URBAN Special Edition – Journal of International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education

URBAN special edition, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education Volume 29, 2016 – Issue 10: Challenging Neoliberal Reforms through Collaborative, Community Engaged Research

Sarah R. Hobson, Samara Foster, Dana Wright, Joy Howard, Bernadette Doykos & Elizabeth Hudson

Abstract

Currently, neoliberalism serves as the foundation for the majority of educational reform efforts. Neoliberal approaches repeatedly privilege the value of ‘expert’ knowledge in framing policy and practice, resulting in limited opportunities for the impact of local community knowledge and experience on teaching and learning. While the neoliberal context narrows what counts as learning, participatory action research (PAR), youth-led participatory action research (YPAR), and engaged scholarship emphasize collaborative problem-solving among community organizations and schools that can expose the dangers of neoliberal trends in education. The articles in this special edition, titled ‘Challenging Neoliberal Reforms through Collaborative, Community Engaged Research,’ illuminate diverse approaches to collaborative research aimed at fostering a more inclusive, productive dialog regarding the impact and possibilities for educational reforms in K-16 schools. The authors identify the specific neoliberal reforms that shape their contexts, the nature of their collaborative research partnerships and methods, and the kinds of inroads their coalitions are making in altering harmful neoliberal policy implementations. Individually and collectively, the authors speak about new ways of framing the impact of neoliberalism on local communities. They provide alternative designs for educational policies.

Toward social movement activist research by Rhoda Rae Gutierrez et al.

The Refusal: teachers making policy in NYC  by Christine Brigid Malsbary

Institutional participation and social transformation: considering the goals and tensions of university-initiated YPAR projects with K-12 youth by Nicole Mirra et al.

Into our hoods: where critical performance pedagogy births resistance by Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales et al.

Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) 2.0: how technological innovation and digital organizing sparked a food revolution in East Oakland by Antwi Akom et al.