by the university ethics committee. permission was also sought from the specific department heads before the data collection process commenced. the lecturers’ offices within the departments were used as data collection sites after permission was sought and obtained from the department heads where face-to-face interviews were conducted. individual face-to-face structured interviews were used to collect data from the participants. telephonic interviews were conducted after work at the convenience of the participants. the structured interview guide with open-ended questions was used throughout the interviews. each interview lasted 35 to 45 minutes and was conducted in english. the interview times varied as this was dependent on the amount of information the participant was willing to share (creswell & poth, 2018). the interviews were audio-recorded with permission of the participants. data were collected at a convenient time for each lecturer to ensure that teaching and learning times were not compromised. the researchers used field notes to document unstructured observational data. the research question posed was “may you please share your experiences on transition from in-person to online teaching?” follow-up probing questions were used to clarify the participants’ initial responses. data analysis the study aims to explore meaning from the lecturers’ daily practice of online teaching through interpretative phenomenology (ipa) (peat rodriguez & smith, 2019). through ipa the researchers explored knowledge of managing online teaching and went deeper through critical reflections and interpretation with the study participants (creswell & poth, 2018). data analysis was guided by the research question to explore the experiences of participants in the context of a sudden shift from traditional classroom-based teaching to online platforms. the data were analyzed following the ipa’s iterative process. the researchers were actively engaged in an iterative double hermeneutic process of meaning-making of the participants’ experiences while the participants made meaning of their experiences (smith & eatough, 2020). the recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim. the researchers intensely read and re-read the transcribed data to become familiarized and develop a holistic feel of the participants’ experiences. this step was followed by the identification of common themes throughout the quotes. the participants’ verbatim quotes are included to clarify their voices as originally expressed. findings this section presents findings on data generated through an interpretative phenomenological approach to explore and describe the experiences of healthcare lectures at an hdu in the rsa 201 jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 on managing online teaching of healthcare courses. demographically the study participants were mostly 35 to 55 years old and had technological skills ranging from beginner to advanced level (table 1). table 1. demographic data of the participants pseudonym of participant age range gender rank years of teaching experience department glenda 35–40 f lecturer 4 years nursing sandile 35-40 f lecturer 5 years nursing cane 41–45 m lecturer 6 years occupational therapy shadow 46–50 m lecturer 4 years occupational therapy rose 46–-50 f senior lecturer 6 years nursing portia 51–55 f senior lecturer 12 years nursing data analysis results showed both positive and negative experiences in offering health courses online. positive experiences included flexible time management, fuel-saving, and multitasking. negative experiences included challenges such as lack of experience in designing online content, lack of knowledge to create a conducive teaching environment, students’ incapacity to engage in learning tools, poor lecturer-student interaction, and difficulty integrating theory and practice. the researchers presented the study participants’ personal experiences in parentheses to articulate their unique experiences and minimize theoretical bias (flick, 2018; smith & eatough, 2021). the researchers ascribed to the hermeneutic circle of phenomenological design following its iterative process of tinkering between the texts to make meaning from isolated texts, arrive at a bigger picture of the experiences of the participants (peat et al., 2019). in the process, data were condensed and interpreted to account for all possible explanations using a cohesive and rigorous approach of compilation and interpretation (smith & eatough, 2021). four main themes emerged from the data analysis, each with related sub-themes. the themes were negative experiences with sudden shift to online teaching, positive experiences with online teaching, and difficulties with managing online teaching. 202 mudau, t. s. et al. jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 theme 1: negative experiences with online teaching of healthcare courses there were negative experiences during the implementation of the online teaching in the study setting. participants revealed internet related problems such as late supply of internet to both students and lecturers by the university, internet affordability, poor and lack of connectivity, and electricity cuts. the study findings revealed that, despite the emergence of advanced ict in teaching and learning across several areas of education, the use of online teaching in the hdu is lagging behind. this was confirmed by statements such as: portia: “the experience was not a nice one as it was sudden. we had challenges for both students and lectures. for me ---technology has been in use but getting acquitted instantly like that was difficult. there were internet issues not provided for by the institution, network, rural/ remote areas with poor signals. the university was not ready: equipment and tools for students were not provided for as students were at home.” glenda: “students were to buy internet data themselves. however, lecturers would buy and would not be reimbursed. what about the students as they are on scholarships…no data—no classes. this impacted performance. when they had money for internet data, we had to repeat the missed classes to catch up, which is a complete waste of time for both teacher and that of other students.” in this study, the implementation of online teaching was turbulent because lecturers had to teach the same content more than once to ensure that students who had connectivity and/or internet data problems were not left behind. this pressured the lecturers because the learning content had to be covered in a short period of time. it is worth noting that, although the minister of education in rsa guided universities to shift to online teaching to save the academic year with the emergence of the covid pandemic (dhet, 2020b), the university under study was not ready for such implementation. this was confirmed by findings of this study revealing that there were no internet data provided for either students or lecturers, that the lecturers and students lacked the ict skills to navigate the online platforms, and that training and teaching were performed simultaneously. the lack of ict resources in the university was not aligned with the recommendations made to universities south africa for the government to ensure provisions that maintain well-resourced, vibrant institutions that respond to diverse social needs (wangenge-ouma & kupe, 2020). theme 2: difficulty in balancing teaching and work responsibilities the study participants expressed mixed emotions and frustrations due to the emergency shift from the traditional classroom teaching to online teaching. the negative experiences included the quick adoption of a mixed learning approach, teaching students how to manage the online workstation/navigation during a content presentation, having limited time to guide the student on online tools in addition to delivering a lesson, unfamiliarity with online assessments, no 203 jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 remodeling of the module or curriculum, and no time to practice after the blackboard workshop. the participants commented the following: glenda: “it was not planned, and it was a quick move. it was frustrating at the beginning and there was no planning. we had to move from in person to online classes. it was not easy at all. there was no remodeling of the module, it was a learn-on-the-go approach. we were using online teaching as a visual class and the virtual class replaced the inperson teaching to engage the students.” portia: “it was very difficult and not easy at all. we were expected to practice everything all at once. we wanted to practice whilst in the workshop, but later the same videos were provided as recordings. now the process is a bit easier, and you can access the link as well. we were affected as we had to follow the examples without induction or expectations known. i did what i thought was right for me. the fourth ir (fourth industrial revolution or 4ir) is here to stay and is a challenge for many. we have passive students that are not active in class.” opposing the negative experiences, participants expressed positive experiences such as flexible teaching moments, saving gasoline to go to work by not traveling, and having time to reflect on the reality of covid-19 and a solution for covid-19 isolation. rose: “the positive thing about this is that it happens anywhere so you do not have to be in a specific place, i can teach while i am at limpopo, and i can teach wherever, so i think it is convenient for me. my gasoline is also safe.” theme 3: poor student-teacher interaction the study participants shared their concerns over the poor interaction with students during online teaching, no classroom bond, feeling like talking alone, not sure if learning is taking place, lack of or poor student feedback, lack of physical contact with students and perceptions of talking alone. shadow: “it is very bad. students do not participate during online class; i must tell you. you need to put your head on the block for them to participate. they may not participate, sometimes when you point them out, they just keep quiet. they keep quiet but can write something in the chat there, sometimes you would like to hear them talking but i think it is just the challenge with this online approach. interaction is very limited.” the researchers worked through the meanings and interpretations that played a major role in influencing the participants’ decisions to manage the online teaching. for example, in the insert below, the participant expressed the act of managing online teaching as difficult, without the normal human interaction: glenda: “the lesson makes it difficult to engage or interact with the students, but of course, as i mentioned, training is happening along with learning. as you move on with teaching and learning, you find ways to engage them, you find ways to teach them, but that human factor is still not there. is like the 4ir world where it seems like you're talking 204 mudau, t. s. et al. jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 to people that at times resemble a robot because sometimes they respond and sometimes they don't. you know when you put in a robot that can't code what you are saying it will not respond appropriately.” the participants’ verbatim quotations also showed that the absence of the human factor was regarded as working with robots. these experiences were regarded as difficult and frustrating. theme 4: improved lecturers’ creativity, peer-support, and willingness to adopt online teaching the study also found that lecturers reconstructed their teaching approaches despite the challenges faced. for example, the participants reported that they formed groups and consulted people with enhanced ict skills and online teaching to properly manage the transition from classroom-based to online teaching. cane: “with self-reflection, i noted a lot of engagement and improved participation and interest in the subject matter. through bb, there are a lot of courses/webinars provided to capacitate us as lecturers. bb is doing a lot to encourage us to be active, implement things, and it shapes our ways of doing things.” portia: “create group activities for students to encourage sharing ideas and value each other’s opinions. when they are in practice, there will be case studies where patients are discussed at ward level. thus, they will be able to contribute.” sandile: “i was telling myself it was easy, it was not a challenge at all, and i knew what to do if the system didn’t give me what i want. i will refresh the system or shut it down and switch it on again. i could even assist adults who had difficulties with the basic windows. they would call seeking assistance even when i was in the middle of my own class. then it becomes a challenge when you teach your own class, and you must teach a lecturer who needs help in his/her class. it impacts on your own teaching.” discussion this paper aimed to describe the challenges experienced by university lecturers teaching health courses in adopting online teaching strategies. most of the study participants were 35 to 55 years old and had technological skills ranging from beginner to advanced levels. studies reported that the younger generations are mostly keen on technology, thus fitting the 4ir advancements. however, the study found that there were varying frustration levels among the younger and older lecturers. the younger lecturers who are sharp on technology quickly adjusted and adapted to online teaching, also acting as anchors and support structures for peers during online teaching. however, such availability to provide support added to their academic and social responsibilities. the lecturer, in turn, had to deal with personal lessons and household chores, in addition to addressing teaching problems from older lecturers. the self-sacrifice and 205 jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 support of peers reported in this study are aligned with the philosophy of ubuntu, as alluded by omodan and diko (2021). the participants in this study expressed dissatisfaction and low confidence in the skills and educational outcomes of the graduate students. the participants expressed concern about the absence of the classroom-based teachable moments where the correlation between theory and practice takes place to enhance learning. the teachable moments were not available to demonstrate practical interpersonal interaction with patients, where soft skills such as courtesy, touch, expression of emotional concerns are difficult to share, especially where there is a lack of or insufficient material for both the students and lecturers. this concurs with findings showing that practical courses need less time on online teaching and more time on physical classes (dhet, 2020a; fan et al., 2020). in addition, stoehr et al. (2021) reported that online teaching is less effective in medical courses. this study focused on lecturers; however, the findings of the study are corroborated by the results obtained from a survey conducted with medical students from 12 developed countries (i.e., bulgaria, canada, greece, germany, and the usa), revealing that most students were dissatisfied with online teaching in the medical field (stoehr et al., 2021). remarkably, given the developed state of the south african country, one would not expect learning institutions to be lagging behind in online teaching. in this study, participants expressed frustration with balancing their work and home responsibilities and the creation of “office space” within their homes. the female participants mostly regretted the increased workload and working extended hours to create the new online learning content and meet home responsibilities. the online teaching causing frustrations experienced by lectures in this study is another example of the inequality and inequity of the country and university. the lectures’ lack of advanced ict skills to manage online teaching and assessments further indicated the university’s unpreparedness to embrace the 4ir developments. similar weak ict skills were reported in other hdu in rsa among social workers in an eastern cape university (tanga et al., 2020). furthermore, this finding confirms findings by the dhet (2020a) in which students reported that lecturers’ lack of ict skills increases their online learning challenges. the findings of this study are also parallel those of stone and o’shea (2019) who found that an emergency shift from contact teaching to virtual teaching can be challenging to the new ict users. such a pattern of lack of ict skills among lecturers may show the high level of denial among the universities to accept the gaps and develop relevant strategies to address them for better learning outcomes. remarkably, the sudden shift from classroom-based teaching by this study’s participants presented an opportunity for creativity and advancement of personal skills. the lecturers’ identification of gaps in ict skills and their evaluations through reflections are aligned with the critical constructivist theory (suhendi, 2018). similar reconfiguration of teaching among the health courses was reported in medical courses in germany (haber et al., 2021) and nursing courses in taiwan (fan et al., 2020). a meta-analysis study on a flipped classroom approach in 206 mudau, t. s. et al. jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 health education showed improved educators’ work-ethics, caring, accountability, and students’ performance (hew & lo, 2018). the study participants also reported challenges faced by them while they were busy adjusting to the online teaching. furthermore, the study participants expressed frustration and discomfort when students’ present were not forthcoming during online teaching through feedback and active interaction. the participants assimilated such experiences like uncoded robots. this reinforces the idea that teaching, and learning revolve around a triad of teacherenvironment-student interaction. these findings are different from those of developing countries, where students were reported to prefer online teaching and the level of performance and motivation was high (huber et al., 2021; stoehr et al., 2021). the lecturers’ dissatisfaction with online teaching should be mixed to enhance interaction and participation. an empirical study in taiwan claimed that nursing courses are best held through mixed learning (i.e., both online and in-person classes; fan et al., 2020). in this study, the negative challenges such as lack of internet data availability, poor and/or lack of internet connection, electricity cuts or battery discharge increased the teaching frustrations experienced by the study lecturers. lack of internet and connectivity problems ranked number one in a study conducted in the rsa by the dhet (dhet, 2020a). this is because lecturers had to ensure that no learner is left behind by presenting the same content to accommodate those who missed the class. challenges such as lack of internet and electricity cuts were also reported in other studies (mpungose, 2020; tanga & tanga, 2021). with the emergence of the covid-19 pandemic, the world health organization and the united nations children's fund produced guidelines to direct countries on strategies to ensure that no learner be left behind. ironically, such guidelines were not fully considered in the face of the harsh realities experienced by the general african education system, including the ihe. trustworthiness qualitative studies ensure research quality through the depth and richness of data rather than quantity (flick, 2018). in this study, the researchers ensured thorough and careful data mining with participants to ensure depth and thick description of experiences regarding managing online teaching. through member-checking and collaborative critical reflections with participants, the deeper essence of the meaning of managing online teaching among the lecturers in a historically disadvantaged university (hdu) was attained (peat et al., 2019). this ensured the rich description of experiences by the lecturers (bynum et al., 2018; saldana & omasta, 2018). the detailed description of the lecturers’ experiences through ipa further provided an opportunity to share the true picture of what husserl in neubauer et al., (2019) called going beyond “mere sensory perception (i.e., what i see, hear, touch) to experiences of thought, memory, imagination, or emotion.’’ by grouping the researchers in this study, who are also working in the hdu, the participants were allowed free expression during the interviews 207 jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 without bringing in their own experiences (bynum et al., 2018; peat et al., 2019), and this enabled research objectivity. conclusions the study aimed to explore and describe the experiences of healthcare science lecturers from a historically disadvantaged university in south africa while managing online teaching. the researchers conclude that a sudden shift to online teaching needs to consider the skill levels of lecturers, learners, and the courses offered. a one size fits all approach may not be an option, especially when the university lecturers have different age groups and technological skills to manage online teaching. this study was conducted in one hdu and, its findings concur with that of a study on another university in the eastern cape, indicating that hdus are still stuck in the pre-democratic era of rsa. the researchers recommend further research among both lecturers and students for better alignment of both experiences which will guide better implementation of online teaching. it is also recommended that a similar study be conducted among the historically advantaged universities in rsa. references adedoyin, o. b., & soykan, e. (2020). covid-19 pandemic and online learning: the challenges and opportunities. interactive learning environments, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2020.1813180 brink, h., van der walt, g., & van rensburg, g. (2017). fundamentals of research methodology for healthcare professionals (4th ed.). juta. bynum, i.v, w. e., artino jr, a. r., uijtdehaage, s., webb, a. m., & varpio, l. (2019). sentinel emotional events: the nature, triggers, and effects of shame experiences in medical residents. academic medicine, 94(1), 85–93. https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000002479 chawinga, w. d. (2016). teaching and learning 24/7 using twitter in a university classroom: experiences from a developing country. e-learning and digital media, 13(1-2), 45–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/2042753016672381 creswell, j. w. & poth, c. n. (2018). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). sage publications. darchinian, f., magnan, m-o., & soares, r. d. o. (2021). the construction of the racialized other in the educational sphere: the stories of students with immigrant backgrounds in montréal. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 52–64. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.6 department of higher education and training. (2020a, november 25). students’ access to and use of learning materials. survey report 2020. https://www.usaf.ac.za/wpcontent/uploads/2021/02/dhet_saulm-report-2020.pdf. 208 mudau, t. s. et al. jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 department of higher education and training. (2020b, november 22). measures to deal with the coronavirus covid-19 in the post-school education and training sector. https://www.gov.za/speeches/minister-higher-education-science-and-innovationstatement-measures-deal-covid-19-threat. omodan, b., & diko, n. (2021). conceptualisation of ubuntugogy as a decolonial pedagogy in africa. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 95–104. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.8 flick, u. (2018). sage handbook of qualitative data collection. sage publications. fan, j. y., tseng, y. j., chao, l. f., chen, s. l., & jane, s. w. (2020). learning outcomes of a flipped classroom teaching approach in an adult-health nursing course: a quasiexperimental study. bmc medical education, 20(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02240-z ghafur, h. s. (2021). analysis of ict development supporting the e-learning implementation on nadhatul ulama universities in indonesia. journal of social studies education research, 12(4), 121–143. hew, k. f., & lo, c. k. (2018). flipped classroom improves student learning in health professions education: a meta-analysis. bmc medical education, 18(1), 38. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-018-1144-z. hermanto, y. b., & srimulyani, v. a. (2021). the challenges of online learning during the covid-19 pandemic. journal pendidikan dan pengajaran, 54(1), 46–57. hikmatiar, h., sulisworo, d., & wahyuni, m. e. (2020). utilization of google classroom-based learning management system in learning. journal pendidikan fisika, 8(1), 78–86. https://doi.org/ 10.26618/jpf.v8i1.3019 huber, j., witti, m., schunk, m., fischer, m. r., & tolks, d. (2021). the use of the online inverted classroom model for digital teaching with gamification in medical studies. gms journal for medical education, 38(1). https://doi.org/10.3205/zma001399 kayange, a. k. m. y. (2019). e-learning encounters in malawi higher education institutions. international journal for e-learning security, 8(1), 592–603. https://doi.org/10.20533/ijels.2046.4568.2019.0074 lobiondo-wood, g. & haber, j. (2018). nursing research. methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice (9th ed.). elsevier. mpungose, c. b. (2020). emergent transition from face-to-face to online learning in a south african university in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. humanit soc sci commun, 7, 113. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-00603-x martínez, j. p. c., catasús, m. g., & fontanillas, t. r. (2020). impact of using learning analytics in asynchronous online discussions in higher education. international journal of educational technology in higher education, 17(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-020-00217-y 209 jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 medhat, m. a., & el kassas, m. (2020). covid-19 in egypt: uncovered figures or a different situation? journal of global health, 10(1), 010368. https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.10.010368 mishra, l., gupta, t., & shree, a. (2020). online teaching-learning in higher education during lockdown period of covid-19 pandemic. international journal of educational research open, 1, 100012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2020.100012 naylor, d., & nyanjom, j. (2021). educators’ emotions involved in the transition to online teaching in higher education. higher education research & development, 40(6), 1236– 1250. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1811645 peat, g., rodriguez, a., & smith, j. (2019). interpretive phenomenological analysis applied to healthcare research. evid based nurs, 22(1), 7–9. https://doi.org/10.1136/ebnurs-2018103017 phillips, d. c. (1995). the good, the bad, and the ugly: the many faces of constructivism. educational researcher, 24(7), 5–12. https://doi.org/10.2307/1177059 rapanta, c., botturi, l., goodyear, p., guàrdia, l., & koole, m. (2020). online university teaching during and after the covid-19 crisis: refocusing teacher presence and learning activity. postdigital science and education, 2(3), 923–945. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00155-y rose, s. (2020). medical student education in the time of covid-19. jama, 323(21), 2131– 2132. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.5227 saldanã, j., & omasta, m. (2018). qualitative research: analyzing life. sage seaman, j.e., allen, i.e., & seaman, j. (2018, july 19). grade increase: tracking distance education in the united states, babson survey research group is released under a creative commons attribution-share alike 4.0 international license. https://www.bayviewanalytics.com/reports/gradeincrease.pdf shifa, m., david, a., & leibbrandt, m. (2021). spatial inequality through the prism of a pandemic: covid-19 in south africa. scientific african, 13, e00949. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2021.e00949 smith, j. a., & eatough, v. (2021). interpretative phenomenological analysis: analysing qualitative data in psychology. in e. lyons, & a. coyle (eds), analysing qualitative data in psychology 3rd edition. sage publicans. stoehr, f., müller, l., brady, a., trilla, a., mähringer-kunz, a., hahn, f., et al. (2021). how covid-19 kick-started online learning in medical education—the digimed study. plos one 16(9), e0257394. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257394 suhendi, a. (2018). constructivist learning theory: the contribution to foreign language learning and teaching. kne social sciences, 87–95. https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v3i4.1921 subur, s. (2021). online learning on the covid-19 pandemic to create educational access inequality. journal of social studies education research, 12(4), 170–196. 210 mudau, t. s. et al. jcve 2022, 5(1): 195-210 sun, l., tang, y., & zuo, w. (2020). coronavirus pushes education online. nature materials, 19(6), 687–687. https://doi.org/ 10.1038/s41563-020-0678-8. tanga, p., ndhlovu, g. n., & tanga, m. (2020). emergency remote teaching and learning during covid-19: a recipe for disaster for social work education in the eastern cape of south africa? african journal of social work, 10(3), 17–24. wangenge-ouma, g., & kupe, t. (2020, november 24). re-imagining universities' new sustainable futures. uncertain times. https://www.usaf.ac.za/wpcontent/uploads/2020/09/uncertain-times-paper.pdf zalat, m. m., hamed, m. s., & bolbol, s. a. (2021). the experiences, challenges, and acceptance of e-learning as a tool for teaching during the covid-19 pandemic among university medical staff. plos one, 16(3), e0248758. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248758 microsoft word editorial journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 1 2022 pp. i-viii covid-19 and the quest for reconfiguration of disciplines: unpacking new directions bekithemba dube*a, alfred h. makurab, alfred m. modiseb & bulent tarmanc * corresponding author e-mail: dubeb@ufs.ac.za a. faculty of education, university of the free state, qwaqwa campus, south africa b. faculty of humanity, central university of technology, bloemfontein, south africa c. turan university, almaty, kazakhstan how to cite dube, b., makura, a. h., modise, a. m., & tarman, b. (2022). covid-19 and the quest for reconfiguration of disciplines: unpacking new directions. journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), i-viii. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2002.12 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract this theoretical editorial piece sets the tone for a special issue that focuses on teasing new directions during and after the covid-19 pandemic. the piece is underpinned by bricolage thinking, and we seek to show that it is essential to reimagine various educational disciplines in order to meet new challenges and opportunities presented by covid-19. in doing so, we are convinced that the relationship between a serene scholarly quest and applied space has to be re-examined. thus, to reimagine a better world during and post covid-19, cross-disciplinarity is no longer an option for humanity, instead, it is essential, to ensure the collective efforts needed to address the pressing issues of the day. we end this editorial section by arguing that new strategies that are adopted need to be shared across disciplines and faculties, to reinvent multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary approaches to addressing human crises. keywords covid 19; interdisciplinary, teaching and learning; online learning. 10.46303/jcve.2002.12 ii jcve 2022, 5(1): i-viii introduction in the 21st century, humanity experienced a worldwide pandemic, covid-19, which left countries devastated (dhanani et al., 2020). it was reported that, by “end of july 2020 approximately 17,000,000 cases of covid-19 had been reported worldwide with more than 660,000 deaths, placing the various life systems in many nations under severe pressure” (osman & keevy, 2021, p. xxv). the large number of deaths prompted the world health organization (who) to declare covid-19 a pandemic, which ignited universal efforts and approaches to limit the spread of the virus. among these were tight or hard lockdowns, which saw borders closed, flights grounded, people leaving their offices to work at home, and schools resorting to online learning. this situation became the “new normal” while the pandemic wreaked havoc. in essence, the pandemic ensured that life as we had known it, changed irrevocably. the crisis led many societies to acknowledge the importance of certain workers who had not always been afforded the proper appreciation prior the emergency caused by this pandemic (unesco, 2020). furthermore, the pandemic lead to the realisation that disciplines cannot remain stagnant in the face of an ever-changing world. new ideas, new approaches and new ways of doing things needed to be investigated to contain the virus and to ensure that disruptions to life systems are minimised. these attempts to innovate had have as its goal ensuring the coexistence of people and the virus – even though the pandemic has slowed, the total eradication of the virus is unlikely. countries, such as the united kingdom, botswana and namibia, have, at the time of writing, lifted hard lockdown rules, the necessity of wearing face masks, and pcr testing for international travellers, especially for people who have been vaccinated. the pandemic reminded us of the need for new directions in various academic disciplines, to coexist with the new realities caused by the pandemic (tarman, 2020). as unesco (2020) argues, the covid-19 crisis reminded us how crucial public education is for societies, communities, and individuals. therefore, the argument of this editorial is that, to improve human conditions in the face of a crisis, new directions are indispensable, desirable and doable in the context of a pandemic. the successful achievement of these changes hinge, in part, on integrated “curricula based on themes and problems that allows us to learn to live in peace with our common humanity” (unesco, 2020, p. 18). theoretical framework: bricolage we locate this editorial in bricolage theory. bricolage “is a concept that originated from anthropology, [and] designates a type of relationship with time and space and an approach to knowledge and reasoning” (lévi-strauss, 1967, p. 2). the essence of bricolage is to “make do by applying combinations of the resources at hand to new problems and opportunities” (baker & nelson, 2005, p. 333). in the quest to find new directions for disciplines, bricolage thinking, as proposed by rapport and overing (2014), seeks to “put together of multiple cultural forms to innovate and create something new or more fit for purpose”. with the effect of the covid-19 iii jcve 2022, 5(1): i-viii pandemic on the world, it became inevitable that disciplines find “different ways of making sense, and pragmatic solutions that are not degraded by situations” (kincheloe, 2005, p. 326). these different ways, in the context of the pandemic, propel academic disciplines to “evoke strategies that are adopted to construct something out of the little that is available, whether resources or systems, to achieve new goals” (aagard, 2009, p. 84). with bricolage as their line of thinking, we are convinced that disciplines will see the need to re-examine their approaches to life, in order to ensure they remain relevant in the pursuit to save humanity. we argue this way because bricolage is a theory that “inspires creative thinking because it encourages seeing new relationships between seemingly disparate objects” (blankenship, 2020: p. 1). in short, we believe this theory is relevant for couch this editorial, because one of the goals of the theory is that it seeks to “promote progressive pedagogy by constructing new things out of what is available” (louvel, 2013). academic disciplines have existing structures through which they have been operating. however, through bricolage, academic disciplines could engage with other disciplines, and approach life problems, such as those caused by covid-19, with a transdisciplinary or interdisciplinary approach. in essence, in the context of the covid-19 pandemic, we believe that disciplines cannot isolate themselves from other disciplines; instead, they should be working together and removing the boundaries that have isolated academic disciplines. why reconfigure disciplines? without a doubt, covid-19 presented humanity with unprecedented challenges (dhanani et al., 2020, p. 126) in all spheres of life, and rethinking our disciplines to ensure their relevance has become essential. if disciplines are to confront realities during and post covid-19 successfully, there is a need for us to broaden our approaches, to encompass fluidity, capillarity and the changing contexts of contemporary societies (unesco, 2020, p. 10). covid-19 exposed unexpected life realities the covid-19 pandemic exposed the “difficulty of dealing with unexpected situations in centralized bureaucracies and showed us that the real capacity for response and innovation” (unesco, 2020, p. 13). bueddefeld et al. (2021) explain that the pandemic had unprecedented consequences for modern history. most of the challenges manifested in social, economic and political spheres. one unexpected reality was the massive loss of human life in almost every country. koh et al. (2021) report that, by december 2021, covid-19 was the leading cause of death globally. on 17 march 2022, the cumulative global death toll stood at 6 077 252 (who, 2022). almost every country on the globe reported covid-19-related deaths between 2019 and 2022. in the education arena, the pandemic caused the abrupt closure of schools and higher education institutions (gupta & goplani, 2020; mirahmadizadeh et al., 2020). teaching and learning times were lost. most endowed schools resorted to online learning and blended teaching. through covid-19, we discovered what it means to be stuck at home, with computer iv jcve 2022, 5(1): i-viii screens, laptops and phones being our only way of communicating, we learnt about homeschooling and working from home offices, and we worked out and stayed in touch with loved ones via zoom, teams, whatsapp, facebook and other software (maphosa, 2021). these unexpected, new life realities presented challenges as well as opportunities; one such opportunity relates to the need for government agencies to work in unison. covid required an interdisciplinary approach to humanity in our attempts to address the challenges presented by covid-19, it became clear that everyone needed to come on board to determine the best way to mitigate the pandemic, to limit losses related to life, trade and jobs. an interdisciplinary approach was viewed as the most practical. interdisciplinarity is defined as different disciplines considering a shared object from different perspectives (mol & hardon, 2020). the gemelli against covid-19 post-acute care study group (2020) advocates for a health-directed, interdisciplinary approach to boosting post-recovery rates. fields such as health, education, the retail industry, the transport sector and others adhered to various covid regulations that had been gazetted by different governments to halt the spread of the virus. health, as a spotlight discipline, did not disregard what other fields could bring to the table to address the various challenges. boundaries that had separated disciplines were removed and negotiated, to pave the way for finding solutions to save humanity. disciplines often create unnegotiated boundaries while the idea of a need for interdisciplinary approaches to life’s challenges were gaining momentum in some sectors, others guarded their disciplinary boundaries and remained blind to ways their disciplines could integrate other thought processes for the sake of finding solutions for the challenges facing humanity. while we support this argument, we also acknowledge that interdisciplinary spaces are hard to construct, and hard to maintain (wissoker, 2018). however, the advent of covid-19 necessitated changes to the landscape and evoked the need for people to bring to the table every available piece of knowledge to solve or mitigate the pandemic. an example of people working together in the south african context is the national disaster command team assembled by president cyril ramaphosa, which comprised people from various disciplines, and which was tasked with addressing issues relating to the pandemic. the intent was sustaining communication with the populace and minimising disruption and other side effects. thus, in this context, reconfiguration of disciplines was required, to allow various academic disciplines to negotiate boundaries, rather than taking isolated stances in the context of the pandemic. disciplines can learn from each other in the context of crisis in the context of the crisis, and post pandemic, we have seen that disciplines can learn from each another. as educationists, we learnt the meaning of a variety of medical terms, which, prior to the pandemic, were unknown or irrelevant to us. for example, the general populace learnt the meaning of terms such as surgical mask, immunity, asymptomatic, droplet transmission, endemic, and social distance. academic disciplines need to think about the ways v jcve 2022, 5(1): i-viii they can “develop actors, structures and dynamics which can operate at a global level to make humanity better” (smith, 2007, p. 35). negotiation under the context of covid-19 should be characterised by compromise, which demonstrates that disciplinary consensus is needed to fight a global pandemic (grunert & ludwig, 2022). value of unpacking new directions: towards multidisciplinary approaches there is always value in seeking new directions in the quest to make the universe and humanity a better place or norm for all. doing so requires that academic disciplines learn from and open their spaces to new knowledge, rather than protecting their academic territory. the constantly changing circumstances presented by the covid-19 pandemic showed us that academic disciplines cannot remain stagnant. consequently, new thinking and approaches are indispensable for making the world a better place for humanity and other crises such as climate change. we agree with the observation by unesco (2020, p. 10) that the pandemic magnified many of the long-standing challenges facing humanity. the uneven opportunities that divide people within and across nations, in fact, seem to be worsening. therefore, it is essential to encourage post-pandemic reconstruction, research excellence (as demonstrated by ongoing collaborative research to understand and defeat the virus), pedagogical innovation, and effective responsiveness to various disruptive trends (wangenge-ouma & kupe, 2020). we argue that this is possible from a bricolage thinking approach, since the theory “supports the need for something new from the reworking of those items” (blankenship, 2020). this special issue drew many articles from the field of education. we submit that education, as an academic field, should begin to interact with various other academic fields to enact a better world during and after the pandemic. we agree that the “educational response to the covid-19 crisis has revealed the [need for] capacity of educators to draw on their professional knowledge and collaboratively mobilize with a resourcefulness and creativity” (unesco, 2020, p. 13). achieving this goal cannot be the sole responsibility of educational theories and online teaching, but requires a willingness to open up to various possibilities that can improve education in the context of a crisis. thus, education should tap into interdisciplinary theories and ideologies that have shaped other fields. reciprocal learning is inevitable if we are to invest in improving education, so that it can stand in the times of crisis. thus, we agree with white et al. (2021, p. 240), that “interdisciplinary research can be highly rewarding. it allows research teams to cross disciplinary boundaries, to connect and collaborate on complex issues; and to share and combine expertise that might not be achievable within individual disciplines”. thus, our message to authors was that they should discuss the new directions their fields have acquired, and show how interdisciplinary approaches have and will, in the future, positively impact their fields after the emergence of covid-19. while covid-19 was, indeed, a human catastrophe, it reminded us the urgency of “improving on the world that was before presents us all with a real challenge and responsibility. we must build narratives for what the new reality vi jcve 2022, 5(1): i-viii could look like” (unesco, 2020, p. 24), and this new reality can only arise when we seek new directions, through interdisciplinary approaches to improving the situation for humanity, and trajectories associated with it. conclusion this editorial piece introduced the special issue, which has the theme of new directions in and post the covid-19 era. we argued that, while academic disciplines are independent, the covid19 pandemic reminded us that remaining isolated as academic disciplines would not help us to address the challenges associated with the pandemic. it was noted that learning from one another is required if we are to reconstruct a better world, better than the one that was damaged by covid-19. interdisciplinary research is key in the quest for new directions, and for reinventing a better world for all. thus, to achieve this, the special issue covers, but is not limited to the following aspects:  transforming higher education and finding new directions in the post covid-19 era  engaged science: is it an odd expectation?  teaching stem education practical work in remote classrooms  online learning in rural ecologies, and new directions  economic and management sciences and covid-19: new directions  a new understanding of human sciences, the social contract and its meaning  the university as a virtual space and new directions in education  student activism in the context of covid-19, and new directions references aagard, m. (2009). bricolage: making do with what is at hand. creative nursing, 15(2), 82–84. baker, t., & nelson, r. e. (2005). creating something from nothing: resource construction through entrepreneurial bricolage. administrative science quarterly, 50(3), 329–366. blankenship, r. j. (2020). which window is open? online discussions and the development of pre-service pedagogic digital agency. in l. wilton, & c. brett (eds.), handbook of research on online discussion-based teaching methods (pp. 73–100). igi global. bueddefeld, j., murphy, m., ostrem, j., & halpenny, e. (2021). methodological bricolage and covid-19: an illustration from innovative, novel, and adaptive environmental behavior change research. journal of mixed methods research, 15(3), 437–461. dhanani, r., wasif, m., pasha, h.a., hussain, m., ghaloo, s. k., vardag, a. b., mahmood, k., & hussain, r. (2020). covid-19: implications, reactions and future directions. turkish archives of otorhinolaryngology, 58(2), 122–126. https://doi.org/10.5152/tao.2020.5452 gemelli against covid-19 post-acute care study group. (2020). post-covid-19 global health strategies: the need for an interdisciplinary approach. aging clinical and experimental research, 32, 1613–1620. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-020-01616-x vii jcve 2022, 5(1): i-viii grunert, c., & ludwig, k. (2022). academic reform in fractured disciplines – on the interaction of bologna, new-public-management and the dynamics of disciplinary development. minerva, 60, 57–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-021-09452-7 gupta, a., & goplani, m. (2020). impact of covid-19 on educational institution in india. purakala journal u (care listed), 31(21), 661–671. kincheloe, j. l. (2005). on to the next level: continuing the conceptualization of the bricolage. qualitative inquiry, 11(3), 323–350. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800405275056 koh, h. k., geller, a. c., & vanderweele, t. j. (2021). deaths from covid-19. jama, 325(2), 133–134. lévi-strauss, c. (1967). the savage mind. university of chicago press. louvel, s. (2013). understanding change in higher education as bricolage: how academics engage in curriculum change. higher education, 66(6), 669–691. maphosa, v. (2021). teachers’ perspectives on remote-based teaching and learning in the covid-19 era: rethinking technology availability and suitability in zimbabwe. european journal of interactive multimedia and education, 2(1), e02105. mirahmadizadeh, a., ranjbar, k., shahriarirad, r., erfani, a., ghaem, h., jafari, k., & rahimi, t. (2020). evaluation of students' attitude and emotions towards the sudden closure of schools during the covid-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study. bmc psychology, 8(134). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-020-00500-7 mol, a., & hardon, a. (2020). what covid-19 may teach us about interdisciplinarity. bmj global health, 5, e004375. https://doi.org/10.1136/ bmjgh-2020-004375 osman, a., & keevy, j. (eds). (2021). the impact of covid-19 on education systems in the commonwealth. the commonwealth. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/the%20impact%20of%20covi d-19_updf.pdf rapport, n., & overing, j. (2014). social and cultural anthropology. the key concepts (3rd ed.). routledge. smith, m. (2007). negotiating boundaries and borders: qualitative methodology and development research. in m. smith (ed.), negotiating boundaries and borders (vol. 8) (pp. 1–9). emerald group. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1042-3192(06)08001-3 tarman, b. (2020). editorial: reflecting in the shade of pandemic. research in social sciences and technology, 5(2), i-iv. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.02.ed unesco. (2020). education in a post-covid world: nine ideas for public action international commission on the futures of education. https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/education_in_a_post-covid_worldnine_ideas_for_public_action.pdf wangenge-ouma, g., & kupe, t. (2020). uncertain times: re-imagining universities for new, sustainable futures. universities south africa. https://www.usaf.ac.za/wpcontent/uploads/2020/09/uncertain-times-paper.pdf viii jcve 2022, 5(1): i-viii white, p. j., alders, g., patocs, a., & parminder, r. (2021). covid-19 and interdisciplinary research: what are the needs of researchers on aging? tuning journal for higher education, 9(1), 239–263. who (2022). who coronavirus (covid-19) dashboard. https://covid19.who.int/ wissoker, k. (2018). negotiating a passage between disciplinary borders: a symposium. items – insights from the social sciences. https://items.ssrc.org/interdisciplinarity/negotiating-a-passage-between-disciplinaryborders-a-symposium/ microsoft word 8.dube&hove.106-121 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 1 2022 pp. 106-121 from war studies to peace building and social transformation at the university of zimbabwe in the post-covid-19 era: new directions baldwin hovea & bekithemba dube*a * corresponding author bekithembadube13@gmail.com a. school of education studies, university of the free state, qwaqwa campus, south africa article info received: january 4, 2022 revised: february 11, 2022 accepted: february 25, 2022 how to cite hove, b. & dube, b. (2022). from war studies to peace building and social transformation at the university of zimbabwe in the post-covid-19 era: new directions. journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), 106121. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.9 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract this paper uses a positive peace lens to examine the replacement of the war and strategic studies (wss) degree curriculum, to the degree in conflict, peace building, and social transformation (cpst) at the university of zimbabwe in the year 2021, by considering the global pandemic and seeking new directions in the field. the paper addresses two questions: 1) what changes and factors provoked the change in direction, from the wss curriculum to cpst, and 2) what are the potential benefits of repackaging the wss degree programme? the paper argues that the paradigm shift accommodates pandemics, such as covid-19, which reconfigured social, political, and economic patterns of life, and a new direction emerged, that is, a change of focus from negative to positive peace. among the reasons for curriculum changes, and for cpst superseding wss, was the desire to give the programme a human face, and to align the degree so that it promotes the positive peace and sustainable development needed to address trajectories associated with emerging nonviolent threats to humanity – such as a global pandemic. lastly, we see the new direction of cpst as a counterhegemonic strategy to address confrontational and militaristic approaches to human conflict. covid-19 has reminded us that confrontational politics are slowly becoming irrelevant for addressing the ambivalence of life, and in the struggle to contain global pandemics, which pose new threats to peace, security and development. keywords covid-19; war studies; positive peace; social transformation; sustainable development. 10.46303/jcve.2022.9 107 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 introduction peace education has been a topical subject in higher education curricula the second world war; the first course in peace studies had been introduced at manchester college in 1948 (drago, 2013). the history department at the university of zimbabwe offered war and strategic studies (wss) at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. the curriculum content of the degree programme at undergraduate level mainly involved the military history of zimbabwe, and the world in general. its courses dealt with the military history of topics such as the world wars, third-world conflicts, international security, guerrilla warfare, arms control, war and society, and military technology (university of zimbabwe, 2019). considering zimbabwe’s experience of an armed liberation war fought from1966 to 1979, one may argue that it was prudent and understandable for the university of zimbabwe to help the nation celebrate its war history by offering this curriculum, which emphasised confrontation as the only suitable approach to replacing the former white minority government in zimbabwe. mavhunga et al. (2012) explain that this was also the situation in zimbabwean secondary schools, of which the history curriculum was designed to celebrate black african war heroes. the wss degree programme had been designed to develop staff in the uniformed forces who had not had the opportunity to attend university because of their participation in the liberation war. however, due to changes in the world order, influenced largely by nonviolent threats to peace like the covid-19 pandemic, there was a need to rethink the curriculum to suit the emerging needs of a continuously evolving society. this helps to address relations with other countries and various social pathologies, such as world hunger and pandemics like covid-19, which had become a social and medical disaster (moisio, 2020). rebranding the name and content of the degree programme was unavoidable. the change from wss to conflict, peace building, and social transformation (cpst) reflects judith butler’s (2009) motif of the differential grievability of life, and an attempt to reimagine a pedagogy of compassion that foregrounds the nurturance of people who are afflicted and marginalised in the face of the covid-19 pandemic. consequently, by the year 2021, the wss bachelor of arts honours degree had been split, and repackaged into three bachelor of arts honours degree programmes, namely, i) history of war and security, ii) risk reduction and disaster management, and iii) conflict, peacebuilding and societal transformation (university of zimbabwe, 2021). the courses and modules of these new programmes were revamped, and are now fashionable and compatible with the 21st century’s need for peace education. according to hove & ndawana (2019), peace education is an important vehicle for social transformation and development. the changes are important in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, because they are geared to promoting social unity, cooperation and harmony, thus, helping in the fight against the crisis. unlike many studies (marongwe & garidzirai, 2021; olawale et al., 2021; skhephe & mantlana, 2021) which saw covid-19 as a disaster, this article views it as partly an opportunity to reinvent a new curriculum at university of zimbabwe that rethink its approach to global politics. it can, therefore, be argued that such a curriculum change could motivate society to work for peace through unity, 108 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 love, empathy, and cooperation, which are important weapons in the fight against nonviolent threats to humanity, such as that posed by covid-19. theoretical framework this study is rooted in the context of positive peace, a theory developed by norwegian sociologist johan galtung in the late 1960s. galtung’s goal was to promote sustainable peace through peace keeping, peace-making and peace building. the notion of positive peace originates from plato’s idealism and emmanuel kant’s view that perpetual peace can be achieved if there is cooperation amongst all. these ideals are referenced in the introduction of the cpst curriculum, which promotes social cohesion and offers strategies for fighting emerging nonviolent threats to peace and development. galtung (1976, as cited in grewal, 2003) argues that positive peace can be categorised into two types: i) direct positive peace, which involves training people in peace education as a way of building a peace infrastructure, and ii) structural positive peace, which has to do with transforming the inner structures of society, so that they work to achieve peace and justice. such structural institutions promote cooperation, restore relationships and promote voluntary participation of the citizenry in the pursuit of sustainability (sandy & perkins, 2000). therefore, the common denominator is that positive peace advocates for a proactive restructuring of an infrastructure, to achieve peace. it is important to note that positive peace theory has broadened the definition of peace. grewal (2003) says that peace is no longer defined as only the absence of direct violence (negative peace), but as the absence of structural violence (positive peace). therefore, by using a positive peace lens, a health pandemic, like hiv and aids or covid-19, can be categorised as structural violence that threatens peace. unlike negative peace, which is temporary and comes as a result of the end of something undesirable, positive peace is the creation of peace through positive actions and interactions that aim to create a more inclusive and supportive system (selamaj, 2020). this implies that education is a pillar of positive peace infrastructure, because it is through education that humanity is socialised to work together to avoid and resolve crises. selamaj (2020) explains that positive peace can be intrinsic, as an individual learns to do good for the benefit of everybody. groten and jansen (1981) argue that positive peace has to do mainly with governments honouring the social contract by meeting people’s basic needs, or providing the minimum for subsistence in return for the citizenry’s loyalty and cooperation. positive peace, therefore, calls for the creation of positive and conducive conditions that can help to avoid or resolve the underlying roots of the potential for conflict. it can be argued, therefore, that the provision of social amenities – such as good health facilities, housing and education – are pillars of positive peace. therefore, having the cpst curriculum geared to positive peace makes it a relevant curriculum that addresses social ills. in simple terms, positive peace theory emphasises the creation of strong institutions that promote cooperation, thus, avoiding structural violence, which is mainly a result of people 109 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 grieving a lack of opportunities and the absence of good governance (galtung, 1981; groten & jansen, 1981). structural violence is defined by naidu (1986) as legalised human suffering in the absence of direct and overt use of violence. this means that structural violence is connected mainly to the collapse of the social contract, which may result in problems such as poor service delivery and lack of good governance, thus, forcing people to counter the status quo. according to sandy and perkins (2000), positive peace entails decentralisation of power and authority. doing so helps reduce feelings of anonymity and powerlessness, particularly amongst members of the minority and subaltern. positive peace facilitates the development of relationships that can restore and preserve community values and spiritual needs, leading to self-actualisation (naidu, 1986). structural positive peace, therefore, calls for the injection of an aesthetic through the creation of strong, reliable institutions that promote good living and sustainability. the creation of such institutions requires a peace-educated human resource base that understands the social and geopolitical environment of the day. these goals explain the importance of a positive peace curriculum. vorobej (2008) says that such a stable environment promotes intellectual and moral development and provides people with the chance to seek happiness. it can also be argued that such an environment makes it easier to deal with pandemics, like covid-19, which are more threatening than guns and ammunition. reardon (2000) adds that positive peace is a sense of enjoyment of human rights by all. these benefits show that a curriculum rooted in positive peace is the way to go, because it touches the base of the social fabric by emphasising the creation of a stable society with functional amenities. this notion concurs with the way galtung (1986) defines peace as a positive condition. positive peace indicators include functional amenities, recognition of human rights, universal access, participation, development, and reduction of poverty. the positive peace theory helps to explain the rationale for the transition from a militaristic wss curriculum to the broad-based cpst curriculum. in this study, positive peace is defined as a situation where the political, economic, and social institutions of a society are healthy and are able to provide what is expected of them. it is, therefore, important that the education curriculum in zimbabwe mainstreams peace studies to promote love, harmony and good governance. doing so could restore the peace infrastructure that had been destroyed by decades of suffering, toxic politics, and crisis. it is imperative to mainstream peace building in every sector, to promote positive peace, which is a prerequisite for sustainable development, since positive peace provides sustainable solutions that make it easier to solve crises in their various forms. universities should, therefore, be applauded for imparting knowledge, conducting research, bridging the gap between theory and practice and, above all, helping in the fight against crisis and pandemics such as covid-19. the concept of positive peace shows that every sector is important in peace building. for example, good governance ensures reliable social amnesties and promotes unity and cooperation, which helps in the fight against pandemics like hiv and aids and covid-19, among others. therefore, 110 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 it was important for the university of zimbabwe to embrace positive peace by shifting from the wss to the cpst curriculum. literature review it is evident that the subject of peace studies continues to attract scholarly attention in the contemporary world. much has been written on the origins, development and importance of peace education. leading intellectuals, such as johan galtung, kenneth boulding and anatol, have written extensively on peace education. beleuta (2017) writes about peace education in india and other parts of the world, and delgado (2008) describes peace education at colombian universities. dick and thondhlana (2013), harris and hove (2019), hove and ndawana (2019), and makuvaza (2013), are among the scholars who have written on peace education in zimbabwe. the value of their contributions and the gaps in their publications will be enunciated as the paper unwinds. in a 2013 publication, galtung and udayakumar concur with dress (2005), delgado (2008), and galtung (1986), that peace education is a life process and an important ingredient of sustainable development. galtung and udayakumar (2013) argue that the process does not end with teaching about peace, but continues to bridge the gap between theory and practice, that is, becoming what we teach. this argument goes hand in glove with the positive peace theory, which emphasises that both direct positive peace and structural positive peace are lifelong processes that call for the proactive participation of individuals in order to strengthen the infrastructure of positive peace. therefore, according to galtung and udayakumar (2013), peace education is a pillar for moulding the peace infrastructure, because, through peace education, individuals are socialised to be good citizens who are proactive in peace building. such literature is treasured in this publication, because it helps to justify the inclusion of peace education in the university curriculum. however, this paper was written in the covid-19 era, therefore, it emphasises the relevance of peace education in the fight against deadly pandemics. the importance of peace education in today’s society is reflected in a growing consensus amongst scholars that peace studies should be mainstreamed in the same way gender education is studied as a cross-cutting discipline. dress (2005) argues that a nation needs a comprehensive peace infrastructure that can take a holistic approach to peace building. generally, experts agree that there is need to mainstream peace building in every sector. beleuta (2017) explains that, in india, afghanistan, sierra leone and other countries, there is increasing scholarly advocacy to mainstream peace building in school curricula. delgado (2008) adds that, even though the role of universities is not yet prominent in colombia, they have assumed a more active and visible role in peace building and reconciliation processes, through activities oriented to reconstructing the social foundations of communities. therefore, even though the scholars referenced above have not written specifically on the importance of rebranding the wws degree programme at the university of zimbabwe, their work supports the idea that peace studies is the cross-cutting issue in contemporary studies all over the world today. 111 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 hove (2019), in an article entitled, the necessity of peace education in zimbabwe, clearly explains the benefits of mainstreaming peace education in zimbabwe. hove (2019) credits zimbabwean tertiary institutions for teaching peace studies, but, like dick and thondhlana (2013), hove (2019) argues that peace studies should be taught from kindergarten to university level. doing so is essential if zimbabwe is serious about breaking the continuous cycle of violence, toxicity and intolerance, particularly in political circles, which presented as waves of political violence in the precolonial, colonial and postcolonial periods. dick and thondhlana (2013) argue that conflict transformation, conflict management and peace building should be taught at primary school, because long-lasting cultural practice begins in childhood. hove (2019) agrees with dick and thondhlana (2013) and harris and hove (2013) that education can be one of the most effective ways of solving problems caused by violence in sub-saharan africa. the ideas of mediel hove, one of the longest serving members of the department of peace studies at the university of zimbabwe, are visible in the cpst curriculum that replaced the wss degree. hove (2019) and pigozzi (1999) are among the scholars who agree that education is an important part of peace building. this notion has amplified calls for mainstreaming peace education in zimbabwe. makuvaza (2013), in his presentation to the philosophical society of zimbabwe to advocate for the transition from negative to positive peace, acknowledges the progress made by the organ for national healing, reconciliation and integration, but laments that its efforts yield negative peace. instead, he argues that there is a need to create positive peace through peace education anchored on hunhu and chivanhu (shona words for humanism and humanity). this idea is echoed by hove and ndawana (2019), who argue that education is a dependable vehicle for the promotion of peace and development, because the curriculum can satisfactorily address zimbabwe’s technical needs. it can, therefore, be argued that peace education can be an important social weapon in the fight against the covid-19 pandemic. hove and ndawana (2019) and makuvaza (2013) lament that peace education is not being effectively enforced in the zimbabwean education system. makuvaza (2013) takes a step further, by advocating that peace education should be a constitutional issue that should be included in the national constitution (which was being written at that time). such an argument shows that peace education has been topical for a while, and that it was imperative for the university of zimbabwe to realign its curriculum to address these societal demands. this study uses makuvaza’s paper to explain the nexus between peace studies and societal needs. with makuvaza’s (2013) ideas in mind, it can be argued that the war studies degree curriculum was centred on negative peace, because it was based on building peace with reference to the country’s military history. however, unlike makuvaza (2013), who looked at peace education in general, this paper is unique and contributes to the field of peace education in several ways. one of its contributions is to the new direction of the field. it focuses specifically on the benefits of the change to the cpst curriculum at the university of zimbabwe, by 112 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 explaining how the curriculum is geared to achieving positive peace and how it is relevant in a world traumatised by covid-19. what are the changes in the cpst curriculum? this section responds to question 1, namely, what changes and factors provoked the change of direction from the wss to cpst curriculum? understanding the factors that contributed to the repackaging of the wss degree curriculum at the university of zimbabwe calls for an analysis of a bigger picture – of the social, political and economic environment the university operates in. universities serve a society with a certain set of expectations; therefore, they are expected to react to, solve and satisfy those societal challenges. such challenges, such as pandemics, environmental disasters and political conflicts, play a pivotal role in moulding the curriculum. it cannot be denied that the wss curriculum was old-fashioned, confrontational and no longer compatible with the new world order characterised by nonviolent threats to peace and development. worse still, with the arrival of the unexpected global covid-19 pandemic, which threatened the very existence of humanity, curriculum change was unavoidable. an analysis of the changes introduced in the new programmes of the peace, security and society department reveals that the programmes cover both violent and nonviolent threats to peace and development. the newly introduced curriculum seems to address a gap – that of nonviolent threats to peace, such as pandemics, of which covid-19 is topical at this time. such aspects were marginalised in the wss curriculum. the curriculum and nonviolent threats to peace one of the notable changes in the bachelor of arts honours degree in conflict, peacebuilding and social transformation degree (hcpst) is the broadening of the curriculum to cater for emerging challenges facing the world. instead of focusing on violent conflicts – which yield negative peace, as was the case in the wss degree – the hcpst degree aims to achieve social transformation, so as to curb nonviolent threats to peace, and build positive peace. this makes the curriculum relevant in a world threatened by nonviolent pandemics, such as covid-19. the rebranding of the curriculum, therefore, cannot be alienated from the issues of the day. chaudhary (2015) and reece and walker (2000) agree that curriculum design is influenced by a plethora of factors, chief among which social conditions, environmental factors, economic issues, political forces and other topical issues of the day. this means that a curriculum pulls from a wide source base that defines society. the newly introduced cpst curriculum comprises courses such as introduction to social transformation, and disaster preparedness and prevention in zimbabwe. these courses address emerging societal needs of a new world order characterised by positive peace, as opposed to negative peace. the cpst curriculum focuses on peace strategies instead of war strategies. in contrast, an analysis of the wss degree curriculum content shows a focus on studying strategies and tactics of gaining victory through physical violence. among the core courses of the wss degree programme were military history of the first world war, strategic doctrine, mechanisation and air power, military technology and guerrilla warfare, which taught students the art of war. this 113 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 degree produced strategists and fighters of physical wars and conflicts. it can be argued that the curriculum took war and conflict as a means to an end, that is, winning conflicts as a means to achieving peace. this was understandable, considering that zimbabwe was born out of a protracted armed struggle. such a naïve approach to peace studies, according to drago (2013), was common at most universities after the second world war, because the state understood that making peace was a process that could require, as a last resort, waging war. therefore, military academies were concerned with teaching how to fight the enemy in the most effective way possible. diplomacy was the preserve of people concerned with international relations (drago, 2013). it can, therefore, be argued that the wss curriculum was rooted in the principles of negative peace, because it defined peace narrowly, as the absence of war, and was intended to produce graduates who were experts in war strategy, as opposed to peace strategy. such a curriculum has little relevance in a world ravaged by covid-19 – a world where nonviolent pandemics present the new threats to peace, security and development. the cpst curriculum that was introduced advocates for positive peace and accommodates non-military issues, and includes diseases and cultural conflicts as new factors that shape the contemporary world. the cpst curriculum includes courses that aim to strengthen the social fabric as a means of creating a safe world through unity and cooperation. such courses include participatory approaches to societal transformation, disaster preparedness and prevention, theories and practice of nonviolence and education for peace. according to galtung (1964), positive peace refers to the integration of human society, whilst negative peace refers to the absence of violence or absence of war. grewal (2003) explains that negative peace is precarious and pessimistic, because it is based on fear and the desire to avoid a possible recurrence of previously experienced violence, regardless of the friction that may exist in a society. on the other hand, positive peace is optimistic and can be defined as the absence of structural violence, that is, the absence of conflict-causing factors in a society (grewal 2003). sandy and perkins (2000, cited by makuvaza, 2013) dismiss the notion of negative peace, and claim that it is no longer acceptable, because it is too simplistic and misleading. negative peace gives false comfort, by implying that, as long there is no direct violence, then there is peace and there is no need to concerned about peace issues. matyók and schmitz (2014, p. 55) argue that strategies that are based on negative peace are outdated and need to be changed. they assert: we find ourselves in a period of significant change, and formal and informal institutions and systems of the past that support negative peace alone need modification to meet new demands. tomorrow’s battlefield still needs warriors able to close with and destroy the enemy but also those proficient in conflict prevention, management, and transformation skills. this assertion makes it clear that positive peace defines the new curriculum of peace studies in the contemporary world. military academies are advised to embrace conflict 114 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 prevention and peacebuilding curricula. therefore, with such views in mind, it can be argued that the rebranding of the war studies degree was long overdue. one of the major strengths of the newly introduced peace education curriculum at the university of zimbabwe is that it links with other academic fields, such as law and governance. peace studies generally is an interdisciplinary academic field that draws from history, sociology, political science, anthropology and other related subjects (kroc institute for international peace studies, 2021). the fact that the curriculum designers of the university of zimbabwe managed to accommodate the emerging needs of the new world order without losing the original framework of the discipline deserves credit. as reflected in the 2021 university prospectus, some courses in the department of peace, security and society are taught in combination with courses in other disciplines. for example, media, conflict and peacebuilding is designed to be co-taught with the department of creative media and communication, while participatory approaches to societal transformation is designed to be co-taught with community and social development, and indigenous knowledge systems and peacebuilding in africa is crafted to be co-taught with languages, literature and culture. this shows that peace education involves cross-cutting issues that touch on all spheres of life. it is no wonder that makuvaza (2013) and hove (2019), among other scholars, advocate for it to be mainstreamed in education at all levels. why the change to cpst? job market issues ever-changing human resource demands is one of the socio-economic factors that influence curriculum design all over the world. yazdi (2013) explains that the labour market has a direct bearing on curriculum design, which means that curriculum designers are influenced by the demands of the job market. acknowledging this relationship promotes the design of curricula that are relevant and that produce employable graduates. it is not a secret that the 21st century demands workers with hands-on experience. pragmatists like john dewey have long emphasised the necessity of learning by doing (janse, 2019). according to dewey, learners learn better if they interact with their environment (shook, 2000). some universities in zimbabwe, like the midlands state university and solusi university, were, by the turn of the millennium, already offering four-year peace studies courses that required one year of work-related learning. this gave students hands-on experience of the content they were being taught in class, and gave them the chance to experience real-world challenges. however, practical application was missing from the wss degree at the university of zimbabwe. students were taught a threeyear theoretical curriculum that exposed them to stiff competition in the job market from their counterparts of other universities, who had experienced internship as part of the curriculum. bing (1989) agrees with hove (2019) that peace education must include peace action. to bing (1989), peace action can take the form of on-campus co-curricular experiences, off-campus internships, and foreign study. these activities give meaning to the theoretical content. internship is important, because it helps to bridge the gap between theory and practice. this is 115 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 echoed by galtung’s (1986) argument that peace education should aim at making graduates practice what they learn. as a response to the need to bridge the educational gap, the revamped peace studies curriculum at the university of zimbabwe now offers work-related learning to students in their third year. it is clear that these changes were due to external job market forces, and, therefore, shows that the university seeks to fulfil societal educational demands. competition between universities closely related to the demands of the job market, is competition for enrolment among zimbabwean universities. in 2015, the university of zimbabwe introduced two intakes (february and august), though the university director of information and public relations daniel chihombori denied that the move was a result of competition from other universities (mavudzi, 2015). however, it was clear that the university was under pressure to match other state universities. midlands state university, for example, has four campuses and an enrolment of over 20 000 students countrywide. the competition for enrolment is also revealed by bishau (2015), who explains that zimbabwe open university (zou) needed to market its programmes to attract students from all over the country. as the oldest university in the country, having been established in the colonial era, the university of zimbabwe used to enjoy a monopoly, and attracted the best students from all over the country. however, since the turn of the millennium several new universities have been established, and by 2018 the country had 24 registered universities (garwe & thondhlana, 2018). the increase in the number of universities ended the honeymoon for the university of zimbabwe and, at the same time, state coffers experienced strain, such that funding for universities by the state was greatly reduced and universities had to depend mainly on tuition fees and levies paid by students for survival. this caused a scramble to increase enrolment, since more students means more funds. in 2015, the university of zimbabwe introduced two intakes per a year, obviously as a way to increase enrolment for financial reasons. this meant that new marketing strategies to sell university offerings had to be developed. one of the strategies was to rebrand and repackage degree programmes to make them attractive to prospective students. wss was a victim of this new marketing strategy. national policies the political environment also has a direct bearing on the curriculum offered by schools and tertiary institutions. fayose (2020) argues that curriculum planning is a political process, because, in most cases, governments want to influence curriculum content. makuvaza (2013) and hove (2019) agree that mainstreaming peace education is the only way the zimbabwean government policy of national healing and integration can be a success. this idea, coupled with the policy of entrepreneurial education, which was introduced by the zimbabwean government in the new curricula of primary and secondary education, means that universities have to adjust their curricula to accommodate government policies and align with secondary school curricula. this explains why rebranding of degree programmes was not only done by the university of zimbabwe, or in the peace studies department, but was done by all other universities in the country too. the war studies curriculum was revamped to correspond with zimbabwean 116 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 government policies whilst, at the same time, producing world-class graduates. the cpst degree curriculum was designed to include courses such as youth and societal transformation, disaster preparedness and prevention in zimbabwe, justice, reconciliation and peacebuilding, indigenous knowledge systems and peacebuilding in africa. these courses ensure that graduates serve the immediate needs of society, particularly national healing and reconciliation, which has been a topical issue since a wave of political and electoral violence was experienced in the country after independence in 1980. this paper cannot list all the factors that contributed to the rebranding of the war studies curriculum. however, it is clear that the change was necessitated by internal and external factors that were shaped by social, economic and political forces. the university serves a community with certain expectations; therefore, it has to, from time to time, align its curriculum to remain relevant and meet those expectations. the potential benefits of the rebranding exercise for the university and the recipient community also calls for examination. potential benefits of the curriculum change this section will explain the potential benefits of the evolution of the war studies curriculum at the university of zimbabwe, and how the target market is expected to benefit from the changes. the new cpst curriculum is aligned to existing societal trends in peace building and sustainable development. it recognises the existence of nonviolent threats to peace, thus, making the curriculum relevant in a world that is being threatened by covid-19. it added industrial experience as part of learning, thus, bridging the gap between theory and practice. in addition to giving the degree a human face, the curriculum shifted the focus from negative to positive peace. such changes are expected to benefit both the university and the recipient community. as explained in the university of zimbabwe 2021 prospectus, the bachelor of arts honours degree in conflict, peacebuilding and social transformation equips graduates with the ability to analyse, discuss, examine and assess the advantages and disadvantages of conflict, as the basis for encouraging conflicting parties to engage. this is in line with the government policy on national healing and integration. it fulfils what hove (2019) and makuvaza (2013) advocate for when they argue that peace education should be the pillar of positive peacebuilding in the country. the curriculum intends to groom peace builders who have the ability to mould a peaceful society in which cooperation and unity are key. this is a major shift from the previous focus on strategies and tactics of fighting wars, to strategies and tactics of making peace. zimbabwe will benefit much from graduates who are able to build positive peace, considering the nation’s tainted history of violence and war as witnessed in the precolonial, colonial and postcolonial periods. this is also a major step towards fighting global threats, such as covid-19, that threaten world peace and development. the curriculum change is also expected to help in meeting the united nations sustainable development goal no. 16, which seeks to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development (unstats, 2021). 117 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 the new cpst curriculum also aims to produce graduates with a spirit of voluntarism and self-development, who are able to constructively intervene in conflict, peacebuilding and social transformation activities (university of zimbabwe, 2021). an analysis of the degree courses shows that the cpst curriculum aims to help the nation with healing and transforming. the peace education that is offered aims to produce a human resource base that is capable of steering the nation away from a culture of violence and intolerance, to cooperation and unity, thus, leading to sustainable peace and development. a curriculum that advocates for volunteerism, cooperation and unity makes the fight against pandemics such as covid-19 a shared task. makuvaza (2013) says peace education helps to promote practical positive peace. the introduction of industrial attachment to the degree curriculum of the peace, security and society department provides benefits to the university, students and industry. the university benefits from partnering with the public and private sectors to groom useful graduates. students gain hands-on experience, which makes learning meaningful by bridging the gap between theory and practice. this has been the emphasis of dewey’s philosophy of pragmatism, which values learning by doing (dewey, 1986). at the same time, the recipient industry gains an opportunity to contribute to the moulding of the labour force they desire. industrial attachment makes education relevant by addressing pressing societal challenges, such as covid-19. bing (1989) argues that peace education and good peace studies at the university level must include peace action, because experiential peace education helps to transform society for the better. the absence of an industrial attachment component was one of the major weaknesses of the previous peace studies curriculum, not only at the university of zimbabwe, but all over the world. lopez (1985, p. 119) explains that, due to the unique nature of the peace studies field: it has a dynamism and relevance lacking in traditional disciplines. this is most manifest in the action component of peace studies, thus university peace education must have an experimental dimension in which students engage in or observe problems of peace and conflict. this shows that scholars had long identified the absence of an industrial attachment as a weakness of the peace studies curriculum. therefore, there is no doubt that including workrelated learning in the peace studies degree programmes of the university of zimbabwe is a step in the right direction. engaging in the quest for social justice is one of the key duties of peace education graduates. this engagement is important, because it helps destroy latent conflict-causing factors. in support of this view, galtung (1996) uses the analogy of hygienic practices as a way to avoid the spread of diseases. he argues that peace education helps to achieve positive peace, because it avoids the germination of any potential causes of conflict, in much the same way as the spread of hygienic practices throughout society helps to limit the spread of diseases. an analysis of the peace studies curriculum introduced at the university of zimbabwe, particularly the bachelor of arts honours degree in cpst, shows that the courses are designed to create a 118 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 just society that is free of conflict causing agents. courses such as introduction to social transformation, theories and practice of nonviolence, justice, reconciliation and peacebuilding, and participatory approaches to societal transformation are embedded in the idea of positive peace, because they focus on transforming society and promoting cooperation and unity, thus, uprooting the spirit of violence and intolerance. conclusion this paper discussed the major changes that accompanied the evolution of the wss curriculum. it reported that the new cpst curriculum has been broadened to cater for emerging societal challenges, for instance, global pandemics, especially covid-19, which poses a nonviolent threat to peace. the conviction of positive peace has been reported as a major driver that shapes curriculum evolution, and makes curriculum relevant in the contemporary world. such curriculum changes benefit the student, the university and the recipient industry. work-related learning in the field promotes partnership in education and produces graduates with the much needed practical experience whilst, at the same time, bridging the gap that was obvious in the wss degree at the university of zimbabwe. references beleuta, l. (2017). the role of higher education in peace building – an interplay of global education norms and local contexts [master’s thesis, norwegian university of life sciences]. bing, a. (1989). peace studies as experiential education. the annals of the american academy of political and social science, 504(jul), 48–60. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1046589 bishau, d. (2015). causes of low student enrolment at the zimbabwe open university’s harare-chitungwiza region for the period 2008 to 2013. turkish journal of distance education, 16(2). butler, j. (2009). frames of war. when is life grievable? verso. chaudhary, g. k. (2015). factors affecting curriculum implementation for students. international journal of applied research, 1(12), 984–986. https://www.allresearchjournal.com/archives/2015/vol1issue12/partn/2-5-158343.pdf delgado, m. (2008). the role of universities in peace building processes in contexts of armed conflict: the experience of the universidad de bogotá jorge tadeo lozano in colombia. in proceedings of the 4th international barcelona conference on higher education, vol. 5. the role of higher education in peace building and reconciliation processes. global university network for innovation. https://upcommons.upc.edu/bitstream/handle/2099/5766/l5_pap_delgado.pdf?seque nce=1&isallowed=y 119 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 dewey, j. (1986), experience and education. the education forum, 50, 241–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131728609335764 dick, m. t., & thondhlana, s. (2013). towards a comprehensive primary school curriculum for conflict transformation and conflict management. international journal of social sciences and education, 4(1), 33–45. drago, a. (2013). peace studies and the peace movement. peace research, 44/45(2/1), 163– 191. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24429464 dress, t. p. (2005) designing a peace building infrastructure: taking a systems approach to the prevention of deadly conflicts. ngls development dossier. un non-governmental liaison service. https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/23016/designing.pdf fayose, a. (2020). curriculum development as a political and technical activity. academia letters. http://academia.edu/12845926 galtung, j. (1964), a structural theory of aggression. journal of peace research, 1(2), 95–119. https://doi.org/10.1177/002234336400100100203 galtung, j. (1981). social cosmology and the concept of peace. journal of peace research, 17(2), 183–199. galtung, j. (1986), three realistic approaches to peace: peacekeeping, peacemaking and peacebuilding. impact of science on society, 26(1-2), 103–115. galtung, j. (1996). peace by peaceful means: peace, conflict, development and civilization. sage publications. galtung, j., & udayakumar, s. p. (2013). more than a curriculum: education for peace and development. information age. garwe, e. c., & thondhlana, j. (2018). higher education systems and institutions, zimbabwe. in p. teixeira, & j. shin (eds.), encylopedia of international higher education systems and institutions. springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_479-1 grewal, b. s. (2003) johan galtung: positive and negative peace. academia letters. https://www.academia.edu/744030/johan_galtung_positive_and_negative_peace groten, h. & jansen, j. (1981). interpreters and lobbies for positive peace. journal of peace research, 18(2, special issue on theories of peace), 175–181. harris, g., & hove, m. (2019), putting a tape measure around violence in sub-saharan africa. in m. hove, & g. harris (eds.), infrastructure for peace in sub-saharan africa (pp. 3–24). springer. hove, m. (2019). the necessity for peace education in zimbabwe. in m. hove, & g. harris (eds.), infrastructure for peace in sub-saharan africa (pp. 143–163). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14694-8_9 hove, m., & ndawana, e. (2019). education provision in the midst of a crisis: the zimbabwean experience after 1999. journal of peace education, 16(2), 215–246. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/17400201.2019.1627663 120 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 janse, b. (2019). john dewey theory. available at https://www.toolshero.com/changemanagement/john-dewey-theory kroc institute for international peace studies. (2021). what is peace studies? [website], https://kroc.nd.edu/#:~:text=peace%20studies%20is%20an%20interdisciplinary,the%2 0causes%20of%20armed%20conflict%3b&text=build%20peaceful%20and%20just%20s ystems%20and%20societies lopez, g. a. (1985). a university peace studies curriculum for the 1990s. journal of peace research, 22(2), 117–128. makuvaza, n. (2013), peace and conflict in zimbabwe – a call for peace education (a contribution to the constitution making process). zimbabwe journal of educational research, 25(2), 240–261. marongwe, n., & garidzirai, r. (2021). together but not together: challenges of remote learning for students amid the covid-19 pandemic in rural south african universities. research in social sciences and technology, 6(3), 213–226. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.39 matyók, t. g., & schmitz, c. l. (2014). is there room for peace studies in a future-centered war-fighting curriculum? military review, 92(3), 51–55. https://www.armyupress.army.mil/journals/military-review/english-editionarchives/2014-archive/#mayjun mavudzi, m. (2015, january 30), uz explains two intakes, the herald. https://www.herald.co.zw/uz-explains-two-intakes/ moisio, s. (2020). state power and the covid-19 pandemic: the case of finland. eurasian geography and economics, 61(4–5), 598–605. https://doi.org/10.1080/15387216.2020.1782241 mavhunga, j., moyo, n., & chinyani, h. (2012). towards a citizenship education for zimbabwe. zimbabwe journal of educational research, 24(1), 1–15. naidu, m. v. (1986, may). dimensions of peace. peace research, 18(2). http://www.jstor.org/stable/23609744 olawale, b.e., mutongoza, b.h., adu, e. o. & omodan, b.i. (2021). covid-19 induced psychosocial challenges in south african higher education: experiences of staff and students at two rural universities. research in social sciences and technology, 6(3), 179193. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.37 pigozzi, m. j. (1999). education in emergencies and for reconstruction: a developmental approach. working paper series. unicef. reardon, b.a., (2000). peace education: a review and projection. peace education reports no. 17. malmö university. http://mah.se/english. reece, i., & walker, s. (2000). teaching, training and learning. a practical guide, 4th edition. business education publishers limited. 121 jcve 2022, 5(1): 106-121 sandy, l. r. & perkins, r., jr. (2000). the nature of peace and its implications for peace education. woodrow wilson international centre for scholars. selamaj, e. (2020), the importance of a positive peace mentality. peace innovation institute [website]. https://www.peaceinnovation.com/blog/the-importance-of-a-positivepeace-mentality shook, j. r. (2000). dewey’s empirical theory of knowledge and reality. vanderbilt university press. skhephe, m., & mantlana, c. (2021). accounting teachers’ voices on factors affecting online teaching during the 4th industrial revolution in the face of covid-19 in selected high schools in the eastern cape, south africa. research in social sciences and technology, 6(3), 109–121. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.32 university of zimbabwe. (2019). undergraduate admissions. https://www.uz.ac.zw/index.php/admissions/undergraduate university of zimbabwe. (2021). undergraduate programmes. https://www.uz.ac.zw/index.php/admissions/undergraduate unstats (2021). launch of the sustainable development goals report 2021. united nations. https://unstats.un.org/sdcs/ yazdi, s.v. (2013). effective employment: a basic objective for curriculum design in higher education. international journal of academic research in progressive education and development, 2(4), 28–43. vorobej, m. (2008) structural violence. peace research, 40(2), 84–98. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23607799 microsoft word 5.dube&baleni.59-77 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 1 2022 pp. 59-77 the experiences of higher education students with disabilities in online learning during the covid-19 pandemic nomzamo dube*a & lulekwa baleni * corresponding author: e-mail: ndube@ufh.ac.za a. centre for transdisciplinary studies, university of fort hare, alice, south africa b. teaching and learning centre, university of fort hare, alice, south africa. article info received: december 2, 2021 revised: january 18, 2022 accepted: february 10, 2022 how to cite dube, n., & baleni, l. (2022). the experiences of higher education students with disabilities in online learning during the covid-19 pandemic. journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), 59-77. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.6 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract although institutions of higher learning had been gradually exposed to blended and online methods of learning, most of them still preferred and utilised traditional, face-to-face learning for various reasons. as a result of the covid-19 pandemic that caused lockdowns in countries worldwide, blended or online learning became more important to enable continuity of education. the inevitability of change during the pandemic and the hurried paradigm shift from traditional methods of learning came with different implications to institutions of higher learning. online learning experiences have been extensively researched, however, they have not been adequately focused on students with disabilities. students with disabilities are expected to be accommodated in learning environments at institutions of higher education. using the social model of disability, the study elucidates the experiences of students with disabilities of an institution of higher education in south africa with online learning. the study is crucial in that it determines the extent to which online learning promotes inclusivity. data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. the study concluded that online learning has both advantages and disadvantages for students with varying disabilities. students with mobility and visual disabilities preferred online learning, which allows them to study in the comfort of their residences while students with intellectual disabilities preferred traditional/contact methods of learning. most participants indicated that their online lecturers are not aware of their disabilities and thus, their methods of instruction and assessment are not as inclusive. keywords covid-19; disability; students; online learning; blended learning. 10.46303/jcve.2022.6 60 jcve 2022, 5(1): 5977 introduction in response to the worldwide covid-19 pandemic, most countries implemented lockdown measures that heightened the need for online and blended learning methods in higher education. due to the nature of some studies, the institution incorporated blended learning (face-to-face instruction combined with online instruction) for some of its students who are mandated to engage in practical classes in laboratories, hospitals, schools, and communities. however, although ‘blended learning’ became the perfectly fitting phrase to describe the institutional method of instruction during the covid-19 lockdown, most instruction and assessment was done online. therefore, this study explored the experiences of students with disabilities in online learning specifically during the covid-19 lockdown. disability is a word used to explain the socially created system of norms that categorizes and values ‘body minds’ based on concepts of ability and inability conditions (schalk, 2017). in recent years, the idea of disability as only a physical and individual problem has been critiqued as inadequate. the united nations (un) convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (crpd) advocates for a shift in the recognition of disability as only a clinical and social welfare matter to seeing disability as a human rights matter. thus, disability has been re-defined as a social construct consisting of social, cultural, political and environmental barriers that are seen to be more disabling than the cognitive and physical challenges (schalk, 2017). from the more than a billion people in the world, about 15% are said to have some form of disability (hayes & bulat, 2017). of this percentage, 150 million disabled people are young people and 80% of them reside in less developed countries (world health organisation [who], 2011). 90% of children in developing countries and living with disabilities do not receive education, according to united nations international children’s emergency fund [unicef] (2014). those that start schooling usually have a high dropout rate. as a result, continued attendance in school results in a curriculum that is not specifically tailored to meet the needs of students with disabilities, and educators are usually unaware or unprepared to meet those needs (hayes & bulat, 2017). from the few students with disabilities that complete their primary education, very few progress to higher education. this is a result of barriers that learners with disabilities face as they navigate through the education system even from the lower levels (mutanga, 2017). having any form of disability can be extremely marginalising in one’s life. from time immemorial, people with disabilities have and still struggle to have productive lives as societies are characterised by stigmatisation, discrimination and environmental barriers (hiranandani, 2005). education, with its core function of empowerment (ashraf & farah, 2007) should be the ideal platform for the inclusion of people with disabilities, although challenges of implementation are inevitable (hayes & bulat, 2017). institutions of higher learning are gradually realising the need to achieve total inclusion including that of learners with disabilities (dalton et al., 2019). united nations educational, scientific & cultural organisation [unesco] (1990; 1994) paved way for educational inclusion 61 jcve 2022, 5(1): 59-77 worldwide and emphasized the urgency of discussions of the inequalities in the education systems. various policies advocated by unesco (1990; 1994; 2000; 2009) drive the need for access to education by all persons, promote equity for all in terms of educational opportunities and rights, and endorse the right to get secure accommodation and support for students. in line with the aforementioned, there is a need for educators and the support staff at institutions of higher learning to professionally acknowledge the need for inclusion (dalton et al., 2019). after apartheid was abolished in south africa in 1994, an investigation of discriminatory practices in the education system was conducted to ensure a total clean-up of apartheid discriminatory practices (dalton et al., 2019). this promoted inclusion of the poor and the disabled in education as well as access to education for previously underprivileged groups. although policies are implemented at the national level with regards to educational inclusion, there are challenges thereof (nel et al., 2016). these challenges include inadequate training of educators on inclusion, insufficient support in learning institutions and the absence of community engagements. thus, although policies are put in place for inclusion purposes, implementation realities are a stumbling block (dalton et al., 2019). the strategic disability policy framework in the post-school education and training (pset) system was implemented in 2018 (dhet, 2018) in the south african higher education sector, advocating for support of students with disability support post-basic education schooling. the framework states that “…although much has been done in the post-school education and training system, the management of disability rights in post-school education and training remains fragmented and separated from that of existing transformation and diversity programmes at institutional levels” (dhet, 2018, p.2). these programs may have a negative impact on students with disabilities. the south african ministry of education (2003) proposed to increase the enrolment rate of students with disabilities in higher education institutions through its white paper on post-school education and training (2013). although efforts of inclusion are visible, they have been rather inconsistent for students with disabilities due to different variables of disability (dalton et al., 2019). students with disabilities were experiencing difficulties with online learning at the university of cape town (uct). these challenges included the limited availability of enough assistive technology software to support their access to online learning and the lack of internet connectivity at home (dalton et al, 2019). although the university took steps to alleviate these barriers, the university staff acknowledged that the universal design for learning (udl) was initially focused on building inclusiveness in the education system. had the udl been implemented timeously, these challenges would not have surfaced. the suggestion was that the university needed a systematic change in its entirety as a response to inclusion challenges. as a result, units such as the library, disability services, the information technology unit and academic programmes started working in collaboration to address matters of online accessibility at home (dalton et al., 2019). 62 jcve 2022, 5(1): 5977 at stellenbosch university (su), a study was conducted on students’ experiences regarding inclusion and exclusion. the study exposed both the strengths and weaknesses of the disability support system at the university. the challenges revealed that faculties and staff members are not always aware of disability due to its multidimensional nature, and thus, they lack adequate planning for inclusion. the advantages include the university’s provision of assistive technology to students with disabilities through the disability unit and the efficiency of the disability staff in engaging students and staff in the event of difficulty and the provision of awareness, training and support systems in the university. currently, su has adopted a policy for ‘designing for all’, not only focusing on people with disabilities, a cost-effective way in the long run that also caters for other groups other than the persons with disabilities. the ‘design for all’ policy is used by su in engagement with the stellenbosch municipality not only for students but also staff, stellenbosch residents and visitors. it includes a friendly construction of spaces such as car parks and pavements (dalton et al., 2019). research questions the following research questions were sought to answer to guide the research procedure.  what is the nature of experiences of students with disabilities in learning during the covid-19 pandemic at a selected institution of higher learning?  how does the institutional disability unit assist students with disabilities for inclusion purposes?  what are the advantages and disadvantages of online learning during the covid-19 pandemic?  how do lecturers’ knowledge and institutional support assist students with disabilities in online learning during the covid-19 pandemic? review of literature the covid-19 pandemic and its implications on learning and teaching the lockdown and social distancing measures adopted by most countries in response to the covid-19 pandemic led to the closure of institutions of learning (pokhrel & chhetri, 2021). globally, learning and teaching were drastically altered by the covid-19 pandemic (el said, 2021). “the pandemic created the biggest disruption of education systems in human history affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 200 countries” (pokhrel & chhetri, 2021, p. 133). as a result, education systems across the world opted to abruptly switch to online or blended learning (bordoloi et al., 2021; el said, 2021). the transition from ‘chalk and talk’ to largely online teaching and learning was inevitable and the only possible way to meet the needs of learning during the pandemic. however, it was mostly hurried, unplanned and posed as a challenge not only to students but educators, as the speed at which the shift was done was a transitional shock (crouse et al, 2018; bordoloi et al., 2021). remote learning is a challenge to some due to the digital divide affecting most developing countries as well as other challenges 63 jcve 2022, 5(1): 59-77 related to using online gadgets for persons with disabilities. therefore, although a move to an online/blended approach was unavoidable throughout the covid-19 pandemic lockdown, institutions of learning needed a well-planned and proper roadmap to implement it, not an abrupt shift in response to a crisis (crouse et al, 2018). therefore, in the process of adapting to new changes, the preparation of students and staff needed to be carefully evaluated and supported continuously (pokhrel & chhetri, 2021). a national state of disaster was declared by the president of south africa on march 5, 2020, which led to the lockdown regulations that included the closure of all education centres in march 27, 2020. on june 1, 2020, the initial strategies to open learning institutions ware introduced in phases (dhet, 2020). however, other institutions opened as late as august 2020 due to different reasons and challenges. the opening of institutions of higher learning came in phases; students were allowed on campus at different stages and learning was done online or through blended means. this posed a lot of challenges as some students had neither the online learning devices required nor internet and network connectivity at their homes. on the 30th of september 2020, the south african government announced the measures it put in place to mitigate the challenges faced by students (dhet, 2020). these included ensuring connectivity to more than 320 tvet campuses and distributing learning devices (laptops/tablets) to national student financial aid scheme (nsfas) funded students who indicated their need for the devices. in spite of measures put in place by the government as well as institutions of higher learning at large, students continually experience challenging situations when engaging in online and blended learning at south african institutions. online learning for students with disabilities disability is a human right issue (pokhrel & chhetri 2021), however, research on the accessibility of online learning for people with disabilities is limited (cinquin et al., 2019). although online learning was initially expected to be a critical tool in access to education and fostering social inclusion (cinquin et al., 2019), dalton et al, (2019) argue that online learning platforms have a potential of excluding students with disability as a result of the costs of assistive devices, extensive support needs and sometimes inaccessible internet designs. technological advancements in the learning space were anticipated to offer an increased access to education yet it contains exclusion possibilities particularly for learners with physical challenges such as visual impairments. “in order to ensure equity of access in higher education, universities and other post-secondary institutions must consider physical and programmatic access, content readability, personal usability and appropriate individual and system-based supports in order to achieve the goal of inclusive education” (dalton et al., 2019, p. 3). this article explores the experiences of students with disabilities when participating in online learning. furthermore, the paper aims to gain insights on how they adapt to, and participate in the higher education environment and to determine the factors and processes that may inhibit or promote their participation in the current pandemic environment. this study is thus deemed with high 64 jcve 2022, 5(1): 5977 relevance as there is no known research conducted on the impact of the sudden uptake of online learning on students with disabilities. the social model of disability in the 1970s people with disabilities, coined the social model as they considered disability as a socially constructed phenomenon. the model defines disability as caused by physical, institutional and attitude barriers that can be changed or eliminated. thus, the model deviates from society’s position of blaming a person with a disability for their shortcomings to acknowledging that disability will always be present in any society and therefore the only sensemaking strategy is to organise society and create environments that include rather than exclude persons with disabilities (lisicki, 2015). the model identifies the key barriers such as attitudinal barriers, physical barriers and communication/information barriers to learning (lisicki, 2015). attitude barriers are social perspectives and they breed assumptions about individuals with disabilities to clarify, legitimize and sustain bias of segregation and avoidance in the public eye; for instance, presumptions that individuals with specific disabilities cannot do certain things. physical barriers are hindrances connected to the physical and assembled climate and cover an enormous scope of obstructions that forestall equivalent access, like steps, limited passages and entryways, broken lifts or inaccessible housing/learning facilities as well as public spaces. there are also barriers to communication/information due to a lack of hearing induction loops and information not being provided in different formats like the large font. shakespeare (2006) states that the social model of disability is indispensable due to its usefulness at identifying barriers in the building of an environment implicitly aiming for a barrier-free dreamland that is impossible to realize. since people with disabilities face intrinsic limitations, they should be emancipated by providing resources to overcome these limitations rather than merely limiting discrimination. by exploring the innovative pedagogies developed around the social model of disability, reflective practitioners in institutions of higher learning may find better ways to offer individualised support to students. therefore, the adoption of the social model of disability in this paper seeks to emphasize the role of institutions of higher learning in understanding the nature of disabilities and outlines the drawbacks that need to be redressed at the institutional level to better the lives of students. by exploring the experiences of students with disabilities in online learning during this covid-19 pandemic, this paper adds to the discourse that advocates for the inclusivity of disabled persons in campus designs and online pedagogies. methods the study uses a qualitative approach, an ideal method for exploring human experiences. participants were conveniently selected and each participant was presented with an informed consent letter. out of the 66 students registered with the institution’s disability unit (du), only 4 participated in the study and thus limited the intended respondents targeted for the study. semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from students with disabilities at a 65 jcve 2022, 5(1): 59-77 selected institution of higher learning to understand their experiences with online learning including the advantages and disadvantages, assistive devices used, lecturers’ roles and other institutional services offered to them. due to the covid-19 pandemic lockdown, the semistructured interviews were held both via microsoft teams and physically, depending on the preference and ability of the participant. the interviews were recorded and later transcribed. data was analysed using thematic analysis. ethical considerations the popia act (2021) was observed in the study. pseudonyms were used to conceal participants’ identities. key ethical considerations for this study were: a) informed consent, b) beneficence – do not harm, c) respect for anonymity and confidentiality, and d) respect for privacy. the validity of the research was observed by asking interview questions that relate to the research questions stipulated in this paper. the ethical clearance to conduct this study was issued by the university’s ethics committee which provided assurance that standards were adhered to. results nature of disability although understanding participants’ nature of disabilities was never a key focus in the study, understanding students’ different encounters vis-à-vis their diverse types of disabilities is crucial. of the four participants interviewed, two had physical disabilities, one had a visual disability and one had an intellectual disability. they explained their disabilities as follows: participant 1 (female student): my disability is a bit difficult to explain because i have certain deformities and they affect me physically, so i cannot say ‘this is the name of my disability’. so, i have several deformities. 1 leg is shorter than the other and i have a problem with my spine. so, they are like different deformities. participant 2 (female student): i have a sight problem. i’m partially short sighted. it’s mainly because of the condition that i have, which is albinism. it affects my eyes. even if i wear spectacles, they just help with the intensity of light. because of the type of disability i have, there is motion in my eyes that i cannot control. when i’m looking at something for the longest time, reading a book, an article or something, i start feeling that motion and it gets strenuous. so, the spectacles aid with the intensity of light so that it won’t affect me badly. participant 3 (male student): i have a physical disability. i had a stroke in 2018. my right side is not working, both my right hand and right foot. luckily, i have always been left-handed. the stroke started in 2018, i was already a registered student at this institution. i stayed in the hospital for about 5 to 6 months. i had to come back and continue studying. 66 jcve 2022, 5(1): 5977 participant 4: (male student) i have problems with motor and psychological coordination. i see illusions... i’m easily distracted and i take time to grasp the content of what i’m learning, compared to other learners. the role played by the institutional disability unit (du) to assist students with disabilities for inclusion purposes. most south african institutions of higher learning “…have established dus at their campuses to offer specialised services to students with disabilities, to facilitate access and integration of these students at their respective institutions” (mbuvha, 2019, p. 57). in the same vein, the institution under study has a disability unit (du) for the same purpose. in order to determine the organizational support offered by the du to students with disabilities, participants were asked to specify the support they get from the du. participants commended the du for assisting them in terms of giving them access to designated areas, assisting with residence allocation and financial aid application. participant 4 said: by becoming a member of the disability unit, you are given an access card for places such as the library to access computers designed for students with various forms of disability. assistive devices used for learning ever since the beginning of the covid-19 lockdown with the epidemic of the covid-19 virus in south africa, different institutions of higher learning adopted different teaching and learning methods in adherence to the lockdown regulations. the institution under study adopted the blended learning method. however, although ‘blended learning’ became the perfectly fitting phrase to describe the institutional method of instruction during the covid-19 lockdown, most instruction and assessment was done online. this study, therefore, explores the experiences of students with disabilities regarding online learning (specifically) during the covid-19 lockdown. in this regard, participants shared the assistive devices they used for learning during the lockdown. participant 2 shared the following: my spectacles are of help and now that we use computers a lot during the pandemic, there is a computer at the library meant for student with eyesight problems that has a big screen that magnifies the smaller computer screen. so, i usually use it when doing my school work, it helps me a lot... the computer is user-friendly and even if there are challenges, the librarians are always there to help. participant 3 said: i use a normal computer although i can’t use my right hand. it’s really a disadvantage. i would have loved to get a computer designed for my condition. i also wanted a printer so that i print my reading material. reading from a computer is sometimes difficult, my only functioning hand gets tired easily. 67 jcve 2022, 5(1): 59-77 participant 4 said: i do not have any assistive device that i’m using right now, the only thing that could be useful for me is sufficient time to interact with the course material because i take time to grasp... i once applied for a carer (helper) because the time i use for washing and cooking, if that could be diverted to study time that could be helpful. my application was however not successful. students with varying disabilities require different services and devices from the institution. some participants indicated that although they have some form of disabilities, they do not need assistive devices from the institution due to the nature of their disabilities. one participant indicated that disability is a complex phenomenon, assistive devices are not enough as he needs a carer to relieve him of his daily chores as he has an intellectual disability that requires an elongated time to study. other than the user-friendly computers with magnified words and symbols for the visually impaired students, there were no other institutional assistive devices mentioned by participants. advantages of online learning during the covid-19 pandemic. research participants were asked about the advantages of online learning vis-à-vis their different disabilities to determine how they benefitted from online learning. the following were their sentiments. participant 1 mentioned that: the advantage is that at least i don’t have to walk to campus anymore as i struggle with stairs and the distance. for instance, when we are on campus, the venues that we use, the other one is at elco building and others are at nkuhlu department, so that distance is too much for me as i easily get tired when i walk. i don’t have to walk the distance from one venue to another now that we are learning online. so, attending online is an advantage in that regard. participant 2 said: online learning is advantageous for me firstly because when we were attending traditional classes, i used to have difficulties e.g. i had difficulties in my maths class, the lecturer used to write on the board and it was a big class and there were so many students. so, i had difficulties in seeing what was on the board and it was also difficult for me to get a seat at the front row. so now that we are using online learning, it’s much better because i’m always on my screen, it’s just in front of me. it’s easier to see everything. at least i don’t have to go to class when the conditions are unfavourable for me because once it’s hot, i literally turn blind and cannot see anything. so now that we are doing things in the respective places of our comfort, i’m very productive. 68 jcve 2022, 5(1): 5977 participant 4: nothing much has changed, but i prefer online learning since walking to class is a struggle for me. although online learning comes with its own challenges, it is somewhat preferred by students with mobility disabilities. they prefer to study at their residences without having to walk to lecture halls or use stairs. with regards to mobility problems, participant 3 said: here at the institution, most buildings require one to use steps. there are very few ramps here. for instance, imagine how steep those offices at the faculty of social sciences and humanities are. i get stressed when i think of going up those stairs. buildings here are mostly not user-friendly. there are lifts here in some buildings, but they are not working. for instance, almost all of our classes were held at henderson hall and at that building we use steps. i always think of how i would attend if i was using a wheel chair? there isn’t a way for a person using a wheel chair at that building. i would ask to be pushed every time. so, all in all, most buildings are not user-friendly at all. even the buildings and streets that have wheelchair ramps, the ramps are too steep. there is a ramp there on your way to bursary offices, it’s so steep. so even if the idea of ramps was thought of, constructors make them steep. so sometimes people think they are inclusive yet their inclusiveness is not good enough. i’d suggest that when constructors are building something, they should also cater for persons with disability, they should also get guidance from people with disability or people who have knowledge on disability matters... therefore, because of these challenges and my kind of disability, i honestly prefer online learning. disadvantages of online learning participants were asked about the disadvantages of online learning in respect of their unique disabilities in order to determine its shortfalls for students with various disabilities. participant 1 said the disadvantages of online learning in her opinion are universal with abled students. she stated that: it’s been difficult for me to transition from traditional/physical learning to virtual just like the ‘abled’ students. in traditional learning, it was somewhat satisfying to be in the same venue with your lecturer and listen to him/her speaking. so, this transition has been a bit difficult. some of the things affect everyone else and are not only restricted to persons with disability. for instance, network and wi-fi problems affect everyone. participant 2 mentioned that: 69 jcve 2022, 5(1): 59-77 the disadvantage is that i’m always on my computer screen. so, it eventually affects my sight. just a week ago, i was at my optometrist to register for eye drops for my sight because my eyes are sore, they get swollen. participant 3 said: honestly this online learning requires one to have assistive devices, even wi-fi is a challenge here at school sometimes. sometimes you feel the need to study from home and the data easily gets depleted... in south africa, the transition from the traditional way of learning to virtual or online learning was sudden and stakeholders were unprepared for such an abrupt change. as a result, online learning has its disadvantages at the institution under study and particularly for students with disabilities. although online learning is generally challenging in south africa where mobile data and wi-fi is averagely expensive and some areas of the country have network coverage problems, the challenges faced by students with disabilities are far deeper depending on the nature of their disabilities. participants in this study also mentioned the ordinary challenges of online learning faced by an average student in the country, however, a participant with visual problems complained of the strain and pain of having to look at a computer screen for long hours. online lecturers’ knowledge of their students with disabilities a practice of inclusive education is to include the participation of all students in the teaching and learning process and to treat them as valuable members of the group (svendby, 2020). understanding the issues surrounding the inclusion of students with disabilities is crucial to the understanding of integrated education during online learning in the covid-19 pandemic lockdown. participants were therefore asked if their lecturers were aware of their disabilities. below are some of their responses. participant 1 said: i would like to think so, but not sure. most of my lecturers knew before the pandemic, but then we have trainee lecturers now that change every year and now, we are not always on campus, so i don’t think they know. at the disability unit, we completed forms where we list all our lecturers, so i’m not sure if du informs them. but most of my lecturers who taught me before lockdown know about my disability but it’s the new ones that i’m not sure about. participant 2 said: not many of them. the few that know, i had to tell them because i had difficulties and needed help... well, i will tell you that it’s not easy to just go to your lecturer and tell them that you have a special need because most of the time, it looks like you are longing for attention. some of them don’t really understand their role in this whole thing. so, i choose who to tell. for example, on my undergraduate degree, i suffered a lot because i had a very stubborn 70 jcve 2022, 5(1): 5977 lecturer, sorry to say. he was very difficult; he was not approachable. i saved myself by just keeping quiet. i suffered most as i chose to keep quiet. to him, it would be like i’m underperforming and then i’m pulling this stunt that i have a disability and he would make a joke about me in front of the whole class. so, i wouldn’t even try him, i would just keep quiet. then i would tell those that i could see that they understood the concept of inclusive education and they would give me the support that i need. however, this other time during lockdown, my teaching profession lecturer offered large printed notes because he understands that i cannot be by my computer all the time. so, he printed the notes in a different colour print so that i would not have to use the white paper all the time. so that was a break from using a computer. participant 3 said: i don’t think so because now we are under lockdown, so we don’t meet face to face. the hod knows me, but even if he knows, there is nothing he does differently to accommodate me or let me say students with disabilities. for instance, i can’t write tests in the few minutes they allocate to everyone else. my only wish is to be given extra time to write tests. participant 4 shared that: no, i don’t talk about my disability. even when we write exams, i don’t ask for extra time. i perform as other learners do. i receive nothing, i just do what i can to perform... my lecturers are not aware of different students with disabilities. they just disseminate assessments like there is no one with disability in their cohort. so, i have settled with that. participants indicated that only a few lecturers were aware of their disabilities, those that were aware, knew of the disabilities before the institution shifted to online/virtual learning. based on svendby's (2020) research into norwegian higher education lecturers’ experiences in teaching invisibly disabled students, it was found that there were no formal guidelines, no formal training and no access to pedagogical resources for lecturers with invisibly disabled students. to ensure an inclusive educational environment, the study recommends that higher education institutions should consider their obligations to education accessibility by implementing clear guidelines and providing mandatory training to academic staff in inclusive practices. institutional support for students with disability the issue of disability is very complex and thus, studies on disability matters require background information such as the types of disabilities, the role played by relevant disability units and so on. now that the background information has been sought in the previous sections, this part 71 jcve 2022, 5(1): 59-77 investigates the holistic organisational support received by students with disabilities. all participants applauded the institution for its efforts although there are still shortfalls. participant 2 said: i’d say not enough but there is progress. i have been here for the longest time and there has been progress and great progress i’d say. so somewhere, somehow, they are going to get there, i think. for now, they are doing enough, i have observed the disability awareness that they do at the unit. the building that they have been building (the new student village building) is user-friendly for students with disability. the university is trying by all means not to separate students with special needs with students that are ‘normal’, in the lack of a better word. one thing about us, we don’t really like to be separated. the reality of the matter is that, yes, we can get a special treatment and all of that, but we also have to be around people in preparation for our next stages of life, for example, we are going to go to the corporate world and we have to get there knowing how to blend with other people. so, in as much as the university is trying to accommodate us, it mustn’t separate us totally from other students as there won’t be a special society for us. we really need to be with other people but the whole environment’s conditions must be favourable. participant 4 said: the institution is trying. there was once a disability workshop which i attended which involved disability representatives from different institutions across the country. the workshop was organised for different disability units to share their institutional experiences and collectively roadmap ways of promoting inclusive education, provide better access for disabled learners and to provide an extensive support for them. i think they are doing a good job. i attended that workshop, i observed it and it came to my attention that other institutions still do not have disability units. so, our institution is advanced and they are aiming to improve the services they offer. at least they have already taken a good step. discussion many disability scholars agree that there is still a long way to go until students with disabilities in higher education institutions are treated equally with other abled students. the lives of students with disabilities on campus continue to be impacted by a sense of exclusion, even though physical barriers and exclusion discourses (dolmage, 2017; eunyoung & aquino, 2017). in support of the statement above, a participant in this study mentioned that there are very few ramps on campus and those that are there are very steep, hence his preference of the university’s sudden shift to online learning for most courses where he would not have to go to campus. participants with physical disabilities (mobility challenges) and those with visual 72 jcve 2022, 5(1): 5977 disabilities prefer to study online as mobility is challenging on campuses as a result of the campuses’ infrastructural designs and the sun which affects those with visual challenges. this paper explored the experiences of students with disabilities during the covid-19 pandemic lockdown. with regards to the support offered by the institution particularly during the covid-19 pandemic and online learning, most participants indicated that there was no extended support to that cause. only one participant indicated that her lecturer printed large font-sized notes for her since she is partially blind. it is apparent that most lecturers are not aware of students with varying disabilities in their cohorts in the online learning process, as a result, there is little attempt to foster inclusion on their side. this raises questions of disability disclosure. although disability disclosure is usually encouraged at institutions of higher learning, it has both advantages and disadvantages (castrodale, 2015). while institutions of higher learning would prefer students to disclose their disabilities to prepare them for appropriate support (cunnah, 2015), it is not easy for students with disability to do so (dolmage, 2017). this is due to various factors such as the uneasiness of disclosure, the thought of being perceived as trying too hard to convince others of one’s disability or buying pity (madriaga, 2007), bad experience with disclosure such as negative reactions (collins & wowbray, 2005) and generally the question of how one identifies him/herself. grimes et al, (2019) state that as a result of different factors, most invisibly disabled students choose nondisclosure. the reasons for nondisclosure are mostly in synchrony with the social model which regards disability as socially constructed by the institutional and attitudinal barriers created by the ‘abled’. the model suggests that these barriers can be eliminated or changed if society acknowledges disability as a social phenomenon that will forever exist, and therefore realise the need to create inclusive environments. in the case of institutions of higher learning, awareness campaigns and workshops on disability matters could be made mandatory for all staff members and fellow students. a study conducted by mutanga and walker (2017) on the perspectives of lecturers on students with disabilities at two universities in south africa revealed that lecturers had little to no knowledge or skills on how to handle students with disabilities and make suitable adaptations for them. in the same vein, barbour (2010) argues that, one of the biggest challenges faced by teacher/lecturer education programs is the general lack of known models on which to design courses that will support educators in teaching and supporting students with disabilities through online school experiences. svendby (2020) also states that there is still so much prejudice, uncertainty and little knowledge regarding disability and ways of adaptations amongst lecturers at higher learning institutions. these obviously worsened during the covid-19 pandemic where there was a sudden shift from the traditional face-to-face learning to online learning, particularly in developing countries. as a result of the sudden shift, most lecturers teach with no knowledge of students with disabilities in their cohorts and even how to handle them when aware. online learning even conceals the disabilities of the visibly disabled. therefore, the need to sensitise, 73 jcve 2022, 5(1): 59-77 inform and train staff members, especially lecturers to check students with disabilities in their cohorts and respond to their needs properly, use appropriate designs for teaching and promote the use of assistive devices especially during online learning is increasing. online learning especially during the confines of the covid-19 pandemic has proven to be extremely challenging for students with diverse needs (both able and disabled students), hence institutions of higher learning need to cautiously lessen these challenges faced by students. although the institutional du had been applauded by participants in this study for its role in their adaptation and inclusion, this study further suggests that the unit should further facilitate disclosure of students with disabilities to their lecturers. each university lecturer should be well informed of the students with disabilities in their class, the nature of their disabilities and must also be equipped to implement adequate methods of inclusion. while the use of assistive devices is one of the most accommodative ways of promoting the inclusion of students with disabilities, other students with diverse types of disabilities require different kinds of services from the institution. in this study, a participant with an intellectual disability indicated that he does not need an assistive device per se for online learning, he needs extra time for his assessments which he does not get online as his lecturers are not aware of his disability. this shows that the needs of students with disabilities are not universal and are extremely diverse, hence the need for institutions of higher learning to promote inclusion by encouraging disclosure, consultations and involve different stakeholders in the inclusion process (du staff, lecturers and students with disabilities themselves). assistive technology has recently sparked a controversial debate especially with regards to education. studies on special education/disability have proven that the decisions about persons with disabilities are often made by those without disabilities and hence decisions are finalised based on assumptions and generalisations without the involvement of those with disabilities (ahmed, 2018). thus, the general assumption made by institutions of higher learning is that assistive devices are enough to cater for the needs of students with disabilities yet other forms of support needed by such students are often overlooked. a participant indicated for instance that the disability ramps on campus are too steep and are likely to have been constructed without the involvement of people with disability knowledge. tindle et al. (2016) state that there is very limited research about students with disabilities learning online. ideally, online learning should be tailored to each student’s preferences and needs, especially those with disabilities (tindle et al., 2016), however, the institution under study has minimal to no ‘personalised’ kind of learning for students with disabilities. contrary to this, a participant in this study indicated a very important point, yet subject to debate. she said that students with disabilities do not necessarily need to be awarded any special treatment or separated from other students in inclusion endeavours. the participant said they want to be treated normally in preparation for their next stages of life, where there may not be any special services rendered to them. so, in all attempts of the inclusion of students 74 jcve 2022, 5(1): 5977 with disabilities, there should be a balance between rendering them ‘personalised special services’ and allowing them to live a real life where they get by without overreliance on aid. in a nutshell, the social model of disability which underpins this study proposes the identification of existing barriers to an inclusive life for persons with disabilities. the model advocates for the limitation of disability discrimination in various ways. in the case of this study, the emphasis is on the role of higher education institutions in understanding the nature and complexities of disabilities and redressing them at the institutional level to make the lives of students with disabilities better. conclusion achieving total inclusion in institutions of higher learning to cater for students with disabilities is an uphill struggle. the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic in south africa particularly introduced serious implications in the higher education sector where there was an abrupt need to move from traditional learning to online and blended learning. while several studies have been conducted on the implications of a sudden move to online learning by higher education institutions, there is no evidence of a focus on students with disabilities. this study reveals that the institution under study has no tailor-made assistive devices for students with disabilities who need them. lecturers who teach online are largely unaware of the disabilities of students in their cohorts and hence, rarely employ inclusive learning pedagogies. while it is easy to blame lecturers for their ignorance of students with disabilities in their classes, students usually get reluctant to disclose their disabilities due to factors such as uneasiness of disclosure and bad experience with disclosure. the study concludes and suggests that different institutional stakeholders such as the disability unit, lecturers and students with disabilities should all take part in inclusion endeavours. the disability unit which has been praised by participants should be the facilitator of inclusion between lecturers, students with disabilities and any other relevant stakeholders. lecturers should also receive some form of training or workshops relating to matters of inclusion and disability. although this study aimed at exploring the experiences of students with disabilities in online learning during the covid-19 pandemic, the general challenges faced by students with disabilities came out strongly. participants were eager to share their experiences even if they were neither related to online learning nor the covid-19 pandemic. recommendations ● the institution should promote a friendly environment for disability disclosure as most students with disability are not registered as such, they do not benefit from services meant for students with disabilities. ● all lecturers should be informed of students with different types of disabilities in their cohorts to pave way for inclusion in their online teaching pedagogies. 75 jcve 2022, 5(1): 59-77 ● the institution should enforce compulsory workshops or trainings for lecturers on disability matters. ● after careful consultations with students with disabilities, the institution should offer specialised/personalised assistive devices for students with different disabilities. limitations of the study students with disabilities were not keen to participate in the study, as a result only a few gave positive responses to take part in the study. references ahmed, a. (2018). perceptions of using assistive technology for students with disabilities in the classroom. international journal of special education, 33(1), 129-139. ashraf, d., & farah, i. (2007). education and women’s empowerment: re-examining the relationship. education, gender and empowerment: perspectives from south asia, 1531. barbour, m. k. (2010). state of the nation study: k-12 online learning in canada. international association for k-12 online learning. bordoloi, r., das, p., & das, k. (2021). perception towards online/blended learning at the time of covid-19 pandemic: academic analytics in the indian context. asia association of open universities journal, 16(1), 41-60. castrodale, m. (2015). examining the socio-spatial knowledge(s) of disabled and mad students in higher education [doctoral thesis, the university of western ontario]. the university of western ontario libraries. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3229/ cinquin, p., guitton, p., & sauzeon, h. (2019). online e-learning and cognitive disabilities: a systematic review. computers & education, 130, 152-167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.12.004 collins, m. e., & mowbray, c. t. (2005). higher education and psychiatric disabilities: national survey of campus disability services. american journal of orthopsychiatry, 75(2): 304– 315. https://doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.75.2.304 crouse, t., rico, m., & mellard, d. (2018). learning to serve students with disabilities online: teachers’ perspectives. journal of online learning research, 4(2), 123-145. cunnah, w. (2015). disabled students: identity, inclusion and work-based placements. disability & society, 30(2), 213–226. dalton, e. m., lyner-cleophas, m., ferguson, b. t., & mckenzie, j. (2019). inclusion, universal design and universal design for learning in higher education: south africa and the united states. african journal of disability, 8, 1-7. department of higher education and training, south africa [dhet]. (2018). strategic disability policy framework in the post-school education and training system. department of higher education and training, south africa. 76 jcve 2022, 5(1): 5977 department of higher education and training, south africa [dhet]. (2020). statement on post school education and training sector state of readiness for the academic year 2020. department of higher education and training, south africa. dolmage, j, t. (2017). academic ableism: disability and higher education. university of michigan press. education white paper 6. (2001). special needs education: building on inclusive education and training system. department of education. https://www.vvob.org/files/publicaties/rsa_education_white_paper_6.pdf el said., g. r. (2021). how did the covid-19 pandemic affect higher education learning experience? an empirical investigation of learners’ academic performance at a university in a developing country. advances in human-computer interaction, 1, 1-10. eunyoung, k., & aquino, k. c. (2017). disability as diversity in higher education. routledge. grimes, s., southgate, e., scevak, j., & buchanan, r. (2019). university student perspectives on institutional non-disclosure of disability and learning challenges: reasons for staying invisible. international journal of inclusive education, 23(6), 639–655. hayes, a. a., & bulat, j. (2017). disability inclusive education systems and policies guide for lowand middle-income countries. research triangle income. research triangle park press. https://doi.org/10.3768/rtipress.2017.op.0043.1707 hiranandani, v. (2005). towards a critical theory of disability in social work. critical social work, 6 (1), 1-7. lisicki, b. (2015). factsheet: the social model of disability. inclusion london. madriaga, m. (2007). enduring disablism: students with dyslexia and their pathways into uk higher education and beyond. disability & society, 22(4), 399–412. mbuvha, t. (2019). kinds of support offered by the disability unit to students with disabilities at institutions of higher learning in south africa: a case study of the university of venda. journal of student affairs in africa, 7(2), 57-73. mutanga, o. (2017). inclusion of students with disabilities in south african higher education. international journal of disability, development and education, 65(2), 229-242. mutanga, o., & walker, m. (2017). exploration of the academic lives of students with disabilities at south african universities: lecturers’ perspectives. african journal of disability, 6(1), 1-9. nel, m. m., tlale, l. d. n., engelbrecht, p. & nel, m. (2016). teachers’ perceptions of education support structures in the implementation of inclusive education in south africa. koers – bulletin for christian scholarship, 81(1), 1–14. pokhrel, s., & chhetri, r. (2021). a literature review on impact of covid-19 pandemic on teaching and learning. higher education for the future, 8(1), 133-141. schalk, s. (2017). critical disability studies as methodology. emergent critical analytics for alternative humanities, 6(2), 1-4. shakespeare, t. (2006). the social model of disability. the disability studies reader, 2, 197-204. 77 jcve 2022, 5(1): 59-77 svendby, r. (2020). lecturers’ teaching experiences with invisible disabled students in higher education: connecting and aiming at inclusion. scandinavian journal of disability research, 22(1), 275-284. tindle, k., mellard, d., & east, b. (2016). online learning for students with disabilities: recommendations for parent engagement. lawrence, ks. united nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation (unesco). (1990). world declaration on education for all and framework for action to meet basic learning needs. https://www.right-to-education.org/sites/right-to-education.org/files/resourceattachments/unesco_world_declaration_for_all_1990_en.pd united nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation (unesco). (1994). the salamanca statement and framework for action on special needs education. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000098427 united nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation (unesco). (2000). the dakar framework for action. education for all: meeting our collective commitments. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/1681dakar%20framework %20for%20action.pdf united nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation (unesco). (2009). policy guidelines on inclusion education. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000177849 united nations international children’s emergency fund (unicef). (2014). all children in school by 2015. global initiative on out-of-school children. south asia regional study. http://www.uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/out-of-school-childrensouth-asia-country-study-education-2014-en.pdf world health organization (who). (2011). world report on disability. https://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/report.pdf journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 bhat, a. m. (2019). islamic philosophy of education by prof. k. mohammad ayirur, book review 73 islamic philosophy of education by prof. k. mohammad ayirur, book review ali muhammad bhat* islamic university of science and technology *corresponding author: alimohd1265@gmail.com received : 2019-02-02 accepted : 2019-06-01 how to cite this paper: bhat, a. m. (2019). islamic philosophy of education by prof. k. mohammad ayirur, book review, journal of culture and values in education, 2(2), 73-76. islamic philosophy of education by prof. k. mohammad ayirur the reviewed work, islamic philosophy of education, is written by prof. k. mohammad ayirur. prof. k. mohammed ayiroor was born in 7th october1953 as son of makkalikkal kunhahammed and kuvvakkattayil thithayi in the village of ayiroor, malappuram district, kerala, india. prof.k. mohammed ayiroor is an educational expert with more than four decades of experience in teaching, teachers’ training, and development of curriculum, text books and teachers hand books. from 2000 to 2008 he served in state council of educational research and training (scert) of kerala, india. while in scert he led the development of arabic curriculum, text books from primary to higher secondary and teachrs’ hand books based on constructivism and critical pedagogy. he conducted many training programs for teachers and developed evaluation criteria. he also led the revision of the curriculum for language teacher’s training and development of the curriculum for d.l.ed (deploma in language education). also, he has served as chairman of d.l.ed examination board, and as member in b.ed examination boards of various universities. it is a humble attempt to highlight the philosophical questions confronting to islamic educational thought. it is published by the center for educational research and training. it is a soft bind book divided into two parts. each part is sub divided into 12 and 15 chapters respectively. at the end, references of both the parts are given followed by a short bibliography of scholars mentioned under a title annexure along with bibliographical note. the preface of it starts with the limitation of sources in kerala university for compiling this book which prompted scholar to explore and investigate further material beyond it. while compiling this work, the author has introduced many modern philosophical theories like idealism, pragmatism, realism, naturalism and existentialism, and discussed them in relation to the islamic context. this books opens with the thought “educational philosophy” in historical context and declared it as old as human existence on the earth. the author has quoted many scholars like vivekananda, pestalozzi etc. in subtitle, education: meaning and death, distinction is made between the angels and human beings, and objectives of education are discussed starting from the development of inborn potentials to character formation. the other traits like personality development, preparing a mature responsible being, control and sublimation of basic makeups, moulding citizens useful to the society along with spiritual growth and stimulating freedom of consciousness, are also discussed. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 bhat, a. m. (2019). islamic philosophy of education by prof. k. mohammad ayirur, book review 74 in “educational sociology” relation between the society and philosophy, building society on realistic grounds in order to nurture the moral character among humans to build human mental faculty is succinctly explained. for this purpose, the classroom interaction and schools are set out as meeting grounds for understanding historical events that will serve in socialization process for learners. purpose of educational sociology is to acquire and disseminate knowledge for progressive and peaceful living. education and economics are vital parts of human society. the growth of society relies on the economic production, distribution, exchange and consumption. the author has quoted many economists who worked on the relationship between economy and political science. among these adam smith, john stuart, alfred m. marshall, consider education as real national expenditure, which helps to bring increase in productivity and per capita of people, and helps them to increase potential of spending and accelerating economic growth. the philosophical foundation of education helps to explore all relevant concepts and methodologies for human progress. a good number of definitions were quoted in which one is, philosophy is a search for summation of the nature by weber” (p.32) the author has discussed vitality of ordered philosophy and emphasized on dialectical methods put forth by socrates. he deliberated on importance of philosophy through summation, metrics and its practical results along with its criticism. in this book, many fields of philosophy like metaphysics, epistemology and axiology and their significance in human life are discussed. in the conclusion, the author opines that the philosophy encompasses all spheres of human life and relationship between them by raising many questions about it while quoting professor mccann’s who divided ethics in to four branches, psychological, sociological, philosophical, morality and their relationship with day to day life. all these branches are foundations to all forms of literature, art and criticism which provide meaningful contribution to education. educational philosophies are methodologies for understanding the educational activities to find solution to the problems pertaining to societies. these help to nurture the human character, values and develop human personality. idealism is discussed in relation to origin of man and its relation with modern philosophies. idealists consider spirit as self-existing object and a perception of life. declared all subjective considerations as ideals of objectivity and discussed them in two broad categories, spiritual idealism and materialistic idealism. idealist well come all kinds of knowledge. its aims, curriculum and pedagogies along with learning methods emphasise on self-control and disciplined of life for teachers. realism is conferred historicity of materialistic roots along with its principles features and objectives. it is discussed in education in relation to metaphysics, epistemology and axiology. realists rely on materialistic aspects of life and deny spiritual aspect (p.53). the human values are formed pertaining to the desires, needs and environment of an individual which depend on circumstances. regarding teaching methodology, realists oppose book learning instead put emphasis on grooming up of learner for practical life for which teacher has to develop selfcontrol, discipline and shun oppressive measures. moreover, love affection and empathy is required to discipline the students’ life. pragmatism and all its principles are discussed at length in academic manner. in principle, motivational forces of life are considered problematic and emphasized on social, democratic journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 bhat, a. m. (2019). islamic philosophy of education by prof. k. mohammad ayirur, book review 75 values and utilitarianism. they snub absoluteness of values and cull metaphysical aspect of knowledge. pragmatists believe values are determined by verification through constant and controlled observations, explanation and examination. naturalism is explained in relation to human existence through materialistic interpretations under three headings; physical, mechanical and biological naturalism. moreover different features and principles of curriculum are explained with emphasis on students being more important than teacher because teacher’s direct involvement would blur potential of learners. existentialism being modern philosophical thought but its origin is linked back to socrates. its modern form is labelled to german scholar soren kierkegaard which spread to france and italy. existentialists discussed five major themes like existence leads to essence, time is that of essence, humanism, freedom and responsibility. they criticized idealism and naturalism and laid emphasis on relation between man and nature. its unique attributes are: child centric, stress on principles of equality and democratization. educational curriculum, teachers, pedagogy, freedom and discipline are part of existential philosophy. their main motive is to create a sense of responsibility among learners but considers light punishment at the time learning unavailable. the last chapter of part one “other schools of philosophy” is a conclusion of all chapters. part-ii of the book is divided into 15 chapters and its basic features and doctrines are indebted with iman testifying the basic tenants of life supported by qur’anic verses and ahadith. main emphasis is given on importance of education in islam, and words like ilm (779) book, (277) hearing (184), sight (148), aql (49) thought (tadabur and tafakkur) 61 times are mentioned. many qur’anic verses and ahadith are mentioned to prove that prophet muhammad (pbuh) as best teacher and trainer and emphasized to realise the significance of seeking education. in chapter “aims of the islamic educational philosophy” human being is reflected as vicegerent of god on earth (p.90). all round development of a person depends on the cognitive, affective and psycho-motor domains in order to grow as proficient. these domains are further divided into subcategories as; body, mind, spirituality, sensory organs, intellect, wisdom, belief, piety, power character, behaviour and inborn skills. aim is development of an integrated, balanced and strong personality with political awareness for attaining economic and employment growth. human nature, character of life, sources and aims of life along with human responsibilities are discussed at length. for this purpose, skill, character need to be enhanced and to stimulate human instinct for knowledge pursuit. the purpose of islamic education and philosophy is to guide and fashion human nature as objective of life. the islamic sources of education, “quran and sunnah of prophet muhammad (pbuh)” are conferred in a sound manner so as to develop all arenas of human life. the importance of the quran, and it being an adequate source of information, is explained with the help of qur’anic verse and sunnah of prophet muhammad (pbuh). islamic philosophical concepts of education are further discussed under certain concepts and terms like, iman, kufr and iblees. to a great extent, three approaches, normative, analytical and descriptive are discussed. axiology from islamic perspective is categorized into two components ethics and aesthetics. the aim of both is defined within parameters of human behaviour and creative expressions of human nature. within the frame work of these two components, axiology have been given foundations such journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 bhat, a. m. (2019). islamic philosophy of education by prof. k. mohammad ayirur, book review 76 as five virtue, truth, justice, beauty and love. details of these five foundations are given with the help of qur’anic verses and ahadith. analytical study of epistemology helps to build education in a structured manner related to styles, languages and ideas. it helps to understand methods of knowledge in islam within qur’anic context. metaphysics too helps to understand reality and ultimate truth, visa-a-viz to reconnoitre universe, god, material life, and death etc. a detailed explanation about curriculum, its nature and causes are provided in the book. medieval curriculum contains subjects which are necessary for contemporary era. scholars like imam ghazali’s pattern of curriculum categorization as voluntary and involuntary. other scholars like ibn khaldun, shibli naumani, jamaluddin afghani rejected some issues in ghazalian pattern of curriculum. a detailed description about a teacher, as role model for society is explained from the qur’anic and ahadith point of view. a teacher is considered heir of the prophets who teachs ultimate truth of life. the qualities of a teacher are conferred in depth like his behaviour and his relation with students. teacher’s responsibilities are elaborated in 16 categories followed by a list of 41 qualities. very interesting point about islamic educational philosophy is its non-acquisitive approach and helps to build human character. four necessary issues; age, knowledge wealth health and their utility with references from ahadith is explained while as student is considered important factor in educational process. examples were quoted from islamic history and hadith about the rights of students. moreover, umar bin abdul aziz and imam ghazzali are considered as pivotal to provide deep understanding of student’s rights. foremost objective of islamic education is to fulfil the divine desire in order to activate virtues, unity and integrity in the society. to achieve these goal, learning methodologies start from mother’s lap up to international level. according to ibn khuldun, abul kalam azad etc., the fundamental need to continue educational goals and philosophy initiates in detail periodically from maternal, paternal, filial, tribal, municipal, national, racial and international. it is divided into three basic philosophies and full description is provided regarding these philosophies and achieved through freedom and discipline. modern measurements and evaluation methods need to be applied to judge students’ development which revolve around qualitative and quantitative techniques. relevance of philosophy to education, scholar’s views are quoted with different from physical slavery to authoritarian regime slavery. while concluding, the role of education is to develop inherent skills, personality development and purification of innate qualities. all this is mentioned in reference to events and incidents which challenge to modern education and mind-set. furthermore, the qur’anic verse are specified to achieve falah with application of evaluator methods like structural observation, oral test, written tests and interviews. consecutively, to overcome modern problems, islamic morality and ethical education has sound role to reform the society. journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 1 2023 pp. 1-24 an ethnographic case study of secondary school’s moral education in a mainland city of the greater bay area leihu wang* * department of international education, the education university of hong kong, hong kong, china email: s1129854@s.eduhk.hk article info received: november 16, 2022 accepted: january 30, 2023 published: february 28, 2023 how to cite wang, l. (2023). an ethnographic case study of secondary school’s moral education in a mainland city of the greater bay area. journal of culture and values in education, 6(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.2 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract chinese moral education is a much broader concept and is heavily criticized for being overly politicized and indoctrinated. the greater bay area (gba) initiative upholds the people-centered development philosophy in education. this study aims to investigate the schoollevel implementation in shenzhen, one of the gba cities, and teachers' perspectives to determine the facilitating and inhibiting factors across different layers in the student-centered ecological systems of students’ moral development. a two-year-long ethnographic case study was conducted in the case school based on bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. the study participants consisted of 18 teachers. semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine the participants' perceptions. the study findings revealed that the facilitating factors include clear guidelines on the national level, cooperative teachers, and ambitious principals with a consciousness of visions and responsibilities for moral education. meanwhile, shenzhen has the potential to be the pioneer of moral education reformation. however, the rigid content in the textbooks and the stuffy school culture hinder the success of moral education at the school level. the lack of communication and mutual understanding contributes to the splintered and emotionally exhaustive experience of moral education teachers. more efficient and measurable strategies should be used to uphold a tight alliance across different layers. future research should examine alternative moral education models, decision-making processes, chinese school management style, and the specific appliance of the ecological systems theory in the unique chinese educational context. keywords ecological systems theory; greater bay area; china; moral education 10.46303/jcve.2023.2 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.2 2 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 introduction wang yangming, a famous educational philosopher in early ming dynasty stated that “the ultimate goal of school education is to cultivate students’ morality (you et al., 2018). moral education (deyu) is compulsory in chinese primary and secondary schools because it deals with interpersonal values, social norms, and ideological and political education. deyu consists of character education, ideological and political education, legal knowledge education, physical education, and career development education. at university level, deyu is closer to political science, whose main courses include marxism, mao zedong’s thoughts, deng xiaoping’s theory, and world politics and economics (li et al., 2004). historically, chinese moral education has focused more on the connection between moral beliefs and moral behavior rather than the speculative logic of moral beliefs, which has triggered several ups and downs in moral education practice since the founding of new china in 1949 (sun, 2022). from 1949 to 1976, moral education followed in the footsteps of the soviet union (hou, 2019) and criticized dewey's theory of moral education to break the shackle of federalism on the moral education of old china (du et al., 2019). after the cultural revolution, from 1978 to 1988, the content of moral education was less politicized and less ideological (tan & chen, 2018). still, several core values remain the same, such as love for the people, love for socialism, love for the country, and the communist party (cpc) and the chinese culture (lei, 2021). from 1990 to 2012, chinese moral education started to find its own path and voice in theory and practices, such as human-centered and modernized moral education (du et al., 2019), interdisciplinary moral education (tan & chen, 2018), and scientific moral education (hou, 2019). from 2012 to the present, chinese moral education has entered a flourishing and diversified development stage featuring the renaissance of traditional chinese culture (du et al., 2019) and ‘‘the preserving of social stability, state's power and social hierarchies (lei, 2021, p.237).” for instance, in 2017, the state council released opinions on implementing the project to pass down and develop excellent traditional chinese culture to integrate traditional chinese culture into all stages of moral education in the current k12 curriculum. it is considered a ‘‘new trend in the reform of chinese moral education (tang & wang, 2021, p. 735).” in february 2019, the outline development plan for the guangdong-hong kong-macau greater bay area was released, marking the milestone in the greater bay area (gba) development. it adopts the philosophy of people-centered development in education and proactively expands cooperation in social security, culture, education, tourism, and urban planning (state council, 2019). the gba initiative is labeled as a “triple i helix strategy of integration, innovation, and internationalization” (xie et al., 2021, p. 211). shenzhen was the first special economic zone to benefit the reform and opening -up policy in the 1980s. it borders the new territories of hong kong and connects the central government and hksar with the beijing-kowloon express train. as the pilot demonstration area of socialism with chinese characteristics, shenzhen is leading the pilot reforms in the education system by maintaining higher quality and larger scale elementary and middle school education 3 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 and modernizing the vocational education system. moral education is also given greater autonomy in the nanshan district in shenzhen, with a policy of “one school, one design.” this study provides a valuable and unique opportunity to explore the moral education strategies in the self-claimed “future school” in the nanshan district in shenzhen. it could offer some practical implications for education policymakers as it focuses on educational equality, students’ physical and emotional well-being, teachers’ professional development, family education, and school governance. statement of the problem moral education is a much broader concept than academic education in china. for centuries, it has been considered one of the most effective statecrafts in china. the cpc regards it as one of the determinants of the success of chinese socialism. currently, chinese moral education is still heavily criticized for many issues, such as neglecting the contextual factors, emphasizing the school-based values education model only, and being overly politicized, detached from real life, exam-oriented, rote memorization, and the harshest criticism is on indoctrination (feng & newton, 2012; gao et al., 2021a, 2021b; lee, 2021; li et al., 2004; tang & wang, 2021; wan & wu, 2004; yang, 2021). this study investigates the school-level implementation and teachers' perspectives of moral education to determine the facilitating and inhibiting factors across different layers in the ecological systems of students' morality advancement. research questions from an ecological perspective, how is moral education being carried out and perceived by teachers in a “future” middle school in shenzhen in gba? more specifically: • how can these ecological factors be accurately measured, recorded, and interpreted? • what are the facilitating factors affecting teachers' perceptions of moral education in middle schools? • what are the inhabiting factors in teachers’ perceptions affecting moral education in middle schools? • what should be done to ensure a promising future for moral education in this area? literature review moral education according to socrates and plato, the knowledge of the good is at the highest state of human development (stewart & blocker, 2012). aristotle proclaims two themes in his conceptions of character and character education: “conformity with reason” and “habituation” (nucci & narváez, 2008, p. 18). kant proposes a new conception: personal autonomy, in which one obeys the moral law as one governs oneself in pursuing one's vision of the good (formosa, 2013). kant considers rationality essential and worthy, while our physical nature and passion are lower and unworthy. acting in goodwill is morally good only when it comes from the person himself. kant’s categorical imperative requires one to respect the humanity in others and to abide the rule of 4 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 conduct that is unconditional or absolute for all agents (johnson & cureton, 2021). buddhists believe the ultimate goal of achieving nirvana, the emptying of the self, by practicing the eightfold path, the right viewpoint, value, speech, actions, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and proper meditation (heim, 2020). modern educators consider morality a form of self-realization, and moral education is the human development to “betterness” (nucci & narváez, 2008, p.11). piaget and kohlberg later developed moral cognitivism based on the knowledge of the good: to know it is to choose it. there are several logically connected stages to cross to the final fusion of moral wisdom and moral virtue (kohlberg, 1984). the stage model provides an excellent way to examine and understand students’ moral stages and structures. however, it is necessary to explain the formation process and provide adequate guidance to schools and parents in raising their children at that stage. haidt (2001) proposes the social intuitionist model as an alternative approach. he considers that intuitions or feelings are in firm control, and reasoning is merely used in post hoc rationalization. moral intuition makes moral judgment automatically and effortlessly, such as "you feel a quick flash of revulsion at the thought of incest" (haidt, 2001, p. 814). simply put, moral intuition is a "gut feeling in mind" (haidt, 2001, p. 825). while some scholars such as gigerenzer (2007) strongly advocate making decisions based on “gut feelings,” as proposed by haidt, other scholars like stanovich (2009) argue that bias, discrimination, polarization, and reckless behaviors in the current society are the result of a lacking reflective and rational moral reasoning. another scholar, evans (2010), believes that the truth lies in the middle. more analytical people will do better in specific fields, and more intuitive people will excel in other fields. james arthur (2002) adds that moral education should not be the tantamount to behavior control, discipline, or indoctrination. children should be allowed to voluntarily participate in behavioral change activities and form certain kinds of characters consciously. berkowitz and bier (2007) identify that moral education needs to be integrated into the academic curriculum, implemented by professionals, and taught through direct peer interactions and family and community involvement. pratt et al. (2003) conduct a longitudinal study to show the power of community involvement. active community involvement produces endorsement of a moral self-ideal, a person of six qualities, trustworthy, just, caring, fair, good citizen, and integrity. focusing on confucian thinking, emphasizing “ren” (benevolence) and “li” (behavior etiquette), the traditional chinese moral education aims at being a tool of governance of the society and nation in the highly divided ancient china (lei, 2021, p.233). the ministry of education (moe) of china issued the guide in 2017 to identify the fundamental task of “developing people by cultivating character virtues” and the code in 2015 to “comprehensively refining students’ behavioral standards as a way of facilitating moral education”(huo et al., 2022, p. 12). shi (2016) proposes that the modernization of chinese moral education needs traditional moral education as the foundation and a historical transformation to a mature system as the 5 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 priority of modern schools. only in this way can a secure and ethical moral education system be established and modernization of chinese moral education preserved. this ethical moral education system should be a democratic community where all participants can grow morally (du et al., 2019) and a sustainable research site where theories and practices elevate each other (tan & chen, 2018). it is also an enjoyable learning place where test scores are not the sole assessment standard (fang & chen, 2016) and moral education is a virtue-based guarantee system where the results and the process are guaranteed to be ethical (ye, 2019). sun (2022) argues that the epistemological issues of chinese moral education urgently need to be improved. it is under three major effects, the traditional deficiency of moral education epistemology, the disadvantage of being a developing country, and “the aphasia under cultural colonization (sun, 2022, p.86)." she urges chinese moral education scholars to put students’ morality advancement into a broader ecosystem to combat the epistemological crisis in china's moral education research. bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory yang (2021) advocates bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory to shed light on analyzing and reforming chinese moral education. experiential research is needed to examine whether the typical chinese culture and characters would make this proposal difficult to implement. hart implies that an ecological system offers plasticity in children’s moral formation (hart & carlo, 2005). hart constructs five factors that affect children’s moral identity formation: (1) enduring dispositional characteristics; (2) enduring social and cultural characteristics; (3) moral judgment and attitudes; (4) commitment to ideals; (5) opportunities for moral action (matsuba et al., 2011, p. 188). bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological approach comprehends and defines ‘‘environment’’ as a rich, multidimensional construct that consists of five layers (bronfenbrenner, 2005): • micro(immediate settings, such as parents, peers, and teachers). • meso(the link between two or more microsystems, such as the interrelations between the family and school). • exo(settings that do directly affect the individual but affect the microsystem, such as mass media). • macro(broader organizational, social, cultural, and political contexts). • chrono(consistency or change throughout life, such as the historical contexts). 6 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 figure 1. bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model. (image by ian joslin is licensed under cc by 4.0.) second, it is suggested that individual biological resources and environmental factors are essential for individual development. meanwhile, the most important is the engine that drives the story—the interactive proximal processes, the relationship between the context and individual characteristics, and the complex relationships between the various level systems. briefly speaking, it is critical to understand the development of the individual in the ppct model, namely process, person, context, and time (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2007). using bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory as a theoretical lens, chinese scholars have made numerous findings in moral education and family education research. luo (2022) finds that public space is beneficial for realizing children's proximal learning process through active interactions among children, parents, other community members, and social norms and etiquette. li and cheong (2022) suggest that a combination of efforts at all levels of the ecological model could maintain students’ physical health by integrating homebased fitness behavior, mass media promotion, and school guidance during the pandemic. luo et al. (2020) propose that it is necessary to establish a long-term home-school association mechanism as middle school students’ academic stress is significantly correlated with students’ perceptions of the teacher-student relationship and parents’ emotional warmth. other scholars suggest promoting a positive school climate in china is necessary to support students suffering from peer victimization (sullivan et al., 2021). it shows that bronfenbrenner’s 7 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 ecological systems theory is highly effective in examining individual factors and their relationships in the ppct model across the systems. this study also adopts a much more comprehensive and inclusive definition of moral education in chinese middle schools. transformational leadership theory in school the purpose of this part is to understand the thoughts and actions of the principal. james macgregor burns (2012) believes that leadership is a process of morality as moral leaders share motives, goals, and values with their followers and listen to their economic, spiritual, physical, safety, or psychological needs. transformational leadership enables followers to make a conscious choice among other competing alternatives than traditional transactional leadership. transformational leaders can dramatically change people’s lives, expectations, and values, considerably improving the organization and, more importantly, changing the organizational culture. transactional leaders only value the "give and take" relationship, and they are comfortable with no plans to change or improve the organizational culture. transformational leaders are not only moral exemplars but also can create changes through positive examples, motivational speeches, and the leaders' personality traits. transformational leadership in schools focuses on second-order changes and the support of changes rather than direct control and constant supervision (yulianti et al., 2021). scholars believe that transformational school leaders can "travel across contexts" (yu et al., 2002, p. 383), "positively affect the school climate and students' modernity development" (wang, 2019, p. 339), “make the teacher feel substantial job satisfaction”(kouni et al., 2018, p. 158), and "significantly influence teachers' work motivation"(lee & kuo, 2019, p. 109). it is also beneficial in encouraging school-based parental involvement if the principal is welcoming and supportive to parents because transformational school leadership values authentic relationship building, promoting communication, and empowering individual families (yulianti et al., 2021). lastly, berkovich (2016, p. 617) warns us that to understand the unique arena of educational administration, we need to "exchange theoretical beauty for empirical support," and we need to "meaningfully fit transformational school leadership theory to other theories in the field of educational administration." method ethnographic case study experiential research is informational and can provide profound thoughts and explanatory theories, a possible methodological breaking point in chinese indigenous moral education research (ye, 2019; sun, 2022). the ethnographic case study (ecs) is defined as "prolonged observation over time in a natural setting within a bounded system"(angers & machtmes, 2005, p. 777). ecs is similar to creswell’s delineation of ethnography and case study. ethnography studies a social group or an entire social or cultural system through prolonged observation and participation to obtain a holistic portrait of a group or system. 8 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 at the same time, a case study investigates a bounded system to provide an in-depth analysis of an issue through multiple sources, including documents, interviews, observations, and surveys (creswell & poth, 2016). by conducting an ethnographic case study and talking with and listening to the local people, researchers could obtain first-hand information and knowledge about the local culture; therefore, it is considered the best way by many scholars (keller, 2018; keller & bard, 2017; morelli et al., 2018). the first principle is “the nonobvious.” the researcher enters a new environment and observes the people’s daily lives from an insider's viewpoint. the researcher also analyzes the collected data from an outsider's viewpoint to make sense of the environment (murchison, 2010). the researcher in this study enters the school as a morality and law basis teacher as an insider to investigate how moral education is carried out in this school. meanwhile, the researcher needs to examine the whole process from an outsider's perspective. the second principle is “thick description.” a thick description reports facts and showcases the context of the ethnographer’s experience to make sense of the purposes and intonations of those new strange encounters. the primary purpose of detailed descriptions is to allow other researchers and readers to “assess the quality of the findings and check for logically and empirically supported claims” (cheung & tai, 2021, p. 4). eighteen teachers with moral education responsibilities were invited to participate in the semi-structured interview: 11 teachers from different subjects, geography, chinese, english, history, math, physics, and of course, morality and law basis, two psychology teachers working as student consultants, two middle leaders in the school, and the headmaster of the school. the study lasted two years, a prolonged engagement to ensure the researcher understood the school under investigation. repeated observations and thick descriptions were also employed to improve the validity of the qualitative research. 9 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 table 1. detailed information for each participant name age gender subject experience positions participant 1 alton 40 male mathematics 15 years middle leader participant 2 brian 35 male geography 11 years headteacher participant 3 casey 23 female morality and law basis 1 year headteacher participant 4 debbie 22 female morality and law basis 1.5 years vice headteacher participant 5 eva 32 female morality and law basis 10 years middle leader participant 6 frankie 26 male mathematics 2.5 years headteacher participant 7 gabby 26 female chinese 4 years headteacher participant 8 hana 25 female chinese 3 years headteacher participant 9 irene 23 female physics 1 year headteacher participant 10 jager 28 male p.e. 5 years subject teacher participant 11 kamila 29 female psychology 3 years consultant participant 12 leon 28 male english 2 years subject teacher participant 13 mandy 28 female chinese 6 years vice headteacher participant 14 nicky 48 female physics 25 years middle leader participant 15 olivia 30 female history 8 years headteacher participant 16 percy 30 male morality and law basis 8 years headteacher participant 17 quinn 28 male psychology 3 years consultant participant 18 raven 49 female chinese 24 years headmaster 10 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 results and discussion eriksson and kovalainen (2008, p. 159) advise researchers to downsize and interpret the empirical data with "creative insight and careful attention to the research purpose." thus, the researcher used only documents closely related to the research question. chronosystem teachers have a general understanding of the objectives from years and years of learning throughout their student life. some notions, such as being patriotic and working for the great rejuvenation of the chinese nation, have been engraved into teachers' minds (excerpt 1). excerpt 1 i know that we need to have faith in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with chinese characteristics. i have repeatedly learned this when i was an undergraduate and graduate student. (nicky, interview 14) teachers were repeatedly taught the content and importance of socialism in china when they were students. however, in the current globalization age, chinese teachers have also developed a strong consciousness of rights and boosted the courage to appeal to their interests (chen, 2018, p. 171). some teachers disagree with the government's predetermined moral education goals. excerpt 2 everyone has goals for the students to achieve. less is more. just let them be themselves.” (quinn, interview 17, 2021.7.20) they think that moral education should not have too many purposes, it should focus more on the nature of children, be more individualized, and more on their physical and psychological well-being (excerpt 2). for the new generation, the language of the textbook may be a little “old school.” it creates cognitive confusion (excerpt 3) and prevents students from getting higher test scores in exams (excerpt 4). excerpt 3 boys and girls in grade 7 morality and law basis textbook aims to help the students eliminate the stereotypes, but on the other hand, it repeatedly emphasizes what boys should be and what girls should be. (percy, interview 16, 2021.7.18) excerpt 4 in the final test, the correct answer is “observing disciplines and obeying the law,” but the students are giving answers like “do not be a gangster,” “don’t rob me, and i won’t rob you.” (field notes, 2020.1.8) this study findings also revealed that demonstration classes are quite different from daily classes in terms of material selection, teaching arrangement, class activity design, and, most importantly, the profundity of the class (excerpt 5). teachers are encouraged to work collectively to orchestrate the best version for the public demonstration that explains not what moral education teachers do daily but only what they can do. 11 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 excerpt 5 in daily class, we have to do all the dirty work. however, you only need to be glamorous in a demonstration class, like in an acting class. it is an illusion or the ideal version you cannot sustain all the time. (leon, interview 12, 2021.7.11) moral education demonstration classes in shenzhen welcome interactive class activities, innovative design, traditional cultural wisdom, student-centered and inquiry-based instruction, and show teachers' vulnerability. the evaluators encourage teachers to view the students' moral development from the social intuitionists' points of view (haidt, 2001) instead of the rationalists' views (kohlberg, 1984). teachers get credit for creating a real-life situation and provoking students' emotions to form a natural "gut feeling in mind" (haidt, 2001, p. 825). notice that performing well in demonstration classes only means what the teachers are capable of, not necessarily what they do in daily classes. after hong kong and macau’s return and further opening to the global world, china continues to promote patriotic education, education for democracy, and individual well-being (lee & ho, 2005). with a straightforward arrangement on the national level, 18 morality and law basis textbooks were designed and written by a group of moral education experts in china. the set has a clear, logical progression, official language and expressions, and a solid but rigid foundation of morality teaching. as a result of top-down national and social requirements, the children's personal moral development and moral learning mechanisms need to be adequately considered in the content of moral education textbooks (gao et al., 2021a, 2021b). this is shown in the standardized language used in textbooks and examinations, particularly in morality and law basis subjects. microsystem—teachers in this study, the headteachers take up more than half of the responsibility in moral education, ranging from 50% to 80%, in teachers’ perceptions (excerpt 5). excerpt 5 the headteachers take up at least 70%, the school’s activities take up 20%, and the rest of the teachers share the last 10%. (eva, interview 5, 2021.7.9) headteachers' job includes teaching their subjects, managing the students, communicating with parents and school leaders, team building with subject teachers, and taking temporary work assigned by the school (excerpt 6). excerpt 6 the headteachers are under tremendous pressure doing regular and temporary tasks, even like tracking down the students when they run away from their families. (mandy, interview 13, 2021.7.11) according to teachers’ perceptions, school leaders tend to protect students more than the teachers. teachers feel powerless when their rights are violated, and they do not have a suitable platform to defend themselves (excerpt 7). 12 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 excerpt 7 firstly, i feel powerless about how to discipline the misconduct. secondly, i feel helpless in protecting my rights. (hana, interview 8, 2021.7.11) school leaders should create a harmonious school culture with a high level of innovation, affiliation, and justice (wang, 2019). in practice, teachers are powerless in disciplining students and are at high risk of being reported to education authorities, who often prioritize parents' and students' complaints. thirdly, when they are incredibly protective and defensive of their kids’ moral misconduct, they feel powerless when dealing with doting parents (excerpt 8). when a student made a cruel joke about his/her classmates, he/she argued he/she was only making an art piece, and his/her father further screened his/her fault and gave unprincipled protection. excerpt 8 one student in my class wrote numerous small-sized names of other students to constitute a huge word, "f**k." his father said the boy was only practicing calligraphy. (gabby, interview 7, 2021.7.10) next, due to the lack of a precise future arrangement in the students' moral education system, teachers can only hope that their moral education endeavors are good enough to see the students through the next chapter of their life (excerpt 9). excerpt 9 you need to find out what is in the next chapter of their lives. i know my appreciationoriented moral education strategy will work in the end. all i need to do is wait patiently. (brian, interview 2, 2021.7.9) lastly, there are huge differences between permanent and temporary staff, such as income differences, training opportunities, housing subsidies, and promotion opportunities (excerpt 10). permanent teachers show different attitudes in communicating with teachers with different statuses. they adopt a long-term-oriented attitude toward other permanent teachers. excerpt 10 we can easily be replaced by others, like the newly recruited permanent teachers and other more obedient temporary teachers. (kamila, interview 11, 2021.7.11) temporary teachers are at much higher risk of losing their job. thus, to get the school leaders' notice, they need to foster an active image in carrying out the leader’s moral education strategies. alternatively, their disagreement with school leaders' moral education ideology may result in losing their contract (excerpt 11). excerpt 11 i was fired simply because i have a different teaching philosophy from the school. (jager, interview 10, 2021.7.11) moral education begins with the teacher’s exhibition of virtues and models (noddings, 2010); however, this study shows that teachers, particularly headteachers, have to deal with tremendous unsubscribed responsibilities while feeling vulnerable and unprotected in dealing 13 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 with school leaders and parents. temporary teachers are in an even worse position, with less income and higher risk of layoffs. microsystem—the school the school's moral education activities are ambitious and inclusive. for instance, the special life education in the first week includes safety education, patriotic education, engineering, artificial intelligence, etiquette, and creativity. additionally, more than 40 other moral education activities are spreading throughout the semester. teachers think the school pays too much attention to being photogenic, so there will be glamorous reports of moral education activities (excerpts 12). excerpt 12 the glamorous presentation of moral education activities should not be the main focus of moral education, for it is like putting the cart in front of the horse. (jager, interview 10, 2021.7.11) the main reason is due to the deviated top-level design that is not based on the actual needs of the students. an effective moral education activity should have a bottom-up decisionmaking process (excerpt 13). just as meindl et al. (2018) claimed, prepacked moral education at school has a weak effect and limited effectiveness. in this study, their ineffectiveness in reaching students' hearts left impression of bureaucratism and formalism in teachers and students. excerpt 13 if you take a closer look at many activities in our school, the students benefit very little because the school’s top-level design is targeted at another angle. i’m not here to make the principal more and more famous. (brian, interview 2, 2021.7.9) teachers think some moral education activities only serve as a stepping stone for the principal, especially when the school’s moral education principle, “to love the students," is too elusive and impractical (excerpt 14). the moral education training in this school is also highly theoretical and not practical, which is not enough to help teachers deal with the daily masses in moral education. excerpt 14 i need to know more practical methods. (frankie, interview 6, 2021.7.9) the school is considered “the second most important space after home” in the microsystem (campos-gil et al., 2020, p. 3). having a highly motivated principal and a clear goal of “loving the students” is beneficial to the school's moral education. without practical guidance and a bottom-up decision-making process, teachers ended up with the impression of formalism and bureaucratism. mesosystem--school culture mesosystem deals with the connection between two or more microsystems (bronfenbrenner, 2005). the following section discusses the interrelationships between school leaders and teachers. teachers think that mid-level leaders are the communication bridge between teachers and the principal, whose words dramatically affect whether the principal has a negative or 14 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 positive impression of them (excerpt 15). however, in transformational leadership theory, the role of the principal is “building collaborative structures” (gruenert & whitaker, 2015, p. 19). excerpt 15 the middle leaders only report negative information about me to the headmaster. he did not know the whole picture because he lived in a virtual reality constructed by the middle leaders. (jager, interview 10, 2021.7.11) when teachers are misrepresented or misunderstood by mid-level leaders, it will not “make the teacher feel substantial job satisfaction” (kouni et al., 2018, p. 158). if mid-level leaders bury potential dangers caused by students’ moral misconduct without noticing the principal, students may lose a valuable chance for their moral growth and development (excerpt 16). excerpt 16 i reported one online bullying incident to the middle leaders, but it was buried in the middle layer. (mandy, interview 13, 2021.7.11) the principal seeks to make a difference through motivational speech and setting a vision and belief system for the school; however, without adequate support from the mid-level leaders, immediate communication with the teachers, and positive examples from the principal, the transformational process is struggling to make substantial progress. additionally, teachers think the school should not be anyone's vanity fair, and the school's reputation is formulated not by self-glorification but compliments from parents and society (excerpt 17). excerpt 17 currently, the school is blowing its own trumpet on social media and every possible channel to make the principal a pop star, which should not be the top concern of moral education. (jager, interview 10, 2021.7.11) speciosity in moral education only cultivates students' attention toward formalism, hypocrisy, and superficiality. it is the complete opposite of morality cultivation. as a result, the principal should "positively affect the school climate and students' modernity development" (wang, 2019, p. 339). after experiencing unharmonious school culture, teachers do not show strong job satisfaction. people are at the heart of any organization, particularly a school, and it shows that an organization can only thrive by changing people, nurturing and challenging them, helping them grow and improving, and creating a culture where they all learn (hoerr, 2005, p. 7). exosystem---the covid-19 pandemic as an educational opportunity some teachers emphasized that the pandemic has the potential to positively affect moral development of children, as it brings longer quality time, independent learning opportunities, and a chance to observe society and the government (excerpt 18). if it is used wisely by parents, it could be highly motivating for the moral development of children. meanwhile, students can get inspirational information online that is conducive to their moral development. excerpt 18 15 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 firstly, they got a precious opportunity to spend a very long quarantine time with their family members. secondly, online classes offer them more opportunities to practice their ability in autonomous learning. thirdly, seeing how society copes with this pandemic helps them reflect on the chinese socialist structure. (alton, interview 1, 2021.7.8) others think the pandemic compresses students’ social circles (excerpt 19), exposes the children to the dark sides of the internet (excerpt 20), and jeopardizes the children’s attention span and their abilities to think independently and critically. excerpt 19 for some introverted students, it is like an igniter fuse. it is convenient for them to wall themselves up and retreat from social life. (frankie, interview 6, 2021.7.9) excerpt 20 some developed an addiction to cell phones when students returned from quarantine at home. (irene, interview 9, 2021.7.11) the exosystem does not directly affect the individual but affects the microsystem (bronfenbrenner, 2005; yang, 2021). during the two years research journey, china and the whole world have been under the influence of the covid-19 pandemic. according to the teachers' perceptions, it can be an educational opportunity if used wisely and strategically by parents and schools. macrosystem---social and cultural influence teachers think that schools only select the cultural essence and filter out the negative effect of society, so they still have great importance in connecting students with the outside world. also, the current model of moral education lacks flexibility, relies heavily on the school, and achieves fixed goals set solely by the government (excerpt 21). excerpt 21 right now, in moral education, the government and the moe are setting goals. we have to take the parents' and the children themselves’ goals into consideration. (olivia, interview 15, 2021.7.12) the current law system is not detailed enough to care for teenagers’ emotions when no severe physical damage is involved (excerpt 22). when students have serious psychological issues, the school is not eligible to recruit more professional psychological consultants or receive the help they need from the government to handle the students’ problems. excerpt 22 when students’ hearts get hurt, there is no law protecting their rights. (quinn, interview 17, 2021.7.20) when social organizations seek to cooperate with the school, their promotional materials are neither appropriate nor effective for solving the most urgent and current problems, such as online scams or juvenile delinquency (excerpt 23). excerpt 23 16 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 courts want to come to our school and run promotions; however, their material needs to be updated. no specific courses target the latest online scams, drug abuse prevention, and social media addictions. (raven, interview 18, 2021.7.20) the school culture is under the influence of traditional chinese culture. teachers are expected to act like saints. meanwhile, little protection is offered to them when parents file a complaint with the education bureau (excerpt 24). excerpt 24 the requirement for parents to report teachers is pretty much nonexistent. however, moral expectations have been so high throughout chinese history that teachers are required to be saints. (casey, interview 3, 2021.7.9) according to teachers’ perceptions, the characteristics of shenzhen considerably affect the implementation of moral education in this city (excerpt 25). shenzhen’s income differences and living conditions pose problems in the moral education of schools. shenzhen needs to provide decent accommodation to residents at all levels of society. excerpt 25 when i got the call, a boy was physically fighting with his father because they had different bedtime. the mother said there were no other rooms because five of their family members had to sleep in one room on two bunk beds. (irene, interview 9, 2021.7.11) the living conditions in shenzhen could be more satisfactory. lacking personal space creates physical and emotional conflict between parents and their children. unacceptable living conditions bring out the wrong side of each person, making it even more difficult to implement family moral education. additionally, shenzhen's social atmosphere needs to be more supportive and tolerant of moral education results in school. the city has limited high school student quotas, which create a fierce competition for parents and students. considering the educational differences and inequalities in gba, it is impossible for children to surmount the class differences in this area (excerpt 26). excerpt 26 one student in my class is from a wealthy family in hong kong. unlike other students, he has many more options for high schools and universities in gba. (debbie, interview 4, 2021.7.9) however, shenzhen has excellent potential to be the breakthrough point in china's model of moral education. shenzhen launched an ambitious and comprehensive evaluation system for moral education. it combines some cutting-edge moral education concepts both at home and abroad. despite its failure to allocate the resources efficiently and fairly, it is a heroic attempt to provide an alternative to accessing moral education results and processes (excerpt 27). this is because the foundation needs to be more solid. more departments are needed to recruit volunteers, so volunteer positions should not become a scarce resource. 17 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 excerpt 27 the only way to alter the evaluation method of moral education needs to be tested one school by one school, one district by one district, one city by one city, and eventually the whole country, possibly beginning in shenzhen. (alton, interview 1, 2021.7.8) shenzhen has a mature grid management system that has already shown city’s capacity to respond quickly and contain the covid-19 pandemic. moreover, people living in this city genuinely love this migrant city. they are confident and passionate about the future of the city and their lives in the city (excerpt 28). excerpt 28 shenzhen is a weird place. the rich and the poor enjoy this city and live together harmoniously, sometimes working as volunteers during the pandemic. (gabby, interview 7, 2021.7.10) in a word, shenzhen has the potential to be the breakthrough point of chinese moral education in terms of the technology, economy and culture. conclusion and future considerations the research findings revealed that facilitating factors in different ecological systems include: 1) a strong foundation and guidelines at the national level; 2) teachers’ constant renewal of their teaching methods and teaching philosophy; 3) an ambitious principal with clear visions for moral education; 4) shenzhen’s potential as a pioneer of moral education reformation. the lack of communication and mutual understanding contributes to moral education teachers’ emotionally exhaustive experience. factors hindering the success of moral education at different levels are: 1) rigid content in the textbooks; 2) burdensome responsibilities of teachers; 3) teachers’ vulnerability and powerlessness in dealing with parents and protecting their rights; 4) extravagant moral education activities without supervision and evaluation; 5) stuffy school culture; 6) lack of mutual understanding among teachers, the school, and parents on belief in moral education; 7) lack of tight alliance across different layers; 8) the covid-19 pandemic. proposal 1: find a more comprehensive model for chinese moral education the current research shows that moral education in schools has its limitation. first, it cannot undertake and complete the task of moral development of students without cooperation of family and support from social institutions. it echoes huo and xie (2021) that psychological professionals are in desperate need of supporting students facing challenging times in schools. second, the dramatic social transformation is too powerful to be blocked at the school gate. the current school system cannot “resolve the ethical problem of social development” (qi & tang, 2004, p.478). 18 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 third, it heavily depends on the principal’s personal aspiration and moral education beliefs, which triggers teachers' emotional and physical burden, job dissatisfaction, and a high turnover rate in this case. the new wave of traditional virtue-centered and school-based value indoctrination is doomed to fail in the escalating moral disorders in chinese society. it is time to think about the limitations of schools and to start thinking an alternative model that could include or exclude schools as the primary location for moral education. proposal 2: implement a bottom-up decision-making process this study results show that chinese mainland moral education is under close monitoring of the party by implementing a top-down standardized continuum in the education system, from the moe, shenzhen bureau of education, and the school level to teachers. in fact, emphasizing a few specific virtues, such as self-control, gratitude, and humility could increase the effectiveness and efficiency of moral education in a school (meindl et al., 2018). scholars also draw attention to that values obtained in school have less important than values conveyed by friends and mass media nowadays (maharani, 2020). early at the beginning of this century, li et al. (2004) raised concerns that examination pressure, bandwagon effect, sexual behavior, mental illness, and suicides are the primary pressure sources for teenagers. yu and wang (2020) warn us that social media and cellphone addictions might bring more depression and pressure rather than happiness to teenagers. this study shows that family support and involvement could amplify or undermine the effectiveness of the school's moral education. however, families and schools have no strong bond or joint force. at the same time, the power of moral education in school is also limited without an ethical environment created by family, school, and friends (yang, 2021). thus, the students are forced to cultivate a “double personality” at school and home (qi & tang, 2004, p.475). chinese moral education has a history of top-down reforms rather than a bottom-up approach (huo & xie, 2021). the social problem in the community is frequently the result of a lack of understanding among everyone (maharani, 2020). suppose the government and the school leaders still refuse to consider students’, parents’, and teachers’ appeals and start making bottom-up fashion decisions. in this case, people will become more distant from the current model of moral education. proposal 3: treat chinese teachers with socialist mindsets there are two contradictions in the current chinese middle school management. to be an effective transformational leader, the principal must relinquish authority and elicit potential motivation of teachers (lee & kuo, 2019). also, top-down administrative promotion of the government imposes an over-standardization on moral education, which is not conducive to flexibility and autonomy of schools (tang & wang, 2021). the traditional top-down oriental confucianism model is still the “main mode in the primary and secondary school environment” (wang, 2019, p. 339). 19 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 furthermore, there is a conflict between the need for legalization in society and the moral requirements for teachers in chinese traditional culture. socialism has dominated chinese social, political, cultural, economic, and educational terms (li et al., 2004). society needs to set up more detailed laws to ensure the rights and interests of teachers, in a sense, to give teachers the right to be indifferent so that the burden of moral education is taken off the teachers so they can focus on their subject teaching. li (2022) notes that china has been experiencing a major transformation in economy, technology, information, and innovation. however, some of the outdated traditional moral values put a curb on people’s minds. chinese people must be aware of the potential for an even more polarized ideological war between the far-reaching impactful traditional chinese cultural relics, classical marxism, chinese characteristics, socialist theories, and westernized management methods. in a word, chinese schools and society should treat chinese moral education teachers with a socialist mindset. currently, schools enjoy the convenience of managing employees by the modern westernized capitalist management models. the conflict between the modern management model and ancient sentiments can only gradually swallow the teachers’ enthusiasm to become caring teachers. using the participants’ words, you cannot expect teachers to eat “capitalist grass” and produce “socialist milk.” proposal 4: use bronfenbrenner's ecological system theory with narrow focuses yang (2021) examined the chinese school-based moral education system using bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. he stressed that contextual factors other than school need to be stressed to establish a moral ecology system for students to flourish morally. while this study results show that there are laws established and implemented by the government on the surface in china, and simultaneously, the underground “sub-rules” work so efficiently that they imprint themselves in chinese society and people’s minds. the current research shows that the chinese school moral education system still falls into what kohlberg (1984) had criticized: training of behaviors and inculcation of values, neglecting the contextual factors, that can shape a person’s character more profoundly than one’s moral decay. the social nature of the problem is still not going through the thick school walls smoothly with the lens of this theory. or, more likely, the contextual factors are so subtly intertwined that this theory cannot detect them. the complex social, historical, cultural, political, economic, and educational contextual factors are too intricate to be encapsulated in a single ecological theory with five clear-cut levels. from the research, bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory could be applied to better examine moral education implementation in china with a much narrow focus, such as a specific virtue of the students. when going into the research field with a focused lens, researchers can better understand how this particular virtue, namely gratitude, integrity, creativity, selfdiscipline, compassion, determination, patriotism, forgiveness, charity, diligence, patience, humility, courage et al., is affected and cultivated at different levels. 20 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 references angers, j., & machtmes, k. (2005). an ethnographic-case study of beliefs, context factors, and practices of teachers integrating technology. qualitative report, 10. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2005.1832 arthur, j. (2002). education with character. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203220139 berkovich, i. (2016). school leaders and transformational leadership theory: time to part ways? journal of educational administration, 54(5), 609–622. https://doi.org/10.1108/jea-11-2015-0100 berkowitz, m., & bier, m. (2007). what works in character education. journal of research in character education, 5. bronfenbrenner, u. (2005). ecological systems theory (1992). in making human beings human: bioecological perspectives on human development (pp. 106–173). sage publications ltd. bronfenbrenner, u., & morris, p. a. (2007). the bioecological model of human development. handbook of child psychology, 1. burns, j. m. (2012). leadership. open road media. campos-gil, j. a., ortega-andeane, p., & vargas, d. (2020). children’s microsystems and their relationship to stress and executive functioning. frontiers in psychology, 11. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00996 chen, w. (2018). actionable research for educational equity and social justice: higher education reform in china and beyond. routledge. cheung, k. k. c., & tai, k. w. h. (2021). the use of intercoder reliability in qualitative interview data analysis in science education. research in science & technological education, 0(0), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/02635143.2021.1993179 creswell, j. w., & poth, c. n. (2016). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches. sage publications. du, s.z., sun,y.g. & cheng, h.y.(2019). deyuyanjiu70nian:huigu yu qianzhan [seven decades of moral education research: retrospect and prospects], jiaoyuyanjiu, 40(10), 17-26. doi:cnki:sun:jyyj.0.2019-10-007. eriksson, p., & kovalainen, a. (2008). qualitative methods in business research. sage publications ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857028044 evans, j. s. b. t. (2010). intuition and reasoning: a dual-process perspective. psychological inquiry, 21(4), 313–326. feng, l., & newton, d. (2012). some implications for moral education of the confucian principle of harmony: learning from sustainability education practice in china. journal of moral education, 41(3), 341–351. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2012.691633 feng, w.q.& cheng, x.x.(2016). zhongxue deyu cunzai de wenti ji duicefenxi. [analysis on problems and countermeasures of moral education in chinese middle schools], 21 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 education and teaching research, 30(06), 117-120. doi:10.13627/j.cnki.cdjy.2016.06.020. formosa, p. (2013). kant’s conception of personal autonomy. journal of social philosophy, 44(3), 193–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/josp.12028 gao, d., zhang, l., & tang, y. (2021a). explorations of chinese moral education curriculum and textbooks: children’s life and moral learning. springer singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1937-3 gao, d., zhang, l., & tang, y. (2021b). learning-centered moral education in textbooks and teaching practices. in d. gao, l. zhang, & y. tang (eds.), explorations of chinese moral education curriculum and textbooks: children’s life and moral learning (pp. 67–103). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1937-3_3 gigerenzer, g. (2007). gut feelings: the intelligence of the unconscious. viking. https://archive.org/details/gutfeelingsintel00gige_0 gruenert, s., & whitaker, t. (2015). school culture rewired: how to define, assess, and transform it. ascd. haidt, j. (2001). the emotional dog and its rational tail: a social intuitionist approach to moral judgment. psychological review, 108(4), 814–834. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033295x.108.4.814 hart, d., & carlo, g. (2005). moral development in adolescence. journal of research on adolescence, 15(3), 223–233. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2005.00094.x heim, m. (2020). buddhist ethics. cambridge university press. hoerr, t. r. (2005). the art of school leadership. ascd. hou, j. (2019). zhaoxun youxiaoyiju he jibenzhidian—duoyanghuashiqi zhongguoseyujiaoyulilun goujianyanjiu[finding effective basis and basic fulcrumresearch on the construction of chinese moral education theory in the period of diversification], [doctoral dissertation, northeast normal university]). china doctoral dissertations full-text database. huo, y., & xie, j. (2021). exploring the issue of a lack of cohesion in moral education: an empirical study in chinese primary and secondary schools. journal of moral education, 50(4), 512–528. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2020.1814710 huo, y., xie, j., moller, f., & kristjánsson, k. (2022). character strengths and virtues in chinese moral education: evidence from ‘the code’ and from primary and secondary schools. the journal of positive psychology, 17(4), 472–485. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2021.1897870 johnson, r., & cureton, a. (2021). kant’s moral philosophy. in e. n. zalta (ed.), the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (spring 2021). metaphysics research lab, stanford university. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2021/entries/kant-moral/ 22 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 keller, h. (2018). universality claim of attachment theory: children’s socioemotional development across cultures. proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 115(45), 11414–11419. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1720325115 keller, h., & bard, k. a. (2017). the cultural nature of attachment: contextualizing relationships and development. mit press. kohlberg, l. (1984). the psychology of moral development: the nature and validity of moral stages. harper & row. kouni, z., koutsoukos, m., & panta, d. (2018). transformational leadership and job satisfaction: the case of secondary education teachers in greece. journal of education and training studies, 6(10), 158–168. lee, j. c.-k. (2021). life and moral education in greater china (s. y.-w. yip & r. h.-m. kong, eds.; 1st ed.). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429324161 lee, w. o., & ho, c. h. (2005). ideopolitical shifts and changes in moral education policy in china. journal of moral education, 34(4), 413–431. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240500410160 lee, y. d., & kuo, c. t. (2019). principals' transformational leadership and teachers' work motivation: evidence from elementary schools in taiwan. international journal of organizational innovation, 1(3), 90-113. lei, z. (2021). chinese moral education -past and now. international journal of learning and teaching, 7(3), 233-237. li, h., & cheong, j. p. g. (2022). the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the physical fitness of primary school students in china based on the bronfenbrenner ecological theory. frontiers in psychology, 13:896046. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.896046 li, p., zhong, m., lin, b., & zhang, h. (2004). deyu as moral education in modern china: ideological functions and transformations. journal of moral education, 33(4), 449–464. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305724042000315581 luo, y., deng, y., & zhang, h. (2020). the influences of parental emotional warmth on the association between perceived teacher-student relationships and academic stress among middle school students in china. children and youth services review, 114, 105014. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105014 luo, x. (2022). protecting and scaffolding: how parents facilitate children’s activities in public space in urban china. ecnu review of education, 5(2), 242–257. https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311221084116 maharani, d. a. (2020). moral education and its challenges in the industrial revolution 4.0. 163–167. matsuba, m. k., murzyn, t., & hart, d. (2011). chapter 5 a model of moral identity: applications for education. in j. b. benson (ed.), advances in child development and behavior (vol. 40, pp. 181–207). jai. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-3864918.00005-0 23 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 meindl, p., quirk, a., & graham, j. (2018). best practices for school-based moral education. policy insights from the behavioral and brain sciences, 5(1), 3–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732217747087 morelli, g., quinn, n., chaudhary, n., vicedo, m., rosabal-coto, m., keller, h., murray, m., gottlieb, a., scheidecker, g., & takada, a. (2018). ethical challenges of parenting interventions in lowto middle-income countries. journal of cross-cultural psychology, 49(1), 5–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022117746241 murchison, j. (2010). ethnography essentials: designing, conducting, and presenting your research. john wiley & sons. noddings, n. (2010). moral education in an age of globalization. educational philosophy and theory, 42(4), 390–396. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2008.00487.x nucci, l. p., & narváez, d. (eds.). (2008). handbook of moral and character education. routledge. pratt, m. w., hunsberger, b., pancer, s. m., & alisat, s. (2003). a longitudinal analysis of personal values socialization: correlates of a moral selfideal in late adolescence. social development, 12(4), 563–585. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9507.00249 qi, w., & tang, h. (2004). the social and cultural background of contemporary moral education in china. journal of moral education, 33(4), 465–480. shi, j.(2016). deyuxiandaihua:neiha lujing yu zhanwang[modernization of moral education: connotation, approach and prospects], jiaoyulilun yu shijian，2016(19), 49-52. doi:cnki:sun:jyll.0.2016-19-012. stanovich, k. e. (2009). what intelligence tests miss: the psychology of rational thought. yale university press. state council of the people’s republic of china. (2019). outline development plan for guangdong-hong kong-macao greater bay area [in chinese]. http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2019-02/18/content_5366593. htm#1 stewart, d., & blocker, h. g. (2012). fundamentals of philosophy. pearson education. sullivan, k., zhu, q., wang, c., & boyanton, d. (2021). relations among peer victimization, aggression, and school climate among elementary school students in china. school psychology review, 0(0), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/2372966x.2021.1898290 sun, c.p. (2022). zhong guo deyu yanjiu de renshilun kunjing ji tuwei luxiang [the epistemology crisis and breakthrough way of china’s moral education research], qilu xuekan, 2022(01),78-86. doi:cnki:sun:qlxk.0.2022-01-009. tang, c.b. & chen, g.q. (2018). gaigekaifang40nian woguo deyuxuekejianshe de tansuo yu jinbu [reform and opening up 40 years of chinese moral education’s exploration and progress], zhongguo jiaoyu xuekan, 2018(10), 28-34. doi:cnki:sun:zjyx.0.2018-10-010. tang, h., & wang, y. (2021). moral education curriculum reform for china’s elementary and middle schools in the twenty-first century: past progress and future prospects. ecnu review of education, 4(4), 727–742. https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531120923416 24 jcve 2023, 6(1): 1-24 wan, s., & wu, j. (2004). the moral education curriculum for junior high schools in 21st century china. journal of moral education, 33(4), 511–532. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305724042000327993 wang, s. (2019). school heads’ transformational leadership and students’ modernity: the multiple mediating effects of school climates. asia pacific education review, 20(3), 329–341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-019-09575-3 xie, a.l, postiglione, g. a., & huang, q. (2021). the greater bay area (gba) development strategy and its relevance to higher education. ecnu review of education, 4(1), 210– 221. https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531120964466 yang, c. (2021). moral education in mainland china today: a bio-ecological systems analysis. journal of moral education, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2020.1847054 ye, f. (2019). deyu lilun de zhongguo tansuo yu zhuanxingzhilu (1949—2019) [the road of chinese moral education theoretical exploration and shift from 1949-2019], journal of nanjing normal university, (4), 27-39. you, z., rud, a. g., & hu, y. (2018). the philosophy of chinese moral education: a history. palgrave macmillan us. yu, h., leithwood, k., & jantzi, d. (2002). the effects of transformational leadership on teachers’ commitment to change in hong kong. journal of educational administration, 40(4), 368–389. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230210433436 yu, g.l. & wang, h.(2020) wenhua chaoliu yu shehui zhuanxing: yingxiang woguoqingshaonian xilijiankangzhuangkuang de zhongyao yinsu ji xianshi celue[cultural trend and social shiftfactors influencing chinese teenagers psychological status and practical strategies], journal of south-central minzu university, (09), 213-219. yulianti, k., denessen, e., droop, m., & veerman, g.-j. (2021). transformational leadership for parental involvement: how teachers perceive the school leadership practices to promote parental involvement in children’s education. leadership and policy in schools, 20(2), 277–292. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2019.1668424 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 2 2022 pp. 140-151 ethical leadership in education: a uniting view through ethics of care, justice, critique, and heartful education jorge gabriel berges puyóa a. uned, madrid, spain email: drazen12@hotmail.com article info received: september 17, 2022 revised: november 9, 2022 accepted: december 3, 2022 how to cite berges-puyó, j. g. (2022). ethical leadership in education: a uniting view through ethics of care, justice, critique, and heartful education. journal of culture and values in education, 5(2), 140-151. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.24 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (cc by 4.0). abstract several studies have suggested that the implementation of ethical leadership can lead to improved job satisfaction, enhanced emotional commitment, and prevent employees from burnout. this article aims to examine ethical leadership and its repercussions on education through a uniting perspective. this study provides a review of the ethical leadership literature focusing on three paradigms: ethics of care, justice, and critique, which we associate with the concept of heartful education as helpful tools for administrators, faculty, students, and families. the primary objectives of this study are (a) obtaining a concept of ethical educational leadership; (b) examining a relationship between ethical educational leadership and heartful education; (c) adopting a uniting view on ethical educational leadership; (d) examining the roles of educational leaders through the ethics or care, justice, and critique; (e) reviewing previous ethical educational leadership studies (f) obtaining a series of conclusions on the implementation of this type of leadership in education. the literature review shows that the implementation of ethical educational leadership promotes cooperation among students, administrators, faculty members and staff; reduction of ethical scandals; effective leadership; and high productivity. keywords ethical leadership; ethical behavior; leadership effectiveness; heartful leadership; values; education. 10.46303/jcve.2022.24 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.24 141 jcve 2022, 5(2): 140-151 introduction we live in challenging times. due to continued constraints brought on by a crisis that started in late 2019 and is hurting millions of lives worldwide, the world appears to be in a vulnerable situation. the proliferation of conflicts and challenges of all types has created a period of unrest for humanity. the uncertainty that permeates such a period of time exacerbates this condition. however, the same humanity has shown extraordinary resilience to face such challenging situations, working ceaselessly on solutions, recovery policies, or mobilizing resources to help the most vulnerable in societies. now, more than ever, the world needs great leaders. the educational institutions need leaders who are endowed with a set of values, principles, and ethics to serve better those under their leadership, leaders who care about those under their authority, leaders who promote justice and fairness for all, leaders who listen, and leaders who make others feel heard. the institutions need leaders who reflect, welcome critiques as another tool in the decision-making process, help and support others, and are able and willing to unite people all. leaders committed to doing the right thing are considered ethical leaders. students around the world are guided by school leaders who can help learners fill their minds and hearts. this is when ethical leadership comes to the fore when leaders embrace certain moral values and ethics, represented in this study by the ethics of care, justice, and critique. thus, ethical leadership requires looking beyond personal gain, power, or influence. ethical leaders such as jesus, santa teresa, and martin luther king jr., among others, represent such a leadership model. a model with ample repercussions in schools as well as in our daily lives. we want to see the repercussions and consequences of following that type of leadership. to do so, this study aims to examine the concepts of ethical leadership, ethics of care, justice, critique, and heartful education, elements considered under a view of unity, the role of educational leaders under ethical leadership, and the most relevant studies in the literature. concepts the concepts of ethical leadership, ethics of care, justice, critique, and heartful education, or the idea of educating with the heart are reviewed in this section. in this study, we consider heartful education as a theme of unity, even more, when the world of ethics does not seem to be conditioned by themes of diversity (shapiro & stefkovich, 2016). ethical leadership considering recent and past ethics scandals in different sectors of society, such as education, politics, business, and sports, we might ask ourselves if we are heading in the right direction. are we having caring leaders? are we having fair and just leaders? do our leaders welcome reflection and critique in their decision-making process? are these leaders uniting us all? how many people are satisfied with their leaders? what are the qualities that make leaders appreciated? what are the interests and motivations behind our leaders? these questions tackle moral aspects of the leadership construct, which have been attracting the interest of the research community for leadership, looking for ways to combine the concepts of leadership, 142 jcve 2022, 5(2): 140-151 morals, and ethics (ciulla, 1995; gini, 1997; dantley, 2005). the increased interest in morals and ethics in leadership took researchers toward the ethical leadership concept, which was originated in the descriptive work on ethical leadership conducted by treviño et al. (2003) to examine the characteristics that should define an ethical leader as well as to obtain a concept of ethical leadership. the term ethical leadership was then conceptualized by brown et al. (2005) for the first time, relating the term to positive outcomes for employees and organizations. the following section discusses the definition of ethical leadership and the traits that ethical leaders should possess accordingly. ethical leaders brown et al. (2005) defined ethical leadership as “the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making” (p. 120). according to this definition, an ethical leader is someone who behaves with moral conduct at a personal and corporate level. that moral conduct is based on a series of values that defines the actions and behaviors of the person with a position of authority over others. brown and treviño (2006) mentioned the following traits characterizing an ethical leader: care, honesty, fairness, empathy, transparency, humility, trust, power inhibition, balanced decisions, frequent messages about ethical beliefs, and actions. therefore, ethical leaders are people of action and do what they say, ensuring they communicate their ethical vision in their own environment. ethical leaders are perceived as people with moral values in their personal and professional lives (brown & treviño, 2006). ethical leaders commit themselves to high moral standards, which models the type of action and decision they take daily. these leaders believe profoundly in this type of leadership, letting the group around them know their consistency and determined purpose in leading the group. consequently, ethical leaders use a values system to guide themselves and their groups to achieve their goals. these values are well represented in a series of traits mentioned earlier. researchers (zhu et al., 2004; yidong & xinxin, 2012) have a common agreement on the benefits of this type of leadership regarding satisfaction, engagement, productivity, organizational environment, effectiveness, agreeableness, and positive and enjoyable ambiance. ethical educational leadership following in this paper the definition of ethical leadership by brown et al. (2005), we adjust this definition by adding the specific context in which we are situated to obtain a concept of ethical educational leadership. thus, ethical educational leadership can be defined as the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making in the context of an educational organization. since the early ’90s, several scholars have emphasized the need for educational administrators to foster an ethical environment in their schools (starratt, 1991; quick, 1997). 143 jcve 2022, 5(2): 140-151 starratt (1991) considered the importance of building the schools’ ethics on the paradigms mentioned in the title of this paper: care, justice, and critique. campbell (1997) reinforced the idea of seeing school administrators as ethical practitioners. later, starratt (2005) demanded that educational leaders hold a moral vision and an ethical responsibility to serve their communities better. recently, shapiro and stefkovich (2022) advocated for a multiple ethical paradigms approach in educational institutions, adding a fourth paradigm, the profession paradigm. they presented several cases in a school setting that show the dilemmas tackled by educational leaders. at the end of each case, some questions are presented to promote reflection. ethical educational leaders as mentioned earlier, this paper follows the definition of ethical leadership by brown et al. (2005). at the same time, we are applying this concept to an educational context. accordingly, we can state that an ethical educational leader performs appropriate actions as an individual and in connection with students, families, faculty, staff, and other administrators. however, to be an ethical educational leader, it is also compulsory to promote that appropriate conduct in three ways: two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making. therefore, an ethical educational leader must foster the necessity to let others be heard, reinforce appropriate conducts at the school level, and ensure that those conducts are well preserved at the core of any decision-making process. some authors (berkovich & eyal, 2020; shapiro & stefkovich, 2022; starratt, 1991) related ethical educational leaders to the preservation and support of multiple ethical paradigms, some of which will be reviewed in the next section. ethics of care, justice, and critique the ethic of care ciulla (2014) placed ethics at the heart of leadership and stated that “ethics generally consists of examining questions about right, wrong, good, evil, virtue, duty, obligation, rights, justice, fairness, and responsibility in human relationships with each other and other living things” (p. 4). this study focuses on the following three ethical paradigms in an educational setting: ethics of care, ethics of justice, and ethics of critique. we need school administrators who care about the people under their leadership: students, faculty, and staff. noddings (1992) stressed the importance of caring to provide successful education for learners and emphasized that caring is the most important job in the schools. therefore, students should be at the center of the educational process and need to be supported, encouraged, and inspired. leaders also should apply the ethic of care to faculty and staff. but what is caring? according to noddings (1996, p. 23), caring is “a set of relational practices that foster mutual recognition and realization, growth, development, protection, empowerment, and human community, culture, and possibility.” as the definition shows, caring involves the presence of a relationship between educational leaders, students, faculty, and staff or, as noddings (1984) stated, between the “one caring” (leaders) and the “cared for” (students, 144 jcve 2022, 5(2): 140-151 teachers, and faculty). shapiro and stefkovich (2022) stressed that the ethic of care has been traditionally related to feminists. however, this study aims to adopt a uniting and integrative view of ethics. following that uniting conception, starratt (1991) exposed education as fundamentally human, with no other label or title. in this regard, krishnamurti (1993) warned us about the fundamental separation that any division implies. our administrators face dilemmas in our schools every day. the ethic of care is used to solve these dilemmas by making moral decisions. we need our leaders to feel ready to tackle those dilemmas. but how can our school leaders be prepared to face such moral challenges? guthrie (1990) noted that educational leaders were taught to follow a business or military model of hierarchy in the past. however, in the context of an educational institution, those models don’t seem to be the best option, considering the presence of various individuals in the decision-making process. beck and murphy (1997) emphasized the need for school leaders to transition to an educational model based on relationships and connections. these connections are supposed to be obtained through relationships among administrators, faculty, staff, and students. in these relationships, the ethic of care represents a prevalent role. according to shapiro and stefkovich (2022), educational leaders become “head learners,” a term used by barth (1990), who refers to the idea that when school leaders are on their path to excellence, they are in the habit to listen to others, to make others feel heard before making important moral decisions. these leaders take into consideration the emotions of the “cared for” because, as kouzes and posner (1999) stated: “without caring, leadership has no purpose” (p. xi). the ethic of justice we need administrators who are fair and balanced to students, faculty, and staff in their decision-making process. mathur and corley (2014), stated that “the ethic of justice provides a framework for people to solve problems by first establishing what is just and fair for the individual and the school community” (p. 137). thus, if school administrators want to provide solutions to the challenges and dilemmas faced by any educational institution, it is necessary to establish conditions where fairness and justice are possible for all, no matter who the individuals are. these administrators need to ensure equitable treatment to all because applying a separate set of rules to different people creates a sense of distrust in the followers (tschannen-moran, 2014). in this sense, sergiovanni (1992) considered that the ethic of justice must be the epicenter of any school, providing the school leadership with a moral compass to be applied to the decision-making process, which will create a virtuous school. according to shapiro and stefkovich (2022), “the ethic of justice serves as a foundation for legal principles and ideals” (p. 12). therefore, laws and constitutional rights should be protected, especially in the schools. lukianoff (2014) expressed his concerns about the growing censorship on campuses: the freedom of expressing opinions and points of view in a respectful and considerate manner is protected by universal rights. if we want a free and just school system, a free and just world, this should not be an issue anywhere in the world. 145 jcve 2022, 5(2): 140-151 the ethic of critique the ethic of critique has its foundation in critical theory, a social theory that evaluates society in trying to find aspects subject to improvement to create a better world. it promotes a reflective evaluation of society and culture to challenge the established power. the ethic of critique is based on the idea of being vigilant regarding the ethic of those in power. some scholars, researchers, writers, and thinkers (bakhtin, 1981; freire, 1998; giroux, 2006, krishnamurti, 1993; shapiro, 2010) believed that it is important to analyze in depth the paradigm of justice so that rights, laws, and regulations are compatible with the principles of justice and fairness. in the educational context, the ethic of critique consists of being vigilant of the school leadership as a representation of their power to illuminate flaws: are their laws, rules, and regulations fair? are constitutional rights protected? is there any discrimination allowed for any reason? are the rights of all students, faculty, and staff protected? parker and shapiro (1993) concluded that to improve schools and society, it would be beneficial to help principals and superintendents understand the importance of social class. these scholars believe that educational leaders can benefit from the analysis of social class so that they are better equipped to solve the moral challenges they face at their schools. the ethic of critique aims to analyze educational institutions so that unfairness and injustice are not present. if those conditions exist, school leaders must create a trust-based culture where students, faculty, and staff feel comfortable sharing what they consider can be improved, and from there, establish some conversations where everybody feels heard (murdoch et al., 2020). heartful education according to kouzes and posner (1999), “nothing great ever gets done without a heart” (p. xi). heartful education is based on the vision in which the heart is placed at the center of learning and teaching processes. amann et al. (2022) believed that heartful leadership supports transformational education, which helps everyone achieve their potential. amann (2022) stated that “mere knowledge would clearly not suffice any longer” (p. 12), arguing that educational leaders must consider a wider vision of education beyond the content. kimakowitz (2022) declared that adding love to education leads to effective education and that educational administrators should embrace love in their educational vision and mission. joshi (2022) advocated for the presence of a thought leader in academic institutions because “the thought leader has a flow of positive thoughts. these thoughts are peaceful, purposeful, powerful, and not pointless! the thought leader is one who does not find fault with others and has no place for jealousy” (p. 45). lastly, sharma (2022) believed that care, courage, consciousness, and composure are the four elements that lead to a heartful education providing quality learning, improved relationships, creativity and innovation, and emotional and mental well-being. ethical educational leadership and heartful education: toward a uniting view ethical educational leadership is based on a series of moral values or principles that enhance the quality of education for all (shapiro & stefkovich, 2022). heartful education incorporates a uniting perspective in education as it places the heart as the main pillar in the educational 146 jcve 2022, 5(2): 140-151 process for students, administrators, faculty, and staff (amann et al., 2022). heartful education also represents a uniting view as it is based on the human being without external distinctions. it is an inside-out approach, acknowledging first the natural and innate qualities of the human being. in this sense, love is considered the key quality to help education be effective (kimakowitz, 2022). ethical educational leadership and heartful education are centered on human beings, trying to find solutions and answers regarding education. ethical educational leaders and heartful educational leaders prioritize a human-centered vision in which ethic (care, justice, and critique) and human (love, patience, compassion, resilience, presence, etc.) paradigms are fundamental instruments in the decision-making process. this vision is based on what unites us rather than what separates us (sharma, 2022). following this, kouzes and posner (1999) established encouragement as the heart of leadership or, in other words, they believe heartful leadership is based on encouraging one another through care, affection, and love. both ethical educational leadership and heartful education share the same goals: bringing the whole educational community together, paying homage to the extraordinary qualities that every human being holds and that can be used in education and every other sector of our society. studies on ethical educational leadership. eyal et al. (2011) conducted a study in which 52 participants enrolled in principal training programs in institutions of higher education in israel were asked to fill out the ethical perspective instrument and a demographic questionnaire. it was found that critique was the ethic paradigm most implemented by educational leaders to solve moral dilemmas, followed by the ethic of care. kutsyuruba and walker (2013) conducted a descriptive ethics study with 177 principals across canada. the methodology consisted of self-report, open-ended questionnaires administered in both mail-out and online forms. their findings revealed that most ethical issues occurred between administrators, faculty, and staff. it is remarkable that the study also reported that participants experienced internal (being loyal to personal values) and external (stakeholder groups) pressure at the time to face ethical dilemmas and that those types of pressure conflicted with one another. arar et al. (2016) developed a study investigating the role that different ethical paradigms play in the exercise of ethical educational leadership in arab schools in israel. an ethical leadership questionnaire was sent to 189 arab school leaders. one hundred fifty of them fully completed the questionnaire. these scholars found that their cultural and social backgrounds affect their ethical leadership behaviors. they also found that male leaders reported a higher tendency for the ethic of care, which contravened other studies postulating that female leaders would show a higher impact regarding the ethic of care. another interesting finding revealed that less experienced educational leaders valued the ethic of critique the most. arar and saiti (2022) conducted a study in 2018 in school organizations in two different regions of israel. this research aimed to determine the impact of ethical leadership on 147 jcve 2022, 5(2): 140-151 educational leaders’ decision-making process. an ethical leadership questionnaire was used in this study. the results showed that the implementation of ethical leadership by school administrators positively affected the appreciation of social values, the better handling of moral dilemmas, and the improvement of ethical decision-making. conclusion ethical leaders are crucial in our schools because they commit themselves to high moral standards, professionally, and personally (brown & treviño, 2006). pursuing those standards makes them effective and inspiring (kolzow, 2014). students, teachers, and faculty are inspired when they believe in what their leadership stands for. ethical educational leaders are caring, fair, willing to listen, and humble in serving their followers (arar, 2017). therefore, these leaders tend to develop a vision based on the community’s needs, ensuring that the followers get the instruments and mechanisms for professional development. with all of that, ethical leaders in schools create a culture where all are embraced. a culture where heartful education plays a prominent role in uniting all community members by emphasizing the common aspects that all human beings share. thus, ethical educational leaders understand the power of educating with the heart, a loving heart that extends to all educational institution members (kimakowitz, 2022). more than ever, our schools need this type of leadership, based on building bridges through moral actions and inspiring policies. it is in our schools where our young learners are helped to discover the world through content learning. in ethical schools, these learners fill their minds and hearts because they understand the importance of learning with a purpose. it is now the moment to put all the necessary efforts into trying to make this world much better, peaceful, and united. this study and the following conclusions serve to join this precious endeavor: • ethical educational leadership creates a series of advantages for the school community: cooperation among students, administrators, faculty, and staff; healthy attitude of employees; drastic reduction in ethical scandals; students’ satisfaction, effective leadership, and high productivity (shapiro & stefkovic, 2016). these advantages are possible due to school leaders’ commitment to ethical values demonstrated through consistent actions and behaviors (shapiro et al., 1997). ethical schools are originated from ethical leaders, who build an ethical culture for all the school community members. these institutions' ethical and moral values are implemented in the areas and have positive implications for all. • multiple ethical paradigms serve as guides for school leaders to solve and confront challenging real-life dilemmas that occur on a daily basis in our schools. through the ethic of care, justice, and critique, these educational administrators try to create schools where all individuals feel taken care of, a sense of justice and fairness in the decisionmaking process, and a feeling of being heard is promoted. this model of multiple ethical paradigms includes other paradigms, such as culture, and decision-making (arar et al., 2016), profession (shapiro & stefkovich, 2022), utilitarianism (eyal et al., 2011), or 148 jcve 2022, 5(2): 140-151 sensitivity (arar & saiti, 2022). ethical schools apply, implement, and emphasize these moral paradigms so that the values they represent building a culture of respect, understanding, and empathy. • heartful education promotes a holistic learning approach. according to amann et al. (2022), “to be effective in teaching, the teacher needs to be touched more holistically than just in her or his cognitive capacity” (p. 40). heartful education comes from heartful leadership. in other words, heartful leaders create heartful education, so leading and educating are with the heart, which fosters a culture of authenticity, emotional intelligence, resilience, leading by example, and inspiration (kimakovitz, 2022). • studies (eyal et al.,2011; kutsyuruba & walker, 2013; arar et al., 2016; arar & saiti, 2022) showed that a multiple ethical paradigms model helps school leaders implement effective policies and develop a caring, fair, sensitive, practical, inspiring, and compassionate culture. also, implementing these multiple ethical paradigms is crucial to solving the ethical dilemmas that arise in schools (norberg & johansson, 2007). • this study aims to be transformative in the sense of advocating the unity and fraternity of all human beings. there are many aspects that all human beings share. many extraordinary events are happening every day that show us how amazing things can be achieved if we try focusing on what we all have in common and prioritize the essential patience, compassion, understanding, goodness, and love that are part of all human beings (amann et al., 2022). ethical educational leadership is an example of what unites us and brings us together. creating schools under such leadership can change the world for the better. schools whose pillars embrace and recognize all human beings. schools whose pillars are those universal values that, if followed, create caring, peaceful, courageous, confident, and understanding individuals (joshi, 2022). • educational leaders worldwide are trying to make an impact on their school communities. ethical leadership may serve as a decisive instrument of inspiration and motivation for students, faculty, and staff, fostering a culture of mutual trust, respect, satisfaction, and productivity (tschannen-moran, 2014). it is time that school leaders get the preparation and resources needed to become ethical leaders, and to put the ultimate uniting element first: the human being. that is the hopeful beginning. then, it is up to all of us to follow that lead. references amann, w. (2022). the space for heartfulness in learning taxonomies. in w. amann, p. gupta, and s. tripathi (eds), heartful leadership: a primer for transforming education (pp. 9– 16). walnut publication. amann, w., gupta, p., and tripathi, s. (2022). heartful leadership: a primer for transforming education. walnut publication. 149 jcve 2022, 5(2): 140-151 amann, v., tripathi, s., and gupta, p. (2022). heartful leadership for transforming education and driving humanism and sustainability. in w. amann, p. gupta, and s. tripathi (eds.), heartful leadership: a primer for transforming education (pp. 1–8). walnut publication. arar, k. (2017). unethical decision-making of school principals and vice-principals in the arab education system in israel: the interplay between culture and ethnicity. in normore ah and brooks j. e (eds), the dark side of leadership: identifying and overcoming unethical practice in organizations. advances in educational administration (pp. 73– 94). emerald group publishing limited. arar, k., haj, i, abramovitz, r., and oplatka, i. (2016). ethical leadership in education and its relation to ethical decision-making. the case of arab school leaders in israel. journal of educational administration 54(6), 647–660. arar, k., saiti, a. (2022). ethical leadership, ethical dilemmas, and decision-making among school administrators. equity in education and society, 1(1), 126–141. bakhtin, m. (1981). the dialogic imagination. university of texas press. barth, r. j. (1990). improving schools from within: teachers, parents, and principals can make the difference. jossey-bass. beck, l. g., murphy, j., and associates (eds.) (1997). ethics in educational leadership programs: emerging models. university council for educational administration. berkovich, i., & eyal, o. (2020). ethics education in leadership development: adopting multiple ethical paradigms. educational management administration and leadership, 48(2), 270–285. brown, m. e., & treviño, l. k. (2006). ethical leadership: a review and future directions. the leadership quarterly, 17, 595–616. brown, m. e., treviño, l. k., & harrison, d. (2005). ethical leadership: a social learning perspective for construct developing and testing. organizational behavior and human decision processes, 97, 117–134. campbell, e. (1997). ethical school leadership: problems of an elusive role. journal of school leadership, 7(3), 287–300. ciulla, j. b. (1995). leadership ethics: mapping the territory. business ethics quarterly 5(1), 5– 28. https://doi.org/10.2307/3857269 ciulla, j. b. (2014). ethics, the heart of leadership. praeger. dantley, m. e. (2005). moral leadership: shifting the management paradigm. in f. w. english (ed.), the sage handbook of educational leadership (pp. 34–46). sage publications. den hartog, d. n., & belschak, f. d. (2012). work engagement and machiavellianism in the ethical leadership process. journal of business ethics, 107(1), 35–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1296-4 eyal, o., berkovich, i., and schwartz, t. (2011). making the rich choices: ethical judgments among educational leaders. journal of educational administration, 49(4), 396–413. 150 jcve 2022, 5(2): 140-151 freire, p. (1998). pedagogy of freedom: ethics, democracy, and civic courage. rowman & littlefield. gini, a. (1997). moral leadership and business ethics. journal of leadership studies, 4(4), 64– 81. https://doi.org/10.1177/107179199700400406 giroux, h. a. (2006). america on the edge: henry girioux on politics, education, and culture. palgrave macmillan. guthrie, j. w. (1990). the evolution of educational management: eroding myths and emerging models. in b. mitchell and l. cunningham (eds.), educational leadership and changing contexts of families, communities, and schools. eighty-ninth yearbook of the national society for the study of education (pp. 210–231). university of chicago press. joshi, a. (2022). the transformative leader as spiritual behavioral strategist: insights from indian wisdom for developing heartful leadership in education. in w. amann, p. gupta, and s. tripathi (eds), heartful leadership: a primer for transforming education (pp. 43– 48). walnut publication. kimakowitz, e. (2022). what’s love got to do with it? why education needs love to be effective. in w. amann, p. gupta, and s. tripathi (eds), heartful leadership: a primer for transforming education (pp. 37–42). walnut publication. kolzow, d. r. (2014). leading from within: building organizational leadership capacity. retrieved from http://iedconline.org/clientuploads/downloads/edrp/leading_from_within.pdf kouzes, j. m., and posner, b. z. (1999). encouraging the heart: a leader’s guide to rewarding and recognizing others. jossey-bass. krishnamurti, j. (1993). krishnamurti to himself: his last journal. harperone. kutsyuruba, b., and walker, k. (2013). ethical challenges in school administration: perspectives of canadian principals. organizational cultures, an international journal, 12, 85–99. lukianoff, g. (2014). unlearning liberty: campus censorship and the end of american debate. encounter books. mathur, s. r., corley, k. m. (2014). bringing ethics into the classroom: making the case for) frameworks, multiple perspectives and narrative sharing. international education studies, 7(9), 136–147. murdoch, d., english, a. r., hintz, a., tyson, k. (2020). feeling heard: inclusive education, transformative learning, and productive struggle. educational theory, 70(5), 525–679. noddings, n. (1984). caring: a feminine approach to ethics and moral education. university of california press. noddings, n. (1992). the challenge to care in schools: an alternative approach to education. teachers college press. noddings, n. (1996). the cared-for. in s. gordon, p. benner, and n. noddings (eds.), caregiving: readings in knowledge, practice, ethics, and politics (pp. 21–39). university of pennsylvania press. 151 jcve 2022, 5(2): 140-151 norber, k., and johansson, o. (2007). ethical dilemmas of swedish school leaders: contrasts and common themes. educational management administration and leadership, 35(2), 277–294. parker, l. and shapiro, j. p. (1993). the context of educational administration and social class. in c. a. capper (ed.), educational administration in a pluralistic society (pp. 36–65). state university of new york press. quick, p. m. (1997). moral leadership: a model for educational leaders in the 21st century. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=andhttpsredir=1andarticle =1044andcontext=sferc sergiovanni, t. j. (1992). moral leadership: getting to the heart of school improvement. josseybass. shapiro, j. p. (2010). educating youth for a world beyond violence: a pedagogy for peace. palgrave macmillan. shapiro, j. p., sewell, t. e., ducette, j. p., and myrick, h. (1997). socio-cultural and school factors in achievement: lessons from tuition guarantee programs. paper presented at the annual meeting of the american educational research association. chicago. shapiro, j. p., and stefkovic, j. a. (2016). ethical leadership and decision-making in education. applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. routledge. sharma, d. (2022). being more humane: a heartfulness approach in educational transformation. in w. amann, p. gupta, and s. tripathi (eds), heartful leadership: a primer for transforming education (pp. 59–65). walnut publication. starratt, r. (1991). building an ethical school. a theory for practice in educational leadership. educational administration quarterly, 27(2), 185–202. starratt, r. (2005). responsible leadership. the educational forum, 69(2), 124-133. treviño, l. k., brown, m., hartman, l. p. (2003). a qualitative investigation of perceived executive ethical leadership: perceptions from inside and outside the executive suite. human relations, 56(1), 5–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726703056001448 tschannen-moran, m. (2014). trust matters: leadership for successful schools. jossey-bass. yidong, t., & xinxin, l. (2012). how ethical leadership influence employees’ innovative work behavior: a perspective of intrinsic motivation. journal of business ethics, 116, 441– 455. zhu, w., may, d., & avolio, b. (2004). the impact of ethical leadership behavior on employee outcomes: the roles of psychological empowerment and authenticity. journal of leadership and organizational studies 11(1), 16–26. journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 1 2022 pp. 122-143 systematic review of study designs and methods of research on disability in south african higher education institutions amidst covid19 (2020-2021) sandra makwembere* * department of people development and technology, faculty of business sciences, walter sisulu university, east london, south africa e-mail: smakwembere@wsu.ac.za article info received: january 5, 2022 revised: february 13, 2022 accepted: february 25, 2022 how to cite makwembere, s. (2002). systematic review of study designs and methods of research on disability in south african higher education institutions amidst covid-19 (2020-2021). journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), 122-143. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.10 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract the purpose of the study was to assess the study designs and methodological approaches of published works on disability in south african higher education institutions from 2020 to 2021. a systematic review was performed as a method to achieve this. the reporting of this systematic reviews was guided by the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses standards. electronic searches of bielefeld academic search engine, ebscohost, sciencedirect, scopus and wiley online library were conducted of electronic works published in english from january 2020 to december 2021. publications of empirical research on disability in any south african higher education institution where data were collected during covid-19 were included. non-peerreviewed publications, which explicitly indicated that data were collected before march 2020, did not have a south african higher education institution as a study site and were a desktop-only research or conceptual papers were excluded. three studies were included ultimately. ten elements were chosen for analysis based on the research purpose. the findings show that disability research has predominantly used qualitative designs and methods; an exploration that involves people with disabilities throughout the research process is limited and the inclusion of researcher positionality is limited. arguably, this study is the first systematic review of empirical studies on disability in south african higher education since the start of the covid-19 pandemic. the results support the need for a trajectory towards the use of more diverse research designs and methods. keywords disability; higher education; research design; research method; systematic review. 10.46303/jcve.2022.10 123 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 introduction over the years, global disability discourse, practice and research have highlighted many complex issues about disability. presently, it is estimated that about one in five people across the world have a disability, thus the matter warrants policy, practice and research interest. regarding disability and higher education, literature points to evidence of increased global concern on ways to create and promote disability-inclusive higher education spaces. several countries have committed themselves to realise inclusive and equitable higher education outcomes expressed in international instruments through their domestic legislative, policy and institutional mechanisms. for instance, article 24 of the united nations convention on the rights of people with disabilities (uncrpd) states that persons with disabilities should be assured of the right to inclusive education at all levels (un general assembly, 2007). also, sustainable development goal (sdg) 4 is to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (un general assembly, 2015, p. 14). these have implications for how disability is approached by countries. considering international instruments, higher education institutions in various countries have put in place different interventions such as the universal design of buildings, use of the universal design of learning principles, broad disability support services and strategies to realise national disability imperatives aligned to international commitments. prior to covid-19 being declared a pandemic on 11 march 2020 by the world health organisation (who), the nature and extent of the success of these interventions to address disabling or negative experiences at higher education institutions varied. achieving inclusive education has proven to be complex and challenging (mullins, 2019; snounu, 2019). after covid-19 was declared a pandemic, higher education institutions had to make adjustments to teaching and learning strategies for safety purposes. present research is capturing numerous disability-related experiences under the pandemic (buchnat & wojciechowska, 2020; meleo-erwin, et al., 2021; scott & aquino, 2020; sutton, 2020; wilson et al., 2020). in south africa, before covid-19, studies on disability in south african higher education institutions investigated several matters such as staff and students with disabilities’ experiences of disability support (lyner-cleophas, 2016), students with disabilities learning needs and lecturers’ perspectives on students with disabilities’ academic lives (mutanga & walker, 2017). since covid-19, there have been numerous changes in institutional operations to facilitate modes of remote and online forms of teaching and learning. these circumstances have created challenges and opportunities in terms of how to respond to disability. scholarly research has given attention to topics such as the impacts of covid-19 on access to higher education for students with disabilities (ndlovu, 2020), opportunities created by the pandemic (ntombela, 2021) and forms of exclusion being created (ngubane-mokiwa & zongozzi, 2021). this research contributes to an enhanced understanding of disability experiences in higher education since the pandemic began. however, systematic reviews on the pieces of evidence these works generate have yet to be completed. in particular, arguably, not enough reviews have been done 124 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 on the research designs and methods being adopted. such reviews seem necessary as covid19 has pushed researchers to make shifts in the manner in which they conduct their studies, for example, to minimise physical contact. also, disability research is taking place in a broader context where it is recognised that the pandemic has led to enhanced vulnerabilities and marginalisation of people with disabilities (felt et al., 2021; jesus et al., 2020; jesus et al., 2021). under the present circumstances where the government is responding to covid-19 in different and changing ways, it is beneficial to review the study designs and methods used to generate knowledge on disability. this can assist researchers to identify how disability is being and can be further investigated. already, prior to covid-19, it was recognised that traditional well-known research methods such as qualitative methods, for example in-depth interviews and case studies, can be narrow and problematic for vulnerable groups (baker et al., 2016; mulder et al., 2015). sometimes, these traditional methods can miss the nuances and insights of real life experiences, especially when the groups directly affected by the issue are not involved in research processes beyond being subjects of investigation and where the researcher is not intentional in adopting innovative research methodologies. within disability research, there have been calls for the use of innovative and transformative methods (munger & mertens, 2011; mutanga & walker, 2017; sullivan, 2009). this call still applies under the current pandemic circumstances where social distancing practices are creating challenges for face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions for example. alternative ways of approaching research such as the increased use of online data collection methods are being witnessed and are affecting research in various fields (dodds & hess, 2021; traxler & smith, 2020; webber-ritchey et al., 2021). with these shifts in methodological preferences, opportunities to use innovative ways to gain new insights into disability in higher education institutions exist. this study sought to yield systematically obtained information on the study designs and methodological approaches of peer reviewed electronically published works of empirical studies on disability in south african higher education institutions over the period 2020 to 2021. the review does not seek to discuss the findings of these different studies but the designs and methods used. using an analytical framework where 10 items were used to extract information from the publications, the review provides an account and overview of designs and methods being used for research on disability in south african higher education institutions in the context of covid-19. researching disability in south african higher education disability is a complex, multifaceted and evolving concept. definitions vary. according to the uncrpd, disability results “from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others” (un general assembly, 2007, p. 2). the south african government has adopted a definition of disability contained in the white paper on the rights of persons with 125 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 disabilities, which recognises these aspects of disability while recognising that the term is complex and evolving (department of social development, 2016). according to the south african human rights commission, while “disability is often used as an umbrella term that includes impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions...there is a need for more clarity regarding what constitutes a disability” (2017, p. 11). disability is both “a social phenomenon as well as a civil/human rights issue” (baglieri et al., 2011, p. 269) which leads to socially set restrictions and human rights violations of students with disabilities (brenes et al., 2018; denning & moody, 2013; karisa et al., 2021; kelly & mckenzie, 2018). any ventures to enhance inclusive education ought to adopt broad understanding of disability in education contexts and research on disability in these contexts should, likewise, indicate the definitions of disability adopted as lenses of investigations. as stoneman (2007, p.35) argued, “one of the first tasks that disability researchers face is to define the group of people selected for study”. definitions of disability have methodological importance. despite definitional challenges researchers may encounter, research undertaken has been able to capture diverse experiences of disability in south african higher education. some researchers have followed conventional ways of investigating disability while others have followed innovative paths such as using emancipatory research (bucholz, 2017; mthethwa, 2017; rule & modipa, 2013) or transformative research. according to barnes (2003, p. 6), emancipatory disability research refers to “the empowerment of disabled people through the transformation of the material and social relations of research production”. it positions the researcher as a member of or party to the research as opposed to being a distant, ‘alienating’ and ‘oppressive’ expert. oliver (1997) observed that the emancipatory research process can facilitate emancipatory processes. consequently, as a choice of methodology, it covers a wider scope of issues compared to conventional methodologies and meaningfully involves all involved in the research and those the research should influence (for example, policy makers). research that uses the transformative paradigm seeks the engagement of groups with a focus on increasing social justice (mertens, 2010). these types of research point to the complex relationship between disability research and politics as alluded to by shakespeare (1996). some studies on disability in south african higher education have brought out these tensions. overall, there are methodological opportunities that exist for research, which reflect transformational ways of thinking about disability (snounu, 2019) and for all levels of social systems linked to disability to be changed (parmenter, 2004). systematic reviews have been done on issues and challenges of disability research in higher education (jaafar et al., 2019). however, opportunities exist for more reviews of disability research in south african higher education, which has taken place since covid-19, hence this study. the research question for this review is what research designs and methods have been used to research disability in south african higher education institutions since covid-19 from 2020 to 2021? 126 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 methods the study sought to investigate the study designs and methods used in research on disability in south african higher education institutions published in 2020 and 2021. what was specifically examined is the definition of disability adopted, research approach, research design, location of the study, sampling technique, sample size, data collection technique and data analysis techniques. these aspects were used as an analytical framework so that information on the nature of the design and methods could be drawn. the reporting of this systematic review has been guided by the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (prisma) statement. electronic searches of bielefeld academic search engine, ebscohost, sciencedirect, scopus and wiley online library were conducted by the author in november 2021, december 2021 and january 2022. these databases were selected taking into account their suitability for systematic reviews as presented by gusenbauer and haddaway (2020). the search limits were electronically available publications published between 2020 and 2021. table 1 below provides the search terms used for the different databases and the number of hits these produced. search parameters were that the publications were in english and published between 2020 and 2021. table 1. database hits for keyword searches 2020 2021 south africa universi ty disabilit y south africa higher educati on disabilit y south africa tvet disabili ty south africa college disabili ty south africa universi ty disabilit y south africa higher educati on disabilit y south africa tvet disabili ty south africa college disabili ty bielefeld academic search engine 95 23 1 11 21 35 0 21 ebscohost 3 135 467 12252 11 21072 496 12693 sciencedir ect 1534 917 2 711 1961 1212 3 963 scopus 11 18 0 1 12 16 1 1 wiley online library 1286 776 5 707 1312 848 5 728 total hits1 2929 1869 475 13682 3317 23183 505 14406 1 sites last consulted 14 january 2022 127 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 google scholar, south african academic libraries system and worldcat were also used as supplementary sources of information. quotation marks were used for the terms to focus the searches. the search terms were: “south africa” “university” “disability; “south africa” “higher education” “disability”; “south africa” “tvet” “disability”; and “south africa” “college” “disability”. the term ‘disability’ and not impairment was used. a custom year range of 2020 to 2021 was set for the searches. only the first up to ten pages of the searches were reviewed to identify publications possibly excluded from the database searches. once identified, these publications were screened to see if they met the inclusion criteria. no additional articles from these supplementary sources were included for full text analysis. the following journal sites were also visited: disability and society; african journal of disability and studies in higher education. no additional articles from these supplementary sources were included for full text analysis. inclusion criteria studies that indicated that data were collected after march 2020 were included. publications included in the review were empirical studies where only primary data or primary and secondary data were collected and analysed. there are numerous definitions and understandings of disability. all definitions and understandings were included. studies undertaken by researchers based in south africa or elsewhere were included. the south african higher education sector includes universities (public and private), training and vocational education and training (tvet) colleges and private colleges, thus any studies which had the study site as one of these classifications were included. studies on disability from the perspectives of authors with or without disabilities were included. electronically available peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters, masters dissertations and phd theses were included. studies with sufficient information that data were collected during the covid-19 pandemic were included. exclusion criteria studies that explicitly indicated that data were collected prior to march 2020 were excluded. studies where secondary data only were used or desktop only research and conceptual papers were excluded. studies where it was unclear whether a south african higher education institution was the study site or did not have a south african higher education institution as a study site were excluded. studies that did not focus on disability and rather had disability related matters as part of broader findings were excluded. the following kinds of documents were excluded: printed versions of documents, blogs, government documents, study reports and online media publications. studies that did not have sufficient information on whether data were collected during the covid-19 pandemic were excluded. two independent researchers (nk and tc) assisted with excluding articles from three (base, scopus and wileyonline library) of the five databases used, based on the titles and abstracts. 128 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 data extraction information on 10 predefined items was used in the extraction of data on the design and methods. these were:  study focus  definition of disability  research approach  research design  study site  sampling technique  sample size  participants  data collection technique  data analysis technique studies were divided between 2020 and 2021. the study focus was taken from the expressed or implied study objectives or purpose. the research approach (or paradigm) was noted. the expressed or implied research designs were captured. the study site was noted. the sampling technique and sample size were also noted. details of the participants were captured, which included whether or not they were identified as having disabilities or not. data collection techniques were stated. these could be face-to-face or online. the final category of information captured was the data analysis technique. overall, the categories captured different designs and methods used in studies. data analysis whilst there were aspects in the review which were objectifiable information (for example, research approach, data collection techniques), some information had to be determined using the researcher’s judgment. a pragmatic approach was adopted in handling the publications and extracting information from the full texts. data has been summarised narratively as the studies are very heterogeneous. results the initial search produced the total number of publications represented in table 1. after duplicates were identified and removed, titles and abstracts were screened by two independent researchers (nk and tc) and the author, 19 publications were found to qualify for full text analysis. 129 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 figure 1. systematic review flow diagram 130 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 table 2: articles set aside for full text analysis no. article 1. isaacs, d. (2020). ‘i don’t have time for this’: stuttering and the politics of university time. scandinavian journal of disability research, 22(1). 2. ndlovu, l. m. (2019). access with success: a case of students with learning disabilities at a technical and vocational education and training college [doctoral dissertation, university of kwazulu natal]. university of kwazulu natal. 3. makwembere, s. (2021). disability sensitivity and sensibility: a nondisabled lecturer perspective on inclusive lecturing opportunities. research in social sciences and technology, 6(2), 52-75. 4. manase, n. (2021). disguised blessings amid covid-19: opportunities and challenges for south african university students with learning disabilities. journal of student affairs in africa, 9(1), 107-118. 5. tekane, r., & potgieter, m. (2021). insights from training a blind student in biological sciences. south african journal of science, 117(5-6), 1-7. 6. müller, j., & couper, i. (2021). preparing graduates for interprofessional practice in south africa: the dissonance between learning and practice. frontiers in public health, 9, 93. 7. mbuvha, t. (2019). kinds of support offered by the disability unit to students with disabilities at institutions of higher learning in south africa: a case study of the university of venda. journal of student affairs in africa, 7(2). 8. sipuka, o. (2019). exploring a framework for decolonised disability-inclusive student walk support practices in an open and distance learning institution. [doctoral thesis, university of cape town]. university of cape town. 9. mostert, f. (2021). the role impairment associated with common mental disorders among first-year university students in south africa. [masters thesis, stellenbosch university] stellenbosch university. 10. lister, h. e., mostert, k., & pillay, m. (2021). teaching about disability and food security in the school of health sciences, university of kwazulu-natal, south africa. 11. vergunst, r., & swartz, l. (2021). ‘he doesn’t understand that he’s struggling with the way i felt’–university students, psychosocial disability and disclosure in the western cape, south africa. disability & society, 36(2), 226-239. 12. vergunst, r., & swartz, l. (2020). experiences with supervisors when students have a psychosocial disability in a university context in south africa. teaching in higher education, 1-14. 13. lourens, h. (2021). supercripping the academy: the difference narrative of a disabled academic. disability & society, 36(8), 1205-1220. 131 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 14. bobat, s., reuben, s., & devar, t. (2020). representation and methods of normalisation: narratives of disability within a south african tertiary institution. african journal of disability, 9(1), 1-10. 15. lyner-cleophas, m., apollis, l., erasmus, i., willems, m., poole, l., minnaar, m., & louw, p. (2021). disability unit practitioners at stellenbosch university: covid-19 pandemic reflections. journal of student affairs in africa, 9(1), 223234. 16. mckinney, e. l., & swartz, l. (2020). integration into higher education: experiences of disabled students in south africa. studies in higher education, 111. 17. munyaradzi, m., arko-achemfuor, a., & quan-baffour, k. (2021). an exploration of comprehensive student support systems in technical vocational education and training colleges for students with disability. community college journal of research and practice, 1-17. 18. zongozzi, j. n. (2020). accessible quality higher education for students with disabilities in a south african open distance and e-learning institution: challenges. international journal of disability, development and education, 1-13. 19. ndlovu, s. (2021). provision of assistive technology for students with disabilities in south african higher education. international journal of environmental research and public health, 18(8), 3892. the full text analysis revealed that 16 articles did not meet the inclusion criteria, though the title and abstract were screened. reasons for their exclusion included that data were not collected after march 2020, the actual dates of the publications were earlier than the ones captured on the database, data were collected prior to march 2020 and insufficient detail of when data were collected was provided. the final analysis included three papers (listed in table 2 as numbers 3, 4, 15). for one study (number 15 in table 2), 15 participants were reached during 2019 and then four were contacted after march 2020. therefore, this study was included. the studies represent different research designs and methods. they are presented in table 3. numbers in square brackets have been assigned to the three studies (that is, [1], [2] and [3]). these are used to refer to the studies during discussions in the article. table 3. publications from which data were extracted after analysis article study focus definition of disability research approach research design study site sampling technique sample size participants data collection method data analysis method [1] lynercleophas et al. (2021) provides reflections on what has been learnt from shifts to online teaching and learning as well as how progress can be made under the changed academic environment circumstances none provided qualitative (implied) ethnographic design (autoethnogr aphy) (implied) 1 public university (stellenbosch university) n/a 7 staff members of the stellenbosch university disability unit – not stated if members have a disability reflections content analysis (implied) [2] makwem bere (2021) uses a disability perspective to present lecturing practices during the move to emergency remote teaching and learning in none provided social and human rights model referred to qualitative (stated) ethnographic design (autoethnogr aphy) (stated) 1 public university (historically disadvantage d institution) (not stated n/a 1 the author – lecturer without a disability selfreflection content analysis (stated) response to covid19 [3] manase (2021) presents challenges and opportunities associated with online and remote learning for university students with learning disabilities none provided capability approach to learning experience used qualitativ e(stated) narrative inquiry research design (stated) 1 public university (university of the free state) snowballi ng convenien ce 15 15 students with disabilities semistructured interviews thematic analysis (implied) note: information generated by author using 10 items of a devised analytical framework. 134 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 study focus the analysis revealed that all the studies focused on different matters. one study focused on disability unit practitioners’ reflections on what has been learnt since shifts have been made to online teaching and learning and how progress can be made under these circumstances [1]. one study focused on reflections on lecturing practices during the move to emergency remote teaching and learning in response to covid-19 using a disability perspective [2]. one study gave attention to the challenges and opportunities associated with online and remote learning for students with learning disabilities [3]. definition of disability all the studies did not provide the definition of disability which they adopted. instead, they acknowledged the complexities and different understandings of disability as well as the broad range of disability experiences. research approach all the studies used a qualitative approach. in two articles, it was explicitly stated that they were qualitative [2, 3] and in one [1] it was implied that a qualitative approach was used. research design one study followed a narrative inquiry research design [3]. one study used retrospective autoethnography, thus, it was inferred that an ethnographic research design was followed [2]. for one study, it was not indicated which research design was followed [1]. however, given the fact that it mentioned that information was drawn from reflections, it was also inferred that an ethnographic research design was followed. study site two of the studies [1, 3] mentioned the sites where the studies took place, stellenbosch university and the university of the free state. these two are public universities. the study site of one study [3] was not indicated, only that, it was a historically disadvantaged institution. according to the description of historically disadvantaged institution provided, these are public institutions. thus, it was deduced that the study site for [3] was a public university. sampling technique one study [3] used convenience and snowball sampling techniques. for the other two studies [1,2], as the authors were both the researchers and the researched, sampling techniques were not indicated nor did they seem to apply. sample size the sample sizes of all the studies varied. one study had a sample size of one [2], another of seven [1] and another of 15 [3]. 135 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 participants two of the three studies [1, 2] had the authors as the participants of the studies. for the one study, the author indicated that they were non-disabled [2]. in another study [1], the authors indicated that they were staff members of the stellenbosch university disability unit but did not disclose whether or not any of them had any disabilities. one study [3] had 15 participants. these participants were full-time university students with learning disabilities. data collection method all three studies were based on primary data collected in different ways. one study used semistructured interviews [3]. one study collected data from slides, recordings, whatsapp messages as well as their typed and handwritten notes [2]. one study was not explicit about how data were collected [1]. the article seemed to display combined reflections on the topic of interest as opposed to a write up of information collected at a particular point in time from the authors and then combined into the article. however, while the article might not have indicated the data collection methods used for the study, this did not necessarily mean no particular methods were used. data analysis method one out of three articles explicitly indicated that a qualitative data analysis method, content analysis, was used in the study. one study [3] indicated that “data were analysed descriptively” (manase, 2021, p. 109). one deduced that thematic analysis was used for the study [3]. it was also deduced that content analysis was used for the other study [1]. discussion this study sought to review the evidence of empirical studies on disability in south african higher education institutions between 2020 and 2021. particular attention was paid to those studies which collected data from higher education institutions during the time after covid-19 was declared a pandemic. overall, the findings reveal that there is little empirical research on disability in higher education institutions over the period chosen. three studies that qualified for inclusion were analysed. generally, the articles in the review showed that there is a methodological leaning towards qualitative research. when one looks at the diverse focus of the studies, they reinforce the complex realities of disability and point to issues that may be best investigated through qualitative means. however, the findings also point to the need for methodological pluralism where qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches are used in research on disability in higher education institutions. in terms of research design, the findings follow from the findings of the approaches. qualitative research designs seemed to be preferred but only one study specified the research design that was followed. research designs act as important frameworks for researchers; thus, researchers should clearly present the research designs they follow. this can enhance understanding of how research outcomes were 136 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 achieved as the guide for the choice of research methods and techniques would be more apparent. concerning study sites, the findings demonstrate that there is a lack of empirical studies on disability at south african tvet colleges, private universities and private colleges. emphasis has been given to public universities yet higher education includes the aforementioned institutions. it will be essential for research on disability in higher education institutions to be undertaken in all categories of higher education institutions for disability in south african higher education to be fully understood. a continued lack of investigation of disability at non-public universities during the pandemic will be problematic. the findings on sampling techniques reflect the methodological flexibility offered by qualitative research. for two out of the three studies, the authors chose themselves for observation. one study used two sampling techniques, convenience and snowball sampling. the vastness of disability means that it would not be feasible to draw representative samples. challenges to gaining information populations exist. for example, it has been found that when universities require students to declare or register with them that they have a disability, often, they do not disclose the information (lyner-cleophas et al., 2021) meaning that suggested population numbers of students with disabilities could be inaccurate. representativeness does not have to be a primary goal though. what appears more important is that the sampling method facilitates access to experiences of or views on disability of the researchers (who may or may not be persons with disabilities) or those who will be researched (who also may or may not be persons with disabilities). the sample sizes of the studies ranged from one to 15. stoneman (2007) points out that disability research has typically involved small sample sizes. qualitative research typically allows for as small a number as one. this can be useful to discover what may be unique or untold experiences. contextual nuances of disability experiences can be captured through small samples. where possible though, large samples in research on disability in higher education institutions can be explored to see what new understandings can be offered. the studies included participants with and without disabilities. for two studies, the authors were the participants. some information relating to their positionality was included in their reflections but including clearer positionality statements could have enhanced how the researchers are positioned in relation to the context of the studies. for one study, the researcher detailed that participants were students with learning disabilities but not their positionality. beauchamp-pryor (2013) emphasised that including the voices of people with disabilities provides opportunities to oppose those who traditionally hold power and challenge dominant perceptions held by policymakers, politicians and professionals (including researchers). reflexivity in research on disability in higher education institutions would be valuable to capture during the knowledge production process. the benefits of reflexivity in qualitative studies are widely acknowledged (crooks et al., 2012). as disability is socially 137 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 constructed, the researchers’ positions cannot be removed from how knowledge on disability in south african higher education is being produced during the pandemic. qualitative data analysis methods were used in the studies. for the one study which drew information from students with learning disabilities, it is unclear whether the participants had an opportunity to see how their experiences were represented before publication. for the other two studies, they analysed data that they had produced themselves. there are opportunities for researchers to present details on processes followed to ensure that findings truly represent the participants’ and researchers’ disability experiences. limitations some limitations of the study need to be acknowledged. while two independent researchers assisted with screening titles and abstracts, no information specialists were used to conduct the searches. publication processes can take time and studies completed during 2020 and 2021 which may appear from 2022 onwards could not be included. also, a quality evaluation tool was not used to assess the quality of the evidence of studies. nevertheless, since the study is exploratory, the information that was extracted from the studies is arguably justified. conclusion a great deal of disability research reveals that many south african higher education institutions still face challenges addressing disability inclusion. considering this, researchers of disability in south african higher education institutions ought to consider how their research contributes to a more inclusive higher education sector. they should not neglect some of the injustices taking place in higher education spaces but ought to look to pursuing research processes and outputs which are socially relevant and do not become forms of inquiry that inadvertently reproduce experiences of social oppression and marginalisation. this exploratory study is arguably the first systematic review of empirical studies on disability in higher education institutions since covid19. research on disability in south african higher education can diversify the use of research approaches, designs, sampling and data collection techniques, broaden sites of investigation and enhance reflexivity in research. as the impacts of covid-19 on higher education continue to be investigated, disability researchers should broaden their outlook on what, where and how topics are investigated. references baglieri, s., valle, j. w., connor, d. j., & gallagher, d. j. (2011). disability studies in education: the need for a plurality of perspectives on disability. remedial and special education, 32(4), 267-278. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932510362200 baker, s.m., labarge, m., & baker, c.n. (2016). consumer vulnerability: foundations, phenomena, and future investigations. in k. hamilton, s. dunnett & m. piacentini (eds.), consumer vulnerability (pp. 13-30). routledge. 138 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 beauchamp-pryor, k. (2013). disabled students in welsh higher education: a framework for equality and inclusion. rotterdam: sense publishers. bobat, s., reuben, s., & devar, t. (2020). representation and methods of normalisation: narratives of disability within a south african tertiary institution. african journal of disability, 9(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.4102/ajod.v9i0.629 brenes, m., gronenberg, p., henniges, j., pfoertner, k., robinson, p., tesni, s., & ullucci, r. (2018). my right is our future: the transformative power of disability-inclusive education. christian blind mission. buchnat, m., & wojciechowska, a. (2020). online education of students with mild intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder during the covid-19 pandemic. interdyscyplinarne konteksty pedagogiki specjalnej, (29), 149-171. https://doi.org/10.14746/ikps.2020.29.07 bucholz, a. w. (2017). the experiences of a student with cerebral palsy at a higher education institution: a case study [doctoral dissertation, stellenbosch university] stellenbosch university. https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/101026 crooks, v. a., owen, m., & stone, s. d. (2012). creating a (more) reflexive canadian disability studies: our team’s account. canadian journal of disability studies, 1(3), 45-65. https://doi.org/10.15353/cjds.v1i3.56 denning, c. b., & moody, a. k. (2013). supporting students with autism spectrum disorders in inclusive settings: rethinking instruction and design. electronic journal for inclusive education, 3(1), 6. https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1153&context=ejie department of social development (2016). white paper on the rights of people with disabilities. department of social development dodds, s., & hess, a. c. (2021). adapting research methodology during covid-19: lessons for transformative service research. journal of service management, 32(2), 203217. https://doi.org/10.1108/josm-05-2020-0153 felt, a. b., mitcham, d., hathcock, m., swienton, r., & harris, c. (2021). discrimination and bias in state triage protocols toward populations with intellectual disabilities during the covid-19 pandemic. disaster medicine and public health preparedness, 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2021.81 gusenbauer, m., & haddaway, n. r. (2020). which academic search systems are suitable for systematic reviews or meta-analyses? evaluating retrieval qualities of google scholar, pubmed, and 26 other resources. research synthesis methods, 11(2), 181-217. https://doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.1378 isaacs, d. (2020). ‘i don’t have time for this’: stuttering and the politics of university time. scandinavian journal of disability research, 22(1), 58-67. http://doi.org/10.16993/sjdr.601 139 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 jaafar, s. m. r. s., maarof, r., hisam, m. j., & husin, n. n. f. a. (2020, september). inclusion setting for disabilities in higher education: a systematic review of issues and challenges in disabilities research. in proceedings of the international conference on student and disable student development 2019 (icosd 2019) (pp. 184-190). atlantis press. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.200921.030 jesus, t. s., bhattacharjya, s., papadimitriou, c., bogdanova, y., bentley, j., arango-lasprilla, j. c., & kamalakannan, s. (2021). lockdown-related disparities experienced by people with disabilities during the first wave of the covid-19 pandemic: scoping review with thematic analysis. international journal of environmental research and public health, 18(12), 6178. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126178 jesus, t. s., kamalakannan, s., bhattacharjya, s., bogdanova, y., arango-lasprilla, j. c., bentley, j., gibson, b.e., papadimitriou & refugee empowerment taskforce, international networking group of the american congress of rehabilitation medicine. (2020). people with disabilities and other forms of vulnerability to the covid-19 pandemic: study protocol for a scoping review and thematic analysis. archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translation, 2(4), 100079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arrct.2020.100079 karisa, a., mckenzie, j., & de villiers, t. (2021). ‘it’s a school but it’s not a school’: understanding father involvement in the schooling of children with intellectual disabilities in kenya. international journal of inclusive education, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2021.1980123 kelly, j., & mckenzie, j. (2018). teacher education: an analysis of the availability of teacher education addressing the educational needs of learners with severe to profound sensory or intellectual impairments. disability studies division, university of cape town. http://www.dhrs.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/147/disability/tedi/c a91_ teacher%20eduction%20book_web.pdf lister, h. e., mostert, k., & pillay, m. (2021). teaching about disability and food security in the school of health sciences, university of kwazulu-natal, south africa. https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/83053/lister_teaching_2021.pdf?s equence=1 lourens, h. (2021). supercripping the academy: the difference narrative of a disabled academic. disability & society, 36(8), 1205-1220. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1794798 lyner-cleophas, m. m. (2016). staff and disabled students’ experiences of disability support, inclusion and exclusion at stellenbosch university [doctoral dissertation, stellenbosch university] stellenbosch university. https://scholar.sun.ac.za/ bitstream/handle/10019.1/100370/lynercleophas_staff_2016.pdf?sequence=1&isallow ed=y 140 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 lyner-cleophas, m., apollis, l., erasmus, i., willems, m., poole, l., minnaar, m., & louw, p. (2021). disability unit practitioners at stellenbosch university: covid-19 pandemic reflections. journal of student affairs in africa, 9(1), 223-234. https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v9i1.1440 makwembere, s. (2021). disability sensitivity and sensibility: a nondisabled lecturer perspective on inclusive lecturing opportunities. research in social sciences and technology, 6(2), 52-75. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.11 manase, n. (2021). disguised blessings amid covid-19: opportunities and challenges for south african university students with learning disabilities. journal of student affairs in africa, 9(1), 107-118. https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v9i1.1431 mbuvha, t. (2019). kinds of support offered by the disability unit to students with disabilities at institutions of higher learning in south africa: a case study of the university of venda. journal of student affairs in africa, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v7i2.3825 mckinney, e. l., & swartz, l. (2020). integration into higher education: experiences of disabled students in south africa. studies in higher education, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1750581 meleo-erwin, z., kollia, b., fera, j., jahren, a., & basch, c. (2021). online support information for students with disabilities in colleges and universities during the covid-19 pandemic. disability and health journal, 14(1), 101013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2020.101013 mertens, d. m. (2010). transformative mixed methods research. qualitative inquiry, 16(6), 469-474. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800410364612 mostert, f. (2021). the role impairment associated with common mental disorders among first-year university students in south africa. [masters thesis, stellenbosch university] stellenbosch university. https://scholar.sun.ac.za/ bitstream/handle/10019.1/123749/mostert_role_2021.pdf?sequence=2&isallowed=y mthethwa, l. j. (2017). the experiences and challenges of adapting to an inclusive education learning environment: a study of students with disabilities at the university of kwazulunatal, howard college campus. [doctoral dissertation, university of kwazulu natal]. university of kwazulu natal. https://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/xmlui/handle/10413/15609 mulder, m.r., rapp, j.m., hamby, a., & weaver, t. (2015), “consumer transformation through volunteer service experiences”, service industries journal, 35(15-16), 865-882. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2015.1090981 müller, j., & couper, i. (2021). preparing graduates for interprofessional practice in south africa: the dissonance between learning and practice. frontiers in public health, 9, 93. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.594894 141 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 mullins, r. (2019). using dewey's conception of democracy to problematize the notion of disability in public education. journal of culture and values in education, 2(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.02.01.1 munger, k. m., & mertens, d. m. (2011). conducting research with the disability community: a rights-based approach. new directions for adult and continuing education, 2011(132), 23-33. https://doi.org/10.1002/ace.428 munyaradzi, m., arko-achemfuor, a., & quan-baffour, k. (2021). an exploration of comprehensive student support systems in technical vocational education and training colleges for students with disability. community college journal of research and practice, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2021.1952914 mutanga, o., & walker, m. (2017). exploration of the academic lives of students with disabilities at south african universities: lecturers’ perspectives. african journal of disability, 6(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.4102/ajod.v6i0.316 ndlovu, l. m. (2019). access with success: a case of students with learning disabilities at a technical and vocational education and training college [doctoral dissertation, university of kwazulu natal]. university of kwazulu natal. https://ukzn-dspace.ukzn. ac.za/handle/10413/19881 ndlovu, s. (2020). the impact of covid-19 on students with disabilities' access to education in south africa. journal of social development in africa, 131-166. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/jsda/article/view/208011 ndlovu, s. (2021). provision of assistive technology for students with disabilities in south african higher education. international journal of environmental research and public health, 18(8), 3892. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18083892 ngubane-mokiwa, s. a., & zongozzi, j. n. (2021). exclusion reloaded: the chronicles of covid19 on students with disabilities in a south african open distance learning context. journal of intellectual disability-diagnosis and treatment, 9(1), 137-147. https://doi.org/10.6000/2292-2598.2021.09.01.17 ntombela, s. (2021). reimagining south african higher education in response to covid-19 and ongoing exclusion of students with disabilities. disability & society, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2021.2004880 oliver, m. (1997). emancipatory research: realistic goal or impossible dream. doing disability research, 2, 15-31. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.542. 5064&rep=rep1&type=pdf parmenter, t. r. (2004). historical overview of applied research in intellectual disabilities: the foundation years. in e. emerson, c. hatton, t. thompson, & t. r. parmenter (eds.), the international handbook of applied research in intellectual disabilities (pp. 3–40). wiley. rule, p., & modipa, t. r. (2013). “we must believe in ourselves”: attitudes and experiences of adult learners with disabilities in kwazulu-natal, south africa. in p. mayo (ed.) learning 142 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 with adults: international issues in adult education (pp. 55-76). brill sense. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-335-5_5 scott, s., & aquino, k. (2020). covid-19 transitions: higher education professionals’ perspectives on access barriers, services, and solutions for students with disabilities. association of higher education and disability, 9. https://ctahead.org/wpcontent/uploads/2020/09/ahead_covid_survey_report.pdf shakespeare, t. (1996). rules of engagement: doing disability research. disability and society, 11(1), 115–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599650023380 sipuka, o. (2019). exploring a framework for decolonised disability-inclusive student walk support practices in an open and distance learning institution. [doctoral thesis, university of cape town]. university of cape town. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/34003 snounu, y. (2019). disability and higher education in palestine. journal of culture and values in education, 2(3), 61-78. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.02.4 south african human rights commission. (2017). disability toolkit: a quick reference guide and monitoring framework for employers. south african human rights commission. https://www.sahrc.org.za/home/21/files/20170524%20sahrc%20disability%20monito ring%20framework%20and%20guidelines%20draft%205.pdf stoneman, z. (2007). disability research methodology: current issues and future challenges. in s.l. odom, r.h. horner, m.e. snell & j. blacher (eds.), handbook of developmental disabilities, (pp. 35-54). the guilford press. sullivan, m. (2009). philosophy, ethics, and the disability community. in d.m. mertens & p.g. ginsberg (eds.), handbook of social research ethics (pp. 69-84). sage. sutton, h. (2020). survey reviews covid-19-based disruptions for students with disabilities. disability compliance for higher education, 26(3), 9-9. https://doi.org/10.1002/dhe.30921 tekane, r., & potgieter, m. (2021). insights from training a blind student in biological sciences. south african journal of science, 117(5-6), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2021/8607 traxler, j., & smith, m. (2020). data for development: shifting research methodologies for covid-19. journal of learning for development, 7(3), 306-325. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1280656.pdf un general assembly. (2007). convention on the rights of people with disabilities: resolution / adopted by the general assembly, 24 january 2007, a/res/61/106. https://www.refworld.org/docid/45f973632.html un general assembly. (2015). transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, 21 october 2015, a/res/70/1. https://www.refworld.org/docid/ 57b6e3e44.html 143 jcve 2022, 5(1): 122-143 vergunst, r., & swartz, l. (2020). experiences with supervisors when students have a psychosocial disability in a university context in south africa. teaching in higher education, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2020.1730784 vergunst, r., & swartz, l. (2021). ‘he doesn’t understand that he’s struggling with the way i felt’–university students, psychosocial disability and disclosure in the western cape, south africa. disability & society, 36(2), 226-239. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1730159 webber-ritchey, k. j., simonovich, s. d., & spurlark, r. s. (2021). covid-19: qualitative research with vulnerable populations. nursing science quarterly, 34(1), 13-19. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0894318420965225 wilson, l., conway, j., martin, n., & turner, p. (2020). covid-19: disabled students in higher education: student concerns and institutional challenges report by the national association of disability practitioners. national association of disability practitioners https://nadp-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/nadp-report-covid-19-disabledstudents-in-higher-education-student-concerns-and-institutional-challenges.docx zongozzi, j. n. (2020). accessible quality higher education for students with disabilities in a south african open distance and e-learning institution: challenges. international journal of disability, development and education, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912x.2020.1822518 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 2 2022 pp. 65-79 collaborative learning: a veritable tool for promoting classroom participation among pre-service teachers in rural universities in south africa oyinlola omolara adebola*a & cias tsotetsia * corresponding author email: adebolaoo@ufs.ac.za a. faculty of education, university of the free state, south africa article info received: july 29, 2022 revised: september 11, 2022 accepted: october 4, 2022 how to cite adebola, o. o., & tsotetsi, c. (2022). collaborative learning: a veritable tool for promoting classroom participation among pre-service teachers in rural universities in south africa. journal of culture and values in education, 5(2), 65-79. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.20 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract the benefits of collaborative learning (cl) in teaching-learning have been well-documented. according to existing literature, it will help students and teachers learn from one another, develop good communication skills, foster a sense of community, trust and respect, and retain and apply the information in their future studies. unfortunately, observation coupled with research shows that preservice teachers’ participation in south africa's rural universities is at its lowest ebb – a potential source of concern to education stakeholders given its futuristic implications in the light of cl benefits. less pre-service teachers’ participation has been linked to cultural influence, environmental factors and students’ backgrounds and have negatively impacted students’ academic achievement. this paper seeks to typify cl as a panacea to preservice teachers' apathy toward learning. in doing this, social constructivism theory (sct) was adopted to underpin the study. drawing from the principles of participatory action research, fifteen undergraduate students were randomly selected, and data was gathered with the instrumentation of semi-structured interviews and focus groups. the study revealed the think-peer-share strategy, group work strategy, micro-teaching strategy, positive feedback and encouragement, learner-centred method, and inquiry method as strategies for improving participation among pre-service teachers in rural universities. recommendations were made in line with the findings of the study. keywords collaborative learning; pre-service teachers; classroom participation; rural universities. 10.46303/jcve.2022.20 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.20 66 adebola, o. o., & tsotetsi, c. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 65-79 introduction collaborative learning (cl) is widely recognized as a pedagogical practice that promotes inclusion and socialization among students. several existing literatures have established evidence of the effectiveness of collaborative learning practices in schools and universities around the globe (le et al., 2017; omodan, & addam, 2022). not only does it offer alternative strategies to engage learners in class other than traditional participation, but it also incorporates collaborative learning strategies that encourage students to build stronger connections. moreso, several forms of learning have been observed to promote critical thinking, problemsolving, and communication skills through novel real-world assignments such as group projects, debates, or even competitive events like tournaments or games. (laal & ghodsi, 2012; laal & laal, 2012; le et al., 2017). cl is a type of teaching method that involves the coming together of students to collaboratively work hand-in-hand with their peers to solve a problem, construct new ideas, and acquire critical skills by engaging in classroom activities (azar et al. 2021). this pedagogical practice has long been associated with self-discovery among students (smith & macgregor, 1992). as a lecturer in a rural university, the researcher observed a trend that shows less participation in collaborative learning among pre-service teachers. over the years, i have observed that students do not ask questions during lecture presentations nor approach their colleagues for clarifications on concepts they do not understand, instead, they prefer visiting lecturers’ offices to ask questions after lectures. this attitude of less participation among preservice teachers has been linked with factors such as norms, family background, culture, and religion (omodan & ige, 2021; al-ghafri, 2018). based on the above premise, this study observes the participation of pre-service teachers in one of the rural universities in the eastern free state province in south africa where the study was contextualized. it is believed that interrupting teachers to ask questions or holding a contrary opinion while a class is et al was disrespectful. it is a general belief that when elders talk, youngsters should listen without questioning their instructors. notably, pre-service teachers need to be actively involved in collaborative learning rather than being passive and allow cultural norms to take a negative toll on their career; instead, they should strike a balance between effective classroom practice and societal beliefs (zakrajsek, 2017). as omodan (2020) stated, south african pre-service teachers should take advantage of cultures that bring positive change (ubuntu: spirit of oneness) into an existing problem by coming together to identify and provide necessary solutions to the problem. also, in a study, barkley et al. (2014) observed that cl is more beneficial to racial and ethnic minority students than their counterparts from other backgrounds. a number of negative effects can occur when learners are apathetic in collaborative learning situations. first, it can lead to a decrease in the overall quality of the learning experience. when one or more students are not engaged in the learning process, it can drag 67 collaborative learning jcve 2022, 5(2): 65-79 cultureandvalues.org down the quality of the experience for everyone else. second, apathy can lead to tension and conflict among students. when students are not working together effectively, it can create an atmosphere of frustration and competition. additionally, apathetic learners are less likely to form positive relationships with their classmates, which can impact their social and emotional development. finally, apathetic learners are more likely to disengage from their learning altogether, leading to academic difficulties. similarly, rocca (2010) associated cl apathy with a deficiency in communication, social interaction and self-esteem. surprisingly, there are good practices of pre-service teachers’ participation in rural university classrooms despite the marginalization. according to blanks et al. (2013), pre-service teachers in rural universities who had the opportunity to experience rurality were equipped with the necessary pedagogical approaches to help them through cl to teach in rural universities. again, because both lecturer and student are in a rural university where poverty among students is noticeable, it has impacted teaching and learning through collaborative topics such that the impact of poverty was easy to relate to more, especially when contents are aligned to student’s lives. furthermore, heeralal (2014) revealed that the experience of preservice teachers in rural universities assisted them in developing the relevant skills to teach in classrooms. given the paucity of studies on the instrumentation of collaborative learning in fostering and enhancing the teaching-leaning process among pre-service teachers, this study explored collaborative learning as a strategy to promote cooperative learning and participation among undergraduates in rural universities (madimabe, & omodan, 2021). literature review collaborative learning and socialization among students collaborative learning is an excellent way for students to socialize and learn from each other (hernández-sellés et al., 2019). when students work together on projects, they have the opportunity to share ideas, learn new skills, and develop teamwork skills (laal & ghodsi, 2012). collaborative learning also helps students to develop communication and conflict resolution skills. working together on projects can help students to build relationships and understand each other better (loes et al., 2017). collaborative learning and learning outcomes there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that collaborative learning can have a positive impact on students' learning outcomes. in a collaborative learning environment, students are typically required to work together in small groups to complete a task or solve a problem. this type of learning has been shown to promote higher-order thinking skills (loes et al., 2017), such as analysis and synthesis, and to encourage students to take more responsibility for their learning. additionally, collaborative learning can help students learn new information more effectively. studies have shown that students who participate in collaborative learning activities retain more information than those who learn independently (seli et al., 2016; loes, 2022). 68 adebola, o. o., & tsotetsi, c. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 65-79 a number of factors contribute to the success of collaborative learning, including the structure of the tasks, the level of student involvement, and the level of support from the teacher. when designing collaborative learning activities, it is important to consider these factors to create an environment conducive to learning. statement of problem classroom activities in the 21st century have evolved from monologue to dialogue. still, collaborative learning practice remains alien among pre-service teachers in rural universities in south africa due to their cultures, beliefs, shyness, climate factors and norms (zakrajsek, 2017). the researcher affirmed this from personal experience and as applicable to her colleagues who are lecturers also. the importance of cl has been affirmed by scholars (omodan, 2020) with its attendant negative influence on students’ attitude. some of the noticeable negative impacts of students’ apathy towards collaborative learning include a decrease in the overall quality of the learning experience, tension and conflict among students, failure to establish positive relationships and lack of communication and social skills. based on the identified lacuna, the study aims to explore how collaborative learning as a teaching strategy promotes pre-service teachers’ participation in a rural university classroom. theoretical framework the study was underpinned by the social constructivism theory (sct). social constructivism is a sociological theory that assumes social interactions construct our social world (fu & hwang, 2018). this theory has its roots in the work of lev vygotsky (1978), who argued that our social world is created through our interactions with others (nyikos & hashimoto, 1997). the social constructivism theory makes several assumptions about the nature of reality and human cognition. first, it assumes that reality is socially constructed, meaning that our interactions with others shape our understanding of the world. second, it assumes that human cognition is socially situated, meaning that our thought processes are influenced by the social context in which we find ourselves. third, it assumes that knowledge is co-constructed, which implies that we construct our understanding of the world through interactions with others (amanjee & carmichael, 2015). the rationale for adopting slt in this is that the theory provides a useful framework for understanding collaborative learning. this is because social constructivism emphasizes the importance of social interaction in the learning process, views learning as a social process, and emphasizes the importance of learner interaction in learning. (lombardo & kantola, 2021). theoretically, there is a nexus between collaborative learning and sct. collaborative learning is a process where students work together to complete a task or reach a goal. this type of learning can be beneficial because it allows students to share ideas and learn from each other. social constructivism theory suggests that knowledge is constructed through interactions with others. this theory can be applied to collaborative learning because students interact with each other in order to construct knowledge. given sct's principles, it is 69 collaborative learning jcve 2022, 5(2): 65-79 cultureandvalues.org deemed a veritable tool for fostering collaborative learning among pre-service teachers in rural universities. research question the overarching research question for this study was: • how can collaborative learning be fostered among pre-service teachers in rural university classrooms? research objective the study aims to: • explore strategies that engenders collaborative learning among pre-service teachers in rural university classrooms. research methodology this study is located within the qualitative research approach, which seeks to understand a phenomenon from the perspective of the people who experience it. qualitative research is often used to explore complex phenomena that are difficult to study using quantitative methods (elo & kyngäs, 2008). it is often conducted through in-depth interviews, focus groups, and participant observation. the study was viewed from transformative paradigm (tp), a way of thinking that emphasizes the need to bring about change in society. the paradigm holds that research should be used to improve people's lives, empower them, and promote social justice. transformative researchers seek to challenge dominant paradigms and create new knowledge that can be used to empower marginalized groups (bergold & thomas, 2012). given that this study focused on marginalized pre-service teachers in rural universities, the adoption of tp is justified (kopp & sexton, 2021). research design the participatory research (pr) was adopted for the study because of how it viewed the important of people of a community coming together to proffer solutions to an existing situation within their vicinity (bergold & thomas, 2012). pr is a type of methodology in qualitative research that systematically investigates, analyzed, and interpret the information gather in order to implement action plan that could better the lives of people by effecting a positive change (havadi-nagy, & muntean, 2017). pr is known for its unique features of; giving priority to the concerned people to be involved in the affairs of their lives, that attention should be on people being empowered, there should be inclusion of knowledge and the need to educate people who are disadvantaged. the issues power differentiation and superiority of the researcher to give opportunity to the concerned people (pre-service teachers) in sharing their experiences without holding back. hence, the relevance of pr in the study is to change the exiting situation of pre-service teachers by suggesting how collaborative learning can be used to alleviate the challenges of pre-service teachers’ lack of participation in rural university classrooms. their involvement as the concerned pre-service teachers in the project is the aim 70 adebola, o. o., & tsotetsi, c. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 65-79 and assumption of tp, that is, let the voice of people who are going through a particular experience be mostly heard. selection of participants the study made use of the convenience sampling technique (cst). convenience sampling technique is a sampling method where the researcher selects the participants for the study from a population that is easily accessible. based on proximity between the researcher and the participants as well as affordability (stratton, 2021; etikan et al., 2016). fifteen participants were drawn from the faculty of education in a rural university in the republic of south africa. these participants included five lecturers with a minimum of five years of experience; five level three and five level four pre-service teachers who have spent at least three to four years in the university. these participants were prequalified based on their status as lecturers, pre-service teachers, and their years of experience in a rural university classroom. in view of this, they are better positioned to share their thoughts, observations, and feelings vis a vis students’ attitudes towards cl. data collection the study used focus group discussion (fgd) and semi-structured interviews to generate data. fgd is a form of data collection method where participants with similar experiences, feelings, observations, and thoughts are gathered by the researcher to address particular topics and make maximum opinions within a short period (nyumba et al. 2018). with this method, the selected participants (3rd and 4th year pre-service teachers) who are disadvantaged because of their rural university classroom were opportune through fgd to share their personal experiences of challenges encountered during classroom participation and should suggest solutions. during the discussion, the researcher assumed the role of facilitator who coordinated activities among participants, ensuring that the topic under discussion aligned with the conversations and maintained a focus (gundumogula, 2020). since it is believed that people in comparable situations are in better positions to share their opinions regarding a topic compared to someone who is not. sessions were tape-recorded with the consent of the participants. both 3rd and 4th year students were grouped together under supervision of researcher, participants were free and open minded and shared their experiences without feeling intimidated by the presence of lecturers since the group was made up of pre-service teacher alone. before the commencing the session, the researcher introduced herself welcomed everyone, introduced the aim of the study and the discussion, assured participants of their confidentiality and why participation of everyone would be appreciated. sessions was recorded using video tape recorder, while the time schedule for each session was between 30 to 35 minutes. data analysis this study adopted thematic analysis (ta) as a method of data analysis. (ta) is widely used in qualitative research because it entails reading through a set of collected data having categorized 71 collaborative learning jcve 2022, 5(2): 65-79 cultureandvalues.org them into themes (braun & clarke, 2012). thematic analysis has been described as a frequently used analytical tool in qualitative research to capture sociality data (guest et al.). braun and clarke (2006) state that ta typically involves six steps. the six steps are (1) data reduction, (2) data display, (3) initial coding, (4) identifying themes, (5) refining and defining themes, and (6) writing up. in a bid to make sense of the data in a manner that respond to the research question, the researcher adopted braun and clarke's six steps of ta. however, ta according to belotto (2018) can be referred to as the learning of patterns of meaning. that is, with ta, it was easy for researcher to breakdown data into pattern and to identify meaning within data collected as supported by braun & clarke, (2006) that, for better understanding of data analysis, six steps of data analysis below should be followed. “that researcher gets to know the data, to generate codes for the data, to search for themes, to review themes, to define themes and to produce evidence”. it is thereby assumed that; ta is concise, logical and coherent when adopted. ethical considerations this study adhered to research ethics as approved by the university of the free state with approval number ufs-hsd2021/2085. the researcher ensured that the rights and welfare of participants were protected, that the research was conducted responsibly and ethically, and that the research results were accurately reported. personal data collected were confidentially and securely stored, while risks to participants were minimized. all the participants were adequately informed about the objectives of the study through a consent letter, which they acceded to as well as verbal communication (thompson et al., 2021) and were also informed that they have the right to withdraw from participation should they feel uncomfortable at any point. results and discussion this section presents the analysis and presentation of data generated according to the objective of the study. the study aimed to explore strategies that engender collaborative learning among pre-service teachers in rural university classrooms. the following themes emerged during data analysis; micro-teaching and group work, think-pair-share, positive feedback and encouragement, lecturer-student relationship, student-centered approach, and provision of infrastructure. the study suggested how cl as a strategy could be used to promote pre-service teacher participation in rural university classrooms. consistent with the principle of confidentiality and anonymity in research, lecturer participants in the study were denoted with l1l5 while pre-service teachers were denoted with s1-s10. the data were presented and discussed below. micro-teaching cum group work strategy the data indicated that micro-teaching cum group work could be used to foster the culture of collaborative learning among pre-service teachers in universities located in rural areas. some participants believe that if students are grouped into smaller groups with tasks such as 72 adebola, o. o., & tsotetsi, c. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 65-79 presentations and micro-teaching, they would have reasons to interact through feedback time and questions and answer session. the following are excerpts from interviews with the participants: l3: i think there is a need for settings like group work, micro-teaching or similar classes where students can participate in teaching one another. s6: students can organise class presentations where they might have recordings and then play it for others to make suggestions and highlight what is good in the presentation. s2: if lecturers can engage students in teaching methods like group work, it will promote collaborative learning because they will end up participating. s10: i think cl can work if students can have a brief discussion in smaller groups or pairs, then everyone can talk and engage. this will create some space for them to engage with the lecturer and content l1: lecturers need to encourage students to have group work. through that, they can communicate in their own languages without thinking of speaking english, which encourages participation. drawing from the above, the data suggest that micro-teaching engenders collaborative learning among students. this is consistent with the findings of golightly and westhuizen (2016), who reported that having the opportunity to observe and give feedback on fellow students' micro-teaching sessions in a collaborative environment enabled student-teachers to expand their capacity to reflect on their teaching practices and that of their peers. the result confirms that griffiths (2016) found a correlation between micro-teaching strategy and collaborative learning. think-pair-share strategy the result also revealed that lecturers could adopt the think-pair-share strategy to inculcate collaborative learning culture among pre-service teachers. the think-pair-share strategy is a collaborative learning technique that can be used to promote student engagement and critical thinking. this strategy involves giving students time to think individually about a question or prompt before they share their thoughts with a partner. once students have a chance to share their ideas with a partner, the entire class can share their thoughts on the topic (cooper et al. 2021; prahl, 2017). the result indicated that it could instil collaborative learning in students if well structured, planned, monitored, and implemented. according to some of the participants, l5: one cl approach i know that can promote the participation of students is the thinkpair-share strategy where you (lecturer) group students, give them a topic and other students give them initiatives regarding the topic. l4: cl can be used to promote participation by exploring different teaching and learning approaches such as pairing students together. apart from the fact that this strategy involves students’ participation, it is assumed that the think-pair-share strategy motivates students to participate in class discussion and also 73 collaborative learning jcve 2022, 5(2): 65-79 cultureandvalues.org serves as feedback to the instructor to detect what students know and where to adjust and improve communication skills (raba, 2017). similarly, fauzi et al. (2021) found in a quasiexperimental study that the think-pair-share strategy as a collaborative learning technique effectively improves learners' critical thinking skills. it follows that the think-pair-share strategy would be a veritable tool for fostering collaborative learning among pre-service teachers in universities in rural settlements. positive motivation positive motivation emerged from the dataset as a strategy for engendering collaborative learning among pre-service teachers who are lethargic towards classroom participation. positive motivation and collaborative learning go hand-in-hand. when students are positively motivated, they are more likely to be engaged in the learning process and to collaborate with their peers. positive motivation can come from various sources, including a teacher's positive reinforcement, a student's interest in the subject matter, and a sense of accomplishment from mastering a challenging task. below are statements from participants in the study: s9: lecturers should have a positive approach when they come to the class. they should know that students are not inferior, and they are not superior as perceived. s7: the lecturer can give incentives such as hand clapping and marks to encourage student participation. l2: students need to be motivated to understand the importance of independent learning. if we can get them motivated, we can get them to understand that they also contribute to their learning s2: how can they give students feedback while responding to questions? for me to participate in class, i must have positive feedback from my lecturer. s4: they are here at the university to help us reach our potential of getting a degree, so they should treat us like adults, not kids. the result shows that incentives like positive motivation and feedback enhance students’ classroom participation. incentives are a great way to promote collaborative learning among students. students who work together towards a common goal are more likely to be engaged and motivated (adebola et al., 2020). incentives can also help to foster a sense of student cooperation and teamwork. also, incentives can take different forms, such as rewards, privileges, or recognition. whatever the form, incentives can be a powerful tool to encourage students to work together and learn from each other. confirming this finding, aziz et al. (2018) found that motivation promotes collaborative learning, improves communication skills, and promotes higher-order thinking. similarly, tampubolon (2018) found a correlation between student motivation and collaborative learning in a study entitled “improving students’ motivation in speaking through collaborative learning.” 74 adebola, o. o., & tsotetsi, c. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 65-79 learner-centred approaches adopting a learner-centred approach emerged as a strategy for promoting collaborative learning among pre-service teachers in rural university classrooms. a learner-centered approach is an approach to education that focuses on the individual learner's needs. in a learner-centred environment, students are encouraged to actively participate in their own learning. the data set indicated that this approach could benefit students as it can help them better understand their individual learning needs. below are excerpts from interviews and focus groups pointing to that: s4: lecturers should use approaches that allow students to participate, such as the learner-centred or discussion method l2: as a lecturer, we need to be creative in the ways we teach, let go of the traditional approach and involve our students more in their learning. l5: lecturers need to make opportunities available for students to learn independently so they can also have the sense that they are contributing. s:10 i think lecturers are still much more on a teacher-centred approach, but they have to adopt a student-centred approach so that they can involve students in their teaching. based on the result, it is evident that lecturers need to adopt teaching approaches that involve students interacting with the content, lecturer, or their peers, especially while in classrooms. a growing body of evidence suggests that collaborative learning and learnercentered approaches are more effective than traditional, teacher-centered approaches (zhou et al., 2019). in a collaborative learning environment, students work together to solve problems, share ideas, and learn from one another. this environment fosters critical thinking and creativity and allows students to take more ownership of their learning. learner-centred approaches, such as problem-based learning, are more effective than traditional approaches. in a learner-centred approach, the focus is on the student and their needs and interests. this approach allows students to be more engaged in their learning and see the relevance of what they are learning. conclusion and recommendations the study's objective was to explore collaborative learning as a veritable tool for promoting classroom participation among pre-service teachers in rural universities in south africa. the result revealed that micro-teaching strategy, think-pair-share strategy, student-centred approach, and motivation foster collaborative learning among pre-service teachers in universities located in rural areas. these findings are indication that participation among preservice teachers in rural university classroom could be promoted using cl. however, the study concludes that despite the challenges faced by these pre-service teachers due to their environment, is it evidenced that cl tools mentioned in the study could enhance student’s participation during class interaction, increase the ability of working together with peers to achieve success. 75 collaborative learning jcve 2022, 5(2): 65-79 cultureandvalues.org based on the findings, the following are recommended: • the use of micro-teaching methods should be encouraged among lecturers. this can be done through various activities, such as role-playing, simulations, or small-group discussions. this strategy is beneficial because it allows students to learn from each other in a more hands-on way. it also encourages them to be more active participants in their own learning, which can lead to deeper understanding and retention of the material. additionally, micro-teachings can help build teamwork skills and foster a sense of community within the classroom. • lecturers should adopt the think-pair-share strategy to encourage collaborative learning among pre-service teachers. in doing this, lecturers should present a problem or question to the class and allow the student to think about the problem independently for a few minutes before turning to their colleagues to share their thoughts. thereafter, the teacher should call on a few students to share their thoughts with the whole class. • student-centred approach as one of the prioritized teaching methods in south africa should be enforced by education policymakers and prioritized by lecturers in the classroom. since the student-centred approach to learning is based on the belief that students are best able to learn when they are actively involved in the learning process, it would engender collaborative learning through such interactions. • lecturers should adopt motivation as a collaborative learning strategy. when students are motivated to learn, they are more likely to be engaged in learning and open to new ideas. when students are motivated, they are also more likely to be willing to work together to achieve common goals. there are many ways to motivate students. some teachers may use rewards or punishments to motivate students. others may use positive reinforcement, such as praising students when they do well. still others may try to create a positive learning environment where students feel safe to take risks and are supported in their efforts. whichever approach is used, it is important to remember that motivation is an important part of the learning process. when students are motivated, they are more likely to be engaged in the learning process and open to new ideas. when students are motivated, they are also more likely to be willing to work together to achieve common goals. references adebola, o. o. tsotetsi, c. t. & omodan, b. i. (2020). enhancing students' academic performance in university system: the perspective of supplemental instruction. international journal of learning, teaching and educational research, 19(5), 217-230. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.4 al-ghafri, m. s. r. (2018). exploring the factors that influence students’ participation in english classrooms at ibri college of applied sciences in oman (doctoral dissertation, university of leeds). 76 adebola, o. o., & tsotetsi, c. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 65-79 https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/20300/1/al%20ghafri%20m%20s_%20education_%20 phd_%202018.pdf amanjee, b. & carmichael, t. (2015). collaborative learning among south african mba students. alternation journal, 22(1), 114-138. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1328531.pdf azar, a. s., keat, o. b. & arutus, j. s. (2021). collaborative learning in the classroom: the study of malaysian university students’ attitude. ilkogretim online, 20(4). doi: 10.17051/ilkonline.2021.04.30 aziz, f. quraishi, u. & kazi, a. s. (2018). factors behind classroom participation of secondary school students (a gender-based analysis). universal journal of educational research, 6(2), 211-217. doi: https://10.13189/ujer.2018.060201 barkley, e. f. cross, k. p. & major, c. h. (2014). collaborative learning techniques: a handbook for college faculty. john wiley & sons. https://download.e bookshelf.de/download/0002/5216/40/l-g-0002521640-0003712114.pdf belotto, m. j. (2018). data analysis methods for qualitative research: managing the challenges of coding, interrater reliability, and thematic analysis. the qualitative report, 23(11), 26222633. bergold, j. & thomas, s. (2012). participatory research methods: a methodological approach in motion. historical social research/historische sozialforschung, 1(13), 191-222. https://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1801/3334 blanks, b. robbins, h. rose, d. beasley, l. greene, m. kile, m. & broadus, a. (2013). why rural schools are important for pre-service teacher preparation. teacher educators' journal, 20, 75-93. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1085623.pdf braun, v. & clarke, v. (2012). thematic analysis. in h. cooper, p. m. camic, d. l. long, a. t. panter, d. rindskopf, & k. j. sher (eds.), apa handbook of research methods in psychology, research designs: quantitative, qualitative, neuropsychological, and biological, 57–71. american psychological association. https://doi.org/10.1037/13620004 cooper, k. m. schinske, j. n. & tanner, k. d. (2021). reconsidering the share of a think-pairshare: emerging limitations, alternatives, and opportunities for research. cbe—life sciences education, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.20-08-0200 elo, s., & kyngäs, h. (2008). the qualitative content analysis process. journal of advanced nursing, 62(1), 107-115. fauzi, f. erna, m. & linda, r. (2021). the effectiveness of collaborative learning through techniques on group investigation and think pair share students’ critical thinking ability on chemical equilibrium material. journal of educational sciences, 5(1), 198. https://doi.org/10.31258/jes.5.1.p.198-208 https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/20300/1/al%20ghafri%20m%20s_%20education_%20phd_%202018.pdf https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/20300/1/al%20ghafri%20m%20s_%20education_%20phd_%202018.pdf https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1328531.pdf https://10.0.51.133/ujer.2018.060201 https://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1801/3334 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1085623.pdf https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/13620-004 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/13620-004 https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.20-08-0200 https://doi.org/10.31258/jes.5.1.p.198-208 77 collaborative learning jcve 2022, 5(2): 65-79 cultureandvalues.org fu, q. k. & hwang, g. j. (2018). trends in mobile technology-supported collaborative learning: a systematic review of journal publications from 2007 to 2016. computers & education, 119, 129–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.01.004 golightly, a. & westhuizen, c. p. v. d. (2016). an assessment of hybrid collaborative learning in geography micro-teaching: a south african case study. international journal of educational sciences, 12(2), 139–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/09751122.2016.11890421 griffiths, j. (2016). bridging the school placement gap with peer micro-teaching lesson study. international journal for lesson and learning studies, 5(3), 227–238. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijlls-11-2015-0035 guest, g. macqueen, k. m. & namey, e. e. (2012). introduction to applied thematic analysis. applied thematic analysis, 3(20), 1-21. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483384436 gundumogula, m. (2020). importance of focus groups in qualitative research. international journal of humanities and social science (ijhss), 8(11), 299-302 havadi-nagy, k. x., & muntean, d. o. (2017). participatory research. qualitative research in regional geography. amethodological approach, 147. hernández-sellés, n. pablo-césar, m. & gonzález-sanmamed, m. (2019). computer-supported collaborative learning: an analysis of the relationship between interaction, emotional support and online collaborative tools. computers & education, 138, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.04.012 heeralal, p. j. h. (2014). preparing pre-service teachers to teach in rural schools. mediterranean journal of social sciences, 5(20), 1-5. etikan, i., musa, s. a., & alkassim, r. s. (2016). comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. american journal of theoretical and applied statistics, 5(1), 1-4, doi: 10.11648/j.ajtas.20160501.11 kopp, t. & sexton, r. j. (2021). farmers, traders, and processors: buyer market power and double marginalization in indonesia. american journal of agricultural economics, 103(2), 543-568. laal, m. & laal, m. (2012). collaborative learning: what is it?. procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 31, 491-495. laal, m. & ghodsi, s. m. (2012). benefits of collaborative learning. procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 31(31), 486–490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.12.091 le, h. janssen, j. & wubbels, t. (2017). collaborative learning practices: teacher and student perceived obstacles to effective student collaboration. cambridge journal of education, 48(1), 103–122. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764x.2016.1259389 loes, c. n. (2022). the effect of collaborative learning on academic motivation. teaching and learning inquiry, 4(10). https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.10.4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.01.004 https://doi.org/10.1080/09751122.2016.11890421 https://doi.org/10.1108/ijlls-11-2015-0035 https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483384436 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.04.012 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.12.091 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.12.091 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.12.091 https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764x.2016.1259389 https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.10.4 78 adebola, o. o., & tsotetsi, c. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 65-79 loes, c. n., brian p. a., kem s.& ernest t. p. (2017). does collaborative learning influence persistence to the second year of college?” the journal of higher education, 88(1): 62– 84. <https://doi.org/1 0.1080/00221546.2016.1243942>. lombardo, e. & kantola, j. (2021). social constructivism. in the routledge handbook of gender and eu politics, 43-55. london: routledge madimabe, m. p., & omodan, b. i. (2021). investigating the effects of e-learning as a method of curriculum dissemination for rural tvet college students. research in social sciences and technology, 6(3), 82-92. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.27 nyikos, m. & hashimoto, r. (1997). constructivist theory applied to collaborative learning in teacher education: in search of zpd. the modern language journal, 81(4), 506–517. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.1997.tb05518.x nyumba, t. wilson, k. derrick, c. j. & mukherjee, n. (2018). the use of focus group discussion methodology: insights from two decades of application in conservation. methods in ecology and evolution, 9(1), 20-3, https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.12860 omodan, b. i., & addam, b. (2022). analysis of transformational teaching as a philosophical foundation for effective classrooms. journal of curriculum studies research, 4(2), 1529. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcsr.2022.9 omodan, b. i. (2020). assessment of group tasks as a decolonial pedagogy in university classrooms. universal journal of educational research, 8(11), 5479-5488. https://doi.org/ 10.13189/ujer.2020.081151 omodan, b.i. & ige, o.a. (2021). sustaining collaborative learning among university students in the wake of covid-19: the perspective of online community project. international journal of learning, teaching and educational research, 20(1), 356-371. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.1.20 prahl, k. (2017). best practices for the think-pair-share active-learning technique. the american biology teacher, 79(1), 3-8. raba, a. a. a. (2017). the influence of think-pair-share (tps) on improving students’ oral communication skills in efl classrooms. creative education, 8(1), 12-23. doi:10.4236/ce.2017.81002 rocca, k. a. (2010). student participation in the college classroom: an extended multidisciplinary literature review. communication education, 59(2), 185-213. https://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/stonerm/rocca-litrevengagingstudents.pdf seli, p. wammes, j. d. risko, e. f. & smilek, d. (2016). on the relation between motivation and retention in educational contexts: the role of intentional and unintentional mind wandering. psychonomic bulletin & review, 23(4), 1280-1287. doi: https://10.3758/s13423-015-0979-0 smith, b. l. & macgregor, j. t. (1992). what is collaborative learning. towards the virtual university: international online learning perspectives, 217-232. https://doi.org/1%200.1080/00221546.2016.1243942 https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.27 https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.12860 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcsr.2022.9 https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.1.20 http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ce.2017.81002 https://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/stonerm/rocca-litrevengagingstudents.pdf https://10.0.14.174/s13423-015-0979-0 79 collaborative learning jcve 2022, 5(2): 65-79 cultureandvalues.org https://www.evergreen.edu/sites/default/files/facultydevelopment/docs/whatiscollab orativelearning.pdf stratton, s. (2021). population research: convenience sampling strategies, prehospital and disaster medicine, cambridge journal, 36(4), 373-374, https://doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x21000649 tampubolon, t. c. (2018). improving students’ motivation in speaking through collaborative learning. international journal of english literature and social sciences, 3(2), 185–191. https://doi.org/10.22161/ijels.3.2.10 thompson, a. stringfellow, l. maclean, m. & nazzal, a. (2021). ethical considerations and challenges for using digital ethnography to research vulnerable populations. journal of business research, 124(c), 676-683. doi: https://10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.02.025 zakrajsek, t. (2017). students who don’t participate in class discussions: they are not all introverts. https://www.scholarlyteacher.com/post/students-who-dont-participate-inclass-discussions zhou, x. chen, l.h. & chen, c.l. (2019). collaborative learning by teaching: a pedagogy between learner-centered and learner-driven. sustainability, 11(4), 1174. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11041174 https://www.evergreen.edu/sites/default/files/facultydevelopment/docs/whatiscollaborativelearning.pdf https://www.evergreen.edu/sites/default/files/facultydevelopment/docs/whatiscollaborativelearning.pdf https://doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x21000649 https://doi.org/10.22161/ijels.3.2.10 https://10.0.3.248/j.jbusres.2020.02.025 https://www.scholarlyteacher.com/post/students-who-dont-participate-in-%09class-discussions https://www.scholarlyteacher.com/post/students-who-dont-participate-in-%09class-discussions https://www.scholarlyteacher.com/post/students-who-dont-participate-in-%09class-discussions https://doi.org/10.3390/su11041174 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 2 2022 pp. 32-46 what is next for africa’s youthful and useful population? stream education for global inclusivity olalekan taofeek badmus*a & loyiso c. jitaa * corresponding author e-mail: badmus.ot@ufs.ac.za a. faculty of education, university of the free state, south africa. article info received: march 14, 2022 revised: may 9, 2022 accepted: may 27, 2022 how to cite badmus, o. t., & jita, l. c. (2022). what is next for africa’s youthful and useful population? stream education for global inclusivity. journal of culture and values in education, 5(2), 32-46. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.18 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract the world is a global village today undoubtedly due to advances in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) disciplines and their education. the knowledge from these disciplines influences various aspects of human daily affairs, career choices and the type of education acquired by citizens. stem literature across the world has put africa at the tail end of development. africa’s underdevelopment may not be argued owing to empirical literature in the direction of poor development. however, the global demand for competence in stem disciplines continues to rise at a rate developed countries find difficult to keep up due to shortage of man power as against demands. this surge in demand creates a gap that must be filled in pursuit of sustainable growth. science, technology, robotics, engineering, the arts and mathematics (stream) education remains obscure among countries in africa, with the paradigm shift to aesthetics with arts and automation in robotics globally calling for redirection in developing regions. south african and nigerian curricula have been moderated to accommodate coding and robotics as well as physics in technology, with green energy and elementary automation, respectively. this manuscript explores education as the panacea for poverty alleviation, sustainable growth and equality among citizens. the current state of affairs of stream education in africa and its potential for a youthful and useful population are also explored. keywords globalisation; africa; youth; stem education; stream education; unemployment. 10.46303/jcve.2022.18 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.18 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 33 jcve 2022, 5(2): 32-46 introduction the absence of food, shelter and clothing portends an inability to meet basic needs (tilak, 2002). the word poverty is usually associated with these absences. it refers to the state of being in which individuals lack the requisite income to provide the basic needs for themselves and, by extension, dependants. poverty is a global issue, with each and every country in the world, including both developed and developing countries, having some percentage of its citizens suffering from it. a global attempt to aggregate a workable definition of poverty produced the term poverty line (united nations department of economic and social affairs [un desa], 2019a; un, 2014; world bank, 2020a). poverty rate is described in the context of a percentage among a demographic group in a defined geographical boundary whose income is beneath the poverty line. there are itemizable causes of poverty which are not necessarily general but geographiclocation specific – inadequate arable land, lack of fresh water, conflict/war, natural disaster, and bad governance, among other causes (lakner et al., 2022; tikly et al., 2018; varga, 2020). poverty is a revolving trap that requires education, good healthcare, sanitation, employment opportunities, clean and usable water and, most importantly, good governance to break (shrider et al., 2021; world bank, 2020a, 2020b). the united nations (un) through their sustainable development goals (sdgs) has prioritised the eradication of extreme poverty by 2030 (un, 2014). the intension is to reduce the world poverty population to at least 3% of the world’s population (atamanov et al., 2020; world bank, 2014). reducing inequality within countries and among citizens is important primarily to alleviate poverty (lakner et al., 2022; united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization [unesco], 2020). education has proven to be instrumental towards alleviating and remediating societal ills (kor et al., 2013; unesco, 2015). the need for a concerted effort to eradicate poverty through basic education remains paramount. using intellectual support in organising laudable approaches to combat poverty has proven to work in china and asia-pacific (eryong & xiuping, 2018; chu, 2021; chu et al., 2019). inaccessible education in poor communities has been identified as major hindrance to people getting out of poverty, especially in rural areas (kor et al., 2013; lakner et al., 2022). scholars have stressed the potency of education as a tool for poverty alleviation and anti-poverty policy implementation (eryong & xiuping, 2018; unesco, 2015, 2020). it has become imperative for nations and governments willing to eradicate poverty to embrace education to reduce inequality and promote economic growth (chu, 2021; shrider et al., 2021). education and training have been used in an attempt to alleviate poverty (ricci et al., 2021; si et al., 2015). becoming educated in a particular field may not sufficiently equip an individual with the requisite skills needed on the job (alvarez & barney, 2014; bruton et al., 2015). oftentimes, most industries utilise training in the field to acclimatise employees to their job description. while on-the-job training is easier in some climes than others, the most important thing may be to master the skills required in any field, and that can only be done through consistent practice that comes during training (george et al., 2012; rojewski, 2002). 34 jcve 2022, 5(2): 32-46 globally, developed countries have certain advancements which developing countries are bereft of. such advancements include science and technological might, which eventually muscle the economies of such nations (jaimovich & siu, 2017; kerr & kerr, 2020). the legitimacy of any education lies in its beneficiaries’ ability to solve daily challenges confronting society (aslan et al., 2020). however, the education taught in many african schools may be said to be directed towards western and/or european societies in terms of applicability (garba, 2010; ogbuanya & chukwuedo, 2017; ogundele et al., 2012). the aforesaid is premised on the fact that not all education acquired from faraway countries is applicable to the african continent (african union [au], 2020; ogundele et al., 2012). however, education acquired on the continent of africa remains useful outside the continent for direct employment or by extension retraining for job placement. the basis for the position held in this paragraph will be elaborated below. the population of africans on the continent was estimated at 1.3 billion in 2017. between 2008 and 2017, the population increased by 28.8%, a percentage that could increase in the coming years (un desa, 2019a, 2019b). africa has five subregions, namely central africa, comprising of 9 countries; eastern africa, with 14; northern africa, with 7; southern africa, with 10; and lastly, western africa, with 15. west africa is the most populous subregion, with 30.5% of the entire population of the continent. eastern, northern, southern, and central africa comprise 27.8%, 15.7%, 14% and 12% of the continent’s population, respectively. nigeria is the most populous country in africa, with an estimated population of 197,572,281 according to a spatial distribution of african populations by the african union (au, 2020). the population growth in africa is reported to be driven by international migration and urban migration. the people from, and on the continent of africa are on the rise but not at the same rate across the continent (un desa, 2019a). with the population growth in africa, the continent cannot boast with prolific stem industries, unlike the us, japan, south korea and other developed countries (beegle et al., 2016; de la briere et al., 2015). the implication is that goods and services from such industries are brought into the african market at an expensive rate or below standard, which may be attributed to why the continent has a consumerist economy (card et al., 2018; devarajan, 2013). globally, stem leading industries (microsoft, samsung, apple, hewlett packard, ibm, hitachi, hon hai precision, sony, amazon and google) are domiciled in the us, japan, singapore, taiwan and, recently, china – all of which except china are considered developed countries (chu et al., 2019; forbes, 2014). the us stands out, however, as a leader in this respect, due to the fact that the headquarters of major stem companies are resident in the us. consequently, a great deal of expertise is required to fill skilled positions to stay in the lead and compete economically with other giant economies. however, these industries lack the competent workforce in places where their offices and factories are located. to cater for the shortfall in expertise in stem and non-stem disciplines, there is a general resolve to establish a pathway for skilled individuals to fill the needed positions through migration (ricci et al., 2021). countries across the world explore three ways to remediate the skilled-labour challenge. the first is 35 jcve 2022, 5(2): 32-46 scholarships to students with useful capacity and the second direct migration of experts for work purposes (ricci et al., 2021; sandoz, 2020). the third is providing asylum/visa lottery to individuals who are facing persecution in their home country but have the capacity to contribute meaningfully to the economy of the country they are joining. the capacity, here, may differ in terms of expertise, potential and economic tendencies (van riemsdijk et al., 2016; wehrle et al., 2018). stem disciplines are numerous and still expanding in width and scope based on the evolution and developments in these disciplines. recently, the new dimensions of the arts and robotics have been incorporated to form science, technology, robotics, engineering, the arts and mathematics (stream) (badmus & omosewo, 2020; chu, 2021). the arts component, often referred to as aesthetics, is still debated among experts. stream comprises a variety of disciplines. computer-based fields include programming of numerical control machines, computer systems, software development, and computer-assisted and/or related fields. physical science-based fields include astronomy, mathematics, space science, atmosphere science, geology, chemistry, physics, and statistics. furthermore, lifeand medical sciencebased fields include food and agricultural science, conservation, forestry and marine science, medical science, life and biological science and evolving new areas. lastly, engineering-based fields include petroleum and geological engineering, materials and metallurgical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, automobile engineering, chemical engineering and aerospace engineering. nevertheless, stream disciplines are not limited to the aforementioned as new areas are evolving daily (badmus & omosewo, 2020; hanson & slaughter, 2016). globally, stem experts are considered to be key drivers of economic growth. their contributions cannot be overemphasised. where a shortage is experienced in terms of stem expertise, this is where labour migration comes in to fill the vacancies for sustainability (kerr & kerr, 2020). labour migration has subsidiaries, such as refugee migration, individual migration, skilled migrants (high and low) and migrant entrepreneurs (beckers & blumberg, 2013; kerr & kerr, 2020). while these types of migration are mostly symbiotic, it is often viewed as parasitic (card et al., 2018). immigration policies have been structured to dishearten migrants, who are often paid below the expected wages (manning, 2021). these unfavourable policies exist due to pressure from citizens feeling deserving of positions they most times are unqualified to occupy (brown et al., 2018). stream education history has it that the term stem emanated from the national science foundation (nsf) in 2001, an organisation based in the us. the acronym has gained global recognition by experts and policymakers across the globe over the years, including au member states (hallinen, 2021). stem training and education on the african continent have been reported to fall short of the desired when compared to what is obtainable on other continents. according to tikly et al. 36 jcve 2022, 5(2): 32-46 (2018), less than 25% of higher education students pursue a career in stem-related disciplines. the same cannot be said of the social sciences and humanities. the consequence is a shortfall of skilled personnel resident in african localities for stem jobs. this manuscript wishes to highlight the shortage of workforce in various stem disciplines across the continent of africa, as is the case in the developed world. with that said, the migration rate of skilled experts in these disciplines is unprecedented globally (hanson & slaughter, 2016). this may be attributed to poor remuneration for services and innovations, unpleasant conditions of service, insecurity and neoliberal ideology of human freedom to choose and explore regardless of borders and boundaries. according to un desa (2019a; 2019b), the world population stands at about 7.7 billion currently. in about a decade, this figure is expected to rise to about 8.5 billion. by 2050, the world population on earth is expected to hit 10 billion. at present, the current world population may not afford most continents the youthful population to drive the needed economic reality onwards. africa’s youth population of less than 25 years of age is 60% of the total population compared to the 19% of world population of persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years. as such, africa stands strong with a population of young people capable of transforming the economy of not only africa but the world at large. it is estimated that by 2035, the world working population will be less than that of the population in sub-saharan africa. ageing evidently seems to be an issue for the populations of other continents as time progresses (un desa, 2019a, 2019b, 2019c). in the 1990s, africa was depicted as a continent of war, famine and poverty. however, things have shifted for the continent in the 21st century as it has seen an average of 4.5% economic growth each year, an accomplishment deemed promising. what has brought about this situation is that africa is rich in most of the known natural resources. many of these resources are in commercial quantity too. logically, resources are expected to be a correlate of economic growth and meaningful development. the reverse is also the case, as greed and poor management have been reported to be the root cause of poverty in africa (beegle et al., 2016; de la briere et al., 2015). until recently, population growth seems to have been a curse for africa. poverty and population growth are usually in tandem (rutstein, 2005). similarly, the continent is prone to lacking sufficient statistical data due to education, poor policy direction and limited access to data (deverajan, 2013). this tide may have turned in favour of the continent as youthful populace is the new order. the un report of 1990–2015 on the millennium development goals (mdgs) put africa at the rear in terms of achievement in the set targets, while other developing regions in asia, such as india, taiwan and china, were most successful in achieving initiatives (un, 2015). a similar and most recent initiative is the sdgs by the un to eradicate poverty by 2030, with a focus to eradicate poverty in africa (unesco, 2015). to this end, data were analysed holistically to draft a laudable roadmap for the explicit integration of the sdgs. with the population advantage for 37 jcve 2022, 5(2): 32-46 africa as enumerated in the previous paragraphs, weaponizing this multitude for functionality in stream disciplines seems to be the most potent route towards economic empowerment. economic empowerment is a deliberate and conscious effort that can be directed by policy. in the us, over 200 bills were drafted between the 100th and 110th congresses for the promotion of stem education. these bills cogitate directed policy efforts to stakeholders in the areas of national security, immigration, workforce review and other science-moderated projects. before 2012, the us government held the belief that it was performing poorly in stem education, the rest of the world saw a strong stem nation. before 2012, experts established over 252 stem education programmes across the us through 15 federal agencies with a budget exceeding $3 billion (gonzalez & kuenzi, 2012). efforts from the department of education, nsf and health and human services to stem education in the us remain critical to the growth experienced in stream education. these appendages of government ensure that policy direction and implementation are aimed at the growth required in terms of global competences in stream. in areas of need, these agencies facilitate acquisition of visas for foreign workers and scholarships in stream disciplines and provision of adequate funding to researchers domiciled within and outside the us (granovskiy, 2018). the need to objectively review the policy direction of governments across africa to manage the present predicament becomes imperative for global inclusivity. asia is a continent boasting 60% of the world’s population, with diverse cultural, ethnic, political and socio-economic affiliations. this continent had similar problems to africa in the nottoo-distant past. in the wake of the millennium, asia had over 625 million illiterate people, amounting to 71% of the world population, of whom 64% were women and girls of marriageable age. from 2000, asia has covered vast grounds in terms of global relevance, competence development and life expectancy indices compared to africa over the same period. a growing body of research suggests the implementation of science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics (steam) education across asia since 2012. publications on steam disciplines in asia have been underrepresented due to supposed challenges in writing of such manuscripts in english. nonetheless, this does not invalidate the developments in steam works that have taken place on the continent (chu, 2021; chu et al., 2019). chu et al. (2019) reported that between year 2000-2010 a decline in the interest of both high school and university students in learning science and its related fields in asia. government and relevant stakeholders in the region have also expressed concerns and the need for remediation as a result of the necessity to produce competent scientists, engineers and experts with creative thinking skills to spur the needed creativity and innovation. in an attempt to activate learners’ interest, an inquiry-based pedagogical approach was employed integrating artsand culture-related content into science, hence steam. the current manuscript exposes stream education approaches from various governments and institutions, as well as highlights to the au and its member states the routes to follow for sustainable growth. 38 jcve 2022, 5(2): 32-46 prospects of stream education for a youthful and useful population the world today has a stream-based economy (sudarsono et al., 2022). nations with enormous investment in stream continue to enjoy the dividends from their investment. the workforce required by stream-based firms is huge. hundreds of thousands of experts are required to meet market demands on a daily basis. companies such as tesla, apple, siemens, samsung, amazon and many others rely on individuals with expertise to manage their production and maintenance lines daily. these global giants have headquarters on all the continents and are offering global services within and outside planet earth. people from various nationalities are employed for the operations of these firms. these employments are not based on nationality but competence (mujiono & herawati, 2021). as long as an individual possesses the required competences, they can rise to be a chief executive officer of a stream-based firm. this gives hope to the african population. among other companies, microsoft, google and apple have set precedence to appoint aspiring individuals with the required competences. competences is the denominator when considering a career in stream-based disciplines. oftentimes, many africans consider migration as the solution to acquiring such competences. although such competences may be acquired through scholarship or job placement, it is pertinent for africans to consider remote options as the panacea for selfdevelopment rather than migration (makruf et al., 2022). migration has become the new reality for most willing experts for job placement. it has been reported that there is a continuous rise in the population of people living in urban areas. from 1950 and 2015, urban cities experienced population growth of 30% globally. it is estimated that the figure for urban migration will rise to 66% by 2050. for africa, the urban population is growing at an alarming rate, with a 27% increase in the 1950s to 40% in 2015 and a projection of 60% by 2050. the reality with urbanisation within and outside africa is that it contributes significantly to socio-economic development. each year, billions of dollars are paid in diaspora remittance from other continents into africa by african (teye, 2018; un, 2014). the preceding paragraphs showed the present direction and state of affairs. this paragraph wishes to aspire those hoping to enter any of the stream disciplines with the endless possibilities arising from the coordinated use of the internet. the advent of covid-19 necessitated remote working and remote learning (daniel, 2020). this limitation was brought to the fore as a result of the tenable restrictions established by various governments across the world (garbe et al., 2020; unesco, 2020). the orchestrated challenges informed the emergence of this new reality – one of virtual attendance in both workplaces and classrooms. from the foregoing, it is imperative for hopefuls in stream disciplines to embrace remote learning to compensate for the inadequacies in the educational systems experienced in many african schools. with remote learning comes certification tenable for both remote and physical work. prior to covid-19, the experimentation with remote classrooms and workplaces suggested a promising future (savić, 2019). conversely, many african countries were unprepared for this 39 jcve 2022, 5(2): 32-46 dawn, as no structural roadmaps had been in place to guide the monies expended on digital education. lessons for africa africa is seen and perceived by africans and non-africans as a continent ravaged by poverty, insecurity, war and other vices (teye, 2018; porter, et al., 2018). the continent of africa has always been the engine room of the world in terms of natural resources, an undeniable fact registered in literature (murphy, 2018). however, the new reality in terms of global population has handed the continent another lifeline in terms of its youthful and useful population. as it stands, stem and its other affiliated disciplines have propelled the world to where it is now, as established in previous paragraphs. from estimations and forecasts from relevant world agencies, robotics is expanding as a field of knowledge. as such, it is sufficient to earn itself a place among the steam disciplines to become stream, with robotics as a standalone component. the afore-mentioned have been argued before now. undoubtedly, africa, with its aboriginal expertise, has been able to contribute significantly to the present-day growth experienced in stem, steam and now stream. literature has established the deployment of robotics and automation to facilitate all spheres of the economy (aghimien et al., 2020; chigbu & nekhweyha, 2022; vernon, 2019). developed economies have advantages over the developing ones due to advancements in technology achieved through education (llale et al., 2019; sutherland, 2019). this education is purpose driven and result oriented in terms of outlook and output (marvin et al., 2018). previous paragraphs in this manuscript have outlined government efforts in driving stream education in the advanced worlds, which ultimately reflect in the economies of such societies. the global focus on technology in recent times is automation and robotics and their education (aiyetan & das, 2022; akinradewo et al., 2021; ayentimi & burgess, 2019). as reported in the study of llale et al. (2019), automation and robotics in the construction industry are a necessity for the fact that modern architecture requires technicality only technology can resolve with little or no casualty. for automation and robotics to be used in construction, the adequate workforce and technical know-how are required. the implication is that education and training in stream disciplines are necessary to adequately excel in this discipline. llale et al.’s (2019) study furthered that african construction is yet to explore the full potential of automation and robotics in terms of adoption, training and education. vernon (2019) exposed the state of artificial intelligence (ai) in africa. while the author discussed the social and economic potential of ai in empowering developing countries, they placed further emphasis on the unemployment rate on the continent and the potential in stream education for poverty eradication and self-sustainability. sutherland (2019) researched the fourth industrial revolution (4ir) and its implications for africa. the researcher explored the potential of engaging the 4ir – an umbrella term for 3d printing, ai, big data, industrial internet application and robotics. these areas are undoubtedly promising, with unlimited possibilities in terms of employment generation and economic returns. however, africa has 40 jcve 2022, 5(2): 32-46 been associated with a significant skills shortage, a problem that can only be improved through quality stream education. chigbu and nekhwevha (2022) investigated the collaborative work experience of robotics and human workers in the automobile industry in south africa. they found that the implementation of technology in the automobile industry promotes safety, work collaboration and job satisfaction. similarly, to minimise product imperfection as a result of human inconsistency and increase productivity, there is a need to adopt technologies to meet customer needs and improve satisfaction. however, emphasis has been placed on training and education of personnel to operate these technologies, which is inadequate at present. akinradewo et al. (2020) assessed the level of awareness of robotics and construction automation in africa. they used a survey questionnaire to sample construction professionals, including quantity surveyors, project managers, architects, civil engineers and construction managers (stream experts). analysis of data indicated that integration remained a challenge due to shortage of infrastructure and experts, as also relayed in previous paragraphs. the study of adebola and goldberg (2021) examined robotics in farming in africa through polyculture. robots were employed in the tending of farm gardens through simulation, sensors and camera data. while the aim of the study was to optimise yield and diversity and reduce water usage, it reported enormous opportunities in this direction for african farmers to transcend subsistence farming. however, education, training and skills acquisition remain a challenge for a discipline that has the potential to not only feed the continent but also employ millions of people as well as having a multiplier effect on the economy. the literature has shown that stream education evidently has the potential to transform the economy of africa. it is clear at the moment that the of africa contributes inadequately in terms of needed education, training and expertise. the expertise required is often acquired as a result of personal struggle by interested persons through various efforts through education and training outside the continent in order to match the strong and emerging competences across the world. the surfacing paradigm calls for a deliberate effort by government, policymakers and relevant stakeholders to ensure africa’s youthful and useful population are not wastefully mismanaged as with its natural resources. what is needed at this moment is quality education of a global standard directed at stream from the elementary to the highest level of education possible to individuals based on their capacities. while the outcome of this investment may suggest increased emigration from the continent after the acquisition of such competences, it is without doubt a more reasonable route to follow. the alternative will be a multitude of people with potential but left to wither. the latter will frustrate the efforts by the un, world bank and even well-meaning citizens. the consequence of negligence in this matter among africa’s multitudes may likely be disastrous in terms of insecurity, banditry, insurgency and other social vices experienced presently. this must serve as is a wake-up call for value reorientation and redirection. 41 jcve 2022, 5(2): 32-46 conclusion this position paper concludes that, taking into consideration the outflow of stem graduates from africa to other parts of the world, it is imperative to dualize curricular updates to accommodate local and international needs from stem to stream education. similarly, practical approaches must take centre stage in teaching and learning of stream disciplines in africa for the acquisition of requisite skills required for global competence and competitiveness for poverty eradication. in the interest of globalisation, equality and universality, educational interventions from sister continents and agencies must be appropriately channelled towards remediating the gap in african education systems and governance for a more meaningful outcome. the potential of stream education is enormous and the possibilities are limitless. a directed effort will eradicate poverty and improve the economy and quality of life on the continent and beyond. references adebola, s., & goldberg, k. (2021). assisting polyculture farming in africa. in 2021 ieee africon (pp. 1-2). ieee. https://doi.org/10.1109/africon51333.2021.9570957 african union (au). (2020). report on labour migration statistics in africa. jointly published by the african union commission and jlmp partners (ilo, iom, uneca). aghimien, d. o., aigbavboa, c. o., oke, a. e., & thwala, w. d. (2020). mapping out research focus for robotics and automation research in construction-related studies: a bibliometric approach. journal of engineering, design and technology, 18(5), 10631079. https://doi.org/10.1108/jedt-09-2019-0237 aiyetan, a. o., & das, d. k. (2022). factors and strategies for improving construction management on sites in mega-projects in south africa: an explorative survey. infrastructures, 7(2), 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures7020019 akinradewo, o., oke, a., aigbavboa, c., & molau, m. (2021). assessment of the level of awareness of robotics and construction automation in south african. in s. m. ahmed, p. hampton, s. azhar, & a. d. saul (eds.), collaboration and integration in construction, engineering, management and technology (pp. 129-132). springer. alvarez, s. a., & barney, j. b. (2014). entrepreneurial opportunities and poverty alleviation. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 38(1), 159-184. https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12078 aslan, a., silvia, s., nugroho, b. s., ramli, m., & rusiadi, r. (2020). teacher’s leadership teaching strategy supporting student learning during the covid-19 disruption. nidhomul haq: jurnal manajemen pendidikan islam, 5(3), 321-333. atamanov, a., lakner, c., mahler, d. g., tetteh baah, s. k., & yang, j. (2020). the effect of new ppp estimates on global poverty: a first look. world bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/33816 https://doi.org/10.1109/africon51333.2021.9570957 https://doi.org/10.1108/jedt-09-2019-0237 https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures7020019 https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12078 https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/33816 42 jcve 2022, 5(2): 32-46 ayentimi, d. t., & burgess, j. (2019). is the fourth industrial revolution relevant to sub-sahara africa? technology analysis & strategic management, 31(6), 641-652. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537325.2018.1542129 badmus, o. t., & omosewo, e. o. (2020). evolution of stem, steam and stream education in africa: the implication of the knowledge gap. international journal on research in stem education, 2(2), 99-106. https://doi.org/10.31098/ijrse.v2i2.227 beckers, p., & blumberg, b. f. (2013). immigrant entrepreneurship on the move: a longitudinal analysis of firstand second-generation immigrant entrepreneurship in the netherlands. entrepreneurship & regional development, 25(7-8), 654-691. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2013.808270 beegle, k., christiaensen, l., dabalen, a. & gaddis, i. (2016). poverty in a rising africa. world bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/22575 brown, j. d., earle, j. s., kim, m. j., & lee, k. m. (2018). immigrant entrepreneurship, job creation, and innovation. https://www.nber.org/system/files/chapters/c14103/revisions/c14103.rev0.pdf bruton, g. d., ahlstrom, d., & si, s. (2015). entrepreneurship, poverty, and asia: moving beyond subsistence entrepreneurship. asia pacific journal of management, 32(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-014-9404-x card, d., cardoso, a. r., heining, j., & kline, p. (2018). firms and labor market inequality: evidence and some theory. journal of labor economics, 36(s1), s13-s70. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/694153 chigbu, b. i., & nekhwevha, f. h. (2022). the collaborative work experience of robotics and human workers in the automobile industry in south africa. african journal of science, technology, innovation and development, 14(1), 280-287. https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2020.1837446 chu, h. e. (2021). editorial: steam education in the asia pacific region. asia-pacific science education, 1-5. https://brill.com/view/journals/apse/7/1/article-p1_1.xml chu, h. e., son, y. a., koo, h. k., martin, s., & treagust, d. f. (2019). the potential of arts-integrated stem approaches to promote students’ science knowledge construction and a positive perception of science learning. in y.s. hsu, & y.f. yeh (eds.), asia-pacific stem teaching practices (pp. 17–38). springer. daniel, s. j. (2020). education and the covid-19 pandemic. prospects, 49, 91-96. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-020-09464-3 de la briere, b., filmer, d., ringold, d., rohner, d., samuda, k., & denisova, a. (2015). from mines to minds: turning sub-saharan’s mineral wealth into human capital. world bank. devarajan, s. (2013). africa’s statistical tragedy. the review of income and wealth, 59(s1): s9-s15. https://doi.org/10.1111/roiw.12013 https://doi.org/10.1080/09537325.2018.1542129 https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2013.808270 https://www.nber.org/system/files/chapters/c14103/revisions/c14103.rev0.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-014-9404-x https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/694153 https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2020.1837446 https://brill.com/view/journals/apse/7/1/article-p1_1.xml https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-020-09464-3 https://doi.org/10.1111/roiw.12013 43 jcve 2022, 5(2): 32-46 eryong, x., & xiuping, z. (2018). education and anti-poverty: policy theory and strategy of poverty alleviation through education in china. educational philosophy and theory, 50(12), 1101-1112. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2018.1438889 forbes (2014) 'world's most valuable brands', forbes, may [online]. available at: http://www.forbes.com/ companies/starbucks/ (accessed: 3 march 2022). garba, a. s. (2010). refocusing education system towards entrepreneurship development in nigeria: a tool for poverty eradication. european journal of social sciences, 15(1), 140-150. garbe, a., ogurlu, u., logan, n., & cook, p. (2020). covid-19 and remote learning: experiences of parents with children during the pandemic. american journal of qualitative research, 4(3), 45-65. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/8471 george, u., chaze, f., brennenstuhl, s., & fuller-thomson, e. (2012). “looking for work but nothing seems to work”: the job search strategies of internationally trained engineers in canada. journal of international migration and integration, 13(3), 303-323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-011-0197-1 gonzalez, h. b., & kuenzi, j. j. (2012). science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) education: a primer. congressional research service. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/r42642.pdf granovskiy, b. (2018). science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) education: an overview. congressional research service. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed593605 hallinen, j. (2021). stem. in encyclopedia britannica. retrieved may 8, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/stem-education hanson, g. h., & slaughter, m. j. (2016). high-skilled immigration and the rise of stem occupations in u.s. employment. nber working paper series. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w22623/revisions/w22623.rev0.p df jaimovich, n., & siu, h. e. (2017). high-skilled immigration, stem employment, and non-routine-biased technical change. nber working paper series. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w23185/w23185.pdf kerr, s. p., & kerr, w. (2020). immigrant entrepreneurship in america: evidence from the survey of business owners 2007 & 2012. research policy, 49(3), 103918. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2019.103918 kor, o. j., akaakohol, b. m., & mile, n. b. (2013). regenerating education as a tool for poverty eradication and national development in nigeria. journal of teacher perspective, 7(2), 401-405. lakner, c., mahler, d. g., negre, m., & prydz, e. b. (2022). how much does reducing inequality matter for global poverty? the journal of economic inequality, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-021-09510-w https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/8471 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-011-0197-1 https://www.britannica.com/topic/stem-education https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w22623/revisions/w22623.rev0.pdf https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w22623/revisions/w22623.rev0.pdf https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w23185/w23185.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2019.103918 44 jcve 2022, 5(2): 32-46 llale, j., setati, m., mavunda, s., ndlovu, t., root, d., & wembe, p. (2019, july). a review of the advantages and disadvantages of the use of automation and robotics in the construction industry. in c. aigbavboa, & w. thwala (eds.), construction industry development board postgraduate research conference (pp. 197-204). springer. makruf, i., rifa’i, a. a., & triana, y. (2022). moodle-based online learning management in higher education. international journal of instruction, 15(1), 135-152. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2022.1518a manning, a. (2021). monopsony in labor markets: a review. ilr review, 74(1), 3-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793920922499 marvin, s., while, a., kovacic, m., lockhart, a., & macrorie, r. (2018). urban robotics and automation: critical challenges, international experiments and transferable lessons for the uk. urban automation and robotics. https://doi.org/10.13140/rg.2.2.16976.56321 mujiono, & herawati, s. (2021). the effectiveness of e-learning-based sociolinguistic instruction on efl university students’ sociolinguistic competence. international journal of instruction, 14(4), 627-642. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2021.14436a murphy, j. t., carmody, p., grant, r., & owusu, f. (2018). the impact of china on african cities: potentials for development. in handbook of emerging 21st-century cities. edward elgar publishing. ogbuanya, t. c., & chukwuedo, s. o. (2017). career-training mentorship intervention via the dreyfus model: implication for career behaviors and practical skills acquisition in vocational electronic technology. journal of vocational behavior, 103, 88-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2017.09.002 ogundele, o. j. k., akingbade, w. a., & akinlabi, h. b. (2012). entrepreneurship training and education as strategic tools for poverty alleviation in nigeria. american international journal of contemporary research, 2(1), 148-156. http://www.aijcrnet.com/journals/vol_2_no_1_january_2012/15.pdf porter, g., hampshire, k., abane, a., munthali, a., robson, e., tanle, a., ... & bango, a. (2018). connecting with home, keeping in touch: physical and virtual mobility across stretched families in sub-saharan africa. africa, 88(2), 404-424. ricci, a., crivellaro, f., & bolzani, d. (2021). perceived employability of highly skilled migrant women in stem: insights from labor market intermediaries’ professionals. administrative sciences 11(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci11010007 rojewski, j. (2002). preparing the workforce of tomorrow: a conceptual framework for career and technical education. journal of vocational education research, 27(1), 7-35. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed461771 rutstein, s. o. (2005). effects of preceding birth intervals on neonatal, infant and under‐five years mortality and nutritional status in developing countries: evidence from the demographic and health surveys. international journal of gynaecology & obstetrics, 89, s7-s24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793920922499 https://doi.org/10.13140/rg.2.2.16976.56321 https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2021.14436a https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2017.09.002 http://www.aijcrnet.com/journals/vol_2_no_1_january_2012/15.pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci11010007 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed461771 45 jcve 2022, 5(2): 32-46 sandoz, l. (2020). understanding access to the labour market through migration channels. journal of ethnic and migration studies, 46(1), 222-241. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2018.1502657 savić, d. (2019). from digitization, through digitalization, to digital transformation. online searcher. https://bit.ly/3ao3gy3 shrider, e. a., kollar, m., chen, f., & semega, j. (2021). u.s. census bureau, current population reports, p60-273, income and poverty in the united states: 2020. u.s. government publishing office. si, s., yu, x., wu, a., chen, s., chen, s., & su, y. (2015). entrepreneurship and poverty reduction: a case study of yiwu, china. asia pacific journal of management, 32(1), 119143. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-014-9395-7 sudarsono, kartono, mulyono, & mariani, s. (2022). the effect of stem model based on bima’s local cultural on problem solving ability. international journal of instruction, 15(2), 8396. https://www.e-iji.net/dosyalar/iji_2022_2_5.pdf sutherland, e. (2019). the fourth industrial revolution: the case of south africa. politikon, 47(2), 233-252. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589346.2019.1696003 teye, j. (2018, november). urbanization and migration in africa. in united nations expert group meeting for the review and appraisal of the programme of action of the international conference on population and development and its contribution to the follow-up and review of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. united nations secretariat, new york (pp. 1-2). tikly, l., joubert, m., barrett, a. m., bainton, d., cameron, l., & doyle, h. (2018). supporting secondary school stem education for sustainable development in africa. school of education, university of bristol. https://www.bristol.ac.uk/medialibrary/sites/education/documents/supporting%20secondary%20school%20stem%20e ducation%20for%20sustainabale%20development%20in%20africa.pdf tilak, j. b. (2002). education and poverty. journal of human development, 3(2), 191-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649880220147301 united nations (un). (2014). open working group proposal for sustainable development goals. united nations. united nations (un). (2015). the millennium development goals report 2015. new york. united nations department of economic and social affairs (un desa). (2019a). population division. world population prospect 2019: ten key findings. united nations. united nations department of economic and social affairs (un desa). (2019b). population division. world population prospects ii: demographic profiles. united nations. united nations department of economic and social affairs (un desa). (2019c). world population prospects 2019: highlights. united nations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-014-9395-7 https://www.e-iji.net/dosyalar/iji_2022_2_5.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/02589346.2019.1696003 46 jcve 2022, 5(2): 32-46 united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (unesco). (2015). education for all 2000–2015: achievements and challenges. efa global monitoring report. unesco. united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (unesco). (2020). reopening schools: when, where and how? https://en.unesco.org/news/reopening-schools-whenwhere-and-how van riemsdijk, m., basford, s., & burnham, a. (2016). socio‐cultural incorporation of skilled migrants at work: employer and migrant perspectives. international migration, 54(3), 20-34. varga, m. (2020). poverty reduction through land transfers? the world bank’s titling reforms and the making of “subsistence” agriculture. world development, 135, 105058. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105058 vernon, d. (2019). robotics and artificial intelligence in africa. ieee robotics & automation magazine, 26(4), 131-135. http://vernon.eu/publications/19_vernon_ram.pdf wehrle, k., klehe, u. c., kira, m., & zikic, j. (2018). can i come as i am? refugees' vocational identity threats, coping, and growth. journal of vocational behavior, 105, 83-101. world bank. (2014). prosperity for all/ending extreme poverty: a note for the world bank group spring meetings 2014. world bank. world bank. (2020a). monitoring global poverty. world bank. world bank. (2020b). global economic prospects, june 2020. world bank. journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morris, c. t., & chapman, l. a. disrupting norms in teacher preparation programs: navigating challenges and sharing successes. 3(1), i-iv journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org disrupting norms in teacher preparation programs: navigating challenges and sharing successes chelsea t. morris1*, and lindsey a. chapman2 1university of west georgia 2university of florida *corresponding author: cmorris@westga.edu doi: 10.46303/jcve.03.01.ed how to cite this paper: morris, c. t., & chapman, l. a. (2020). special issue editorial: disrupting norms in teacher preparation programs: navigating challenges and sharing successes. journal of culture and values in education, 3(1), i-iv. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.ed editorial 2020: (3)1, special issue disrupting norms in teacher preparation programs: navigating challenges and sharing successes chelsea t. morris and lindsey a. chapman guest editors of the special issue in march 2020, the world health organization declared the novel coronavirus, covid-19, a worldwide pandemic. in what seemed like an instant, public schooling was fundamentally changed as educators quickly responded to the need for remote instruction for the approximately 50 million students in u.s. schools. with more questions than answers, the shift to remote instruction resulted in an emphasis on “instructional continuity” despite inequities and widespread impacts of the global health crisis on students and their families. for many educators, how traditional education practices (e.g., grading/evaluation, attendance, grade level promotion/retention) could continue became a pressing problem. at the same time, unprecedented and seemingly unthinkable decisions (e.g., cancellation of standardized exams) demonstrated that wide reaching change of educational norms may not be as untouchable as it once seemed. against the backdrop of the pandemic, america soon found itself in the midst of another crisis. george floyd was murdered by a police officer from the minneapolis police department, just two months after breonna taylor was shot dead by police in kentucky while in her own home. the days-long protests and demands for justice and systemic change following mr. floyd’s death reflect the “collective condemnation of police violence against the black community” (naacp, 2020, para. 3) across the country. meanwhile, the continued postponement of justice once again reminds us that racial disparities are pervasive in the criminal justice system as well as in health, wealth, housing, and education (the new york times, 2020). everything that happens in the world connects in some way to something else or something bigger (noah, 2020). as teacher educators, we continue to grapple with what we can learn from current events and how this learning should shape action in our teacher preparation programs (tpps). more specifically, we find ourselves returning to the original question that first guided our interest in compiling this special issue: how do the traditional https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.ed journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morris, c. t., & chapman, l. a. disrupting norms in teacher preparation programs: navigating challenges and sharing successes. 3(1), i-iv journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org ways of work of tpps reify the persistent inequities present in the educational system? in this special issue of jcve, we bring together teacher educators from institutions across the country who have been committed to addressing issues and inequities in tpps that are perpetuated by traditional ways of doing. purpose of the special issue gorski and parekh (2020) speak to the need for transformation in tpps, embracing a more critical focus that centers equity and justice. however, to transform, the systems, practices, and policies standing in the way must first be disrupted and dismantled. to this end, our purpose for this special issue was largely shaped by blin and munro’s (2008) view of disruption as “a serious transformation or alteration of the structure of teaching and learning activities taking place in formal education” (p. 476). we set out, then, to include manuscripts that explicitly address what authors are doing to name and change problematic practices in teacher preparation. recognizing that engaging in disruptive practices requires standing against decades and centuries-old systems, we were particularly interested in the experiences of junior faculty and others who work in tpps without the protection of tenure. we asked that authors also addressed the ways in which they feel limited in their ability to engage in divergent thinking about teaching practices and policies. in this issue, eight manuscripts focus on the experiences of junior and/or untenured faculty leading change in their respective institutions. though the authors frame their work in different ways and are situated in different contexts, these papers collectively illustrate the challenges and successes experienced when pushing back against the traditional culture and values of tpps and the academy more broadly. morales and colleagues (2020) begin by describing their critical inquiry group, a reimagined academic space that engages in activities to support the work of critical educators and deconstruct power dynamics between faculty and students. within the article, the authors center social justice, critical pedagogy, and culturally sustaining pedagogies, frameworks which reappear consistently throughout the issue. they also plant an important question about who is/is not traditionally seen as a producer of knowledge in educational spaces. second, kressler (2020) shares insight from a self-study grounded in culturally relevant education and black feminist theory. she describes the internal and external resistance she experienced while using challenging students to use critical reflection as a means of examining the notions of culture and bias as they relate to assessment in special education. next, three manuscripts explore how disruption is enacted in individual courses, especially for instructional and untenured faculty. newton, williams, and feeney (2020) challenge compliance-driven approaches to course policies and procedures. they emphasize how current norms of assessment are dehumanizing and driven by authoritarian teaching styles, instead offering mediated and collaborative learning sessions, mastery learning, and “ungrading” as responsive, student-driven alternatives. smith (2020) follows with a critical reflection of how critical race theory (crt), and more specifically, the tenets of interest convergence and permanence of racism, can guide course development. she addresses how https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morris, c. t., & chapman, l. a. disrupting norms in teacher preparation programs: navigating challenges and sharing successes. 3(1), i-iv journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org tpps often ignore race and racism in course design by illustrating how future teachers can be encouraged to welcome discomfort, begin difficult conversations, and utilize race-related content to explore identity and privilege. following smith, authors bazemore-bertrand and porcher (2020) call attention to the use of “diversity” and “equity” as buzzwords in mission and vision statements of colleges and universities that are often not reflected in practice. through their own narratives, analyzed through self-study in teacher education practices (sstep) and guided by the tenets of crt, they illustrate the process of becoming disruptors through the (re)design of coursework in their respective institutions. finally, three author groups address disruption as it relates to broader programmatic change. buchter and colleagues (2020) apply a theory of change model to analyze the resistant forces and driving forces of change. they conceptualize change as any attempt to shift the ways of work that the most powerful benefit from and reinforce the need to step back and analyze the ways in which the status quo keeps us stagnant. then, more and rodgers (2020) use activity theory to frame their work in an alternative routes to licensure (arl) program intended to address the issue of chronic teacher shortages in special education. they bring to light how a passion for teaching in the arl program is often at odds with the implicit and explicit messages from the academy. finally, soltero lópez and lópez (2020) share the work of the enseñamos en el valle central initiative, a program aimed at recruiting high school and community college latinx youth into the teaching pipeline. they highlight the role of cross-institutional collaborations among hispanic serving institutions to address the need for more representation among bilingual, latinx teachers in the workforce. in compiling this special issue, we sought to not just share what is being done, but also showcase who is doing the work in teacher preparation. the process of editing this special issue was one of both learning and unlearning, and we are grateful to have had the opportunity to dig deeper into what it means to truly disrupt. we thank each of the authors for their willingness to be vulnerable and participate in making this special issue what it is. we are hopeful that the varied perspectives and approaches represented in the articles included here serve as both an inspiration and model for meaningful change. finally, we offer this special issue as a call to action for educators across the entirety of the educational system. in a time of uncertainty and unrest, we have the opportunity and responsibility to do differently and do better. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morris, c. t., & chapman, l. a. disrupting norms in teacher preparation programs: navigating challenges and sharing successes. 3(1), i-iv journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org references blin, f., & munro, m. (2008). why hasn’t technology disrupted academics’ teaching practices? understanding resistance to change through the lens of activity theory. computers & education, 50(2), 475-490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2007.09.017 gorski, p. c., & parekh, g. (2020). supporting critical multicultural teacher educators: transformative teaching, social justice education, and perceptions of institutional support. intercultural education, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2020.1728497 naacp (2020, june 2). joint statement by naacp and the links, inc. on collective outrage regarding the police murder of george floyd and other victims of law enforcement. https://www.naacp.org/latest/joint-statement-naacp-links-incorporated-collectiveoutrage-regarding-police-murder-george-floyd-victims-law-enforcement/ noah, t. [the daily show with trevor noah]. (2020, may 23). what the hell happened this week? youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_4dqdo7iuk the new york times (2020, june 1). america’s protests won’t stop until police brutality does. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/opinion/george-floyd-protest-police.html https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2007.09.017 https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2020.1728497 https://www.naacp.org/latest/joint-statement-naacp-links-incorporated-collective-outrage-regarding-police-murder-george-floyd-victims-law-enforcement/ https://www.naacp.org/latest/joint-statement-naacp-links-incorporated-collective-outrage-regarding-police-murder-george-floyd-victims-law-enforcement/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/opinion/george-floyd-protest-police.html journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 2 2023 pp. 18-33 the steam vs stem educational approach: the significance of the application of the arts in science teaching for learners' attitudes change valentine ukachukwu okwara*a & johan pieter henrik pretoriusb * corresponding author email: okwaravu@ufs.ac.za a. department of mathematics, natural sciences and technology, faculty of education, university of the free state, qwaqwa campus. phuthaditjhaba. south africa. b. department of mathematics, natural sciences and technology, faculty of education, university of the free state, bloemfontein campus, bloemfontein, south africa. article info received: september 15, 2022 accepted: december 8, 2022 published: march 2, 2023 how to cite okwara, v. u. & pretorius, j. p. h. (2023). the steam vs stem educational approach: the significance of the application of the arts in science teaching for learners' attitudes change. journal of culture and values in education, 6(2), 18-33. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.6 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract this article critically examines existing literature on the importance of incorporating the arts into the teaching and learning of science subjects in schools. it explores the significance of the steam educational approach as an option in science teaching and learning that might provide a range of benefits to stem learners. stem is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics while steam stands for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. the argument in the article is focused on why leveraging such skills as creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, communications, self-direction, initiative, and collaboration, which are inherent in the arts, to strengthen the effective teaching and learning of science within the steam educational context is important for stem learners. the stem educational approach to science teaching and learning employs an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving aimed at equipping learners with 21st century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, selfdirection, initiative, collaboration, effective communication, and morals. it also aims at providing them with the opportunity to apply these skills through the practices, contexts, and processes of handson activities. these are targeted at understanding science and viewing science differently, which might enable them to participate in a stem-career pathway. however, the framework for stem does not fully support an understanding that creativity can exist in science and that science can be taught in multiple ways, including application of the arts. steam, on the other hand, is grounded in a transdisciplinary approach to science teaching and learning. it explores the application of the arts in science teaching and learning. this is aimed at improving the confidence, attitudes, and interests of learners in science through new approaches to problem-solving which might strengthen positive attitudes towards science. this approach incorporates the common processes of science and arts, which includes discovery, observation, experimentation, description, interpretation, analysis, evaluation, wondering, visualising, exploring, and communication. keywords steam; stem; arts in science teaching; learning; positive attitudes; puppetry art. 10.46303/jcve.2023.6 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.6 19 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 introduction “overemphasis on rote learning and rigid, dogmatic adherence to rules of discipline are not only deterrents to learners… they are fundamentally incompatible with the true nature of science” (schmidt, 2011, p. 441). this statement argues that learners' negative attitudes and declining interest in science may be attributed to a fundamental flaw in the approaches and tools employed in the teaching and learning of the subject. these approaches, according to schmidt tend to constrain learners and limit their creative potential excellence in science. furthermore, they do not reflect how science should be taught. to further highlight the shortcomings of these teaching approaches, the scholar adduces that the incorrect application of models of teaching and learning science have done much to cultivate perceptions of science as a non-creative endeavour (schmidt, 2011). having an understanding that creativity can exist in science supports the perception that science can be taught in multiple ways, including the application of the arts. this will enable learners to see the overlap in practices between art and science (tsurusaki et al., 2017). for instance, learners need creativity and imagination to form mental images of entities such as electrons or atoms, invisible to the naked eye (turkka et al., 2017). this necessitates a need for the adoption of an approach to science teaching and learning that challenges the learners’ creativity and increases their curiosity in relation to science. there are two main approaches that aim at effective science teaching and learning. these are the stem (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) educational approach and the steam (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) approach. the stem educational approach aims at motivating learners through practices, contexts, and processes that will enable them to participate in science activities that lead to stem-career pathways (connors-kellgren et al., 2016; ring et al., 2017). it employs an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving and equips the learners with 21st-century skills, as well as the opportunities to apply these skills (vennix et al., 2018) through the provision of hands-on activities targeted at understanding science and encouraging the ability to view science differently (vennix et al. 2018). according to kim and kim (2016), affective competency is critical, and so is the quality of the teachers. it is therefore suggested that teaching science through approaches that connect stem and the art disciplines, the steam approach, might illustrate and expose the learners to the creativity of science by highlighting its overlap with the arts, as was earlier stated (tsurusaki et al., 2017), which might enhance science teaching and learning. the steam educational approach employs a transdisciplinary approach to problem-solving. this has the potential to engage learners more deeply (cook et al., 2017) because creativity and imagination are required in science to visualise and express abstract concepts (turkka et al., 2017). one explanation regarding the increase of motivation, with the integration of the arts into science teaching, is the fact that the arts enable multiple ways to express and explore scientific content (turkka et al., 2017). the steam approach, therefore, might allow learners to 20 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 engage with science content through the arts (tsurusaki et al., 2017). this has been found to increase learners' science efficacy and creativity, and so maximise their interest and motivation in science. this, in turn, helps to improve their competitiveness (kim & chae, 2016). the steam educational approach, therefore, encourages learners to take the initiative in their learning (kim & kim, 2016). this implies that it encourages learners to solve challenging problems themselves, which might increase their science learning efficacy (kim & kim, 2016), as well as their confidence (kim & chae, 2016). perception plays a vital role during any activity, and what is perceived is influenced by the teacher's instructions, previous experiences, and the knowledge of the learners. therefore, perceptions regarding educational objects can be very different in science and arts (turkka et al., 2017). for instance, observing a pot of melting snow could be perceived as the transformation from solid to liquid in science, or the conversion from the visible to the transparent in the arts (turkka et al., 2017). but since both science and arts require observation for adequate interpretation of observed phenomena, it has, therefore, become imperative to enhance learners' active learning through the creation of an open learning atmosphere, where learners can interact with the content being taught using art as a teaching tool. the arts have been used in the school system for a long time, especially in primary schools, where materials such as clay, wood, gold, and silver have enriched the teaching environment (najami et al., 2019). according to najami et al. (2019), art-based pedagogy focuses on process-oriented and reflective experiences and draws on a broad range of applied theatrical strategies which can develop learners' creativity, abilities, and aesthetic awareness. the application of the arts, therefore, becomes crucial because it can enable learners to develop creative thinking and scientific communication skills, as well as address their affective learning outcomes (de beer et al., 2018). the arts will enable inspiration and novelty as well as the development of cognitive and social growth. it will also enhance creativity, reduce stress, and make science teaching enjoyable (sousa & pilecki, 2013). the next section will discuss the two educational approaches, stem and steam, from point of view of the existing literature. the stem educational approach stem employs an interdisciplinary approach to education that focuses on authentic learning processes. this requires inquiry, imagination, questioning, problem-solving, creativity, invention, and collaboration (myers & berkowicz, 2015). it emphasises the importance of 21stcentury skills such as critical thinking, agility, initiative, effective communication, and morals. it also supports accessing and analysing information, as well as opportunities to apply the information and concepts learned in the field of science (tsakeni, 2021; vennix et al., 2018). the stem educational approach is anticipated to prepare learners to acquire thinking abilities which will enable them to become creative and analytical thinkers (aldahmash et al., 2019). according to aldahmash et al. (2019), the goal of an integrated stem curriculum is to increase learners’ acquisition of knowledge and provide society with highly qualified scientists, 21 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 technologists, engineers, and mathematicians, which is crucial for technological growth in the 21st century. the stem educational approach is also anticipated to provide opportunities for learners to experience, engage, and solve real-world problems. this can be attributed to problem-solving being central to the four disciplines of stem (vennix et al., 2018). researchers have shown that the stem educational approach has fallen short of its expectations, as there is still a shortage of stem graduates and professionals (hillman et al., 2016; tsakeni, 2022). moreover, the number of learners choosing stem careers is declining when the demand for people to fill scientific positions is rapidly increasing (hillman et al., 2016). the poor performance of learners from the usa in science and mathematics is also a concern that points to the need for improved stem education (rogers & sun, 2019). the shortcomings of the stem educational approach in providing the solution to improved learner performance in science, coupled with overall learner underperformance, is a cause for concern. this is indicative of a system that cannot provide the learners with the knowledge and skills needed for academic success (national academy for science, 2012, online; rogers & sun, 2019) in the 21st century. this lack of capacity may be attributed to many factors, including the teacher-centredness of some teaching strategies in which knowledge and assessment-centred environments are prioritised. this contrasts with crucial stem skills of collaboration, communication, and problem-solving (rogers & sun, 2019). herro and quigley (2017) adduce that the stem educational approach has not provided the much-needed knowledge to help learners to acquire the skills and attitudes needed to spur critical thinking in the learning of science. this failure can be attributed to the focus that stem education places on mathematics and science. they further argue that it is not content-based and not really aligned with real-world situations. the most prolific challenge to stem education at present is to overcome the barriers that inhibit learners from succeeding in the stem curriculum (rogers & sun, 2019). the solution to this problem may lie in learning through the proper blending of disciplines. this might allow the learners to solve problems set in a real-world context. they might learn new concepts from different fields, especially the arts, to develop positive attitudes towards science and is the viable solution for individual learners and for stem education (bush & cook, 2019). the steam educational approach the difference between stem and steam lies in the inclusion of 'arts' in steam. it employs a transdisciplinary approach to develop multiple perspectives that inform deliberation on a problem. a transdisciplinary approach begins with the problem and, through the process of problem-solving, brings to bear the knowledge of those disciplines that contributes to a solution (meeth, 1978). this approach also employs collective expertise from many disciplines to pose and solve problems rather than focusing on individual disciplines (quigley & herro, 2016). according to herro and quigley (2017), the steam educational approach's transdisciplinary model of learning science provides the learners the opportunity to learn and solve real-world 22 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 problems. the adoption of a transdisciplinary approach also ensures that learners learn through a blend of disciplines because the arts create creativity (bush & cook, 2019). the steam approach incorporates the application of theories, concepts, or methods across disciplines, with the intent of holistically developing the learners’ knowledge and skills (lattuca, 2001), and to foster thoughtful reflections on their creative processes (guyotte et al., 2015). it utilises project-based learning as a vehicle for learning scientific concepts (opperman, 2016) to expand the model of education from stem to steam. it also incorporates teaching methods that build authentic higher-order thinking and creative problem-solving abilities in the learners (kim & kim, 2016). the steam educational approach incorporates the arts to enhance science education through exposing the learners to the objective view offered by science as a complement to the subjective view of the world as espoused by the arts (sousa & pilecki, 2013). the arts may help learners to draw on curiosity, observe accurately, think spatially, perceive aesthetically, and work effectively with others (sousa & pilecki, 2013). it has been found to increase the scientific efficacy and creativity of learners. it also maximises their interest and motivation in science, which helps to improve their scientific competitiveness (kim & chae, 2016). this might contribute to a positive attitude towards science. the framework for the steam educational approach incorporates the common processes of science and arts. these include discovery, observation, experimentation, description, interpretation, analysis, evaluation, observing, wondering, visualising, exploring, and communication, although there are differences in the manifestation of the processes in each of the fields (fulton & simpson-steele, 2016). these differences can be linked to the emphasis that art places on combining knowledge and personal experience, while science focuses primarily on the search for objective evidence to generate knowledge (conner et al., 2017). the aim of the steam educational approach is the application of arts to improve learners' confidence, attitudes, and interest in science (kim & chae, 2016) through new approaches to solving problems. the goal of this transdisciplinary approach is aimed at powerful, authentic learning opportunities, which can help the learners to tackle challenging stem fields needed in the future workforce (jamil et al., 2017). this is mainly because the steam educational approach is learner-centred as opposed to teacher-centred, which enables learners to see themselves as designers and creators (cook et al., 2017). it encourages learners to discover how to create new things, see familiar things in a new way, combine things in non-traditional ways, and think independently and unconventionally (jamil et al., 2017). this approach, therefore, focuses predominantly on how to leverage the arts to provide a range of benefits to stem learners (guyotte et al., 2015). it also recognises the power of the arts in engaging more diverse types of learners (bush & cook, 2019). this is possible because it draws on curiosity, the ability to observe accurately, to perceive an object in a different form, and to construct meaning (sousa & pilecki, 2013). this leads to 23 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 expressing observations more accurately and working effectively with others (bush & cook, 2019; herro & quigley, 2017). participating in arts-mediated science learning has been associated with a wide variety of positive outcomes, such as improved long-term memory (sousa & pilecki, 2013). it also enables learners to understand the importance of human connections and the expression of feelings, which influence attitude changes (rothkopf, 2016). the integration of the arts in science lessons, therefore, has the potential to engage the learners more deeply (cook et al., 2017) and influence their attitudes towards science. the arts remain a medium for ideation or the conceptualisation, study, and exchange of ideas (keane & keane, 2017). the arts are a collection of skills and thought processes that transcend all areas of human endeavour (sousa & pilecki, 2013). they provide learners with opportunities to develop unique ways of knowing and interpreting the world (keane & keane, 2017). the arts also elucidate empathy, and this can be a powerful tool in helping to build learners' motivation and passion towards solving problems in science (bush & cook, 2019). the use of the arts in the teaching and learning of science adds an affective component to the complex stem concepts and problems. this makes the learning of content in science more accessible (smith & paré, 2016) and more engaging (bush & cook, 2019), and it could reinforce learners' positive attitudes towards science. the steam educational approach, therefore, aims at the transformation of natural science teaching and learning to inform creativity (fulton & simpson-steele, 2016), which may influence the attitudes of learners by minimising the barrier to knowledge practically (marmon, 2019). the significance of the stem to steam shift the framework for the steam educational approach comprises problem-solving and creativity, which encourages learners to look for ways of solving problems on their own (kim & kim, 2016). the aim is to develop learners' creativity through the convergence of the arts and science, based on the idea of improving learners' interest in science through holistic arts education (kim & chae, 2016). the steam educational approach highlights creativity, emotional touch, and the convergence between the arts and science disciplines (parket al., 2016). this will enable learners to experience immense satisfaction in solving a challenging problem on their own, thereby increasing their confidence (kim & chae, 2016). this is because both the sciences and the arts require discovery, observation, experimentation, description, interpretation, analysis, and evaluation (fulton & simpson-steele, 2016). according to kim and chae (2016), recent developments in science and technology have led to an increase in globalisation, convergence, and unpredictability, causing a need for future scientists to develop creative problem-solving skills and global expertise rooted in arts education. this has become necessary because stem's focus on education based on science or mathematics is not enough. the inclusion of the 'a' of arts in stem activities delivers a natural platform for transdisciplinary inquiry (quigley & herro, 2016), which will have a positive effect on learners’ attitudes towards learning science (yuksekyalcin et al., 2016). the stem to steam 24 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 shift emphasises the relevance of the arts and creativity within the traditional stem fields (marmon, 2019). studies have found that creativity influences learners to attain higher levels of thought and the ability to navigate complex and stressful situations (marmon, 2019) because critical thinking facilitates the innovation required to solve problems (ibid.). this might improve their attitudes towards science. the transdisciplinary approach of steam provides multiple approaches to solving a problem, which may promote learners’ positive attitudes towards science (bush & cook, 2019) and offer flexibility and peace of mind. the steam educational approach also advocates collaborative learning. this might enable the learners to synthesise ideas and work with one another to solve problems. it, therefore, complements the goals for 21st century learning, which focus on problem-solving through innovation, design, and creative thinking (bush & cook, 2019). the purpose of the steam educational approach, therefore, is to apply the arts in the teaching and learning of science, in order to deepen the understanding rather than teaching any of the particular arts (romagnoli, 2017) since applied knowledge leads to deeper learning. the shift from stem to steam lays emphasis on the development of critical thinking, creativity, and communication, which are essential skills needed in the integration of knowledge across disciplines (bazler & van sickle, 2017). it also focuses on the individualisation of learning, which enables learners to explore their strengths and utilise these strengths in the development and consolidation of the studied content, thereby consolidating positive attitudes (bazler & van sickle, 2017) towards science. according to ramagnoli (2017), the application of the arts in science teaching may also help learners to look beyond scientific concepts as merely equations, proofs, memorised operations, and prime numbers to see the people whose experiences affect science and mathematics. for instance, the scientific concept of force and motion (stem) can be taught using human movements, i.e., dance (steam). this deepens and embodies the learning and helps learners consolidate their understanding of the theory, concepts, and skills (lindquist et al., 2017). cook et al. (2017) also emphasise the importance of the integration of the arts in science lessons, since they have the potential to engage learners more deeply. the steam educational approach, therefore, is learner-centred rather than focusing on the subject area (tsurusaki et al., 2017). the shift from stem to steam, therefore, is not only expressed in the addition of the ‘a’ to stem but also in the recognition that aesthetics, beauty, and emotion (affect) play important roles in problem-solving (marmon, 2019). this highlights the importance of the arts as a solution to complex stem concepts and problems, and also as a foundation for perpetuating innovation in the future (mehta et al., 2019). steam education represents the future of innovation and creativity. csikszentmihalyi (1997) defines creativity as an act or idea that changes an existing domain or that transforms an existing domain into a new one, and a creative learner as a person whose thoughts or actions change a field or establish a new area. art and science share many overlaps in terms of both 25 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 standard practices and habits of mind, which can be harnessed in transdisciplinary thinking to enhance creativity (tsurusaki et al., 2017). steam education as an approach, therefore, employs the arts, which embodies creativity, to connect disciplines that were previously perceived as disparate and provide learners with the necessary skills, problem-solving and positive attitudes needed to excel in the field of science (marmon, 2019). from the literature review on the importance of the incorporation of the arts (steam) in the teaching and learning of science, it can be deduced that it will provide learners with the above-mentioned advantages to enhance their creativity and positive attitudes towards the subject. i shall now use a specific example to illuminate the ideas in this section. the application of puppetry art in education the use of drama (art) in the teaching of science helps learners view science as a human-social experience, which might enhance their understanding of the world rooted in scientific and humanistic traditions. this draws them closer to and increases their positive attitude towards science. the power of drama in combining the elements of art, music and sport can also help learners develop creativity as well as an affective and aesthetic awareness (najami et al., 2019). as braund et al. (2013) point out, as with other sociocultural and socio-linguistic traditions, the arts can lead to active teaching and learning in science. according to research, learners learn best through active participation and interaction with the teacher and other learners in the learning process (chi & wylie, 2014). active participation means that the learners are cognitively and meaningfully engaged with the learning content (pino-pasternak & volet, 2018). since the arts are used to express feelings and ideas (turkka et al., 2017), it is not surprising that methods drawn from the arts have been suggested when dealing with controversial issues in science education. this is because the arts enable multiple ways of expression and exploration of the science content (turkka et al., 2017). arts education is primarily focused on creativity, an essential component of innovation (marmon, 2019), which promotes problem-solving and makes learning natural science fun and attractive. research has shown that instructional methods embedded in arts education have yielded more motivated and engaged learners who can increase their learning (mishra & henriksen, 2013; marmon, 2019). puppetry art is one of the numerous forms of art that can be incorporated into the teaching and learning of science. it provides a platform for the presentation of natural science lessons that lead to effective and meaningful construction and application of knowledge (marmon, 2019). puppets can be described as visual and symbolic representations that can communicate ideas sophisticatedly and act as a communication medium (kruger, 2007). puppets are powerful and stimulating tools in educational entertainment and have been used extensively in educational entertainment in south africa for many years (kruger, 2008). puppets, theatrical creatures that exist and are autonomous art forms, allow learners to derive philosophical principles from performances and seek meaning in materiality (cohen, 2017). 26 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 puppetry art in education falls under the category of applied art (kruger, 2008), which can be used as a tool for the promotion of the personal, social, and emotional development of learners in the science classroom (simon et al., 2008). the use of puppets in the science classroom to present arguments can help learners to engage in dialogue and consider alternative perspectives on scientific ideas in a non-threatening situation (simon et al., 2008). according to simon et al. (2008), using puppetry art as a teaching tool will help teachers to actively engage learners in the science classroom. as stated by the scholars puppetry art may be used to engage with the content of natural sciences to make the abstract content more meaningful and easier for the learners to internalise and apply (de beer, 2015). the application of puppetry art as a teaching tool introduces a different style of interpersonal relationships which may be very productive for learning science. engagement with science content through puppetry art might make science more enjoyable and enhance learners’ attitudes and accomplishments in the subject. this is because the use of puppetry art in whole-class teaching can provide a stimulus for discussions that may involve learners in reasoning, arguments, open questions, and justification of ideas as part of the process of solving a problem (simon et al., 2008). puppet characters can have “problems” for the learners to solve (simon et al., 2008). the learners might treat the puppets as though they were real characters in the classroom and respond positively to problems posed by the puppets. according to sasway and kelly (2020), learner-centred strategies may improve the academic climate, attitudes towards science, and learners’ confidence and self-worth, making science learning more engaging. the use of puppets as teaching tools could also allow the teachers to take on new roles in the classroom. while using puppets, teachers could model behaviour and learning conversations without appearing to intervene as authority figures. this may enhance teachers’ confidence, positive beliefs, and self-efficacy in science teaching (simon et al., 2008). the use of puppetry art as an educational tool in the science classroom, therefore, has the potential to make a positive impact on the attitudes of the learners (simon et al., 2008) because it aids scaffolding, which is crucial for the guided construction of knowledge. this may enable learners in peer group interactions to have alternative opportunities for cognitive development due to their exposure to reasoning that is superior to their own (simon et al., 2008). this is evidenced by the team hyena puppet (thp) project. thp is an interdisciplinary project that uses art (puppets and dance) to teach science. the team utilises dance to represent the cell cycle and puppets in the teaching of biology. this has transformed a previously dry section of a biology course into a memorable and meaningful event for the learners, and their performance in examinations has improved tremendously (trommer-beardslee et al., 2019). puppets may evoke thoughts, associations, feelings, and intentions during their interaction with learners, and after a lesson in the form of recollections (ahlcrona, 2012). this can be attributed to their influence on the attitudes of the learners through external properties such as appearance, movement, speech, and action (ahlcrona, 2012). puppets, therefore, use 27 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 the power of “affect” in shaping learners’ positive attitudes, because “affect” is a sensation or a flow of energy which can be transformed into action, thought, or interaction (sloan, 2018). this action, thought, or exchange has a powerful influence on learners’ affective domain, thereby influencing their attitudes (sloan, 2018). levy (2002) further elaborates on the benefits of using puppetry art as a pedagogy for science teachers. these benefits include having a personality that is appealing to their learners and fellow teachers, and being more confident, which positively impacts their teaching style. furthermore, teaching with puppetry art gives teachers a safe avenue through which they can enjoy the fun and spontaneous aspect of teaching. he concludes by adding that such teachers would probably not suffer from professional burnout as soon as others would. the use of puppetry art as a teaching tool also enables the teacher to view the lesson from the learners’ perspective, incorporating their ideas and feelings into the lesson presentation so that the learners can relate to the puppet (levy, 2002). according to levy (2002), simon et al. (2008) and ahlcrona (2012), the use of puppetry art as a teaching tool promotes the development of positive attitudes in learners towards their studies because the puppets influence the learners’ imaginary world and improve their creativity (güçlü & çay, 2017). natural sciences are a fusion of the major branches of science, the study of which will equip learners with the necessary process skills and values to provide a strong foundation for further study in science (yeboah et al., 2019). knowledge of natural science, therefore, is generated when learners interact with the content and teachers utilise appropriate instructional scaffolds to make learning a journey of discovery filled with adventure, curiosity, and wonder (yeboah et al., 2019). to make natural science learning a journey of discovery, the use of puppetry art as a teaching tool becomes a viable option. according to ahlcrona (2012), the puppet, by virtue of its hidden property of appearing to be living in the interactions in the science classroom, has the capacity to evoke affective complexes and generate emotions in the learners. in order to comprehend the power of affect in influencing attitudes, sloan (2014) describes the affective experience as a feeling of relaxed alertness. he calls it a positive and pleasurable sensation associated with spontaneous creativity. affect has often been considered an integral part of art (turkka et al., 2017) and has been described as an “indiscriminate convergence of multiple potentials at any moment into becoming a being, which activates connectivity” (sloan, 2018, p. 586). this might explain why the use of puppetry art in the teaching and learning of natural science might spur creativity (güçlü & çay, 2017; sloan, 2018) and influence positive learner attitudes. this will have the capacity to enable learners to grasp and assimilate the content much more easily (yeboah et al., 2019). according to levy (2002), the use of puppetry art as a teaching tool could have several benefits for learners. this includes helping to establish a safe atmosphere for follow-up discussions about learners’ feelings on issues that matter to them. it might also help to increase 28 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 humour in the classroom, which can turn the teaching of scientific concepts into long-lasting positive memories. he further emphasises the power of the puppets in reaching out and touching the hearts of the learners, firing up their imagination, and creating the “other personality” that brings excitement and drama to the science lesson. the dual nature of the puppet in communicating ideas, i.e., visual and symbolic (kruger, 2007), has the capacity to positively influence learners’ attitudes towards natural sciences and improve their achievements as well. in a project carried out by belohlawek et al. (2010), it was determined that using puppets to engage the learners in a lesson developed their thinking about concepts in science in an inquiring and exploratory approach. this was evidenced by the learners’ high levels of consistency, engagement, and motivation. they employed more reasoning, gave more explanations, and justified their ideas better in the science lesson (simon et al., 2008). according to simon et al. (2008), the use of puppetry art in teaching science enhances both the engagement and interest of the learners and the teachers’ beliefs and practices. the use of puppets as a teaching tool in natural sciences may help learners develop emotional values. this may enable them to perform communication acts based on knowledge-related and emotional motives, which overstep the boundaries between the actual and imagined worlds (ahlcrona, 2012). güçlü and çay (2017) reinforce this statement by adducing that puppets are important in education because they are familiar figures which may affect the imaginary world of the learners and improve their creativity. according to kruger (2008), incorporating puppetry art into the teacher’s teaching strategy may be a powerful and stimulating tool in the classroom. ahlcrona (2012) describes the power of puppets when applied in the context of teaching and learning of science as being able to evoke and arouse learners’ emotions, thoughts, and associations, which positively impacts their attitudes. it can also help them form recollections, which consolidates their learning (ahlcrona, 2012). in a study carried out by najami et al. (2019), in which puppetry art was used to teach chemistry to tenth-grade middle-school learners, they found that the use of puppetry art in teaching had a positive effect on the learning of various chemistry topics. the learners were found to have better scores than those taught without puppets. moreover, the learners had a more positive attitude towards learning chemistry. the scholars, therefore, proposed that the inclusion of puppets as a teaching tool in the chemistry curriculum might help learners gain a better understanding of concepts that may be difficult to comprehend when using traditional teaching methods. conclusion and recommendations the use of puppetry art in education offers a range of opportunities to develop stem learners. this includes decision-making, exploring experiences, interacting with others, self-discovery, specific skills, and handling materials. it also makes learning memorable and stimulates learner 29 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 engagement. this can be attributed to the power of the puppets as versatile tools for communication and learning (ahlcrona, 2012). puppetry art may be incorporated into the teaching of sciences to stimulate learners’ positive attitudes and improve their performance since the puppets’ characters are detached from the teacher’s persona. they, therefore, add a unique teaching dimension that is flexible and controllable (pearce & hardiman, 2012). the use of puppetry art as an alternative teaching aid may improve teachers’ and learners’ self-efficacy, and make the teaching and learning of sciences more interesting (mcgregor & knoll, 2015) and meaningful. references ahlcrona, m.f. (2012). the puppet’s communicative potential as a mediating tool in preschool education. ijec, 44,171–184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-012-0060-3 aldahmash, a.h., alamri, n., & aljallal, m.a. (2019). saudi arabian science and mathematics teachers’ attitudes toward integrating stem in teaching before and after participating in a professional development program. cogent education, 6(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2019.1580852 bazler, j. & van sickle, m. (eds.). (2017). cases on steam education in practice. igi global. belohlawek, j., keogh, b., & naylor, s. (2010). the puppet project hits w. a. teaching science, 56(1), 36–38. blackman, s., conrad, d., & brown, l. (2012). the attitude of barbadian and trinidadian teachers to integration. international journal of special education, 27(3), 1–11. http://www.internationalsped.com/articles.cfm?y=2012&v=27&n=3 braund, m., ekron, c., & moodley, t. (2013). critical episodes in student teachers’ science lessons using drama in grades 6 and 7. african journal of research in mathematics, science and technology, 17(1–2), 4–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/10288457.2013.826966 bush, s.b. & cook, k.l. (2019). structuring steam inquiries: lessons learned from practice. in khine, m.s. & areepattamannil, s. (eds.), steam education: theory and practice (pp.19–35). springer. chi, m.t.n. & wylie, r. (2014). the icap framework: linking cognitive engagement to active learning outcomes. educational psychologist, 49(4), 219–243. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2014.965823 cohen, m.i. (2017). puppets, puppeteers, and puppet spectators: a response to the volkenburg puppetry symposium. contemporary theatre review, 27(2), 275–280. https://doi.org/10.1080/10486801.20 17.1298100 conner, l., tzou, c., tsurusaki, b., guthrie, m., pompea, s., & teal-sullivan, p. (2017). designing steam for broad participation in science. creative education, 8, 2222–2231. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2017.814152 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-012-0060-3 https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2019.1580852 http://www.internationalsped.com/articles.cfm?y=2012&v=27&n=3 https://doi.org/10.1080/10288457.2013.826966 https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2014.965823 https://doi.org/10.1080/10486801.20%2017.1298100 https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2017.814152 30 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 connors-kellgren, a., parker, c.e., blustein, d.l., & barnett, m. (2016). innovations and challenges in project-based stem education: lessons from itest. journal of science education and technology, 25, 825–832. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-016-9658-9 cook, k., bush, s., & cox, r. (2017). engineering encounters: from stem to steam: incorporating the arts in a roller coaster engineering project. science and children, 54(6), 86–93. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26387133 csikszentmihalyi, m. (1997). creativity: the psychology of discovery and invention. harper perennial. de beer, j., petersen, n., & brits, s. (2018). the use of puppetry and drama in the biology classroom. the american biology teacher, 80(3), 175–181. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2018.80.3.175 de beer, j.j. (2015). die insluiting van inheemse kennis in die wetenskapklaskamer: ’n betoog vanuit die kultuurhistoriese aktiwiteitsteorie. suid-afrikaanse tydskrif vir natuurwetenskap en tegnologie, 34(1), 1–6. http:// dx.doi.org/10.4102/satnt.v34i1.1344 fulton, l.a. & simpson-steele, j. (2016). reconciling the divide: common processes in science and arts education. the steam journal, 2(2), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.5642/steam.20160202.03 güçlü, m. & çay, y. (2017). a general evaluation over the usage and features of puppet as a teaching aid. the 10th mac, 2017. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/justynaliro/publication/317560776_motivations_of_participants_of_world_youth_day_in_kr akow_2016/links/59537759aca272a343e5e56c/motivations-of-participants-of-worldyouth-day-in-krakow-2016.pdf güney, s. (2013). behavioral sciences. ankara, turkey: nobel academic publishing. guyotte, k.w., sochacka, n.w., costantino, t.e., kellam, n., kellam, n.n., & walther, j. (2015). collaborative creativity in steam: narratives of art education students’ experiences in transdisciplinary spaces. international journal of education & the arts, 16(15), 1–38. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1082006.pdf herro, d. & quigley, c. (2017). exploring teachers’ perceptions of steam teaching through professional development: implications for teacher educators. professional development in education, 43(3), 416–438. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2016.1205507 hillman, s.j., zeeman, s.i., tilburg, c.e., & list, h.e. (2016). my attitudes toward science (mats): the development of a multidimensional instrument measuring students’ science attitudes. learning environment research, 19, 203–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-016-9205-x jamil, f.m., linder, s.m., & stegelin, d.a. (2017). early childhood teacher beliefs about steam education after a professional development conference. early childhood education journal, 46, 409–417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0875-5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-016-9658-9 https://www.jstor.org/stable/26387133 https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2018.80.3.175 https://doi.org/10.5642/steam.20160202.03 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/justyna-liro/publication/317560776_motivations_of_participants_of_world_youth_day_in_krakow_2016/links/59537759aca272a343e5e56c/motivations-of-participants-of-world-youth-day-in-krakow-2016.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/justyna-liro/publication/317560776_motivations_of_participants_of_world_youth_day_in_krakow_2016/links/59537759aca272a343e5e56c/motivations-of-participants-of-world-youth-day-in-krakow-2016.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/justyna-liro/publication/317560776_motivations_of_participants_of_world_youth_day_in_krakow_2016/links/59537759aca272a343e5e56c/motivations-of-participants-of-world-youth-day-in-krakow-2016.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/justyna-liro/publication/317560776_motivations_of_participants_of_world_youth_day_in_krakow_2016/links/59537759aca272a343e5e56c/motivations-of-participants-of-world-youth-day-in-krakow-2016.pdf https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1082006.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2016.1205507 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0875-5 31 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 keane, l. & keane, m. (2017). steam by design. design and technology education: an international journal, 21(1), 61–82. https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/date/article/view/2085 kim, b.h. & kim, j. (2016). development and validation of evaluative indicators for teaching competency in steam education in korea. eurasian journal of mathematics, science and technology education, 12(7), 1909–1924. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1537a kim, h. & chae, d.h. (2016). the development and application of a steam program based on traditional korean culture. eurasia journal of mathematics, science & technology education, 12(7), 1925–1936. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1539a kruger, m. (2007). puppets in education and development in africa: the puppet's dual nature and sign systems in action. south african theatre journal, 21(1), 64–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/10137548.2007.9687854 lattuca, l. r. (2001). creating inter-disciplinarity: interdisciplinary research and teaching among college and university faculty. vanderbilt university press. levy, m.b. (2002). some uses of puppetry in jewish education. journal of jewish education, 68(3), 48–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/0021624020680308 lindquist, w.p., james-hassan, m., & lindquist, n.c. (2017). exploring simple machines with creative movement. in bazler, j. & van sickle, m. (eds.), cases on steam education in practice (pp.86–117). information science reference. marmon, m. (2019). the emergence of the creativity in stem: fostering an alternative approach for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics instruction through the use of arts. in khine, m.s. & areepattamannil, s. (eds.), steam education: theory and practice (pp. 101–115). springer. mcgregor, s.a. & knoll, m.a. (2015). the theory of planned behaviour as a framework for understanding parental experiences with homework. educational psychology in practice, 31(4), 335–353. https://doi.org/10.1080/02667363.2015.1065472 meeth, l.r. (1978). interdisciplinary studies: a matter of definition. change: the magazine of higher learning, 10(7). https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.1978.10569474 mehta, r., keenan, s., henriksen, d., & mishra, p. (2019). developing a rhetoric of aesthetics: the (often) forgotten link between art and stem. in khine, m.s. & areepattamannil, s. (eds.), steam education: theory and practice (pp. 117–141). springer. mishra, p. & henriksen, d. (2013). a new approach to defining and measuring creativity: rethinking technology & creativity in the 21st century. tech trends, 57(5), 10–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-013-0685-6 myers, a. and berkowicz j. (2015). the stem shift: a guide for school leaders. sage. najami, n., hugerat, m., khalil, k., & hofstein, a. (2019). effectiveness of teaching science by drama. creative education, 10, 97–110. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2019.101007 national academy for science. (2012). a framework for k-12 science education: practices, crosscutting concepts and core ideas. https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/date/article/view/2085 https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1537a https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1539a https://doi.org/10.1080/10137548.2007.9687854 https://doi.org/10.1080/0021624020680308 https://doi.org/10.1080/02667363.2015.1065472 https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.1978.10569474 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-013-0685-6 https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2019.101007 32 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 https://smile.oregonstate.edu/sites/smile.oregonstate.edu/files/a_framework_for_k12_science_education.pdf opperman, a. (2016). maker education: the steam playground. the steam journal, 2(2), https://doi.org/10.5642/steam.20160202.04 park, h., byun, s., sim, j., han, h., & baek, y.s. (2016). teachers’ perceptions and practices of steam education in south korea. eurasia journal of mathematics, science & technology education, 12(7), 1739–1753. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1531a pearce, h. & hardiman. n. (2012). teaching undergraduate marketing students using ‘hot seating through puppetry’: an exploratory study. innovations in education and teaching international, 49(4), 437–447. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2012.728379 pino-pasternak, d. & volet, s. (2018). evolution of pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards learning science during an introductory science unit. international journal of science education, 40(12), 1520–1541. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1486521 quigley, c.f. & herro, d. (2016). “finding the joy in the unknown”: implementation of steam teaching practices in middle school science and math classrooms. journal of science education, 25, 410–426. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-016-9602-z ring, e.a., dare, e.a, crotty, e.a, & roehrig, g.h. (2017). the evolution of teacher conceptions of stem education throughout an intensive professional development experience. journal of science teacher education, 28(5), 444–467. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560x.2017.1356671 rogers, r.r.h. & sun, y. (2019). engaging stem students from rural areas: emerging research and opportunities. igi global. romagnoli, a. (2017). graphic novels and steam: strategies and texts for utilisation in steam education. in bazler, j. & van sickle, m. (eds.), cases on steam education in practice. igi global rothkopf, d. (2016). mappa mundi: a head of steam. foreign policy, 218, 62–64. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44843426 sasway, h.m & kelly, a.m. (2020). instructional behaviours affecting student attitudes towards science. community college journal of research and practice, 45(6), 385–402. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2020.1719937 schmidt, a.l. (2011). creativity in science: tensions between perception and practice. creative education, 2(5), 435–455. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2011.25063 simon, s., naylor, s., keogh, b., maloney, j., & downing, b. (2008). puppets promoting engagement and talk in science. international journal of science education, 30(9), 1229–1248. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690701474037 sloan, c. (2018). understanding spaces of potentiality in applied theatre. research in drama education: the journal of applied theatre and performance, 23(4), 582–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569783.2018.1508991 https://doi.org/10.5642/steam.20160202.04 https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1531a https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2012.728379 https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1486521 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-016-9602-z https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560x.2017.1356671 https://www.jstor.org/stable/44843426 https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2020.1719937 https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2011.25063 https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690701474037 https://doi.org/10.1080/13569783.2018.1508991 33 jcve 2023, 6(2): 18-33 smith, c.e. & paré, j.n. (2016). exploring klein bottles through pottery: a steam investigation. the mathematics teacher, 110(3), 208–214. https://doi.org/10.5951/mathteacher.110.3.0208 sousa, d.a. and pilecki, t. (2013). from stem to steam. using brain-compatible strategies to integrate the arts. sage. trommer-beardslee, h., dasen, a., pangle, w., & batzner, j. (2019). team hyena puppet: an interdisciplinary approach to making and teaching science through art. teaching artist journal, 17(1-2), 45–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/15411796.2019.1595969 tsakeni, m. (2022). stem education practical work in remote classrooms: prospects and future directions in the post-pandemic era. journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), 144-167. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.11 tsakeni, m. (2021). transition to online learning by a teacher education programme with limited 4ir affordances. research in social sciences and technology, 6(2), 129-147. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.15 tsurusaki, b.k., tzou, c., conner, l.d.c., & guthrie, m. (2017). 5th – 7th grade girls’ conceptions of creativity: implications for steam education. creative education, 8(2), 255–271. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2017.82020 turkka, j., haatainen, o., & aksela, m. (2017). integrating art into science education: a survey of science teachers’ practices. international journal of science education, 39(10), 1403– 1419. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2017.1333656 vennix, j., den brok, p., & taconis, r. (2018). do outreach activities in secondary stem education motivate students and improve their attitudes towards stem? international journal of science education, 40(11), 1263–1283. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1473659 yeboah, r., abonyi, u.k., & luguterah, a.w. (2019). making primary school science education more practical through appropriate interactive instructional resources: a case study of ghana. cogent education, 6(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2019.1611033 yuksekyalcin, g., tanriseven, i., & sancar-tokmak, h. (2016). mathematics and science teachers’ perceptions about using drama during the digital story creation process. educational media international, 53(3), 216–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2016.1236970 https://doi.org/10.5951/mathteacher.110.3.0208 https://doi.org/10.1080/15411796.2019.1595969 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.11 https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.15 https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2017.82020 https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2017.1333656 https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1473659 https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2019.1611033 https://doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2016.1236970 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 mason, l. e. (2019). dewey and political communication in the age of mediation 94 dewey and political communication in the age of mediation lance e. mason* indiana university kokomo *corresponding author: lanmason@iuk.edu received : 2019-09-24 revision : 2019-11-17 accepted : 2019-11-27 how to cite this paper: mason, l. e. (2019). dewey and political communication in the age of mediation. journal of culture and values in education, 2(3), 94-102. abstract the present sociopolitical environment in the united states is perpetually mediated and beset with information from innumerable sources. this paper argues that dewey’s conception of communication as a mutual act of meaning-making holds insights for explaining the connections between pervasive mediation and political polarization, in addition to understanding why political discourse has become more degrading in recent years. it also points the way toward viable solutions by arguing for the reorientation of schools toward valuable living experiences that are becoming less pronounced in the broader culture, such as sustained face-to-face engagement on matters of social import. keywords: pragmatism, democratic education, media literacy, media ecology introduction the aim of this paper is to employ dewey’s conception of communication derived from experience and nature (1924/1958) and applied to the public domain in the public and its problems (1927/1946) and other later political works in an analysis of contemporary democratic communication and how it can be improved. dewey offered continued social commentary and analyses throughout the formative years of mass media (radio and television), providing unique insight into the relationships between media and democracy that can inform present discourse on media and its democratic implications. in the later part of dewey’s career, he became a public intellectual engaged in many of the most important issues of the early 20th century. dewey’s social and political theories provide a way of thinking about the relationships between individuals and society that offer unique insight into the possibilities of sustaining a democratic polity under current societal dynamics. the present sociopolitical environment in the united states is perpetually mediated and beset with information from innumerable sources. research demonstrates, for example, that teens now spend over nine hours per day with media outside of school and homework (pew research center, 2018), and media use among adults is around 12 hours per day (emarketer, 2016). the journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 mason, l. e. (2019). dewey and political communication in the age of mediation 95 use of mobile devices and social media has changed how many people receive media and has increased both the volume and speed at which people can be exposed to political stories. building upon previous work (mason, 2016, 2017), this paper argues that, in this contemporary sociopolitical milieu, dewey’s conception of communication as a mutual act of meaning-making holds insights for explaining why u.s. culture has become far more polarized and why political discourse is degrading. it also points the way toward viable solutions. background walter lippmann (1922/2010, 1925/1993), often called the father of media studies, emerged after world war i with a pessimistic view of the possibilities of people-centered democracy. while movements for stronger forms of democracy had grown throughout the progressive era in the early 20th century, wwi had at least temporarily halted their momentum. after the war, the radio grew quickly as a mass medium of communication and added to the power to influence public opinion already wielded by newspapers. while working for the war department and state department during the war, lippmann was able to witness, from the inside, how government agencies worked in concert with news agencies to create support for what was initially an unpopular war. lippmann’s critiques of the limits of democracy were powerful and influential. dewey called lippmann’s 1922 book public opinion “perhaps the most effective indictment of democracy as currently conceived ever penned” (1922/1983, p. 337). dewey (1924/1958) argued that lippmann’s proposals, which focused on distributing power through various groups of experts that would work on matters that they most directly understood, would offer improvements to the existing state of affairs. however, dewey believed a more vigorous dissemination of decision-making was needed. to understand why, one must consider how dewey believed humans derive meaning from their experiences. in experience and nature (1924/1958), dewey identifies the communication-centric nature of mind, knowledge, and learning. he explains: “because of converse, social give and take, various organic attitudes become an assemblage of persons engaged in converse, conferring with one another, exchanging distinctive experiences, listening to one another, over-hearing unwelcome remarks, accusing and excusing. through speech a person dramatically identifies himself with potential acts and deeds; he plays many roles, not in successive stages of life but in a contemporaneously enacted drama. thus mind emerges” (p. 170). dewey asserts that people do not become social as they grow. rather, social interaction is innate among humans and is a central factor in growth and learning. the very conception of mind, from this perspective, is an emergent feature of continuous interaction, from which individuals begin to differentiate themselves from the world around them through social communication. this process is never complete, as such interactions continue to influence people throughout their lifespan. dewey’s conception offers a direct critique to the prevailing journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 mason, l. e. (2019). dewey and political communication in the age of mediation 96 liberal conception of self and mind that still persists in popular assumptions. these assumptions also underpin our institutions, including how media is structured. for present purposes, what is crucial to understand is that for dewey, the full import of these communicative environments necessarily involves direct, unencumbered communication between people. this is because for dewey, meaning is not something acquired in an isolated mind, it is something that is actively made in communication, within the act itself. dewey states: “the heart of language is not ‘expression’ of something antecedent, much less expression of antecedent though. it is communication; the establishment of cooperation in an activity in which there are partners, and in which the activity of each is modified and regulated by partnership. to fail to understand is to fail to come into agreement in action…. meaning is not indeed a psychic existence; it is primarily a property of behavior, and secondarily a property of objects. but the behavior of which it is a quality is a distinctive behavior; cooperative, in that response to another’s act involves contemporaneous response to a thing as entering into the other’s behavior, as this upon both sides” (1924/1958, p. 179). in this conception, meaning is not acquired in a manner analogous to a pipeline transferring materials between locations. rather, meaning must be actively made by participants within the process of communication. thus, the quality and variety of communication environments will have effects on the orientation of individuals, groups, and ultimately how discourse is both perceived and pursued. from this perspective, the particular character of democracy is an emergent feature derived from these environments, a conclusion that dewey decidedly offers in the public and its problems (1927/1946). dewey’s “great community” envisions a world in which people are grounded by direct participation in local matters that would provide them with first-hand political experience that would minimize manipulation by what walter lippmann (1922/2010) called the “stereotypes” of media. by comparison, people today are largely connected to distant others electronically while often having little substantive communication with those in immediate physical proximity. both dewey and lippmann understood that mediated social interactions that lack direct contextual experience foster a more easily manipulated population, but the implication of dewey’s theory of communication is that online interactions like those generally experienced in social media offer impoverished communicative experiences that will necessarily result in diminished understandings of social and political events. in such contexts, it becomes easier to fall victim to manipulation by vested interests and to demonize others because one is not engaging fully with the other. in a perpetually mediated culture with severely diminished direct engagement, vilifying the other becomes easy. change in media to understand present challenges, more must be said about media environments. fast-forward from dewey’s time to the present day: there are vastly expanded media choices and platforms, making the media landscape much more difficult to navigate for individual citizens and leaving journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 mason, l. e. (2019). dewey and political communication in the age of mediation 97 society without a sense of commonality. specialization and expertise have grown significantly, seemingly in a manner analogous to that advocated by lippmann. however, society appears to have reached another crisis of democracy similar to that encountered by dewey and lippmann roughly a century ago. trust in media is at a 40-year low (gallup, 2016) and has waned in step with a general decline in trust of public institutions. the expert model, as least it has been enacted, appears to be failure. the decline in public trust in media is directly related to changes in the media landscape. the emergence of cnn in 1980 and its early decision to feature oppositional talking heads became the norm for cable news (taibbi, 2019), teaching viewers to see social issues in binary terms that can be adjudicated in a manner analogous to a prize fight. this was exemplified by cnn’s long-running hit show crossfire, which was soon replicated by subsequent cable news outlets and network news. this alteration of political discourse began, however, when political debates were first televised, long before the advent of cable news. networks, in an attempt to bolster the interest in candidates talking about dry policy positions, began covering these events under the guiding metaphor of a boxing match, with an emphasis on gaffs and one-liners, to the detriment of substantive consequential analysis. the medium of television was instrumental in this combative turn. as a medium, screens favor action, and media theorists have long noted that television news gives more coverage to events that are visually appealing when compared with print (hart, 1994; postman & powers, 2008). the public pedagogy of the screen teaches that what is newsworthy is dramatic and incendiary. in an age of ubiquitous screens, should we be surprised, then, when a fast-talking, one-linedropping con man becomes president? new media technologies, including the internet and social media, have increased the volume of news while also facilitating niche marketing on an unprecedented scale, adding to a businessdriven process of market segmentation that became more prevalent in the late 20th century. the new media environments often present ideologically bifurcated readers and viewers with entirely different universes of discourse, fueling political polarization. newspapers, in response to shrinking add revenue due to pressures from diminished sales because of internet competition, have either closed or contracted, leading to diminishing local news reporting, less in-depth reporting, and a greater likelihood of reporting factual errors or passing along public relations material as news without thoroughly vetting it for bias or inaccuracies. newspapers increasingly depend on internet ad revenue, leading to heightened pressure for headlines or stories that are hyperbolic or sensationalistic. such stories are more likely to generate clicks and thus contribute to the company’s bottom line. in the public domain, new media technologies have facilitated collective action from likeminded individuals, bolstering justice-oriented political movements such as black lives matter and the #metoo movement. yet, simultaneously, new media has made communication across differences more difficult as citizens have become normalized to political information segmented into pre-formed ideological enclaves. the personalization of social media now allows an individually tailored, algorithmically curated media experience that decreases the journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 mason, l. e. (2019). dewey and political communication in the age of mediation 98 likelihood that one will be exposed to ideas that might contradict one’s opinions. the profit motive of social media bakes increasing attention into its design. if people are given more material that they like, they will visit the platform more often and stay longer, leading to increased advertising revenue for the company (alter, 2018). due to media consolidation, financial pressures from new media, and lax enforcement of fcc regulations, legacy media (print, radio, and television) have also contributed to separating viewers into ideological camps by treating political positions as catered demographics. this has clearly made it difficult for citizens to find common political ground. this, in combination with a relentless 40-year-long ideological war waged by the political right, has birthed consequences that have contributed to the emergence of nationalistic movements and other forms of social unrest in both the u.s. and europe. in addition, a move toward “neutral”—as opposed to objective—news coverage has created immense confusion for news consumers. the term “objective” here is intended as lippmann understood it, described as “practicing the scientific virtues of weighing the credibility of statements, applying probability and considering the quantitative importance of particular facts” (jansen, 2012, p. 91). for example, in the late 20th century and continuing today, many of the most pressing societal problems such as climate change, smoking, and the dangers of toxic pollution have scientific evidence that suggests clear action. a standard of objectivity would lead news outlets to report the results of science, but on these issues and many others, major new organizations followed the standard of neutrality and continually reported them as public debates. the work of oreskes and conway (2010) traces many of the agitators of these issues to moneyed interests such as industry groups and think tanks simultaneously funding other attacks on the public sphere in a movement known as neoliberalism. however, for our purposes, it is crucial to note the move by our profit-driven media to report crucial public matters in a way that serves their advertisers over the public. recent media developments have exposed the lax standards of journalism that have come to pervade mainstream media in the neoliberal era. the russiagate fiasco, including the willingness to report innuendo and speculation, to make sweeping generalizations, and to draw conclusions without sufficient evidence, has laid bare the inability of the media to be source of cohesion and meaning-making for the public. while copious news time was devoted to every angle on the russiagate conspiracy theory, comparatively little coverage has been given to the treatment of julian assange or the recent reimprisonment of chelsea manning, events that portend potentially genuine threats to freedom of the press. if russiagate had merely been an aberration, this concern could potentially be dismissed. unfortunately, the shoddy, unethical reporting seems to be emblematic of a larger trend toward disregarding evidence in order to craft a preferred narrative. one need only look at recent news coverage of the turmoil in venezuela to demonstrate this. media outlets, even respected organizations like npr, report the u.s. government narrative about venezuelan president nicolas maduro being a brutal dictator, but this is at least partially contradicted by the fact that the cia’s chosen interim-president, juan guaido, is able to host open rallies that call for government overthrow in the capital and other large cities, despite the fact that the venezuelan army has remained loyal to maduro. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 mason, l. e. (2019). dewey and political communication in the age of mediation 99 npr has recently provided extended reporting on the refugees who are fleeing venezuela to columbia and other neighboring countries, yet they fail to mention that the primary cause of the refugee crisis is the u.s. economic sanctions imposed on venezuela. the u.s. government narrative that the crisis has been caused by venezuelan government ineptitude goes unchallenged, as does the rationale for yet another u.s. overthrow of a south american government. these instances demonstrate that, while giving citizens information, the media do not place it in the proper context that will afford intelligent opinion and potentially prompt citizens to pressure politicians to act in different ways. what to do in the late 1920s, dewey became increasingly concerned about the control of business, what he called the “pecuniary interests” (1930/1999) over the media and the newly emerging commercial culture. dewey’s solution was to “socialize intelligence” (1939/1989). while he took pains to distinguish his suggestions from the prevailing strain of socialism during that time and he offered no direct prescriptions, one can imagine an intelligence response to the aforementioned challenges consisting of the passage of new public interest laws for media, labeling social media as public utilities so they could be more tightly regulated for the common good. a pragmatist’s perspective leaves room for practical solutions such as improving algorithms and technologies, but this could at best be only part of the answer. a substantive grappling with these challenges also requires recognizing the implications of dewey’s social and communicative conception of thought and mind for the internet and social media. for example, social media is currently a great way for otherwise insular individuals to find others with common interests; however, these groups often can and do remain insular, creating echo chambers that dampen their understandings of broader affairs and further contributing to the aforementioned phenomena of polarization. in dewey’s conception of the “great community,” it is a precondition that “different groups interact flexibly and fully in connection with other groups” (1927/1946, p. 147). this could conceivably be improved by changing the ways people use social media, but such environments would also have to be countered by countervailing practices in both the public and in educational institutions. in dewey’s conception, substantive communication has the potential, if properly fostered, to disrupt differences and allow divided groups to achieve common action toward positive social change, and this must necessarily be found, to a large extent, outside the bounds of mediated communication. a clear reckoning with present challenges must also lead us to consider the possibility that even if we manage to vastly improve the content coverage of media, the disjointed nature of the internet and social media may simply be incompatible with the meaning-making functions needed to power a thriving democratic culture. dewey (1927/1946) reminds us that: “meaning depends upon relation to what it imports, to what its social consequences are. this import cannot be determined unless the new is placed in relation to the old, to what has journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 mason, l. e. (2019). dewey and political communication in the age of mediation 100 happened and been integrated into the course of events. without coordination and consecutiveness, events are not events, but mere occurrences, intrusions; an event implies that out of which a happening proceeds. hence if we discount the influence of private interests in procuring suppression, secrecy, and misrepresentation, we have here an explanation of the triviality and ‘sensational’ quality of so much of what passes as news” (p. 180). needless to say, the circumstances described by dewey have become vastly more pronounced in new media environments. as long as profit is the singular driving motive of media companies, they will be compelled to emphasize drama, scandal, and sensationalism despite the otherwise good intentions of reporters and editors. this leaves the question of whether education can offer an adequate response to these societal challenges. how should education respond? dewey (1916/2009) argued that you must figure out the kind of society you want to create before considering your education system. presently, our education system speeds students along in a culture of diminished contextual meaning-making. spend any significant amount of time in, say, an average elementary school setting, and you are likely to witness students with electronic devices working in isolation on “teacher-proof” activities created by computer programmers. many have criticized the attempt to diminish the status of teachers through scripted curricula and the standardization movement that is often the impetus, yet far fewer have openly criticized the digital devices that perfect the ability to implement canned lessons and collect data. if so much of our electronic culture is user-friendly, what are the arguments for immersing young students in it? if the culture is lacking the personal connections that add context that can cut through the stereotypic representations that pervade the media, why is cultivating these relationships not one of our primary educational goals? if our political culture is disintegrating, why is social studies not our main subject of concern for students? at present, schools expend much of their energy replicating the problematic biases of the larger culture, emphasizing speed and a narrow conception of performance over substance and depth. while schools cannot singlehandedly steady our cultural imbalances, they could be intelligently directed at ameliorating these problems. to do so, we must have a sober conversation about the role of media technologies in a democracy, and dewey’s conceptions provide a sound avenue for such a reconsideration. among many potential avenues for change, dewey’s analysis suggests that “slow schools” should perhaps be more of a focus. in addition, media literacy as it is currently conceptualized teaches students to investigate meaning and bias in media messages, and in its more robust forms to examine how media production techniques influence perception and understanding. these are important skills to make universal, certainly, but in order to substantively address the perpetually mediated and commodified social environment of new media, education needs to take a broader view. this suggests a few directions for expanding medial literacy education. first, new media environments should become the subject of inquiry. how does social media change our relationships with one another? how does it change how we see ourselves and our journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 mason, l. e. (2019). dewey and political communication in the age of mediation 101 society? citizens that are literate about new media need to consider these questions. second, schools must lead students toward a deeper interrogation of the rhetorical purposes of language. students need to be able to recognize techniques of rhetorical manipulation in both written and spoken forms. third, students should be given ample time to talk through complex social issues with one another. the school is an obvious place to begin a reclamation of direct, face-to-face interaction about matters of social import. what once might have been considered implicitly acquired skills in direct exchanges with others, now, with environments that are so pervasively mediated by technologies, these same abilities must be explicitly taught and practiced. lastly, educators must come to see the connection between pervasive technologies in the broader culture and the drive for standardization in schools. the world of the algorithm is also the world of the standardized test. it is an imagined world of manipulation and control by code and numbers. educators must come to recognize the dangers of what dewey called the “quantification of life” that produces “intellectual and moral mediocrity” (1930/1999, p. 12), which subsequently leaves students in the position to be manipulated by profit-driven corporations. as an alternative, educators must fight to create spaces of intellectual freedom for students that allow them to push back against both pervasive mediation and the commodified culture that created it, instead imagining alternative ways of living and being. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 mason, l. e. (2019). dewey and political communication in the age of mediation 102 references alter, a. (2018). irresistible: the rise of addictive technology and the business of keeping us hooked. new york, ny: penguin books. dewey, j. (1916/2009). democracy and education. greensboro, nc: wlc books. dewey, j. (1922/1983). review of public opinion by walter lippmann. in j. a. boydston (ed.), the collected works of john dewey, 1882-1953: the middle works, volume 13: 1921-1922 (pp. 337-344). carbondale and edwardsville, il: southern illinois university press. dewey, j. (1924/1958). experience and nature. mineola, ny: dover publications, inc. dewey, j. (1927/1946). the public and its problems. athens, oh: swallow press books. dewey, j. (1930/1999). individualism old and new. amherst, ny: prometheus books. dewey, j. (1939/1989). freedom and culture. amherst, ny: prometheus books. emarketer. (2016). growth in time spent with media is slowing. retrieved on july 14, 2018 from https://www.emarketer.com/article/growth-time-spent-with-mediaslowing/1014042 gallup. (2016). americans trust in mass media sinks to new low. retrieved on july 3, 2018 from https://news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinksnew-low.aspx hart, r. p. (1994). seducing america: how television charms the modern voter. new york, ny: oxford university press. jansen, s. c. (2012). walter lippmann: a critical introduction to media and communication theory. new york, ny: peter lang. lippmann, w. (1922/2010). public opinion. blacksburg, va: wilder publications. lippmann, w. (1925/1993). the phantom public. new brunswick, nj: transaction publishers. mason, l. e. (2016). cultivating civic habits: a deweyan analysis of the national council for the social studies position statement on guidelines for social studies teaching and learning. education & culture: the journal of the john dewey society, 32(1), 87-110. mason, l. e. (2017). the significance of democracy and education for 21st century education. education & culture: the journal of the john dewey society, 33(1), 4157. oreskes, n., & conway, e. m. (2010). merchants of doubt: how a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming. london, uk: bloomsbury press. pew research center. (2018). teens, social media & technology 2018. retrieved on april 29, 2018 from www.pewresearch.org postman, n., & powers, s. (2008). how to watch tv news, revised edition. new york, ny: penguin books. taibbi, m. (2019). hate inc: why today’s media makes us despise one another. or books. https://www.emarketer.com/article/growth-time-spent-with-media-slowing/1014042 https://www.emarketer.com/article/growth-time-spent-with-media-slowing/1014042 https://news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx http://www.pewresearch.org/ journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 2 2022 pp. 80-98 friendship as a value in academic ethos małgorzata abassya a. faculty of international and political studies, jagiellonian university, kraków, poland email: malgorzata.abassy@uj.edu.pl article info received: july 27, 2022 revised: september 26, 2022 accepted: october 12, 2022 how to cite abassy, m. (2002). friendship as a value in academic ethos. journal of culture and values in education, 5(2), 80-98. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.21 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract the aim of the research work reported here was to clarify the semantics of the notion of “friendship”. the main research question is to what extent friendship is recognised by students and teachers as a value constituting the identity of the jagiellonian university’s academic community. from it follows another one: what role does friendship play in the value system of the academic ethos– does it have the potential to clarify or transform values enshrined in documents and recognised as enduring? this study uses qualitative data generated from the collected research material: semistructured interviews and online surveys with closed questions, single and multiple choice. content analysis was used to examine the interviews by identifying words, phrases and sentences related to the research tasks. the conclusions can be summarised as: 1.friendship functions in horizontal relationships; 2. friendship is an essential value of university ethos, realised through its other, already recognised and acknowledged, values: fair treatment, kindness, responsibility and respect for the other; 3. friendship evolves in the system of references; 4. friendship realised as a value of the ethos leads to a merger of the professional and the private spheres; 5. friendship is automatically excluded when a vertical relationship appears. keywords friendship; university; academic ethos; academic community; higher education. 10.46303/jcve.2022.21 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.21 81 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 introduction polish universities are changing their identity due to two main factors: the drive to internationalise research and its results, reinforced by the ‘act of 20 july 2018. the law on higher education and science’ (ministry of science and higher education, 2018) and the development of digital technologies transforming the nature of interpersonal relationships. the latter aspect became particularly evident during the covid-19 pandemic, initial observations suggest shifts on the value scale from relationality to efficacy, from collectivism to individualism, from a long distance from authority to its reduction, as well as from a sense of agency to an expectation of guidance and rules. at the same time, university students have been reporting a decline in their sense of general well-being, ranging from apathy to depression.1 the enforced isolation provoked questions about the meaning and nature of interpersonal bonds stronger than those between fellow students – about friendship, its understanding and significance. state of the research the changes taking place at polish universities cover three areas: management (kromolicka, 2017), education (sławek, 2017) and research (potulicka, 2017), all interrelated. their common foundation is shaped by values, which are an expression of ideas and related emotions. the value map of polish universities is made up of truth, kindness, fairness, reliability, tolerance, loyalty, self-reliance, honesty, dignity, and freedom expressed in akademicki kodeks wartości (academic code of values), (jagiellonian university, 2003). friendship did not feature among these as a distinct quality. in research on friendship, one can notice a large disproportion between polish and foreign universities. while the importance of friendship in human development in the context of the educational system has been researched in relation to foreign university students (brooks, 2007; heron, 2019; rybak & mcandrew, 2006), less attention has been paid to the understanding and realisation of friendship between university teachers and students (heiman, 2000; loving, 2011) and among lecturers (sonu, 2013). from a psychological perspective, friendship represents one of the fundamental human needs (chasin & radtke, 2013; hays, 1985; hartup & stevens, 1997; tokuno, 1986). hypotheses and objectives friendship as a value plays a significant role in shaping the contemporary academic ethos. the concept and the phenomenon it generates absorb the values traditionally attributed to the university, making them more comprehensible and easier for students to adopt. the aim of the research work reported here was to clarify the semantics of the term friendship within the space of the academic community at the jagiellonian university (ju), 1 open-ended in nature, the observation was carried out by the author in 2019–2021 on groups of students attending university courses. they should only be regarded as an inspiration for undertake research and an impetus to formulate research problems. the diagram for the observations is taken from hofstede’s cultural dimensions, cf. national culture, in hofstede’s insights, https://hi.hofstede-insights.com/national-culture [accessed: 25.10.2019]. https://hi.hofstede-insights.com/national-culture 82 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 poland’s oldest school of higher education with an established tradition and prestige, which makes it provide a model of good practice for other universities. as the jagiellonian university also enjoys international recognition, knowledge of the transformation of values taking place within its walls and of the identity of polish academia will be a factor in facilitating the establishment and nurturing of cooperation with foreign universities. friendship is a word sensitive to cultural contexts: it is shaped in a network of interpersonal connections, and these grow out of mentalities and ways of constructing perceptions of the world. the latter manifest themselves in language. calling someone a friend entails a set of expectations and behaviours that are not necessarily the same across cultures (wierzbicka, 1999, p. 85). understanding differences and similarities provides tools for the creation of a sustainable foundation for academic collaboration less exposed to misunderstandings arising from different mentalities. the main research question is: to what extent is friendship recognised by students and teachers as a value constituting the identity of the academic community at the jagiellonian university? from this follows another one: what role does friendship play in the value system of the academic ethos of the ju – does it have the potential to clarify or transform values that are enshrined in documents and considered enduring? in what direction is this transformation heading: strengthening the traditional type of master-student relationship, or rather bridging the distance, favouring the horizontal or vertical type of relationship? theoretical background: philosophical dimensions of friendship the starting point for reflection on the essence of friendship is the thought of aristotle in his nicomachean ethics (aristotle, book viii), where three motivations for establishing and nurturing this type of relationship are distinguished: pleasure, benefit and the friend’s virtues. it can also be put differently, in connection with the three types of goods, and we would then speak of “utilitarian friendship”, based on a calculated exchange of goods, “hedonistic friendship”, the essence of which is pleasure, and “altruistic friendship”, based on excellence and morally beautiful, the highest in the hierarchy of friendships. according to the stanford encyclopaedia of philosophy “friendship, as understood here, is a distinctively personal relationship that is grounded in a concern on the part of each friend for the welfare of the other, for the other’s sake, and that involves some degree of intimacy” (helm, 2021). it is combined with ‘love’ in its non-sexual formulation as philia (cooper, 1997, p. 625). however, in contrast to love in the above sense, friendship is more concrete, directed rather towards a particular person than an ideal, requiring reciprocity, interaction. friendship, by contrast, is essentially a kind of relationship grounded in a particular kind of special concern each has for the other as the person she is; and whereas we must make conceptual room for the idea of unrequited love, unrequited friendship is senseless. consequently, accounts of friendship tend to understand it not merely as a case of reciprocal love of some form (together with mutual acknowledgment of this love), 83 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 but as essentially involving significant interactions between the friends – as being in this sense a certain kind of relationship (helm, 2021, para. 3). friendship involves a desire for psychological identification with the object of friendship, through shared interests, sharing views on important issues and spending time together, however without the impulse to physically unite with the object of friendship (thomas, 1989, p. 185). friendship between individuals who are at different levels of the university hierarchy can be debatable. while it is conceivable on the part of the student to want to identify with the teacher because of the latter’s personal qualities, knowledge and experience, the reverse identification, i.e. of the teacher with the student, is rather difficult to imagine. a similar relationship occurs when reciprocity is taken into account. even if both parties refer to the bond between them as friendship, the semantic emphasis will have a different colour in either case. this aspect of friendship will be discussed on the basis of empirical findings. intimacy, understood as insight into a friend’s affairs, requires both commitment and openness. this is another characteristic of friendship: “i tell my friends things about myself that i would not dream of telling others, and i expect them to make me privy to intimate details of their lives” (annis, 1987, p. 351), according to some researchers, it can also manifest itself in the desire to share the same living space (moore & frederick, 2017, p. 119; sherman, 1987, p. 589). the trust necessary for the manifestation of this trait is based on common values and views (telfer 1970-71, p. 227). obviously, this is not a complete community since a complete congruence of values is, firstly, impossible and, secondly, would not provide space for mutual enrichment. aristotle’s words that a friend is the other self should be seen as the goal of friendship to which one aspires and not as something existing in fact. the commonality of views and values coupled with the space occupied and enriched by intimacy is strengthened through joint action. individual friendship relationships extended to more than one person and cultivated as part of university tradition translate into a concern for the common good. however, there is also an opposing tendency to exclude those who are not counted as friends (lintott, 2015, p. 334). in that case, the university becomes an isolated space, an “ivory tower”. thus, the question of friendship as part of university ethos is at the same time a question about the possibilities of co-operation with the university’s environment: public benefit and informal educational institutions, as well as all kinds of organisations whose aim is to cultivate timeless values. research tasks • to explore the semantic scope of the word ‘friendship’ as perceived by jagiellonian university students and teachers • to explore the nature of horizontal and vertical communication structures in relationships described as friendship 84 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 methodology sample the narrative interviews were collected from 26 teachers and 30 students. they were invited to give an interview via an e-mail invitation. the respondents were selected from the ju’s employees and students. 120 e-mails to teachers and 150 to students were sent. the obtained numbers, 26 and 30 respectively, are those who answered invitations, accepted them and, finally, gave interviews. significant number of the e-mails with invitations remained unanswered. 1% of those who answered, excused themselves because of “lack of time”. another 1% did not appear at the arranged meeting. there was no selection regarding either sex or department. according to the initial assumption of the research, the ju’s community was regarded as whole with the respect to “teachers – students” division. the online surveys were constructed in two versions: for teachers and for students separately, although the questions were similar. in the introductory part the surveyed were asked about being employee/being student at the ju, and they were asked to indicate how long they work/learn at the ju. those who marked not being a teacher/a student at the ju’s were automatically excluded by the system from further answering. the main part consisted of 6 questions concerning the words indicating horizontal and vertical type of relations (multiple choice questions), space of the student – teacher interactions, and formal/informal salutations and channels of communication (single choice questions). the invitation to fill the survey was sent to all teachers and students who had active ju’s e-mail address in 2021, which makes 4737 teachers and 34432 students. it was filled by 200 teachers and 491 students. the surveys included introductory questions about the length of employment/studying at the ju. the results are presented in table 1 and table 2. table 1. responses to question “how long have you been working at the ju?” year of experience percentage (n) more than 30 years 21,1% (42 people) 21 – 30 years 20,6% (41 people) 11 – 20 years 35,2% (70 people) 5 – 10 years 11.1% (22 people) 3-5 years 4,5% (9 people) less than 3 years 7,5% (15 people) 85 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 table 2. responses to question “how long have you been studying at the ju?” years of study percentage (n) more than 10 years 0,8% (4 people) 5-10 years 7,1% (35 people) 3-5 years 25,1% (123 people) less than 3 years 67% (329 people) instruments the narrative interviews were conducted online, via skype or teams. the process consisted of several stages. at the first step the potential interviewees were invited to give the interview and in the e-mail the purpose of the research was explained, as well the details about the research grant and its contractors. the statement of anonymity of the whole process of the interview giving and the data processing was ensured. at the second stage an e-mail with the appointed date confirmation was sent on the eve of the planned meeting. the very interview constituted the third stage: after saying “good morning”, the purpose and general rules were recapitulated and the kick-off question was asked. the interviewers did not stop the interviewee and avoided directing the speaking. they engaged themselves only when the interviewee signalized, verbally or by prolonged silence, that they did not know what to say. in such case one of the questions was asked: “do you recognize the university ethos?”, “tell me about your friends at the university, please”, “what values do you regard as important in academia?”. the interview was recorded on outer device, such as dictaphone. at the stage of the data processing the conversation was written down. all the words indicating the interviewee identity, surnames, proper names, “empty words”, such as “yyy…”, “hm…”, repetition, etc. were removed. the interviews were marked with symbols: t – for teachers and s for students, and order numbers: 1-26 for the teachers and 1-26 for the students. finally, the interviews were marked as t. 1, t. 2, ….t. 26, and s. 1, s. 2, …s. 30. the online surveys were put into google disc and made available to the surveyed via links. the links were disseminated by the faculties’ and institutes’ offices. the results were obtained in the form of summaries and charts on the google disc. data collection and analysis the process of analyses consisted of two parts: the analysis of the interviews and the analysis of the online surveys data. content analysis was applied to identify and interpret the meaning of the pre-determined key-words such as “friendship” and familiar to it, “teacher” and “student” in the texts of the interviews. this method was chosen because it is designated to identify and interpret meaning in recorded form of communication by isolating small pieces of the data that represent salient concepts (kleinheksel et al. 2020, p. 127; kolbe & burnett 1991, p. 243-250;). i assumed that the texts of the semi-structured interviews are a rich source of information about the phenomenon of “friendship” (julien 2008, 121-123). i stayed close to the text and described 86 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 what was occurring on the surface (graneheim & lundman 2004, p. 107). such an approach was determined by the fact that the interviews were conducted online and observing emotions by facial expressions, gestures or changes in voice intonation made latent content analysis impossible. qualitative manifest content analysis helped me to organize the texts of the interviews into categories that reflected shared meaning. to sum up, the method i applied to the textual analysis was qualitative manifest content analysis and it consisted of the following stages: my immersion into the data, identifying units of meaning (“friendship”, “student”, “teacher”), condensation of the phrases by shortening them without losing their original meaning, coding – by using the above-mentioned units of meaning and categorizing. “friendship” was the leading theme. an effort to apply maxqda software to conduct the qualitative analyses was also taken (gizzi & rӓdiker 2021, p. 35) but at the final stage manual coding was applied (saldana 2009). it was more time-consuming but it proved to be more precise and allowed me to avoid many cross-checking processes. after the words had been found, small pieces of the texts were isolated. then, i searched for the words that occurred in the neighborhood of the key words. i used them to identify the semantics of the key-words. the analysis allowed me to precise the semantics of the word “friendship”, which was the main purpose of that part of the research. application of the content analysis method allowed me to consider both the participant and the context of the category of “friendship” the data obtained in the process of online survey data gathering were subjected to quantitative analysis. i focused on three purposes. first of all, i measured differences between the groups of students and teachers concerning the frequency of the words used to describe the type of relations. secondly, i used it to assess relationships between such variables as friendship, mating, rivalry, mentorship, etc. withing the frames of the same group (teachers and students, relatively). and thirdly, i used it to test the hypothesis that “friendship” as a concept describing relations occupies high position among other words. i used descriptive statistics which implied focusing just on the sample. making conclusions on the whole population of the ju was not a purpose in this research. results the results were divided into two groups, similarly to the source materials and methodological division. only at the final stage of the analyses conclusions on their complementarity were made. performance of research task one: investigation of the semantic scope of the word ‘friendship’ as perceived by the jagiellonian university students and teachers in the relationships: teacher-teacher, teacher-student-student-teacher, student-student, friendship is present in all three forms: as “hedonistic friendship”, “altruistic friendship” and “utilitarian friendship”. however, the proportions of these three types of friendship are different. 87 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 teacher-teacher relationship the dominant type of friendship is hedonistic, based on the joy of spending time together and sharing academic passions. we get together and it is great. that is what i think is also such a measure of friendship, that even if we do not see each other for a couple of months, then later we do not need to adjust somehow. it starts to work immediately, and this also seems to me to be very important in my perception of friendship, also without such preconceptions, some unnecessary expectations. i do not have expectations of my friend, he does not have expectations of me. and that works out great (t. 12). in the case of the junior teacher-senior teacher relationship, the friendship is tinged with a sense of responsibility and the consequences of recognising someone as a friend, changing the type of relationship. in this type of relationship, there is a tinge of mentoring, guidance: “he was not only my champion in terms of academic work, but also kind of friend, where he supported me in various moments in life that were not easy, because that is the way life worked out for me” (t. 12). a narrow group of teachers draw a clear line between their professional, university life from their private life, attributing friendship only to the latter sphere: although i spend time at work from morning to evening and talk to people about various topics and am close to them, i would hardly call anyone a friend. i have friends outside of work. i like these collaborators a lot and often somewhere private topics come up as well, but it is not friendship. i do not think it is good, although if friendship like that comes along, then so be it, but i think these are some very rare cases (t. 17) friendship is also excluded in the superior-subordinate relationship, although both persons involved are still university teachers: “from the point of view of a head of unit, such things like friendship or camaraderie already look completely different” (t. 11), “it is quite lonely at the top – heads of units do not have friends” (t. 14). teacher-student relationship teacher-student relationship inherits some of the characteristics of the senior teacher-junior teacher relationship. to the greatest extent, an altruistic type of friendship is revealed here as the desire to do good and to support the development of the one who is lower in the hierarchy. on the one hand, there is a sense of responsibility for the young person and on the other one can notice the student’s expectation that the senior fellow student/teacher will act as an authority. friendship is seen as singling someone out from the crowd, and this causes teachers to abandon friendship with students in favour of treating everyone fairly: not with students, and i will say that this is not, in my opinion, a good relationship. the practical, pragmatic insight convinces me not to have such a relationship and to strive for it. and this is because, in my opinion, it creates a sense of undervaluing and even unfair treatment of the group as a whole in the other participants of a given course, the students. and i make no secret of the fact that in all my behaviour as a teacher, i 88 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 absolutely strive for, i have this as a motto in front of me: fair or equal treatment of all students’ (t. 7). the desire for fair i.e. equal treatment also appears from what the students say: “(...) when the teacher has a different attitude towards me than the other students, i feel bad thinking of them” (s. 5). trust in the teacher’s competence is combined with emotional distance: “well, it seems to me that such relationships based on help, on support in the academic sphere should revolve within some kind of professionalism there and not go into such a sphere of more private contacts” (s. 22). in the case of attempts to reduce the distance, students experience discomfort: “i feel quite uncomfortable when my tutor writes to me on facebook, even though it is an accepted form of communication and it can be done”’ (s. 13). student-student relationship here friendship emerges naturally as a consequence of learning together, studying for exams and spending leisure time together. according to the students, a more casual atmosphere than in secondary school is conducive to the formation of intimate relationships. these, in turn, provide support and a sense of belonging: when it comes to friendships born at university, it was not just that i came to a foreign city and already knew people and only spent time with them, but i also just started to integrate into the community. and that is where i met a lot of great people with whom we form such a group of friends, we learn together, we experience our university successes and failures together, and my experience tells me that no matter what the situation is i can write to this group and i know that these people will help me. we go to different classes together, so also on such a purely educational level we can help one another, that is, we can study together for the courses we attend and gain a lot of interesting insights and comments on our own work. for instance, i can write to my friend who is in the same course and ask him if what i am doing is ok; if my presentation covers the subject, if my essay is appropriately worded for the subject matter of the class, if the topic of my paper is appropriate for the needs of that particular course. you can get that kind of help. but you can also be together at the weekend’ (s. 13). in the perception of contemporary students, the university is a place where lifelong friendships are formed: “(...) it will not end at university” (s. 9); ”(…) it will not end. it is so different and so deep that i think if it ended at university, i would be very disappointed and i would find it very hard to accept” (s. 16). friendship within and beyond the university space friendship is characterised by the sharing of space and intimacy, understood as consent to let a friend have insight into one’s private matters and a willingness to engage in them (intimacy understood as into-me-see). in the course of the research, it was noticeable that there was an expectation of the friend to be willing to make an effort to constantly get to know a given person, to be for them (with the assumption of reciprocity). the shared university space proved to be an insufficient condition for a relationship to be called friendship. in all cases, the shared 89 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 passion, the love of learning, the sense of belonging to the university community needed to be complemented by spending free time together, topped off by an invitation to one’s intimate space – home. only then was the relationship called friendship. the other thing that influences such a friendship is that i remember the first time i visited him and spent the night at his house. so that is something that also seems to me like such a major step: that you are just at someone’s house, you blur the boundaries. this university is alive because we have common interests, but they go beyond it, they move into the private sphere (t. 19). extra-linguistic dimensions of friendship friendship shapes and develops in a system of references such as space, age, role – student, teacher, mentor/tutor” “and my conclusion would be that the place we are in, friendships, are shaped in a system of references. friendships as one type of relationship they change. i mean they change because the relational arrangement changes” (t. 19). space, the workplace, influences relationships by changing their place in the university hierarchy: “the moment they graduate and decide to write their phd dissertation with me in a group (…) then on that first day we just switch to first-name terms” (t. 5). in this case, there is no talk of friendship, or even camaraderie, but the emotional distance is reduced, in contrast to that favoured with students: “it does not mean at all that we have suddenly become comrades, but i think we work better. whereas with the students i definitely think that this distance should remain” (t. 5). it shortens even further when a phd student becomes an academic: my phd thesis adviser decides to offer getting onto first-name terms. this is something that changes the mutual relationship a great deal and, on the other hand, allows you to see yourself a little bit differently. in the self-assessment, it is precisely this issue of friendship, but friendship in the academic world, understood here also as a kind of recognition: ‘you are one of us’, an academic recognition as well, because it also seems interesting to me that this takes place on this academic level, academic integrity. (t. 19) the selected quotes are representative of the themes discussed. it was in a similar fashion that many respondents addressed questions about friendship – its understanding, role and place, both in the university space and in non-university life. the conclusions can be put as follows: • friendship functions in horizontal relationships: it is a relationship of equals whose offer for each other in terms of values is more or less the same. when there is an imbalance, the relationship is referred to by other terms, and even if the word friendship appears, it is with the proviso that we are talking about an unequal relationship: master-student, mentor-student. the student-teacher relationship is an asymmetrical one. as such, it excludes friendship the way aristotle understood it. 90 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 • friendship is an essential value of university ethos, realised through its other already recognised and acknowledged values:2 fair treatment, kindness, responsibility and respect for the other. • friendship evolves in the system of references: changing one’s place in the university hierarchy, for example by changing status from student to doctoral student or obtaining a doctoral degree, results in a reduction/increase of emotional distance. • friendship realized as an ethos value leads to a connection between the professional and the private sphere: the absence of such a link moves the relationship into the realm of phenomena that are already beyond the semantics of ‘friendship’. • friendship is automatically excluded when a vertical relationship emerges: respondents argued that ‘friendship’ in the teacher-student relationship would potentially be an obstacle to the fulfilment of the tasks arising from the teacher’s vocation: being an authority, a guide, a mentor, providing a personal role model and ensuring fair treatment. recognising someone as a friend, i.e. an equal, was interpreted as: a) a kind of promotion and recognition – “you are one of us”; b) abuse towards other students lack of equal treatment. performance of research task two: exploration of the nature of horizontal and vertical communication structures in relationships described as friendships: the task was carried out via online surveys, in the form of single-choice and multiple-choice questions. the results concerning the online surveys were organized as answers to the following questions: • what is the length of employment/studying of the surveyed? (table 1, table 2) • what words describe present state of the horizontal structures of the relations: student – student, student – teacher? (table 3) • what words describe present state of the vertical structure of the relations student – teacher, teacher -student? (table 4) • what words describe ideal/desired state of the vertical structure of the relations student – teacher, teacher -student? (table 5) • what are preferred channels and forms of addressing for students and teachers, respectively? (table 6) • what are preferred spaces of contacts, university vs. non-university space, for students and teachers respectively? (table 7) 2 the values shaped over the centuries by university tradition form a map that facilitates navigating the web of relationships. its landmarks are shaped by the values detailed in the akademicki kodeks wartości (jagiellonian university, 2003). they have gained a practical dimension in the document kodeks. dobre praktyki w szkołach wyższych (code. good practices in higher education polish rectors foundation, 2007). the legal framework is defined by the statutes of the jagiellonian university, while the way forward is symbolically delineated by the jagiellonian university development strategy until 2030 (jagiellonian university, 2021). 91 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 they were presented as tables. the two first are placed in the part “sample”. it is worth noticing that among the teachers who filled the survey there were 42 people (21,1%) who had worked at the university more than 30 years, 41 (21,6%) – working between 21 and 30 years, 70 (35,2%) – 11 – 20 years, 22 (11,1%) – 5 – 10 years, 9 (4,5%) – 3 – 5 years, and 15 (7,5%) – less than 3 years. the table shows that most of the surveyed people have worked at the university more than ten years and almost half of them – more than twenty years. it means that they shaped their attitude towards teaching process and university values at the 1990’s. historical circumstances, connected with the dissolution of the soviet union and liberating poland from its influence determined in them strong feeling of vocation, responsibility for the society and call for leadership. they also belong to the generation for which higher education was a kind of ennoblement due to the fact that a tiny amount of the society graduated from university. in 1990/1991 the scholarisation index in poland was 9,80% whereas in 2010.2011 it rose till 40,8% (maciołek 2016, p. 37). the younger ones who have worked at the university less than 10 years make 23,1% of the whole number of the surveyed. they do not have significant influence on the university educational policy in its formal aspects but they affect students in informal ways due to the fact of belonging to the same generation. in turn, among the students who filled the survey there were 329 (67%) people who have studied at the university less than 3 years, 123 (25,1%) have studied 3-5 years, 35 (7,1%) – more than 5 years, and 4 (0,8%) people more than 10 years. the table shows that the biggest group of students consists of those who have just started their “adventure” with the university and, mentally, they belong to the “digital epoch” in which information is easily accessible. they expect from a teacher flexibility, leadership and rather general knowledge of the world and relations, a kind of “know-how to live”, than just a pack of information on a subject. in this respect the length of employment and possibility to affect students’ minds seem to be tightly connected. the ju’s community create sub-groups of the students’ one and the teachers’ one. the question about relations within the groups, and the place of friendship, was asked to identify the presence of such a concept and phenomenon at all. let us remind the question asked: “what words describe present state of the horizontal structures of the relations: student – student, student – teacher?” the results are presented in table 3. table 3. responses to question “what words describe present state of the horizontal structures of the relations: student – student, student – teacher?” descriptive word student-student relation. (percentage) teacher–teacher relation. (percentage) colleague 82,5% 83,9% friend 41,5% 28,1% buddy 44,4% 11,1% mate 69% 79,9% rival 9,6% 8,5% authority -----26,6% 92 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 the table 3 shows that the relations among students are much warmer than those in the group of teachers. let us also remind that here the surveyed ones could choose more than one word. “colleague” and “mate” are emotionally neutral, and they were pointed to as describing the type of relations most often. in the light of the general research question i posed, the words “friend” and “buddy” are the most interesting ones. while almost half of the surveyed students used these words to describe their relations, less than every third surveyed teachers regarded other teacher as “friend”, and a little bit more than every tenth – as a “buddy”. one remark is important here: the result of such little popularity of the word “buddy” can have connection with its semantics and vocabulary content of both groups: the youth language is different than that of the older generation. nevertheless, among students “friend” is more often recognizable word to describe another student than it is among teachers. the words “authority” indicates that there is hierarchy among teachers. the factor was not observed within the group of students. after vertical relations were recognized, two questions about the words describing horizontal relations were posed. first, the present state was observed. here only one answer could be pointed to by a surveyed one. the results are presented in table 4. table 4. responses to question “what words describe present state of the vertical structure of the relations student – teacher, teacher -student?” descriptive words student – teacher relation (percentage) teacher – student relation (percentage) colleague 6,5% 20,6% friend 2,6% 7% buddy 1,6% 1% mentee 57% 69,3% pupil/teacher 92,1% 66,3% acquaintance 10% 22,1% authority 51,3% ------ as we can see, identification of the place by teaching process is most common: 92,1% students regard themselves as subjects of the educational process with the figure of a teacher ahead, whereas 66,3% teachers see students simply as “pupils” – those who are to be taught. in the interesting for this research aspect of “friendship” the results show that neither teacher nor student is recognized by the other as “friend”. only 2,6% students tend to perceive a teacher as a friend. in the teachers the number is a little bit higher – 7% tend to perceive a student as a friend. it is surprising because, intuitively, one could assume that the youth would tend to deformalize relations. on the other hand, the semantic of the word “friendship” needs to be considered and subjected to more profound investigations. the results show that students expect from a teacher being an authority – it is more than half of the surveyed ones. in this 93 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 respect the teachers and the students meet, which is supported by the choice of the word mentor/mentee. 69,3% of the teachers want to be mentors for their students and 57% students expect mentorship. it seems that this is the area where friendship, understood as selfless concern for the other’s good, can be flourished. the present state is an interesting starting point to create desirable future relations. with this idea in mind another question was posed: “what words describe ideal/desired state of the vertical structure of the relations student – teacher, teacher -student?”. the results are presented in table 5. table 5. responses to question “what words describe ideal/desired state of the vertical structure of the relations student – teacher, teacher -student?” descriptive word students (percentage) teachers (percentage) friendship 3,5% 1,5% mating 5,5% 0,5% hierarchical, traditional relation 3,9% 2,5% master-pupil/follower 28,7% 47,7% equal relation formally defined 58,5% 47,7% the results show that transparent norms are expected. both students and teachers are aware that “equality” does not mean doing the same. it should be based on formal regulations on rights and obligations that are derived from knowledge, life experience and goals. the regulations are regarded as the result of previously conducted discussion and consensus resulting from mutual understanding. 58,5 % students and 47,7% teachers expressed strong need for such equality. it seems that the regulations are a kind of prerequisite for other types of relations, such as master – pupil follower, which is supported by 47,7% teachers and 28,7% pupils. in the latter answer the need of mentor – mentee relationship sounds. nevertheless, structural frames that are recognized as formal regulations, are expected. subsequently, a question about salutations and channels of communication was asked. in the polish language and the ju’s cultural tradition the words and salutations reflect place in hierarchy and, indirectly, points to the experience, knowledge, wisdom. the results are presented in the table 6. table 6. responses to question: “what are preferred channels and forms of addressing for students and teachers, respectively?” salutations and channels’ preferences students (percentage) teachers (percentage) formal salutations, official channels 15,9% 64,3% informal salutations, unofficial channels 8,1% 4,5% both 76% 31,2% 94 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 the teachers prefer formal salutations and official channels – 63,3%. regardless of the fact that choice “both” was also offered as answer to the question. the students mostly chosen the answer “both”, but if they were to choose “either …. or…”, the choice of formal salutations and official channels would be more preferable: 15% to 8,1%. virtual space in which contacts occurred during the pandemic time of the covid-19 and the voices that personal touch is indispensable, provoked a question about the space of teacherstudent relations in touchable reality. it was posed as: “what are preferred spaces of contacts, university vs. non-university space, for students and teachers respectively?”. the results are presented in table 7. table 7. responses to question “what are preferred spaces of contacts, university vs. nonuniversity space, for students and teachers respectively?” space type students (percentage) teachers (percentage) university space 61,8% 50,5% non-university space 38,2% 49,5% the comparison shows that more students than teachers choose university space as a place of teacher – student contacts. it is 61,8% to 50,5%, respectively. to sum up, the results of the online survey show that friendship is poorly recognized by students and teachers as a value constituting the identity of the ju’s academic community. it seems to be present within the frames of other words describing mutual relations, such as “mentorship” or “authority”. it is often recognizable as expectations for being/following an authority. the problem with recognition the types of relations, and subsequent dissatisfaction, are caused by the lack of clarity regarding obligations and right of both sides. discussion and clarifying norms seems to be a first step towards the equality understood as recognition of ones place in the ju’s structure. it is a starting point for looking for words that describe a student – teacher relation in more precise way. the poor presence of “friendship”, both as words and phenomenon, results from the lack of dialogue between students and teachers about the expectations that are not included into syllabuses. these are the emotional need to be visible, understood and respected. here, space for building friendly relations opens. “friendship”, not as an established phenomenon but as a process of mutual recognition has the potential to revive the university ethos. discussion and conclusion the hypothesis that “friendship as a value plays a significant role in shaping the contemporary academic ethos” has not been proven on the level of online surveys. nevertheless, it was supported by the results of the interviews. the semantics of the word “friendship” was clarified and put into the set of the words describing relations among members of the ju’s academic community. the key finding is that it embraces the semantics mentor – mentee relations that 95 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 proved to be desirable by most of the surveyed representatives of the academic community. the main direction of necessary transformation in academia has also been recognized. it was expressed in the need to discuss and clarify obligations and rights both on the side of teachers and students, and put foundations under equality. “friendship” is poorly recognized by students and teachers as a value constituting the university ethos. however, it was put into the frames of mentoring and as such it strengthens the traditional type of a master-student relationship, favouring the vertical type of relationships. “friendship” as part of a shared set of values for students and faculty in the university space is rather a poorly researched topic. emmeche (2015) assumes that academic research and bonds of friendship are interrelated. their interdependence is difficult to define due to the lack of clear boundaries between similar phenomena: friendship, camaraderie, love, as well as due to the complexity of the phenomenon of “academic research” itself. emmeche focuses exclusively on the phenomenon of friendship between researchers, without considering the student as the subject of the studied relationships. nor does it address the issue of community or the permanence of the ethos, keeping in its field of interest only the influence of friendship on scientific research and professional relations. schmidt (2020), in turn, considers friendship between students from the point of view of the impact of relationships on the effectiveness of the educational process. mccabe (2016) takes a similar perspective. friendship among students studied through the prism of their belonging to a type of collectivist or individualistic culture was discussed by baumgarte (2016). he proposed a model for evaluating relationships that took into account three dimensions and six interpenetrating styles: "independents versus interveners, includers versus excluders, and idealists versus realists" (baumgarte, 2016, p 2). the value of this study is in broadening the above mentioned perspectives about comparative approach towards students’ and teachers’ group, and also – about posing question about semantics of the notion “friendship”, as it is seen from the “inside” of the oldest polish university. incongruency between the interviews and surveys’ findings was an unexpected outcome of this research. i had rather assumed that the finding of both types of the date would have been complimentary. that opens perspective for further research. first of all, as many of the interviewees mentioned, teaching and learning are relational processes. the relation was fed during the interview and it was not – in the online surveys. secondly, friendship as a subject of conversation occurred during interviews but it was not highlighted in the surveys. thus, the problem of developing a value by concentrating on it is a potential research topic. another one, quite distant from this research but connected lies in investigating on vocabulary differences in “mapping university” in teacher and student groups, respectively. that could show what mental spaces are occupied when “university” is considered. funding information the research was supported by the jagiellonian university in kraków, strategic programme "excellence initiative research university", priority research area "heritage". 96 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 references jagiellonian university in kraków. (2003, june 25). akademicki kodeks wartości. https://www.uj.edu.pl/documents/10172/84597185/akademicki-kodekswartosci.pdf/3bff64b6-8507-410c-82c5-264a10f3841a jagiellonian university in kraków. (2021, june 26). strategia rozwoju uniwersytetu jagiellońskiego do 2030 roku. (jagiellonian university development strategy until 2030) https://www.uj.edu.pl/documents/10172/147755975/nowa_strategia_uj_wersja_pols ka.pdf/cabe7379-5ee6-4f70-a352-a39dce9d336e annis, d. b. (1987). the meaning, value, and duties of friendship, american philosophical quarterly, 24, 349–56. aristotle (1999). nicomachean ethics, transl. t. irwin, indianapolis/cambridge: hacket publishing company inc., 2nd edn. baumgarte, r. (2016). conceptualizing cultural variations in close friendships. online readings in psychology and culture, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1137 brooks, r. (2007). friends, peers and higher education. british journal of sociology of education 28 (6), 693–707, https://doi:10.1080/01425690701609912 chasin, c. j. d & h. l. radtke. (2013), friend moments: a discursive study of friendship. qualitative research in psychology, 10, 274–297. https://doi:10.1080/14780887.2011.606068 cooper, j. m. (1977). aristotle on the forms of friendship. review of metaphysics, 30, 619-48. emmeche, k. (2015). the borderology of friendship in academia. amity: the journal of friendship studies, 3(1), 40-59. gizzi m. c. & rӓdiker s (eds.). (2021). the practice of qualitative data analysis. maxqda press, berlin. graneheim u. h & lundman b. (2004). qualitative content analysis in nursing research: concepts, procedures, and measures to achieve trustworthiness. nurse education today, 24(2):105-112. hartup, w. w. & n. stevens. (1997). friendships and adaptation in the life course. psychological bulletin, 121, 355-370. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.121.3.355 hays, r. b. (1985). a longitudinal study of friendship development. journal of personality and social psychology, 48, 909-924. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.48.4.909 heiman, t. (2000). quality and quantity of friendship: students' and teachers' perceptions. school psychology international 21(3), 265-280. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034300213004 helm, b, (2021), friendship. in zalta e. n & u. nodelman (eds.). stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/friendship/ https://www.uj.edu.pl/documents/10172/84597185/akademicki-kodeks-wartosci.pdf/3bff64b6-8507-410c-82c5-264a10f3841a https://www.uj.edu.pl/documents/10172/84597185/akademicki-kodeks-wartosci.pdf/3bff64b6-8507-410c-82c5-264a10f3841a https://doi:10.1080/01425690701609912 https://doi:10.1080/14780887.2011.606068 https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.121.3.355 https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.48.4.909 https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034300213004 https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/friendship/ 97 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 heron, e. (2020). friendship as method: reflections on a new approach to understanding student experiences in higher education. journal of further and higher education, 44(3), 393-403. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2018.1541977 julien h. (2008). content analysis. in l. m. given (ed.), the sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods. (vol. 2, pp. 121-123). sage. kleinheksel a. j., rockich-winston n., tawfik h. & wyatt t. r. (2020). qualitative research in pharmacy education. demistyfing content analysis. american journal of pharmaceutical education, 84 (1): 127-137. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe7113 kolbe, r. h. & burnett m. s. (1991). content-analysis research: an examination of applications with directives for improving research reliability and objectivity. journal of consumer research, 18(2):243-250. https://doi.org/10.1086/209256 kromolicka, b. (2017). konstytucja dla nauki – ustawa 2.0 szansą czy zagrożeniem dla rozwoju nauki i szkolnictwa wyższego?. pedagogika, 14, 77-90. https://doi:10.18276/psw.2017.2-07. lintott, s. (2015). friendship and bias: ethical and epistemic considerations. journal of social philosophy, 46, 318–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/josp.12105. loving g. d. (2011). on the possibility of friendship between teachers and students: the pedagogical suspension of amical. philosophical studies in education, 42, 44-54. maciołek, r. (2016). umasowienie (wy)kształcenia na poziomie wyższym a elitarność uczelni. analiza pojęć na podstawie prac ryszarda borowicza (massification of higher education and the elitism of universities. analysis of the concepts based on the work of ryszard borowicz). zeszyty naukowe wsg, 27(1), 31-58. mccabe, j. m. (2016). friends with academic benefits. contexts, 15(3), 22–29, https://doi.org/10.1177/1536504216662237 miles, m. b., & huberman, a. m. (1994). qualitative data analysis. thousand oaks: ca, sage. ministry of science and higher education. (2018, july 20). act of 20 july 2018. the law on higher education and science. https://www.gov.pl/web/science/constitution-forscience moore, c. & frederick s. (2017) narrative constitution of friendship. dialogue: canadian philosophical review, 56, 111–30. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0012217317000129 polish rectors foundation – institute of knowledge society. (2007, april 26), kodeks. dobre praktyki w szkołach wyższych.https://www.krasp.org.pl/resources/upload/dokumenty/kodeks_dobrych_pr aktyk.pdf potulicka, e. (2017). konkurencja o środki finansowe i prestiż „receptą” na doskonałość polskiej nauki i szkolnictwa wyższego?, rocznik pedagogiczny, 40: 25-56. rybak, a. & mcandrew f. t.. (2006). how do we decide whom our friends are? defining levels of friendship in poland and the united states. journal of social psychology, 146(2), 147-163. https://doi.org/10.3200/socp.146.2.147-163 https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2018.1541977 https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe7113 https://doi:10.18276/psw.2017.2-07 https://doi.org/10.1111/josp.12105 https://doi.org/10.1177/1536504216662237 https://www.gov.pl/web/science/constitution-for-science https://www.gov.pl/web/science/constitution-for-science https://doi.org/10.1017/s0012217317000129 https://doi.org/10.3200/socp.146.2.147-163 98 jcve 2022, 5(2): 80-98 saldana, j. (2009). the coding manual for qualitative researchers. thousand oaks, ca: sage. sherman, n. (1987). aristotle on friendship and the shared life. philosophy & phenomenological research, 47, 589–613. https://doi.org/10.2307/2107230 schmidt, s. j. (2020). the importance of friendships for academic success. journal of food science education, 19, 2–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4329.12176 sonu, d. (2013). friendship, education, and justice teaching: the professional development of two teacher-friends, teaching and learning: journal of natural inquiry and reflective practice, 27(1), 19-34. sławek, t. (2017) edukacja jako tworzenie i podtrzymywanie kultury nadziei. rocznik pedagogiczny, 40: 9–24. telfer, e. (1970–71). friendship. proceedings of the aristotelian society, 71, 223–42. https://doi.org/10.1093/aristotelian/71.1.223. thomas, l. (1989). friends and lovers. in g. graham & h. lafollette (eds.), person to person, philadelphia, pa, temple university press, 182–98. tokuno, k. a. (1986), the early adult transition and friendships: mechanisms of support. adolescence, 21, 593-606. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.1983.10533554 wierzbicka a. (1999). understanding cultures through their key words. english, russian, polish, german and japanese. oxford university press. https://doi.org/10.2307/2107230 https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4329.12176 https://doi.org/10.1093/aristotelian/71.1.223 https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.1983.10533554 microsoft word 10.tsakeni.144-167 journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 1 2022 pp. 144-167 stem education practical work in remote classrooms: prospects and future directions in the post-pandemic era maria tsakeni* * mathematics, natural sciences and technology department, faculty of education, university of the free state, phuthaditjhaba, republic of south africa e-mail: tsakenim@ufs.ac.za article info received: january 3, 2022 revised: february 26, 2022 accepted: march 18, 2022 how to cite tsakeni, m. (2022). stem education practical work in remote classrooms: prospects and future directions in the post-pandemic era. journal of culture and values in education, 5(1), 144167. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.11 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abstract practical work is pivotal for the development of important skills inherent to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) education. through practical work, learners engage in skills that include critical thinking, problem-solving, and inquiry-based learning, which are important outcomes of stem education. given the rise in significance of remote learning as reinforced by the covid-19 pandemic, there is a need to reimagine the facilitation of practical work for learners. this paper uses the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (prisma) qualitative research design, an interpretive paradigm, and a mix of connectivism and community of inquiry (coi) frameworks to explore the facilitation of stem education practical work in remote classrooms. a systematic meta-analysis of purposively selected papers using the preferred items, techniques of identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion, and published between 2017 and 2021, was conducted. the following key words were used to conduct a search using google scholar: stem practical work + stem education in remote classrooms + practical work in remote classrooms + stem education in online classrooms + stem education in virtual classrooms + virtual practical work + teaching stem and covid-19 + practical work and covid-19. fifty papers were identified, of which fifteen were included in the study. thematic content analysis techniques were used to analyze the papers. five strategies to facilitate stem practical work in remote classrooms were identified and the findings point to the prospects and future directions of practices in facilitating practical work for learners remotely. keywords covid-19, practical work, remote classrooms, stem education; online education. 10.46303/jcve.2022.11 145 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 introduction at face value, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) education may be seen as a way of grouping similar disciplines together. however, the stem movement and the resulting curriculum innovations are driven by complex aspirations, such as the one to develop innovative talent in citizens to meet the needs related to economic development and environmental and social wellbeing of the 21st century (wang et al., 2018). at the core of stem education is the development of important skills for the 21st century environments, which include problem-solving, creativity, critical thinking, teamwork and collaboration, responsible leadership, and digital literacies (hadinugrahaningsiha et al., 2017). these skills, aimed at improving life in the 21st century, seek curriculum practices that enable learners to apply what they learn in real-life situations. for that reason, ejiwale (2013) explained that stem should be taught as a meta-discipline created by the integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics with the aim to develop specific skills that support the 21st century economies and environments. as the use of transdisciplinary knowledge increases coupled with transforming societal needs, a synthesis age has been created in which new professions are forming as driven by the fourth industrial revolution (4ir), and stem education is viewed as one of the ways to prepare citizens for the evolving professions (nadelson & seifert, 2017). in light of the evolving professions, du plessis (2018) asserted that 75% of the fastest growing occupations require stem skills. based on the perceived usefulness and application of stem education to people’s lives, curriculum developers have shown that teaching and learning should be conducted in authentic and real-life situations (bybee, 2013; nadelson & seifert, 2017; srikoom et al., 2018). one of the stem teaching and learning strategies lauded for providing authentic environments in which learners engage in hands-on and minds-on activities that have application to real-life situations is practical work. practical work encompasses a wide range of activities in which learners are actively involved and engaged. school stem practical activities may include field trips, experiments, investigations, internet searches, laboratory work, building of models, drawing, simulations, and work-integrated learning, among other activities. many conventional school stem practical work activities are conducted in authentic prepared environments such as classrooms, laboratories, and workshops. learners can also conduct practical work activities in natural and prepared environments outside the classroom. the practical work teaching and learning strategy in stem education can also be very expensive because of the need to replace some of the perishable materials and broken equipment that are prescribed in curriculum policies. in the face of the impeding challenges, teachers are expected to improvise when the prescribed materials and equipment are not available by using locally available materials and substances, re-designing experimental procedures, and finding alternatives to hands-on activities (tsakeni, 2020). the advent of the covid-19 pandemic, which caused the emergency transition to remote teaching and learning with very minimal preparation (cutri et al., 2020), brought an element of 146 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 uncertainty to the use of practical work strategies. some teachers were unsure of how to teach using practical work strategies in remote classrooms and in some cases, these were abandoned (makamure & tsakeni, 2020). practical work is one of the readily used strategies and vehicles for the facilitation of important stem education skills such as inquiry, problem-solving, creativity, innovation, and critical thinking, among other skills. with practical work being central to stem education and the sudden move to remote teaching and learning in 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic, teachers needed to find new ways to facilitate practical work. teachers are not new to improvisation when resources to facilitate practical work are scarce. however, before the pandemic, most teachers were not familiar with teaching stem education in virtual learning environments and remote classrooms. it has been acknowledged that covid-19 hampered practical work and, in some cases, instructors improvised by using emergency teaching strategies such as do-it-yourself (diy) open technologies, mobile learning and simulations, household reagents to conduct diy experiments, and online multimedia (abriata, 2021). teachers had to decide between using synchronous and asynchronous online teaching (tsakeni, 2021), resulting in the divide between the virtual learning elite and others who had limited access to 4ir technologies (hove & dube, 2021). it is against this backdrop that this study sought to synthesize from literature some of the strategies that teachers can use to facilitate practical work in stem classrooms remotely. the practice of stem education practical work in remote classrooms through virtual learning environment tools and educational technologies was already a feasible idea before the emergency move to remote learning due to the advent of the covid-19 pandemic. however, in some cases, the experimental component of some of the stem subjects was suspended at the start of the pandemic (cottle, 2021). akuma and callaghan (2019) explained that practical work is when learners engage in hands-on and/or computer-based activities. the sudden rise to prominence of remote teaching opened up opportunities for innovative ways of conducting stem practical work. however, the practice of remote stem practical work in schools was still undervalued and less implemented than other forms of practical work implemented in physical classrooms, laboratories, workshops, and natural environments. lal et al. (2018) confirmed that practical work activities facilitated face to face in physical environments are still a preferred choice to distance education options. bozkurt and sharma (2020) observed that the education systems in most countries were poorly prepared for the emergency remote teaching caused by the covid-19 pandemic. consequently, inspired by the events of the emergency remote learning experienced globally from 2020, this paper explores how stem practical work can be used as an instructional strategy in remote classrooms. following a literature review research design, this study contributes by synthesizing the perspectives on possible strategies to conduct remote stem practical work in the post-pandemic era. 147 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 research questions the main research question of this study is: how can stem practical work be taught in remote classrooms? the main research question has been broken down into the following two sub-questions:  what are the methods used by teachers to teach stem practical work in remote classrooms?  what are the prospects and future directions in teaching stem practical work in remote classrooms? review of theories stem practical work in remote classrooms it is important to provide an operational definition of remote classrooms in the backdrop of discourses that use similar terms differently. to start with, the term emergency remote teaching gained traction to describe the modes of teaching enacted in response to the threat of covid-19. hodges et al. (2020) referred to emergency remote teaching as the alternative modes of instructional delivery put in place when the usual practices are discontinued due to an emergency. the term remote teaching puts emphasis on spatial distance whereby teachers and learners are not co-located (bozkurt & sharma, 2020). an example of remote teaching in stem education is the use of remote laboratories in which learners are not physically co-located with the equipment (lindsay & wankat, 2012). the learners perform experiments with real and physical equipment, because the control of the equipment is made possible by the use of technology and the internet. in this study, it is considered that the facilitation of practical work in remote classrooms happens when the learner is not co-located with the teacher and other learners. in addition, the learner may or may not be co-located with some of the learning materials. questions have been asked on whether remote practical work can replace face-toface facilitation (lindsay & wankat, 2012), and, if so, with what and with whom do learners interact during remote practical work and what learning outcomes result from those interactions (treagust et al., 2016). in a study by benitti and spolaôr (2017), learners designed 3d objects that they fabricated remotely in a distant laboratory, showing that learners can conduct practical work remotely. other studies have explored how to promote learner collaboration when conducting practical work in remote classrooms and one of the ways proposed was the groupwork strategy. mujkanovic et al. (2012) used multiple linear regression to systematically form groups in remotely accessible laboratories based on optimal collective characteristics in order to address specific learning outcomes. practical work has many benefits in the stem classrooms and teachers can use this strategy to provide experiential learning for learners aimed at developing various skills. the skills include some that are inherent to stem education, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and handling and manipulation of equipment. stem education enables learning in authentic environments, such as real-life experiences or simulations of real-life experiences (bybee, 2013). similarly, practical work brings abstract stem concepts to life by providing the 148 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 needed concrete contexts that learners can relate to. semali (2020) confirmed that practical work bridges the gap between what is learnt in stem classrooms and real life. for example, muhardias et al. (2020) explored how stem practical work can improve learner creativity using an activity to manufacture liquid sugar from cassava. one of the overarching aims of education is to prepare learners for life and the world of work. the broader objectives of stem education as envisioned by politicians and governments similarly seek to achieve this. stem education is driven by the belief that its implementation will result in the development of the much-needed workforce with the requisite skills to develop national economies (bybee, 2013). stem education allows for the use of interdisciplinary approaches. semali (2020) asserted that combining innovation, stem disciplines, practical work, application, conceptualization, and entrepreneurship enables learners to study and produce products and solutions for everydaylife use. the developing of economies is supported by the advanced and ubiquitous technologies powered by the 4ir, resulting in new professions that need a specialized workforce (nadelson & seifert, 2017). as discussed in the preceding section, practical work provides authentic environments for learning. these authentic environments can be hands-on and computer-based activities that are either teacheror learner-centered. akuma and callaghan (2019) explained that both teacherand learner-centered approaches to practical work can be used in the classroom based on the planned curriculum outcomes. however, learner-centered approaches, such as inquiry-based practical work, are more beneficial, because they help learners to develop more complex skills and learners exercise more autonomy in problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity. conventionally, the authentic environments for stem practical work can be classrooms, laboratories, and outside of the classrooms, but advances in technologies have enhanced ways of facilitating stem practical work for learners to include virtual environments. lal et al. (2018) pointed out that practical work and, in this case, laboratory work can be conducted in both physical and virtual environments. for example, there is an increased use of virtual learning environments for learners to conduct practical work. virtual reality (vr) tools include simulators, virtual laboratories, demonstrations, and virtual field trips, among other tools, all of which can be used in stem education (truchly et al., 2018). in virtual laboratories, learners can conduct experiments in which they can manipulate variables, record measurements, analyze data, and draw conclusions. in their study, ghergulescu et al. (2018) found that learners who conducted practical work in virtual laboratories improved in mental traits such as creative thinking, fluidity, originality, and flexibility. the finding affirms that practical work in virtual environments also helps in achieving important learning outcomes in stem education. internet connectivity has enabled the use of web-based and online virtual laboratories, opening up opportunities for sharing content and collaboration (kefalis & drigas, 2019). the downside to the use virtual learning environments is that some teachers are not familiar with these tools (bada & jita, 2021). 149 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 theories for online learning the ubiquity of the new technologies and the growth of technology-assisted learning necessitated the reimagining of how learning happens in these new environments. the increased use of the internet and web 2.0 tools such as social media, online office, and conferencing tools enables the connection of more people and sharing of diverse views (goldie, 2016). the use of these technologies supports the alternative learning environments, such as e-learning and online learning, and in addition enhances distance education practices. the increased use of educational technologies creates a gap in the use of long-existing theories to understand the resultant e-learning. siemens (2004) argued that the theories of behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism could not fully explain technology-aided learning and from there the theory of connectivism was propounded. one of the weaknesses of the theories of behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism in explaining e-learning, as argued by siemens (2004), is the notion that learning principally happens in the human mind. through the theory of connectivism, siemens (2004) opined that non-human appliances have the capability to learn and acquire knowledge. connectivism also explains the learning that happens in learning communities formed by individuals and devices connected to each other by means of technologies. one of the technologies that enables people and things to form learning communities is the iot (internet of things). iot is described as the network of digital devices embedded with internet, thereby enabling communication among people and things (mukhopadhyay & suryadevara, 2014). connectivism, however, is criticized for being a “new theory” yet having its tenets in existing theories, with the claim that non-human appliances can learn remaining contentious (goldie, 2016). another widely used theory in studies that seek to understand online learning is the community of inquiry (coi) framework by garrison et al. (2000). coi consists of three components which are types of presence in online classrooms. these are teaching presence (how the online instruction is designed to support cognitive presence and social presence), cognitive presence (how learners make meaning in online classrooms), and social presence (the sense that individuals have of being in a social setting or part of a group). the three types of presence are used by researchers as a framework to study how online learning is experienced. nagel and kotzé (2010) found in their study that the three components of coi can be measured and are correlated to the quality of teaching and success rates especially in big classes. the teaching presence in particular is believed to have greater influence on how the other two types of presence (cognitive and social) are experienced. instructors can develop an effective teaching presence by giving prompt feedback. through this, learners feel valued and supported, causing them to be receptive to instruction (cox et al., 2015). the teaching, cognitive, and social presence can be designed by instructors in ways that build effective and productive discussions in online classrooms (denoyelles et al., 2014). immediate feedback, audio-recorded feedback, peer mentoring, and discussion forums were found to enhance the teaching, cognitive, and social presence in asynchronous online classrooms (denoyelles et al., 2014). 150 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 despite the usefulness of coi to understand the experiences of learners in online classrooms, there is evidence that the framework may not be sufficient by itself. anderson (2011) considered coi to be one of the components in an e-learning environment. figure 1 shows a model of e-learning by anderson (2011) that puts emphasis on the interactions among the different participants and components that make learning possible in online classrooms. the interactions are among learners (collaboration), learners and teachers (coi), and teachers and content (teachers developing learning activities). interactions are also among learners and content (learning independently/learning presence), content and content (programmed and automated interaction between information sources), and teachers and their community of practice/stakeholders. at the core of the model of e-learning by anderson (2011) are the learners, the teacher, and the content. figure 1. a model of e-learning (adapted from anderson, 2011, p. 49) although the coi framework continues to be used to explain important factors that influence online learning, what is apparent is that there are other variables that need to be taken into account in addition to the teaching, cognitive, and social presence (kaul et al., 2018). for example, shea et al. (2012) described another form of presence that explains how learners can learn through discovery and independent work. they called it the learning presence, and anderson (2011) showed that it results from the interaction between students and content, as seen in figure 1. significant work seeks to build on the coi framework in order to understand 151 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 other variables that are present in online classrooms. learner satisfaction with the e-learning experiences is one of the factors that can be measured and has to be taken into account in virtual learning environments (liman kaban, 2021). in support, lee et al. (2021) asserted that learning satisfaction is achieved by balancing the three types of presence in online classrooms and two more factors, which are the perceived ease of use of online tools and content quality. figure 2 shows how the establishment of effective teaching, cognitive, and social presence with sufficient content quality and the perceived ease of use of the online tools can result in learner satisfaction with e-learning experiences. figure 2. an extended community of inquiry model (adapted from lee et al., 2021, p. 3) the realization that the coi framework may not sufficiently explain all the factors that are at play in online classrooms has resulted in other researchers combining it with other theoretical frameworks. for example, radovan and kristl (2017) combined coi with the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (utaut) and confirmed that more factors need to be considered when using learning management systems (lmss) such as blackboard and moodley. these factors include the perceived ease of use of the tools, instructor acceptance of the lms, and the characteristics of the tools in the lms. for this study, it is acknowledged that the frameworks discussed above are useful in understanding the complexity of e-learning. they can be used to understand how stem practical work can be facilitated for learners in remote classrooms and can provide a framework for the prospects and future directions for stem practical work in remote classrooms. 152 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 methodology research design in this study, an interpretive paradigm and a qualitative meta-analysis design were used to explore how stem practical work can be taught in remote classrooms. literature reviews are one of the research methods used when studying technologies used to facilitate practical work in stem classrooms. similar studies have reviewed this. sırakaya and alsancak sırakaya (2020) reviewed the use of augmented reality (ar) in stem education. in addition, kefalis and drigas (2019) reviewed literature to determine the latest trends in web-based and online stem education. for this study, the qualitative meta-analysis was guided by the steps of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (prisma) by tawfik et al. (2019). prisma is mostly applied in medical research (tawfik et al., 2019) and the method enhances the transparency, validity, and reliability aspects of literature review studies by making them systematic (liberati et al., 2009). data sources in determining the preferred items for reporting, a pre-search of items on the topic was conducted in order to select the database to be used in the search. the google scholar search engine was preferred because it was easily accessible to the researcher. in addition, the publication dates for the search were purposively determined to be between 2017 and 2021 (5 years), presenting a glimpse of stem practical work practices immediately before and during the first two years of the covid-19 pandemic. this decision was made with the aim of gaining insights on the implementation of stem education practical work just before and during the pandemic. data collection in preparation for data collection based on the document analysis technique, a synthesis question was formulated as: how can stem practical work be taught in remote classrooms? the following search terms were used: stem practical work + stem education in remote classrooms + practical work in remote classrooms + stem education in online classrooms + stem education in virtual classrooms + virtual practical work + teaching stem and covid-19 + practical work and covid-19. while the search terms encompassed the inclusion criteria of the searched items, publications which were not between 2017 and 2021 were excluded. in addition, publications that focused on one discipline (e.g. science) with no reference to stem education were excluded. publications that focused on stem education in virtual learning environments without reference to practical work were also excluded. figure 3 shows how a total of 50 articles were screened and selected, as guided by tawfik et al. (2019). a total of 15 articles were obtained and analyzed through thematic content analysis techniques. 153 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 figure 3. flow diagram of article selection and screening data analysis thematic analysis was used to analyze the content of the selected publications. nowell et al. (2017) applauded thematic analysis for being flexible, because it aligns with multiple paradigms in qualitative research. the articles selected were divided into two categories, those published before and during the covid-19 pandemic, respectively, as shown in tables 1 and 2. the pre-covid-19 publications consisted of one journal article, five conference proceedings, and two book chapters. in these publications, practical work in remote classrooms was enabled by the use of vr, remote laboratories, e-learning technologies, and educational robotics. the mid-covid-19 publications consisted of six journal articles and one conference proceeding. in these studies, practical work in remote classrooms was enabled by the use of vr, remote laboratories, ar, and take-home diy experiments. 154 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 table 1. list of publications conducted before the covid-19 pandemic literatur e reviewed journal/ conference/ book chapter technology / approach to enable remote learning tools to enable practical work content degboe et al. (2018) international conference on einfrastructur e and eservices for developing countries vr combined the web of things (wot) with web-based application developed a web-based application that allowed learners experiential learning through virtual field trips and to engage in collaborative practical work. scanlon et al. (2019) educational visions: lessons from 40 years of innovation (book chapter) vr e-learning tv broadcasts residential schools take-home diy experiments, vr simulations and modelling, tv-broadcasted demonstrations , and physical environments complementing virtual presentations showed ways in which an open university facilitated practical work activities for its stem students. the methods include the use of virtual laboratories contained in take-home diy kits. wei et al. (2019) disciplinary and interdisciplin ary science education research remote laboratorie s computers and worksheets compared interactions in face-to-face physical laboratories and remote laboratories and found interactions to be limited in the latter. lal et al. (2018) asee annual conference and exposition, conference proceedings remote laboratorie s computers and worksheets observed that if the laboratory work focuses purely on technical aspects, learners may find it difficult to develop other social skills such as 155 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 collaboration and teamwork. togou et al. (2018) international conference on education and new learning technologies (edulearn) remote laboratory digital fabrication through digital fabrication, learners designed objects that they sent remotely for fabrication. plaza et al. (2017) 2017 ieee global engineering education conference (educon) educational robotics take-home diy robots proposed the use of educational robotics at home in addition to their use in remote laboratories and stem classrooms. claimed the use of robotics provides an easy alternative to teach stem and it turns the learning of boring concepts into exciting experiences. lynch and ghergule scu (2017) 2017 ieee global engineering education conference (educon) vr virtual laboratories found that the use of virtual laboratories cuts on teachers’ preparation time and provides immediate feedback to learners, thereby keeping learners motivated. benitti and spolaôr (2017) robotics in stem education remote laboratorie s digital fabrication learners designed 3d objects that they digitally fabricated in remote laboratories. 156 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 table 2. list of publications conducted during the covid-19 pandemic literatur e reviewed journal/ conference/ book chapter technology/ approach to enable remote learning tools to enable practical work content gya and bjune (2020) ecology and evolution take-home diy experiments experiment kits the diy experiments increased learner autonomy in processes such as hypothesis formulation and design of the experiments to complement the theory learnt virtually. aji and khan (2021) 2021 asee virtual annual conference content access vr 3d visualization s 3d vr technologies were used to teach the introductory math, biology, physics, aerospace engineering, and electrical engineering courses during the covid-19 pandemic. abouhash em et al. (2021) sustainability vr synchronous and asynchronous powerpoint presentations videos, interactive quizzes, innovative games, and online simulations developed a vr stem course based on games, simulations, and handson activities for middle school learners taught during the vacation during the covid-19 pandemic. mystakidi s et al. (2021) education and information technologies ar 3d visualization mobile tools with a camera superimpose d on conducted a metaanalysis of studies conducted on the use of ar in stem education of studies from 2010–2020. the studies outlined a taxonomy of 157 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 components and landmarks in the real world instructional strategies used to apply ar in stem education. chu et al. (2021) research in science & technologica l education vr mobile learning implemented an innovative use of smartphones as an experimental tool that replaced conventional laboratory work and a way of overcoming distance learning during the pandemic. lal et al. (2020) european journal of engineering education remote laboratories computers and worksheets compared students’ perceptions of worksheets in face-toface (before the pandemic) and remote laboratories (during the pandemic). west et al. (2021) educational technology research and development vr web-based and online laboratories explored how the five inquiry phases for online laboratories, namely orientation, conceptualization, investigation, conclusion, and discussion, can be implemented in vrinquiry activities. findings and discussion the findings of the study are discussed under two themes. these are: (i) methods used by teachers to teach stem practical work in remote classrooms and (ii) prospects and future directions for stem practical work in remote classrooms. methods used by teachers to teach stem practical work in remote classrooms the methods used by teachers are discussed under five categories. these are: (i) stem practical work in vr environments, (ii) stem practical work in remote laboratories, (iii) stem practical 158 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 work in ar environments, (iv) use of take-home diy stem practical work kits, and (v) use of educational robotics to teach stem practical work. stem practical work in virtual reality environments vr stem practical work environments can be computer-based applications or web-based and online applications. degboe et al. (2018) set up a remote practical work platform for stem using wot and the webrtc kurento multimedia server. the platform enabled the teacher and learners to go on virtual trips to conduct practical work. this vr platform was useful because learners had not been able to conduct a real-world trip as part of a biodiversity course due to some inhibiting factors. therefore, the vr trips were an effective alternative way of conducting the requisite field trips. in this case, the vr technology served as a solution to challenges experienced by teachers and learners in stem practical work. similarly, lynch and ghergulescu (2017) lauded the use of virtual laboratories because they free up time for teachers. they reduce the time needed to prepare and there is no need to clean up at the end of each practical work session. dogboe et al. (2018) noted that the use of wot technologies enables connection among the learning community members of the vr-enabled practical work activities, thereby improving opportunities of learner-learner and learner-teacher interactions. the authors suggested the use of virtual field trips and the sharing of resources on a collaborative platform enabled by the wot technologies. one of the observed advantages of vr-enabled stem practical work is that they provide immediate feedback to learners, thereby keeping learners motivated (lynch & ghergulescu, 2017). the covid-19 pandemic brought another dimension to the challenges experienced in stem practical work. remote learning was put in place as a measure to counter the emergency. in order to ensure the experiential learning afforded by practical work, aji and khan (2021) used 3d vr technologies to teach introductory math, biology, physics, aerospace engineering, and electrical engineering courses. the 3d visualizations helped the students in conceptual understanding. students were engaged through the learner-content interactions. similarly, in response to covid-19, abouhashem et al. (2021) developed a vr stem course based on games, simulations, and hands-on activities for middle school learners taught during school vacations remotely. in developing the materials, the teachers found the process to be engaging and challenging. chu et al. (2021) used mobile learning as an alternative to physical classroom stem practical work instruction that was not possible during the covid-19 pandemic. smartphones were used innovatively to engage learners in practical work by means of stem practical work vr kits which the learners used to conduct experiments on the topic of sound. stem practical work in remote laboratories while exploring the idea of facilitating practical work in laboratories that are remotely controlled by the learners, lal et al. (2018) observed in their study that if the laboratory work focused purely on technical aspects, learners may find it difficult to develop social skills such as collaboration and teamwork. in a follow-up study inspired by the covid-19 pandemic, lal et al. (2020) compared students’ perceptions of worksheets in face-to-face physical laboratory work 159 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 and remote laboratories. in both environments, students valued the laboratory instruction sheet because it gave them a sense of the student-equipment interaction. however, lal et al. (2020) recommended that the instruction sheet should be adapted accordingly to each laboratory environment. wei et al. (2021) conducted a similar study in which they compared the interactions observed in physical laboratory work environments (before the pandemic) and those experienced in remote laboratories (during the pandemic), and noticed that interactions in the latter were limited. the finding on limited interactions by wei et al. (2021) aligns with the observation made by lal et al. (2018) that students may struggle to develop social skills in remote laboratories. stem practical work in augmented reality environments a rise has been observed in the use of ar in schools. this observation was made by mystakidis et al. (2021) after conducting a meta-analysis of studies (2010–2020) focusing on the use of ar in stem education. based on the meta-analysis, mystakidis et al. (2021) outlined a taxonomy of instructional strategies used to apply ar in stem education. ar allows learners to have a 3d visualization of stem phenomena. it also brings to life objects that are invisible, abstract, and complex through the use of vision technologies such as mobile devices superimposed on realworld features and landmarks. if used in remote laboratories, this technology may enhance the learners’ experiences. after arguing that not all in-person laboratory activities can be replicated in online laboratories, west et al. (2021) recommended that the online laboratories should be designed to be more authentic by, for example, combining the vr and ar technologies. use of take-home diy stem practical work kits one of the strategies that can be used to facilitate stem practical work is the use of take-home diy experiments. the materials are prepared as kits given to learners and used together with worksheets and other virtual interactions. in this case, the learners have physical materials that they use to conduct experiments and write reports. one distance education university used this approach as one of the ways to make sure students conducted stem practical work activities (scanlon et al., 2019). the university used this approach together with other strategies, which were tv broadcasts, vr simulations, modelling, and residential periods in which students did inperson laboratory work. during the covid-19 pandemic, gya and bjune (2020) and mystakidis et al. (2021) explored the use of take-home diy practical work kits. these kits can be computerbased or other physical hands-on activity materials and equipment. the diy practical work increased learner autonomy in processes such as hypothesis formulation and experiment design, and complemented the theory learnt virtually (gya & bjune, 2020). use of educational robotics to teach stem practical work robotics is one area where all the stem disciplines can easily be incorporated, supports problem-solving and teamwork, and can be used in extra-curricular activities (plaza et al., 2017). in a study by benitti and spolaôr (2017), robotics was used by teachers to integrate technology and engineering as a way of applying science and mathematics to real-life problem-solving. robotics can also be prepared as take-home kits. plaza et al. (2017) proposed the use of 160 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 educational robotics at home in addition to their use in remote laboratories and stem classrooms. in their study, plaza et al. (2017) claimed that the use of robotics provides an easy alternative to teach stem and that it turns the learning of boring concepts into exciting experiences. prospects and future directions of stem practical work in remote classrooms the five instructional strategies discussed above can be used by teachers to facilitate stem practical work in remote classrooms. the review of the purposively selected literature showed that remote practical work facilitation strategies in stem classrooms were in existence before the inception of the emergency remote learning caused by the covid-19 pandemic. the possibilities for practicing stem practical work are closely related to the digital technologies characterizing 4ir environments. goldie (2016) asserted that as the digital technologies are fast emerging, so are new ways of communication. through the theory of connectivism, siemens and conole (2011) affirmed that the new ways of communication influence the teaching and learning processes. notably, the web 2.0 tools and the connectivity enabled by iot and its wot branch enable easier communication among humans and things. anderson (2011) (see figure 1) showed that technology-enabled learning results from different types of interactions, which include teacher-learner, learner-learner, learner-content, teacher-content, and contentcontent interactions. while remote learning was considered a component of distance education environments (e.g., anderson [2011] opined that online learning is a form of distance learning), and undervalued and underutilized in schools, the covid-19 pandemic showed that this instructional mode has value and can be used. a distinctive tenet of the emergency remote learning during the covid-19 pandemic is that the teachers and leaners were not co-located and the learners were learning from home instead of the prepared environments, such as classrooms, laboratories, and workshops. after years of practice, it would be expected that the prepared learning environments and instructional strategies used by teachers conformed to the prescriptions of the stem curricula in terms of the materials and equipment needed to conduct practical work activities. therefore, in some cases, the sudden unavailability of the prepared environments for stem practical work resulted in the abandonment of this instructional strategy (cottle, 2021; makamure & tsakeni, 2020). however, there is evidence that ways to implement stem practical work were explored through improvisation, use of technologies, and change of teaching strategies (abriata, 2021). digital technologies have played an important role in the implementation of stem practical work in remote classrooms. notably, the use of remote laboratories aligns with the tenets of the theory of connectivism (goldie, 2016; siemens, 2004; siemens & conole, 2011) in that they are based on the notions that knowledge and learning do not reside in humans only, but that machines can also learn and construct knowledge. consequently, digital tools such as ar, vr, wot; web-based applications such as online laboratories and simulations, interactive quizzes, innovative games, videos; and many similar tools provide alternative stem practical 161 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 work environments (abouhashem et al., 2021). however, as treagust et al. (2016) explained, it is important to understand with what and whom the learners interact, how they interact, and for what purpose. the model of e-learning in figure 1 seems useful when teachers are planning for the types of interactions to enable stem practical work in remote classrooms. from the findings of this study, independent learning through learner-content interactions (anderson, 2011) was one of the strategies found useful in remote classrooms. learners can interact with practical work kits and resources such as materials and equipment, robotics kits, vr and ar kits, wot tools, online laboratories, computers, and worksheets. these interactions complement other virtual interactions between the teacher and the learners and among learners. social interactions need to be ensured since they enable collaboration and teamwork and increase social presence (mujkanovic et al., 2012). both the theory of connectivism (siemens, 2004) and the model of e-learning by anderson (2011) underscore the importance of interactions, communications, collaborations, knowledge sharing, and knowledge co-construction during remote learning. these communication processes for remote learning occur in a coi. teachers have a further task to ensure a coi by designing and implementing the teaching, cognitive, and social presence commensurate to effective learning (anderson, 2011; garrison et al., 2000; lee et al., 2021). in addition, the fostering of a learning presence is also important (shea et al., 2012) because it enables independent learning through learner-content interactions (anderson, 2011). as learners conduct stem practical work in remote classrooms, independent learning enables them to interact with the learning materials. however, lee et al. (2021) added that an effective coi needs to enable quality content and ensure that the tools used are perceived as easy to use by learners and teachers. consequently, this study recommends that more studies need to be conducted on what constitutes quality content in remote stem practical work and on how to develop tools that are perceived as easy to use in the remote classroom coi. in addition, more tools that respond to stem curriculum needs at different school levels need to be developed. conclusion this study explored how stem practical work can be taught in remote classrooms. from the literature reviewed, five strategies were extracted. these are: stem practical work in remote laboratories, stem practical work in vr environments, stem practical work in ar environments, use of take-home diy stem practical work kits, and use of educational robotics to teach stem practical work. these strategies help in developing stem skills such as digital literacies envisioned for citizens to possessa in the 21st century environments through stem education. these strategies can be used in combination and as tools for other strategies. for example, the take-home diy practical work kits can contain educational robotics, vr and ar tools, equipment, materials, and chemicals. these strategies are enabled by the ability to connect things and people through digital technologies prevalent in 4ir environments. although in remote learning, teachers and learners are not co-located, the social interactions and human-things interactions 162 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 (teacher-learner, learner-learner, and learner-practical work materials) are made possible by connectivity technologies. acknowledgements this study was supported by the nrf south africa thuthuka grant instrument (grant number: tk180505326403). references abouhashem, a., abdou, r. m., bhadra, j., siby, n., ahmad, z., & al-thani, n. j. (2021). covid19 inspired a stem-based virtual learning model for middle schools: a case study of qatar. sustainability, 13, 2799. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052799 abriata, l. a. (2021). how technologies assisted science learning at home during the covid-19 pandemic. dna and cell biology, 41(1), 19-24. https://doi.org/10.1089/dna.2021.0497 aji, c. a., & khan, m. j. (2021, july). virtual reality in stem education during covid-19. in 2021 asee virtual annual conference content access. https://peer.asee.org/38024 akuma, f. v., & callaghan, r. (2019). teaching practices linked to the implementation of inquiry-based practical work in certain science classrooms. journal of research in science teaching, 56(1), 64-90. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21469 anderson, t. (2011). the theory and practice of online learning (2nd ed.). au press. bada, a. a., & jita, l. c. (2021). e-learning facilities for teaching secondary school physics: awareness, availability and utilization. research in social sciences and technology, 6(3), 227-241. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.40 benitti, f. b. v., & spolaôr, n. (2017). how have robots supported stem teaching?. in robotics in stem education (pp. 103-129). springer, cham. bozkurt, a., & sharma, r. c. (2020). emergency remote teaching in a time of global crisis due to corona virus pandemic. asian journal of distance education, 15(1), i-vi. https://www.asianjde.com/ojs/index.php/asianjde/article/download/447/297 bybee, r. w. (2013). the case for stem education: challenges and opportunities. nsta press. chu, w. w., ong, e. t., ayop, s. k., mohd azmi, m. s., abdullah, a. s., abd karim, n. s., & tho, s. w. (2021). the innovative use of smartphone for sound stem practical kit: a pilot implementation for secondary classroom. research in science & technological education, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/02635143.2021.1978963 cottle, d. (2021). the effects of covid-19 on student transition from school to university in stem subjects. new directions in the teaching of physical sciences, 16(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.29311/ndtps.v0i14.3847 cox, s., black, j., heney, j., & keith, m. (2015). promoting teacher presence: strategies for effective and efficient feedback to student writing online. teaching english in the two year college, 42(4), 376-391. https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/english_facpubs/263/ 163 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 cutri, r. m., mena, j., & whiting, e. f. (2020). faculty readiness for online crisis teaching: transitioning to online teaching during the covid-19 pandemic. european journal of teacher education, 43(4), 523-541. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2020.1815702 degboe, b. m., boko, u. h. s., gueye, k., & ouya, s. (2018). contribution to the setting up of a remote practical work platform for stem: the case of agriculture. in international conference on e-infrastructure and e-services for developing countries (pp. 88-97). springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-16042-5_9 denoyelles, a., mannheimer zydney, j., & chen, b. (2014). strategies for creating a community of inquiry through online asynchronous discussions. journal of online learning & teaching, 10(1), 153-165. https://jolt.merlot.org/vol10no1/denoyelles_0314.pdf du plessis, a. e. (2018). the lived experience of out-of-field stem teachers: a quandary for strategising quality teaching in stem? research in science education, 50, 1465-1499. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-018-9740-9 ejiwale, j. a. (2013). barriers to the successful implementation of stem education. journal of education and learning, 7(2), 63-74. https://media.neliti.com/media/publications/71913-en-barriers-to-successfulimplementation-of.pdf garrison, d. r., anderson, t., & archer, w. (2000). critical inquiry in a text-based environment: computer conferencing in higher education. the internet and higher education, 2, 87-105. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s1096-7516(00)00016-6 ghergulescu, i., lynch, t., bratu, m., moldovan, a., muntean, c. h., & muntean, g. m. (2018). stem education with atomic structure virtual lab for learners with special education needs. edulearn18 proceedings, 1, 8747-8752. http://dx.doi.org/10.21125/edulearn.2018.2033 goldie, j. g. s. (2016). connectivism: a knowledge learning theory for the digital age? medical teacher, 38(10), 1064-1069. https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159x.2016.1173661 hadinugrahaningsiha, t., rahmawati, y., & ridwan, a. (2017). developing 21st century skills in chemistry classrooms: opportunities and challenges of steam integration. in the 4th international conference on research, implementation, and education of mathematics and science, aip conference proceedings 1868, 030008. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4995107 hodges, c. b., moore, s., lockee, b. b., trust, t., & bond, m. a. (2020). the difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/104648 hove, b., & dube, b. (2021). covid-19 and the entrenchment of a virtual elite private school: rethinking education policies in zimbabwe. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 84-94. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.5 164 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 kaul, m., aksela, m., & wu, x. (2018). dynamics of the community of inquiry (coi) within a massive open online course (mooc) for in-service teachers in environmental education. education sciences, 8(2), 40. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8020040 kefalis, c., & drigas, a. (2019). web based and online applications in stem education. international journal of engineering pedagogy, 9(4), 76-85. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v9i4.10691 gya, r., & bjune, a. e. (2021). taking practical learning in stem education home: examples from do-it-yourself experiments in plant biology. ecology and evolution, 11(8), 34813487. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7207 lal, s., lucey, a., lindsay, e., treagust, d., mocerino, m., & long, j. (2018). the effects of remote laboratory implementation on freshman engineering students’ experience. in asee annual conference and exposition, conference proceedings. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73262 lal, s., lucey, a. d., lindsay, e. d., treagust, d. f., long, j. m., mocerino, m., & zadnik, m. g. (2020). student perceptions of instruction sheets in face-to-face and remotely-operated engineering laboratory learning. european journal of engineering education, 45(4), 491515. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/81351 lee, r., hoe looi, k., faulkner, m., & neale, l. (2021). the moderating influence of environment factors in an extended community of inquiry model of elearning. asia pacific journal of education, 411, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2020.1758032 liberati, a., altman, d. g., tetzlaff, j., mulrow, c., gøtzsche, p. c., ioannidis, j. p. a., clarke, m., devereaux, p. j., kleijnen, j., & moher, d. (2009). the prisma statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: explanation and elaboration. journal of clinical epidemiology, 62, e1-e34. https://www.bmj.com/content/339/bmj.b2700 liman kaban, a. (2021). the influence of online coi presences on learner satisfaction in higher education. asian journal of distance education, 16(1), 230-246. http://asianjde.com/ojs/index.php/asianjde/article/view/549 lindsay, e., & wankat, p. (2012). going the way of the slide rule: can remote laboratories fungibly replace the in-person experience? international journal of engineering education, 28(1), 192-201. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/39567 lynch, t. & ghergulescu, i. (2017). newton virtual labs: introduction and teacher perspective. 2017 ieee 17th international conference on advanced learning technologies (icalt), 2017, pp. 343-345. https://doi.org/10.1109/icalt.2017.133 makamure, c., & tsakeni, m. (2020). covid-19 as an agent of change to the teaching and learning of stem subjects in zimbabwe. journal of baltic science education, 19(6a), 1078-1091. https://dx.doi.org/10.33225/jbse/20.19.1078 165 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 muhardias, d., sunarya, y., & arifin, m. (2020). practical work design based on science, technology, engineering, mathematics (stem) on manufacture of liquid sugar from cassava peel waste (manihot esculenta) to improve student creativity. journal of physics: conference series, 1469(1), 012168. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1469/1/012168/meta mujkanovic, a., lowe, d., willey, k., & guetl, c. (2012). unsupervised learning algorithm for adaptive group formation: collaborative learning support in remotely accessible laboratories. in c. a. shoniregun (ed.), international conference on information society (i-society 2012), jun 25–28 2012 (pp. 50-57). ieee. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23485 mukhopadhyay s. c. & suryadevara n. k. (2014). internet of things: challenges and opportunities. in: mukhopadhyay s. (ed.) internet of things. smart sensors, measurement and instrumentation, springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-31904223-7_1 mystakidis, s., christopoulos, a., & pellas, n. (2021). a systematic mapping review of augmented reality applications to support stem learning in higher education. education and information technologies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10682-1 nadelson, l. s., & seifert, a. l. (2017). integrated stem defined: contexts, challenges, and the future. the journal of educational research, 110(3), 221-223. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2017.1289775 nagel, l., & kotzé, t. g. (2010). supersizing e-learning: what a coi survey reveals about teaching presence in a large online class. the internet and higher education, 13(1-2), 45-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2009.12.001 nowell, l. s., norris, j. m., white, d. e., & moules, n. j. (2017). thematic analysis: striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. international journal of qualitative methods, 16(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1609406917733847 plaza, p., sancristobal, e., carro, g., & castro, m. (2017). home-made robotic education, a new way to explore. in 2017 ieee global engineering education conference (educon) (pp. 132-136). https://doi.org/10.1109/educon.2017.7942837 radovan, m., & kristl, n. (2017). acceptance of technology and its impact on teachers' activities in virtual classroom: integrating utaut and coi into a combined model. turkish online journal of educational technology-tojet, 16(3), 11-22. http://www.tojet.net/articles/v16i3/1632.pdf scanlon, e., herodotou, c., whitelock, d., & edwards, c. (2019). stem learning: foundations. in r. ferguson, a. jones, & e. scanlon (eds.), educational visions: lessons from 40 years of innovation (pp. 127-138). ubiquity press. https://doi.org/10.5334/bcg.h semali, l. m. (2020). ways to implement “practical work” in stem subjects in tanzania’s secondary schools. in u. ramnarain (ed.), school science practical work in africa (pp. 155-174). routledge. 166 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429260650-9/waysimplement-practical-work-stem-subjects-tanzania-secondary-schools-ladislaus-semali siemens. g. (2004). connectivism: a learning theory for the digital age. international journal of instructional technology and distance learning, 2(1). http://www.itdl.org/journal/jan_05/article01.htm siemens, g., & conole, g. (2011). connectivism: design and delivery of social networked learning. international review of research in open and distance learning, 12(3). http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/download/994/1831/0 sırakaya, m., & alsancak sırakaya, d. (2020). augmented reality in stem education: a systematic review. interactive learning environments, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2020.1722713 shea, p., hayes, s., smith, s. u., vickers, j., bidjerano, t., pickett, a., gozza-cohen, m., wilde, j., & jian, s. (2012). learning presence: additional research on a new conceptual element within the community of inquiry (coi) framework. the internet and higher education, 15(2), 89-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2011.08.002 srikoom, w., faikhamta, c., & hanuscin, d. l. (2018). dimensions of effective stem integrated teaching practice. k-12 stem education, 4(2), 313–330. https://doi.org/10.14456/k12stemed.2018.4 tawfik, g. m., dila, k. a. s., mohamed, m. y. f., tam, d. n. h., kien, n. d., ahmed, a. m., & huy, n. t. (2019). a step by step guide for conducting a systematic review and metaanalysis with simulation data. tropical medicine and health, 47(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41182-019-0165-6 togou, m. a., lorenzo, c., lorenzo, e., cornetta, g., & muntean, g. m. (2018). raising students’ interest in stem education via remote digital fabrication: an irish primary school case study. in international conference on education and new learning technologies (edulearn), mallorca, spain. http://dx.doi.org/10.21125/edulearn.2018.0756 treagust, d., carter, d., lindsay, l., zadnik, m., mocerino, m., & lucey, a. (2016). student learning processes in classroom and remote laboratory settings. in science education research and practical work (pp. 49-59). shaker verlag gmbh. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/51534 truchly, p., medvecký, m., podhradský, p., & vančo, m. (2018). virtual reality applications in stem education. in 2018 16th international conference on emerging elearning technologies and applications (iceta) (pp. 597-602). ieee. https://doi.org/10.1109/iceta.2018.8572133 tsakeni, m. (2020). shaping a pedagogical framework to guide pre-service teachers’ facilitation of inquiry-based practical work in multiple-deprived environments. alternation interdisciplinary journal for the study of the arts and humanities in southern africa, 27(2), 210-229. https://doi.org/10.29086/2519-5476/2020/v27n2a12 167 jcve 2022, 5(1): 144-167 tsakeni, m. (2021). transition to online learning by a teacher education programme with limited 4ir affordances. research in social sciences and technology, 6(2), 129-147. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.15 wang, x., xu, w., & guo, l. (2018). the status quo and ways of steam education promoting china’s future social sustainable development. sustainability, 10(12), 4417. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124417 wei, j., treagust, d., mocerino, m., lucey, a., zadnik, m., & lindsay, e. (2019). understanding interactions in face-to-face and remote undergraduate science laboratories. disciplinary and interdisciplinary science education research, 1(14). http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80816 west, r. e., sansom, r., nielson, j., wright, g., turley, r. s., jensen, j., & johnson, m. (2021). ideas for supporting student-centered stem learning through remote labs: a response. educational technology research and development, 69, 263-268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09905-y . journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 5 issue: 2 2022 pp. 47-64 projecting the nature of education for the future: implications for current practice jabulani sibandaa & newlin marongwe*b * corresponding author: email: nmarongwe@wsu.ac.za a. human science department, school of education, sol plaatje university, kimberley, northern cape, south africa b. department of school improvement programmes, walter sisulu university, queenstown, eastern cape, south africa article info received: june 13, 2022 revised: august 27, 2022 accepted: september 25, 2022 how to cite sibanda, j., & marongwe, n. (2022). projecting the nature of education for the future: implications for current practice. journal of culture and values in education, 5(2), 47-64. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.19 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract ensuring that education serves the needs of a rapidly and everchanging society is one of the defining challenges of education providers. this paper projects future trends in education based on documented evidence predicting shifts in education (teacher education in particular) and how they affect how the academy should prepare its products. the study views education for the future, not in terms of discarding subject content, but in terms of utilising content as a means rather than an end. this transforms the focus of both instruction and assessment from students assimilating content knowledge, to them developing habits that make them adaptable to the changing world and empower them to become change-agents. accordingly, the teaching environment needs to respond to the dynamics of technological developments, and to changing student profiles. also requiring change is the authoritative position of the teacher as the repository and dispenser of knowledge, and the learner’s passive role as the consumer of knowledge. knowledge is co-created within the teaching-learning context. the paper recommends further delineation of current trends that define 21st century education, and what they determine for the future. keywords assessment; education change; habits of mind; learning environment; 21st century competencies. 10.46303/jcve.2022.19 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2022.19 48 sibanda, j., & marongwe, n. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 introduction our world is increasingly becoming volatile and uncertain. there are many changes occurring impelled by global forces and influences. the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, for instance, necessitates the revamping of the education system even post-covid, as it cannot be businessas-usual. covid-19 has intensified discussions of education futures. since the uncertainty and precariousness of society cannot be arrested, the onus is on the education system, at whatever level, to equip learners for effective adjustment to the volatility of society. the former secretary of education in the usa, richard riley, as quoted by trilling and fadel (2009, p. xxv111), aptly describes the challenge of education: “we are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist . . . using technologies that haven’t yet been invented . . . in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet”. this observation presents a conundrum for educators who are tasked with the monumental responsibility of using the current tools, within the current context, to equip learners with requisite skills, knowledge and dispositions, for a future and a contextual landscape that is, not only unknown, but envisaged to be radically different from the present. facer (2021, p. 1) opines that “‘the future’ is both intimately and ubiquitously associated with education and yet this relationship remains poorly conceptualised in mainstream educational thought.” the ideal relationship between education and the future is not a one-size-fits-all. one may envision education’s role as that of reflecting the future, or that of influencing the future. another may see education as needing liberation from the future so that it does not chase after the future. in education, the tension between the past and the future is conspicuously manifest. the pace at which education is moving can best be described as a ‘snail’s pace’ whereas the real-world moves in quantum leaps. institutions of higher learning continue to churn out graduates who are not readily absorbed and absorbable in the job-market, who are prepared for the world of yesterday and not that of tomorrow. given these observations, the question to ask is whether education, in its current form, is serving learners’ and society’s needs. if not, what needs to be changed in the education sector? education is a futuristic and visionary enterprise, and should not just react to emerging trends, but should be a pacesetter into the multiple possible futures. the onus is on education authorities to create the future rather than wait and see what the future looks like (which then will be the present) and try to react and respond to it. the exponential dynamism of knowledge does not allow for a static future. education should project the current events, challenges and trends; and proactively equip learners for the future. sagacity entails having visionary attributes, and if we are astute, discerning, and observant, and attentive to shifts, we will catch glimpses of the future from the present. purpose education has stubbornly remained conservative while the world has continued to evolve. this is evident in how automation and innovation lag behind in education compared to industry. 49 projecting the nature of education for the future jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 cultureandvalues.org while the impact of education on society can be conceived of at the micro-level (classroom instruction level), meso-level (institutional level), and at the macro-level (societal and policy making level), this paper largely, but not exclusively, focuses on the micro classroom instructional level. the paper seeks to straddle time and interrogate education of the past and the present, to project innovative and visionary education of the future. the purpose is to identify, interrogate, understand, and predict expected changes in education of the future based on current trends and trajectories. the paper is also a call for the radical reimagination and reconfiguration of education, to align with, and prepare for the anticipated future. a local context on a global issue although the paper raises issues of global relevance, a snippet of the south african context is instructive for an appreciation of the issues it raises. sakina kamwendo (a south africa broadcasting corporation (sabc) news anchor) interviewed the deputy director general (zukile mvalo) responsible for skills development in the department of higher learning and training on whether tertiary education was teaching the necessary skills for jobs. this followed a statement released by statistics south africa (stats sa) on the overall 8.4% graduate unemployment rate of those who qualified to look for employment. the statistics covered the fourth quarter of 2020 and excluded the then recent graduates. the basis of the question was also the perception that the graduate unemployment problem reflected a deficient education, which produced skills that were not commensurate to the needs of the job market. the deputy director acknowledged the mismatch and called on employer involvement in curriculum design. the problem is attributable to education’s reactive rather than prospective nature. theoretical framework mezirow’s transformative learning theory is quite instructive to the present paper, in as far as it challenges “our taken-for-granted frames of reference (meaning perspectives, habits of mind, mindsets) to make them more inclusive, discriminating, open, emotionally capable of change, and reflective, so that they may generate beliefs and opinions that will prove truer or justified to guide action” (mezirow, 2000, p. 8). this paper adapts this theory of adult learning, whose phases coincide with the phases necessary in re-imagining education for the future. the first stage of ‘a disorienting dilemma’ relates to the realisation of the inadequacy or untenability of a prevailing situation; in our case, the current education offering. that initial phase catalyses the process, and paves way for the ‘self-examination’ phase that follows next. this is where education providers introspect on their contribution to the disorienting status quo, to get perspectives on the phenomenon. the self-examination stage is followed by the ‘critical assessment of assumptions’. this allows stakeholders to rid habitual practices and open up to novel ideas, perspectives and mindsets. next is the phase of ‘planning a course of action’ based on the new perspectives developed. this entails the deliberate planning of the kind of content, pedagogy, assessment, interactional patterns, learning environments, etc. 50 sibanda, j., & marongwe, n. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 that would allow for the realisation of the novel and imagined and desired state. this would require ‘acquisition of knowledge’ that allows for actioning the plans. this may require deskilling and re-skilling. the next stage is one of ‘exploring and trying new roles’ and in the process, ‘building self-efficacy in new roles and relationships.’ mezirow’s (2000) stages reflect incremental stage-by-stage transformation, rather than epochal or sudden transformation. here, autonomy and greater experimentation with ideas and personal beliefs comes into play. confidence in the beliefs, understandings, and actions adopted is developed. this spurs the transformative cycle of the integration and re-integration into the new situation. the theory finds expression in this paper in as far as it challenges extant cosmologies and frames of reference. gleaning the future from the present there is need for strategic foresight to get an informed prospective perspective of the future, despite its fluidity and uncertainty, in order to make effective decisions and changes for today. although peeping into the future and accessing it with some measure of precision in order to align its needs with today’s education is not feasible, trends in the world of work and in our personal lives can direct the needs and shape of the future. the intrusion of the future in the present offers hope and prospects for catching a glimpse of the future in the present. it is important to consider some of the critical trends impacting the present, which can be predicted with some measure of confidence, and will impact the future. automation and artificial intelligence have seen technological machinery rapidly taking over some of the thinking and decision-making previously the preserve of humans; making the human element in most routine tasks obsolete. jerald (2009) notes that routine digitised tasks are vulnerable to automation since they can be fragmented and follow predictable rules. this observation has implications for the kind of content, thinking and dispositions that should be accorded priority in education. a pre-occupation with the easy-to-automate skills, at the expense of elaborate and complex thinking and communication skills, deprives learners of future functionality or usefulness. in education, it would be a disservice to equip learners with skills that technology may render obsolete, before the graduates even have opportunity to apply them. education should shift from being a linear process of credentialing of certification, to a fluid and continuous process of developing students who can adapt to their rapidly changing material conditions. globalisation is a major factor that has precipitated a new world economy that transcends economic, intellectual, social, or any other national barrier. while tailor-making education to national needs ensures local relevance, education should increasingly speak to a global audience. education is rapidly becoming internationalised through benchmarking and competing for international standards of excellence. the internationalisation of education can be defended on the need to facilitate the cross-pollination of ideas in a world characterised by the porosity of national borders. the globalisation of knowledge has implications for subject 51 projecting the nature of education for the future jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 cultureandvalues.org content, as it is not feasible for all education systems to teach similar content a discussion we take up later under the role of content in education for the future. the arguments that have been advanced for and against globalisation, are beyond the scope of this paper. acknowledging the inevitability of the globalisation of knowledge, moloi et al. (2009, p. 280) recommend the implementation of “a strategy that is geared towards maximising the positive, emancipatory effects of globalisation and reducing the destructive effects of global competitive dominance”. traditional attributes that served the industrial age are also shifting in the global information world. draves and coates (2011) see the factory model as being reflected in: teachers checking and requiring attendance, having all learners on the same chapter of a text, setting homework and coursework due dates, imposing penalties for nonor late-submission, having bells going off to mark time segments, grading and ranking students against each other, and making time spent, and work concluded determinants of one’s passing or failing. these are extant features of our education system at almost all levels and across geographical divides. regarding the information age, jerald (2009) notes a gravitation towards personal responsibility, autonomy, collaboration, as well as a reduction in bureaucracy and supervision. siarova et al. (2017, p. 7) note that “a broader range of skills and abilities is needed to navigate a changing landscape characterised by the increasing importance of information and communication technologies (icts), the decline of functional skills-based professions, and increasing competition”. people increasingly perform cross-functional tasks in project teams to accomplish tasks; hence, teaching and learning should reflect such pulling together of diverse skills for a common enterprise. the measure of unpredictability in the workplace should also prevail in the classroom, to the extent where divergence of thought is encouraged and celebrated. flexibility and adaptability have emerged as real assets as people increasingly find themselves in non-specialist jobs. skills and competences for the future “are no longer associated with certain academic disciplines but are transversal and multi-dimensional in nature” (siarova et al. 2017, p. 7). the recently qualified educators may not end up in the classroom, and so should be equipped for a broader context than the classroom, including effective citizenship (rapoport, 2020; swarts, 2020). even the changing demographic profile of learners requires the institution of proactive education processes to meet global demands (estellés et al., 2021; white, 2020). in sum, this section highlighted the need for a delineation of global trends that we can use as launch pads to confidently project the future, in order to design and provide proactive and meaningful education. this shift from traditional practices has implications for the role of content, for the design of the learning environment, for pedagogy, and for assessment practices (omodan & addam, 2022; osworth, 2022). 52 sibanda, j., & marongwe, n. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 the role of traditional content in education for the future the recognition of the attributes for this and the next century demands rethinking the role of content in education provisioning. labate (2020, p. 2) distinguishes between and among three knowledges: knowledge as theory, as praxis and as poesies. respectively, the one facilitates naming and understanding the world, the other guides actions, and the other generates concrete effects through technology. we need to acknowledge the reality that “… purely academic knowledge seems not enough to keep with the 21st century challenges” (labate, 2020, p. 2). content sits within the knowledge as theory domain when the world we inhabit increasingly draws from and upon all three domains. as the world changes, so does its needs and challenges increasingly evolve and become diverse. a lifetime is not long enough for one to harness the exponential rise in the knowledge that is generated. exclusive focus on content as ‘the knowledge’ seems premised on the erroneous assumption that knowledge can be captured, boxed, packaged and administered in large enough instalments for learners’ consumption. the good thing is that acquisition of a small measure of the right content suffices to successfully navigate life, provided that content catalyses the development of habits of mind that engender adaptability. learning content needs to be subservient to, for instance, learning the sources and fluid pathways for knowledge acquisition within the knowledge commons, and how to consume the same. knowledge production, circulation and distribution (labate, 2020) has more mileage than knowledge regurgitation. education should gravitate more towards developing lifelong adaptable learners, rather than merely equipping them with academic content. content should be aligned to skills, attitudes and dispositions that learners require to be successful in the future. skills taught should be linked to curiosity, critical-thinking, creativity, rationality, problem-solving, leadership, and innovativeness. additionally, effective interaction and conversational skills, and examination and manipulation of information have been identified as key in a rapidly evolving, technology-advancing world (jerald, 2009). siarova et al. (2017, p. 15) list seven transversal skills, namely, problem-solving, risk-assessment, initiative, decision-taking, constructive management of feelings, critical-thinking, and creativity. the skills are generally categorised as being: • transversal (they are not directly linked to a specific field but are relevant across many fields). • multidimensional (they include knowledge, skills, and attitudes); and • associated with higher order skills and behaviours that represent the ability to cope with complex problems and unpredictable situations (siarova et al., 2017, p. 18). redecker et al. (2011, p. 42) notes that “the ubiquity and abundance of information will require individuals to improve their metacognitive skills – reflection, critical thinking, problemsolving, managing and organising.” the educator who teaches content in any field of study should drive pedagogical innovations via the development of requisite thinking skills and habits in learners. content 53 projecting the nature of education for the future jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 cultureandvalues.org knowledge is ever-changing, and a disproportionate focus on it will produce graduates who get disoriented every time content changes. developing habits of mind in students enable them to learn how to learn and will ensure that they can adapt to any new situation. generic habits of mind should not, however, substitute traditional academic content; learning to learn needs to define the education system. education needs to be productive, proactive and future-oriented. a repetition of yesteryear’s education for tomorrow renders the education system unresponsive and obsolete devoid of any contribution to developmental efforts. requisite non-routine complex skills needed for success in the near future can be infused in diverse traditional subject areas, without displacing the academic content. in fact, a solid grounding in subject matter is advantageous for the demonstration and development of these skills. for instance, one can only be creative and imaginative when one takes what one already knows (content) to dimensions previously unexplored. education for the future would, therefore, use content as a foundational means for the development and practice of generic complex non-routine thought processes, skills, and attitudes commensurate with the demands of the real-world. the primacy of thinking skills, habits and dispositions, together with the infusion of content, necessitates multiple knowledge-processing that blurs disciplinary boundaries; the boundaries of which are not manifest in the workplace. we need to seriously question whether subject divisions, occasioned by disciplinary content, are for the learners’ good or the educators’ convenience. as the winds of change necessitate change in the education system, the change should be wholesome and impact the learning environment in a progressive positive sense. the organisation of content is becoming tenuous as the archaic, rigid, crystallised organisational structures, affectionately known as subjects, are under pressure from the move towards inter-multi-trans-and cross-disciplinarity. content walls are tumbling down and, in our view, the ability to think and innovate is gaining traction. some of the knowledge has been blocked off as proprietary and governed by intellectual property rights. habits of mind, however, have no ownership rights or restrictions, and are not characterised by the transience that defines content knowledge. redecker et al. (2011, p. 10) acknowledges that “…generic and transversal skills are becoming more important.” the role of schooling to “select, organize and mass-deliver knowledge to population in a specific range of age…” (labate, 2020, p. 7) which sacrifices diversity and creativity for uniformity and conformity, has outlived its usefulness. “not only the curriculum selection of learning “content” has become outdated, but also the “container” -the school classroom-is under pressure to find a new relevance for a new generation (labate, 2020, p. 13). the education environment in education for the future technological, demographic, societal and environmental dynamism necessitates a responsive and proactive learning environment. since students may learn in a wide variety of settings, such as outside-of-school locations and outdoor environments, the term environment is a 54 sibanda, j., & marongwe, n. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 more accurate or preferred alternative to the term classroom, which has limited and traditional connotations a room with rows of desks and a chalkboard, for example. while the symbiotic, causal, and transactional relations between the learner and the environment is acknowledged, the learning environment should adapt to the profiles of the learners and to the evolving society, rather than the learner adapting to the learning environment. the learning environment itself is the interaction among several variables: the teacher, learner, other learners, the setting, instructional media, among others. lippman (2010) posits that the introduction of extant technologies like the computer, tablet and smartboard into the classroom has not revolutionised the traditional classroom owing to the lack of full integration into educational programmes and purposeful utilisation. provision of technological tools is one thing, and their effective utilisation is quite another; and the consonance between the two is generally elusive. thus, being equipped with modern technology does not equate to being 21st century compliant. the traditional classroom setting was consistent with the one-size-fits-all mass production and top-down approach characteristic of the industrial age; which is now obsolete within the information age on account of being no longer supportive of innovative pedagogies. tapscott (2009) contends that the existing design of the school system is not in sync with teaching the net generation, characterised by the desire for autonomy and the need to customise their learning or working spaces to reflect their individuality. the conventional spatial design of the classroom has remained conservative, characterised by superficial changes like replacing the chalkboard with the smartboard. this amounts to modernising a traditional classroom. the onus is on education to appropriate the technological affordances for the advancement of knowledge consumption and generation. in their large-scale study, redecker et al. (2011) say: comparing experts’ findings with those of the teachers, who had been asked to concentrate on school education rather than the whole picture of societal change, what is striking is the degree of coincidence and overlap. experts and teachers both underline that technological change will be one of the main drivers for change in education and training. (p. 34) physical environments should allow for multiple modes of learning, intellectual risktaking, creativity, problem-solving, interdisciplinary moves, individual and group work, learning to learn, presentation, exploration, interaction, a sense of community, learner agency and initiative, and formal and informal learning rather than pure content acquisition. the conception of school as a building should change to that of ‘schools as communities’ for sharing learning experiences, as zoom rooms gradually evolve into metaverses characterised by ultra-connectedness. lippman (2010) observes some of the key elements of the 21st century learning environment include its flexibility to be configured and reconfigured in ways that better mediate learning, and its promotion of self-direction and co-operative learning (independence 55 projecting the nature of education for the future jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 cultureandvalues.org and interdependence). woolner, thomas and tiplady (2018, p. 225) state that in “schools that consist of cellular classrooms where student desks are organised to face the front, there tends to be a more teacher-centred approach to learning with less student collaboration”. lippman (2010) distinguishes between the constructivist and the practice theory; where the former regards the learning environment as passive, and the latter views it as actively influencing learners. the students we are educating are less likely to follow single career paths, but multiple ones; hence, the need to organise the learning environment for cross-disciplinary learning. the learning environment can be a physical infrastructure, and it can be virtual and cloud. it is not limited to time or space, but promotes authentic, rigorous, real-world projects. it can also be blended by combining physical and digital elements. draves and coates (2011) observe the work environment as shifting, necessitating concomitant shift in the learning environment. although people are increasingly working from home, the school environment should facilitate teaching-learning from the learners’ comfort location. learners should “be learning in [places] where they are most creative, innovative and productive” (draves & coates, 2011, p. 55). the physical classroom should make way for the virtual classroom, just as the intranet has replaced offices in the world of work. the pyramid organisational structure that is making room for the network organisational structure should also occur in the schooling environment. “in the 21st century school, students are almost certainly to be grouped in-person and online by their ‘stage’ or level of learning, not the age” (draves & coates, 2011, p. 39). the environment has to be intentionally designed to support 21st century learning, with multi-purpose spaces, flexible timetables, flexible infrastructure, being community-centred, and situated at multiple locations. in a bid to establish what learning would look like in the future, redecker et al. (2011, p. 16) held “extensive stakeholder consultations, employing different formats (workshops; online consultations; group concept mapping) and including different stakeholder groups (experts and practitioners; teachers; policy makers) for mutual reinforcement and cross validation”. one of the key projections is that: education institutions will cease to be exclusive agents of coordination, service provision, quality assurance, performance assessment, or support. they will need to recreate themselves as resilient systems with flexible, open, and adaptive infrastructures, which engage all citizens and re-connect with society; schools will become dynamic, community-wide systems and networks that have the capacity to renew themselves in the context of change (redecker et al., 2011, p. 30). the physical environment should allow for a seamless connection of the indoors and the outdoors that make learning more engaging and authentic. the 21st century learning environments should be replicas of the 21st century environment which learners inhabit. the design of the environment should be needs-oriented and learner-centred. learners spend time in other exciting and engaging spaces, and if the learning environment is not equally user 56 sibanda, j., & marongwe, n. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 friendly, learning will not be optimised. a change in the learning environment will result in a change in practice. it is this flexible space that encourages collaboration, participation, exploration, and experimentation. time regulation through the sounding of bells should transform to scheduling that allows for flexibility and spontaneity so that learning is not measured by time, but by learners’ demonstration of learning. learning should be anywhere, anytime; thus, the learning environment should not be over-regulated to the extent that the learners feel constrained and constricted. if, for example, they feel comfortable taking off their shoes during learning, they should have such a liberty because they have it in real-life. timetables programme learners to rest at particular times and not at other times. draves and coates (2011) argue that: the notion that a teacher must be present at all times, that the only place where learning occurs is in a classroom, that learners have to be monitored and supervised while being online, that no student should or can be disciplined enough to work on her or his own, simply does not lead to the outcomes demanded by the post-industrial workplace, nor does it utilize the resources now available for learning. (p. 63) an environment which encourages risk-taking and unconventional solutions is indicative of the kind of education envisaged for the future. travelling classrooms which bring learners in touch with the real-world may be the virtual reality of the future. the classroom has become anachronistic and disconnected from the potentially ‘disruptive’ reality the learners inhabit. the modern classroom is nothing more than an upgraded traditional classroom with cosmetic changes. the ‘messiness’ of the real-world should be allowed to invade the classroom rather than have the learners shielded from it by being offered simplified and contrived tasks whose solutions the teacher already holds (bolstad et al., 2012). teachers need to stop teaching at their comfort level; instead, they must promote a dynamic classroom which mirrors the dynamism of the world. “several emerging technologies, in particular opensource technologies, cloud computing and mobile technology will enable a seamless education continuum that is centred on the student, not the institutions” (redecker et al. (2011, p.29). assessment in education for the future courtesy of credentialism, assessment will most likely be with us for a long time, albeit in a different form. as society and education evolve, we need to rethink educational assessment foci and reimagine our assessment protocols, a kind of assessment renaissance. labate (2020) makes an onslaught on the examination thus: the time that students need for reflection, dialogue, and critical thinking around social problems to foster the praxis, the action-guiding aspect of knowledge, can easily be colonised by an exam-driven emphasis that encourages an overloaded, theory-laden curriculum, while not paying enough attention to issues such as solidarity, culture, identity, social cohesion and responsibility. (p. 4) 57 projecting the nature of education for the future jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 cultureandvalues.org testing knowledge or mastery of skills at a given time without due regard for the measurement of student growth over time, does not work today and may even be obsolete in the future. assessment has to shift from being an end to being a means to learning as an end. standardised tests appeal to educators because of their propensity towards quantification, accountability, and ease of implementation. there is need for a shift from antiquated texts and classroom-based-instruction with its arbitrary assessment methods (in the form of standardised tests rather than creative projects) that do not reflect and measure real learning. assessment has hitherto largely been driven by the desire to document learning, and less to drive and enhance learning through critical thinking. the complex world which learners inhabit should be reflected in educational assessment by accommodating the broad spectrum of, not only the cognitive abilities, but also the values, attitudes, dispositions, and metacognitive abilities associated with an evolving, reform-ready, and inclined-to-innovate society. the focus of assessment determines the focus of instruction; and a change in one necessitates a shift in the other. assessment needs to better support the teaching and learning of the future. “assessing key competences and transversal skills is a challenging task, as they refer to complex constructs that are not easily measurable” (siarova et al., 2017, p. 16). the focus of assessment should shift from highstakes standardised assessment to individualised low-stake assessment, from highly formal to increasingly less formal assessment, and from summative to formative assessments. where subject matter is acquired, assessment should focus on its application in the realworld. while we leverage the merits of the different assessment protocols, we need not lose sight of their inherent limitations. accordingly, this makes a compelling case for the use of multiple complementary, performance-dependent instruments reflecting deeper authentic learning. “research demonstrates that there is no single method that would fully measure key competences” (siarova et al., 2017, p. 8). multiple instruments come in handy for triangulating multiple-learning-evidence sources. there is need for the development of comprehensive assessment frameworks that synergise assessment protocols, approaches, and instruments in assessing key competences. game based assessment can leverage and capitalise on the net generation’s forms of learning. learner responses on assessments are proxies for their learning, and educators should accurately determine the proxies’ most reflective of requisite skills or competencies and ensure use of the proxies can make the skills, competencies and dispositions apparent and explicit. effective assessments are those involving “multiple steps requiring a chain of reasoning and a range of competences; and a range of formats allowing responses that require different competences” (siarova et al. 2017, p. 10). these need not be assessed in isolation as they overlap and intersect. key competences need to be operationalised to provide a basis for sound and consistent assessment. students and learners should be entitled to the opportunity to be innovative and assessed on this. it is vital, in celebrating divergence of opinion, to acknowledge that 58 sibanda, j., & marongwe, n. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 sometimes, there are no clear-cut answers to questions but that there are more often “paradoxical, dichotomous, enigmatic, confusing, ambiguous, discrepant…” ways of looking at things (costa & kallick, 2009, p. 121). we must not impose our meanings on learners, but rather let the process of co-construction of meaning unfold even to the extent that learners end up constructing meanings radically different from the ones we hold. non-routine thinking, solid oral and written communication skills, and related competences would merit assessment priority than the regurgitation of content. are we educating students for a life of tests or for the tests of life? this is a critical question education needs to consider (costa & kallick, 2009). as we move into the future, selfassessment becomes a crucial and practical aspect in learning. learners should not depend on the assessment of others in real-life. they should be able to determine when they have done adequate, good, incomplete or shoddy work, without anyone affirming or censuring their performance. the evaluation responsibility needs to be shifted to learners. costa (2008) bemoans an education system that encourages certainty over suspicion, regurgitation of answers over inquiry, singularity of thought rather that exploration of alternatives. education should develop rather than stifle human inclination to inquire, experience, question, and diverge in thought. all the interventions emanate from dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs, out of questioning what has always been known and believed and looking at alternatives for remediation. costa (2008) observes how infants and toddlers are constantly exploring all that they can interact with by using their senses, and their fascination with mystery and discrepancy which excites their curiosity and imagination, spurs them on to further discovery. they get their feedback from their explorations such that their minds are enriched in the process. this happens until the school system takes over and socialises them into docility and passivity, curbing their natural inclination for exploration. the end of schooling suddenly becomes a period of passing standardised tests. learning becomes merely mental exercises unrelated to real-life, and this is what perplexes the learners. hence, learning becomes an unpleasant experience and assessment of learning is almost punitive rather than something to look forward to. assessment should be individualised. draves and coates (2011, p. 76) bemoan that “the current system is oriented towards the concept that [one-size-fits-all], with the same test administered to all students in a given class at the same time with no choice in test delivery options”. this is exacerbated by assessments being timed as if all learners learn and perform at the same pace; and the teacher giving grades that encourage competition. pedagogy in education for the future john dewey states that “if we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow” (draves & coates, 2011, p. 41). the future requires a pedagogy that is bold, innovative and aligned to the development of 21st century skills, knowledge and dispositions. learning, teaching, and how education is structured and delivered, are transformed as a result 59 projecting the nature of education for the future jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 cultureandvalues.org of the epochal transition from the industrial age to the internet age (draves & coates, 2011, p. 18). pedagogies that effectively served the industrial age will not develop the kind of learning relevant for the future. of the traditional pedagogies, whitby (2007, p. 2) maintains that “the hallmarks of these pedagogies are found in teacher-controlled learning where deconstructed and reconstructed information is presented to same-age cohorts of students in standardized classroom settings”. whitby (2007) advocates for a humanising and socialising pedagogy that is enhancing and respectful, while conscientising the need for responsible community and global citizenship. such pedagogy should be, among others, facilitative of lifelong learning characterised by problem-solving, collaboration, and sound communication. with the information explosion rampant in this day and age, rather than mere recall of information, pedagogies should develop relevant skills for accessing, processing, evaluating and handling information, negotiation, and creating and managing knowledge. the ability to handle paradox, controversy and complexity is increasingly becoming critical. students need to be empowered to generate knowledge, and teacher-education should concern itself with how to infuse knowledge-generation activities in imparting the requisite content. there is a tendency for teachers to teach and believe what they were taught. teacher educators should cease being lecturers but evolve into organisers of meaningful teaching-learning experiences. they may even require a new designation or new labels reflective of their changing roles. not all textual content is authentic, and the learner has to unpack the possible bias of the writer who may have an agenda, as in eurocentrism versus afrocentrism. the ‘new’ teacher should partner learners to co-create knowledge. the power dynamics as they exist in the traditional context are seriously challenged. an acknowledgment of learning as co-creation of knowledge and collaborative problem-solving capitalises on the principles of sharing, researching, and evaluating that define learning in this century that will influence the future. the age of a uniform size for all in education is come to pass and learning needs to be more personalised to ensure that education fits the learner, rather than the learner fitting into education. the future accords opportunities to customise learning to student needs. all available requirements such as technology, human resources, space, and time should be utilised to address learner needs. a redefinition of the role of the teacher is imperative to the personalisation of instruction. labate (2020) characterises the traditional role of the teacher thus: schools are structurally teacher-centred organizations: the teacher is the central figure as a mediator between knowledge (content) and the student, especially by making professional decisions on how to dispense neat knowledge packages by means of learning activities (be them learner-driven or teacher-driven). (p. 7) with the proliferation of information, courtesy of the new technologies, the teacher ceases to be the repository of knowledge or the all-knowing authoritative source who can claim monopoly over knowledge and ideas. in fact, some students may be more adept with the new technologies than the teacher, and the latter may have to consult with the former. 60 sibanda, j., & marongwe, n. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 “as much as possible, the teacher moves from pedagogy to andragogy. the teacher’s role shifts from teaching to assisting each student to learn” (draves & coates, 2011, p. 41). a useful strategy is to develop intellectual curiosity through effective problem-posing, and the creation of favourable conditions for learners to succeed in their problem-solving. teachers should be able to determine what information and tools are necessary for learners to solve problems, and then provide them with these. problems should drive learning, and knowledge should be acquired and developed in the process of solving problems. teachers need to assume the role of highly knowledgeable and skilled ‘learners’ who are as curious to discover solutions to given problems as their students should be. teachers need a new conceptualisation of their roles in terms of their relationship with learners. in accordance, research-based educational innovations supported by technology, are compulsory for the future. learning should take precedence over teaching such that learning projects should dominate our teaching. the authors further posit that the real work, the real challenge, the real make-or-break aspect of teaching, is in the andragogy the area of helping students to learn. the learners should cease to be passive or reactive participants. draves and coates (2011, p. 51) observe, “in the 21st century, students do not just learn content, they also create content”. they can also be given opportunities to explain new content to others which allows them to customise it to the recipients. in the pedagogy of the future, failure should not be unduly censured; rather the courage to attempt, fail and learn from failure should be celebrated. while teaching students how to find information in the maze of information ‘banks’ is imperative, it is not adequate. the possibility is that learners of the present and future already know where such information is found, and how it can be obtained. the teacher needs to justify his or her presence by guiding learners in the voyage, not only of discovery, but more importantly, of creation. the transition has to be from knowledge-absorption (from an authoritative source) to knowledge-critiquing, and then to knowledge-creation. we assume that there has been a marginal shift from the mere absorption of facts to the critical adaptation of information, but the generative component is still lacking. it is our opinion that teacher-education largely operates at the accumulation-of-information level and has barely moved towards the processing and analysing of information when the ultimate goal should be the generation and dissection of knowledge to solve real challenges. even research students are ‘made’ to conduct procedures (which is supposed to be quite generative) as part of their requirements for graduation. this is largely contrived and only meant to develop research skills rather than to generate new, real, and useful knowledge. passive acquisition and reproduction of current information should give way to using knowledge to better the human condition, and to generate more knowledge. useful pedagogy is one where knowledge will be acquired, critiqued, manipulated, generated and transformed to serve ends, other than itself. instructional materials need to become increasingly digital. brain science shows today’s youths’ intellectual affinity to digital learning which renders them disengaged with traditional forms of instruction. teachers and teacher-educators need technological fluency. social media 61 projecting the nature of education for the future jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 cultureandvalues.org needs to be harnessed to bring about learning, and flexibility that allows for learning at any time and in any space. collaborative learning, mobile learning opportunities, on-line learning, blended learning, and virtual schools will be pervasive in the future. cooperation becomes instrumental in solving real problems. there is a shift in the traditional pedagogical paradigm precipitated by digital technologies which have little respect for constraints presented by classroom relevance or test accountability. digital technologies have made it possible for information to get directly to the learners, bypassing the teachers, thus revolutionising teaching and learning. game designers enable learners to engage in challenging activities for lengthy durations; hence, teacher education and teaching should be aligned to students’ and learners’ learning propensities so that content, skills and dispositions are developed in an interactive manner. an education system that equips learners with only intellectual knowledge with no application skills, is bound to fail. learners need to be equipped with critical-thinking tools of the time. an intelligent, ‘unethical’ worker may not succeed in his or her career because professionalism and work ethic is increasingly becoming an imperative applied skill in the workplace. while the education system extols the value of individualism and competition, teamwork, collaboration and working in diverse teams are what the workplace celebrates more. there is much need to create a learning context that is more authentic and fits the requirements for the real-world. flexibility and adaptability are indispensable components in the face of technological change which compels us to adapt to novel ways of communicating, learning, working, and living. such skills are best developed through complex project-work rather than through traditional pedagogies. hence, pedagogies for the future should invoke learners’ creative capacities to enhance their propensity for thinking in unconventional unique ways. costa (2008) laments the obsolescent legacy of renee descartes (1593-1650) who classified knowledge into discrete static compartments, which still lives on, only because of the convenience it gives to time-allocation, employing and training teachers, testing, and other such ‘conveniences’. the education of learners has progressed more on the basis of conveniences than on what really benefits the learner. this has led to some bodies of knowledge being privileged over others such that teachers remain in compartments occasioned by their specialisations while missing out on collaborative ventures. “crosscurricular competences and transversal skills are harder to associate with individual subjects and to reflect in specific learning outcomes. knowledge is generally interdependent” (siarova et al. 2017, p. 7). the future is gravitating towards trans-disciplinary bodies of knowledge to solve real-life challenges. professions need diverse knowledges for realising success; and this facilitates and promotes the transfer of knowledge rather than what costa and kallick (2014, p. 129) call “episodic, compartmentalized and encapsulated thinking in students”. 62 sibanda, j., & marongwe, n. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 contribution to social change there are many schools of thoughts regarding what social change is and how education can bring social change. we submit, in this paper, that the role education should play in society is neither that of societal preservation as functionalism advocates (durkheim, 1895), or of merely reflecting the nature of society, but that of leading the change in society. while the direction society will take in future cannot be attributed to a single factor, espousing the idea of education influencing that trajectory provides prospects of proactively instituting in the present, measures and systems that would best ensure the realisation of the ideals. a preservation, reactive, reactionary and reflection or reproduction role of education in relation to society means presuppose that education waits to establish the nature of societal change and then responds to it. considering the speed and scope of societal change, by the time education attempts to react to document the nature of social change, society would have changed. little wonder then how present-day curriculum still mirrors the bygone industrial age. the accumulation of grades, extrinsic motivations, competitive ranking of learners, the semblance of meritocracy, standardardised instruction and assessment, as well as censure of failure evident in schooling today are relics of the traditional schooling paradigm. conclusion there is an urgency to relook at the totality of the education system (e.g., pedagogical practices, assessment regimes, worthwhile knowledge selection, the learning environment etc.) to be in line with ever-evolving learner profiles, technological advances, and social developments. while it is acknowledged that society is a rapidly moving target, education has regrettably been shooting where the target used to be. educating yesteryear students today, using yesterday’s teaching methods and assessments practices, within a modernised traditional classroom, and expecting them to function in the future, will be like batting in the dark. the fact that we cannot determine with precision ascendant knowledges and technologies in the future, today’s education should develop adaptable and versatile students, who will be able to function in an ever-evolving global landscape. adaptable and versatile students can only be a product of an adaptable system. adaptation and versatility in one area would not suffice. a wholesale transformation in what is taught (content, skills, dispositions, attitudes), how it is taught (pedagogy), how learning is guaranteed (assessment), where learning takes place (environment), the tools used (media and technology), and the roles of the key stakeholders (teachers, learners, administrators) is needed. education for the future comes with novel skills (initiative, resilience, risk-taking, metacognition, etc), new technology trends, new ways of learning that are active and constructive, and new platforms of learning (virtual). even learning patterns and trajectories will continue to be volatile as they accommodate classroom diversity and heterogeneity. 63 projecting the nature of education for the future jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 cultureandvalues.org references bolstad, r., gilbert, j., mcdowall, s., bull, a., boyd, s., & hipkins, r. (2012). supporting future-oriented learning & teaching: a new zealand perspective. nz ministry of education. costa, a. l. (2008). describing the habits of mind. in: a. l. costa & b. kallick (eds.). learning and leading with habits of mind. association for supervision & curriculum development [ascd]. costa, a. l., & kallick, b. (2009). habits of mind across the curriculum: practical and creative strategies for teachers. ascd. costa, a. l., & kallick, b. (2014). dispositions: reframing teaching and learning. corwin. draves, w.a, & coates, j. (2011). the pedagogy of the 21st. lern books, durkheim, e. (1895). social facts. in m. martin and l. c. mcintyre (eds.), readings in the philosophy of social science (p. 433–40). mit press. estellés, m., romero, j., & amo, f. j. (2021). the paradoxes of citizenship education: frames and factors influencing dispositions toward discussing political issues in the classroom. journal of social studies education research, 12(2), 78-99. facer, k. (2021). futures in education: towards an ethical practice. [paper commissioned for the unesco futures of education report]. unesco. jerald, c. d. (2009). defining a 21st century education. the center for public education. http://www.centerforpubliceducation. kamwendo, s. (2021). labour market: does tertiary education teach the necessary skills for jobs: zukile mvalo. sabc news. feb 26, 2021. labate, h. (2020). knowledge access and distribution: the future(s) of what we used to call ‘curriculum’. [paper commissioned for the unesco futures of education report]. unesco. mezirow, j. (2000). learning to think like an adult: core concepts of transformation theory. in j. mezirow & associates (eds.), learning as transformation: critical perspectives on a theory in progress (pp. 3–33). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. moloi, k. c. & gravett, s., & petersen, n. (2009). globalization and its impact on education with specific reference to education in south africa. educational management administration & leadership, 37(2), 278-297. omodan, b., & addam, b. (2022). analysis of transformational teaching as a philosophical foundation for effective classrooms. journal of curriculum studies research, 4(2), 1529. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcsr.2022.9 https://koneksi-aman.com/proxy/index.php?q=maq-1aopeymvp16lgthwrk-xudoeygtfy65krnew4p19m6_ec52pp5ocnqznzni https://koneksi-aman.com/proxy/index.php?q=maq-1aopeymvp16lgthwrk-xudoeygtfy65krnew4p1-f57egogvzam http://www.centerforpubliceducation/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcsr.2022.9 64 sibanda, j., & marongwe, n. cultureandvalues.org jcve 2022, 5(2): 47-64 osworth, d. (2022). looking toward the field: a systematic review to inform current and future school takeover policy. research in educational policy and management, 4(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.46303/repam.2022.1 rapoport, a. (2020). editorial: technologization of global citizenship education as response to challenges of globalization. research in social sciences and technology, 5(1), i-vii. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.01.ed redecker,c., leis, m., leendertse, m., punie, y., gijsbers, g., kirschner, p., stoyanov, s., & hoogveld, b. (2011). the future of learning: preparing for change. institute for prospective technological studies, jrc european commission. siarova, h., sternadel, d., & mašidlauskaitė, r. (2017). assessment practices for 21st century learning: review of evidence (neset ii report). publications office of the european union. swarts, g. (2020). re/coding global citizenship: how information and communication technologies have altered humanity… and created new questions for global citizenship education. research in social sciences and technology, 5(1), 70-85. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.01.4 trilling, b., & fadel, c. (2009). 21st century skills: learning for life in our times. jossey-bass. whitby, g. (2007). pedagogy for the 21st century. paper presented at the acel international conference, sydney, australia, from 10-12 october 2007. white, c. (2020). wielding social media in the cyber-arena: globalism, nationalism, and civic education. research in social sciences and technology, 5(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.01.1 woolner, p., thomas u., & tiplady, l. (2018). structural change from physical foundations: the role of the environment in enacting school change. journal of educational change, 19(2), 223-242. https://doi.org/10.46303/repam.2022.1 https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.01.ed https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.01.4 https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.05.01.1 microsoft word tarman.docx journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman & kilinc, poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey 50 poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey bulent tarman* independent researcher emin kilinc independent researcher *corresponding author: btarman@gmail.com received : 2018-05-14 accepted : 2018-06-10 how to cite this paper: tarman, b. & kilinc, e. (2018). poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey. journal of culture and values in education, 1(1), 50-62. abstract the purpose of this paper is to examine social studies textbooks to investigate the use of poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey. this paper also examines whose poets have been represented in the textbooks. the authors applied content analysis to evaluate social studies textbooks. content analysis is a research method that uses a set of procedures to make valid inferences from text. it is also described as a method of analyzing written, verbal or visual communication messages. content analysis allows the researcher to test theoretical issues to enhance understanding of the data. the results showed that very few poems were used in the social studies textbooks. the finding of the study revealed that poems in the 4thgrade textbooks relate to topics that were interest to students the nature and humanism. poem about şavşat, described the beauty of turkish homeland in the four seasons. vetch field poem in the 5thgrade social studies textbook, described a bride who has to work in the field. this poem seems to be written for girls since the language indicates ‘girls’ several times. it emphasizes how hard to be a bride in the vetch field. remaining poems were used to promote students’ patriotic values. these poems emphasizes flag, homeland, heroism etc. keywords: textbooks , poems, social studies education introduction we are living in an ever-changing world. globalization, massive migration, development of the technology etc. might reflect changing ideas and social practices. in attempting to respond to a variety of national and international pressures, governments have instituted seemingly endless reviews and reforms within the educational sector (roberts, 2008; tarman & dev, 2018). as apple (2004) indicated, educational institutions are parts of public sphere. hence, deciding what kind of knowledge should be thought is one of the primary responsibilities of national ministry of education in turkey. social studies curriculum, as well as other curricula, journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman & kilinc, poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey 51 has been prepared under the surveillance by the national ministry of education for transmission of the dominant ideology. from the establishment of the republic of turkey, all the government educational programs carried the characteristics of progressive educational movement (gözütok, 2008). however, there are two main obstacles to apply progressive ideas: teachers and high stake testing (tarman & gürel, 2017). the educational system has been continued as teacher and subject centered; textbooks are essential to equip students with the ‘official knowledge’; and students have needed to learn what books write. unfortunately, curriculum understood only institutionally as a result of this school became a mausoleum not a civic forum (pinar, 1999). a hermeneutics of subjectivity and aesthetics empowers educators to resist methodological approaches that seek to certify inert information for canonical accountability (slattery, 2008). the purpose of this paper is to examine social studies textbooks to investigate the use of poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey. this paper also examines whose poets have been represented in the textbooks. the authors applied content analysis to evaluate social studies textbooks. content analysis is a research method that uses a set of procedures to make valid inferences from text. (weber, 1990). it is also described as a method of analyzing written, verbal or visual communication messages (cole, 1988). content analysis allows the researcher to test theoretical issues to enhance understanding of the data (elo & kyngas, 2008). social studies education in turkey social studies is an independent course of study and involves more than memorizing factual information. indeed, social studies promotes understanding of people, culture, and the world (barr, 1997). the term of social studies has been first used in 1916 in the united states to the response of the press of cultural, racial, and gender differences (crocco, 2004; kilinc, 2012) by the national education association's (nea) 1916 committee on social studies (ross, 2006; singer, 2005). social studies has been part of turkish school curriculum in the late 1960’s. from the announcement of the first school curricula of turkey in 1924 to 1968, social studies were organized separately around three academic disciplines; history, geography, and civic (tarman; 2011; 2016;2017). from the foundation of the republic of turkey in 1923, education has been seen as a tool to transform and modernize turkish society by policy makers. therefore, the new regime, the republic, instituted a highly centralized education system that controlled general affairs relating to education such as regulating curricula and textbooks (childress, 2001; kazamias, 1966). the new regime aimed to modernize turkish society and made numerous revolutions such as secularism, language reform, latinization of the turkish alphabet, promoting sun language theory that advocates almost all civilizations originated with the turks instead of ottoman history and islam. in order to promote these revolutions among citizens, the new regime needed to nurture young generations as well as adults as citizens of the republic and recognition of the new revolutions (kilinc, erdogan, cavlazoglu, & burlbaw, 2014). thus, school journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman & kilinc, poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey 52 curricula especially history, geography, and civics were used to create nationalist, republican, and secularist citizens. the term of social studies has been used in 1968 school curricula. social studies aimed to promote patriotic values amongst young generations. nationalism, secularism, patriotism, and republicanism remained in their positions in the social studies curriculum (mauch & tarman, 2016; tarman & acun, 2010; tarman, 2011; tarman & ayas, 2011; yiğit &tarman, 2013). from 1968 to today, the social studies curriculum revised several times. the latest revision has been made in 2017. constructivist approach has been continued to effect social studies curriculum development in turkey. active participation, global education, environment and human rights are seen as important characteristics of the current social studies curriculum. the latest social studies curriculum aims to promote of civic competence and provide practicing democracy for student. democracy does not mean only voting or political participation; but it involves civic practices besides voting. therefore, the use of appropriate poems in the social studies extend and enhances the atmosphere surrounding more fact-laden subject areas, which can make social studies more meaningful and exciting for students (perfect, 1999). however, poetry is solely taught in turkish course as reading parts. there is very little space for poetry in the social studies textbooks. poetry and social studies education poetry has been defined as ‘a form of language that says more and says it more intensely than does ordinary language’ (arp, 1997, p.3). dunlop (2007) describes poetry as a means of discovery. therefore, it can be used as a teaching-learning tool in the social studies to enhance students’ understanding and expand their perception of the world. poetry can be seen as a light in the dark times. individuals try to resist antidemocratic regimes and social injustices through poetry. thus, autocrats consider poetry as threatening acts for current system and attempts to silence poets. on the other hands, many scholars believed that poetry that addresses democratic practices promotes human dignity and equality among citizens (ciardiello, 2010; pinsky, 2007). there are several benefits to use poetry in the teaching-learning process. for instance, the use of poetry promotes learners in making some initial reflections. in addition, the use of poetry enables learners to re-orientate and consolidate prior learning (threlfall, 2013). through poetry, students think abstractly (dunlop, 2007), see differently, understand each other, and validate human experience. also, poetry motivates students to curiously investigate the world and to think more deeply about their own experiences (perfect, 1999). poetry has an immense capacity to stimulate empathy, compassion, and humanism (dunlop, 2007). journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman & kilinc, poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey 53 however, the use of poetry left behind in the era of standardized testing. even though the social studies curricula encourages teachers to enhance their teaching with several activities, the reality of standardized testing has been an obstacle. teaching students to fill in test bubbles keeps the main priority amongst teachers because test scores are argued to be only determinant of academic achievement (stovall, 2006). it seems that not only teachers but also policymakers, parents and other stake holders forgot the main purpose of education. current elimination of visual and performing arts in public school curricula deny young people access to forms of expression. if we understand education to take place within and beyond the ideological space of the traditional school setting with docile students and didactic instructors, it behooves us to engage and support the spaces young people find relevant to their lives (stovall, 2006, p.79). there are strong relationship between literacy and democratic ideals (greene, 1988). indeed, literacy supports social studies by providing enormous data for cultivating civic responsibility and social justice for students (ciardiello, 2010). for instance, poetry played considerable role in supporting human rights advocacy, speaking across differences, hope, beauty (dunlop, 2007), and protesting inequality and social justice (ciardiello, 2010). as banks and banks (1999) mentioned, students can learn civic responsibility from relevant case studies of people involved in democratic practices. providing more personal case studies that related social studies aims in the textbooks assists teachers to use these samples as steppingstones to teach democratic ideals. integrating poetry in the social studies provides a new aspect of understanding of what it means to interpret and to know. indeed, interactive reading of poetry promotes critical thinking skills (wallace-jones, 1991), creativity, imagination, and sophisticated thinking (dunlop, 2007). in addition, integrating poetry into teaching-learning process helps students to become better readers and active listeners (jensen, 1996). the use of poetry in the social studies also helps students to engage issues such as understanding of other cultures; then assist engagement with these cultures (lishan & hermsen, 2007). furthermore, integrating poetry increase students’ ability to accurately assess situations and people around them. the use of poetry in social studies education is not common in turkey. on contrary, the use of poetry to illustrate some geographic concepts has been a long tradition in some western countries such as uk (donaldson, 2001). turkish teachers are required to apply centrally designed curriculum and use distributed textbooks for their instruction by national ministry of education because of highly centralized education system. they also are checked on a regular basis by nme inspectors to control teachers’ compliance with the standard curriculum (yildirim, 1997). journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman & kilinc, poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey 54 purpose of the paper many scholars have linked poetry and education in the last decades (connor-green, murdoch, paul & young, 2005; furman, 2004; wiseman, 2011). however little of this work has been done within social studies especially in turkey. therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of poetry in the turkish social studies textbooks. this paper also examines whose poets have been represented in the textbooks. method this study aimed to examine the use of poetry in turkish social studies textbooks. therefore, the authors chose document analysis as a qualitative research method for data collection. researchers can obtain rich and robust data for their study through qualitative research strategies such as observation, interview, and document analysis (glesne, 1999). document analysis is accepted as an established research method that has been applied to make valid and reliable inferences using texts (krippendorff, 2004). documentary analysis concentrate on institutional records or artifacts produces or contained in the setting under study. curriculum plans, syllabuses, journals, and textbooks are some examples of educational documents (chism & banta, 2007). researchers can get access to written materials that offer them the significant information to deepen the subject (glesne, 1999). according to yin (2009), researchers can study the signs and symbols in documents to investigate the meanings attached to them through document analysis. social studies textbooks used in the study were accessed through instruction and pedagogy committee’s website. findings in turkey, instruction and pedagogy committee tests the appropriateness of the textbooks to the curriculum, and national ministry of education, approves textbooks that support the curricula. in this highly centralized educational system, the national ministry of education also distributed these textbooks to each student for free. this meant that nme has absolute control ever course materials. (childress, 2001) 4th grade social studies textbook the content of the 4th grade social studies textbooks depend on the both curriculum and the author’s choice of material to include in the book. instruction and pedagogy committee assigned specific teachers and academics to write the 4th grade social studies textbooks. the textbooks also published by nme printing office. 4th grade social studies textbook consisted of 204 pages and seven themes that was proposed in the curriculum. instruction and pedagogy committee accepted the book as a textbook in 06.14.2017 and published 1.307.737 of them. the textbook started with turkish flag and journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman & kilinc, poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey 55 national anthem as well as other textbooks. this showed that textbooks are still used as tools of nation building. there are only three poems in the 4th grade social studies textbook. the first one is used in the first theme ‘individual and society’. the authors provide news and poem about diversity and have students to rewrite written poem. however, there is no sign or instruction about interactive reading of the poem. i wish children in my country and all other children in the world laugh and play like today be brothers in pain and joy and peace songs play the second poem is also used in the same theme. this poem is used to mention that people can express their ideas and emotions in various ways such as poems, paintings and writings. the second poem is about human. bride-faced daisies are beautiful decoration of the prairie there is more beautiful flower which is smiling human face the last poem is used in the third theme, people, place, and environments to illustrate the nature of şavşat, a district of artvin province in the black sea region. this poem describe the geographic structure of şavşat, illustrate the situation of this town in four season. 5th grade social studies textbook instruction and pedagogy committee assigned the same teachers and academics to write the 5th grade social studies textbooks. 5th grade social studies textbook consisted of 204 pages and seven themes that was proposed in the curriculum. instruction and pedagogy committee accepted the book as a textbook in 06.14.2017 and published 1.307.737 of them. the textbook started with turkish flag and national anthem as well as other textbooks. the first and second poems are used in the second theme, culture and heritage. the first poem burçak tarlası ‘vetch field’ is a sample of turkish folkloric tune, türkü. in this part of textbook, the authors first explained türkü as combination of the distinct cultural values of turkish people. the authors also stated that love, migration, separation, longing are represented through türkü. i woke up in the morning to the sound of ezan (call of prayer) it isn’t the sound of ezan, it is mourning of vetch pitching my dear, look at that man, how many fields he has. oh girl, how hard it is to pick up vetch, journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman & kilinc, poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey 56 how hard it is to be a bride in the vetch field i woke up in the morning and boil some milk i spilled milk’s mousse on the floor my dear i lost my mind in the fetch field. the second poem is also placed in the same theme. the authors provided brief information about the history of tea in turkey and gave a poem as an example of literature. the poet is a tv presenter who is explicitly supports the ruling party. his poem is about tea addiction. the last poem, placed in the active citizenship theme as a part of symbols of sovereignty and independence. the name of poem is ‘flag’, which is written by a famous nationalist poet arif nihat asya. this poem and others showed that patriotic fervor continued to be a prominent feature of social studies textbooks. o the scarlet white adornment of blue sky the bridal gown of my sister, the shroud of our martyrs! o our colors! incandescent and luminous, rippling in the wind i’ve read your saga, i’ll write your legend i will dig his mound whoever looks to you not through eyes of mine, i will mar the nest of any creature of the air that flies by without salute hail-should it dare 6th grade social studies textbook the content of the 6th grade social studies textbook was written by a private company and it passed the instruction and pedagogy committee’s evaluation. 6th grade social studies textbook consisted of 191 pages and seven themes that was proposed in the curriculum. instruction and pedagogy committee accepted the book as a textbook in 09.12.2013 for five years. the textbook started with turkish flag and national anthem as well as other textbooks. there is only one poem in the 6th grade social studies textbook. this poem was used in the explanation of one turkish celebration, henna night. henna night is one of the most important piece of wedding ceremonies. bride’s last night at her father’s house, the sorrows sang with this poem. don’t let them build a home in the high hills don’t let them give girls as bride to faraway countries don’t let them to disdain the mother’s one and only let the flying birds sense this i miss my mother both my mother and my father journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman & kilinc, poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey 57 i miss my village. i wish my father had a horse so he would ride it to come to me i wish my mother had a sail so she’d set it to come to me i wish my siblings had known my address so they’d come to me 7th grade social studies textbook 7th grade social studies textbook consisted of 206 pages and seven themes that was proposed in the curriculum. instruction and pedagogy committee accepted the book as a textbook in 02.10.2017 and the textbooks were published by national ministry of education. the textbook started with turkish flag and national anthem as well as other textbooks. there are only two poems in the 7th grade social studies textbook. the first poem was used in the 5th theme, economy and social life. the theme started with the importance of soil for human life. the authors used one of the most eminent turkish poet aşık veysel’s poem (black soil) to explain the role of soil in human life. it gave sheep, it gave lamb, it gave milk it gave food, it gave bread, it gave meat when you didn’t peck up the ground, it gave less my faithfull beloved is black soil. if i look up in the sky, i breath if i look down to the earth, i have others pray where will i stay if i leave it my faithfull beloved is black soil. the last one is mehmet akif’s, who is ottoman-born turkish poet and author of turkish national anthem, poem about gallipoli war. this poem was written for turkish citizens to remind turkish soldiers’ heroism during the war. what is bosphorus war? is there an equivalent to it in the world four or five of the most dense armies are pressing in order to go to marmara finding a way through the hill to a very small land besieged by many navies old world, new world, all the nations of men they are boiling like sand, is it armegeddon?, truly it is faces are different, languages, skins are colorful there is a simple thing obvious: wildnesses are equal the thunderbolts of bombs are going down through the brains of every shelter journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman & kilinc, poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey 58 they go out the chest of those brave soldiers sky is bringing down death, earth is spewing out death what a terrible blizzard it is, wreck of men is thrown into the air head, eye, body, leg, arm, chin, finger, hand, foot they hail onto ridges, valleys conclusion and recommendation the process of determining textbook needs, commissioning, approving and distributing showed a very highly centralized education system in turkey. while several reforms have occurred in the turkish education system in the last decades, much needs to be done to enhance teachinglearning process in the social studies education as well as other fields. for instance, national ministry of education and instruction and pedagogy committee should consider and implement recent pedagogical and theoretical insights such as the reading and writing of poetry. the results showed that very few poems were used in the social studies textbooks. the finding of the study revealed that poems in the 4th grade textbooks relate to topics that were interest to students the nature and humanism. poem about şavşat, described the beauty of turkish homeland in the four seasons. vetch field poem in the 5th grade social studies textbook, described a bride who has to work in the field. this poem seems to be written for girls since the language indicates ‘girls’ several times. it emphasizes how hard to be a bride in the vetch field. remaining poems were used to promote students’ patriotic values. these poems emphasizes flag, homeland, heroism etc. global connection is the theme that was placed in the all social studies textbooks. one of the main aims of this theme is providing a perspective about social justice, empathy, prejudice and discrimination. poetry played a major role in protesting social justice, prejudice and discrimination (ciardiello, 2010). providing poems about these topics helps creating civic awareness and democratic citizenship building (lee, 2008). however, turkish social studies textbooks fail to use poems that address social justice, empathy, prejudice and discrimination. there are several online sources for teachers to find appropriate poems for their classroom (see the academy of american poets (www.poets.org), the poetry archive (http://www.poetr yarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do), favorite poem project (http://www.favoritepoem.org/, national council of teachers of english (ncte) web site http://www.ncte.org ). these websites provide a number of resources including audio archives and lesson plans. on the other hand, there is no this kind of websites for teachers in turkey. creating a website that host ageappropriate poems and lesson plans for k-12 assists teachers to create more art-based classroom. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman & kilinc, poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey 59 in addition, having students to write poems enable the deep interest into a specific subject and this engagement leads to greater creative expression (richardson, 1964). it also helps students to enter the lives and times of real historical people and events (galt, 1992). therefore, more poems should be presented in the social studies textbooks to enhance the curriculum and teaching-learning process. students should be encouraged to read poetry for pleasure instead of exam material. references apple, m. w. (2004). ideology and curriculum. new york: routledge. arp, t. (1997). perrine‘s sound and sense: an introduction to poetry. fort worth, tx: hardcourt brace college publishers. banks, j.a., & banks, c.a.m. (1999). teaching strategies for the social studies: decision-making and citizen action (5th ed.). new york: longman. barr, h. (1997). defining social studies. teachers and curriculum, 1, 6-12. chism, n.v.n. & banta, t.w. (2007). enhancing institutional assessment efforts through qualitative methods. new directions for institutional research, 136, 15-28. ciardiello, a. v. (2010). talking walls: presenting
a case for social justice poetry in literacy education. the reading teacher, 63(6), 464-473. 
 cole f.l. (1988) content analysis: process and application. clinical nurse specialist, 2(1), 53–57. crocco, m. s. (2004). dealing with the difference in the social studies: a historical perspective. international journal of social education, 18(2), 106-120. donaldson, d. p. (2001) teaching geography's four traditions with poetry. journal of geography, 100(1), 24-31. dunlop, r. (2007). human music: a case for teaching poetry in dark times. in l. bresler (ed.), international handbook of research in arts education (pp. 12531270), dordrecht. netherlands: springer. elo, s., & kyngas, h. (2008). the qualitative content analysis process. journal of advanced nursing, 62(1), 107–115. galt, m. f. (1992). the story in history: writing your way into the american experience. new york: teachers & writer’s collaborative.
 journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman & kilinc, poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey 60 glesne, c. (1999). becoming qualitative researchers: an introduction. new york: longman. gözütok, f. d. (2008). curriculum development in turkey. in w. f. pinar (ed.) international handbook of curriculum research (pp. 607-622). new jersey: lawrence erlbaum associates publishers. greene, m. (1988). the dialectic of freedom. new york: teachers college press.
 jensen, t. (1996). ways of experiencing poetry and acquiring poetic knowledge in the secondary school. in l. thompson (ed.), the teaching of poetry: european perspectives (pp. 30– 36). london: cassell. kilinc, e. (2012). conceptual learning in social studies classroom: an analysis of texas assessment of knowledge and skills (taks) social studies questions with and without concept (unpublished doctoral dissertation, texas a&m university). krippendorff, k. (2004). reliability in content analysis. human communication research, 30(3), 411–433.
 lee, c.d. (2008). revisiting playing in the dark: the hidden games of racialization in literacy studies and school reform. in s. greene (ed.), literacy as a civil right: reclaiming social justice in literacy teaching and learning (pp. 151–168). new york: peter lang. lishan, s. d. & hermsen, t. (2007). later ‘in the early world’: the changing role of poetry and creative writing in the k-12 classroom. in l. bresler (ed.), international handbook of research in arts education (pp. 623-638), dordrecht. netherlands: springer. mauch, j., & tarman, b. (2016). a historical approach to social studies laboratory method. research in social sciences and technology, 1(2), 55-66. perfect, k. (1999). rhyme and reason: poetry for the heart and head. reading teacher, 52(7), 728-737. pinar, w. f. (1999). contemporary curriculum discourses: twenty years of jct. new york: peter lang. pinsky, r. (2007). gulf music. new york: farrar, straus & giroux. richardson, e. (1964). in the early world. new york: random house.
 roberts, p. (2008). contemporary curriculum research in new zeland. in w. f. pinar (ed.) international handbook of curriculum research (pp. 495-516). new jersey: lawrence erlbaum associates publishers. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman & kilinc, poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey 61 ross, e. w. (2006). the struggle for the social studies curriculum. in e. wayne ross (ed.), the social studies curriculum: purposes, problems, and possibilities (pp. 17-36), new york, ny: state university of new york press. singer, a. (2005). strange bedfellows: the contradictory goals of the coalition making war on social studies. social studies, 96(5), 199-205. slattery, p. (2008). hermeneutics, subjectivity, and aesthetics: internationalizing the interpretive process in u.s. curriculum research. in w. f. pinar (ed.) international handbook of curriculum research (pp. 651-665). new jersey: lawrence erlbaum associates publishers. stovall, d. (2006). urban poetics: poetry, social justice and critical pedagogy in education. the urban review, 38(1), 63-80. tarman, b., & dev, s. (2018). editorial: learning transformation through innovation and sustainability in educational practices. research in social sciences and technology, 3(1), i-ii. retrieved from http://ressat.org/index.php/ressat/article/view/363 tarman, b. (2017). editorial: the future of social sciences. research in social sciences and technology, 2(2). retrieved from http://ressat.org/index.php/ressat/article/view/329 tarman, b. & gürel, d. (2017). awareness of social studies teacher candidates on refugees in turkey, journal of social studies research, doi: 10.1016/j.jssr.2016.11.001 tarman, b. (2016). innovation and education. research in social sciences and technology, 1(1), 77-97. tarman, b. (2011). development of social studies curriculum in turkey and john dewey’s effect on the modernization of turkish education, international journal of progressive education, (ijpe). february, 7 (1). 45-61. tarman, b., ayas, c. (2011). comparing issues surrounding turkish and japanese textbooks, international journal of historical learning teaching and research, vol (10).1, 67-76 (sping/summer 2011). tarman, b. & acun, i. (2010). social studies education and a new social studies movement, journal of social studies education research. 1(1), 1-16. threlfall, s. j. (2013). poetry in action [research]. an innovative means to a reflective learner in higher education (he). reflective practice: international and multidisciplinary perspectives, 14(3), 360-367. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 1, 2018 tarman & kilinc, poetry in the social studies textbooks in turkey 62 wallace-jones, j. (1991). cognitive response to poetry in 11 to 16 year olds. educational review, 43, 25–38.
 weber, r. p. (1990). basic content analysis. london: sage. yiğit, m , tarman, b . (2013). degerler eğitimimin ilköğretim 4. ve 5. sınıf sosyal bilgiler ders kitaplarindaki yeri ve önemi (the place and importance of values education in 4.th and 5th. grade primary school social studies textbooks). journal of social studies education research, 4 (2), 79-102. retrieved from http://dergipark.gov.tr/jsser/issue/19101/202712 yin, r. (2009). how to do better case studies. in bickman, l. and rog, d.j. (eds), the sage handbook of applied social research methods (pp 254-282). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications inc. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 79 teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners michelle benegas* hamline university *corresponding author: mbenegas01@hamline.edu received : 2019-09-02 revision : 2019-10-30 accepted : 2019-11-09 how to cite this paper: benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners. journal of culture and values in education, 2(3),79-93. abstract this study examines the experience of four student teachers in an intentional community of practice focused on culturally relevant pedagogy for els who learn of the implementation of a newly adopted scripted literacy curriculum in their ethnically diverse elementary school. as students are more motivated to learn when curricula are relevant to their lived experiences (howard, 2003), it is incumbent upon teachers and district leaders to consider ways in which to tailor pedagogy to their unique student populations. in the current sociopolitical educational climate of accountability and standardization, this goal is increasingly more difficult for educators to achieve. with 10 percent of the united states student population made up of english learners (els), amounting to 4.6 million students (u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics, 2017), it is imperative that school systems shift to support culturally relevant practices. keywords: culturally relevant, standardized, curriculum, english learners introduction in the united states, 10 percent of the student population is made up of english learners (els). this amounts to 4.6 million students, and the number increases every year (u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics, 2017). as students are more motivated to learn when curricula are relevant to their lived experiences (howard, 2003), it is incumbent upon teachers and district leaders to consider ways in which to tailor pedagogy to their unique student populations. culturally relevant pedagogy (crp) was conceived in response to the climate of u.s. schools exemplifying and reifying white middle-class norms and marginalizing students of color (ladson-billings, 1995a, 1995b). in regions of the united states where white privilege is particularly strong and the opportunity gap is notably wide (such as the midwestern state in which this research was conducted), teachers, school administrators, teacher educators, and researchers are compelled to move beyond the status quo. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 80 in the current educational climate of accountability and standardization, this goal is increasingly more difficult for educators to achieve. the present study examines the experience of four student teachers in an intentional community of practice focused on culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners who learn of the implementation of a newly adopted scripted literacy curriculum in their ethnically diverse elementary school. this mismatch of the value of culturally relevant learning spaces and the realities of the current educational climate of standardization illuminates the heated political position in which teachers find themselves. in order for teachers to bridge teaching theories and strategies presented in teacher education coursework in the k-12 sociopolitical sphere, they must be able to situate said theories and strategies in real classrooms, with real students, under current constraints that affect teachers and their students. researchers assert that culturally relevant pedagogy (crp) (ladson billings, 1995a, 1995b) is an essential element in closing the opportunity gap, as it recognizes the central role of students’ cultures in all aspects of teaching and learning and it acknowledges and responds to the current schooling climate that places students from diverse cultural backgrounds in learning environments that do not mirror their home cultures and values (langer, 1987; petchauer, 2011; price-dennis & souto-manning, 2011). crp calls teachers to become aware that students’ identities, beliefs, and behaviors are shaped by their cultures (gollnick & chinn, 1998), and it presents a unique challenge to teachers in that they cannot use relevant pedagogies without first knowing their students. phuntsog (2001) considers that the true test of crp “may lie in its ability to create classrooms where race, culture, and ethnicity are not seen as barriers to overcome but are sources of enrichment for all” (p. 63). there are several studies that examine how teachers respond to apparent opportunity gaps by tailoring instruction to reflect african american students’ lived experiences. price-dennis and souto-manning (2011) conducted an investigation that examined how a white teacher candidate tailored pedagogy to her african american middle school students, and hill’s (2012) research demonstrated how the inclusion of texts that were culturally relevant to african american students’ lived experiences generated critical dialogue about race and injustice. while there is a wide range of studies that investigate how crp can be enacted for african american students, there is a dearth of literature that examines how crp can be enacted for els. the limited studies that examine the role of crp for els (orosco & o’connor, 2013; salazar, 2010; wortham & contreras, 2002) support increased professional development for teachers in the area of crp and call for additional research. culturally relevant pedagogy and the sociopolitical climate of schools a critical examination of the teaching context is necessary in order to fully understand the challenges relating to crp enactment for els in a given school. in order to be aware of and to respond to obstacles to crp enactment, discourse around crp for els must always take into consideration the sociopolitical climate of schools. a commonly noted obstacle to crp enactment for els is school or district policy. parhar and sensoy (2011), in their qualitative study of teachers who practice crp in a canadian school, journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 81 argue that crp enactment is largely impeded by existing school structures. in the study, teachers had limited control in determining their pedagogies, showing “deep cracks that add complexity to participant’s agency to enact culturally responsive pedagogies” (p. 214); the majority of the challenges that teacher participants faced were the result of structural or institutional constraints. examples of such constraints were: the hierarchical design of school decision-making, mandatory standardized testing that hinders student creativity and critical thinking, limited resources to guide teachers in best practices for working with culturally diverse students and families, limited time, and a lack of administrator support for continuous opportunities for professional development. as parhar and sensoy (2011) posit, “teaching practice is structured fundamentally by the institutional structures that support or interfere with at least some of the tenets of culturally responsive pedagogy” (p. 215). given this bleak perspective, k-12 school policy must evolve in order for crp to be fully incorporated into mainstream teaching. in addition, knowledge of this disconnect is essential, as teacher educators may prepare teacher candidates with methodologies that are not supported in their future school environment. paris (2012) developed a concept similar to crp called culturally sustaining pedagogy. in his writing about culturally sustaining pedagogy, he notes that the languages, literacies, and cultures should be pedagogically supported by the teacher. the focus on language is a critical dimension in the teaching of diverse learners, especially english learners. paris agrees with parhar and sensoy but takes a more critical stance by asking what the purpose of schooling is, in light of policies that marginalize non-white, multilingual learners. he writes, “as we consider the need for culturally sustaining pedagogies, we must once again ask ourselves that age-old question: what is the purpose of schooling in a pluralistic society? it is brutally clear that current policies are not interested in sustaining the languages and cultures of longstanding and newcomer communities of color in the united states” (p. 94). ladson-billings (2001) explains that crp “[asks] teachers to function as change agents in a society that is deeply divided along racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and class lines” (p. 104). crp and culturally responsive teaching were conceived in response to the climate of u.s. schools exemplifying and reifying white middle-class norms and marginalizing students of color (ladson-billings, 1995a, 1995b). in regions of the united states where white privilege is particularly strong and the opportunity gap is notably wide (such as the midwestern state in which this research was conducted), teachers, school administrators, teacher educators, and researchers are compelled to reconsider the status quo. unfortunately, little is known about the role of school administrators in the development of culturally relevant pedagogies, as “the role of administrators typically is not explored in the literature on culturally responsive teaching” (riehl, 2000, p. 64). the often disparate beliefs of teacher educators and school administrators translate into a vexed nexus of ideologies about how the opportunity gap can best be closed. since no child left behind’s inception in 2001 and the resulting increase in standardized testing, many educational researchers have deemed the implementation of a standardized curriculum inevitable (milosovic, 2007; taylor, 2012). the type of standardized curriculum adopted by the school in which this study took place was “scripted curriculum” (i.e., curriculum scripting), which is a standardized, highly prescriptivist form of pre-packaged curriculum, most commonly journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 82 implemented in urban and high-poverty schools, that grossly impedes teacher professional autonomy in the interest of providing schools with “teacher proof” curricula (curwin, 2012). theoretical framework culturally relevant pedagogy (crp) (ladson-billings, 1995a, 1995b) is a predominant framework that has the potential to contribute to closing educational opportunity gaps. crp was conceived of in response to a need for schooling to be more relevant to the lives of african american students. ladson-billings (1995b) defines crp as “a theoretical model that not only addresses student achievement but also helps students to accept and affirm their cultural identity while developing critical perspectives that challenge inequities that schools (and other institutions) perpetuate” (p. 469). the three central tenets of crp are: social critique, academic success, and cultural competence (ladson billings, 1995a). that is, in order to enact crp, a teacher must demonstrate pedagogies that: engage students in critical examination of content, provide students with rigorous academic tasks, and take into account students’ home cultures. research design in this collective case study on teacher learning and crp, each of the four participants serves as a bounded unit. given that the undergirding theoretical framework of communities of practice (cop) (lave & wenger, 1991) assumes all learning to be socially situated, collective case study is an appropriate methodology to examine how teachers experience structural barriers to crp enactment. this perspective is particularly relevant to this research because of how the greater sociopolitical climate, in addition to the local hierarchy of student teacherteacher-administrator, mediate teacher candidates’ abilities to enact crp for els. data were collected with a range of methods including digital journaling, field observations, recorded cop meetings, and interviews. participants purposive sampling of participants was conducted due to my interest in teacher learning about the enactment of crp for els. potential study participants had the following qualities: 1. an educational background in the cultural and linguistic needs of els in the mainstream classroom 2. interest in learning more about crp for els 3. experience teaching in the classroom but still in a teacher preparation program 4. willingness to participate in the study during student teaching adriana adriana is bilingual/biliterate in english and spanish. she is a teacher candidate of mexican descent who moved to the united states at the age of five. adriana graduated from chapman journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 83 hills elementary school and she reflected on her time there fondly. she recounted that there was one teacher who believed in her when she had little faith in her own abilities. she attributes her success, in part, to the influence of this teacher, who is still on the faculty at chapman hills. adriana expressed that she felt tremendous empathy for immigrant students and that she wants to help them have positive schooling experiences in their new home. ann ann is a monolingual white teacher candidate from a middle-class suburb about 10 miles away from chapman hills. she recalls very little exposure to ethnic and linguistic diversity in her upbringing. in one of her practicum placements, she recalled teaching in a high-poverty urban school with only one white student. she shared, “… i’d leave and get in my car and start crying because… i don’t want to be angry at these kids for their situation that they’re in and that’s why they’re acting this way because they’re kids. but at the same time i’m really angry because i want to be able to matter. so that was really frustrating and that’s when i realized that i need to get better at this” (pre-study interview, 4/17/14). ann’s mother is a teacher and was a source of support for her as she succeeded and struggled through the lessons of working with students from backgrounds that were very different from her own. ann considers herself to be a lifelong learner and she is committed to learning more about the needs of immigrant learners in public schools. alex alex is a monolingual white teacher candidate from an affluent suburb of a large metropolitan city. she recalled little exposure to diversity in her upbringing and shared that one of the reasons that she chose to attend the large metropolitan university is because she was interested in meeting people from diverse backgrounds. she shared that one of her first experiences with immigrant families was when she volunteered to build houses for a non-profit organization and got to know east african families. she was energized to meet other newcomer families and she became interested in the newcomer experience and their struggle to recreate home far from their homeland. she started to become aware of bigotry in her home community toward immigrants, and at the time of data collection she was actively seeking a job in a school with immigrant learners. amina amina is bilingual/biliterate in english and arabic. she is a teacher candidate of tunisian descent. she was born in the united states after her parents met and married in tunisia. she is proficient in arabic and a practicing muslim. prior to beginning kindergarten, her education was very home-based. she didn’t attend daycare or preschool and her only language was arabic. she recalled that her first exposure to different cultures was when she entered a public school for kindergarten. she shared that the there was “a huge gap between home and school life” and that “the whole representation of the american culture was so overwhelming in the class that it made me just feel so different… every book that i read was about these white families or journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 84 these white people who had pets or had these jokes that i didn’t understand—just the whole image of white culture was very prominent. i think it was a lot easier for me to communicate with the teachers because they were just so welcoming and nice to us” (pre-study interview, 4/17/14). the following year, amina’s parents decided to move across the country so that their children could attend an islamic school. she mentioned that the townhome community that her family moved into was like “a mini muslim village,” as her neighbors were muslims from pakistan, jordan, and syria. she remembers that her community felt like a tight-knit family. because amina’s education from first grade on took place in an islamic school, she noted that she didn’t experience a cultural mismatch between home and school. setting the chapman hills school district is located in a first ring suburb of a large metropolitan city in the midwestern united states. the district enrolls 26% white students, 39% black students, 20% hispanic students, 14% asian students, and 1% american indian students. chapman hills elementary school is located in an ethnically and linguistically diverse working-class neighborhood. although it is technically located in a suburb, many teachers consider it to be an urban school given its proximity to a large city. thirty-one percent of the student population receives esl services and 82% of the student body receives free or reduced-price lunch (minnesota department of education, 2015). the title 1 classified school enrolls approximately 1,000 students, with 41 mainstream teachers and four esl teachers. the problem: “we got a really awesome grant” at the start of the academic year, the school hired a new principal who was outwardly committed to meeting the diverse needs of the student body. after learning of a substantial grant that had been offered to the school, the principal asked the faculty to vote on whether they wanted to adopt the new milestone literacy curriculum, complete with books, manipulatives, posters, and lesson planning suggestions. the faculty voted to adopt the new curriculum. among the participants in this study, perceptions about a new scripted literacy curriculum changed quickly. during the first week of data collection, the teachers (who had recently voted to implement the curriculum) appeared to be pleased. the teacher candidate participants echoed their enthusiasm. in the pre-study interview, ann shared: “we got a really awesome grant” (pre-study interview, 4/7/15). when further asked about it in the same interview, she recounted, “i think a lot of teachers were misled how it was going to be used. i think that they were told when they voted for [it]… that it would be a tool and i think that a lot of people are feeling that it's been implemented very rigidly… people were kind of taken aback… it takes up every moment of my day that's not math.” many teachers were surprised by the rigidity with which the principal required teachers to adhere to the milestone curriculum. teachers reported that they were required to read from scripts to ensure standardization of their lessons. some expressed fear that the administrator journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 85 walking down the hall might catch them failing to hold to the “non-negotiables” or the timing on the script provided by the curriculum company. student teacher participants in this study reported that faculty meetings were emotional and heated. three weeks into the 10-week data collection period, the participants learned that the teachers had succeeded in ousting the principal. she had resigned and was escorted out of the building by the district’s human resource department. because participants were student teachers, they weren’t privy to all of the details, but they surmised that the rigid implementation of the standardized curriculum was one of a series of issues that the faculty had with their new principal. after she left the school, teachers cautiously continued to use the milestone materials at their own discretion; however, the use of the curriculum was not policed, as it had been prior to the principal’s departure. this was a turning point for the study participants, as they had to decide to what extent they would comply with the curricular policies now that the administrator overseeing the implementation was gone. findings scripted literacy lessons are seldom culturally relevant the participants found the milestone curriculum to be largely incompatible with crp. the following is an example of teacher enactment of the curriculum. ann began her kindergarten lesson by attaching a large, colorful poster to the board with a poem on it. she read the poem, “pet parade,” aloud. one line from the poem read: “pandas and parrots, pink bows on dogs, and a big pot filled with tiny frogs.” she proceeded to read the poem a second time, this time asking students to tap their heads when they heard a word that starts with the letter p. the third time, she did a choral reading of the poem with the class. she then pulled out large flash cards that illustrated the nouns from the poem. the students helped her organize them on the board under the first letters of each word. words included were: pumpkin, plant, pear, panda, frogs, pet. she passed out white papers in plastic sleeves (used as whiteboards) so that the students could practice writing the vocabulary words. students needed many reminders to “be principled,” as many of them were off task and not engaged. similar lessons were observed in amina’s kindergarten class. the participants concluded that they believed that student engagement was poor because the lessons were not relevant to their lived experiences. teachers contend with non-negotiables and fear under a scripted curriculum prior to the implementation of the literacy curriculum, the faculty and participants attended a training in which the district superintendent presented the “non-negotiables” of the curriculum. on the list of non-negotiables was the time allocated for each topic. no deviation from the schedule was permitted for any reason, including bathroom breaks. the only parts of the school day that were not scripted were math and guided reading. ann reflected on what she was told at a training session: “don’t talk about what kids are saying… if it’s not on topic, if it’s not your question, even if it’s a good comment that is kind of about what you’re talking about, unless it’s an exact answer, [say] ‘that’s not what we’re talking about right now.’ just move on” (midstudy interview, 4/28/14). journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 86 ann also referenced an email that was sent to all teachers from the school administration letting them know that if they didn’t comply with the curriculum and its non-negotiables, they would be “written up,” which resulted in a lot of unease among the faculty. (my role as the researcher was precarious at this point, because the school had a relationship with the university where i studied. i was aware that the administration was very supportive of the new curriculum and my research revealed some concerning aspects related to its implementation.) adriana’s bilingualism benefitted her learners, and it brought an aspect of cultural relevancy into her pedagogy when she spoke spanish with her learners. paris (2012) refers to this ability as “linguistic dexterity,” which he defines as “the ability to use a range of language practices in a multiethnic society and linguistic plurality as consciousness about why and how to use such dexterity in social and cultural interactions” (p. 96). in my time observing in adriana’s classroom, she used spanish sparingly, and when she did, she generally whispered. i questioned how english dominance and adriana’s position as a student teacher of color might have resulted in her decision to speak spanish quietly so that others could not hear. amina mentioned that although she enjoyed bringing crp into guided reading, she was fearful of being penalized. she noted that many of the materials were culturally biased and confusing to her students. during a field observation, i observed amina giving a phonics lesson to her ethnically diverse kindergarten class. the picture cards that came with the pre-packaged standardized literacy curriculum for that lesson overwhelmingly represented u.s. white middleclass norms. they included, for example, a beach ball, hot dog, baseball cap, cat, house (american-style single family home), baseball bat, cowboy hat, and old-fashioned toy car. this was the first of two incidents that amina experienced in which the picture cards failed to reflect the lived experiences of her students. scripted curricula can result in a cultural mismatch for students while delivering a packaged kindergarten lesson on different types of homes, alex and amina noted a few cultural disjoints. after noticing that amina’s els didn’t know the word “cabin,” she struggled to explain the term to this group of students that she believed were living in poverty and could be confused by the concept of a vacation home. later, one of her els mentioned that he and his el classmates lived in apartments, but there was no picture card in the curriculum for “apartment.” another group of students heard him and contested whether an apartment was actually a home. amina shared, “they said ‘that’s not a home. that’s not a home because a lot of people live there’” (mid-study interview, 4/28/14). this interaction reveals how a simple vocabulary lesson can unveil racial divides and socioeconomic stratification in the classroom. motha (2014) posits that english language teaching can reveal how “school and classroom practices shape meanings of racial formations and provide terrain for the dynamic and continuous construction and renegotiation of racialized identities” (p. 79-80). amina later reflected on this learning experience, and the next time she taught a similar lesson, she was prepared with images from google to supplement the curriculum. this strategy was a small way to ensure that students saw their lived experiences in the curriculum; however, it failed to journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 87 directly address the monolingual, middle-class, white ideologies of the students in this kindergarten class. both of the above examples illustrate pedagogy as direct instruction. in the first example, amina presented curricular materials that were not relevant to her diverse learners and she did not make any modifications for learners who failed to make connections with the picture cards. in the second example, as amina experienced the same failure to connect with students, she finished the lesson but recognized its shortcomings and committed to modifying the materials for the next day’s lesson. like amina, ann also student-taught in a kindergarten classroom. in the following excerpt, she shared with her colleagues her experience of complying with the new curriculum and the subsequent reaction of her els: “when i was following it, i did it for like a week. i followed it strictly. i read the script. i did it exactly how they wanted me to do it. [my cooperating teacher said], ‘the kids are hating this. you’re hating this.’ it was like, ‘yep, i am. i’m hating it… it’s not genuine.’ my el kids are always the first to usually check out. it’s not because they’re the lowest kids; they’re not” (2nd cop meeting, 4/17/14). as the participants began to realize that the new curriculum represented white middle-class norms, they noticed that their els particularly struggled to make connections with the content. ann’s noticing that the els “check out” illustrates the value of crp for els and the challenges that come with curricular standardization in schooling. the incompatibility of the new curriculum and attempts at crp for els became increasingly evident to the participants. amina and ann’s experiences illustrate the general struggle that the student teachers experienced following the implementation of the literacy curriculum. the disconnect between the lived experiences of their els and the norms represented in the curriculum was apparent, and they were concerned about further marginalizing students who could better reach their academic potential with curriculum that was culturally relevant. despite the student teacher candidates’ concerns about the rigidity and the culturally biased nature of the literacy curriculum, they felt varying degrees of pressure to abide by the policy. ann furthered, “i hate that you feel bad about kids’ social time… especially at the year that we are right now…they don’t get any time to talk…. [i say] hurry up. eat your snack. hurry up. eat your breakfast. hurry up. eat your lunch… no talking. stop talking. this isn’t social time… i say that probably like 40 times a day” (3rd cop meeting, 4/24/14). community-building is an important component in any culturally relevant learning space, and the rigidity of the curriculum thwarted otherwise naturally occurring community-building occurrences. of the four participants, ann and amina most often obeyed the non-negotiable policy and they questioned whether their kindergarten curriculum offered less flexibility than their co-participants’ fifth grade curriculum. ann perceived that compliance with the standardization policy was a necessary evil that she needed to endure to gain respect as a teacher. she noted, “i think especially as new teachers, i think we almost just have to play the game. we have to jump through the hoops… i’m gonna play the game until i have enough journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 88 respect built up from people for them to be like alright, she knows what she’s doing… it sucks” (3rd cop meeting, 4/24/14). ann’s perspective of the necessity to participate in a practice that she wasn’t philosophically aligned with wasn’t shared by all of her colleagues, however. alex expressed that her cooperating teacher often veered from the curriculum and she frequently opted not to use it at all. the study participants expressed that the teachers at the school were increasingly angry about the implementation of the curriculum. some of the participants noted that following the principal’s resignation, teachers felt more comfortable enacting crp for els and putting the scripted curriculum aside. ann shared that people were “less afraid… less walking on eggshells… there was always that threat with people, like ‘you better be doing it this way, or [the principal] will hear about it’” (mid-study interview, 4/28/14). however, other participants noted that there was minimal change in their classroom dynamics after the administrative turnover. after the principal resigned, adriana’s cooperating teacher modeled active resistance for her when she chose to avert policy. after adriana noted that she sometimes knowingly taught lessons that weren’t in the curriculum, she shared, “that really helped me to see that you don’t always have to do what is handed down to you and regurgitate it back” (mid-study interview, 4/28/14). following this experience, adriana’s perception about policy compliance changed. in response to an interview question about overcoming obstacles to crp for els, adriana said, “those things can just be excuses. i don't have enough time… well, you make it. all the curriculum is too limiting. yes, it is but you make it your own… you are the only one that can limit yourself and be that barrier to being a better teacher that implements crp” (mid-study interview, 4/28/14). alex echoed ann’s sentiment about averting policy when it marginalizes els. she said, “definitely [early] challenges… were time and maybe just not… feeling ready to dive in. but i feel like i’m definitely over that and i don’t mind at all being like, ‘well, we’re not gonna do this from the book, it’s crappy’” (post-study interview, 6/13/14). similar to the participants in ladson-billings’ (1995a, 1995b) research, the four participants in this study experienced the implementation of the standardized literacy curriculum in different ways. while all of the participants expressed concern for their els’ potential for success in light of the scripted standardized curriculum, pressure to comply appeared to be stronger among the student teacher participants in kindergarten than it was among the fifth grade student teacher participants, as kindergarten curricular units included not only scripts and books but also manipulatives and posters that provided less flexibility for teachers to make modifications. another potential advantage that the fifth grade teachers had was the maturity level of their learners. ann shared, “kids are at such different levels that it’s hard to have that connection come together where they’re thinking about the same thing and really on task. i don’t know if that’s significantly easier in older grades. i’m sure you still come up against struggles with things like that as well. i think that’s my biggest struggle right now is just trying to get the kids all on journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 89 the same level and focus and thinking about the same thing and contributing to it” (post-study interview, 6/13/14). it is possible that the maturity level of the young children and the increased standardization in the kindergarten curriculum led kindergarten student teachers to perceive that their context was a more challenging environment to enact crp for els. conclusion: policies that mandate standardization inhibit crp for els at the onset of the study, participants were asked to predict potential obstacles to crp enactment. the predominant assumptions were that time and teacher cultural competency would be the greatest barriers to crp enactment for els. the student teacher participants had yet to find out about how the new curriculum would be implemented. following the principal’s departure, the participants began incorporating crp into their lessons and they noted that they no longer perceived time to be a limiting factor to crp enactment. policies that mandated curricular standardization proved to be the most significant barrier to crp enactment, and the study participants responded differently to this challenge. the findings from this research show that despite teacher candidates’ awareness of the educational disparities in the state’s schools and investment in disrupting those disparities, greater systems hindered their ability to teach students in culturally relevant ways. researchers agree that the schooling climate is often in conflict with the tenets of crp (cochran-smith, 1995; langer, 1987; gollnick & chinn, 1998; phuntsog, 2001). i argue that all of the stakeholders named above (teachers, administrators, policymakers, and teacher educators) need to contribute to closing the opportunity gap by supporting and implementing the tenets of crp. all teaching is situated in sociopolitical spaces, and in-service teachers must not only understand how to enact crp but also how to maneuver such structures while doing so. cochran-smith (1995) writes that, “to alter a system that is deeply dysfunctional, the system needs teachers who regard teaching as a political activity and embrace social change as part of their job—teachers who enter the profession not expecting to carry on business as usual but prepared to join other educators and parents in major reform” (p 494). there is much more work to be done in order to fully understand how crp praxis is learned because of its situated nature. research that seeks to examine how teachers and teacher candidates learn to enact crp must take place in schools so that pre-service and in-service teachers can learn to mitigate sociopolitical barriers that make crp praxis more complicated than it appears in education coursework. anderson and stillman (2012) note that there is a “need for more longitudinal analyses that address the situated and mediated nature of preservice teachers’ learning in the field [as it relates to culture]” (p. 3). the current study seeks to delve into how teacher candidates learn about their students’ cultures and how they modify their pedagogy to be relevant to their lives within the context of a culturally diverse public elementary school. the intersection of crp for els and curricular standardization policies proved to be the obstacle most troubling to the teacher participants, as scripted, standardized literacy curricula leaves no journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 90 room for culturally relevant pedagogy. it is interesting to note that ladson-billings describes a very similar circumstance in her introduction to the article toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy (1995b). she notes that her study participants took great professional risks in order to pedagogically respond to students’ lived experiences. such risks included defying administrative mandates. one example of this is a teacher who wrote a letter to her administrator asking for permission not to implement a standardized literacy program mandated by the school; in doing so, she cited research about literacy from a critical perspective and was granted permission to approach literacy instruction without the standardized program. in subsequent years, this teacher’s colleagues were able to do the same. recommendations much can be gleaned from the findings of this study. the following are three recommendations that will maximize the potential for els to have a culturally relevant schooling experience. recommendation 1. inform policymakers about the ramifications of standardization policies that inhibit crp for els. input from parents, teachers, administrators, researchers, and teacher educators is needed to convince policymakers such as legislators and school administrators that standardization policies further marginalize els and their teachers. when large sums of money are gifted to high-poverty schools for curriculum, questions should be raised about how the curriculum is to be implemented. if there is a requirement that curricular implementation be standardized for all learners, crp for els and indeed for all learners will be inhibited. it is critical that government policymakers be aware of the multiple facets of the corporate education reform movement, in which school standardization is a key element (slater & griggs, 2015). locally, teachers can also keep administrators informed about the ramifications of district and/or school-wide policies that promote standardization practices and consequently marginalize els. recommendation 2. exert caution with private funding opportunities that impose standardization policies. in the case of the standardized literacy curriculum implementation at chapman hills elementary, the teacher candidate participants reported that when the teachers voted to approve the new curriculum, they were misled about how it would be implemented. before presenting any curriculum to faculty, it is critical that administrators ensure that they are receiving all of the facts and that it is flexible enough for crp enactment. recommendation 3. promote partnerships between schools and institutions of teacher education. advocating for the preparation of culturally relevant teachers is crucial yet precarious, because teacher preparation programs graduate teachers into schools that often do not honor their commitment to culturally relevant teaching. price-dennis and souto-manning (2011) assert that there is a “need to invite pre-service teachers to engage in fostering pedagogical third journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 91 spaces which syncretically bring together mentor teacher academic expectations and student interests and cultural repertoires” (p. 236). as such, it is essential that teacher educators establish a strong and sustaining bridge to the k-12 classroom. through teacher education and school partnerships, not only can schools be better informed about the latest approaches to teaching, but schools of education can also situate their methods instruction within a real context. this reciprocal relationship could prevent mismatches like the one illuminated in this study. directions for future research there is a need for further investigation in this area, as the extant research that examines the intersection of teachers learning to enact crp for els and standardization (baker & digiovanni, 2005; conner, 2010; wei, 2002) focuses on standardized testing rather than scripted and standardized curricula. there is also a need to examine the role of leadership in establishing a culture of crp. at the onset of data collection for this study, when teachers (including student teachers) more firmly abided by the scripted curriculum, they perceived that crp for els was not achievable. however, after the change in administration, teachers and student teachers began to use the curriculum as a tool rather than a guide. notes at the onset of data collection for this research, it seemed that this study might not be successful. field note templates remained empty while student teacher participants taught lessons to culturally and linguistically diverse students from scripts. while the context of this research proved initially to be a roadblock, it resulted in providing a critical backdrop that reveals a larger picture for els in public schools in the united states. in order for teachers to bridge teaching theories and strategies presented in teacher education coursework in the k-12 sociopolitical sphere, they must be able to situate said theories and strategies in real classrooms, with real students, under current constraints that affect teachers and their students. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 92 references baker, p. b., & digiovanni, l. w. (2005). narratives on culturally relevant pedagogy: personal responses to the standardized curriculum. current issues in education, 8(22), 1-16. cochran-smith, m. (1995). color blindness and basket making are not the answers: confronting the dilemmas of race, culture and language diversity in teacher education. american educational research journal, 32(3). 493-522. conner, m. t. (2010). beyond "acting white": the impact of culturally responsive pedagogy within a culture of accountability (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from proquest. (305242968) curwin, r. (2012). how to beat “teacher proof” programs. edutopia. retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/beating-teacher-proof-programs-richard-curwin gollnick, d., & chinn, p. (1998). multicultural education in a pluralistic society (5th ed.). columbus: merrill. hill, k. (2012). cultivating pre-service teachers towards culturally relevant literacy practices. issues in teacher education, 2(2), 43-66. ladson-billings, g. (1995a). but that’s just good teaching! the case for culturally relevant pedagogy. theory into practice, 34(3), 159-165. ladson-billings, g. (1995b). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american education research journal, 32(3), 465-491. ladson-billings, g. (2001). crossing over to canaan. san francisco: jossey-bass. langer, j. (1987). language, literacy, and culture: issues of society and schooling. norwood, nj: ablex. lave, j., & wenger, e. (1991). situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. milosovic, s. (2007). building a case against scripted reading programs. education digest, 73(1), 27-30. minnesota department of education. (2015). minnesota report cards [data file]. retrieved from http://rc.education.state.mn.us/#o motha, s. (2014). race, empire, and english language teaching. new york, ny: teachers college press. orosco, m., & o’connor, r. (2013). culturally responsive instruction for english language learners with learning disabilities. journal of learning disabilities, 47(6), 515-531. parhar, n., & sensoy, o. (2011). culturally relevant pedagogy redux: canadian teachers’ conceptions of their work and its challenges. canadian journal of education, 2(2011), 189-218. paris, d. (2012). culturally sustaining pedagogy: a needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. educational researcher, 41(3), 93-97. petchauer, e. (2011). i feel what he was doin’: responding to justice-oriented teaching through hip-hop aesthetics. urban education, 46(6), 1411-1432. phuntsog, n. (2001). culturally responsive teaching: what do selected u.s. elementary school teachers think? intercultural education, 12(1), 52-64. price-dennis, d., & souto-manning, m. (2011). re-framing diverse pre-service classrooms as spaces for culturally relevant teaching. the journal of negro education, 80(3), 223-238. http://rc.education.state.mn.us/#o journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 benegas, m. (2019). teacher proof: the intersection of scripted curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy for english learners 93 riehl, c. (2000). the principal’s role in creating inclusive schools for diverse students: a review of normative, empirical, and critical literature on the practice of educational administration. review of educational research, 70(1), 55-81. salazar, c. (2010). pedagogical stances of high school esl teachers: huelgas in high school esl classrooms. bilingual research journal: the journal of the national association for bilingual education, 33(1), 111-124. slater, g. b., & griggs, b. c. (2015). standardization and subjection: an autonomist critique of neoliberal school reform. review of education, pedagogy, and cultural studies, 37(5), 438-459. taylor, m. (2013). replacing the “teacher-proof” with the “curriculum-proof” teacher: toward more effective interactions with mathematics textbooks. journal of curriculum studies, 45(3), 295-321. u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics. (2017). the condition of education 2017 (2017-144), english language learners in public schools. wei, h. h. (2002). teachers’ response to policy implementation: interactions of new accountability policies and culturally relevant pedagogy in urban school reform. paper presented at the annual meeting of the american educational research association, new orleans, la. wortham, s., & contreras, m. (2002). struggling toward culturally relevant pedagogy in the latino diaspora. journal of latinos and education, 1(2), 133-144. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgf.asp journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bernardo-hinesley, s., linguistic landscape in educational spaces journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 13 linguistic landscape in educational spaces sheryl bernardo-hinesley* western washington university *bernars3@wwu.edu received : 2020-09-18 accepted : 2020-11-17 doi: 10.46303/jcve.2020.10 how to cite this paper: bernardo-hinesley, s. (2020). linguistic landscape in educational spaces, journal of culture and values in education, 3(2), 13-23. doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.10 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract educational institutions, whether privately owned or state funded, are a meeting place for students coming from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. educational institutions as learning environments and spaces not only play a fundamental role in the development of an individual, but also perpetuate various ideologies related to languages, politics, cultures, and society among others. in relation to language ideology, linguistic landscape is a novel field which allows sociolinguists to analyze how spaces are constituted through the language(s) employed in public signage as signs enable a dynamic process in which the language(s) used in these signs and those who pass by said signs influence each other to shape the landscape of their community. it enables the identification of the relative power and vitality of the language(s) in a particular community that may or may not appear in public signage. language(s) displayed in public spaces can also be interpreted as a reflection of the ideological conflicts within a community. respectively, there is a growing interest towards the study of the linguistic landscape in educational spaces, also known as schoolscape. school, a central civic institution, represents a deliberate and planned environment where learners are subjected to powerful messages about language(s) from local and national authorities. accordingly, by reviewing past studies, this paper proposes to initiate discussion and investigation of the practices and the language(s) utilized in signs within educational spaces in the united states as institutions can perpetuate language ideologies, which can either foster or hinder bilingual education. keywords: linguistic landscape, schoolscape, language ideology, educational spaces bilingual education https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bernardo-hinesley, s., linguistic landscape in educational spaces journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 14 introduction the aim of this paper is threefold. first, it provides an introduction to the concept of linguistic landscape as initially introduced by landry & bourhis (1997) and expanded by stroud & mpendukana (2009). second, the concept will be discussed in relation to language education in spaces of public educational institutions by reviewing the findings of past schoolscape studies (astillero, 2017; biró, 2016; bisai & singh, 2018; brown, 2012; chirimala, 2017; gorter & cenoz, 2015; jakonen, 2018; szabó, 2015). third, the development of support as well as suggestions for research towards bilingual education and the current state of world language education in the united states will be encapsulated. a discussion and conclusion will then follow putting forward a proposal to initiate the discussion and investigation of the practices and the language(s) used on signs in educational spaces in the united states. linguistic landscape linguistic landscape is a novel field that has gained prominence in the last two decades. according to the seminal work by landry & bourhis (1997), the notion is defined as “…the language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings combines to form the linguistic landscape of a given territory, region, or urban agglomeration” (p. 25). these researchers further indicate that signs serve two basic functions: an informational function and a symbolic function. with regards to the function providing information, it imparts an areal marker of a language community’s territory and can illustrate clear demarcation of the language boundary of the community with respect to adjacent language groups. consequently, the frequency of usage of the group’s language on public signage in the territory conveys that service can be solicited and received by means of that language within the territory. with regards to the symbolic function, in a bilingual or multilingual context, the prevalent employment of a language in commercial and governmental signs illustrates a language’s status and value in relation to the other language(s) within the setting. in addition, it may articulate its vitality which expresses its strength or weakness in relation to the competing language groups. in other words, linguistic landscape as a field allows sociolinguists to analyze how spaces are constituted through the language(s) employed in public signage. it is important to note that the initial description by landry & bourhis (1997) does not take into account the complexities encapsulated by late modern, multilingual societies. accordingly, stroud & mpendukana (2009) draw attention to the notion of social transformation which is a dynamic process that transpires within these societies. the placement of signs, and people’s performance and interaction towards said signs within a bilingual or multilingual space must be taken into consideration in linguistic landscape studies since such interactions call to attention the complex reality of the language(s) displayed in common spaces. that is to say that signs enable a lively process wherein language(s) employed in signage and people interact and influence each other to shape the landscape of their community. thus, linguistic landscape enables the identification of the relative vitality and power of the language(s) in a particular community that may or may not appear in signs situated in the public space (cenoz & gorter, 2006). the absence or presence of a language in a public space conveys its marginality versus its centrality in the community (shohamy, 2006a). in addition, languages displayed in public spaces can be interpreted as a reflection of the https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bernardo-hinesley, s., linguistic landscape in educational spaces journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 15 ideological conflicts within a community (lado, 2011). that is, how languages are used in a determined space is defined by how the said space is configured in the minds of its people which entails the types of interactions and identities possible in such spaces. objective numerous researchers have carried out linguistic landscape studies focused in public spaces (hélot et al., 2012; marten et al., 2012; shohamy et al., 2010; shohamy & gorter, 2009). in the recent decade, an emerging interest towards the investigation of the linguistic landscape in educational spaces, also known as schoolscape, is evident (astillero, 2017; biró, 2016; bisai & singh, 2018; brown, 2012; chirimala, 2017; gorter & cenoz, 2015; jakonen, 2018; szabó, 2015). accordingly, by reviewing the findings of past studies concerning schoolscapes in the following section, a proposal to initiate the examination of the language(s) used on signs in educational spaces is put forward in the discussion and conclusion section. given that educational institutions can perpetuate language ideologies which can either foster or hinder bilingual education, attention is alluded towards schools in public school districts that provide world language instruction in the united states. literature review educational institutions, whether privately owned or state funded, are a meeting place for learners of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. specifically, students come from dissimilar familial or circumstantial experiences which condition their language and cultural practices. correspondingly, educational institutions as learning environment spaces not only play a fundamental role in the development of a learner, but also perpetuate various ideologies related to politics, cultures, society, and languages among others (kalekin-fishman, 2004). relating directly to the matter at hand, a growing interest is evident towards the study of the linguistic landscape in educational spaces, also known as schoolscape. the schoolscape studies discussed in this section (astillero, 2017; biró, 2016; bisai & singh, 2018; brown, 2012; chirimala, 2017; gorter & cenoz, 2015; jakonen, 2018; szabó, 2015) have contributed to the advancement of the methods of analysis in understanding schoolscapes. the ecology of languages in educational spaces was first introduced in a study conducted by brown (2012). brown (2012) states that “…school, a central civic institution, represents a deliberate and planned environment where learners are subjected to powerful messages about language(s) from local and national authorities” (p. 281). in the study, the researcher analyzed the reintroduction of võro, which is a regional language in southeastern estonia, in kindergarten and elementary schools. the factors identified as impacting the use of võro include administrative, community, and parental support, teacher autonomy in language choices, and the physical school space. in the past, regional languages were absent in formal education in schools in estonia. however, at present, schools provide a setting in which the revitalization of the minority language can take place as speakers sought to halt the decline of the language. signs in the kindergarten and elementary school classrooms, corridors, foyer, entrance, school museum, and the curriculum were analyzed, as well as the explanations of the teachers and administrators involved in the process of rewriting the signs. the findings of the study stated that the regional language is observed as a historical artifact which enrich the national culture. the author concluded that the reintroduction of the minority language has led to a negotiation in public school spaces. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bernardo-hinesley, s., linguistic landscape in educational spaces journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 16 in the basque autonomous community in northern spain, gorter and cenoz (2015) analyzed the signs in seven schools according to their function, language distribution, and sign authorship. a policy by the regional government was developed to promote the basque language. the effort began in the late 1970s when spanish was the dominant language in the school system. from the analysis of the photographs of the signs taken inside and outside of the classrooms visited, the authors found that signs are employed in different ways for varying functions with distinct objectives in mind. the functions identified are languageor content-related instruction, linguistic and intercultural awareness development, classroom behavioral guidelines, general school guidance, and commercial information display. the study then concluded that multilingual signs contribute to multilingual student literacy and intercultural competence. in a study carried out by szabó (2015), the author analyzed and compared the signs found in four state and private schools with alternative curriculum in budapest, hungary along with the metadiscourses of the teachers regarding the linguistic landscape of their respective schools. in the analysis of the photographed signs and recorded speech of the teachers, attention towards agency is placed since it reflects an individual’s involvement in social activities, which is a tool for portraying community engagement. it is noteworthy that although communism fell in 1989, which facilitated changes in organization of the educational system of the country, teacher-centered ideologies and practices are virtually intact. the author concluded that nationalist ideologies and identities are reconstructed in state schools through signs written by authority or top-down homogenization. on the other hand, private schools illustrated the agency of the students by promoting their unique individuality and creativity through transgressive bottom-up signs. such practice exemplifies the negotiation of communicative practices. by the same token, based on photographed signs and teacher interviews, the study by biró (2016) qualitatively analyzed the language learning and instructional ideologies reflected on the signs and the comments made by educators in four primary and four secondary hungarian schools in sfântu gheorghe, romania. concealed curricular details are investigated in relation to the instruction of english, german, or romanian as second languages in hungarian-medium schools with respect to the functions of the signs, the makers of the signs, their placement, the intended audience, and the duration with which the signs are displayed. though the first language of the majority is romanian in this setting, it is not taught as a second language to hungarian minority students. the author found that the top-down signs evidently portrayed support towards the romanian language. in addition, the prominence of student work in romanian and english exemplified the hidden curriculum of the educators which they substantiated with the national curriculum. chirimala (2018) investigated how students use schoolscape as they manifest their english language abilities in the contexts of schools ran by the state of andhra pradesh, india wherein the state regional language is telugu. from the recorded sign-centered collaborative multilingual talk by 18 pairs of students in a public secondary institution, the researcher found that signs were able to induce incidental learning. this finding illustrates that signs have pedagogical relevance in language learning. in the dyad conversations, students made reference to the signs within their school when searching for words, planning and organizing textual content, and making crosslinguistic comparisons. the study concluded that students noticed the signs surrounding their school, which were then used as a pragmatic resource for language-related task performance. likewise, the study by jakonen (2018) explored how https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bernardo-hinesley, s., linguistic landscape in educational spaces journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 17 students attended to visual and textual materials in the classroom during instructional interactions in a bilingual secondary classroom in finland. that is, through video-recorded interactions of 14 students in content and language integrated history lessons taught in english, a foreign language in this context, the author analyzed how visual-material resources are used, engaged, and modified for the purpose of conducting instruction. it is noteworthy that the instructor commonly uses both finnish and english in her lessons. the author concluded that the management and orientation of classroom texts and other material artifacts point towards negotiations as not only a matter of talk, but also constructed through signs and other semiotic resources such as gaze, gesture, and pointing. in the philippines, as the language policy in education moves towards implementing the use of regional languages as the medium of instruction, astillero (2017) investigated the linguistic landscape of a public secondary school in irosin, sorsogon, philippines wherein regional bikol languages are spoken. in particular, it identified the languages employed in the signs, its authors, and the regulation of signs within this school space. photographs inside and outside of the classrooms were taken and analyzed according to the displayed languages on the signs, the maker of the signs, the functions of the signs, their intended audience or readers, and the materials used to produce the signs. in this setting, it is remarkable that english only signs on durable materials, which ensure lasting presence, were primarily topdown and highly visible. the author concluded that though bilingual and mixed (bikol, filipino, and english) languages are employed in some of the signs analyzed in the study, the practice illustrated the lack of support towards the multilingual speakers in the area in formal educational spaces. thus, this absence of support manifests the uncooperativeness of the school concerning multilingualism as a language policy promoted by the department of education of the philippines. similarly, the signs analyzed from five schools in jhargram and paschim medinipur districts, west bengal, india by bisai & singh (2018) indicated that the negligible use of santali, a regional language, had a negative effect on santali students given that the dominant medium of instruction is bengali. similarly, in this study, photographs of signs were collected from public and private areas of the five primary multilingual schools. apart from analyzing the frequency of visibility of the minority language in the school, teacher and student informal interviews were conducted to ascertain their attitudes towards the minority languages within the region. as the signs were often monolingual illustrating bengali as the dominant language given its official status in the state, it exemplified that minority languages are scarcely given space in these multilingual schools. this then showed the attitude towards the minority languages and cultures in the district. in addition, the top-down signs portrayed the little participation of students and the community in these schools. in the subsequent section, language instruction, bearing in mind the support towards bilingual education and the state of world language education, in the united states will be discussed in a concise manner. bilingual and world language education in the united states according to the 2009-2013 american community survey, 380 languages or language groups are reported to be spoken in the united states. this clearly shows that numerous languages are spoken by 61.7 million or approximately 20% of the united states population. explicitly, one-fifth of the country are from linguistically diverse backgrounds and that they speak a language other than english at home. though a federal regulation regarding the use https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bernardo-hinesley, s., linguistic landscape in educational spaces journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 18 of english and other languages does not exist, english is the official language de facto and has been declared as an official language in 28 state legislations (garcía, 2011). provided that educational institutions play an important role in the (re)production and challenging of ideologies, the languages that are used (or not used) in schools and school districts convey meaning related to politics, culture, and the society in general. that said, this section presents an insight regarding the ways in which english is fostered in educational institutions through bilingual education. through the lau remedies, bilingual education in the united states was first introduced in california in 1974 in view of the ruling of the country’s supreme court towards the provision of assistance to students of diverse language backgrounds (stewnermanzanares, 1988). the objective of this federal bilingual education act was to safeguard students from lagging behind in the educational system due to limited or lack of english language speaking ability. in order to do so, bilingual education program was defined as one that offered instruction in english and in the language of the student, so that they may advance effectively in academic school systems. the goal was to prepare such students to participate expeditiously in regular classrooms wherein english is the language of instruction through the establishment of regional support centers with consultants that provide guidance and support to schools and the allocation of funds for research grants and expansion of bilingual programs and curricula. consequently, in the 1978 amendment of the federal bilingual education act, the definition of eligible students was broadened not only to refer to those who have limited speaking ability in english, but to those students with difficulty understanding, reading, writing, or speaking english (castellanos, 1983). that is to say that reading and writing were added as part of the program goals. in addition, bilingual education programs were stipulated to be transitional, and that the language of the student was only to be utilized to the point necessary to facilitate the student’s proficiency in english. it is important to note that programs with objectives to maintain the first language of the student were not funded. accordingly, the federal bilingual act of 1984 addressed the need for flexibility in the implementation of bilingual education programs by according the local school districts the ability to decide how their students with limited english proficiency should be taught (stewner-manzanares, 1988). this approach enabled the school districts to apply for funding for programs which employed diverse strategies in teaching depending upon their needs. grants were awarded to different types of bilingual education programs which include transitional, special alternative, and developmental. in a transitional bilingual education program, up to 40% may be students that are not of limited proficiency in english. in such a program, the instruction of english is coupled with the first language of the student. it is important to note that 75% of the federal funding dedicated to supporting bilingual instructional programs was reserved towards this type of program. in a special alternative bilingual education program, the first language of the students is not used in instruction. to be precise, english is employed in instruction along with instructional support services to aid in the development of english proficiency. in the provision of 1988, 25% of the federal funding was authorized to be allocated to special alternative bilingual programs. lastly, in a developmental bilingual program which is also known as two-way bilingual, two-way immersion, and dual language immersion, students are provided with instruction in english and the first language. as the objective of such program is to achieve proficiency in both of https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bernardo-hinesley, s., linguistic landscape in educational spaces journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 19 these languages, the classroom includes a balance of students whose first language is english and those whose first language is a language other than english. that is to say that students receive instruction in english and the partner language. it is important to note that there are two dual language immersion model configurations (palmer et al., 2014). the description provided above makes reference to two-way dual language model. in a one-way dual language immersion model, students in a classroom share a common first language which is used as the medium of instruction. anderson and boyer (1970) posit the definition of bilingual education as the “…instruction in two languages and the use of those two languages as mediums of instruction for any part or, or all, of the school curriculum” (p. 12). this definition immediately excludes bilingual education programs in which students are only instructed in the language that is being facilitated to be acquired. that is to say that the key characteristic for a program to be bilingual is that two languages are used as mediums of instruction. notwithstanding, it is striking that bilingual education programs supported by the federal bilingual education acts of the united states explicitly promote the language development in english rather than foster bilingualism. clearly, the emphasis in the employment of english as the language of instruction can be observed in the way the federal government of the united states stipulated bilingual education programs. on the other hand, according to the american councils for international education (2017), the interest in learning a second language other than english by native and non-native speakers is rising in many school districts in the united states. the american councils for international education is a nonprofit organization that partners with institutions and governments to advance language training, cultural exchange, and educational development. of the country’s population, 54 million are school-age, ages of 5 to 17 years old. enrollment in world language courses other than english at the k-12 setting account for approximately 20% of the total school-age population as reported by the states which is approximately 10.6 million students. although a number of states are involved in efforts towards offering k-12 world language education, decisions concerning the elimination or consolidation of language programs are being taken at the local levels which sets hurdles in the analysis of the efforts being done. moreover, the survey exemplified that spanish is the world language with the highest enrollment in the country with approximately 7.4 million students (american councils for international education, 2017). the world languages that follow this enrollment are french, german, chinese, american sign language, japanese, arabic, latin, and russian, respectively in decreasing order. it is noteworthy that in k-12 settings, secondary school systems commonly have language programs. as illustrated in the survey, spanish is the language with the highest number of high school programs with 8,177 programs or 46% of all secondary world language programs in the united states. french follows spanish at 21%, followed by german at 8.7%, latin at 8.5%, chinese at 6.4%, american sign language at 3.5%, japanese at 2.4 %, arabic at 0.9%, and russian at 0.8%. apart from the instruction of major world languages other than english, about 19% of the high schools in the country offer less commonly taught languages courses. bearing in mind the support towards bilingual education and the current state of world language education in the united states, it will be insightful to examine signs inside language classrooms, and inside and outside of schools, to bring to light the practices and https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bernardo-hinesley, s., linguistic landscape in educational spaces journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 20 ideologies within these schools as they relate to proficiency development in a language other than english. discussion and conclusion it is apparent that english is a widely spoken language in the united states. despite its predominance and officialization in many states, it is evident that many people in the country speak a language other than english (american councils for international education, 2017). the majority of those who indicated that they speak a language other than english state that they acquired it at home. this may then allude to challenges encountered by these individuals in developing their language proficiency in the home language in educational institutions that offer language instruction. in the united states, over 11.7 million school-aged children speak a language other than english at home. as discussed in the previous section, bilingual education programs in the united states are primarily designed to transition said students towards english proficiency rather than to maintain and develop their proficiency in both english and the home language. as local school districts have the ability to decide how their students with limited english proficiency be taught depending upon their needs, it is of relevance to examine the language(s) employed on the signs within public educational institutions that offer language instruction in a language other than english in the country. the ‘tourist guide technique’ employed by szabó (2015) and biró (2016) will bring to light possible hidden and implicit policies and ideologies of a school and its educators. in this methodology, an educator who serves as a guide through the school is interviewed by the researcher during the process of taking photographs of the signs. language choice and the reasons for displaying particular signs are some of the possible interview questions in this approach. taking into consideration the findings of the two studies, it may be possible that nationalist ideologies and identities are being supported and reconstructed within a particular school which may capture possible ideological conflict in a community of diverse language backgrounds. the inscribed language(s) on the signs in the hallways and building façades of an educational institution can function as tools for orientation towards a particular language ideology. such material configuration may then motivate or discourage interest in developing proficiency in a language spoken at home. in order to support these school-aged children of linguistically diverse backgrounds, inclusive space must be fostered within these schools. as stated by brown (2012), schoolscape represent the material environment where signs “constitute, reproduce, and transform language ideologies” (p. 282). that is to say that signs in schools and students who speak a language other than english at home reciprocally interact and influence each other continually shaping and reflecting the landscape of their community. by analyzing not only the language(s) used on the signs within a school, but also the makers of the signs, materials used to produce the signs, functions of the signs, and intended audience of the signs as in astillero (2017), bisai and singh (2018), and gorter and cenoz (2015), the support towards home language proficiency development can be identified. the analysis of the makers of the signs will illustrate if students only or students, their parents, and the community are involved in the making of the signs or if the signs are only put forward by school authorities. in addition, it may illustrate the engagement and involvement of the teachers and the school with their respective community. with regards to the materials used for the production of the signs, this may show the allocation of resources https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bernardo-hinesley, s., linguistic landscape in educational spaces journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 21 and the durability or duration with which the signs are displayed. that is to say that by analyzing these factors, the subsequent questions regarding support towards the languages spoken in every community in the united states will be addressed. how are schools recognizing the language diversity in their communities? how are the different languages taught and the languages spoken at home being reflected in schools? how often are the languages taught utilized on school signs? how are the languages used on school signs distributed? are there bilingual or mixed language signs? who are the authors of the signs? are language educators actively promoting the languages spoken by their students? do students from linguistically diverse backgrounds have agency in using their home language in schools? which languages are used for different functions? what are the guidelines in placing signs in the school? given the multilingual reality of the country and the world, it is imperative that educational institutions provide space which prepares students for this reality. that said, as schoolscape play a fundamental role in perpetuating ideologies, in particular that of language, it is vital that the signs employed in schools in the united state be examined. as the (re)production of signs may exhibit either shifting or contradictory local and national ideologies towards languages. it is therefore essential to document the signage in educational spaces to ensure that the needs of the local communities, specifically students of diverse language backgrounds, are being addressed. in a school highly attended by students who speak a language other than english at home, if school signs are mainly written in english by school authorities using durable and costly materials, it may portray implied policy and language ideology on part of the educators and school authorities. in contrast, if at the same school students and perhaps community members are engaged in the making of signs reflecting their home language given the involvement of the language educators in their community, students may perceive a sense of support towards the development of their proficiency in the home language in addition to being taught in the school. for future studies, the incorporation of language prominence and framing as additional factors for analysis in schoolscapes may point towards the textual discourse in a school. furthermore, to understand if students who speak a language other than english feel incited by their classmates whose first language is english, student language attitudes and language challenges must be explored by means of the ‘tourist guide technique’ with a few students instead of a teacher. along with the examination of the signs within schools, analyzing student language attitudes may provide a better understanding of the dynamic of languages and language ideologies in the united states schools. acknowledgements the author would like to thank the two anonymous peer reviewers for their insightful feedback and careful reading of the manuscript. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bernardo-hinesley, s., linguistic landscape in educational spaces journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 22 references american councils for international education. (2017, june). the national k-12 foreign language enrollment survey report. https://www.americancouncils.org/sites/default/files/fle-report-june17.pdf andersson, t., & boyer, m. (1970). bilingual schooling in the united states. national educational laboratory publishers. astillero, s. f. (2017). linguistic schoolscape: studying the place of english and philippine languages of irosin secondary school. asia pacific journal of education, arts and sciences, 4(4), 30-37. biro, e. (2016). learning schoolscapes in a minority setting. acta universitatis sapientiae, philologica, 8(2), 109-121. bisai, s., & singh, s. (2018). schoolscape in minority school: an empirical study in jhargram and paschim medinipur district, india. proceedings of the international conference on education, teaching and learning. ice18 france conference. brown, k. (2005). estonian schoolscapes and the marginalization of regional identity in education. european education, 37, 78–89. brown, k. (2012). the linguistic landscape of educational spaces: language revitalization and schools in southeastern estonia. in h. marten, d. gorter, & l. van mensel (eds.), linguistic landscapes and minority languages, (pp. 281–298). palgrave. castellanos, d. (1983). the best of two worlds: bilingual-bicultural education in the u.s. new jersey state department of education. cenoz, j., & gorter, d. (2006). linguistic landscape and minority languages. international journal of multilingualism, 3(1), 67-80. cenoz, j., & gorter, d. (2008). linguistic landscape as an additional source of input in second language acquisition. international review of applied linguistics in language teaching, 46, 257-276. chimirala, u. (2018). appropriating to the schoolscape: a study of reference of linguistic landscape in dyad text construction. indian journal of applied linguistics, 44(1-2), 3865. dressler, r. (2015). signgeist: promoting bilingualism through the linguistic landscape of school signage. international journal of multilingualism, 12(1), 128–145. garcía, o. (2011). planning spanish: nationalizing, minoritizing and globalizing performances. in m. díaz-campos (ed.), the handbook of hispanic sociolinguistics, (pp. 667-685). wiley-blackwell. garcia, s. b., & dominguez, l. (1997). cultural contexts that influence learning and academic performance. in silver, l. b. (ed.), child and adolescent psychiatric clinic of north america: academic difficulties, (pp. 621-55). saunders co. gorter, d., & cenoz, j. (2007). knowledge about language and linguistic landscape. in n. h. hornberger (ed.), encyclopedia of language and education, (pp. 1-13). springer science. gorter, d., & cenoz, j. (2015). linguistic landscapes inside multilingual schools. in b. spolsky, m. tannenbaum, & o. inbar (eds.), challenges for language education and policy: making space for people, (pp. 151–169). routledge. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 bernardo-hinesley, s., linguistic landscape in educational spaces journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 23 hélot, c., barni, m., janssens, r., & bagna, c. (eds.). (2012). linguistic landscapes, multilingualism and social change. peter lang. jakonen, t. (2018). the environment of a bilingual classroom as an interactional resource. linguistics and education, 44, 20-30. kalekin-fishman, d. (2004). ideology, policy, and practice: education for immigrants and minorities in israel today. kluwer academic publishers. lado, b. (2011). linguistic landscape as a reflection of linguistic ideological conflict in the valencian community. international journal of multilingualism, 8(2), 135-150. landry, r., & bourhis, r. (1997). linguistic landscape and ethnolinguistic vitality: an empirical study. journal of language and social psychology, 16(1), 23-49. malinowski, d. (2015). opening spaces of learning in the linguistic landscape. linguistic landscape: an international journal, 1, 95–113. marten, h.f., van mensel, l., & gorter, d. (2012). studying minority languages in the linguistic landscape. in d. gorter, h. f. marten & l. van mensel (eds.) minority languages in the linguistic landscape, (pp. 1-15). palgrave-macmillan. may, s. (2010). curriculum and the education of cultural and linguistic minorities. in p. peterson, e. baker, & b. mcgaw (eds.), international encyclopedia of education, 1, 293-298. elsevier. palmer, d., ballinger, s., & peter, l. (2014). classroom interaction in one-way, two-way, and indigenous immersion contexts. journal of immersion and content-based language education, 2(2), 225-240. shohamy, e. (2006a). language policy: hidden agendas and new perspectives. routledge. shohamy, e. (2006b). imagined multilingual schools: how come we don’t deliver? in o. garcía, t. skutnabb-kangas & m. torres-guzmán (eds.), imagining multilingual schools (pp. 171-183). multilingual matters. shohamy, e., ben-rafael, e., & barni, m. (eds.). (2010). linguistic landscape in the city. multilingual matters. shohamy, e., & gorter, d. (eds.). (2009). linguistic landscape: expanding the scenery. routledge. stewner-manzanares, g. (1988). the bilingual education act: twenty years later. national clearinghouse for bilingual education. stroud, c., & mpendukana, s. (2009). towards a material ethnography of linguistic landscape: multilingualism, mobility and space in a south african township. journal of sociolinguistics, 13(3), 363-386. szabó, t. p. (2015). the management of diversity in schoolscapes: an analysis of hungarian practices. apples – journal of applied language studies, 9(1), 25–51. . https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 1 2023 pp. 52-68 the confucius institutes: china’s cultural soft power strategy shao-cheng sun* * political science department, the citadel, charleston, united states email: ssun@citadel.edu article info received: october 7, 2022 accepted: january 31, 2023 published: february 28, 2023 how to cite sun, s-c. (2023). the confucius institutes: china’s cultural soft power strategy. journal of culture and values in education, 6(1), 52-68. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.4 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract the employment of culture and language as a chinese foreign policy strategy combines the leadership’s ideas with academic efforts to communicate with the world. china’s approach to disseminating cultural soft power is seen through the overseas confucius institutes (cis). the cis have been recognized as a symbol for transmitting the chinese language and cultural elements abroad. the author adopted the swot (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis to examine the confucius institutes of china’s cultural soft power strategy. this research addresses that the cis function as agents of beijing, fostering global recognition of china as a civilized society and cultural power and improving its cultural connections worldwide. however, the cis’ influence was limited because foreign government-funded organizations did not assess it as an acceptable model. china has faced constraints in translating its soft power into desired outcomes, especially in the united states (us) and european union (eu). keywords confucius institutes; cultural soft power; cultural policy; cultural diplomacy; language and culture 10.46303/jcve.2023.4 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.4 53 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 introduction this paper addresses china’s approach to disseminating cultural soft power through the confucius institutes (ci). it provides the analytical method of swot (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) by examining the strength of china’s cultural policy, the weakness of the cis, the opportunity of the ci project, and the threat of us and eu views on the cis. chinese officials and scholars acknowledged that soft power was critical to china’s image-building, of which ci was at the forefront. joseph nye described soft power as co-opting people rather than coercing them; its ability to establish preferences tends to be associated with intangible assets, such as an attractive culture. an ethical culture has become essential for countries to shape a positive image in world politics (nye, 2004). nye differentiates culture into high culture and popular culture. the former, such as education, literature, and art, appeals to the elite, while the latter focuses on mass entertainment, such as “pop” music and movies (nye, 2011). the confucius institute was recognized as a symbol for transmitting the chinese language and cultural power abroad. the chinese government’s use of confucius’s name to brand the language institute was based on the ideas in the philosophy of confucius, an educator and thinker whose ideas were rooted in chinese cultural traditions (hanban, 2006). with one of the world’s earliest civilizations, china is a cultural treasure-house; its treasures, including its language and values, make them essential resources for advancing soft power (liu, 2011). during the shang dynasty (1523–1027 bc), the foundations of culture, including music, art, and a written language, had been laid. during the spring and autumn and warring states periods (770–221 bc), various schools of thought and philosophers emerged (liu, 1983). the most notable figure is confucius. his teaching accentuated the importance of education. confucianism is characterized as a system of social values and ethical philosophy. following the examples of western countries fostering languages and cultures overseas, such as the british council, alliance française, and the goethe institute, the ci has become a means of promoting chinese soft power worldwide (ngamsang & walsh, 2013). the british council aims to build connections and understanding between people in the uk and countries worldwide. the council is on the ground in more than 100 countries (british council, 2022). the alliance française promotes the french language and culture and fosters exchanges between french speakers and local communities. the alliance française has over 800 branches in 130 countries, with over half a million students worldwide (afusa, 2022). the goethe-institut is germany’s cultural institute promoting the study of german abroad and international cultural exchange. the institute encourages cultural collaboration across the globe by organizing programs of events (goethe-institut, 2022). by operating primarily on campuses and directly managed by the chinese government, cis are unlike these european institutes (index on censorship, 2021). for chinese leaders, the ci was an ideal platform to let other countries understand china better. beijing, in 2002, announced plans to establish cis overseas to promote culture and language. even though the aim of the cis was, by nature, education and promotion of cultural relations with other countries, the institutes were not without suspicions. some 54 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 media, governments, and scholars see the cis as an attempt to exert chinese political control (redden, 2022). the main goal of this research method is to explore the effectiveness of china’s cultural soft power strategy through the cis (yiu, 2002, 13). this research adopted the swot analysis to examine the confucius institutes of china’s cultural soft power strategy (wang & wang, 2020). this analysis allows scholars to identify both its internal and external factors (speth, 2015, 1). strengths and weaknesses are internal factors that strengthen and hinder institutions from achieving their objectives. in comparison, opportunities and threats are the external factors that empower and restrict organizations from accomplishing their objectives (phadermrod et al., 2019, 195). i have taken this research’s literature from journals and books. the following section categorizes the literature on china’s soft power concept and cis. since the late 1990s, chinese scholars have studied joseph nye’s concept of soft power. they suggested that the government should develop a cultural soft power strategy. several factors have prompted this shift. first, china’s economic development has bolstered its global influence. second, chinese academics say that us cultural power has declined, and china could now compete on this front. finally, china needed to improve its cultural ties with its neighbors to meet its interests. according to falk (2011), “cultural diplomacy” and “soft power” were often found in chinese official speeches. cultural diplomacy is seen as the chinese government’s efforts to spread cultural resources and facilitate cultural transmission overseas. lai (2012) finds that cultural diplomacy has been more successful in developing countries. despite difficulties, beijing has prioritized cultural diplomacy in western countries, ranking high on its diplomatic agenda, to alter a negative image of china. flew and hartig (2014) observed that china’s strategists employed culture to exhibit the roadmap of soft power strategy. the ci was an ideal platform to have other countries better understand china. in 2002, beijing announced plans to launch cis overseas to promote culture and language. the cis have become a communication channel to promote the peaceful characteristics of chinese culture (hanban, 2012). chinese scholars and leaders have embraced cultural soft power because it appears to be an alternative to power politics (nye, 2011, 81). chinese discourse largely conforms to joseph nye’s conceptual framework but is beyond the scope of that conceptualization. unlike nye’s focus on the efficacy of soft power in achieving foreign policy goals, chinese scholars frequently refer to a domestic context. for example, yu keping argues that education, the psychological and physical condition of the people, technology, culture, social cohesion, and socioeconomic development, are all sources of soft power (li, 2009, 28). to enhance china’s soft power, men honghua (2007) states that the philosophy of soft power can be enriched by addressing the important resources of the country’s culture, development model, international institutions, and international image (men, 2007). yu xintian (2007) claims that soft power is a powerful instrument for representing national culture in the international community and should be regarded as an essential resource for crafting foreign policy. china should value the interests of 55 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 foreign countries and accordingly put forth proposals on strengthening soft power by seeking win-win cooperation (yu, 2007). the above literature primarily addresses why china employs the soft power strategy and what benefits exist in implementing this strategy. since the establishment of the cis, chinese scholars and officials have paid close attention to the institutes’ development. according to huang lianying (2011), chinese literature on cis started in 2005. since then, the research has gained more momentum (huang, 2011). hongqin et al. (2010) argue that the chinese language has emerged as a subject for the educational market. the enhancement of language curriculum policy has led to the swift expansion of the cis. the findings, however, indicate that it is unlikely that mandarin chinese will replace english as the world’s most widely used language. even though english will continue to be the dominant language in the world, the view that the chinese language is an essential component in the future has been voiced (zhao & huang, 2010). to minimize the fear of china’s threat and to realize the goal of a well-off society, china is adopting a peace-oriented strategy with the cis. james paradise (2009) argues that china is building institutes to spread its language and culture and increase collaboration with foreign academic institutions. china is projecting a more favorable image and reassures the world that its intentions are benign (paradise, 2009). hartig (2012) uses the ci in germany to discuss the concepts of cultural diplomacy and culture institutes as a conceptual tool to analyze the cis. this case study provides empirical data to explore china’s image-shaping efforts in germany. hartig discovered that cis are designed to teach language and promote culture. nonetheless, they also aim to balance the dominant us cultural influence (hartig, 2012, 53–57). pan (2013) applies the theory of cultural diplomacy to explore the ci project and its implications for china’s soft power projection. the paper suggests that the ci’s project can be understood as a form of cultural diplomacy that is state-sponsored and university-piloted, a joint effort to gain china a more sympathetic global reception (pan, 2013). in this research, i answer this key question, “what are china’s approaches to disseminating cultural soft power through the cis?” i wish to improve empirical and theoretical understanding of china’s cultural soft power through the cis and to elaborate on china’s intentions in this paper. by identifying the factors of the swot, i can recognize china’s approaches to disseminating cultural soft power through the ci by examining the core of china’s cultural policy, the ci’s project, its strategies, and the effectiveness of the cis. thus, the following aspects will be examined: the evolution of china’s cultural policy, the ci’s project, the approaches to disseminating cultural soft power, and us and eu views on the cis. strength: china’s cultural policy since the chinese communist party (ccp) was established in 1921, three debates on cultural policy have occurred. the first debate occurred during the anti-japanese war period (1937 to 1945). the debate was due to the japanese invasion. mao zedong claimed that china should have a cultural policy to defeat the enemy (hughes, 2014). the second debate was a battle 56 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 between the proletariat culture and the bourgeois culture (from 1956 to 1976). mao emphasized that the ccp would harness literature and art to achieve national interests (hong, 1994). the third cultural debate occurred during the 1980s after china launched the “opening up and reform” policy. the debate included discussing chinese culture more openly. chinese scholars adopted a more practical approach to displaying cultural soft power (lynch, 2013). the following explores the strength of china’s cultural policy from deng xiaoping to xi jinping. the deng xiaoping period deng xiaoping leaned toward confucianism, filling an ideological vacuum after the cultural revolution from 1967 to 1976 because top leaders recognized the drawbacks of overemphasized politics and negligence of culture. confucius was resurrected to be the symbol during deng’s era. in 1984, deng supported the setup of the confucius foundation of china, an organization promoting confucianism and traditional chinese research to increase global cultural exchanges (whittaker, 2013). in october 1989, an elaborate celebration of the anniversary of confucius’ birthday was held in beijing. gu mu, a close adviser to deng, gave a speech endorsing confucian values for improving social harmony in china. since then, the chinese government has sponsored annual commemorations of confucius’ birthday. the yearly festivals feature conferences highlighting the resurgence of the study of confucianism (whittaker, 2013). the cultural policies under deng were lenient. most chinese scholars could study a culture of their choice, national or foreign if it did not espouse anti-socialism (hong, 1994). the jiang zemin period an interest in soft power began taking shape in the 1990s, with academics deliberating the virtues of cultural interaction. wang huning, the brainpower of jiang zemin, argued in a 1993 article that a global shift from power based on wealth and violence to a knowledge-based power structure had existed. chinese culture based on confucianism could seek peaceful solutions to global problems and attract other countries (palit, 2013). cultural, economic, and political developments became the ‘three-in-one’ model for strengthening “socialism with chinese characteristics.” zheng bijian coined the concept of “china’s peaceful rise,” advocating for promoting chinese culture abroad to overcome hostility towards china. jiang’s administration has sought to resurrect confucianism to promote domestic order, secure sustainable national development, and alleviate the china threat (lo & pan, 2014). jiang zemin acknowledged that cultural advancement was urgent because it played a crucial role in rejuvenating china. while delivering a political report at the 16th ccp congress in 2002, jiang accentuated that china should treasure the fine tradition of chinese culture and absorb the achievements of foreign cultures in building a socialist spiritual civilization. to create a well-off society, china should embrace the vitality of cultural development and strength to enhance the attraction of socialist culture with chinese characteristics (jiang, 2002). developing the cultural industry was essential to enriching culture in the market economy during jiang’s era. in 2002, china’s propaganda chief, liu yunshan, noted that cultural power and influence were critical to integrating national 57 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 power and global competitiveness (glaser & murphy, 2009). under jiang’s leadership, chinese foreign relations discourse expressed an increasing appreciation of china’s cultural traditions as a basis for the prc’s interactions with the world (whittaker, 2013). the hu jintao period under the presidency of hu jintao, china was inclined to use the confucian idea of harmony to counteract the “china threat theory” externally and to maintain a “harmonious society” internally (lo & pan, 2014). cultural soft power was found when browsing chinese official publications and websites. culture became a noticeable aspect of china’s foreign policy (li, 2008). the hu administration had launched efforts to disseminate its cultural presence worldwide. president hu stated at the central foreign affairs leadership group meeting on january 4, 2006, that the increase in china’s global status and influence would have to be demonstrated in hard and soft power, such as culture. the 11th five year plan (2006-10) for cultural development devoted an entire chapter to the “go global” strategy for chinese culture, encouraging the media and cultural enterprises to expand cultural coverage and global impact (glaser & murphy, 2009). it urged more presence and influence of china in the international cultural markets to communicate with western audiences (palit, 2013). the release of a cultural plan indicated that a cultural soft power strategy had been established. in 2007, cultural soft power became a highlight in the annual conferences of both the national people’s congress (npc) and the chinese people’s political consultative conference (cppcc), signaling that expanding chinese culture was a pivotal part of the national strategy (liu, 2011). the revival of confucius’ image made him a prime candidate to represent national pride on the global stage. the opening ceremonies of the 2008 olympics in beijing featured a choir dressed as disciples of confucius, chanting quotations from the analects. on top of that, in 2009, a state-owned film company produced a film promoting confucius (whittaker, 2013). the xi jinping period xi jinping’s administration has taken initiatives to promote chinese culture, including programs to fund translations of chinese literature into foreign languages, the expansion of the chinese film industry, and the theme of “sending chinese culture to the world.” xi attempts to regulate cultural policies within china with notions of soft power (rosen et al., 2014). xi jinping has voiced the importance of confucianism several times. he said in public that he would like to read the analects and collecting stories and thoughts of confucius (buckley, 2013). on september 24, 2014, xi, at a seminar to mark the anniversary of the birth of confucius, addressed that confucianism had profoundly influenced chinese civilization and has been an essential part of traditional chinese culture (zhang, 2014). he also acknowledged that language was the best way to understand a country. xi understands that the cis have become an essential conduit of people exchanges between china and the west, contributing to china’s cultural soft power and global influence. therefore, the cis served as important platforms to help the world know china. xi said, “as bridges for linguistic and cultural exchanges, the cis have actively facilitated people worldwide to learn the chinese language and understand its culture (hanban, 58 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 2015).” culture is the core and strength of chinese soft power, among which traditional chinese culture is the most valuable source (wu, 2018). china’s fine culture reflects its civilization's wisdom and essence, offering insights into governance and moral building (bao, 2022). confucianism accentuated that a king’s ruling should rely on moral force instead of military force. benevolent governance will triumph over hegemonic rule. these values are embodied in harmony, laying the basis of cultural appeal (wu, 2018). china has influenced the world through the appeal of its culture. the chinese government suggests that confidence in one’s culture is an essential source of strength for the country’s development. the chinese government has taken measures to protect and disseminate traditional culture (bao, 2022). the chinese government has returned to its roots, projecting that culture into the future through modern technologies, new ways of thinking, and adaptation. culture develops on the foundations of economic abundance, strengthening chinese culture and civilization (hooi, 2021). opportunity: the cultural soft power via the ci the ci provides an opportunity for the world to learn the chinese language and culture. the ci project reflected china’s recognition of language teaching and cultural dissemination as an essential means of promoting its cultural soft power. three rationales exist. the first is to consolidate china’s cohesion, where beijing portrayed the cis’ expansion as a sign of rising china’s global influence (wang & adamson, 2015). chinese people can be proud of being chinese with a rich history, thereby consolidating the nation’s cohesion. the second is to expand chinese influence, suggesting that the cis have become an official mouthpiece for showcasing chinese prestige. foreign audiences receive a chinese cultural product, carefully crafted, packaged, and delivered. the cis help chinese higher education gain recognition for its delivery of educational services in the global market. the third is to diminish the china threat because the rise of china’s economic and military influence has threatened the western powers. to resolve this tension, the cis became part of china’s strategy to soften its global image from threatening to benign, from an aggressive dragon to a friendly panda. the project of the confucius institute hanban, the ci headquarters, was responsible for initiating policies, sponsoring activities, and engaging in cultural exchanges. each ci was under the leadership of directors. the director, enforcer, communicator, and organizer manage the ci. while on duty, they require effective communication with hanban, the chinese embassy, and the local government. foreign applicants submit to hanban a letter of intent, establishing a ci that proves: a need for chinese learning, an ability to provide a facility, and a pre-selection of china’s counterpart. after submitting the letter, the applicant requires hanban’s approval (lin, 2013). the ci’s core projects included the following: first involved training and recruiting teachers. hanban cultivated teachers by relying on chinese universities to develop an international chinese education. they also collaborated with foreign universities to institute 59 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 majors in teaching chinese (hanban, 2014). the second included organizing ci brand projects. they held language competitions and invited foreign school principals to visit china and international students to participate in summer camps in china (cao, 2013). the third included establishing new institutes. hanban assessed applications for new institutes, provided aid and teachers, formulated rules, and approved annual programs and budgets (hanban, 2006). the fourth was providing scholarships for teachers and students. hanban also offered scholarships for teachers and international students to enroll in the “master of teaching chinese to speakers of other languages” (mtcsol) program in china (hanban, 2009). in 2020, china renamed hanban to the “center for language education and cooperation.” instead of using funding from the government, the chinese international education foundation, a ministry of educationsponsored, non-governmental organization comprised of universities and corporations, was formed to provide financing to the cis (lum & fischer, 2020). approaches to disseminate cultural soft power chinese strategists believe that a world power should also be a crucial cultural hub whose ideas, social life, and beliefs appeal to people of other countries (li, 2009). the official apparatus has campaigned for cultural attractiveness with tremendous efforts. it includes administrative organs responsible for implementing cultural policies (liu, 2011). the ci project can be seen as an intricate soft power using peaceful means to exert china’s influence abroad. (pan, 2013). the first approach is to expand chinese culture. the government outlined approaches to increase the influence of chinese culture through cis. in 2006, the state council adopted the outline of the national plan for cultural development during the 11th five-year plan. the plan designed a “go-out” strategy to augment the influence of cultural products abroad (li, 2009). the outline of the cultural reform and development plan during the 12th five-year plan period, released in 2012, stated that culture is becoming an important source of national cohesion and creativity. the section “strengthening foreign cultural exchange and cooperation” accentuated accelerating the building of overseas chinese cultural centers and cis (china copyright and media, 2012). in 2016, the total monetary output of cultural industries accounted for 2.75 percent of the gdp. with financial support from the government, the cultural communities held many cultural events. research institutes have also contributed to the growing popularity of cultural soft power by holding conferences (liu, 2011). after the cultural policy had been outlaid, confucius was venerated. in 2010, the film confucius packed movie theaters. a statue of confucius was erected on tiananmen square in 2011 (shambaugh, 2016). the second approach includes cultivating chinese higher education opportunities. higher education is a conveyor of cultural soft power and has been a critical opportunity for china to gain its universities’ prestige to attract foreign elites. china invested in higher education to improve innovation at home and competitiveness abroad (shambaugh, 2016). students from 196 countries and regions were studying in china. the total number of international students in china reached more than 490,000 in 2018 (statista, 2018). the ministry of education aimed to create world-class universities in china. nine leading universities combined to form the so-called 60 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 “c9” (china nine) and to make china a global leader in technology (shambaugh, 2016). some elite universities aim at moving up the global rankings. for example, the 2022 best global universities ranked peking university 45th and tsinghua university 26th globally (us news, 2022). moreover, the cis project generated opportunities for china’s universities. utilizing cooperation with foreign universities in establishing cis, chinese universities have gained more opportunities for external contacts. they act as unofficial cultural diplomats, contributing threefold to the ci project: seeking foreign partners, enhancing the cis’ status, and allowing china to increase its human capital. china increased funding to finance international students to study in china, supported world-renowned foreign universities’ cooperative programs, and sponsored foreign scholars to work in china. china’s “brain gain” efforts aim to improve its higher education capacity by using foreign-trained human resources (pan, 2014). china's cultural soft power approach in developing the cis differed from the western concept. while political overtones lead to cultural soft power approaches adopted by the chinese government, western countries engaged in soft power primarily via private industry through the movie industry, churches, and universities. chinese leaders acknowledge that cultural soft power in the west still holds a dominant position, and china still has a long way to catch up. similarly, the rising interest of foreigners in chinese culture does not mean they agree with the chinese government, nor do they become less fearful of china’s rapid rise. some chinese scholars (tseng wen, hong gao, ding zhongyi, and wei xing) propose recommendations for improving china’s cultural soft power to beautify its image: the government should use the cis as its national strategic development tool; the cis should become institutionalized and flexible to promote chinese culture better (wen, 2007, gao, 2011). weakness: challenges of the ci even though the confucius institutes have experienced rapid growth with a global expansion since early 2000, several scholars, including shuai li, yanyin zhang, joe tin-yau lo, and suyan pan, identified several weaknesses and challenges the cis have encountered. the first challenge was that the confucius institutes had difficulty recruiting qualified teachers. because the cis could not employ enough experienced teachers from the host countries, hanban needed to recruit and dispatch more trained teachers from mainland china. however, such teachers were in short supply because experienced chinese teachers might not be willing to leave their families to work overseas. in addition, the relatively low pay, adoption of the new culture and society, and going to third-world countries reduced their incentive to work and live for around three years overseas (lo & pan, 2014). the ci’s second challenge was the lack of sufficient teacher training. some teachers lacked knowledge about the local educational system, local students’ learning styles, intercultural communication capability, and foreign language skills in the hosted countries. at the same time, the local chinese teachers in the target nations were deficient in subject 61 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 knowledge of chinese culture, language capability, and teaching experience because some teachers had not received proper training (li & tucker, 2013). the third challenge was to provide more appropriate chinese teaching materials and textbooks for students. hanban had initially planned to use the textbooks published in china. however, this strategy was soon met with some resistance because many textbooks were developed with a one-size-fits-all mentality and needed to consider cultural and sociological differences across different countries (li & tucker, 2013). the materials did not attract the interest of international students because the textbooks lacked local sensitivity and context (lo & pan, 2014, 5). some were too dull to raise the incentive to study. concerning the shortage of qualified teachers, proper teaching methods, and suitable chinese teaching materials, the cis did not work well for learners in certain countries and cultures. hanban implemented measures such as developing guidelines for the global promotion of language and culture, enhancing teacher training, and localizing the supply of language instructors to respond to these challenges (thorpe, 2015). threat: us and eu views on the ci even though the official aim of the cis is education and the promotion of friendly relations with other countries, western countries have suspicions about the language institutes. some see cis as an attempt to exert chinese political control. with those critics, the ci programs have been controversial during its global expansion. the arguments included the following. the first was infringing on academic freedom. china’s contributions to host universities gave beijing leverage over those institutions. the grants coming with the establishment of the cis could make universities more susceptible to pressures from beijing. the second was the “infamous” trojan horse scheme. james paradise notes that the cis may be viewed as chinese “trojan horses.” while ostensibly promoting the chinese language and culture, paradise argues, the cis are part of a broader soft power projection in which china is attempting to win hearts and minds for political purposes (mosher, 2018). the third was the propaganda tool. representatives from the state bureaucracy and foreign partners govern the cis. through the hidden bureaucratic networks, beijing ensures its priorities are executed. the cis are part of the propaganda system directed at external audiences. the cis serve as agents of beijing by relaying knowledge regarding language and culture to foster global recognition of china as a civilized and harmonious society and improve its cultural connections in the global community (pan, 2014). consequently, the cis serve as a branch office for selling china’s cultural content, an advantage in promoting china’s soft power. the chinese government’s use of the ci as a platform for foreign policy can be seen as a cultural approach, using benign activities to counter external pressures of the china threat. however, the cis have been a source of controversy in the us and the eu, stemming from the institutes’ financial, administrative, and political support from beijing (whittaker, 2013). in march 2012, the us house foreign affairs subcommittee held a hearing on chinese propaganda efforts 62 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 (hartig, 2014). some confucius institutes in european countries closed amid censorship and espionage accusations (vanttinen, 2022). the cis have triggered a round of debates and have been scrutinized since then. supporters claim that the cis contribute to the general good by facilitating chinese language teaching. students in the cis were obtaining an appreciation of china. knowledge and skill gained at a ci would equip students to be more employable. the cis could help generate appreciation by connecting chinese dreams with the world. the ci was beyond a platform for learning the language but helped professionals as a platform for the art to polish their professions in communicating with china (zhang, 2014). supporters described the fears regarding cis as unfounded. they said hanban had no input on staffing or curriculum. the universities did not let hanban constrain their academic freedom (gioia, 2014). to critics, the complaints about the cis far outweigh the benefits because the institutes on campuses serve chinese interests. the fbi director, christopher wray, told a senate panel in february 2018 that the fbi was concerned about the institutes (sabrowsky, 2019). some universities have closed their cis in response to concerns voiced by lawmakers (redden, 2019). critics stated that the cis are integral to china’s overseas propaganda setup. the us national defense authorization act (ndaa), enacted in august 2018, prohibited the us department of defense (dod) from funding chinese language programs at an institution’s chinese-funded cis without a waiver. the university’s dod-funded chinese language flagship program would have lost funding with the new policy had it not decided to close its ci (sabrowsky, 2019). since then, the number of cis has dropped significantly. in 2017, 103 cis were present in the us. as of august 25, 2022, only 16 cis existed (national association of scholars, 2022). universities cited reasons for terminating the cis, including concerns about the difficulties of the operation due to covid-19 and the desire to keep dod chinese language flagship funding (lum & fischer, 2020). since 2019, some european countries have closed all their cis. the closures result from rising anti-chinese sentiment among the european public and government. they saw the cis not as academic bodies but as the chinese government’s propaganda instruments. doubts grew because of controls on what could be discussed at the cis, with taiwan, tibet, and xinjiang being banned subjects (o’neill, 2021). for example, the deteriorating relations between sweden and china resulted in concern regarding the chinese government’s human rights violations and oppression of ethnic and religious minority groups (flittner, 2020). in finland, a contract between helsinki university and the ci was terminated following accusations of conducting espionage and an attempt to block discussions on tibet (vanttinen, 2022). in a question to the european commission in december 2020, a dutch member of the european parliament, filip man, asked: “does the commission plan on calling the member states to close all cis?” (o’neill, 2021). in july 2021, germany’s education ministry called on the country’s universities to end cooperation with the ci (o’neill, 2021). therefore, belgium closed its confucius institutes in 2019, sweden and denmark in 2020, and norway in 2021 (vanttinen, 2022). 63 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 conclusion: the effectiveness of the ci the cis can highlight the positive side of china, such as the success of joining the world community and its economic development. however, the cis can be vulnerable to attack. if the cis were viewed as a government tool, americans and europeans might not trust them. cis’ influence can be limited because it is not an acceptable model for foreign government-funded organizations residing on college campuses. the ci, in general, has not been an effective platform to promote china’s cultural soft power in western countries. the cis expanded in the us because learning the chinese language was gaining popularity. this popularity was due to its commercial potential rather than enthusiasm for culture. if china were to lose its economic strength, a decrease would occur in the desire to learn chinese (wang & adamson, 2015, 229). if one of the major purposes of the ci soft power project is to brand china’s global image, public opinion polls can be valid means of gauging whether the outcomes could help this purpose. the pew survey shows that 51% of americans felt favorably towards china in 2011. by 2018, only 38% felt favorable (devlin, 2019). a gallup poll in 2021 put china’s unfavorable view among americans at 79%, the worst reading since its polling began in 1979 (areddy, 2021). the american assessment of chinese culture is much less positive than what beijing hoped for. over 70% do not think chinese popular culture is appealing (aldrich et al., 2014). china has faced constraints in translating its soft power into desired outcomes in the us and eu. some supporters argue that the relations between china and western countries might be worse without these cultural interactions through the cis (mccord, 2014). the ci, in general, has not been an effective platform in the us and eu to promote china’s cultural soft power because of the rising anti-china sentiment, such as the cover-up of covid-19, the trade war, south china sea tension, xinjiang internment camps, and the 2022 taiwan strait crisis, portrayed by the western media. with its rapid economic growth and increased global influence, china has invested in cultural soft power resources. the strategic objective behind the cis’ proliferation can be traced to china’s vision portrayed as a globally benign image. the cis’ influence can be limited because it is not an acceptable model for foreign government-funded organizations and its presence on the university campus. the reaction to the cis has been mixed in the us and the eu. while many universities appreciate the cis’ contributions, skepticism has arisen about them. the cis’ capacity for the attraction was in question, given the objections they encountered. the ci project is like “searching for stones to cross the river” (deng xiao-ping). china has utilized cultural diplomacy to obtain its national interests. however, china’s political systems and ideology have undermined its soft power credibility. therefore, the ci project can do little to relieve the fear of china’s threat. the results of the soft power, attempted through the ci, reveal that china’s cultural diplomacy still has a long way to go. 64 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 reference aldrich, j., liu, k., & lu, j. (2015), how do americans view the rising china? journal of contemporary china. 24 (92), 203–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2014.932148 areddy, j. (2021, march 4). americans’ views on china go from bad to worse, the wall street journal/https://www.wsj.com/articles/americans-negative-views-on-china-spike-pollsshow-11614870001. afusa (2022), about the alliance française, afusa, https://afusa.org/about-the-alliancefrancaise/ bao, c. (2022, june 1). building up firm confidence in a thriving chinese culture, global times, https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202206/1267125.shtml british council, (2022). about us, british council, https://www.britishcouncil.org/about-us. buckley, c. (2013, november 26). xi pays homage to confucius, a figure back in favor, sinosphere, http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/xi-pays-homage-toconfucius-a-figure-back-in-favor/#more-3056. cao, d. (2013). introduction to the development plan of confucius institute, http://www.wku.edu/ci/developmentplanforci.pptx. devlin, k. (2019, may 27). 5 charts on global views of china, pew, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/10/19/5-charts-on-global-views-ofchina. falk, h. (2011). confucius institutes and the rise of china. journal of chinese political science, 17. 53-76. http://doi 10.1007/s11366-011-9178-7 flittner, s. (2020) “sweden has closed all confucius institutes and classrooms,” scand asia, https://scandasia.com/sweden-has-closed-all-confucius-institutes-and-classrooms/. french higher education (2022), alliance française, french higher education, https://frenchhighereducation.org/alliance-francaise. full text of jiang zemin’s report at 16th party congress (2007, october 10). beijing time, http://www.bjreview.com/17thcpc/txt/2007-10/10/content_79209_5.htm. gao, h. (2011). an analysis of the phenomenon of global “mandarin fever.” asian social science, 7 (12), 253-257. glaser, b. & murphy, e. (2009). soft power with chinese characteristics. in mcgiffert c. (ed.) chinese soft power and its implications for the united states (pp. 10-26). center for strategic & international studies. gioia, m. (2014, october 24). forbes accuses stanford of collaborating with chinese spies via confucius institute, stanford daily. http://www.stanforddaily.com/2014/10/24/forbesaccuses-stanford-of-collaborating-with-chinese-spies-via-confucius-institute/. glaser, s. b. & yu, jie. (2022). china’s global development initiative, gmf, https://www.gmfus.org/news/chinas-global-development-initiative. https://frenchhighereducation.org/alliance-francaise 65 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 goethe-institut (2022), responsibilities, 2022 goethe-institut, https://www.goethe.de/en/uun/auf.html. lai, h. (2012). china’s cultural diplomacy: going for soft power. in (ed.) lai, h. & lu, y. china’s soft power and international relations. routledge. lin, d. (2013). meiguo kongzi xueyuan dui zhongguo chukou maoyi de yingxiang: jiyu meiguo gezhou de fenxi (the confucius institute influence american export trade—an analysis of states of america). shanghai jinrong xueyuan xuebao (journal of shanghai finance university) 115, 98-107. li, j. (2013). the implication of cultural soft power by the confucius institute. journal of fujian institute of socialism, 3 (96), 46-49. li, m. ed (2009). soft power: china’s emerging strategy in international politics. lexingtonrowman & littlefield. hanban. (2006). annual report (hanban). hanban. (2009). annual report (hanban). hanban. (2012). 2012 annual report (hanban). hanban. (2014). confucius institute annual development report 2014 (hanban). hanban. (2015, october 28). xi jinping: confucius institutes serve as important platforms to help the world know china, hanban website, http://english.hanban.org/article/201510/28/content_620866.htm. hartig, f. (2014). confucius institutes–quo vadis? the diplomat. http://thediplomat.com/2014/12/confucius-institutes-quo-vadis/. hong, j. (1994). mao zedong’s cultural theory and china’s three mass-culture debates: a tentative study of culture, society and politics. intercultural communication studies, 15 (2), 87-104. hooi, a. (2021, march 16). cultural strengths, china daily, https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202103/16/ws604ff3d2a31024ad0baaf5b6_1.html. hu, j. (2007). hu jintao’s report at 17th party congress, xinhua news agency, http://www.china.org.cn/english/congress/229611.htm. hughes, r. c. (2014). confucius institutes and the university: distinguishing the political mission from the cultural. issues & studies, 50(4), 45–83. huang, l. (2011). chinese scholars literature on confucius institute. oriental enterprise culture, 8, 173-174. li, m. (2008). china debates soft power, chinese journal of international politics, 2 (2), 287308. li, s. & tucker, r. (2013). a survey of the u.s. confucius institutes: opportunities and challenges in promoting chinese language and culture education. the journal of the chinese language teachers association usa, 48 (1), 29-53. liu, b. (1983). cultural policy in the people’s republic of china: letting a hundred flowers blossom (imprimerie des presses universitaires). https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202103/16/ws604ff3d2a31024ad0baaf5b6_1.html 66 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 liu, y. (2011). external communication as a vehicle for disseminating soft power: a study of china’s efforts to strengthen its cultural soft power in the era of globalization. [doctoral dissertation, university at buffalo]. lo, t. y., & pan, s. (2014). confucius institutes and china’s soft power: practices and paradoxes, a journal of comparative and international education, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057925.2014.916185. lum, t., & fischer, h. (2020) confucius institutes in the united states: selected issues. congressional research service. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/if11180.pdf. lynch, c. d. (2013). securitizing culture in chinese foreign policy debates: implications for interpreting china’s rise, asian survey, 53 (4), 629-652. men, h. (2007). chinese soft power assessment report, international observation, 2, 15-26. mccord, e. (2014, february 15). let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend. typepad. http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/files/response-to-sahlins-6.pdf. mosher, s. (2018, march 28). “confucius institutes: trojan horses with chinese characteristics,” testimony presented to the subcommittee on oversight and investigations house committee on foreign affairs. http://pop.org/content/confucius-institutes-trojanhorses-chinese-characteristics. ngamsang, s., & walsh, j. (2013) confucius institutes as instruments of soft power: comparison with international rivals. journal of education and vocational research, 4 (10), 302-310. statista (2018). the number of international students in china in 2018, by selected country of origin. statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/430717/china-foreign-students-bycountry-of-origin. nye, j. (2004). soft power: the means to success in world politics. public affairs books. nye, j. (2011). the future of power. public affairs books. o’neill, m. (2021, july 16). europe closes confucius institutes, ejinsight, https://www.ejinsight.com/eji/article/id/2854926/20210716-europe-closes-confuciusinstitutes. outline of the cultural reform and development plan during the 12th five year plan period (2012, february 16). china copyright and media, http://chinacopyrightandmedia.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/outline-of-the-culturalreform-and-development-plan-during-the-national-12th-five-year-plan-period/. palit, p. s. (2013). china’s cultural diplomacy: historical origin, modern methods, and strategic outcomes. china research center. 12 (2), http://www.chinacenter.net/chinas-culturaldiplomacy-historical-origin-modern-methods-and-strategic-outcomes. pan, s. (2013). the confucius institute project: china’s cultural diplomacy and soft power projection, asian education and development studies, 2 (1), 22-33. paradise, j. (2009). china and international harmony: the role of confucius institutes in bolstering beijing’s soft power. asian survey, 49 (4), 647-665. 67 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 phadermrod, b., crowder, r., & wills, g. (2019). importance-performance analysis based swot analysis. international journal of information management, 44, 194-203. redden, e. (2019, january 9). closing confucius institutes, inside higher ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/01/09/colleges-move-close-chinesegovernment-funded-confucius-institutes-amid-increasing. rosen, s., berry, m. cai, j., & melvin, s. xi jinping’s culture wars. china file conversation, https://www.chinafile.com/conversation/xi-jinpings-culture-wars. shambaugh, d. (2013). china goes global: the partial power. oxford university press. sabrowsky, h. (2019, feburary). china-funded institute set to close. minnesota daily, https://www.mndaily.com/article/2019/02/n-china-funded-institute-set-to-close. speth, c. (2015) the swot analysis: a key tool for developing your business strategy. lemaitre publishing. thorpe, b. (2015, march 5). the future of confucius institutes in the u.s. pulitzer center, http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/united-states-china-confucius-institutes-academicfreedom-culture-sharp-seminar. vanttinen, p. (2022). finland shuts down confucius institute amid censorship, espionage accusations. euractiv.com, https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/finland-shuts-down-confuciusinstitute-amid-censorship-espionage-accusations/. wang, d., & adamson, b. (2015). war and peace: perceptions of confucius institutes in china and usa. the asia-pacific education researcher, 24 (1), 225-234. wang, j. & wang, z. (2020). strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (swot) analysis of china's prevention and control strategy for the covid-19 epidemic. international journal of environmental research and public health, 17 (7), 2235. wen, t. (2007). the study on china’s wide-spread confucius institutes—an analysis of soft power. genamics journal, 1-11. whittaker, s. (2013). china’s rise and the confucius institutes: chinese and american perspectives [master thesis, seton hall university]. wu, y. (2018). the rise of china with cultural soft power in the age of globalization, journal of literature and art studies, 8 (5), 763-778. xi jinping’s talks at the beijing forum on literature and art (2014, october 16). china copyright and media, https://chinacopyrightandmedia.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/xijinpings-talks-at-the-beijing-forum-on-literature-and-art. xinhua news agency (1997). jiang zemin’s report at the 15th national congress of the communist party of china, xinhua news agency, http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/48352.htm. yu. x. (2007). the role of soft power in china’s external strategy,” global review, 113-127. zhang, q. (2014, april 4). stanford dean: build bridges with ci, china daily usa. http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/us/2014-04/04/content_17408050.htm. 68 jcve 2023, 6(1): 52-68 zhang, p. (2014, september 25). china commemorates confucius with high-profile ceremony, xinhua, http://english.cntv.cn/2014/09/25/arti1411604274108319.shtml. zhao, h. & huang, j. (2010). china’s policy of chinese as a foreign language and the use of overseas confucius institutes. educ res policy prac, 9, 127–142. 2022 best global universities rankings. (2022). us news. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rankings. 89 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty jennifer buchter1*, cori m. more2, conrad oh-young3, and jennifer l. stringfellow4 1department of special education, eastern illinois university 2department of early childhood, multilingual, and special education, university of nevada, las vegas 4division of teacher education, california state university, dominguez hills *corresponding author: jmbuchter@eiu.edu received : 2019-nov-01 accepted : 2020-may-26 doi: 10.46303/jcve.03.01.6 how to cite this paper: buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l. (2020). disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty. journal of culture and values in education, 3(1), 89-103. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.6 abstract research in teacher preparation programs in institutes of higher education (ihe) suggests that diverse and non-traditional students face barriers and challenges within teacher preparation programs (widiputers et al., 2017). many existing practices and policies negatively impact these student populations. often, these decisions are made at the preference of administration and tenured or established faculty while others remain from previous times. as we attempt to increase representation of students in teacher prep programs, the policies and practices that meet their unique situations have not been equitably incorporated into the daily practices in higher education. this continues to maintain the status quo rather than increase the diversity of teachers in the workforce: the diversity of teacher candidates has not increased to represent the diversifying population, despite efforts (united states department of education, 2016). junior faculty may engage in disrupting the status quo to create and implement policies that will respond to students' needs and result in increased support for students from backgrounds that are disproportionately impacted by traditional practices. junior faculty can serve as change agents if ihe can recognize the tremendous time and effort that goes into making sustainable change within the college and surrounding educational systems. recognizing the barriers to junior faculty and providing support to do this challenging work, while remaining eligible for promotion and tenure is critical. thus, this paper discusses how junior faculty can be leaders in sustained change and established leaders within ihe. by establishing support systems, especially from administration, within the university and community junior faculty can both support and maintain professional timelines in systems more responsive to change. keywords: junior faculty, force field analysis, diversity of teacher candidates https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.6 90 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org introduction teachers in the united states tend to be from a homogenous demographic group. the majority of teachers are white, middle class, and identify as female (barajas, 2016; constantine et al., 2008; proctor & truscott, 2012). additionally, achieving a diverse and representative faculty in institutions of higher education (ihe) mirror and maintain the lack of diversity of teachers in the american school system (billingsley et al., 2019; constatine et al., 2008; grapin & pereiras, 2019; sutherland harris, n.d.). increasing diversity of both faculty and teacher candidates in ihes has been a priority for the last sixty years to reduce implicit bias and address discrepancies in educational outcomes; it is not a new phenomenon (barajas, 2016; widiputera, 2010). diversifying the teacher workforce includes increasing the population in ihe of non-traditional candidates, first-generation candidates, candidates who have work responsibilities, diverse gender representation of candidates, candidates who may have family or other care-giving responsibilities, candidates with disabilities, candidates living in poverty, and other ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse candidates. the need for an increasing diversity of teacher candidates to enter the teaching workforce is seen as critical in supporting an increasingly diverse student school population (gist, 2017; national center for educational statistics, 2018). diversifying the teaching workforce shows promise in reducing disparities in suspension and expulsion rates, educational outcomes, retention, and graduation rates (billingsley et al., 2019; grissom et al., 2015; peterson et al., 2016; rocha & hawes, 2009; van den bergh et al., 2010). efforts to increase diversity in the teacher workforce in american public schools have been largely unsuccessful. the changes in teacher demographics have been so insignificant that one could argue it remains unchanged since 2003. for example, from the 2003-2004 school year to the 2015-2016 school year, the number of white teachers only changed from 83% to 80%. during this period, black or african american teachers decreased from 8% to 7% and hispanic teachers increased from 6% to 9%. asian, pacific islander, american indian and alaskan native, and two or more races remained around 1% with a 1% increase in teachers that identify as asian and two on more races (u. s. department of education, 2016). these numbers do not keep pace with increasing demographics, especially for population increases for asian-american and latinx suggesting that diversity in the teacher work force is decreasing despite efforts to increase teacher diversity (berry et al., 2018; billingsley et al., 2019; national center for educational statistics, 2018). the purpose of this paper is to describe how junior faculty can be driving forces of change to address the need for a diverse and representative teacher workforce. specifically, this paper will describe barriers to increasing diversity of teacher candidates in ihe as well as barriers to change specific to junior faculty. these issues will be examined using lewin’s (1947) theory of change framework, and a force field analysis, to examine the driving and maintaining forces as a framework to assist junior faculty to implement disruptive practices that will disrupt the status quo. the paper will end with a discussion of the unique perspective junior faculty members can bring to guide teacher education programs in addressing the need for a diverse teacher workforce. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 91 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org theory of change disrupting the status quo cannot occur without addressing the sources of resistance as this resistance becomes a barrier, or restraining force in initiating change and ensuring that the changes are maintained (weil, 2005). further, disrupting the status quo is challenging as systems and people respond to disruptions within systems by attempting to maintain the status quo. a common theoretical framework used to identify and sustain change for social justice goals is lewin’s force-field analysis (1947). in this theory, lewin describes how all change must be examined within the context of the environment in which they occur. within each area of change, there are driving forces which push to create a change as well as restraining forces which work to push against a change. when the driving and restraining forces are pushing against each other with equal force, one enters a state of equilibrium in which no change occurs (see figure 1). in order for change to occur, then, the driving forces have to occur with more frequency/greater force than the restraining forces. as one seeks to become an agent of change, the focus must shift to decreasing restraining forces while, at the same time, increasing driving forces. moreover, reflection on one's own resistance can lead to personal growth and uncovering additional capacities for disrupting the status quo (lewin, 1947; weil, 2005). figure 1 lewin’s force field analysis existing structures in ihe as restraining forces institutions of higher education grew out of the notion that universities were the protectors of knowledge and science (neumann, n.d). over time, demands of society and political pressures have caused universities to revisit this purpose as more people sought them to increase their employment potential. although not in opposition to a focus on knowledge and science, adding job acquisition to the scope of work completed by ihe has caused a shift in demand by the consumer, the students attending universities, and the https://cultureandvalues.org/ 92 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org taxpayers funding universities. though there is a shift in focus, many of the traditional structures in higher education have not changed. originally adapted to protect knowledge and science, applying lewin’s theory can show many of these structures and their possible restraining forces that maintain the status quo. education scholars have highlighted the many systemic barriers in ihe that affect attracting and retaining a diverse teacher education pool of teachers from diverse backgrounds and experiences (baker et al., 2012; berry et al., 2018; billingsley et al., 2019; constantine et al., 2008; darling-hammond, 2007; grissom et al., 2015; haddix, 2012; harris et al., 2020; proctor & truscott, 2012; sutherland harris, n.d). although not an exhaustive list, at the university level, where teachers are prepared to join this pool, the content of coursework, instructional practices, course schedules, practicum/field work, and program admittance policies act as barriers that must be disrupted to attract a more diverse pool of candidates (baker et al., 2012; berry et al., 2018; clark, 2002; chen, 2017; gist, 2017; grapin & pereiraas, 2019; grissom et al., 2015; witham et al., 2015). these restraining forces must be identified before any true systemic change can be made (lewin, 1947; weil, 2005). by examining these areas in depth, we provide a framework for our conversation related to change (see figure 2). in the sections that follow, we highlight four examples of implementing change using lewin’s theory. figure 2 lewin’s force field analysis as applied to increasing diversity in teacher education https://cultureandvalues.org/ 93 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org traditional course content educational systems continually influence each other to perpetuate whiteness as the standard or norm in which all others are measured (ahmed, 2014; gist, 2017; haddix, 2016; leonardo, 2009; puwar, 2004; rocha & hawes, 2009; souto-manning & emdin, 2018; varghese, et al., 2019). at the same time, undergraduate education often relies on professors to determine what students will read, study, and learn. curriculum, thus, can lack representation of diverse people and experiences as well as the contributions of diverse leaders in the field (hanesworth, et al., 2019). within teacher preparation programs, whiteness is often the default of expectations, experiences, curriculum, and is continually reinvented (mills, 1997). the overall bias and default to whiteness has historically influenced https://cultureandvalues.org/ 94 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org what is important and valuable, therefore excluding other researchers and perspectives (gist, 2017; haddix, 2016; leonardo, 2009; souto-manning & emdin, 2018; varghese, et al., 2019; widiputera et al., 2017). the traditional curriculum process strengthens and intensifies what is perceived as right or the norm, thereby placing individuals who do things differently in a position of being inherently wrong. it is through institutionalized practices and interactions that these practices, biased in whiteness, become ingrained as the standard of measurement (gist, 2017; haddix, 2016; leonardo, 2009; souto-manning & emdin, 2018; varghese, et al., 2019). although a framework with outcomes is important, the lack of a curriculum that is both culturally relevant and sustaining further sustains the status quo and traditional course content thereby becomes a restraining force. instructional practices in ihes, professors often have instructional freedom to teach the content of the course in the way they deem best which is an important driver for change. while there are generally agreed upon course objectives that should stay the same no matter who teaches the course, the instructional practices used to address content varies from instructor to instructor. as such, there can be inconsistencies related to rigor and grading. this can be a restraining force to disrupting the status quo when trying to address the non-traditional and diverse teacher workforce because what one person considers rigor may actually be a barrier (chen, 2017; lombardi et al., 2013). when instructional practices are geared towards increasing expectations for rigor without increasing support and/or when the rigor is not geared towards performance or skills teacher candidates need to be successful in the field, it creates a barrier that must be disrupted in order to attract needed populations of students. course policies the reality of higher education today is that many students will have to work while going to school in order to afford related costs of school. in 2017, 43% of full time students were employed at least 20 hours a week (chen, 2017; united states department of education, 2016). this may be especially true for first generation college students, students from diverse backgrounds and life experiences, students as head of household, students who are parents, and students from lower socio-economic backgrounds (chen, 2017; united states department of education, 2016). for example, policies related to attendance, when written rigidly, do not allow the unique needs for students to be met. a student who completes all assignments and exceeds expectations can be punished by a lack of attendance. when this occurs, attendance can become punitive rather than being geared towards increasing performance. while there should be an expectation that students attend classes, factors beyond students’ control (e.g., caregiver issues, illness, work rescheduling) can inhibit students, who may otherwise be successful teachers, from being successful in a teacher preparation program. course policies such as the aforementioned become restraining forces for increasing diversity when students from diverse backgrounds are disproportionately impacted by course policies. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 95 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org course schedules program’s course schedules may or may not offer courses at times that are convenient to diverse populations of students. programs tend to offer courses in sequences that build upon each other. as such, the student’s course schedule is static each semester, resulting in restraining forces. for example, although established to maintain program integrity, rigid program schedules can serve as a barrier to attract people to teaching who are already in another workforce (chen, 2017). if a student encounters scheduling issues, such as not being able to register and complete a prerequisite course (e.g. english, math), the student may not be allowed to take classes until the prerequisite requirements are fulfilled. it can be challenging to facilitate alternatives that allow the student to progress in the program and may result in issues with financial aid. moreover, the courses in traditional teacher preparation programs are typically scheduled in a way that requires students to conduct assignments and participate in learning experiences embedded in preschool through 12th grade classrooms. these embedded classroom experiences are often called practicums and are similar to internships and field experiences in other disciplines. practicum hours and observation hours are beneficial for teacher candidates (barahas, 2017) and most colleges and state licensure agencies have policies that prohibit students from being paid for their practicum work. while the purpose of these policies may be related to mentorship and liability, this commitment of unpaid time can be a restraining force for all students, but especially students from diverse backgrounds who are often disproportionately working to support themselves through college (chen, 2017). often practicum hours are during the traditional preschool through 12th grade school day. this acts as a restraining force by adding an additional childcare burden and/or changes to existing work schedules during the quarters/semesters in which practicum experiences are required. childcare centers often are unable to provide care for a couple of hours or a limited number of weekdays: employers may become frustrated with students requiring different work shifts every quarter/semester to accommodate different course requirements. when program schedules, including practicum experiences, become a barrier to progression, they are a restraining rather than a driving force for change. program admittance policies at most universities, students are admitted and declare a major, but then must apply to be fully admitted/accepted into individual programs of their choice, such as teacher education. each program sets its own standards for admission, guided by accreditation standards and, if not periodically re-examined, act as a restraining force that results in maintaining the status quo. as programs apply for and renew accreditation, they strive to be rated exceptional. this can encourage programs to strictly adhere to grade point average (gpa) standards, standardized test scores and other criteria. in addition to being biased, these standards, however, may not be the best indicators of effectiveness in teaching (barajas, 2016; berry et al., 2018; billingsley, 2019; gist, 2017; grapin & pereoras, 2019; grissom et al., 2015; leonardo, 2009). https://cultureandvalues.org/ 96 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org discussion of restraining forces for junior faculty as change agents restraining forces, real or perceived, exist in higher education and can particularly disincentivize junior faculty from engaging in disruptive practices. while diversity is a cornerstone in many ihe/teacher preparation programs, there is a lack of critical analysis on the barriers encountered by junior faculty in teacher preparation programs, as well as the long-term career implications for junior faculty when attempting to become agents of change (berry, et al., 2018; boyd, et al., 2010). junior faculty entering established ihe committed to implementing disruptive practices to support diverse students may face barriers and get push back veiled as rigor or licensing and accreditation requirements (berry et al.). there is an inherent risk in engaging in change activities as there is no guarantee that a proposed change will lead to a desired outcome. from a systems perspective, junior faculty are vulnerable. phrases such as, “we have to protect our junior faculty” are often used as a show of support, but the underlying message conveys there are forces that could be detrimental to them (baker et al., 2012; boyd et al., 2010; constantine et al., 2008; gillespie et al., 2004). in turn, junior faculty attempt to heed this message by balancing choices within the framework of their career trajectory while working around said restraining forces. when junior faculty conform to the restraining forces instead of identifying and engaging in driving forces, there is a postponement of disruptive critical work. additionally, junior faculty must operate their change initiatives while working in conjunction with tenured faculty who, a) will vote on whether they achieve tenure and, b) have advantages within the department/college in terms of power/ownership to limit impact or initiative of change. the following describe how junior faculty might encounter the restraining forces of dual relationships and static tenure policies. tenure policies function as a guide to ensure academic freedom and the advancement of knowledge proceed without fear of repercussions. those in the academy view tenure as an honor with great responsibility. while tenure is important for the protection of science and creation of new knowledge within the academy, the process by which ihe grant tenure can impede the work of junior faculty who wish to address the restraining forces that inhibit the ability to diversify the teacher pipeline. the tenure process involves showing a promising trajectory in teaching, research, and service and comes with strict guidelines and timelines. rather than valuing the process of promoting change and the failures that come with working towards change, the promotion and tenure system is weighted more heavily to acknowledge permanent work products such as positive course evaluations from students and published research articles in peer reviewed journals. this work is judged in its entirety by a committee of one’s peers. if the committee of peers is actually a committee of tenured peers, excluding junior faculty, there can be a perceived dual relationship in which the tenured faculty member is both a colleague and evaluator of the junior faculty member. the ranks of assistant, associate, and full professor are provided as a framework for advancement but, in essence, establish a hierarchy. for example, if a teaching evaluation is completed by peers as one component of achieving tenure, and junior faculty are engaging in disruptive teaching practices, those peers may evaluate the content https://cultureandvalues.org/ 97 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org of the course as inappropriate or veering too far from the course objectives. further, if peers have a deeply held conviction that the traditional practices are rigorous and essential for teacher preparation, then the disruptive practices, such as flexible due dates or transformative content, may be interpreted as undoing the department’s previously established work, or not preparing teachers for the “real world”. this can result in poor peer teaching evaluations, which can have a negative effect on one’s promotion and tenure in the academy. moreover, teacher preparation work, such as the work that it takes to change culture and mindset takes time. in the case of increasing diversity, the time it can take to address the restraining forces and to create driving forces may create moral hazards for junior faculty. do they engage in this critical work now, or delay the work until after tenure? many are advised to wait to do the more challenging work until after tenure, thereby placing static promotion and tenure traditions ahead of the needs of the field. this restraining force carries with it the risk that the junior faculty member will abandon the challenging and time consuming work required to attract a more diverse population to the teacher workforce all together for other lines of inquiry. junior faculty as driving forces for change disruption to systems and change often occur in the margins that position junior faculty to serve as change agents (baker et al., 2012; chang, 2013). junior faculty bring expertise and information on the latest research, but can be viewed as inexperienced, idealistic, and unfamiliar with the system (gillespie et al., 2005). nonetheless, junior faculty can be important change agents in ihe by being more aware of their academic freedom, particularly the freedom to change practices related to push back against resistance forces previously described, in order to disrupt the status quo. driving forces are not a set of practices specifically for diverse populations. rather, they are disruptive practices that push against established norms. aforementioned examples include flexible due dates, transformative content, attendance policies, and course assignments not part of a major assignment for accreditation purposes. junior faculty can benefit from taking a systematic planned approach to implementing changes over time so as to not overwhelm themselves, students, or set anyone up for failure. in keeping with lewin’s theory of change, the goal is to make sustained change over time. force field analysis to support disruptive practices to decrease programmatic and ihe restraining forces, junior faculty along with their department and college colleagues need to engage in a critical analysis of driving forces such as instructional practices and transforming content (baker et al., 2012, berry et al., 2018; billingsley et al., 2009; clark, 2002; johnson et al., 2014; varghese et al., 2019). to do so, junior faculty must establish relationships, build trust, and get other faculty support in order to plan effective, sustaining system reform (baker et al., 2012, clark, 2002; berry et al., 2018; billingsley et al., 2009). collaborating with other faculty and administration with similar interests may act as a driving force, as these established professionals may already https://cultureandvalues.org/ 98 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org have relationships and leadership that can assist in developing a plan for how to approach curriculum changes and how to move within the system. additional support can come from university diversity initiatives on campus and can act as driving forces supporting change. the following will discuss specific areas in which junior faculty can engage in disruptive practices to increase diversity (see figure 2). representative curriculum in order to support diversity of teacher candidates, junior faculty in ihe need to ensure the curriculum is diverse and representative. one way to increase disruptive forces to traditional course content is to examine how traditional curriculum acts as a restraining force maintaining the status quo. non-representative curriculum can become a driving force or a disruptive practice with new course preparations. transforming content to include a diversity of students and scholars includes rethinking course curriculum (clark, 2002; hanesworth et al., 2019; harris et al., 2020; leonardo, 2009; peterson et al., 2016). this means ihe, especially teacher preparation programs, must incorporate histories of oppression (hanesworth et al., 2019). in preparing teachers, it is imperative that teachers can identify histories of oppression across various systems including oppression of students, families, and individuals across multiple systems to address implicit bias that negatively impacts diverse student outcomes and to learn and hear from others who have different experiences and perspectives than the experiences of traditional students in teacher preparation programs. also, in order to increase diversity within the content of courses, the concept of whiteness must be acknowledged and addressed as a restraining force to disrupting the status quo. making sure curriculum in ihe examines whiteness and includes and reflects diverse perspectives and experiences expands students’ knowledge and ability to appreciate diversity and awareness of bias. representative curriculum then becomes a driving force for change. recognizing implicit bias and instructional freedom instructional practices include teaching strategies, interaction styles, and assessments. implicit bias can impact how faculty chose to implement or not implement practices that can disproportionately negatively impact diverse and non-traditional students. non-traditional students and first generation students tend to not self-advocate when facing barriers when compared to their peers whose parents have attended college (grissom et al., 2015; hanesworth et al., 2019; harris et al., 2020 van den bergh et al., 2019). as such, policies such as grading, assessment, classroom interactions, and participation requirements can all serve as restraining forces in maintaining the status quo. alternatively, when policies and schedules are truly rooted in instructional freedom and flexibility, they become driving forces for change. junior faculty can utilize instructional freedom to adjust teaching strategies and learning assessments that support a diverse student population and examine their policies, who they impact, and if they can be changed to support non-traditional and diverse students without eliminating the intended outcome. for one, recognizing implicit bias and how it impacts instructional practices and policies can serve as a driving force to support students https://cultureandvalues.org/ 99 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org from diverse experiences and backgrounds. also, reflection can enhance the ability to push against restraining forces. for example, do the course assessments measure teacher performance or do they measure time available to commit to projects? are performance assessments sensitive to linguistically diverse students or is grammar and spelling heavily emphasized in the rubric. do attendance policies disproportionately negatively impact students who are parents or work or caregiving responsibilities? alternatives, such as recording class sessions and uploading in a version of a modified hybrid platform to support students who may have issues with attendance is a support that can benefit all students with minimal extra work of the faculty. finally, developing relationships with a diverse student population and creating a supportive environment for all students are strategies within the junior faculty member’s locus of control that can be driving forces to increase diversity (clark, 2002; johnson et al., 2014; pettigrew, et al., 2011). flexible schedules issues with program offerings and course schedules can become driving forces of change as junior faculty can become involved in department and college level committees to communicate the needs of diverse and non-traditional students. universities are active in collecting and reporting data related to students timely progression to graduation. communication with administration and communicating barriers reported by students can result in increased course offerings, allowing students to petition to take courses without prerequisites, and holding courses outside of traditional work hours. offering multiple sections of the same course during differing times, or offering in-person and online options can address these restraining forces. multiple course sections program admittance standards are often associated with accreditation requirements to achieve high accreditation ratings. these requirements may not be reflective of research or validity of these standards and if they disproportionately impact diverse students. state licensure exams, gpa, and college entrance exams are biased and disproportionately impact diverse and non-traditional students negatively (gist, 2017; haddix, 2016; leonardo, 2009; souto-manning & emdin, 2018). junior faculty can increase driving forces to disrupt the status quo and bring change by advocating for different or inclusive admission standards. other alternatives include pre-admittance standards paired with support and mentoring to increase the representation of students admitted to the program and completing their degree requirements. additional funding through university grants, state and local grants, and foundation or federal grants may be available to support this line of scholarship in teacher preparation programs. discussion as we attempt to increase diversity of teacher candidates, the policies and practices to meet their unique situations have not been incorporated into the daily practices in ihe. in order to be agents of change, junior faculty not only must attempt to decrease the https://cultureandvalues.org/ 100 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org restraining forces and increase the driving forces, they must do so in an ihe system that promotes the creation of knowledge while, at the same time, has policies and practices that are static. however, this is not the fault of the ihe system. rather, we, as faculty, should be informing these policies and procedures and advocating for change when restraining forces are present. although change is necessary to increase the diversity of the teaching field, junior faculty may be hesitant to engage in disruptive behavior. the challenges of engaging in work that takes considerable time combined with dual relationships and static tenure policies that are present within the existing structure create a system that promotes new knowledge while also constraining such with arbitrary timelines and increasing productivity metrics. a system wide, data driven, outcome-based plan is critical to examine what barriers are restraining change, how they can be reduced, and how to develop and identify driving forces of change. the status quo will be maintained if restraining and driving forces are not analytically identified and addressed. without identifying these driving and restraining forces, efforts for change will result in frustration and failure between change agents and those representing the status quo (berry et al., 2018; lewin, 1947). given that people and systems function to maintain the status quo or equilibrium, people may begin to view disruptive practices and the process of change as burdensome and a waste. this is why junior faculty are so critical. they may be in the unique position to promote change as they have not had as many experiences with system barriers and, as such, might be less accepting and/or frustrated. they may bring a perspective that is not influenced by history with the ihe system. recognizing the barriers to junior faculty and providing support to the challenging work of implementing disruptive practices within a system grounded in traditional norms and remain on target for promotion and tenure is critical. establishing support systems within the university and community can support junior faculty and accelerate timeline or target systems that are more responsive to change. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 101 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org references ahmed, s. (2014). mixed orientations. subjectivity, 7(1), 92–109. https://doi.org/10.1057/sub.2013.22 baker, p. m. a., bujak, k. r., & demillo, r. a. (2012). the evolving university: disruptive change and institutional innovation. procedia computer science, 14, 330-335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2012.10.037 barajas, m. s. (2016). preparing culturally competent teachers: an empirical investigation of multicultural education strategies. aera online paper repository. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed592328 berry, m., inge, b. a., gross, j. p., coltson, j., & bowers, a. m. (2018). planning for diversity: the inclusion of diversity goals in postsecondary statewide strategic plan. higher education politics & economics, 4(1), 262-280. https://doi.org/10.32674/hepe.v4i1.8 billingsley, b. s., bettini, e. a., & williams, t. o. (2019). teacher racial/ethnic diversity: distribution of special and general educators of color across schools. remedial and special education, 40(4) 199-212. http://dx.doi:10.1177/0741932517733047tps boyd, t., cintron, r., & alexander-snow, m. (2010). the experience of being a junior minority female faculty member. forum on public policy online, 2, 1-23. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej903575.pdf clark, c. (2002). effective multicultural curriculum transformation across disciplines. multicultural perspectives, 4(3), 3746. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327892mcp0403_7 constantine, m., smith, l., redington, r., & owens, d. (2008). racial microaggressions against black counseling and counseling psychology faculty: a central challenge in the multicultural counseling movement. journal of counseling & and development, 86, 348–355. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2008.tb00519.x chang, m. j. (2013). post-fisher: the unfinished research agenda on student diversity in higher education. educational researcher, 42(3), 172–173. http://doi:10.3102/0013189x13486764. chen, j. c. (2017). non-traditional adult learners: the neglected diversity in postsecondary education. sage open, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1177%2f2158244017697161 darling-hammond, l. (2007). race, inequality and educational accountability: the irony of 'no child left behind'. race ethnicity and education, 10(3), 245-260. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320701503207 gist, c. (2017). portraits of anti-racist alternative routes to teaching in the u.s.: framing teacher development for community, justice, and visionaries. peter lang. gillespie, d., dolsak, n., kochis, b., krabill, r., lerum, k., peterson, a. & thomas, e. (2004) research circles: supporting scholarship of junior faculty. innovative higher education, 30(3), 145-162. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-005-6300-9 grapin, s. l. & pereiras, m. i. (2019). supporting diverse students and faculty in higher education through multicultural organizational development. training and education in professional psychology, 13(4), 307-315. https://doi.org/10.1037/tep0000226 https://cultureandvalues.org/ http://dx/ https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831209353594 102 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org grissom, j. a., kern, e. c., & rodriguez, l. a. (2015). the “representative bureaucracy” in education: educator work force diversity, policy outputs, and outcomes for disadvantaged students. educational researcher, 44(3), 185-192. http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.library.eiu.edu/10.3102/0013189x15580102 haddix, m. m. (2012). talkin’ in the company of my sistas: the counter languages and deliberate silences of black female students in teacher education. linguistics and education, 23(2), 169–181. http://doi:10.1016/j.linged.2012.01.003 hanesworth, p., bracken, s., & elkington, s. (2019). a typology for a social justice approach to assessment: learning from universal design and culturally sustaining pedagogy. teaching in higher education, 24(1), 98–114. https://doiorg.proxy1.library.eiu.edu/10.1080/13562517.2018.1465405 harris, b. g., hayes, c., & smith, d. t. (2020). not a “who done it” mystery: on how whiteness sabotages equity aims in teacher preparation programs. urban review, 52(1), 198–213. https://doi-org.proxy1.library.eiu.edu/10.1007/s11256-019-00524-3 johnson, d. w., johnson, r. t., & smith, k. a. (2014). cooperative learning: improving university instruction by basing practice on validated theory. journal on excellence in college teaching, 25, 85–118. http://personal.cege.umn.edu/~smith/docs/johnsonjohnson-smith-cooperative_learning-ject-small_group_learning-draft.pdf leonardo, z. (2009). race, whiteness, and education. routledge. lewin, k. (1947). frontiers in group dynamics: concepts, method, and reality in social science: social equilibria and social change. human relations, 1(1), 5-41. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872674700100103 lombardi, a., murray, c., & dallas, b. (2013). university faculty attitudes toward disability and inclusive instruction: comparing two institutions. journal of postsecondary education and disability, 26(4), 221–232. http://www.aheadarchive.org/uploads/publications/jped/jped26_4/jped26_4_full%20document.pdf mills, s. (1997). discourse: the new critical idiom. routledge. national center for education statistics (2018). u.s. department of commerce, census bureau, current population survey (cps), https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/index.asp neumann, j. (n.d.) kurt lewin--field theory rule. the tavistock institute. https://www.tavinstitute.org/projects/field-theory-rule/ peterson, e., rubie-davies, c., osborne, d., & sibley, c. (2016). teachers’ explicit expectations and implicit prejudiced attitudes to educational achievement: relations with student achievement and the ethnic achievement gap. learning and instruction, 42, 123–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2016.01.010 pettigrew, t. f., tropp, l. r., wagner, u., & christ, o. (2011). recent advances in intergroup contact theory. international journal of intercultural relations, 35(3), 271–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.03.001 proctor, s. l., & truscott, s. d. (2012). reasons for african american student attrition from school psychology programs. journal of school psychology, 50(5), 655–679. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2012.06.002 puwar, n. (2004). space invaders: race, gender and bodies out of place. berg. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2012.01.003 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f001872674700100103 https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/index.asp https://www.tavinstitute.org/projects/field-theory-rule/ https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.03.001 103 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 buchter, j., more, c. m., oh-young, c., & stringfellow, j. l.., disrupting norms to increase diversity of teacher candidates: restraining forces for junior faculty journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org rocha, r. r. & hawes, d. p. (2009). racial diversity, representative bureaucracy and equity in multiracial school districts. social science quarterly, 90(2), 326-344. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2009.00620.x souto-manning, m. & emdin, c. (2018, april 13-17). trouble hollowing commitments to “diversity” in teacher education. [paper presented]. american educational research association, new york, ny, united states. sutherland harris, a. (n.d.) the higher, the fewer’: discrimination against women in academia, history matters. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6462/. united states department of education. (2016). the state of racial diversity in the educator workforce. http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/highered/racial-diversity/state-racialdiversity-workforce.pdf van den bergh, l., denessen, e., hornstra, l., voeten, m., & holland, r. w. (2010). the implicit prejudiced attitudes of teachers: relations to teacher expectations and the ethnic achievement gap. american educational research journal, 47(2), 497–527. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831209353594 varghese, m., daniels, j. r., & park, c. c. (2019). structuring disruption within universitybased teacher education programs: possibility and challenges of race-based caucuses. teachers college record, 121(6), 1-34. https://www.tcrecord.org/library id number: 22738 weil, m. (ed.). (2005). the handbook of community practice. sage. widiputera, f., dewitte, k. d., groot, w., & maassen van den brink, h. (2017). measuring diversity in higher education institutions: a review of the literature and empirical approaches. iafor journal of education, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.22492/ije.5.1.03 witham, k., malcom-piqueux, l. e., dowd, a. c., & bensimon, e. m. (2015). america’s unmet promise: the imperative for equity in higher education. association of american colleges and universities. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2009.00620.x http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6462/ https://doi.org/10.3102%2f0002831209353594 https://www-tcrecord-org.ezproxy.library.unlv.edu/library journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 honegger, m., what does education mean: cultural values in educational language journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 42 what does “education” mean: cultural values in educational language mark honegger* university of louisiana at lafayette *mark.honegger@louisiana.edu received : 2020-07-15 accepted : 2020-11-29 doi: 10.46303/jcve.2020.12 how to cite this paper: honegger, m. (2020). what does education mean: cultural values in educational language. journal of culture and values in education, 3(2), 42-53. doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.12 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract this article provides an example of how the methods of natural semantics metalanguage can be used to deconstruct and interrogate educational theory by converting key terms such as “education” into simpler meanings that are present in every language of the world. this process connects educational debate to the cultural understandings of education that inform both everyday discourse as well as educational theorists themselves. the views of paulo freire and betsy devos are compared using nsm, and the two are found to share an important similarity in their stances on education. keywords: natural semantics metalanguage, educational theory, lexical meaning introduction jim cummins (2000) introduced his seminal work on bilingual education, language, power and pedagogy, by reminding us that theory is always a dialogue. its meaning comes from the conversation that takes place between insiders and outsiders (e.g., university researchers and teachers in the classroom), or between one theory and the body of theories that preceded it. he goes on to affirm: shared understandings, assumptions, and conventions underpin both the generation of theory and its elaboration and refinement through dialogue. (1) [emphasis added] it is easy to gloss over the difficulties inherent in what might seem to be an uncontroversial observation by cummins. humans assume that when they speak to people in the same language, they all share the same basic meanings of the words they are using. however, it is clear that we often engage in discourse but don’t share the same meanings with our interlocutors. witness the debates today over the phrase, “black lives matter.” it is easy to attribute the controversies around the movement to mere political differences, but it is more than that. there is also a meaning difference that keeps us from entering into shared dialog with one another. people in the u.s. do not attribute a common meaning to the phrase, and this complicates the discourse and makes it virtually impossible to find common ground or https://cultureandvalues.org/ mailto:*mark.honegger@louisiana.edu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 honegger, m., what does education mean: cultural values in educational language journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 43 solutions to the many social problems the movement highlights. some people say “black lives matter” means “society has failed to value black lives in the past and today.” other people say the phrase means that “black lives matter, but other lives do not equally matter because they are not mentioned,” and thus these interpreters often quickly add a further statement such as “all lives matter,” or “police officers’ lives matter.” in addition to the meaning differences that can exist even in the same society, there is also the important consideration of the unconscious cultural component of the majority of our words. this is an even thornier problem. because our own culture tends to be invisible and unconscious to us; like the water that a fish swims in, it is an even more difficult component to surface in our ideological discussions. one’s culture appears to be a default setting for the way the world should operate, and so people blithely assume that their words and concepts are universal categories of human experience. nothing could be farther from the truth. however, we do not have to be mere victims of our language. it is possible to investigate linguistic differences and the cultural bases that underly our language and discourse. this paper will argue for applying the concepts of natural semantics metalanguage to study the language use of educational discourse in order to determine whether or not there are common meanings that link interlocutors and to surface the hidden cultural bases of our language (wierzbicka, 1972, 1980, 1996; goddard, 2018). for a partially sympathetic criticism of the framework, see jackendoff (2007). it is a framework that provides a more objective basis for studying meaning, an especially crucial element when critiquing ideological discourse. nsm has been adapted for teaching science and history to elementary school children (wierzbicka, 2018; christian 2018). it has been used to further diplomacy and discussions of human rights across speakers of different languages (maley, 2018; mooney, 2018). it has also been previously applied to education in alexander (2009), whose work on the words “quality” and “standards” showed how they carried little content but had many implicatures in educational discourse. that is, they were like buzz words in political discourse, such as democracy and freedom that are intended to evoke positive feelings without their content making a serious contribution to content of a discourse discussion nsm is based on decades of cross-linguistic research across diverse languages both linguistically and culturally. it consists of 65 semantic primes that are asserted to be universal pieces of every language in the world. the table for english is given below. primes are presented in all capitals: table of semantic primes—english version substantives: i, you, someone/person, something/thing, people, body relational substantives: kind, part determiners: this, the same, other/else quantifiers: one, two, some, all, much/many https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 honegger, m., what does education mean: cultural values in educational language journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 44 evaluators: good, bad descriptors: big, small mental predicates: think, know, want, feel see, hear speech: say, words, true actions, events, movement, contact: do, happen, move location, existence, possession, specification: there is/exist, have life and death: live, die time: when/time, now, before, after, a long time, a short time, for some time, moment space: where/place, be (somewhere), here, above, below, far, near, side, inside, touching logical concepts: not, maybe, can, because, if intensifier, augmentor: very, more similarity: like (as, how) primes exist as words or common phrases in every language. they are both universal and non-reducible. that is, they cannot be analyzed into any simpler components. for example, the prime good cannot be defined in any simpler terms than itself. if someone was pressed to define good, they might give descriptions like ‘positive,’ or ‘pleasing’ or ‘valued.’ however, such definitions are more complex than ‘good,’ and they do not have equivalent terms in all languages (goddard, 2018). thus, primes are claimed to be the building blocks of language and of human thought. this has the potential to add a more objective basis to the analysis of thought systems because it can eliminate or reduce culture-specific perspectives. nsm constructs explications of words using a simple syntax consisting of these semantic primes; in essence, each word is a simple narrative. a sample of an explication used in an educational context is given for the phrase the sky (wierzbicka, 2018). the sky a very big place, it is above all the places where people live in all places where people live, people can see this very big place they can see it far above the places where they live https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 honegger, m., what does education mean: cultural values in educational language journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 45 nsm also avoids the problem of circular definitions, which plagues a lot of dictionaries. for example, the 2012 cobuild learner’s dictionary defines ‘part’ and ‘piece’ as follows: part: part of something is a piece of its piece: a piece of something is a part of it according to nsm, part is a universal prime that cannot be deconstructed into anything simpler. research is carried out by examining how a word is used across a language community in multiple contexts. this can be done through corpus work, looking up a word in an assembled corpus and examining the context of each use. a good example for modern english is the corpus of contemporary english—coca--(www.english-corpora.org), which contains over one billion words of data from the years 1990-2019. nsm research especially looks for rich contexts that ‘explain’ the target word. this can include synonyms or antonyms that are paired with the target word. what is the target word treated as similar to in different contexts? does the word have an opposite term? another piece of evidence is to look for collocations, reoccurring phrases it appears in. what other words does it co-occur with? are there certain grammatical constructions that commonly host the target word. happiness and pain the english words happiness and pain will be used as an example of how this kind of research has been carried out. everything else besides semantic primes is a culture-specific item. that suggests that the vast majority of words in every language are culture-specific constructions so that literally, to learn a language is to learn a cultural point of view. many english speakers are taken aback by what is not on the list of semantic primes. this includes english words like ‘happiness,” ‘right and wrong,’ and ‘fair,’ for example, while good and bad exist in every language, the words/concepts “right” and “wrong” do not (wierzbicka, 2006), which is surprising to many english speakers, who feel that they are talking about universal human concepts. a good example of the cultural perspective inherent in words can be seen by comparing the english term happiness with its translation equivalents in other languages. goddard and wierzbicka (2014) discuss how much research has treated the concept of happiness as a universal that can be used to study values and emotions around the world (e.g. mcmahon, 2006). however, words like happy and happiness turn out to encode certain anglo english values that are far from being universally shared. goddard and wierzbicka show that the meaning of happiness has evolved over a number of centuries, but today it can be explicated as follows: happiness a. it can be like this: b. someone feels something good for some time, c. like people feel at many times when they think like this: d. ”something good is happening to me now, as i want e. i can do something now as i want f. this is good” https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 honegger, m., what does education mean: cultural values in educational language journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 46 this explication rests on the following concepts. happiness describes a feeling good because good things are happening to a person and s/he is able to do things as they please. also important is the idea that this is a common feeling (“like people feel at many times”), and it is a feeling that lasts “for some time.” it can be surprising to english speakers to find out that this seemingly obvious emotion is not universal to all cultures and languages. for example, the german equivalent is glück, related to the english word luck; it connotes the idea of “very good feelings” that do not last “for some time.” this can be seen in the contrasting expectations goddard and wierzbicka present in the following quotes: what we call ‘happiness’ in the strictest sense comes from the (preferably sudden) satisfactions of needs which have been dammed up to a high degree, and it is from its nature only possible as an episodic phenomenon…. our possibilities of happiness are already restricted by our constitution. (freud, 1949) in contrast to freud’s perspective, the poet alexander pope wrote, oh, happiness! our being’s end and aim! good, pleasure, ease, content! whate’er thy name. that something still which prompts th’ eternal sigh, for which we bear to live, or dare to die … the difference between “good feelings” and “very good feelings” might seem to be slight, but it is a bigger difference than english speakers might realize, because it is connected to cultural expectations. in anglo english cultures, people expect to be happy and consider it normal to be happy, and they seek happiness as their legitimate birthright. in german culture (and many others), germans do not expect glück or treat it as normative (glück is etymologically related to the english luck) because it denotes a stronger feeling that happens more rarely. goddard and wierzbicka also cite the following quote from nietzsche: man does not strive after happiness, only the englishman does that (qtd in nussbaum, 2004) they point out that bonheur in french and sčast’e in russian convey an idea of good fortune and subjective feeling together so that in french, one can say quel bonheur! to describe when something really good happens to a person. yet the equivalent what happiness! is not used in english to convey the idea of an unexpected good fortune occurring. in tibetan, the word bdewa, which corresponds to happiness in works like the dalai lama’s the art of happiness: a handbook for living (dalai lama & cutler, 1998), focuses exclusively on internal feelings and thoughts rather than external circumstances, and it connotes the absence of negative feelings toward other living beings rather than the presence of positive feelings as english happiness conveys. when one looks at happiness and its equivalents across languages, one can raise a number of questions that show how such words differ in important ways: how long does happiness last? does it focus on an internal subjective state or external events? does it focus on the presence of good feelings or the absence of bad feelings? does it refer to freedom of action? does it involve moral obligations to others? https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 honegger, m., what does education mean: cultural values in educational language journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 47 is it a goal? what are the experiencer’s expectations? does it refer to good or very good things? a second example of words/concepts that are not universal is the english word pain and its translation equivalents. in an increasingly interconnected world, a lot of research has been done on this subject in order to deliver good medical care to the culturally diverse set of people who migrate across national boundaries. in a western context, the default understanding is that pain is a universal concept; however, nsm research has shown that there are significant differences in how different languages and cultures conceptualize what american english speakers describe as pain. goddard and wierzbicka (2016) give the following basic explication. she felt pain. a. she felt something bad at that time b. like someone can feel when it is like this: c. something bad is happening to a part of this someone’s body d. this someone feels something bad in this part of the body because of this e. this someone can’t not think like this at this time: “i don’t want this” notable aspects here include that the english pain includes the concepts feel, think and want. the experiencer feels bad in a way so that the person does not want the thing and thinks accordingly. the explication also covers both physical and mental pain (“feel when it is like this” in (b)). goddard and wierzbicka point out that the opposite of pain in english is pleasure, which also covers both physical and mental states. the french word douleur seems similar to pain, but there are important differences. while both words can cover both physical and mental experiences, the opposite of douleur in french is bonheur (“happiness”) rather than pleasure as in english, as the following examples goddard and wierzbicka produce. tu enfanteras dans la douleur, tu allaiteras dans le bonheur. “you will give birth in douleur [pain], you will nurse your child in happiness.” ma vie est tristement belle. des averses de bonheur. des cyclones de douleur. “my life is sadly beautiful. showers of happiness. cyclones of douleur [pain].” some other key differences are that douleur suggests a greater intensity of bad feeling than pain. also, pain tends to be localized in the body (“pain in the neck”) while douleur normally is not. taken altogether, one can see that french and english speakers in a cross-cultural situation will not necessarily identify the same things as pain, a potentially serious issue when it comes to seeking medical treatment. two meanings for education to demonstrate how nsm can be used in educational discourse, i will present a preliminary investigation of the word education in english. this word is a common noun in everyday unreflective conversation whose meanings can be elucidated in those contexts. at the same time it is also a word whose meaning is contended for by educational theorists, just as the meaning of the phrase “black lives matter” is contended for. comparing the everyday meanings and uses with the argued-for meanings of educational theorists gives us a way of https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 honegger, m., what does education mean: cultural values in educational language journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 48 considering more carefully what is at stake in the various conceptions of education in academic debates. it turns out that it can even show us how two very different approaches to education, such as the views of paulo freire and betsy devos actually share something in common. the american heritage dictionary, 4th ed. gives these first three definitions for the verb educate: to develop the innate capacities of, esp. by schooling or instruction. to provide with knowledge or training in a particular area or for a particular purpose. to provide with information; inform. the noun education then refers to the act or process of educating or being educated. to educate someone is similar to teaching someone, and to be educated by someone is similar to being taught by someone. that would suggest an explication like the following. a educated b a. someone b did not know something x. b. someone a said something x to someone b for some time. c. after some time, someone b knew something x, because someone a said something x. d. after some time, someone b could do something y, because they knew something x. this explication covers the following components. the student (someone b) did not know something at first (a). the teacher (someone a) communicated something to the student (b). the student learned the material (c). the student was now able to do something because they learned the material (d). it is reflected in an expression like “to get an education” which makes reference to the student’s newfound ability to do something they couldn’t do before. an explication like this takes in what anglo english speakers think of with regard to education. this partial explication would be a part of one meaning which i will call education1. however, if we look at lots of examples of the word education, we will also find some other aspects of the word. most of the following data comes from the corpus of contemporary american english (coca). this corpus contains more than one billion words across eight different genres from 1990-2019. it also has a number of useful tools, such as the ability to identify common phrases which contain a given target word. a preliminary look at the data reveals that one of the most salient characteristics of the word in english today is that it combines with a plethora of adjectives and nouns. a partial list is given below: music education adult education sex education k-12 education higher education physical education elementary education hiv/aids education arts education primary education correctional education distance education continuing education health education technology education special education online education stem education bilingual education remedial education college education post-secondary education multicultural education, etc. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 honegger, m., what does education mean: cultural values in educational language journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 49 this combinability is reflected in the american heritage dictionary’s third definition for the word education, a program of instruction of a specified kind or level: driver education. this common usage shows us a couple of important things. first, education has become increasingly specialized, a reflection of the increasing specialization that has developed in all of society. we think less about education in the abstract and more in terms of these very specific kinds of education. our need to continually differentiate them suggests we think more in terms of differences among them and less in terms of a unified phenomenon. second, the prevalence of these phrases also suggests that when we use the word education, we are often thinking about institutions and associating it with the organizations and infrastructure that supports it. there is evidence that the word education is frequently used in contexts where an entity is in focus and only secondarily the concepts of teaching and learning. an explication for what i will label as education2 would include the following description. education2 something x many people are a part of something x. there are a number of pointers to this institutional emphasis in the word. the word education is frequently used in names and titles. there is a “u.s. department of education” but not a “u.s. department of learning” or a “u.s. department of teaching.” this shift to organization and infrastructure is probably also why the word is connected with formal more than informal teaching and learning. this can be seen in an example from coca like the following, “she can always either teach or choose another path. education alone with no other skill set is a bad place to be.” this quote makes reference to learning in a formal context. there is also the absence of possible phrases in english, where we speak of “home schooling” but not of “home education,” although the explication given above for education1 would certainly be congruent with the latter. a final observation that shows how an institutional concept is often in focus is that we find occurrences of the word that make reference to students not being able to do something as a result of their education, such as the two below from coca. an education alone may not take you out of poverty. it may not end poverty. education alone probably won’t help you get hired. the previous explication of education1 included the following description: d. after some time, someone b could do something y, because they knew something x. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 honegger, m., what does education mean: cultural values in educational language journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 50 that is, the generic concept of education included the idea that students both learn something and are able to do something because of their learning. it is notable then that there are numerous instances where education is described as not leading to students being able to do something or not leading to a benefit that we would expect them to have as a result of learning. these contexts confirm that there also exists an education2, a second cultural usage which focuses on formal, institutional aspects rather than pure teaching and learning. in other words, education1 conveys the idea of successful teaching and learning. education2 does not include this because its focus is elsewhere. i suggest that these two explications in education1 and education2 which reflect everyday meanings and cultural understandings for anglo english society can be used to deconstruct the educational theory and discourse in specialized communities. for example, both explications can help us better understand a construct like paulo freire’s banking notion of education that he critiques and wishes to replace with what he calls authentic or problemposing education. in pedagogy of the oppressed (freire, 2000), he describes the banking notion as follows: education thus becomes an act of depositing., in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat. facts and information move from the head of the teacher to heads of the students like a person would deposit money into their bank account. in contrast, authentic or problem-posing education takes place when teachers stimulate their students to seek problems and solve them, especially problems related to oppression and social injustice. the emphasis here is not on mastering a body of content (banking) but on developing a critical way of thinking and being in the world. how does freire’s thinking line up with the explication of education1? on the surface, this explication might seem to be encoding the banking notion of education, but it does not. crucially, education1 does not specify the content of what is taught nor how the teaching is taking place (“someone a said something x to someone b for some time”). it simply tells us that the teacher said something that enabled their students to do something. nsm helps us to recognize that freire is critiquing what is being taught and how it is taught, not the idea that the teacher is a catalyst in the process. we could put freire’s emphasis into the explication of education1 to show this. freire’s authentic education a. someone b did not know something x (critical thinking). b. someone a said something x (critical thinking) to someone b for some time. c. after some time, someone b knew something x (critical thinking), because someone a said something x (critical thinking). d. after some time, someone b could do something y (seek social change), because they knew something x (critical thinking). in other words, freire’s position is in harmony with this cultural understanding of education that is part of everyday discourse. we can also notice that freire’s work is very much related to the explication of education2 as well. throughout pedagogy of the oppressed, there is a thoroughgoing critique https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 honegger, m., what does education mean: cultural values in educational language journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 51 of the institutional aspects of education because freire sees the institutions of education as perpetuating oppression and injustice in the broader society. as he says, submerged in reality, the oppressed cannot perceive clearly the ‘order’ which serves the interests of the oppressors whose image they have internalized. banking education maintains and even stimulates the contradiction [unequal power between teacher and student] through the following attitudes and practices, which mirror oppressive society as a whole. it turns out that freire’s educational theory is consistent with the cultural understandings of both education1 and education2, not contrary to them, and this is what enables people to understand and consider and potentially agree with his theoretical perspective. i now turn to someone who appears to be completely different from freire in the person of betsy devos, secretary of education in the administration of donald trump. devos is not a theorist à la paulo freire or jean piaget or lev vygotsky, but she does have a stance on education that can be examined via nsm. in the q&a section of her webpage betsydevos.com, it says, “the status quo is not acceptable.” the status quo she has in mind is to reshape the educational landscape in favor of charter schools, private schools, and the use of federally-funded vouchers to financially support them. she is quoted in a washington post article, [education] is a closed system, a closed industry, a closed market. it’s a monopoly, a dead end. and the best and brightest innovators and risk-takers steer way clear of it. as long as education remains a closed system, we will never see the education equivalents of google, facebook, amazon, paypal, wikipedia, or uber. (strauss, 2016) unlike freire, the specifics of what is taught and how it is taught are not central to her educational perspective. what is central to devos is that she is very much criticizing the institutional aspects of education, because she views its current institutional framework to be the primary obstacle to learning. both freire and devos share in common a deep sense of dissatisfaction with the institutional side of education, albeit from very different perspectives. here is why this is important to understand. both freire and devos want to dismantle and change the institutional makeup of education. what enables their perspectives to be heard and sometimes accepted by other people is this: even though overall they have very different approaches to education, both approaches are based on the same cultural understanding encoded in education2. corpus evidence suggests that the word education is often connected to two foci, successful teaching and learning (education1) and institutional aspects (education2). why do people like freire and devos gain a hearing, even though their overall perspectives are radically different? they do because their specific emphases are still connected to the cultural understandings found in everyday uses of education. the content of education1 shows that people are still attuned to effectiveness of education, that students know something and are able to do something because of what they were taught. the content of education2 may be even more telling, because it is an example of how institutions in general have grown in importance in human existence, and how they exert ever more control over the individual, along the way becoming ever more complicated. because of their centrality to all that we do today, institutions are also easy targets for criticism. anyone who has had a run in with a school’s front office, or misunderstood a poorly worded school memo, https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 honegger, m., what does education mean: cultural values in educational language journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 52 or been frustrated by some school paperwork, or been critical of a child’s assignment or grade, is a prime candidate to be receptive to an approach that says the current institutional framework of education is at fault. there is much, much more to be said about the cultural underpinnings of the word education in modern english, but even this short study reveals a few considerations that should be considered when discussing culture and values in education. the word is frequently used with a focus on the formal organizational and institutional aspect of education rather than the pure idea of successful teaching and learning. education increasingly is divided into distinct fields rather than seen as a unified entity, and this also mirrors the formal and institutional bases that are front and center in much talk of education. in ideological discourse about education within academic discourse communities, this study suggests that educators not only should debate their competing ideas of education, but they should also consider how education is talked about in ordinary discourse by the broader society in order to consider how their positions relate to the concerns of a wide range of people. nsm can help us take our intellectual debates into the real world, the crucible in which they must ultimately be tested. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 honegger, m., what does education mean: cultural values in educational language journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 53 references alexander, d. (2009). quality and standards in higher education discourse: a linguistic overview. proceedings of auqf2009. christian, d. (2018). big history meets minimal english. minimal english for a global world: improved communication using fewer words (pp. 201-224). palgrave macmillan. cummins, j. (2000). language, power and pedagogy: bilingual children in the crossfire. multilingual matters. dalai lama xiv & cutler, h. (1998). the art of happiness: a handbook for living. hodder. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary ed.). continuum. freud, s. (1949). civilisation and its discontents. hogarth press. goddard, c. (2018). minimal english for a global world: improved communication using fewer words. palgrave macmillan. goddard, c. & wierzbicka, a. (2014). words and meanings: lexical semantics across domains, languages and cultures. oxford university press. jackendoff, r. (2007). conceptual semantics and natural semantic metalanguage theory have different goals. intercultural pragmatics 4(3), 411-418. mcmahon, d. (2006). happiness: a history. atlantic monthly press. maley, w. (2018). minimal english and diplomacy. minimal english for a global world: improved communication using fewer words (pp.71-93). palgrave macmillan. mooney, a. (2018). torture laid bare: global english and human rights. minimal english for a global world: improved communication using fewer words (143-167). palgrave macmillan. nussbaum, m. (2004). mill between aristotle and bentham. daedalus, 133(2), 60-68. strauss, v. (2016, december 21). to trump’s education pick, the u.s. public school system is a ‘dead end.’ the washington post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answersheet/wp/2016/12/21/to-trumps-education-pick-the-u-s-public-school-system-is-adead-end/ wierzbicka, a. (1997). understanding cultures through their key words: english, russian, polish, german and japanese. oxford university press. wierzbicka, a. (2006). english: meaning and culture. oxford university press. wierzbicka, a. (2018). talking about the universe in minimal english: teaching science through words that children can understand. minimal english for a global world: improved communication using fewer words (pp. 169-200). palgrave macmillan. . https://cultureandvalues.org/ 104 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs cori m. more1* & wendy j. rodgers1 1university of nevada las vegas *corresponding author: cori.more@unlv.edu received : 2019-nov-01 accepted : 2020-may-29 doi: 10.46303/jcve.03.01.7 how to cite this paper: more, c. m.., & rodgers, w. j. (2020). promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs. journal of culture and values in education, 3(1), 104-119. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.7 abstract the united states is experiencing a systemic teacher shortage (sutcher et al., 2016). this trend is not new to the field of special education, which has been experiencing teacher shortages for decades (boe, 2006; mcleskey & billingsley, 2008; u.s. department of education, 2020). to address these critical shortages of teachers in the field, states have created alternative routes to licensure (arl) options, which are commonly seen as nontraditional approaches to gaining teaching credentials. although the disruptive practice of arl is already in place, the evidence to support its effectiveness is not. this paper explores the experiences of junior faculty members working as agents of change by disrupting one special education department’s arl program. emphasis is given to the system supports in place to change the arl and existing systemic barriers to these changes at the department, college and university levels. additionally, structures which aided or hindered completing programmatic work from the perspective of the untenured faculty members are also discussed. keywords: special education, alternative routes to licensure, activity theory https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.7 105 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org introduction the united states has experienced a pervasive teacher shortage in the area of special education for several years. currently 48 states and the district of columbia have special education listed as an area of need (united states department of education, 2020). sutcher et al. (2016) cite a projected need of an additional 300,000 teachers per year overall, with special education continuing to be a high shortage area. these shortages are attributed to lower enrollment in teacher preparation programs, increasing student enrollment in preschool through 12th grade (pk-12) schools, teacher attrition, and higher class sizes (sutcher et al., 2016). moreover, teachers report dissatisfaction with their jobs, including being discontented with assessment and accountability measures, support for students, administration, and overall dissatisfaction with teaching as a career as reasons for attrition, and many are likely to leave in the first three years of teaching (carver-thomas & darlinghammond, 2017; johnson et al., 2012; redding & henry, 2019; sutcher et al., 2016). alternative route to licensure programs states and school districts have sought to address the chronic teacher shortage, especially in special education, by instituting alternative route to licensure (arl) programs (also called alternative pathways and other variants; quigney, 2010). although arl programs have been in existence since the 1990s, they have expanded exponentially in recent years, and now nearly every state in the united states and washington d.c. has at least one arl option for teacher candidates (feistritzer, 2011; myers et al., 2020). myers and colleagues (2020) conducted a systematic review of states’ arl policies and programs and found that 48 states had at least one arl policy, and most had three arl policies. these policies range widely in terms of requirements and length, from intensive residency programs that last up to five years to test-only options in which people meet an examination requirement to be eligible for a teaching credential. myers et al. identified 174 policies in total across the 48 states and categorized them into eight mutually exclusive conceptual models. the most common, representing 55% of the total policies, was the internship model in which schools hire people without teaching credentials to work as classroom teachers full-time while they also pursue full certification in a teacher preparation program. the internship model best describes the arl program under investigation in this paper. the ideas discussed below may not apply to arl programs that fit other models. arl programs as disruptive practices disruption, as defined by blin and munro (2008), is “a serious transformation or alteration of the structure of teaching and learning activities taking place in formal education” (p. 476). arl programs are potentially disruptive to traditional teacher education because of the contexts in which they occur. in traditional preparation programs, pre-service teachers engage in field experiences in which they work in a mentor teacher’s classroom, under the mentor’s supervision. in arl programs, teacher candidates’ required field experiences typically take place in their own classrooms in which they may or may not be https://cultureandvalues.org/ 106 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org supported by a mentor teacher, depending on the program and school or district. in fact, myers et al. (2020) found that only 16 of the 95 arl internship models (17%) “explicitly required participants to participate in a mentorship program as part of their training requirements” (p. 7). to be effective, arl programs need to consider how to better support candidates in their classrooms and leverage resources provided by schools. the fact that arl candidates are working full-time in their own classrooms makes this difficult because it requires supervisors who are university employees to travel to schools or for staff at the schools to take time to go into the arl candidates’ classrooms. even with mentorship and administrative support, novice teachers struggle to manage the complexities of classrooms and report high levels of stress (prilleltensky et al., 2016). in special education, the problems faced by novice teachers are compounded by the high workloads imposed by legally-mandated paperwork and role ambiguity (bettini et al., 2017). a special education teacher is often the only person in their school serving in a particular role or setting (e.g., self-contained classrooms for students with autism spectrum disorder), meaning that their mentors either work in different schools or in different roles (mathews et al., 2017), and thus novice special educators may not have anyone who can model their responsibilities or explain their role in the building. novice teachers who are also arl candidates have all the stresses associated with beginning teachers, complicated by the fact that they are, essentially, learning as they go through on-the-job training. these factors can lead to increased stress and, thus, feelings of unpreparedness in their first years as teachers (kee, 2012). however, if we shift thinking, the reality that arl candidates are teaching full-time at the same time they are taking coursework in education has potential benefits as well. when arl preparation programs embrace their potentially disruptive power, arl candidates’ positionality as full-time teachers is also a source of largely untapped strength that is not present in traditional teacher preparation models. coursework can be directly and immediately connected to classrooms, giving candidates a chance to put strategies and practices in place immediately and receive support as they work to perfect them. this has two major potential benefits. first, it could serve to reduce the ongoing research-to-practice gap (mcleskey & billingsley 2008). although there are indications that the situation may be improving, special education teachers largely are not observed to use evidence-based instructional practices in classrooms (e.g., cook & odom, 2013; mckenna et al., 2015; walker & stevens, 2017). however, if classroom instruction is tied intricately into their teacher preparation, teacher educators could provide support as novice teachers implement research-based practices, thereby increasing teacher candidates’ confidence in and likelihood of using those practices. second, rather than operating as separate entities, arl programs could envision themselves as not only teacher preparation programs but also induction support programs. traditional programs are not known to offer mentorship and support to credentialed graduates. they could use teacher educators or other staff as inschool mentors, explicitly and intensively supporting candidates’ development as teachers during their formative early years, all of which improve practice (e.g., mathews et al., 2017; ronfeldt & mcqueen, 2017; shockley et al., 2013). https://cultureandvalues.org/ 107 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org another potential disruption from the norm that arl programs cause is their ability to positively impact the diversity of the teaching force. the lack of diversity among teachers is a subject of intense scrutiny and criticism, and an issue not well/consistently addressed in traditional teacher preparation programs (boser, 2014; haddix, 2017). statistics show the vast majority of special education teachers are white women; however, the students they teach are increasingly more diverse in terms of race and ethnicity (rosenberg et al., 2007). despite the fact that recent research demonstrates positive impacts on student achievement and engagement when students have teachers who share demographics/cultural backgrounds and other characteristics (e.g., egalite et al., 2015; lindsay & hart, 2017), traditional teacher education programs struggle to recruit and retain diverse teacher candidates for many reasons (bireda & chait, 2011; sleeter, 2017). arl teachers and teacher candidates, while still not as diverse as the student population, tend to be significantly more diverse than their traditionally prepared peers in terms of race, ethnicity, age, gender, and background (national center for education statistics [nces], 2018). research on the reasons for this is limited, but scott (2019) found that, for example, funding, recruitment efforts, and personal connections were influential in black males’ decision to enter a special education arl program. given that arl teachers are disproportionately employed in schools with a higher than average percentage of diverse students (nces, 2018), the ability of arl programs to recruit and retain diverse teachers has potentially long-ranging benefits for the achievement of traditionally underserved students. although these are notable ways in which arl programs disrupt the traditional pathways of credentialing teachers, we note several challenges that limit the potential of arl programs to truly strengthen the pipeline of diverse candidates into the teaching profession. we believe one reason is that arl programs are run through institutions of higher education are often designed and implemented very similarly to the existing traditional teacher preparation program(s). essentially, traditional teacher education systems have sought to “work-around” arl policies, by simply adapting them to fit within existing models rather than viewing them as able and necessary to disrupt and transform the fundamental structures of the systems themselves (roth & tobin, 2002). due to the complex nature of teacher education programs, we view activity theory (blakhurst, 2008; engeström, 2000; 2001; sannino et al., 2009) as a useful framework for conceptualizing the interconnected elements at play within those programs. in this paper, we use activity theory to focus not on the arl program itself but on the activities of two junior tenure-track faculty members who are participating in an attempted restructuring of one arl program that employs an internship model (myers et al., 2020). as we engaged in this disruptive work as junior faculty members, we repeatedly asked ourselves, “should we be engaged in programmatic work at this point in our careers?” theoretical framework: activity theory activity theory provides a valuable lens through which to examine teacher education programs, as it allows for a non-reductionist examination of dynamic systems that are driven https://cultureandvalues.org/ 108 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org by a common need that is complex, constantly changing, and with the potential for transformation (engeström, 2000). additionally, activity theory’s focus is squarely on implications of the activity on practice, which is essential for teacher education programs given that their purpose is to produce teachers who will use effective practice in classrooms (roth & tobin, 2002). activity theory explores the ways in which subjects, tools and artifacts, rules, community, and division of labor interact as the activity works on a given object, with the goal of creating a desired outcome. the history and background of activity theory are important to understanding the theory’s assumptions and positioning. we will not endeavor to summarize that history here because it has been written about extensively and effectively elsewhere (see engeström, 2001; sannino et al., 2009). rather, we focus our discussion on the elements of the specific activity in which we are engaged (see figure 1). activity theory describes human interaction based around the notion of “activities that are oriented toward objects” (sannino et al., 2009, pp. 2-3). we as junior faculty members are the subjects “whose agency is chosen as the point of view in the analysis” (roth & tobin, 2002, p. 113). the object on which the activity and our action focus is the special education arl program run by our institution, and our desired outcomes are twofold: (a) to train effective special educators, (b) to improve the achievement of students with disabilities and (c) to retain diverse teacher candidates. our (i.e., the subjects’) impacts on the object are mediated by the other elements within the activity system. tools and artifacts, according to engeström (1990), can be divided into categories of what (describing objects), how (processes and procedures), why (topography and behavior) and where to (future outcomes). in figure 1, the tools and artifacts include course curriculum, pedagogical knowledge, and field experiences. the community describes the individuals or groups who share the object with the subjects, in this case the other special education faculty, the state department of education, and the larger college of education. rules include the guidelines, regulations and norms within the communities. in the current activity, these include structured regulations such as the state’s requirements for arl licensure, the process of curriculum approval within the college of education, and the department guidelines surrounding granting of tenure. rules also include less explicit but still powerful community norms, such as tenured faculty’s expectations around what the work of pre-tenure faculty should look like. finally, division of labor represents the responsibilities of the subjects’ job roles as well as the horizontal relationships with members of the community who are at the same rank or status of the subjects and vertical relationships in which members of the community differ in terms of power or status (ekundayo et al., 2012). https://cultureandvalues.org/ 109 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org figure 1 arl redesign within activity theory framework contradictions are central to the activity theory framework (engeström, 2001). contradictions are “historically accumulating structural tensions” (ekundayo et al., 2012, p. 2) that interrupt workflow but serve as agents of change and innovation. the central external contradiction impacting this activity system was the emergence of arl options, which stimulated a re-evaluation of business-as-usual in teacher education. of specific relevance to the activity system in which we are the subjects, our recognition of the misalignment between the promise of arl as a disruptive force and the ways in which the arl program was functioning was a central contradiction. for example, we noted a lack of congruence between coursework and field experiences, mitigating the potential of the program to disrupt the research-to-practice gap, as well as a lack of culturally responsive pedagogy and structures within the program, hindering its ability to recruit and retain diverse teacher candidates. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 110 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org subject reflections of arl redesign the activity at the center of this project is an effort to rethink and redesign the special education arl program; in our roles as tenure-track faculty, we teach courses and advise students in the arl program. describing the details of the redesign, however, is not the central purpose of this paper. here, we discuss our experiences as junior faculty involved in this process. in embarking on this redesign, we partnered with a newly-tenured faculty member, who was also the special education program coordinator. one of the authors had engaged with this colleague in conversations about her impressions that the current program was not adequately meeting the unique needs of our arl candidates. we employed a design-based research frame to allow for an iterative process involving rotating phases of altering aspects of the program, collecting and analyzing data, and adjusting changes based on the data analysis. although still in the process of redesign, we have, up to this point, made curricular adjustments to the initial training courses and collected data on student perceptions of their learning and their needs in the program. as we implemented the initial changes to our arl program, we found there were disturbances or tensions across all components in our activity theory model that interfered with the intent of the activity and which functioned differently for us as pre-tenure faculty than they did for our tenured colleague. junior faculty as agents of disruptive practices participating in work that has the potential to lead to greater impact and change in teacher preparation is why we both pursued a career in higher education. we are fortunate in that our program and college support collaborative work. through our program coordinator, we have been able to be flexible within the content and structures of these initial arl courses. moreover, we have received encouragement from our college level administration to do so, which alleviated some of the vulnerability we felt exploring these avenues of change. even though flexibility and freedom were present, engaging in this program work presented challenges. for the purpose of this paper, we chose to highlight the disturbances between subjects, rules, division of labor, and the object, noting that all of these interactions are happening within communities. we found these four to be the most impactful disturbances for us as we engaged in programmatic change (see figure 2). along with a discussion around the structures found in activity theory, we also address the sensual and emotional components that impacted the actions we took within the activity of disrupting our arl program. roth (2008) describes these sensual components as “agentive dimensions” (p. 53), which include emotions, identity, and ethico-moral aspects of the activity. we believe as roth does, that “only by including these needs, emotions, and feelings do we capture the activity system as a whole, that is, as intended by cultural-historical activity theory since its inception” (p. 70). therefore, as we discuss the disturbances which impacted our work, we also examine the accompanying sensual components that sprang from or complicated the https://cultureandvalues.org/ 111 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org impact of those disturbances. the following section describes the disturbances and contradictions we encountered as junior faculty members engaging in a disruptive practice. figure 2 disturbances within the arl project rules university systems, licensure requirements, and departmental norms are all sources of contradictions that created disturbances. the two main disturbances that noticeably impacted our work on this project were those related to logistics, norms and expectations surrounding tenure. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 112 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org logistics in attempting to creatively redesign an existing program within a system of higher education, we found many structures in place at the college and system levels that disturbed the central activity. for example, we were constrained in our ability to creatively restructure classes by the rigidity of the academic calendar, both at the university level and in the local school district, as well as policies related to course scheduling. additionally, we had to navigate a number of complex processes, including the curriculum approval process for changes to courses and the institutional review board (irb) process for permission to collect data throughout the project. as new faculty, we did not always have the required knowledge of how to navigate those systems or the connections with key personnel who could provide guidance. this required us to rely heavily on our tenured colleague’s experience and his position as program coordinator to access and navigate systems. although the redesign endeavor was initially his suggestion, the intention was for it to be fully collaborative. however, because of our need to rely on his connections and status as a more senior professor, we stepped back and did not take ownership over the process. both of us felt insecure about our position in the group; although we felt confident making suggestions, we were not comfortable attempting to drive the overall direction of the activity. importantly, this was not something that was explicit in the group’s interactions; it came out when we reflected on the process at the end of the first semester of the project. together, we identified this insecurity as an unstated and (at the time) unexamined emotion we felt that guided our individual decisions and actions. norms and expectations related to tenure the pressure to publish as part of the tenure process is one of the largest sources of contradiction that created a possible moral hazard. even in the most supportive, creative, and innovative environments, there are several historical and systemic rules and norms in place deterring programmatic work by junior faculty. first, the need to balance time and effort spent on teaching versus research is a difficult one to navigate for many junior faculty members across fields (eddy & gaston-gayles, 2008). given our passion for education and teacher preparation, we have felt that tension strongly, both within this specific activity and more generally. we are both long-time educators; for most of our professional lives, teaching has been the driving force of our careers and the activity which we have spent our adult lives striving to study and improve. upon entering the academy, the message shifted, and we were told, both implicitly and explicitly, that teaching was no longer the most important part of our jobs. instead, writing and research were prioritized over teaching and related activities, such as program development. this contradicted our motivation for entering the field and our natural inclinations. it also ran counter to our assigned workloads, as we were required to spend time preparing new courses, often multiple semesters in a row. on many occasions, the second author was told by respected and senior faculty members at different institutions to “care less” about her teaching because of the need to publish in the early years of being on faculty. the struggle to reconcile those messages with our passion for teaching led both of https://cultureandvalues.org/ 113 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org us to experience uncertainty in our initial decision to enter tenure-track faculty lines. we have both ultimately decided to stay in these lines because we see the potential of them, but it was a constant negotiation between our personal desires and motivations and the external pressure to work in opposition to those desires. to be an agent of disruption, we had to find a balance between our passion and the demands of being a junior faculty member. second, the timeline for tenure is clearly delineated at most institutions of higher education and drives guidance junior faculty receive including the types of research a junior faculty member should produce, where the research should be published, and to some extent, what line of inquiry should be pursued. one recommendation we often received was to find ways to link teaching and research -to collect data and publish about our work as teacher educators. however, the fixed tenure clock limits the types of research in which junior faculty can engage. lengthy research projects delay a publishable product and the time allotted to produce publishable products is limited. programmatic change takes time in itself, and assessing the results of changes takes even longer, making it difficult to reconcile the decision to engage in this work with the desire to secure tenure. in practice, junior faculty are often encouraged to first get tenure, then do the “big work” related to program development and change. we have each individually received advice from senior faculty that we should not engage in work like this so early in our careers. the message that program development is not the most essential part of our jobs may be another reason we allowed our tenured colleague to take the lead on this arl redesign: we felt pressure from our other colleagues to not prioritize programmatic work in favor of writing and research. when beginning the arl redesign activity, our focus was prioritized equally on the teaching and research aspects of the project. over time it became abundantly clear that the commitment was significantly greater than any of us anticipated. as a result, our tenured colleague helped focus our direction towards the research components, which was consistent with the messages about what our priorities should be. other than some initial brainstorming and periodic check-ins of the student data, we did not focus a large part of the effort on the aspects of the project related to our instruction or curriculum. this reduced our ability to explore innovations to the program itself, which caused us to struggle with our commitment to the activity as a whole. to combat these constraints, we used proactive strategies of setting specific target dates, selecting possible publication outlets and dividing lead authors on each aspect of the project (e.g., program design, research to practice), but we still felt in this activity that the almost sole emphasis on research in our team discussions limited our ability to engage in creative problem-solving and true innovation in program and course components. division of labor in addition to the contradictions created by rules, there were others related to the division of labor. the hierarchy of the university system along with program norms resulted in several disturbances. upon reflection, these disturbances were found mainly in the https://cultureandvalues.org/ 114 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org relationships that cut across vertical systems (i.e., across status or rank). the following is a discussion of these conflicts. there is a tenuous relationship when junior faculty engage in work that could potentially be seen as criticizing the previous work of tenured faculty members. tenured faculty within a department play a critical role in a junior faculty member’s career because they directly evaluate each junior faculty member's body of work and determine whether they should receive tenure. even though the system is supposed to promote the creation of new knowledge, this hierarchy can create perceived barriers to creative work such as program improvement when tenured faculty are opposed to or even ambivalent towards change. when engaging in an activity as wide-ranging as program redesign, it is essential that faculty across ranks collaborate as peers; however, due to the evaluative role tenured faculty play, junior faculty may not have any true power for change (e.g., cowin et al., 2012). in essence, for a junior faculty member to move forward in their career, their work must be approved by the tenured faculty community. in our work on the arl program redesign, we experienced this dynamic in action. our tenured colleague was extremely supportive of our involvement and did not in any way imply that his rank put him “in charge.” other faculty, as well, were supportive of the goals of the project and explicitly in favor of some of the major goals of the project. however, as we worked through the systems and ideas, we found ourselves questioning the extent to which we can offer suggestions for changing existing systems (i.e., disrupting the norms). some tenured colleagues in our department were involved in the design of the current program, and there is a fear they will take suggestions as criticisms of their work, even if that is not the intention. despite statements of outward support, we do not feel completely safe to suggest innovative or broad-ranging changes. it is important to note that we have not encountered explicit resistance. rather, our uncertainty comes more from a “hidden curriculum” consisting of comments made by faculty in program meetings, side conversations, and other reactions when changes are proposed. this feeling of vulnerability has been particularly present as we write this manuscript. the fact that we are explicitly writing about these contradictions and disturbances has been a source of anxiety for both of us; we worry it could negatively impact our career trajectory if our colleagues view these statements as criticisms or complaints. discussion throughout this paper we presented activity theory as a model through which to examine the ability of junior faculty to engage in critical program redesign within the complex system of higher education. we continue to reflect on the ultimate question, “should we be engaged in programmatic work at this point in our careers?” the contradictions we face are not unique to us; they line up with what others have found when examining teacher education through an activity theory lens (ellis et al., 2014). ultimately, activity theory allows us to utilize a framework for examining our work, rather than being limited to a mentalist paradigm (mcnicholl & blake, 2013). through the activity theory lens, https://cultureandvalues.org/ 115 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org we have provided a glimpse into the complex relationship between the authors as junior faculty members and our arl program. the disruptions created by our scope of work, dual relationships with colleagues, and systems rules about tenure create ethical dilemmas and sometimes moral hazards that must be addressed for us to continue this work. the requirements for tenure and scope of work will continue to interfere with junior faculty’s ability to engage in programmatic redesign unless colleges of education can begin to take a more systematic approach in leveraging their positions in higher education. as others have identified, the higher education system does not always recognize and support the unique nature of the work accomplished by faculty members (ellis et al., 2011; mcnicholl & blake, 2013). the contradictions between the needs of a well-established institution and the work needed to transform the field of education can lead to disruptions. by not recognizing the tensions that are inherent within the scope of work for teacher educators, we place all faculty, but especially junior faculty, in the position of engaging in work that is limited in scope. to truly transform the field of education, colleges of education may need to reposition ourselves not only within the institution of higher education, but also within our community partners (ellis et al., 2014; mcnicholl & blake, 2013). in spite of the aforementioned contradictions, we feel as though we are in a unique position to continue to revise the arl program. moving forward, we plan further curricular changes – creating a cohort-based program with a singular point of admission rather than rolling admission points and adding support to the field experience components to strengthen the connection between fieldand course-work. as we collect and utilize student data to inform future changes, we intend to also collect additional evidence of teacher effectiveness through classroom observations as well as measures of student achievement related to engagement, academic performance, or behavior metrics. continuing in this work does not come without a sense of fear that we may lose valuable time which could be spent on work that produces a quicker outcome, trepidation that we may be offending the very people who will be making decisions about the quality of our work and a real sense that our current workload will not accommodate the time we need to accomplish our goals. the contradictions within the system create barriers which must be overcome before we, as junior faculty members can do what, in essence, we were hired to do, which is to become agents of disruption through critical examination and the creation of new knowledge. activity theory helps to remind us that when we work to resolve these contradictions, true transformation can occur. the activity theory model suggests that colleges of education must encourage and even prioritize programmatic work of faculty to have a significant impact on the field. this can only happen if we acknowledge the contradictions and disturbances in our system that prevent this work from being accomplished on a greater scale by all faculty members. to engage all our faculty in all levels of critical work, we need to make sure we address contradictions and make our system for advancement in higher education more responsive to the needs of the field. much of what we have stated may be self-evident to those who have been in the field for longer periods than us, but we find that conversations like this one often occur in https://cultureandvalues.org/ 116 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org closed circles with limited scope for change. our hope is that by sharing our experiences, we can encourage more conversations that promote systems thinking and systematic change amongst teacher education faculty at institutions of higher education. our fear is that in waiting to do the programmatic work necessary to invoke real change, we, as junior faculty members, risk indoctrination into a system whereby we navigate the contradictions and develop a research trajectory that takes us away from this line of inquiry and, thereby abandon or never fully engage in work with the potential to be a truly disruptive practice. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 117 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org references bireda, s., & chait, r. (2011, november). increasing teacher diversity: strategies to improve the teacher workforce. center for american progress. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed535654.pdf bettini, e., jones, n., brownell, m., conroy, m., park, y., leite, w., crockett, j., & benedict, a. (2017). workload manageability among novice special and general educators: relationships with emotional exhaustion and career intentions. remedial and special education, 38(4), 246-256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932517708327 blin, f., & munro, m. (2008). why hasn’t technology disrupted academics’ teaching practices? understanding resistance to change through the lens of activity theory. computers & education, 50(2), 475-490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2007.09.017 boe, (2006). the long-term trends in the national demand, supply and shortage of special education teachers. the journal of special education, 40(3), 138-150. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022466906040003020 boser, u. (2014). teacher diversity revisited: a new state-by-state analysis. center for american progress. https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/05/teacherdiversity.pdf carver-thomas, d., & darling-hammond, l. (2017). teacher turnover: why it matters and what we can do about it. learning policy institute. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/productfiles/teacher_turnover_report.pdf cook, b. g., & odom, s. l. (2013). evidence-based practices and implementation science in special education. exceptional children, 79(2), 135–144. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440291307900201 cowin, k., cohen, l., ciechanowski, k., & orozco, r. (2012). portraits of mentor-junior faculty relationships: from power dynamics to collaboration. the journal of education, 192(1), 37-47. eddy, p. l., & gaston-gayles, j. l. (2008). new faculty on the block: issues of stress and support. journal of human behavior in the social environment, 17(1-2), 89-106. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911350802168878 egalite, a. j., kisida, b., & winters, m. a. (2015). representation in the classroom: the effect of own-race teachers on student achievement. economics of education review, 45, 44-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.01.007 ekundayo, s., wang, w., & andrade, a. d. (2012). the use of activity theory and its principle of contradictions to identify and analyse systemic tensions: the case of a virtual university and its partners. conf-irm 2012 proceedings, 33. international conference on information resources management. http://aisel.aisnet.org/confirm2012/33 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed535654.pdf https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932517708327 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2007.09.017 https://doi.org/10.1177/0022466906040003020 https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/teacherdiversity.pdf https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/teacherdiversity.pdf https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/teacher_turnover_report.pdf https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/teacher_turnover_report.pdf https://doi.org/10.1177%2f001440291307900201 https://doi.org/10.1080/10911350802168878 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.01.007 http://aisel.aisnet.org/confirm2012/33 118 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org ellis, v., mcnicholl, j., blake, a., & mcnally, j. (2014). academic work and proletarianisation: a study of higher education-based teacher educators. teaching and teacher education, 40, 33-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.01.008 engeström, y. (1990). learning, working and imagining: twelve studies in activity theory. orienta-konsultit. engeström, y. (2000). activity theory as a framework for analyzing and redesigning work. ergonomics, 43(7), 960-974. https://doi.org/10.1080/001401300409143. engeström, y. (2001). expansive learning at work: toward an activity theoretical representation. journal of education and work, 14(1), 133-156. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080020028747 feistritzer, c. e. (2011). profile of teachers in the u. s. 2011. national center for education information. https://www.edweek.org/media/pot2011final-blog.pdf haddix, m. m. (2017). diversifying teaching and teacher education: beyond rhetoric and toward real change. journal of literacy research, 49(1), 141-149. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296x16683422 johnson, s. m., kraft, m. a., & papay, j. p. (2012). how context matters in high-need schools: the effects of teachers’ working conditions on their professional satisfaction and their students’ achievement. teachers college record, 114(10), 1–39. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x17735813 kee, a. n. (2012). feelings of preparedness among alternatively certified teachers: what is the role of program features? journal of teacher education, 63(1), 23-28. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487111421933 lindsay, c. a., & hart, c. m. d. (2017). exposure to same-race teachers and student disciplinary outcomes for black students in north carolina. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 39(3), 485-510. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373717693109 mathews, h. m., rodgers, w. j., & youngs, p. (2017). sense-making for beginning special educators: a systematic mixed methods review. teaching and teacher education, 67, 23-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.05.007 mcleskey, j., & billingsley, b. (2008). how does the quality and stability of the teaching force influence the research-to-practice gap? remedial and special education, 29(5), 293305. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932507312010 mckenna, j. w., shin, m., & ciullo, s. (2015). evaluating reading and mathematics instruction for students with learning disabilities: a synthesis of observation research. learning disability quarterly, 38(4), 195-207. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731948714564576 mcnicholl, j., & blake, a. (2013). transforming teacher education, an activity theory analysis. journal of education for teaching, 39(3), 281-300. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2013.799846 myers, j. a., gilbert, k., & sindelar, p. (2020). does alternative route preparation meet the requirements of idea assurance 14? a policy analysis. teacher education and special education [advance online publication]. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406420912374 national center for education statistics. (2018, may). characteristics of public school teachers who completed alternative route to certification programs. u. s. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.01.008 https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080020028747 https://www.edweek.org/media/pot2011final-blog.pdf https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296x16683422 https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x17735813 https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487111421933 https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373717693109 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.05.007 https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932507312010 https://doi.org/10.1177/0731948714564576 https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2013.799846 https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406420912374 119 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 more, c. m. & rodgers, w. j., promoting change within special education teacher preparation programs: a collision of needs journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org department of education. retrieved march 14, 2020, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_tlc.asp prilleltensky, i., neff, m., & bessell, a. (2016). teacher stress: what it is, why it’s important, how it can be alleviated. theory into practice, 55(2), 104-111. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2016.1148986 quigney, t. a. (2010). alternative teaching certification in special education: rationale, concerns, and recommendations. issues in teacher education, 19(1), 41-58. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej887294.pdf redding, c., & henry, g. t. (2019). leaving school early: an examination of novice teachers’ withinand end-of-year turnover. american educational research journal, 56(1), 204–236. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218790542 ronfeldt, m., & mcqueen, k. (2017). does new teacher induction really improve retention? journal of teacher education, 68(4), 394–410. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487117702583 roth, w.-m., & tobin, k. (2002). redesigning an “urban” teacher education program: an activity theory perspective. mind, culture, and activity, (9)2, 108-131. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327884mca0902_03 rosenberg, m. s., boyer, k. l., sindelar, p. t., & misra, s. k. (2007). alternative route programs for certification in special education: program infrastructure, institutional delivery, and participant characteristics. exceptional children, 73(2), 224-241. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290707300206 sannino, a., daniels, h., & gutiérrez, k. d. (2009). activity theory between historical engagement and future-making practice. in a. sannino, h. daniels, & k. d. gutiérrez (eds.). learning and expanding with activity theory (pp. 1-15). cambridge university press. scott, l. a. (2019). experience of black male special education teachers: are alternative licensure programs the desired route for recruitment and preparation? education and urban society, 51(3), 332-350. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124517719971 shockley, r., watlington, e., & felsher, r. (2013). out on a limb: the efficacy of teacher induction in secondary schools. nassp bulletin, 97(4), 350–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192636513510595 sleeter, c. (2017). critical race theory and the whiteness of teacher education. urban education, 52(2), 155-169. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916668957 sutcher, l., darling-hammond, l., & carver-thomas, d. (2016). a coming crisis in teaching? teacher supply, demand, and shortages in the u. s. learning policy institute. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/coming-crisis-teaching-brief united states department of education. (2020). teacher shortage areas. united states department of education. https://tsa.ed.gov/#/reports walker, m., & stevens, e. a. (2017). reading instruction for students with learning disabilities: an observation study synthesis (1980-2014). learning disability quarterly, 40(1), 17-28. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731948716633868 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_tlc.asp https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2016.1148986 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej887294.pdf https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218790542 https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487117702583 https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327884mca0902_03 https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290707300206 https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124517719971 https://doi.org/10.1177/0192636513510595 https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916668957 https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/coming-crisis-teaching-brief https://tsa.ed.gov/%23/reports https://doi.org/10.1177/0731948716633868 journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 27 foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development merve gazioğlu*1 & buket güner1 1. abdullah gül university, the school of foreign languages *corresponding author: merve.gazioglu@agu.edu.tr received : 2020-08-27 rev. req. : 2021-01-09 accepted : 2021-03-18 how to cite this paper: gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. (2021). foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development. journal of culture and values in education, 4(2), 27-41. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.3 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract this mixed-method study aims to offer an insight into foreign language teachers’ perceptions on the relationship between intercultural competence and professional development. it is also attempted to explore some methods for evaluating teachers’ intercultural competence through their professional development activities. the research participants are local and international instructors at a private university in turkey. data was collected via a web-based questionnaire and a semi-structured interview designed by the researchers. the general findings of the study indicate that learning about a) target culture, b) local culture, and c) international students’ culture contribute to foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence and it is considered as a part of their professional development. however, it is pointed out that pre-service and in-service teacher training programs in turkey cannot provide sufficient facilities to develop teachers’ intercultural competence. keywords: professional development, intercultural competence, foreign language teaching introduction in today’s modern world, studying abroad enables teachers and learners to experience frequent intercultural interactions in classrooms. it seems inevitable that especially foreign language teachers who are likely to practice teaching the target language to a group of learners whose native languages are different will perceive the value of intercultural competence for their professional development. intercultural communicative competence studies have gained a great importance in the field of foreign language learning and several studies have been conducted to explore the ways to prepare learners for living in a multicultural world (sercu, 2004). in order to facilitate students’ intercultural communicative competence in educational contexts, it is essential that teachers and prospective teachers put a great emphasis on their 10.46303/jcve.2021.3 https://cultureandvalues.org/ mailto:merve.gazioglu@agu.edu.tr https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2021.3 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 28 own intercultural competence during their professional development. not all foreign language teachers may get a chance to have teaching-abroad experience and to learn about international students’ distinct needs, expectations, difficulties, and strengths. however, it is common for foreign language teachers to teach in heterogeneous classes in terms of culture. much of the research often assumes that teachers already have intercultural competence and they mainly focus on teaching culture and intercultural competence to language learners. teachers are expected to teach intercultural communicative competence to their students but only if teachers and prospective teachers are aware of cultural differences and able to deal with such differences in their classes, they can reflect their intercultural perceptions on their teaching. their intercultural competence representation enables them to build an intercultural competence base that will eventually influence language learners’ competence. therefore, training of culturally and linguistically diverse teachers, the inclusion of multicultural teaching perspectives in education, and the implementation of culturally responsive foreign language instruction in classroom should not be considered separate from teachers’ professional development. compared to studies in general, there are some other ways to develop intercultural competence rather than teaching in different countries, such as reading about another culture, spending time with people from another culture, and learning about other cultures through various kinds of online ways (deardorff, 2009). however, to what extent teachers regard such activities as a part of their professional development and how often they attempt to learn about their students’ distinct cultures are seldom matters of research inquiry. this study aims to present foreign language teachers’ perceptions of their intercultural competence and its relation with their professional development. by doing so, it is aimed to investigate to what extent and in what ways language teachers’ intercultural competence contributes to their professional development. traditional work establishes “culture“ as a significant component of teachers’ professional development. however, it is worth noting that culture does not only refer to teaching target language culture. the main objective of culture teaching in language classes is no longer limited to the culture associated with the language or the culture of the majority in the classroom. teachers’ awareness of minority groups’ different cultures and their openness and tolerance can also be listed in todays’ language teachers’ professional development requirements. this article has sought to provide a strong basis for the relation between teachers’ professional development and their intercultural competence. we hope also to raise some general issues related to culture teaching in language classes. given the critical role of teachers’ intercultural competence in their professional development, the following two research questions are posed: (1) what are the foreign language teachers’ perceptions of intercultural competence as a measurement of their professional development? (2) what is the best way to measure teacher’s intercultural competence through their professional development activities? https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 29 literature review the professional development of teachers is a broad area that can be studied in many different ways. avalos (2011) states that professional development embraces teachers’ ongoing learning and transforming their knowledge into practice for the sake of students' learning. also, diazmaggioli (2003) defines professional development as teachers’ voluntary ongoing learning process focusing on its practical outcomes on students’ success. therefore, at the core of teachers’ professional development, student needs and benefits are observed. there are tight links between teachers’ way of teaching and students’ success in learning (diazmaggioli, 2004; sparks, 2002). especially in the field of foreign language teaching, teachers need professional development not only to help students learn second language but also to help them develop an understanding of the target language culture (diaz-maggioli, 2003). sparks (2002) argues that the scope of teachers’ professional development is determined by their specific needs associated with language, pedagogy, or culture. it is clear that the previous studies have regarded teaching culture associated with the target language as a part of teachers’ professional development but there is little empirical evidence of understanding students’ distinct cultures. previous research on teachers’ professional development has focused on the areas of teaching methodologies and practices (desimone, 2009; jimei 2002; qiang, 2003; yi-an, 2008). however, there are also some studies that have investigated foreign language teachers’ intercultural conceptions (byram & risager, 1999; duff & uchida, 1997; sercu, 2004; sercu, 2006). sercu (2006) notes that it is necessary to provide teachers with intercultural competence to be effective in language teaching. byram et al. (2002) define the main components of intercultural competence as knowledge, skills, and attitudes of people toward a number of groups with different cultures and they put the main focus on the attitudes of the intercultural speaker and mediator. on the basis of byram’s conceptual definition of intercultural competence, sercu (2006) suggested that foreign language teachers should possess sufficient knowledge of culture associated with the foreign language they teach. however, the intercultural competence dimensions of language teachers should be extended to include teachers’ own culture and learners’ distinct cultures. byram et al. (2002) states that intercultural competence does not mean knowing everything about the ‘target culture’. given this, the problem is focusing on only one ‘target culture’ rather than regarding every culture in a classroom. therefore, this paper aims to discuss and draw conclusions from teachers’ perceptions of how to be aware of different beliefs, values, and behaviors which international students possess. teachers also need to regard their intercultural competence development as a part of their professional development and they should implement their intercultural perceptions into their teaching approach. the focus of this study is on the disregarded facets of teachers’ professional development regarding the intercultural competence dimensions. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 30 method data collection and analysis as the first research instrument, a web-based questionnaire adapted from sercu’s survey (2006) was used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. with the aim of exploring foreign language teachers’ perceptions on their intercultural competence and professional development, both open and close questions, likert scale, and multiple-choice questions were included in the survey. professional development studies mostly employ qualitative data collection methods such as teacher and teaching portfolios, journals, observations, etc. however, there is no specific emphasis on the place of teachers’ intercultural competence on their professional development. this data collection approach allowed us to investigate foreign language teachers’ beliefs on the relationship between their intercultural competence and professional development. the questionnaire begins with demographic questions asking participant teachers’ age, gender, academic degrees, years of experience and most importantly, years of experience teaching abroad. in the following sections of the questionnaire, the various question types focused on different facets of professional development and intercultural competence. the first section aimed to raise teachers’ awareness on their own teaching views, their understanding of intercultural competence and their perceptions about foreign languages and cultures. the questions in this section addressed teachers to state their priorities for professional development in terms of their familiarity with different cultures. the next part of the questionnaire focused on the foreign language teaching asking questions about the school’s international student population, teaching materials, and school organizations. the respondents needed approximately 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire. the questionnaire was offered to an opportunity sample. approximately 50 foreign language teachers were invited to participate in the research and 20 of them responded. each sample can be considered representative of higher education language teachers in turkey. the responses to the questionnaire were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. the second data collection tool was a semi-structured interview developed by the researchers. it was employed to complement the quantitative data obtained by the questionnaire and it aimed to reveal teachers’ perspectives on intercultural competence as a part of their professional development. thus, eight of the turkish teachers who answered the questionnaire were chosen purposefully and they were interviewed by the researchers for about 10-15 minutes each. after being questioned about their demographic information (years of teaching experience, years of experience abroad and academic degrees/certificates) briefly, the interviewees were asked 3 questions, all of which required extensive answers for clarification. the first question of the interview required the interviewees to rank the importance of foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a part of their professional development. as the follow-up question, they were asked to extend and clarify their reasons to think so. the second question was about whether they have had any experience with intercultural competence raising activities as a part of their pre-service or in-service teacher training. the ones who stated the presence of this experience extended their answer giving more detail while the ones who said ‘no’ were asked if they consider this situation as a weakness of teacher education programs in turkey. the last question of the interview sought to find out the best https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 31 data collection method of professional development to learn about teachers’ intercultural competence development. eleven methods including workshops, teacher portfolios, classroom observation and so on were ordered from 1 to 11 by the interviewees, who were all knowledgeable about these methods. then, they explained their reasons of ranking again. hereby, the interview stage of the data collection process attempted to create a stronger link between professional development and foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence by eliciting their ideas on these two notions. the answers were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. participants 20 foreign language teachers in total contributed to this study during both the questionnaire stage and interview stage. to start with the questionnaire respondents who consist of 13 female (65%) and 7 male (35%) teachers, their ages ranged from 25 to 50 and over. however, the majority (40%) of them were between 25 and 29 years old. turkish instructors predominated (75%) to american teachers (15%) and foreign teachers (10%) from other countries. fifty percent of the teachers could speak turkish and english while twenty-five percent of the teachers could speak only english. the other twenty-five percent of the teachers stated that they could speak foreign languages including french, spanish, german, indonesian, polish, italian, and hebrew. as for the academic degrees, the 65% of the participants had bachelor’s degree while the others had ma (30%) or other certificates (5%). years of experience in teaching varied from 2 years to 25 years and over. yet, the majority of the teachers (60%) had an experience of 10 years at most. finally, as for the years of experience in teaching abroad, 12 teachers (60%) stated that they had no such experience while 8 teachers had experience on teaching abroad which ranged from 9 months to 25 years results findings from the questionnaire the first section of the web-based questionnaire (adapted from sercu, 2006), which aimed to understand the teachers’ attitudes towards their students and teaching in terms of intercultural competence through five statements, yielded the following results: table 1. teachers’ attitudes in terms of cultural differences as a teacher, i try to… frequency treat all my students equally take their differences into consideration 5 15 raise awareness for cultural differences in my class disregard cultural differences among my students 17 3 pay more attention to students who are trying to adapt to a new culture focus on my teaching instead of dealing with the cultural differences 13 7 employ humors, jokes etc. in my class to create a friendly environment avoid misunderstandings caused by cultural differences 17 3 use textbooks and materials that address to students from different cultures focus on the aspects that are related to the target culture as much as possible 8 12 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 32 in the second part, the respondents were asked to range nine statements from 1 to 5 (1=the strongest opinion, 5 =the weakest opinion) according to their understanding by “intercultural competence” in a foreign language teaching context. thus, we got the following average scores from their responses table 2. teachers’ ranking of the meaning of “intercultural competence” ranking statement number of people scoring “1” 1 to develop attitudes of openness and tolerance towards other peoples and cultures 14 2 to promote the ability to empathize with people living in other cultures 10 3 to promote reflection on cultural differences 8 4 to promote increased understanding of students’ own culture 8 5 to promote the ability to handle intercultural contact situations 8 6 to provide information about shared values and beliefs 6 7 to provide information about the history, geography and political conditions of the foreign culture(s) 5 8 to provide information about daily life and routines 5 9 to provide experiences with a rich variety of cultural expressions (literature, music, theatre, film, etc.) 5 the third section in the questionnaire had 7 questions related to their perceptions about foreign languages and cultures. the first question presented statements related to teachers’ perceptions about their own competences on cultures in the form of a likert scale (totally agree, agree, neutral, disagree, totally disagree). here are the answers given by the teachers: table 3. teachers’ perceptions on their cultural competences statement agreement level & number of people ta a n d td i have sufficient knowledge and experience about my own culture. 9 10 1 i have sufficient knowledge and experience about the culture of target language. 4 10 3 3 i have sufficient knowledge and experience about my international students’ culture. 1 3 7 7 2 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 33 in the same section, the second question asked “which one do you think is more important for your professional development as a foreign language teacher?” and required the respondents to choose one of the three options. thus, eleven teachers (55%) stated that their familiarity with the cultures associated with the foreign language they teach was more important than the others. six teachers (30%) thought that their familiarity with the cultures associated with the students they teach was more important while three teachers (15%) regarded that their familiarity with the culture associated with the majority group was more important. as an extension to this question, they wrote about their reasons to choose the related option. most of the teachers expressed that they are all important and interwoven. the majority of the teachers’ regarded the target culture as more important and their reasons included the issues of practicality, being task-oriented, usefulness and meeting the students’ needs about the target culture. besides, they stated that appealing to different cultures was time-consuming – even impossible. moreover, one teacher stated that the language usage depends upon the culture of that language not on the culture of the learner. the teachers who thought that their familiarity with the cultures associated with the students they teach was more important suggested some reasons such as doing their job easily in this way and being more helpful to the students. one of the teachers stated that using the students' culture as scaffolding promotes acquisition of the l2. finally, the ones who thought that being familiar with the culture associated with the majority group was important noted that being able to respond to the culture-related needs of students in general helps them to teach in a sufficient way. the third question was about the teachers’ familiarity with the foreign cultures in their classes and 50% of the respondents stated that they were not sufficiently familiar while 45% claimed that they were sufficiently familiar with them. only one person asserted that he/she was very familiar with the foreign cultures in his/her class while no one thought that they were not familiar at all. for the next question in this section, “have you ever searched about the foreign cultures primarily associated with the international students in your classes?”, half of the respondents said “yes” and the other half said “no”. the ones who said “yes” chose a frequency in terms of trying to learn about their international students’ culture. thus, only 23% of the respondents chose “often” while 38,5 % and the other 38,5% of teachers answered this question as “rarely” and “once in a while”. the fifth question, which was totally qualitative, aimed at revealing the reasons to regard being familiar with the students’ home culture as necessary or not. nearly all of the respondents agreed that it was very important. the most common point in their answers was that it would help avoiding cultural misunderstandings. another frequent reason was about its effect on the teacher-student relationships. they also thought that knowing about taboos in a culture and respecting cultural differences are vital in a language classroom. the sixth question, “how often do you get into contact with the foreign cultures that are primarily associated with your international students outside of the class?” offered some activities in the form of likert scale and they marked a frequency for each activity (often, once in a while, rarely, never). here are the results for this question: https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 34 table 4. teachers’ contact with the foreign cultures outside of the class activity frequency & number of people often once in a while rarely never travelling to the foreign countries 1 5 10 4 watching international tv channels 1 14 4 1 listening to radio stations originating in various countries 1 5 8 6 reading newspapers or magazines including different cultures 2 9 9 reading literature written by authors living in or originating from foreign countries 3 7 7 3 using the internet to learn more about the foreign countries/cultures 9 9 2 similarly, the last question of this section attempted to find out the extent that the teachers deal with particular cultural aspects primarily associated with their international students: table 5. dealing with particular cultural aspects cultural aspect frequency & number of people often once in a while rarely never daily life and routines, living conditions, food and drink etc. 9 5 6 traditions, folklore, tourist attractions 7 8 5 values and beliefs 6 6 8 professional life, education 4 8 7 1 other cultural expressions (music, drama, art) 3 8 8 1 different ethnic and social groups 1 9 9 1 history, geography, political system, religion 1 8 8 3 youth culture 1 8 8 3 international relations (political, economic and cultural) with students’ own country and other 1 8 7 4 literature 1 6 8 5 the last section of the questionnaire contained questions about teachers’ foreign language teaching contexts in relation to intercultural competence. it started with asking the percentage of international students at their school contexts. half of the respondents indicated that it was around 10%-30% while 45% of the teachers gave a percentage of 1-10. only one teacher stated that this population was less than 1%. the second question was about teaching materials: “do you use textbooks and/or additional teaching materials that include other cultures rather than foreign language culture you teach?” 65% of the teachers declared that they use such materials and 35% of the teachers stated that https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 35 they do not. the next question, which was related to the previous one, aimed to find out whether the cultural contents of the materials they use meet their expectations or not. although they were given four scales, the teachers chose neither the option “yes, very much so.” nor the option “no, not at all.” so, 85% of the participants claimed that the cultural contents of the materials meet their expectations up to a certain extent while 15% of the teachers asserted that they do not really meet their expectations. however, when they were also asked to explain why they think so, their ideas were mostly negative about the cultural content of the materials. the majority of the teachers complained that the materials they use generally focus on the culture of target language. some of them explained that they use some extra materials to meet their students’ cultural needs. some teachers also claimed that the cultural content of the books do not appeal to their students so they need to be enriched in a way which will address to students from different cultures. they also stated that it was simplistic, limited, idealistic and not neutral. the fourth question of this part was related to the cultural activities in their teaching contexts: “does your school organize (cross-curricular) intercultural/ multicultural / international activities?” 70% of the teachers expressed that their institutions organize such activities while 30% stated that they do not have such activities in their schools. the ones who responded positively were asked to elaborate on their answers by giving specific examples. they listed some special occasions like african day, nevruz, kermes, and other organizations prepared by international students’ offices. however, some of the respondents also mentioned that these events are not sufficient to raise intercultural awareness. answering the follow-up question, they all agreed that these activities have a positive effect on the attitudes and perceptions of both pupils and foreign language teachers regarding foreign countries, foreign cultures, and foreign people. while giving reasons for their opinions, most of the respondents looked at the topic only from the students’ perspective. they expressed that being exposed to different cultures and traditions unifies the students and raises awareness for different cultures in addition to teaching the students to respect cultural values and overcome prejudices. they also asserted that such kind of activities make education more fun and efficient besides making the students interested in the languages. yet, a few teachers hold the belief that local students are not so interested in these activities and especially when they are a part of the materials as cultural content, they are not interested at all. thus, they think more events should be organized to get the local and intercultural students come closer. the last question of the questionnaire included 15 statements concerning intercultural foreign language teaching. it required the participants to score a number of statements on a 5-pointscale, ranging from 'i agree completely' to 'i do not agree at all'. table 6 summarizes their answers according to the most and the least agreed statements: https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 36 table 6. teachers’ perceptions on intercultural competence and foreign language teaching statement 'i agree completely' 'i do not agree at all' foreign language teaching should not only touch upon foreign cultures. it should also deepen pupils' understanding of their own culture. 16 a foreign language teacher should present a positive image of different foreign cultures and societies. 14 the more teachers know about the foreign cultures in their classes, the more tolerant they are towards their international students. 13 in international contacts misunderstandings arise equally often from linguistic as from cultural differences. 9 every subject, not just foreign language teaching, should promote the acquisition of intercultural skills. 9 i would like to promote the acquisition of intercultural skills through my teaching. 8 foreign language teachers should be trained to enhance their communication with pupils with ethnic minority. 6 i would like to teach intercultural competence through my foreign language teaching. 5 intercultural education is best undertaken cross-curricularly. 4 it is impossible to be aware of and open to all different cultures in foreign language classes. 3 4 intercultural skills of teachers cannot be acquired at pre-service or in-service training. 2 1 intercultural education reinforces pupils' already existing stereotypes of other peoples and cultures. 1 7 intercultural competence of teachers has no effect on their teaching. 11 only if there are ethnic minority community pupils in your classes, you have to teach intercultural competence. 8 i think teaching intercultural competence only includes teaching target language culture. 8 findings from the interview this semi-structured interview helped the researchers gain insights about foreign language teachers’ perceptions on the relationship between intercultural competence and professional development. to start with the demographics, the years of experience of the interviewees ranged from 5 to 17. only one of the teachers had 1-year experience abroad while the rest did not have such experience. half of the participants had their ma degrees while the other half had their bachelor’s degree only. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 37 answering the first question, 5 out of 8 teachers stated that foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence is very important for their professional development and the other 3 thought that it was important, too. the reasons given by the interviewees suggested that intercultural competence should be a part of foreign language teachers’ professional development for some reasons. the most frequently mentioned reason is that the students’ needs are changing in this globalized, multicultural world so are the competencies owned by the teachers. they stated that this competence is especially crucial if the teachers have students or colleagues with various cultural backgrounds. some of the teachers regarded intercultural competence as a way of dealing with problems caused by cultural differences in the class so they described it as a “must”. they also made a connection between intercultural competence and establishing effective relationships with students, which will lead to a better language education according to them. two of the teachers asserted that interculturally competent teachers have a role in enhancing the students’ language competence as well. the second question that was about the interviewees’ experiences on intercultural competence activities during their pre-service and in-service teacher training yielded a notable result. all of the eight teachers stated that they have never experienced such activities neither their pre-service nor in-service teacher training years. therefore, they expressed that it is a big deficiency in turkey in terms of teacher education so more emphasis should be given to intercultural competence raising activities and related courses in teacher education programs. one of the teachers drew an analogy between being a foreign language teacher and being a tailor – saying, “a teacher without intercultural competence is like a tailor without his/her scissors, nails and thread”. eventually, they concluded that being exposed to intercultural competence raising activities improves the teachers’ effectiveness in teaching by changing their perspectives about different cultures and languages. the last question of the interview asked the interviewees to put the given data collection methods of professional development in order to determine the best one. the first figure below shows the top three methods and the second figure shows the methods that were placed to the last priorities by the teachers: figure 1. ‘the best’ pd methods for icc figure 2. ‘the worst’ pd methods for icc the interviewees were also requested to elaborate on their reasons of ranking. the ones who opted for classroom observation method as the most effective way of collecting data to measure foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence gave similar reasons. they stated 50% 37% 13% classroom observation case analysis workshops 37% 25% 12% 13% 13% workshops team teaching self-monitoring peer-coaching action research https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 38 that seeing what is really happening in class is the best way as it provides objective, profound, and first-hand data to gain insights on this issue. the teachers who chose case analysis as the most effective method thought that it gives deeper understanding especially to overcome problems related to misunderstandings stemming from cultural differences. some interviewees also provided reasons for choosing workshops, self-monitoring, or team teaching as the least effective methods. they explained that attending to workshops is a passive process and it is generally useless when the gained knowledge is not put into practice. one of the teachers even said “workshops are to get training, not to gauge the development!”. another teacher stated that self-monitoring is not effective because “reflecting only on your own context and teaching may not be enough to develop your intercultural competence”. as a result, the majority of the teachers that were interviewed had similar ideas about the place of intercultural competence in foreign language teachers’ professional development. discussion and conclusion this study has explored foreign language teachers’ perceptions on the role of intercultural competence in their professional development. on the contrary to the previous research scope generally focusing on “how to teach target culture to students”, it was aimed at illustrating the effect of teacher’s own culture on his/her teaching, in connection with his/her professional development. moreover, it was shown that improving intercultural competent is a new and essential aspect of foreign language teachers’ professional development. the general findings from this study revealed that foreign language teachers regard intercultural competence as a part of their professional development. as put by one of the teachers, “language is a reflection of culture” so teaching a language should respond to students’ cultural needs as well. despite they tend to focus more on teaching the target culture in terms of materials, most of the teachers attempt to raise awareness for cultural diversities in their classroom contexts by taking differences into account. it shows that teachers guide their students to be “world-citizens” in this globalized world that does not need boundaries of language and culture any more. moreover, they consider intercultural competence as a way of promoting empathy towards people from various cultural backgrounds. according to them, intercultural competence for professional development means developing attitudes of openness and tolerance for different cultures rather than learning about abstract topics like history, geography or politics related to that culture. therefore, foreign language teachers should support creating environments that will enable the students to experience multiculturalism and to develop positive attitudes toward it. as another important aspect of intercultural competence, teachers believe that they have sufficient knowledge and experience about their own culture and the culture of target language. however, they do not have enough information and experience about their international students’ cultures, which may cause some misunderstandings and communication problems. thus, interacting with international people and being exposed to different cultures appear to be the primary need for both pre-service and in-service foreign language teachers. the effect of this deficiency can be seen through teachers’ perceptions about being familiar with different cultures for their professional development. the majority of teachers regard being able to cover the culture of target language (english) during teaching as more important than being able to address to the students’ own culture because they think it is more practical and useful https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 39 in language teaching. however, they seem to undermine the concept of elf, which requires students to learn how to negotiate with people from various cultures using english. similarly, most of the teachers regard themselves as being unfamiliar with their international students’ culture and even if some of them claim that they are familiar, they reflect the gap between theory and practice. in other words, the majority of the teachers do not have sufficient attempts to learn about different cultures and implementing their gains in their professions. yet, they agree on the importance of being familiar with their students’ home culture by regarding it as a way of avoiding misunderstandings in addition to building constructive teacher-student relationships. hence, it can be said that foreign language teachers appreciate friendly and diverse classroom settings as they promote language learning. the participant foreign language teachers in the present study mostly rely on technology to get into contact with foreign cultures of their international students. they have limited chance to socialize face-to-face with minority culture groups outside of the class as the living environment is nearly homogenous in terms of culture. however, the study revealed that even if there are no international students in a class, it is a necessity for foreign language teachers to have intercultural competence. we may relate this finding with “no child left behind act”, a law passed by u.s. act of congress (2002). this view aims to equalize the opportunities and facilities of every single student regardless of their socio-economic, language, and cultural distinctions. therefore, minority and majority distinctions lose its influence on education. the data revealed that approximately 5 to 15 % of the school population contains international students. although it is not an outstanding number, all of the participants of the study acknowledge the place of intercultural competence in their professional development. it was also found that the participant foreign language teachers’ understanding of ‘intercultural competence’ does not include the knowledge of daily life routines of international students. yet, when they were asked to indicate to what extent they deal with cultural aspects associated with international students, a great deal of them stated that they mostly deal with the daily routines and traditions of those international students. therefore, we can conclude that getting information about international students’ daily life is not the main purpose of the language teachers in terms of their intercultural competence development but it is only a way to make them aware, open and more tolerant to cultural differences. that is to say, getting enough knowledge associated with international students’ culture is a process that leads teachers toward being interculturally competent. on the other hand, the content of this grounding process does only include very general points of that culture such as daily routines, music, movies, traditions, etc. rather than specific details such literature, politics, and economics. this finding may also result from the content of commonly used teaching materials, which focus on social life. in addition, the participant teachers stated that, in a way, they integrate different cultures rather than the target language culture in their teachings especially using additional materials because as some of the teachers noted, cultural contents of the textbooks do not meet their expectations. the data also put light upon the positive influence of organizing multicultural activities on both the national and international students but as this aspect cannot be associated with teachers’ professional development, it was not given a special emphasis. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 40 another point that was revealed by the data is the importance of foreign language teachers’ and language learners’ understanding of their own culture. awareness and understanding of cultures are not limited into the majority and minority groups in the classrooms or the target language culture. rather, foreign language teachers should be trained about the integrity and sophistication. by doing so, language classes can be regarded as a melting pot where there is empathy, understanding, awareness, and openness. for this reason, the present study holds this aim of regarding intercultural competence as a part of teachers’ professional development. however, none of the interview respondents of the present study was exposed to intercultural competence training as a part of their professional development. the data findings reveal the gap in both teachers’ pre-service training and also in-service training. the respondents of the interview also regard this gap as a deficiency in their professional development. references avalos, b. (2011). teacher professional development in teaching and teacher education over ten years. teaching and teacher education, 27(1), 10-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.08.007 byram, m., gribkova, b., & starkey, h. (2002). developing the intercultural dimension in language teaching. strasbourg: council of europe, 41. byram, m., & risager, k. (1999). language teachers, politics and cultures. multilingual matters. deardorff, d. k. (2009). implementing intercultural competence assessment. the sage handbook of intercultural competence, 477-491. desimone, l. m. (2009). improving impact studies of teachers’ professional development: toward better conceptualizations and measures. educational researcher, 38(3), 181199. diaz-maggioli, g. (2004). a passion for learning: teacher-centered professional development. alexandria, va: association for supervision and curriculum development. diaz-maggioli, g. h. (2003). professional development for language teachers. eric digest no. edofl-03-03. retrieved november 12, 2016, from http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0303diaz.html duff, p. a., & uchida, y. (1997). the negotiation of teachers' sociocultural identities and practices in postsecondary efl classrooms. tesol quarterly, 31(3), 451-486. jimei, x. (2002). a report on investigating the college english teachers' knowledge of and beliefs in foreign language education and their roles in teaching, researching and professional development [j]. foreign language world, 5. qiang, g. x. w. (2003). reflective teaching: an effective approach to enhancing efl teachers' professional development [j]. foreign language education, 2. sercu, l. (2004). assessing intercultural competence: a framework for systematic test development in foreign language education and beyond. intercultural education, 15(1), 73-89. sercu, l. (2006). the foreign language and intercultural competence teacher: the acquisition of a new professional identity. intercultural education, 17(1), 55-72. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.08.007 http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0303diaz.html journal of culture and values in education volume 4, issue 2, 2021 gazioğlu, m. & güner, b. foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence as a new aspect of professional development journal of culture and values in education 2021 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 41 sparks, d. (2002). designing powerful staff development for teachers and principals. oxford, oh: national staff development council. yi-an, w. u. (2008). a study of effective efl teachers' professional development [j]. foreign languages research, 3. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 44 rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community imandeep k. grewal* amanda maher hanna watters donacal clemens kaitlyn webb eastern michigan university *corresponding author: igrewal@emich.edu received : 2019-08-01 revision : 2019-11-15 accepted : 2019-11-22 how to cite this paper: grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community. journal of culture and values in education, 2(3),44-60. abstract in this article, we present the intertwining stories of a teacher education learning community that is (re)writing the current dehumanizing narrative of standardization, crisis mongering, and the survival-of-the-fittest ethos that continue to harm our learners, teachers, and communities. we argue that when teacher education candidates are repositioned from consumers of theory and methods to inquirers of practice, their collectively constructed knowledge not only illuminates locally significant issues but also disrupts institutional hierarchies. drawing from narrative inquiry theory and a collaborative methodical approach, we—a teacher education lecturer and students—share our personal stories of learning together in a required teacher education course and practicum placement at a local high school. bringing together conceptions of voice, human capability, and “place,” we provide a layered framework to understand pedagogical practices that operate to unravel systems of standardization and hyper-individualism. our inquiry approach, public narration, and our democratization of knowledge serve as an example of teacher education pedagogy with a disruptive agenda. keywords: narrative inquiry, voice, teacher education, humanizing education introduction joyful. loving. nurturing. when one thinks about the united states public school system, these are not the affective qualities that come to mind. rather, policy makers, corporate reformers, and the media wield marshalled statistics and inundate the public with messages of failure, crisis, and decline. these voices warn that the nation is losing its competitive edge on the global front, and their dominant narrative alludes to ambiguous enemies and advances metaphors of warfare. educational reformers justify their subsequent agendas by preying on these manufactured fears, demonizing schools and encouraging a narrow-minded focus on individual survival. a person’s viability equates to their presumed economic competitiveness and is mailto:igrewal@emich.edu journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 45 measured by the quantification of their knowledge. it is a race (the american recovery and reinvestment act, 2009) where only those deemed the fittest will survive. written out of this narrative are compassion, justice, and interconnected identities, and ultimately, standardization regimes are a war against our humanity. we have come to believe that teacher education programs that adopt a human capabilities approach are grounded in place, value voice, and can serve as spaces of cultural transformation and counter-hegemonic disruption. reclaiming our humanity our purpose for our inquiry projects stems from the belief that stories of lived experiences— when shared and honored alongside others—have the power to shift narratives (clandinin, 2013). in order to rewrite the causes harmed by standardization, we share our own stories. iman begins her narrative: “as a product of the traditional educational system, i had completely ‘bought’ into the purpose and process of teaching. the purpose: give students a ‘good’ education so they can get into a ‘good’ college which will get them a ‘good’ job allowing them to live a ‘good’ life. ‘good’ in this context is implicitly assumed to be a measure of wealth. the process: ‘teach’ clearly defined, standardized, sequential series of facts/skills in silos of distinct subject areas and ‘objectively measure’ student achievement in each subject area. “the first day of class each semester during the first decade of my teaching in a teacher preparation program were relatively fixed, almost prescriptive: syllabus; attendance; introductions; questions and answers. a significant portion of the first day of meeting the new group of students was spent pouring over the course expectations: required textbooks; list of assignments–how many points for each, was there a rubric to lay out a clear path to earning an a; attendance policy; and due dates. term after term, the first day, much like the term itself, had a linear predictability. we, the students and i, were engaged in the serious work of ‘teaching and learning.’ my job was to ensure that i ‘delivered’ the entire expanse of content and ‘objectively measured’ student learning through assignments and tests. the students’ job was to follow the schedule, be attentive during lectures, complete tasks by the due date, and accept the grade they received as a valid determinant of their ability to become teachers. this routine remained relatively fixed irrespective of the uniqueness of each new group in the classroom and the changing world outside the classroom.” iman, an experienced educator and university instructor, shares a story that illustrates what giroux (2015) called “a pedagogy of repression,” defined as pedagogy that “kills the imagination, sanctions a deadening mode of memorization, and instills in students that discipline necessary for them to accommodate willingly to existing power relations at the expense of developing their capacity to be critical and engaged agents” (p. xii). most of us are causalities of this pedagogy, but we know no other way. as a result, many educators adopt teaching practices that continue the cycle of repression and curtail voice. when educators fail to provide conditions that value voice, they deny students their humanity (couldry, 2010). journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 46 one day, iman had a moment of clarity. she recalls: “i don’t know if this has ever happened to you. i began my class as i have done more times than i care to count, but a minute into class everything changed. it was as if for all these years i had been teaching with my eyes closed and now i had opened my eyes. seemingly out of nowhere i had an ‘aha’ moment. it was as if all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place and i could see the picture in its entirety. while the students and i shared stories and laughter, but as soon as i took my position at the front of the room there was a significant shift in dynamics. i saw the students’ retreat into themselves, their faces turning blank. it is in these moments that i realized that while i had taken great care to build some kind of connectedness with my students, i had not extended it to my teaching. i had never really taught in a way that challenged reproductive, hierarchical forms of pedagogy. a new chapter in my life began.” because teacher-student roles are reinforced across instructional and institutional settings, resisting these hierarchal structures and their ideological underpinnings is challenging work. pedagogy grounded in place challenges notions of these fixed roles across schools and communities, and begins with the cultivation of belonging (lowenstein, grewal, erkaeva, nielson, & voelker, 2018). it is from a sense of belonging that students can flourish and develop their capabilities as humans—of what they can do and what they can be (walker, 2005). reclaiming humanity also involves cultivating social resources that value and support voice. according to couldry (2010), voice is a socially grounded, reflexive process that affords an individual the ability “to give an account of the world in which they act” (p. 91). this is not form of individualism; rather, it involves “exchanging narratives back and forth between our past and present selves, and between us and others” (p. 8). bringing together conceptions of voice, human capability, and place, we provide a layered framework to understand pedagogical practices that operate to unravel the harms of standardization (see figure 1). it is accepted practice that scholarly studies begin with a research question and a defense grounded in formal knowledge, but inquiry grounded in the narrative process, argued clandinin (2013), is justified in the context of lived experiences and is inspired by personal puzzles. by framing our work with our own personal struggles, institutional tensions, and wonderings, we recognize that we are challenging dominant research expectations and disrupting the hierarchizing of knowledge. rejecting conventional research methods that seek to discover themes, answers, and underlying social patterns, we assert that our inquiry project is as much about our being and becoming as it is about the applications of a place-based informed teacher education course. by adopting a narrative design, we engage in the “story phenomenon” of living, telling, retelling and reliving (p. 34). in the writing of our stories—our life histories in context—we interrupt the roles that have been ascribed to us, and our stories become an expression of selfhood (goodson, 2013). in this process of re-storying ourselves, clandinin (2013) added, there is the potential to challenge institutional, social, and cultural narratives that limit our voice and narrow the possibilities of qualitative transformation. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 47 our narrative method is grounded in the construct of inquiry as stance (cochran-smith & lytle, 1999). we adopt this lens and positionality towards our teaching and inquiry because it challenges problematic perspectives that view knowledge generation as discrete from knowledge as practice, a division that creates a hierarchy of knowers, thinkers, and doers. as research-practitioners, we embrace cochran-smith and lytle’s assertion that “knowledge making” is a “pedagogic act—constructed in the context of use, intimately connected to the knower” (p. 272). a primary purpose behind practitioner inquiry is the “democratization of knowledge,” which campano, ghiso, and sanchez (2013) assert begins with the principle that those in a context are in a position to examine themselves in that context. this stand is contextually meaningful, and campano et al.’s own practitioner-researcher inquiry project demonstrated the emancipatory impact on their students. while knowledge is constructed collectively, this transformative potential reaches beyond the local. narratives of knowledgemaking inform the theorizing of practice while also connecting to the work of other educators and communities of inquiry (cochran-smith & lytle, 1999). our methodological approach is deeply personal, but we make our stories public with the aim that they will intertwine with other stories across time and space and amplify a shared sense of mutual agency. figure 1. a chart of humanizing pedagogical shifts that challenge methods of standardization. methodologies: the process of learning and becoming with others standardization humanness uniformity/standardized uniqueness/diversity fixed constantly adapting/evolving hyper-individualistic community/collective predictable highly variable controllable encourages open-mindedness quantifiable defies reduction to numbers; best expressed through stories focused on skills and content knowledge grounded in relationships relies on segregation: of subject areas from each other of emotions from intellect of school from community of learning from living of nature from learning expressed in interconnectedness of learning, living, and feeling learning and teaching are separate processes. teaching and learning are part of the same developmental and ongoing process. intelligence and capability are well defined and students fall on a spectrum. all students are uniquely intelligent and capable passive empowered focused on creating inequality and division prioritizes equality and dignity hierarchical democratic competitive collaborative values compliance and silence expressed in dialogue journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 48 roles and positionalities collectively, we identify as a community of inquiry. one member of our community is the university instructor of a required social foundations course for all students aspiring for teaching certification, and three other research practitioners were students enrolled in that course. another author is a doctoral candidate and methods lecturer in the teacher education department who has ties to the department’s newly developed place-based teacher education program, next. we formally came together in the fall of 2018, but our inquiry has no definite bookends. in addition, our classroom and methodological practices were not bound by space, activity, or time, and both the course and the inquiry project organically evolved as our individual and collective puzzles emerged. with no real starting point, narrative inquiry begins when the researcher comes “alongside the participant” (clandinin, 2013, p. 34). while more equalitarian than other traditional research modes of inquiry, it still assumes a researcherparticipant relationship where the participant is an anonymous object of study. by adopting an inquiry-as-stance position, we reject the novice-expert distinction that splinters the democratizing of knowledge (cochran-smith & lytle, 1999), and for our inquiry project, we identified as a learning community who came alongside one another. more concerned with human flourishing than conformity, we did not name a primary investigator; we positioned ourselves as co-researcher practitioners and named the teacher education students as authors. our narrative is a tapestry of our individual voices. the setting: a living classroom “flipping the focus from standardization and academic achievement to nurturing and supporting the humanness of students felt like a necessary disruption after my ‘aha moment.’ the first day of class post-awakening still includes an attendance and syllabus but with significant repurposing. the priority, on the first day and throughout the semester, is to create spaces and experiences shaped by humanness. this means a syllabus that has clearly stated outcomes while also allowing each unique group to determine their unique path; it means coconstruction of projects and papers; it means getting out of the classroom; it means replacing lecture with dialogue and experiences; it means individualizing assessment and goals; it means focusing on creating meaningful growth; it means being flexible and adapting throughout the term; and most importantly, it means placing love and community in the center of my teaching and learning.” iman began the semester with more puzzles than answers, but she was committed to humanizing her classroom. rather than having a list of prescribed activities, the course evolved as iman carefully guided students through the necessary pedagogical shifts (lowenstein et al., 2018) when connection to place is the goal. iman co-taught this class as part of a block course that included a curriculum course and a course on social foundations. students completed the required 30 pre-service hours of the practicum course at the local high school. the school district has a very complex history after being forced to merge with a neighboring district. for many of the university students, who mostly identified as white, it was their first time in a predominately african american or “urban” school. shortly after arriving at the school on the journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 49 first visit, a fire drill forced everyone to leave the building. the exit was orderly and pre-service students mingled among high school students. later, a university student mentioned, “this school is nothing like i thought it would be. it is clean and much nicer and the kids are happy.” these short sentences triggered a series of reflections and dialogue, mostly around assumptions and deficit thinking. students agreed that they had a lot to learn about not only the students but also their community. collectively, the instructors and students imagined a summative project that involved students spending time in the community’s neighborhoods. the aim was for the university students to begin to understand—even in a limited way—the lived experiences of the high school students and have the opportunity to grasp how complex histories and current practices interact to shape the destinies of the high school students they worked with during their placements. as the vision of the project began to gain momentum, iman arranged for a local historian to take the class on a walking history tour of the city. he was intrigued by the project and offered to share his wisdom. he divided the school district into meaningful zones and educated the students about the unique history of each zone. students self-selected into seven groups and each group chose the zone they would investigate. another community member—an activist and art educator—was also invited to work with the students as they gave shape to this project. she suggested that students tell the story of their selected zone through photographs. the university students also arranged to share stories of their community project over a shared meal with high school students from the partnering practicum classrooms. throughout the semester-long project, groups were given time in class to plan and reflect, and at the conclusion of the course, students publicly shared the stories of the different neighborhoods. a tapestry of voices members of the learning community narrated their experiences of the course and the summative community project. iman narrates: “shifting the purpose of my teaching was relatively smooth, shifting the process not so much. i am after all a product of the traditional educational system, only just becoming aware of how deeply socialized i am to conform, to be compliant, be silent, and in essence to reproduce a hierarchical, profit-driven system. for years, i had seen how few black and brown students were in my class term after term, and when they were in my class, i did notice how they sat on the periphery, often in isolation. i noticed how passive and checked out my students were. i noticed but did nothing. and then the fog started to lift, and i was determined to change. i was the starting point of this particular disruption.” journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 50 figure 2. an example of the neighborhood storytelling project. this space is not defined by race donacal is an aspiring secondary social studies teacher. he recounts: “during the first week of class, we participated in multiple icebreakers that allowed the group to get to know each other in a non-traditional way. we also established group norms and classroom expectations to guide the curriculum in a way that was relevant to everyone in our community. these norms and expectations were not created to be the basis of group development, but rather reference points to help form interactions between students. from day one, it was never a dull moment in class, and there was always food—even for vegans like me. food became a ritual that aligned with our needs, and having these needs met every morning was refreshing and energizing. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 51 “as we moved though the semester, the course began to revolve around our summative project. the name of the project had actually been changed quite frequently throughout the semester, and it was still seen as one of the most confusing projects that we were assigned all year. this was true, well at least until it was finalized, and i saw its purpose. the photo voice project has to be one of the most engaging and inclusive class group projects that i have ever participated in during my time here at emu. building that sense of community within the classroom prior to introducing the project was instrumental in making this shared experience inclusive. although this may seem impossible with me being the token black male in the class at the time, my peers’ level of cultural competency helped me feel comfortable in classroom sessions throughout the semester. this culture of care within our learning community became so strong that almost every student felt empowered and encouraged enough to participate in class discussions. “what had become ingrained in our weekly sessions closely resembled that of what we read in class about ‘humanness.’ this concept was manifested in many ways as the class went on. one of the most valuable forms it took was that of emotional vulnerability. being able to share tears, laughs, smiles, and frowns without thinking twice is what i believe ultimately connected us in a way that we will never forget. just the thought of college students going their entire semester without knowing the name of the person they sit next to has now become weird to me. who knew that a non-traditional classroom setting would impact us socially and emotionally? i know for a fact that i hadn’t a clue. this was obviously something that the majority of us had experienced for the first time. however, this would not be the last time my fellow classmates and me would have the opportunity to connect on this level either. “this course highlighted how excluded i felt in my other courses. it’s not taboo for someone like me to be the only black student within most classes in my field, but the thought of my exclusion being predetermined is what bothers me the most. this absence of belonging and cultural competency in these traditional classrooms is mentally draining for someone like me and does nothing to promote the inclusion of all students’ perspectives/experiences. in most cases i am invisible and can easily be overlooked by professors and students alike. during my sophomore year, i had the courage to ask my professor about his views on the upcoming presidential election, and then my professor used a slew of derogatory terms to describe and insult a man who i believed to be a prominent figure in the black community. ben carson was still running a 2016 presidential campaign, and my professor’s response to him announcing his campaign was that ‘he’s out his cotton-picking mind.’ this not only left me speechless, but it also had me looking around the classroom for confirmation of what i just heard and to see if anyone that represented the majority would speak up and say something. nope, not a soul called the professor out, and instead awkward silence filled the room for a brief moment and it finally hit me that i was alone. i felt alone, disempowered and hopeless. after that display of exclusion, it was as if i was completely invisible.” donacal’s lived experiences capture the racialized contradictions of black men in historically white institutions of higher education (smith, hung, & franklin, 2011). on one hand, african american males are promised a piece of the american dream if they go to college and work journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 52 hard, but donacal’s experience is an example of a racialized microaggression that causes him to feel invisible and voiceless. smith et al. (2011) argue that the regularity of microaggressions—“subtle verbal and nonverbal insults directed at people of color”—across universities create climates that produce racial battle fatigue among black men (p. 67). donacal reflects this hopelessness, but iman’s course was different. it provided a space of healing and empowerment for donacal. he adds: “another incident occurred while taking iman’s course when we were visiting our local high school. upon arrival, a faculty member came into the class to speak with us about restorative practices and how it has helped increase students’ overall performance in school. however, while speaking about the demographics of a predominately black school in relation to the racial occupation of ypsilanti and detroit, he used the phrase ‘white flight.’ although i did not react immediately, it also made me wonder if the same terminology would have been used if our class had been predominantly black. i think not! i knew in this course, i had the power to take this up with iman and the rest of the class, and the next day we got in a circle and discussed this issue and how it made me feel excluded. instead of doing what was scheduled in the syllabus, we addressed an issue that i believed threatened our beloved community. knowing that several students caught what was said as well and knew it was wrong was invigorating. thus, having the support of my professor and fellow classmates felt empowering and helped me navigate through this injustice easily. in comparison to the incident explained earlier, this feeling of isolation was countered by community engagement. with that being said, after being excluded in spaces due to my race for so long, it felt amazing to finally be included in a learning community.” figure 3. document of student reflection. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 53 vulnerability in education does not equal weakness hanna is an aspiring secondary integrated science teacher. she reflects: “bravery is not something i often associated with learning. theatre maybe, sports for sure, debate—i suppose, but the classroom is never a space i imagined could be for bravery. that was until i was asked to be brave. i hadn’t yet experienced any form of relationship-building in college. i had met professors who would joke around with me and laugh, some who may remember my name, a few who i even still go to their office hours for help in other classes, but none like my edps 322 professor, iman grewal. she intentionally forged relationships with all her students so that they had someone they could rely on, someone they could come to, and someone they knew would support them through anything. this was something i saw on occasion with a few of my high school teachers, but never in college, nor to this extent of effort. it was such a change, going from the construct of an education system that was cold and distant to one that was warm and safe and open. a part of me didn’t want to put in the effort because of the way i was conditioned, but it was so rewarding to become a part of such a community. then, i became even more fortunate when i was enrolled in a block class with iman and another instructor, ethan lowenstein. “i didn’t always know i wanted to be an educator. like many adolescents, all i knew was that i wanted to help people. i quickly discovered that i wasn’t able to adequately fulfill this want considering that i needed help myself. people who took one look at the cover of my story immediately drew conclusions about who i was as a person and my capability. a poor girl, with no family, nor any footsteps to follow in, many people saw me as incompetent. i thought i knew who i was and who i wanted to be, but i was not spared the ability to be easily impressionable and was convinced that everyone knew better than me. that there was nothing i could amount to that was of any value. that i was not only ‘at risk’ but that i myself was a risk. no use watering a flower that won’t grow. i did grow, though. time and time again of opening myself up, letting people see me as more that what i was preconceived to be, gave me the power to live a life that was worth pursuing.” having experienced homelessness in her youth, hanna’s schools ascribed to her a position of “less than,” and the weaponizing toll of deficit ideology—often used to blame and shame children living in poverty (gorski, 2016)— eroded her feelings of self-worth and confidence. for hanna, her teacher education course became a space of healing and courage. she adds: “iman not only gave me the courage to be brave, but they also offered me guidance, compassion, and the acknowledgement that i was valid and valued. the class was nothing like i had imagined an actual class could be. it was exactly the environment that set students up for success. the type of success that isn’t measured by test scores or grades, but instead is reflected in effort, commitment, passion, and a level of intrinsic motivation that can only be found in worthwhile teachers. it became a space where i felt known, competent, and safe enough to be vulnerable and tell my story in a way that revealed parts of myself i never had before. these acts of personal exposure did not come without struggle. i contested the idea of journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 54 being honest to someone about things i had been taught to feel ashamed of. the life i had grown up in did not allow for much imperfection, stemming from the shear societal fact that because i lived in poverty, i was already diseased with the flaws of a world lacking luxuries. discussing the actuality of my life with no guarantee of comfort or empathy was a new type of terror i hadn’t yet endured. the fear was pacified, though, by the respect and trust that had been composed by the kindness and understanding from the individuals i shared my experiences with. i had to be intentional with my bravery, considering how high stakes it is in our culture to show weakness. vulnerability is often shunned, and those who display acts of vulnerability are commonly treated as outcasts. this new environment, though, grew to be a place that fostered humanity and love in a way i had never known, through the use of norms, conversation, facilitated prompts, and the nurturing of basic needs—like food and love. “we began the first day of classes with community-building activities and the introduction of ‘papers.’ iman and ethan were adamant that we not call them ‘assignments,’ and they would not be graded by points. i recall there was one with a vastly long and intimidating title ending in ‘community engagement.’ i wasn’t quite sure what it meant then, or the level in which it would change what the class would become. this project was intended to allow us prospect teachers to become a part of the community where the students whom we were observing belonged to. the underlying principle was that in order to teach students in a valuable and authentic way, you have to truly know your students, and one of the most effective ways to do that is by understanding the communities they belong to. i remember thinking that i was too much of a stranger to them that i wouldn’t make a difference. that these students probably couldn’t care less if a group of young adults, who were using their school as a checkpoint on their way to their careers, put in effort to become part of their world. i was wrong. “the walk with the local historian was jarring to say the least. our university, even though it is in ypsilanti and very close to our placements, is very separate from the communities that belong there. not many of us knew much about this area unless we grew up close by. a lot of us had our own personal biases and had formed judgements largely based on rumors about the city. changing these notions began with first admitting that we had them and then replacing them with the truth. while walking with the historian, i was in awe of the amount of information that this one man had about a place i didn’t know had so much history. i felt something for this city and its people, that made me want to learn more and more. having this experience with the whole class gave us all something to bond over. i could feel us stitching together experiences and fabricating our own community. simply being outside of the classroom didn’t make learning feel so forced. it gave us an opportunity to be human and alive. i could say it really was a breath of fresh air. upon returning and reflecting, it became obvious that i wasn’t the only one who knew very little about this city. everyone discovered a newfound interest in this project, even though there still wasn’t a clear-cut design to what i was going to be. “after sectioning off and separating into groups, we had a goal for our zone: to tell the story of our community. this goal in itself is so very different than any other type of learning i had done in any of my classes. ‘story?’ ‘community?’ these words were based in humanity, based in the experiences of other people, something that was not traditionally associated with the journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 55 education system unless it was 9th grade english class and the people you were learning about had no effect on your life. this project was real; the pain, struggle, strength, achievement, and power of these communities was real. we discovered this first hand in our section as we talked with business owners, community members, librarians, residents, etc. everyone seemed so invested in the city and their role in it, that i could feel myself longing for the same type of community wherever i end up teaching. i realized the true value that relationships held to these people and the level of vulnerability you had to be willing to display in order to truly bond with individuals. “soon, the project became about telling these stories through pictures. it was a debate between what held truth and what was being told, between strength and deficit, between humanity and machinery. we wanted to fight for the truth of these communities because we as individuals knew what it was like for people to see you how they wanted to. we all experienced being told we were something we weren’t, and we channeled that into this project. in order to go into these neighborhoods and view these areas with unbiased eyes, we had to not only face our own flaws but understand the labels that people put on these communities and how they have affected them. finally, we had an opportunity to make amends for all the times we let ourselves feed into the rumors and gossip that flows from a society and culture that looks down on the telling of stories and the manifesting of uncomfortable places. we were able to start a chain reaction of stories and experiences about the real ypsilanti communities and the assets they held. together we discovered a community that fought for its members, that supported its students, that had a voice and used it to cling to values that were threatened to be taken from them. we found communities cemented in strength. “when we were finally able to share the stories of ypsilanti, we were taken aback by how much of a community we had become in the semester we had been together. we discovered the level of acknowledgement some of the students at the high school we were observing at felt, knowing that we put in this effort to understand them, their communities, and where they came from. seeing others valuing them, gave them more reason to value themselves and to hold outsiders accountable for what they don’t know. a lot of the things that i learned, i couldn’t tell you the exact moment of learning them like i could in most classes. they were processes, they were meaningful, and these lessons are ingrained in me through experience. i had to be vulnerable, brave, reflective, open-minded, critical, and adaptive in order to achieve such success with this project.” journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 56 figure 4. an example of the neighborhood storytelling project. the deconstruction of a traditional classroom katie is an aspiring secondary social studies teacher with a focus on history. she narrates: “when one thinks of education, the common thought process usually involves a few things. a small classroom loaded with two dozen or so desks, bored students, and an overworked, very tired teacher standing at the front lecturing about this or that. all the while, either party is gaining nothing of apparent value. sure, the information is arguably important and the knowledge that comes with it will ultimately do the students some good, especially for those who intend to continue through academia, but what about what’s underneath? the people behind titles and the children behind the names you check off your attendance sheet: what about their humanity? their thoughts? their feelings? well, when i first entered this learning environment and was given this question, i did not have an answer. in fact, all i had was an apprehensive approach from years and years of being taught that your ‘feelings’ were checked at the door whenever you entered a classroom. “i will admit, i did resist. i rolled my eyes when i was told that we would be tasked with ‘engaging in the community’ and that this would be one of our major ‘projects’ for the semester. it left me thinking, ‘this isn’t my home, this isn’t my community, why should i?’ all i wanted was to get my grade and move on. no friends, no relationships, nothing, just get in and get out. but i learned almost immediately that this was not going to happen. on day one, iman had us get into groups and asked us to do something. she asked us to share some of the key points in our journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 57 life, 3 or 4 events that we thought made us, well, ‘us.’ in other words, she asked us to be vulnerable with strangers. this was a completely terrifying prospect; yet, i decided that maybe she was onto something so i went for it. i opened myself up to a handful of strangers and, in turn, opened myself up to something incredibly special. “as our class continued, i found that this ‘community engagement’ was more than just your typical project. we were not only expected to go into the community and take a few pictures, we were expected to actually get to know it. it started with a local historian who helped to open my eyes to the tension between the community and the school i had lived at for the past four years but had not called home. it continued when, about halfway through the project, there was a realization that the project needed to change. through dialogue, discussion, and a bit of vulnerability from both our professor and ourselves, we changed it. it became something more than just some vague ‘get involved with the community’ type of thing to a purpose of changing the narrative. “after we were broken up into groups, we chose sections of the city and were sent to photograph places that added value to it. thankfully, with the help of some of the local high school students, we were able to pinpoint the places that they deemed were important. places like parks, restaurants, stores, and areas that they felt were the strengths of the city. because of the nature of this project, this was not something that could be done in a day. this project spanned the course of several days of getting to know our little section of the community until we had enough to create some sort of display of all of our images and tell our story. “for me, part of that story was about getting to know myself while getting to know the city. to further explain, i had never been very far off of campus until i was assigned this project. i believed the myths that i had been fed, myths that the city was dangerous and that the nicest part of it was the eastern michigan campus. but the more we explored, the more i found those assumptions to be wrong. there was a little library that turned out to be wonderfully rich in information, a local almost hole-in-the-wall restaurant had some of the best food i’d ever eaten, and the kids that i thought could not have cared less about us did care because we cared about them first and listened to stories about their experiences and lives in their community.” as katie discovers, community engagement and storytelling is more about self-reflection than it is about the learning about the “other.” deconstruction of our worldviews and system of binaries are critical to community and collective empowerment (westboy & dowling, 2010), and as katie crosses physical and socially-manufactured boundaries, she recognizes that her constructed notions of rich/poor and college campus/urban community are limiting and harmful to our collective power. she comes to realize that by understanding “them,” she came to understand herself, and she recounts her revelation: “to put it plainly, i found out that i was wrong. everything i thought i knew about ypsilanti, everything i thought i knew about the way a class could be conducted, and everything i thought i would take away from this class was wrong. but i found that i was grateful for it. i was grateful for the ability to be uncomfortable, to be vulnerable in a space where i should not have been journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 58 able to do so. that vulnerability allowed me to make stronger connections with every single aspect of this project. this includes the people i had the pleasure to work with, all of whom are people i believe i will be friends with for years. if i have learned anything, it is that sometimes things have to break in order to grow back stronger. whether this is a personal preconception, an ambitious but complex project, or a poster board you mistakenly trip over, sometimes things need to change in order to become what they are meant to be.” figure 5. an example of the neighborhood storytelling project. discussion freire (1974) emphasized that transformative praxis begins with the stories of everyday life experiences, and our stories are grounded in a common theme—we were all wounded by school (olson, 2009). donacal described feeling “invisible,” and hanna said she felt that teachers often saw her as “incompetent” and “a risk.” these are the wounds of numbness and underestimation, and olson (2009) added that school wounds make students feel less courageous in their learning. we add that these wounds also make us less courageous in our teaching, and our healing journey—as university educators, scholars, and students—involved narrating, contextualizing, and understanding our wounds. just like young learners, trusting relationships are imperative for adult learning and transformation (drago-severson, 2009), and by fostering a culture of trust, we became brave in our learning, courageous in our defiance of our internalized expectations, and empowered by our vulnerabilities. our stories are more than a recounting of personal and collective healing; they are emblematic of a system that devalues diversity, creates deficit, and erodes human capabilities. in addition to narrating our own journey of belonging and becoming, our stories also illustrate humanizing theory in action. an educator’s political clarity regarding the success-failure methods of schooling are a significant precursor to pedagogical change (bartolomè, 2009). journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 59 iman described her clarity as an “aha moment,” and from there she made a transformative shift from “a narrow and mechanistic view of instruction to one that is broader in scope and takes into consideration the sociohistorical and political dimensions of education” (p. 340). bartolomè (2009) argued that this shift is a necessary first step towards humanizing pedagogies that equalize power relations and cultivate democratizing spaces. rejecting one-size-fits-all notions of traditional methods and expected teacher-student roles, we embarked on pedagogies of place-making (westboy & dowling, 2010). community educators westboy and dowling proposed that this transformative approach begins at the microlevel and involves the nurturing of interpersonal relationships through dialogue. identifying as a community of inquiry, we naturally began with dialogue. we also ate together, and the sharing of food became a loving act of communion. food was an important element to our bonding process of place-making. at the mezzo level, place-making moves from personal relationships to purposeful action groups and involves going public with inquiries. there is no playbook or syllabus for banding, and as our negotiated neighborhood project organically grew, some students reported feelings that the journey was “confusing” and destabilizing. but westboy and dowling (2010) provided assurance that the “method in the madness” (p. 65) leads to clarity and the formation of stronger bonds across groups, and as we progressed in our storytelling, we formed bonds with high school students, community activists, and members of our neighborhoods. we also found clarity in banding with others, but neither our culminating sense of awareness nor the end of our semester mark the conclusion of our story. we continue to be focused on building sustainable partnerships and bridging with other teacher education initiatives and community organizations. by going public with the narration of our stories, we are deeply committed to the “profoundly humanizing process of co-creation” (p. 27). conclusion iman concludes: “my disruptive journey has been slow, peppered with failure, cemented by bravery, wrapped in love, buoyed by laughter, nourished with food, protected by caring relationships, inspired by radical shifts in thinking, set back with self-doubt, motivated by clarity of purpose, and sustained by the growing empowerment and confident voices of my co-learners/my coteachers.” joyful. loving. nurturing. together, our evolving narratives reflect a transformative impulse emanating from within self and within the institution. as hanna adds to the narrative, “creating mutualism through vulnerability helped me feel authentic, human, and real. this is the first time i ever felt as though my story was worth telling.” when teacher educators and aspiring teachers create learning communities that are grounded in “place” and value voice and the democratization of knowledge, they have the power to humanize classrooms and repair the wounds caused by the weapons of standardization. this is only the beginning of our story, and our learning and inquiry initiative is continuing to rewrite the narrative in our teacher education program, local schools, and communities. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 grewal, i. k., maher, a., watters, h., clemens, d., & webb, k. (2019). rewriting teacher education: food, love, and community 60 references the american recovery and reinvestment act of 2009, pub. l. 111-5 (2009). bartolomè, l. i. (2009). beyond the methods fetish: towards a humanizing pedagogy. in a. darder, m. p. baltodano, & r. d. torres (eds.), the critical pedagogy reader (2nd ed.) (pp. 338-355). new york, ny: routledge. campano, g., ghiso, m. p., & sanchez, l. (2013). “nobody knows the…amount of a person”: elementary students critiquing dehumanization through organic critical literacies. research in the teaching of english, 48(1), 98-125. clandinin, d. j. (2013). engaging in narrative inquiry. walnut creek, ca: left coast press. cochran-smith, m., & lytle, s. (1999). relationships of knowledge and practice: teacher learning in communities. review of research in education, 24, 249-305. couldry, n. (2010). why voice matters: culture, politics, and neoliberalism. washington, dc: sage. drago-severson, e. (2009). leading adult learning: supporting adult learning in our schools. thousand oaks, ca: corwin publishing. freire, p. (1974/2014). educating for critical consciousness. new york, ny: bloomsbury. giroux, h. a. (2015). education and the crisis of public values (2nd ed.). new york, ny: peter lang. goodson, i. f. (2013). developing narrative theory. new york, ny: routledge. lowenstein, e., grewal, i. k., erkaeva, n., nielson, r., & voelker, l. (2018). place-based-teacher education: a model whose time has come. issues in teacher education, 27(2), 36-53. olson, k. (2009). wounded by school: recapturing the joy in learning and standing up to old school culture. new york, ny: teachers college press. smith, w. a., hung, m., & franklin, j. d. (2011). racial battle fatigue and the miseducation of black men: racial microagressions, societal problems, and environmental stress. the journal of negro education, 80(1), pp. 63-82. walker, m. (2005). amarya sen’s capability approach and education. educational action research, 13(1), pp. 103-11 westboy, p., & dowling, g. (2009). dialogical community development: with depth, solidarity and hospitality. west end, australia: tefina press. journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 2 2023 pp. 1-17 adoption of fourth industrial revolution: challenges in south african higher education institutions stellah lubingaa, tafadzwa clementine maramura*b, tyanai masiyaa * corresponding author email: maramuratc@ufs.ac.za a. university of pretoria, school of public management and administration, lynnwood rd, hatfield, pretoria, south africa b. university of the free state, south africa, department of public administration and management, nelson mandela avenue, bloemfontein, south africa article info received: october 10, 2022 accepted: december 29, 2022 published: march 2, 2023 how to cite lubinga, s., maramura, t. c., & masiya, t. (2023). adoption of fourth industrial revolution: challenges in south african higher education institutions. journal of culture and values in education, 6(2), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.5 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract the fourth industrial revolution (4ir) adoption in south africa in higher education institutions (heis) has yet to be consistent. despite the extensive literature on the possible contributions of technology to learners’ development, there is a lack of knowledge on barriers to the higher education sector's adoption of the fourth industrial revolution (4ir) to support teaching and learning. the most highly ranked universities in south africa have somewhat embraced the 4ir, representing only a fraction of the 26 public universities in the country. the study identified factors hindering the adoption and diffusion of 4ir technologies in south africa’s heis. to address this knowledge gap, we relied on the diffusion of innovation theory as a guide. using a qualitative approach, we collected data using documentary reviews and analyses of authoritative sources to conceptualise and contextualise 4ir. the findings revealed that 4ir adoption is not only about perceptions but is also influenced by material obstacles like conflicting global views on the 4ir, complexity in conceptualising 4ir, and the digital skills gap in heis, among other factors. to address these obstacles and realise the value of 4ir in heis, institutions must understand the educational scope associated with 4ir. this can be achieved by conducting more empirical research on the implications of 4ir on the education sector. to address the digital skills gap, institutions must design detailed skills plans to respond to their respective institutions' technological needs, redesign their pedagogical approaches by extending current practices to 4ir, and implement change management. keywords fourth industrial revolution; higher education institutions; pedagogy; digital skills gap. 10.46303/jcve.2023.5 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.5 2 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 introduction the fourth industrial revolution (4ir) movement is responsible for increased data volumes, advanced algorithms, artificial intelligence (ai), and automation and robotics being implemented in higher education institutions (heis) to improve their service quality (rouhiainen, 2019). because of growing demands in service quality, universities across the globe have implemented more robotic process automation, allowing them to develop more modern, sophisticated administrative operations in financial reporting, payroll, delivery of modules, and admissions (duncan & lundy, 2019). highly ranked south african universities have also embraced robotic process automation and ai systems. for example, at the university of pretoria, the university of johannesburg, the university of cape town, and witwatersrand, to name but a few (university of pretoria, 2021; university of johannesburg, 2020; university of witwatersrand, 2019). in addition to the above, a typical application domain for ai in education referred to as intelligent tutoring systems (its), has extended its presence in the education sector, mainly because of the covid-19 pandemic. its engages students in sustained reasoning activities and interacts with them based on a deep understanding of their questions (policy action network guide, 2020). for example, dr maths, a project by the council for scientific and industrial research, provides south african students with mathematics tutoring support in the form of personalised real-time assistance from humans, supported by automated language clarification and topic identification (policy action network guide, 2020). worldwide, its programmes include the its authoring tool for teaching information technology students how to use the java program; sql-tutor teaching and explaining to students how to write relational-database queries through several lessons on the basics of writing a query; its for teaching advanced topics in information security; its for learning computer theory, and e-learning systems (hamed & naser, 2017). furthermore, chatbots have been introduced as another form of ai to improve the teacher-student ratio and speed up communication. chatbots interact directly and synchronously with students, making it possible to rely on individual intents; they include, for example, generalist bots, such as apple’s virtual assistant; siri; transactional bots assisting with transactions; and informational bots focusing on gathering information for users, such as google home (liden & nilios, 2020; winkler & söllner, 2018). several efforts are also being made to promote and apply robots in education. at the same time, many research groups have focused on investigating the subject and developing new tools and methods. for example, experiments and experiences with courses using robots, such as software engineering projects, hardware-based vision and genetic programming, data structures courses, ai, microcontroller programming and fuzzy logic, have been widely reported (bianchi and la neve, 2002; dannelly, 2000; gustafson, 1998). according to hamed & naser (2017), computer science students take robotics classes to learn aspects of control, mechanics, and electronics not covered in the typical computer science curriculum, while engineering students are taught computing techniques far beyond what would typically be 3 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 covered in an engineering computing course (for example, issues like multi-threading, structures, and semaphores). research confirms that the most highly-ranked universities in south africa have embraced the 4ir (hlobo et al., 2022; khoza, 2020; mpungose, 2020; yende, 2021). however, they represent only a fraction of the 26 universities in the country. there is a lack of knowledge regarding the drivers behind and obstacles to adopting 4ir in the higher education sector, particularly for supporting teaching and learning, despite the extensive literature on the potential contributions of technology to learners' development and rising student enrolment (chang, 2016; ng’ambi et al., 2016; oke & fernandes, 2020. hence, this paper examines the factors that hinder the adoption and diffusion of 4ir technologies in south africa’s heis. to address this knowledge gap, we relied on rogers’ 1962 diffusion of innovation theory. according to the theory, the adoption of innovations is a decision of the “full use of an innovation as the best course of action available”, and rejection is a decision “not to adopt an innovation” (rogers, 2003, p.177). diffusion is the pattern and rate of how quickly new concepts, behaviours, or items spread within a community (winkler & söllner, 2018). the chain is the most prevalent type of innovation diffusion, where one source (the innovator) offers a new good or service and spreads it to other places and people (the intermediaries). it then finally arrives at the target market (the adopters). this happens in a chain because each link enables the invention to be transmitted to the next individual (khoza, 2020) or group of individuals. to conceptualise and contextualise 4ir, we used a qualitative approach to gather data using covert research methods, such as documentary reviews and analysis of reliable sources. this study contributes to understanding the factors hindering consistent 4ir adoption by all heis in south africa. this introduction is followed by a review of the critical drivers for, and state of, 4ir adoption in south africa’s heis. through harnessing a theoretical framework. next, the study describes the theoretical approach, followed by the methodology that guided this study, and then the findings. the article concludes by discussing the research implications of adopting 4ir by south african heis. overview of the fourth industrial revolution in south african education the birth of ai goes back to the 1950s. john mccarthy gave one of the most significant definitions of artificial intelligence (ai) in 1956, stating that the field would advance on the presumption that nearly every component of learning could, in theory, be so clearly described that a computer could replicate it (haugeland, 1985). gordon and ambrose (2017) state that ai can be defined as developing several analytical tools collectively attempting to exhibit intelligent behaviour. schumacher et al. (2016) summarise the concept of 4ir as a combination of sophisticated technologies with human actors in industrial processes that call for new types of technical data and produce highly agile value chains. the industrial internet of things, robotics, autonomous vehicles, biotechnology, cyber-physical systems, fifth-generation wireless, and quantum computing are all included in the 4ir (schwab, 2016; sutherland, 2020). in addition, ai and machine learning are frequently mentioned in the same academic context because machine 4 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 learning is an approach to ai that can be used for supervised and unsupervised profiling, such as predicting a student's likelihood of failing a course or identifying themes in written texts (zawacki-richter et al., 2019). greater data quantities, sophisticated algorithms, artificial intelligence (ai), automation, and robotics are all results of the 4ir movement. in addition, because of covid-19, many institutions have attempted to implement 4ir to improve their service quality. furthermore, with growing service-quality demands, universities are implementing more robotic process automation, allowing them to develop more modern, sophisticated administrative operations. an exciting example of robotic process automation in universities is illustrated in figure 1 below. figure 1: robotic process automation in universities (adopted from duncan and lundy, 2019) similarly, most south african universities have embraced automation and realised the benefits of quality, speed and agility that these services provide. for example, at the university of pretoria, users can now order services under various portfolios, such as business systems, to apply for data services and change passwords (university of pretoria, 2021). the university of pretoria (2021) further indicates that there are communication and collaboration systems through emails and mobile sources; support infrastructure systems, such as off-site laptop support, and teaching and learning management systems for classroom technology and automated marking. in addition to the above, institutions are also taking the leading role in championing and integrating 4ir initiatives. for instance, as a catalyst for its strategy for global excellence and stature, the university of johannesburg founded the institute for intelligent systems (university of johannesburg, 2020). academic development, strategic research, and business development are the three key elements through which this institute functions. the 5 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 institute's academic focus is on creating multidisciplinary taught and online programs for postgraduate certification and ongoing professional development to develop capacity in machine learning, artificial intelligence, data science, and the internet of things (university of johannesburg, 2020). the university of johannesburg, the university of witwatersrand, and the university of fort hare are among the founding members of the 4irsa alliance, which aims to hasten the creation of a cogent, inclusive national response to the 4ir. other founding members include the department of communications and digital technologies, deloitte, huawei, and vodacom (university of witwatersrand, 2019). concerning curricula, south african universities that provide traditional commerce degrees have added 4ir-related programs as electives or core modules to their curricula. students pursuing a bachelor of commerce degree at the university of cape town, for instance, can specialise in "traditional" fields like accounting, actuarial science, economics, and management, while those pursuing a bachelor of business sciences degree can do so in 12 areas that deal specifically with analytical techniques relevant to advancements in the 4ir (coetzee et al., 2021). a bachelor of commerce in mathematical statistics with a concentration in data science is given at stellenbosch university, where students must collect, store, convert, and visually portray data (coetzee et al., 2021). last but not least, there have been significant changes at the university of pretoria owing to the addition of modules on design thinking, business innovation, business analytics (covering subjects like data mining, big data, and data stream analysis), and responsible leadership (coetzee et al., 2021). in 2019, in pursuit of the university of pretoria’s focus on evolving in line with the 4ir, the department of library services employed the first known client-service robot in africa (called libby) at any university library (university of pretoria, 2019). furthermore, in 2021 the university of johannesburg purchased a smart, agile, mobile robot (spot), which was a first for academic institutions in south africa and the african continent at large. spot can traverse terrain with previously unheard-of mobility while carrying a hefty weight (university of johannesburg, 2021). theoretical approach the reasons for and obstacles to adopting the 4ir within the higher education sector, particularly for supporting teaching and learning, are not well understood, despite the extensive literature on the potential contributions of technology to learners' development and rising student enrolment (chang, 2016; ng'ambi et al., 2016; oke & fernandes, 2020). according to research, adopting a new good, service, or concept does not happen quickly and differs depending on the social structure (rogers, 2003; zhang et al., 2015). in addition, early adopters of innovation have traits that set them apart from slow adopters (rogers, 2003). the drivers of adoption have not been examined in the south african university sector. this study used the diffusion of innovation theory to understand the motivations for and barriers to south african universities adopting the 4ir. one of the most prevalent ideas for examining information technology adoption and comprehending how information technology breakthroughs move 6 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 both inside and between societies is the diffusion of innovation theory (sahin, 2006). with timelines potentially extending over lengthy periods, it is frequently used to describe how and why new concepts and practices get embraced. this theory holds that adoption means “using an innovation fully as the best course of action available”, while rejection means “not adopting an innovation” (rogers, 2003). furthermore, diffusion is defined as “how an innovation is communicated over time within a social system through certain channels” (rogers, 2003). in the theory, innovation, communication channels, time, and social systems are the four critical components of innovation diffusion (sahin, 2006; zhang et al., 2015). innovation refers to an idea, process or technology unfamiliar to individuals within a particular area or social system. the term "communication channels" refers to the channels, including interpersonal and mass media, via which people learn about innovations and judge their value. five user-perceived qualities — relative benefit, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability — are included in the characteristics of an innovation (sahin, 2006; zhang et al., 2015). the term "relative advantage" describes the extent to which a user adopts an innovation and perceives the advantages of or advancements made to the current technology. the degree to which an innovation fits nicely into the current social and technological environment is measured by its compatibility. the degree to which an innovation is deemed difficult to understand and apply is measured by its complexity. the capacity to test an idea without making a significant financial or time commitment is known as trialability. lastly, observability refers to how potential users may see the advantages of an innovation. only when the results are perceived as advantageous is the innovation adopted. in addition, only when the outcomes are valuable will the innovation be adopted (sachin, 2006; zhang et al., 2015). this suggests that it is crucial to understand how university leaders perceive the benefits of 4ir, and their adoption strategies are the first point of reference. according to rogers (2003), the theory groups individuals into five types of adopters in a social system and the categories are based on attitudes to innovation; these categories are: • innovators generally make up 2.5% of a social system's population and they are the ones who introduce new theories, concepts, and technology. • early adopters are constrained by the social system's restrictions. early adopters, therefore, are more likely to assume leadership positions in the social system; other members rely on them for guidance and for details about the invention (rogers, 2003). • the early majority represent 34% of the population and are distinguished by their early adoption of advancements. they are neither the first nor the last to adopt innovation, but they do so on purpose. as a result, their decision to innovate typically takes longer than that of innovators and early adopters (rogers, 2003). • the late majority are similar to the early majority. they make up 34% of all social system members who wait adoption until most of their peers have adopted the innovation. they are sceptical of innovation and its results but are susceptible to peer pressure and economic need (rogers, 2003). 7 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 • the laggards comprise up to 16% of the total population. laggards have a traditional viewpoint compared to the late majority and are more sceptical of innovations and change agents. their interpersonal networks are primarily made up of other social system members who fall into the same category since they are the most localised "group of the social system". in addition, they are not in leadership positions (rogers, 2003). while these groupings inform the research, the study’s goal was not to classify the adoption, or lack of adoption by the 26 universities into these categories. instead, the focus was to understand the motivations for and challenges to adopting the 4ir. it does appear, however, that the percentage of the 26 universities that have somewhat adopted 4ir is consistent with the theory’s categorisation of innovators. furthermore, the theory points to the need to understand the complex factors affecting adoption and the role of leaders. methodology this paper employed a qualitative approach in the interpretivist tradition. to understand various thoughts, opinions, or experiences, qualitative research in the context of the current study refers to gathering and analysing non-numerical data (such as text, video, or audio) (pathak, jena & kalra, 2013). to conceptualise and contextualise the 4ir in heis, this research derived its arguments from secondary evidence, which included documentary and conceptual examination of reliable sources. a qualitative technique was chosen because it enabled the study to concentrate on the meaning and to apply diverse methods to reflect various facets of the problem. data were gathered from publications in journals. all sources were selected based on the general principles of handling sources, namely authenticity, credibility, representativeness and meaning (mogalakwe, 2006). the researchers ensured that all sources included were genuine and coherent and represented the totality of the relevant documents written by leading authors on agile governance. to select the most appropriate sources on the 4ir, the researchers searched from google scholar using the terms ‘4ir’ and ‘higher education institutions’, resulting in 15 000 hits. the search was further refined, focusing on the works on south african institutions. once the sources had been chosen according to relevance, a general hermeneutical reading process was conducted (george, 2020; wessels, 2021) to understand the motivations for and challenges to adopting the 4ir in south african heis. the rationale behind this choice is that general hermeneutics aims to understand texts holistically rather than to understand words or sentences individually. in addition, the process is interested in disruptive semantic aspects of meaning, which are theoretical units of meaning-holding elements utilised to express word meaning and are relevant to the process (mogalakwe, 2006). to further make sense of the content, thematic analysis was used. thematic analysis is a qualitative data analysis process involving the construction of themes and subthemes identified as repetitive patterns in a data set (bryman, 2016). it is derived from extensive and scrupulous reading of transcripts and notes of data and then organising and examining to make a case 8 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 (bryman, 2016). for all the selected documents, the study followed the six phases of thematic analysis, namely familiarisation, coding, searching for themes, reviewing themes, defining themes, and naming themes. in the familiarisation step, the study ensured a thorough reading of the selected sources and, using atlas. ti software, the study identified repetitive patterns and created codes. from the codes, the researchers created themes by grouping codes to map key or high-order patterns of the critical drivers and challenges hindering 4ir adoption in south africa’s heis. lastly, names were given to the themes to provide a map for the findings and discussion section. analysis and findings using atlas.ti software, the barriers abstracted from the data were itemised and coded according to 23 emerging themes. the 23 codes were then placed into four barrier categories that typified challenges faced by south african heis in adopting 4ir technologies. the categories were grouped based on their direct influence on the adoption of the 4ir in higher education; globally conflicting views on the 4ir; complexity in the concept of 4ir; the digital skills gap in heis, and incompatibility with institutional, cultural norms, values and standards. see figure 2 below. figure 2: network diagram depicting the four barrier categories that typified the challenges south african heis face in adopting 4ir technologies (generated from atlas.ti). 9 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 conflicting global views on the fourth industrial revolution the fourth industrial revolution, with its associated automation, robotisation and ai, is transforming the workplace in various ways. one can assert that two views primarily dominate this discussion (dahlin, 2019), namely the optimistic and the pessimistic. the optimistic view focuses on the future and is characterised by ease, immortality, gratification, and dominance, all associated with the narrative that intelligent machines affect society in a transformative, positive manner (the royal society, 2019). this view is supported by the narratives of the rise of the gig economy and the growth of “alternative work arrangements” (malinga, 2021); the rise of precarious employment; the unbundling of skills and tasks, where digital platforms allow work to be divided into piecework where once good, middle-class jobs that are routine and repetitive are being squeezed out by automation; and the unbundling of skills and tasks (deckha, 2020). when ai is applied to education, the best outcome will be from combining human capabilities and ai strengths (rouhiainen, 2019). using the 4ir, primarily through automation, can lead to increased production of goods and services, allowing employees to spend less time at work and more at home with their families. in addition, using robotics and connected devices has the potential to significantly improve workplace safety because robots can perform some risky tasks (iba global employment institute, 2018). new technology can also make workplaces safe by keeping people out of dangerous environments. for instance, a deep-learning algorithm can be used to monitor worker accidents or chemical leaks in real time by detecting human behaviour patterns through security cameras. oke and fernandes (2020, p. 22) assert that computer-based learning, particularly e-learning, offers the chance to allow teaching and training anywhere and anytime, hence lowering operating expenses and minimising logistical challenges sometimes connected with face-to-face classroom instruction. contrary to the above, the pessimistic view, also referred to as the displacement view, suggests that employees who perform routine tasks are at a higher risk of being adversely affected, while those who engage in cognitively complex tasks will remain immune to an extent (the royal society, 2019; dahlin, 2019). for instance, an employee working on an assembly line is more likely to be replaced by a robot than a marketing executive creating emotionally compelling advertisements (dahlin, 2019). an extreme version of this view states that with the continuous improvement of ai, machines will render humans utterly unnecessary within the workplace (dahlin, 2019). what was thought to be science fiction is becoming a reality in specific environments (dahlin, 2019). this view is confirmed by the literature indicating that ai already undertakes tasks such as detecting medical conditions, engaging in conversation, and driving (dahlin, 2019). according to brougham and haar (2018), the rise of ai could create an environment of mass unemployment. the authors have also indicated that one-third of today’s jobs could be lost by 2025. this is due, in part, to the significant improvement of intelligent systems and inexpensive autonomous units that could potentially outperform humans in various conceptual tasks (brougham & haar, 2018). 10 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 according to ocaña-fernández et al. (2020), many citizens in the so-called ‘world village’ are considered to be in an unprivileged position regarding ai technologies and are unaware of the possible effects. unlike in the other industrial revolutions, in the 4ir machines can learn and teach themselves and require fewer interventions, creating a sense of uncertainty about the need for humans and potential employment. in addition, according to arntz et al. (2016), it was estimated that 9% of all individuals in the united states of america had a job with great potential for automation, with present technology enabling the automation of at least 70% of performed operations. in contrast, workers with higher educational levels and income were less likely to be at risk of losing their jobs as opposed to the low-skilled with low income (hirschi, 2018). furthermore, zhang and dafoe (2019) submit that more americans believe that advanced artificial intelligence would harm people than those who believe it will benefit them. while 22% believe the technology will be "on balance bad," 12% believe it will be "very awful," possibly resulting in the extinction of humans. however, according to the mckinsey global institute (2018), 21% believe it will be "on balance good", and 5% believe it would be "very good" (2018). this is also noted by the royal society (2019) in the population of the united kingdom, where the overall findings revealed that the majority of beliefs relating to the impact of ai elicited significant anxiety; in particular, obsolescence (the belief that ai might mean humans become excessively reliant on machines and replace the need for humans in jobs) scored the highest. owing to the factors diverse beliefs mentioned above, divisive discourses appear to hinder employees' creativity and ideas for the transition to the 4ir. who can blame them though? forecasts indicate a drop in the demand for individuals with fundamental cognitive abilities, such as primary data entry and processing (mckinsey global institute, 2018). the institute adds that it is anticipated that this demand will decrease by 15%, going from 18% to 14% of total hours worked. despite a 14% decline in demand, physical and manual skills, including general equipment operation, will still make up the majority of workforce skills in many nations in 2030, accounting for 25% of all hours worked (bughin, seong, manyika, chui, & joshi, 2018). in addition, and according to acemoglu and restrepo (2017), between 1990 and 2007, the number of industrial robots per thousand workers in a local area decreased by 0.18% to 0.34% points, and wages decreased by 0.25% to 0.50%. thus, given the unemployment rate in south africa, much of the workforce’s excitement around ai can quickly be replaced by fear of job losses, which hinders the adoption of the 4ir. complexity according to the literature (oke & fernandes, 2020; zhang & dafoe, 2019), academics perceive the 4ir as a complex concept that is difficult to use or adopt. regarding the complexity of the concept, though the concept has existed for a while now, there has yet to be an agreed-upon definition of what it entails in the teaching and learning space. not only is the concept contested, but it also keeps evolving (oke, 2020). for example, sutherland (2020) submits that 4ir is: 11 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 […] not the result of careful historical analysis, rather, it is a flag to rally and a rhetorical device for those trying to create economic and commercial futures, hoping to ride waves of schumpeterian economic disruption caused by ‘extreme automation and extreme connectivity (p. 233). the procedures and methods heis should use to guarantee that the 4ir capabilities are enhanced in teaching practices have yet to be understood. our analysis shows that, despite the potential benefits of technology for learners' growth through collaborative learning, little is known about the drivers of adoption and diffusion of the 4ir in the educational sector and how they affect the teaching and learning process (chang, 2016; ng'ambi et al., 2016; oke & fernandes, 2020). in addition, none of the 50 most innovative corporations in the world is an academic institution, and no african organisation was found on the list (warschauer, 2007). incompatibility in addition to the already stated perceptions is the challenge of incompatibility, which refers to the degree to which innovation is seen as inconsistent with the existing values, needs and functioning of heis. although there is diffusion and acceptance of technology in other sectors, the effectiveness and efficacy of the technology, particularly online teaching and learning, have not yet been proven. instead, there is evidence of underlying challenges to intellectual integrity, such as contract cheating because of platforms or tutors helping students with assessments and other exam solutions (lubinga et al., 2022). in addition, the nature of teaching and learning has not been effectively changed by digital technologies, particularly in higher education. for instance, ng'ambi et al. (2016) found that despite the use of technology in the classroom, teaching and learning, notably in south africa, remained essentially the same. the limited use of technology to support teaching and learning has focused on digitisation as opposed to digitalisation. all the 26 institutions have not embraced teaching in innovative lecture halls and the internet of things has been inconsistently applied across institutions; big data analytics to track student performance is unheard of, as data capturing is still done manually, and augmented and virtual realities are a far reach for historically disadvantaged universities. for instance, several heis rely on hybrid cloud infrastructure with computing platforms on private clouds for their enterprise architecture. alternatively, business and educational applications gradually migrate to public clouds (aldowah et al., 2017). furthermore, many technological breakthroughs and tools are not owned by the education sector, indicating that academic institutions have not regulated the development or use of these. the above highlights the incompatibility of the 4ir with the values, beliefs and expectations of students in the african context. in some institutions, student engagement, emotional intelligence, and communication are soft critical skills for all graduates. so, the perception that the introduction of the 4ir will erode these skills is unmistakable. moreover, curricular and pedagogical approaches have been stagnant for many years and are still designed according to traditional ways, albeit with new technology (menon & castrillon, 2019). institutions still use a paper-and-glass method, where documents are only uploaded for students to access at their own pace, in spite of online 12 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 instruction (oke & fernandes, 2020). in addition, the current pedagogical approaches exclude current practices relating to the 4ir (oke & fernandes, 2020). in addition, for the afrocentric fanatics, the 4ir goes against the afrocentric theory, which promotes the view that every phenomenon and community of africa can never be interpreted and comprehensively understood by scholars who reside outside africa. this makes it challenging to adopt and support the perception that the 4ir is incompatible with african values (rapanyane & sethole, 2020). furthermore, south africa’s 11 official languages present a unique challenge to engage with various speakers. thus, the process involved in deploying such intelligent agents requires an interdisciplinary approach between management, software developers and computational linguists. implementing any ai technology, such as chatbots, requires an infrastructure with unique components and processes dedicated to its intended industry sector and end-users, which is not visible in many heis (oke & fernandes, 2020). whether public or private, the discourse in south african organisations is dominated by post-apartheid categories relating to race, gender, and employment equity that reinforce the historical split with the rest of the world, causing the adoption of any new initiative to take a back seat (oosthuizen & mayer, 2019). this leaves many employees and institutional management concerned about how the policies enacted to correct the past injustices will impact their progress as opposed to looking at any new technological advancements. furthermore, universities are responsible for creating social justice and equity to try and reverse the effects of the past (badat, 2010), and thus the focus on 4ir may tend to take a back seat, as focus is placed on addressing social issues. recommendations from the above discussion, one can assert that the views on 4ir advancement in the workplace are twofold. the first view is that the advancement of the 4ir in the workplace can benefit workers, and the second is that 4ir advancement could be to employees’ detriment as many could lose their jobs. the fact that neither view has been thoroughly proven poses a challenge to adopting the 4ir in the workplace – and the higher education environment is not any different. in addition, based on the literature, three broad factors hinder the adoption of the 4ir in higher education, namely incompatibility, the digital divide, and complexity. however, since the 4ir is here to stay and, to overcome these challenges, heis can adopt the following solutions: • despite the excitement surrounding the 4ir and given the uncertainty of job security as prior depicted, the higher education sector must understand the specific educational scope and risks associated with the 4ir. only this way will it realise the actual value of the 4ir. this should be done by conducting more empirical research on the implications of the 4ir on the higher education sector. 13 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 • because of the demands of the 4ir and the changing landscape, institutions must create comprehensive skill plans to document and address the technology needs of their staff members. • the adoption of the 4ir is constrained by the status of the infrastructure and present thinking about the functions of education, particularly the teaching and learning processes. as a result, it is imperative that educational institutions, particularly heis, revamp their pedagogical strategies by expanding their current methods to incorporate the 4ir. • investing in technology is one thing, but adjusting a curriculum and pedagogy is quite another. teaching and applying innovation are not simple lesson-taught skill-acquired processes. equally, adoption requires learning various skills, accepting novel approaches, and coping with continual social change. this is to keep up with the required skills and deliver the skills necessary to produce a graduate who can navigate the 4ir. in addition, heis must use change management to educate staff members on how the 4ir may increase productivity and cut down on time spent on tedious tasks. conclusion digital skills are required to ensure that personnel stay up to date with technological change, which is vital in the 4ir because the 4ir is powered by ai. like this, the 4ir represents a significant change in the kinds of talents needed to complete particular activities. skills associated with emerging technologies such as ai, the internet of things, blockchain, automation, data science and programming were found to be the scarcest in almost all south african sectors. not all 26 south african heis have claimed their space in the 21st century, as some are still behind in several indicators essential for a successful digital revolution. this was because of a gap in the country’s digital and technological skills and because of low levels of higher education achievement. references arntz, m., gregory, t., & zierahn, u. (2016). the risk of automation for jobs in oecd countries: a comparative analysis. oecd social, employment and migration working papers, no. 189, oecd publishing, paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/5jlz9h56dvq7-en aldowah, h., rehman, s. u., ghazal, s., & umar, i. n. (2017). internet of things in higher education: a study on future learning. journal of physics conference series, 892(1), 012017. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/892/1/012017 badat, s. (2010). the challenges of transformation in higher education and training institutions in south africa. development bank of southern africa, 8. https://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniversity/content/vc/documents/the_challenges _of_transformation_in_higher_eduaction_and_training_institutions_in_south_africa. pdf https://doi.org/10.1787/5jlz9h56dvq7-en https://doi.org/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/892/1/012017 https://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniversity/content/vc/documents/the_challenges_of_transformation_in_higher_eduaction_and_training_institutions_in_south_africa.pdf https://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniversity/content/vc/documents/the_challenges_of_transformation_in_higher_eduaction_and_training_institutions_in_south_africa.pdf https://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniversity/content/vc/documents/the_challenges_of_transformation_in_higher_eduaction_and_training_institutions_in_south_africa.pdf 14 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 bianchi, r. a. c., & la neve, a. (2002). studying electrical and computer engineering through the construction of robotic teams and systems [paper presentation]. international conference on engineering education, manchester, eng., united kingdom. brougham, d., & haar, j. (2018). smart technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and algorithms (stara): employees’ perceptions of our future workplace. journal of management & organization, 24(2), 239-257. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2016.55 bryman, a. (2016). social research methods (5th ed.). oxford university press. bughin, j., seong, j., manyika, j., chui, m., & joshi, r. (2018). notes from the ai frontier: modeling the impact of ai on the world economy. mckinsey global institute. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/artificial-intelligence/notes-from-the-aifrontier-modeling-the-impact-of-ai-on-the-world-economy chang, v. (2016). review and discussion: e-learning for academia and industry. international journal of information management, 36(3), 476–485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2015.12.007 coetzee, j., neneh, b., stemmet, k., lamprecht, j., motsitsi, c., & sereeco, w. (2021). south african universities in a time of increasing disruption. south african journal of economic and management sciences, 24(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v24i1.3739 dahlin, e. (2019). are robots stealing our jobs? socius, 5. https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023119846249 dannelly, r.s. (2000). use of a mobile robot in a data structures course. journal of computing in small colleges, 15(3), 85–90. deckha, n. (2020). the fourth industrial revolution, human skills, and online learning: notes from the higher educational experiences of police officers. international journal on innovations in online education, 4(4), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1615/intjinnovonlineedu.2020030824 duncan, b., & lundy, k. (2019). how universities are using robotic process automation. ey. https://www.ey.com/en_us/government-public-sector/how-universities-are-usingrobotic-process-automation george, t. (2020, december 9). hermeneutics. stanford encyclopedia of philosophy archive. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2021/entries/hermeneutics/ gustafson, d. (1998). using robotics to teach software engineering [paper presentation]. frontiers in education conference, tempe, az, united states. gordon, d. l., & ambrose, r. l. (2017). the ethics of artificial intelligence. internet encyclopedia of philosophy. https://iep.utm.edu/ethics-of-artificial-intelligence/ haugeland, j. (1985). artificial intelligence: the very idea. mit press. hamed, m. a., & nasser, s. s. a. (2017). an intelligent tutoring system for teaching the 7 characteristics of living things. international journal of advanced research and development, 2(1), 31-35. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/131210576.pdf https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v24i1.3739 https://doi.org/10.1615/intjinnovonlineedu.2020030824 https://www.ey.com/en_us/government-public-sector/how-universities-are-using-robotic-process-automation https://www.ey.com/en_us/government-public-sector/how-universities-are-using-robotic-process-automation https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2021/entries/hermeneutics/ https://iep.utm.edu/ethics-of-artificial-intelligence/ https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/131210576.pdf 15 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 hirschi, a. (2018). the fourth industrial revolution: issues and implications for career research and practice. the career development quarterly, 66(3), 192–204. https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12142 hlobo, m., moloi, t., & mhlanga, d. (2022). the fourth industrial revolution in south africa’s private higher education institutions and further education and training colleges. conference proceedings of the ireland international conference on education (iice2021), ireland, 2021. infonomics society, 37. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357899877_the_fourth_industrial_revolut ion_in_south_africa%27s_private_higher_education_institutions_and_further_educati on_and_training_colleges iba global employment institute. (2018). artificial intelligence and robotics and their impact on the workplace. iba global employment institute. https://cms.law/en/deu/newsinformation/artificial-intelligence-and-robotics-and-their-impact-on-the-workplace khoza, s. b. (2020). academics’ “why” of knowledge-building for the fourth industrial revolution and covid-19 era. international journal of higher education, 6(6), 247-258 https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v9n6p247 liden, a., & nilios, k. (2020). perceived benefits and limitations of chatbots in higher education [bachelors dissertation, university of linnaeus]. https://www.divaportal.org/smash/get/diva2:1442044/fulltext01.pdf lubinga, n. s., ramnarain, j., & tonkin, l. (in press). quandaries of contract cheating in south african higher education institutions: the way forward. malinga, s. (2021). tech skills gap endangers digital economy, 4ir progress. https://www.itweb.co.za/content/g98ydqly14jvx2pd mckinsey global institute. (2018). notes from the ai frontier: modeling the impact of ai on the world economy. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/artificialintelligence/notes-from-the-ai-frontier-modeling-the-impact-of-ai-on-the-worldeconomy menon, k., & castrillon, g. (2019, apr 15). universities have ‘pivotal role’ to play in fourth industrial revolution. daily maverick. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/201904-15-universities-have-pivotal-role-to-play-in-fourth-industrial-revolution/ mpungose, c.b. (2020). beyond limits: lecturers’ reflections on moodle uptake in south african universities. education and information technologies 25, 5033–5052. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10190-8 mogalakwe, m. (2006). the use of documentary research methods in social research. african sociological review, 10(1), 221-230. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267994948_the_use_of_documentary_res earch_methods_in_social_research ng'ambi, d., brown, c., bozalek, v., gachago, d., & woos, d. (2016). technology enhanced teaching and learning in south african higher education – a rearview of a 20-year https://doi.org/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357899877_the_fourth_industrial_revolution_in_south_africa%27s_private_higher_education_institutions_and_further_education_and_training_colleges https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357899877_the_fourth_industrial_revolution_in_south_africa%27s_private_higher_education_institutions_and_further_education_and_training_colleges https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357899877_the_fourth_industrial_revolution_in_south_africa%27s_private_higher_education_institutions_and_further_education_and_training_colleges https://cms.law/en/deu/news-information/artificial-intelligence-and-robotics-and-their-impact-on-the-workplace https://cms.law/en/deu/news-information/artificial-intelligence-and-robotics-and-their-impact-on-the-workplace https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v9n6p247 https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1442044/fulltext01.pdf https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1442044/fulltext01.pdf https://www.itweb.co.za/content/g98ydqly14jvx2pd https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/artificial-intelligence/notes-from-the-ai-frontier-modeling-the-impact-of-ai-on-the-world-economy https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/artificial-intelligence/notes-from-the-ai-frontier-modeling-the-impact-of-ai-on-the-world-economy https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/artificial-intelligence/notes-from-the-ai-frontier-modeling-the-impact-of-ai-on-the-world-economy https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-04-15-universities-have-pivotal-role-to-play-in-fourth-industrial-revolution/ https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-04-15-universities-have-pivotal-role-to-play-in-fourth-industrial-revolution/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267994948_the_use_of_documentary_research_methods_in_social_research https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267994948_the_use_of_documentary_research_methods_in_social_research 16 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 journey. british journal of educational technology, 47(5), 843–858. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12485ocaña-fernandez, y., valenzuela-fernandez, l., & garro-aburto, l. (2019). artificial intelligence and its implications in higher education. propósitos y representaciones, 7(2), 536-568. http://dx.doi.org/10.20511/pyr2019.v7n2.274 oke, a., & fernandes, f. a. p. (2020). innovations in teaching and learning: exploring the perceptions of the education sector on the 4th industrial revolution (4ir). journal of open innovation: technology, market, and complexity, 6(2), article 31. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc6020031 oosthuizen, r. m., & mayer, c. -h., (2019). at the edge of the fourth industrial revolution: employees’ perceptions of employment equity from a cibart perspective. south african journal of industrial psychology, 45. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v45i0.1695 pathak, v., jena, b., & kalra, s. (2013). qualitative research. perspectives in clinical research, 4(3), 192. https://doi.org/10.4103/2229-3485.115389 policy action network guide. (2020). ai and data in education: policy considerations for south africa. policy action. https://policyaction.org.za/sites/default/files/pan_topicalguide_aidata3_education_e lec.pdf rapanyane, m. b., & sethole, f. r. (2020). the rise of artificial intelligence and robots in the 4th industrial revolution: implications for future south african job creation. contemporary social science, 15(4), 489–501. https://doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2020.1806346 rogers, e.m. (2003). diffusion of innovations (3rd ed.). free press. https://teddykw2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/everett-m-rogers-diffusion-ofinnovations.pdf rouhiainen, l. (2019). how ai and data could personalize higher education. harvard business review education. https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/h056xo-pdf-eng sahin, i. (2006). detailed review of rogers' diffusion of innovations theory and educational technology-related studies based on rogers' theory. turkish online journal of educational technology, 5, 14-23. sutherland, e. (2020). the fourth industrial revolution – the case of south africa. politikon 47 (2), 233–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589346.2019.1696003 schwab, k. (2016). the fourth industrial revolution. world economic forum, cologny/germany. https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/3385454/schwabthe_fourth_industrial_revolution_klaus_s.pdf schumacher, a., erol, s., sihn, w. a. (2016). maturity model for assessing industry 4.0 readiness and maturity of manufacturing enterprises. procedia cirp, 52, 161–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2016.07.040 https://doi.org/ http://dx.doi.org/10.20511/pyr2019.v7n2.274 https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc6020031 https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/10.4103/2229-3485.115389 https://policyaction.org.za/sites/default/files/pan_topicalguide_aidata3_education_elec.pdf https://policyaction.org.za/sites/default/files/pan_topicalguide_aidata3_education_elec.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2020.1806346 https://teddykw2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/everett-m-rogers-diffusion-of-innovations.pdf https://teddykw2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/everett-m-rogers-diffusion-of-innovations.pdf https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/h056xo-pdf-eng https://doi.org/ https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/3385454/schwab-the_fourth_industrial_revolution_klaus_s.pdf https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/3385454/schwab-the_fourth_industrial_revolution_klaus_s.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2016.07.040 17 jcve 2023, 6(2): 1-17 the royal society. (2019). portrayals and perceptions of ai and why they matter. the royal society. https://royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/projects/ai-narratives/ai-narrativesworkshop-findings.pdf university of johannesburg. (2021). uj the first university in south africa to secure ai robot ‘dog’ – spot. university of johannesburg. https://www.uj.ac.za/news/uj-the-firstuniversity-in-south-africa-to-secure-ai-robot-dog-spot/ university of pretoria. (2019). up libraries steps into future as it ‘employs’ robot to help students. university of pretoria. https://www.up.ac.za/news/post_2814363-uplibraries-steps-into-future-as-it-employs-robot-to-help-students university of witwatersrand. (2019). embrace 4ir to address poverty, inequality and unemployment – ramaphosa. university of witwatersrand. https://www.wits.ac.za/future/stories/embrace-4ir-to-address-poverty-inequality-andunemployment---ramaphosa.html warschauer, m. (2007). the paradoxical future of digital learning. learning inquiry 1, 41–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11519-007-0001-5 winkler, r., & söllner, m. (2018). unleashing the potential of chatbots in education: a state-ofthe-art analysis [paper presentation]. academy of management annual meeting (aom), chicago, united states. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326281264_unleashing_the_potential_of_ chatbots_in_education_a_state-of-the-art_analysis wessels, j. s. (2021). a policy instrument to relieve child poverty: the case of the child support grant in south africa. in j. s. wessels, t. potgieter, & t. naidoo (eds.), public administration challenges – cases from africa (pp. 51-78). juta. yende, j. s. (2021). a transition towards the fourth industrial revolution (4ir) in the south african education sector: a perspective from rural-based higher education. african journal of development studies, 11(2). https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.31920/26343649/2021/v11n2a3 zhang, b., & dafoe, a. (2019). artificial intelligence: american attitudes and trends. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3312874 or https://ssrn.com/abstract=3312874 zawacki-richter, o., marín, v.i., bond, m. (2019). systematic review of research on artificial intelligence applications in higher education – where are the educators? international journal of educational technology in higher education, 16(39), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-019-0171-0 https://royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/projects/ai-narratives/ai-narratives-workshop-findings.pdf https://royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/projects/ai-narratives/ai-narratives-workshop-findings.pdf https://www.uj.ac.za/news/uj-the-first-university-in-south-africa-to-secure-ai-robot-dog-spot/ https://www.uj.ac.za/news/uj-the-first-university-in-south-africa-to-secure-ai-robot-dog-spot/ https://www.up.ac.za/news/post_2814363-up-libraries-steps-into-future-as-it-employs-robot-to-help-students https://www.up.ac.za/news/post_2814363-up-libraries-steps-into-future-as-it-employs-robot-to-help-students https://www.wits.ac.za/future/stories/embrace-4ir-to-address-poverty-inequality-and-unemployment---ramaphosa.html https://www.wits.ac.za/future/stories/embrace-4ir-to-address-poverty-inequality-and-unemployment---ramaphosa.html https://doi.org/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326281264_unleashing_the_potential_of_chatbots_in_education_a_state-of-the-art_analysis https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326281264_unleashing_the_potential_of_chatbots_in_education_a_state-of-the-art_analysis https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.31920/2634-3649/2021/v11n2a3 https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.31920/2634-3649/2021/v11n2a3 https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3312874 https://ssrn.com/abstract=3312874 https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-019-0171-0 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 38 the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university jacob manu university of education, winneba-mampong-ghana christopher m. owusu-ansah* university of education winnebamampong-ghana *corresponding author: chrisoansah@gmail.com received : 2019-03-07 accepted : 2019-06-01 how to cite this paper: manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university, journal of culture and values in education, 2(2), 38-56 abstract the current study sought to identify the effects of demographic factors on the perception of pre-service teachers (with diploma as their highest level of education) on the teaching and learning of the educational research course during the fall 2017 semester in one of the private universities in ghana. with a survey research design, three hundred and twenty (320) preservice teachers, who were enrolled in the fall 2017 sandwich programme, were randomly sampled to participate in the study. the findings revealed significant differences between male and female pre-service teachers perception of the teaching of research, relevance of research and their statistics anxiety. also, the age independent variable indicated a significant difference on the statistics anxiety construct only whereas the other two constructs were not significant. there were significant correlations among age, years of teaching, and statistics anxiety. the implication of the study for practice is discussed. keywords: educational research, statistics anxiety, pre-service teachers, teaching experience introduction research methods education represents one of the finest skills that a country’s educational system should seek to integrate in her curriculum in order to enable students acquire the requisite skills and motivation to conduct independent and original research. in everyday life, research findings form the basis for superior and quality personal and professional decisionmaking (cordingley, 2015). research, broadly speaking, helps to advance knowledge, and improve practice among several professional fields such as teacher education (kothari & garg, 2015; creswell, 2012). the study and teaching of educational statistics during pre-service education ensures the ability of the pre-service teacher to interpret educational data as a component of critical citizenship and statistical sense-making (burrill & biehler, 2011). these set of skills acquired can ensure successful completion of the research project component journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 39 during teacher training while equipping the future teacher with the fundamental awareness of the role of research and statistics in the training of younger learners (gresham, 2018; hill et al., 2016). a number of important challenges confronting educators teaching educational research is related to the negative research self-concept of students (markle, 2017). however, within the instructional environment of pre-service teachers, myriads of factors influence their perception of the quality of teaching and relevance of the educational research course, nobly among them demographic factors (baloğlu, deniz, & kesici, 2011; faber, drexler, stappert, & eichhorn, 2018). for example, previous research indicates that female enrolment in the science and mathematics related courses in universities are low (francesconi & parey, 2018). since statistics, perceived to be mathematics-related in nature (bourne, 2018), is an integral part of the teaching of the educational research course, female students, for instance, are likely to develop negative attitudes and perceptions of the course. this study is an effort to contribute to the discourse on understanding the role of demographic factors in pre-service teachers’ preferences and perceptions especially in respect to subjects considered among many students to be peripheral or dispensable (park, 2003), such as educational research. despite the availability of previous studies on the topic, there is a need for more understanding of the phenomenon in the ghanaian context as relatively little research exists in this area. statement of the problem there is a growing concern of the inability of pre-service teachers to conduct their own research after they have taken the educational research course (batanero & díaz, 2010; estrada, batanero, & lancaster, 2011). their inability to undertake a research is demonstrated when majority of these pre-service teachers stay longer on campuses after vacation in order to complete their research projects. even though a number of previous studies attributed a number of factors such as statistics anxiety (huang, 2018; markle, 2017; lavasani et al., 2014) and negative research self-concept (slootmaeckers et al., 2014; zare et al., 2011) for this phenomenon, it is not clear, within the ghanaian context, what factors are responsible for these long delays to complete research projects by pre-service teachers. to this end, this study attempts to explore the degree to which demographic factors such as the gender of the pre-service teacher, age or number of years of teaching affect their inability to conduct their own research after they have taken the course. age can have a serious impact on the perception of the pre-service student (liu & haque 2017). learners who have prior rich experiences in life might find it easier to relate to the teaching and learning of the course whereas those with limited experience might face some challenges. experience is usually obtained over a period of time. on the other hand, if students are beyond the traditional university students’ age; have families and face other challenges in life, learning the course would be a little challenging for such pre-service teachers. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 40 other guiding questions to unravel this problem are: could it be that the pre-service teachers are not able to relate to the teaching and learning strategies that their teachers adopt? again, could it be that pre-service teachers do not attach the needed importance to the educational research course and for this reason put in little effort in the study of the course? answers to these questions will help teacher educators identify the problems with the teaching of the course and devise just-in-time learning interventions for these pre-service teachers. purpose of the study the purpose of the study was to use survey research design to identify the effects of demographic factors on the perception of pre-service teachers (with diploma certificates) on the teaching of educational research course in the fall 2017 sandwich programme at a private university in ghana. specifically, the study explores the effect of demographic factors such as age, gender and experience of teachers on their perception of the teaching of research; relevance of research; and statistics anxiety. research questions in connection with the above, the following research questions were posed: 1. is there any difference in the three constructs (teaching of research, relevance of research and statistics anxiety) based on gender? 2. is there any difference in the three constructs (teaching of research, relevance of research and statistics anxiety) based on age? 3. is there any difference in the three constructs (teaching of research, relevance of research and statistics anxiety) based on years of teaching? 4. is there a relationship between age and the three constructs? 5. is there a relationship between years of teaching and the three constructs? 6. is there a relationship between age and years of teaching of respondents? review of related literature this review focuses on three themes that underpin the study and they are: rationale for research methods in higher education; approaches for teaching research methods in higher education; and statistics anxiety among students. rationale for research methods in higher education research skills are important outcomes of educational training. students need to demonstrate a clear ability to conduct independent inquiry during and after their studies. it is a lifelong skill required in virtually any field of human endeavor. these vital educational outcomes are acquired through the systematic science promoted through research method courses. as a result of its universal application in the curriculum, research methods courses are usually compulsory (ni, 2013). journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 41 a number of studies have investigated into the goals of research methods in diverse academic contexts (aguado, 2009; alemanne, 2018; canning & gallagher‐brett, 2010; chu, 2015; ciarocco, lewandowski, & van volkom, 2013; crowe, ceresola, & silva, 2014; gray et al., 2015; hoffman, 2013; howard & brady, 2015). most of these studies approach their aims by examining the disciplinary context and norms within which research methods is applied. as observed by ni (2013), owing to its universal applicability for scientific inquiry, research methods courses have been considered core in many curricula. pfeffer and rogalin (2012) outlined a number of benefits (citing schutt, blalock and wagenaar, 1984) for teaching research methods. among others, they reasoned that research methods courses can expose students to the need to conduct research; it can help students understand the differences between deductive and inductive reasoning and equip them with the skills to apply appropriate methods on each of them; it can expose students to the necessity of ethics in research; and it can also help unearth potential areas for new investigation. the goals for teaching research methods may vary as one institution and or a department may emphasize some aspects of research methods (burrill & biehler, 2011). according to aguado (2009), in the social sciences, emphases may be placed on the variety of research questions that may be asked, as well as the type of research questions that may be posed in subdisciplines within the field. other interests may include outlining the research process to students and equipping them with data-gathering skills and use of computer software for data gathering (hartnett, 2013; johnston, 2006). these goals are to remind any educator of research methods to be mindful of the pedagogical expectations of the course. in other words, teachers of research methods must outline clear instructional goals pointing to the rationale for and need to learn research methods. such an undertaking will assure students of the need to embrace the course, contribute to student retention, and lead to re-orientation of the value of research among students (alemanne, 2018). approaches for teaching research methods the quest for the most effective pedagogical factors that enhance learning and retention of knowledge among students continues to motivate research into new instructional methods beyond the traditional lecture method. in the era of ict, many pedagogical efforts are integrating collaborative technology and the likes (boyle et al., 2014; dinauer, 2018; vasquezcolina, maslin-ostrowski, & baba, n.d.; kilinc, tarman & aydin, 2018). kappes ramirez (2018) investigated into the preferred methodology for learning standard precautions among undergraduates in nursing. the study found that a controlled group performed better when exposed to self-instruction via a computer simulated course. the author concludes that teaching methods that integrate icts are effective and preferred by students for learning. the study by ramirez espouses valuable lessons on relevant teaching approaches for research methods, having emphasised the superior advantages of self-learning computer programmes over traditional teaching methods. this is perhaps due to the constructivist nature of technologies in nurturing independent, authentic experiences of journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 42 learners (natalia & darren, 2016). not surprisingly, ni (2013) found that, despite noted challenges of persistence among students, online teaching methods for research methods is less intimidating, and improves the quality and frequency of interaction between learner and instructor. the study concludes that between classroom and online learning, effective teaching and learning is markedly improved through online learning in research methods among public administration students. other studies examine the role of games that facilitate teaching and learning of research methods. games retain great pedagogic value, whether traditional or computer-based (boyle et al., 2014; natalia & darren, 2016). natalia and darren (2016), in their exposition of the curveball game, demonstrate the immense value in traditional gaming in teaching research methods. the game was a staff-student collaborative initiative at leeds beckett university in the united kingdom designed to enhance problem-solving among undergraduate students in the social sciences undertaking a research project. the game involved assigning students to two groups of nine members each and assigning a problem-based task. at the end of the game, the majority of the students who participated in it viewed it as “very” or “quite” useful for, among others, understanding the research process, designing research, research ethics and methodological issues in research. patka, miyakuni and robbins (2017) explored the potential of photovoice (pv) for teaching research methods among counsellors. according to the authors, “pv is a community-based participatory research method that involves individuals actively making meaning of the world around them”. similar to the “curveball game”, pv was implemented as a series of processes and this involved identifying a research questions; developing a photograph and interpretation; discussing the photographs and interpretations in a group discussion; transcribing the transcript of the discussions; and analysing the resulting qualitative data. this process helped students to understand the research question development, improved their reflectivity, and the need to be ethical during the research process. despite the hype, game-based learning approaches in research methods do not enjoy universal appeal among different age brackets. leyva-moral and camps (2015) explored the utility of the jigsaw technique to foster student-centred and collaborative work learning approaches in research methods among nursing students at a spanish university. the technique is a collaborative learning approach that apportions individual responsibility for the group’s success, as each individual’s contribution decides the final marks for each member of the group. in their evaluation, the authors found heavy workload concerns especially among less than 22 year old students, compared to older students. notwithstanding, 89.6% of nursing students under 22 years of age reported improvement in their team-work skills, compared to 79.6% who viewed the jigsaw technique in this light. generally, the study notes that the programme was not a valuable approach to learning research methods among students compared to traditional teaching methods. this finding, though, is not to suggest that game-based methods for teaching research methods are invaluable. as pointed out in boyle et al. (2014), the use of problem-based methods, such as games, enable students to be engaged in tasks that could journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 43 eventually link research to evidence-based practice helping students, in a constructivist framework, to make meaning of their lived experiences of research methods. to this end, it may be pointed out that despite the utility of games for learning research methods, it is important to recognise that whether one chooses traditional or game-based teaching approaches, they both have their strengths and weaknesses. what is important, however, is for the instructor to recognise the necessity for effective, efficient and engaged outcomes-based learning by integrating these principles in instructional goals (hoffman, 2013). demographic factors and statistics anxiety according to lavasani, weisani, and shariati (2014), statistics anxiety involves “the unstable and transient experiences of tension, fear, and intense emotion of the self-dependant neural system in a specific context and situation”. it usually occurs when students are learning concepts and terms in statistics. it involves persistent lack of confidence to understand concepts, problems and theories in statistics and a resulting inability to solve questions on them. a number of studies have examined the phenomenon of statistics anxiety from different perspectives: causes and effects (chew & dillon, 2014; condron, becker, & bzhetaj, 2018; huang, 2018; lavasani et al., 2014; markle, 2017; najmi, raza, & qazi, 2018; slootmaeckers et al., 2014; zare et al., 2011); disciplinary and sex differences (baloğlu, deniz, & kesici, 2011; bourne, 2018; faber, drexler, stappert, & eichhorn, 2018; gray et al., 2015; najmi et al., 2018; onwuegbuzie & daley, 1999; paechter, macher, martskvishvili, wimmer, & papousek, 2017; rodarte-luna & sherry, 2008; tonsing, 2018; ulrich, n.d.; walsh & ugumba-agwunobi, 2002); and strategies for overcoming statistics anxiety (boyle et al., 2014; ciarocco et al., 2013; dinauer, 2018; dowker, sarkar, & looi, 2016; hartnett, 2013), among others. statistics anxiety has been attributed to a number of causes. according to slootmaeckers et al. (2014), despite numerous causes of the phenomenon of statistics anxiety, students experience this as a result of misconceptions on the difficulty of statistics and mathematics, and also due to the negative influence of peers. in their study, slootmaeckers et al. (2014) identified three factors with the potential for instigating statistics anxiety among students: dispositional, course-related, and person-related factors. dispositional factors are the psychological and emotional characteristics and this involves negative attitudes, perceptions, and perceived weak mathematical skills of students. whereas course-related factors, also described as situational factors, involve prior experiences with statistics such as bad grades, how the course is taught, as well as negative experiences of students with instructors; person-related factors are concerned with environmental factors such as demographics of students: age, gender, and prior educational attainment among others. the authors noted that even though all three factors have significant effect on statistics anxiety, it is important to focus on the course-related factors, as the other two cannot be controlled by the institution administering the course. the findings revealed that all three factors affect students’ perception of statistics and that there was a need to integrate statistics into the general curriculum to not only dispel this fear, but also to foster interest in, and ensure retention of statistical skills. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 44 gender has been found as a factor for statistics anxiety among students. chew and dillon (2014) explored the relationship between statistics anxiety and the personality traits using multivariate research methods. the study found that different personalities experienced statistics anxiety differently. as a result, there was a need for adapted instructional approaches to different personalities. in particular, they found, among others, that females scored higher on the factor of “agreeableness” than their male counterparts, that is, they were more likely to seek help when they experienced statistics anxiety than males. similarly, zare et al. (2011) posits that cognitive and motivational factors are positively correlated to statistics anxiety. they averred that students’ intentions for studying statistics are predicted by their achievement goals which may be one of mastery, approach-performance and avoidance performance. the study found that mastery factors have a negative correlation with statistics anxiety, whereas avoidance performance goals exert a positive effect on statistics anxiety of students. the significance of these studies is that students who approach statistics with a positive attitude excel, while students who have the tendency to avoid statistics have a higher tendency to experience failure in the subject. method the purpose of the current study was to identify the perception of under-graduate pre-service teachers on the teaching and learning of educational research as a course in one of the private universities in ghana. the students in this class were pre-service teachers who had minimum teaching requirement (diploma). a total of 320 under-graduate pre-service teachers (representing 40%), were selected through simple random sampling. however, after the screening of the data, seven respondents were deleted on the basis of not responding important items. the number was therefore reduced to 313 (representing 39.1%). the sample size is in line with krejcie and morgan (1970). the study was conducted at the time when these pre-service teachers were doing educational research at level 300 of their sandwich programme. for this reason, they could honestly assess the teaching of the course and report to the researchers appropriately. to obtain the sample, the instrument was administered to all the level 300 students (800). after the pre-service teachers returned the questionnaire, the return questionnaires were given serial numbers from one up to 800. afterwards, the researchers wrote numbers from one to 800 on a paper strips and placed them in a bowl. after series of shaking the bowl, 320 of these papers strips were hand-picked (40%). the researchers used the numbers picked randomly from the draw to select their corresponding questionnaires. after screening the data, the sample size was reduced to 313 respondents for analysis. the questionnaire consisted of quantitative items only. the questionnaire was broken into three sub-sections as perceived teaching of research; perceived relevance of research; and perceived statistics anxiety. each of the sub-sections had eight items. the researchers designed journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 45 their own instrument. the statistics anxiety construct was made up of positive statements but was later reversed coded so that higher score in the construct would indicate the presence of statistics anxiety among respondents. to assure consistency of the quantitative measures, factor analysis of the three constructs were conducted. the cronbach alpha of the items for the construct perceived teaching of research yielded 0.78; the perceived relevance of research had 0.62; while the perceived statistics anxiety indicated 0.86. based on the reliability tests, the researchers could compute the items together to get the required constructs as outlined above. table 1: test of reliability of the three constructs constructs measuring items (5=strongly agree, 4=agree, 3=neutral, 2=disagree, 1=strongly disagree) mean cronbach alpha t e a ch in g o f re se a rc h 1. the class assignments were done individually. 2. the final examination in research was paper and pencil test. 3. the teacher knew how to teach research. 4. other students understood what was taught in class. 5. i was confident of conducting my own research after class. 6. i understood the basics of research after the class. 7. i have conducted a research on my own. 8. i will recommend the teacher for other students for research. 3.34 3.01 4.00 3.49 3.22 3.57 2.99 3.76 0.78 r e le va n ce o f re se a rc h 1. i have been explained in detail the importance of research. 2. research is only useful to scientists (inverted). 3. research should be introduced at the basic school level. 4. research is a natural thing that we do on daily basis. 5. research courses are always taught well. 6. research is important to decision-taking. 7. my students have undertaken a research project before. 8. we can solve local and national issues with research 3.84 2.70 3.52 3.93 3.50 4.03 3.13 4.01 0.62 s ta ti st ic s a n xi e ty 1. i have taken a statistics class before. 2. i always enjoy learning statistics. 3. i do not have any fears for learning statistics. 4. statistics should be mandatory for all university students. 5. the teaching of statistics is not a problem at all. 6. i am looking forward to taking another statistical class. 7. statistics is important to all students. 3.72 3.77 3.60 3.60 3.47 3.52 4.13 0.86 after running the frequencies for the three constructs (teaching of research, relevance of research, and statistics anxiety), the mean and standard deviations were: teaching of research (3.41[0.82]), relevance of research (3.58[0.66]), and statistics anxiety (3.70[0.97]), respectively. the overall averages and standard deviations for the three constructs were close with a range journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 46 of 0.29 for the mean and 0.31 for the standard deviation. the findings imply that the perception of pre-service teachers on these constructs were similar. however, the standard deviation of the statistics anxiety was the highest indicating that respondents did not have similar rating as compared to the other two constructs. the researchers, as part of exploring the demographic background of respondents, investigated their gender distribution. the analysis indicated that 237 were males (75.7%) while 76 were females (24.3%). the data seem to indicate that the number of males in this private university was approximately three times the size of the female counterpart. table 2: gender distribution of respondents gender frequency percentages male 237 75.7 female 76 24.3 total 313 100 (field data, 2018) age was another important factor the researchers explored. from the data, under-graduate university students’ age was categorized into three. these were 20-26, 27-29, and 30 and above. as indicated below, the 20-26 group had 97 respondents (31%), 27-29 had 126 (40.3%) whereas the last group recorded 90 respondents (28.7%). with a mean age of 28.2 and standard deviation of 4.1, it was clear that majority of the respondents did not fall within the traditional age bracket (21-24 years). again, it was more likely to have some outliers in the age distribution. table 3: age distribution of the respondents age frequency percentages 20-26 97 31.0 27-29 126 40.3 30 and above 90 28.7 total 313 100 (field data, 2018) journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 47 results and discussion rq1: is there any difference in the three constructs (teaching of research, relevance of research and statistics anxiety) based on gender? the researchers determined whether there was any difference in the responses of the preservice teachers in the three constructs based on their gender. in other words, did gender have any impact on how they rated the various constructs? to answer this question, independent samples t-test statistical procedure was run for the three constructs. after the procedure, the means and standard deviations were as follows: mean=28.17, sd = 6.430 against mean =24.63, sd=6.314 (teaching of research); mean=29.32, sd=5.220, against mean=26.75, sd=5.047 (relevance of research); and mean=17.56, sd=7.327 versus mean=20.92, sd=8.764 (statistics anxiety) for males and females pre-service teachers respectively. interestingly, there were significant differences between males and females in terms of how they perceived the teaching of research, the relevance of research and statistics anxiety. this finding seems to indicate that male pre-service teachers are more likely to have advanced knowledge in research. again, they were more likely to view research as a relevant subject of study. finally, male pre-service teachers are more likely to have lower statistics anxiety than their female counterparts. this result is confirmed in förster and maur (2015) who found significant anxiety in two out of three dimensions in statistics anxiety among females. this finding is also supported in chew and dillon (2014), who found that the more interested a student was in a subject, the less anxious they were about it; which may likely lead to a better performance in the subject. from the finding, there appears to be a need for statistics lecturers who motivate and inspire learners to develop a deeper interest in educational research methods as a way of overcoming their fears and pessimism of the course. table 4: test of group differences based on gender constructs df t effect size p-value teaching of research 295 4.107 0.5 .000 relevance of research 298 3.700 0.5 .000 statistics anxiety 297 -3.257 0.4 .001 (field data, 2018) rq2: is there any difference in the three constructs (teaching of research, relevance of research and knowledge statistics) based on age? across ages of the university students, the researchers wanted to find whether there was any difference as they responded to the three constructs. since age had three categories (21-26, 27-29, & 30 and above), the one-way anova was used to run the statistical procedure. again, the bonferroni test was used as a post-hoc in order to locate where the differences existed within the ages. at the end of the test, the analysis indicated that there was no difference in journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 48 terms of age on teaching of research and relevance of research. however, there was a significant difference in the statistics anxiety construct. the post hoc test indicated that significant differences existed between ages 21-26 and 30 years and above. the results seem to suggest that university students within the ages of 21-26 had lower statistics anxiety level compared to their course mates who were 30 years or above. this result also conforms to that of baloğlu et al. (2011) who found a positive relationship between older students above 27 and higher statistics anxiety. table 5: test of group differences based on age constructs df f effect size p-value teaching of research (2, 294) 1.128 n/a .325 relevance of research (2, 297) .713 n/a .491 statistics anxiety (2, 296) 6.128 0.3 .002 (field data, 2018) rq3: is there any difference in the three constructs (teaching of research, relevance of research and knowledge statistics) based on years of teaching/experience? the research participants were all pre-service teachers with diploma as their highest level of education. as a result, the researchers wanted to know whether the number of years preservice teachers have taught had any impact on their perception across the three constructs. the number of years’ variable was grouped into zero to two years, three years, and four years and above. the one-way anova statistical procedure indicated that there was no significant difference in the perception of the pre-service teachers on the three main constructs, based on their years of teaching. the finding seems to imply that the number of years the participants taught did not change their views and opinions on research as a course of study. this result finds support in a recent study by gresham (2018) which suggests that all pre-service teachers, irrespective of their teaching experience, exhibit mathematics anxiety. table 6: test of group differences based on years of teaching constructs df f effect size p-value teaching of research (2, 294) .186 n/a .831 relevance of research (2, 297) .205 n/a .815 statistics anxiety (2, 296) .918 n/a .401 (field data, 2018) journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 49 rq4: is there a relationship between age and the three constructs? the assumption of the researchers was that there should have been a relationship between “the more people grow older”, “the more their understanding”. for this reason, the researchers run the pearson product-moment correlation of age of the pre-service teachers against all the three constructs. contrary to the assumption of the researchers, only the teaching of research dimension indicated a positive coefficient (.034). however, there was no significant relationship between age and the teaching of research. the other two constructs (relevance of research and statistics anxiety) had a negative relationship with age (-.013 and -.159). as displayed in table 7, there was a significant negative correlation between age and pre-service teachers’ statistics anxiety. this finding seemed to imply that the older the respondents, the less knowledge they had in statistics (r = -0.159, p = 0.006). this finding could be explained in several ways. one may relate this finding to that of rq2 which found that the older a teacher, the more anxious they could be in statistics (baloğlu et al., 2011). furthermore, from rq1, it was revealed that the more anxious a student was in statistics, the lower their performance in statistics. therefore, it can be concluded that older pre-service teachers may exhibit less knowledge in statistics as a result of their persistent anxiety of statistics, and not necessarily because they are 30 years or above. table 7: relationship between age and the three constructs constructs (r) p-value age/teaching of research .034 .560 age/relevance of research -.013 .817 age/statistics anxiety -.159** .006 (field data, 2018) correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) rq5: is there a relationship between years of teaching and the three constructs? experience is an important factor that educators use to indicate who qualifies to be given portfolios within their profession. the researchers wanted to find out whether there was a relationship between the experience of pre-service teachers as demonstrated through the numbers of years pre-service teachers have been teaching as against the teaching of research, relevance of research and statistics anxiety. once again, the pearson product-moment correlation statistical procedure was used. the analysis indicated that all three constructs had a negative relationship with years of teaching. the relationships were so weak to the extent that two of them (teaching of research and relevance of research had less than 0.1 coefficient (-.017 and -.021). among the three constructs, only the statistics anxiety dimension had a significant negative correlation with years of teaching (r = -.188, p =.001). the implication of the finding is that the longer pre-service teachers stayed in the teaching profession, the less knowledge they had in statistics. as found in our subsequent analysis, there is a positive journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 50 relationship between older pre-service teachers and the longer teaching experience. since the most experienced pre-service teachers are likely to suffer from statistics anxiety, gresham (2018) advocates in-service continuous professional development programmes as a measure to mitigate mathematics anxiety among older, experienced pre-service teachers. table 8: relationship between years of teaching and the three constructs constructs (r) p-value years of teaching/teaching of research -.017 .775 years of teaching/relevance of research -.021 .721 years of teaching/statistics anxiety .188*** .001 (field data, 2018) correlation is significant at the 0.001 level (2-tailed) rq6: is there a relationship between age and years of teaching of respondents? it might be obvious to find that, generally speaking, older people in the teaching profession are more likely to have taught for a longer time than the younger ones in the profession. though this was obvious, the researchers wanted to know whether there was statistical evidence to support the stance. after running the pearson product-moment correlation between age and years of teaching, the findings indicated that there was a strong significant positive correlation between the two variables (r = .523, p =.000). the findings implied that the older the respondents, the more experienced they were in the teaching profession. table 9: relationship between age and years of teaching construct (r) p-value age/years of teaching .523*** .000 correlation is significant at the 0.001 level (2-tailed) conclusion in conclusion, the current study has revealed two major findings that teacher educators teaching educational research have to be mindful of when designing and teaching the course. first, female pre-service teachers are more likely to have a somewhat less knowledge in the teaching of research, a negative perception of the relevance of research and unsurprisingly, a higher statistics anxiety. second, age is a factor to consider when teaching the educational research course. in spite of the challenges stated above, a significant number of the respondents believed that the educational research course is relevant to pre-service teachers in their personal and professional lives. again, the overall mean score of 3.4 on the perception of pre-service teachers on the teaching of educational research course is an indication that the journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 51 course is not being facilitated in a way that will help pre-service teachers develop the required competencies to embark on research on their own. to obtain a deeper understanding of this phenomenon, it may be needful to use qualitative research design to identify the underlying reasons why pre-service teachers fail to conduct their own research after enrolling in the course. also, there is a need to look into the reasons why age and gender have such significant impact on the perception of educational research courses among pre-service teachers. implications for practice the purpose of the study was to use survey research design to identify the perception of preservice with diploma certificates on the teaching of educational research course in the fall 2017 sandwich programme. based on the findings, the implications for practice are discussed as follows: 1. there is the need for educational research teachers to design short surveys to collect data on gender and age distribution of the students who enroll in the course. such a practice will allow the teacher to know how to create instructional interventions that will be developmentally appropriate for them. 2. again, the hiring of teachers, and the teaching of educational research courses should be reviewed at the various institutions of higher learning to make sure competent teachers with the requisite terminal degrees in educational research teach the course. such practice is more likely to reduce the anxiety levels of students who are not inclined to statistics. 3. the teaching of educational research should be incorporated into the mainstream of our educational system at all levels. since research is a life skill that students will need in their personal and professional lives, it is important that the course is introduced at an early age in order to improve upon students’ analytical and reasoning skills. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 52 references aguado, n. a. (2009). teaching research methods: learning by doing. journal of public affairs education, 15(2), 251–260. https://doi.org/10.1080/15236803.2009.12001557 alemanne, n. d. (2018). teaching research methods in lis. 16. baloğlu, m., deniz, m. e., & kesici, ş. (2011). a descriptive study of individual and cross-cultural differences in statistics anxiety. learning and individual differences, 21(4), 387–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2011.03.003 batanero, c., & díaz, c. (2010). training teachers to teach statistics: what can we learn from research? statistique et enseignement, 1(1), 5-20, retrieved from. http:// statistiqueetenseignement.fr/ojs/. bourne, v. j. (2018). exploring statistics anxiety: contrasting mathematical, academic performance and trait psychological predictors. psychology teaching review, 24(1), 35–43. boyle, e. a., macarthur, e. w., connolly, t. m., hainey, t., manea, m., kärki, a., & van rosmalen, p. (2014). a narrative literature review of games, animations and simulations to teach research methods and statistics. computers & education, 74, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2014.01.004 burrill, g., & biehler, r. (2011). fundamental statistical ideas in the school curriculum and in training teachers. in c. batanero, g. burrill, & c. reading (eds.), teaching statistics in school mathematics-challenges for teaching and teacher education (vol. 14, pp. 57–69). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1131-0_10 canning, j., & gallagher‐brett, a. (2010). building a bridge to pedagogic research: teaching social science research methods to humanities practitioners. journal of applied research in higher education, 2(2), 4–9. https://doi.org/10.1108/17581184201000009 chew, k. h. p., & dillon, d. b. (2014). statistics anxiety and the big five personality factors. procedia social and behavioral sciences, 112, 1177–1186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.1282 chu, h. (2015). research methods in library and information science: a content analysis. library & information science research, 37(1), 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2014.09.003 ciarocco, n. j., lewandowski, g. w., & van volkom, m. (2013). the impact of a multifaceted approach to teaching research methods on students’ attitudes. teaching of psychology, 40(1), 20–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628312465859 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 53 condron, d. j., becker, j. h., & bzhetaj, l. (2018). sources of students’ anxiety in a multidisciplinary social statistics course. teaching sociology, 0092055x18780501. cordingley, p. (2015). the contribution of research to teachers’ professional learning and development. oxford review of education, 41(2), 234–252. creswell, j. w. (2012). educational research: planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. boston: pearson education, inc. crowe, j., ceresola, r., & silva, t. (2014). enhancing student learning of research methods through the use of undergraduate teaching assistants. assessment & evaluation in higher education, 39(6), 759–775. dinauer, l. (2018). 9. beating anxiety and building community: best practices for teaching doctoral research methods and statistics online. advancing doctoral leadership education through technology, 137. dowker, a., sarkar, a., & looi, c. y. (2016). mathematics anxiety: what have we learned in 60 years? frontiers in psychology, 7, 508. estrada, a., batanero, c., & lancaster, s. (2011). teachers’ attitudes towards statistics. in c. batanero, g. burrill, & c. reading (eds.), teaching statistics in school mathematics-challenges for teaching and teacher education (vol. 14, pp. 163–174). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94007-1131-0_18 faber, g., drexler, h., stappert, m. a., & eichhorn, b. j. (2018). measuring education science students ‘statistics anxiety. förster, m., & maur, a. (2015). statistics anxiety and selfconcept of beginning students in the social sciences–a matter of gender and socio-cultural background. zeitschrift für hochschulentwicklung (zfhe), 10(4), 67–90. francesconi, m., & parey, m. (2018). early gender gaps among university graduates. european economic review, 109, 63–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2018.02.004 gray, c., turner, r., sutton, c., petersen, c., stevens, s., swain, j., … thackeray, d. (2015). research methods teaching in vocational environments: developing critical engagement with knowledge? journal of vocational education & training, 67(3), 274–293. https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2015.1050443 gresham, g. (2018). preservice to inservice: does mathematics anxiety change with teaching experience? journal of teacher education, 69(1), 90–107. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487117702580 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 54 hartnett, j. l. (2013). stats on the cheap: using free and inexpensive internet resources to enhance the teaching of statistics and research methods. teaching of psychology, 40(1), 52– 55. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628312465865 hill, f., mammarella, i. c., devine, a., caviola, s., passolunghi, m. c., & sz\hucs, d. (2016). maths anxiety in primary and secondary school students: gender differences, developmental changes and anxiety specificity. learning and individual differences, 48, 45–53. hoffman, e. s. (2013). beyond the flipped classroom: redesigning a research methods course for e3 instruction. contemporary issues in education research (cier), 7(1), 51. https://doi.org/10.19030/cier.v7i1.8312 howard, c., & brady, m. (2015). teaching social research methods after the critical turn: challenges and benefits of a constructivist pedagogy. international journal of social research methodology, 18(5), 511–525. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2015.1062625 huang, l. (2018). a mixed method investigation of social science graduate students’ statistics anxiety conditions before and after the introductory statistics course. international journal of higher education, 7(3), 156. johnston, l. (2006). software and method: reflections on teaching and using qsr nvivo in doctoral research. international journal of social research methodology, 9(5), 379–391. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645570600659433 kappes ramirez, m. s. (2018). influence of undergraduate nursing student teaching methods on learning standard precautions and transmission-based precautions: experimental research. nurse education today, 61, 101–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2017.11.007 kilinc, e., tarman, b. & aydin, h. (2018). examining turkish social studies teachers’ beliefs about barriers to technology integration, techtrends, 62(3),221-223. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-018-0280-y krejcie, r. v., & morgan, d. w. (1970). determining sample size for research activities. educational and psychological measurement, 30(3), 607-610. kothari, c.r., & garg, g. (2015). research methodology: methods and techniques (3rd ed.). daryaganj, new delhi: new age international publishers. lavasani, m. g., weisani, m., & shariati, f. (2014). the role of achievement goals, academic motivation in statistics anxiety: testing a causal model. procedia social and behavioral sciences, 114, 933–938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.810 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2017.11.007 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-018-0280-y journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 55 leyva-moral, j. m., & riu camps, m. (2016). teaching research methods in nursing using aronson’s jigsaw technique. a cross-sectional survey of student satisfaction. nurse education today, 40, 78–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2016.02.017 liu, l., & haque, m. d. (2017). age difference in research course satisfaction in a blended ed. d. program: a moderated mediation model of the effects of internet self-efficacy and statistics anxiety. online journal of distance learning administration, 20(2), n2. markle, g. (2017). factors influencing achievement in undergraduate social science research methods courses: a mixed methods analysis. teaching sociology, 45(2), 105–115. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x16676302 najmi, a., raza, s. a., & qazi, w. (2018). does statistics anxiety affect students’ performance in higher education? the role of students’ commitment, self-concept and adaptability. international journal of management in education, 12(2), 95–113. natalia, g., & darren, n. (2016). making curveball: working with students to produce a game that can ‘liven up’ research methods and ethics teaching in the social sciences. procedia social and behavioral sciences, 228, 396–401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.07.060 ni, a. y. (2013). comparing the effectiveness of classroom and online learning: teaching research methods. journal of public affairs education, 19(2), 199–215. https://doi.org/10.1080/15236803.2013.12001730 onwuegbuzie, a. j., & daley, c. e. (1999). perfectionism and statistics anxiety. personality and individual differences, 26(6), 1089–1102. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8869(98)00214-1 paechter, m., macher, d., martskvishvili, k., wimmer, s., & papousek, i. (2017). mathematics anxiety and statistics anxiety. shared but also unshared components and antagonistic contributions to performance in statistics. frontiers in psychology, 8, 1196. park, s. (2003). research methods as a core competency. journal of education for library and information science, 44(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.2307/40323939 patka, m., miyakuni, r., & robbins, c. (2017). experiential learning: teaching research methods with photovoice. the journal of counselor preparation and supervision. https://doi.org/10.7729/92.1183 pfeffer, c. a., & rogalin, c. l. (2012). three strategies for teaching research methods: a case study. teaching sociology, 40(4), 368–376. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x12446783 rodarte-luna, b., & sherry, a. (2008). sex differences in the relation between statistics anxiety and cognitive/learning strategies. contemporary educational psychology, 33(2), 327–344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2007.03.002 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2016.02.017 https://doi.org/10.1080/15236803.2013.12001730 https://doi.org/10.2307/40323939 https://doi.org/10.7729/92.1183 https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055x12446783 journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 2, 2019 manu, j. & owusu-ansah, c.m. (2019). the impact of demographic factors on pre-service teachers’ perception of educational research: findings from a private university 56 schutt, r. k., hubert m. b. j., & theodore, c. w. (1984). goals and means for research methods courses. teaching sociology, 11(3), 235-58. slootmaeckers, k., kerremans, b., & adriaensen, j. (2014). too afraid to learn: attitudes towards statistics as a barrier to learning statistics and to acquiring quantitative skills. politics, 34(2), 191–200. tonsing, k. n. (2018). instructor immediacy and statistics anxiety in social work undergraduate students. social work education, 37(2), 223–233. ulrich, a. (n.d.). using mathematical research methods to solve a problem in music theory instruction, specifically, the teaching of secondary dominant chords. 15. vasquez-colina, m. d., maslin-ostrowski, p., & baba, s. (n.d.). tapping into graduate students’ collaborative technology experience in a research methods class: insights on teaching research methods in a malaysian and american setting. 13. walsh, j. j., & ugumba-agwunobi, g. (2002). individual differences in statistics anxiety: the roles of perfectionism, procrastination and trait anxiety. personality and individual differences, 33(2), 239–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8869(01)00148-9 zare, h., rastegar, a., & hosseini, s. m. d. (2011). the relation among achievement goals and academic achievement in statistics: the mediating role of statistics anxiety and statistics selfefficacy. procedia social and behavioral sciences, 30, 1166–1172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.227 72 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers shamaine bazemore-bertrand1* and kisha porcher2 1illinois state university 2rutgers, the state university of new jersey *corresponding author: skbert1@ilstu.edu received : 2019-nov-01 accepted : 2020-may-26 doi: 10.46303/jcve.03.01.5 how to cite this paper: bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k. (2020). teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers. journal of culture and values in education, 3(1), 72-88. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.5 abstract many institutions of higher education, and their teacher preparation programs, have mission or core value statements that include terms such as diversity, equity, or social justice. the terms are meant to suggest an inclusive approach but it’s often difficult to see how those terms are operationalized. as two black pre-tenure faculty members working in predominantly white institutions (pwis), we have pushed our teacher preparation programs to go beyond putting keywords in mission statements and provide ways to follow through so future teachers can enact the concepts in their classrooms. we use self-study in teacher education practices (s-step) and critical race theory (crt) to make meaning of our own narratives, the systems that negatively impact people of color, and signaling words within our teacher preparation programs. we use the data from our personal narratives to discuss ways junior faculty can act as disruptors to ensure white preservice teachers are better prepared for the field. keywords: critical race theory, diversity, preservice teachers https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.5 73 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org introduction i don’t understand why we had to complete our student teaching in urban school districts. why can’t we teach other students, like in suburban or rural areas? —a student in dr. porcher’s urban social justice teacher education program words like diversity, inclusion, equity, or social justice frequently appear in the mission statements of universities and teacher preparation programs like ours. including the words, though, doesn’t ensure preservice teachers will develop the deep understanding of the concepts needed to enact them in their future classrooms. without specific actions from their professors, the words will remain abstract concepts, disconnected from the future teachers’, and their future students’, lives. white, monolingual cis-gender women make up 76% of the teaching force (ingersoll et al., 2018) and many of them share that they feel ill-prepared to teach students of color and/or students in urban schools (bazemore-bertrand & handsfield, 2019). despite these gaps, whiteness remains the norm for curriculum, expectations, and standards in most education programs (tanner, 2017). cook (2013) observed, “many teacher education programs reinforce and reify the very systems of white supremacy and ethnocentrism that they purport to prepare teachers to resist” (p. 46). while there are some institutions of higher education that have increased their attention to diversity that extends beyond whiteness (williams & clowney, 2007), addressing diversity is merely a start. absent the action steps to prepare preservice teachers for the diversity in today’s classroom, these statements remain merely words on a page or website. as black women teaching at predominantly white institutions (pwi), we’ve identified ways to disrupt the norms of whiteness and move beyond mission statements to prepare preservice teachers to be equity-oriented, social justice-minded, critical educators. specifically, we’ve identified how redesigning our courses to better prepare our mostly white future teachers and how instructors can use their identity to shape that redesign. there is risk involved when faculty of color draw attention to how teacher preparation programs are held accountable for their mission statements. meacham and barratt (2003) offered, “an institution’s mission statement represents a consensus on campus-wide values, expectations for student learning and development, and a statement of campus priorities for many years ahead” (p. 6). these risks include being passed over for tenure, not receiving merit increases, missed opportunities for funding or advancement, and even termination. we believe, though, the risks are worth it if we are to truly represent our disciplines and enact our institutions’ mission statements. a 2012 study of 80 higher education institutions’ mission statements found that 75% referenced diversity, but only 19% defined diversity in racial or ethnic terms (wilson & meyer, 2012). there is limited research on how colleges of education go beyond the words in their mission statement and embodying those words in their courses and instruction. our experiences in the field has shown us that if our students, who are almost all white, are going to be successful teachers for students of color, they need to be able to define and describe what these words look like in practice. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 74 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org preparing white preservice teachers to teach students of color in urban schools explicitly preparing white preservice teachers to teach students of color is necessary to interrupt patterns of bias in classrooms. annamma and winn (2019) began their call for action in teacher education by offering, “teacher education programs often focus on preparing preservice teachers to become teaching professionals and leaders committed to advocating for students, yet pervasive deficit mindsets reinforce and (re)produce societal inequities” (p. 1). to interrupt these deficit mindsets, scholars offer different approaches including teaching future teachers to be socially just, socio-politically conscious, and offer culturally relevant pedagogy (ladson-billings, 1995), teach from a position of culturally responsiveness (gay, 2010), or offer culturally sustaining instruction (paris & alim, 2017). explicit approaches are essential as preservice teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions are largely constructed by their own school experiences, the communities they live in, and the media they consume (e.g., bazemore-bertrand & handsfield, 2019; emdin, 2016; howard & milner, 2014). moreover, in many cases, white preservice teachers have negative attitudes of urban students and schools (hampton et al., 2008). in another study, waddell (2011) explored preservice teachers’ perceptions of urban school settings in a community that had undergone changes in racial and socioeconomic demographics and recommended teacher preparation programs offer opportunities for preservice teachers to “cross cultural borders to gain a broad and deep understanding of urban students and schools” (p. 24). after spending time in communities and examining attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions, many of their common misperceptions were modified and resolved. the study concluded that creating opportunities and carefully designed experiences outside the educational classroom can heighten learning and have a significant impact on preparing preservice teachers to teach in urban school settings. researchers emphasize the importance of teachers and preservice teachers getting to know their students outside of school and opportunities to work and socialize within the urban communities (cooper, 2007; emdin, 2016; love, 2019). with this in mind, we have focused our course redesign on exposing students to urban communities as part of their teacher preparation. we believe this exposure is important because it provides preservice teachers with an opportunity to gain insight into the assets of urban communities that they’ve likely only previously seen from a deficit perspective. through these interactive and engaging experiences in urban communities, we guide our preservice teachers to center equity, social justice, and diversity in their lives. it’s important to us, though, these experiences do not feel contrived. the next section highlights how we used critical race theory (crt) to share our narratives about the ways in which we have intentionally become disruptors within our teacher education programs. critical race theory and teacher candidates' perceptions of students of color we used crt as a way to make meaning of our and our students’ dispositions, the systems which negatively impact people of color, and the gap between the language of mission statements and what happens in the teacher preparation programs. we see clear https://cultureandvalues.org/ 75 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org connections between our goals as disruptors and the four tenets of crt. the first tenet is that racism is a normal fact of daily life in american society because the “assumptions of white superiority are ingrained in political, legal, and educational structures and they are unrecognizable” (taylor, 2009, p. 2). as an example, we are both junior faculty in the racial minority serving as professors at pwis that have only ever had white male presidents. we are two of only a few faculty of color in our respective institutions. this power structure that reifies whiteness is both overt and covert in every space we enter. the second tenet of crt is bell’s (1980) theory of interest convergence. interest convergence is when the interests of minoritized groups in gaining racial equality are only accommodated when they have converged with the interests of powerful whites. due to the steady increase of students of color in public schools, and the consistency in the whiteness of the teaching population, there is an ongoing discourse and effort to prepare teachers to teach students of color. there is a concerted effort needed for preparing teachers to teach students of color that teacher education programs can no longer ignore. this has now become their focus to keep their doors open and to be responsive to the changing demographics of public schools. taylor (2009) describes the third tenet of crt as historical context. it reminds us that race is complex, and we cannot ignore or disregard the historic conflict in which the construct originated. examples of this can be seen in our institutions, despite being in two different regions of the country. our programs’ demographics mirror the demographic patterns seen in the american teaching profession, dominated by white women, as do their histories. as an example, it’s not uncommon to find some departments at large universities with teaching programs refuse to enroll black students until the late 1970s (stalter, 2018) or for the demographics of a college to be dramatically different than the demographics of the state where the school is located (read & barrish, 2018). the mere fact that we are one of the few black professors at our institutions, which have existed for longer than 100 years, cannot be overlooked and is essential to disrupting patterns in teacher education. the final tenet of crt is use of dominant narratives. the purpose of narratives in crt is to “redirect the dominant gaze, to make it see from a new point of view what has been there all along” (taylor, 2009, p. 8). as such, crt gives voice to people of color about their experiences with racism and challenges the experiences of whites as the standard. taylor (2009) summarizes crt scholars work and offers: one powerful way to challenge the dominant mindset of society--the shared stereotypes, beliefs, and understandings-is the telling of stories. stories can not only challenge the status quo, but they can help build consensus and create a shared, common understanding (p. 122). these four tenets informed how we approach our course redesigns and this project. method structure and setting this study uses self-study in teacher education practices (s-step), a type of practitioner inquiry undertaken by teacher educators with the dual purpose of improving https://cultureandvalues.org/ 76 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org their practice while also acknowledging their role in teacher learning in the larger project of preparing high-quality teachers to teach in urban schools (sharkey, 2018). the s-step approach is rooted in action research and reflective practice, particularly from a critical, social justice perspective (sharkey, 2018; vanassche & kelchtermans, 2015). it has made a contribution to the scholarship of teacher education pedagogies and practices (loughran, 2014; sharkey, 2018; zeichner, 2007). through our narratives, we highlight and examine the redesign of our courses, with hopes that there is space to critique the teacher preparation program and propose changes to embody the mission statements in our actions as faculty that in turn, transfers to our students. utilizing narratives provides the opportunity to elevate our voices as black faculty, and for the teacher preparation program to learn about shifting from talking to the action of diversity, inclusion, and social justice. dr. bertrand’s setting my university is a large public university located in the midwest region of the united states. according to the written goals of my department, my program will: (1) support, recruit, and retain educators (faculty and students) who work to eliminate systemic inequities and promote inclusion in education; (2) prepare students, faculty, and staff to utilize pedagogically-driven and culturally responsive practices for teaching with technology; and (3) establish opportunities for coe students, faculty, and staff to learn about and engage in efforts that promote equity and inclusion in education and communities that are historically marginalized. dr. porcher’s setting i am a teacher educator at a public research 1 (r1) institution on the east coast. the course i chose to focus on for this article is housed in the graduate school of education (gse). i am a member of the learning and teaching department, specifically in the urban social justice teacher education program. according to my program’s goals, our aim is to develop a generation of teachers with the skills and dispositions to teach all students and learn from them and their communities. teachers prepared at the gse are expected to critically analyze the social politics of urban, rural, and suburban schools and use that analysis to inform their teaching practice toward the empowerment of children and youth. both of our programs theoretically indicate a focus on equity, diversity, and social justice; however, as illustrated in the opening quote and our narratives below, this is not the case in practice. we made conscious decisions as black pre-tenure faculty to engage in the disruptive practice of course redesign for diversity, equity, and inclusion and be the change we wanted to see in our teacher education programs. our narratives: before the course (re)design while we are at two different institutions and in two different roles, we both observed a significant gap between theory and practice regarding equity and diversity. this is evident by how diversity and inclusion are part of the mission of our programs, yet whiteness is reflected in the population, curricula, teaching and assessment practices, https://cultureandvalues.org/ 77 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org teacher-student interactions, and decision-making of both institutions (gorski, 2009). understanding teacher preparation has a responsibility to prepare preservice teachers to teach all students, we have used disruptive practice in order to challenge the norm at our institutions. dr. bertrand’s experience before the course (re)design i am a tenure-track assistant professor of elementary education, which means i am charged with maintaining an active scholarship agenda, teaching, and participating in service at the departmental, university, state, and/or national levels. i serve as a generalist, a professor who can teach a variety of courses, which provides the opportunity to teach a foundation of education course during students’ junior year and first semester in the elementary education program. while i teach other courses, the course that i teach every semester is a foundation course titled, elementary education: practices & issues. this course is the first course that preservice teachers take in the elementary education program and provides an overview of teaching in an elementary classroom. once i was assigned the course, the faculty course leader provided me with the course syllabus, calendar, readings, assignments, and rubrics. the course objectives are to: ● plan and write developmentally appropriate standards-based lesson plans for elementary students. use instructional strategies that will meet the needs of diverse students. ● identify issues affecting elementary education and critically analyze the implications these issues have on the practice of educating elementary students. ● describe the diverse needs and backgrounds of elementary students and make recommendations and accommodation for differentiating classroom instruction and management as necessary to meet those needs. as i began to review the materials that i was given, i realized that the course provided an overall introduction to teaching in elementary schools, but failed to address diversity, social justice, equity, or inclusion. the course materials did not reflect people of color and the previously assigned course readings were written only by white scholars or authors. several of the assignments perpetuated biases and stereotypes (e.g., case study assignment that required preservice teachers to write about a student in their clinical placements without addressing deficit perspectives or how biases/stereotypes may impact their perceptions), and none of the course topics listed on the course calendar addressed students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds. also, preservice teachers were not guaranteed to have clinical placements to practice teaching in racially and socioeconomically diverse schools. this was disheartening because, as a former elementary teacher that has taught in racially and socioeconomically diverse schools, i am acutely aware that there is a need for teacher education courses to focus on preparing preservice teachers for diverse schools which include how to create equitable learning environments. there are twelve or more sections of this course offered every fall semester and two sections every spring semester. the majority of these sections use the same syllabus which were centering https://cultureandvalues.org/ 78 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org white pedagogical practices, course calendar, readings, and assignments that i was given to use before i redesigned the course. as a teacher educator that strives to be social justice-oriented, equity-minded, and culturally responsive, i could not perpetuate the standard norms of whiteness that have been in place prior to my arrival. it was necessary to make changes that would prepare preservice teachers for the realities of today’s urban classrooms. further, as a black pretenure faculty member, i acknowledged that the academy was not built for me and that i must be careful in my decision-making in order to survive (i.e. maintain my position) in this field. i often compared myself to being in academia to a game of chess; i have to be strategic and make the right moves to stay in the game. i was afraid to take my course in a different direction, and contemplated the possible consequences to my career and relationships of making these changes, however, i had to stay committed to what i believed in and who i am. i carefully planned the conversation i would have with the faculty course leader to construct a plan that i hoped would have as minimal an impact on my career as possible while pushing for the changes i knew were necessary. i scheduled a meeting and discussed with the faculty course leader that the existing course did not represent who i am given its lack of content and assignments that focused on equity and social justice. i explained how i envisioned a course that focused on preservice teachers' understanding of what is needed in order to be effective with racially and socioeconomically diverse students in today’s classrooms. i did not receive direct criticism but was asked follow up questions and for more details. i explained how much of the content centered the white perspective and did not provide preservice teachers who are white an opportunity to think about their past, firsthand experiences. i detailed how preservice teachers need an understanding of equity and how to create an equitable learning environment to be effective teachers. that would not happen if they were not exposed to racially, ethnically, linguistically, socioeconomically diverse students. it was frustrating to explain this, given the diversity of today’s classrooms (nces, 2014) and i left the meeting confident i had done the right thing by discussing the need to disrupt the norms and practices that were centered in whiteness. this is what the crt framework supports and what scholars (emdin, 2016; gorski, 2009; howard & milner, 2014; milner, 2010) have found necessary in order to prepare preservice teachers to be responsive to the needs of racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse students. i was prepared to go ahead with my changes. dr. porcher’s experience before the course (re)design i am now at a different institution, but at the time of this narrative, i was an assistant professor of professional (pop) practice, partner leader and interim director of clinical experience at an r1 university. pops bridge theory and practice by bringing “real world” contexts into university classrooms. turner (1967) defines pops as liminal figures that occupy a middle group between business or industry and academia. sometimes pops are also identified as scholar-practitioners based on their engagement in research. ramsay and brua (2017) argued that pops are uniquely qualified and are aggressively sought after because of their extensive experience in their career field. we are challenged to leverage our https://cultureandvalues.org/ 79 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org knowledge of our industry or professional culture in service to the new academic culture (ramsay & brua, 2017). in this role, i was responsible for developing and maintaining community-university partnerships, securing clinical placements, observing students in their clinical experiences, and teaching courses. i was a faculty member in the urban social justice teacher education program, more specifically, the english education program. i was responsible for teaching one course per semester. i taught one english methods course for secondary students and a community-engaged course per semester. inspired by clark et al. (2016)’s observation that “the intentional engagement of community wisdom and expertise in the training of teachers” (p. 6) is essential, i wanted to find a way to incorporate a democratic model, based in design and engagement activities that are beneficial for the university, the district and the local community. i was assigned to teach the students, communities and social justice course, a capstone course for the teacher education program (porcher et al., 2020). this course makes the following assumptions: ● student learning is situated within and actively connected to the school and the broader community. as such, teachers must seek opportunities to learn from and with community members outside of school. ● public education has the potential to be a site for social change and equity. it is the only institution in the u.s. that is universally available to all students from diverse cultural, linguistic, and economic backgrounds. as such, teachers must see themselves as embedded in a larger community. as members of—perhaps multiple— broader communities, teachers must be able to notice and question their own assumptions and prejudices in order to be able to recognize the potential impact of those assumptions and prejudices on students, communities, and professional practice. ● teachers have a responsibility to work alongside students, families, and communities to actively participate in creating and perpetuating a just, humane, and democratic society. as such, teachers need to understand how who we are, impacts how we teach and how we make alliances with community stakeholders, inside and outside of the school building (porcher et al., 2020). the course learning objectives are that students will: ● work alongside community members to jointly develop a program of engagement, ● engage in meaningful interactions with members of a community other than school personnel, and ● interact with students, community members, family members both with the presence of a gse instructor and also independently without gse instructor mediation. i was given the existing syllabi but was told i could develop the course in the way that i choose. when reviewing the documentation, i noticed the course, as written, contributed to the long-standing pattern of universities that do research “on” communities as opposed to “with” communities. furthermore, universities perpetuate the idea of sending wellmeaning students to “serve” while completely dismissing or being unaware of communityhttps://cultureandvalues.org/ 80 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org led problem-solving efforts (porcher et al., 2020). pushing against the norm of research on communities requires a paradigm shift that provides the opportunity to build trust with communities. for example, the courses were created by professors without the input of the community, they’re based on the research of the professors masqueraded as the needs of the community, community engagement means voyeuristic activities, etc. i immediately wondered about community engagement. i knew teachers had a responsibility to work alongside students, families, and communities, so why weren’t the community members a part of the designing of each course? as a teacher educator, i knew i could not expect future teachers to build relationships and work alongside communities when we don’t model this engagement in our programs. i also wondered why community members weren’t teaching the course given the outcomes. it was my goal to make the course come alive, and not just look good on paper. i knew that in the revision of the course, i would have to model social justice in my words and actions. becoming disruptors as teacher educators, we recognized our preservice teachers lacked preparedness due to whiteness as a normative standard. as we considered what specific changes we wanted to make to our courses, we knew we had to attend to our preservice teachers’ prior experiences and the new experiences they would need to create a foundation for being a successful teacher of children of color. we returned to our institution’s mission statements and considered how much we were willing to sacrifice to make sure our preservice teachers gained experience in our courses to help them think critically and move towards an equityminded mindset. we anchored ourselves with the reminder of the lives of the children they would be teaching and designed our courses such that our students would have the space to: ● unpack self through an archeological dig (sealey-ruiz, 2018); ● explore the assets and conditions (love, 2019) of communities and students of color through community-university engagement (clark et al., 2015); and ● design using culturally relevant (ladson-billings, 1995) and culturally sustaining practices (paris, 2012). these elements of our course design disrupted the “one size fits all” curricula that are often taught in teacher preparation programs. through the courses, our students would critically reflect on their identities, the ways in which they show up in classrooms and communities, the ways in which their actions and mindsets impact their students and communities, and explore strategies for dismantling racist ideologies and systems that prevent students of color from being and learning in their future urban classrooms. furthermore, we were explicit about the use of signal words and their connection to interest convergence for their institutions. we worked to elevate narratives and experiences of people of color through in the course design and then stepped in front of our students to begin the work of disrupting whiteness. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 81 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org dr. bertrand as a disruptor disrupting a system that was not built by me or for me was a challenge because of the risk involved. i was a black woman and pre-tenure professor intentionally addressing topics that white preservice teachers might find uncomfortable. i decided that to begin this work, i had to build a community and have students do what i refer to as “self-work.” i spent the first three weeks of class building community by using activities such as i wish my professor knew, an adapted version of kyle schwartz’s (2016) i wish my teacher knew. this activity provided preservice teachers the opportunity to share what they wanted me to know about them that would help their learning. my students and i also participated in class circles where students could respond to different prompts including, “how do you believe you show up in the world?”, “describe students who attend urban schools using one word”, “how do you feel about teaching in a diverse classroom?”, and “what do you believe you need to know in order to feel like an effective teacher in a diverse classroom?”. i was very transparent with my students and shared my personal and professional journey as a way to model opening up. while building community, i guided them through “self-work” using sealey-ruiz’s (2018) work on unpacking self through an archaeological dig. preservice teachers were assigned a photovoice project (wang et al., 1997) that challenged them to think of who they are and what experiences and influences have contributed to their identity. this assignment pushed my preservice teachers to critically reflect and led to critical conversations that addressed biases and stereotypes towards racially and socioeconomically diverse students. the process of “self-work” is continuous and contact with students since my courses ended has shown many of them make the choice to do this work daily. in addition to the photovoice project, i asked students to complete a case study on a student that is racially different than themselves. i wanted my preservice teachers to spend time with the student for at least six weeks and get to know the student as a full person. i required them to collect data on the students’ grades and behavior but also their observations on how other people perceive the student. my goal was to get preservice teachers to understand the value and importance of building relationships with students and understanding the whole child. one of the preservice teachers expressed, “getting to spend time and work with a student over the course of many weeks was eye-opening. i will be honest and say that just based on appearance and how i typically view students who attend schools like this i would have never probably gotten to see how smart this student is and all they bring into the classroom.” it is implicit biases and thoughts like this that preservice teachers have that i want to disrupt and this assignment allowed me to do so. the elementary education: practices and issues course is paired with elementary education clinical i. preservice teachers are required to complete two full days a week of clinical hours at an elementary school site. in order to ensure that students were in an environment to learn what i was teaching in the elementary education: practice and issues regarding social justice, equity, and diversity i placed them in urban schools where more than 70% of the population is both racially and economically diverse. most of the preservice teachers have not had the opportunity to teach in these schools, therefore i had to prepare https://cultureandvalues.org/ 82 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org them by addressing topics such as systemic inequities, bias, stereotypes, and how to identify the assets of a community. i designed course discussions focused on the challenges that students of color that attend urban schools encounter and how teachers use deficit-based instructional strategies that further marginalize children of color in urban communities (payne, 2008). i then shared with preservice teachers asset-based approaches to address students’ challenges related to systemic inequities (farinde-wy et al., 2017). i was intentional about preservice teachers not just making judgments about the schools and communities, but actually immersing themselves and finding the assets of the community (love, 2019). i accompanied students into the community to meet community leaders, as well as visit community organizations that serve the students and families of the schools where they were assigned. the community immersion in the course provided preservice teachers an opportunity to learn how to privilege the knowledge, cultures, and assets inherent in the communities where they would engage in their clinical experience (waddell, 2013). this was a different approach than what has been done in this course and it required my students to think about the role their identity plays in how they view schools and communities. these experiences served to disrupt the regular teacher preparation course that intentionally and unintentionally perpetuated whiteness through curricular models and teacher educator approaches (sleeter, 2017). dr. porcher as a disruptor historically in teacher preparation, engagement with surrounding community school districts and/or interactions with the community have focused specifically on securing clinical placements for their students in their program or research efforts that benefit faculty members. this has served as a one-directional relationship, with maybe some incidental opportunities for students to become full-time teachers in their district or the community members to receive a ‘service’ on behalf of a faculty member. as a black woman from a historically and intentionally marginalized community, i experienced the ways in which my community was preyed upon for the benefit of universities. when i enter schools and communities to observe and engage with preservice teachers, i see students and communities that mirror the ones that i grew up in. the work that i do as a teacher educator is serious and important to my identity. i recognized immediately that the students, communities and social justice course needed design input from community members, both the university community and the local community. in an effort to model critical service-learning (mitchell, 2016), specifically, developing authentic relationships and repositioning power and privilege as a faculty member, connecting with university staff that specializes in community-university partnerships was my first priority (porcher et al., 2020). i reached out to the associate director and program coordinator of the community-based research service and began the journey of modeling inclusion. i wanted to disrupt the notion that higher education work as more valuable than others and worked to situate the community members as experts with experiences that held more weight than those of us in higher education. the coordinator was able to identify organizations where students could contribute. they set up and accompanied me to meetings and helped me establish trust with the https://cultureandvalues.org/ 83 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org community (porcher et al., 2020). they gave me articles to read to ensure that i had a strong understanding of community engagement and critical service learning. based on the readings, the discussions, and notes from meetings with the community partners, we collectively began to construct a course overview. we focused on engaging preservice teachers in developing an understanding of the ways in which the community impacts schools. the framework of the course included engaging in an archeological dig of self (sealey-ruiz, 2018), exploring the assets and conditions (love, 2019) of the community, and finally, engaging in critical service learning. the archeological dig involved an exploration of self and whiteness in american society. an example from the course activities, of interrogating one’s racial identity, is for students to identify the pivotal moment in their life when they recognized their race. this activity is influenced by morrison’s (2007) literary criticism that highlights the ‘profound revelation’ when one recognizes that they are black. this activity allows students to engage in the archaeological dig of self (sealey-ruiz, 2018). the course begins with unpacking self, as the most important aspect of this work, beyond pedagogical practices. the ‘self-work’ has to be the foundation of learning and teaching as if left unpacked and explored, it has the power to negatively impact the lives of students (sealey-ruiz, 2018). this is a disruption in teacher preparation because it shifts from just words like diversity, inclusion, equity, or social justice, to students exploring what those words look like in practice. students cannot see the importance of diversity, inclusion, equity and/or social justice if they do not know who they are and the privileges that they have that may contribute to lack of diversity, inclusion, equity and/or social justice. the second aspect of the framework of the course is the exploration of the community involves studying the history of the community, along with the ways the demographics and infrastructure changed over time. an example of the exploration of the assets and conditions of the community is to engage in a community learning walk led by a community member. this demonstrates a disruption as many of our students never walk beyond the university community because of their deficit perspectives of communities of color. similar to findings of researchers in the aforementioned literature (hampton et al., 2008; wadell, 2011), we assumed that our students benefited most from this disruption because they had previously never engaged with communities different from them. for many, this may have been because of deficit perspectives, biases, and stereotypes (hampton et al., 2008; wadell, 2011). this community learning walk provides the opportunity for students to begin to explore the assets of the community. furthermore, the conditions that are created by the presence of the university such as gentrification, redlining, and revitalization that negatively impacts the community. the final aspect of the course framework is engagement in critical service learning. mitchell (2008) identifies three components of critical service-learning: redistribution of privilege and power, societal change, and authentic relationships. the actual course content was co-taught by myself, the representatives from the community research center, and community partners including representatives from a community health center, a gifted and talented program at the local school district, a community senior citizen resource center, and a community-led health organization. the students engaged in critical service learning https://cultureandvalues.org/ 84 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org by engaging in a critical-service learning project designed by the community partners (porcher et al., 2020). it marked a redistribution of power because the community members determined the focus. the course or the critical service learning projects were not driven by my interests or my students' idea of service. the projects ranged from collaboratively developing training modules for volunteers at the community health center, engaging in literacy practices with families at the community health center, designing a community cultural heritage day, researching tenant-landlord associations to support community tenants, and analyzing community data focused on health disparities. all the projects required direct engagement with the community which assisted in developing authentic relationships. my goal was for preservice teachers to leave my course with developed insight, understanding, and set of skills in interacting and engaging with their students’ communities that they could use in their own classrooms. i wanted to model disrupting and decentering whiteness by embracing inclusion and diversity. i wanted to interrupt the pattern of higher education not valuing community expertise and experiences. implications of disruptive practices our experiences offer a number of ways for teacher educators to disrupt practices at their institutions, as well as recommendations for teacher preparation programs on how to move past using particular words in their mission statements, to actually do the work necessary to prepare preservice teachers to teach students of color. we can first recommend practices for navigating disrupting norms as pre-tenure faculty. ● explore your own identity as a faculty member. some questions to consider are, who are you? how do you show up in the world? how do you show up at your institution? what are the challenges of how you show up based on your rank as a junior faculty member? what power and privileges do you have? ● provide the opportunity for students to explore their own identities and positionalities as the foundation of any course that you teach. preservice teachers cannot teach anyone if they are not aware of who they are. teaching is not just about strategies but about self-work, too. ● provide the opportunity for students to explore both the conditions and assets of the community to avoid perpetuating stereotypes about students and their communities. ● prepare students to be flexible as conditions can change in schools and in the community work and to be process oriented. ● ensure that students understand that they do not just arrive as a culturally relevant teacher, they must continuously choose culturally relevant practices. the next list consists of our recommended lists of practices, based on our experiences and crt framework for teacher education program leaders who are offered to hold programs accountable to their own, their department/college, and/or their university mission statements. the list includes: ● have critical conversations with white faculty members about the lack of diversity of the faculty and students. ensure that there is a plan in place to not only increase https://cultureandvalues.org/ 85 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org diverse students and faculty but support them as they become part of the teacher preparation program. ● if there are diverse faculty members and students, have critical conversations with them about representation and power within the teacher preparation program. ● perform an equity audit of courses and provide training for faculty members to ensure that there is an agreed understanding and enactment of all the words in their mission and value statements throughout their programs. conclusion while redesigning courses and disrupting teacher education is not an easy task, it is necessary if we want to guarantee that preservice teachers are prepared to teach students who often do not look like them or share similar racial, ethnic, and/or cultural backgrounds. in the elementary education: practices and issues course, the students did not understand equity or what it looks like in a classroom, nor did they understand how biases and stereotypes of students of color impact their teaching. at the end of the semester, several students shared how this course opened their minds and really helped them to address some of their biases and recognize their privilege. one student wrote an email where she expressed, “i honestly had no idea that i was in school and some of my peers weren’t afforded the same opportunities. i am committing to make sure that i center equity and do all i can to make sure that students of color have the educational experience they deserve.” in the students, communities and social justice course, the students were not aware of urban social justice program and articulated this feedback about the course after the r(e)design: “learning how to facilitate productive discussion about race and equity in the classroom; i really liked that we had the opportunity to work alongside community organizations for critical service learning. i believe that everyone should be somehow involved in the community they are observing or student teaching at from the beginning of the program, and not only for this class.” if we are going to move past just saying the right thing and actually doing the right thing in university mission statements and in teacher preparation programs and really take action to prepare preservice teachers for racially and socioeconomically diverse schools, we must examine the ways in which we teach and redesign our courses to better prepare preservice teachers. we must disrupt the norms in teacher preparation and become teacher educators as disruptors. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 86 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org references annamma, s. a., & winn, m. (2019). transforming our mission: animating teacher education through intersectional justice. theory into practice, 58(4), 318-327. 2https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1626618 bazemore-bertrand, s., & handsfield, l. j. (2019). show and tell: elementary teacher candidates' perceptions of teaching in high-poverty schools. multicultural education, 26(3/4), 27-37. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1239634 bell jr., d. a. (1980). brown v. board of education and the interest-convergence dilemma. harvard law review, 93(3), 518-534. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej219589 clark, p., zygmunt, e., clausen, j., mucherah, w., & tancock, s. (2015). transforming teacher education for social justice. teachers college press. cook, d. a. (2013). the engaged dialogue: reflections on preparing african american teachers for diverse classrooms. multicultural perspectives, 15(1), 46–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2013.754302 cooper, j. (2007). strengthening the case for community-based learning in teacher education. journal of teacher education, 58(3), 245-255. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487107299979 delgado, r., & stefancic, j. (2017). critical race theory: an introduction. nyu press. emdin, c. (2016). for white folks who teach in the hood…and the rest of y’all too. beacon press. farinde-wu, a., glover, c., & williams, n. (2017). “it’s not hard work; it’s heart work”: strategies of effective, award-winning culturally responsive teachers. the urban review, 49(2), 279-299. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1141872 gay, g. (2010). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.). teachers college. gorski, p. (2009). what we’re teaching teachers. teaching and teacher education, 25(2), 309–318. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej827689 hampton, b., peng, l., & ann, j. (2008). preservice teacher’s perceptions of urban schools. urban review, 40(3), 268-295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-008-0081-2 howard, t. c., & milner, h. r. (2014). teacher preparation for urban schools. in r. milner & k. lomotey (eds.) handbook of urban education (pp. 199– 216). routledge. ingersoll, r., merrill, e., stuckey, d., & collins, g. (2018). seven trends: the transformation of the teaching force [research report 2018–2]. consortium for policy research in education, university of pennsylvania. ladson-billings, g., & tate, w. f. (1995). toward critical race theory of education. teachers college record, 97, 47-68. loughran, j. (2014). professionally developing as a teacher educator. journal of teacher education, 65(4), 271-283. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487114533386 love, b. l. (2019). we want to do more than survive: abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. beacon press. meacham, j., & barrett, c. (2003). commitment to diversity in institutional mission statements. diversity digest, 7(1, 2), 6-9. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1239634 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej219589 87 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org milner, h. r. (2010). what does teacher education have to do with teaching? implications for diversity studies. journal of teacher education, 60(1/2), 118-131. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487109347670 milner, h. r., & howard, t.c. (2014). teacher preparation for urban schools: handbook of urban education. routledge. mitchell, t. d. (2008). traditional vs. critical service-learning: engaging the literature to differentiate two models. michigan journal of community service learning, 14(2), 5065. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej831374.pdf morrison, t. (2007). playing in the dark. vintage. national center for education statistics. (2014). the condition of education 2014. https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2014083 paris, d. (2012). culturally sustaining pedagogy: a needed change in stance, terminology and practice. educational researcher, 41(3), 93-97. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x12441244 paris, d., & alim, h. s. (eds.). (2017). culturally sustaining pedagogies: teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. teachers college press. payne, c. m. (2008). so much reform, so little change: the persistence of failure in urban schools. harvard education press. porcher, k., michael, a., & mir, c. (2020). community-engaged teacher education: redesigning programs to redistribute power and privilege to the community. partners: bridging research & practice the practitioner journal of the national association for professional development schools. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.476 ramsay, c. m., & brua, c. (2017). understanding professors of practice: leveraging expertise, empowering potential. the journal of faculty development, 31(3), 25-30. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1155892 read, z. & barrish, c. (2018, january 30). despite outreach efforts, university of delaware fails to attract black students. https://whyy.org/segments/despite-outreach-effortsuniversity-of-delaware-fails-to-attract-black-students/ schwartz, k. (2016). i wish my teacher knew: how one question can change everything for our kids. da capo lifelong books. sealey-ruiz, y. (2018, january 5). yolanda sealey-ruiz: the archaeology of the self [video]. vimeo. https://vimeo.com/299137829 sharkey, j. (2018). who’s educating the teacher educators? the role of self-study in teacher education practices (s-step) in advancing the research on the professional development of second language teacher educators and their pedagogies. ikala, revisita de lenguaje y cultura, 23(1), 15-18. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ikala.v23n01a02 sleeter, c. e. (2017). critical race theory and the whiteness of teacher education. urban education, 52(2), 155–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916668957 stalter, s. (2018, march 15) isu serves as example for african-american academic progress. http://www.videtteonline.com/features/isu-serves-as-example-for-african-americanacademic-progress/article_5fcc3f0e-2874-11e8-a590-9f47ba0450b8.html https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://vimeo.com/299137829 88 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 bazemore-bertrand, s., & porcher, k.., teacher educators as disruptors: redesigning courses in teacher preparation programs to prepare white preservice teachers journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org tanner, s. j. (2017). permission to be confused: toward a second wave of critical whiteness pedagogy. journal of curriculum and pedagogy, 14(2), 164-179, https://doi.org/10.1080/15505170.2017.1297745 taylor, e. (2009). the foundations of critical race theory in education: an introduction. in e. taylor, d. gillborn, & g. ladson-billings (eds.), foundations of critical race theory in education (pp. 1-13). routledge. turner, v. w. (1967). betwixt and between: the liminal period in rites de passage. in the forest of symbols: aspects of ndembu ritual. cornell university press. vanassche, e. & kelchtermans, g. (2015). the state of the art in self-study of teacher education practices: a systematic literature review. journal of curriculum studies, 47(4), 508-528. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2014.995712 waddell, j. (2011). crossing borders without leaving town: the impact of cultural immersion on the perceptions of teacher education candidates. issues in teacher education, 20(2), 23-36. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej954569 waddell, j. (2013). communities as critical partners in teacher education: the impact of community immersion on teacher candidates’ understanding of self and teaching in urban schools. current issues in education, 16(2). http://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index .php/cieat asu/artic le/view/1198. wang, c. c., & burris, m. (1997). photovoice: concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment. health education and behavior, 24(3), 369–387. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019819702400309 williams, d. a., & clowney, c. (2007). strategic planning for diversity and organizational change: a primer for higher education leadership. effective practices for academic leaders, 2(3), 1-16. https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.51/ff1.ca3.myftpupload.com/wpcontent/uploads/daw_clowney_strategic_planning_diversity_brief.pdf wilson, j. l., & meyer, k. a. (2009). higher education websites: the “virtual face” of diversity. journal of diversity in higher education, 2(2), 91-102. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015443 zeichner, k. (2007). accumulating knowledge across self-studies in teacher education. journal of teacher education, 58(1), 36-46. https://doi.org.10.1177/0022487106296219 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2014.995712 120 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions ana k. soltero lópez1 and patricia d. lópez1* 1california state university, fresno *corresponding author: pdlopez@csufresno.edu received : 2020-june-01 accepted : 2020-june-01 doi: 10.46303/jcve.03.01.8 how to cite this paper: soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d. (2020). expanding our reach: cross -institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions. journal of culture and values in education, 3(1), 120-135. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.8 abstract this paper addresses the role of cross-institutional collaborations among hispanic serving institutions (hsi). specifically, we focus on the enseñamos en el valle central initiative—a five-year, title v, developing hispanic serving institutions (dhsi) grant for recruiting and preparing bilingual, latinx teachers with a strong sense of self and service to their communities. while california four-year state institutions have historically been at the helm of preparing bilingual kindergarten through 12th grade teachers, this has not been the case for community colleges, which continue to be the first entry point into higher education for many latinx communities. we discuss how the process of a two-week summer institute among twoand four-year faculty at two community colleges and one university expands conventional notions of teacher preparation, and how these non-normative approaches can lend to stronger pathways into the profession. moreover, we share how our faculty development approaches disrupt the status quo in teacher preparation and how nontenured faculty of color navigate the politics of disruption. finally, we describe how these race-gendered experiences hold relevance for how we understand teacher preparation and expanding access to underrepresented teachers of color into the teaching profession. keywords: cross-institutional collaboration, teacher education, hispanic serving institutions, teachers of color https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.8 121 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org introduction this paper adds to the literature by answering the question: what role does teacher preparation and collective partnerships in hispanic serving institutions (hsi) play in extending the reach of institutions in order to more broadly serve latinx 1 communities in california? nationally, there remain stark gaps in racial/ethnic demographics between students and teachers. in the kindergarten through 12th grade (k-12) system, latinx students make up over 24 percent of the student population, yet, latinx teachers make up only 7.8 percent of the profession (u. s. department of education [usdoe], 2016). in fact, nationally, a mere one-tenth of one percent of latinx students are attending a school system where the portion of latinx teachers is either equal to or exceeds the percentage of latinx students (meckler & rabinowitz, 2019). in california, latinx youth comprise more than half of the total student population in public k-12 schools, making them the largest ethnic group in the state (california department of education (cde), 2016). california is also home to the largest number of emergent bilingual2 youth—the majority of whom are latinx—representing 1.3 million (or 22.1%) of all k-12 student enrollments (cde, 2016). this mismatch among latinx teachers and students exceeds that of any other racial or ethnic group in california and no longer can the state avoid k-12 student demographics which are becoming more and more racially diverse (cde, 2016). in the context of teacher education, the california state university (csu) system is the largest producer of k-12 teachers in the state and nationally (csu, 2019). as a whole, the csu enrolls 40 percent of the state’s latinx undergraduates (bustillos & sequieros, 2018) and 21 of the 23 csu campuses are designated as hsis. similar to the state’s community college system, statewide demographics further reveal that california’s college-aged student body is increasingly racially and ethnically diverse—whereby latinx communities represent a large share. fresno state, the university discussed in this chapter, is located in the california central valley. fresno is a mid-size city with a population of a little over half a million people (u.s. census bureau) and is surrounded by rural communities, much of which is agricultural. nestled in the southeast part of northern california, the central valley is composed of 10 counties, both rural and urban, and includes the sequoia and yosemite national parks. the central valley constitutes one of the fastest growing regions in the state (cdf, 2018) and these demographic shifts are forcing four-year institutions and university teacher education programs to reexamine recruitment and retention approaches, particularly with regard to teachers of color (toc). related to california’s demographic trends are monumental policy changes that arguably lend to expanded institutional conceptions and opportunities for serving latinx 1 the term latinx is used in lieu of latina, latino, or latina/o to represent gender-neutral and nonbinary identities. 2emergent bilingual is an asset-based term for children who are learning a second language, such as english. typically, these children are labeled as english language learners (ell) or limited english proficient (lep). unlike emergent bilingual, these terms are deficit-based because they focus on the lack of english, whereas, emergent bilingual, celebrates their native language and their ability to become bilingual. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 122 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org communities. the 2016 passage of proposition 58, which reinstated bilingual education and has led to a growing demand for bilingual/dual language classrooms and bilingual teachers. this shift is also opening new opportunities for teacher preparation programs. adding to this climate is california’s evolving implementation of required ethnic studies curricula in high school campuses, which will expose students to the history and numerous contributions and accomplishments of people of color. together, these contexts inform the impetus and focus of california state university, fresno’s (fresno state) enseñamos en el valle central initiative—a five-year title v, developing hispanic serving institutions (dhsi) grant for preparing bilingual, self-reflective, and critically conscious latinx teachers with a strong sense of self and service to their communities. central to the enseñamos initiative is the goal of recruiting high school latinx youth, as well as current community college enrollees, into a pathway to teaching. as a pathway project, enseñamos en el valle central focuses on supporting bilingual, high school latinx youth to enter and persist though community college teacher education pathways and into a four-year degree and multiple subject credential and bilingual authorization at california state university, fresno (csuf) located in california’s central valley. this pathway approach translates to prospective teacher candidates having to navigate multiple systems and faculty (i.e., k-12, community college, and four-year institutions). this trajectory includes an array of non-teacher-education faculty, courses, and epistemological standpoints that arguably have a direct bearing on the journeys of future teacher candidates. as a result, a two-week institute was created to support faculty under the auspices of strengthening latinx candidates’ access to the profession. the enseñamos summer institute is situated in historical struggles to diversify the teaching profession and affirm the community-based identities of teacher candidates of color. with that said, the summer institute pushes back and redefines teacher education by establishing intentional and purposeful cross-institutional collaborations between twoand four-year professors who play integral roles in the persistence of bilingual and latinx teacher candidates. it is designed with the intent to be a safe space for critical dialogue where faculty are supported to intellectualize their practices by defining their identities, teaching philosophies, owning their epistemologies, and co-constructing culturally and linguistically sustaining curriculum and pedagogies for teacher education-related courses. this includes centering the lived experiences of minoritized youth as transformative, empowering, and sustainable forms of teaching and learning. while research argues the value and merits of reflective practice as foundational elements of effective teachers and teaching (boud & walker, 1998; calderhead & gates, 1993; gore & zeichner, 1991; hatton & smith, 1995), encouraging educators to dismantle and become reflective is not an easy task. these realities make the efforts of the enseñamos initiative a noteworthy disruption of the status quo and a shift to address a significant academic and societal void. part of critically analyzing racial/ethnic gaps in the teaching profession involves examining the role of disruptive approaches that push back against traditional norms in higher education and the preparation of preservice teachers, and the positive implications that these actions hold for latinx and underrepresented teacher candidates. namely, in this chapter we discuss teacher preparation faculty discomforts discussing race, language, https://cultureandvalues.org/ 123 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org gender, class, and privilege, and how these factors shape their course design and pedagogy. as part of this discussion, we argue that our efforts expand conventional notions of teacher preparation by developing faculty pedagogy—particularly as it relates to disrupting teachers’ belief structures that research argues creates a ‘‘filtering effect’’ through which new ideas and knowledge are processed, interpreted, and implemented in practice (pajares, 1992). moreover, we reveal how reaching back and viewing teacher preparation prior to enrollment in a four-year, credential program broadens our understanding of access to the profession generally, and more specifically for latinx and under-represented teachers of color. with that said, the implications of our findings broaden our understanding of how faculty establish and develop their pedagogical stance and how these beliefs dictate actions in the classroom. as part of our findings, we also highlight how our faculty development approaches seek to disrupt the status quo in teacher preparation and push forward “a serious transformation or alteration of the structure of teaching and learning activities taking place in formal education” (munro, 2008, p. 476). moreover, we share how the politics of disruption also brings about challenges and barriers, particularly for untenured faculty. in our case, as two untenured faculty of color, traversing the political terrains has required us to devise unique strategies to mitigate pushback as we challenge the existing culture of academia and teacher preparation. these race-gendered experiences among faculty of color hold relevance for how we understand teacher preparation generally, and efforts to expand access to underrepresented teachers of color into the teaching profession. benefits and experiences of teachers of color white teachers continue to make up the majority of the k-12 teaching population, representing a large portion of teacher education research (cochran-smith et al., 2015). an expression of this dominance much of the literature in teacher education is focused more on how to prepare and assist current teacher demographics to teach these latinx and minoritized communities (brown, 2014; cochran-smith et al., 2015, sleeter, 2001). moreover, this emphasis often operates within the constructs of teacher quality and accountability, which are tightly coupled to top-down policies related to certification, testing, and assessment and less inspired by examinations of racial, linguistic, or sociopolitical aspects of teacher education (cochran-smith & villegas, 2015). in those cases where research has examined latinx and teachers of color specifically, analyses reveal that having latinx and bilingual teachers is a critical school-based factor associated with students’ academic trajectories (villegas & irvine, 2010). research shows that latinx teachers are in part drawn to the profession because of their personal experiences witnessing the rampant deficit thinking that permeates schooling practices and a sense of social responsibility toward the empowerment of students of color (kohli, 2009). while teachers of color generally, and latinx teachers specifically, remain underrepresented relative to k-12 student populations, research shows that their presence matters. in particular, research reveals three pertinent, empirically-based benefits that teachers of color contribute to k-12 schooling: first, they serve as role models to all https://cultureandvalues.org/ 124 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org students; second, teachers of color are more likely to work in high minority-serving schools whereby curbing particular teacher shortages that these contexts often face; and finally, many teachers of color bring a deep understanding of the racial/ethnic and cultural experiences of students of color (villegas & irvine, 2010). research reveals that teachers of color are more likely to value and build upon students racial/ethnic identities, participate in consistent and implicit affirmation (darder, 1993; howard, 2020; uhlenberg & brown, 2002; ) and “racial microaffirmations,” that benefit students and also influence positive shifts in school climate (rolón-dow & davison, 2018). finally, teachers of color are more likely to utilize culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogies, drawing from cultural frames of reference and daily lived experiences in order to make the learning process meaningful, which in turn allows them to develop positive and caring teacher-student relationships with students of color (dee, 2005; irizarry & donaldson, 2012; monzo & rueda, 2001; nieto, 2005; paris & alim, 2017). research also shows that teachers of color are more likely to be sought after among students of color as role models (cherng & halpin, 2016; quiocho & ríos, 2000). these important contributions can sometimes induce added duties and workload, while at the same time creating hostile racial climates that mirror the experiences of students of color in k-12 schools (amos, 2016; kohli, 2018; pizarro & kohli, 2018). related to the realities and experiences of teachers of color in k-12 schools is national data revealing that these groups are pushed out of the profession at higher rates than their white counterparts (ingersoll & may, 2011). in california, data reflect this trend in that latinx teachers are pushed out of the profession at rates far greater than other subgroups (griffin, 2018). similar pushout experiences also occur during the preparation process of latinx candidates. for one, these candidates are forced to negotiate the taxation of whiteness—or the “ascribed privilege that exempts whites from discussions on race, creates the possibility for white professors and students to circumvent the deep effects of race on others and themselves” (chávez-reyes, 2012, p. 46). moreover, latinx candidates must contend with economic exclusion, standardized testing, and racially-biased conceptions of teacher quality that maintain and acquiesce to whiteness at their expense (rogers-ard, 2012). high tuition costs and exuberant fees related to a battery of exams required by the state of california— i.e., california basic education skills test (cbest), california subject examination test (cset), and the reading instruction curriculum assessment (rica)—further perpetuate the racial imbalance in the teaching force. taken together, these patterns call attention to the need for greater racial/ethnicand culturally-responsive, systems as integral parts of recruitment and preparation processes at multiple sites. context of study the enseñamos en el valle central initiative is a five-year title v, developing hispanic serving institutions (dhsi) grant focused on recruiting and preparing bilingual, latinx teachers with a strong sense of self and service to their communities. title v of the higher education act (1965) defines hsis as twoand four-year colleges and universities that have an enrollment of at least 25 percent of students that identify as hispanic and at least 50 https://cultureandvalues.org/ 125 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org percent from a low-ses background (baez, et al., 2008). in collaboration with fresno state’s two largest community college feeder schools, our overarching framework is focused on expanding pathways into the teaching profession by strengthening recruitment and student support services, improving curricular options and pedagogical practices, and institutionalizing partnerships that expand the capacity of twoand four-year institutions to better serve minoritized, and in our case, bilingual latinx teacher candidates. a central component of the enseñamos en el valle central initiative, the summer institute and subsequent professional learning community (plc) draws from the tenets of culturally sustaining pedagogies (csp; see paris & alim, 2017) and chicanx/latinx studies frameworks to support community college and university faculty whose courses are part of the teacher education pathway. culturally sustaining pedagogy builds upon the early work of gloria ladson-billings (1995) who asserts that “culturally relevant teaching must meet three criteria: an ability to develop students academically, a willingness to nurture and support cultural competence, and the development of a sociopolitical or critical consciousness” (p. 483). paris and alim (2017) further expanded on this work, arguing for a needed shift in pedagogical theory and practice that sustains the three tenets of linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism. thus, these principles seek to denormalize the whiteness, biased, assimilationist, anti-intellectual, and monolingual policies, practices, and pedagogy that continue to operate in schooling today to the detriment of students of color. as a theory and practice, csp is about empowering students of color and positively transforming their educational experiences. the two-week summer institute brought together faculty from twoand four-year institutions and across-disciplines to co-construct curriculum and pedagogy that was purposefully grounded in the culture, language, histories, and racialized experiences of latinx and minoritized students. the institute was described as, “a safe space for critical dialogue where faculty are supported to intellectualize their practices by defining their teaching philosophies, owning their epistemologies, and co-constructing culturally and linguistically sustaining curriculum and pedagogies for teacher education-related courses.” similar to the argument that transformational change does not occur by way of a single course or intervention, we understand that prolonged engagement among faculty is key. following the summer institute, we established a professional learning community throughout the academic school year among participating faculty that includes professional development focused on integrating culturally sustaining and chicanx/latinx/ethnic studies curriculum and pedagogy, as well as bilingual concentrations into lower-division community college and upper-division liberal studies coursework. applying a csp framing we draw from quantitative and qualitative data to reveal how cross-institutional collaborations disrupt conventional notions of teacher preparation for latinx communities. moreover, we were interested in understanding how complexities of educator identities find expression in their pedagogical practices, and how these situated experiences operate within broader sociocultural and sociopolitical contexts of teaching and learning (lortie, 2002). guiding our inquiry are the following overarching research questions: https://cultureandvalues.org/ 126 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 1. how do cross-institutional faculty development approaches expand conventional notions of teacher preparation and what are the implications for minoritized, candidates of color? 2. what are the politics faced by untenured, women of color faculty when implementing non-normative approaches in teacher preparation? recruitment of faculty participants was facilitated by the enseñamos en el valle central project director, as well as campus deans and assigned faculty coordinators from the twoand four-year participating institutions. all faculty applied to be part of the institute and were provided a clear overview of the scope and structure. they were also provided irb documents and gave consent to allow their participation to inform our broader research agenda and grant deliverables. faculty participants were sent a formal invitation that included an overview and structure of the two-week institute and the stipend amount attached to their participation. faculty who were interested in applying were asked to submit a short application that included a statement of their teaching philosophy, a current syllabus, and responses to a pre-institute survey where they self-rated their knowledge and use of three overarching domains: community cultural wealth of minoritized communities; culturally sustaining pedagogies—including issues of translanguaging3 and raciolinguistics4; and, online, hybrid, and open educational resources5 (oer). the two-week summer institute involved 13 faculty representing the following disciplines: political science, english, mathematics, communications, child development, chicanx studies, and teacher education. the first week consisted of three asynchronous online modules. the first focused on reflections of working with bilingual students in which they read tara yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth article. the second module focused on csp and translanguaging with the goal of understanding the relationship between language and education from a sociolinguistic perspective. this module included a chapter on translanguaging by ofelia garcia and tatyana kleyn (2016) and a chapter on csp by django paris and h. samy alim (2017). after completing these readings, participants were asked to annotate the areas of strengths and areas of growth on their syllabi as they pertain to csp and translanguaging. module three focused on cultivating authentic classroom experiences. for this module, faculty learned about open educational resources (oer) and reflected on how they can adopt the content of the week into their pedagogy. the second face-to-face week was designed to go into greater depth using lectures, small and large group discussions, reflections, and time for peer-review feedback and revisions to course syllabi. faculty consent was confirmed before data collection ensued. one of the first activities of this week was discussing identities, how they are developed, 3 translanguaging refers to the dynamic language practices of bilingual/multilingual people. this term differs from code-switching which views speakers accessing two different language repertoires, whereas translanguaging believes that multilingual people possess only one language repertoire (see garcia, ibarra johnson, & seltzer, 2016). 4 raciolinguistics refers to the examination of the intersection between race and language, resulting in the racialization of language. 5 open educational resources refers to free, no cost materials for courses. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 127 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org who influences them, how they affect the way we experience the world, and how they shape our interactions with others. following this discussion, faculty created an identity map where they annotated identity markers such as race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status, just to name a few. in groups, they then discussed which of their identities are privileged, marginalized, public v. private, and intersecting and how they believe they are reflected in their teaching, curriculum, and interactions with students. this activity transitioned to a discussion of the yosso article and the importance of recognizing, validating, and incorporating the six forms of capital discussed in the article. discussion of yosso’s (2005) linguistic capital was bridged with a discussion of translanguaging and raciolinguistics and what this looks like in the classroom setting. the culminating activity of the summer institute had faculty examine their syllabus and identify areas in which they can expand to include the materials and topics that were discussed at the institute to make them more responsive to future bilingual teachers. findings our collaborative approach acknowledges that developing and sustaining cultural and linguistic awareness among teacher candidates cannot rest on the shoulders of a single course (haddix, 2008). rather, the entire breadth of coursework—in our case from community college to four-year, and credential—must be grounded in culturally sustaining repertoires, including embedded community-based experiences as spaces of application (mcdonald et al., 2011). with that said, resources to support community college and fresno state faculty who seek to situate their content with a strong emphasis on culturally sustaining curriculum and pedagogy, including translanguaging practices, that are responsive to the needs of latinx and bilingual students. finally, as non-tenured faculty of color, how we navigate the politics of working with faculty of all ranks while interrogating problematic ways of knowing and reductive approaches in the preparation of bilingual latinx teacher candidates is relevant. engaging in disruptive practices for faculty of color is always nested in a long history of presumed incompetency and efforts to delegitimize race-gendered voices in academia (gutierrez y muhs et al., 2012). the act of leading disruptive practices for social change in teacher preparation requires explicit and intentional strategies that exceed mere knowledge of the non-normative practices you are seeking to change. these strategies, we argue, are direct expressions of women of color epistemologies that are relevant to how we understand and continue to interrogate teacher preparation. disrupting conventional notions of teacher preparation and access for teachers of color analysis of course syllabi, surveys, and discussions revealed the varying degrees of impact that the summer institute had on faculty subjectivities, beliefs, and pedagogy. findings reveal faculty discomfort in discussing race, gender, class, privilege and power and how these factors shape their course design and pedagogy. moreover, community cultural wealth, csp, translanguaging, state standards and requirements were new to many of the participating faculty. this further underscores the necessity of expanding conventional https://cultureandvalues.org/ 128 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org notions of teacher preparation pipelines and how the enseñamos initiative is disrupting this practice. analysis of initial faculty course syllabi submitted prior to the summer institute revealed that faculty had little to no evidence of course readings or assignments that reflected csp. responses to the pre-questionnaire and daily reflections indicated conflicting messages about csp. for example, when asked to briefly explain culturally sustaining pedagogy in their own words, faculty described it as follows: teaching in a way that demonstrates to students that their cultural heritages, experiences, communities, and families are an asset to learning. teaching that uplifts communities of color rather than showing that students need to shed their backgrounds to ‘make it.’ pedagogical tools that incorporate students' diverse racial, linguistic, and community identities. and, csp is the continuing process of 1) being aware of the diverse backgrounds of your students, 2) including these perspectives in daily lessons, and 3) including your own cultural identity in your teaching. when asked, how engaged are you in employing a culturally sustaining lens when designing learning experiences for your students? (using likert scale responses 1 to 6; 1 being, “i consider myself ‘color-blind’ and ‘culture-blind’” and, 6 being, “i incorporate my students' cultural and linguistic backgrounds into my classroom practice”), half of respondents selfidentified with a color-blind and culture-blind pedagogy and half with a csp pedagogy. similarly, most faculty were learning about translanguaging for the first time. when asked to explain translanguaging in their own words, some responses included, “i think it's the idea where we switch from casual talk to formal talk. i'm honestly not sure though” and, “this is the shifting between languages in the process of discerning ideas in learning spaces.” when asked, how engaged are you in employing a translanguaging lens when designing learning experiences for your students? (using likert scale responses 1 to 6; 1 being, “never heard of it” and, 6 being, “i design each lesson/activity using translanguaging principles”), the majority of participants identified not knowing about this concept. moreover, the pre-institute survey also revealed that faculty had limited familiarity and understanding of the associates degree to transfer in liberal studies/teacher education program at the community college level, the state’s subject matter content specifications and state standards in their respective field, as well as the required state credential assessments for teachers. these findings are telling and emphasize the need to develop faculty pedagogy. in the context of the enseñamos initiative, this is crucial as all participating faculty teach the cohorts of enseñamos students in their journey from the community college through the completion of the multiple subject credential program. the goal of the summer institute reflects blin and munro’s (2008) definition of disruption as “a serious transformation or alteration of the structure of teaching and learning activities taking place in formal education” (p. 476). challenging and disrupting educator beliefs is central to the principles of this initiative. investigating the social location and sociopolitical context of faculty and how it influences their pedagogy was achieved through an identity mapping activity. the activity was described as an opportunity to unpack their multiple identities and https://cultureandvalues.org/ 129 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org reflect on the influence of those identities to their pedagogy. relatedly, this module encouraged faculty to begin analyzing their syllabus in relation to their complex identities and those of the bilingual latinx students they serve generally and will serve through this initiative. analysis of faculty identity maps and discussions during the face-to-face week revealed hesitation to openly disclose and discuss identities such as race/ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, among other characteristics, and how these subjectivities are consciously or unconsciously represented in course syllabi, assignments, pedagogy, and interactions with students. though they were instructed to identify the top three identities they believe are the most salient to their teaching, faculty rarely selected identities such as race, class, or gender and when probed by facilitators to consider the influence of those characteristics, they shied away from the discussion. faculty demonstrated difficulty articulating how each of their self-prescribed identities influenced their curriculum design and teaching. this discomfort was further amplified when participants were asked to reflect on their privilege and power over students. this uncomfortable, but necessary conversation looped back to our discussion on the numerous inequities that affect students of color, and in the case of this initiative, prevent aspiring bilingual latinx youth from achieving their dream of becoming teachers. as we collaborated with faculty during the summer institute, we gained insights on how unaware faculty are of the various hurdles and stages students are required to navigate in order to access the profession. participants reflected and shared daily on how detached their coursework is from the expectations that teacher pathway students would ultimately need to fulfill. these realities underscore the critical role of faculty development as it relates to expanding access to latinx and under-represented candidates into the initial stages of the teaching profession. women of color epistemologies and non-normative approaches in teacher preparation enseñamos en el valle central and the initiative's summer institute do not operate in isolation. understanding the approaches utilized to disrupt traditional norms among faculty working with teacher candidates must consider the social location of the actors who employ them. moreover, our practices and what we consider disruptive are also situated in specific space and time, which in our case consisted of major policy shifts and growing discourses that claimed to be invested in diversifying the profession. in the initial planning of the summer institute, we were made aware of the political contentions that coincide with culturally sustaining and anti-racist perspectives. we observed how these dispositions were colliding with presumed incompetencies projected onto latinx and minoritized students attending our two partnering community college campuses as they were transitioning to career-specific associate degree transfer (adt) articulation agreements. in theory, california community college’s adt program provides structural circumstances that can potentially strengthen a student’s hand as they traverse through the impacted transfer gauntlet, whereby dismantling the historic and endemic “cooling out” function in two-year colleges (clark, 1960; crisp & nuñez, 2014). until the state’s shift to career-specific associate degrees for transfer agreements, the idea of preparing and https://cultureandvalues.org/ 130 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org supporting aspiring teacher candidates in california’s community college system were not central to the vision of these campuses. through the enseñamos initiative, we were able to observe that as the evolution of california adts moved from theory to practice, it is not enough to have clear articulations. while students can be advised and kept on track with regard to course sequencing and completion, what occurs in those courses from a curriculum and pedagogy standpoint are also critical. with that said, our efforts to extend knowledge about the profession and develop extracurricular opportunities to help future latinx candidates become acquainted with the requirements to matriculate to a four-year university teacher preparation program, do not equate to them being successful, let alone thriving. going into this climate and acknowledging the historical and contemporary norms operating at our partnering community colleges, our first strategy consisted of establishing a core group of ally faculty—both tenured and non-tenured—who could help to reinforce central tenets of culturally sustaining epistemologies while at the same time relieving some of the pressure that would otherwise fall on us as facilitators. the act of facilitating difficult discussions that interrogate problematic ways of knowing and reductive approaches when working with minoritized students of color can come with a cost. the core group was integral to ensuring that we were not cast as the sole voice of race-conscious and disruptive discourses or reduced to mere personal opinions. also, as a strategy of intentionality, we were able to maintain a level of power while shielding ourselves from unproductive ideological debates that are often weaponized by faculty who dissent. initially, we drew from a strategy of intentionality and establishing a core group of faculty as a method for overcoming barriers and challenges. during the course of the summer institute, we observed that our core group’s reflective practices and articulations of challenging normative conceptions of curriculum and pedagogy inspired critical crossdisciplinary dialogues that resonated with community college faculty. the openness among our core faculty whose course content is grounded in the histories, experiences, and raciallinguistic epistemologies of latinx communities though admittingly can be stronger with regard to pedagogy and how students (i.e., future teacher candidates) actually teach. this authentic admission contributed to all faculty sharing similar shortcomings and letting down their guard, while at the same time shed light on the important contributions that faculty from area studies bring to the process of teacher preparation. our collaborations with community colleges reveal that these campuses rely heavily on student services to “fix” breaks in persistence often avoiding professional development interventions with community college faculty. moreover, intervention on curriculum and instruction are bound to the fact that faculty have a choice on whether or not they want to participate. adding to this is the intense teaching load—which for community college faculty in california constitutes the entirety of their collectively bargained contracts, as well as their promotion and tenure evaluations and reappointments. these circumstances create initial barriers by leaving little to no room for faculty to reflect on their classroom practices relative to serving minoritized students, let alone re-envision their lower-division courses as part of a teacher preparation pathway—all of which plays a role in filtering out talented latinx https://cultureandvalues.org/ 131 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org teacher candidates far before they even reach four-year and post-baccalaureate teacher prep programs. one of our critical strategies for overcoming institutional barriers that can render disruptive practices optional and maintain traditional norms in higher education was to invite and establish relationships with senior ranked community college faculty that hold strong union affiliations. navigating the nuances of community college’s collective bargaining agreements as they relate to academic freedom, what justifies professional development, and the unwritten culture of faculty development are key. from a structural perspective, we found that the community college system provides sparse availability and options to support faculty in general, and even less when it comes to responding to the shift to career-specific adt pathways such as teacher preparation. this void arguably connects to a broader goal of increasing access into the profession for latinx and underrepresented communities in california. conclusion enseñamos en el valle central represents a latinx teacher pathway project that demonstrates how cross-institutional collaboration among twoand four-year institutions that center on anti-racism, language, gender, class, and privilege hold positive implications for higher education and the preparation of preservice teacher candidates. however, these investments are more commonly available to faculty from four-year universities and less so for two-year community colleges, which remain the first entry point into higher education among students of color. adding to these disparities are the demands that faculty at twoyear hsi institutions must negotiate which often create time constraints and obstacles for participating in professional development. in the case of california specifically, where evolving policy shifts are establishing explicit transfer pathways into teacher preparation, true investments that will allow two-year faculty to revitalize their courses to support students that aspire to enter the profession are needed and arguably integral to broader discussions related to the teacher pipeline. these same policy shifts also provide opportunities for teacher education to expand its view of teacher preparation pathways and access to the profession. these broader conceptualizations of teacher pathways that affirm spaces prior to four-year university enrollment are particularly germane for access to the profession generally, and more specifically for under-represented teachers of color—all of which remain priority areas for the field. disrupting traditional norms in higher education and teacher preparation does not occur in a vacuum. rather, navigating the politics of disruption requires a methodology that in our case involves explicit strategies that are situated and take into account external factors. with regard to non-tenured faculty of color who are leading faculty development efforts that are grounded in nontraditional practices, these strategies are especially important for providing political coverage during instances of discomfort and pushback from faculty. these same considerations are also important for broader efforts that seek to disrupt historical barriers that continue to marginalize access to the profession. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 132 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org references acevedo-gil, n., santos, r. e., & solórzano, d. g. (2014). examining a rupture in the latina/o college pipeline: developmental education in california community colleges. perspectivas issues in higher education policy and practice, 3, 1-19. amos, y. t. (2016). voices of teacher candidates of color on white race evasion: ‘i worried about my safety!’ international journal of qualitative studies in education, 29(8), 1002-1015. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2016.1174900 baez, b., gasman, m., & turner, c. s. v. (2008). on minority-serving institutions. in m. gasman, b. baez, & c. s. v. turner (eds.), understanding minority serving institutions, (pp. 3–17). state university of new york press. blin, f., & munro, m. (2008). why hasn’t technology disrupted academics’ teaching practices? understanding resistance to change through the lens of activity theory. computers & education, 50(2), 475-490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2007.09.017 boud, d. & walker, d. (1998). promoting reflection in professional courses: the challenge of context. studies in higher education, 23(2), 191-206. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079812331380384 brown, k. d. (2014). teaching in color: a critical race theory in education analysis of the literature on preservice teachers of color and teacher education in the u.s. race, ethnicity and education, 17(3), 326–345. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2013.832921 bustillos, t. b. & sequieros, m. (2018). left out: how exclusion in california's colleges and universities hurts our values, our students, and our economy. the campaign for college opportunity. https://collegecampaign.org/portfolio/left-out-report/ calderhead, j. & gates, p. (eds.) (1993). conceptualizing reflection in teacher development. falmer press. california state university (csu). (2020). the california state university factbook 2020. the california state university. chávez-reyes, c. (2012). engaging in critical social dialogue with socially diverse undergraduate teacher candidates at a california state university. teacher education quarterly, 39(2), 43-62. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23479671 cherng, h-y. s. & halpin, p. f. (2016). the importance of minority teachers: student perceptions of minority versus white teachers. educational researcher, 45(7), 407– 420. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x16671718 clark, b. r. (1960). the “cooling-out” function in higher education. the american journal of sociology, 65(6), 569-576. https://doi.org/10.1086/222787 cochran-smith, m. & villegas, a. m. (2015). framing teacher preparation research: an overview of the field, part 1. journal of teacher education, 66(1), 7-20. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487114549072 cochran-smith, m., villegas, a. m., abrams, l., chavez-moreno, l., mills, t., & stern, r. (2015). critiquing teacher preparation research: an overview of the field, part ii. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tqse20/current https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tqse20/29/8 https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tqse20/29/8 https://collegecampaign.org/portfolio/left-out-report/ https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=calcri&proxyid=&u=http%3a%2f%2fbooks.google.com%2fbooks%3fid%3dcta9aaaaiaaj%26printsec%3dfront_cover 133 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org journal of teacher education, 66(2), 109–121. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487114558268 crisp, g. & nuñez, a. m. (2014). understanding the racial transfer gap: modeling underrepresented minority and nonminority students’ pathways from two to fouryear institutions. the review of higher education, 37(3), 291–320. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2014.0017 darder, a. (1993). how does the culture of the teacher shape the classroom experience of latino students? the unexamined question in critical pedagogy. in s. w. rothstein (ed.), handbook of schooling in urban america (pp. 195-221). greenwood. dee, t. s. (2005). a teacher like me: does race, ethnicity, or gender matter? american economic review, 95(2), 158-165. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4132809 ek, l. d., quijada cerecer, p. d., alanis, i., & rodriguez, m. a. (2010). “i don’t belong here”: chicanas/latinas at a hispanic serving institution creating community through muxerista mentoring. equity and excellence in education, 43(4), 539-553. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2010.510069 garcia, o., ibarra johnson, s., & seltzer, k. (2016). the translanguaging classroom: leveraging student bilingualism for learning. caslon publishing. gore, j. m., & zeichner, k. m. (1991). action research and reflective teaching in preservice teacher education: a case study from the united states. teaching and teacher education, 7(2), 119-136. https://doi.org/10.1016/0742-051x(91)90022-h griffin, a. (2018). our stories, our struggles, our strengths: perspectives and reflections from latino teachers. the education trust. gutiérrez y muhs, g., niemann, y. f., gonzález, c. g., & harris, a. p. (2012). presumed incompetent: the intersections of race and class for women in academia. utah state university press. haddix, m. (2008). beyond sociolinguistics: towards a critical approach to cultural and linguistic diversity in teacher education. language and education, 22(5), 254-270. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500780802152648 howard, t. (2020). why race and culture matter in schools: closing the achievement gap in america's classrooms (2nd ed.). teachers college press. ingersoll, r. m., & may, h. (2011). recruitment, retention and the minority teacher shortage. consortium for policy research in education. https://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/226/ irizarry, j. & donaldson, m. l. (2012). teach for américa: the latinization of u.s. schools and the critical shortage of latina/o teachers. american educational research journal, 49(1), 155-194. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831211434764 johnson, h., jackson, j. & cuellar mejia, m. (2017). making college affordable. public policy institute of california. kohli, r. (2009). critical race reflections: valuing the experiences of teachers of color in teacher education. race ethnicity and education, 12(2), 235-251. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320902995491 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0742051x9190022h https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0742051x9190022h https://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/226/ 134 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org kohli, r. (2018). behind school doors: the impact of hostile racial climates on urban teachers of color. urban education, 53(3), 307-333. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916636653 ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465-491. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465 lortie, d. c. (2002). schoolteacher: a sociological study. the university of chicago press. mcdonald, m., tyson, k., brayko, k., bowman, m., delport, j., & shimomura, f. (2011). innovation and impact in teacher education: community-based organizations as field placements for preservice teachers. teachers college record, 113(8), 1668-1700. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej988297 meckler, l. & rabinowitz, k. (2019, december 27). america’s schools are more diverse than ever. but the teachers are still mostly white. washington post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/local/education/teacher-diversity/ monzo, l. & rueda, (2001). professional roles, caring, and scaffolds: latino teachers' and paraeducators' interactions with latino students. american journal of education, 109(4), 438-471. https://doi.org/10.1086/444335 nieto, s. (2005). schools for a new majority: the role of teacher education in hard times. the new educator, 1(1), 27-43. https://doi.org/10.1080/15476880490447797 pajares, m. f. (1992). teachers' beliefs and educational research: cleaning up a messy construct. review of educational research, 62(3), 307-332. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543062003307 paris, d., & alim, h. s. (2017). culturally sustaining pedagogies: teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. teachers college press. pizarro, m. & kohli, r. (2018). “‘i stopped sleeping’: teachers of color and the impact of racial battle fatigue. urban education, 0(00), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085918805788 quiocho, a. & ríos, f. (2000). the power of their presence: minority group teachers and schooling. review of educational research, 70(4), 485-528. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543070004485 rogers-ard, r., knaus, c. b., epstein, k. k., & mayfield, k. (2012). racial diversity sounds nice; systems transformation? not so much: developing urban teachers of color. urban education, 48(3), 451-479. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085912454441 rolón-dow, r. & davison, a. (2018). racial microaffirmations: learning from student stories of moments that matter. center for the study of diversity research briefs, 1(4), 1-9. sleeter, c. e. (2001). preparing teachers for culturally diverse schools: research and the overwhelming presence of whiteness. journal of teacher education, 52(2), 94-106. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487101052002002 uhlenberg, j. & brown, k. m. (2002). racial gap in teachers’ perceptions of the achievement gap. education and urban society, 34(4), 493-530. https://doi.org/10.1177/00124502034004006 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0042085916636653 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0042085916636653 https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/local/education/teacher-diversity/ https://www.sjsu.edu/people/marcos.pizarro/publications/pizarrokohlirbf2018.pdf https://www.sjsu.edu/people/marcos.pizarro/publications/pizarrokohlirbf2018.pdf 135 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 soltero lópez, a. k., & lópez, p. d., expanding our reach: cross-institutional collaborations and teacher preparation in hispanic serving institutions journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org u.s. census bureau (2018). hispanic population to reach 111 million by 2060. https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2018/comm/hispanic-projectedpop.html u.s. department of education. (2016). the state of racial diversity in the educatorworkforce. https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/highered/racialdiversity/state-racial-diversity-workforce.pdf villegas, a. m., & irvine, j. j. (2010). diversifying the teaching force: an examination of major arguments. urban review, 42, 175–192. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-010-0150-1 yosso, t. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2018/comm/hispanic-projected-pop.html https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2018/comm/hispanic-projected-pop.html https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/highered/racial-diversity/state-racial-diversity-workforce.pdf https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/highered/racial-diversity/state-racial-diversity-workforce.pdf 21 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study benikia kressler1* 1california state university, fullerton *corresponding author: bkressler@fullerton.edu received : 2019-nov-08 accepted : 2020-may-28 doi: 10.46303/jcve.03.01.2 how to cite this paper: kressler, b. (2020). critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study. journal of culture and values in education, 3(1), 21-38. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.2 abstract as the preschool through 12th grade student population grows more diverse, the teaching population steadfastly continues to be predominantly white, middle-class women (national center for education statistics, 2016). critical teacher educators understand the importance of preparing pre-service teachers to become culturally responsive and sustaining (cr/s) practitioners by engaging in culturally relevant education (cre). critical teacher educators, particularly those of color from historically marginalized groups, can be important advocates in the struggle to strengthen the teaching candidate pool of cr/s practitioners. building a cadre of teachers, who are poised to decolonize minds and spaces, sustains the work of many teacher educators of color. however, the acts of teaching and learning in most institutions of education are inundated with oppressive norms such as white privilege, xenophobia, and anti-blackness. it is this reality in which i, a black female junior teacher educator, attempt to disrupt normative teaching practices within a special education course. this self-study examined insight derived from a focus group as well as from my self-reflections conducted over the course of two semesters. using a qualitative methodological approach, the findings indicated tensions between my vulnerable position of being a junior faculty member and my desire to dismantle normative deficit practices through critical self-reflection. keywords: self-study, junior faculty, preservice teachers, culturally responsive education, teacher education https://cultureandvalues.org/ 22 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org introduction as a first-generation college graduate and someone who earned a phd, i have learned from many teachers with seemingly good intentions. they taught me how to read, write and access the white-dominated world around me. they also taught me that the colloquial nature of my vernacular, often used in the african american community, was inappropriate. i further learned from teachers that growing up in a single parent household in a low-income neighborhood would be a detriment to my life. i was told that my best chances of success consisted of leaving (and forgetting) where i came from to pursue a higher education. in 'educating' me, they were both passively and unintentionally as well as explicitly and intentionally, teaching me to access the white-dominated world around me while simultaneously teaching me that my communities and culture could not be valued. like the majority of those in the teaching force today, my teachers were mostly white, middle class women who were educating an increasingly diverse student population (national center for education statistics, nces, 2016). unfortunately, they lacked both the training and characteristics to engage in teaching in a culturally sensitive and competent manner that i, as a student, and others like me needed. we needed teachers skilled in cultural competence so we could be successful students and reduce our chances of becoming alienated within our communities. the needs of both culturally and linguistically diverse (cld) students as well as students with (dis)abilities, independently and as they intersect, demands greater understanding. this understanding involves all teachers having a level of expertise that not only comes from experience but also explicit training. it requires a concerted effort and commitment to reduce long standing trends of the overrepresentation of cld youth in special education (artiles et al., 2010; harry & klingner, 2006; klingner et al., 2005). it also requires reducing school dropout rates, particularly for students labeled with a (dis)ability, which are disproportionately higher for students of color (nces, 2012). therefore, it is imperative that both general and special education teachers are equipped with the disposition, knowledge, and ability to support the needs of cld students with and without (dis)abilities to provide educational opportunities beyond “survival” and to truly thrive (love, 2019). importantly, it is vital to understand that the aforementioned issues are not coincidental, but are due to systemic white supremacy which affects students and families with identities where race/ethnicity, class, and (dis)ability intersect. ultimately, there is an urgent need for teacher education programs and instructors/professors in higher education teacher preparation programs (hereinafter referred to as “teacher educators”) to equip teachers with the culturally relevant and social justice knowledge needed to support vulnerable students (aronson & laughter, 2016). teacher educators need ongoing training in the forms of self-study groups, teacher inquiry groups, and/or critical professional development (dover et al., 2019; grierson, 2010; kohli et al., 2015; martinez et al., 2016). despite these training needs, under the guise of “diversity and inclusion” efforts, teacher educators are expected to prepare teacher candidates to teach k-12 students in https://cultureandvalues.org/ 23 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org just and equitable ways. as a black female junior teacher educator of special education teacher candidates (setcs), i use culturally relevant education (cre) to meet this call. cre is a combination of asset pedagogies introduced and popularized by geneva gay (2010) and gloria ladson-billings (1995, 2014). according to aronson and laughter (2016), cre recognizes both the competencies and practices of teaching stressed by gay (2010) as well as the attitudes and dispositions of pedagogy outlined by ladson-billings (2014). the power of cre lies in its social justice foundation and its disruption of neoliberal education reforms which exalts free markets, competition, and individualism (aronson & laughter, 2016; sleeter, 2012). specifically, i instruct setc to engage in critical self-reflection, an important disruptive practice and an essential foundational factor to prepare teacher candidates to teach toward equity and justice (aronson & laughter, 2016; howard, 2003). critical self-reflection disrupts the norm in that it is the “honest self-reflection and critique of [one’s] own thoughts and behaviors. [it] requires one to seek deeper levels of self-knowledge and to acknowledge how one’s own worldview can shape students’ conceptions of self” (howard, 2003, p. 198). my identity as a black female, and my lived experiences therein, makes the use of cre in special education settings particularly compelling. i am often inspired to use cre to disrupt the colorblind and ahistorical nature of a typical special education curriculum. i have learned that teacher candidates of color often have deficit views of cld students with (dis)abilities and engage in colorblind ideologies which are supported by courses, activities, and rhetoric within teacher education programs that value the medical model of the curriculum (taie et al., 2017). this medical model is problem/deficit based and perpetuates inequalities at the intersection of race, gender, class and ability (kulkarni, 2018). colorblind beliefs in special education can maintain white supremacy by creating confusion in both research and practice about the issue of disproportionality in special education (artiles et al., 2010; blanchett, 2006). these deficit views and colorblind ideologies are maintained in part because teacher education program lacks clear social justice and anti-racist focused curriculum (pugach et al., 2020). i am led to teach my setcs in a clear, anti-racist, and liberating manner, but the legacy of colonization and white privilege in both my kindergarten through 12th (k-12) grade schooling and institutions of higher education affects my efforts. in teaching assessment in special education courses, i know i only infuse cre, rather than truly transform the existing curriculum with social justice and equity-focused content. therefore, this effort only minimally contributes to the overall transformation of the minds and practices of setcs towards advocacy for their future cld students with and without (dis)abilities (pugach et al., 2020). while grappling with this reality, i am also aware that i have never been formally trained regarding how to teach cre to teacher candidates. my lack of formalized training is an issue shared with most teacher educators (goodwin et al., 2014). there is a general assumption that teacher educators who have taught in preschool through 12th grade (pk-12) settings are inherently capable of teaching equity pedagogy to teacher candidates. the reality is that pk-12 teacher experience is useful but not enough to be experts in cre (mcanulty & cuenca, 2014). https://cultureandvalues.org/ 24 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org i am led to teach for liberation and equity for all students and, as such, i generally welcome the call to do this work. however, in the world of special education (with its colorblind and deficit orientation), the lack of a clear social justice stance in the teacher program curriculum is normative. consequently, when setcs encounter cre practices in special education courses, it is a disruption of what they typically experience in the program. as a junior teacher educator in a position eligible for tenure and promotion (i.e., “on the tenure track”), i am aware of my tenuous position and have questioned whether to engage in disruptive practices like cre. during this time in my career women of color are especially more likely to be denied tenure than white males (june, 2012; wilson, 2016). bringing attention to myself and my practices in a way that may bring pushback from students about my teaching methods may jeopardize my career trajectory. this self-study examined the benefits and challenges of engaging in cre, specifically critical self-reflection, as a junior faculty member on tenure track. i used focus group interviews from setcs over the course of two semesters to understand their perceptions of my use of critical self-reflection in a special education assessment course. i also used my personal reflections to understand the relationship of doing this work and the context of being a black, female, junior faculty member. the following research questions guided my study: what are the benefits and challenges of engaging in disruptive practices within my special education course? and, to what extent does engaging in critical self-reflection result in challenges that are detrimental enough to my budding career to deem them unwise to implement? conceptual framework: black feminist theory from standards of beauty, access to health care and positions of educational, political, and economic power, black women are consistently marginalized and placed in inferior positions within society. this self-study utilized black feminist theory as a nuanced framework for understanding how my efforts to disrupt hegemonic teaching practices collided with external and internal resistance within a white dominated teacher education program. black feminist theory offers an analytic frame to understand this shared social world that is historically grounded in a “legacy of racism, sexism, class exploitation and heterosexism that assign categories of superiority and inferiority” (gist, 2016, pp. 245-246). in the context of academia, black women are marginalized in total number; they are in the lowest percentages of tenured faculty at 3% whereas white men make up the highest at 45% (nces, 2020). being black and female also equates to lower wages when compared to white males (li & koedel, 2017; mcchesney, 2018). in addition, black women in higher education experience microaggressions, isolation, and increased stress linked to race and gender (kelly & winklewagner, 2017). indeed, navigating higher education as a black female can be frustrating and depleting. black feminism provides context and analysis of the ways in which black women are both marginalized by and resistant to these inferior positions. by honoring the lived experience https://cultureandvalues.org/ 25 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org of discrimination, exploitation, and oppression of black women as knowledge sources, black feminist theory provides a liberating toolset to contextualize and free minoritized women of color (gist, 2016). this toolset allows black women to embrace their lived experiences in typically white spaces, like institutions of higher education. the framework also offers the reimagining of these experiences as an advantage as it provides a means of creating a counterhegemony through practices of shared collective responsibility (hooks, 1984; phendla, 2008). collins’ (1989) states, the long-term and widely shared resistance among african american women can only have been sustained by an enduring and shared standpoint among black women about the meaning of oppression and the actions that black women can and should take to resist it (p. 746). these ideologies encapsulate why i and other black women are led to engage in work using methods that advance activism and social justice while concurrently experiencing marginalization. method research design this is a qualitative self-study which utilized student focus group interviews triangulated with my personal reflective journals, to explore the benefits and challenges of including critical self-reflection in a special education course. self-study is a method which centers on the self and her personal experiences (laboskey, 2004). this self-study is interpretive (crotty, 1998) in that it is used to understand my own experiences. this work is not linear, but recursive, meaning it requires going back to the beginning several times in order to make sense of the data. consequently, data analyses and interpretations are intertwined (laboskey, 2004). the recursive nature of the study allowed me to use the data to situate it in the disruption which is derived from engaging setc during critical self-reflection in an assessment course as a junior faculty member. i began the disruptive practice of critical self-reflection when i was assigned to teach the only assessment course in our special education pk-12 program during the fall of 2015. i was given a multitude of supportive instructional materials to help me get started; however, previous course content was devoid of discussion around issues of teacher bias, bias in standardized testing, or issues of disproportionality in special education placement which are all critical to cre. in sum, the course lacked a clear equity and justice focus. although there is no requirement to add these particular elements in the course, not discussing these issues upholds historically inequitable systems of anti-blackness and white supremacy. i could not teach this course without addressing these issues of inequity. therefore, i decided to ground the course in cre pedagogy. when i first included curricular materials regarding racial discrimination, to decolonize the assessment curriculum, i noticed setcs were confused about how to engage in assessment in a culturally responsive way. they did not understand how to https://cultureandvalues.org/ 26 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org engage because they did not comprehend that their decision making was a key driver of the outcomes of their students. as part of the course design, i decided they needed to reflect on their personal experiences, including how their cultural background could affect them as future teachers, and how these are important components which contribute to student outcomes. consequently, when i gathered data about my instruction of cre practices, i grounded the data in critical self-reflections of setcs. participants and data collection this self-study focused both on an examination of students’ perceptions of my teaching and my use of critical self-reflection. after receiving approval from the institutional review board (irb) at my university, i recruited students from my special education assessment course to participate. consent was obtained to use course assignments and critical reflections for the study. data from a total of four focus group interviews were collected over two semesters. each focus group consisted of five students, for a total sample of 20 participants. these students also completed a survey which identified 17 of the 20 participants as female. the race and ethnicity of the focus group participants were not gathered in order to maintain confidentiality. all participants were post baccalaureate special education credential candidates. the focus group interview questions included items about my teaching and modelling of cre. the questions also included an item about candidate perceptions of self-reflection as a tool to enact cre with cld learners. participants answered a total of five open ended questions at the end of the semester. they gathered in groups of five to seven to answer the questions aloud. their responses were audio recorded and later transcribed. to maximize student participation and minimize undue pressure from myself, i was not present during sessions and, instead, a group leader facilitated the audio recording process. the focus group interviews each took 35 minutes to complete. as additional data collection, i also periodically wrote reflective journal entries regarding my own teaching and thinking processes. reflective journal entries were used to document the joys and tensions of teaching cre, specifically critical self-reflective practices, in a special education assessment course. i produced a total of 10 reflective entries during the spring 2018 and fall 2018 semesters. data analysis the focus group interviews were transcribed and analyzed using in vivo coding and concept coding (saldaña, 2016). these coding processes may also be used in grounded theory methodological approaches (charmaz, 2006) and are useful to understanding the overall meaning of student data and considering the context of my own reflective journal entries. i analyzed the focus group interviews in large segments in order to understand the broader meaning of the data. in some segments of the data, the participants’ own words provided the unit of analysis necessary to understand a specific section (saldaña, 2016). for those sections, i used in vivo codes. for other segments of interview data, i used concept coding. concept coding is using a “word or phase to symbolically represent a suggested meaning that’s broader https://cultureandvalues.org/ 27 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org than a single item or action” (saldaña, 2016, p, 292). this allowed me to assign “meso” or “macro” levels of meaning to qualitative data (saldaña, 2016, p. 292). thus a paragraph of focus group data was given meaning using a phrase that captured the larger meaning of the segment. in total, i employed 4 in vivo codes and 14 concept codes. i then used the constant comparison method to develop categories (corbin & strauss, 2008). developing categories allowed me to consolidate the meaning of the concept and in vivo codes into a smaller number and more abstract codes. this process yielded nine categories. in the final phase of this analysis, again using the constant comparison method, i derived three emergent themes. themes are a collection of more implied processes found within the data. i used my personal self-reflections as data to triangulate the focus group interview analysis as well as contextualize the environment in which i was teaching. in total, there were 10 journal entries ranging in length from a paragraph to a couple of pages. these narratives were not systematically coded. instead, they were used as a backdrop of the success and tensions i felt while engaging in this work. i cannot claim that these reflections are unbiased as my aim was not trustworthiness of my thoughts but, rather, simply provide truthful feelings as i perceived it during this process. positionality my positionality toward this topic of critical reflection as disruptive praxis is rooted in my identity, lived experiences, and epistemological cultural stance. i identify as a black cisgendered able-bodied female and first generation college graduate. my personal experiences included growing up in the projects with a single mother, and having to work early in life to support my family. i learned that to be successful and accepted (by teachers/authority figures) i had to be silent and follow rules. these experiences inform the struggle i encounter as a junior faculty member teaching in a white dominated space. it also informs my use of black feminist theory as an analytic tool to understand my experiences living, (un)learning and internalizing marginalization while concurrently being lead to resist and disrupt oppressive practices in the current leadership position i hold as a tenure-track faculty member. as a junior faculty member new to teaching preservice teachers and wanting to improve my own teaching for social justice, i developed this research project to examine my own teaching and understanding of some of the tensions i felt while implementing reflective practices within my course. i also wanted to have students’ voices as part of this reflective process, so the participants in this study are former students. i did not collect demographic information on these candidates for confidentiality purposes; however, i teach in a hispanic serving institution and rarely have black teacher candidates. thus, most of the participants do not share my racial identity. like me, most of the teacher candidates were female and had some experience working with students with disabilities (them as paraprofessionals or counselors, me as a high school teacher). because of these shared experiences, i was able to connect with them and provide a safe, and at times brave, space for candidates to open up about their background and personal biases. although i had these shared experiences with https://cultureandvalues.org/ 28 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org some of my candidates, i worked to separate my assumptions and biases from their focus group data by de-identifying the data two months before reading and analyzing it. i wanted to present the data they provided as close to their own words as possible to ensure their perceptions were clear. i also wanted my thoughts and perceptions to be represented to underscore my tensions during the time of the study. findings candidates in the focus groups shared their perceptions of the use of cre in my teaching, specifically self-reflective practices, within a special education course focused on the assessment of students with (dis)abilities. the focus group data yielded three themes: importance of self-reflections, bias and cultural awareness, and struggling to push through. these themes along with some contextual passages from my own self-reflections are discussed below. theme 1: importance of self-reflection when the setcs initially learned that they would be engaging in self-reflective practices within the special education course they were confused. one setc stated, “this was something i was not expecting from this course. since this course was labeled as an assessment class, that’s what i thought the whole focus would be on.” another candidate shared this sentiment by stating, “my overall impression of this course’s focus on reflective practices to engage in culturally responsive assessment was at first very confusing. i didn’t see how focusing on culture had anything to do with special education assessments.” these statements were consistent across the focus group data, underscoring the disconnect between cre and important elements of special education such as assessment. although they were confused in the beginning of the course, the focus group data indicated that setcs believed self-reflection was an important tool in the process of getting to know their cld students in order to make appropriate assessment decisions. one setc commented: [because of self-reflection], i started thinking about whether or not [the assessment] was appropriate for the student. i think moving forward, i will be more aware of the type of assessments i will give and the importance of getting to know my own students. this course really made me reflect on myself and my own biases and views. other setcs had similar comments such as, “the reflections really helped me think about my own views and the importance of reflecting on my relationships with my students.” the setcs saw the practice of self-reflection as a way to think about and connect with their students in order to make better educational decisions for diverse students. overall, candidates stated that engaging in self-reflective practices was important and they enjoyed that they were exposed to the process in class. one setc stated, ...quite honestly, [reflective practice] is something i would have never thought about https://cultureandvalues.org/ 29 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org prior to this course. i feel that it is important to reflect on why we feel certain ways about certain students because if we reflect on why we feel the way we do, only then can we adequately teach these students. this course really opened my eyes to begin to understand why it is important to reflect prior to teaching. the focus group data indicated that engaging in the self-reflection process in class was a meaningful endeavor for setcs because it provided the opportunity to make the connection between their personal selves, its impact on their teaching decisions, and how those outcomes affect their students. while setc data indicated an appreciation of the self-reflection process, my own selfreflective journals noted tensions around my need to slow down and push my setcs to reflect and act, and the lack of time to do this work and other requirements of junior faculty on tenure track. one entry from fall 2018 highlights this sentiment, although having students engage in this [self-reflective activity], using groups was much more effective than the standard lecture. i am so aware that they are not being challenged to change or do anything in practice. i am still struggling with pushing students to do more in practice. but between writing manuscripts, research projects, service requirements, mentoring master’s students etc.., finding the time to get students to move beyond self-reflection feels impossible. this passage underscored my understanding that setcs should be challenged to go beyond the classroom exercise of self-reflection and my limitations in pushing them, in part, due to other responsibilities as a junior tenure track faculty member. interestingly, the lack of time that i felt was similar to how some setcs felt about selfreflective practices. although they believed that self-reflection was necessary, the realities of teaching did not permit them the time to do so. one candidate from spring 2018 stated, self-reflection, i think is one of the most important parts of growing and being a well-rounded educator and human, you know, being a teacher i think that we don’t have enough time and energy to just stop and kind of self-reflect and take into account what has worked and what hasn’t worked and how we view certain students and how we treat certain students in certain situations. this candidate was an intern meaning that she was actively teaching (as were the majority of setcs during spring 2018). the sentiment of this quote not only captures that of many others in this study, but also my own. despite the importance of self-reflective practices there were also clear tensions between knowing it is important and actually doing it in practice. theme 2: bias and cultural awareness in addition to seeing the importance of self-reflection, candidates also discussed how the practice helped them develop an awareness of their culture and their own personal biases. these ideas aligned with villegas and lucas’ (2002) definition of sociocultural consciousness which asserted that the way people (i.e., teacher candidates) think about others is influenced by their culture. one candidate from the spring 2018 semester, for example, articulated how https://cultureandvalues.org/ 30 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org the course supported her development of sociocultural consciousness by discussing her understanding of the importance of identifying personal biases. she explained how important it is to be mindful of how her culture impacts her decision making for diverse students who receive special education services: i liked that it really taught me something about having an awareness of my own thoughts and my own opinions and my own culture. i always thought that i didn’t have any culture! [but] my family has its own culture and there’s so much that directly impacts who i am and so if it's true for me it’s true for everybody. so to be able to look at a person and think about how their experiences shape not just their language, background...but if they’re from or their parents are from another country or another state or something, there’s so much that goes into it. so, i appreciated the ability to have a much higher awareness of these things going in so that i can have an open mind when i am assessing or writing iep goals or any of that. engaging in critical self-reflection proved to be a powerful way for candidates to understand the connection between cre and the assessment process to support equitable outcomes for cld youth who are placed in special education classes. candidates made connections and questioned their own thoughts and feelings. for example, one candidate from the spring 2018 semester stated, “i liked that in this class she addressed your own personal biases [through critical self-reflection] because i think it’s something that we don’t stop often enough to be like, ‘what is our issue here?’” similarly, another setc from the fall 2018 semester commented, “i now know that it is extremely important to be reflective prior to engaging in assessments so that we can eliminate the biases we may feel with some students.” focusing on critical self-reflection encouraged candidates to have an open mind about the purpose and nature of assessment and decision making for special education services. they made some meaningful connections and strengthened their understanding about their own cultures. my self-reflections indicated the intentionality of explicating culture and bias in the course. i wrote about the activities and lectures i provided which specifically centered on reflecting on background, culture, and bias. i expressed my desire for setcs to be exposed to critical issues in special education even as i was beginning to feel that there could be some pushback because of preconceived notions of what an assessment course should entail. i wrote, “i am feeling unsure and insecure in my decision to contextualize this course in cre before i have tenure.” this tension between having students engage in the critical work of selfreflection in my course and gaining tenure was an on-going dynamic throughout my reflections. theme 3: struggling to push through although grounding a very practical and mostly deficit orientated course in cre with a focus on critical self-reflection had some positive outcomes, my reflective journaling indicated that i was troubled by my internal struggle to push students towards action in practice, but not pushing so much that i hurt my chance for tenure. my reflections during spring 2018 showed https://cultureandvalues.org/ 31 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org my awareness of my lack of effort to challenge setcs further. in one note from my journal entry, i wrote: students did a great job discussing [article on cre and response to intervention] today….i want them to understand and reflect on the importance of engaging in assessment practices using cre. students seem to enjoy having discussions around this topic. although having students engage in this, using groups was much more effective than the standard lecture. i am so aware that they are not being challenged to change or do anything in practice. i am still struggling with pushing students to do more in practice. candidates were also becoming more aware of their own culture and biases, but i did not require them to engage in/report on actions to ensure equity. not enforcing action was an uncomfortable but conscious decision. in many ways, my reflections continued to highlight my worry about gaining tenure. from my comments about the “colorblind culture” of the department, the courses shared with me that were ahistorical and completely devoid of critical pedagogy, to various conversations on the need to improve student evaluations by reducing talk on cre, it all seemed to heighten my worry about the viability of gaining tenure. my reflections during spring of 2018 underscored my worries concerning whether i pushed setcs hard enough to make a difference in the lives of their pk-12 students while simultaneously worrying about receiving poor teaching evaluations which could negatively affect my livelihood. this hyper worry led me to “play it safe” that semester by not pushing setcs to engage in reflective prompts that were too “uncomfortable”. despite this attempt, three of the five focus groups that semester still had a number of statements about not learning enough about assessments and learning too much on cre practices. one setc stated: i feel like i learned quite a bit about culturally responsive/competent assessments because of this class. specifically about the overpopulation of certain people in special education due to testing bias and biases, but my overall knowledge of the assessment themselves in special education did not improve quite as much as i hoped it would, except with a few of the tests. but i would have liked to know about more tests that i could give to students, especially for students with [moderate or] severe disabilities. this setc’s statement was an exemplar of what other candidates felt that semester; the course focused too much on cre and not enough on assessment. the comment also brought to reality my worry about student opinions of my teaching. during fall 2018, my reflections continued to highlight some worry, but not to the extent as it did during spring 2018. my self-reflections focused more on pedagogy and getting to know my students. i also encouraged students to engage in more meaningful self-reflective practices by providing a “brave space” in the classroom. candidates in fall 2018 noticed my efforts to encourage braver discussions and reflections in class, even if they were unpopular. dr. kressler modeled [self-reflective] practices in this course. there were times where we had class discussions and some people would say things that seemed biased and very close-minded. dr. kressler never responded in a negative manner. she would ask https://cultureandvalues.org/ 32 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org questions to figure out the student’s perspective and at times seemed to help the student clarify their [thoughts]. many students felt comfortable enough in the class to admit their biased perspectives and views. overall there was a clear difference between candidates’ perceptions of the course and my teaching it within a cre framework. although i taught the same content in both classes, the perceptions of what was learned was very different. instead of seeing an integrated cre and assessment course, candidates in spring 2018 saw a disjointed, cre-heavy class. my reflections were also different across semesters as i focused more on my pedagogy and getting to know the candidates during fall 2018. i believe this created a more positive learning environment, improving my pedagogy, and possibly reducing my focus on gaining tenure. discussion the purpose of this self-study was to examine the enacting of cre through the use of critical self-reflection within an assessment in a special education course. teacher candidate focus group interviews and my own reflective journal entries uncovered the realities of this work during the spring 2018 and fall 2018 semesters. data revealed three emergent themes which indicated that as a junior faculty member, engaging in disruptive practices like critical self-reflection was both beneficial and challenging. it was positive that most setcs grew from the redesign of the course and gained cultural awareness through and appreciation of critical self-reflection. other studies have demonstrated that teacher candidates became more aware of the importance of cre practices through explicit instruction regarding the concept (acquah & commins, 2017; iwai, 2013) and that reflection was an important aspect of good teaching (addleman et al., 2014). both cultural awareness and critical reflection are necessary components to become culturally competent (howard, 2003; ladson-billings, 2014). however, i was challenged to negotiate my drive to disrupt the curriculum in the context of my marginalized identity as a black female and my tenuous junior faculty position. other studies have addressed the tensions found in teaching for equity as a junior faculty member (kelly-jackson, 2015; mitchem et al., 2020). the main issue is having the passion and desire to teach what you believe while grappling with the realities of one’s junior status in white-dominated spaces (baxely, 2012). when summing up her feelings about student reactions towards including social justice issues within a secondary science methods course, kelly-jackson (2015) wrote, as i reflect on the semester, i am disappointed in myself for giving up on these students and on myself. it was definitely not my intention, but as the complaints began to spread to other faculty and students began to resist my approach, my concern shifted more towards my reputation as an educator in a tenure-track position. i began to wonder how my course evaluations would look and how they would impact me in the tenure and promotion process (p.177). https://cultureandvalues.org/ 33 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org i also wondered about how my student evaluations of teaching (sets) would be judged after pushing students to go beyond the standard curriculum. the most troubling experience as a junior faculty member is the feeling that you may lose your job if teaching is primarily evaluated using sets. using sets to judge teacher effectiveness has revealed that teaching for equity or justice is not highly valued. there are decades’ worth of research indicating the problem of using sets to evaluate teaching effectiveness (braga et al., 2014), such as bias against women (macnell et al., 2015) and against people of color (reid, 2010; smith & hawkins, 2011) yet, they are still used heavily to judge teaching performance. my personal reflections were heavily influenced by my worry regarding how students would perceive my teaching and rate me on sets. this limited how far i pushed my students to engage in the work. as untenured faculty, it is difficult to risk “rocking the boat” this early in my career. phendla (2008) underscores this sentiment with the following statement: “holding leadership roles as a black woman can be likened to holding the sharp edges of knives. as a result, women have to learn strategies on how to hold these knives without being cut” (p. 23-24). sometimes this resistance means remaining silent so that they can choose to disrupt and resist in the future. even with the doubts and fears, i still taught my candidates using an equity lens by engaging in a disruptive practice. as a black female from a low-income socioeconomic background, i am led to advocate for marginalized and vulnerable groups because i would not be a junior faculty member if it were not for others pushing boundaries on my behalf. it is also important for me to maintain my position so i can continue to represent people of color and women who are underrepresented in mostly white spaces. implications one implication of this study is the development of professional learning communities. junior faculty who advocate for justice and culturally responsive practices, particularly in nondiversity specific courses, need support when doing this complex work. although limited, there is a growing body of research focused on the support of teacher educators who teach for equity and justice (dover et al., 2019; picower & kohli, 2017). this research highlights the daily tensions faced by faculty who teach for equity and justice but it also underscores how professional community and critical professional development can reduce the pressures of the job. these spaces also invite discussions regarding ways to advocate for oneself. dover et al. (2019) found that critical professional development provided a community of support which also functioned as a sounding board for ideas to fight for one’s career and to find one’s voice in an overwhelmingly white cultured space. the findings from this study also suggest that having only one or two equity-focused courses within a teacher education program is problematic. at best, individual critical teacher educators have attempted to infuse the existing curriculum with social justice and equityfocused content. however, these efforts do little overall to transform the minds and practices of teacher candidates towards advocacy for their future cld students with various abilities (pugach et al., 2020). this issue hinders the transformative struggle to engage in the work https://cultureandvalues.org/ 34 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org within teacher education programs. it also highlights the fact that some teacher education programs’ reluctance to decenter whiteness and decolonize itself depletes and devalues the efforts of faculty of color. this work cannot be accomplished in a silo as the entire teacher education program should have clear and explicit social justice frameworks. the program should ensure that all courses, including methods courses, are grounded in cre and social justice practices. additionally, junior faculty of color who perform equity work need support from senior faculty who serve on department personnel committees (dpcs). when new faculty join a department, especially if potentially perceived to be a “diversity hire,” faculty learning communities are important to have ready in order to support them in meaningful ways. this includes the way sets are evaluated and eventually judged by dpcs. if it is clear that students’ negative comments mainly target the addition of an equity or critical lens within a course, dpcs should not use those comments to judge faculty members’ yearly teaching portfolios. conclusion teaching using critical self-reflection as a junior faculty member is a disruptive practice in white dominated spaces. as a black female, i wrestle with the divide between teaching candidates to support vulnerable cld students using cre and maintaining my career. unfortunately, it is frustrating to have to balance between the divide. however, i have hope that with the addition of professional learning communities and the recognition of the biases of sets against women and people of color, efforts can still be productive. in the meantime, it is important for junior scholars to continue to teach for social justice, not only for teacher candidates and their future pk-12 students, but also for teacher educators. we must remember that if we fight for change and for the rights of marginalized groups, there will be resistance. junior faculty of color are important players in the fight for justice at all levels of the academy. junior faculty must be prepared to fight for themselves, their work, and their livelihood because the work matters, and so do they. the future of our teaching force and their students are worth the challenges this work brings. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 35 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org references acquah, e. o., & commins, n. l. (2017). methods that matter in addressing cultural diversity with teacher candidates. teaching in higher education, 22(5), 501-518. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2016.1273217 addleman, r. a., brazo, c. j., dixon, k., cevallos, t., & wortman, s. (2014). teacher candidates' perceptions of debriefing circles to facilitate self-reflection during a cultural immersion experience. new educator, 10(2), 112-128. https://doi-org.libproxy.fullerton.edu/10.1080/1547688x.2014.898485 alexander, m. (2010). the new jim crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. the new press. aronson, b., & laughter, j. (2016). the theory and practice of culturally relevant education: a synthesis of research across content areas. review of educational research, 86(1), 163206. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315582066 artiles, a. j., kozleski, e. b., trent, s. c., osher, d., & ortiz, a. (2010). justifying and explaining disproportionality, 1968-2008: a critique of underlying views of culture. exceptional children, 76(3), 279-299. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440291007600303 baxely, t. p. (2012). navigating as an african american female scholar: catalysts and barriers in predominantly white academia. international journal of critical pedagogy, 4(1), 47-64. http://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/view/193 braga, m., paccagnella, m., & pellizzari, m. (2014). evaluating students’ evaluations of professors. economics of education review, 41, 71-88. https://doiorg/10.1016/j.econedurev.2014.04.002 charmaz, k. (2006). constructing grounded theory: a practical guide through qualitative analysis. sage publications. corbin, j., & strauss, a. (2008). basics of qualitative research (3rd ed.). sage publications. crotty, m. (1998). the foundations of social research: meaning and perspectives in the research process. sage publications. dover, a. g., kressler, b., & lozano, m. (2019). "learning our way through": critical professional development for social justice in teacher education. the new educator, 16(1) https://doi.org/10.1080/1547688x.2019.1671566 gay, g. (2010). culturally responsive teaching (2nd ed.): multicultural education series. teachers college press. gist, c. (2016). a black feminist interpretation: reading life, pedagogy, and emilie. meridians, 15(1), 245-268. https://doi.org/10.2979/meridians.15.1.13 goodwin, a. l., smith, l., souto-manning, m., cheruvu, r., tan, m. y., reed, r., & taveras, l. (2014). what should teacher educators know and be able to do? perspectives from practicing teacher educators. journal of teacher education, 65(4), 284-302. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487114535266 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2016.1273217 https://doi-org.lib-proxy.fullerton.edu/10.1080/1547688x.2014.898485 https://doi-org.lib-proxy.fullerton.edu/10.1080/1547688x.2014.898485 https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315582066 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f001440291007600303 http://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/view/193 https://doi-org.lib-proxy.fullerton.edu/10.1016/j.econedurev.2014.04.002 https://doi-org.lib-proxy.fullerton.edu/10.1016/j.econedurev.2014.04.002 https://doi.org/10.1080/1547688x.2019.1671566 https://doi.org/10.2979/meridians.15.1.13 https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487114535266 36 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org grierson, a. l. (2010). changing conceptions of effective teacher education: the journey of a novice teacher educator. studying teacher education: journal of self-study of teacher education practices, 6(1), 3-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/17425961003668898 harry, b., & klingner, j. (2006). why are so many minority students in special education? teachers college press. howard, t. c. (2003). culturally relevant pedagogy: ingredients for critical teacher reflection. theory into practice, 42(3), 195-202. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4203_5 hooks, b. (1984). feminist theory: from margins to center. south end press. iwai, y. (2013). multicultural children's literature and teacher candidates' awareness and attitudes toward cultural diversity. international electronic journal of elementary education, 5(2), 185-198. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1070461 june, a. (2012, february 25). tenure decisions at southern cal strongly favor white men, data in a rejected candidate's complaint suggest. the chronicle of higher education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/tenure-decisions-at-southern/135754 kelly-jackson, c. (2015). teaching for social justice and equity: the journey of a teacher educator. the new educator, 11(3), 167-185. https://doi.org/10.1080/1547688x.2014.966400 klingner, j. k., artiles, a. j., kozleski, e., harry, b., zion, s., tate, w., durán, g. z, & riley, d. (2005). addressing the disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education through culturally responsive educational systems. education policy analysis archives, 13(38), 1-40. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v13n38.2005 kohli, r., picower, b., martinez, a., & ortiz, n. (2015). critical professional development: centering the social justice needs of teachers. international journal of critical pedagogy, 6(2), 7-24. http://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/view/1057 kulkarni, s. s. (2018). towards a critical disability studies model of teacher education. in k. ellis, r. garland-thomson, m. kent & r. robertson (eds.), interdisciplinary approaches to disability: looking towards the future (1st ed., pp. 109-119). routledge. laboskey, v. k. (2004). the methodology of self-study and its theoretical underpinnings. in j. j. loughran, m. l. hamilton, v. k. laboskey & t. russel (eds.), international handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (pp. 817-869). springer. ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465-491. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465 ladson-billings, g. (2014). culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: a.k.a. the remix. harvard educational review, 84(1), 74-84. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1034303 love, b. (2019). we want to do more than survive: abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. beacon press. https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1080/17425961003668898 https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4203_5 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1070461 https://www.chronicle.com/article/tenure-decisions-at-southern/135754 https://doi.org/10.1080/1547688x.2014.966400 https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v13n38.2005 http://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/view/1057 https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1034303 37 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org macnell, l., driscoll, a., & hunt, a. n. (2015). what's in a name: exposing gender bias in student ratings of teaching. innovative higher education, 40(4), 291-303. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-014-9313-4 martinez, a. n., valdez, c., & cariaga, s. (2016). solidarity with the people: organizing to disrupt teacher alienation. equity & excellence in education, 49(3), 300-313. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2016.1194104 mcanulty, j., & cuenca, a. (2014). embracing institutional authority: the emerging identity of a novice teacher educator. studying teacher education, 10(1), 36-52. https://doi.org/10.1080/17425964.2013.862493 mitchem, m., buffalo, g. r., perez, a., & rollins, e. r. (2020). tales of existing and resisting as female teacher educators in neoliberal times. the new educator, 16(1), 70-85. https://doi.org/10.1080/1547688x.2019.1681570 national center for education statistics. (2012). percentage of high school dropouts among persons 16-24 by sex and race/ethnicity. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d11/tables/dt11_116.asp national center for education statistics. (2016). racial/ethnic enrollment in public schools. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cge.asp national center for education statistics. (2020). characteristics of postsecondary faculty. the condition of education. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_csc.asp phendla, t. (2008). the paradox of luselo-lufhanga metaphors: african women defining leadership for social justice. isea, 36(1), 22-40. https://journals.co.za/content/jeds/2011/si-1/ejc160138 picower, b., & kohli, r. (eds.). (2017). confronting racism in teacher education: counternarratives of critical practice. routledge. pugach, m. c., blanton, l. p., mickelson, a. m., & boveda, m. (2020). curriculum theory: the missing perspective in teacher education for inclusion. teacher education and special education, 43(1), 85-103. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406419883665 reid, l. (2010). the role of perceived race and gender in the evaluation of college teaching on ratemyprofessors.com. journal of diversity in higher education, 3(3), 137-152. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019865 saldaña, j. (2016). the coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). sage publications. sleeter, c. e. (2012). confronting the marginalization of culturally responsive pedagogy. urban education, 47(3), 562-584. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085911431472 smith, b. p., & hawkins, b. (2011). examining student evaluations for black college faculty: does race matter? journal of negro education, 80(2), 149-162. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej942385 taie, s., goldring, r., & spiegelman, m. (2017, august). characteristics of public elementary and secondary school teachers in the united states: results from the 2015-2016 national teacher and principal survey. national center for education statistics. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed575193.pdf https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-014-9313-4 https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2016.1194104 https://doi.org/10.1080/17425964.2013.862493 https://doi.org/10.1080/1547688x.2019.1681570 http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d11/tables/dt11_116.asp http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cge.asp https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_csc.asp https://journals.co.za/content/jeds/2011/si-1/ejc160138 https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406419883665 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019865 https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085911431472 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej942385 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed575193.pdf 38 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 kressler, b., critical self-reflection as disruption: a black feminist self-study journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org wilson, r. (2016, november 6). a new front of activism: cases of minority scholars denied tenure call into question the long-term plans to diversify. the chronicle of higher education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-new-front-of-activism/238319 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-new-front-of-activism/238319 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 196 how english-speaking teachers can create a welcoming environment that allows students to maintain and utilize their language through translanguaging: a qualitative case study benedict l. adams* affiliation: missouri western state university *badams16@missouriwestern.edu received : 2020-07-15 accepted : 2020-12-17 doi: 10.46303/jcve.2020.20 how to cite this paper: adams, b. (2020). how english-speaking teachers can create a welcoming environment that allows students to maintain and utilize their language through translanguaging: a qualitative case study. journal of culture and values in education, 3(2), 196-211. doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.20 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract this study analyzed how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment to allow students to maintain and utilize their first language through translanguaging in a high school class of english-language learners. this case study applied funds of knowledge as a theoretical framework to focus on how a ninth-grade class with two qualified english language arts teachers acquired new knowledge using five types of funds of knowledge: academic and personal background knowledge, accumulated life experiences, world views, and skills in an urban-multicultural classroom. in a year-long effort, the researcher interviewed teachers and students, took field notes, collected instructional planning documents, and photographed students’ artifacts. the findings show that students grew in their construction of self-identity, developed their proficiency in two languages, and flourished in their multicultural competency while earning good grades. keywords: translanguaging, funds of knowledge, english learners introduction the movement to make english the only official language in the united states emerged around the turn of the twentieth century as a reaction to the massive influx of immigrants from non-english speaking parts of europe (darder & torres, 2014; nieto, 2009). this development occurred alongside new restrictive immigration policies and the rise of free and compulsory public schooling. a central purpose of the new “common” schools was to “americanize” students and assimilate new immigrants from southern and eastern europe (apple, 2019; tyack & cuban, 1995). from the 1920–1960s, english immersion “sink or swim” policies were dominant methods of instruction for language-minority children. there were few or no remedial services provided, and students generally remained in the same grade level until enough english was mastered to advance in subject matter understanding (garcia, 2005). https://cultureandvalues.org/ mailto:*badams16@missouriwestern.edu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 197 according to nieto (2009), in order to ensure linguistic and cultural control of the new territories on the southwest, the federal government adopted two different strategies. the first one entailed delimiting state borders to favor an english-speaking majority by splitting spanish-speaking communities. and the second strategy involved no recognition of statehood until english-speaking settlers had become the majority in the new territories. in addition, the nationality act of 1906, required all immigrants to speak english in order to be eligible to start their process of naturalization (buchanan, 2006). this entailed the explicit connection between english language and u.s. national identity. the hostile climate against languages other than english resulted in the drastic reduction of any type of bilingual instruction in the u.s. according to lopez and lopez (2010), the restriction of language use had two intentions. firstly, to deprive minorities of their individual rights in order to frustrate worker solidarity. and secondly, to institute a perception of the united states as an exclusive anglo community. subsequently, there was resistance from non-english speaking immigrants and their struggles against the push to “americanize” them remained a dominant theme during the first half of the twentieth century (garcia, 2005). the passage of the bilingual education act in 1968 marked a shift toward bilingual education. the law did not force school districts to offer bilingual programs, but it encouraged them to experiment with new instructional methodologies by funding programs that targeted lowincome and non-english speaking populations (garcia, 2005). through title vii, the first bilingual and bicultural education program that was approved at the federal level offered supplemental funding for those districts that developed special programs to meet the needs of students whose english was not proficient (hakuta, 2011). since bilingual education involves the use of two languages for the purpose of instruction, in english language schools, instruction was in both english and the student’s home language. the goal was to provide part of the instruction in the student’s l1 in order to ease their transition into the mainstream, thus known as “transitional bilingual education” (garcía, 2010). this was a big step forward for english language learners. significant as it was, being the first federal law in the united states that dealt with issues of language, the funding however of that legislation was often premised on a negative view of bilingual students (blanton, 2005). in 1974, the supreme court case lau v. nichols brought hope as it required educators to address the special needs of their emerging bilingual populations. failure to do so would place them in violation of the civil rights act of 1964 and the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment (gollnick & chinn, 2020). the equal educational opportunities act of 1974 mandated that each local school agency take action to overcome language barriers that impede students’ equal participation in its instructional programs. the government did not mandate bilingual education for non-english speaking students or those with limited englishspeaking ability. however, it stipulated that special programs were necessary if school districts were to provide an equal educational opportunity for such students. nevertheless, the supreme court legitimized bilingual education without spelling out specific remedies including providing an impetus to english as the second language (esl) programs. in 1975, the office of civil rights released a series of guidelines for school districts to follow in order to comply with the supreme court decision known as the ‘lau remedies’. these remedies prescribed transitional bilingual education, rejected esl as the appropriate methodology for elementary students, and acknowledged that multicultural programs may need l1 support (gollnick & chinn, 2020). the lau remedies had three goals: to improve https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 198 students' english proficiency, to safeguard core curriculum in primary languages, and to maintain students' cultural identity. this essentially promoted transitional bilingual education programs because emphasis was placed to making transition from l1 to english as quickly as possible. the primary goal now was to move from a language most commonly used in the home to the mainstream of the u.s language and culture. this assimilationist approach gradually phased out the l1; and all other language programs began to adopt this approach. as a result of the above changes, educators in the us have encouraged first-language attrition among emerging bilingual populations (subtractive bilingualism), an approach that, according to research, has led to feelings of delusion, negativity, self-hate, and inferiority among students (darder & torres, 2014). in brief, subtractive bilingualism is when a student learns a second language at the expense of their first language (l1) (garcía, 2010). in this case, the child usually loses the ability to speak their l1 over time. nevertheless, children who develop subtractive bilingualism may not have opportunities to practice their l1 and may even feel like their l1 or culture is unwelcome in class. in contrast, translanguaging is when students’ l1 continues to be developed while they are learning their second language (gollnick & chinn, 2020). students often have opportunities to use both languages inside and outside of school and have a desire to maintain both. as pedagogy, translanguaging allows students to use their full linguistic repertoire which values their home language. garcia, johnson, and seltzer (2017) contended that translanguaging is a normal practice of helping students draw on all their linguistic resources as they read, write, and discuss academic subjects in a new language. while recent debates have been centered on the relationships between the students’ l1 and how the language is treated in the process of learning, translanguaging uses l1 as a scaffold in the process of acquiring additional languages and even for learning academic content in a new language. that implies that teaching and learning are based on the knowledge and expertise that students and their families already have as members of their respective communities and cultures. the rationale for this study was to explore how two english language teachers, one bilingual and the other monolingual, created a welcoming environment that allowed students to maintain and utilize their language through translanguaging in a high school class of englishlanguage learners. this study employed a funds of knowledge framework and focused on how a ninth-grade class, under two qualified language arts teachers in an urban-multicultural classroom acquired new knowledge using their five funds of knowledge namely, their academic and personal background, accumulated life experiences, world views, and skills. in a year-long effort, the researcher interviewed teachers and students, took field notes, collected instructional planning documents, and photographed students’ artifacts. the following research questions guided the study: 1. how did the teachers create a welcoming environment that allowed students to maintain and utilize their language through translanguaging? 2. do these approaches impact students in their learning process? theoretical framework this qualitative inquiry is guided by a funds of knowledge theoretical framework. as a theoretical framework, funds of knowledge is a way of looking at the historical accumulation of abilities, bodies of knowledge, assets, and cultural ways of interacting as resources to enhance ell students’ academic progress (rodriguez, 2013). gonzález, moll, and amanti’s (2005), funds https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 199 of knowledge framework encourages teachers to develop an inventory of knowledge and abilities from students accumulated over time from community/home visits and integrate them in academic settings. especially in this urban-multicultural context, this approach embraces the urgency and significance of empowering learning contexts for all students because the accumulation of abilities, bodies of knowledge, assets, and cultural ways of interacting humanize learning for all. thus, integrating students’ funds of knowledge into classroom activities create a richer and more relevant learning experience for students. additionally, a funds of knowledge framework creates a much-needed pedagogical partnership between teachers and students because both learn from one another in the process. english language learners in this research were not viewed as empty vessels filled with knowledge, concepts, and ideas. they were active participants with much knowledge to contribute. thus, the theory of constructivism added an additional layer to this work because human learning is constructed, and learners build new knowledge upon their foundation of previous learning (vygotsky, 1978). during the teaching and learning process, students actively constructed or made their own knowledge, and that reality was determined by their own experiences. on the other hand, the role of the two teachers in a constructivist classroom was to facilitate the learning process grounded on respect, dignity, and inclusivity. consequently, this aligned well with translanguaging pedagogies because the teachers carefully planned their lessons by drawing on students’ linguistic repertoires and found ways to use students’ cognitive and linguistic resources to learn academic english while building their bilingual identities (rodriquez, 2013). similarly, this approach and attitude allowed ells to learn and develop proficiency in the home language and to appreciate their families and their roles in society. in their classroom, teachers were aware of their pedagogical goals of creating a collaborative problem-solving environment where ells become active participants in their own learning while scaffolding them to their individual level of performance (rodriquez, 2013). they encouraged ownership and voice in the learning process and embedded learning in their individual social experience. setting data for this study was collected at a large urban high school that followed a traditional calendar. the school is located within five miles of a downtown area. the district serves mostly people living in poverty with limited access to affordable housing. however, the southern and northern boundaries of the district articulate with more affluent wealthy suburban districts. at the time of the study, the school served students from grades 7 to 12 with an enrolment of 1,210 students. of these, 60% identified as black, 20% identified as hispanic, 13% identified as white, 4% identified as multiracial, and 3% identified as asian. among this group of students, 13% identified as ells, and 71% of the total student population was eligible for free or reducedprice lunch (state department of education, 2015). for many years, this urban school had been trying to cope with typical urban problems such as discipline, high dropout, bullying and very low academic achievement of students especially ells. according to the state department of education (2015), only 37% of students from the school enrolled in college immediately after high school graduation when compared to the state average of 64%. additionally, this school had 69% of graduates who needed remediation while the state average was 31%. in order to graduate, every student at this school had to take a state-required test after completing english 10. in the four years before this study, https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 200 as few as one in ten students passed this end-of-course test and the pass rate was lower for ells. the school administration tried to disrupt this pattern by implementing a pacing guide, prescribed curriculum, and multiple practice tests. these measures had been largely ineffective. at the beginning of the school year of this study, the school administration decided to try something new, translanguaging as a teaching arrangement for english 10. data and method in order to capture how english language teachers created a welcoming environment that allowed students to maintain and utilize their language through translanguaging, a qualitative case study design was used. this design helped frame a foundation of what it means for teachers to gather funds of knowledge in the form of accumulation of abilities, bodies of knowledge, assets and cultural ways of interactions evident in ells, and use them as resources to enhance students’ academic purpose (rodriguez, 2013). similarly, from a more practical perspective, although the two teachers were not very fluent in some of students’ target language (tl), their positive mindset, pedagogical tools, and professional initiatives helped students maintain a positive mindset towards their l1. this mindset continued to develop while they were engaged in tl learning. by nature, qualitative research operates with the paradigm that "meaning is socially constructed by individuals in interaction with their world" (merriam, 2009, p. 5). i observed the processes of how the ells interact and were engaged in a classroom, and asked questions aligned to understanding their lived experiences and how instruction supported learning in this setting. as a qualitative case study, each case drew from experiences of six ells and two teachers as participants. data collection occurred intensively during a full year of classroom observations. as an inquiry, case study makes it easier to have an in-depth exploration of the individual teachers in a classroom observing activities, interviewing them, and at the same time situating myself in the context to get details from the authentic viewpoints of the participants (merriam, 2009). furthermore, there are three characteristics that define case studies that were central and relevant to this inquiry: (1) looking at a particular situation, (2) having a set of detailed description, and (3) thorough explorations of a situation in order to bring about new meaning and new understanding on the part of the readers (merriam, 2009). in this case, i was thoroughly involved in examining minute events in detail and documenting both the complex interactive teacher-student characteristics and assessment strategies used from the planning stage. teacher participants purposive sampling of participants was conducted due to my interest in analyzing how english language teachers can create a welcoming environment that allow students to maintain and utilize their language through translanguaging. first, i wanted participant teachers to have the following qualities: (1) a good grasp of translanguaging pedagogy, (2) an educational background in the cultural, linguistic, and ethnic needs of ells in the mainstream classroom, (3) knowledge of how to identify ells’ funds of knowledge and apply them to teaching and learning, and (4) state certification in esl or language arts with experience in culturally, linguistically, racially, and ethnically diverse classrooms. below is a description of the two https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 201 teachers who met these criteria and agreed to participate in this study through the process of informed consent. to preserve anonymity, all names used throughout this study are pseudonyms. ms. goodwin ms. goodwin is bilingual/biliterate in english and spanish. she lived in a suburb about ten miles from the high school. she graduated from the midwestern urban university in spanish and earned her masters’ degree with esl certification. while studying spanish, she began a fulltime internship as a language and cultural orientation instructor for an immigration support center. there she taught english to recently arrived adults by tending to their unique needs and seeing how their knowledge directly translated to a more successful life for them and their families. she moved to south korea to teach english in a low-income school. ms. goodwin is a language teacher who spoke and learned other languages. she was in her third year of teaching at jerome high school as an ell teacher for grades 7 to 12. when i asked her what strategy made her a successful teacher, she said: when students enter my room at the beginning of the year, they see a room of firm expectations, deep commitment to their success, and overwhelming enthusiasm. what i give my students is more than a lesson. i show them i care. i reach out to each and every one of their families. i call to celebrate their successes. when i am feeling particularly proud of them or having a ponderous moment about how happy i am to see them, i tell them they are why i get out of bed. i give teaching everything i have but have learned to take care of myself in the process as well. i am sweet as pie to all and known as being firm in my expectations and not budging with things like inappropriate language and cell phone use. (interview transcript, november, 2015) additionally, ms. goodwin expressed that her proudest moments and contributions to education are steeped in student work and are a reflection of her students’ success. she was very proud of having a highly functioning classroom, including a behavioral management plan, and a clear, organized, transparent way of grading, providing her students with make-up work, and communicating with feedback when there were errors. mr. woods mr. woods was raised in a rural community in the midwest. he was also a graduate of an urban midwest university with a bachelor’s degree in language arts. during his training, he worked as the poetry editor at the same urban university literary magazine for a year. after that, he found a job as a supplementary instructor at the community college in the same urban city for two years. mr. woods taught reading, writing, and english 111 at the college. after his successful certification process with the state, mr. woods started working with an urban school district, teaching english language arts (ela) at jerome high school, grades 7 to 12. during our first interview, mr. woods expressed how thrilled he was to come back to this school where he was now in his third year working in a linguistically, culturally, and ethnically diverse classroom. when i asked him what strategy made him a successful teacher, he said: apart from genuine interaction with students, i like to assign homework on weekly basis. i give my students a packet which includes a writing prompt, grammar review, and vocabulary each monday that is due the following friday. at the beginning of the year, i do have high expectations for students. i tell them to attend class on time and be https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 202 prepared to learn. students who practice good work habits, do their personal best, and fully participate in class are rewarded. if a student is absent or tardy, i encourage them to make-up missed work. i encourage them to take responsibility for their learning and know what work has been assigned. (interview transcript, november, 2015) participating students similarly, purposive sampling was conducted to sample student participants. i wanted to select student participants who were ells and who were new to the school district because per district policy, all new ells had to undergo english language proficiency access test called wida (world-class instructional design and assessment-wida scale) to determine their language proficiency for proper placement. according to wida scale, there are six performance definitions for the k-12 english language proficiency standards: (1) entering phase, (2) beginning-proficiency, (3) developing, (4) expanding-proficiency, (5) bridging, and (6) reaching phase (wida, 2013). all students sampled in this project had scores ranging from 1 to 4, thus entering to expanding stage in order to fit in the state-mandated 9th grade placement. secondly, students needed to meet the enrollment and availability criteria (attendance). thirdly, students should be from a variety of home languages, cultures, educational backgrounds, and educational needs in order to cover wider complexities of translanguaging. once individuals met all study inclusion criteria, they and their parents or guardians were given informed consent forms and agreed to participate in the study by signing and dating the consent form. additionally, students were also aware that they can withdraw from this research anytime. below is a description of the student participants in this study. carlos carlos came to the united states from mexico four years before the study. his l1 was spanish, and he was 17. he qualified for free lunches. in appearance, carlos was a clean-cut young man, short and thin, with stylish hair. during the first focus interview, carlos explained that he wanted to work as a cashier or anything to get by. he was not sure about going to college. according to the wida access test, his ell proficiency level was 1.8 (between entering and beginning proficiency). carlos seemed resistant to learning english. the teachers shared that he had never spoken a word of english to them even though they expected this during many graded activities in class. he copied notes in class and interacted with teachers and his classmates if he could do so in spanish directly or through others. carlos lived with his mother, his cousin, and his aunt. julissa julissa was from born in honduras. she moved to this midwestern city almost two years before the study. aged sixteen, she was fluent in honduran spanish and garifuna (a l1). she resided in public housing and qualified for free lunches. in appearance, julissa was thin with long brown hair and dark eyes. during the first focus group interview, julissa expressed that she wanted to work at the amusement park as the attendant and she was not very sure of going to college. at the beginning of the semester, julissa had been skipping her english class a lot but after the teachers’ consultation with her parents, her attendance improved. according to the wida access test, her ell proficiency level was 1.9 (entering phase and nearly to beginning proficiency). her teachers and friends described her as quiet, slow paced and very shy. during https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 203 her spare time, she liked to listen to reggae music. julissa had a job as a cashier which kept her out until midnight three days per week. arturo arturo was born in the united states, but his parents were from mexico. at a young age arturo went back to mexico with his father and mother and came back about eleven years ago. when he came back, arturo was held back in first grade because he was diagnosed with a cognitive disability and put in special education. at 19, arturo is tall with facial hair. his l1 is spanish. during our interview sessions, arturo shared that he was the only child who lived with his father who spoke only spanish. his mother died two years earlier from cancer and arturo admitted that things had been different since then. arturo had trouble reading and writing and worked very hard to improve his skills. like the others, he qualified for free and/or reduced priced lunch and his ell-wida proficiency was leveled at 2.4 (beginning-proficiency). after high school, arturo expressed that he wanted to do anything to support his family even as a farm worker and laborer. sabeen sabeen came from iraq and had been at the school about two years ago. aged eighteen, her l1 was arabic. she and her family were staunch muslims who practiced their faith meticulously. sabeen qualified for free and reduced lunch. in appearance, she was short, thin, and wore a scarf most of the times. during the first focus interview, sabeen expressed that she was not sure what she would do after high school, although she was interested to work as a home health aide or even a nurse assistant. regarding attending college, sabeen expressed that possibility. for example, this was her reply during our focus group interview: “going to college is a great idea and lucrative possibility. i am always thinking about that although in my culture women are not encouraged to go further than high school.” according to the wida access test, her ell proficiency level was 2.1 (beginning-proficiency). sabeen loved sharing arabic words with teachers and others. she and her siblings missed school occasionally for muslim celebrations. she often talked about her culture, her learning experiences, and what school meant to her. quang quang lived in vietnam prior to moving to the midwest three years ago. he relocated with his mom. his mother was a single mom with two jobs and also enrolled at a local community college for english classes while taking some accounting courses. according to our last focus interview, quang spoke vietnamese with a thick dialect of hue since he hailed from the central part of his native country. he also qualified for free/reduced lunch. in appearance, he was short with moderately dark hair, callous hands, with dark eyes. at eighteen, his english access level was 2.1 (beginning-proficiency). quang often talked about his faith, catholicism and how catholics were prosecuted in the 1798’s in vietnam. in his free time, he spent time with his mother, as her was very close with her. liz liz was from mexico. according to school records, she made her first entry into united states schools about two years before the study. aged fifteen, she was fluent in spanish (l2) https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 204 and nahuatl (l1). she qualified for free or reduced lunch. in appearance, liz was short and heavier with shoulder-length hair. during the first interview, liz expressed that she was not sure what she would do after high school rather she was considering either carpentry or home health aide. about going to college, she expressed that possibility with less patience in this way: going to college is a possibility, you know what, but let us wait and see. it is important to cross one river then rest and look forward to what is next. at the same time, parents, and siblings need help to pay rent and live life. that’s why i have two jobs currently. according to the wida access test, her ell proficiency level was 4.2 (expandingproficiency). data collection i included many data sources to ensure i had different forms of evidence and multiple data sets for triangulation (mertens, 2012). my data collection included 15 class observations in ela classrooms, three focus group interviews with students, collection of instructional documents from teachers, three semi-structured interviews with teachers, six informal interviews with teachers and classroom audio-recordings. i triangulated this data across and within cases in order to establish the reliability of the study. observations i observed 15 hour-long english class periods in order to understand the nature of targeted students and their learning experiences, teacher and student interactions and assessments. for each observation, i collected field notes, made an audio recording, and completed an observation rubric which focused on translanguaging practices and their impact. these different data sources enabled me to reconstruct any rich dialogue or meaningful interactions that could shed light on my research questions. interviews soon after observing and audio recording, i held an informal fifteen-minute interview with the teachers. in this interview, we discussed the observations and field notes in order to conceptualize the experiences of students in the classroom, clarify any unanticipated events, and double-check assessment methods and students’ reactions. i also held individual, semistructured interviews with teachers that lasted approximately 90 minutes. these interview questions focused on classroom instruction, interactive patterns, and students’ responses as related to the research questions. the interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed within 24 hours. then, i sent transcripts to each participant via email to verify the accuracy of the transcripts. focus group interviews i held three focus-group interviews with students on three separate dates. these interviews lasted 60 minutes and were audio-recorded and transcribed within 24 hours. i used pre-set questions about the impact of translanguaging in their learning process in order to guide conversations and clarify themes that emerged. the nature of the questions focused on how they felt about both the classroom and school climate in line with the research questions. these transcripts were then made available to the students in order to verify the conversations. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 205 documents, curriculum resources, and physical artifacts the final set of data comprised documents and physical artifacts that were given to me by the two participating teachers. these documents included lesson plans, curricular resources, emails responses from classes, “aha” moments,” progress grades, and their own reflections. both teachers confirmed the accuracy of these documents prior to their inclusion in this study. data analysis each data set was analyzed separately and, in keeping with the nature of the data collected, analyzed in relation to the research questions and the theoretical framework. then, i coded them and labeled a description on them and developed categories direct from raw data using an inductive coding approach (mertens, 2012). afterwards, i assigned codes to those pieces of data (open codes). from there, i continued to revise the categories on continual basis and gave them codes. for example, from the interviews from the teacher and students, i read the transcripts several times side by side and identified similarities and differences (merriam, 2009). in this phase, significant patterns were noted. then, each sentence or group of sentences was examined and given a label with a descriptive name. data was simplified further in the second phase. in this level, the first-level descriptive codes were merged into similar coded units to form categories which were then given a pertinent label (merriam, 2009). i further simplified the data in the third phase in which similar conceptual themes were further merged and given a more abstract conceptual label. then, i identified key themes from each interview, developed patterns, and merged them. in the final phase of coding, i drew merged concluding themes from interviews, compared them across, and offered propositions from the themes that emerged. i used nvivo9 to organize and synthesize emerging themes. positionality my positionality toward translanguaging is rooted in my belief that exclusion and nonaccommodation of languages in education denies equality of opportunity to learn. through my ph.d. studies in teacher education and urban education studies, i have learned that the u.s. population has more than 400 different language background with 70 to 80% spanish speakers, 12 % from asia and pacific island background and the rest elsewhere (gollnick & chinn, 2020). one-fourth of students national-wide fail to make progress toward english language proficiency and subsequently have lower graduation rates. as the result, ells are often at a socioeconomic disadvantage compared to their non-ell counterparts (gollnick & chinn, 2020). additionally, i identify myself as a bilingual individual, first generation college graduate and a faculty of color who did not lose l1. as a faculty teaching preservice teachers and at the same time want to improve my multicultural competence in applied settings, i revitalized this research as i continue to reexamine my teaching practices and share with both preservice and practicing teachers on how to create a welcoming environment that is effective through translanguaging. although i had these shared experiences with participants, i worked to separate my assumptions and biases of translingual identity from data by de-identifying the data three months before reading and analyzing it. thus, i can assure scholars that the presented data and findings are as close to their own words. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 206 results the researcher found that teachers enacted a variety of translanguaging practices that allowed students to maintain and utilize their language. this was manifested in several ways throughout their instructional practices. for example, they began the school year by identifying ell’s funds of knowledge by asking students to write essays about their background, bringing pictures about their family in the classroom and share with others their heritage. they also did presentations about their interests. these types of assignments were very meaningful and helped teachers learn more about their students and their families. additionally, the teachers tried throughout the year to engage their families through home and community visits. in that way, they were able to connect their student’s funds of knowledge to classroom content with specific experiences the students have had or currently involved. for example, during their home visits, teachers found liz’s mother cooking. she was in the process of making platanos con frijoles y cremo which was their favorite recipes. in the classroom, teachers worked on procedural vocabulary by having students work with their parents to write their favorite recipes. then, they asked students to present in class. furthermore, when they visited julissa’s home teachers found out that spanish was the dominant language. her mother spoke a bit of english while her brothers spoke english fluently. in one of the photos of her mother it had a heading which says “mi familia”. most of the posters in the home were in spanish. her mother explained to the teachers that the accent or dialect in honduran was different from the usual mexican accent. in the classroom, teachers prepared a project of comparing different dialects of spanish and asked students to read texts from their different regions of latin america to see how those dialects were represented to facilitate plurilingual competence. julissa’s mom was invited and came to talk about honduras and her experience with spanish in the u.s. the nature of teachers’ instruction teachers included culturally relevant learning resources and experiences in class by contextualizing lessons to reflect culture. they incorporated students’ language into the learning environment and voiced cultural affirmation and relevant cultural artifacts. in fact, teachers emphasized literacy autobiography to inspire students to explore the linguistic and cultural repertoire that embodies their identities. during the second interview, ms. goodwin explained why using cultural references both in verbal and non-verbal forms to communicate instructional demands was motivating to students and boosts their self-esteem. she explained the reasoning as follows: i like the group aspect of class discussion. in groups, students learn to cooperate and not act as competitors, and when i go around listening to them, i feel humbled to hear many stories they discuss and share with one another. i think they learn better among themselves than me acting like pouring knowledge in their heads. i encourage them not to feel ashamed to draw inferences from their native languages (e.g. spanish, arabic, dinka) so that they feel welcome and accepted. i also ask them personally to tell me statements or words of cultural affirmation in their native language and use them in encouraging them to contribute to classroom discussion. (focus group transcript, march, 2016). obviously, cultural references, group work, and the use of l1 played a supportive and facilitative role in the classroom. additionally, teachers were welcoming, empathetic, and https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 207 established rapport with students. they designed lessons for diverse students to work together and shared their personal experiences. ms. goodwin expressed the rationale as follows: building a welcoming class community is an excellent litmus test for successful teaching. i like doing this with a firm belief that human connections are great for growth. we all need each other, and learning can’t take place in a vacuum of human connections. thus, why we try in this class to foster a reassuring sense of belongingness to all students, encourage them to work collaboratively and even resolve conflicts with fairness and peace (focus group transcript, march, 2016). teachers scaffolded the development of self-efficacy, personal identity, and agency in their instructions and interactions. julissa’s comment illustrates this notion: “i have learned to respect others and have courage to say yes to my identity”. furthermore, teachers scaffolded students in developing a repertoire list which they practiced and gained a better understanding of grammar. furthering on this, carlos illustrated “teachers in this classroom are my mentors, and i feel like i identify myself with them so much. they help me become assertive and speak up for myself and improve in my grammar and above all opening up to career goals” (focus group transcript, march, 2016). students’ learning growth analysis revealed that translanguaging teaching approaches enacted growth in students as learners and in their construction of self and identity. they developed a set of beliefs and values and saw their environment in a new way with new prospects (sociocultural understanding). in fact, ells grew in their self-esteem and came to believe more in themselves and became determined visionaries (self-efficacy). during the third focus group interview, arturo expressed the following sentiment, which echoed the general impression: i feel like that i have grown and i am different this time. i am a dynamic individual. i have changed in my thinking about life, i have grown in knowledge and i now know that i have power to contribute something in this class, this school, the community around and even beyond. i think i now know myself better than before. my classmate, my teachers, and the school community have made me grow and believe more in myself. i was shy at the beginning of this year and had very few friends but now i have many friends and i feel happy. (focus group transcript, january, 2016) as individuals, the students made progress toward being fully effective students and future community members. they became more confident, and felt more capable of being successful and self-reliant. julissa echoed this sentiment as follows: i learned more about what i can do as a human being, my dignity, my human rights, my civil rights, and how i can step up for myself and for others. i gotten a new perspective on how to get what i want which i felt was not possible before. i have learned more from my teachers who are calm, compassionate, and confident in their abilities in dealing with me, sharing these values through personal reflections and assignment. i have learned more about american politics, values, and even world politics which have opened my eyes. (transcript, march 2016) the statements above demonstrated growth not only in students’ communicative competence but also in students’ perception of self. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 208 increase in students’ proficiency in both languages the teachers prioritized proficiency in both english and the student’s first language. this practice helped students translanguage and develop their l1 while learning their tl. teachers bought books and created a classroom library with books in their l1s. students also had access to playing music, watching tv and movies, and reading books in their l1. for example, sabeen’s family had direct tv so they got to watch news right from iraq in arabic. they even recorded the news so they would not miss it. the teachers used this opportunity to create an assignment to find a news story and share with the class. sabeen’s family visited the class to explain their home language and how to maintain it. during their last interview, this is what sabeen said: “i am so thankful for this instructional methods. my oral proficiency in arabic and english have improved and i can confidently say that i have attained strong communication skills in english and in my first language” (interview transcript, march, 2016). sabeen’s views explicate how translanguaging maximizes learning from existing language skills. development in multicultural competency english 10 class became a community of learners because everyone participated actively. during our last focus group interview, liz said: “this class has been precious to me and i am very thankful. i have developed awareness of my own cultural values and biases. i have learned to value others’ worldviews and at the same time developed a set of culturally appropriate interpersonal skills. (focus group transcript, march, 2016). and also, during the same interview, julissa also expressed the following sentiments about the climate: “i like the classroom climate. teachers are very friendly and helpful to me. i have grown not to fear diversity but approach it with pride and i will advocate for others”. it is amazing to see how the classroom was transformed in such a way that students became cooperative learners and not competitors. growth in students’ academic competency translanguaging approaches bore fruits since students’ academic growth became evident virtually across the spectrum through improvement in grades. for example, arturo acknowledged that despite his struggles and disability status, he was progressing well. he worked hard and wanted to do well. with his job and ambition to go for heating, ventilation, and air cooling (hvac) training, he knew that he needed to work hard and obtain a high school diploma. from mid semester, he began attending tutoring twice a week in order to improve his grades. his progress report showed improvement. he had an f in september, cin october, c+ in november, and b in december. his overall grade including all submitted assignments was b. similarly, quang who started with b average and ended up with a, voiced a similar sentiment during our third focus group interview: i want to improve my english. we have no ends meet and no relatives here and school is what can make me share the american dream. thus why i am working hard and improving my english. i like math, science, and social studies and i want to go to college and become a pharmacist. (interview transcript, march, 2016) this was a good sign of progress in academic competency which was the fruit of hard work and resilience. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 209 discussion to adopt a more responsive approach to facilitate translanguaging among ells, teachers should highlight students’ linguistic and cultural resources in the classroom to inspire them to explore the linguistic and cultural repertoire that embodies their identities. in fact, where teachers express care, rapport, positive mindset and use inclusive strategies to create fair and equal opportunities to learn, ells experience rapid transformational growth that model their teachers’ feelings and aspirations. historical research tells us that ells have scored lower in achievement tests, been overrepresented in special education programs, had lower academic tracts and dropped out of school at a higher rate than their peers (banks, 2019; lambert & tucker, 1972). in addition to translanguaging practices, ells in this study reported that their teachers treated them with dignity and respect, facilitated the classroom as a community of learners. additionally, the teachers’ use of a funds of knowledge approach, such as the vocabulary assignments, inventory matrix, immigration project, and sabeen’s tv project, provided evidence of growth in their academic achievement, self-esteem, sociocultural aspects and their continual development of l1 while they're learning tl. another noteworthy concept was the engagement of their families to support l1 and also sharing their home culture. this proved effective because it provided systemic support and acceptance of their l1 and overall learning experiences. by empowering students, they embraced diversity with dignity and pride. students became aware that there were active agents in their learning process and shared this aspiration through community advocacy. recommendations and limitations the findings of this study indicate that translanguaging approaches capitalize on students’ funds of knowledge and maximize the potential for teachers, students, and families to meaningfully engage in learning experiences. based on the findings, one recommendation would be to inform the education department officials and policymakers that translanguaging is a beneficial practice worthy of funding for further research. we therefore need comprehensive input from scholars, educators, parents, and community members to convince decision makers, especially legislators and school administrators that translanguaging is not a luxury. this approach can help educators, students, and families recognize their socio-linguistic and economic funds of knowledge, and how to help educators teach in a more equitable way. certainly, the economic benefits of producing authentic biliteracy citizens out way any costs incurred. as gollnick & chinn (2020) expressed, with a global economy of more than 1.5 billion chinese speakers and more than 400 million spanish speakers, the united states certainly stands to benefit from other languages other than english. on the other hand, although the results from this study are encouraging, there are limitations to this study. firstly, despite of using multiple methods of data collection to increase the reliability of my study, i would be cautious about the transferability of the outcomes that emerged. future research should be undertaken with a larger sample size and in a different geographical location other than the midwest. and lastly, while the present study was specific to selected ells who were mostly immigrants, i did not specify their immigration statuses such as “refugee” or “hb-1 visa” as i was warned by the school district administration not to disclose or explore their status. consequently, there is no analysis of the possible impact of students’ immigration status which would be worthy exploring in future. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 210 conclusion this research on how an english-speaking teacher can create a welcoming environment that allows students to maintain and utilize their language through translanguaging in an urban and multicultural and multilingual classroom is promising. many teachers in urban and even suburban schools still struggle to address the unique needs of ells (hakuta, 2011). as darder & torres (2014) contended, the rapid increase of ells has not been matched by sufficient growth of instructors' understanding and preparedness in how best to plan and carry out good instruction like this. teacher educators, practicing teachers, and even policy makers would benefit from the successful teaching of the two teachers in this study. even more important to fellow teacher educators, it is essential that learning to teach today embodies teaching values that support and strengthen individual uniqueness, cultural pluralism, language differences, and accepting ells and funds of knowledge as asserts to participate fully in the socioeconomic life of this nation. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 adams, b., how english-speaking teachers created a welcoming environment journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 211 references apple, m. (2019). ideology and curriculum (4th ed.). routledge. banks, j. (2019). an introduction to multicultural education (6th ed.). pearson. bilingual education act of 1968, pub. l. no. 90-247, 81 stat. 783 (1968). blanton, c. (2005). the strange career of bilingual education in texas. texas a&m university press. buchanan, p.j. (2006). state of emergency: the third world invasion and conquest of america. thomas dunne books. darder, a., & torres, r. (2014). latinos and education: a critical reader. routledge. garcia, e. (2005). teaching and learning in two languages: bilingualism and schooling in the united states. teachers college press. garcía, o. (2010) bilingualism in education in the multilingual apple: the future of the past. journal of multilingual education research, 5(1), 13-34. garcia, o., johnson, s., & seltzer, k. (2017). the translanguaging classroom: leveraging student bilingualism for learning. routledge. gollnick, d., & chinn, p. (2020). multicultural education in a pluralistic society. pearson. gonzález, n., moll, l., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practice in households, communities, and classrooms. lawrence erlbaum associates. hakuta, k. (2011). educating language minority students and affirming their equal rights: research and practical perspectives. educational researcher, 40(4), 163–174. doi:10.3102/0013189x11404943 lambert, w.e. & tucker r.g. (1972). bilingual education of children: the st. lambert experiment. newbury house. lau v. nichols (1974) 414 u.s. 563. lopez, m., & lopez. g. (2010). persistent inequality: contemporary realities in the education of undocumented latina/o students. routledge. merriam, s. (2009). qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation. jossey-bass. mertens, d. (2012). research and evaluation in education and psychology: integrating diversity with qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods. thousand oaks. nieto, d. (2009). a brief history of bilingual education in the united states, perspectives on urban education, 61-72. rodriguez, g. (2013). power and agency in education: exploring the pedagogical dimensions of funds of knowledge. review of research in education, 37(1), 87-120. state department of education. (2015). state k-12 school data. retrieved from http://www.doe.in.gov/ the wida english language proficiency standards and resource guide edition (2013). prekindergarten through grade 12 (“wida elp standards”). university of wisconsin, wsc. retrieved from www.wida.us tyack, d., & cuban, l. (1995). tinkering toward utopia: a century of public school reform. harvard university press. vygotsky, l. s. (1978). mind and society: the development of higher psychological processes. harvard university press. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 25 lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training eric ferris* eastern michigan university *corresponding author: eferris@emich.edu received : 2019-09-12 revision : 2019-11-26 accepted : 2019-12-01 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training. journal of culture and values in education, 2(3), 25-43. abstract while active shooter training in schools is socially framed as a necessary response to the perception that our educational institutions are inherently dangerous, this paper provides an alternate read that hopefully leads to critical conversations about such trainings and practices they inspire. it situates active shooter training squarely in the ever-expanding culture of fear that has prompted the usurping of various freedoms in exchange for greater levels of security through institutional and intrapersonal policing. in framing episodes of violence as expected and expanding the possibility of who perpetrates violence to include everyone, active shooter training is able to construct a rational justification for furthering hypervigilance and exhaustive surveillance. at the same time, it can be argued that such inclusive and boundless understandings of violence, especially when considering related pedagogical messages in the context of schooling and students, constructs a reality in which trust in others is a casualty, that surveillance is not simply institutional but instead an individual reality in which people normatively monitor one another, and in general, where difference is the impetus for the construction of metaphorical walls. and while these have been the responses to danger present in the commodified and individualized social world, it is important to question whether both the means and ends are justified. if democratic interaction is understood as requiring, among other things, attention to difference and dialogue, can democracy, let alone the expansion of democratic possibilities, exist in a reality in which these things are feared and avoided? can schools, as sites where democratic interactions can be practiced, carry out this vital function if these needs are viewed in contention with or even subordinate to safety, as defined as furthering fear, policing, and exclusion? keywords: fear, surveillance, policing, exclusion, democracy introduction the education of students and the imagining of futures are undoubtedly intertwined. dewey (1907), among others, argued this point more than 100 years ago: journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 26 “what the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children. any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy. all that society has accomplished for itself is put, through the agency of the school, at the disposal of its future members. all its better thoughts of itself it hopes to realize through the new possibilities thus opened to its future self. here individualism and socialism are one. only by being true to the full growth of all the individuals who make it up, can society by any chance be true to itself” (pp. 19-20). in simpler words, if we pool the education of individual students together to form a collective consciousness, this consciousness should hold new possibilities for a better and more democratic future. however, when coupling this assumption with the consideration that schools are multifaceted institutions with a myriad of responsibilities to diverse groups of stakeholders, we can conceive realities in which some functions compete with others and even diminish or usurp their importance. one such responsibility is student safety. whether an actuality ever present in schooling institutions or a manufactured reality stemming from the visibility created by the connectedness and the always-on nature of the modern world, schools are seen as dangerous institutions, best exemplified by high-profile mass shooting instances within school buildings. this imagery is not only confined to and contemplated by those sitting on the outside looking in. instead, schools themselves, including students, teachers, and administrators, whether by their own initiative or as a result of external pressures, embody such dominant narratives through their implementation of policies and protocols practiced and discussed during operational times of the school year specifically related to how they should respond to active shooter incidents. indeed, because of the visibility of school violence, schools are pressured by the state, themselves pressed to action through media portrayals, to act “as a domain to ferret out sinful behaviors, inculcating students with state-sponsored values, and perhaps even teaching students a forceful lesson in values that may promote morality but erode citizenship” (blankenau & leeper, 2003, p. 568). in order to appease external pressures stemming from the perceived need for greater amounts of security, schools have turned to organizations like the alice training institute for direction. in turn, these organizations have filled a void created by the uncertainty inherent in the perceived war zones that are schools. in this void, external market-based entities are reactively, mechanistically, and uncritically asked to address and imprint themselves onto a political-moral problem that public schools themselves are not deemed trusted or capable enough to address. their role provides them with the authority to author the narrative and understandings of school violence and to determine what are considered appropriate responses. the pedagogies that they promote come from a particular set of values that lead to equally particular visions of future interpersonal relationships and relationships within society as a whole, and these visions and relationships are closed for debate. and while it is difficult to argue against measures that are marketed as helping to foster a safe learning environment in schools, some questions that must be addressed include: at what point does the explicit and implicit understandings generated through active shooter trainings in schools, such as those administered by the alice institute, create unintended human consequences such as the inhibition of the forming of bonds journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 27 necessary for furthering democratic interactions? does the number of active shooter incidents in schools justify the time and energy spent formulating responses, drilling, and debriefing in preparation for a shooting incident in a school? what new dangers are created by limiting or confining understandings of danger simply to those that fall under the umbrella of physical violence? how does viewing school violence as a technical or logistical problem obscure underlying broader ethical issues such as the pervasiveness of gun violence or the nonaddressing of issues pertaining to poverty? can such technical solutions solve non-technical problems? finally, what kind of citizen does the dissolution of bonds, emphasis on threat, and surface-level reactionary solutions to problems create? while in no way providing conclusive answers to these questions, the scope of this paper is to provide an alternative understanding of active shooter training in schools, one that views these processes as contributing to a longstanding culture of fear and policing that not only slows the imagining of different possible democratic futures but dismantles them altogether. indeed, it will use the alice institute’s training as a backdrop to discuss how framing violence as both normal and inevitable prevents the building of bonds across difference, conspires against the building of trust, and fashions schools into sites of surveillance—watching students and teaching them to watch one another—where students are denied access to forms of democratic play that would prepare them for their roles as future citizens in the related game (mead, 1934). to borrow from bauman (2000), “[t]o re-start questioning means to take a long step towards a cure” (p. 89). while it is important to analyze the implications of alice training—that the security that it supposedly brings comes at the steep cost of individual and collective liberty—it is equally important to situate the perceived need for such training as a symptom of a larger social problem: the trust in public institutions to solve public problems has been eroded and replaced with a reliance on external, commodified, private sources to find or create solutions. in short, public problems now require private solutions. education in a nutshell is illustrative of this, as evidenced by the pervasiveness of conversations surrounding and the implementation of different privatization schemas. charter school and privatization debates are prime examples where the private sphere has been tasked with “fixing” public problems, never mind that the concept of “broken” is often politically constructed. this lack of faith in public institutions to take care of public problems is rooted in the fact that under organized capitalism, the state has become engaged in a crisis of legitimacy. allan (2013), in discussing habermas, notes that “[u]nder organized capitalism… the economy is managed by the state to one degree or another. this shift means that the crisis, when it hits, is a crisis for the state rather than the economy. it is specifically a legitimation crisis for the state and for people’s belief in rationality” (p. 271). if the state, in injecting itself into economic considerations, is unable to regulate them in ways that are satisfactory to its constituents, then the state itself, not the economy or the social organization that surrounds it, is viewed as the locus of the problem. the state responds to the questioning of its legitimacy by seeking new ways to justify its existence. this has manifested itself through the state finding new and more pervasive ways to make its presence felt. the organization of the economy is the source of problems, yet outside of sweeping structural modifications, all the state can provide are technical band-aids. in this respect, by “attempting journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 28 to solve economic and social problems, the state increasingly depends on scientific knowledge and technical control. this reliance on technical control changes the character of the problems from social or economic issues to technical ones,” and such technical solutions are the basis for more regulatory forms of control (allan, 2013, p. 272). in this way, the state itself provides the basis for the public to lose faith in its ability to solve problems, yet it is able to redefine its relation to the public in ways that give it new forms of legitimacy. in its inability to address root social and economic problems, the state justifies its role in the lives of citizens by assuming the role of a policing organization. in its shift from social welfare to social policing, the state recognizes that its legitimacy is tied to identifying and policing risk. beck (2007) suggests that “[r]isks can and must be socially and politically defined and produced, can be hidden or revealed, be played down or writ large, become known and acknowledged in accordance with the highly mobile norms of science and law, or not, as the case may be, depending on who has control over the relations and means of definition” (p. 142). furthermore, it is not simply the identification of risk that justifies the state’s new policing role; it also includes defining new risks that continually evolve that must be dealt with. indeed, “the domain of possibility of the threat solidifies into a becoming-real, into belief in the reality of a possibility becoming-real that must be prevented” (beck, 2007, p. 151). in its inability to address crises in ways that are satisfactory to the public, the state constructs and exacerbates fear in ways that legitimizes its continued existence. at the same time, and given public skepticism in its ability to mitigate the actualization of such risks, the state outsources its policing function to private interests that, following the state’s lead, provide technical solutions to non-technical problems. it is in this spirit that we can situate the alice institute’s training. it is simply a microcosm of the world that surrounds it. as the state loses face in its ability to address economic and social problems, the public loses faith in public institutions in general and clamors for private intervention in public problems. the alice institute serves as an example of a private organization that provides the service of finding a solution to the publicly perceived problem that is the lack of security in schools. this is an example of a problem that the state is not trusted to address yet played a vital role in bringing to the forefront. however, in fulfilling its role of providing training in the event that a shooting incident happens, alice does not have the ability, authority, or need to address deeper-rooted problems that sit at the heart of gun violence. in a twisted sense, by outsourcing its policing role in the lives of citizens to private corporations and interests, the state stops the hemorrhaging of its legitimacy. while it is no longer trusted to solve large scale economic and social problems, it has instead cemented its role as the institution central to identifying and initiating response to risk. an introduction to a.l.i.c.e. when it comes to the pervasiveness of active shooter training, the alice training institute reports that they have trained over one million people and have had a training presence in all 50 u.s. states, including in 4,150 police/le departments, 4,200 k-12 school districts, 1,300 healthcare facilities, 950 higher education institutions, 3,055 businesses, 760 government journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 29 agencies, 480 houses of worship, and 1,640 individuals and families (active shooter response training, n.d.). with the pervasiveness of the training, one would only expect these numbers to grow. the alice institute’s claim, as stated on their internet homepage, is that they “can prepare your organization to respond to violence,” and that “alice (alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate) training instructor-led classes provide preparation and a plan for individuals and organizations on how to more proactively handle the threat of an aggressive intruder or active shooter event” (active shooter response training, n.d.). while being a jack-of-all-trades organization when it comes to whom they service, their presence in k-12 schools is evident as districts have taken to employing their services to train both staff and students alike. in their document titled “case study: a lockdown only response to an active shooter in schools does not meet federal or state recommendations” (2015), they note that “[s]ince jefferson founded public education for the citizens of the united states, schools have been charged with the safety of children in their care – a duty to protect. teachers and administrators have a responsibility to anticipate potential dangers and to take precautions to protect their students from those dangers” (p. 2). they continue: “if a school district fails its duty to protect students from injury and an appropriate standard of care was not used, the district can be found negligent” (alice training institute, 2015, p. 2). armed with its growing presence and the backing of a litany of institutions supporting their training tactics, including the u.s. departments of education, health and human services, homeland security, justice, the federal bureau of investigation, the federal emergency management agency, the international associations of chiefs of police, ohio’s attorney general’s school safety task force, and massachusetts’s governor’s task force, the alice institute has positioned itself as a central voice of authority on the topic of active shooter violence (alice training institute, 2015). a.l.i.c.e. and the culture of fear in recent decades, popular media depictions, political rhetoric, and the general public, often through absorbing and regurgitating media depictions and their accompanying rhetoric, have fashioned schools as sites of fear. they are described as war zones where the youth wandering the halls are either victims or hardened violent criminals and where educators are tasked with policing the entire system. the image of schools as war zones is evident in various studies, best described by giroux (2003), who notes that “[r]ather than being cherished as a symbol of hope for the future, youth are now scorned, viewed as both a worry and a nuisance, a threat to be feared and a problem to be contained” (p. 58). grossberg (2005) contributes through his understanding that “[t]he typical image of kids in the united states is that they are armed and violent, lawless, sex crazed, suicidal, drunk, and high” (p. 22), and his analysis that “[a]bout 120,000 kids are held in custody each day, nearly 10 percent in adult facilities, a number that has soared 73 percent over the past decade” (p. 30) clearly outlines that perception. furthermore, robbins (2013) recognizes that “[o]ver the last 20 years, public schools have been cast . . . as disciplinary centers” (p. 4). he notes that “[h]aving made public schools one of the principal targets in a social class war on public goods since the reagan administrations, the u.s. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 30 transformed children and youth from being symbols of the future, a status ascribed to them during most of the twentieth century, into collateral casualties. while youth – even the concept of youth – could not but be collateral casualties of the war waged on essential institutions that serve them, it seems that some youth have recently become direct targets, inner demons to be fought and fought again” (robbins, 2011, p. 114). while the culture of fear is a pervasive phenomenon in society at large, schools as microcosms of the world surrounding them are influenced by and assist in the reproduction of this culture. fear and the various incarnations of the policing techniques used to alleviate the anxiety that comes from it are ever-present and impact the way that educational institutions and large segments of student populations are viewed. robbins (2012) remarks that “[p]urposefully drawn from a range of social sites and relating to a number of public issues, such examples of what is at best a cruel insensitivity toward youth point to a society that, having become so afraid of its youth, has also become afraid of its future, a future in which democracy matters” (p. 628). indeed, the violence associated with schools locates them as sites to be feared and thereby in need of policing. what we see is a future—if we can even call it that—where youth do not have a place in any iteration of the expansion of democracy and, instead, their imposed absence destroys it. if the future of democratic interaction seems fleeting at best, it is because our society, whose primary function is watching and policing, sees no future in those whom a century ago were privileged with the task of carrying the torch. the alice institute’s active shooter training is nested in the expansive and pervasive culture of fear. it has seeped its way into schools by playing into the increasingly prevalent assumption that they, like the communities that surround them, are dangerous. these dangers are spelled out clearly in training modules authored and published by the alice institute. those who take their training course are almost immediately greeted with a hodgepodge of news snippets from past shooting tragedies including newtown’s sandy hook elementary, fort hood in texas, the washington navy yard in texas, arapahoe high school, and the movie theater in colorado. the strategic use of these tragedies not only helps to reignite the terror and panic that came with originally viewing these reports on tv, they simultaneously frame the stakes that the trainings are designed to address. death tolls in shooting incidents including isla vista near uc santa barbara (six killed and 13 injured), seattle pacific university in washington (one killed and two injured), oikos university in oakland, california (seven killed and three injured), sandy hook elementary (26 killed and two injured), and virginia tech university (32 killed and 25 injured) are specifically cited so as to emphasize to trainees the truly destructive nature of gun violence. while many of these cited statistics come from violence at institutions of higher education, the fact that they fall under the umbrella of places of learning makes them relatable to school employees in general, a primary targeted audience for active shooter trainings. the alice institute suggests that “[p]eople confronted with a threat often deny the possibility of danger rather than respond,” that “40% of all attacks end in suicide or attempted suicide before law enforcement makes contact,” that “ 86% of attacks end through a ‘use of force’ by law journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 31 enforcement, civilians, or attacker suicide,” that “98% of active shooter incidents were carried out by a single attacker,” that “24% take place at a school despite schools being only 8% of all us buildings,” that “75% take place at a business,” and that “73% of all active shooter incidents involve a handgun” (alice training institute, n.d.). in addition to contributing to the terrifying possibility that is gun violence, these visualizations and data sets seemingly seek to suggest three important understandings that impact how trainees (along with those influenced by trainees) view the world around them and those they share it with, namely their students. first, they are led to believe that the world is a site of perpetual danger. any individual in any location, even those in public sites like schools, should expect violence. in the teacher training modules, the implicit suggestion is that students will bring violence into their schools, so it is imperative that educators keep one of their surveilling eyes open for the inevitable moment that it occurs. second, the training speaks to the totality that is school gun violence, suggesting that when it begins, the only way that it will end is with the death of the perpetrator. such a totalizing understanding coupled with the manufactured expectation that school violence will happen creates circumstances where it is advantageous to dehumanize students so that it is easier to place them under surveillance and prepare counter responses for when they bring violence to the school’s doorstep. third, the training suggests that in order to be responsible, educators and other stakeholders need to be prepared for and expect violence because if they are not prepared, they will be victims. the introduction module’s tagline, “you can’t predict when or where… but you can prepare,” explicitly sums up justification for the alice institute’s active shooter training (alice training institute, n.d.). from their perspective, the world is a violent place, and individuals need to be ready for when they come face-to-face with that violence. borrowing from bauman (2008) to sum up this social construction, “[t]he world today seems to be conspiring against trust” (p. 64). indeed, the presented normalcy and inevitability of active shooter incidents is a theme that the alice institute’s training relentlessly drives home. active shooter incidents are likened to natural disasters, as epitomized by the president of the organization’s statement: “armed intruders are a difficult topic to discuss. however, like the natural disaster of fires, tornadoes, floods, and earthquakes, the man-made disaster of an armed intruder requires preparation in order to minimize casualties. like all disasters, this type of event is extremely rare, but the threat is very real. it’s terrifying to think about facing an armed intruder situation especially when you’re not sure what you would do, but let me ask you: do you feel the same level of fear about the threat of a fire? probably not. why? because you’re prepared. you’ve been conducting fire drills for years. you know what to do. you know where to go and so do your students. preparation leads to peace of mind, confidence, successful outcomes” (alice training institute, n.d.). of course, the intent of such a statement is to drive home the importance of preparing for and practicing designed plans. such preparation is fashioned as equally important as preparation for tornados, earthquakes, floods, and fires. however, in each of these paralleled dangers, with perhaps the exception of fire, the locus of the disaster is not man-made and reaction is journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 32 practiced because of the spontaneity of their occurrences. they are unpredictable because they are of nature and, as such, are outside of the control of humans. lumping shooting incidents in with natural disasters implies a similar degree of naturalness and a similar degree of helplessness to their occurrences. bauman (2006) keys in on this link between naturalness and helplessness, saying, “by far the most awesome and fearsome dangers are precisely those that are impossible, or excruciatingly difficult, to anticipate: the unpredicted, and in all likelihood unpredictable ones” (p. 11). however, there is danger in looking at school gun violence in this way because it places the focus on responding to violence instead of preventing it in the first place. in fact, this is one of the most profound oversights of the training: reaction is the emphasized response. perhaps this oversight can be justified on the grounds that educators are already aware of the impact that school climate has when it comes to the safety of students and the creation of safe learning environments, and it is part of their responsibility to make sure that this climate is present. the purpose of active shooter training is to provide a contingency for when climate alone is proven insufficient. however, the u.s. department of education’s (2013) “guide for developing high-quality school emergency operations plans,” on which the alice institute draws heavily, places a great deal of importance on prevention, as detailed in their recognition that “[t]he majority of prevention, protection, and mitigation activities generally occur before an incident” (p. 2). they recognize that “[i]n schools with positive climates, students are more likely to feel connected to adults and their peers. this fosters a nurturing environment where students are more likely to succeed, feel safe, and report threats. a school culture and climate assessment evaluates student and staff connectedness to the school and problem behaviors. for example, this assessment may reveal a high number of bullying incidents, indicating a need to implement an anti-bullying program” (p. 9). however, this emphasis is not present in the training that the alice institute provides educators. instead, it is buried within additional resources on their website. is such a heavy emphasis on response instead of prevention indicative of the normalization of violence? how does such a response relate to other relational and cultural work such as bullying prevention measures? do they merely become lip service hiding a normalized expectation of violence? said another way, if educators surrender to the naturalized and expected character of school violence, jettisoning all faith in their ability to prevent it, then what place is there in their defensive postures where they lie waiting to pre-emptively strike those who are out to strike them, for the relationships and interactions that are necessary to possibly mitigate violence in the first place? can compassion for students ever come from a place of constant surveillance and reactive preparation? the reason that it is important to situate alice training squarely in the culture of fear is because, as suggested by the bureau of justice assistance (bja) and the international association of chiefs of police (iacp), there is evidence to suggest that violence in schools is an aberration and not the norm. the bja notes that “[g]iven the number of students in schools in the united states, multiple-victim homicides are still extremely rare, and in recent years, the overall rate of violence in schools has actually declined” (bja & iacp, n.d., p. 1). however, despite this reality, journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 33 the bja also remarks that “[m]any students and teachers are more fearful than ever before they enter the doors of their school. this climate of fear makes it more difficult for schools to provide positive learning environments” (pp. 1-2). this paradox is best represented in a statement by bauman (2008), who notes that “[f]reedom, after all, tends to come in a package with insecurity, while security tends to be packed together with constraints on freedom. and as we resent both insecurity and ‘un-freedom,’ we would hardly be satisfied with any feasible combination of freedom with security” (p. 13). taken together, what is apparent is that we are part of a world that is clearly trying to decide where its values lie, and if the presence of perceived necessities like active shooter training is any indication, the desire for security has taken center stage and has terrifyingly been eroding the freedoms needed to embrace a more democratic society. and while a strong argument can be made that alice training reinforces a reality that fosters fear within individuals and causes them to seek more comprehensive forms of security, the fact that the culture of fear has been present long before this manufactured need suggests a cyclic understanding of surveillance that continually builds, reinforces, and reproduces fear as well as the need for institutions in charge of its regulation and mitigation. as noted by robbins (2013), “the state functions as a private investment-punishment state. threats, internal and external, have become its lifeblood and, as such, need to be actively constructed if the state is to even have this role” (p. 4). however, in such a culture of fear, the elimination of violence is never the end goal, as “[p]unishment does not reduce violence. punishment relocates the source of violence and, in the process, redefines it” (p. 7). perhaps in this case, the relocation of violence is the elimination of freedoms that are willingly given up for greater amounts of security. fear, violence, and militarization: inescapable tools of human management reflecting on the relationships between schools and the world, relationships that center on imagined futures, one must wonder what future the marketeers and victims of the culture of fear foresee. indeed, if we borrow bauman’s (2008) remark that “the secret of all successful ‘socialization’ is making the individuals wish to do what the system needs them to do for it to reproduce itself” (p. 149), then the logical conclusion is that such imaginations are begrudgingly tolerated so long as they do not deviate too far outside an accepted social norm. indeed, along with thoroughly regulating the production of alternate imagined futures, the importance of schooling centers on the control of the now, of making stakeholders wish to reproduce the current social status, which, as noted above, is the culture of fear used to justify human regulation. marcuse (1991) recognized this reality, suggesting that “[t]he government of advanced and advancing industrial societies can maintain and secure itself only when it succeeds in mobilizing, organizing, and exploiting the technical, scientific, and mechanical productivity available to industrial civilization” (p. 3). the mobilization, organization, exploitation, and general control of citizens is necessary for societies to maintain and secure themselves. wolin (1994) suggests that “[p]olitical leadership is both the management of collective desires, resentments, anger, fantasies, fears, and hopes as well as the curatorship of the simulacra of democracy” (p. 13). interestingly, he recognizes a fine line between control journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 34 and the extinguishing of the democratic flame when he remarks that the state cultivates “the political education of its citizens to instill the virtues of loyalty, obedience, law-abidingness, patriotism, and sacrifice in wartime” (p. 13). in this respect, the created culture of perceived fear could very easily be seen as not only a justification for an increase in the policing function that eases felt fear and that limits the potential democratic interactions noted by wolin, but also as the basis for constructing the endless wartime in which individuals are tasked with being soldiers who sacrifice freedoms in the name of security. indeed, bauman (1990) notes that “being free and unfree at the same time is perhaps the most common of our experiences” (p. 21). here, bauman’s notion of free corresponds to the freedom from uncertainty. however, this freedom is accompanied with the unfreedom to choose whether to participate in the surveillance-based police state that has been constructed to usher in the illusion of certainty. individuals lose their freedom to choose whether they will or will not join in the highly regulated militarized state that provides safety at the expense of will. this is the present and future that alice training builds through its presence in schools. bauman (2006) notes that “[l]ike all other forms of human cohabitation, our liquid modern society is a contraption attempting to make life with fear livable” (p. 6), and uncertainty in our modern society is a limitless source of fear. building an understanding of violence as a certainty instead of an aberration, especially in school settings, allows for the construction of responses to violence in ways that seem to leave no uncertainty and help to mitigate the response of fear. this is exactly the way that the alice institute’s active shooter training is framed. the alice institute suggests that “[t]he sooner you understand that you are in danger, you can do something to save yourself and those in your care. a speedy response is critical. seconds count. sadly, many in danger don’t recognize the threat and don’t act quickly. in shooting tragedies like columbine and sandy hook and the aurora theatre, witness and victims said they didn’t realize they were in danger” (alice training institute, n.d.). later, the training goes so far as to suggest that it is imperative that teachers, upon hearing unknown sounds outside their classrooms, stop and process whether the sound is gunfire or other sounds that would be indicative of threat: “when it’s not obvious, like when you hear a strange sound, take the noise seriously. pause and listen for more sounds. pay attention to your surroundings” (alice training institute, n.d.). while suggesting that it is normal for people to rationalize whatever popping sounds they might hear, assuming that they have no association to threat, the alice institute furthers a stance that such rationalizations should be suppressed, noting that “even seasoned police officers can sometimes be fooled by the sounds of gunfire since it can sound like fireworks, bags or balloons popping, or a car backfiring” (alice training institute, n.d.). this hypervigilant stance, especially when taken in conjunction with other parts of the training, builds a reality in which danger is ever present and preparedness means attentively being alert for the moment that violence happens. in one of the most disturbing vignettes of the training, a student gets up in the middle of the class and pulls out a gun, stating, “this is all your fault. you got me in trouble for the last time” (alice training institute, n.d). as disturbing as it is to ask people, especially educators, to watch a school shooter skit for purposes of training—a sensationalized way of driving home a message of constant threat journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 35 coupled with preparedness—the responses of the students in the skit suggest a rehearsed preparation that is equally disturbing. without skipping a beat, each student turned and threw whatever they had on their desks at the shooter. as the would-be shooter raised his hands to protect himself, the students who had just finished throwing items at him lunged toward his body, with several grabbing onto each of his limbs and holding him to the ground as another student picked up the gun that was dropped and threw it into a nearby garbage can. their response was instantaneous and indicative of what the training wants from its trainees: they should always anticipate a violent incident and be prepared to act in response to that incident without thought. the response to violence needs to be as normal and instantaneous as the threat of violence itself. this interaction makes having a well-rehearsed and autonomous set of responses desirable; however, one wonders how much of a commitment to training schools would have to engage in to get to this point of automation. would the responses of the students have been so instantaneous if they were not certain that violence was going to occur and if they had not prepared as if this was the case? and while there is no way to know whether such a response, if conducted in an actual active shooter incident, will successfully thwart disaster, a broader question would be: is this the world we want to create for our students? do we want them to spend every second vigilantly surveilling their classmates, replaying plans and contingencies in their heads, waiting for the inevitable school shooting to happen so that they can react according to their preparation? do we want them to exchange the possibility of openended futures, ones in which interactions and relationships breed the possibility of better shared futures, for lonely deterministic ones in which every interaction with others is a source of fear that must be dealt with according to well-rehearsed plans and reactions? the growing presence of active shooter training in schools suggests that its messages have become a pervasive force in the sponsored school curriculum. as the training suggests, “just like fire drills, repetition and practice will increase your preparedness and confidence and greatly increase your odds of survival. you can’t control what an armed intruder does, but you can control what you do” (alice training institute, n.d.). this notion of practice is evident in the student shooter clip referenced above. when recapping the incident, the narrator voicing over the scene explicitly and affirmatively notes that “[p]rior to this incident, the people in this room practiced using distraction techniques. they understand that they must act immediately when first alerted of danger. notice how quickly they throw items at the intruder” (alice training institute, n.d.). indeed, preparation means repeatedly drilling procedures to not only internalize the range of techniques that should be used at key moments in the possible encounter, but to also be physically and mentally prepared to flip the switch and respond. the training suggests that teachers discuss barricading techniques to block the doorway, including tying doors shut using belts, chords, or zip ties, spreading out to be more difficult targets for shooters, and gathering counter measure materials—textbooks and even a stapler were used as examples in the training video—to throw at the armed intruder. it also suggests that classrooms discuss alternative evacuation routes including leaving through windows. training here includes a discussion of the correct way to break a window and the correct way to jump out of a window from a level that is higher than the ground floor. furthermore, teachers are encouraged to keep what they call a “go bucket,” a five-gallon bucket filled with items like a journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 36 space blanket, disinfectant, a unique identifier, a toilet seat, time passers, food and water, hand-cleaning gel or wipes, a flashlight with spare batteries, a first aid kit, duct tape to “help barricade the door or to bind the intruder’s hands and feet,” toilet paper, a class roster, a whistle, and barricade or evacuation aids including “items that will help you lockdown more securely or evacuate through the window: for example, a rope, window punch, zip ties, etc.” (alice training institute, n.d.). alongside the physical preparation of having supplies that will ease the chaos in the event of an active shooter incident, mental preparation is equally emphasized. indeed, the training states that “[i]f you deny that danger exists, you will not react. if you do not react, you could limit your survival options. windows of opportunity to evacuate or lockdown could evaporate in the critical seconds that you are in denial” (alice training institute, n.d.). again, the normalization of the possible presence of armed intruders and the violence that they inevitably bring is noteworthy. the future constructed by such normalizations is one in which an encounter should be expected to happen, and that all individuals should be equally expected to be prepared to react accordingly. beck (2007) notes that “[t]he restless search for the lost security begins through measures and strategies that lend the appearance of control and security instead of guaranteeing them and exacerbate the general feeling of insecurity and endangerment” (p. 156). indeed, the management of uncertainty, or what might more aptly be described in this case as human management, is a terrifying but relevant point of analysis, especially when juxtaposing its single linear future reality with the plural realities present in dewey’s understanding of the citizen’s role in a democratic society. however, this appears to be the consequence of learning to live within a culture of fear. human behavior is deemed rational so long as it leaves no possibility of contributing to living with uncertainty. regarding this rationality, bauman (1990) notes that “[w]hatever it gains in enhancing the potency and efficiency of human enterprise, the legalrational legitimation is pregnant with potentially sinister consequences – and that precisely because of its tendency to absolve the actors from their responsibility for value choice and, in a sense, remove the whole issue of value choice from discussion” (p. 124). there is no question as to whether understanding reality in this completely rational way enhances freedom or whether it serves to further constrain it. indeed, absolute rationality prescribes one single possible route of interaction as a result of its drive for prediction and pattern maintenance. and even if it is comforting to look for predictability in the way that violence occurs, what does adherence to this rationality do to the ability of individuals to critically engage with how such an adherence twists the building of their worlds? indeed, complete adherence to rationality in the name of predictability creates a new form of honor, an adiaphorization in which there is a “tendency to play down the relevance of moral criteria, or whenever possible eliminate such criteria altogether from an evaluation of desirability” (bauman, 2006, p. 86). here, “[t]he honour of the civil servant is vested in his ability to execute conscientiously the order of superior authorities, exactly as if the order agreed with his own conviction” (bauman, 1989, p. 22). however, obscured in the construction of a completely rational and predictable society are the power relationships that it helps to maintain. if we once again look back to wolin’s understanding—that freedoms are arrested during wartime and journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 37 wartime is a period in which individuals must be managed or administered—then designing social responses in ways that follow an if/then format instead of allowing for a plurality of opportunity conditions individuals to accept reality as it is and to not imagine different organizations or futures. training students to interact with their schooling experience in this militarized linear manner prepares them to later interact as citizens of a world in crisis where they must relinquish their right to the imagining of futures to protect the present. alice and democracy: under-developing and/or severing human bonds bauman (1990) remarks that “[t]here are friends and enemies. and there are strangers” (p. 143). the subject of the stranger is interesting when considering the trouble that it presents. while the categories of friend and enemy serve as opposite sides of a concrete and certain binary used to classify relatedness, the introduction of the stranger is unsettling, even more so than the enemy, because of the uncertainty that accompanies it. bauman (1995) further describes the unsettling nature of the stranger: “if strangers are the people who do not fit the cognitive, moral, or aesthetic make of the world – one of these maps, two or all three; if they, therefore, by their sheer presence, make obscure what ought to be transparent, confuse what ought to be a straightforward recipe for action, and/or prevent the satisfaction from being fully satisfying, pollute the joy with anxiety while making the forbidden fruit alluring; if, in other words, they befog and eclipse the boundary lines which ought to be clearly seen; if, having done all this, they gestate uncertainty, which in its turn breeds discomfort of feeling lost” (p. 1). the stranger as an actor and as painted by bauman is a problem that needs to be solved, especially in a reality in which uncertainty is equated to fear and fear is to be mitigated at all costs. the stranger in this context is a threat to the modern condition, “a condition of compulsive, and addicting, designing” (bauman, 2004, p. 30). they are the foil to a world of design, feared “precisely because they are unfamiliar and thus unpredictable and suspect, are vivid and tangible embodiments of the resented and feared fluidity of the world” (bauman, 2008, p. 38). if certainty comes from the simple way that individuals are fitted into the neat taxonomies of friend or enemy, then what is the solution for the problem of those who do not fit cleanly into these molds? more importantly, what are the problems that come with the oversimplified relational categories of friend and enemy? what other things are discarded when building such a tidy organizational duality? pervasive in the alice institute’s active shooter training is their answer to solving the problem of what to do with the stranger. their solution is to simplify the classification of friends to be the people who are immediately known, and to sweep anyone who is not a friend into the closed category of enemy. here, there is no room for designating someone as a stranger because implicit in the construction of the category of stranger is that it represents something categorically different than the friend, and the only existing category open for those who are not friends is the category of enemy. ever present in reducing people to fit into this clean but journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 38 oversimplified binary is the understanding that we should be fearful of those we do not know because they are our enemies. indeed, that which we do not know is the enemy of order. it dismisses the importance of difference and diversity as qualitatively positive elements, especially in a democratic context, and instead emphasizes difference in the unknown as a source of fear. the stranger is one and the same as the enemy. schools in this sense have become detached from their community, for the surrounding community is a source of uncertainty spurred on by the insider/outsider understanding of who belongs and who does not. given the heightened sense of fear that accompanies the reporting of school shooting incidents, as clearly evidenced in the data and statistics provided by the alice institute, it is easy to justify the exclusion of outside community members from the building or to conflate the stranger with the intruder. however, what does such a locked-down, quarantined image of the school and the accompanying vilification of local citizens as strangers do to our understanding of schools as institutions that belong to the community and that should build citizens who feel responsible to their community? additionally, what does the vilification of the concept of the stranger do to the democratic importance that they occupy when it comes to collective plural governing, especially when the stranger is framed as synonymous with the intruder or enemy who is to be feared and rallied against? an even more important consideration that the alice institute’s training does not address is the question of who additionally gets folded into the category of stranger, specifically the expansion of the concept and the fluidity of its categorical boundaries. in the vignette of the student shooter referenced above, the stranger/enemy is present within the school itself. indeed, the circle of those that can safely be considered friends, as opposed to enemies, is much smaller when the lines are blurred between insider and outsider. so, if the violent intruder can be imagined to be not only the outsider but the insider as well, how does one differentiate where the threat will come from? could the enemy be sitting in a classroom across the school, in the classroom next door, or even at the adjacent desk? what effect does this have on students who are regularly constructing the definition of their own selves by forming distinctions from others? is everyone who is different a stranger and therefore an enemy? in essence, this constructed reality reframes the creation of attachments with other individuals. socialization is a desirable activity, but in a reality where the potential presence of the enemy accompanies every interaction, relationships must be surface-level, one-sided, and unilaterally beneficial. only those clearly identified as friends pose little risk and all others must be approached cautiously, if at all. individualism is the primary presence in such interactions as the individual must gauge whether the risk of associating with another—an enemy in all but action, for now—is weighed against the individual benefit that one can potentially obtain. vigilant suspicion and detachment are the hallmarks of interactions with those in the expansive category of enemy. indeed, the alice institute’s training essentially conditions trainees to minimize attachments and see all but the most intimate as possible threats, as sources of the inevitable danger of violence. students and teachers have the responsibility to themselves to watch out for the stranger/enemy, and the coordination of individual suspicions are what creates a virtual safety net, or what bauman (2013) refers to as a synopticon. here, all are safe journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 39 so long as their suspicion prepares them to counter the inevitable event of violence from one of a litany of potential enemies. conclusions: the cleaving of bonds and democracy instead of constructing a reality that embraces and builds on educating for democratic futures, messages present in the alice institute’s training promotes pedagogies that further fear and suspicion and destroy collective possibilities. borrowing from giroux (2002), “emergency time defines community against its democratic possibilities, detaching it from those conditions that prepare citizens to deliberate collectively about the future and the role they must play in creating and reshaping the conditions for them to have some say in how it might unfold.” in building the present as a state of perpetual emergency, the preparation of citizens is subordinated to constructing an illusion of safety. instead of creating a space that values voice, institutions carefully script and dictate the messages and responses that are allowable. space itself, specifically space that is public, is reconceptualized from being sites of possibility to ones in which limited outcomes are narrowly delineated. speaking to this idea, couldry (2010) remarks, “as neoliberal rationality becomes institutionalized culture, it shapes the organization of space. some types of space become prioritized, other fall out of use and so stop being imagined; because voice is embodied, this matters hugely for the effectiveness of voice, since neoliberalism literally changes where we can and cannot speak and be heard” (p. 12). all of this speaks to the allowable legitimacy of voice and democratic interaction. if projections of emergency serve as catalysts for the redefining of what are seen as allowable interactions with one another, then it is redefining or rather constraining the concept of democracy. wolin (1994) writes, “what is actually being measured by the claim of democratic legitimacy is not the vitality of democracy in those nations but the degree to which democracy is attenuated so as to serve other ends” (p. 23). tying these understandings back to the alice institute’s training and without suggesting whether or not they are consciously culpable in the design, would the fear that they address through contributing to the dismantling of human ties reflect a reality in which democratic interaction is something that is being subordinated and even eliminated? is the fracturing of bonds a tragic result of the perpetuation of emergency, or is it the end objective, a subplot in a more sinister quest for greater forms of social control? if democracy is messy and chaotic, are we seeing new forms of control to achieve order, the end goal of modernity’s insatiable appetite to design? to quote bauman (1990), “order is continually engaged in the war of survival. what is not itself, is not another order: any order is always the order as such, with chaos as its only alternative. ‘the other’ of order is the miasma of the indeterminate and unpredictable: uncertainty, the source and archetype of all fear. the tropes of ‘the other of order’ are: undefinability, incoherence, incongruence, incompatibility, illogicality. chaos, ‘the other of order,’ is pure negativity” (p. 165). while there are many that would find a sense of security—space to breathe a sigh of relief—in the protocols in trainings such as those provided by the alice institute, the more important journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 40 question, as stated from the outset, is what such constructions do to democratic citizenship and the make-up of society as a whole. at what point does the delicate balance between security and liberty tip toward the abolishment of liberty in the name of security? if we see this as problematic, can we arrest the process before it becomes totalizing? if we continue to push the emphasis of security on younger and younger individuals and do not afford them true opportunities to engage with one another in meaningful collective ways—to engage in play so as to prepare for the game—then the necessary democratic language becomes lost and its possibility becomes non-existent. the reframing of democratic interactions and democracy in general is what allows political voice to be minimized to something exercised during november voting cycles, if at all, or reduced to the ability to choose what, not if, an individual should consume. democratic interactions must be continually nurtured if they are to grow. robbins (2013) suggests that “[i]f childhood and youth are no longer a space of play with roles and relationships in society like citizen or governance, and schools no longer are charged with providing organized forms of play with citizenship and civic life, then we have put at risk the basic conditions for democracy to from, reproduce, and recreate itself” (p. 8). by constraining interactions in schools through the projection of constant fear of an enemy, young people, who will inherit whatever democratic reality is left, are robbed of the tools to improve and revitalize it. instead, schools need to foster such interactions because it is the diversity of voice that generates the greatest possibility. succinctly stated by sennett (2012), “differences are exposed in the course of the talk; contact may stimulate self-understanding; something valuable will then have transpired through the exchange, though the people in the bar or at the table may never see one another again” (p. 79). instead of figuring out how to section oneself off from the other (the stranger), a more pertinent use of energy is figuring out how to engage with them, where “[t]he question is no longer how to get rid of the strangers and the strange, but how to live with them, daily and permanently” (bauman, 1995, p. 12). borrowing from bernstein (2000), “democracy involved a reflective faith in the capacity of all human beings no matter how diverse and different their backgrounds, to engage in cooperation, intelligent judgement, deliberation and collective action” (p. 217). these qualities are not present in a social reality in which reactionary individualism is the ruling trait. thus, the stranger should not be perceived as a source of fear but as an agent of possibility. speaking on the power of the stranger, parker (2010) remarks that “listening and speaking to strangers is about powerful ideas and public problems – that is, governing – signals a citizen’s coming-ofage. simultaneously, it works to reclaim and reconstitute the democratic public sphere as a fertile site for political critique and action” (p. 2831). in a similar vein, barber (1989) recognizes the importance of collective interactions as they allow citizens to “invent alternative futures, create mutual purposes, and construct competing visions of community” (p. 356). according to biesta (2007), “action is anything but selfexpression; it is about the insertion of one’s beginnings into the complex social fabric and about the subjection of one’s beginnings to the beginnings of others who are not like us” (p. 761). indeed, what becomes important is trust. instead of contributing to and fortifying a culture of fear, citizens need to trust in the possibility of their interactions with others, especially others journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 41 who are unlike themselves. as stated by bauman (2004), “without trust, the web of human commitments falls apart, making the world a yet more dangerous and fearsome place” (p. 92). in the end, the primary question that must be addressed is: how do we justify the balance that we strike between liberty and security? stated as such, however, one wonders exactly how much say we get in determining this balance. while the alice institute’s training can be seen as a response to a constructed need, where is the locus of that need and who has furthered it as a need? in a sense, we can optimistically locate the desire for preparation as a response to shooting tragedies that have happened in the past. however, if we weigh the social costs against what often amounts to only an increased illusion of security, is active shooter training a response to tragedy or a pedagogical decision geared toward building a specific type of individual? pessimistically, are such trainings specifically targeting the creation of individuals who are more than happy to trade liberty for security? this possibility is why critically engaging with concepts is so important, especially when considering our roles as stewards for those who will inherit the world that we create. furthermore, who is to say that liberty and security must be mutually exclusive? could greater security be achieved through the forming of a more comprehensive and inclusive collective consciousness? bauman (1989) suggests that “pluralism is the best preventative medicine against morally normal people engaging in morally abnormal actions” (p. 165). to him, it is collective governance that enfranchises a populace and helps them to construct collective security. he notes elsewhere that “[w]hatever safety democracy and individuality may muster depends not on fighting the endemic contingency and uncertainty of human condition, but on recognizing it and facing its consequences point blank” (p. 87). in other words, it is not by engaging with difficulties based on myopic reads of difference— building mechanisms or walls based on incomplete histories and interactions—that constitutes security. instead, security comes from addressing the underlying conditions that have caused such difficulties to present themselves in a collective manner and in ways that build more permanent solutions to problems. in short, the solution to the problem that is security is not dependent on us tightening our grips on those whom we see as the stranger, the other, or the enemy, but instead on engaging with them to construct an inclusive democratic world. schools are sites where such engagement can be practiced and where such ideals can be internalized and formalized, and it is our responsibility to ensure that structures are not constructed that inhibit this process. ours is not a question of security or liberty, but instead a realization that security can only be achieved through liberty, and while such an engagement is messy and can carry with it uncertainty, creating trusting mutual interactions with both friends and strangers opens the possibility for the most secure democratic future. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 42 references active shooter response training – alice training. (n.d.). retrieved january 13, 2019, from https://www.alicetraining.com alice training institute. (n.d.). alice basic certification training for schools. retrieved october 31, 2018. alice training institute. (2015). case study: a lockdown only response to an active shooter in schools does not meet federal or state recommendations. retrieved from https://www.alicetraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/alice-cs1national-12.22.2015.pdf allan, k. (2013). contemporary social and sociological theory: visualizing social worlds. washington d.c.: sage publications, inc. barber, b. (1989). public talk and civic action: education for participation in a strong democracy. social education, 53(6), 355-370. bauman, z. (1989). modernity and the holocaust. ithaca, ny: cornell university press. bauman, z. (1990). thinking sociologically. malden, ma: blackwell publishers ltd. bauman, z. (1995). making and unmaking strangers. thesis eleven, 43(1), 1-16. bauman, z. (2000). on writing: on writing sociology. theory, culture and society, 17(1), 79-90. bauman, z. (2004). wasted lives. malden, ma: polity. bauman, z. (2005) education in liquid modernity. the review of education, pedagogy, and cultural studies, 27, 303-317. bauman, z. (2005). living in utopia. malden, ma: polity. bauman, z. (2006). liquid fear. malden, ma: polity press. bauman, z. (2008). does ethics have a chance in a world of consumers? cambridge, ma: harvard university press. bauman, z., & lyon, d. (2013). liquid surveillance. malden, ma: polity. beck, u. (2007). world at risk. malden, ma: polity press. bernstein, r. (2000). creative democracy: the task still before us. american journal of theology and philosophy, 21(3), 215-228. biesta, g. (2007). education and the democratic person: towards a political conception of democratic education. teachers college record, 109(3), 740-769. blankenau, j., & leeper, m. (2003). public school search policies and the “politics of sin.” the policy studies journal, 31(4), 565-584. bureau of justice assistance & international association of chiefs of police. (n.d.). guide for preventing and responding to school violence. retrieved from https://www.alicetraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/guide-for-preventingand-responding-to-school-violence-2nd-edition.pdf couldry, n. (2010). why voice matters: culture and politics after neoliberalism. thousand oaks, ca: sage publication ltd. dewey, j. (1907). the school and society. chicago: university of chicago press. journal of culture and values in education volume 2 issue 3, 2019 ferris, e. (2019). lessons of policing and exclusion: pedagogical probabilities present in active shooter training 43 giroux, h. (2002). the politics of emergency versus public time: terrorism and the culture of fear. retrieved from http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/viewarticle/240/221 giroux, h. (2003). politics, war, and the disappearance of children. jac, 23(1), 55-76. grossberg, l. (2005). caught in the crossfire: kids, politics, and america’s future. boulder, co: paradigm publishers. marcuse, h. (1991). the one-dimensional man: studies in the ideology of advanced industrial society. boston, ma: beacon press. mead, g. h. (1934). play, the game, and the generalized other. in c. w. morris (ed.), mind, self, and society from the standpoint of a social behaviorist (pp. 152164). retrieved from http://www.brocku.ca/meadproject/mead/pubs2/mindself/mead_1934_20.html parker, w. (2010). listening to strangers: classroom discussion in democratic education. teachers college record, 112(11), 2815-2832. robbins, c. g. (2011). tased and confused: from social exclusion to shock in the war on youth. in k. saltman & d. gabbard (eds.), education as enforcement: the militarization and corporatization of schools (pp. 114-129). new york, ny: routledge. robbins, c. g. (2012). disposable youth / damaged democracy: youth neoliberalism, and the promise of pedagogy in the work of henry giroux. policy futures in education, 10(6), 627-641. robbins, c. g. (2013). the play of punishment in the “culture of cruelty.” journal of educational controversy, 7(1), 1-12. sennett, r. (2012). together: the rituals, pleasures and politics of cooperation. new haven, ct: yale university press. u.s. department of education, office of safe and healthy students. (2013). guide for developing high-quality emergency operations plans for institutions of higher education. washington d.c. retrieved from https://www.alicetraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/higher-educationrems.pdf wolin, s. (1994). fugitive democracy. constellations, 1(1): 11-25. https://www.alicetraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/higher-education-rems.pdf https://www.alicetraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/higher-education-rems.pdf journal of culture and values in education https://cultureandvalues.org e-issn: 2590-342x volume: 6 issue: 1 2023 pp. 25-51 creating a culture of social cohesion: case studies of community participation projects at japanese and hong kong elementary schools eric king-man chong*a & masumi tsubotab * corresponding author: email: kmchong@hkmu.edu.hk a. school of education and languages, hong kong metropolitan university, hong kong, china b. faculty of liberal arts, tohoku gakuin university, miyagi, japan article info received: october 24, 2022 accepted: january 6, 2023 published: february 28, 2023 how to cite chong, e. k. m., & tsubota, m. (2023). creating a culture of social cohesion: case studies of community participation projects at japanese and hong kong elementary schools. journal of culture and values in education, 6(1), 25-51. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.3 copyright license this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. abstract this article compares two learning units developed by elementary schools in japan and hong kong to engage students in learning about and taking action to promote social cohesion through community participation. we choose two similar learning units for comparison, both focusing on issues related to older people in the community. based on our analysis of their activity design and practices, we outline five directions for educational practitioners interested in promoting community participation for social cohesion in hong kong and japan: practicing service-learning, promoting social cohesion, learning authentic skills, integrating community participation into the curriculum, and helping students become active members of society. this paper argues for the importance of developing such learning units to foster young citizens’ contribution to their communities in post-industrial, ageing societies. keywords social cohesion; community participation; social studies; citizenship; japan; hong kong. 10.46303/jcve.2023.3 https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2023.3 26 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 introduction this article aims at comparing two learning units developed by elementary schools in japan and hong kong to engage students in learning about and taking action to promote social cohesion through community participation. to help identify subject arrangements and community participation activities that can be effectively implemented by schools in hong kong and japan to support students’ efforts to achieve social cohesion in their communities, we choose two similar learning units for comparison, both focusing on issues related to older people in the community. based on our analysis of their activity design, learning outcomes and practices, we outline five directions for educational practitioners interested in promoting community participation for social cohesion in hong kong and japan: practicing service-learning, promoting social cohesion, learning authentic skills, integrating community participation into the curriculum, and helping students become active members of society. this paper argues for the educational importance of developing learning units on social cohesion to foster young citizens’ contribution to their communities in post-industrial, ageing societies, which include both japan and hong kong. social contexts this study aims at investigating what sort of activity design, learning outcomes and practices are conducive to promote social cohesion by providing community participation projects. the case study research method (stake, 1995) was applied on two elementary schools chosen in both japan and hong kong, which share similar needs of engaging students in community participation of knowing more about people living in the neighborhood. in japan, as in every society, people have different backgrounds, values, and perspectives. there exist generational gaps as well as a gap between older (or native) residents and new residents. as the rate of migration within japan has increased in the last several decades, neighbors are often strangers to each other. in particular, during japan’s era of high economic growth period from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, inter-prefecture migration increased sharply (watanabe, 1985). therefore, neighbors had also been changing frequently, it has become a social problem to be difficult to build communal ties. a serious emergent problem is that people may be reluctant to engage with their neighbors, perhaps expecting any new residents to move out in the near future or simply unwilling to make the effort to get to know strangers. these circumstances serve to diminish social ties and cohesion. on the other hand, the rural area had been getting depopulation and aging. at the same time, the number of nuclear families had increased, the number of old age persons living alone has been increasing, both in rural areas and in cities. and the japanese society also see an increase in the proportion of old age persons. these had been one of the causes of serious problems such as lonely deaths and fraud cases targeting the old age persons, but in recent years, it becomes more serious concern in terms of declining disaster prevention capabilities (policy bureau, ministry of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism; mlitt, 2021). however, with the high economic growth stalling, the total number of migrants turned to decline. but in recent years, there is also the 27 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 view that the younger generation has become more interested in moving to rural areas due to the effects of the covid-19 pandemic (policy bureau, mlitt, 2022). therefore, migration of young people to rural areas where depopulation is seen as a problem has the potential to stop the aging of rural areas. even in this case, it is necessary to build a new tie and cohesion between new residents and old age persons in the community in order to function as a safe and secure community for all. although japan’s social gaps may pale in comparison with those in hong kong, they may become a serious problem in japan in the near future if no actions are taken to promote social cohesion. and also in recent years, the natural disaster beyond expectations occurs frequently in japan, it is very important for people to help each other within community members. therefore, promoting social cohesion within community as an educational initiative is increasingly necessary. the hong kong special administrative region of china is a cosmopolitan city in east asia where chinese culture meets western culture. hong kong’s dominant socio-economic ideology is market capitalism (zhang et al., 2019). based on the results of their hong kong global citizenship survey, cummings and tang (2008) stated that hong kong should assume “a globally responsible external agenda” to promote such values as social cohesion and collective selfesteem. although the city’s population was once composed mainly of ethnic chinese born in hong kong (91.6%), an increasing number of young people and their family members have migrated from mainland china and members of ethnic minorities have migrated from other parts of asia and around the world. for example, the 2016 population by-census found (by way of self-identification) that there were 584,383 non-chinese people in the hong kong sar, representing about 8% of the population. in 2016, south asians (e.g., indians, pakistanis, and nepalese) formed the largest group of ethnic minorities in hong kong, making up 29% of the ethnic minority population (research office, 2016). white people took the second position, with a 22% share. southeast asians (comprising filipinos, indonesians, and thais) took the third position, with a share of 14% (research office, 2016). in hong kong’s increasingly diverse society, it is becoming ever more important to strengthen social ties and community cohesion. population aging is also a concern for policymakers, as it can cause problems with social welfare. there were 1,163,153 older persons (people aged 65 and over) in hong kong in 2016 (press releases, 2016), out of a total of 7.34 million people. this has raised policy and practical concerns regarding how to integrate people of different ages and from different ethnic groups in hong kong society. this study contributes an educational design for social cohesion. challenges of teaching social cohesion in citizenship education: japan and hong kong citizenship education and social cohesion citizenship is intimately linked to notions of individual rights and of attachment to a particular community (kymlicka & norman, 1994). kennedy (2014) found that asian and european states share similar views on the importance of preparing citizens through education to serve the purposes of the nation state, but with different focuses. while the asian focus is on duty, 28 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 obligations, and civic virtues that contribute to the stability of the nation, europe focuses more on rights guaranteeing the equitable treatment of citizens, participation, and engagement (kennedy, 2014). western conceptions also emphasize developing an understanding of the principles of the rule of law, the nature of representative democracy, and the powers of and restraints on the government, as well as some awareness of economic, social, and environmental policies, deeming such understanding necessary for the educated citizen. therefore, these principles underpin active citizenship education in western regions (ross, 2012). recently, academics’ and educators’ interest in citizenship in particular for the western world has been sparked by increasing voter apathy in elections, long-term welfare dependency, the resurgence of nationalist movements, the stresses created by increasingly multicultural and multiracial populations, a backlash against the welfare state, and the failure of environmental policies that rely on citizens’ voluntary cooperation, among other factors (kymlicka & norman, 1994). there is a growing educational need to develop various relevant competencies, qualities, and attitudes in young people. citizenship education, therefore, has been designed and implemented to instill a sense of civic identity and cultivate nationalism and patriotism in the younger generations (green, 1990). the conception of citizenship education, however, has changed over time, representing two types of citizenship: minimal citizenship and maximal citizenship (mclaughlin, 1992), and they have got some implications for our broader understanding on western and eastern societies regarding their citizenship, though specific elements can still be found across societies. minimal citizenship, reflecting the historical conception of citizenship education and often described in exclusive or elitist terms, is mainly concerned with obedience and loyalty to the state government, whereas maximal citizenship, as mclaughlin (1992) argued, stresses critical thinking on all civic matters and active questioning of the government. education for maximal citizenship is conducted through critical pedagogies and considers critical democratic citizens and justice-oriented citizens to embody the ideal forms of citizenship because they strive for social justice and societal improvement. johnson and morris (2010) presented and defined the traits of good citizens in a call for the development of school citizenship curricula that foster forms of criticality. despite these theoretical arguments, civic education in practice is usually reactive, addressing short-term, current civic issues; thus, there is much room to enhance civic participation (fairbrother & kennedy, 2011). furthermore, there is a need to equip teachers to overcome their own preconceived ideas about these matters and to handle such difficult issues in a positive and even-handed way (cappelle, 2011). after all, teachers’ perceptions have an impact on their teaching practices (long et al., 2021). teaching involves individualized deliberation and delivery processes as well as selection from the teacher’s personal experience and understanding (fullan, 1989; branson, 2003). a recent review of over 100 published articles reporting secondary analyses of iea civic education study data identified four themes that are especially salient for citizenship educators: an open classroom climate, teaching and learning 29 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 approaches, student identity, and profiles of citizenship norms and attitudes (knowles, torneypurta, & barber, 2018). hence, a social participation learning unit like these two school cases can provide lessons to learning about engaging students in the community. on fostering social cohesion, green et al. (2006, p. 1) argued that “how to promote and maintain social cohesion in the face of rapid globalization has become one of the key policy challenges of the new millennium.” unesco (1996), the oecd (1997), the council of europe (2005), and the world bank (roberts-schweitzer, greaney & duer [eds.], 2006) have all emphasized the importance of social cohesion, which, in simple terms, means living together amid diversity. in particular, the council of europe (2005) outlined key concepts (e.g., community bonds, shared values, sense of belonging, ability to work together) and strategic areas (e.g., territorial cohesion, social capital, quality of life, access to rights) related to social cohesion, and it endorsed the understanding of social cohesion as an objective, as a process, and as an acquisition in learning. meanwhile, experiential learning, such as via participation in social services, can expose students to elements of deprivation or inequalities in their society of which they were initially unaware, thus expanding their perspectives (haste & hogan, 2006) and providing them with opportunities to transfer their knowledge of being good citizens into action by helping others, and this shall aid in achieving social cohesion. in addition, avery (1997), annette (2008), and schwarz (2011) found that experiential learning was linked with servicelearning as an educational initiative, as providing local community support enhanced youth engagement. this is also what the two school cases want to achieve. furthermore, conrad and hedin’s (1989) oft-cited review of community involvement research in k-12 educational settings provided evidence that such educational community programs are associated with students’ civic-related learning outcomes—notably self-esteem, appreciation for diversity, responsibility toward the community, political efficacy, understanding of socio-historical contexts, and willingness to volunteer in the future. finally, youths’ active engagement in the local community has been hypothesized to have a “trickle-up” effect, whereby students’ experiences of community involvement are generalized into a greater sense of duty to their national and global communities (condor & gibson, 2007). such findings on experiential or service learning can shed light on what to do about social cohesion. japanese citizenship education since the second world war, japan has gradually developed into a democratic country, adopting the western style of party politics and elections. in education, the course of study was developed as a manual for teachers to develop school curricula (nakano, 2013). the course of study was strengthened as a national standard in 1958, such that teachers could only develop curricula within its framework (nakano, 2013). in response, teachers and researchers in japan initiated the “lesson study” movement, which questions the value of educational content for the future, both in terms of the students and society at large, and seeks to build better teaching practice methods (nakano, 2013). ueda (1988, 1997), recognized as a leader in lesson study 30 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 reform, developed a method for developing curricula that has circulated among many japanese teachers and is recognized as one of the main child-centered approaches in japan. the development of school teaching materials in japan from the 1960s to the present day has proceeded in two main directions. the first is the educational content–teaching materials process, whereby materials are developed via what fujioka (1991, pp. 37–38) labeled a “top-down route,” translating educational content into teaching materials. in other words, the direction is to first set the content to be taught, and then consider methods and teaching materials to effectively teach that content. the second direction is the source materials– teaching materials process, whereby teaching materials are created from any data or information via a “bottom-up route” (ikeno, 2013). in other words, the direction is to set the content and materials to be educated from the real society and the current situation surrounding children, rather than having the content to be educated first. the japanese school case adopts this second direction. meanwhile, japanese school textbooks usually begin with problems, not methods, and this structure supports the problem-solving approach to subject teaching (fukazawa, 2013). the refinement of lesson planning is just one goal of lesson study (nasem, 2013); it may have various other goals, including developing teachers’ learning communities and school culture, school-wide reform, spreading a new instructional philosophy such as problem-solving based lessons, testing new teaching materials, developing teachers’ professional knowledge, and enabling teachers to experience the child-care setting through the eyes of a particular student (lewis, 2013). in present-day japan’s education system, teaching citizenship education or social studies is a difficult task due to increasing community mobility which makes citizens become much more diverse. community members have a high turnover rate, and this presents a problem in teaching students social cohesion, while the old age persons may cluster in certain districts. in the broad japanese social context, citizenship education has shifted emphasis from “education for (community) citizens” and “teaching students social science disciplines concerned with building the japanese nation” to, most recently, “citizenship education for all citizens.” in practice, teaching civic education and fostering citizenship has been a difficult task in the japanese education system for a long time. from 1958 to the present, systematic education and knowledge-oriented education have been deeply rooted. this is because citizenship education especially social studies in japan have become trivialized as "providing students with knowledge of the social sciences." however, since 2000, the importance of fostering citizenship has gradually been recognized again, and recently various citizenship education approaches have been researched, developed, and practiced. hong kong citizenship education in hong kong, citizenship education, commonly referred to as “civic education,” is important because the number of people migrating from mainland china to join family members in hong kong has continuously increased since the resumption of chinese sovereignty in 1997. in terms of education, school curricula are mostly textbook-based (adamson & morris, 2007). there is a 31 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 need to integrate native hong kongers and those from mainland china in schools, in addition to the challenges of building a chinese national identity (author, 2013; tse & fung, 2017). research has found that citizenship education in hong kong placed more emphasis on moral education in the 1980s–1990s, during the de-politicization projects of the british colonial government (leung & yuen, 2009; ngai, leung, & yuen, 2014). the british colonial regime, preoccupied with countering threats to its legitimacy and with preserving stability, controlled school subjects, textbooks, and teaching materials and political activities on school grounds (morris & chan, 1997). however, patriotism, as a unifying ideology, has been instrumental to the national construction of the people’s republic of china, especially since the early 1980s (fairbrother, 2003). during the late decolonization period, there was a call for nationalistic civic education to prepare hong kong students to join chinese national life after 1997 (curriculum development council, cdc, 1996), as well as a call to impart rights awareness and democratic ideals to hong kong students to support democracy during the sar’s return to china (lee & sweeting, 2001; author, 2018). after 1997, the hong kong sar government considered the development of national identification and patriotism to be a top priority of citizenship education (leung & yuen, 2009; morris & morris, 1999). however, yuen (2009) pointed out that in general, hong kongers tend to hold typically western rather than chinese beliefs about national identity and patriotism and that they value liberty, human rights, freedom, and democracy, though hong kong’s civic education has found to be ‘action poor’ (leung, 2008). interestingly, shi et al. (2019) found in the citizenship education curriculum guidelines elements of both active citizenship and global citizenship, such as participation in the community and understanding the world, thus forming local, national, and global identities alongside an emphasis on enhancing national citizenship in hong kong. education to establish a chinese national identity met with societal opposition when the hong kong sar government promulgated the moral and national education curriculum guide (primary1–secondary 3) (cdc, 2012) in 2012. this publication immediately triggered a series of social protests opposing this mandatory curriculum on the grounds that the government-sponsored teaching materials were biased, with an exclusive focus on chinese national identity. furthermore, the umbrella movement in 2014 elicited negative responses from the chinese government, which indicated that a boundary had been crossed by the protesters in the eyes of beijing authorities (ortmann, 2015), this is also a complicated issue involving questions of identity, rights, and participation that is relevant to citizenship education in hong kong. in hong kong’s elementary schools (for students of about 6 to 11 years of age), general studies (gs) is the formal curriculum that teaches personal, social, humanities, health, and scientific and technological knowledge, although schools usually also provide a short informal course on moral and civic education. civic education take the form of extra-curricular activity, and the study of community participation and social cohesion can be categorized as civic education (leung & yuen, 2019). 32 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 national identity is one of the main emphases of education in hong kong, because an educational system is expected to provide a national education program to teach students to belong to a nation (mathews, ma, & lui, 2007; leung & yuen, 2009) after the resumption of chinese sovereignty in 1997. however, a mixed-methods study (tse & fung, 2017) exploring the multiple identities and their origins and the associated social values of teachers, conducted in hong kong catholic elementary schools, found that the concept of multiple identities was integrated with the conception of citizenship in school curricula and that certain religious elements were incorporated into the teaching of multiple identities, representing the spiritual and transcendental dimension of learning about oneself. thus, identity education should embrace both rationality and sentiment and that learning through experience can help students to construct their own identities. meanwhile, study tours can provide a chance for students to reflect on their identities (cheng & szeto, 2019) and learn about global citizenship (davies et al., 2018). also, student councils help elementary school students to develop leadership and communication skills (chong, yuen, & leung, 2018). another recent study (tang, chong, & yuen, 2019) found that catholic diocesan schools in hong kong, instead of applying a school-based national education curriculum in resistance to the government’s proposed curriculum, could develop a school-based curriculum in the form of a “school-based implementation” program. this could address catholic schools’ need to provide students with opportunities to examine social and national issues alongside catholic ethics, which has clear connections with many cherished universal values. as described above, japan and hong kong have different social situations and educational policies. yet they have common concerns, such as ageing populations and the need to enhance social cohesion. in particular for the two schools chosen in respective societies, ageing populations, community participation, and social cohesion are just key considerations when planning any experiential and service learning. therefore, this study compares the community participation projects practiced at these two elementary schools and examines common features that promote social cohesion. this study would give rise to both educational policy and curricular implications. case study: curricula of school a and school b two similar schools in terms of their adoption of social participation unit and ageing community background are chosen for case analysis with an aim to arrive at some educational and curriculum suggestions for developing social cohesion learning units in schools. the methodology adopted is case study (stake, 1995) which investigates the illuminative aspects of the cases chosen for analysis. the first school chosen (school a) is a public school located in a rural area of sendai city, miyagi prefecture, japan. school a is located in an area that has been rapidly developed as a sub-center of sendai city in recent years; thus, residents have high mobility and represent various cultures and hold various values (nanakita elementary school, 2011). as a consequence, community membership is subject to frequent change. similar to the 33 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 recent trend in japan, interaction between locals (who are usually elderly) and newly arrived young families is decreasing as previously mentioned. school a was assigned by the government (the ministry of education, culture, sports, science, and technology) to develop a new academic subject (unit) and curriculum in 2009–2011 to foster students’ ability to live alongside others and build a better society. school a named the new unit “chiiki-kyosei-ka.” “chiiki” means “community,” “kyosei” means “living together,” and “ka” means “subject.” school a exhibits several strengths. first, it has many learning-support volunteers. university students are often available to assist the young students in their learning. many of these student assistants hope to become teachers in the future. second, school a’s teachers have a strong understanding of community learning resources, as a conference on social studies education was held just prior to the implementation of the chiiki-kyosei-ka unit. thirdly, the school has established a community council for school support, consisting of about 10 people who are generally involved in education, including staff members of the sendai community center, representatives of volunteer organizations, and members of the children’s parents’ association. these people introduce connections and intermediate valuable learning resources which includes people and institutions to the school. this council also helps teachers to plan and put valuable lessons into use. last, through the community council for school support, school a’s cooperation with the ward learning network is enhanced. the ward learning network is an organization whose aims are to foster relationships between community organizations that “support children’s healthy growth” and to foster children’s communication skills by providing them with opportunities for social participation and play. the members of the ward learning network are a variety of community groups, non-profit organizations, other elementary and junior high schools, parent–teacher association of school a, the children’s parents’ society, and the council for social education. all these connections with the community make school a a valid candidate for this social cohesion experiment. the chosen school in hong kong (school b) is a catholic school that is supported financially by the government. the sponsoring body is the catholic diocese of hong kong, which is the largest single provider of education services across school levels in the region. teachers of moral and religious education plan their instruction with reference to the universalistic framework of catholic social ethics. thus, with regard to moral and religious education, catholic social ethics exert an influence on school b’s pedagogical and curriculum development. somewhat different from the rural area where school a is situated, school b is located in a developed public housing estate in kowloon. the local population has a high percentage of middle-aged and single older persons. however, there are also young arrivals from mainland china and relatives of local ethnic minority residents who have migrated (especially from south asia) to the area, meaning that the community is relatively diverse. as at all government-aided schools in hong kong, gs is a required subject at school b. gs provides students with opportunities to integrate knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes across the key learning areas of personal, social, and humanities education, science education, and 34 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 technology education (education bureau [edb], 2019). all schools are legally required to have an incorporated management committee for the betterment of the overall management and advising of school governance. this committee includes representatives from the school’s sponsoring body, unaffiliated parties, teachers, parents, and alumni. in recent years school b has developed a reputation for its special education needs (sen) program, which caters to deaf and hard-of-hearing students, who attend regular classes. the sen program organizers collaborate with a university to provide assistants for these students, and all of the other students must learn basic sign language to communicate with them. therefore, this school has fostered a school ethos of helping each other and encouraging social inclusion among its students. furthermore, school b has developed a social cohesion and participation unit called positive life and treasuring elderly in the family for students in grades 5 and 6. this unit comprises eight classes and is taken by about 200 students. numerous single older people live in the school’s neighborhood. many of these people have dementia and face difficulties in managing their daily lives. therefore, school b’s teachers offer a service-learning program that promotes social cohesion through community participation; students learn how to use knowledge and skills gained in gs and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) classes, along with virtual reality (vr), to create products that can help the elderly function in their daily lives. following the ideas of investigating the aim and contents in the learning of social studies (moriwake 2001), a comparative framework is provided below for understanding the comparison adopted in this study (figure 1). figure 1. unit themes and aims in school a 35 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 general aims of social cohesion and participation units the selected schools display a similar emphasis on knowledge, skills, and attitude learning with regard to their students’ learning about the community, thus reflecting similar educational orientations. the general aim of the chiiki-kyosei-ka course at the japanese school a is to foster students’ ability to live more harmoniously in society and build a better society. it also aims at improving students’ social contributions, increasing their thoughtfulness, and improving their knowledge and skills. therefore, chiiki-kyosei-ka emphasizes “learning and experience-based activities” through which students can become deeply involved in their community (nanakita elementary school, 2011, p. 13). through chiiki-kyosei-ka, the students are expected to get to know their community, specifically its members—what they do and what they think. moreover, it allows people in the community to develop relationships with the students and teachers, such that community members take part in the process of nurturing the children. the specific learning aims of school a can be summarized as follows. first, to enable students through research to not only express their own thoughts but also share the ideas, feelings, and thoughts of people representing local shops and institutions. second, to allow young students to work with university students. finally, to encourage students to notice what more they can do; for example, by identifying what is lacking in their community. the research methodology applied depends on the purpose of the research; it should increase the students’ appetite for progression in their work. therefore, an operational question for this unit is “how can we train young citizens to promote social cohesion and to live harmoniously in society?” the aims of the gs subject at hong kong’s school b are to integrate students’ learning experiences and promote their life-long learning. gs is designed with the notion that students’ learning experiences should be connected and not compartmentalized, enabling them to develop a holistic view of themselves as individuals in the community, their place in the natural world, and the interaction of human beings with the environment (edb, 2019). the specific learning aim of the positive life and treasuring elderly in the family unit at school b is to enhance grade 5 students’ positive attitudes toward the difficulties and pressures faced by the older people and promote grade 6 students’ creativity through hands-on and minds-on learning experiences and problem-solving. because this social cohesion and participation unit is about designing products for the elderly living in the neighborhood, computer studies teachers are also involved in helping students attain knowledge and skills related to stem and vr. furthermore, as school b is a catholic school, the teachers emphasize the development of a caring attitude and respect for different people, such as single seniors, during the learning processes of this unit. this unit also emphasizes student enquiry and development of the skills required for “learning to learn.” specifically, the service-learning activities aim to train students to develop tools to help the elderly living in the community. the learning processes and outcomes are largely positive, and they will be discussed further in the evaluation sections. 36 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 expected student learning outcomes in school a, the specific expected student learning outcomes from the school documents (nanakita elementaly school, 2011) can be summarized as follows: • grade 1 students are expected to take part in a community festival as an introduction to chiiki-kyosei-ka. the students are expected to learn about the community surrounding them and to consider what they can do to entertain the community and make it more active. • grade 2 students are expected to take care of kindergarten students. they go to kindergarten classes and learn how to relate to the younger children. they think of ways to entertain the younger children and ensure that they have fun. • grade 3 students are expected to interact with elderly people by interviewing them, playing games with them, etc. the students and elderly people have lessons together to enrich each other’s lives and grow together. • grade 4 students are expected to identify the positive qualities of their hometown by exploring the way of life and people’s lives in the community in the past and by tracing historical links. they are expected to share their findings with the community and highlight their most important and interesting findings by performing an original play. • grade 5 students are expected to start to take actions to improve the community. • grade 6 students are expected to research community issues and contribute to making an active community with the help of established knowledge, while cooperating with various related institutes and organizations. • suisen street projects: to invigorate suisen street, the school carries out 11 projects. (“suisen” is the japanese word for a narcissus flower. suisen street is a walkway near school a that the students pass through on their way to school.) table 1 below illustrates the various themes and aims of the chiiki-kosei-ka unit. the overall aim is to involve students in activities that require them to communicate with people who are active in the community and to deepen their ties with the community. 37 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 table 1. themes and aims of the chiiki-kyosei-ka unit at school a grade theme of the unit aims levels of learning 1 festival in nanakita empower the community with children’s power be taken care of ⇒take care of learn about how to live together 2 show our ability! let’s make the town full of smiles ・younger people and elderly people ・enrich together 3 elderly people and us let’s laugh and learn together ・find adults in the community ・discover histories in the community 4 i like nanakita! let’s discover our hometown and share what we found ・find adults in the community ・discover histories in the community 5 imagine a better future let’s make ourselves and the community nicer ・histories of community ⇒ explore the community and the people at the present time develop abilities to make decisions in order to live together 6 make “nanakita” a comfortable town to live in let’s connect with our town! ⇒building community independently special needs our town let’s get along with people in the community! there are similar elements of reaching out to the community and meeting the elderly as that of school a in school b. both schools emphasized on arranging their elementary students to meet the community residents and use their knowledge and skills to do something for the purposes of social cohesion. especially school a’s grade1 students have their first opportunity to meet the community, and then grade3 students meet and understand the various needs and wants of elder people in the community, lastly grade6 students develop and execute their own plans to contribute to the community. it depends on what students find want to contribute for, 38 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 but at least one group in this year planned and held “discon” 1 project which is the game tournament anybody including elderly people and elementary school students can compete equally. while school b’s grade 5 students have their first opportunity to meet and understand the various needs of older people and people with visual impairments and other disabilities in the community, grade 6 students gain more experience and confidence while developing independent living aids (or living tools) for the elderly in the community through stem lessons and vr education. specifically, grade 5 students are expected to conduct an exploration of various people living in the community under a cross-curricular theme. they learn how to serve people in need through service activities, which teaches them to love and care about different people. grade 6 students are expected to develop user-friendly living aids for the elderly in the community. they are also expected to play a leading role in a booth exhibition of their designed living aids on community service-learning day. table 2, below, presents the themes and aims of the positive life and treasuring elderly in the family unit. table 2. themes and aims of the learning unit at school b grade theme of the unit aims levels of learning 5 positive life • understand the meaning of life and build up positive attitude towards difficulties and pressures in life • serve people with different needs in the community learn about how to live in a positive way and cope with pressures in life 6 treasuring elderly in family • understand the needs of elderly and apply skills learnt in stem and vr education in designing living tools for the elderly • apply knowledge and skills through service-learning for the elderly develop abilities to make living tools for the elderly in the community 1 "discon" is a new sport born in japan, which was conceived in 1997 at the okayama municipal children's nature house, inspired by craft coasters made from thinned cedar and cypress wood.it was named "discon" by synthesizing the disk control from the operation (control) of the disk. it is a simple sport in which teams are divided into two teams, red and blue, and each team throws six discs to see which team gets closer to the point. also, everyone from children to the old age persons can compete regardless of like an age, sex or physical strength. 39 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 lesson time and unit plan this social cohesion unit was implemented for three years at school a, from 2009 to 2011. when the project period had ended, the curriculum and lessons from this subject were used in the period of integrated study classes for several years. for example, grade 6 students were required to research community issues and contribute to building an active community with the help of established knowledge, while cooperating with various related institutes and organizations. by carrying out their own projects to address community issues, the students came to understand the significance of living together within the community. some of the projects that the students planned were aimed at developing suisen street. some projects aimed at contributing to solutions for problems in the community, while others aimed at entertaining people in the community. the students, working in groups, planned each project themselves. there were also adjustments to the curricula and lessons to accommodate chiikikyosei-ka. figure 2, below, shows the cycle of this project for each grade in school a. for example, in grades 1 and 2, living environment studies was reduced by 50 learning hours, and in grades 3–6, the period for integrated studies was reduced by 70 learning hours to make room for chiiki-kyosei-ka instruction. figure 2. school a cycle of learning 40 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 school b in hong kong is monitored by the government and required to allocate around 12–15% of teaching time to the learning of gs (edb, 2019). its positive life and treasuring elderly in the family unit takes place within this allotted time in the latter half of the school year, and it has been implemented since 2016. the aims of this social cohesion unit from the relevant school documents are as follows. first, to strengthen independent learning in gs through community and service-learning activities and the use of information technology for interactive learning such as making living aids for the old people. second, to foster students’ lifelong learning and provide hands-on learning experiences to promote social cohesion. finally, to enable students to use learning resources to develop solutions, such as designing daily living aids by applying knowledge and skills learned in stem classes, which are beyond those attained from conventional textbooks. this aligns with the government’s expectations of the gs subject (edb, 2019). in each school year, students in grades 5 and 6 are briefed by social workers on the needs of elderly in their daily lives. then, the students interview some single elderly people about the sorts of living aids or walking aids that might help them. after that, students begin their design process, applying the knowledge and skills that they have learned in various school subjects. as this is a religious school, the students are encouraged to design their tools with as caring a mindset as possible. figure 3, below, presents school b’s teaching plan. figure 3. school b cycle of learning 41 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 evaluation and discussion of student learning outcomes school a’s student reflection survey revealed many remarkable outcomes of chiiki-kyosei-ka (nanakita elementary school, 2011). three key student outcomes are presented here. first, the percentage of students who thought that “relationships with people” are important was higher in the sixth survey, conducted in november 2011, compared with the first survey in july 2008 (before the chiiki-kyosei-ka project was implemented). in the first survey, most of the students (52%) responded to the question “what do you want to do to make the community better?” with “keep the environment clean.” other answers included “protect nature” (15%) and “form relationships with people” (10%). in the sixth survey, “keep the environment clean” (33%) was still the most common answer; however, the percentage of students who replied “form relationships with people” (30%) had increased significantly. moreover, the percentage of students who thought that “the pride of this community is good relationships between people” increased from 25% to 43% between the first and sixth surveys. second, the percentage of students who were aware that people differ and have different thoughts and values increased. for example, the percentage of students who thought that “people around [them] have various opinions and thoughts” increased from 86% (strongly agree: 53% + slightly agree: 33%) to 94% (62% + 32%) between the first and sixth surveys, respectively. third, the percentage of students who thought that listening to others and cooperating with them are important increased. for example, the percentage of students who thought that “listening carefully until someone is finished, even if their opinions are different from [their] own,” is important increased from 92% (strongly agree: 49% + slightly agree: 43%) to 94% (64% + 30%). agreement with the importance of “being able to carefully listen to others with different opinions from [their] own, to choose the best way,” increased from 78% (strongly agree: 33% + slightly agree: 45%) to 89% (51% + 38%). furthermore, agreement that it is important to “cooperate with people who have different opinions” increased from 89% (strongly agree: 50 % + slightly agree: 39%) to 93% (60% + 33%). specifically, the learning outcomes for the respective grades from the reflection were as follows: • the grade 1 students successfully took part in a festival in the community. the students considered what they should do to build excitement and decided to go out into the community with a portable shrine that they had built. • the grade 2 students went to kindergarten classes and learned about relationships with younger children. the students thought about what they could do for the younger children to make school fun and put their ideas into action. • the grade 3 students had a chance to understand old age persons by communicating with them, interviewing them, etc. they had a class together to learn and grow together and enrich each other’s lives. 42 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 • the grade 4 students learned to appreciate the positive attributes of their hometown by exploring the life of the community in the past and tracing historical links. then, they shared with the community the attractions of the town in an original play. • the grade 5 students learned about the lives and hopes of people who support and contribute to their community. they transmitted what they had understood and learned to the community through radio broadcasts. the students discussed what they could do to make the community better and took appropriate actions. • the grade 6 students investigated community issues and contributed to making an active community, cooperating with various related institutes and organizations. by carrying out projects addressing community matters, the students came to understand the significance of living together within the community. • in the suisen street invigoration projects, the students achieved the following: 1. developed a new restaurant menu 2. cleaned and planted flowers2 3. completed a sports project 4. created store and school mascots 5. took part in a community festival 6. found a pet owner 7. promoted a store 8. developed new products for the cake shop “jamin” 9. created a magazine about community history 10. completed the “discon” project 11. completed a community art project examining the implementation of the chiiki-kyosei-ka unit reveals three important learning points. first, chiiki-kyosei-ka provides opportunities for students to feel like actual members of the community and included in the community. children are often excluded from the process of building their community and from decision-making involving it, even though they are members of the community. in the chiiki-kyosei-ka program, because the students contribute to the community, they feel included within it and appreciated. moreover, because the students’ opinions are respected by people in the community, they develop a sense of belonging to that community, which is the foundation of social cohesion (jenson, 1998). second, chiiki-kyosei-ka provides opportunities for the students and their community to create or strengthen the community’s social cohesion. meeting and working with a variety of people in 2 the purpose of this project, the members want to make the street clean and bright through activities such as cleaning the suisen street and planting flowers. and this project include activities below; in order to collect narcissus bulbs, this project gathers information from newspapers and websites, then secures bulbs by sending e-mails to collaborators, and discusses with the park section of the ward office to decide where to plant flowers, and apply to the ward office for permission. etc. 43 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 the community offer substantial opportunities to create meaningful bonds. as previously mentioned, it depends on what students find want to contribute for, but for example, if we focus on the problem of an aging society, at least one group in this year planned and held “discon” project which is the game tournament anybody including elderly people and elementary school students can compete equally. because of these plans are all student’s idea, this is the result of students’ willingness to care for and please the elderly people, and in this way, it also made an opportunity for children and elderly people in the community to get closer to each other and create social cohesion. the students’ parents, in turn, are connected to the community through their children. these connections make community bonds, or social cohesion, stronger and more active. finally, chiiki-kyosei-ka exposes the students to a variety of opinions, points of view, needs, etc., and the students learn which of these they should incorporate into their plans to make the projects useful. they are expected to practice “accommodating” different people in the community, including themselves. accommodation is one of the most important aspects of promoting social cohesion in a diverse and democratic society (tsubota, 2009). these three features of the program build a strong foundation for citizenship and for promoting social cohesion. however, they only form the foundation; it is also necessary to have a consistent curriculum from elementary school through high school, or at least junior high school. the chiiki-kyosei-ka approach is especially useful in helping students to adapt to established societies, which is an important process. however, it is only the beginning. through chiiki-kyosei-ka, students experience a new approach to exploring and contributing to their community, and accessing their community shows them that they can also contribute to it. in the case of hong kong’s school b, all of our quantitative post-activity survey evaluations of the grade 6 students (n = 102) yielded positive scores (with an average of over 3 on a 5-point likert scale), such as regarding their satisfaction with their learning (mean = 4.3) and with their designed living aids (mean = 4.2). furthermore, judging from on-site observations, many of the students took pride in the living aids they had designed for the elderly, and they were eager to improve the designs upon receiving comments from their peers or teachers. this experience fostered peer learning in the school. on community service-learning day, the elderly living in the neighborhood received the student-designed living aids. about verbal comments received on-site, the seniors were very satisfied with the tools. verbal records, which were collected and written by teachers during the student visits to the older people, showed that they told the students that the tools had greatly increased their ease of movement, their ability to pick things up at home, and their ability to walk around in the community. for exerting impacts to the wider society on social cohesion, mass media reported in a very positive way on the service-learning activities and on the students’ having designed the living aids, as this project connected the students and older people living within the community. praise also came from the students’ parents, who showed appreciation for their children’s new knowledge and skills and for the caring attitude toward 44 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 seniors that their children had developed. written notes of praise from the parents such as “this is a meaningful activity!”, “my children learnt a lot during the services!” and “my children learnt how to respect others!” were read out at a meeting of the school’s incorporated management committee. overall, the grade 6 students at school b developed a sense that they were part of the community, and their sense of belonging increased. this effect lasted well beyond the unit, as observed by the teachers. the older people who received tools felt less isolated after the students had paid them several visits. some of the elderly even asked whether the school could provide them with extra help in their daily lives, such as delivering cooked meals and supplements for them this service-learning unit has significant implications for other schools learning about community participation and social cohesion. first, even people as young as elementary school students can be trusted and given the chance to develop something helpful for the community. second, an interdisciplinary curriculum in elementary school provides a foundation for servicelearning activities to take place, especially as experiences of community participation and service require schools to create learning space outside the classroom and combine different types of knowledge, such as personal, social, humanities, and it knowledge. in summary, through service-learning activities, students experience integrated learning and come to know more about the cohesion needs of their community. discussion practicing service-learning school a is an ordinary school, whereas school b is a religious school. but this difference does not affect their intention to engage their elementary school students in community projects for social cohesion. despite this difference, the schools’ educational aims, learning themes, and service activities have important things in common. first, both schools try to practice servicelearning. although school a does not use the term “service-learning,” it offers the same experience, in that its students learn through activities geared toward improving others’ lives and the community. the service practices at school b are not just a religious mission but an effort to improve students’ ability to coexist with different people and contribute to society in cross-curricular approach. thus, the practices of these two schools can be described as servicelearning for young students to promote social change, as suggested by karaki (2010) on how education instruction and assessment can change from a focus on students assimilating content knowledge to develop their habits that make them adaptable to the changing world and empower them to become change agents (sibanda & marongwe (2022). promoting social cohesion at both of the examined schools, enhancing the community’s social cohesion is an important theme. our study of two asian schools thus provides insight into how to promote active citizenship (janoski, 1998): civic education must foster proactive engagement, such as citizens’ 45 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 participation in their communities (kymlicka & norman, 1994; johnson and morris, 2010). similarly, both of the schools create opportunities for students to assess their communities’ needs and overcome challenges to work out solutions. thus, both schools exhibit citizenship linked to ideas of individual rights of freedom to live and of attachment to a particular community (kymlicka & norman, 1994). using community projects to promote social cohesion can be too challenging for elementary school students. however, accommodating challenges and conflict are crucial to building social cohesion (bickmore, 2006), community belonging (ritter, 2020) and both schools have used various learning activities at outlined in previous sections. the japanese and hong kong schools examined here place similar emphases on childcentered education, problem-solving, group-based projects, developing caring and respectful attitudes, and interacting with different people in community participation. learning authentic skills both the japanese and hong kong schools are required to teach their students competencies such as “the values, skills, and attitudes that they need to take an active part in governing themselves” (finkel, 2003, p. 137). this can be achieved by equipping students with the necessary generic skills, values, and attitudes to face major changes in local, regional, and global landscapes and maintain their competitiveness (cdc, 2017; edb, 2019). along these policy lines, during the community participation processes at both schools a and b, the students are given chances to learn how to apply problem-solving skills in organizing activities, use creativity in designing materials or tools, develop positive and caring attitudes toward the older people, and share what they have learned with their own community, in particular with those in need. these elements further strengthen the students’ sense of belonging to, care for, and commitment to their community, thus building a foundation for them to become good and engaged citizens in the future. adopting community participation in school curricula from the school cases above, we argue that a consistent whole-school curriculum that includes community participation from elementary to (junior) high school is crucial to the advancement of social cohesion. in the context of population ageing and the other particular needs of their communities, both the japanese school and the hong kong school we observed recognize the importance of engaging young citizens in contributing to their community. schools a and b believe that their students can play an active role in achieving social cohesion through social services and community participation, which in turn contributes to the development of a diverse and democratic society. indeed, community-centered service-learning should progress from “doing for someone” to “doing with someone” (ward & wolf-wendel, 2000), creating more opportunities for student engagement. the authors therefore recommend developing community participation projects (ritter, 2020) to help school students promote social cohesion. elementary school educators should be aware that community projects for social cohesion benefit schools, by improving their service-learning curricula; students, by improving their knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes; and community members (such as the elderly). 46 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 student participation to become active members of society with rapid globalization and the development of an information-oriented culture that brings about social challenges such as social cohesion, the ways that citizens create their own societies and engage with society have changed. education and school curricula worldwide have incorporated more elements related to global citizenship in response to globalization (shi et al., 2019). citizens can now easily obtain and send information via digital media and social networks. our two school cases have significant implications for efforts to engage young students in becoming active members of society. based on our observations of community participation, we argue that it is important for students to realize, through their own social experiences, that they are valuable members of their communities. similar service-related experiences with the aim of social cohesion may provide a solution to what has been described as a “crisis” in citizenship among young people nowadays, including their ignorance of basic civic knowledge, lack of political participation, and skepticism regarding the values of democratic citizenship (schwarz, 2011). limitations this study has got some limitations. first, the case analysis focuses on only two schools. case study can illuminate some aspects to be learnt but the generalization is another issue. of course, the programs examined in this study have benefited these two schools, which continue to implement them. however, more important than the pervasiveness of service activities for social cohesion is how such social cohesion activities can be integrated into school learning for other schools. integrating services in community into the academic curriculum is necessary for effective service-learning (karaki, 2010); the experience of community participation alone is not sufficient. in other words, when experience is integrated into the learning of school subjects and linked to the knowledge, values, skills, and attitudes learned from those subjects, learning is deepened. for example, nanakita elementary school (2011, p. 22) stated that “social studies lead students to be aware they are members of the community; chiiki-kyosei-ka leads students to feel it.” this implies that more efforts can spent on enabling students to reflect on their community participation by integrating social studies learning with these experiences substantially deepens their learning. conclusion our findings show that by integrating academic learning with personal experiences in the community, community participation units enable students to discover the significance and value of their community participation and of social studies learning. in fact, doing citizenship in social studies can contribute to looking at the communities of shared fate changes and how we think about belonging and our responsibilities to one another in our shared world (ritter, 2020). this learning process enhances students’ innate motivation and encourages them to more proactively pursue civic engagement in the future. in short, this study found that doing community participation projects can promote active citizenship (janoski, 1998) for social 47 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 cohesion, thus having a positive impact on linking up education and public policy. it is also an imperative for schools to provide civic education that can foster proactive engagement for their students’ participation in their communities (kymlicka & norman, 1994). after all, schools shall teach the values, skills, and attitudes that students need to take an active part in governing themselves in the future (finkel, 2003). references adamson, b., & morris, p. (2007). comparing curricula. in m. bray, b. adamson & m. mason (eds.). comparative education research: approaches and methods (pp. 263-282). hong kong: comparative education research centre, university of hong kong. annette, j. (2008). community involvement, civic engagement and service learning. in j. arthur, i. davies and c. hahn (eds). sage handbook of education for citizenship and democracy (pp. 388–98). london: sage. avery, p. (1997). the future of political participation in civic education. minnesota: social science education consortium. bickmore, k. (2006). democratic social cohesion (assimilation)? representations of social conflict in canadian public school curriculum. canadian journal of education, 29(2), 359-386. branson, m. s. (2003). civics and citizenship education. in james w. guthrie (ed.) encyclopedia of education, 1, 294-297. new york: macmillan reference. cappelle, g.c. (2011). world citizenship education and teacher training in a global context (vol. 8). london, uk: cice central coordination unit institute for policy studies in education. cheng, y.n. & szeto, e. (2019). changing hong kong university students’ national identity through studying abroad. asian education and development studies, 8(2), 233-247. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeds-05-2017-0045 chong, e.k.m. (2018). developments and challenges of civic education in hong kong sar, china (1997-2017). the journal of social studies education in asia, 7,47-63. chong, k.m.e. (2013). the controversy over national education and identity: a case study of hong kong secondary school teachers. asian education and development studies, 2(3), 241-262. chong, e.k.m., yuen, w.w.t., leung, y.w. (2018). student council and student leadership training in hong kong primary schools. citizenship teaching & leaning, 13(3), 329-349. condor, s. & gibson, s. (2007). everybody’s entitled to their own opinion: ideological dilemmas of liberal individualism and active citizenship. journal of community & applied social psychology, 17(2), 115-140. conrad, d. & hedin, d. (1989). high school community service: a review of research and programs. madison, wi: national center on effective secondary schools. 48 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 council of europe (ed.) (2005). concerted development of social cohesion methodological guide. strasbourg: council of europe publishing. cummings, l. and tang, j.t.h. (2008). the external challenge of hong kong’s governance: global responsibility for a world city. in sing, m. (ed.). politics and government in hong kong: crisis under chinese sovereignty (pp. 176-197). new york routledge. curriculum development council (cdc). (1996). guidelines on civic education in schools. hong kong: department of education. curriculum development council (cdc). (2017). general studies curriculum guide for primary schools (primary 1 – 6). hong kong: curriculum council. davies, i., ho, l.c., kiwan, d., peck, c.l., peterson, a., sant, e., waghid, y. (eds.) (2018). the palgrave handbook of global citizenship and education. london: palgrave macmillan. education bureau (edb) (2019). general studies for primary schools. https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/cross-kla-studies/gsprimary/index.html. fairbrother, g.p. (2003). toward critical patriotism: student resistance to political education in hong kong and china. hong kong: hong kong university press. fairbrother, g.p. & kennedy, k.j. (2011). civic education curriculum reform in hong kong: what should be the direction under chinese sovereignty? cambridge journal of education, 41(4), 425-443. finkel, s.e. (2003). can democracy be taught? journal of democracy, 14(4), 137-151. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jod.2003.0073 fukazawa, h. (2013). group formation based approach. in national association for the study of educational methods. (ed.) lesson study in japan (pp. 293-305). hiroshima: keisuisha co. ltd. fujioka, n. (1991). kyouzai-zukuri no hasso (an approach to creating teaching materials). tokyo: nihonshoseki. fullan, m. (1989). planning, doing, and coping with change. in moon, b., murphy, p., and raynor, j. (eds.) policies for the curriculum (pp. 183-211). london: hodder & stoughton. green, a. (1990). education and state formation. london: palgrave macmillan. green, a. (et. al.) (2006). education, equality and social cohesion: a comparative analysis. hampshire: palgrave macmillan. haste, h., & hogan, a. (2006). beyond conventional civic participation, beyond the moral political divide: young people and contemporary debates about citizenship. journal of moral education, 35(4), 473-493. ikeno, n. (2005). citizenship education in japan after world war. international journal of citizenship and teacher education, 1(2), 93-98. ikeno, n. (2013). teaching material-oriented approach. in national association for the study of educational methods. (ed.) lesson study in japan (pp. 260-277). hiroshima: keisuisha co. ltd. https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/cross-kla-studies/gs-primary/index.html https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/cross-kla-studies/gs-primary/index.html http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jod.2003.0073 49 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 janoski, t. (1998). citizenship and civil society: a framework of rights and obligation in liberal, traditional, and social democratic regimes. cambridge: cambridge university press. jenson, j. (1998). mapping social cohesion: the state of canadian research. canadian policy research networks ink. http://www.cccg.umontreal.ca/pdf/cprn/cprn_f03.pdf accessed 30 november 2022. johnson, l. and morris, p. (2010). towards a framework for critical citizenship education. the curriculum journal, 21(1), 77-96. karaki, k. (2010). service learning in u. s. civic education. tokyo: toshindo publishing co. ltd. kennedy, k.j. (2014). the “citizenship industry” and students identities: is there an alternative to state-focused citizenship education? keynote address, 16th children’s identity & citizenship in europe network conference, innovative practice and research trends in identity, citizenship and education, university of warmia and mazury, olsztyn, poland, june 12-14, 2014. knowles, r.t., torney-purta, j. & barber, c. (2018). enhancing citizenship learning with international comparative research: analyses of iea civic education datasets. citizenship teaching & learning, 13(1), 7-30. kymlicka,w. & norman, w. (1994). the return of the citizen: a survey of recent work on citizenship theory. ethics, 104(2), 352381. lee, w.o. & sweeting, a. (2001). controversies in hong kong’s political transition: nationalism versus liberalism. in bray, m. & lee, w.o. (eds.). education and political transition: themes and experiences in east asia (pp.101-124). hong kong: comparative education research centre, the university of hong kong. leung, y.w. (2008). an ‘action-poor’ human rights education: a critical review of the development of human rights education in the context of civic education in hong kong. intercultural education, 19(3), 231-242. leung, y.w. and yuen, w.w.t. (2009). school civic education since 1980s: a brief review of the literature in hong kong. educational research journal, 24(2), 257-292. lewis, c.c. (2013). introduction. in national association for the study of educational methods. (ed.) lesson study in japan (pp. v-ix). hiroshima: keisuisha co. ltd. long, taotao, zhao, guoqing, yang, xuanyang, zhao, rongchi and chen, qianqian (2021). bridging the belief-action gap in a teachers’ professional learning community on teaching of thinking, professional development in education, 47(5), 729-744. mathews, g., ma, e., and lui, t.l. (2007). hong kong, china: learning to belong to a nation. london: routledge. mclaughlin, t. (1992). citizenship, diversity and education: a philosophical perspective. journal of moral education, 21(3), 235-250. moriwake, t. (2001). social studies of fostering citizenship. the research on the social studies, 13, 45-50. http://www.cccg.umontreal.ca/pdf/cprn/cprn_f03.pdf 50 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 morris, p., & chan, k.k. (1997). the hong kong school curriculum and the political transition: politicization, contextualization and symbolic action. in m. bray, & w. o. lee (eds.) education and political transition: implications of hong kong’s change of sovereignty (pp. 101–18). hong kong: the university of hong kong. morris, p. and morris, e. (1999). civic education in hong kong: from depoliticisation to chinese values. international journal of social education, 14(1), 1-18. nakano, k. (2013). preface. in national association for the study of educational methods. (ed.) lesson study in japan (pp. iii-iv). hiroshima: keisuisha co. ltd. nanakita elementary school (2011). the final report on curriculum research and development 2011. nanakita elementary school. national association for the study of educational methods (nasem). lesson study in japan. hiroshima: keisuisha co ltd. ngai, s.k., leung, y.w. and yuen, w.w. (2014). the turmoil about efforts to implement national education in hong kong: an overview and analysis. social educator, 32(1), 5-15. oecd (1997). societal cohesion and the globalizing economy: what does the future hold? paris: oecd. ortmann, s. (2015). the umbrella movement and hong kong's protracted democratization process. asian affairs, 46(1), 32-50. press releases (2016). the government of the hong kong special administrative region 2016 population by-census thematic report: older persons. accessed on august 17, 2022, available at: https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201803/09/p2018030900310.htm policy bureau, ministry of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism (mlitt). (2021). white paper on land, infrastructure, transport and tourism in japan, 2021, accessed on november 25, 2002 available at: https://www.mlit.go.jp/en/statistics/content/001442571.pdf policy bureau, ministry of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism (mlitt). (2022). white paper on land, infrastructure, transport and tourism in japan, 2022, accessed on november 25, 2022 available at: https://www.mlit.go.jp/statistics/content/001487181.pdf research office (2016). legislative council secretariat, fact sheet: poverty of ethnic minorities in hong kong (fs0816-17). hong kong: information services division, legislative council. ritter, m. j. (2020). civility and shared fate: social studies as teaching for belonging. journal of curriculum studies and research, 2(1), 1-15. roberts-schweitzer, e., greaney, v. and duer, k. (eds), (2006). promoting social cohesion through education: case studies and tools for using textbooks and curricula. https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201803/09/p2018030900310.htm 51 jcve 2023, 6(1): 25-51 washington, dc: the international bank for reconstruction and development, the world bank. ross, a. (2012). education for active citizenship: practices, policies, promises. (m. y. eryaman, ed.) international journal for progressive education , 8(3), 7-14. schwarz, k.c. (2011). mandated community involvement: a question of equity. education canada, 51:2, https://www.edcan.ca/articles/mandated-community-involvement-aquestion-of-equity/. accessed on november 30, 2022. shi, y.d., chong, e.k.m. & li, b.h. (2019). chinese civic education being globalised: what changes have been made in civic education curriculum in china, hong kong and macao. social transformations in chinese societies, 15(1), 37-63. sibanda, j., & marongwe, n. (2022). projecting the nature of education for the future: implications for current practice. journal of culture and values in education, 5(2), 4764. stake, r. (1995). the art of case study research. london: sage. tang, h.h.h., chong, k.m.e, yuen, w.w.t. (2019). learning to understand a nation: developing a national education curriculum imbued with catholic social ethics for hong kong’s primary schools. social transformations in chinese societies, 15(2), 81-93. tse, k.c. and fung, y.c. (2017). multiple identities and social values: an exploratory study of teachers in hong kong’s catholic primary schools. hong kong journal of catholic studies, 8. 276-394. tsubota, m. (2009). citizenship education for social cohesion in plural canada: focusing on “accommodation of diversity” in alberta social studies. the journal of social studies, 108, 44-57. ueda, k. (1988). kodomomo ningendearu kotowo hoshou seyo (children need to be guaranteed to be precious human beings). tokyo: meijitosho. ueda, k. (1997). tsuneni kimirashiku are – kowo mitsumeru jyugyou (always be yourself – classes in which each individual ability and personality of the student’s is centered). tokyo: meijitosho. unesco (1996). learning: the treasure within report to unesco of the international commission on education for twenty-first century. paris: unesco publishing. ward, k., & wolf-wendel, l. (2000). community-centered service learning: moving from doing for to doing with. american behavioral scientist, 43(5), 767-780. watanabe, m. (1985). on recent decline in inter-prefectural mobility in japan. keio journal of economics, 78(1), 40-68. yuen, w.w.t. (2009). implementing political education as a school subject: a case study of teachers' pedagogical decisions in post-1997 hong kong. romanian journal of pedagogy, 7(12), 182-187. zhang, y.h., peng, h.y., cheung, h.w., chow, k.f., chong, k.m. (2019). doing educational research in china & hong kong. asian education and development studies, 8(3), 340-350. https://www.edcan.ca/articles/mandated-community-involvement-a-question-of-equity/ https://www.edcan.ca/articles/mandated-community-involvement-a-question-of-equity/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 81 broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program michele ebersole* university of hawaiʻi at hilo huihui kanahele-mossman edith kanakaʻole foundation *corresponding author: mebersol@hawaii.edu received : 2020-07-15 accepted : 2020-11-30 doi: 10.46303/jcve.2020.14 how to cite this paper: ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h. (2020). broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher education program. journal of culture and values in education, 3(2), 81-99. doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.14 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract this study examined how pre-service teachers’ in a mainstream teacher education program expanded their understandings of the hawaiian cultural value of aloha to reflect the integrity of the translation of aloha as originating in hawaiian ancestral text. data were collected from 10 elementary and 12 secondary pre-service teachers’ personal written reflections at the end of each day of a three-day course titled, “teaching in hawaiʻi’s schools.” a post-course questionnaire was collected 10 months post-course completion, after pre-service teachers’ student teaching experience. as a result of qualitatively analyzing their written reflections and post-course questionnaire three patterns emerged to reflect the shifts in their understanding of the word aloha: (1) common understandings of aloha; (2) methods for activating aloha; and (3) sustainable practices. sixteen out of 22 or 73% of the pre-service teachers confirmed that they experienced a shift in their understanding of aloha. of the remaining six who responded their understandings of aloha did not “shift,” five of them used the following words to indicate that their understanding of aloha: “expanded,” “strengthened,” “influenced,” “renewed,” and “broadened” suggesting that their understanding of the word changed. in order for pre-service teachers to be comfortable with the language and meanings associated with a cultural value laden concept like aloha they personally connected with the meaning of the word, expanded understanding through academic learning, and reflected upon new understandings. while tensions and discomfort about using language and cultural concepts from “outside” one’s own ethnic and racial background may still exist, we are encouraged by the idea that pre-service teachers can commit to broadening and embracing understandings of aloha as a meaningful part of their daily classroom practices and lives. keywords: culturally responsive pedagogy, place-based education, aloha https://cultureandvalues.org/ mailto:mebersol@hawaii.edu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 82 introduction as teacher educators in the multiethnic, multicultural milieu of hawaiʻi, we place a high priority on cultural values in our teacher education program. at times feelings of inadequacy and discomfort can plague educators who aspire to incorporate language and cultural concepts in their classrooms (cutri & whiting, 2015). they may feel underprepared or unequipped to use language and cultural concepts which are not theirs but are the legacy of their students or the communities where they teach. fear of misrepresenting, misusing, and misappropriation of language and culture outside their own experiences may undermine the best of intentions (gay & howard, 2000). additionally, there are tensions between theoretical ideas that disrupt inequity structures and everyday classroom activities (pollock et al., 2010). these tensions can lead to avoidance, resistance, or rejection from the very goal that was intended. even though hawaiʻi is known for its diverse cultural context, these challenges still exist. halagago’s (2006) work with teacher education students in a multicultural course which examined social inequities between privileged “non-minorities” and “disadvantaged minorities” in hawaiʻi found that “living among diversity in hawaii made recognition of racism and privilege difficult” (p. 38). given these challenges, and tasked with doing a better job of incorporating hawaiian language, history, and culture into our teacher education curriculum, we were excited at the prospect of being able to access the state of hawaiʻi, department of education’s hā framework as the foundation for our one-credit graduate course, “teaching in hawaiʻiʻs schools.” this framework was created to develop, “the skills, behaviors, and dispositions that are reminiscent of hawaiʻi’s unique context, and to honor the qualities and values of the indigenous language and culture of hawai`i” (hawaii state department of education, n.d., para. 1). nā hopena aʻo or hā. nā indicates a plural, hopena means outcome, and aʻo (hā) means both learning and teaching in the hawaiian language. it includes six outcomes that are rooted in hawaiian culture and encompasses values that are universal to all cultures. the english words form the acronym b.r.e.a.t.h.: sense of belonging, responsibility, excellence, aloha, total well-being, and hawai‘i. the first year we focused on each of the outcomes with our pre-service teachers using predetermined descriptors to establish a common starting point; however, this appeared to establish a superficial understanding and a cursory commitment to using hā learning outcomes. some seemed to view it as an intellectual exercise rather than authentic practices, with some resisting and dismissing the hā framework based on exclusivity or “only for native hawaiians” (having ancestral ties to the indigenous culture, hereafter referred to as hawaiian). we realized we had to take a different approach with a new group of pre-service teachers and looked to our previous work with in-service teachers and culturally responsive teaching practices (ebersole, et al., 2016). we recognized that learning through story, making connections with prior experiences, and reflection supported understanding and transformation. we believed that previously identified categories: experiential, academic, and reflective knowledge might help us to deepen cultural understandings (ebersole, et al., 2015). as we further contemplated the framework, one word emerged: aloha. this led us to wonder: what would happen if we structured a teacher education course around the word aloha? this research is a glimpse into how a teacher educator program offered hawaiian culture values-based education, through exploring the meaning of one word: aloha. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 83 the research question that guided this inquiry was: do pre-service teachers’ written reflections indicate a shift in their understanding of aloha? aloha it is popularly known that the term aloha has multiple meanings. according to pukui and elbert (1986) aloha is translated to be love, affection, compassion, mercy, sympathy, pity, kindness, sentiment, grace, charity; greeting, salutation, regards; sweetheart, lover, loved one; beloved, loving, kind, compassionate, charitable, lovable. the word is often thought to be synonymous with hawaiʻi and its residents, thereby indicating that an object connected with the word is automatically characterized as something hawaiian. for years the word has been uttered in expressions of greetings, love, and farewells. in ancestral texts, poetry, and song the practice of aloha adheres closely to the aforementioned translations. today we reference authors of the epic myth of the fire goddess pele and the journey of her heroine sister hiʻiaka and their foresight of poetry, and foretelling inclusion in the narrative. these excerpts of poetry have been considered as actual observations of nature that have been documented in and decorated with story. for the purpose of this paper, the focus is on emerson’s (2005) version of this narrative entitled, pele and hiʻiaka: a myth from hawaii. the following excerpt is an example of language wrapped in observation. aloha oahu e aloha to the island of oahu e huli ana makou i ka aina ma mua aku we turn to the land before us kahi a makou e noho ai the place where we will live aloha o maui, aloha e maui is aloha aloha o molokai, aloha e molokai is aloha aloha o lanai, aloha e lanai is aloha aloha o kahoolawe, aloha e kahoolawe is aloha ku makou e hele e we prepare to travel o hawaii ka ka aina hawaii is our land a makou e noho ai a mau loa aku our land where we will live forever… emerson, 2005 this excerpt of verse is from one of the most ancient pieces of known hawaiian myth. the story that surrounds this section of myth is the departure of pele, the volcano deity, and her family from islands that kept memories of a long journey to her final home on the island of hawaiʻi. according to the narrative surrounding this verse, the canoe of this family stopped off on every island to bid aloha before continuing south to the island of hawaiʻi. when adhering to this translation and using a literal interpretation of all parts of the word aloha, this story sheds new insight on the definition of aloha. aloha is made up of alo and hā. alo is translated into “front, face, presence, to pass.” the word hā translates to “breathe, exhale, or to breathe upon” (pukui & elbert, 1986). with the least amount of interpretation and with a literal lens, the word aloha is an action-based term which requires two or more entities exchanging breath in the presence of each. an exchange is required without presumption. when an exchange is required it’s done in the presence (alo) of another entity. in 1986 george kanahele conducted a survey amongst the hawaiian community to identify and rank hawaiian values. aloha was mentioned most frequently and ranked the most important (kanahele, 1986). in the time of growing and peaking tourism, the “aloha spirit” became a more desired destiny feature than sandy beaches. in ohnuma’s article, she states that the hawaii visitors bureau’s slogan at one time was “aloha. the more we give, the https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 84 more we’ve got” (2008, p. 372). these factors set the stage for separation of the true meaning of the word aloha originating in ancestral text discussed earlier and the practice of using the word aloha in all aspects of hawaiʻi society. strengths-based education in situating the value of aloha in schools, there are established educational practices aligned with this specific island value in some hawaiian language and culture-based charter schools. tibbets et al., (2007) state, “education with aloha” is education through positive development and affective ideals. education with aloha, “focuses first and foremost on creating and maintaining positive relations among all stake-holders through the establishment of a dynamic learning ʻohana (extended family). like a traditional hawaiian family, this learning ʻohana practices aloha, aligning with the hawaiian proverb: aloha kekahi i kekahi pēlā ihola ka nohona ʻohana (love one another, such is family life)” (tibbets et al., p. 150). we frame this study using an educational approach that highlights strengths and acknowledge the “funds of knowledge” marginalized populations bring to school (gonzález et al., 2005). lopez and louis (2009) state that strengths-based education is “a philosophical stance and daily practice that shapes how an individual engages the teaching and learning process . . . that emphasize the positive aspects of student effort and achievement, as well as human strengths” (p. 1). according to kanaʻiaupuni (2004), “kaʻakālai kū kanaka, strengthsbased approaches employ strategies based on competencies, capabilities, and expertise . . . from a hawaiian perspective, these individual capabilities are grounded in the strengths of family and community relationships” (p. 30). building upon assets from a collectivistic perspective that uses indigenous strengths to encourage positive cultural development (borrero et al., 2012), we also value the strong ties to place that each individual brings to the learning context (kawakami,1999). place-based education the instructional connection between place-based and indigenous education is foundational. place is the source of knowledge. kawagley and barnhardt (1998) support this by stating that “indigenous knowledge is rooted in the long inhabitation of a particular place which provides lessons to all from educators to scientists” (p. 1). gruenewald (2003) agrees that place-based education contextualizes learning within specific places and communities. the aim of this method is to ground learning in local phenomenon and student experience (smith, 2002). place is a means of perceiving and understanding the world, a micro-world to study the whole (semken et al., 2017). place-based education is not a new concept. prior to the establishment of formal education in hawaiʻi, one’s education is determined by their knowledge of their place (pukui et al., 1998). i puni ia ʻoe o kaʻu a i ʻike ʻole ʻoe ia palahemo, aʻohe no ʻoe i ʻike ia kaʻu if you have been around kaʻu, and have not seen palahemo you have not seen kaʻu. (pukui, 1983) the interpretation of this famous saying is: if you don’t know the details of your place you don’t know your place. knowledge of place and being connected to place are fundamental to place-based education and foundational to culturally relevant and culture-based education in hawaiʻi. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 85 the following section provides a very brief overview of culturally relevant and culturebased education in hawaiʻi to distinguish between hawaiian language and culture focused schools and efforts to establish the study of hawaiian culture, history and language within the context of mainstream public schools in hawaiʻi. culturally relevant and culture-based education in hawai`i since the state constitution was amended in 1978, there have been a number of initiatives to establish, hawaiian culture, history and language in hawaiʻiʻs public school system (benham & heck, 1998; office of hawaiian affairs research division, 2017). widely cited studies conducted as part of the kamehameha early education program (keep) identified effective culturally appropriate practices in an education lab context and mainstream educational contexts serving communities with a large population of native hawaiian children (au, 1980; au & mason, 1981; gallimore & tharp, 1976; jordan, 1985; tharp & gallimore, 1988; tharp et al., 2007). more recently, a growing body of research on successful culturally relevant and responsive teaching and assessment practices in hawaiian language medium and hawaiian culture-based charter schools emerged (kanaʻiaupuni & kawaiʻaeʻa, 2008; keehne et al., 2018; schonleber, 2007; tibbets et al., 2007). additionally, current research to highlight culturally sustaining pedagogical approaches which seeks to perpetuate, foster and sustain linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism (paris, 2012; paris & alim, 2017) and culturally revitalizing pedagogies which recognizes indigenous peoples legacies of colonization and fight towards linguistic and cultural survival (mccarty & lee, 2014) is being conducted in contemporary hawaiian schools (kaomea et al., 2019). much of this work is respected and recognized in the context of hawaiian language and cultural revitalization to serve primarily hawaiian or part-hawaiian students and thus, perhaps perceived by some as only applicable to that population of students. research on the use of culture-based education approaches across the different types of school contexts in hawaiʻi found, “regardless of school type, teachers from many different cultural backgrounds recognize the advantages of cultural relevance, reporting a range of culturally relevant teaching practices that help them connect with their students in meaningful ways” (kanaʻiaupuni & ledward, 2013, p. 154). additionally, hawaiian culturebased education use “is not exclusive to a single ethnic group” (kanaʻiaupuni et al., 2017, p. 328s). although much progress has occurred, changing attitudes and beliefs toward culturally relevant and responsive education and the pursuit to hawaiian knowledge, values and stories within hawaiʻi’s mainstream school system for all students continues to be challenging today (kawakami, 2004). positionality it is important to note that our positionalities as female hawaiian cultural practitioner and scholar with ancestral knowledge and as fourth generation female japanese american uniquely influenced our perspectives. we believe our personal experiences living in hawai`i and our individual racial and cultural identities provided a degree of historical and cultural knowledge which shaped our teaching practices and how the pre-service teachers perceived us as course instructors. for one course instructor, as a respected hawaiian language and cultural practitioner, this curricula is not viewed as separate entity, but rather a lived experience. for the other course instructor her own apprehension of misappropriating or https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 86 misrepresenting the sacred nature and depth of hawaiian cultural values was present in teaching and writing this research. method a qualitative phenomenological approach was used for this inquiry because it lends itself to a phenomenon to be explored, in terms of a single concept or idea, with a group of individuals who have all experienced the phenomenon (creswell & poth, 2018). this phenomenological study focused on the cultural value of aloha with a group of pre-service teachers after experiencing a one-credit teacher education course entitled, “teaching in hawai`iʻs schools.” the course is the introductory course in a graduate level teacher education program. it begins in the summer session and is offered over three-days. participants all pre-service teachers were enrolled in a teacher preparation program which included a traditional student teaching component at the end of the year. twenty-two of a total of 23 pre-service teachers enrolled in the program consented to participate in the study after the course was completed. of the 22 teachers, 12 were licensed as secondary teachers and 10 were licensed as elementary teachers. there were 12 female and 10 male participants representing multiple racial and ethnic groups. eighty-two percent of the pre-service teacher participants in the study reported they were born and raised or raised in hawaii. forty-one percent of the participants self-identified with a single racial group – asian, native hawaiian and pacific islander, white. fifty-nine percent of the participant group self-reported mixed racial and ethnic identities including american indian, asian, native hawaiian and pacific islander, white, and white hispanic. according to the u.s. census data (hawaii department of business, economic development and tourism, 2019) population estimates 24.2% in hawaiʻi have two or more races which is much lower than the participant group. thirty-six percent of the participant group self-identified as hawaiian or part-hawaiian while hawaiʻi state census data indicates 35.3% native hawaiian and other pacific islander alone or in combination reside on hawaiʻi island. the hawaiʻi department of education (2018) reports 10.1% hawaiian or part-hawaiian teachers. the percentage of hawaiian and part-hawaiians in the participant group is comparable to the hawaiian and other pacific islander population on the island but well above the percentage of hawaiian or part-hawaiians teachers in the state. as as a whole, the participant group includes a higher percentage of individuals of mixed race and fall below the percentage of asian only and white only teacher population and population of hawaiʻi in general. procedure the university course began with an exploration of the concept of aloha through story. on the first day of class, pre-service teachers brought in a picture of the word, aloha which served to awaken their personal understanding of its multiple meanings. as part of the storytelling that occurred, we shared our personal connection as high school classmates and how our relationship developed over time with research collaborations and co-teaching opportunities. over the course of the first day, we built upon our personal understanding and meanings of aloha” through sharing stories with the pre-service teachers. we asked them to recall experiential depictions of aloha or “stories of aloha.” our intention was to build upon personal knowledge and experiences to establish a deeper relationship with the value of https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 87 aloha. once they began to get to know each other through discussion of the word aloha, we provided an overview of the hawaiʻi department of education nā hopena aʻo or hā framework and announced we were going to concentrate upon one of the outcomes, “sense of aloha.” we shared an excerpt on “aloha is our intelligence” from meyerʻs (2010) video “an introduction to ʻindigenous epistemology’.” the day ended with a discussion of the many images and meanings of aloha within larger society and pre-service teachers were introduced to the literal meaning of the word alo – (face-to face), and hā – (breath). after discussion, they completed written reflection #1 as the final activity for the day. on the second day of the class, one course instructor lectured about the literal meaning of the word aloha and brought in the ancestral story of pele and hiʻiaka. she provided an excerpt of aloha within the story and later had the pre-service teachers interpret aloha within the chant. later that day, we traveled to mokuola (healing island), a small island near the university for a field trip to practice learning through observation. the goal for this experience was for the pre-service teachers to observe and take note of details of nature lending a more concise observation of nature, thus, observing with presence and intentionality. as the final activity for the day, they completed written reflection #2. for homework pre-service teachers read academic articles on culture and cultural relevance in education and completed written responses. on the third day of class, the pre-service teachers discussed the articles and interviewed each other about their personal and cultural identities. through the interview process they interpreted the aloha they saw in their partners and themselves. the prompt for written reflection #3 was completed at the end of the third and final day of class. a few days later they submitted their personal and cultural identity story as a final product for the course. data collection the data set included pre-service teachers’ personal written reflections completed at the end of each day of the course and a questionnaire completed 10 months post-course completion, after pre-service teacher’s student teaching experience. each of the three written reflections were handwritten and approximately half a page to one page in length and two to three pages in total length per each of the 22 participants. four months after the course was completed, pre-service teachers who enrolled in the course were asked for consent to participate in the study. six months later responses on the post-course questionnaire were collected and written reflections of those who agreed to participate in the study were accessed. there was no pre-course questionnaire. the prompts and questions for each are listed below. written reflection #1 prompt: how is having a sense of aloha part of who you are? written reflection #2 prompt: has your perspective of aloha shifted? written reflection #3 prompt: how might you bring a sense of aloha into your classroom? the post-course questionnaire included the following questions: (1) think back to the very first course in the program, ed 650, teaching in hawaiʻi’s schools, what do recall about the course and your experience? (2) how did your experience in the course impact your perspective such as your relationships, as you progressed through the program? (3) if aloha is important to you, what does it look like as a value in your classroom? (4) aloha may be seen as representing the culture of hawaiʻi. it is multi-faceted and there are many layers to its meanings. through discussion people defined aloha as: an exchange of breath, reciprocity, https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 88 presence, compassion, understanding, empathy, accountability. which of these words resonate with who you are and why? (5) how will you use aloha as you move forth in your career? participant responses to the questionnaire were about one page in total length. data analysis a phonomenological method of analysis was used (creswell & poth, 2018). both researchers read through all the written reflections and questionnaire data and separately developed a list of significant statements to create initial meaningful categories. researchers met to compare initial statements and agree upon categories. written data statements were coded manually into categories. the categories were then grouped to identify broader units or themes. researchers met several times over the course of a year to analyze data. individual written statements were re-read, counted by category and aligned with the themes listed in table 1. researchers discussed themes to identify what the participants experienced with respect to their understandings of aloha and reflected upon how the setting and context influenced the experienced phenomena. individual responses were later entered into an excel spreadsheet, counted, and color coded by themes as an additional method to cross-check data for accuracy and ensure all participant responses were included. findings as a result of qualitatively analyzing their written reflections and post-course questionnaire, three patterns emerged to reflect the shifts in their understanding of the word aloha: (1) common understandings of aloha; (2) methods for activating aloha; and (3) sustainable practices. the categories which defined each of the themes is shown in table 1 and explained sequentially in this section. table 1: understandings of aloha data source theme category written reflection #1 (day 1) common knowledge understandings of aloha  kindness & love (10)  appreciation & openness (5)  compassion & empathy (1)  exchange (6) written reflection #2 (day 2) methods for activating aloha  connecting with the ʻāina (6)  being present and experiencing a reciprocal exchange (10)  being consciously aware and seeing aloha everywhere (6) common knowledge understandings of aloha,  care and compassion (3) https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 89 table 1: understandings of aloha data source theme category written reflection #3 (day 3) methods for activating aloha, sustainable practices  having respectful relationships (11)  practicing aloha as a way of being (8) post-course questionnaire (21 responses returned) common knowledge understandings of aloha, methods for activating aloha, sustainable practices  compassion & empathy (6)  having an exchange (5)  practicing aloha as a way of being (10) note. 22 total pre-service teacher participants, number in parentheses indicates number of participant responses in each category. written reflection #1common understandings of aloha pre-service teachers’ initial responses were based on the personal meanings they brought to class and described understandings of aloha they saw within themselves at the end of the first day of instruction. qualitative data analysis from their written reflections after day 1 were grouped under the theme: common understandings of aloha which are in alignment with some of pukui and elbert’s (1986) translated words or common definitions of aloha that are promoted by the tourist industry and perpetuated in textbooks written for hawaiʻi’s youth (kaomea, 2006). within that theme there were three categories: (1) kindness and love; (2) appreciation and openness; (3) compassion and empathy. the fourth category (4) exchange incorporated the literal interpretation of the word aloha. each pre-service teacher response is labeled: e for elementary or s for secondary to distinguish between elementary and secondary pre-service teachers and is assigned a number to indicate separate individual responses. kindness and love there were ten pre-service teachers whose initial responses implied aloha was expressed through showing kindness and by helping others. pre-service teacher e8 wrote, “i was always taught to help others when needed and be kind to everyone.” e3 stated, “aloha to me is about showing love, helping others, and being positive.” according to s12, “it encompasses kindness, respect, love, friendship, warmth, and generosity.” they expressed the idea that through helping others they could show aloha, which meant kindness and love. their written reflections seem to indicate that the common belief that aloha is a word that is associated with positive feelings and generosity. appreciation and openness initial responses from five pre-service teachers demonstrated aloha as appreciation for self and being open to others. pre-service teacher e4 noted, “being able to appreciate people from all different walks of life is having a sense of aloha.” e5 added, “it’s (aloha is) https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 90 more than just hello and goodbye . . . being open, on a bigger scale that’s more than just interacting with tourists. open to new ideas, to people, to new beginnings and change.” e9 explained, “having a sense of aloha as an individual allows me to open my mind to the diverse culture we have here.” thus, at the beginning of the class pre-service teachers understood having aloha was being open to appreciate and accept diversity of others. compassion and empathy the initial response for one of the pre-service teachers fell within the sub-category empathy and compassion. in the first written reflection pre-service teacher e6 shared: aloha has different meanings, but i define aloha by having empathy. my sense of aloha is demonstrated by having empathy for not only people, but the environment as well. being aware of the feelings of others and how i affect them is an important part of who i am. this means showing compassion towards others, spreading happiness when possible and putting myself into another person’s shoes. hence, this pre-service teacher communicated aloha could be shown for others by showing compassion and having empathy for others. exchange after the literal meaning of aloha was introduced at the end of day 1, six of the preservice teachers’ responses demonstrated that their understanding of aloha began to expand. pre-service teacher e2 wrote, “in class i learned more about the literal meaning of aloha and never thought about it as an exchange with a person, place, or thing. now i am more aware of where i am in the moment and how i can make an exchange filled with the true essence of aloha.” e10 shared, “i define aloha as a healthy and loving exchange with places, people, animals, etc.around me.” after hearing a new definition for the word aloha their understanding of the word aloha began to change. at the end of the first day of class, 16 of 22 pre-service teachers’ reflections were grouped under the first three categories: (1) kindness and love; (2) appreciation and openness; (3) compassion and empathy. these categories were labeled as common understandings which are often associated with positive feelings and generosity commonly accepted by the general population often promoted by the tourist industry in hawai`i. prior to writing their first reflection, pre-service teachers were introduced to the interpretation of the word aloha and six out of 22 or 27% of them used parts of the literal interpretation in their written reflection which fell under the category 4) exchange. after the first day, understandings for 73% aligned with common understandings of aloha and 27% of them included parts of the literal interpretation of the word which had been introduced to them that day. written reflection #2 – methods for activating aloha at the end of the second day of class, written responses indicated 16 out of 22 or 73% of participants conveyed they experienced a shift in their understanding of aloha. five participants responded their understandings of aloha did not “shift,” and instead used the following words to describe their understanding of aloha: “expanded,” “strengthened,” “influenced,” “renewed,” and “broadened.” one implied he brought a deep understanding of aloha through previous language study so it did not shift much. s3 reflected, “to be able to dig deeper into its meaning and to learn about the roots of the word has really given me a https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 91 new angle to think of aloha in.” thus, for a number of them they felt they had a firm understanding and the class helped them to think of aloha in new ways. their descriptions show they began to define methods to activate or “do” aloha. data were categorized under the theme: methods for activating aloha and included three categories: (1) connecting with the ʻāina; (2) being present and experiencing a reciprocal exchange; and (3) being consciously aware and seeing aloha everywhere. connecting with the ʻāina six of the pre-service teachers’ responses suggested that going into the natural environment created a space where they felt a greater relationship with the ʻāina (land). preservice teacher s4 wrote, “i was brought up with the mentality of respecting the land but after todayʻs experience i feel an even greater connection to the ʻāina.” s7 found, “my perspective of aloha has shifted because after this visit i feel it has a stronger connection to the land . . . i believe this activity helped me understand how aloha relates to a symbiotic relationship between man and the land.” s1 expressed the experience at mokuola allowed her to, “take a moment to be able to feel and connect with the land.” the trip to mokuola allowed them to connect with the land and enhance their sense of place. being present and experiencing a reciprocal exchange in written reflection #2, ten out of 22 responded aloha can be about being present and experiencing an exchange with nature or having an enhanced relationship with theʻāina. s8 reflected, “part of what we learned today was that aloha is about being present. it’s about being aware of your surroundings and being in a place not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well.” s5 responded that the field trip exercise at mokuola, “was an opportunity to immerse ourselves in nature and focus on ourselves while being in the present state.” s11 expressed: going to mokuola today was an act of aloha and in the sense that we went there with the intentions of being in the presence of the place to exchange our energies. we all went with our unique perspectives and gave our attention and willingness to observe the elements that revealed themselves at mokuola...sometimes we go about our lives moving too fast to really pay attention to the little details that are revealed when you slow down and allow yourself to be more present. if we embodied this form of aloha more often, i feel like we would be able to develop a deeper connection with our environment/surroundings. (written reflection #2) pre-service teachers described being able to activate aloha through being present and having an exchange with the natural environment. e10 stated, “aloha actually means to have a face-to-face meaningful exchange with something else. . . by being present, i allowed myself to have that meaningful exchange of aloha with the place.” e1 wrote, “the exchange can be described as the attitude or feelings you bring in that will therefore be mirrored and reciprocated back. i felt that after what i experienced during today’s activity aloha can be viewed as a reciprocal process.” thus, by being present with the environment they were able to experience or reciprocate aloha with the natural environment and activate their sense of aloha. after the observation activity which required them to sit, silently observe patterns in nature, they were able to be present and experience an exchange of energy with the environment. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 92 being consciously aware and seeing aloha everywhere six out of 22 pre-service teachers’ responses revealed that after experiencing aloha with nature, there was an enhanced awareness. e7 reflected, “i don’t believe that my perspective has shifted but rather broadened to include all things.” s2 concluded, “my perspective on aloha is that it is everywhere --we live it, we feel it, we are it.” after their experience at mokuola and through reflection, some pre-service teachers became consciously aware of seeing aloha everywhere which was a method for activating their sense of aloha. at the end of the second day of class and going to mokuola to conduct observations of nature, 73% of the pre-service teachers wrote that their understandings of aloha had shifted and 23% reflected their understandings did not shift, but rather used words such as broadened, expanded, strengthened, enhanced, and renewed which seem to indicate growth or constructing new understandings based upon existing knowledge. one pre-service teacher indicated that it did not shift much due to expansive previous knowledge and experience with hawaiian language and culture. the place-based experience on mokuola seemed to support methods for activating aloha which included connecting with the `aina, being present and experiencing a reciprocal exchange with nature, and being consciously aware of seeing aloha in their lives. written reflection #3 – sustainable practices responses for written reflection #3 fell under two previously identified themes, common knowledge understandings of aloha and methods for activating aloha and a third theme which emerged, sustainable practices. under this theme, there was an additional category: practicing aloha as a way of being. three out of 22 pre-service teachers described aloha in the classroom as being caring and compassionate toward their students. this was categorized under the theme, common knowledge understandings of aloha. eleven out of 22 responses described how they envisioned aloha in the classroom as having respectful relationships with their students. s6 explained, “i plan to use aloha through the relationships that are created amongst my classes and my coworkers.” s12 wrote she would use aloha for, “building trust and respect between students and myself to provide for teaching and learning and for exchange between students and myself.” many of them perceived aloha as a way to guide them in their relationships with others at school. this category fell under the theme, methods for activating aloha. practicing aloha as way of being responses for eight out of 22 of them indicated they understood practicing aloha as a way of being. pre-service teacher e10 described aloha as “the way i engage with the world.” s9 claimed, “everything i do is aloha.” this implied they knew how to activate aloha and would be able to practice it as a part of who they are as they engage with the world. this was categorized under the theme, sustainable practices which will be described in more detail below. post-course questionnaire – sustainable practices at the end of student teaching, 21 out of 22 participants completed the post-course questionnaire. responses for question 5 (how will you move forth in your career?) are presented here. after student teaching, responses showed six out of 21 perceived aloha as having empathy or showing understanding and compassion to others which was categorized https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 93 as common knowledge understandings of aloha. for them, their firmly held beliefs about understanding aloha as compassion and empathy were reflected in their responses. five out of 21 of the pre-service teachers’ responses suggested they understood methods for activating aloha, such as using aloha as a reciprocal exchange that takes place. for 10 out of 21 pre-service teachers, aloha was not only a concept to be utilized in their classroom, but it was seen as a sustainable practice for daily life. e7 stated, “aloha has grounded me in realizing what is important and has guided me through difficult experiences and decisions. . . it will guide my actions each day. it will set the standard for my attitude going forward.” s11 viewed aloha, “as a lens through which to navigate the journey” and s10 stated, “i will use aloha as a part of myself.” e8 claimed, “i will use aloha every day in my career” and s12 commented, “living in hawaii, it’s a value that i can identify with – not just here but wherever i may be.” these statements show that aloha can be a practice to guide decisions whether it be in their careers or whereever they go. others, like e9, felt the sense of duty of aloha. he described aloha as, “ . . . an engaging obligation in life.” these responses indicate their understandings of aloha include a commitment to sustaining it as a practice which can guide their decisions and actions moving forward in life. therefore, over time pre-service teacher understandings of aloha shifted from a familiar concept which was broadened to include actions that described methods for activation, to being present or having a reciprocal exchange with the ʻāina or with another person. this new understanding of aloha led to methods for bringing aloha to life. descriptions of aloha also implied that pre-service teachers saw aloha as a practice, a way of being vs. concepts are applied within certain contexts. for some, it became a perspective and a lens through which they viewed the world. discussion our earlier work examined in-service teachers’ understandings and perspectives on culturally responsive pedagogy (ebersole, et al., 2016). based on previous research, we identified three categories: experiential, academic, and reflective knowledge to organize the types of knowledge which can support transformation for culturally responsive teaching (ebersole, et al., 2015). we believe these three types of knowledge contributed to a transformative shift in participants’ understanding aloha and use this as a framework to discuss our findings. start with the familiar to build upon personal and experiential knowledge by beginning our teacher education program framed around the meaning of the word aloha, which can be a greeting, hello or welcome, we sent pre-service teachers the implicit message that we welcomed everyone into the learning context. aloha is also a word that most people are familiar with, including visitors and newcomers. it is a word that is often synonymous with hawaiʻi and can be perceived as part of hawaiʻi’s identity based upon its nickname alone, “the aloha state.” images of the word itself are commonly viewed and used in popular media and culture, thus, the pre-service teachers were familiar with the word and understood some of its many meanings. at the beginning of the class, we asked them to take notice of the word aloha around them and share personal stories which might depict its meaning. in this way, we tapped into their experiential knowledge base legitimizing personal meanings they brought to the learning context. their experiential knowledge in this context reflects lived knowledge or knowledge teachers gain through personal experiences. it is https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 94 embedded in practice and builds on “funds of knowledge” (moll et al., 1992) or lived cultural experiences, which can legitimize the local knowledge teachers bring to a particular context. by recognizing and valuing lived knowledge and cultural experiences we built upon the strengths of individuals and communities and focus on their assets and potentials (kana`iaupuni, 2005 tibbetts et al., 2007). although the word aloha conjures meanings of love, peace, and compassion for many residents in hawaiʻi, the concept of aloha has been exploited for commercial and political purposes over time (kaomea, 2006; ohnuma, 2008). we acknowledged and recognized this concept of aloha with pre-service teachers. additionally, before asking them to engage in the academic exercise of interpreting ancestral stories they were explicitly asked to “suspend their former meanings of the word.” this acknowledgement and request may have been an important step after experiential knowledge had been legitimized. interpret stories and explicit teaching to construct academic knowledge academic knowledge is often gained through reading and discussing seminal articles within the field of education. this knowledge-for-practice (cochran-smith & lytle, 1999) such as subject matter, theoretical framing, pedagogy, and instructional strategies includes knowledge, interpretative frameworks, beliefs, and attitudes needed to effectively teach diverse populations (cochran-smith et al., 2003). the telling of indigenous ancestral stories from hawaiian culture providing direct academic knowledge through storytelling. pre-service teachers interpreted how aloha was exemplified in the story as a means to deepen or enhance understanding of the meaning of the word aloha. the process of deconstructing implicit meanings of aloha within the context of ancestral stories may have provided preservice teachers with deeper academic knowledge and greater confidence in understanding the depth and layers to the meaning of aloha. they gained academic knowledge about aloha through direct instruction about the literal meaning of the word aloha and the nā hopena aʻo framework and through viewing videos having discussions about aloha. experience aloha through place-based learning in addition to the academic knowledge built through implicit and explicit instruction, the pre-service teachers experienced aloha to enhance understandings. we put forth a placebased learning experience for them to reconstruct what the meaning of aloha meant to them, contributing to their experiential knowledge. many mentioned how they experienced an exchange or “act of aloha” through the place-based learning experience on mokuola. an important outcome of this experience was to establish ownership of place. gruenewald (2003) confirms that, “place based pedagogies are needed so that the education of citizens have direct bearing on the well-being of the social and ecological places people inhabit” (p.3). in this respect the field trip to mokuola was the basis of knowing aloha and for knowing hawaiʻi. for the purpose of this research it is important that reference is made to ancestral text. aloha au o mahiki aloha au o mahiki my aloha of mahiki me he ku ana la na ke koʻiula like the steadfast of the red hued rainbows (pele and hiiaka, 1909) mahiki, another well-known place on the island of hawaiʻi, is a very large wet forest. the two lines display a mutual-equal recognition of presence for the composer and the rainbow https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 95 frequently seen in this forest. this experience between observer and place is the knowledge forming lesson. dewey (1938) eloquently confirms this by stating, “that environment steadily expands by the momentum inherent in the experience itself” (p.74). dewey (1938) goes on to stress that this occurs outside of scholastic instruction. this is the leveling of aloha and placebased pedagogy. teachers and thereby students turn to nature and phenomena immediately around them as their foundational curriculum. through the lens of their place they can examine other places and gain new knowledge (smith, 2002). by incorporating multiple educational practices such as close observation of nature, discussion, and self-reflection, pre-service teachers reconstructed their understanding of the meaning of aloha. each participant came to the learning context with unique and different perspectives about the meaning of aloha and with new learning experiences they reconstructed meanings and strengthened academic and experiential knowledge. throughout this study, participants associated the meaning of aloha with being kind, helpful, and compassionate which connects with positive, happy feelings and emotions preservice teachers brought with them. after the first day, some of them shared they understood aloha as empathy and others began to see it as an exchange. after participants experienced the exchange with the natural environment, they shared powerful new insights. they mentioned ways to “activate” aloha such as “being present” to experience the reciprocal exchange. it can be assumed that exchange and reciprocity are the same but with the hawaiian ancestral context, reciprocity is not limited to an exchange. there is a great deal of rigor in terms of reciprocity that goes into aloha. when it is a reciprocal exchange there may be something that is given in return, a mutual agreement or an obligation that binds two parties equally; thus, to experience aloha within this contextual definition, one must be aware of one’s participation with nature and relation to environmental surroundings. the reciprocation the environment gives, and one receives, shows in one’s actions. this reflects the reciprocal accountability that goes with aloha. additionally, pre-service teachers needed to be open to this reciprocal exchange to be able to see and experience it. empathy when defined as being able to understand someone else’s feelings, doesn’t require for one to be open enough for reciprocation. that’s where rigor in aloha comes in and there is a limitation of empathy. there is an intangible – don’t need to “know it” but need to “feel it” experience associated with the meaning of aloha. learning in places of significance supports students in developing knowledge of themselves, their culture, and their history (mcvittie et al., 2020). thus, the exchange pre-service teachers experienced with the natural environment at mokuola was significant and helped to shift their understanding of aloha. a process of connection through self-reflection: from articulation to activation to creation of a blueprint pre-service teachers went beyond merely articulating what aloha meant personally. they qualified what aloha “looks like” and set a standard based upon what they knew to be the meaning of aloha. they activated aloha by being present and experiencing it in nature, then consciously recognized it through self-reflection. through this process of connection, they could internalize and feel aloha differently than previously experienced. when some of the pre-service teachers shifted to understanding aloha as a concept to a “way of being” or a practice, it became a lens through which they could view the world. for those who perceived aloha as a practice, they could begin to construct a blueprint or perhaps a vision for what https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 96 aloha might look like as a value or expectation in their classrooms. aloha became more than a word and through self-reflection they broadened understanding constructing a blueprint for how to interact with nature, with each other, and in their lives. conclusion “permission” to use cultural concept? during the first year of implementing nā hopena aʻo we treated the outcomes and values like standards and objectives, deconstructing each one and explaining how it might be used in classrooms. by immersing ourselves in the meanings and multiple layers of one particular outcome or value, it opened up an avenue for greater understanding and a transformational shift from common understandings to a way of being or a practice. this leads us to believe as teacher educators, we should question how we address cultural values and frameworks within the classroom. perhaps, instead of approaching the nā hopena aʻo (hā) framework as an academic exercise, we should structure culture-based and place-based experiences to ensure “learning includes engagement in culturally significant interactions and activities through hawaiian ways of knowing” (kawakami, 1999, p. 28). in this context learning focused on: (1) uncovering deeper meanings of aloha that honored the prior knowledge and experience pre-service teachers brought, (2) engaging in place-based educational activities and exchange with the natural environment, (3) promoting academic knowledge of aloha through deconstructing ancestral stories, and (4) providing pre-service teachers time and space to self-reflect upon personal knowledge and experiences. at the onset of the class, aloha was a familiar concept which might be used casually and informally by pre-service teachers. we acknowledge that some of them may have come to the class open and willing to embrace the cultural value of aloha as a sustained practice yet, as we analyzed the data we also began to question: in order to feel comfortable with using hawaiian cultural values, do pre-service teachers need implicit and/or explicit permission from a trustworthy source to bring hawaiian cultural knowledge into the classroom? could academic, experiential and reflective knowledge serve as a means for granting permission to use other cultural values in the classroom? we hope to use these questions to reflect upon and guide us in future inquiries. in this research inquiry we believe our positionalities provided both strengths and limitations. our personal beliefs, experiences, and practices were brought to this experience and reflect our own praxis unique to ourselves and this place and with our pre-service teachers. we acknowledge it may be challenging to activate values which may be tied to fears and perceived institutional barriers situated within a larger values system; however, we strongly believe pre-service teachers may be supported to incorporate cultural values within their own classroom contexts when they see or experience a direct connection and expanded understanding of the value. this study investigated pre-service teacher change in articulation of the word aloha. it demonstrates how pre-service teachers enrolled in a mainstream teacher education program written responses indicated shifts in understanding the word to reflect the integrity of the translation of aloha as originating in hawaiian ancestral text. while tensions and discomfort about using language and cultural concepts from “outside” one’s own ethnic and racial background are common, we are encouraged by the idea that they can commit to broadening understandings of and embracing an expanded understanding of aloha as a meaningful part of their daily classroom practices and lives. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 97 references au, k. h. (1980). participation structures in a reading lesson with hawaiian children: analysis of a culturally appropriate instructional event. anthropology & education quarterly, 11(2), 91-115. https://doi.org/10.1525/aeq.1980.11.2.05x1874b au, k., & mason, j. (1981). social organizational factors in learning of reading: the balance of rights hypothesis. reading research quarterly, 17(1), 115-152. doi: 10.2307/747251 benham, m., & heck, r. (1998). culture and educational policy in hawaiʻi: the silencing of native voices. lawrence erlbaum associates, inc. borrero, n., yeh, c., cruz, c., & suda, j. (2012). school as a context for “othering” youth and promoting cultural assets. teachers college record, 114 (2), 1-37. cochran-smith, m., & lytle, s. l. (1999). relationships of knowledge and practice: teacher learning in communities. review of research in education, 24, 249-305. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x024001249 cochran-smith, m., davis, d., & fries, k. (2003). multicultural teacher education, in j.a. banks & c.a. banks (eds.), handbook of research in multicultural education (2nd, ed., pp. 931975). jossey-bass. creswell, j., & poth, c. (2018). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among the five approaches (4th ed). sage. cutri, r. m., & whiting, e. (2015). the emotional work of discomfort and vulnerability in multicultural education. teachers and teaching, 21(8), 1010 – 1025. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2015.1005869 dewey, j. (1938). experience and education. mcmillan. ebersole, m., kanahele-mossman, h., & kawakami, a. (2015). teaching through story: using narratives in a graduate ethnicity course. wow stories, 4(9), http://wowlit.org/online-publications/stories/v5-i2/ ebersole, m., kanahele-mossman, h., & kawakami, a. (2016). culturally responsive teaching: examining teachers’ understandings and perspectives. journal of education and training studies, 4(2), 97-104. emerson, n. (2005). pele and hiiaka: a myth from hawaii. edith kanakaole foundation. gallimore, r., & tharp, r. (1976). an overview of research strategies and findings (1971-1975) of the kamehameha early education program. technical report #66. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed158865.pdf gay, g., & howard, t. (2000). multicultural teacher education for the 21st century. the teacher educator, 36(1) 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/08878730009555246 gonzález, n., moll, l., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities and classrooms. lawrence erlbaum associates. gruenewald, d. (2003). the best of both worlds: a critical pedagogy of place. educational researcher, 32(4), 3-12. halagago, p. (2006). questioning the aloha in a multicultural teacher education course. asia pacific journal of education, 26(2), 37-50. hawaii state department of education. (n.d.). nā hopena a‘o (hā). http://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/teachingandlearning/studentlearning/hawaiian education/pages/ha.aspx hawaii department of business, economic development and tourism. (2019). census. latest population estimate data. hawaii population characteristics. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 98 https://census.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/hawaii-populationcharacteristics-2019.pdf hawaii department of business, economic development and tourism. (2018). research and economic analysis. section 3 education. https://dbedt.hawaii.gov/economic/databook/2018-individual/_03/ jordan, c. (1985). translating culture: from ethnographic information to educational program. anthropology & education quarterly, 16(2), 105-123. https://doi.org/10.1525/aeq.1985.16.2.04x0631g kanahele, g. (1986). kū kanaka:stand tall a search for hawaiian values. university of hawaii press. kanaʻiaupuni, s. (2004). ka‘akālai kū kanaka: a call for strengths-based approaches from a native hawaiian perspective. educational researcher, 34, 32-38. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x034005032 kanaʻiaupuni, s., & kawaiʻaeʻa, k. (2008). e lahoe mai na waʻa: toward a hawaiian indigenous education teaching framework. hūlili: multidisciplinary research on native hawaiian well-being, 5, 67-90. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed523184.pdf kanaʻiaupuni, s., & ledward, b. (2013). hoʻopilina: the call for cultural relevance in education. hūlili: multidisciplinary research on native hawaiian well-being, 9, 153-204. kanaʻiaupuni, s., ledward, b., & malone, n. (2017). mohala i ka wai: cultural advantage as a framework for indigenous culture-based education and student outcomes. american educational research journal, 54(1s), 311s-399s. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216664779 kaomea, j. (2006). a curriculum of aloha? colonialism and tourism in hawaiʻiʻs elementary textbooks. curriculum inquiry, 30(3), 319-344. https://doi.org/10.1111/03626784.00168 kaomea, j., alvarez, m. b., & pittman, m. (2019). reclaiming, sustaining and revitalizing hawaiian education through video-cued makawalu ethnography. anthropology & education quarterly, 50(3), 270–290. https://doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12301 kawagley, a. o., & barnhardt, r. (1998). education indigenous to place: western science meets native reality. ecological education in action, 117-140 http://ankn.uaf.edu/curriculum/articles/barnhardtkawagley/eip.html kawakami, a. (1999). sense of place, community, and identity. education and urban society, 32(1) 18-40. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124599032001002 kawakami, a. (2004). issues central to the inclusion of hawaiian culture in k-12 education. hūlili: multidisciplinary research on native hawaiian well-being,1(1), 111-130. keehne, c., sarsona, m., kawakami, a., & au, k. (2018). culturally responsive instruction and literacy learning. journal of literacy research, 50(2), 141-166. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296x18767226 lopez, s., & louis, m. (2009). the principles of strengths-based education. journal of college and character, 10, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.2202/1940-1639.1041 mccarty, t., & lee, t. (2014). critical culturally sustaining/revitalizing pedagogy and indigenous education sovereignty. harvard educational review, 84(1), 101-124. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.1.q83746nl5pj34216 mcvittie, j., webber, g., miller, d., & hellsten, l. (2020). pathways, philosophies, and pedagogies: conversations with teacher educators about place-based education. https://cultureandvalues.org/ http://ankn.uaf.edu/curriculum/articles/barnhardtkawagley/eip.html journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 ebersole, m. & kanahele-mossman, h., broadening understandings of the cultural value of aloha in a teacher educator program journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 99 canadian journal of environmental education, 23(1), 33-49. https://cjee.lakeheadu.ca/article/view/1636/951 meyer, m., (2010, october 21). an introduction to indigenous epistimology [video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=lmjji1ibdzc moll, l., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classroom. theory into practice, 31(2), 132–141. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405849209543534 office of hawaiian affairs research division. (2017). a native hawaiian focus on the hawaiʻi public school system, sy2015. hoʻonaʻauao (education) fact sheet, 2017 (1). ohnuma, k. (2008). “aloha spirit” and the cultural politics of sentiment as national belonging. the contemporary pacific, 20(2), 365-394. 10.1353/cp.0.0005 paris, d. (2012). culturally sustaining pedagogy: a needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. educational researcher, 41(3), 93–97. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x12441244 paris, d., & alim, h. s. (2017). culturally sustaining pedagogies: teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. teacherʻs college press. poepoe, j.k. (1909). aloha au o mahiki. in higashi-kanahele, k. (ed.). pele keahialoa (pp. 121). edith kanakaole foundation (2014). pollock, m., deckman, s., mira, m., & shalaby, c. (2010). “what can i do?” three necessary tensions in teaching teachers about race. journal of teacher education, 61(3), 211224. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022487109354089 pukui, m. k., elbert, s. h., & mookini, e. t. (1998). place names of hawaii. university of hawaii press. pukui, m. k., & elbert, s. h. (1986). hawaiian dictionary. university of hawaii press. pukui, m. k. (1983). olelo noeau: hawaiian proverbs and poetical sayings, bishop museum press. tharp, r., & gallimore, r. (1988). rousing minds to life: teaching, learning, and schooling in social context. cambridge university press. tharp, r., jordan, c., speidel, g., au, k., klein, t., calkins, r., sloat, k., & gallimore, r. (2007). education and native hawaiian children: revisiting keep. tibbets, k., kahakalau, k., & johnson, z. (2007). education with aloha and student assets. hūlili: multidisciplinary research on native hawaiian well-being, 4, 147-181. schonleber, n. (2007). culturally congruent teaching strategies: voices from the field. hūlili: multidisciplinary research on native hawaiian well-being, 4(1), 239-264. semken, s., ward, e., moosavi, s., & chinn, p. (2017). place-based education in geoscience: theory, research, practice and assessment. journal of geoscience education, 65, 542562. smith, g. (2002). place based education: learning to be where we are, the phi delta kappan, 83(8), 584-594. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172170208300806 https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 1 won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? kelsey evans, william b. russell, brian furgione, allison sheridan* university of central florida *corresponding author: russell@ucf.edu received : 2018-09-24 accepted : 2018-12-01 how to cite this paper: evans, k., russell, w.b., furgione, b., and sherida, a. (2018). won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? journal of culture and values in education, 1(2), 1-22. abstract this study investigates family perceptions of character education and social emotional learning in pbs kids educational media programming as a variable. this qualitative study used a purposive sample to analyze transcripts from 60 interviews (132 participants) with parents and their children about pbs. transcripts were used to investigate their perceptions of children’s media programming and the impact it has on character development and social emotional wellbeing. this study indicates that many parents who were exposed to pbs in their youth and are returning to pbs for foundational support when in raising their children. the wholesome messages depicted on pbs shows, like daniel tiger’s neighborhood, are helping parents teach their children about complex topics, such as how they feel, what they value, and cleanliness in the home. this assistance, in turn, enables parents to have conversations that help their children thrive, and foster a healthy and supportive parental/child relationship. keywords: social emotional learning, character education, media, early childhood education introduction confronting our feelings and giving them appropriate expression always takes strength, not weakness. it takes strength to acknowledge our anger, and sometimes more strength yet to curb the aggressive urges anger may bring and to channel them into nonviolent outlets. it takes strength to face our sadness and to grieve and to let our grief and our anger flow in tears when they need to. it takes strength to talk about our feelings and to reach out for help and comfort when we need it. mr. rogers (2003) seventeen years after the public broadcasting service (pbs) aired the final episode of mr. roger’s neighborhood, many of the lessons and values promoted on the pbs program still resonate with those who grew up watching the show. for 33 years, many children learned how to embrace their feelings, support and develop friendships, and cultivate an understanding of what it meant to be a good neighbor. mr. rogers’ “kids” have become adults, and many have children of their own, integrating morals and values learned from their favorite neighbor and instilling the social-emotional knowledge into their families. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 2 however, passing down mr. rogers’ lessons in character is becoming increasingly difficult in a generation inundated with recent technology and media. many children are accessing varied forms of media at a younger and younger age. they have the potential to be exposed to a variety of different messages through the tv shows and videos they view, websites they visit, and advertisements on each of these mediums. however, pbs continues to bring what many consider is quality content. according to the mission statement of pbs, their organization “serves the american public with programming and services of the highest quality, using media to educate, inspire, entertain and express a diversity of perspectives. pbs empowers individuals to achieve their potential and strengthen the social, democratic, and cultural health of the u.s.” (“mission”, 2018). educational programming has continued with the social and emotional learning piece that mr. rogers used to provide by creating daniel tiger’s neighborhood. many parents are returning to their roots and are introducing their children to the “land of make-believe” via daniel tiger. pbs continues to offer this type of safe programming for children that promotes character education and other life lessons for kids to engage with early on in their development. to keep up with a modern and changing technological world, pbs delivers content via television broadcasts and online media outlets. our research aims to investigate themes presented in parents and children’s reaction to pbs kids content. as researchers, we would like to know more about the experiences of pbs viewers, and how their shows are allowing students to understand the foundations of character education. thus, our research strives to answer the question: how do parents and their children perceive modern forms of character education delivered by through multiple mediums? purpose statement in this study, a further exploration of pbs kids programing will be analyzed to describe parents' and children’s experiences in using modern mediums to learn and understand character education. character education and social emotional learning will be defined and explained about its contribution within early childhood education and development. literature will be used to discuss ways in which parents may be able to integrate positive interventions through the coping mechanisms and skills offered through pbs kids. to be clear, there are other potential coping tools that could be utilized, but for this research study, social emotional learning and character education will be further investigated as possible tools to be used in media to benefit how families integrate health and wellness into their homes. significance the current study is significant for several reasons. in examining the literature, we found that there is a significant amount of information discussing social emotional learning, character education, media, media use, and pbs, but there is not a lot of information intertwining the topics together. in addition, this study examines social emotional learning into the content of journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 3 pbs kids and how viewers respond, which has been typically contained within pbs. thus, understanding how parents and their children interact with modern forms of character education would provide a deeper understanding in how to apply pbs kids content into child development. background of the problem the future of our democracy is dependent upon the health and wellness of all individuals in our society, from old to young (center on the developing child at harvard university, 2016). functioning together as one society allows us to recognize all people. additionally, it informs society in how its members should optimally function to their highest degree. for this reason, there is a high importance on preparing our children to be the future. as garvey (2017) notes, “when we give children today what they need to learn, develop, and thrive, they give back to society in the future through a lifetime of productive citizenship.” the high prevalence of mental health problems including depression, anxiety, and stress, shows a need for a psychological intervention (baer, 2003). although many psychological interventions may have originated within the medical community for treatment of clinical populations, research has since expanded into exploring the benefits outside of the medical community, including early childhood education (fischer, 2011). there is a high importance of positive intervention tools in early education as cognitive, social, and emotional skills are developed from ages 0-6 (remer, croteau-chonka, dean, d'arpino, dirks, whiley, & deoni, 2017; shonkoff, 2017). stability within caregiving and positive external stimuli allow the brain to operate and healthily grow building a firm foundation. however, if negative stimuli are introduced, brain development is hindered (remer, croteau-chonka, dean, d'arpino, dirks, whiley, & deoni, 2017). stimulus-dependent alteration of the brain can be both positive and negative, dependent upon what the stimulus is within the child’s environment (draganski, gaser, busch, schuierer, bogdahn, & may, 2004). two positive interventions beneficial to the cognitive, social, and emotional skills include social emotional learning (sel) and character education. sel is an effective intervention tool for the modern learner and facilitates a more mindful citizen by focusing on the social and emotional development of a child to facilitate empathy and care amongst students (elias, 2004). according to the collaborative for academic, social, and emotional learning’ (casel), “what is sel?” – “the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.” character education has also served as another fruitful intervention tool. in schools, character education encompasses many things but generally serves to teach the “whole child” (what is character education?, n.d.). as a curriculum piece, the teaching of character education can help foster sound moral and ethical behavior within students and even increase academic achievement. while the instructional methods vary, the notion of having students become journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 4 responsible members of their communities is generally accepted in the school setting (russell & waters, 2010a; russell, et al, 2018; ungvarsky, 2016) understanding the best methods for teaching and the place character education holds in the k-12 setting is still a topic of debate within the field. with these constructs in mind, it is hypothesized when both intervention tools are integrated into modern mediums such as television and online platforms, there may be positive outcomes in social, emotional, and cognitive behavior for parents and children. problem statement unfortunately, today’s children are experiencing unprecedented levels of mental disorders, with national studies suggesting that slightly more than one in four to five adolescents in the general population experience disorders that result in severe impairment (cohen, 1992; lewinsohn,1993; merikangas, 2010). although mental disorders have been observed in all ages, disorder types tend to vary on what the typical age for onset is: 6 years old for anxiety disorders, 11 years old for behavior disorders, by age 13 for mood disorders, and 15 years old for substance use disorders (merikangas, 2010). according to research, 15% to 22% of youth in the nation experience social, emotional, and mental health problems that require treatment (buchanan, gueldner, tran, & merrell, k.w., 2009). “anxiety disorders were the most common condition (31.9%), followed by behavior disorders (19.1%), mood disorders (14.3%), and substance use disorders (11.4%), with approximately 40% of participants with one class of disorder also meeting criteria for another class of lifetime disorder. the overall prevalence of disorders with severe impairment and/or distress was 22.2% (11.2% with mood disorders, 8.3% with anxiety disorders, and 9.6% behavior disorders” (merikangas, 2010). more and more research is showing the onset of mental illness and disorders is beginning younger and into the early stages of a child’s development (carter, briggs-gowan, & davis, 2004; middlemiss, puzzo, smaragdi, gonzalez, martin-key, & fairchild, 2016; van bokhoven, matthys, van goozen, & van engeland, 2005) research has indicated brain development during early childhood is crucial, and is more sensitive to external stimulations (holt & mikati, 2011), thus nurturing social-emotional and cognitive experiences during the first 3 years of life is an important factor in the development of children’s mental health. (zero to three, 2016). literature review social and emotional learning (sel) social and emotional learning is a significant part of human development, but even more significant during early childhood as the foundation of social and emotional understanding is established at an early age. children’s social and emotional development can be understood by breaking social emotional learning into two definitions“children’s ability to interact with others and their capacity for self-regulation” and/or “perceptions of themselves, their abilities to understand the feelings of other people, and their ability to interpret and express their own journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 5 feelings” (rasmussen, shafer, colwell, white, punyanunt-carter, densley, & wright, 2016). by examining both definitions, we can infer the term sel refers to a combination of both social and emotional experiences by the child and is essential to both the development of their physical and mental health (denham & brown, 2010; joseph, allison, rebecca, roger, & kriston, 2011). research has shown developing social and emotional skills is a predictor of future success within a number of realms; including education, career, and interpersonal relationships (rasmussen, 2016). sel was developed in the 1990s and is constructed of several different components including: self-awareness, self-management, social understanding, building relationship skills, and decision-making (brensilver, 2016; tantillo, 2016). within sel, the value of learning is encouraged but not without recognizing the importance of social-emotional skills for academic success. social and emotional understanding provides the foundation for “the capacity to love, work, and be an active community member” (cohen, 2006). sel can facilitate a child’s deeper understanding of both their minds and their hearts and provide further understanding in how to be more aware of themselves and others (cohen, 2006). yet for children to have access to both the mind and the heart, john dewey suggests there needs to be a change in education to achieve the true democratic standard that were to be taught to students, stating, “were all instructors to realize that the quality of mental process, not the production of correct answers, is the measure of educative growth something hardly less than a revolution in teaching would be worked” (dewey, 1966). social-emotional learning is an effective intervention tool for the modern learner, and facilitates a more mindful citizen (elias, 2004). advocates for the implementation of mindfulness and sel strategies into the classroom include tim ryan, united states congressman, and tim shriver, board chair of the collaborative for academic, social and emotional learning (casel). each advocate for mindfulness and sel by suggesting the implementation of these mindful strategies in american classrooms. ryan and shriver explain the united states’ “commitment to citizenship and character are as important as our commitment to competition and growth. for too long, schools have been told to separate the head from the heart--to separate the social and emotional development of children from their cognitive learning (“congressman tim ryan introduces the academic, social and emotional learning act”). instead, ryan argues that the whole child needs to be taught to improve students’ overall learning ability. the whole child can be addressed through many different methods, which may or may not be entirely addressed in the following research. character education “character education is a learning process that enables students and adults in a school community to understand, care about and act on core ethical values such as respect, justice, civic virtue and citizenship, and responsibility for self and others. upon such core values, we form the attitudes and actions that are the hallmark of safe, healthy and informed communities that serve as the foundation of our society.” u.s. department of education’s office of safe and drug-free schools, 2004 journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 6 character education has a long and storied history in the united states. it has served as a rudder of sorts in directing how students should be educated and as to the real purpose of public schooling in america (waters & russell, 2014; ungvarsky, 2016, kenna & russell, 2015, 2018). during the colonial times, while it was more religious, or faith based, the emphasis on character or moral education was clearly a goal of early educators (waters & russell, 2012; mcclellan, 1999). a focus on character education can be traced throughout the decades in american schools, but this emphasis diminished in in the late 1950’s due to a variety of factors. while not comprehensive, some factors included the push for individual rights, classroom emphasis on the controversial values clarification approach in schools, and an overall abandonment of formal character education curriculum (mcclellan, 1999; mulkey, 1997; ungvarsky, 2016; watz, 2011). following this period of abandonment, character education is once again being incorporated as an intervention in an attempt to address many of the issues facing our nation and its future citizens (u.s.department of education’s office of safe and drugfree schools, 2004). public schools have attempted to use character education to influence not just the school, but the greater community and society students come from. outside the classroom, organizations such as the boy scouts of america, young men’s christian association (ymca), 4-h, and many religious groups have set out to develop young people and focused on the societal sphere (watz, 2011; what is 4.h?, n.d.). while these organizations operate outside the realm of public education, it is important to note their influence in developing young people. since the turn of the century, character development has found a place in the digital world, helping kids learn and develop these skills. television programs from mr. rogers to sesame street the magic school bus have helped guide kids by teaching lessons related to charter education. media and learning in the 21st century, media is no longer mere entertainment (alexander, 2013). instead, media is all-encompassing in the lives of americans, allowing for a shared connection to information with individuals near and far (graber, 2002). over the past century, media has drastically changed. from radios, televisions, to computersamericans have experienced an evolutionary advancement in how they can access information. television, became a predominant resource for children’s television programming in the early days of television history, but many did not see an issue or a need for educational content until the 1960s (kunkel, 1991). it would not be until the 1990’s that educational children's television programs would see a resurgence due to the children's television act (cta). in this act, the fcc defined educational programming as programming that “furthers the positive development of the child in any respect, including the child's cognitive/intellectual or social–emotional needs” (federal communications commission, 1991). since the early 90s, effects of television programs with academic and prosocial messages have been studied continually with positive impacts ranging from academically prepared children to increased rates of altruism (calvert, 2003). journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 7 yet the changing societal demographics and advances in technology have led to the rise in popularity of a new mediumsocial media. within the 21st century, social media has shifted the way people receive and share information (anderson and caumont 2014; qualman 2009). social media is less than twenty years old. yet in its infancy, the explosion in popularity and technological advancement has grown significantly with each passing year. while originating in the late 1990s, social media did not see significant growth until the early 2000s (hale, 2015). the availability of the internet created an upsurge in new social media sites, but the desire to communicate with like-minded individuals created the drive to produce new platforms (hale, 2015). with many new platforms being developed by and for millennials, it is understandable why so many social media users are young adults. a statistic from 2010 showing three-quarters of adult internet users under age 25 have a profile on a social networking site (correa, 2010; lenhart, 2010); and since 2010, there has been increase. in 2016, pew research center reported 87% of those surveyed in the 18-29 age demographic used facebook as compared to only 56% of those in the 65+ age demographic (2014). in comparison to facebook, the 2014 pew report of twitter showed 37% of those surveyed in the 18-29 age demographic using the network as compared to 10% of those in the 65+ age demographic (duggan 2015). younger generations still hold the largest percentage of social media use and is the dominant market. with the market of millennials becoming older and many now having children, media platforms have adopted to include an aging millennial generation. media geared towards children has come a long way since the days of television. many networks and other companies now have apps or other social media sites that allow 24/7 access to their programs and messages. the most common activity among children and adolescents is using social media sites (o’keeffe & clarke-pearson, 2011), but parents should be aware that not all social media sites are safe for children, as they can be exposed to material to mature for young viewers. according to austin et al. (1999) content children view through media can have an impact on the messages a child pays attention to and how the child perceives the message being sent. additionally, current literature shows many parents do not monitor what messages their children come across while using several types of media (o’keeffe & clarke-pearson, 2011). research suggests that media is a distraction and can pull families apart (turkle, 2011). however, the american academy of pediatrics has changed its policy recommendations from limiting or restricting screen media for young children (american academy of pediatrics, 1999) to now encouraging parents to co-use media with their children and adolescents (2013). by cousing media, parents can ensure that the children are understanding the message being sent. with the easy accessibility of media in today’s world, many researchers have begun to question how it can be used for educational and teaching purposes (russell & waters, 2010b, 2013, 2014; kimmerle et al., 2013; yigit & tarman, 2013). beauchamp and hillier (2014) report that 83% of parents believe technology is important to their child’s success. however, many parents journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 8 reasoning for giving kids technology is to either ‘entertain’ or keep their children calm (wooldridge, 2016). yet, as pbs kids demonstrates, there is a way to merge technology and learning together into one happy medium, demonstrating the priority of including a holistic perspective of media that imbeds virtue awareness into all forms of teaching and curriculum (jacobs & jacobs-spencer, 2001). pbs and media today’s media platforms are diverse in both content and technology including: television, websites, mobile applications, and other smart devices (pasnik, llorente, education development center, & sri, 2012). the diversity of platforms allows further access to media and learning content, as more and more families are spending a significant amount of time engaging with media and technology at home (pasnik, et al, 2015; rideout, et al, 2003). pbs is one such broadcasting network that is utilizing modern technology to stream to a modern generation. integrating varied platforms of media has allowed pbs kids to reach over 8.2 million monthly viewers. in 2015, 77% of children 2–8 watched pbs kids in the united states (roberts, 2016). within this 77% are diverse amounts of viewers, as pbs kids’ desires to deliver content to all to incorporate a strategy of universal access to learning content, so that any family may use media to support their child’s learning. in total, pbs reaches close to 99% of american households with free, high-quality programing. content shown on television, is also available online, with extensions for learning available (johnson, et al, 2016). content and learning extensions has been made possible via the "ready to learn" initiative (ernestosilva; 2018; llorente, et al, 2015). according the center for public broadcasting, the u.s. department of education’s ready to learn television grant “has funded the development of educational television and digital media targeted at preschool and early elementary school children and their families, especially those who live in low-income communities, for the past two decades. under this federal grant, center for public broadcasting (cpb) and pbs kids work with producers, researchers, local public media stations, and other partners to develop, distribute and evaluate pbs kids multiplatform content – including television programs, video, interactive games, mobile apps and hands-on activities – to engage children, families, and educators in learning experiences at home, in preschool, and in out-of-school settings” (ernestosilva; 2018). the "ready to learn" initiative emphasizes the role parents and caregivers have in the overall development of their child. pbs allows for easier access to quality programing by providing for a positive home learning experience for all families (cohen, hadley, & marcial, 2016; llorente, pasnik, moorthy, hupert, rosenfeld, gerard, & society for research on educational effectiveness, 2015). outside of the technological benefit pbs has provided, literature has been reviewed to understand the effects pbs has had on character education. it is important to note past research on pbs’s contributions as a whole are limited. however, much research has been conducted on programs featured on the network itself. sesame street is one specific program that has had much research conducted. with sesame street being one of the longest-running programs on american television (anderson, 1998), there has been ample opportunity for study. a meta-analysis of the effects of sesame street, have synthesized the literature on the journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 9 impact sesame street has on content knowledge, culture, and social reasoning and attitudes. according to mares and pan (2013), “watching sesame street was associated with learning about letters, numbers, shapes, and sizes — the elements of basic literacy and numeracy that remain fraught for millions of children globally. it was also associated with learning about science, the environment, one's culture, and health and safety-related practices such as washing one's hands or wearing a bike helmet. finally, it was also associated with more prosocial reasoning about social interactions and more positive attitudes toward various out-groups, including those that were associated with longstanding hostilities or stereotyping.” sesame workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind sesame street, has continued since the 1960s to provide landmark television program across the globe to facilitate foundational development for young children (cole, lee, bucuvalas, & sırali, 2018; truglio, stefano, & sanders, 2014). other popular programming on pbs such as mr. roger’s neighborhood and daniel tiger’s neigbhorhood did not return the same amount of peerreviewed research as sesame street. however, the discussion is growing on the effects shows like daniel tiger and mr. rogers had on social and emotional learning, and our research desires to add to the literature (dotson, rasmussen, shafer, colwell, densley, brewer, martinez, 2017; rasmussen et. al, 2016). background conclusion with these constructs in mind, we believe the combination of these varied elements provides a fertile field to research. in the following sections we will detail our methods, findings, and implications of this study. methods this qualitative study is designed to investigate the perceptions parents and children have regarding public broadcasting service (pbs) kids content. the methods and procedures described in the section were designed to parallel the qualitative research methods outlined in patton’s (2002) qualitative research and evaluation to fully analyze a purposive sample of participants. the researchers analyzed the transcripts from 60 interviews (132 participants) with parents/children about pbs. in addition to the interviews of parents and children, analysis of mr. rogers neighborhood and daniel tiger’s neighborhood transcripts will be used to analyze themes embedded in the show that are reflective of the parent and children interviews. for this study, the interview data analyzed was originally collected in the southeastern section of the united states, at a local event called “be my neighbor day” in the spring of 2018. the total number of participants was 132 (n=132). this included male and female festival participants, ages 3-70. interview transcriptions were analyzed and coded to allow for themes of parent perceptions to emerge (patton, 2002). additionally, the local pbs affiliate provided transcripts from mr. roger’s neighborhood, allowing for a further examination of pbs content journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 10 to explore the research question: how do parents and their children interact with modern forms of character education mediums? to address this question, we analyzed what participants reported about their perspective of pbs kids content, about their experiences with their children and the shows, and about the impact the shows have on their lives. we want to know how pbs programing and other similar programing can impact participants’ attitudes, understanding, and accessibility to modern mediums of character education. this approach allows us to find out if and how viewers of pbs kids reflect on their learning experience and viewership, if they are aware of any benefits and able to name them, how they explain the impact on their household. transcription and data analysis in total 60 interviews were conducted, with 132 participants. the initial analysis of the interview transcripts were analyzed and the following trends emerged: •quality programingtelevisions shows have been analyzed from varied points on what makes them “quality”. from one perspective, they can be analyzed based of the technical aspects. the second perspectiveis based off the viewer’s opinion. for this paper we will be using the objective definition of the quality programmingby examining the content and ethics of the programming (alberto, cristina, & alfonso, 2015) •values/moralsmany philosophers have concluded morals encompass three human traits reason, passion, and character. according to noddings (2017), “virtues are described as those attributes of character that lead individuals to respond in ways that are labeled “good” or “bad” (pg. 5). for this study, we will be using values and morals interchangeably. •personal hygienehygiene include cleanliness and any habit or practice that humans use to lessen reduce sickness and disease (thivierge, 2014). for the following coding, hygiene will be used to describe practices learned during childhood such as brushing teeth, going to the bathroom, and washing hands. •life lessons for our research life lessons will be coded as the values learned by using scenarios and stories for children to come to a fuller understanding on ethics (cajete, eder, & holyan, 2010). upon analysis of the interviews, further information was needed to fully understand the themes presented in the interviews. thus, episodes from mr. roger’s neighborhood and daniel tiger’s neighborhood were transcribed to cross-reference themes from the interviews and the themes present within pbs kids shows. for the purposes of this study, one episode from each television show was chosen and transcribed (a total of 2 episodes). a brief synopsis of the content within mr. roger’s neighborhood and daniel tiger’s neighborhood is included below. two episodes were chosen at random episode 1614 of mr. roger’s neighborhood, and episode 1 of daniel tiger’s neighborhood. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 11 the two episodes were transcribed verbatim by one of the researchers. a second transcriber, a graduate student, checked the transcripts for accuracy. coding the transcripts were coded for the same themes that were evident in the interviews: quality programming, values/morals, personal hygiene, and life lessons. episode 1614 of mr. roger’s neighborhood includes several topics. ranging from a discussion of hygiene on how to use the bathroom and the importance of understanding the toilet is helpful not harmful. in addition, mr. rogers visits the music shop, and discusses with an employee how parents often think of their children while at work. mr. rogers continues to visit the music shop and listen to natasha, a famous and talented oboist who plays for mr. rogers. in the neighborhood of make-believe, all the events that occurred in the neighborhood also occurred in the neighborhood of make believe to solidify the themes of the episodehygiene, and the importance of discussing feelings with someone you love. in episode 1 of daniel tiger’s neighborhood, it is daniel tiger's birthday and he is excited for his party. daniel, his mom, and his friends go pick out a cake at the bakery, and they bring it home just in time for the party. unfortunately, daniel’s cake has been smashed inside its box. yet the party continues and all sing together a song about finding something positive in disappointing situations. although the content of the episodes varied greatly, each has similar content in discussing positive themes and morals for early childhood education. this informed the examination of various episodes of the pbs programs of mr. rogers neighborhood and daniel tiger’s neighborhood. the relationship of the themes that emerged in the interviews and the themes portrayed by the episodes surfaced. in the following sections, we will discuss the emergent topics. limitations the purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of parents and children regarding character education delivered through modern mediums. while conducting this study, several limitations presented themselves. first, the perceptions are self-reported, and the sample was limited to those who attended the “be my neighbor” event. the event itself was hosted by a pbs affiliate and attendees were most likely consumers of the content being analyzed prior to the start of the study. as such, their views and attitudes toward the shows may contain prior positive bias toward the content being delivered. understanding this does not diminish the findings but using an experimental design in the future may provide the relational impact of the shows. as we continue to investigate how pbs and related programming is implementing character education, we anticipate having to interview and observe more parents and children in a later study. having a more varied sample, would facilitate a deeper understanding of the integration of character education into modern mediums. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 12 findings throughout our research, we have attempted to understand how parents and their children perceive modern forms of character education delivered through multiple mediums. several themes emerged upon data analysis indicating a parental preference in media programing. through interviews and script analysis, parents appear to prefer shows on television or online imbedded with quality programming, values/morals and personal hygiene. the medium preferred is based on choice and accessibility of content, dependent if the family prefers to stream pbs content online or watch on cable television (graham, 2018). as researchers we were not focused on the medium of choice as much as the preference in content. instead, content choice depicted a trend rooted in character education themes. parents voiced the desire to show their children content that they could learn social and emotional lessons from, which can be seen in daniel tiger’s neighborhood and mr. roger’s neighborhood. the findings described below suggest of programming choice, and the incentive of showing children content that benefits the whole child. the predominant themes discussed by guardians included quality programming, values/morals, and personal hygiene. quality programing many parents at be my neighbor day expressed their love for the programming they find on pbs, especially daniel tiger. one parent said, “pbs is trustworthy”, since other kid shows “aren’t like they used to be.” (1:47:53) another parent adds, “i'm a huge pbs fan because it's something i know i can let him watch without the bad influences and all this screaming and yelling like other shows on television anymore but something that is educational we have fun for him to actually watch and pay attention to.” these kinds of responses were common throughout the interviews. with many parents having grown up watching pbs themselves, they knew it was a trusted source to introduce to their own children. parents indicated that they are happy with the fact that the shows teach their children how to deal with their emotions. for example, in the daniel tiger episode daniel tiger gets disappointed because his cake gets ruined. his mother sings to him, “when something seems bad, turn it around, and find something good”, teaching daniel to control his negative feelings. this is a lesson many parents at be my neighbor day reflected on. in one interview the parent states “she is special needs, it helps a lot, it teaches her how to take turns and take a deep breath when she’s mad.” (51:20). a second parent said, “so much, the songs about you know getting over things when you're frustrated, and you know being kind and sharing they don't forget that, it goes a long way.” values/morals values and morals were discussed throughout the interview by multiple parents. sharing was another important lesson that parents felt their children learned through the shows on pbs, including daniel tiger. in one interview, a parent shared “i like that it teaches her about sharing and stuff, because sometimes at home she doesn’t share. but because when she watches it, it journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 13 teaches her how to share and about emotions.” (53:56) in the daniel tiger episode, daniel invites his friends along to go pick up his birthday cake and then shares the cake with his friends at the end of the episode. sharing can help young children build friendships with those they encounter. similarly, patience and dealing with emotions in positive ways another theme that emerged within this vein. one parent stated, “my favorite part about daniel tiger is just the good lessons about sharing and patience and being able to teach you how to interact with other children.” (56:15). another stated that there was “so much the songs about you know getting over things when you're frustrated, and you know being kind and sharing they don't forget that, it goes a long way.” (1:20:30). parents appeared to feel that the shows supported their beliefs and helped their children learn the lessons they wanted them to learn. personal hygiene both parents and children portrayed support for the programming ability to teach children about personal hygiene. one theme that emerged was the parents’ views of how the programming impacted their ability to support the growth of their children. multiple participants displayed not only enthusiasm, but graciousness for the programs ability to teach their children. potty training appeared to be an influential theme for viewers of daniel tiger and mr. rogers, and the delivery of this content was through various mediums, including the television broadcast, youtube streaming, and the amazon app. one mother noted her daughter “started watching daniel tiger and she absolutely loves it! the songs are… i can't even explain how much they've come in handy to help with the little situations. it is actually how we potty-trained her.” (1:08:57) following this comment the daughter proceeds to sing the potty-training song from the daniel tiger show. this is a value that parents even remembered from episodes of mr. rogers. another parent stated, “we are learning potty training and she loves daniel the tiger amazon app with potty training,” (53:56) inferring a connecting bridge between the mediums. in the episode “parents go to work,” mr. rogers states the following: "something else children learn as they grow, is how to urinate and make bowel movements--b.m.s--in the toilet, instead of their diapers.” pbs has attempted to address these issues and it is evident from the interviews that parents/children are receptive to the programming. discussion “all life events are formative. all contribute to what we become, year by year, as we go on growing. as my friend the poet kenneth koch once said, “you aren’t just the age you are. you are all the ages you have ever been!” (rogers, 2003) journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 14 media use, whether through the television, computer, tablet or smartphone, is a part of everyday life where today’s children are exposed to media daily. digital technology has contributed to changes in childhood development, with youth being “the most connected age group” (the state of the world's children 2017: children in a digital world, 2017). in this new era of digital technology, media has contributed to parental behaviors and choice in media for their children (merz, et al, 2015; rasmussen et al, 2016; strasburger, et al, 2014). past research has indicated a relationship between parenting, media, and children’s social emotional learning with television show content acting as a mediator between the parents and children (rasmussen et al., 2016). with this knowledge, we desired to answer the question: how do parents and their children perceive modern forms of character education delivered by through multiple mediums? several themes emerged in our data analysis exhibiting a parental preference in media programing. the interviews conducted at “be my neighbor day” depict the desire for parents/caregivers to raise their children on wholesome programs and shows that include more than a plot or storyline. building off rasmussen’s (2016) information from prior research conducted on daniel tiger’s neighborhood, it is understandable why parents desire more quality content if televisions shows are acting as a mediator for children’s social emotional development. for example, messages depicted in pbs shows are helping parents teach their children about complex topics, such as how they emotional intelligence, what they value, and a sense of morals. this assistance, in turn, enables parents to have foundation building conversations with their children that help them thrive. presenting character-based lessons through various media helps to foster a healthy and supportive parental/child relationship. according to the data, the content from pbs is valued because of its quality programming, their focus on values/morals, and the teaching of personal hygiene. parents believe their children are growing and learning when watching and interacting with the pbs programming in ways unavailable to them through other media outlets. further, the children’s ability to articulate the lessons learned on the shows and messages discussed by the characters provides anecdotal evidences of the programming positive influence. the research detailed above shows the benefits of each theme independently and explains the desire to use values/morals, personal hygiene, and life lessons in a children’s programing. according to the data, parents appreciated using pbs as a developmental support in raising their children, but also enjoyed the familiarity of the programming from their own childhood. according to the interview transcripts, roughly 75% of 132 interviewed participants reported watching mr. rogers as a child. the participants voiced their excitement in seeing something similar to a childhood icon with the airing of daniel tiger. further, the parents had a nostalgically induced sense of trust with the new programming as it harkened back to the same themes and characteristics they learned from as children. this sense of trust allowed the parents to quickly embrace the programing to voice what they like about pbs. for pbs, it provides insights into what parents like to see in the programming and the content their children are exposed too. going forward, more research is needed to fully understand the implications of these foundational themes of character and quality programing. within future research, there is journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 15 opportunity for advanced study within the demographics of viewers, and understanding how the emerging themes apparent in this study may change or shift dependent on demographic variables. yet one thing is certain, parents and children alike are looking to visit their favorite neighbor again. lessons presented on pbs are valuable for parents and children alike, as it fosters important content for character and moral educationsomething that is easily available and accessible to all people. parents and children desire quality programing that promotes values and lessons for all. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 16 references alberto, b., cristina, e., & alfonso, s. (2015). political orientation and perceived quality of television channels. journal of service theory and practice, (6), 813. doi:10.1108/jstp-092014-0217 alexander, a., & hanson, j. (2013). taking sides: clashing views on controversial issues in mass media and society. new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. anderson, d. r. (1998). children and television: educational television is not an oxymoron. social science, the annals of the american academy of political and, social science, 557, 24. anderson, m. & caumont, a. (2014). how social media is reshaping news. pew research center. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/24/how-social-media-is-reshapingnews/ american academy of pediatrics. (1999). media education. pediatrics, (104), 341–343. american academy of pediatrics. (2013). policy statement on children, adolescents, and the media. pediatrics, (132), 957–961. austin, e. w., bolls, p., fujioka, y., & engelbertson, j. (1999). how and why parents take on the tube. journal of broadcasting & electronic media, (2). baer, r. a. (2003). mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: a conceptual and empirical review. clinical psychology, 10, 125-143. beauchamp, g. & hillier, e. (2014). an evaluation of ipad implementation across a network of primary schools in cardiff. school of education-cardiff metropolitan university. available at: https://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/education/research/documents/ipadimplementation2014.pdf benninga, j. s., & tracz, s. m. (2010). continuity and discontinuity in character education. in t. lovat, r. toomey, n. clement, t. lovat, r. toomey, n. clement (eds.), international research handbook on values education and student wellbeing (pp. 521-548). new york, ny, us: springer science + business media. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-8675-4_30 blair, r., millard, d., & woollard, j. (2017). perceptions of school children of using social media for learning. international journal on e-learning, 16(2), 105-127 brensilver, m. (2016, november 30). integrating mindfulness & social-emotional learning programs. retrieved from http://www.mindfulschools.org/foundational-concepts/integratingmindfulness-social-emotional-learning-programs/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/24/how-social-media-is-reshaping-news/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/24/how-social-media-is-reshaping-news/ journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 17 buchanan, r., gueldner, b. a., tran, o. k., & merrell, k. w. (2009). social and emotional learning in classrooms: a survey of teachers' knowledge, perceptions, and practices. journal of applied school psychology, 25(2), 187-203.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15377900802487078 cajete, g., eder, d., & holyan, r. (2010). life lessons through storytelling: children's exploration of ethics. bloomington: indiana university press. calvert, s. l., & kotler, j. a. (2003). lessons from children’s television: the impact of the children’s television act on children’s learning. journal of applied developmental psychology, 24(3), 275–335. carter, a. s., briggs-gowan, m. j., & davis, n. o. (2004). assessment of young children's socialemotional development and psychopathology: recent advances and recommendations for practice. journal of child psychology and psychiatry, (1), 109. center on the developing child at harvard university (2016). from best practices to breakthrough impacts: a science-based approach to building a more promising future for young children and families. retrieved from www.developingchild.harvard.edu. cohen, m., hadley, m., & marcial, c. (2016). the role of research and evaluation in ready to learn transmedia development. journal of children and media, 10(2), 248-256. cole, c. f. ., lee, j. h. ., bucuvalas, a., & sırali, y. (2018). seven essential elements for creating effective children’s media to promote peacebuilding: lessons from international coproductions of sesame street and other children’s media programs. new directions for child & adolescent development, 2018(159), 55–69. common sense media (2017). character is common sense: a report on an initiative linking media, kids and character strengths. available at https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/pdfs/2017_characterresear ch_final.pdf congressman tim ryan introduces the academic, social and emotional learning act. (n.d.). retrieved from https://timryan.house.gov/press-release/congressman-tim-ryan-introducesacademic-social-and-emotional-learning-act-0 corporation for public broadcasting. (2018). ready to learn. retrieved from https://www.cpb.org/ready-to-learn correa, t., hinsley, a. w., & de zúñiga, h. g. (2010). who interacts on the web?: the intersection of users’ personality and social media use. computers in human behavior, 26247-253. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 18 denham, s. a., & brown, c. (2010). 'plays nice with others': social-emotional learning and academic success. early education and development, 21(5), 652-680. doi:10.1080/10409289.2010.497450 dewey, j. (1966/1916). democracy and education: an introduction to the philosophy of education. new york, ny: macmillan. dotson, w. h., rasmussen, e. e., shafer, a., colwell, m., densley, r. l., brewer, a. t., … martinez, l. a. (2017). evaluating the ability of the pbs children’s show daniel tiger’s neighborhood to teach skills to two young children with autism spectrum disorder. behavior analysis in practice, 10(1), 67–71. draganski, b., gaser, c., busch, v., schuierer, g., bogdahn, u., & may, a. (2004). neuroplasticity: changes in grey matter induced by training. nature, 2004427(6972), 311312. duggan, m. (2015). demographics of key social networking platforms. pew research center internet science tech rss. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/demographics-of-keysocial-networking-platforms-2/ elias, m. j. (2004). strategies to infuse social and emotional learning into academics. in j. e. zins, r. w. weissberg, m. c. wang, & h. j. walberg (eds.), building academic success on social and emotional learning: what does the research say? (pp. 113–134). new york: teachers college press. federal communications commission. (1991). policies and rules concerning children's television programming. federal communications commission record, 6, p. 2111-2127. fisch, s. m. (2000). a capacity model of children's comprehension of educational content on television. media psychology, 2, 63–91. fischer, z. n. (2011). mindfulness for everyone. in b. boyce, b. boyce (eds.) , the mindfulness revolution: leading psychologists, scientists, artists, and meditation teachers on the power of mindfulness in daily life (pp. 49-56). boston, ma, us: shambhala publications. garvey, d. (2017). nurturing personal, social and emotional development in early childhood. jessica kingsley. graber, d. a. (2002). mass media and american politics. washington, d.c.: cq press, c2002. graham, j. . why isn't pbs included in the cable alternatives? retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2018/04/15/why-isnt-pbs-included-cablealternatives/469817002/ journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 19 hale, b. the history of social media: social networking evolution! retrieved from http://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-social-media/ holt, r. l., & mikati, m. a. (n.d). care for child development: basic science rationale and effects of interventions. pediatric neurology, 44(4), 239-253. jacobs, d. t., & jacobs-spencer, j. (2001). teaching virtues: building character across the curriculum. lanham, md: scarecrow press. johnson, p., steven, d., lovitts, b. e., lowenstein, d., & rodriguez, j. (2016). leveraging transmedia content to reach and support underserved children. journal of children and media, 10(2), 267-275. doi:10.1080/17482798.2016.1140490 joseph a., d., allison b., d., rebecca d., t., roger p., w., & kriston b., s. (2011). the impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: a meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. child development, (1), 405. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x kenna, j.l & russell, w. (2015). how did we get here? common core and the history of standards in social studies education. in t. turner, j. clabough, & w. coles (eds). getting at the core of common core standards with social studies (5-24). charlotte, nc: information age publishing.* kenna, j. & russell, w. (2018). the cultural and history of standards-based educational reform and social studies in america. journal of culture and values in education, 1(1), 26-49. kimmerle, j., moskaliuk, j., oeberst, a., & cress, u. (2015). learning and collective knowledge construction with social media: a process-oriented perspective. educational psychologist, 50(2). kunkel, d. (1991). crafting media policy: the genesis and implications of the children’s television act of 1990. american behavioral scientist, (2), 181. kwok, k., ghrear, s., li, v., haddock, t., coleman, p., & birch, s. a. j. (2016). children can learn new facts equally well from interactive media versus face to face instruction. frontiers in psychology, 7, 1603. lenhart, a., purcell, k., smith, a., & zickuhr, k., (2010). social media & mobile internet use among teens and young adults. millennials. pew internet & american life project. lewinsohn, p.m., hops, h., roberts, r.e., seeley, j.r., & andrews, j.a. (1993). prevalence and incidence of depression and other dsm-iii-r disorders in high school students. journal of abnormal psychology 102, 133-144. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 20 mares, m.-l., & pan, z. (2013). effects of sesame street: a meta-analysis of children’s learning in 15 countries. journal of applied developmental psychology, (3), 140. merikangas, k., he, j., burstein, m., swanson, s., avenevoli, s., cui, l., & swendsen, j. (2010). lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in u.s. adolescents: results from the national comorbidity survey replication--adolescent supplement (ncs-a). journal of the american academy of child & adolescent psychiatry, 49(10), 980-989. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2010.05.017 merz, e. c., zucker, t. a., landry, s. h., williams, j. m., assel, m., taylor, h. b., (2015). parenting predictors of cognitive skills and emotion knowledge in socioeconomically disadvantaged preschoolers. journal of experimental child psychology, 132, 14–31. middlemiss, w., puzzo, i., smaragdi, a., gonzalez, k., martin-key, n., & fairchild, g. (2016). neurobiological, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological studies of children and adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders. family relations, (1), 134. doi:10.1111/fare.12182 mission. (n.d.). retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/mission-statement/ noddings, n., & brooks, l. (2017). teaching controversial issues: the case for critical thinking and moral commitment in the classroom. new york: teachers college press. o'keeffe, g. s., & clarke-pearson, k. (2011). the impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families. pediatrics, 127(4), 800-804 pasnik, s., llorente, c., education development center, i., & sri, i. (2012). study of preschool parents and caregivers use of technology and pbs kids transmedia resources: a report to the cpb-pbs "ready to learn initiative". patton, m. (2002). qualitative research and evaluation methods. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. pepper, s. p. (2015). digital decisions: educators, caregivers and parents must be well informed when making decisions about children's use of technology and media. forum on public policy online, 2015(2). qualman, e. (2011). socialnomics: how social media transforms the way we live and do business. hoboken, n.j. rasmussen, e. e., shafer, a., colwell, m. j., white, s., punyanunt-carter, n., densley, r. l., & wright, h. (2016). relation between active mediation, exposure to daniel tiger’s neighborhood, and us preschoolers’ social and emotional development. journal of children & media, 10(4), 443. journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 21 remer, j., croteau-chonka, e., dean, d., d'arpino, s., dirks, h., whiley, d., & deoni, s. (2017). quantifying cortical development in typically developing toddlers and young children, 1-6 years of age. neuroimage. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.04.010 rideout v. j., vandewater e. a., & wartella e.a. (2003). zero to six, electronic media in the lives of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. menlo park, ca: henry j. kaiser family foundation. roberts, j. d., chung, g. k., & parks, c. b. (2016). supporting children’s progress through the pbs kids learning analytics platform. journal of children and media, 10(2), 257-266. doi:10.1080/17482798.2016.1140489 rogers, f. (2003). the world according to mr. rogers. new york, ny: mjf books. russell, w. & waters, s. (2010a). cinematic citizenship: developing citizens of character with film. action in teacher education, 32(2), 12-23. russell, w. & waters, s. (2010b). reel character education: a cinematic approach to character development. charlotte, nc: information age publishing. russell, w. & waters, s. (2013). reel character education around the world: character development for global citizenship with film. childhood education, 89(5), 303-309. russell, w. & waters, s. (2014). developing character in middle school students: a cinematic approach. the clearing house: a journal of educational strategies, issues, and ideas, 87(4), 161-167. russell, w., waters, s., & turner, t. (2018). essentials of elementary social studies 5th edition. new york, ny: routledge. shonkoff, j.p. (2017). rethinking the definition of evidence-based interventions to promote early childhood development. pediatrics, 140(6), e20173136. social media. (n.d.). retrieved from https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/social%20media strasburger, v. c., wilson, b. j., & jordan, a. b. (2014). children, adolescents and the media. (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. tantillo philibert, c. (2016). everyday sel in middle school: integrating social-emotional learning and mindfulness into your classroom. new york : routledge, 2016. the state of the world's children 2017: children in a digital world. (2017, december 06). retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/publications/index_101992.html journal of culture and values in education volume 1 issue 2, 2018 evans, k., et al. won’t you be my neighbor? a study of familial perceptions of character education in pbs media programming in the united states? 22 thivierge, b. m. (2014). hygiene. salem press encyclopedia of health. truglio, r. t. ., stefano, a. z., & sanders, j. s. (2014). sesame street puts self-regulation skills at the core of school readiness. zero to three, 35(2), 24–31. turkle, s. (2011). alone together. new york, ny: basic books. ungvarsky, j. (2016). character education. salem press encyclopedia, van bokhoven, i., matthys, w., van goozen, s., & van engeland, h. (2005). prediction of adolescent outcome in children with disruptive behaviour disorders: a study of neurobiological, psychological and family factors. european child & adolescent psychiatry, 14(3), 153-163. waters, s. & russell, w. (2012). character, moral, and values education: the foundation of effective citizenship. in w. russell’s (ed.), contemporary social studies: an essential reader (97-116). charlotte, nc: information age publishing. waters, s. & russell, w. (2014). preservice secondary teachers sense of efficacy in character education. the journal of education, 194(2), 45-54. what is character education? (n.d.). published by character.org. retrieved from http://character.org/key-topics/what-is-character-education/ what is sel? (n.d.). retrieved from http://www.casel.org/what-is-sel/ wooldridge m. b. (2016). an ecology of technology?: infants, toddlers, and mobile screen devices. vancouver, bc: the university of british columbia. yigit, m , tarman, b . (2013). the place and importance of values education in 4.th and 5th. grade primary school social studies textbooks, journal of social studies education research, 4 (2), 79-102. retrieved from http://dergipark.gov.tr/jsser/issue/19101/202712 1 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices daniel morales morales1, carie ruggiano1, cee carter1, kimberly j. pfeifer1, and keisha l. green1* 1the university of massachusetts amherst *corresponding author: klgreen@umass.edu received : 2019-nov-02 accepted : 2020-jun-01 doi: 10.46303/jcve.03.01.1 how to cite this paper: morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l. (2020). disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices. journal of culture and values in education, 3(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.1 abstract the main purpose of this paper is to respond to the call to re-envision higher education and to share experiences of hope that provide concrete examples about possibilities of enacting liberatory education in higher education. this article focuses on the work of one junior faculty member and four doctoral students who participate in a critical inquiry group and research collective called the critical education research collective. as social justice educators, in this shared space we engage in meaningful teaching and inquiry practices that involve teaching and research methodologies, education theory, dialogue, reflection and praxis. while research has highlighted the ways in which inquiry groups can be used as an intentional and systematic examination into teaching practice, this essay describes the structure, functioning, theoretical standpoints, and the process of becoming a doctoral student and professor-led critical inquiry group. the group came together as a way to sustain the work and research development of both the doctoral students and the junior faculty in the collective. keywords: critical pedagogy, research collective, teacher education, culturally sustaining pedagogy https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.46303/jcve.03.01.1 2 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org introduction in teaching community: a pedagogy of hope, bell hooks (2003) asked, “are educational institutions ready to teach us something new? are students ready to learn something new?” (p. 2). she is not asking about new teaching techniques, or strategies for tackling standardized testing; hooks is likely questioning if educational institutions are ready to teach students the tools that will break systems of oppression. she is interrogating institutions, and reminding them of their duty to allow people to become fully human. in an effort to respond to this question, and in an attempt to challenge the way teaching and research is done, this essay describes the organization, functioning, and theoretical standpoints of the critical education research collective (cerc). the cerc is a critical inquiry group that seeks to disrupt and transform traditional, normative practices in an english methods course offered at a higher education teacher preparation program while also disrupting the traditional ways in which doctoral students are advised to conduct research at a top tier research institution. the cerc is composed of one junior faculty member and four doctoral students from across departments and disciplines with shared research interests and experiences focused on cultivating critical pedagogy in the teacher education classroom. the collective originally began as a research seminar, critical english education research collective (ceerc), for doctoral students interested in thinking, reading, and conducting research about social justice, equity, and access in the context of english language arts (teacher) education. we examined scholarship related to critical english education and worked with dr. green, a pretenured faculty member, to write an irb and design a research study involving our preservice english language arts (ela) teacher candidates. after the first year of working closely on this research project we decided to formalize our work and became recognized as a formal collective by the graduate student senate. this transition included our original aim to focus on the context of ela teacher preparation and was further expanded to explore and examine critical approaches to education more broadly, thus resulting in the change in our name to cerc. this paper will focus on how we enacted collaborative approaches specific to the ela strand of our research interests. our practice is aimed at how we, as a pre-tenured faculty member and doctoral students reflect on our work and nurture socially just kindergarten-12th grade (k-12) classroom practices frequently centered in teacher education literature pertaining to learning in urban contexts (duncan-andrade, 2004; duncan-andrade & morrell, 2008; emdin, 2016; matias, 2013a, 2016; picower, 2012). additionally, we grapple with how this important work -and obstacles to its practice -should be equally considered and implemented in rural and suburban school communities. regarding our interest in social justice education within the context of the english language arts classroom, we seek to attend to sociocultural issues and inequities related to race, ethnicity, language, class, gender, ability, and sexuality. within this context, our goal is to enact pedagogies that cultivate critical, multi-literacy skills aimed toward helping students both change their material circumstances and act as change agents within the broader contexts of their communities and society. because some members of our collective are situated within the https://cultureandvalues.org/ 3 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org teacher education program and others within the social justice program, our work is uniquely positioned at the intersection of higher education and k-12. these areas of research align in important ways to address the varying needs of our teacher candidates who are preparing to teach in different contexts (i.e., urban, suburban, and rural). in all of these contexts, they face similar challenges, such as tailoring curriculum to student interests and facilitating classroom situations that require encounters and learning across lines of social difference including race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, ability, and language. the convergence of our research interests and areas of expertise within the cerc afford us the opportunity to contribute ideas, approaches, and knowledge that address these challenges of teaching for social justice in varying and nuanced ways. zadja, majhanovich, and rust (2006) claim that social justice is “based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being (p. 1). social justice education and teaching provides the distinct advantage of addressing educational and social disparity through equity driven approaches in and out schools. as a collective, we are learning how to address the diversity of our teacher candidates’ teaching contexts so that our discussions of socially just classroom practices readily address secondary student learning needs, experiences, and interests. however, we also face challenges given the larger context of education in us public schools and higher education institutions. for example, within teacher education, obstacles to teaching for social justice include: a state-mandated focus on the standardization of content knowledge and the performance of skills; challenges to ethnic studies curricular content that prioritizes the raising of critical consciousness through centering the lives of black, indigenous and people of color (bipoc); access to intersectional and collaborative relationships between faculty, students, and pre-service teachers; and limits of academic support in higher education that occur as the result of siloed and individualistic practices practices that can often act as a barrier to supportive and interdisciplinary approaches. these challenges remind us that schools are sites of social, cultural, and economic reproduction, and teachers play a pivotal role in aiding or disrupting this process. the reproductive aspects of schooling are particularly harmful because they work to reify hegemonic epistemologies and ontologies in educational spaces which then make invisible and silence already marginalized voices both in the classroom and on syllabi (cook-sather, 2002). to disrupt this process, it is important to look at the ways in which teacher training and professional development in both higher education and k-12 settings is constructed. the content and methodologies of such training varies but in some cases teachers are trained to teach to the test and therefore do not support students in developing the skills needed for higher education and civic engagement (darling-hammond, 2010; mirra & garcia 2017). two of our goals as a critical inquiry group are to explore what happens when educators come together through an equity-based model of teacher-researcher training and to explore what impact this model has on our classrooms and our practice as education researchers. in this essay, we describe how the cerc meetings were structured in an effort to develop and engage participants in social justice teaching and humanizing research. moreover, we provide insights into participants in a teacher-researcher led inquiry group https://cultureandvalues.org/ 4 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org and how this group begins to shift the conversation about teacher-researchers beyond the binary of effective and ineffective to a more nuanced understanding of our practice as always in a process. this echoes nieto’s (2003) notion of teacher development where she claims, “excellent teachers do not emerge full blown at graduation; nor are they just ‘born teachers.’ instead, teachers are always in the process of ‘becoming’” (p. 395). in the following section, we share more about the creation of our collective and we introduce our members. we describe our experiences in education, the reasons we joined the cerc, and our research interests. the connections among and between us constitute our collective, inform our work, and transform the ways in which we are becoming teacher-researchers. the cerc as a social justice academic space the cerc was created, housed, and operated in the college of education. all cerc members are social justice educators who, prior to our doctoral work, were either earlycareer or veteran educators. we were invited by a junior faculty member to be part of a research group that would study teacher education. this group would also help each member navigate and refine our respective research journeys. our past teaching and research experiences informed our desire and need to continue working with like-minded colleagues who are able and willing to support one another’s political and social justiceoriented pedagogy development as teacher-researchers. the cerc provided a space to connect our growing research interests with classroom practices, which deepened the group’s understanding and conceptualization of social justice practices and created a collective space for critical discourse and reflection. each cerc meeting regularly included three parts: 1) individual personal and academic trajectories check-ins, 2) theoretical and/or pedagogical readings and discussions, and 3) curriculum or theoretical discussions. these three parts were geared towards having group members engage in reflection, theory, and practice, and through this process, aimed to welcome our individual humanity, hold members accountable in nurturing and supportive ways, and invite materials and concepts from a variety of theoretical perspectives. ultimately, this process and approach translated into the creation of a safe space for asking questions and grappling with new ideas; it also acted as a counter space that mitigated the overwhelming presence of whiteness experienced in many of our more traditional graduate courses. positionality of the authors because “the biographical journeys of researchers greatly influence their values, their research questions, and the knowledge they construct” (banks, 1998, p. 4), we consider our journeys and varying positionalities as always in direct relation to our work and our process of becoming teachers and researchers. we deeply value the individual knowledge and experiences that each cerc member possesses and work intentionally to incorporate them as essential building blocks into our individual and collective endeavors and frames of understanding. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 5 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org cee carter cee’s current research informs teacher practice using participatory research methods that highlight student feedback and experiences in schools. cee’s work is also shaped by her former experiences in public schools as a math teacher and as a professional in non-profit education reform. these experiences exposed the racial, economic and gendered processes that impact education for young people of color in urban settings. therefore, in her work, she applies the critical lenses of radical black feminism and racial capitalism to highlight how power structures operate, persist, and position student learning and experiences in public schools. cee joined the cerc as a first year doctoral student to build and learn from a community of critical education scholars as well as learn about the research process from a critical, decolonizing perspective. dr. keisha l. green keisha is interested in critical teacher education, youth literacy practices, and humanizing qualitative research. as an assistant professor working with secondary english language arts preand in-service teachers, she is collaboratively building a communityengaged and field-based teacher preparation experience. her scholarship and teaching in the areas of critical literacy, critical pedagogy, and youth literacy practices demonstrate her commitment to working for equity and racial justice in education. in particular, keisha’s research centers youth voice, identity, and multiliterate lives of young people of color, as well as documents white pre-service teachers’ perception of themselves in relation to their culturally and linguistically diverse students and about how these same teachers incorporate principles of social justice and culturally sustaining pedagogies into their curricular content and instructional practices. broadly, keisha is interested in creating more opportunities to support preand in-service teachers through university-school-community partnerships. starting the cerc was an attempt to work collaboratively with doctoral students engaged in similar work as a way to demystify the academy and democratize knowledge production. daniel morales morales daniel grew up and attended school in a rural, working-class community in chile under dictatorship. he completed his vocational schooling in a neighboring city with the goal of having a job that would pay more than his mom’s occupation as a maid. college was not an option until his family realized that a college degree was needed to have a stable income. after quitting a business program, daniel decided to pursue a teaching degree. although he never worked as a teacher at a public school, daniel had the opportunity to study a semester in the u.s., and then pursued his master’s degree and doctoral studies in maryland and massachusetts, respectively. daniel’s interest in teacher training comes from his work with low-income and first-generation college-bound students. he joined the cerc to continue learning about critical literacies and methodologies and to organize and study with likeminded folks. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 6 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org dr. kimberly j. pfeifer kimberly’s current research includes working with preservice teachers and developing curricula centered on disrupting gender inequities in educational spaces. through this work, she examines the intersecting roles of gender, race, class, and age in order to better understand enactments and experiences of educational sexism. before pursuing a ph.d. focused on gender equity, kimberly was a middle and high school ela teacher of emerging bilingual and multilingual students. her pedagogical practice is rooted in culturally responsive and sustaining teaching, critical literacies, and interdisciplinary curriculum design. as a member of the cerc, kimberly has been able to meaningfully integrate her experiences as a k-12 educator and interest in teacher education, alongside the cultivation of a deepened understanding of critical pedagogy. carie ruggiano carie’s current research is focused on understanding and improving the schooling experiences for youth of color and their families in predominantly white, rural settings through critical and culturally sustaining approaches to teaching and learning. this interest is rooted in more than two decades of experience as a middle and high school english language arts teacher and is deeply inspired and driven by the experiences of her own children, who navigate predominantly white schooling and community spaces as young men of color on a daily basis. carie came to teaching with an orientation grounded in social justice approaches. this orientation would guide her praxis in k-12 classrooms and schools, and, now, informs her work with the preservice teachers whom she supervises and mentors in their development toward critical and culturally sustaining teaching. carie is dedicated to efforts to recruiting, preparing, and supporting teachers committed to transformative and liberatory approaches, especially in the english classroom. her membership in the cerc has allowed for deepened understanding among a community of fellow critical scholars who support the consideration and implications of applying this important work in rural contexts. the cerc as a collective critical inquiry group there are various types of collaborative groups that engage in teacher inquiry—e.g., teacher research communities, study practice groups, professional development schools, inquiry groups, and critical inquiry groups (cochran-smith & lytle, 1993, 2009). a critical inquiry group involves a collective of educators who “work to powerfully address the needs of their students while they engage in their own professional growth” (duncan-andrade, 2004, p. 340). similarly, cochran-smith and lytle (2009) use the term “practitioner inquiry” and claim that practitioner research is “a valuable mode of critique of the inequities in schools and society and of knowledge hierarchies within as well as beyond the local context” (p. ix). just as teaching is both a social and political endeavor (aronowitz & giroux, 1993; giroux 1988; paris & alim, 2017), a critical inquiry group as a model for teacher/researcher development can begin to challenge hegemony and hierarchies of power at school sites and universities (andrews et al., 2017; cochran-smith & lytle, 1999; duncan-andrade, 2005; picower, 2007). https://cultureandvalues.org/ 7 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org a critical inquiry group is an ongoing effort to learn, collaborate, and explore different ways to implement critical pedagogy. it is also a space to contemplate theory and locate theoretical implications that can be used in the transformation of classroom practices. challenging hegemony is at the foundation of an inquiry approach (cochran-smith & lytle, 1999; duncan-andrade, 2005; picower, 2007) because it “involves making problematic the current arrangements of schooling; the ways knowledge is constructed, evaluated and used, and teachers’ individual and collective roles in bringing about change” (cochran-smith & lytle, 1999, p. 18). duncan-andrade (2004) observes that the critical in critical inquiry group draws from the scholarship of paulo freire which includes critical “dialogue, reflection, and praxis” (p. 341). within this practice, learning and teaching can begin to take freirian attributes of respect and mutual dialogue where people are humanized and knowledge production is encouraged. critical inquiry groups are also humanizing spaces where knowledge production is encouraged, making respect and mutual dialogue central attributes for such groups. in their discussion of critical inquiry groups, nieto and colleagues (2002) emphasize that its humanizing aspects support the work of educators. we conceptualize our work within this collective critical inquiry group as both disruptive and sustaining. given that the cerc is situated within the broader institution of formal education and housed within a college of education at a large, flagship university, its disruptive potential is located at the intersections of its purpose, structure and related activities, and practices. first, its purpose is to disrupt traditional approaches to teacher education and researcher training to center social justice. next, the structure and activities that we participate in diverge from what is typically considered the norm in formal (higher) education, norms which often follow a professor-student model of teaching, learning, and mentorship. through the cerc, dr. green invited and nurtured doctoral students’ individual and collective knowledge(s), expertise, and varied, but intersecting, fields of research. her mentorship was not limited to the space of the cerc; it also extended into the english methods course, where she gave us opportunities to shape the graduate education classroom. in this way, our teaching and learning activities were both altered and transformed, illuminating the implications of developing and sharing critical knowledge(s) in formal educational spaces. as a critical inquiry group of teachers and educational researchers, we inhabit a space of becoming as we draw on each other’s experiences and knowledge to strengthen our individual and collective work. through the cerc, we have not only been apprenticed into the field of educational research, but we have also challenged and critiqued traditional approaches to teaching and research within this field. the opportunity to challenge and critique traditional approaches, has transformed our individual and collective practice by encouraging us to notice and interrupt the ways in which we might be complicit with practices that decenter humanization for the sake of university priorities. therefore, we regularly prioritize engaging with theory to inform our thinking, and practice of research and teaching. in the following section, we share about the theories that have informed our thinking and transformed our work. our work in undergraduate and graduate education studies classrooms and the cerc is nested in a larger conversation about socially just practices for k-12 classrooms. thus, the theories we discuss inform how we introduce https://cultureandvalues.org/ 8 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org socially just content and practices to english teacher-candidates. we also describe how the theories we draw on inform our work with each other as teacher-researchers in the college of education. theoretical standpoints the following theoretical standpoints guide our work as educators, researchers, and cerc members. they also illuminate how educators (re)build inclusive classroom spaces that center the experiences of low-income and working-class students of color in k-12 classrooms. because our work and interests are positioned at the intersection of k-12 and higher education, we imagine that the approaches that we take to conducting research in the space of a critical inquiry group and the implications of what it means to enact critical, culturally sustaining, and decolonizing pedagogies as being equally important and translatable to both contexts. in the context of these reimagined spaces, educators work to unveil societal oppression, provide space for dialogue, empower and demonstrate care for marginalized youth, and engage in political development. teaching for social justice social justice education (sje) extends as far back as the era of enslavement with selfeducation and literacy movements among african americans, the common school movement of the 1830s, and 20th century thinkers such as dewey, dubois, and woodson (spring, 2013). however, sje was recognized and formalized in schools of education in the 1990s. today, sje is found in university courses and programs, k-12 teaching, curriculum and program design (adams et al., 2007). teaching for social justice is a pedagogical approach in and out of the classroom that works to address systemic inequity (e.g., related to race, ethnicity, language, gender, sexuality, ability, and social class.) through academic and critical literacy, towards social action (duncan-andrade & morrell, 2008; picower, 2012). social justice teaching is an umbrella term that encompasses various theories and pedagogies such as critical pedagogy, critical race, culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies, decolonizing pedagogies, ethnic studies, feminist, and social justice pedagogy (adams, 2007; chapman & hobbel, 2010; picower, 2012). social justice teaching provides an academically rigorous curriculum that examines oppression and empowers marginalized students, tends to individual students in a nurturing and caring manner and extends learning beyond the classroom (duncan-andrade & morrell, 2008; picower, 2012). educators’ capacity and willingness to enact teaching for social justice has historically been impacted by a political climate that dismisses equity-based pedagogies. moreover, social justice educators are often forced to either teach in a state of fear, compromise their social justice beliefs, or leave the classroom entirely (lipman, 2009; mcneil, 2009; sleeter, 2012). for educators working towards social justice, it is important to engage students in an analysis of social injustices, provide spaces for reflection and dialogue, and support their development of critical consciousness in order to recognize their humanity and collaborate towards our collective liberation and social transformation (matias, 2013b). https://cultureandvalues.org/ 9 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org critical pedagogy critical theory of education was born out of the need to understand how hegemony, masked in education policy, curriculum, and assessments, marginalizes and/or silences students, especially those from working-class backgrounds (duncan-andrade & morrell, 2008; freire, 1970). critical pedagogy originated from critical theory as a tangible, on-theground method of undermining oppressive schooling structures. freire’s (1970) concept of critical refers to a problem-posing, self-reflective, and dialogic pedagogy that aims to transform oppressive systems. freire also argued that praxis, or “reflection and action directed at structures to be transformed” (p. 51), can lead both oppressors and the oppressed to develop a critical consciousness (or conscientization) about the self, others, and the world. through this (new) naming of the world, those whose voices have been historically silenced (i.e., the oppressed) can subvert stories and realities that are socially constructed (by the oppressors) and often deficit-based (dejong & love, 2015). central to understanding critical pedagogy is the idea that there is a need for education to challenge social domination while developing critical literacy skills (freire, 1970; freire & macedo, 1987). this critical theory of education centers the importance of understanding how hegemony marginalizes students, especially those from working-class backgrounds (freire, 1970; duncan-andrade & morrell, 2008) broadly, enactments of critical pedagogy create and invite space to cultivate the skills for educators and students to engage in the multi-faceted nature of social justice education. as such, these concepts are deeply interconnected and always in relationship to each other. foundational characteristics of critical pedagogy include: working towards social justice in and out of school spaces; creating democratic and healing spaces in education; developing conscientization; deconstructing power, privilege and positivistic notions of knowledge; and engaging teachers and students in a praxis of theory and practice (akom et al., 2008; duncan-andrade & morrell, 2008; darder et al., 2009). critical pedagogy is used to name and examine the ways in which state and institutional structures act as mechanisms of cultural and economic reproduction. through an understanding of how power maintains itself, we can see that transforming educational institutions as necessary if we are to impact all aspects of society to one which is grounded in equity, love, and healing (battiste, 2004). culturally sustaining pedagogies in her highly influential work, gloria ladson-billings (1995) proposed a culturally relevant pedagogy (crp), aimed at the reformation of teacher education, specifically with regard to educating teachers for successful teaching with african american students. such an approach emphasizes teacher praxis and the co-construction of learning communities and environments that both understand and draw on students’ unique personal and cultural strengths. ladson-billings (1995) proposed three goals on which crp practices were grounded. first, teaching must yield academic success. second, teaching must help students develop positive ethnic and cultural identities while simultaneously helping them achieve academically. third, teaching must support students’ ability “to recognize, understand, and critique current and social inequalities” (p. 476). https://cultureandvalues.org/ 10 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org paris (2012) extended ladson-billings’ work further in his conception of culturally sustaining pedagogy (csp), which seeks “to perpetuate and foster—to sustain—linguistic, literate and cultural pluralisms as part of the democratic process of schooling” (p. 95). doing so demands that teachers must commit to the development of knowledge(s) beyond their own, while simultaneously engaging in a practice of critical self-reflection characteristics which are centered in notions of critical and csp. important aspects of the ideological departure from crp include, 1) an explicit focus on the plural and the evolving nature of youth cultural activity, and 2) a commitment to youth culture as holding counterhegemonic potential, though always in need of critical introspection (paris & alim, 2017). decolonizing pedagogies as a response to the logics of imperialism and settler colonialism, decolonizing pedagogies refers to approaches and practices educators and researchers might use to refuse or disrupt complicity in viewing each other, the land and knowledge as property (smith, 2012). in decolonizing educational research (2016), leigh patel argues that this way of viewing each other, the land and knowledge has had “material effects for learning, learners, and research” (p. 71), which can be seen in the traditional ways we practice education and educational research. patel especially pays attention to how black, indigenous, latinx, and asian students are heavily subject to educational intervention based on regular comparison to white students’ achievement scores. tuck (2009) argues that we might suspend the ways in which we rely on documenting narratives of damage and pain in our research, and instead opt to place a “moratorium on damage-centered research” to accomplish three goals: revisioning theories of change, establish tribal and community human research ethics guidelines, and create mutually beneficial roles for academic researchers in community research (pp. 423-424). however, tuck and yang (2012) warn that decolonization is not a metaphor as seen in intentions to decolonize our classrooms. for tuck and yang, decolonization as a metaphor weakens the aim of the concept of decolonization by rewriting settler innocence, or the sense that if we just do decolonization, then we don’t have to radically alter the structures that have created the settler state in which we live. additionally, tuck and yang (2012) describe decolonization as an “elsewhere” and a concept that unsettles us and “offers a different perspective to human and civil rights based approaches to justice” (p. 36). since decolonization is not a metaphor, decolonizing pedagogies can only refer to the ways in which educators and researchers are attempting to acknowledge and draw attention to how the logics of settler colonialism continue to situate land, knowledge and people as property to be owned. further, tuck and yang (2014) argue that researchers might opt for refusal in research, or attempting “to place limits on conquest and the colonization of knowledge by marking what is off limits, which is not up for grabs or discussion, which is sacred and what can’t be known” (p. 225). refusal then becomes a way of pausing to acknowledge how settler colonialism impacts our work and a way of being intentional about how to participate and situate our research (tuck & yang, 2014; patel, 2016). in sum, decolonizing pedagogy is in conversation with a history of imperialism, settler colonialism and how these realities have shaped and situated land, people and knowledge. it https://cultureandvalues.org/ 11 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org is an attempt to notice and name this history in our pedagogical and research practices and calls on us to refuse traditional ways of doing, being and knowing. these theoretical standpoints represent the principles in which we anchor our approaches to social justice education, both in how the methods course and the cerc are designed and enacted. the tenets of critical, culturally sustaining, and decolonizing pedagogies guide the ways in which we engage with our individual and collective research projects and how we (re)imagine the role of english teachers, teacher educators, and students as part of a broader sociopolitical context. finally, these principles inform and remind us of a desired way of being and are woven into the ways that we come together and learn from one another, as people deeply committed to equity, transformation, and liberation in and beyond educational settings. the following section serves to illuminate how we work to apply these theories to our always-developing practice. the cerc’s process of becoming in the early stages of the cerc, dr. green invited us to join a research project involving her english methods course in the college of education. dr. green’s invitation was extended to us as part of her regular praxis of reflection as a scholar-activist and teacherresearcher. committed to social justice teacher education, dr. green reflects on ways her english education classroom can invite opportunities for teacher-candidates to reflect on the political nature and practice of teaching. the ways in which we chose to implement and collaborate on this project not only supported us to regularly meet and establish ourselves as a collective, but also provided the opportunity for us to reflect on our praxis as becoming teacher-researchers. in this section, we describe how we engaged in theory through our cerc meetings and how we allowed our engagement with theory to shape practice in the graduate education classroom. these practices informed how we worked with one another, transformed our individual and collective teaching and learning activities, and illuminated the implications of developing and sharing critical knowledge(s) in formal educational spaces. in this section, we address these implications through a discussion of collective observation, praxis oriented engagements, student led research, shared facilitation, sustaining and enhancing social justice, and humanizing classroom culture and research practices. collective observation for the english methods research project, the members of the collective decided to be both participants in and observers of the english methods course. we acted as participant observers in an attempt to document what was happening and what was said in the course and in teacher-candidate practicum classrooms. overall, our observations and discussions focused on the sociopolitical context of teaching, and how the cerc was supporting, enhancing, or discouraging social justice teaching. the cerc doctoral students participated in the course by joining class each week; getting to know the english teachercandidates; contributing to class discussions; providing feedback on lesson plans; giving presentations based on our areas of educational expertise and research interests; and, https://cultureandvalues.org/ 12 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org journaling in response to class prompts. additionally, we participated in the course as observers, noting how the class discussion moved, the gender dynamics present, teacher candidates’ expressed concerns and challenges, discussions about students, and other notes that helped us identify opportunities to shift or add to the conversation about social justice education and the political nature and practice of teaching. we also observed teacher candidates in their respective middle and high school teaching practicum placements to understand how, if at all, teacher-candidates were becoming social justice educators outside of the graduate education classroom. moreover, as a group, we reflected about our own participation in the methods course after each session to determine how to structure the next week’s class. as the cerc, we also collaborated on the structure and agenda of our member meetings. our collective met regularly to discuss theory, our individual research endeavors, share updates about our progress on the collective research project, and reflect on our observations of the course. additionally, we suggested scholarly articles, books, and media for our collective and the methods course to engage and discuss. in the primary space of the english methods class we were able to hear, observe, and understand the way student teachers were processing what was occurring in the methods class. in addition to our participant observation, we gathered and provided feedback on teacher-candidate journals in which they responded to prompts about assigned readings, class discussions, and their practicum experience(s). through this role and our critical inquiry, we were able to learn pre-service teachers’ perspectives, lessons, frustrations, as well as opportunities for social justice education within both the english teacher-candidate group and their teaching practicum spaces. these perspective-gaining exercises helped us decide how and when we introduced social justice material as well as how to structure class to address the needs of the teacher-candidates. for example, carie gave a presentation about how to develop an english unit for to kill a mockingbird (lee, 1982) after students expressed a desire to learn more about how to apply our discussions about social justice to the english classroom. carie’s presentation addressed the need for a pedagogical skill by offering examples of lessons and activities teacher-candidates could use to create a unit. her presentation also incorporated additional texts such as images, videos, and further readings to illuminate the contours and histories of racism and resistance during the time of the novel and in the present-day u.s. and to center the voices of people of color through the incorporation of counter-storytelling. in the secondary space of this critical collective, members discussed their observations, questions, challenges, and opportunities to use their expertise to make sense of the english methods class. some of these discussions centered around how whiteness, in particular, showed up in the english methods course, especially with regard to how preservice teachers made sense of and either internalized or resisted the implications of their racial identity on their pedagogy. we also held conversations about our own research trajectories and how they intersected with the english methods course. a big part of our dialogue as a collective focused on how student teachers and doctoral students were merging academic and critical literacies, developing professional identities, and providing opportunities for reflection and action. we view this approach to praxis (reflection and https://cultureandvalues.org/ 13 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org action) and the co-construction of knowledge and learning as enactments of the critical and culturally sustaining theories that guide our work. praxis-oriented engagement in addition to the cerc space being a social justice space, the cerc was also a praxisoriented structure that engaged doctoral students in political and pedagogical development. the readings in the cerc space included topics on decolonizing pedagogy, ethnic studies, critical race theory, critiques of neo-liberal education, critical pedagogy, and youth participatory action research. some of the readings were collectively agreed on and aimed at improving both our teaching and research practices. these readings and discussions provided members from the cerc the opportunity to intellectualize our teacher-research practice. during the cerc meetings, we often discussed how we were regularly thinking about our teaching and practice and our facilitation of the english methods class provided a distinct opportunity for us to implement and improve our own praxis. each cerc member possessed different teaching expertise and research interests, so this allowed us to engage with the student teachers in varied ways and model the enactment of socially just lessons and units across intersecting interests of race, gender, and language. our audience -the student teachers -also benefited from this collaborative approach. in exit interviews and transcripts from class discussions, several students reflected on the benefit of learning more about theories and practices related to culturally sustaining pedagogies applied to their practice as developing ela teachers. specifically, they named the importance of incorporating multiple perspectives into one’s teaching practice. from a learner’s perspective, they reflected on the importance of class sessions that invited the voices of educators in the field enacting culturally sustaining pedagogy, and those of local students who attended two class sessions to share their educational experiences as young people of color. in addition to the students who attended schools in urban communities, many of our student speakers also attended predominantly white rural or suburban schools. coupled with their engagement with materials from the methods course that invited counterstories (solorzano & yosso, 2002), these experiences worked to help solidify a more embodied understanding of how critical and culturally sustaining pedagogy can be enacted. in turn, several of the teacher candidates attempted to replicate some of our class activities with their own students. additionally, by bringing voices in from both academic and local communities, we aimed to further demonstrate approaches to centering often silenced and minoritized voices in the context of the classroom (mitra, 2003; stauber, 2017). such approaches not only offer concrete examples for how teachers can disrupt traditional practices, but also served as a model for how and why affinity spaces can be created and sustained. affinity spaces are especially important and beneficial, particularly for students of color attending predominantly white schools. legitimizing collaborative doctoral student-led research understanding the process of a collaborative critical doctoral student-led inquiry group, like the cerc, as legitimate research begins to shift the paradigm of who is seen as a producer of knowledge in the field of education. through an interrogation of our teaching https://cultureandvalues.org/ 14 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org and research, we, as educators and researchers begin to establish ourselves within the teaching and research profession as capable of learning about ourselves through a research process. taking an active and democratic role in developing our own practice shifts the balance of power which, in traditional practices, often lies with the teacher or professor as expert, and doctoral students as learners. what stands out in our becoming as educators, researchers, and doctoral students is that we have the potential to put forth research that does not "emanate solely from theory nor from practice, but from critical reflection on the intersection of the two" (cochran-smith & lytle, 1990, p. 6). shared facilitation different from other types of teacher development (i.e., school-based professional development, curricular workshops, and teacher preparation programs), the cerc was a doctoral student/teacher-led and facilitated space. the cerc members collaborated with dr. green to lead and facilitate sections of the teacher-candidate english methods course. we also collaborated to lead and facilitate the collective’s research meetings while addressing concerns related to our social justice teaching and practice in urban, suburban and rural schooling contexts. in addition, the cerc’s structure approximated a horizontal leadership model, where doctoral students had a say in the decisions being made about the classroom and the research project. the space was created and organized to draw strengths from its members. this orientation allowed the group to determine the focus of the space and how best to develop ourselves pedagogically. facilitation also played a key role for maintaining an inclusive collective space, or one in which we prioritized sharing responsibility and embracing multiple perspectives. throughout the cerc meetings, members were encouraged to facilitate sections of the meeting, such as the check-ins, reading discussions, or the research discussions. in this shared space, multiple voices and perspectives were included to ensure that it reflected the various needs and perspectives of its members, which invited consideration of the diversity of student identities and knowledge that pre-service teachers will ultimately encounter, and we hope, nurture and sustain (paris & alim, 2017). through shared facilitation, the cerc created a cycle of teaching, learning, planning, implementing, and reflecting that was continually informed by this cycle. sustaining and enhancing social justice the cerc members benefited from the collective because we were able to trust our mentor and our peers. we were at times vulnerable with each other, we had to collaborate and were held accountable in the contexts of our teaching and research practices. the trust, vulnerability, collaboration, and accountability are interdependent components of a model of teaching and mentoring that can be described as a sustaining and enhancing social justice teaching (paris, 2012; patel, 2016). the cerc space was disruptive to traditional approaches to research and teacher education and distinct from individualistic, top-down practices that don’t allow for the individualized support, reflexivity, and opportunities to collaborate through shared knowledge that we routinely experienced. the cerc members voluntarily gathered and still gather in an academic space where we are able to share our political and https://cultureandvalues.org/ 15 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org pedagogical views and agendas freely. we view this willingness to meet and engage and the creation of a safe space for sociopolitical conversation as further evidence of the possibilities inherent in sustaining disruptions within academia. a key aspect for the development of teachers is that teachers possess or develop political and ideological clarity. however, often, teaching spaces and meetings might not provide an opportunity to have critical conversations about pedagogy and politics. bartolome (2004) claims that if teachers have political clarity, they will then be able to walk students through the steps of developing their own political consciousness as they interrogate how specific ideologies function in relation to power. trust was also a critical factor to be vulnerable. the structure and membership of the collective modeled vulnerability while providing a space for honest dialogue. we positioned social justice as an ongoing process of reflection and action, which required us to be vulnerable with one another, which in turn, pushed us to articulate both our teaching and research practice and then look to the group for support. we relied on each other to grow and learn. accountability served as a way to support and sustain our teaching for social justice. we held ourselves accountable by allowing our meetings to serve as learning spaces where we gave each other feedback about areas of improvement in teaching or research practices. we debriefed after every session of the english methods class and provided each other with constructive feedback about lessons we prepared for the class. we developed our sense of accountability, with regard to individual and collective research practices, through our involvement in each other’s lines of inquiry and development of ethical research questions and methods. we also challenged ourselves and each other to more deeply understand and anchor our work in critical and culturally sustaining pedagogies by engaging in shared critical introspection to regularly ask how if, at all, we were continuing to perpetuate traditional approaches to teacher education and research and how we might disrupt those approaches (paris, 2012; paris & alim, 2017). for example, kimberly and cee often brought this question up when debriefing the cerc activities in their joint car rides to and from observations and other academic engagements. in one instance, they asked how a desire to support teacher candidate morale in their early stages of pedagogical development often prompts feedback that fails to consider or center the political nature of teaching and instead solely centers notions of best practice modeled after state teacher evaluations. humanizing classroom culture and research practices according to freire (2000), a humanizing process can transform education into a practice of freedom, where students and teachers are complete human beings. san pedro and kinloch (2017) extended notions of humanizing praxis to researchers, calling on engagement in projects in humanization (pih) that center the relationships and experiences we share with one another in ways that emphasize our mutual desires for social justice in schools and communities, as well as in our professional and personal lives. projects in humanization (pih), they posit, are enacted primarily through “dialogic engagements” (p. 374). for the cerc, the idea is, that if pre-service teachers are engaged in a humanizing process, they, in turn, will humanize their students. however, this is a challenge if teachers https://cultureandvalues.org/ 16 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org have not had the opportunity to experience what a humanizing, democratic, liberatory education space looks and feels like. given that freire (2000) describes humanization as the struggle to understand the conditions that make us oppressed and then work to change those conditions, and san pedro’s (2017) centering of relational dialogue, the cerc proved to be important in its ability to nurture group dialogue across and at the intersections of our identities and scholarly interests. in turn, we were left with a feeling of being seen, heard, and valued and benefited immensely from the storying and sharing that transpired. applied to the english methods course, this humanizing approach provided the pre-service teachers with a space to meet, talk, listen, and challenge the isolation and alienation that they sometimes felt at their school sites and their academic spaces while simultaneously developing caring and supportive relationships with the cerc participants. similar to jones (2014), the collective critical inquiry provided support for the educator-researchers, who are also the authors of this piece, to find new meaning for our pedagogical and research possibilities. for example, kimberly developed an anti-sexist curriculum as part of her comprehensive exam requirements, which she later implemented as a series of workshops for pre-service teachers in her dissertation study. daniel is supporting a mentoring initiative for teachers of color and american indigenous teachers interested in ethnic studies in minnesota. cee is in the early stages of theorizing a methodological stance she calls pivoting, or a space of becoming in which one reckons with complicity and embraces the need to shift in the direction(s) of new learning. carie is currently developing a dissertation study aimed to facilitate an intervention utilizing digital storytelling as a tool for helping majority-white english teacher candidates engage in critical self-reflection and examinations of whiteness as part of their development toward culturally sustaining and anti-racist pedagogies. overall, this collaborative, critical inquiry group has helped us reimagine relationships between faculty, doctoral students, and student-teachers and our individual and collective work. conclusion this essay is informed by our experiences as doctoral students, teacher educators, emerging researchers and junior faculty. we remind ourselves often of hooks’ (2003) claim that, “if we are not able to find open spaces in closed systems, we doom ourselves by reinforcing the belief that these educational systems cannot be changed” (p. 73). facilitating an ideological shift within educational institutions is possible, yet only if there is a multilayered approach to address the need for change. it requires dedication from internal agents in educational institutions and organizing from people outside of educational institutions. an important key component to the collective was the inclusion of doctoral student voices. multiple doctoral student voices can enhance the outcomes of a teaching or research endeavor by illuminating factors that might not be visible to a lone teacher or researcher. such factors can include but are not limited to narrow perspectives or understanding that occur as the result of teacher/researcher positionality, prior educational experience(s), and/or varying degrees of experience. additionally, the small size of the group https://cultureandvalues.org/ 17 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org provided an intimate space for doctoral students to develop inquiry questions, action plans, support systems, and collaboration among members. throughout the years, members have supported each other in their trajectories, monitored one another’s progress, and held each other accountable. we view these actions as more than academic supports or endeavors; though they reflect our commitments to one another as students, teachers, and scholars, ultimately, it is the interconnectedness of our shared humanity that guides our work. relationships of mutuality martin luther king, jr. (1963) used the word mutuality to describe our interconnectedness. he claims that “we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly” (para. 4). our involvement in the collective helps us argue that our relationships became transformative and empowering. the flattening of the hierarchy present in doctoral students and faculty, and the development of openness and appreciation of the lived experiences of the student teachers and the members of the collective allowed us to see the importance of mutuality. we suggest that critical pedagogy happens in the intersections of roles and relationships. in our case it was the space where faculty, doctoral students, and student teachers interacted and learned together. the space helped us reconsider how teaching and learning are traditionally thought of and moved us to think of teaching and learning as done with students, not to or for them. our work started with re-imagining our relationships and roles. it was dr. green inviting the doctoral students to collaborate in learning with studentteachers and in teaching the class with her. it was thinking of our research questions together, and the goals for our collaborative inquiry on teaching for social justice. we believe that this is essential in establishing a culture of collaborative critical inquiry and democratizing knowledge production. in developing this shared vision for social justice, we shift in thinking about our individual research agendas to our collaborative research agenda. this essay is an attempt as doctoral students, teacher educators, youth workers, and social justice minded folks to examine how social justice teaching was sustained and enhanced through a collective critical inquiry group. we do not romanticize our work in urban and rural schools and spaces of teacher education, but instead think of social justice teaching as an ongoing and arduous process. a process which, when supported and sustained through community, holds great potential to disrupt both what it means to be teacher educators and education researchers in training. ultimately, if we hope to disrupt the practices that have prevailed in teacher training and educational research, we must first disrupt the power relations that exist in colleges of education between faculty and students and faculty and student teachers. https://cultureandvalues.org/ 18 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org references adams, m. (2007). pedagogical frameworks for social justice education. in m. adams, l. a. bell, & p. griffin (eds.), teaching for diversity and social justice (pp. 15–33). routledge. akom, a. a., cammarota, j., & ginwright, s. (2008). youthtopias: towards a new paradigm of critical youth studies. youth media reporter, 2(4), 1-30. http://www.youthmediareporter.org/2008/08/youthtopias_towards_a_new_para.ht ml andrews, d. j. c., richmond, g., & stroupe, d. (2017). teacher education and teaching in the present political landscape: promoting educational equity through critical inquiry and research. journal of teacher education, 68(2), 121–124. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487117691243 aronowitz, s. & giroux, h. (1993). reproduction and resistance in radical theories of schooling in education still under siege: the conservative, liberal and radical debate over schooling. bergin & garvey. banks, j. a. (1998). the lives and values of researchers: implications for educating citizens in a multicultural society. educational researcher, 27(7), 4–17. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x027007004 bartolomé, l. i. (2004). critical pedagogy and teacher education: radicalizing prospective teachers. teacher education quarterly, 31(1) 97–122. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23478420 battiste, m. (2004, may 29). animating sites of postcolonial education: indigenous knowledge and the humanities. csse plenary address. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.488.6642&rep=rep1&typ e=pdf chapman, t. k., & hobbel, n. (2010). introduction: conversations, problems, and action. in t. k. chapman & n. hobbel (eds.), social justice pedagogy across the curriculum (pp. 1– 5). routledge. cochran-smith, m., & lytle, s. (1990). research on teaching and teacher research: the issues that divide. educational research, 19(2), 2-11. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x019002002 cochran-smith, m., & lytle, s. l. (1993). inside/outside: teacher research and knowledge. teachers college press. cochran-smith, m., & lytle, s. (1999). relationship of knowledge and practice: teacher learning in communities. review of educational research in education, 24, 249-305. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x024001249 cochran-smith, m., & lytle, s. (2009). inquiry as stance: practitioner research for the next generation. teachers college press. cook-sather, a. (2002). authorizing students' perspectives: toward trust, dialogue, and change in education. educational researcher, 31(4), 3-14. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x031004003 https://cultureandvalues.org/ http://www.youthmediareporter.org/2008/08/youthtopias_towards_a_new_para.html http://www.youthmediareporter.org/2008/08/youthtopias_towards_a_new_para.html https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487117691243 https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x027007004 https://www.jstor.org/stable/23478420?seq=1 http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.488.6642&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.488.6642&rep=rep1&type=pdf https://doi.org/10.3102%2f0013189x019002002 https://doi.org/10.3102%2f0091732x024001249 19 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org darder, a., baltodano, m. p., & torres, r. d. (2009). critical pedagogy: an introduction. in a. darder, m. p. baltodano, & r. d. torres (eds.), the critical pedagogy reader (2nd ed., pp. 1–26). routledge. darling-hammond, l. (2010). the flat world and education: how america’s commitment to equity will determine our future. teachers college press. dejong, k., & love, b. j. (2015). youth oppression as a technology of colonialism: conceptual frameworks and possibilities for social justice education praxis. equity & excellence in education, 48(3), 489-508. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2015.1057086 duncan‐andrade, j. m. (2004). toward teacher development for the urban in urban teaching. teaching education, 15(4), 339-350.t https://doi.org/10.1080/1047621042000304475 duncan-andrade, j. m. r., & morrell, e. (2008). the art of critical pedagogy: possibilities for moving from theory to practice in urban schools (vol. 285). peter lang. emdin, c. (2016). for white folks who teach in the hood... and the rest of y'all too: reality pedagogy and urban education. beacon press freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed. bloomsbury academic. giroux, h. (1988). toward a critical pedagogy of learning. bergin & garvey. hooks, b. (2003). teaching community: a pedagogy of hope (vol. 36). psychology press. jones, s. (2014). writing and teaching to change the world: connecting with our most vulnerable students. the national writing project. king jr., m. l. (1994). letter from the birmingham jail. harper san francisco. ladson‐billings, g. (1995). but that's just good teaching! the case for culturally relevant pedagogy. theory into practice, 34(3), 159-165. http://doi.org/10.1080/00405849509543675 lipman, p. (2009). beyond accountability: toward schools that create new people for a new way of life. in a. darder, m. p. baltodano & r. d. torres (eds.), critical pedagogy reader (2nd ed.). (pp. 364–383). routledge. matias, c. e. (2013a). tears worth telling: urban teaching and the possibilities of racial justice. multicultural perspectives, 15(4), 187–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2013.844603 matias, c. e. (2013b). check yo'self before you wreck yo'self and our kids: counterstories from culturally responsive white teachers?... to culturally responsive white teachers! interdisciplinary journal of teaching and learning, 3(2), 68-81. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej1063061 matias, c. e., & mackey, j. (2016). breakin’ down whiteness in antiracist teaching: introducing critical whiteness pedagogy. urban review, 48(1), 32–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-015-0344-7 mcneil, l. (2009). standardization, defensive teaching, and the problems of control. the critical pedagogy reader, 2, 384-396. mirra, n. & garcia, a. (2017). civic participation reimagined: youth interrogation and innovation in the multimodal public sphere. review of research in education, 41(1), 136-158. http://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x17690121 https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2015.1057086 https://doi.org/10.1080/1047621042000304475 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405849509543675 https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2013.844603 http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0091732x17690121 20 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 1, 2020 morales morales, d., ruggiano, c., carter, c., pfeifer, k. j., & green, k. l., disrupting to sustain: teacher preparation through innovative teaching and learning practices journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org mitra, d. l. (2003). student voice in school reform: reframing student-teacher relationships. mcgill journal of education, 38(2), 289-304. https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/8686 nieto, s., gordon, s., & yearwood, j. (2002). teachers' experiences in a critical inquiry group: a conversation in three voices. teaching education, 13(3), 341-355. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1047621022000023316 nieto, s. (2003). what keeps teachers going? teachers college press. paris, d. (2012). culturally sustaining pedagogy: a needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. educational researcher, 41(3), 93-97. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0013189x12441244 paris, d., & alim, h. s. (eds.). (2017). culturally sustaining pedagogies: teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. teachers college press. patel, l. (2016). decolonizing educational research: from ownership to answerability. routledge. picower, b. (2007). supporting new educators to teach for social justice: the critical inquiry project model. penn gse perspectives on urban education, 5(1), 1-16. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej852632 picower, b. (2012). practice what you teach: social justice education in the classroom and the streets (vol. 13). routledge. san pedro, t., & kinloch, v. (2017). toward projects in humanization: research on cocreating and sustaining dialogic relationships. american educational research journal, 54(1_suppl), 373s-394s. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216671210 sleeter, c. e. (2012). confronting the marginalization of culturally responsive pedagogy. urban education, 47(3), 562-584. http://doi.org/10.1177/0042085911431472 smith, l. t. (2012). decolonizing methodologies: research and indigenous peoples (2nd ed.). zed books. solórzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 23-44. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103 stauber, l. (2017). turning in or tuning out? listening to silences in education for critical political consciousness. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 30(6), 560-575. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2016.1269971 tuck, e. (2009). suspending damage: a letter to communities. harvard educational review, 79(3), 409-427. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.3.n0016675661t3n15 tuck, e., & yang, k. w. (2014). r-words: refusing research. in d. paris & m. t. winn (eds.), humanizing research: decolonizing qualitative inquiry with youth and communities (pp. 223-247). sage. https://cultureandvalues.org/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1047621022000023316 http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0013189x12441244 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej852632 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0042085911431472 journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 158 dynamic language use in bi/multilingual early childhood education contexts: a critical review of the literature ryan w. pontier* florida international university ivian destro boruchowski florida international university lergia i. olivo florida international university *corresponding author: rpontier@fiu.edu received : 2020-07-14 accepted : 2020-11-29 doi: 10.46303/jcve.2020.18 how to cite this paper: pontier, r. w., boruchowski, i. d., & olivo, l. i. (2020). dynamic language use in bi/multilingual early childhood education contexts: a critical review of the literature. journal of culture and values in education, 3(2), 158-178. doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.18 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract the population of students learning and using more than one language in the united states has more than doubled in the past 30 years. this is especially true in early childhood, which makes it crucial that educators of young emergent bilingual children understand and support these young children’s bi/multilingual development, including critically understanding the implication of adopting different perspectives of bi/multilingualism. although much is known about classroom practices in support of emergent bilingual children in kindergarten and beyond, less is known about those practices in the early years. this article provides a systematic review of relevant qualitative empirical studies that investigated teachers’ and children’s naturalistic language use in bi/multilingual early childhood education settings. the authors identify several strategic languaging practices enacted by both teachers and children across different language approaches, and strategies for fostering these practices; as well as ways in which teachers leverage their agency through their languaging practices depending on the language policy of each program. implications for future research, practice, professional development, and policy are discussed. keywords: translanguaging, early childhood, dynamic language introduction the population of students learning and using more than one language in the united states has more than doubled in the past 30 years (garcía & kleifgen, 2018; oela, 2017). as such, the number of young emergent bilingual (eb) children, including those in early childhood https://cultureandvalues.org/ mailto:rpontier@fiu.edu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 159 education (ece) programs, is climbing perhaps even more rapidly. we use the strength-based term emergent bilingual1 in referring to the diverse group of people who use more than one language for numerous purposes and in varying ways, and who have the potential to become experienced bilinguals with appropriate (instructional) support (garcía & kleifgen, 2018; gort & pontier, 2013; reyes, 2006). specifically, in 2017, head start alone reported that it served over 1,000,000 children ages birth to five years, with 29% of families stating that they used a language other than english at home, and 21% citing spanish as that language. given this steady increase in the number of children and families developing multilingual practices in the united states, ece educators must understand and support these young children’s bi/multilingual development. before we turn to a review of bilingualism--and bilingualism in academic contexts--we provide statements regarding our positionality as researchers. the inclusion of these statements is crucial for readers to understand any biases that we may have as well as to make more salient for us any preconceived notions based on specific values (milner, 2007). researcher positionality ryan identifies as a bilingual white male. although he grew up in a monolingual and monocultural region in the northeastern united states, he has since resided in multilingual, multicultural areas that have come to feel more like home. a former two-way dual language elementary school teacher introduced to and aligned with policies of strict language separation, he currently researches and advocates for the leveraging and use of flexible bilingualism. ivian, raised in brazil in a monolingual middle-class environment, identifies as latina and bilingual. she became a literature teacher and textbook author, and pursued a bachelor’s degree in education. later, as a mother, she immigrated to the u.s., learned english, and completed a master’s degree dedicated to understanding literacy in heritage languages in the u.s. during the course of her ph.d. studies, she started to question why heritage languages have typically been discussed as a family policy matter, and in what ways monolingual ideological discourses frame language policy and curriculum in multilingual settings. lergia identifies as a u.s.-native bilingual english/spanish hispanic female born of two middle-class parents who permanently emigrated from cuba during the start of the castro regime in the early 1960s. throughout her childhood and early adulthood, she was immersed in a multilingual community, both at home and in the public school educational environment. her studies in english (b.a.) and linguistics (m.a.) kept her close to her passion for natural bilingualism and the benefits of fluency in multiple languages. she is currently a doctoral student pursuing a degree in teaching and learning, and is married and raising a bilingual son. bilingualism as a construct in this literature review, we situate our conceptual framework within the work of critical scholars. because bilingualism is a social construct related to assumptions around citizenship, language, and the state (stroud, 2007), it is crucial to recognize how, historically, the phenomenon of bilingualism has been situated within discourses linking languages to political authority and legitimacy (heller, 2007). because this notion of bilingualism is tied to ideas of monolingual nation-states, we aim to understand what it means to be bilingual in a multilingual 1 head start uses dual language learner, and education agencies often use deficit-based terms such as english language learner or limited english proficient. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 160 classroom, what practices teachers and children use in this context, and what practices are valued in these early schooling experiences. we specifically direct our efforts to understanding bilingualism as a phenomenon in one educational context: bilingual programs in ece, with a focus on investigating and discussing the instructional strategies most valued in the focal studies as they relate to the language policies in place. we define bilingual programs as those that intentionally use two or more languages for learning purposes. bilingualism is a phenomenon currently studied from a multidisciplinary perspective including linguistics, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. however, heller (2007) and stroud (2007) noted that research on bilingualism started with weinreich’s (1953) descriptive study of bilingualism in switzerland, highlighting “how one grammar may influence another, and what kinds of conditions (mainly social, but also psychological) might explain why things look one way or another” (pp. 6-7). the focus on describing linguistic systems was also evidenced in mackey’s (1968) similar work on typologies of bilingualism and fishman’s (1968) conceptualization of variability across domains. in the following forty years, scholars predominantly used this structural-functional paradigm in which languages were understood as a whole, bounded system, associated with whole and bounded communities. this paradigm of bilingualism research predominantly focused on measuring universal patterns, discovering the links among languages, and discussing their social and psychological conditions. this assumption of languages as bounded systems implicated the predominant focus on linguistic systems as connections, leading to more recent research on “code-switching,” which has been used to test linguistic theories. recently, scholars (e.g., garcía & wei, 2014; heller, 2007; pennycook, 2010) have problematized the idea of language as a bounded system related to the assumptions of territories and ideological discourses of nations and states since the 19th century. consequently, the notion of bilingualism as two separate languages each consisting of a bounded structural system has been called into question. perspectives of bilingualism framing our analysis in the idea of bilingualism as a social and historicized construct, we highlight two dominant perspectives of bilingualism in current research: one more traditional, which views languages as discrete systems, and the other more holistic and dynamic. in the following paragraphs, we situate these perspectives. a traditional perspective: bilingualism as additive/dual. a traditional perspective of bilingualism views languages as separate entities, sometimes interconnected. as such, the goal is that bilingual students develop balanced bilingualism, wherein each language has the same (high) level of proficiency. consequently, each is understood as an independent language system to be mastered. this perspective includes the notion that bilingual learners initially appropriate ideas, concepts, and skills in one named language and then have the potential to transfer them to an additional language, since all learning is understood to be part of an underlying repertoire of knowledge (i.e., common underlying proficiency; cummins, 1981), though the languages themselves are considered finite and discrete. by viewing languages as separate entities to be mastered, educators often expect students to perform with monolingual-like proficiency in each language, an expectation that can lead educators to evaluate eb students as deficient (garcía & kleifgen, 2018; garcía & otheguy, 2020). holistic models: bilingualism as dynamic. in contrast to this traditional and additive perspective of bilingualism, a dynamic perspective draws on the belief that different governmentand https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 161 socially-named languages (e.g., arabic, haitian creole) comprise one dynamic linguistic repertoire, housed within a single system. this perspective views language as a verb, thus highlighting the ever-evolving nature of the complex and natural social practices in which bilinguals engage. using their single language system, speakers move fluidly among multiple languages, dialects, and modalities in their everyday interactions (garcía, 2009; garcía & leiva, 2014; wei, 2018). this is what we understand to be naturalistic languaging practices, or translanguaging, where speakers challenge the monolingual norms that society has imposed on them, showing that bilinguals are not two monolinguals in one (grosjean, 1989). in these models, the bilingualism that they develop is a dynamic phenomenon that is seen in a holistic way to better reflect the fluid and complex relationships among different languaging practices (garcía & wei, 2014). these differing perspectives of bilingualism influence the language policies that are created and upheld in different learning environments. although language policies reflect the perspectives of bilingualism discussed above and outline the expectations for language use in each program, how teachers create and operate within specific language policies vary. understanding language in this way supports educators in viewing eb students’ language performances as natural, creative, and intelligent, not lacking (garcía & kleifgen, 2018). language policies in bilingual education contributing to teachers’ use of various bilingual practices are both the language policies that programs establish and teachers’ own language ideologies. language policies serve to promote a desired, and often national, language (wiley, 2015). in schools, these policies naturally involve teachers, leading to them having a major role in promoting national languages and in implementing language policies (wiley, 2015). below we provide a brief outline of u.s. language policies for different bilingual education programs to shed light on those that exist and the confines within which teachers are expected to operate. we begin with k-12 and then turn to ece to highlight the influence the former has had on the latter. in k-12 bilingual education, there are three generalized approaches to using students’ home languages. garcía & kleifgen (2018) report that students’ home languages are used either to transition to english or to develop bilingualism and biliteracy. language policy for transitional bilingual education typically states that home language use is expected, allowed, and serves the purpose of providing “english learning” students with enough content knowledge until they are capable of performing academic tasks only in english. policy requires that teachers move students as quickly as possible from using mostly/all home language to all english. in a second approach, language policy for developmental and dual language bilingual education articulates purposeful use of english and a partner language (e.g., spanish) to teach academic content (i.e., math, science, language arts, history/social studies). how much of the partner language is expected to be used is also dictated by the policy (e.g., 90/10, 50/50). moreover, whether official or unofficial, there tends to be a policy of language separation in these contexts. this is accomplished by allocating instruction in each language to a time of day, a space (i.e., a particular classroom), or a teacher. the focus is on standardized/dominant usages of two separate, discrete, and static national languages: english and the partner language garcía & kleifgen (2018) also highlight a third approach, dynamic bi/multilingual education, wherein the language policy stipulates “english and students’ home languages in dynamic relationship; students are the locus of control for language used” (p. 33). in other https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 162 words, the focus is on language as flexible and ever-evolving, not as one (or two) discrete and static national language(s). in ece, the office of head start (n.d. a), a leader in the policy field, has adopted the planned language approach, “a comprehensive, systemic, research-based way for head start and early head start programs to ensure optimal language and literacy services for children who speak english and for those who are dual language learners (dlls)” (planned language approach section, para. 1), which includes specific classroom language models (head start, n.d. b) that outline accompanying language policies largely built on those from k-12. those models include english with home language support (ehls), dual language (dl), and home language as a foundation for english development (hlfed). in the ehls model, intentional support is provided to “dual language learners” (dlls) for a variety of purposes, including comforting children, exploring books, and interacting with environmental print, among others. like transitional bilingual education in k-12, the focus is on english as a national language. in the dl model, both languages are intentionally used for instruction, all children (english speaking and dlls) are expected to develop bilingualism, and “each language is spoken during designated, equal, and predictable periods” (head start, n.d. b, p. 11, bold in original), requiring a separation of languages. this is akin to two-way immersion models in k-12, although head start does not require equal numbers of english speakers and dlls. like the k-12 developmental bilingual education model, in the hlfed model, the home language is used for instruction and communication, and english is gradually introduced. in each case, the expectation is that everyone involved strictly adheres to the stated language policies, which, for dl, means language separation. however, outside of head start, there is very little consensus on--or even talk of--how to characterize ece programs that use two or more languages. this is reflected in a lack of consistency of terminology (i.e., labels such as “two-way immersion,” “transitional bilingual education,” or “esol” are rarely used in ece literature). given the boundaries that each language policy draws, how teachers navigate the tensions between language use (and separation) and its practical realization (gort & sembiante, 2015) may provide key insights for teachers, administrators, and other policy makers at multiple levels. thus, dynamic languaging and resistance in school, including how teachers’ and children’s language use is restricted/suppressed or validated/supported by policies and practices that shape bilingual education and language immersion programs, is a factor that must be investigated and understood to enhance the knowledge base of the field. this critical review of the literature took special consideration of these policies and contexts as we systematically explored teachers’ and children’s languaging practices. specifically, we investigated the following questions: ● in what naturalistic languaging practices did teachers and children engage in bi/multilingual early childhood education contexts? ● how did those practices conform to the language policies? we now provide a detailed methodological description of our search process. data and method the goal of this literature review was to identify work conducted in typical ece contexts (i.e., center-based childcare, family childcare2) to shed light on teachers’ and children’s dynamic 2 child care provided by a licensed professional in their home (national association for family child care, n.d.; florida department of children and families) https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 163 languaging practices as related to multiple language policies, present a systematic synthesis of relevant studies, and provide directions for future practice and research. we followed boote and beile’s (2005) framework for critical literature reviews to ensure a high level of rigor. inclusion/exclusion criteria to determine the most pertinent set of research to review, we purposefully defined both inclusion and exclusion criteria. our interest was in naturalistic languaging practices in ece contexts, which required a focus on teachers/providers and children 0-5 years old3. we wanted to ensure a trustworthy set of high-quality empirical studies, thus leading us to include only peer-reviewed journal articles. as such, specific inclusion criteria included: (a) qualitative empirical studies, (b) articles published between 2005 and 2018, (c) articles published in double-blind peer reviewed journals, and (d) articles in which child participants were 0-5 years old. exclusion criteria included: (a) dissertations, (b) book chapters, (c) articles not written in english4, (d) articles focused on monolingual instruction, (e) articles where child participants were in kindergarten or higher grade levels, (f) articles where the research did not take place at a school or school-like setting (e.g., research laboratories or home case studies), and (g) articles that used an experimental design. literature search our research for this literature review began with a search of four databases, specifically psycinfo, psycarticles, eric, and google scholar. we first used the following search terms, either individually or in some combination: “instruction,” “preschool,” “translanguaging,” “child,” “early childhood education,” “bilingual,” “dual language learner,” “dual language5,” “code-switching,” and “pedagogy.” after duplicates were removed, these searches yielded 125 scholarly articles, book chapters, dissertations, and other publications. when we applied our exclusion criteria, 11 articles remained. from these 11 articles, we thoroughly read and examined each, beginning to establish recurring themes throughout the literature. after this initial research, we used the reference sections of relevant articles and dissertations of the 125 original sources to find additional articles that met inclusion criteria but had not surfaced at first (wohlin, 2014). we also searched once again in the databases for articles that had been published since our initial search three months prior or not initially found, this time using only the specific search combinations “translanguaging + language practices” and “translanguaging + preschool.” this process provided us with an additional 41 sources, and after applying exclusion criteria, we included an additional 18 articles in our corpus, for a total of 29 articles that became the data used for this literature review. approach to research 3 although ages 0–8 are commonly accepted as early childhood, we focus on 0-5, acknowledging that 90% of brain development occurs in this time period (center on the developing child, 2016; lenroot & giedd, 2006), making it a foundational time to recognize and support multiple language learning. 4this is a limitation of the authors’ own linguistic repertoires. 5 the term “two-way immersion” was not included since it is often used interchangeably with “dual language.” furthermore, given the lack of agreement or use of terms describing bilingual education in ece, we relied on “dual language” since it is widely used by head start. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 164 our approach for this literature review was both inductive and deductive. while knowing a priori that we were considering teachers’ flexible languaging practices and how those practices were enacted within differing language policies, we also employed an opencoding process to chunk areas of convergence across the literature (corbin & strauss, 2008. we reviewed convergences and identified two overarching themes: (a) the diversity of naturalistic dynamic languaging practices in ece contexts and (b) teacher agency within language policies. we then returned to the focal studies and coded for patterns and subthemes to help us understand and explain the two themes (tieken & auldridge-reveles, 2019). we honed in on findings with support across multiple studies, as well as any contradictory evidence, although none was found. this approach is used more commonly in qualitative research, where researchers start with more general questions and use their findings to navigate their conclusions. in fact, to “code” data and compare categories in service of generating thorough explanations can be a meticulous process (kamberelis & dimitriadis, 2005). setting in considering the geographic location of each study, 18 of the 29 articles described research that occurred in the united states, with 11 taking place in other countries, specifically finland/israel (palviainen et al., 2016), israel (schwartz & deeb, 2018; schwartz & gorgatt, 2018), luxembourg (kirsch, 2017; kirsch, 2018a; kirsch, 2018b), malta (mifsud & vella, 2018), spain (portolés & martí, 2017), and sweden (boyd & ottesjö, 2016; boyd et al., 2017; puskás & björk-willén, 2017). a number of articles (6/29) also specified the population density of the geographical area as urban (alanís, 2018; baker, 2018; garrity & guerra, 2015; garrity et al., 2015; palmer et al., 2014; sawyer et al., 2018). studies described a variety of early learning programs, approaches to supporting language development, and language policies. along with the geographical location of each study and the languaging practices of teachers and children, this information is detailed in table 1. approaches to supporting language development included: (a) specifically-structured bilingual programs (e.g., dual language, two-way immersion), (b) unspecified bilingual (i.e., studies stated explicitly that the program was bi/multilingual but did not follow a predetermined approach such as dual language), and (c) bilingual-in-practice (i.e., the program did not refer to itself as bilingual, but teachers either were told they could interact bilingually with children or chose to on their own). language policies either supported flexible bilingualism (i.e., teachers were permitted to draw on features from more than one language at a time) or required language separation (i.e., teachers were expected to use only one language at a time). table 1: language use according to program type, language approach, and language policy study (location) program type language approach language policy teachers’ languaging children’s languaging alamillo et al. (2017) (us ca) state university ece center, reggioinspired specificallystructured bilingual: dual language immersion flexible bilingualism flexible flexible https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 165 alanís (2018) (us tx) public prek specificallystructured bilingual: dual language language separation1 monolingual flexible arreguín et al. (2018) (us tx) head start unspecified bilingual *not specified flexible flexible axelrod (2017) (us nyc) head start unspecified bilingual flexible bilingualism flexible flexible baker (2018) (us ma) head start, public prek, private universityaffiliated prek bilingual-inpractice language separation flexible flexible bengochea et al. (2018) (us southeastern) mixed model: private pay + head start specificallystructured bilingual: dual language language separation monolingual flexible boyd et al. (2017) (sweden) public preschool (finnish), private preschool (english) bilingual-inpractice language separation monolingual flexible boyd & ottesjö (2016) (sweden) private preschool bilingual-inpractice language separation flexible flexible de sousa (2017) (us hw) universityaffiliated preschool bilingual-inpractice flexible flexible flexible garrity et al. (2015) (us border ca) universityaffiliated childcare center specificallystructured bilingual: dual language language separation monolingual flexible garrity & guerra (2015) (us border ca) head start bilingual-inpractice *not specified flexible flexible https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 166 gort & pontier (2013) (us southeast) mixed model: private pay + head start specificallystructured bilingual: dual language language separation flexible flexible gort et al. (2012) (us southeast) mixed model: private pay + head start specificallystructured bilingual: dual language language separation monolingual flexible gort & sembiante (2015) (us southeast) mixed model: private pay + head start specificallystructured bilingual: dual language language separation flexible flexible kim (2016a) (us midwest) private heritage language program bilingual-inpractice *not specified flexible flexible kim (2016b) (us midwest) private heritage language program bilingual-inpractice *not specified monolingual flexible kim (2017) (us midwest) private heritage language program bilingual-inpractice *not specified monolingual flexible kirsch (2017) (luxembourg) public preschools unspecified trilingual language separation flexible flexible kirsch (2018a) (luxembourg) public nursery school unspecified trilingual language separation flexible flexible kirsch (2018b) (luxembourg) public preschool unspecified trilingual language separation flexible flexible mifsud & vella (2018) (malta) catholic preschool, public preschool unspecified bilingual language separation flexible flexible palmer et al. (2014) public prek specificallystructured language separation flexible flexible https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 167 (us tx) bilingual: twoway immersion palviainen et al. (2016) (finland, israel) public preschools unspecified bilingual language separation → flexible (finland); flexible (israel) flexible flexible pontier & gort (2016) (us southeast) mixed model: private pay + head start specificallystructured bilingual: dual language language separation flexible flexible portolés & martí (2017) (spain) public preschool bilingual-inpractice / english as an additional language (eal) language separation flexible flexible puskás & björkwillén (2017) (sweden) public preschool unspecified trilingual flexible monolingual (2 teachers), flexible (1 teacher) flexible sawyer et al. (2018) (northeast, southeast) head start bilingual-inpractice *not specified flexible flexible schwartz & deeb (2018) (israel) public preschool specificallystructured bilingual: twoway immersion language separation monolingual flexible schwartz & gorgatt (2018) (israel) public preschool specificallystructured bilingual: twoway immersion language separation flexible flexible 1or, dual monolingualism wherein one teacher only uses one language. results below, we outline our findings in terms of two salient themes that emerged from the focal studies. we first address the diversity of languaging practices observed from the https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 168 participants, and then discuss varying degrees of agency observed in both teachers’ and children’s language use. dynamic languaging practices in ece contexts all 29 studies included in this literature review contributed to an understanding of teachers’ and/or children’s naturalistic languaging practices in ece contexts. that is, neither teachers nor children were bound by research design (e.g., quasi-experimental) to “perform” language in a specific way. in the focal studies, teachers and children were observed to overtly enact dynamic languaging practices across a range of learning contexts and highlighted strategies for fostering those practices. below, we elaborate more pointedly on these distinctions. dynamic languaging practices across specific learning contexts across all three approaches to supporting language development (specificallystructured, unspecified, and bilingual-in-practice), teachers regularly promoted and/or engaged in dynamic languaging practices, even when language policies called for language separation. moreover, various dynamic languaging practices were documented within multiple learning contexts, including sociodramatic play (i.e., “play that involves the acting out of scripts, scenes and roles” [bengochea et al., 2018, p. 39]), unstructured playtime, show-and-tell, and read alouds. these practices showed that “acknowledging and supporting diversity in the classroom contributes to the cultivation of a positive emotional environment” (baker, 2018, p.13). during sociodramatic play in a dual language program, bengochea et al. (2018) observed how four-year-old anthony drew on multimodal resources, including translanguaging, depending on his play purposes and interlocutors. that is, he translanguaged with his peers and performed in monolingual english with his teachers, even engaging in a parallel monolingual english conversation with his spanish model teacher. these exchanges highlighted the complexity of anthony’s languaging, and therefore, the importance of young eb children drawing on different modes and languaging practices to amplify their experiences. in a twoway immersion program where teachers were expected to adhere to a policy of language separation, schwartz and deeb (2018) also found that during sociodramatic play activities, children-led conversations had richer exchanges as indicated by greater frequency of productive language and fewer formulaic utterances. in specifically-structured (alanís, 2018; schwartz & deeb, 2018), unspecified bilingual (axelrod, 2017), and bilingual-in-practice approaches (boyd et al., 2017), children’s language practices during structured (i.e., teacher-led) and unstructured (i.e., children-led) playtime learning contexts were analyzed. teachers allowed--and children engaged in--translanguaging, thereby positioning children’s full linguistic repertoire as a resource and working to support children’s capacity to imagine, create, and regulate their own learning as well as other students’ behavior. for example, axelrod (2017) described four-year-old soraya engaging in complex exchanges: she would often engage in translanguaging, for example ‘‘i’m gonna play in the cocina (kitchen)’’ and would mix in words and phrases, such as muchacho (boy) ay dios mio https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 169 (oh my god) into her speech. she often played with language and would use a lot of idioms in both english and spanish. her language usage and vocabulary was complex and she often used phrases that seemed more ‘‘adult-like,’’ and would often take on phrases that she heard adults using. (p. 107) in a study of teachers’ and children’s languaging during show-and-tell in a specificallystructured bilingual program, gort and sembiante (2015) found that while co-teachers’ languaging practices mostly followed the one-teacher-one-language policy, children’s language choices were not regulated, and they felt free to draw on their full linguistic repertoire. in this case, teacher’s translanguaging predominantly served to reaffirm students’ oral production, redirect behavior, provide academic vocabulary, ask students questions for clarification, and expand initial information. gort et al. (2012), in their study of a specifically-structured bilingual program, investigated the nature and distribution of dual language preschool teachers’ questions across read alouds in english and spanish to understand how teachers’ questions supported learners’ meaning-making, ultimately identifying an inequitable distribution of questions and opportunities for extended dialogue across target languages. specifically, during spanish read alouds, although children were asked questions requiring them to draw a conclusion more often than during english read alouds, there were more questions requiring information recall in spanish read alouds, resulting in less conversation in that context. they suggest that teachers strategically develop and plan to ask a variety of questions in each target language with sufficient support for children to dynamically develop their bilingualism to include monolingual and bilingual performances. strategies for fostering dynamic languaging practices focal studies not only highlighted teachers’ and children’s languaging practices as naturalistic and useful communication within learning contexts, but they also shed light on strategies for cultivating these practices, including creating and fostering a comfortable environment in which to language freely, encouraging children to play with language, and modeling various translanguaging practices. creating and fostering a comfortable languaging environment. providing a comfortable atmosphere inviting and supporting children’s use of their full linguistic repertoire, including children’s translanguaging, aided in the execution of activities across all approaches to supporting language development (alanís, 2018; baker, 2018; bengochea et al., 2018; de sousa, 2017; gort & sembiante, 2015; kim, 2016a, 2016b; kirsch, 2018b; pontier & gort, 2016; schwartz & deeb, 2018). for example, children’s multimodal interactions, including translanguaging, helped include peers in activities, as was the case when two boys shifted from a passive to a more active role during their group conversation when they drew on their full linguistic repertoire to support their meaning-making process in a bilingual-in-practice program (de sousa, 2017). in another bilingual-in-practice program, kim (2016b) similarly found that, when allowed to use both korean and english when they had discussions about books with their peers, children translanguaged and expressed their views comfortably, providing them with opportunities to explore diverse perspectives about the books they read and fostering “literary understanding, critical examination of texts and deep engagement with more advanced thoughts” (p. 332). axelrod (2017) found in an unspecified bilingual program that teachers’ encouragement of multilingual learners’ play with words while drawing on their full linguistic repertoire and https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 170 interacting with each other is a fruitful strategy that supported a “dynamic cycle of multiple language development, understanding that part of the process of developing language is playing with language” (p. 109), which also leveraged their understanding of how language works. modeling translanguaging practices. teachers themselves sometimes engaged in strategic translanguaging (kirsch, 2018a, 2018b; palviainen et al., 2016; pontier & gort, 2016), thereby modeling dynamic languaging practices for children. this was the case when, for example, teachers negotiated with children in an unspecified bilingual program (palviainen et al., 2016), participated in shared book readings in a specifically-structured bilingual program (pontier & gort, 2016) or interactions with and around technology in an unspecified bilingual program (kirsch, 2018a), and supported children’s vocabulary acquisition (kirsch, 2018b). moreover, teachers embraced, accepted, allowed, and supported children’s translanguaging (axelrod, 2017; gort & sembiante, 2015; kirsch, 2017; palmer et al., 2014). in enacting these practices and making space for them, teachers highlighted the value of dynamic languaging practices. in many instances, teachers made knowing choices to language bilingually, regardless of the existing language policy. in the next section, we further explore teachers’ agency in contexts with differing language policies. teacher agency teacher agency, determined by teachers’ knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal and professional beliefs (boyd & ottesjö, 2016; kim, 2017; kirsch, 2017, 2018b; mifsud & vella, 2018; palmer et al., 2014, palviainen et al., 2016), played an important role in bi/multilingual ece contexts. using a combination of these factors that characterize agency, teachers made purposeful decisions and took meaningful action in the classroom. specifically, as we will discuss in further detail below, ece teachers purposefully either adhered to or contested institutionalized language policies, showing strong underlying ideologies about flexible languaging practices as they exercised their agency. as such, teachers were policymakers in their own right (menken & garcía, 2010), based on whether or not they allowed children to draw on their full linguistic repertoire. teachers’ agency became salient, therefore, in the contrast between strict language separation policies and the natural social interactions of bilinguals, often revealing a mismatch of learners’ linguistic behavior (and realities) inside and outside the classroom. teachers’ enactment of their agency existed independently of classroom language context, as there was no clear pattern between the type of language model/policy and whether teachers aligned with or contested the stated policy. of importance is that when teachers engaged in flexible languaging performances, they valued the use of translanguaging in the classroom and positioned children as competent bilinguals (gort & sembiante, 2015; palmer et al., 2014, palviainen et al., 2016) capable of both understanding teachers’ languaging practices and enacting their own languaging practices. thus, although teachers were typically viewed as those exercising their agency, children were also observed as active agents of a wide variety of bilingual practices, contrasting with any monolingual practices of the staff in preschools (boyd et al., 2017; boyd & ottesjö, 2016; portolés & martí, 2017). leveraging agency through languaging practices aligned with language policies https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 171 some teachers followed and modeled language policies that advocated for flexible bilingualism (alamillo et al., 2017; axelrod, 2017; palviainen et al., 2016; puskás & björk-willén, 2017), while others imposed the schools’ policy of language separation or monolingual policies (alanís, 2018; bengochea et al., 2018; boyd et al., 2017; garrity et al., 2015; gort et al., 2012; puskás & björk-willén, 2017; schwartz & deeb, 2018), regardless of their personal beliefs, sometimes demonstrating a lack of responsivity to the dynamic language use of learners (puskás & björk-willén, 2017). in cases where teachers’ own languaging practices aligned with the official language policy of promoting flexible languaging practices, they allowed students to language freely while also doing so themselves (kirsch, 2017; mifsud & vella, 2018). kirsch (2017) highlighted this match between policy and practice, concluding that teachers in her study engaged in the government-endorsed legitimate practice of translanguaging to “capitalize on children’s multilingualism and model and use multilingual and multimodal resources” (p. 160). this was also the case in garrity and guerra (2015), where the head start policy was that teachers should “support children’s first language while helping them acquire oral proficiency in english” (p. 245). one of the co-teachers believed that both languages should be supported simultaneously in the classroom, and she and engaged in bilingual practices. in other studies, teachers’ beliefs and/or practice aligned with the school’s promotion of a language separation policy (alanís, 2018; bengochea et al., 2018; boyd et al., 2017; garrity et al., 2015; gort et al., 2012; mifsud & vella, 2018; schwartz & deeb, 2018). for example, in one of the two focal schools with a language separation policy in mifsud and vella (2018), the teacher “did not legitimise the children’s contributions in english and continually reminded the children that they had to use maltese, even while working in groups” (p. 282). as such, the teacher reinforced the language separation policy at all times, precluding children from languaging flexibly. leveraging agency through languaging practices that contest language policies teachers also use their agency to contest language policies (arreguín-anderson et al., 2018; baker, 2018; boyd & ottesjö, 2016; gort & pontier, 2013; gort & sembiante, 2015; kirsch, 2017, 2018a, 2018b; mifsud & vella, 2018; palmer et al., 2014; palviainen et al., 2016; pontier & gort, 2016; portolés & martí, 2017; puskás & björk-willén, 2017; schwartz & gorgatt, 2018). some teachers contested a language separation policy because they believed in the benefits of flexible languaging practices in the classroom (e.g., palmer et al., 2014; portolés & martí, 2017). for instance, baker (2018) found that teachers made a knowing decision to use children’s home languages during guided play activities even when the expectation was to use english, a move that increased young eb children’s sense of classroom belonging. similarly, in palviainen et al. (2016), teachers consciously reported having “made modifications over time--from previous use of a bilingual educational model built on language separation to a flexible bilingual model-and that they had done so actively and knowingly” (p. 621) in order to “negotiate differences in the children’s linguistic backgrounds and emotional, cognitive, or social needs” (p. 627) and to help monolingual students better develop their languaging repertoire and understand the importance of minoritized languages. however, the reverse was also true--other teachers contested a flexible languaging policy because they believed that a monolingual policy was best for the students. for example, in puskás and björk-willén (2017), two of the focal teachers chose to language monolingually in their designated language despite national policy (extended to the particular preschool https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 172 program) that could have been interpreted as an endorsement of flexible language use. even in garrity and guerra (2015), despite a nebulous language policy, one of the teachers adhered to the language policy, but the other did not. she engaged in more monolingual english practices with the children and argued “that english should be taught at school and spanish should be taught at home” (p. 252). top-down imposed monolingual policies often contrasted not only with the reality of teachers’ flexible languaging practices, but also with the students’ language behavior, which naturally steered toward use of their full linguistic repertoire (alamillo et al., 2017; arreguínanderson et al., 2018; gort & pontier, 2013; kirsch, 2017). this contrast suggests a need to challenge rigid language separation policies (i.e., maintaining monolingual use of the target language) as best approaches to language education in ece and to instead validate students’ flexible bilingualism (portolés & martí, 2017). as such, teachers also contested rigid language separation policies. similarly, in palmer et al. (2014), the teachers challenged the rigid language separation policy and actively translanguaged along with the children, promoting the acceptability of translanguaging and encouraging students to use their full linguistic repertoire. in doing so, they became “models of dynamic bilingualism” (p. 763). leveraging agency in intentional ways teachers in the focal studies made important adjustments in their languaging practices when interacting with children (gort & pontier, 2013; gort & sembiante, 2015; palviainen et al., 2016), but they may have done so as a reaction rather than as a purposeful and preplanned teaching strategy. in other words, whether these shifts were made with intention or were always more organic and responsive is not yet entirely evident. when teacher interviews were part of the methodological approach (palvianen et al., 2016), greater understanding of the teachers’ behaviors was achieved, sometimes showing an intentional leveraging of their agency. discussion this literature review focused on teachers’ and children’s naturalistic languaging practices in bi/multilingual ece contexts. after engaging in a systematic search for relevant qualitative empirical studies and applying strategic inclusion/exclusion criteria, we were left with 29 focal studies. the study (a) provides a description of teachers’ and children’s languaging practices and (b) highlights teachers’ agency in the act of either aligning with or contesting existing language policies in ece contexts. in addition to shedding light on numerous linguistic practices, findings of this systematic review of qualitative literature show that early childhood educators’ enactment of particular languaging practices was more closely related to their agency and beliefs than to any official language policy of the program/classroom in which they worked. that is, even within the highly political nature of establishing and enforcing specific language policies, more often than not, teachers leveraged their ability to choose how they wished to language for/with children, modeling linguistic practices that they believed in over those they were told to enact and enforce. our findings also suggest that policy-makers would benefit from consulting and/or including teachers in the policy-making process, since using their actual practice to inform policy may help formulate more effective and realistic policy. teachers’ and children’s dynamic languaging practices were documented across a variety of learning contexts (e.g., sociodramatic play, unstructured play periods) and https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 173 instructional strategies (e.g., differing questions). moreover, many benefits were associated with teachers and children drawing on their full linguistic repertoires, including effective meaning-making by drawing on one’s complete knowledge and understanding (garrity et al., 2015; kim, 2016a; kirsch, 2018b), legitimization of multilingual and multicultural identities (gort & sembiante, 2015; kirsch, 2018a), creation of a non-threatening environment to develop language (alamillo et al., 2017; alanís, 2018; kim 2016b; kirsch, 2017), and enrichment of sociocultural spaces (gort & pontier, 2013; gort & sembiante, 2015; kim, 2016b; kirsch, 2017; portolés & martí, 2017). an important note, though, is that rarely were these languaging practices planned, or at the very least, they were not reported as such. this may suggest that when teachers language naturally in ece contexts as they would outside of ece contexts, they are supporting young eb children in myriad ways. although researchers have begun to examine dual language teachers’ interpretation and implementation of bilingual pedagogies in k-12 contexts (cuny-nysieb, 2020; henderson & palmer 2020), there is still a paucity of information on this topic in early childhood. the majority of the studies in this review mainly described translanguaging practices as “allowed” and “supported,” leading us to wonder whether translanguaging in the ece classroom has achieved its potential. planning for strategic dynamic languaging--enacted by teachers and/or children--may enhance the existing documented benefits that bilingual children experience. thus, we question what the consequences would be if early childhood teachers would do more than just allow translanguaging, and actually use it strategically. there is evidence that teachers may need coaching with developing and implementing specific scaffolding strategies to better support multilingual learners in meaningful ways (de sousa, 2017). however, the literature highlighted in this review represents only a slice of learning contexts and instructional strategies. research that targets particular early childhood learning contexts and specific instructional strategies would enhance the field’s understanding of both the expanding enactments of dynamic bilingualism but also its utility as practice and pedagogy. numerous findings showed the various instantiations of bilingual languaging practices (e.g., gort et al., 2012; gort & pontier, 2013; pontier & gort, 2016), the ways in and reasons for which teachers leveraged their agency (gort & sembiante, 2015), and the growing documentation of benefits afforded to bilingual pedagogies (e.g., axelrod, 2017; garrity et al., 2015; kim, 2016a; kirsch, 2018b). as such, multiple studies either explicitly or implicitly call into question policies that demand a strict separation of language (gort & pontier, 2013; kim, 2016a; kirsch, 2018b; mifsud & vella, 2018; palmer et al., 2014; pontier & gort, 2016). even within these contexts of language separation, teachers still chose to either themselves engage in bilingual practices or encourage and support students in doing so (baker, 2018; boyd & ottesjö, 2016; gort & pontier, 2013; gort & sembiante, 2015; kirsch, 2017, 2018a, 2018b; mifsud & vella, 2018; palmer et al., 2014; pontier & gort, 2016; portolés & martí, 2017; schwartz & gorgatt, 2018). to that end, teachers are already well-situated to draw on their agency to do this work as they are placed at the very heart of language policy-making, highlighting their purposeful and reflective choices of whether to adhere to the language program’s (sometimes) rigid policies, and adapt these into learners’ dynamic bilingual practices (menken & garcía, 2010). a challenge here is that teachers often have little training directly related to language policy or planning and, subsequently, little formal preparation for meeting the needs of eb https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 174 children’s linguistic human rights (wiley, 2008). thus, greater teacher professional development related to policies may be helpful. however, a major takeaway is that policy makers should recognize teachers’ languaging performances as largely unrelated to stated language policies. instead, a better approach might be to focus on the tensions among teachers’ lived experiences, language ideologies, expectations of young eb children, and teaching practices, and the subsequent results of those practices. because this review drew from qualitative literature, we did not focus on quantitative assessment or evaluation data related to the effectiveness of translanguaging as practice or pedagogy. since children translanguaged in every study, our focus was then on how teachers positioned themselves and acted upon stated language policies, including how they worked within contexts of dynamic languaging. we recognize that the trend is to determine effectiveness through “academic” outcomes, but we sought to highlight the normalness of bilingual practices, which were effected regardless of context or language policies. based on the studies included in this review, therefore, we cannot make quantitative claims of whether translanguaging was effective. that said, in addition to these qualitative studies, more experimental studies that explore the effectiveness of translanguaging in ece contexts, including the relationship with literacy and the bilingualism of the surrounding community, would certainly be of interest to a large body of researchers and government officials. included in this suggestion is the requirement that quantitative studies draw on different ideologies in creating coding schemes, conducting analyses, and presenting findings that do not reify existing monolingual norms. finally, existing resources for early childhood educators tend to operate from a “bilingualism as dual,” or monolingual, perspective, not always intentionally leveraging the skills and experiences of young eb children and their families. in many of these instances, the ultimate goal is english, not bilingualism. for example, in drawing on existing literature, head start provides a comprehensive array of resources for ece providers, but does so with a focus on one language at a time (e.g., “resources demonstrate how to help dlls develop their home language as they also move toward becoming proficient in english” [retrieved from: https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/culture-language/article/planned-language-approach]). similarly, head start’s three recommended classroom language models for supporting young eb children in ece contexts (i.e., dual language, home language as a base for english development, english with home language support) operate on the assumption that an adult in the ece context can serve as a language model for monolingual english. however, often this is not the case (pontier, forthcoming), and languaging practices to support young ebs as they expand their linguistic repertoires (while simultaneously developing socioemotional, physical, and other relevant and appropriate skills and experiences) are absent from available resources. moreover, many of the ece teachers who self-identify as monolingual in a language other than english often engage in bilingual languaging practices (pontier, forthcoming). how these languaging practices fit into different models of early childhood bilingual education (which include specific language policies) has yet to be incorporated into available resources. we must also be critical and question whether the suggested models are an authentic fit for both the young eb children being served and the ece teachers working with them. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 175 references alamillo, l., yun, c., & bennett, l. h. (2017). translanguaging in a reggio-inspired spanish dual-language immersion programme. early child development and care, 187(3-4), 469-486. alanís, i. (2018). enhancing collaborative learning: activities and structures in a dual language preschool classroom. association of mexican american educators journal, 12(1), 5-26. arreguín-anderson, m. g., salinas-gonzalez, i., & alanis, i. (2018). translingual play that promotes cultural connections, invention, and regulation: a latcrit perspective. international multilingual research journal, 12(4), 273-287. axelrod, y. (2017). “ganchulinas” and “rainbowli” colors: young multilingual children play with language in head start classroom. early childhood education journal, 45(1), 103110. baker, m. (2018). playing, talking, co-constructing: exemplary teaching for young dual language learners across program types. early childhood education journal, 47, 115130. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-018-0903-0 bengochea, a., sembiante, s. f., & gort, m. (2018). an emergent bilingual child’s multimodal choices in sociodramatic play. journal of early childhood literacy, 18(1), 38-70. boote, d. n., & beile, p. (2005). scholars before researchers: on the centrality of the dissertation literature review in research preparation. educational researcher, 34(6), 3-15. boyd, s., huss, l., & ottesjö, c. (2017). children’s agency in creating and maintaining language policy in practice in two “language profile” preschools in sweden. multilingua, 36(4), 501-531. boyd, s., & ottesjö, c. (2016). adult monolingual policy becomes children’s bilingual practice: code-alternation among children and staff in an english-medium preschool in sweden. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 19(6), 631-648. center on the developing child at harvard university. (2016). from best practices to breakthrough impacts: a science-based approach to building a more promising future for young children and families. retrieved from www.developingchild.harvard.edu. corbin, j., & strauss, a. (2008). basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (3rd ed.). sage. cummins, j. (1981). the role of primary language development in promoting educational success for language minority students. in california state department of education. (ed.), schooling and language minority students: a theoretical framework (pp. 3– 49). evaluation, dissemination and assessment center. de sousa, e. b. c. (2017). promoting the contributions of multilingual preschoolers. linguistics and education, 39, 1-13. fishman, j. a. (1968). some contrasts between linguistically homogeneous and linguistically heterogeneous polities. in j. a. fishman, c. a. ferguson, & j. dasgupta (eds.), language problems of developing nations (pp. 53-68). wiley. garcía, o. (2009). education, multilingualism and translanguaging in the 21st century. in a. mohanty, m. panda, r. phillipson, & t. skutnabb-kangas (eds.), multilingual education for social justice: globalising the local (pp. 128-145). orient blackswan. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 176 garcía, o., & kleifgen, j. a. (2018). educating emergent bilinguals: policies, programs, and practices for english learners. (2nded.). teachers college press. garcía, o., & leiva, c. (2014). theorizing and enacting translanguaging for social justice. in a. blackledge & a. creese (eds.), heteroglossia as practice and pedagogy (pp. 199–216). springer. garcía, o., & wei, l. (2014). translanguaging: language, bilingualism and education. palgrave macmillan. garcía, o., & otheguy, r. (2020). conceptualizing translanguaging theory/practice juntos. in cuny-nysieb (eds.), translanguaging and transformative teaching for emergent bilingual students: lessons from the cuny-nysieb project (pp. 3-24). routledge. garrity, s., & guerra, a. w. (2015). a cultural communities approach to understanding head start teachers’ beliefs about language use with dual language learners: implications for practice. contemporary issues in early childhood, 16(3), 241-256. garrity, s., aquino-sterling, c. r., & day, a. (2015). translanguaging in an infant classroom: using multiple languages to make meaning. international multlinngual research journal, 9, 177-196. gort, m., & pontier, r. w. (2013). exploring bilingual pedagogies in dual language preschool classrooms. language and education, 27(3), 223-245. gort, m., pontier, r. w., & sembiante, s. f (2012). function, type, and distribution of teacher questions in dual-language preschool read alouds. bilingual research journal, 35(3), 258-276. gort, m., & sembiante, s. f. (2015). navigating hybridized language learning spaces through translanguaging pedagogy: dual language preschool teachers’ languaging practices in support of emergent bilingual children’s performance of academic discourse. international multilingual research journal, 9(1), 7-25. grosjean, f. (1989). neurolinguists, beware! the bilingual is not two monolinguals in one person. brain and language, 36(1), 3-15. head start early childhood learning knowledge center. (n.d. a). planned language approach. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/culture-language/article/planned-language-approach head start early childhood learning knowledge center. (n.d. b). classroom language models: a leader’s implementation manual. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/pps-language-models.pdf heller, m. (2007). bilingualism as ideology and practice. in m. heller (ed.), bilingualism: a social approach (pp. 1-22). palgrave macmillan. henderson, k. i, & palmer, d. k. (2020). dual language bilingual education: teacher cases and perspectives on large-scale implementation. multilingual matters. kamberelis, g., & dimitriadis, g. (2005). on qualitative inquiry: approaches to language and literacy research. teachers college press. kim, s. j. (2016a). possibilities and challenges of early critical literacy practices: bilingual preschoolers’ exploring multiple voices and gender roles. journal of early childhood research, 14(4), 370-388. kim, s. j. (2016b). the role of peer relationships and interactions in preschool bilingual children's responses to picture books. journal of early childhood literacy, 16(3), 311337. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 177 kim, s. j. (2017). a situated perspective on bilingual development: preschool korean–english bilinguals’ utilization of two languages and korean honorifics. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 20(1), 1-19. kirsch, c. (2017). translanguaging practices during storytelling with the app iteo in preschools. translation and translanguaging in multilingual contexts, 3(2), 145-166. kirsch, c. (2018a). young children capitalising on their entire language repertoire for language learning at school. language, culture and curriculum, 31(1), 39-55. kirsch, c. (2018b). dynamic interplay of language policies, beliefs and pedagogy in a preschool in luxembourg. language and education, 32(5), 444-461. mackey, w. (1968). the description of bilingualism. in j. fishman (ed.), readings in the sociology of language, (pp. 554–84). mouton. menken, k., & garcía, o. (eds.). (2010). negotiating language education policies: educators as policymakers. routledge. mifsud, c. l., & vella, l. a. (2018). teacher agency and language mediation in two maltese preschool bilingual classrooms. language, culture and curriculum, 31(3), 272-288. milner iv, h. r. (2007). race, culture, and researcher positionality: working through dangers seen, unseen, and unforeseen. educational researcher, 36(7), 388-400. national association for family child care. (n.d.). retrieved july 29, 2020, from https://www.nafcc.org/about-us office of english language acquisition (oela, 2017). office of head start. (2017). head start program facts fiscal 2017. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/hs-program-fact-sheet2017_0.pdf palmer, d. k., martínez, r. a., mateus, s. g., & henderson, k. (2014). reframing the debate on language separation: toward a vision for translanguaging pedagogies in the dual language classroom. the modern language journal, 98(3), 757-772. palviainen, å, protassova, e., mård-miettinen, k., & schwartz, m. (2016). two languages in the air: a cross-cultural comparison of preschool teachers’ reflections on their flexible bilingual practices. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 19(6), 614-630. pennycook, a. (2010). language as a local practice. routledge. pontier, r. w. (forthcoming). leveraging family child care providers’ linguistic strengths to create intentional language approaches to supporting young emergent bilingual learners. pontier, r. w., & gort, m. (2016). coordinated translanguaging pedagogy as distributed cognition: a case study of two dual language bilingual education preschool coteachers’ languaging practices during shared book readings. international multilingual research journal, 10(2), 89-106. portolés, l., & martí, o. (2017). translanguaging as a teaching resource in early language learning of english as an additional language (eal). bellaterra journal of teaching & learning language & literature, 10(1), 61-77. puskás, t., & björk-willén, p. (2017). dilemmatic aspects of language policies in a trilingual preschool group. multilingua, 36(4), 425-449. reyes, i. (2006). exploring connections between emergent biliteracy and bilingualism. journal of early childhood literacy, 6(3), 267–92. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 pontier et al., dynamic language use journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 178 sawyer, b., atkins-burnett, s., sandilos, l., hammer, c. s., lópez, l., & blair, c. (2018). variations in classroom language environments of preschool children who are low income and linguistically diverse. early education and development, 29(3), 398-416. schwartz, m., & deeb, i. (2018). toward a better understanding of the language conducive context: an ecological perspective on children’s progress in the second language in bilingual preschool. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 1-19. schwartz, m., & gorgatt, n. (2018). “fortunately, i found a home here that allows me personal expression”: co-teaching in the bilingual hebrew-arabic-speaking preschool in israel. teaching and teacher education, 71, 46-56. stroud, c. (2007). bilingualism: colonialism and postcolonialism. in m. heller (ed.), bilingualism: a social approach (pp. 25-49). palgrave macmillan. tieken & auldridge-reveles, (2019). rethinking the school closure research: school closure as spatial injustice. review of educational research, 89(6), 917-953. wei, l. (2018). translanguaging as a practical theory of language. applied linguistics, 39(1), 930. weinreich, m. (1953). yidishkayt and yiddish: on the impact of religion on language in ashkenazic jewry. jewish theological seminary of america. wiley, t. g. (2008). language policy and teacher education. in s. may & n. hornberger (eds.), encyclopedia of language and education (2nd ed., vol. 1, pp. 229-242). springer. wiley, t. g. (2015). language policy and planning in education. in w. e. wright, s. boun, & o. garcía (eds.), the handbook of bilingual and multilingual education (pp. 164-184). wiley blackwell. wohlin, c. (2014). guidelines for snowballing in systematic literature studies and a replication in software engineering. ease’14 proc. 18th international conference for the evaluation of assessment in software engineering. . https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 54 language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders emre başok1* peter sayer1 1the ohio state university *corresponding author: basok.2@osu.edu received : 2020-sep-16 accepted : 2020-nov12 doi: 10.46303/jcve.2020.13 how to cite this paper: başok, e., & sayer, p. (2020). language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders. journal of culture and values in education, 3(2), 54-80. doi.org/10.46303/jcve.2020.13 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) abstract this study explored the potential effects of the trump administration’s proposed budget cuts through the lens of language ideologies in the language education community. this community includes english as a second language (esl), dual language bilingual programs, and world/foreign language education. the trump administration proposed cuts totaling $4 billion by eliminating or reducing major language education programs. through semistructured interviews, the researchers explored the perspectives of stakeholders who would be impacted. six participants who are actively involved in the language education community at different levels including esl, dual language bilingual, and world language educators, administrators and coordinators of language education programs in the u.s. participated in this study. thematic analysis of the interview data indicated that all participants from different stakeholder groups were ideologically aligned with the pluralist views. the budget cuts were perceived as representative of broader assimilationist ideology. the negative impacts of eliminations on teacher professional development programs, k-12 public education, post-secondary language education, and world language education in america were expressed by the participants. the participants’ counter arguments to the proposed budget eliminations are presented. this study has implications for the language education community, language policy makers, and educational policy planners in the u.s. keywords: language ideologies, language policies, fiscal policies https://cultureandvalues.org/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 55 introduction policymakers enact language ideologies by promoting and implementing particular language policies. language ideologies and language policies are two interconnected concepts with “complex, multiple, and often not straightforward” relation (farr & song, 2011, p. 654). in this study, we will examine the link between two main ideological positions in the u.s. with regards to language in schools, pluralism and assimilationism, and the language education policies endorsed by proponents of each position. the impetus and focal point of the discussion is a major budget proposal by the current trump administration to eliminate language education programs for the 2021 fiscal year. we include the viewpoints of stakeholders at various levels – administrators, program coordinators, and classroom language teachers – who would be impacted by the budget proposal. language ideologies are shared beliefs about specific languages, and by extension of the speakers of those languages (tollefson, 2006). they are largely unconscious and often become naturalized, so that they become the ingrained and taken-for-granted assumptions about languages, including prestige (which languages are valuable) and hierarchies (the relative value of a language vis-à-vis other languages). spolsky and shohamy (2000) extend the idea of language ideologies from beliefs to include the actions taken to further these beliefs: “[language ideologies are] the beliefs about language and language use, and any specific efforts to modify or influence that practice by formulation of specific language policies” (p. 2). similarly, johnson (2013) notes that language policies can emerge from language ideologies as an explicit formulation of a structured belief system, or likewise policies can be interpreted and appropriated based on language ideologies. since language policies impact many stakeholders and they are the byproducts of language ideologies of the power mechanisms, language policy is “an inherently political matter” (grin, 2006, p.89). however, language policies are less about language per se, and more a reflection of the ideological stance of the policymakers towards the speakers of particular languages. in the u.s., language policies include a gamut of measures mostly tailored to accommodating non-english speakers, such as translators for medical or court settings and access to services in government offices. here, we limit our discussion to language education policies mostly in the form of programs specifically designed for english language learners such as dual language1, english as a second language (esl), as well as programs designed for english speakers to promote multilingualism (called foreign or world language programs). while educational activities of all three types of programs would be significantly impacted by the proposed budget cuts, we are most concerned with the programs aimed at helping english learner2 (el) children of immigrant families achieve academic success. in the u.s., the 1 many people use the term dual language to refer to programs that have a balance of native english speakers and native speakers of the partner language. this model is also called two-way immersion or two-way bilingual immersion (center for applied linguistics, n.d). the development of bilingualism (the ability to speak fluently in two languages), biliteracy (the ability to read and write in two languages), academic achievement (equal to that of students in nondual language bilingual programs), and cross-cultural competence are the goals of dual language programs (gándara & escamilla, 2017, p. 6). 2 we use the common term english learners (els) to refer to students who have been assessed as less than fully proficient in english, and thus qualify for some form of english as a second language school services. the terminology varies in the u.s., and other terms such as english language learners (ells), english as new language (enl), or emergent bilinguals (ebs). while https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 56 sentiment towards these programs has “shifted between tolerance and repression depending on politics, economy, and the size of the immigrant population” (gándara & escamilla, 2017, p. 4). for the fiscal year 2021 budget request, the trump administration has proposed eliminating funding for several language education-related programs. the proposed budget includes the elimination of title ii of every student succeeds act (essa), title iv, part a of essa, english language acquisition, title ii of the higher education act (hea), and title vi/fulbright-hays programs. the total targeted reduction equals $4.2 billion (actfl, 2020). these programs fund teacher professional development programs, grants for students’ academic achievement, world language instruction programs, english language acquisition programs, teacher quality partnership programs for colleges of education, international teaching, research programs, and curriculum development programs for k-12 postsecondary and graduate levels (actfl, 2020). while more than 10% of american students in public schools are classified as english learners (els) (nces, 2019), the amount of funding allocated to this fastest-growing body of students in the u.s. public education constitutes a minute portion of the federal education budget (sugarman, 2016). according to a recent statistical report presented by the u.s. department of education, from 2000 to 2016 the number of english learners (els) increased from 3.8 million to 4.9 million students in u.s. public schools, and in some of the states the percentage of els reached to 21.0 percent of overall school populations (nces, 2019). we argue that, considering the increasing numbers of els, programs that directly or indirectly serve this growing student population hold great importance to ensure educational equity in america. however, teachers of els who need adequate training and continuous professional support to serve the growing el population are more likely to report that they lack adequate school facilities, resources, and educational materials more than other teachers (gandara & hopkins, 2010). to uncover the perspectives of those who would be directly or indirectly impacted by the proposed elimination of funding, we conducted in-depth interviews with different stakeholders. this study is guided by the following research questions: 1. how would the proposed budget cuts, and the current administration’s language education policy, impact language educators? 2. how have language educators responded to the current administration’s language education policy? an analysis of the stakeholders’ reactions to the proposed cuts for fy2021 reveals how language education professionals view the ideological ramifications of the budget. we begin by contextualizing language education policies within the broader assimilationist versus pluralist views and previous efforts to discourage the use of immigrant languages in the u.s., and then consider the views of the stakeholders. assimilationist and pluralist language ideologies in the u.s. the conflicting ideologies of assimilationists and pluralists have shaped language policies in the u.s. for many years. assimilationists hold that rather than retaining their els (with the notable exception of those from american indian/native hawaiian groups) may be born abroad or in the u.s., all are children of immigrant families. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 57 languages, immigrants should learn english as soon as possible and assimilate into the u.s. culture, for two reasons: (1) for the immigrant themselves to be successful and (2) to preserve national unity and by adopting a common language. within the assimilationist position is a strong language ideology of “one nation, one language,” that equates linguistic unity of the nation-state with stability and harmony (liddicoat, 2018). assimilationists therefore support language policies that limits bilingual education3, as well as other language accommodation measures such as bilingual ballots. as a result, they encourage both language and cultural assimilation to become “true” americans by making english their primary language (schmidt, 2006). language ideologies of assimilationists have translated into language policies with the support of advocacy groups and politicians who share assimilationist language ideologies. using an argument of “educational equity”, assimilationists argue that bilingual education should be replaced by programs, such as structured english immersion, aimed at quickly transitioning immigrant children into mainstream english classrooms (ricento, 2006). on the other hand, pluralists claim that language policies that promote both cultural and linguistic assimilation of immigrants will result in greater inequality for minority groups (schmidt, 2006). pluralists generally see linguistic diversity as a positive aspect of cultural pluralism, and therefore support bilingual education programs. whereas assimilationists often argue that since immigrants come to this country by choice, they need to learn english to benefit from the opportunities that the u.s. can provide, pluralists argue that america has always been a multicultural and multilingual society and the ethnolinguistic diversity of its citizens must be valued and taken into account to provide social and educational equity for immigrants (schmidt, 2006). the differences in language ideologies of assimilationists and pluralists and their interpretation of these ideologies are outlined in table 1. table 1: assimilationist vs pluralist language ideologies assimilationist pluralist language ideology interpretation language ideology interpretation english language as more important everyone needs to learn english. english is necessary for getting a job or accruing economic or social capital language as endowments/additive language ideology bilingualism is beneficial. people should learn more than one language. more than one language should be promoted in schools. ideology of one country/one language the united states should have an official language. language variation as functional language variation serves a purpose. language variation 3 bilingual education is the use of two languages in the instruction and assessment of learners (garcia, 2009). states have different regulations in place regarding bilingual education in the u.s. the vast majority of bilingual education programs are labeled as transitional bilingual education (tbe programs are designed for students who are labeled as els) where the ultimate goal is english acquisition. in this article we use bilingual education to refer to dual language bilingual programs such as two-way immersion programs. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 58 language has a symbolic function in society. the dominant language symbolizes a majority national group. can facilitate communication. using both languages can assist students. transitional language ideology students in schools need to transition to english. english acquisition is prioritized over bilingual acquisition. language as a social justice issue access to language affords access to privilege and opportunity (adapted with permission from henderson, 2017) pluralist ideologies: advocates for biand multilingualism the two ideological positions on multilingualism are well represented in language education policy by bills that have been introduced by republican and democratic lawmakers, respectively. however, farr and song (2011) point out that the political reality is more complex; while pluralingualism can be observed at societal levels with the increasing numbers of immigrants, monoglot language ideologies are shared widely by both liberals and conservatives across the political spectrum. garcía and kleyn (2016) argue that, even before the trump administration took office, “as the u.s. population has become more linguistically diverse, language education policy has become more restrictive and increasingly guarded by the federal government” (p. 181). nevertheless, we note that there are several programs that have been implemented in the u.s. to encourage bilingualism and multilingualism as part of pluralist ideologies. these programs honor the linguistic diversity in the u.s. and aim to provide an equitable education for minority groups. some of the initiatives that encourage multilingualism in the u.s. education system that have emerged from the pluralist ideologies are the seal of biliteracy (sobl), dual language programs, national professional development (npd) grants for el teachers, advanced placement (ap) and international baccalaureate (ib) world language programs, and fulbright-hays programs. some of the bills that were introduced by the u.s. lawmakers aligning with the pluralists ideologies include: excellence and innovation in language learning act (2011) to improve foreign language instruction in the u.s., advancing international and foreign language education act (2019) to support international and foreign language education research, and biliteracy education seal and teaching act (2019) to establish and improve the seal of biliteracy programs to recognize bilingual students’ language abilities in both english and a second language. assimilationist ideologies: english-only advocacy groups english-only advocacy groups in the u.s. have long sought to promote monolingual policies that support an assimilationist ideology. the policies promoted by english advocacy groups, such as eliminating bilingual education, prohibiting the use of languages other than english in government, and limiting the language services for non-english speakers are informed by assimilationist ideologies (lawton, 2008). for the past decade, there have been https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 59 many attempts (most of which were successful) to restrict bilingual education, bilingual voting ballots, and restrict bilingual services in the public sector in america (ricento, 2013). the portrayal of immigrants as threats to the economy, law, and order, and bilingualism as a threat to national unity along with monolingual ideologies such as america first and englishonly have long been promoted by two major english advocacy groups: u.s. english and proenglish. the arguments of u.s. english and avid supporters of other english-only proponents are a result of “false ideological beliefs about immigration and revolve around politics, economics, power and the fear of other” (lillie & moore, 2014, p.3). while english only advocacy groups seem to advocate for linguistic nationalism by making english the official language of the u.s., according to crawford (2001) the main motivation behind the english only movement4 is “discrimination and disenfranchisement” (cited in lawton, 2016, p. 106). the alt-right media in the u.s., along with english advocacy groups, play a major role in creating false beliefs about immigration, bilingual education, and multiculturalism. while the current unwelcoming atmosphere toward immigrants, bilingualism, and multiculturalism have seen a major rise during the past couple of years, the alt-right media has been fueling the fear of others in america for some time. for instance, one of the conservative media outlets in the u.s., human events, used the headline “1,400 english girls were raped by multiculturalism” (prager, 2014) when they reported a vicious crime that took place in the u.k. the right-wing media has also shown its opposition to bilingual education in u.s. public schools repeatedly over the years. the same news organization, in another article, stated that “bilingual education, known as language apartheid, discourages assimilation by keeping children with hispanic-sounding names for years in spanish-language public school classes” (schlafly, 2008, para. 16). while these negative views toward bilingualism and multiculturalism have existed in america, the anti-immigration, anti-bilingualism, and antimulticulturalism rhetoric has increased dramatically over the past couple of years. more recently, an alt-right media outlet, breitbart, shared their concerns regarding the deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) by stating “amnesty for illegal aliens put america’s most sacred and shared common tradition at risk: american english” (binder, 2017, para. 1). apart from inciting fear toward multiculturalism and bilingualism, the right-wing media also portrays immigrants as threats to the u.s. economy, even though research refutes these false claims (frazee, 2018). however, the anti-immigrant, america first rhetoric used by politicians, the english-only discourse supported by advocacy groups, and the recent anti-immigrant discourse on several media outlets, play a big role in shaping the public perception regarding immigration, bilingualism, and multiculturalism. amongst the assimilationist-oriented advocacy groups, the groups u.s. english and proenglish have had a tremendous influence on lawmakers. between 1984-1990 they succeeded in getting 13 states to declare english as their official language. since the 1990s, the english-only movement has gained more political and financial support. in 2017, the year after trump took office, proenglish alone raised over $2 million in private contributions (proenglish financial statement, 2017). as of 2020, although the u.s. still has no official 4 us english, english first, and pro-english are three organized advocacy groups that constitute the english-only movement at the national level (lawton, 2016, p. 106). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 60 language at the federal level, with the advocacy of the english only movement, 32 states have declared english as their official language5 (u.s. english, n.d). besides official english laws, the other main target of these groups have been bilingual education programs. one of the prominent supporters of the english-only movement in the u.s. is businessman ron unz who used the voter initiative process in california, arizona, colorado, and massachusetts to spearhead anti-bilingual education bills. the unz supported english-only groups successfully passed proposition 227 (also known as the “english for the children”) in california in 1998 with the support of majority voters (lillie & moore, 2014). a similar voter initiative in arizona in 2000, proposition 203, and question 2 in massachusetts in 2002, effectively eliminated bilingual education in all three states (lillie & moore, 2014). the stated goals behind these bills were to ensure bilingual students to achieve academic success as their english-speaking peers, prevent high dropout rates among bilingual students, and provide them with equal opportunities after graduation. however, research indicates that opposite occurred: english assimilation programs in these states exacerbated existing inequities for language minority students and had “detrimental effects on the academic success of ells” (endo & reece-miller, 2010, p. 91). for instance, four years after the implementation of question 26 in massachusetts, uriarte, et. al. (2010) found that dropout rates had not improved, and it further generated educational inequity for bilinguals by placing them in special education programs. recent research (macswan et al., 2017) also found while english-only and english focused programs are not predictive of academic achievement for els, bilingual education contributes to their academic success at school by providing content-area knowledge in els’ first language that enables them to keep up academically while learning english. in 2014, california voters rebuked the failure of proposition 227 to improve educational achievement for els and passed proposition 58 by a wide margin. this ballot initiative essentially reserved the 1998 decision and “authorized school districts to establish dual language immersion programs for both native and non-native speakers” (california proposition 58, 2016). in the u.s., both pluralists and assimilationists have received support from the politicians who align themselves with the language ideologies of these groups. the ideological conflict between these two groups in terms of language rights and equity for non-english speaking immigrants has resulted in bills and amendment conflicts in the u.s. congress. since 1981, the republican party with the support of english advocacy groups has led six initiatives that demanded english to become the official language of the united states and eliminate bilingual education along with bilingual ballots (matos, 2018). democrats, on the other hand, have sponsored bills that aim to create high-quality dual language immersion programs (syllable act, 2020) and recognize bilinguals’ proficiency in both english and a second language (biliteracy education seal and teaching act, 2019) based on pluralist language ideologies. 5 although three states, alaska, hawaii and south dakota, also recognize an indigenous language(s) as co-official. 6 question 2 replaced a wide-ranging set of bilingual programs with structured english immersion (sei), an instructional model that has as its main purpose the expedited learning of english (uriarte, et. al. 2010, p. 65). https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 61 methodology to uncover the perspectives of those who could directly or indirectly be impacted by the proposed elimination of funding, this study employed a qualitative methodology. semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with six different stakeholders. semistructured in-depth interviews involve researchers asking questions to interviewees who have expertise on the topics that the researcher is interested in with the goal of extracting as much information as possible by using follow-up questions (morris, 2015). since the researchers' goal in this study was to explore the perspectives of different stakeholders who might directly or indirectly be affected by the proposed budget eliminations by the current u.s. administration, semi-structured in-depth interviews granted the flexibility to the interviewees to openly divulge their perspectives. in-depth interviews provided the researchers with rich data fairly quickly by creating a space for the interviewees to share their insights and perspectives on the research topic (morris, 2015). semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted to collect for data this study over zoom with each interview lasting approximately 30-45 minutes. online interviews enabled the researchers to overcome the geographical dispersion, financial, and time constraints in this study when compared to face to face interviews (janghorban et al., 2014). online interviews also proved to be viable alternatives to face to face interviews during the time of a global pandemic by enabling researchers to choose from varied communication options and to directly talk to the research participants anywhere, at any time (salmons, 2014). participants based on the purposes of this study, and our goal to gather rich and unique data (etikan et. al, 2016), we selected individuals through purposive sampling from three stakeholder groups within the language education community. since this study aimed to explore the perspectives of stakeholders who would be directly or indirectly affected by the proposed budget eliminations, we deliberately selected participants based on their expertise in the language education community. the participants included two administrators, two world language program coordinators, and two world language teachers from the midwestern u.s., representing programs in the areas of bilingual/dual language education, esl, and world/foreign languages. the administrators were professionals (one in higher education, one in a state department of education) who had written and directed programs funded through federal grants and were familiar with the federal funding process. the second stakeholder group was comprised of coordinators of world language programs who were directly involved in the professional development of world language and english as a second language (esl) teachers in their certification processes. additionally, these stakeholders had been involved as participants in grantfunded programs such as fulbright hays. the final stakeholder group that was interviewed in this study was made up of world language teachers who could be affected by the proposed elimination of budget in their teaching. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 62 table 2: participants (all names are pseudonyms) name position area michael language teacher trainer, administrator tesol/esl rachel state language program administrator world languages/dual language programs sam language education program coordinator tesol/esl/world languages emma world language program coordinator world languages elena spanish immersion teacher in a two-way dual language program bilingual/dual language tamara high school spanish teacher world languages data analysis the six transcribed interviews provided forty pages of data. open coding (emerson, fretz & shaw, 2011) was employed to identify themes that were relevant to the research questions throughout the data set. open coding enabled the researchers to categorize similar data units to easily find the cluster segments relating to particular research questions or themes (miles, huberman, & saldaña, 2019). the coding process also allowed the researchers to condense the data to be able to retrieve the most meaningful and relevant material to answer the research questions in this study (miles, huberman, & saldaña, 2019). interview data were coded employing “first cycle coding” (miles, huberman, & saldaña, 2019) including descriptive, in-vivo, and concept coding. data was coded by the first author and was checked by the second author of this study. once the interview data was coded using first cycle codes, broad categories and labels were created which enabled the researchers to detect the patterns and themes related to the purposes of this study. the emergent themes were then analyzed using thematic analysis (braun & clarke, 2006) to answer the two research questions that guided this study. to establish the credibility of the interview data, member checking (creswell & miller, 2000) was conducted with the participants where the interview transcripts were verified by the interviewees to ensure the accuracy of the content in the transcripts. findings and discussion the goal of this study was to uncover the perspectives of six different stakeholders in the language education community regarding the impact of the current administrations’ proposed budget cuts on language education programs in the u.s. inspired by actfl’s statement (appendix 1) on the proposed budget eliminations for the fiscal year 2021, the researchers aimed to answer the following research questions by conducting semi-structured interviews with the participants: 1. how have the members of the language education community responded to the administration’s budget proposal and language education policy? https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 63 2. how would the proposed budget cuts, and the current administration’s language education policy, impact language educators? the themes that emerged after analyzing the interview data are presented below:  budget eliminations as representative of a broader assimilationist ideology  the negative impact of eliminations on teacher professional development, intercultural competence, and educational equity  benefits of pluralist views on the language education community in the u.s. all participants expressed pluralist views in terms of language ideologies. when the participants were asked about their perspectives on the proposed budget eliminations regarding the language education community in the u.s. some of the words that they used to show their reaction to the budget eliminations were “staggering”, “a sense of myopia”, “violence toward language”, and “attack on education”. the following section highlights the first overarching theme that emerged from the participants’ interviews. budget eliminations as representative of a lack of interest in foreign language education and broader assimilationist ideology to answer the first research question in this study, all participants were asked to reflect on the proposed budget eliminations by the current administration detailed by actfl (appendix 1) and explain how, if approved, these eliminations would impact their jobs. when asked about her perspective on the proposed language education related budget eliminations, elena, a middle school spanish dual immersion teacher responded: i think it is very easy to attack foreign language education. it is not something that is going to be a front-burner for most people. i believe that there is definitely a correlation between several different paths or avenues that they are [the administration] taking in regard to how they see their role in the world. in their proposal several of the things are conflicting. so, for example, they are cutting [funding] for esl services, but they are promoting an agenda, which is english only. (elena, spanish immersion teacher) elena perceived the proposed budget elimination for the esl services as conflicting with the overall english-only policy and transitional language ideologies (henderson, 2017) that the current administration has been ideologically in favor of. according to english-only policies and transitional language ideologies as part of the assimilationist view, instruction should only be in english for els for them to better assimilate into the u.s. education system and society. as elena pointed out above, accomplishing english only policies requires funding for esl programs to serve the needs of the growing number of ell population in the u.s. however, the administration proposed to eliminate $787 million in funding for english language acquisition programs for the fiscal year 2021. similar to elena’s position, when asked about his perspective on the budget proposal, michael, a university language teacher education program director, responded: this government has the belief that english is all that matters. when it comes to language, they buy into the assimilationist paradigm. the elimination of teacher development grants and the elimination of student academic achievement grants at the state level for world language instruction are physical manifestations of broader assimilationist ideology. (michael, administrator) https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 64 when asked about her perspective on the budget proposal, rachel, one of the administrator participants in this study responded: quite honestly, i think it signifies a lack of interest in foreign language education or any understanding of the importance that foreign language education plays in across many aspects of our society, government, and business, our economy, national security. by making this type of major across the board cuts signals a lack of comprehension about the importance that world language education plays in the overall scheme of american society. (rachel, administrator) the proposed budget by the administration eliminates $1.2 billion current title iv, part a of essa, which funds student academic achievement grants and world language instruction programs (actfl, 2020). as an administrator in the state department of education working with world language program coordinators and dual language programs, rachel pointed out that the proposed budget reflects the disinterest of the administration in world language education. similar to what michael stated, rachel perceived eliminating world language education funding as representative of the broader english only belief system. however, as elena pointed out it is also noteworthy that the proposed budget also eliminates the english language acquisition funding for els which contradicts the broader english-only agenda of the administration. one of the world language program coordinators, sam, pointed the shift in language ideologies in the u.s. and how this shift is represented in language policy documents by asserting: the office of english language acquisition used to be called the office of english language acquisition and bilingual education7. there was a bilingual component or an acknowledgment of bilingualism in the conversations or in the laws or even in the judicial decisions. there seems to have been a move away from the inclusion of bilingualism as a term or as a method or as a vehicle for language teaching and language learning and more toward english language acquisition. well, now bilingualism seems to be not even on the table (sam, world language coordinator). as sam revealed, the broader language ideologies of the administrations are reflected in the policy documents or even in the official titles of programs. the shift in the change of program names or the emphasis of language policies that sam pointed out haven’t started with this current administration, but with a larger reauthorization of the esea measure also known as no child left behind (nclb) in 2002. the reauthorization of the 1994 version of the bilingual education act which aimed to develop els’ english skills while developing their native language skills was completely reversed with nclb which emphasized improving only english skills (garcia & michie, 2005). in parallel with sam’s statement about “now bilingualism seems to be not even on the table”, garcia and michie (2005) state that with the 2002 reauthorization of the bilingual education act, “the word bilingual has been completely eliminated from the law” (p. 98). these policy changes have shaped the understanding of bilingual education in the u.s. as a result, the bilingual education programs in the u.s., as opposed to the rest of the world, have primarily focused on teaching english by adopting 7 it was actually established in 1974 as the office of bilingual education and minority languages affairs (obemla) and reorganized in 2001 by the bush43 administration as the office of english language acquisition as part of the nclb reform. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 65 transitional bilingual programs where the goal is english acquisition rather than developing el’s bilingualism and biliteracy with dual language programs (gándara & escamilla, 2017). the current administration’s language ideologies, policies, and fiscal priorities are a continuum of assimilationist ideologies that have shaped the language education in the u.s. for the past two decades that has started with the nclb in 2002. the elimination of bilingualism from the law and the shift to english only policies have encouraged the english advocacy groups in the u.s. to strike at bilingual education programs. in line with both elena’s and michael’s remarks, tamara, a high school spanish teacher brought up the english-only advocacy groups that have been actively involved in the language policy debate in the u.s. after defining the proposed budget eliminations as “staggering” tamara added: “the ground is fertile for the english-only movement to really come to the forefront, so it is [proposed budget] just sort of giving them credence” (tamara, spanish world language teacher). corroborating tamara’s statement, proenglish, one of the major english advocacy groups in the u.s., shared its excitement when the english language unity act (2019) was introduced by rep. steve king (r-iowa) and co-sponsored by 27 other republican lawmakers by stating: great news! the official english bill (h.r. 997) has been introduced in the 116th congress. if passed, h.r. 997 would declare english as the official language of the united states! this bill will save american taxpayers untold billions of dollars and encourage new arrivals to our country to learn english and assimilate into our culture. the fact is, we have never seen a greater opportunity to make english our official language than now. president trump and vice president pence have both been outspoken supporters of english language policies. (proenglish action center, n.d) besides promoting their ideologically motivated goal of making english the official language of the u.s., english advocacy groups expect minorities with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds to adapt to the “american way of life” by eschewing their cultural and linguistic heritage. these groups also oppose federal spending on language services such as translation or interpretation services at schools and hospitals that accommodate non-english speakers. they want the u.s. government to repeal the executive order 13166 signed by president clinton to accommodate the “persons with limited english proficiency” (exec. order no. 13166, 2000). in one of his interviews with breitbart, the executive director of proenglish stated: we’ve actually had five meetings at the white house in recent weeks and months with different aides to president trump and vice president pence, and we have really urged them to sign a new executive order repealing clinton’s executive order. (binder & house, 2018) both of these quotes reveal that “the ground is fertile” for these advocacy groups during the current u.s. administration as tamara stated in her interview. when asked about english advocacy groups in the u.s. and their ideological tendencies michael responded, “they portray themselves as very patriotic” and elaborated further on their ideological alignment with the current u.s. administration by stating: this english first concept or american first concept that trump started with america first is tapping into a fear of the unknown, a fear of diversity, which is xenophobic, https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 66 which feeds into a fear of language because you can’t divorce language from people's culture and from people's identities. to come to america, you need to speak english, drop your language, drop your culture, drop your religion (michael, administrator). as the participants stated in their interviews, the budget elimination request for the language education community by the current administration is perceived as a manifestation of the broader assimilationist ideology. the participants also addressed the america-first rhetoric that has become popular for the past couple of years in the u.s. political discourse as feeding into the fear of the unknown and giving credence to the english advocacy groups. furthermore, the participants addressed the ideological alignment between the english-only movement and the current administration which was also revealed by the statements of these advocacy groups. the negative impact of budget eliminations on teacher professional development, intercultural competence, and educational equity the second research question in this study explored the possible impact that the proposed budget elimination would have if passed for the language education community. to answer this research question, all stakeholders were asked to express their perspectives on how their jobs would be affected by budget eliminations. out of the six interviewees in this study, only two of the participants were classroom teachers, but the coordinators and the administrators worked very closely with classroom teachers which enabled them to highlight the multilayered impact of eliminations. in their budget request for the 2021 fiscal year, the trump administration proposed to eliminate the current $2.1billion budget for the title ii of every student succeeds act (essa). essa was signed by president obama with a bipartisan measure which has reauthorized the elementary and secondary education act (esea) to ensure educational equity for all students (u.s. department of education, n.d). essa also provides vital funding to teacher development grants that provide crucial funding for teacher professional development in both k-12 and post-secondary levels (actfl statement, 2020). another major resource for language teacher professional development that the proposed budget eliminates is the title vi of the higher education act (hea) and fulbrighthays programs. fulbright-hays programs were started in 1961 and aim to improve international teaching practices while providing professional development opportunities for u.s. teachers (braimah & jotia, 2013). title vi/ fulbright hays as one of the largest and longest-standing federal programs has also played a crucial role in supporting research in language acquisition by training language teachers, experts and researchers, while enabling material development, including language tools and assessment materials in the u.s. (brecht & rivers, 2000). all six participants in this study expressed their concerns over the elimination of fulbright-hays funding by sharing their experiences with the program and detailing the possible impact of fulbright-hays budget eliminations on the professional development and intercultural competence of language educators. when asked about the possible impacts of the proposed budget eliminations on language teachers elena responded: i am a fulbright recipient. i have actually done a full year in lima, peru through fulbright so i can definitely speak to the merits of that program. i think it would be really devastating for an area in education that has very little funding and very little professional development to lose such an area. as an immersion teacher, i believe in https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 67 the importance of being part of a community. so being able to immerse yourself in a different culture in a different country is very, very critical. so that is obviously concerning. (elena, spanish immersion teacher) as elena highlighted, fulbright hays programs are critical not only for teacher professional development activities but also for intercultural competence of language educators in the u.s. another language teacher, tamara, shared similar concerns with elena by stating: title vi fulbright hays, which are great fellowship programs would certainly impact me. that’s a professional development opportunity that i consider every summer. and i know that is a blow really to the professional development of teachers because it enriches our teachers, but then it enriches our students when we bring in teachers from other countries that [fulbright hays budget elimination] could trickle down and impact the students. (tamara, high school spanish teacher) as tamara mentioned, fulbright hays programs offer great professional development opportunities for language teachers, and at the same time they enrich u.s. students' cultural understanding when they work with teachers from different countries. michael, a fulbright scholar and a faculty member who wrote grants to bring teachers from abroad to the u.s., reiterated the importance of international exchanges through fulbright programs based on his experience asserting: i am a fulbright scholar. i spent last summer in uruguay as a fulbright scholar and it opened up so many doors for me. the elimination of title vi/fulbright hays bothers me tremendously. last february, i brought 27 teachers from uruguay here. they stayed in homestays, they worked with teachers in the classrooms. it was a really amazing experience for them. it’s called a teacher exchange under the fulbright umbrella. this would directly affect me, my students, my agenda. (michael, administrator) besides addressing the positive impact of fulbright hays programs on intercultural understanding, michael also addressed another important purpose that these cultural exchanges serve in the world by stating: when we look at the intercultural and international exchanges, it creates a deeper understanding of one another. if we want to make peace around the world if we want to make this world a more just, equitable, amicable place we need more money in the state department with title vi with fulbright hayes and with fulbright in general. (michael, administrator) when asked about the possible impacts of budget elimination regarding the title vi of higher education act (hea) and fulbright hays programs, sam addressed the financial burden that this would put on teachers by stating: if the fulbright hayes was defunded universities such as ours would not be able to train teachers to work with students who are learning english as an additional language. we would not be able to mediate that. they would have to pay for it out of pocket because the english language acquisition funding in my experience has basically paid the tuition for in-service teachers to be trained or to go through professional development to develop their language teaching abilities. (sam, coordinator) https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 68 as expressed by the participants, fulbright hays programs are very important for language teacher professional development and intercultural competence. however, the funding that is allocated to fulbright hays programs has been in decline since 2011 in the u.s. the budget cuts that were implemented in fy2011 severely impacted the foreign language infrastructure in the country, namely teacher training programs. in the following years “title vi and fulbright-hays have still not recovered from those reductions and have seen their capacity further eroded” (national humanities alliance, n.d.). while the participants in this study revealed the benefits of title vi and fulbright-hays programs, there is an alarming downward trend in title vi & fulbright hays budget allocations since fy2010. the $110.3 million title vi funding in 2010 was appropriated to $68.1 million in the 2020 fiscal year, and similarly the $15.6 million fulbright-hays funding was cut by almost half and appropriated to $8.1 million in 2020 (gurwitz, 2020). furthermore, the trump administration’s proposed budget for fy2021 eliminates funding for title vi and fulbrighthays programs. another crucial funding for teacher professional development that the proposed fy2021 budget eliminates are the title ii grants. sam, one of the coordinators who closely works with pre-service language teachers as the coordinator of teacher certificate programs, addressed the importance of the title ii grants for teacher professional development by asserting: if title ii were to disappear my sense is that they would have less opportunity to provide resources or other opportunities to pursue professional development on behalf of language education initiatives, whether it be world language or esl. (sam, coordinator) title ii of the every student succeeds act (essa), provides grants that help support the funding of teacher professional programs, similar to title vi of the higher education act (hea) and the administrations’ proposal to eliminate the current $2.1 billion funding would have a damaging impact on teacher professional development. our findings regarding the impacts of fulbright hays programs on teachers concur with the findings of previous research (braimah & jotia, 2013; walters et al., 2011) conducted on the impact of fulbright hays programs on teacher professional development. for instance, braimah and jotia’s (2013) study found that teachers who participated in fulbright hays programs increased their knowledge base, teaching methodologies, and cultural awareness. similarly, walters et al. (2011) found that the international immersion experience during fulbright hays projects had positive impacts on teachers’ intercultural competence. as the participants in this study revealed, and the recent research has shown, fulbright hays programs are very critical in providing much-needed professional development and intercultural competence for u.s. language teachers. however, the 36.9% decline between 2010 and 2016 in combined funding ($195,437,000 in 2010 to $123,250,000 in 2016) for national resource centers, foreign language and area studies fellowships, title vi, and the fulbright hays programs (modern language association, 2018) and the proposed elimination of title vi and fulbright hays funding by the current administration poses great risks for the professional development and intercultural competence of language educators in the u.s. apart from funding the professional development of language teachers, the funding that is allocated to the language education community ensures the educational equity in the u.s. the federal funding is most critical for schools serving students in low socioeconomic https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 69 status (ses) school districts and eliminating the budget for public schools would incite educational inequality in america. one of the participants pointed out the negative impacts of budget elimination for students in lower ses school districts by stating: cutting the budget is going to affect disproportionately the lower socioeconomic students especially in urban settings or rural settings. it is hard enough to compete with students from private schools for scholarships for college and if you take away this budget to support language education, it is going to affect public schools. a lot of urban public schools are comprised of minorities and it is [budget elimination] very disturbing. (emma, world language administrator) as the participants expressed in their interviews, if the requested budget is approved, it would have major impacts on language teachers’ professional development, intercultural competence, and these cuts could also negatively impact minorities in u.s. public schools. negative impact of eliminations on world language education the governments’ federal spending on language education programs such as world language instruction show the value that the government gives to foreign language education. as brecht and rivers (2000) state, supporting foreign language education with federal funding sends a very important message to citizens, public schools, and colleges that the government values language education and strives to train language teachers which also encourages language enrollments nationwide. to address the negative message that the “america first” rhetoric and “english only” policies send to her rural midwestern spanish classroom tamara stated: i really think there is a clear lack of acceptance of foreign languages and cultures and i think it manifests itself in everyday interactions. i feel it from my students. i sense that in the classroom every day. you get the old standard i do not need this. i only need english. english is more important, everybody should just learn english. this is a waste of my time. (tamara, spanish teacher) the political rhetoric of “america first” as tamara stated, impacts the public sentiment, namely it demotivates students in learning foreign languages. this political rhetoric, as well as “english only” policies, has translated into the current administrations’ consecutive budget elimination requests which sends a negative message to citizens including students in language classrooms across the country. in line with the concerns that tamara shared regarding the demotivating impacts of assimilationist ideologies and political rhetoric, elena pointed out the decline in enrollment in foreign language education programs in the u.s. by stating: i think one of the things that we've already started seeing is just the sheer reduction in people going into foreign language education. even in the 90s, you would have students having options like german, french, and spanish, now it's basically french and spanish. now there's even a proposal to eliminate foreign languages as a college requirement. (elena, spanish immersion teacher) supporting elena’s claims, a recent report on total undergraduate and graduate-level foreign language enrollments reported a 9.2% decline between 2013 and 2016, making it the second-largest decline since 1972, with the closures of 651 language programs in only three years (modern language association, 2018). the foreign language enrollment numbers for khttps://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 70 12 levels in u.s. public schools are no more promising compared to higher education. the enrollment numbers of k-12 students in foreign language programs have been declining over the years to account for only 20% of the total student population in the u.s. (american councils for international education, 2017). conversely, 92% of european students learn a foreign language during primary and secondary schooling (devlin, 2018). there are many factors at play causing this decline in enrollment and closures of foreign language programs in higher education. to point out one of the most important factors affecting the enrollment numbers for foreign language programs both in k-12 and post-secondary levels rachel maintained: given the extremely limited funding that is available to world language programs both at the k-12 level and post-secondary level this [proposed budget elimination] is very concerning to me. i think it would have a rather devastating effect on our already dwindling resources and dwindling enrollment numbers for programs. if these cuts were to go through that would represent a rather huge diminishment in the funds available to districts to support curricular areas like foreign languages. (rachel, administrator) as both classroom teachers and the world language administrator stakeholders pointed out the official language policies based on assimilationist ideologies, incite a lack of acceptance toward foreign languages, and the elimination of funding for language education programs send a discouraging message to the public. as a result, the trickle-down effect that elena pointed out becomes indispensable in both world language and dual language immersion classrooms as it negatively impacts the enrollment and students’ motivation in learning a new language. as the participants in this study asserted, the assimilationist language ideologies and their translation into fiscal policies decreasing or eliminating funding for language education and political rhetoric such as “america first” and “english only” are some of the reasons for the low foreign language enrollment in both k-12 schools and higher education programs in the u.s. confirming tamara’s concerns regarding the negative message that the america first rhetoric sends to her rural language classroom, endo and reece-miller (2010) assert that the linguistic privilege of standard american english fueled with english-only rhetoric is the reason for the declining interest in learning languages and the lack of public awareness for the importance of multilingualism and multiculturalism. despite the concerning trend in low enrollment, declines in the funding for language education programs, and the current negative sentiments toward foreign language education in america fueled by “america first” and “english only” movements, a recent survey (eliassen, 2020) has found that 60% of americans support increased funding for language education programs. stakeholders’ counterarguments to budget eliminations in addition to sharing their perspectives on the possible impacts of budget eliminations on the language education community, the participants in this study provided counterarguments to the administrations’ budget eliminations. when asked about what she would tell the policymakers to reassess their proposed budget, elena as an immigrant herself addressed the importance of dual language/two way immersion programs by stating: https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 71 i grew up in mexico, and i came to the united states. when i think about the program i am in as a teacher, if that had been available to me as a student, i would have had a very different experience in how i learned and how i work and how i even probably developed as a person. so not having had access to the world as accepting of who i am as a dual language speaker really was difficult. i think that for the students that do have that opportunity to go to a school like mine is really critical. (elena, spanish immersion teacher) as a representative of pluralist ideologies, “dual language education programs provide academic content and language instruction in two languages to promote bilingualism and biliteracy, mastery of academic content, and cross-cultural awareness” (boyle et al. 2015, p. 43). while they aim to develop high levels of proficiency for students in both languages, dual language programs also aim to develop an appreciation and understanding of different cultures that elena did not have access to during her schooling in the u.s. as opposed to the assimilationist discourse in america that encourages both linguistic and cultural assimilation of immigrants for them to achieve high levels of academic proficiency, recent research (gómez, 2013; lindholm-leary & block, 2010; valentino & reardon, 2015) found that additive bilingual programs provide more academic achievement opportunities for els compared to other programs. in line with what elena stated, regarding the importance of dual language programs like hers, lindholm-leary and block’s (2010) study found that hispanic students who attend dual language programs in low ses schools achieve comparably or significantly higher than their hispanic peers in mainstream classrooms in english reading, language arts and mathematics according to test scores. similarly, valentino and reardon’s (2015) study which compared the academic achievement of els in different instructional programs found that the english language arts (ela) test scores of students in bilingual programs improved as fast as their peers in english immersion classrooms if not faster. besides their positive impact on students' academic achievement, dual language immersion programs also aim to maintain els’ home languages, as opposed to their linguistic assimilation into english (morales & aldana, 2010). the elimination of funding for these programs would greatly impact els’ home language maintenance as elena expressed: i think all of these things trickle down to an immersion school where we are trying to promote students not only learning a new language but also retaining their own language as participants in our program. (elena, spanish immersion teacher) another language teacher, tamara, mentioned the valuable contributions that the bilingual and world language programs make to the society by stating: i think you look at individual students and look at the contributions that they are making to the society, there are valuable things coming out of the foreign language classrooms. this [budget elimination] is concretely, impacting students to enrich their community. (tamara, spanish teacher) michael addressed the financial, and international benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism as a counterargument to the administration’s request for budget eliminations by stating: i would say if you put more money into the schools to pay for bilingualism and multilingualism our economy will boom. because they will be more marketable. if we want to have fewer wars, fewer conflicts, fewer disagreements, and https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 72 misunderstandings, we need to promote bilingualism at minimum multiculturalism. (michael, administrator) similarly, rachel addressed the benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism regarding the economy, national security, and overall cultural prosperity in the country by stating: i would provide them [administration officials] with research-based information that shows the very clear benefits of having a citizenry that is highly proficient in multiple languages and multiple cultures. how that benefits our economy, our national security, our overall cultural prosperity, and diversity in the country. (rachel, administrator) as the participants’ counterarguments revealed, providing funding for bilingual education, especially dual language immersion programs, is critical since they enable students to maintain their home languages, enrich their community, and contribute to the overall diversity of america. furthermore, as the participants expressed in their counterarguments funding dual language and world language education programs benefits the u.s. economy and national security. implications and conclusion this study explored the perspectives of six stakeholders in the language education community regarding the proposed budget eliminations of the trump administration for fy2021. the debate around budget funding was framed through language education policies as reflecting language ideologies. in particular, we considered how assimilationist and pluralist ideologies are enacted through language policies. the findings showed that all participants were ideologically aligned with pluralist views and regarded the proposed eliminations of the trump administration as representative of broader assimilationist language ideologies. each participant detailed the possible impacts of proposed budget eliminations and how it would affect their roles as key stakeholders in the language education community. as all the participants stated, funding language education programs such as title vi/fulbright hays grants are very crucial for teacher professional development and intercultural competence. this study found that the decreasing value given to foreign language education in america over the years based on assimilationist ideologies sends negative messages to students in schools. as the classroom teachers stated in this study, the political rhetoric fueled by assimilationist ideologies creates a trickle-down impact on students resulting in a lack of interest in learning languages. this study also found that eliminating almost $4 billion in funding for the language education community as proposed by the trump administration would impede the educational achievement gap for public school students. the counterarguments voiced by participants have important implications for the current and future u.s. administrations regarding language policies and the vital role of federal funding for the language education community. eliminating the much-needed funding for the language education community as proposed by the current u.s. administration for the fiscal year 2021 would have adverse effects on the american public on many levels. as the participants in this study have expressed, funding dual language, world language programs, and the language education community in general has a direct impact on the economic welfare, national security, educational equity, cultural diversity, and prosperity of america. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 73 these critical rationales for funding language education have been evidenced elsewhere (brecht & rivers, 2000; franks, 2019; liddicoat, 2018). while this study has presented the perspectives of six participants who are actively involved in the language education community in the u.s. as world language educators, dual language immersion teachers, coordinators and administrators, it is important to note its limitations. the perspectives of the stakeholders in this study are not generalizable to the entire language education community in the u.s. further research is needed to understand the broader impacts of language polices and their translation into fiscal policies that directly or indirectly impact the fast-growing language education community in the u.s. further research is also needed to explore the reasons for the decline in foreign language programs in the u.s., the impacts of title vi/fulbright hays programs on teacher professional development, and intercultural competence. we are aware that the budget proposals of the trump administration are not final unless approved by congress, and the house appropriation committee has already appropriated the education budget for fy2021. while the fy2021 budget has still not been approved, the draft funding bill by the house appropriations committee provides crucial funding that the trump administration proposed to eliminate. some of these appropriations include $2.2 billion for the title ii, $797 million for english language acquisition, $52 million for teacher quality partnerships (house committee for appropriations, 2020), $70 million for title vi, and $9.5 million for fulbright hays funding (gurwitz, 2020). while the house appropriations committee passed these appropriations, the disagreements between the senate republicans and democrats halted the approval of the fy2021 budget. currently, there is a resolution until december 11th by when the results of the presidential and the congressional elections will be known, and possibly the completion of the appropriations process will be completed under a new administration (the concord coalition, n.d.). as researchers we share actfl and other language education advocacy groups’8 concerns and urge the decision-makers in fiscal policies in both the trump administration and future u.s. administrations to consider the importance of funding for the esl, dual/world language education and language teacher professional development in the u.s. 8 actfl is one of the professional organizations along with tesol and nabe that engage in advocacy for the language education community in the u.s. these organizations advocate for the betterment of the language education community in the u.s. including the esl, world language education, language teacher development, and bilingual education. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 74 references advancing international and foreign language education act, h.r. 2562, 116th cong. (2019). https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/2562/text american council on the teaching of foreign languages (actfl). (2019, march 13). actfl statement on trump administration's fy20 budget request. actfl. https://www.actfl.org/news/press-releases/actfl-statement-trumpadministrations-fy20-budget-request american council on the teaching of foreign languages (actfl). (2020, february 13). actfl statement on trump administration's fy21 budget request. actfl. https://www.actfl.org/news/press-releases/actfl-statement-trumpadministrations-fy21-budget-request american councils for international education. (2017). the national foreign language enrollment survey report [june 2017]. washington, dc: american councils for international education. retrieved from https://www.americancouncils.org/sites/default/files/fle-report-june17.pdf biliteracy education seal and teaching act, h.r. 3119, 116th cong. (2019). https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3119 binder, j., house, a. (2018, april 19). english language advocates urge trump to repeal executive order requiring costly translation services. breitbart. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/04/19/english-language-advocates-urgetrump-to-repeal-executive-order-requiring-costly-translation-services/ biraimah, k. l., & jotia, a. l. (2013). the longitudinal effects of study abroad programs on teachers’ content knowledge and perspectives: fulbright-hays group projects abroad in botswana and southeast asia. journal of studies in international education, 17(4), 433-454. boyle, a., august, d., tabaku, l., cole, s., & simpson-baird, a. (2015). dual language education programs: current state policies and practices. office of english language acquisition, us department of education. braun, v. & clarke, v. (2006). using thematic analysis in psychology. qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa brecht, r.d. and rivers, w.p. (2000). language and national security in the 21st century: the role of the title vi/fulbright-hays in supporting national language capacity, kendallhunt publishing company. california proposition 58, non-english languages allowed in public education (2016). https://ballotpedia.org/california_proposition_58,_nonenglish_languages_allowed_in_public_education_(2016) center for applied linguistics (n.d.). two-way immersion. https://www.cal.org/twi/faq/faq19.htm#:~:text= crawford, j. (2001). a nation divided by one language. guardian unlimited. http://www.guardian.co.uk. creswell, j. w., & miller, d. l. (2000). determining validity in qualitative inquiry. theory into practice, 39(3), 124-130. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 75 devlin, k. (2018, august 6). most european students are learning a foreign language in school while americans lag. pew research center. https://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2018/08/06/most-european-students-are-learning-a-foreign-language-in-schoolwhile-americans-lag/ eliassen, i. (2020, august 24). do americans support funding for foreign language education? international policy digest. https://intpolicydigest.org/2020/08/24/do-americanssupport-funding-for-foreign-language-education/ emerson, r. m., fretz, r. i., & shaw, l. l. (2011). writing ethnographic fieldnotes (2nd ed.). university of chicago press. english language unity act, h.r. 997, 116th cong. (2019). https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/997?r=9&s=1 exec. order no. 13166, 65 fed. reg. 159 (august 16, 2000). excellence and innovation in language learning act, h.r. 1994, 112th cong. (2011). https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-bill/1994?s=1&r=24 etikan, i., musa, s. a., & alkassim, r. s. (2016). comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. american journal of theoretical and applied statistics, 5(1), 1-4. farr, m., & song, j. (2011). language ideologies and policies: multilingualism and education. language and linguistics compass, 5(9), 650-665. franks, s. (2019, march 4). america’s failure to fund language education is creating a crisis. language line solutions. https://blog.languageline.com/americas-failure-to-fundlanguage-education-is-creating-a-crisis frazee, g. (2018, november 2). 4 myths about how immigrants affect the u.s. economy. pbs news hour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/making-sense/4-myths-abouthow-immigrants-affect-the-u-s-economy gándara, p., & escamilla, k. (2017). bilingual education in the united states. bilingual and multilingual education, 1-14. gándara, p., & hopkins, m. (2010). english learners and restrictive language policies. teachers college press. garcía, o. (2011). bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective. john wiley & sons. garcía, o., & kleyn, t. (eds.). (2016). translanguaging with multilingual students: learning from classroom moments. routledge. garcia, e. e., & michie, g. (2005). teaching and learning in two languages: bilingualism and schooling in the united states. proquest ebook central. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu gómez, d. s. (2013). bridging the opportunity gap through dual language education. doctoral dissertation, california state university, stanislaus. retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/reader/48503940 grin. f. (2006). language policy: economic consideration in language policy. in ricento, t. (ed.) (2006). an introduction to language policy: theory and method. (pp. 95-110). blackwell publishing. gurwitz, b. (2020, july14). house appropriations bills include increases for the humanities. national humanities alliance. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 76 https://www.nhalliance.org/house_appropriations_bills_include_increases_for _the_humanities henderson, k. i. (2017). teacher language ideologies mediating classroom-level language policy in the implementation of dual language bilingual education elsevier. doi:10.1016/j.linged.2017.08.003 house committee for appropriations, (2020, july 7). appropriations subcommittee approves fiscal year 2021 labor-hhs-education funding bill. https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/appropriations-subcommitteeapproves-fiscal-year-2021-labor-hhs-education janghorban, r., roudsari, r. l., & taghipour, a. (2014). skype interviewing: the new generation of online synchronous interview in qualitative research. international journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being, 9(1), 24152. https://doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v9.24152 johnson, d. c. (2013). language policy. palgrave macmillan. lawton, r. (2008, july). language policy and ideology in the united states: a critical analysis of ‘english only’discourse. in lancaster university postgraduate conference in linguistics & language teaching (vol. 3, pp. 78-103). lawton, r. (2016). a critical integrated approach to language policy as discursive action: strengths, challenges, and opportunities. in discursive approaches to language policy (pp. 105-127). palgrave macmillan. liddicoat, a. j. (2018). 7 national security in language-in-education policy. in un (intended) language planning in a globalising world: multiple levels of players at work (pp. 113128). sciendo migration. lillie, k. e., & moore, s. c. k. (2014). sei in arizona: bastion for states’ rights. in s. c. k. moore (ed.), language policy processes and consequences: arizona case studies (pp. 1–27). multilingual matters. lindholm-leary, k., & block, n. (2010). achievement in predominately low ses/hispanic dual language schools. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 13(1), 43–60. macswan, j., thompson, m. s., rolstad, k., mcalister, k., & lobo, g. (2017). three theories of the effects of language education programs: an empirical evaluation of bilingual and english-only policies. annual review of applied linguistics, 37, 218-240. modern language association. (2018). enrollments in languages other than english in united states institutions of higher education, summer 2016 and fall 2016: preliminary report. morales, p. z., & aldana, u. s. (2010). learning in two languages: programs with political promise. in gándara, p., & hopkins, m. (eds.), english learners and restrictive language policies (pp. 159-174). teachers college. miles, m. b., huberman, a. m., & saldaña, j. (2013). qualitative data analysis. sage publications. morris, a. (2015). a practical introduction to in-depth interviewing. sage. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 77 national council for education statistics (nces). (2019). the condition of education: english language learners in public schools. retrieved from: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/indicator_cgf/coe_cgf_2019_05.pdf proenglish. (2017). financial statements. https://proenglish.org/financial-statements/ proenglish. (n.d). pro english action center. https://proenglish.org/proenglish-actioncenter/ ricento, t. (2006). an introduction to language policy: theory and method. blackwell publishing. ricento, t. (2013). language policy, ideology, and attitudes in english-dominant countries. in the oxford handbook of sociolinguistics. https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199744084.001.00 01/oxfordhb-9780199744084-e-26 salmons, j. (2014). qualitative online interviews: strategies, design, and skills. sage publications. schmidt, r. (2006). political theory and language policy. in ricento, t. (ed.) (2006). an introduction to language policy: theory and method (pp. 95-110). blackwell publishing. shohamy, e., & spolsky, b. (2000). language practice, language ideology, and language policy. language policy and pedagogy: essays in honour of a. ronald walton, 1-41. sugarman, j. (2016). funding an equitable education for english learners in the united states. washington dc: migration policy institute, 1-50. the concord coalition (n.d.). fall shutdown. https://www.concordcoalition.org/fall-shutdown tollefson, j. (2006). critical theory in language policy. in ricento, t. (ed.) an introduction to language policy theory and method (pp. 42-56). blackwell publishing. uriarte, m. tung, r. lavan, n. & diez, v. (2010). impact of restrictive language policies on engagement and academic achievement of english learners in boston public schools. in gándara, p., & hopkins, m. (eds.) forbidden language: english learners and restrictive language policies (pp. 65-85). teachers college press. u.s. department of education (n.d.) every student succeeds act (essa). https://www.ed.gov/essa?src=rn u.s. english (n.d.). official english. https://www.usenglish.org/us-states-officialenglish-laws/ valentino, r. a., & reardon, s. f. (2015). effectiveness of four instructional programs designed to serve english learners: variation by ethnicity and initial english proficiency. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 37(4), 612–637. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373715573310 walters, l. m., green, m. r., wang, l., & walters, t. (2011). from heads to hearts: digital stories as reflection artifacts of teachers' international experience. issues in teacher education, 20(2), 37-52. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 78 wright, w. e., & baker, c. (2017). key concepts in bilingual education. bilingual and multilingual education. encyclopedia of language and education. (3rd ed). springer, 65-80. https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 79 appendix 1: actfl statement on trump administration's fy21 budget request for immediate release contact: howie berman, ma, cae (703) 894-2900 x106 alexandria, va (february 13, 2020) on february 10, the trump administration released its budget request for fy2021, which eliminates dedicated federal funding for several major programs vital to the language education community, including but not limited to:  elimination of title ii of the every student succeeds act (essa), which helps fund teacher development grants at the state level that are then distributed to local agencies. the current funding level is $2,1b.  elimination of title iv, part a of essa, which funds student academic achievement grants at the state level, including those for improving access to world language instruction. the current funding level is $1.2b.  english language acquisition – this program provides grants to states to support english language acquisition. the current funding level is $787m.  elimination of title ii of the higher education act (hea), which funds the teacher quality partnership grant program for colleges of education. the current funding level is $50.1m.  elimination of title vi/fulbright-hays, which funds grant and fellowship programs that strengthen language instruction, area/international studies teaching and research, professional development, and curriculum development at the k-12, postsecondary, and graduate levels. the current funding level is $76.1m. actfl strongly opposes these cuts to the federal budget. “instead of cutting these programs, we should be increasing their funding levels,” said howie berman, actfl executive director. “the need for language skills is growing at a breakneck pace—in our workforce, in our military, in our national intelligence apparatus, and most importantly, in our classrooms. these cuts will leave our students unable to compete in a rapidly changing, 21st century global economy.” actfl president bridget yaden added, “the language education profession is already facing incredible challenges with respect to teacher recruitment and retention, as more than 44 states and the district of columbia currently report shortages of qualified language teachers. these cuts will only make it easier for those considering language teaching to choose another career path.” https://cultureandvalues.org/ journal of culture and values in education volume 3 issue 2, 2020 başok, e., sayer, p., language ideologies, language policies and their translation into fiscal policies in the u.s. perspectives of language education community stakeholders journal of culture and values in education © copyright 2020 e-issn: 2590-342x https://cultureandvalues.org 80 actfl implores congress to reject this short-sighted budget request. while we take nothing for granted, we are confident that our work on capitol hill, in conjunction with our many partners, will lead to passage of a budget that looks nothing like the president’s version. in the coming weeks and months, congress will embark on its own process to produce appropriations bills that will fund the government through fy2021. we implore u.s. lawmakers to fully fund these integral federal programs that benefit our nation’s students and teachers, along with our national security and economic viability. https://cultureandvalues.org/