Edda Sant
Manchester Metropolitan University, Institute of Education, Faculty Member
- Didactics, Didactics (History), Democracy and Citizenship Education, Education, Social Studies Education, Education and social sciences, and 9 moreHuman Rights, Globalization, Immigration, Curriculum Studies, Racism, Social Conflict, Democratic Education, Citizenship Theory, and Alternative Education, Democratic Schools, Democratic Educationedit
- I completed my PhD on the Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona after having worked as Social studies (History and Geogra... moreI completed my PhD on the Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona after having worked as Social studies (History and Geography) and Citizenship education teacher, Year and Key Stage Coordinator in different schools in Spain. My research interests lie on the areas of democratic, political, citizenship and history education. My research is driven by a commitment to democratize education and politics. Grounded in theories of radical democracy, particularly the work of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, I am interested in studying three main areas. (1) The democratic possibilities and challenges associated with the political education of young people in both, formal and informal spaces. (2) The role that national and global education might play against/in the democratization of our societies. And, (3) the way political discourses position education as enhancing or restricting equality and plurality of options. I have extensively published in journals and books written in five different languages and published in seven different countries. Among them, I have published in Review of Educational Research, the British Educational Research Journal, the British Journal of Educational Studies and the Cambridge Journal of Education. I have also co-edited a Handbook on Global Citizenship and Education and co-authored a book in the same area.edit
Teacher education in England now requires that student teachers follow practices that do not undermine "fundamental British values" where these practices are assessed against a set of ethics and behaviour standards. This paper examines... more
Teacher education in England now requires that student teachers follow practices that do not undermine "fundamental British values" where these practices are assessed against a set of ethics and behaviour standards. This paper examines the political assumptions underlying pedagogical interpretations about the education of national identities through documenting how a group of student teachers uphold the institutional demand of promoting fundamental British Values in relation to their discursive constructions of Britishness. Empirical data exemplifies potential political under-standings guiding educational practices. Analysis suggests that pedagogies of national education are mediated by (i) educators' understandings of the nation as an essential entity or a social construct and (ii) their understanding of national identities as being open or closed to competing interpretations. The paper concludes by examining implications of different political and pedagogical positions for practice and research.
This theoretical review examines how democratic education is conceptualized within educational scholarship. Three hundred and seventy-seven articles published in English language peer-reviewed journals between 2006 and 2017 are... more
This theoretical review examines how democratic education is conceptualized within educational scholarship. Three hundred and seventy-seven articles published in English language peer-reviewed journals between 2006 and 2017 are discursively analyzed. Democratic education functions as a privileged nodal point of different political discourses. Two discourses against (elitist and neoliberal) and six discourses pro democratic education (liberal, deliberative, multiculturalist, participatory, critical, and agonistic) construct its meaning. It is argued that the different versions of democratic education respond to various (a) ontological and epistemological assumptions, (b) nor-mative approaches to democracy, and (c) conceptions of the relationship between education and politics. For educational policy, the review provides a critique of elitist and neoliberal policies and support for participatory decision making across discourses. Recommendations for educational practice are made by identifying pedagogies across democratic education scholarship as well as specific pedagogies for each discourse.
Youth councils are examined as spaces of citizenship education where young people are educated as political subjects. At a time of political and economic instability data were collected in a Catalan city through tests and focus groups... more
Youth councils are examined as spaces of citizenship education where young people are educated as political subjects. At a time of political and economic instability data were collected in a Catalan city through tests and focus groups involving 112 students, three teachers and two youth council managers during one academic year. Students’ political trust decreased and their cynicism towards politics increased; there were no changes in students’ anticipated future participation. The article avoids drawing simplistic causal links between students’ involvement in a council and the expression of their views. The participants also discuss the councils as performance sites. It is speculated whether, in students’ views, this metaphor of performance applies not only to the councils but to the wider political context in which they live. It is argued that youth councils are, in some ways, potentially valuable for promoting participation and recommendations are made in light of the findings.
This article examines and discusses the ways in which hegemonic and subaltern discourses alternatively evoke different, and sometimes competing, notions of the nation and how they might productively coexist within the history curriculum.... more
This article examines and discusses the ways in which hegemonic and subaltern discourses alternatively evoke different, and sometimes competing, notions of the nation and how they might productively coexist within the history curriculum. More precisely, using Homi Bhabha's conceptual tools of pedagogic and performative narratives of the nation, the article examines history curriculum as permeable to alternative and endless reinventions of the nation and as intrinsically linked to a fixed, stable, and officialized narrative. The study, based on the analysis of the construction of the Catalan nationhood in school textbooks and teachers' and museums' resources in Catalonia (Spain), suggests complex dynamics between hegemonic and subaltern discourses, rather than fixed conceptualizations. Whereas revolutionary discursive depictions of the nation incorporated in the curriculum have a tendency to be officialized, institutionalized, and domesticated through their mediation in educational texts, the article suggests possibilities for more effectively building the subaltern voice within the school curriculum.
Research Interests:
Sant, E., Lewis, S., Delgado, S., & Ross, E. W., (2018). Justice and global citizenship education. In I. Davies, L-C Ho, D. Kiwan, C. Peck, A. Peterson, E. Sant & Y. Waghid (Eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of Global Citizenship and... more
Sant, E., Lewis, S., Delgado, S., & Ross, E. W., (2018). Justice and global citizenship education. In I. Davies, L-C Ho, D. Kiwan, C. Peck, A. Peterson, E. Sant & Y. Waghid (Eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of Global Citizenship and Education (pp. 227-243). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
In this chapter, we examine justice and global citizenship. More precisely, we discuss how globalization can shed some light to discussions on universal justice and how different approaches to justice can inform more democratic approaches to global citizenship education. We examine three different discourse on justice: economic, recognition and democratic justice. For each discourse, we outline the conceptual underpinnings and we discuss the key implications for global citizenship education. We conclude by examining points of encounter that might help us to identify more justice-oriented practices for global citizenship and education.
In this chapter, we examine justice and global citizenship. More precisely, we discuss how globalization can shed some light to discussions on universal justice and how different approaches to justice can inform more democratic approaches to global citizenship education. We examine three different discourse on justice: economic, recognition and democratic justice. For each discourse, we outline the conceptual underpinnings and we discuss the key implications for global citizenship education. We conclude by examining points of encounter that might help us to identify more justice-oriented practices for global citizenship and education.
Research Interests:
In this article we analyze how a group of Catalan students (aged 11-13, N = 245) narrate the history of Catalonia and we compare their narratives with the official Catalan narrative. From an interpretative approach, we collect data by... more
In this article we analyze how a group of Catalan students (aged 11-13, N = 245) narrate the history of Catalonia and we compare their narratives with the official Catalan narrative. From an interpretative approach, we collect data by requiring the students to write down what they remember about the history of Catalonia. The research is conducted by means of narrative analysis and normative content analysis. Our results suggest that most students' narratives are similar to the official narrative in terms of the main characters and events selected and follow the patriotic national narrative by highlighting the relevance of Catalan national symbols. We discuss the implications of this patriotic national narrative in Catalonia and elsewhere, and we propose replacing patriotic national narratives with humanistic world history narratives. DE QUELLE MANIÈRE LES ÉTUDIANTS CATALANS RACONTENT-ILS L'HISTOIRE DE LA CATALOGNE UNE FOIS LEURS ÉTUDES PRIMAIRES COMPLÉTÉES ? RÉSUMÉ. Dans cet article, nous analysons de quelle manière un groupe d'étudiants catalans âgés de 11 à 13 ans (N = 245) raconte l'histoire de la Catalogne et comparons leurs récits avec le récit officiel catalan. Utilisant une approche interprétative, nous recueillons les données d'étudiants à qui nous avons de-mandé d'écrire ce qu'ils avaient retenu de l'histoire de la Catalogne. Le projet de recherche a été réalisé au moyen d'analyse narrative et d'analyse normative du contenu. Nos résultats démontrent que la plupart des récits effectués par les étudiants correspondent au récit officiel en ce qui a trait aux personnages prin-cipaux et évènements choisis. De plus, les récits respectent la trame patriotique nationale, mettant en lumière l'importance des symboles nationaux catalans. Nous discutons des implications de ce récit patriotique national, en Catalogue et ailleurs, puis suggérons de remplacer les récits patriotiques nationaux par des récits proposant une vision humaniste de l'histoire mondiale.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In November 2014, the First International Conference on Education and Politics took place at the Faculty of Education in the Universidad de Antioquia (Colombia). In order to publish the results of this Conference, the journal Educacion y... more
In November 2014, the First International Conference on Education and Politics took place at the Faculty of Education in the Universidad de Antioquia (Colombia). In order to publish the results of this Conference, the journal Educacion y Pedagogia, associated with the Universidad de Antioquia will publish a monograph, Education and Politics. This monograph will be presented at the Second International Conference on Education and Politics that will take place in the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia (Mexico) between the 22nd and the 25th of September 2015. The monograph will include an interview to the Professor E. Wayne Ross a Professor in the Faculty of Education at the British Columbia University in Vancouver, Canada with the aim of examining how Professor Ross links Politics and Education and the ways in which these connections have been put into practice in his professional life. This is the English version of the interview transcript, which will be published in Spanish.
Research Interests:
This article explores how a group of Spanish students (aged 11–19) understand the meaning of ‘political participation’ in society and discusses the implications of their views for debates and practices in citizenship education. The ways... more
This article explores how a group of Spanish students (aged 11–19) understand the meaning of ‘political participation’
in society and discusses the implications of their views for debates and practices in citizenship education. The ways in
which these students (n=112) describe and interpret political participation are analysed using an in-depth and
interpretative approach employing open questionnaires and interviews. The results suggest that most students value
political participation in positive terms and that ‘activist’ students have a more optimistic view of the effectiveness of
participation and especially of new forms of participation such as protests.
in society and discusses the implications of their views for debates and practices in citizenship education. The ways in
which these students (n=112) describe and interpret political participation are analysed using an in-depth and
interpretative approach employing open questionnaires and interviews. The results suggest that most students value
political participation in positive terms and that ‘activist’ students have a more optimistic view of the effectiveness of
participation and especially of new forms of participation such as protests.