Gary Pluim
Lakehead University, Education, Faculty Member
- University of Toronto, Comparative, International and Development Education, Graduate Studentadd
- International Education, Citizen participation, Youth Studies, Comparative & International Education, Haiti, Democracy and Citizenship Education, and 28 moreQualitative Research Methods, Social Conflict, Human Rights, Citizenship identities, Globalization, Outdoor Education, Education in Emergencies, Experiential Education, Racism, Civil Society, Social Movements, International Development, Conflict and Development, Comparative and International Development Education, Social Analysis of Education, Social Psychology, Spiritual capital, Intellectual Styles, Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Educational Psychology, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Democratic Education, Global education, Critical Pedagogy, Social Justice in Education, Democracy, Deliberative Democracy, and Global Citizenship Educationedit
- My research agenda is an ongoing inquiry into meanings and expressions of citizen participation in international and ... moreMy research agenda is an ongoing inquiry into meanings and expressions of citizen participation in international and education contexts. While “participation” routinely emerges as a recommendation for global problems such as wealth distribution, misguided international development programs and global social injustices, the contexts, definitions and conditions in which citizen participation occurs are frequently obscured. Exploring issues related to citizen participation—cross-cultural interpretations, norms, and worldviews; barriers of language, gender, and class; and the limits and opportunities of participatory institutions—is the focus of my research.
Some examples of this work include my doctoral thesis that examines constructions and conceptualizations of youth participation in the context of the post-disaster, national reconstruction of Haiti; my ongoing contribution to the Democracy, Political Literacy and Transformative Education research project, an initiative that examines how educators perceive democracy and how their perceptions impact their students’ understanding of democracy; and recent research that explores teachers experiences with critical reflexivity in the classroom.edit
Page 1. John C. Weidman, W. James Jacob (eds.), Beyond the Comparative: Advancing Theory and Its Application to Practice, 253–268. © 2011 Sense Publishers. All rights reserved. GARY WJ PLUIM 14. THEORIZING THE NGO THROUGH CONCEPTUAL... more
Page 1. John C. Weidman, W. James Jacob (eds.), Beyond the Comparative: Advancing Theory and Its Application to Practice, 253–268. © 2011 Sense Publishers. All rights reserved. GARY WJ PLUIM 14. THEORIZING THE NGO THROUGH CONCEPTUAL MAPPING ...
Research Interests:
Since Haiti’s devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010 the importance of Haitian participation has emerged time and time again as a central imperative to the success of reconstruction efforts. But what exactly does participation mean... more
Since Haiti’s devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010 the importance of Haitian participation has emerged time and time again as a central imperative to the success of reconstruction efforts. But what exactly does participation mean to the many actors involved in this reconstruction? My proposed presentation focuses on findings of a selected component of my PhD research – a qualitative, vertical case study analysis, drawing on a post-colonial framework, that sets out to better understand how Haitian youth are enabled to participate in the reconstruction of their society. In my presentation I will examine how youth participation is conceptualized in the context of three, selected case study education programs. My objective is to address two fundamental questions: How is the concept of participation constructed, rationalized and experienced by the various actors involved in the youth programs? And, how do various conceptualizations of participation compare and contrast along th...
Research Interests:
This thesis explores how youth participation was socially constructed and conceptualized during an internationally dominated reconstruction of Haiti following the earthquake of 2010. Grounded within critical, constructivist, and... more
This thesis explores how youth participation was socially constructed and conceptualized during an internationally dominated reconstruction of Haiti following the earthquake of 2010. Grounded within critical, constructivist, and post-colonial theoretical perspectives, this research uses mixed methods to analyze youth programs and conceptualizations of participation within them. Among its frameworks is a theoretical lens of social spaces for participation that juxtaposes binary qualities such as international and local origins, market and social orientations, and invited and claimed spaces for participation. In the first phase this research uses conceptual mapping and cluster analysis techniques to survey and plot the landscape of youth programs operating in Haiti after the earthquake. Of the programs surveyed, a relatively equal distribution emerged between those with local and those with international origins. However, a comparatively large group of those programs with local origin...
Research Interests:
In this article we explore connections between multicultural social justice education, democracy, and education for democracy. Just as critical multicultural (social justice) education does not simply involve examining the equal... more
In this article we explore connections between multicultural social justice education, democracy, and education for democracy. Just as critical multicultural (social justice) education does not simply involve examining the equal contributions of culture(s) to a society, thick education for democracy does not seek to merely educate learners about processes of equal representation of citizens. These projects must introduce the realities of the power imbalances in society that directly connect to the elements of cultures, identities, experiences and realities constructed by its members. Interrogating future educators’ perspectives, we found that while the majority of respondents viewed democracy in its’ hegemonic context of formal politics, voting, and elections, some also perceived these projects in alternative ways that emphasize equity and social justice. These findings underpin the need to include critical pedagogies that focus on reflexivity, transmediation, autobiography, and pow...
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This study examined how a group of Toronto District School Board (TDSB) associate teachers and teacher candidates from OISE infused critical global citizenship education into their teaching practice—specifically, how they conceptualized... more
This study examined how a group of Toronto District School Board (TDSB) associate teachers and teacher candidates from OISE infused critical global citizenship education into their teaching practice—specifically, how they conceptualized what critical global citizenship education is, constructed their rationales for why critical global citizenship education is important, and designed curriculum to demonstrate how critical global citizenship education can be implemented. The project’s theoretical framework is based on Andreotti’s (2006) conception of critical reflexivity in global citizenship education. Through co-construction of a professional learning community, the co-investigators and participants shared and analyzed promising principles and practices in critical global citizenship education. By cultivating teacher efficacy around critical global citizenship, the project shows how teachers—rather than reproducing the “civilizingmission” narrative common to global issues curriculum...
Research Interests:
This study investigated the benefits and challenges of critical reflexive practice (CRP) within the context of global citizenship education curricula. The participants included two instructors of an OISE global and international education... more
This study investigated the benefits and challenges of critical reflexive practice (CRP) within the context of global citizenship education curricula. The participants included two instructors of an OISE global and international education course, four teachers who were former teacher candidates in that course, and four groups of K–12 students who were taught by those teachers. The data were collected between 2010 and 2013 during a period when participants were teaching and learning about CRP. The key finding of this study is that CRP enabled teachers to probe notions of perspective and difference and engage more deeply with their own and their students’ identities. In this paper we discuss this central finding and examine its implications for critical global citizenship education
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Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research in comparative and international education routinely encounters exceptional research conditions. In this article, the author explores the particular issues he faced in his research on multi-level youth programs of the Haitian... more
Research in comparative and international education routinely encounters exceptional research conditions. In this article, the author explores the particular issues he faced in his research on multi-level youth programs of the Haitian reconstruction. Through a vertical analysis of internationally sponsored programs, this study required special attention to working in a cross-cultural, politically fragile environment. In this article, he highlights connections with several other multi-level studies in fragile states which are also featured in this issue of RCIE. However, his focus is upon those issues that are particular to conducting research in post-earthquake Haiti. These issues include the roles of researcher and participants, the impact of discourses of security, and negotiating cross-cultural issues such as language, power, and notions of participation. This article also positions his research by including an overview, a theoretical framework, the socio-political context, and a...
Research Interests:
The respective projects of education for global citizenship and Education for Democracy are inherently intertwined; the richness and salience of one is dependent on the expression of the other. While both of these ideals are varied and... more
The respective projects of education for global citizenship and Education for Democracy are inherently intertwined; the richness and salience of one is dependent on the expression of the other. While both of these ideals are varied and broad in definition, they are each gaining prominence in theoretical debates, in policy development, and at the school level, where the implementation of (formal) education takes place. In this article we examine the construction of meanings ascribed to Global Citizenship Education, survey its position in the curriculum today, and connect it with Education for Democracy. Structured around the findings of a multi-faceted study with teacher-education candidates in education programs at a university in Ontario, Canada, this article uses data that demonstrates how Education for Democracy, like Global Citizenship Education, is largely perceived in and between a binary of mainstream and critical orientations. The findings of our study highlight a passive, m...
Research Interests: Sociology, Democratic Education, Teacher Education, Critical Pedagogy, Political Science, and 13 moreReflexivity, Social Justice, Participation, Deliberative Democracy, Educational Equity and Justice, Democracy, Equity, Global education, Curriculum, Global Citizenship Education, Democracy and Citizenship Education, Critical Democracy, and Mainstream
The manner in which the built environment is constructed has a tremendous effect on the degree to which health, wealth and social outcomes are distributed within a society. This is particularly evident when a crisis of the natural... more
The manner in which the built environment is constructed has a tremendous effect on the degree to which health, wealth and social outcomes are distributed within a society. This is particularly evident when a crisis of the natural environment affects the built environment, as was the case after the Haitian earthquake of 2010. Understanding the consequences of the earthquake as socially precipitated rather than a natural occurrence requires a paradigm shift, a project for educational policy, pedagogy and epistemology. In particular, education for democracy in its broadest sense can serve to re-align thinking towards understanding the connection between the built environment and social justice. In this article the authors present their research with teacher-education candidates and the candidates' perspectives and experiences of education for democracy at a Canadian university. In relating these perspectives to the possibilities for contextualizing the aftermath of the earthquake ...
Research Interests:
This research centres on NGO citizenship education programs in Haiti to better understand youth experiences, outcomes, and perceptions of democracy. The findings from this study illustrate how programs from Western-based NGOs with liberal... more
This research centres on NGO citizenship education programs in Haiti to better understand youth experiences, outcomes, and perceptions of democracy. The findings from this study illustrate how programs from Western-based NGOs with liberal democratic traditions typically construct citizenship education in relation to the individual agency of the learners, whereas youth living in the context of fragility note the prerequisite for stable social structures as a foundation for citizenship. Through multi-dimensional analyses, this article highlights the importance of historical perspectives, the value of comparing disparate societies, and the necessity to explicate social locations in cross-cultural research. The concluding proposition states that not only does context matter in international research, but illustrates specifically how context affects youth participants subject to curriculum emanating from competing ideological environments. The issues explored here are among the key conce...
Research Interests: Sociology, Youth Studies, Political Science, Haiti, Democracy, and 15 moreComparative Education, Citizenship, Youth, Canada, NGOs funding and management, Canadian Foreign Policy, Citizenship Education, Citizen participation, Educational Sociology, International Aid and Development, International and Comparative Education, Democracy and Citizenship Education, Comparative International Education, Fragility, and NGOs
This research centres on NGO citizenship education programs in Haiti to better understand youth experiences, outcomes, and perceptions of democracy. The findings from this study illustrate how programs from Western-based NGOs with liberal... more
This research centres on NGO citizenship education programs in Haiti to better understand youth experiences, outcomes, and perceptions of democracy. The findings from this study illustrate how programs from Western-based NGOs with liberal democratic traditions typically construct citizenship education in relation to the individual agency of the learners, whereas youth living in the context of fragility note the prerequisite for stable social structures as a foundation for citizenship. Through multi-dimensional analyses, this article highlights the importance of historical perspectives, the value of comparing disparate societies, and the necessity to explicate social locations in cross-cultural research. The concluding proposition states that not only does context matter in international research, but illustrates specifically how context affects youth participants subject to curriculum emanating from competing ideological environments. The issues explored here are among the key concerns for the future of comparative and international research in a globalizing and diverse world.
Cette recherche se concentre sur les programmes d’éducation à la citoyenneté des ONGs en Haïti afin de mieux comprendre les expériences, les résultats et les perceptions des jeunes vis-à-vis de la démocratie. Les résultats de cette étude démontrent comment les programmes des ONGs basées à l’Ouest avec des traditions démocratiques libérales construisent généralement l’éducation à la citoyenneté par rapport au pouvoir individuel des apprenants, alors que les jeunes vivant dans un contexte de fragilité soulignent que la stabilité des structures sociales est un prérequis devant servir de fondation à la citoyenneté. À partir d’analyses multi-dimensionnelles, cet article souligne l’importances des perspectives historiques, la valeur de comparer des sociétés disparates, et la nécessité d’expliquer les localités sociales dans la recherche interculturelle. La proposition finale soutient que le contexte est non seulement important dans la recherche internationale, mais illustre spécifiquement comment le contexte affecte les jeunes participants, soumis à un curriculum émanant d’environnements idéologiquement concurrents. Les questions soulevées ici font partie des principales préoccupations pour l’avenir de la recherche comparative et internationale dans un monde globalisé et diversifié.
Cette recherche se concentre sur les programmes d’éducation à la citoyenneté des ONGs en Haïti afin de mieux comprendre les expériences, les résultats et les perceptions des jeunes vis-à-vis de la démocratie. Les résultats de cette étude démontrent comment les programmes des ONGs basées à l’Ouest avec des traditions démocratiques libérales construisent généralement l’éducation à la citoyenneté par rapport au pouvoir individuel des apprenants, alors que les jeunes vivant dans un contexte de fragilité soulignent que la stabilité des structures sociales est un prérequis devant servir de fondation à la citoyenneté. À partir d’analyses multi-dimensionnelles, cet article souligne l’importances des perspectives historiques, la valeur de comparer des sociétés disparates, et la nécessité d’expliquer les localités sociales dans la recherche interculturelle. La proposition finale soutient que le contexte est non seulement important dans la recherche internationale, mais illustre spécifiquement comment le contexte affecte les jeunes participants, soumis à un curriculum émanant d’environnements idéologiquement concurrents. Les questions soulevées ici font partie des principales préoccupations pour l’avenir de la recherche comparative et internationale dans un monde globalisé et diversifié.
Research Interests:
In this article we explore connections between multicultural social justice education, democracy, and education for democracy. Just as critical multicultural, social justice education does not simply involve examining the equal... more
In this article we explore connections between multicultural social justice education, democracy, and education for democracy. Just as critical multicultural, social justice education does not simply involve examining the equal contributions of culture(s) to a society, thick education for democracy does not seek to merely educate learners about electoral processes and representative government. These projects aim to address the realities of power imbalances that directly connect to cultures, identities, experiences and realities constructed by diverse groups and individuals in society. When we interrogated future educators' perspectives we found that while the majority of respondents viewed democracy in its' hegemonic context of formal politics, voting, and elections, some also perceived these projects in alternative ways that emphasize equity and social justice. Our findings underpin the need to include critical pedagogies that focus on reflexivity, transmediation, autobiography, and self-positionality throughout the educational process. A broad, multi-pronged framework for conceptualizing a critical, engaged, transformative education for democracy is proposed, in which multicultural social justice education is inextricably interwoven.
Research Interests:
The respective projects of education for global citizenship and Education for Democracy are inherently intertwined; the richness and salience of one is dependent on the expression of the other. While both of these ideals are varied and... more
The respective projects of education for global citizenship and Education for Democracy are inherently intertwined; the richness and salience of one is dependent on the expression of the other. While both of these ideals are varied and broad in definition, they are each gaining prominence in theoretical debates, in policy development, and at the school level, where the implementation of (formal) education takes place. In this article we examine the construction of meanings ascribed to Global Citizenship Education, survey its position in the curriculum today, and connect it with Education for Democracy. Structured around the findings of a multi-faceted study with teacher-education candidates in education programs at a university in Ontario, Canada, this article uses data that demonstrates how Education for Democracy, like Global Citizenship Education, is largely perceived in and between a binary of mainstream and critical orientations. The findings of our study highlight a passive, mainstream, or neutralized understanding of democracy, in which research participants made little or no mention of, or linkage to, equity or social justice to democracy. This paper argues that global citizenship, Education for Democracy, and social justice are interlinked, and necessary to create a more just society for all. Further, we find that central descriptors of critical perspectives have been co-opted or conflated, resulting in reduced meaning. To add a practical element to this conversation, we present six proposals to develop and bolster the critical facets of Education for Democracy and global citizenship, including addressing the local in global, welcoming conflict in learning sites, and highlighting the primacy of equity in each approach.
Research Interests:
This study investigated the benefits and challenges of critical reflexive practice (CRP) within the context of global citizenship education curricula. The participants included two instructors of an OISE global and international education... more
This study investigated the benefits and challenges of critical reflexive practice (CRP) within the context of global citizenship education curricula. The participants included two instructors of an OISE global and international education course, four teachers who were former teacher candidates in that course, and four groups of K–12 students who were taught by those teachers. The data were collected between 2010 and 2013 during a period when participants were teaching and learning about CRP. The key finding of this study is that CRP enabled teachers to probe notions of perspective and difference and engage more deeply with their own and their students’ identities. In this paper we discuss this central finding and examine its implications for critical global citizenship education.
Research Interests:
Despite the increasing popularity and appeal of youth volunteer abroad (YVA) programmes, powerful critiques are emerging. While these programmes tend to promise much in the way of global ethics and global citizenship in youth... more
Despite the increasing popularity and appeal of youth volunteer abroad (YVA) programmes, powerful critiques are emerging. While these programmes tend to promise much in the way of global ethics and global citizenship in youth participants, they often neglect to seriously interrogate the one-way movement of people from the centre to the periphery and valorize the knowledge and perspectives of the host communities. These programmes, especially those not geared toward social justice and facilitating youth through the struggles and aftermath of experiential and transformative education, have the potential to perpetuate the same neo-colonial practices they seek to overcome. This article examines the benefits, context and history of YVA in Canada, analyses them under a post-colonial theoretical framework, discusses the gaps between theory and practice and proposes alternative ways that researchers, practitioners and policy-makers can redress the colonial implications of YVA programmes.
Research Interests:
This article focuses on teacher candidates' perspectives of media literacy in the context of education for democracy as a possibility to enlighten students to address the mainstream media’s predisposition towards the neoliberal... more
This article focuses on teacher candidates' perspectives of media literacy in the context of education for democracy as a possibility to enlighten students to address the mainstream media’s predisposition towards the neoliberal privatization and corporatization of education. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data from research at two campuses of a
university in Ontario, Canada, we illustrate how this sample of future educators demonstrates a normative inclination to embed media literacy in their teaching; however, real barriers exist that can diminish their engagement with controversial issues, alternative media, and, even, democratic education, and education for democracy, itself. This contradiction, we argue, underscores the difference between media awareness
that many teacher candidates possess, and media literacy, a quality that requires greater focus at education institutions. Set against the backdrop of the television news media’s largely imperceptible neoliberal predisposition towards education, education for democracy must necessarily incorporate a critical approach that enables future teachers to identify and
critique the mainstream media’s support of, and entanglement with, the neoliberal cooptation of education. The article ends with several proposals to address the democratic deficits created through limited engagement with media literacy.
university in Ontario, Canada, we illustrate how this sample of future educators demonstrates a normative inclination to embed media literacy in their teaching; however, real barriers exist that can diminish their engagement with controversial issues, alternative media, and, even, democratic education, and education for democracy, itself. This contradiction, we argue, underscores the difference between media awareness
that many teacher candidates possess, and media literacy, a quality that requires greater focus at education institutions. Set against the backdrop of the television news media’s largely imperceptible neoliberal predisposition towards education, education for democracy must necessarily incorporate a critical approach that enables future teachers to identify and
critique the mainstream media’s support of, and entanglement with, the neoliberal cooptation of education. The article ends with several proposals to address the democratic deficits created through limited engagement with media literacy.
Research Interests:
Research in comparative and international education routinely encounters exceptional research conditions. In this article, the author explores the particular issues he faced in his research on multi-level youth programs of the Haitian... more
Research in comparative and international education routinely encounters exceptional research conditions. In this article, the author explores the particular issues he faced in his research on multi-level youth programs of the Haitian reconstruction. Through a vertical analysis of internationally sponsored programs, this study required special attention to working in a cross-cultural, politically fragile environment. In this article, he highlights connections with several other multi-level studies in fragile states which are also featured in this issue of RCIE. However, his focus is upon those issues that are particular to conducting research in post-earthquake Haiti. These issues include the roles of researcher and participants, the impact of discourses of security, and negotiating cross-cultural issues such as language, power, and notions of participation. This article also positions his research by including an overview, a theoretical framework, the socio-political context, and a detailed description of methodology and methods.
In Chapter 14, Gary Pluim uses social cartography to theorize and map the multitude of roles NGOs play in CIDE. He reflects on how Paulston’s 1993 map (Figure 1.1) is useful as a starting point for “plotting the roles of the great... more
In Chapter 14, Gary Pluim uses social cartography to theorize and map the multitude of roles NGOs play in CIDE. He reflects on how Paulston’s 1993 map (Figure 1.1) is useful as a starting point for “plotting the roles of the great diversity of NGOs” (258). He introduces a theoretical framework of NGOs and argues NGO missions and practices can be positioned across Paulston’s four primary knowledge representations (or quadrants displayed in Figure 1.1). NGOs have an important role in progressive societies, Pluim argues, but he also cautions that these organizations can also be a powerful deterrent to social progress. Being able to conceptually map NGOs is an important responsibility for policy makers, CIDE scholars and practitioners to better understand the actual contributions NGOs make to society.
When the Small is Beautiful movement emerged not long after the Second World War, scholars and activists rallied against the mounting trend towards “bigness” in political and economic structures. They contended that while larger... more
When the Small is Beautiful movement emerged not long after the Second World War, scholars and activists rallied against the mounting trend towards “bigness” in political and economic structures. They contended that while larger institutions enabled efficiencies and economies of scale, these trends towards growth threatened to compromise deeper human values of dignity and freedom. The “universal idolatry of gigantism”, as proposed by E.F. Schumacher in his 1973 book “Small is Beautiful”, failed to see “the elegant and the beautiful” in social development.
INGO pursuit of participatory legitimacy should be supported by the broader education for development community. “In a world of increasing NGO voices,” it has been argued, "donors should give special preference to those which have proven... more
INGO pursuit of participatory legitimacy should be supported by the broader education for development community. “In a world of increasing NGO voices,” it has been argued, "donors should give special preference to those which have proven and effective ties with development beneficiaries” (Hudock 2000, 14-15). Indeed, mechanisms to scrutinize participatory development should focus on an accountability to and participation by beneficiaries, above accountability to donors. “Donor agencies need to reform their own institutions. In particular they must modify financial reporting and other requirements put in place to ensure fiscal accountability, so that these conditions strengthen ties between and development accountability to beneficiaries and to NGOs, rather than reorient NGOs to focus on donors” (ibid, 14-15). Through more sophisticated ways of engaging beneficiaries, donors can “change the type of information they gather from NGOs and development beneficiaries as well as the way in which they gather it. Donors can implement evaluation and monitor programmes that are participatory … and rely on indicators for success designed by development beneficiaries and negotiated between all stakeholders at the beginning of the project” (ibid, 18). Invariably, donors, governments, stakeholders, and citizens alike must insist that INGOs claim legitimacy through authentic and accountable participation of the people with whom they work.
This article builds on an extensive review of the comparative and international literature on teachers' perspectives on the education of Muslim students in public, Catholic, and Islamic schools. Bringing the teachers' voices and practices... more
This article builds on an extensive review of the comparative and international literature on teachers' perspectives on the education of Muslim students in public, Catholic, and Islamic schools. Bringing the teachers' voices and practices to the attention of researchers, policy makers, and general readers, the authors emphasize the centrality of teachers' roles in the education of Muslim students, highlight the constructive and positive work that teachers do, and point out the challenges they face and the support they need in fulfilling their moral and intellectual duties. We situate teachers' perspectives in the context of the upsurge of global interest in Islam and Islamic education and the increase in Muslims' challenges to multiculturalism and the existing education system dominated largely by Eurocentric, Hellenic-Judeo-Christian heritage and modernist values. The article examines and challenges the research, media and publicly produced contradictory and overlapping statements about Western teachers' work with Muslim students. Predominantly pessimistic, these pronouncements implicate teachers in (1) racism and Islamophobia; (2) an unwillingness and inability to include Muslims' historical and contemporary contributions and perspectives into the existing school curricula; (3) a lowering of expectations about their Muslim students and channelling them into non-academic streams; (4) cultural and religious insensitivity; and (5) an overall lack of knowledge about Islam and Muslims. The article problematizes these observations by engaging with them conceptually and methodologically, and by bringing counter-points from research. The article concludes by proposing a balanced portrayal of teachers' work and the inclusion of teachers' perspectives to improve policy, research, and practice in educating Muslim students within a multicultural society.
Research Interests:
The respective projects of education for global citizenship and Education for Democracy are inherently intertwined; the richness and salience of one is dependent on the expression of the other. While both of these ideals are varied and... more
The respective projects of education for global citizenship and Education for Democracy are inherently intertwined; the richness and salience of one is dependent on the expression of the other. While both of these ideals are varied and broad in definition, they are each gaining prominence in theoretical debates, in policy development, and at the school level, where the implementation of (formal) education takes place. In this article we examine the construction of meanings ascribed to Global Citizenship Education, survey its position in the curriculum today, and connect it with Education for Democracy. Structured around the findings of a multi-faceted study with teacher-education candidates in education programs at a university in Ontario, Canada, this article uses data that demonstrates how Education for Democracy, like Global Citizenship Education, is largely perceived in and between a binary of mainstream and critical orientations. The findings of our study highlight a passive, mainstream, or neutralized understanding of democracy, in which research participants made little or no mention of, or linkage to, equity or social justice to democracy. This paper argues that global citizenship, Education for Democracy, and social justice are interlinked, and necessary to create a more just society for all. Further, we
find that central descriptors of critical perspectives have been coopted or conflated, resulting in reduced meaning. To add a practical element to this conversation, we present six proposals to develop and bolster the critical facets of Education for Democracy and global citizenship, including addressing the local in global, welcoming conflict in learning sites, and highlighting the primacy of equity in each approach.
find that central descriptors of critical perspectives have been coopted or conflated, resulting in reduced meaning. To add a practical element to this conversation, we present six proposals to develop and bolster the critical facets of Education for Democracy and global citizenship, including addressing the local in global, welcoming conflict in learning sites, and highlighting the primacy of equity in each approach.
Research Interests:
As questões ambientais no Haiti têm tornado o país mais dependente e vulnerável aos eventos catastróficos, como no terremoto de 2010. Neste artigo, as raízes sociais e políticas que permitiram tal vulnerabilidade são examinadas e, com... more
As questões ambientais no Haiti têm tornado o país mais dependente e vulnerável aos eventos catastróficos, como no terremoto de 2010. Neste artigo, as raízes sociais e políticas que permitiram tal vulnerabilidade são examinadas e, com base no Índice de Vulnerabilidade, é apresentado um quadro de como meio ambiente, ecologia humana, democracia e educação se cruzam nesse contexto. O estudo se concentra em quatro desenvolvimentos sociais ligados às catastróficas consequências humanas do terremoto. A análise dessas ações levando em conta esse índice permite ilustrar como processos específicos e seus resultados estiveram vinculados a noções de democracia de diferentes formas. Estabelecido o elo conceitual entre meio ambiente e democracia, são apresentados os resultados negativos da vulnerabilidade numa democracia "fina", e como a educação hegemônica contribui para limitar e enfraquecer a retórica de uma democracia "espessa". Conclui pela defesa de uma educação voltada...
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Book Review Foundations of Education: A Social, Political, and Philosophical Approach by Jason C. Robinson Canadian Journal of Education, October 2016 An alluring aspect for many students who take foundations of education is its focus... more
Book Review
Foundations of Education: A Social, Political, and Philosophical Approach by Jason C. Robinson
Canadian Journal of Education, October 2016
An alluring aspect for many students who take foundations of education is its focus on life's big questions. This is clearly a concern for Jason C. Robinson in his new book, Foundations of Education: A Social, Political, and Philosophical Approach, a succinct foray through central philosophies of education that facilitates a deep exploration of key questions in the field. What is the fundamental source of knowledge? What is the basic nature of humanity? Should children be taught according to their nature, or according to an ideally envisioned society? Who should be privy to a quality education? What and how should students be taught? Such questions implicate teachers throughout our careers, and are but a sample of those that Robinson addresses throughout this reader.
Foundations of Education: A Social, Political, and Philosophical Approach by Jason C. Robinson
Canadian Journal of Education, October 2016
An alluring aspect for many students who take foundations of education is its focus on life's big questions. This is clearly a concern for Jason C. Robinson in his new book, Foundations of Education: A Social, Political, and Philosophical Approach, a succinct foray through central philosophies of education that facilitates a deep exploration of key questions in the field. What is the fundamental source of knowledge? What is the basic nature of humanity? Should children be taught according to their nature, or according to an ideally envisioned society? Who should be privy to a quality education? What and how should students be taught? Such questions implicate teachers throughout our careers, and are but a sample of those that Robinson addresses throughout this reader.
Research Interests:
Review of the book Educating for Democratic Consciousness, by Ali A. Abdi and Paul R. Carr (Eds.)
Research Interests:
This thesis explores how youth participation was socially constructed and conceptualized during an internationally dominated reconstruction of Haiti following the earthquake of 2010. Grounded within critical, constructivist, and... more
This thesis explores how youth participation was socially constructed and conceptualized during an internationally dominated reconstruction of Haiti following the earthquake of 2010. Grounded within critical, constructivist, and post-colonial theoretical perspectives, this research uses mixed methods to analyze youth programs and conceptualizations of participation within them. Among its frameworks is a theoretical lens of social spaces for participation that juxtaposes binary qualities such as international and local origins, market and social orientations, and invited and claimed spaces for participation.
In the first phase this research uses conceptual mapping and cluster analysis techniques to survey and plot the landscape of youth programs operating in Haiti after the earthquake. Of the programs surveyed, a relatively equal distribution emerged between those with local and those with international origins. However, a comparatively large group of those programs with local origins also had a curriculum with a primary social orientation.
In the second phase it draws on qualitative and ethnographic methods to examine social constructions of participation in three case study programs with activities ranging
ii
from rural farming and entrepreneurship, to democratic education and debate competitions, to human rights and radio broadcasting. The findings suggest that geography and language have a bearing on who participated, that programs naturally provide different facets for what youth could actually participate in, and that important distinctions exist between the perspectives of program recipients and those of practitioners on why youth participate.
In the third phase the research employs a vertical case study analysis to explicate and compare conceptualizations of participation along four levels of the international aid chains associated with each case study program. These findings reveal that funders and policy makers were inclined to conceptualize participation as motivated by the individual agency of Haitians, while youth in these programs tended to focus on the need for social structures to enable their participation in Haiti.
This research has implications for how and why citizen participation is embedded as a value and a learning outcome in international education that are relevant for the fields of comparative and international education, youth and democratic learning, and citizen participation in the Global South.
In the first phase this research uses conceptual mapping and cluster analysis techniques to survey and plot the landscape of youth programs operating in Haiti after the earthquake. Of the programs surveyed, a relatively equal distribution emerged between those with local and those with international origins. However, a comparatively large group of those programs with local origins also had a curriculum with a primary social orientation.
In the second phase it draws on qualitative and ethnographic methods to examine social constructions of participation in three case study programs with activities ranging
ii
from rural farming and entrepreneurship, to democratic education and debate competitions, to human rights and radio broadcasting. The findings suggest that geography and language have a bearing on who participated, that programs naturally provide different facets for what youth could actually participate in, and that important distinctions exist between the perspectives of program recipients and those of practitioners on why youth participate.
In the third phase the research employs a vertical case study analysis to explicate and compare conceptualizations of participation along four levels of the international aid chains associated with each case study program. These findings reveal that funders and policy makers were inclined to conceptualize participation as motivated by the individual agency of Haitians, while youth in these programs tended to focus on the need for social structures to enable their participation in Haiti.
This research has implications for how and why citizen participation is embedded as a value and a learning outcome in international education that are relevant for the fields of comparative and international education, youth and democratic learning, and citizen participation in the Global South.
Research Interests:
This thesis explores the sector of small, Canadian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in education for development from the perspectives of directors of selected organizations. Through a review of the literatures of the history of... more
This thesis explores the sector of small, Canadian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in education for development from the perspectives of directors of selected organizations. Through a review of the literatures of the history of education for development in Canada and of NGOs in global context, five trends are synthesized and recommended for small NGOs. These trends are then compared with five central, common perspectives of directors from prominent organizations. While the perspectives tend to align with the trends, certain challenges and pressures suggest the existence of tensions and inconsistencies in the realities of small NGOs. Ultimately, the claiming of an applicable form of legitimacy remains a critical quality for small NGOs. This thesis proposes that any assessment of small NGOs must take their viability into account, but suggests that their prospects rest on the degree to which participatory legitimacy is supported and encouraged within the Canadian arena of education for development.