Contemporary Issues in Equity, Democracy, and Public Education Multidisciplinary Perspectives from Education, Social Sciences, and Health

Dedication
About the editors
Contributor biographies
Acknowledgements

Foreword
Paul Gorski

1. Introduction: The Case for Emphasizing Equity in Public Education as a Means of Sustaining Democracy
Felicity A. Crawford & Fadie T. Coleman                    

Section 1: Origins and Persistence of Systemic Inequity in U.S. Classrooms

2. The Burden Our Children Bear: The Legacy of Eugenic Ideology
Ann Gibson Winfield

3. Towards Inclusive Education: Ableism and Democratizing Access
Maria C. Paiewonsky

4. Whatever Happens to Any Child in Early Childhood Education, Better Be the Business of All of Us: Creating Equitable Learning Communities for Black Boys
Brian L. Wright

5. Incentivizing Equity in Education
William Rodriguez & Jonathan Zaff

6. The Banning Years
Kerri Ullucci

7. Whiteness and Colonization in Higher Education: Barriers to Institutional and Societal Change
Detris Honora Adelabu, Jerry Whitmore, Jr., & Adine A. DeLeon

Section 2: The Physiological, Psychological, And Social Consequences Of Systemic Bias, And Its Incompatibility With Democracy

 8. Chronic Stress-Related Disorders and the Possible Epigenetic Mechanisms
Simar Singh Bajaj & Fatima Cody Stanford

9. Inflammation in Pregnancy and its Role in Poor Gestational Health
Denise C. Cornelius

10. Implementing a Social Justice Framework into Education Systems of Care
Neena McConnico

11. Food as a Basic Right
Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, Carley Ruemmele, Ana Poblacion.

12. Between Hypervisibility and Invisibility: Unpacking What it Means to be an HSI on Indigenous Lands Through Critical Unearthing of Local Histories and Epistemologies of Latinx Communities
Danielle Mireles, Norma A. Marrun & Christine Clark

Section 3: Rethinking the Curriculum to Promote Equity in Curriculum and Practice

 13. Dismantling Oppression and Cultivating Resistance and Hope When Serving Immigrant Latin American Children and Families
Carmen Rosa Noroña, Ivys Fernández-Pastrana & Desiree Hartman

14. U.S. History, Racial Capitalism, and Settler Colonialism
Yasser Munif

15. Decolonizing the Curriculum for Reparative Justice, Psychological Liberation, and National Healing
Joyce Hope Scott

16. Chaos Or Community: Teaching for Democracy in an Era of Uncertainty
Alan Canestrari & Ann Gibson Winfield      

17.Teaching Transformative Citizenship in Schools: A Pathway to Promoting Equity and Preserving Democracy
Kaylene M. Stevens & Christopher C. Martell

Section 4: A Closer Look at Expanding Educational Opportunities for Previously Excluded Groups in STEM

18. Ratcheting Equity
David J. Asai

19. Democratizing STEM: Developing a Culture of Sensemaking
Thomas J. Mckenna & Sarah Michaels

20. Environmental Health Literacy for Indigenous Youth: Implementing the Power of Relationality and Place-Based Knowledge to Promote Equity Through Collective Action
Vanessa Simonds, Emma Sihler, Christine Martin, Mari Eggers, Jason Cummins & John Doyle

21. Re-examining Success in STEM: Why Equity and Sense of Belonging are Critical to Democracy
Fadie T. Coleman

22. Leading for Equity
David J. Asai

Biography

Felicity Crawford is Clinical Associate Professor at Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, Boston University, USA.

Fadie T. Coleman is Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, USA.

Elsa Wiehe is Program Manager for the African Studies Center K-16 Education Program, Boston University, USA.

Our nation, among many others, is losing the democratic impulse and imagination that have made public education, at least in theory, a requisite for a flourishing democracy. The abysmal condition of U.S. public schools, especially for the most vulnerable segments of our population, is distressingly obvious. This book holds no punches when it comes to recognizing, critiquing, and addressing the problem head-on. Rather than blame students, their families, or communities for conditions over which they have little power as is often the case in our public discourse, the authors and editors of this compelling book instead suggest that an authentic equity perspective and practice are required, a perspective that recognizes the systemic and institutional nature of injustice. We need the message enshrined in this book – that equity cannot thrive without justice – now more than ever.

Sonia Nieto
Professor Emerita, Language, Literacy, and Culture
College of Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

 

The editors weave together compelling chapters that illuminate key current challenges to U.S. democracy in general and education in particular. Across disciplinary perspectives, the authors astutely elucidate how neoliberal principles merge with historical discriminatory ideologies and cement educational inequalities with the end result of weakening our democracy.  Finally, and most importantly, the authors blend cross-disciplinary theories with powerful examination of potentially liberatory approaches and offer educators and other citizens hopeful yet realistic optimism for safeguarding our nation’s democracy and social justice ideals.

Lilia I. Bartolomé,
Professor Emerita, Department of Applied Linguistics
University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA