eBook

Contentious Curricula

Binder, Amy J

2009,2002

Overview

This book compares two challenges made to American public school curricula in the 1980s and 1990s. It identifies striking similarities between proponents of Afrocentrism and creationism, accounts for their differential outcomes, and draws important conclusions for the study of culture, organizations, and social movements. Amy Binder gives a brief history of both movements and then describes how their challenges played out in seven school districts. Despite their very different constituencies--inner-city African American cultural essentialists and predominately white suburban Christian conservatives--Afrocentrists and creationists had much in common. Both made similar arguments about oppression and their children's well-being, both faced skepticism from educators about their factual claims, and both mounted their challenges through bureaucratic channels. In each case, challenged school systems were ultimately able to minimize or reject challengers' demands, but the process varied by case and type of challenge. Binder finds that Afrocentrists were more successful in advancing their cause than were creationists because they appeared to offer a solution to the real problem of urban school failure, met with more administrative sympathy toward their complaints of historic exclusion, sought to alter lower-prestige curricula (history, not science), and faced opponents who lacked a legal remedy comparable to the rule of church-state separation invoked by creationism's opponents. Binder's analysis yields several lessons for social movements research, suggesting that researchers need to pay greater attention to how movements seek to influence bureaucratic decision making, often from within. It also demonstrates the benefits of examining discursive, structural, and institutional factors in concert.

• Publisher: Princeton University Press,PRINCETON UNIV. PR
• Subject: Activism / African Americans / African studies / Afrocentric education / Afrocentrism / Afrocentrism -- Study and teaching -- United States / Afrozentrismus / Ali Mazrui / Atlanta Public Schools / Board of education / Brooklyn College / Case study / City College of New York / Classroom / Comparative / Contentious politics / Creation myths / Creation science / Creationism / Creationism -- Study and teaching -- United States / Criticism / Culture war / Curriculum / Curriculum change / Curriculum change -- United States / Curriculumreform / Darwinism / Diane Ravitch / District of Columbia Public Schools / Doug McAdam / EDUCATION / EDUCATION / General / Education policy / Education reform / Educational History / Educational sociology / Elementary Secondary Education / Epperson v. Arkansas / Eugenie Scott / Evolutionism / Harvard University / Ideology / Institute for Creation Research / Institution / Kevin Padian / Legislature / Leonard Jeffries / Multiculturalism / Nathan Glazer / National Association for the Advancement of Colored People / National Center for Science Education / Obstacle / Of Education / Opportunism / Oppression / Pedagogy / Political opportunity / Politics / Postmodernism / Protest / Public school (United Kingdom) / Public Schools / Racism / Rhetoric / School district / School management, special education / School of education / Schöpfung / Science education / Scientific theory / Secondary education / Self-esteem / Separation of church and state / Sidney Tarrow / Skepticism / Social movement / Social movement theory / Social movements / Social movements -- United States / Social science / Social studies / Sociology / State school / State schools / Study and teaching / Syllabus / Teacher / Textbook / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution / Thesis / U.S.A / United States / University of California / Vereinigte Staaten / Vista Unified School District / Öffentliche Schule
• ISBN: 9781400825455, 1400825458, 0691091803, 9780691091808, 069111790X, 9780691117904