Freedom Of Education Research Articles

What is the place of religious schools in pluralistic democratic societies? A liberal approach to the problematic of religious schools and democratic citizenship in Western societies. The Spanish case

The following article aims to determine under which circumstances the establishment of denominational schools must be allowed in democratic societies. The possible opening of a Muslim Brotherhood School in Spain requires a new approach on the presence of religious schools through the study of the collision between two protected goods raise: freedom of religion and democratic citizenship. Thus, it is first considered which space democratic States must grant to religious institu-tions, turning to Cécile Laborde’s considerations on French laicism from a liberal Span-ish perspective. Subsequently, the article proceeds to reconcile freedom of religion and democratic citizenship education, choosing the political liberal approach over the com-prehensive liberal approach, since it provides solutions that are easier to assume by the standard reasonable citizen. Once the theoretical framework has been established, the tension between these two goods is analyzed through the triangle of actors of Arneson and Saphiro, in order to determine under what circumstances the existence of denomina-tional schools must be tolerated. Said triangle shows the tension between the State, who seeks to educate good citizens (democratic citizenship education), the parents, who seek that their children share their same conception of the good life (freedom of religion) and, in between, the children, whose best interest must come first. On the one hand, the results do not only show that religious institutions are compatible with democratic States, but also that said States must guarantee, in pluralistic societies, the different conceptions of the good life. On the other hand, regarding the conciliation between freedom of religion and democratic citizenship, the article showcases that, in order for the best interest of the child to be guaranteed, neither the State nor the parents can prevail, rather both interests must balance in the following way: the State must allow the existence of confessional schools as long as they teach the core contents of demo-cratic citizenship education. Finally, the article argues that democratic citizenship education in confessional schools is not inferior to that of public schools, and criticizes the positions according to which citi-zens must put aside the religious aspect in democratic societies. The article pretends to discuss the traditional liberal theoretical framework, from which it has reflected the reli-gious education, compelling a re-reading of the triangle of actors.

La libertad de enseñanza, terrorismo y restricciones estatales: ¿cultura de la sospecha o defensa legítima del estado?

Based on an analysis between the notions of democracy and the constitutional state, this study addresses the complex relationships between the fundamental right to freedom of education and terrorism. It is an axis of all public policy to combat terrorism within the framework of the rule of law and in that purpose, the State implements state restrictions on non-readmission for teachers sentenced for terrorism. However, it is necessary to elucidate these questions as to whether they are expressions of a culture of suspicion, or whether in their case they are measures for a legitimate defense of the same State.

I Feel Myself in a Cage of Bird: Berber Female Students’ Self-Identification in the Algerian Society - A Phenomenological Study

Algeria is flavoured by a diversity of ethnicities and languages. The country is dominated by two ethnic groups: Arabs and Berbers. My concern falls upon identity negotiation within the latter group and exploring how women within the Berber community represent themselves and how the society perceives them. To answer this question, I explored the autobiographical stories of three Algerian female students who study English as a foreign language at Bejaia University, and who grew up amongst Berbers. They took part in a forum theatre course I ran at their University to explore EFL learner identity. Adopting an idiographic case-by-case phenomenological analysis to the written stories of these three students brought my attention into the self-image they gave to themselves to articulate their identity. This study also looked at the factor of power relations in their experiences drawing on Bourdieu’s perspective. The findings of this phenomenological analysis revealed the impact of culture and ethnic norms on these students’ s freedom, desires, and transitions in education. This impact was at some stage distinctive. I discuss in this further in this paper.

Impak Pemikiran Islah dan Tajdid Terhadap Pendidikan Tinggi Wanita Islam di Malaysia Selepas Merdeka

The study aims to identify the development of the Islah and Tajdid movements in Malaya and the impact on Islamic education for women starting at the madrasah level to the high level in the late 20th century. This study discusses the movement of Islah and Tajdid which appeared at the beginning of the 20th century in Malaya and analyzed the influence of thinking on Islamic women's education. This study was conducted using a qualitative study, where all data information from primary and secondary sources was scrutinized and analyzed by taking an inductive approach. The study found that the characters involved in this movement in Malaya since the very beginning of their return from their studies in Egypt have supported the thought of Sheikh Muhammad Abduh and Sheikh Rasyid Ridha in the case of women's education. They wrote and worked on publications through newspapers and magazines that voiced the importance of Muslim women to be given freedom of education to engage in society. In order to realize these thoughts and awareness, they also set up special madrasah for female students in Penang, Melaka and Singapore. The influence of their thinking has led to the awareness of the Malay community with the establishment of madrasah in the states of Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis, and Johor and opened the widest opportunities for female students to receive education. Until the Independence era of Malaya, these madrasah have expanded to whole land of Malay as the efforts and awareness of group of religionist that support the thinking of Islah and Tajdid. In 1952 Malaya Islamic College was established and followed by Yayasan Pengajian Tinggi Islam Kelantan (YPTIK) in 1956 as a result of this group's efforts. Women's students also have the opportunity to pursue higher levels of education until there is an Islamic women's education network between Malaysia, Indonesia and Egypt. At the end of the 20th century, Muslim women had succeeded in occupying various career fields, especially in Islamic education as teachers in schools, as a lecturer at higher learning centers that offering various fields of Islamic studies and as civil servants in government departments.

Towards Self-Recovery: Cultivating Love with Young Women of Color Through Pedagogies of Bodymindspirit

Seeking to meet Freire’s (Pedagogy of freedom: ethics, democracy, and civic courage, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, 1987) call to enact a critical pedagogy of love, this article explores how one urban teacher/researcher engages in pedagogy that supports students to heal from internalized oppression towards what bell hooks (Talking back: thinking feminist, thinking black, South End Press, Boston, 1989, Sisters of the yam: black women and self-recovery, Routledge, New York, 2015) calls self-recovery. Set in an elective class for young women in a Los Angeles middle school, I examine my process as teacher/researcher to understand the experiences of a student named Chelsea, and develop curriculum to serve her arising needs. I integrate critical pedagogy with embodied pedagogies and women of color feminist epistemology to critique dominant ways of knowing and teaching in urban schools. Then, I use auto-ethnography and portraiture to craft three blended portraits: exploring how Chelsea’s sense of self is influenced by her life experiences; how interventions like meditation, dialogue and vulnerability, or what I call pedagogies of bodymindspirit, helped Chelsea to unpack her distrust of others and a longing for wholeness; and how a final project supported Chelsea’s path towards self-recovery. I conclude with ways to cultivate love in the face of material and epistemological violence in schools, and offer implications and tensions for teachers seeking to utilize a bodymindspirit praxis to serve all marginalized students.

De vrijheid van onderwijs en de scheiding van kerk en staat

This paper analyses the tensions perceived in the political debate between the freedom of education and the status of publicly funded denominational schools in the Netherlands on the one hand and the limitations flowing from the principles of separation of church and state and state neutrality on the other. It is argued that public funding of these schools is not incompatible with these principles – attention is drawn to a recent law which ensures some structural funding of religious instruction even on public schools – and that there are no good reasons – perceived risks with regard to issues of quality, segregation, indoctrination – to put an end to such funding.

Opportunity for Whom? The Diverse Definitions of Neighborhood Opportunity in Baltimore

Across the United States, communities are increasingly interested in the spatial structure of opportunity. Recently, several federal programs have promulgated opportunity mapping as a tool to help increase disadvantaged communities’ access to neighborhood opportunity. The increasing institutionalization of opportunity mapping raises questions about how opportunity is defined and by whom. This paper analyzes data from community engagement events held for a regional planning process throughout the Baltimore metropolitan area. During these events, over 100 residents were asked what it means to live in neighborhoods that provide opportunity. The results showed similarities as well as remarkable differences in residents’ definitions of opportunity across race, income, and geography. Racial and ethnic minorities, low–income groups, and those living in distressed neighborhoods were more likely to identify job accessibility, employment, and job training as key components of and pathways to opportunity, whereas White, higher income groups, and wealthier neighborhoods placed a stronger emphasis on a sense of community, freedom of choice, education, and retirement savings. These differences challenge urban policymakers and planners to consider how greater flexibility in mapping tools, qualitative data, and community–engaged processes might better reflect the diversity in the ways that residents view and experience opportunity in their everyday lives.

Religious Charter Schools: Are They Constitutionally Permissible?

ABSTRACTAn analysis of the jurisprudence related to religious schools and public funding, grounded in the interpretation of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, suggests that religious charter schools may be constitutionally permissible. Moreover, recent Supreme Court cases may provide a stronger argument for supporting the participation of religious charter schools on free exercise and neutrality grounds. The question may come down to whether charter schools are legally regarded as public or private schools, an open question with conflicting jurisprudence. How this question is ultimately resolved has significant implications for the future role of religious schools and an understanding of educational freedom and pluralism in America.

The Effects of Judical Bodies’ Interpretation Forms Of Legal Rules in Turkey on the Education Freedom in Universities

The freedom of conscience and belief can be defined as the freedom of people in what they wish to believe without the compulsion of political power and other people by means of laws and other means. The belief of religion that can be accepted as the natural extension of the freedom of conscience and belief is to be free in doing the requirements of the religion that the people believe in with its rituals. While it is not possible and effective to make restrictions in freedom of belief, today, there are some restrictions in some judical systems in freedom of worship. With the principle of secularism which is settled among the principles that the alteration of which are not even be proposed, there have been some different decisions about the administrative acts that cause the violation of belief and worship freedom in the implementation of the right of education which is secured with Constitutional Law in Turkish Constitution. In this study, the effects of the incompatible decisions of administrative jurisdiction about the implementations of the administration related to the education right of students at universities, which is secured by the Fundemental Law, on the freedom of education, especially for the last ten years, will be examined.

Promoting freedom in education. Study of a case.

Contextualized the value "freedom" in relation to current problems, the liberty’s and various ways of conceiving freedom is defined, as well as the demands that their metaphysics and anthropology demand. Then it is interpreted in relation to human rights and other values, human and social virtues, etc., pointing out the way of presenting values’ freedom in schools’ conflict. Then the main models and procedures to promote them are considered, with the possible curricular derivations. The aims are related with the followed heuristic issues: a) How to teach humanitarian principles? b) How to promote Human Rights? c) What issues and values are promoted through the curriculum? d) Related to freedom, what issues & values are promoted? e) Are there contradictions in the teachings? f) Is it possible to implement this model? g) Is it possible to carry out such a model-value? The method of research is analytical, transversal case study, without sample type and size, taking advantage of only the opportunity to interview. But, before a phenomenological and hermeneutical procedure was made, configuring a network to interpret axiological skills results’ for the questionnaire’s items. The population had surveyed wear teachers and students. The distribution by years/population is as follows: 2008: 1130, 2009: 995, 2010: 1468, 2011: 959. With a questionnaire, a provincial reality is analytical-empirically studied. Defining the model as proceduralist, proposals to supplement it are offered. Main conclusions: The issues and values related with freedom are promoted through the curriculum are consistent with the statements mentioned in the theoretical framework. The results of teaching and learning do not remain in mere rational exercise. The teaching of peace are understood in the curriculum does not follow that it develops more personalizing than intellectual. The found model is largely procedural. The education for full freedom is not complete, because it is not clear that there are content with human values. On Human Rights’ education, there is a certain ambiguity between the transversal and notional of values and themes. Teaching the curriculum development is insufficient, so it shall be possible to implement an integrated model.

Freedom of religion and secular education: Teachers define the meaning of religious freedom in everyday school practice

Questions about freedom of religion versus secular values have increased as a controversial topic in European public debate during the last decades. The aim of this article is to shed light on these issues by focusing on the definition of “freedom of religion as a human right” among teachers working with younger pupils in the Swedish school system. From a holistic perspective on religion and children’s education, in-depth individual interviews were conducted with teachers working in primary school, as well as teachers in the leisure-time center, examined through discourse analysis. This study provides insights into how two different groups of teachers interpret and apply these potentially conflicting values in everyday school practice. At the end of the article, I reflect upon the consequences of the Swedish, secular and individualistic values that were dominant in the teachers understanding of freedom of religion, in relation to the challenges of a multi-religious school and society.

Tiempo y libertad en lo educativo. Algunas notas latinoamericanas sobre el Manifiesto por la educación de Biesta y Säfström

This essay discusses Biesta and Safstrom’s Manifesto for Education relation between time and freedom in education. I debate three theoretical nodes of this relation. First, I relate history of educational research in Latin America for demonstrate the strong theoretical and spatiallimitation of Biesta and Sasftrom concept and how temporal articulationsare similar in two antagonist perspectives: new educational theories and quality of education. Latter, is central in historical phenomena when educational research professionalization produce teachers deprofessionalization. Second, I argue how the temporal articulation based in the regime of historicity called presentism, reduce freedom possibilities in education, especially teacher’s freedom to be. Finally, the political and theoretical principles of the proposal of Manifesto are shared, but it opposes universal temporary articulation that restricts divergent paths to diverse forms of freedom in the educational sphere.

From Learning Theory to Academic Organisation: The Institutionalisation of Higher Education Teaching Assistant Position in China

This exploratory study critically investigates the teaching assistant regulations of higher education institutions of China. On the basis of content analysis of the teaching assistant regulations of five premier universities of China this study analyses the possible discrepancies that might compromise the principles of transparency, equal opportunity and encouraging excellence as stipulated in the vision, mission, and goal of the regulations. Teacher assistants do make more than two third of the academic staff at the universities in China. Besides, China has a second largest higher education system in terms of scale in the world. Practices of sharing skills and imparting knowledge at these institutions have been intermediated by a semi-institutionalized position, called ‘teacher assistants’. It’s therefore, the informal submission of assignments without record at the PhD level questions the purpose of integrity and academic freedom of the higher education at the universities. On the basis of an instrumentalised framework guided by the dimensions of decision making and learning organization theories this study using content analysis has formulated the recommendations for the institutions while selecting and training the students as teaching assistants. A critical but logical illustration of the teaching assistant regulations has also been detailed regarding academic integrity in this study.

Equality and Freedom in Education

Equality and Freedom in Education

Rejoinder

Judging from his reply Professor Miller seems to believe more in open education, as defined in my article, than in allowing freedom in education. He feels that certain skills and knowledge are necessary for everyone to learn and that, therefore, we have not only the right, but also the responsibility, to require that everyone learn them. I do believe that it is important, though perhaps not necessary, to learn certain skills and knowledge if one is to live happily in our culture. However, I would also suggest that an individual given the freedom to decide what he learns does not resist learning them eventually as much as Professor Miller seems to fear, especially when shown their importance in a noncoercive manner. To be sure there is a lot of resistance and inability at present, but a good deal of this is a result of requirement, pressure, and expectation.

Rohingya’s Genocide: Human Rights and Politics

The Rohingya’s most persecuted ethnic minority, practicing Sunni Islam, traces their origin from Arakan kingdom. The present democratic government of Myanmar and previous military junta have practiced ethnic cleansing and denies to grant citizenship to Rohingya’s making them stateless. There has been great violation against this ethnic group by the Myanmar government in one or the other way like restriction on freedom of movement religious choice, unemployment, education, marriage and family planning. On the contrary the present de facto leader of Myanmar has totally denied such ethnic cleansing and brushed away the criticism of her not handling the crisis. This paper tries to understand the dynamics and severity involved, the origin of the ethnic tension, the exclusionary policies of the government and also examines the abuse, discrimination and gross human rights violation of Rohingya Muslims which leads to the politicization of the issue and vice-versa i.e. how politicization of the issue leads to gross human rights violation. This paper further analyzes the pattern of violation, international politics and the political and economic interest vested which contributed to forced displacement in Myanmar not only of the Rohingya’s but other minorities like the Shan, the Kachin, the Karen and how this crisis has fi red up the political debate in the neighboring countries and has become a political contention and concludes with recommendation to be taken by the government and international organization to improve the situation of the minorities in Myanmar.

BUREAUCRATISM AS AN INDICATOR OF SYSTEMIC CONTRADICTIONS IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

Introduction. The problem of a sharp increase in paperwork done by experts of an education system, educators and teachers has been repeatedly brought up by the pedagogical community. The teachers have to draw up endless reports, plans, schedules, references; as a consequence, teachers have less time and energy to perform direct professional duties – training and education of younger generation. Nevertheless, continuous appeals of “masses” and recurrent promises of “heads” to reduce the unreasonable bureaucratic reporting have not led even to the minimum positive changes. The aim of the publication is the identification and discussion of the causes of bureaucratism in education; comparison of the tendencies of development of the world pedagogical system with the processes of development of the Russian system of education. Methodology and methods of research. The methodological framework is based on the holistic approach, the complex systems theory, and the synergetics foundations. The study is made up of the comparative, structural and functional analysis of educational systems with the methods of modeling and forecasting application. Results and scientific novelty. It is proved that bureaucratism has objective nature; it is an indicator of a crisis situation, which in turn, is a consequence of systemic contradictions not only within the framework of the existing education system but also in the whole pedagogical system as an ideal foundation of the education institutions functioning. Having reflected own practice and analysed pedagogical publications, the author has systematized the crises of education according to the singled out levels of the contradictions which differ with degree of “globality”. The groups of contradictions of each of the levels that determine the depth of the crisis are formulated and described: contradictions between the existing global pedagogical system and the social, technical, natural world surrounding it; internal disagreement of elements of the system; particular and local discrepancies which are most often pointed out as the crisis reasons, but actually they are not. The latter involve insufficient financing, lack of teaching hours, low motivation of graduates of pedagogical universities for work within the specialty, etc. The mechanisms, dialectic character of the highlighted contradictions, and reaction of the governing structures to each of them are shown. The advantages and disadvantages of the “liberal” and “statist” approaches to the solution of problems of education are considered. The conclusion is drawn that global social, economic, technological changes and outlined trends in labour market reflect the demand for reorganization of the educational sphere which has less need of an integrated control center. Practical significance. Identification of the facts of the crisis aggravation and accompanying growth of bureaucratism enables to distinguish the strategic discrepancy between the managerial decisions and the existing trends in the educational system and the society as a whole. It is stated that the only proper strategy is the freedom of education, creation of a favourable environment for it instead of imposing of one’s authoritative and grounded decisions.

Climate Report from Uruguay

The left and centre-left governments of the last decade in Uruguay have led to major societal changes involving tax, labour, health, high education and individual freedom, despite which several structural social problems remain. Advances in the environmental field have been, in contrast, more modest and often controversial. At the same time, significant changes in landscape have occurred over a very short time period. This has been a common trend in South America, where large international investments and land use transformations, driven by global demand of commodities, have been promoted to fund welfare policies by the mostly centre or left-leaning governments (a process called “(progressive) neo extractivism”). In Uruguay, such land use changes (in this case from grasslands to intensive agriculture and plantations of exotic trees) have led to a notorious deterioration of key watersheds, which increased public awareness and placed the environment in the public agenda. Contradictory national policies regarding the use of nature are now sparking growing scepticism among increasing sectors of the population, and even causing disputes within government sectors: New genetically modified organisms (GMOs), some designed to resist pests that are not a problem in the country, have been just approved despite a stand-off between the public health and environmental ministries and those of economics and agriculture. An irrigation law was recently passed by Parliament to facilitate large irrigation reservoirs so crops can be grown regardless of climate variability and exports of commodities can be maintained and increased, raising major concerns among environmental scientists. Right now, several grass roots organizations are organizing a national referendum to revoke this law, extending the current controversies across society. In this regional and national context, the paradigm of sustainable development has not been able to solve the tensions between environmental protection and current productive processes. Significant challenges remain in finding structural alternatives, where knowledge of local natural processes and technological advances can be enhanced and directed to incorporate sustainability while promoting the profound social advances that South America needs.

Authority Through Freedom. On Freire’s Radicalisation of the Authority-Freedom Problem in Education

Paulo Freire’s approach to the question of ‘authority and freedom’ in education and teaching (as well as in the political sphere), takes its cue from his early and radical approach to literacy education in Brazil in the 1960s. However, the radical democratic thrust of this educational vision meets very significant political resistance in Brazil and Freire spends 30 years in exile. This essay explores how this Freirean approach needs to be contextualised in the specifically Brazilian context. However, it also explores his original contribution to the wider problematic of authority and freedom in the Philosophy of Education. In Freire, there is a simultaneous critique of traditionalism and progressivism (not dissimilar to Dewey’s in Experience and Education) and this allows Freire to reconceptualise the relation between authority and freedom in education. We explore how Freire’s 1968 text Pedagogy of the Oppressed articulates this understanding very clearly and from a very strong conceptual-philosophical perspective. In the latter part of the essay, we look at how Freire’s later work, in for example Pedagogy of Hope: Reliving Pedagogy of the Oppressed, represents a return to a more experiential analysis of the question of authority and freedom in education. Nonetheless, while recognising the need for a philosophy of education to develop «in a manner in keeping with the times», there is also a very strong continuity between the early and later work in this understanding. In brief, in both his earlier and later work, Freire develops an understanding of an «authority through freedom», a co-dependent relationship between these two variables in pedagogy, as also in political life.

El sistema educativo, entre el monopolio y la libertad escolar: escuela plural o pluralidad de escuelas. La letra y el espíritu de la Constitución

The current discussion about the educational system in our country focuses on the dialectic between a pluralist school model or a model of a plurality of schools. The pluralist school is identified with a single, secular and public school based on the premise of a State monopoly of a morally neutral education. In contrast, plurality in the school system, comprising a variety of school institutions under different ownership, all of which aim to satisfy the fundamental rights and constitutional values of freedom and pluralism, shapes the twofold network of public and private education centres through which the government guarantees the benefit afforded by the right to education and freedom of education. By contrast to those who argue for the application of the principle of subsidiarity in private as opposed to public schools, the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled on the complementarity of both types of school.