Teaching for Educational Equity

Case Studies for Professional Development and Principal Preparation

By (author) Jane A. Beese, Jennifer L. Martin

Not available to order

Publication date:

31 July 2017

Length of book:

186 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781475821925

Teachers and school leaders are confronted by various issues pertaining to social justice every day. This volume will help school leaders to handle these issues ethically, and is intended to be used by administrators for the professional development of teachers, teacher leaders, and aspiring principals. This volume can be also be used in the higher education classroom in order to prepare current and aspiring administrators to lead for social justice. This volume utilizes the case study approach, which has been found to “sharpen problem-solving skills and to improve the ability to think and reason rigorously” (Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2013). This volume includes cases pertaining to race, class, gender, sexual orientation, discrimination and harassment, culturally responsive pedagogy, et cetera. Each case requires the reader to look beyond the facts, by providing guidance on current research and policy guidelines. Each case provides the reader with additional information that will assist them in making informed decisions. Additionally, each case provides facilitators with guiding questions to assist them in their pedagogy and for subsequent class discussion.
Social justice issues crop up every day in every school. One child is bullied because he’s black and another is ridiculed because she’s gay. A child has a chronic attendance problem because he or she is being asked to take on adult responsibilities at home. But what should teachers and school administrators do when these things happen? How can we help all educators see these incidents and respond to them in a sensitive and effective way? As they did in the first volume of Teaching for Educational Equity: Case Studies for Professional Development and Principal Preparation, Jennifer L. Martin and Jane Beese offer a set of readable and engaging case studies for educators to ponder. The cases are sensitively written, and each is accompanied not only by a concise and helpful literature review, but discussion questions and suggestions for additional exploratory activities. Each case is a conversation-starter for school administrators and school faculties who want to start talking about these things, just as they are for professors and students in teacher education or administrator preparation courses. Martin and Beese don’t pretend to offer easy answers to these overwhelming problems, but they have found a great way for educators to start facing them head-on.