Institutionalizing Critical Peace Education in Public Schools: A Case for Comprehensive Implementation
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| Title: | Institutionalizing Critical Peace Education in Public Schools: A Case for Comprehensive Implementation |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Hantzopoulos, Maria |
| Source: | Journal of Peace Education. 2011 8(3):225-242. |
| Availability: | Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 18 |
| Publication Date: | 2011 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Evaluative |
| Education Level: | High Schools |
| Descriptors: | Social Justice, Public Schools, Ethnography, Peace, Social Change, Educational Experience, School Role, Disadvantaged, High Schools, Teaching Methods |
| Geographic Terms: | New York |
| DOI: | 10.1080/17400201.2011.621364 |
| ISSN: | 1740-0201 |
| Abstract: | Drawing from critical theories in education, this article empirically examines the role that public schools can play as conduits for critical peace education, particularly for young people who have been historically marginalized from school. Based on two years of ethnographic data collection at a public high school in New York City, I explore how students make meaning of their educational experiences at a school that emphasizes democratic principles and a commitment to peace and social justice. The data suggest that students value the intentional participatory spaces and the thematic, inquiry-based curriculum in the school. Not only do these unique structures re-socialize them academically, but they also encourage democratic participation, reflection, critical consciousness, and a commitment to broader social change. This comprehensive approach, in turn, presumably gives students a platform from which to think about the world differently and imagine new alternatives for the future. As a result, the article concludes that there is potential in enacting critical peace education in public schools, and urges that in order to be most successful, several school structures must collectively support its dissemination. (Contains 7 notes.) |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Number of References: | 38 |
| Entry Date: | 2012 |
| Accession Number: | EJ949163 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Url: https://content.ebscohost.com/cds/retrieve?content=AQICAHj0k_4E0hTGH8RJwT4gCJyBsGNe_WN95AvKlDbXJGqwxwF1TvxY9uKYwzcboTZT_mlPAAAA4jCB3wYJKoZIhvcNAQcGoIHRMIHOAgEAMIHIBgkqhkiG9w0BBwEwHgYJYIZIAWUDBAEuMBEEDPXlFr5vQvF38e_pPgIBEICBmqVDXwV1Eh48PiB5vf1bHUHRTb-jVQOMLl88OKfAP7IE9gCFALDEINzy0cgdbB648fdjdy0gsj-W6E7srhYFO6bxnEcsow7nJ5KEQAWWzhOHnHiRSl09dpz4q_vA4EQ-Q9GJ5Pn4Cro1M5JbpuXM8fWTw-TOy0DIwE-WjkXbbtC4FoZDCRXmLF1nmivfXYZM2RKrJaU5MUY_e4o= Text: Availability: 1 Value: <anid>AN0066825676;rfp01dec.11;2019Mar18.13:15;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0066825676-1">Institutionalizing critical peace education in public schools: A case for comprehensive implementation. </title> <p>Drawing from critical theories in education, this article empirically examines the role that public schools can play as conduits for critical peace education, particularly for young people who have been historically marginalized from school. Based on two years of ethnographic data collection at a public high school in New York City, I explore how students make meaning of their educational experiences at a school that emphasizes democratic principles and a commitment to peace and social justice. The data suggest that students value the intentional participatory spaces and the thematic, inquiry-based curriculum in the school. Not only do these unique structures re-socialize them academically, but they also encourage democratic participation, reflection, critical consciousness, and a commitment to broader social change. This comprehensive approach, in turn, presumably gives students a platform from which to think about the world differently and imagine new alternatives for the future. As a result, the article concludes that there is potential in enacting critical peace education in public schools, and urges that in order to be most successful, several school structures must collectively support its dissemination.</p> <p>Keywords: peace education; democratic education; critical pedagogy; public school reform; school ethnography</p> <p>Leading theorists, researchers, and practitioners in the field of peace education and peace studies have consistently highlighted the necessity of comprehensive approaches when educating for a culture of peace. Scholars like Bajaj ([<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref1">3</reflink>]), Galthung ([<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref2">17</reflink>]), Haavelsrud ([<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref3">18</reflink>]), Hicks (1994), and Reardon ([<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref4">34</reflink>]) argue for a critical peace education that pays attention to methods, content, and organizational structure, and truly addresses the ways in which both direct and structural violence manifest personally and in society at large. Through this critical analysis and all-encompassing view of peace education, it is assumed that programs can both work towards the emancipatory goals of the field and pursue meaningful societal change. As such, the implementation of critical peace education should embrace dialogical, problem-posing, and participatory/praxis methods; multiple, varied, and alternative viewpoints and content; and flattened organizational structures that foster collaboration and connection rather than hierarchy and compartmentalization. If enacted in such a manner, critical peace education naturally intersects with critical pedagogy, anti-oppressive education, and critical multiculturalism.</p> <p>Public schools[<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref5">1</reflink>], however, are often seen as resistant to this multi-pronged process. They are viewed as places that perpetuate structural violence through their top-down design, rigid policies, and distinctions among disciplines, and some scholars question whether the form and content of peace education can even be introduced in schools without reorganizing structure (Galthung [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref6">17</reflink>]; Haavelsrud [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref7">18</reflink>]). Others, most notably Illich ([<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref8">27</reflink>]) and Harber ([<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref9">24</reflink>]), question whether the issue is with the institution of schooling itself, asking whether schools are specifically designed to privilege some over others, and thereby perpetuate structural violence in society at large. While schools certainly serve a reproductive purpose, this assumption is also problematic. Not only does it mask the roles that actors like teachers and students play as transformative agents in their own environments, it also dismisses entire movements that have been engaged in participatory public school reform for decades, inadvertently contributing to the demonization of the 'public sphere' that currently dominates mainstream educational discourse in the United States (Hantzopoulos and Tyner [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref10">23</reflink>]). Taken wholly, it obscures the fact that some have rethought these conceptual foundations of education and have attempted to create space for systemic school reform.</p> <p>This article presents a challenge to the view that public schools only serve as sites for hegemony, social and class reproduction, and direct and structural violence (Anyon [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref11">1</reflink>]; Bourdieu 1977; Bowles and Gintis [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref12">7</reflink>], Oakes [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref13">33</reflink>]), by critically and empirically examining the role that they can play as conduits for a critical peace education. Specifically, this article examines how one public high school in New York City attempts to employ a holistic model of peace education through its formalized democratic structures, pedagogy, and curriculum. In particular, I explore how this school works towards being a site of inclusion and transformation, particularly for those students who have been historically marginalized in the United States.</p> <p>Drawing from critical theories in education, including critical peace education, democratic education, and critical pedagogy, this paper considers the possibilities of institutionalizing a critical peace education in public schools. Based on over two years of ethnographic data collection, including participant observation, focus groups, interviews, and surveys with students, staff, and faculty, I explore and privilege how former and current students make meaning of their educational experiences at a public school that emphasizes democratic principles and a commitment to peace and social justice. I discern how students enact and negotiate these ideals in school and beyond, paying particular attention to how students' actions, conceptualizations, and discourses surrounding their experiences both intersect with and diverge from the stated mission of the school.</p> <p>The data shows promise in enacting this type of education in a public school setting when school structures collectively support its dissemination. While I discuss elsewhere how this particular school successfully engaged youth academically through strong student–teacher relationships, a core values-infused culture of respect, and a thematic, culturally relevant and project-based curriculum (Hantzopoulos [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref14">20</reflink>]), this article focuses on other aspects that make this school unique, particularly its efforts to engage students as participatory actors in the school environment. Overwhelmingly, students describe how the school allows them to cultivate their 'voice' and develop a platform from which to not only think about the world differently and more critically than they had before, but also move towards individual and societal change. Students identify the distinctive school structures that collectively work together to provide space for transformative agency in the school. These were Prep Central, Advisory, Town Meetings, Fairness, and the thematic, inquiry-based curriculum at large. While interviews and field notes also suggest that students often encountered obstacles to their sense of agency when dealing with large structural inequities beyond the school, students also displayed ways in which they negotiated these tensions, often working them to their advantage.</p> <hd id="AN0066825676-2">Critical peace education: A review</hd> <p>While it is often defined as a field that lacks concrete definition (Bar-Tal [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref15">5</reflink>]; Danesh [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref16">11</reflink>]), most scholars of peace education agree on some central tenets of theory and practice that ground the field. In particular, 'peace' is often defined as a two-fold state in which positive and negative peace exist and direct and structural violence are absent (Reardon 2001; Harris and Morrison [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref17">26</reflink>]). Peace education is therefore a useful tool that provides the requisite skills and knowledge to move towards this idealized state of peace (Bajaj [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref18">3</reflink>]; Harris [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref19">25</reflink>]; Reardon [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref20">34</reflink>]). Moreover, scholars agree that enacting peace education requires attention to policy-making, planning, pedagogy, and practice that comprehensively form a holistic approach. (Bajaj [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref21">3</reflink>]; Galtung [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref22">16</reflink>]; Reardon [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref23">34</reflink>]; Toh 2006).</p> <p>The recent call to research the possibilities of a 'critical' peace education expands upon existing theories not only by emphasizing the centrality of critical pedagogy (Diaz-Soto [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref24">12</reflink>]), but also by privileging 'research aimed towards local understandings of how participants can cultivate a sense of transformative agency' (Bajaj [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref25">4</reflink>], 135). This directive is responsive to the generalized and singular ways in which the field (and particularly the concept of 'peace') has often been conceptualized. For instance, Haavelsrud ([<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref26">19</reflink>]), as cited in Bajaj ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref27">4</reflink>]), distinguishes between four types of peace education – idealistic, intellectual, ideological, and politicization – particularly critiquing the first three. The idealistic approach, for example, assumes universal notions of problems and solutions to peace; consequently, it ignores large concerns about structural inequities. The intellectual approach, which focuses on the academic study of peace, often embodies multiple perspectives in the name of neutrality at the expense of conceptualizing strategies for action and change. The ideological approach views schooling solely as a site of social and class reproduction, assuming that peace education can only exist outside of schools. The fourth approach, politicization, sees potential in schools and 'acknowledges that education, along with other efforts towards social change outside of schools, has a constructive role to play in promoting peace' (Bajaj [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref28">4</reflink>], 137).</p> <p>As Bajaj argues, it is this last approach that is aligned with a more critical peace education. Rather than conceptualizing peace education in a normative and totalizing way, critical peace education calls for a commitment to empirical research for its potential to illuminate the complex and varied meanings that local actors bring to the concept and enactment of peace. Moreover, critical peace education pays more attention to context-specific structural inequities in order to elucidate localized experiences. At the same time, it views peace education as a holistic endeavor that gives equal attention to form, content, and structure when moving towards a more peaceful and just society (Galtung [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref29">17</reflink>]; Haavelsrud [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref30">18</reflink>]). Similarly, Brantmeier ([<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref31">8</reflink>]) suggests that in order to move towards equity and social justice, peace education needs to be infused comprehensively 'through curriculum, instruction, and democratic classroom management practices' ([<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref32">8</reflink>], 5).</p> <p>Freirean notions of critical pedagogy are at the heart of critical peace education. Grounded in the concept of liberation and transformation, critical pedagogy engages teachers and students in the process of recognizing and using their own experiences and knowledge as catalysts to transforming their lives and social worlds (Freire 1972/2003). This process, known as critical consciousness, calls for a dialogical pedagogy among students and teachers and requires that educational sites be inclusive, participatory, and democratic. Thus, critical pedagogy and democratic structures are inherently related. According to McGinn ([<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref33">32</reflink>]) however, the concept of democracy is often met with skepticism because it is increasingly seen as a closed system that does not respond to people's basic needs. He argues that the challenge of educators is to redress this problem and satisfy a 'hunger for real democratization' (<reflink idref="bib342" id="ref34">342</reflink>). As Apple and Beane (1995/2007) suggest, democratic education needs to be something that is experienced and lived, moving beyond the 'engineering of consent toward predetermined decisions [to a]... genuine attempt to honor the right of people to participate in making decisions that affect their lives' (<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref35">9</reflink>). Schools, they argue, should be inclusive spaces in which all actors contribute to knowledge construction and decision-making, so that the fundamentals of authentic participation in a democracy can be both learned and practiced. In this way, democracy is not seen as stagnant, but as more of a 'dynamic, striving and collective movement than a static order of stationary status quo' (West [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref36">38</reflink>]).</p> <p>Brantmeier ([<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref37">8</reflink>]) builds on this broad vision, centering the work of Freire and its ties to participatory, democratic education, as a basis to 'mainstream' critical peace education in teacher education programs and schools. In particular, he posits five specific stages that promote 'social and cultural change toward a nonviolent, sustainable, and renewable future' (<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref38">14</reflink>). These are: raising critical consciousness through dialogue, imagining nonviolent alternatives, providing specific modes of empowerment, transformative action, and reflection and re-engagement (12–3). While Humanities Preparatory Academy (HPA), the school where I collected data, was not necessarily conceived under these specific guidelines, these principles are intentionally incorporated into many of the school's structures. In turn, elements that embody critical peace education are interwoven though its policies, practices, and stated beliefs.</p> <hd id="AN0066825676-3">Humanities Preparatory Academy: A comprehensive approach to critical peace education</hd> <p>Originally designed as a school for students at risk of 'dropping out', Humanities Preparatory Academy (HPA) is a college-preparatory school that is not only 'a haven for students who have previously experienced school as unresponsive to their needs as individuals', but also a place that welcomes students with diverse educational backgrounds (Mission). By constructing an alternative educational environment rooted in values like peace, justice, and democracy, this school presents itself as one that provides a transformative experience for its students within and beyond the sphere of the schooling. According to its mission, it endeavors to uphold these core values and create a space for students to 'find their voices' and 'speak knowledgeably and thoughtfully on issues that concern their school, their world'.</p> <p>The school serves a population that spans the socio-economic, racial and ethnic spectra of the city, which is atypical of New York City (NYC) de-facto segregated schools. At the time of my research in 2005–7, the racial background of the student body was as follows: 40% Latino, 38% Black, 12% White, 6% Asian, and 4% Other. 12% were enrolled in special education (in line with the city average of 11%). Over 50% of the population qualified for free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL is often used as an indicator for the level of poverty in a school).[<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref39">2</reflink>] In this sense, the school is committed to meeting the diverse needs of the population of NYC, unlike some other small schools which have been critiqued for their admissions exclusionary policies (Advocates for Children 2006).</p> <p>HPA is considered a successful school, mainly because its graduation and college acceptance rates are well above average. For example, the school averaged 91% to 100% college acceptance rates from its opening in 1997 through the time of my fieldwork, while the city-wide rate did not rise above 62% during that same period (Performance Assessment 2008). The dropout rate remains under 4%, as compared to the city rate of 19.9% (ibid),[<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref40">3</reflink>] despite the fact that HPA accepts many students who have been pushed out of other schools and turn to HPA as their last chance. These figures demonstrate the school's commitment to addressing larger structural racial and economic inequalities embedded within the education system in NYC.</p> <p>HPA's success, however, is based on its radically re-conceptualized approach to schooling. By rethinking the form, content, and structure of traditional schooling, HPA endeavors to move towards a more libratory space for its students. From its inception in 1993, HPA has remained unwavering in its commitment to student-centered education, critical pedagogy, and the school's core values of peace, justice, democracy and respect for humanity, intellect, truth and diversity. According to teachers interviewed, these aspects undergird classroom and school community practices. One way this happens is through the flattened hierarchy of school governance in which staff, parents, and students are invited to create and shape school policy and practices. While there is a school principal and teacher co-director, there are also rotating leadership positions, student advisory councils and consensus-based decision-making. With less than 200 students, the school remains relatively small for a NYC public high school. The reason for this, according to the principal, is to provide more personalized instruction, closer adult/student mentorships, and an environment in which everyone is known (Interview 12 March 2006).</p> <p>The school has also reframed how students are grouped academically. As Haavelsrud ([<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref41">18</reflink>]), Galtung ([<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref42">17</reflink>]), and Oakes (2005) suggest, tracking in schools often serves to perpetuate inequalities and structural violence. HPA, however, is one of three public high schools in NYC with de-tracked, mixed-age, and heterogeneously grouped classes. There are no prerequisites based on grade levels, prior achievement, or ability for students to take most classes.[<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref43">4</reflink>] Students therefore choose classes based on interest and meet with an advisor to ensure that their choices fulfill both the state distribution requirements and student-set academic goals.</p> <p>Further, HPA has a waiver from the standardized high-stakes testing used in the New York public school system. Instead, they use a form of assessment known as performance-based assessment (PBA), which resembles the college or graduate level thesis system.[<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref44">5</reflink>] Over the course of a year, a student works with a teacher on a self-generated project in a particular subject. When the student is ready to present, a panel of two teachers and an external evaluator use a rubric to determine whether or not the student needs to revise and re-present her work or if she is ready to move on to another project. This type of assessment has allowed for the creation of thematic courses, building off students' interests and questions they have about the world. Classes often reflect enduring themes in peace and social justice education, including courses called America at War: 1898–today; The American Dream: Fact or Fiction; Math and Social Justice; and Eugenics.</p> <p>As I demonstrate elsewhere, there are several informal processes at HPA that cultivate a culture of respect and strong intergenerational bonds among students and teachers. According to students, this contributes to a sense of belonging, community, and individualized appreciation and recognition, which, in turn, led many of them to feel more engaged in the environment, and thus at school (Hantzopoulos [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref45">20</reflink>]). This article builds upon this, and also looks more closely at the ways in which the participatory nature of intentional school structures contributes not only to their academic achievement, but also to their understanding of democracy, sense of agency, and perceived ability to initiate change.</p> <hd id="AN0066825676-4">Methodology</hd> <p>Germinating from the desire to describe the potential impact of a school that is committed to peace, democracy and social justice, I felt that a qualitative approach based on ethnographic methods was best suited for my design. According to Marshall and Rossman ([<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref46">31</reflink>]), qualitative research is the study of social phenomena that is both naturalistic and interpretative, driven by multiple methods of inquiry that allow this process to unfold. By conducting the study in a natural setting, I was able to build a textured and complex account, inductively analyzing the information drawn from data collection while focusing on participant perspectives. Since qualitative research is rooted in the methods of participant observation, individual and group interviews, and document analysis, I employed all of these methods in my study over the course of two years. I also collected 231 surveys to retrieve demographic data, select interview participants, and obtain cursory anecdotal data about students' experiences in the school.</p> <p>There were several overlapping phases of participatory observation throughout the duration of my study, which began in September 2005 and continued through June 2007. These included school-based participant observation of actors (and my interactions with them) within the school and 'off-site' participant observation of former and current students in spaces outside the sphere of the school. Everyday, I recorded and logged daily field-notes about what I observed in the classroom, hallways, and other spaces where students were engaged in school-related activity.</p> <p>Semi-structured interviews were an essential part of the research process. They served as a way to obtain information that was 'simply not amenable to observation, so that asking people about them [the participants] represents the only viable means of finding out about them within a qualitative research strategy' (Bryman [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref47">9</reflink>], 329). Specifically, I conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 former students, six current students, and 14 faculty members. Since my research was connected to one setting, the different roles embodied by the participants enabled me to attempt to get a range of views, which, according to Rapley (2004), is one of the central rationales of qualitative interviewing. I chose a semi-structured interviewing method because it allowed for flexibility for more legitimate access to world-views of participants, while not losing the specificity needed to focus on the purpose of my study (Bryman [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref48">9</reflink>]).</p> <p>I also conducted five focus-group discussions with current students who were not interviewed individually. Students participated based on their willingness to be interviewed, as indicated in the survey. These focus groups assisted in obtaining perspectives that I did not get through my interviews (Fontana and Frey [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref49">14</reflink>]). Focus groups worked well with students since many were accustomed to group discussions, one of the central pedagogical practices in the school. Similarly, focus group discussions emulated the way that naturalistic phenomena normally occur in the school.</p> <p>The multiple methods used in this study augment its internal validity and reliability through the process of triangulation, which both reduced the risk of 'choice association and of systematic bias due to a specific method' and allowed for 'a better assessment of the generality of explanations' developed through the research (Maxwell 2005, 112). Moreover, triangulation reduced researcher bias, particularly given its status as a qualitative study that relies on meanings generated by the researcher and participants, through its reliance on a diversity of methods and sources (LeCompte and Preissle [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref50">30</reflink>]).</p> <p>I engaged in a dually inductive and deductive process of data interpretation. Every two weeks, I reviewed my field notes and transcriptions to capture the themes emerging from the data as I was in the process of collection. Every two months, I re-read my notes and memos to both develop data displays that modeled the developing analysis and search for negative cases. Sometimes, this forced me to recode units of data and revise the codes accordingly. At the end of the fieldwork, I reviewed these analyses once more, drew initial conclusions, and then submitted these conclusions to a set of tests for confirmation. When I wrote up my findings post-fieldwork, I had already interpreted and analyzed much of the data.</p> <hd id="AN0066825676-5">Cultivating community, voice and critical consciousness: Spaces, structures, and classes at H...</hd> <p>While there are many formalized structures and spaces existing within the school that likely contribute to students' perceptions of their experiences, I focus here on the spaces and structures described by students as fundamental to their experiences at HPA. Students were never asked specifically about these spaces, but were instead asked questions about their general experiences of schooling, as well as their general experiences at HPA. Overall, they mentioned these structures as ones that help them feel part of a community, find their voice, and critically question the world. Students often suggested that these structures were the initial catalysts that allowed them to participate actively in decision-making not only at school, but also beyond. As many students described feeling marginalized and silenced in previous school settings and in society at large, the school was not only successful at academic re-socialization, but also effective in engaging them in the processes described by Brantmeier ([<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref51">8</reflink>]) as central to critical peace education.</p> <hd id="AN0066825676-6">Prep Central</hd> <p>Prep Central sits in a spacious room on the HPA side of the second floor of the larger school building. Since teachers do not keep their desks in separate classrooms but share their workspace with students in this room, it is known as the hub of the school, teeming with academic activity and social interaction. According to many teachers interviewed, Prep Central intentionally aligns with the mission of HPA to create 'an atmosphere of informal intellectual discourse among students and faculty' (Mission). Students have similar perceptions and describe Prep Central as an essential feature that makes the school unique. For instance, several alumni, when invited to give feedback at a staff meeting, expressed that this was the one space that must always be preserved, because, as Pedro commented, 'It was where just like the whole school really came together at times' (Interview, 10 May 2007).</p> <p>Designed as a shared workroom, Prep Central officially formalizes the intergenerational relationships and culture of respect discussed elsewhere (Hantzopoulos [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref52">20</reflink>]). Interviewee Alejo describes how this space crystallizes the commitment to equalizing and democratizing relationships among students and teachers:</p> <p>Well, for one there was a student lounge. There is no other high school in the city that has that with students and teachers combined... 'Cause normally what it is, is you're either in class or you're eating lunch, or you're in class, or you're home, or outside of the school with peers; but there's no real interaction between students and teachers. (Interview, 26 April 26 2007)</p> <p>Alejo describes how schools are generally designed to alienate students from teachers, whereas at HPA, through the advent of Prep Central, relationships are embraced and facilitated. Even if a teacher does not have lunch with students, talk to them informally in the hallways, or try and form personal connections with students, s/he is forced to reconsider traditional student–teacher interactions because the workspace is intentionally shared. In this sense, this space contributes to Frierean notions of equalized student–teacher relationships (Freire, 1972/2003).</p> <p>Other students point to how this official space contributes to transforming the relationships among students. For instance, Erin, an alumna, articulates how unlikely friendships are formed:</p> <p>... in another place, I would never see the punk rock kids hang out with the kids who are more like a hip-hop, rap group. You know, those with the baggy pants with the Goths, but in Prep you sit down in... the lounge area. You have all various groups just sitting down there talking to each other. You have just some people playing chess with each other. I kind of miss that. (18 May 2007)</p> <p>As noted elsewhere, students appreciate the diversity and interracial friendships at the school (Hantzopoulos [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref53">21</reflink>]). While many schools may be small, if there are not communal spaces beyond the classroom for interaction, students may remain segregated based on outward characteristics, including clothing style, country of origin, or race. As Rodriguez and Conchas (2008) illuminate, strong social relationships form among students from different backgrounds when they are supported and encouraged to work together by the school staff.</p> <p>My field notes also illustrate that students use Prep Central to debate hefty topics that range from the merits and discontents of philanthropy, to relationship abuse, to school policies. Thus, the space serves as a vehicle for students to speak thoughtfully about their personal and social worlds. Fine, Weis, and Powell ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref54">13</reflink>]) refer to such deliberate attempts at dialogue as integrated spaces in which multi-racial youth relations flourish under the following conditions: sense of community, analysis of difference, and investment in democracy. There are no fixed 'outcomes' to these discussions; students engage in critical dialogue without the overt guidance of adults, and in many ways, find refuge in this space in which they are supported to do so.</p> <hd id="AN0066825676-7">Advisory</hd> <p>Advisory, a daily class period of 15 students, is also a place where students discuss issues relevant to their lives, receive academic support, develop leadership skills, and build community with other members of their group. Every teacher is assigned to one advisory. On a typical day, one can walk into one advisory and see a workshop on college readiness; in another, a heated discussion about the salaries of female athletes; in another, an exploration of the causes of domestic violence. These are issues that stem from students' own interests, and they are often asked to come up with topics for discussion and debate.</p> <p>Former and current students resoundingly feel that advisory is essential to academic, social, and emotional wellbeing in school, fostering more participatory engagement. While not traditionally an academic class, advisories provide a consistent space in the school for students to check in with their teacher/advisor and peers about their school work, personal life, or any other concerns. Erin describes it is as a place to breathe in a frantic school day: 'I think I love the fact that you guys had an Advisory system. I think that's just better 'cause I think that it was too hectic and too – everybody was so frantic about getting their work done' (18 May 2007). According to Vince, the former and founding principal, Advisory is one of the structures in the school that helps students navigate both external and internal pressures, because it provides a 'decent amount of guidance' (with the social worker) and offers programmatically 'an adult who cares' (Interview 19 March 2007). The co-founder explains Advisory as a place where 'the students are the curriculum' (Interview 15 June 2007).</p> <p>Overall, my data reveals that Advisory is a formalized place to solidify close relationships among students and advisors/teachers, build a smaller community within the larger one, and develop ideas and cultivate student voices in a more intimate setting. Sammy, an alumnus, explains that Advisory is where 'people can make themselves be heard... in a smaller setting where it can be a little bit more private' (Interview 28 April 2007). Mark, a teacher, further shares, 'Advisory is a structure that most allows for the fostering of democracy' (Interview 12 June 2006). In his Advisory, he often used 'go-around' techniques that involved engaging all students in speaking, as well as allowing students to lead the topics and discussions. During one observation, a student, Marcus, led an advisory on the topic 'Interracial Couples', because it interested him. After explaining his own experience as the son of an interracial marriage, he asked the other students, 'Do you think they can work?' At that point, each student in the room gave a brief response, and this segued into a larger conversation about institutionalized racism, moving beyond the personal and analyzing the topic from a systemic perspective. This demonstrates how relevant student-led discussions transpire democratically in Advisory – ones that may not have room to exist in a more academic setting. Further, it prepares students to engage in the larger participatory formats that exist in the school.</p> <hd id="AN0066825676-8">Town Meetings</hd> <p>Like Advisory, Town Meetings at HPA are another structure that students referenced as an integral participatory space.[<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref55">6</reflink>] As weekly whole-school gatherings where students and teachers discuss a myriad of issues, ranging from personal to global, Town Meetings often expand upon the themes explored in Advisory, encouraging further debate and questioning. The running of Town Meetings is rotated between advisories, allowing for a range of perspectives, issues, and facilitation styles. Topics for discussion vary and have included such items as school policies, police brutality, political prisoners, and military recruitment in schools. Guest speakers are often invited to come to the Town Meetings. For instance, once a guest speaker from a local organization came to discuss environmental racism; another time, a former Black Panther came to discuss activism. Often, guests come to address issues of peace and war, particularly regarding the years leading to the US occupation of Iraq (see Hantzopoulos [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref56">22</reflink>]).</p> <p>Interviewed alumni and students feel positively about Town Meetings. For instance, Sandra, a senior, explains in a focus group:</p> <p>... [W]e have things like Town Meetings... we get to speak on the topic that we choose, any topic that we like to talk about, and... it makes you want to speak about it. And, I feel that before I was never around that kind of environment, that kind of school where... we can speak freely. So, I feel that this school has made my voice a bit stronger and I feel that this school makes education more fun, you know I feel that it's not that textbook based kind of learning, it's all kinds of learning. (18 May 2007)</p> <p>Town Meetings, therefore, are spaces that allow for the validation of student knowledge, as well as space for contestation. For some, like Katerina, this translates into being able to develop skills beyond the sphere of schooling:</p> <p>... [A]t Prep I was able to speak how I felt. And [Town Meetings] ... were very inspiring. We were taught how to get up and speak in front of a group or community. When I was at my former high school or even when I was in junior high they didn't teach us that. (22 March 2007)</p> <p>Not only does Katerina contrast this with her previous schooling, but she also talks about how this influenced her current activism as a Doula (an advocate for women giving birth), stating, 'It was easier for me to organize other Doulas because I was comfortable speaking in front of large crowds, like we did at Prep'.</p> <p>Erin echoes this sentiment, and also explains how she learned to listen attentively to others. '[D]uring Town Meetings... everybody had to be respectful to everybody's words. It was really hard to not disrespect anybody because everybody believed in something differently' (Interview 18 March 2007). In this sense, Town Meetings are another way to institutionalize the diffusion and assimilation of core values and foster a community of respectful engagement.</p> <p>Students also express frustration at Town Meetings, but they suggest that disagreements are necessary for student growth. Because the topics of debate often conjure varied perspectives among students and staff, students often feel irritated immediately after a Town Meeting. As Amelia states, 'I would keep Town Meetings. Even though they annoyed me when I was at Prep [...] I really do think they keep the community better, I really do' (Interview 11 March 2007). Similarly, Kevin agrees that while he was challenged in these forums, '[they] gave me a chance to explore ideas and my own pursuits and pushed me to be more open-minded to others' ideas, and, well, the world' (Interview 20 December 2007).</p> <p>Town Meetings, therefore, are forums that enable students to make connections between their lives and, as they describe it, the world. Lisa, an alumna, explains that this led to an awareness of global concerns:</p> <p>... that was our time to talk about issues that were going on in the world or current events. And I feel it's important to come together as a school and actually have that time to talk about issues like that... to keep the kids alert of what's going on and also get their views. (Interview 27 March 2007)</p> <p>Dalia, another alumna, explicitly connects these discussions to 'critical thinking':</p> <p>I remember Town Meeting... I mean they literally got the whole school together, and they would pick up a topic to talk about, whatever was hot at the time... it opened up your eyes and your ears to a lot of people's opinions. But, it was a good way to enhance your critical thinking and it embodied how every human should be, consider themselves, one entity as opposed to different races who don't communicate with each other... (Interview, 15 February 2007)</p> <p>Collectively, these students explain how Town Meetings build community by engaging multiple perspectives. According to Fine, Weis, and Powell ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref57">13</reflink>]), schools must not only create desegregated spaces in order to deal with differences among students, but also interrupt institutionally produced identities to nurture multiracial and multiethnic communities. Thus, structures like Town Meetings allow students and teachers to work towards 'creating spaces where differences are acknowledged and respected' (<reflink idref="bib247" id="ref58">247</reflink>).</p> <hd id="AN0066825676-9">Fairness Committee</hd> <p>The Fairness Committee, simply known as Fairness, is seen as a crucial reflective democratic practice at HPA in that it helps cultivate voice, allows for questioning, and reinforces a caring community. Often framed as a form of 'restorative justice', Fairness is a mechanism through which students can discuss with one another, and with teachers, violations of the community's core values, and brainstorm alternatives and solutions to these dilemmas.[<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref59">7</reflink>] Examples of behavior for which a student or teacher might be taken to Fairness include inappropriate language, missing class, and vandalism. When a committee is convened, students and teachers are encouraged to ask questions, listen to all parties, and help uncover what transpired. The structure strives to emphasize process and real dialogue over product and fixed outcome, so the end result is sui generis to each particular committee meeting (Hantzopoulos 2006).</p> <p>Teachers and administrators from around the country are increasingly interested in learning more about the practice, particularly as they are growing frustrated with punitive policies that seem only to marginalize and disengage youth from school culture. For HPA, however, Fairness goes beyond discipline; it is a mechanism to build community, cultivate student voices, and raise critical consciousness. While it is based on the premise that someone may take another person (student or teacher) to the committee if there is a perceived violation of a core value(s), the processes and outcomes of the committee hearings often deepen the level of student and teacher engagement. Because the Fairness Committee brings in the voices of students who are often marginalized by traditional disciplinary practices, the intention is to validate students as thinkers and decision makers, and reinforces the idea that they have a stake and voice in their communities.</p> <p>In one Fairness session that I observed, Paul took his best friend to Fairness for violating the core value of 'respect for the intellect'. The friend, Joe, was frequently missing school, slipping academically and becoming emotionally withdrawn. Paul was concerned that his friend was going to drop out and wanted to have a larger intervention, so he brought him to Fairness. In that meeting, the students and teachers present tried to get to the heart of Joe's problems so that appropriate steps could be taken to reintegrate him into school. In the end, the Fairness Committee formed an academic Advisory plan for Joe which involved interventions and checks from an advisor and Paul. While Fairness was often difficult for students, many share Diego's view: 'it works, even though I hated it at the time' (Interview 11 January 2008).</p> <p>Students describe Fairness as a safe place that allows them to reflect and raise awareness to behaviors that might harm others, or even themselves. For instance, Alejo describes being taken to Fairness not only as a way to be 'called on' something, but also as a way to validate his own humanity:</p> <p>I remember that because every time that I would violate [a core value], I would be called on it in Fairness... I think they were good things to have. ... And then here with those core values, it is more like you're a person. You're your own person, as opposed to being anything specific. (24 April 2007)</p> <p>Because Fairness seeks to unearth the truth(s) of a situation, the process allows for multiple community perspectives to be part of the process; thereby it attempts to dismantle hierarchical impositions of truth. Thus Alejo describes his humanity being validated because he was included in the process, even when 'accused' of violating a core value.</p> <p>Similarly, Jenkins attributes his personal growth to Fairness:</p> <p>When I first came here I was... a time bomb. But, 'cause we had Town Meeting, cause we used to debate about stuff, I was very like reluctant to hear anyone else's view and like, 'uhhh everyone shut up'. And, I went to fairness like four times, and as I began to be in this environment more, I began to learn that even though there is the factor of freedom of speech, and you are liberated, there are boundaries within liberation that have to be understood. So I think that's what I learned the most from here... (25 March 2007)</p> <p>Through engaging dialogically with other members of the community, Jenkins feels that he became more aware of the effects of his actions on others. Others appreciate that Fairness allows for contention of multiple perspectives. For example, Luis relays the following:</p> <p>... I especially loved the whole thing [of] fairness. Fairness was a pointed concept to me, because... usually people just get suspended. But Fairness actually allows people to speak both sides of their story... and it's a good process to go through, you know, for people to have their voice heard. (13 March 2007)</p> <p>Luis' emphasis on voice, both as someone 'taken' to Fairness and as someone sitting on the panel, exemplifies how democracy is practiced in the space. As Kevin states, 'Prep definitely taught students about fairness, diversity, and democracy' (20 December 2006).</p> <p>Some students feel Fairness should be utilized in spaces beyond the school. For example, Amelia shares her frustration with the way her college's administration deals with issues of race and gender:</p> <p>Three things that I think should really be [at her school], you know how Prep has the whole Fairness thing?... Well, [my school] doesn't have anything like that, and it's basically if someone does something to you, for example, there was a guy... and he came and with a really powerful water gun, and squirted me one day... and I was really angry... there's nothing you can do for when you don't like have a physical scar... there's no accountability for anything that goes on. And even last term a sophomore actually who got on the radio... and he used the N word okay, a white person! And there were no consequences, it just makes me angry, nobody did anything... and I really feel like at Prep, if you would do something to disrespect the community there's going to consequences, even if you don't get in trouble by the teachers at Prep so much, the community thinks you're a jerk. But instead, here, you're just walking around, partying it up, having fun, it just makes me so mad. (Interview 11 March 2007)</p> <p>While the purpose of Fairness is not to make a student or teacher 'look like a jerk', Amelia highlights both how certain behaviors are not tolerated at HPA and how traditional retributive justice mechanisms do not consider ways in which the community is hurt as a whole when an individual violates implicit social values.</p> <hd id="AN0066825676-10">Curriculum and coursework</hd> <p>The theme-based, in-depth investigatory nature of classes at HPA also contributes to students' participatory engagement. Further, many students note that classes challenge them to see new ways of thinking about the world and the way it works, much like in the aforementioned structures and spaces. In particular, they speak favorably about how their classes do not use textbooks, but instead draw from various sources and perspectives to help them challenge mainstream ideologies. For instance, Dalia, when asked to describe the school, writes in her survey:</p> <p>... I always describe it as a liberal arts kind of high school that dealt with teaching, not through textbooks, not through mainstream education, but through actual artifacts, and pieces, and writings, and every single class I took from art class to music class or history, everything, just, the depth of it and understanding the topic was what I needed... and made me see things so differently. (February 15 2007)</p> <p>Through the use of multiple media and perspectives, students deepen their knowledge of issues. Because textbooks are often seen as sites for the construction of masculinity, patriarchy and dominant cultural values and norms – and the presentation of a linear and singular view of history – they obfuscate the ways in which marginalized populations and ways of knowing have contributed to societies or have resisted dominant hegemonic ideologies (Kuzmic [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref60">29</reflink>]; Kaomea [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref61">28</reflink>]). By working with and deconstructing these dominant narratives in their classes at HPA, students begin to view the world differently. Moreover, this approach reflects a more democratized view of particular disciplines as it incorporates multiple perspectives.</p> <p>Students at HPA also feel that the curriculum is culturally relevant to the student body. Lisa describes how she was surprised to have a course on Caribbean history at HPA. She remembers learning about Pedro Albizu Campos, a Puerto Rican revolutionary who resisted US imperialism:</p> <p>It was Caribbean History and it was at that point we were talking about Puerto Rico and the US foreign policy... And then we talked about Pedro Albizu Campos and...had never heard of Pedro before... and I felt like ... coming here it was a part of my history. Like, I was learning about myself so it was interesting. I feel like in another school you don't really have that advantage. (Interview 27 March 2007)</p> <p>She later explains that this experience 'made me want to further learn... more about the issues that are going on in Puerto Rico', so she pursued that through her coursework in college.</p> <p>Students also express how they examine the role of the self and one's role in society, so that historicized knowledge is re-interpreted based on personal experience. According to Dauite ([<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref62">10</reflink>]), this process allows students to envision multiple and alternative narratives for future action. A number of responses in surveys and interviews describe a process in which students became aware of something that was either unbeknownst to them or did not matter to them before. For instance, Dionne notes, 'I think this school educated me on topics I would not have cared less about, so they made me more informed of the world and the issues taking place' (27 March 2007). While the extent to which this happened is hard to measure, these types of statements parallel Freirean notions of 'critical consciousness' and dialogue, since their self-awareness is contingent upon exchanging ideas with the entire community.</p> <p>For many, coursework at HPA facilitates deeper analyses and questioning of 'taken-for-granted' truths. For instance, Luis suggests his classes made him think more critically or deeply about issues in the world in general, by 'asking questions and asking why... and paying attention to the answers' (Interview, 13 March 2007). Students indicate that they are not only exposed to new issues but that this process makes them think, on their own, about how hegemony functions in society. Thus, students describe developing critical thinking skills that allow them to continually question how 'truth' is presented objectively and, as Kevin states, 'not accept something at face value' (20 December 2006).</p> <p>Some students suggest that classes at HPA do not simply encourage them to interrogate taken-for-granted assumptions about the world, but also make them question their own particular histories and narratives. Rebecca illustrates how being at HPA made her view Jamaica, her ancestral country, in a different way:</p> <p>My critique of capitalism definitely came from Prep... When I went to Jamaica last fall, I had fun, but saw my country in a different way. I noticed disparities between the rich and then poor. I was there for 11 days and saw SO much. (Interview 5 January 2007)</p> <p>She later talks about being on the top of a hill and seeing the landscape, noting the spatial juxtaposition of two-room shacks on one side and fancy mansions and resorts on the other. While she admits that tourism generates money for the country, she also describes it as potentially 'exploiting the country':</p> <p>People who live across the street from Margaritaville [a popular club for tourists] have never been to the beach because they have to pay. As a kid, I just did not have that view of Jamaica.</p> <p>In this sense, Rebecca credits her experience at the school as one that not only encourages her to think about the world differently, but specifically as one that forces her to think about her world differently.</p> <p>Others suggest the school, as a whole, catalyzes them to be activists in some way. For example, Luis, who is quoted above, described how his experiences at HPA compel him to want to be an educator for social change. Others, like Queenia, illustrate feeling hope about transforming their society:</p> <p>Like I loved when we were protesting the Regents' exams and me and a couple other students actually wrote letters and we went and we read the letters at city hall... We actually went and we read those letters as part of our campaign... you hear about people doing these amazing things, these protests and these campaigns and just taking up these causes that they feel strongly for and you never realize that those people are the same people as you. There's nothing about them that's extraordinary, except that they choose to be <emph>extraordinary people</emph> [emphasis mine]. I think that should be Prep's motto 'cause I feel like everyone I've gone to school with has come out of Prep such an interesting and evolved person... and then seeing myself as an adult after Prep and just hearing me talk and hearing so much of Prep in what I've learned. (May 6, 2007)</p> <p>In this excerpt, Queenia described how this encouragement made her feel that she could affect change in her community. In fact, her statement 'there's nothing about them that's extraordinary, except that they choose to be extraordinary' suggests that she feels it is possible to affect change in her community and be like the people she admires.</p> <hd id="AN0066825676-11">The possibility of critical peace education in public schools</hd> <p>As little scholarship attends to the enactment of critical peace education in public schools, this research addresses questions posed by scholars advocating for more empirical studies that examine localized understandings of participant experiences (see Bajaj [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref63">4</reflink>]). As the data here suggests, students' experiences are positive, thus speaking to 'the feasibility of institutionalizing critical peace education' (ibid). Overall, students feel that the school encourages democratic participation (through building community, expressing opinions, and exchanging of ideas), reflection, critical consciousness, and a commitment to social change though its various intentional structures and curriculum. This comprehensive approach in turn presumably gives them a platform from which to think about the world differently and imagine different alternatives for the future. While it is impossible to gauge whether or not schools can be wholly transformative, this approach aligns with the myriad practices and goals of critical peace education outlined earlier.</p> <p>At present, there is a dearth of literature that explores how schools institutionally enact peace education. Most empirical research is limited to individual teachers' classrooms or informal programs and often, participant/student experiences in these programs are not taken into consideration. This study, however, reveals through participant perspectives that attention to overall school culture is vital for critical peace education project. At HPA, critical peace education is infused holistically through multiple and intentional school mechanisms and structures. Together, these structures create a pervasive approach that reflects the practices, processes, and goals of critical peace education. As Fine, Weis, and Powell ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref64">13</reflink>]) comment, 'rarely have we had the pleasure of working with, studying, or even testifying for a truly "integrated" school ... one that self-consciously creates intellectual and social engagements across racial and ethnic groups' (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref65">1</reflink>). When considering its potential in public schools, this study reveals that a school's overall design (ideological, physical, and structural) is essential to its successful enactment. For critical peace education to be most effective in schools, it must permeate all aspects of school culture and life and not be relegated to one classroom.</p> <p>It is important to note that the school's assessment system may allow for a more flexible course design than would be the case if it had to administer high-stakes tests. Nonetheless, HPA, like all public schools in NYC, undergoes School Quality Reviews that rigidly measure student academic achievement. Moreover, since the high-stakes-testing waiver is continually up for renewal, HPA is in many ways under more scrutiny than other NYC public schools and thus subject to even more restrictions. Furthermore, while students felt empowered at HPA, some sometimes discuss encountering barriers to their sense of 'voice' in spaces beyond the school. In this sense, they suggest that HPA is an isolated example that does not always mesh with the 'real world'. Yet data also show that when confronted with these difficult circumstances, students brought the values of HPA with them and were often able to negotiate these encounters to their advantage (Hantzopoulos [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref66">21</reflink>]). While there are certainly 'structural impediments to advancing the possibility and promise of peace education', there are also ways in which young people act as 'transformative change agents' when navigating this very contested terrain. As a result, efforts to engage young people with peace education in public schools cannot be entirely dismissed. Instead, attention to the ways in which participants ascribe varied meanings to their experiences will enable scholars and practitioners in the field to reflect on its enactment and move the critical peace education project forward.</p> <hd id="AN0066825676-12">Notes on contributor</hd> <p>Maria Hantzopoulos is an Assistant Professor of Education at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY.</p> <hd id="AN0066825676-13">Acknowledgements</hd> <p>The author would like to acknowledge the invaluable feedback of the editors of this special issue, Monisha Bajaj and Edward Brantmeier, as well as the following people for their insight and review: Colette Cann, Amanda Cheung, Johnny Farraj, Erin McCloskey, Eréndira Rueda, Roozbeh Shirazi, and Zeena Zakharia.</p> <hd id="AN0066825676-14">Notes</hd> <ref id="AN0066825676-15"> <title> Footnotes </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref5" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> 1. In this article, 'public schools' refers to government-run schools.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib2" idref="ref39" type="bt">2</bibl> <bibtext> 2. The administration of HPA does not believe that this is an accurate measure because high school students do not often return the requisite forms, opting instead to skip lunch or eat off campus.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib3" idref="ref1" type="bt">3</bibl> <bibtext> 3. The city rate is often contested because it does not always take into account when students leave school to enroll in a GED program (Gootman, 2006c). Thus, city dropout rates are considered much higher than 19.9%. In fact, because the city statistics of measurement obfuscate the actual number of dropouts (see the Public Advocate of the City of New York and Advocates for Children ([37]).</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib4" idref="ref25" type="bt">4</bibl> <bibtext> 4. Math is the exception to this, as HPA often used a more traditional and hierarchically structured math curriculum that required students to master a particular skill prior to enrolling in the next course.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib5" idref="ref15" type="bt">5</bibl> <bibtext> 5. There has been an ongoing political battle to maintain this form of assessment, which predates the mandate of high-stakes testing.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib6" idref="ref55" type="bt">6</bibl> <bibtext> 6. In 2000, the school replaced weekly whole school town meetings with weekly meetings known as Quads. As the school grew in size, it was no longer feasible to meet as a whole school community every week. Instead, in Quads, four rotating advisories meet for the same purpose as previous Town Meetings. 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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Institutionalizing Critical Peace Education in Public Schools: A Case for Comprehensive Implementation – Name: Language Label: Language Group: Lang Data: English – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hantzopoulos%2C+Maria%22">Hantzopoulos, Maria</searchLink> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Journal+of+Peace+Education%22"><i>Journal of Peace Education</i></searchLink>. 2011 8(3):225-242. – Name: Avail Label: Availability Group: Avail Data: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals – Name: PeerReviewed Label: Peer Reviewed Group: SrcInfo Data: Y – Name: Pages Label: Page Count Group: Src Data: 18 – Name: DatePubCY Label: Publication Date Group: Date Data: 2011 – Name: TypeDocument Label: Document Type Group: TypDoc Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Evaluative – Name: Audience Label: Education Level Group: Audnce Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22High+Schools%22">High Schools</searchLink> – Name: Subject Label: Descriptors Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+Justice%22">Social Justice</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Public+Schools%22">Public Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ethnography%22">Ethnography</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Peace%22">Peace</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+Change%22">Social Change</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+Experience%22">Educational Experience</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22School+Role%22">School Role</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Disadvantaged%22">Disadvantaged</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22High+Schools%22">High Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+Methods%22">Teaching Methods</searchLink> – Name: Subject Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22New+York%22">New York</searchLink> – Name: DOI Label: DOI Group: ID Data: 10.1080/17400201.2011.621364 – Name: ISSN Label: ISSN Group: ISSN Data: 1740-0201 – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Drawing from critical theories in education, this article empirically examines the role that public schools can play as conduits for critical peace education, particularly for young people who have been historically marginalized from school. Based on two years of ethnographic data collection at a public high school in New York City, I explore how students make meaning of their educational experiences at a school that emphasizes democratic principles and a commitment to peace and social justice. The data suggest that students value the intentional participatory spaces and the thematic, inquiry-based curriculum in the school. Not only do these unique structures re-socialize them academically, but they also encourage democratic participation, reflection, critical consciousness, and a commitment to broader social change. This comprehensive approach, in turn, presumably gives students a platform from which to think about the world differently and imagine new alternatives for the future. As a result, the article concludes that there is potential in enacting critical peace education in public schools, and urges that in order to be most successful, several school structures must collectively support its dissemination. (Contains 7 notes.) – Name: AbstractInfo Label: Abstractor Group: Ab Data: As Provided – Name: Ref Label: Number of References Group: RefInfo Data: 38 – Name: DateEntry Label: Entry Date Group: Date Data: 2012 – Name: AN Label: Accession Number Group: ID Data: EJ949163 |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1080/17400201.2011.621364 Languages: – Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 18 StartPage: 225 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Social Justice Type: general – SubjectFull: Public Schools Type: general – SubjectFull: Ethnography Type: general – SubjectFull: Peace Type: general – SubjectFull: Social Change Type: general – SubjectFull: Educational Experience Type: general – SubjectFull: School Role Type: general – SubjectFull: Disadvantaged Type: general – SubjectFull: High Schools Type: general – SubjectFull: Teaching Methods Type: general – SubjectFull: New York Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Institutionalizing Critical Peace Education in Public Schools: A Case for Comprehensive Implementation Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Hantzopoulos, Maria IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Type: published Y: 2011 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 1740-0201 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 8 – Type: issue Value: 3 Titles: – TitleFull: Journal of Peace Education Type: main |
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