Michael S Merry
University of Amsterdam, Education / Philosophy, Faculty Member
- Applied Philosophy, Human Geography, Minority Studies, Urban social segregation, Urban sociology, Sociology of Education, Ethics, and 59 morePhilosophy, Multiculturalism, Social Justice, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Education, Social and Political Philosophy, Comparative & International Education, Social Exclusion, Muslim Minorities, Educational Equity and Justice, Muslims in Europe, Comparative Education, Belgium, The Netherlands, Stigma, Voluntary Associations, Voluntary Separation, Segregation, Religious Education, Education of Disadvantaged Groups, Publics and Counterpublics, Citizenship, Equality, Liberty, School Choice, Critical Race Theory, Race and Racism, Institutional racism, Resistance (Social), Islamic Education, Homeschooling, African Centred Paradigm, Diversity, Integration, School Segregation, Neighborhood Effects, Paternalism, Family ethics, Educational Justice, Education of Romany (Gypsy) children, Indoctrination, Public Schools, Public Space, Community, Community Ecology, Voting, Children and Families, Democracy and Citizenship Education, Civic Virtue, Asylum seekers, Refugee Studies, Children's Rights, Children, Sociology of Children and Childhood, Voting Rights, Public vs Private Schools, Public Education, Philosophy of Science, and Geographyedit
- I am a philosopher-theorist-researcher working on a variety of issues having social and political relevance. Much of ... moreI am a philosopher-theorist-researcher working on a variety of issues having social and political relevance. Much of my work falls within the domain of applied ethics. I specialize in any of the following: the various features of educational inequality, both institutional and non-institutional; state paternalism and the ethics of intervention; the politics and epistemology of academic research; the ethics of school choice and school segregation; citizenship and civic education; religion and religious schools; critical history; and alternative education in its manifold forms.edit
There is a loud and persistent drum beat of support for schools, for citizenship, for diversity and inclusion, and increasingly for labor market readiness with very little critical attention to the assumptions underlying these agendas,... more
There is a loud and persistent drum beat of support for schools, for citizenship, for diversity and inclusion, and increasingly for labor market readiness with very little critical attention to the assumptions underlying these agendas, let alone to their many internal contradictions. Accordingly, in this book I examine the philosophical, motivational, and practical challenges of education theory, policy, and practice in the twenty-first century. As I proceed, I do not neglect the historical, comparative international context so essential to better understanding where we are, as well as what is attainable in terms of educational justice. I argue that we must constructively critique some of our most cherished beliefs about education if we are to save the hope of real justice from the rhetoric of imagined justice.
Research Interests: Legitimacy, Cognitive Dissonance, Justice, Social Justice in Education, Educational Equity and Justice, and 15 moreDiversity & Inclusion, Disability Studies in Education, Educational reform, School effectiveness and school improvement, Equity, Pluralism, Inequality, Recruitment and Selection, Dissent, Injustice, Equality of opportunity, Democracy and Citizenship Education, Ideal and Non-Ideal Theory, Parental Partiality, and Social Justice and Inclusion In Education
The European Convention on Human Rights guarantees freedom of education, including the opportunities to create and operate faith-based schools. However, as European societies become more religiously diverse and ‘less religious’ at the... more
The European Convention on Human Rights guarantees freedom of education, including the opportunities to create and operate faith-based schools. However, as European societies become more religiously diverse and ‘less religious’ at the same time, the role of faith-based schools is increasingly being contested. Serious tensions have emerged between those who ardently support religious schools in their various forms, and those who oppose them. Given that faith-based schools enjoy basic constitutional guarantees in Europe, the controversy around them often surrounds issues of public financing, degrees of organisational and pedagogical autonomy, and educational practices and management.
This volume is about the controversies surrounding religious schools in a number of Western European countries. The introductory chapter briefly analyses the structural pressures that affect the position of religious schools, outlining the relevant institutional arrangements in countries such as Denmark, Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Scotland. The following chapters provide a detailed analysis of the discussions and controversies surrounding faith-based schools in each country. Finally, the two concluding chapters aim to provide a bigger, comparative picture with regard to these debates about religious education in liberal democratic states and culturally pluralist societies.
This volume is about the controversies surrounding religious schools in a number of Western European countries. The introductory chapter briefly analyses the structural pressures that affect the position of religious schools, outlining the relevant institutional arrangements in countries such as Denmark, Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Scotland. The following chapters provide a detailed analysis of the discussions and controversies surrounding faith-based schools in each country. Finally, the two concluding chapters aim to provide a bigger, comparative picture with regard to these debates about religious education in liberal democratic states and culturally pluralist societies.
Research Interests: Comparative Religion, Sociology of Religion, France, Comparative Education, Ireland, and 15 moreGermany, Denmark, PISA and TIMSS Result, Scotland, International and Comparative Education, Netherlands, Free Schools, School Segregation, Religious Schools, Voluntary Separation, Faith schools, Catholic Schools, State governance, Islamic Schools, and Protestant Schools
In this book I argue that school integration is not a proxy for educational justice. I demonstrate that the evidence consistently shows the opposite is more typically the case. I then articulate and defend the idea of Voluntary... more
In this book I argue that school integration is not a proxy for educational justice. I demonstrate that the evidence consistently shows the opposite is more typically the case. I then articulate and defend the idea of Voluntary Separation, which describes the effort to redefine, reclaim and redirect what it means to educate under preexisting conditions of segregation. In doing so, I further demonstrate how voluntary separation is consistent with the liberal democratic requirements of equality and citizenship. The position I defend is not opposed to integration but rather is a justified response to the daily experience of frustration and disappointment with a system that has failed members of marginalized groups for too long. I argue that most voluntary separation experiments in education, far from being motivated by a sense of racial, cultural or religious exclusion, are in fact driven among other things by a desire for a quality education, not to mention community membership and self respect. As such, voluntary separation represents a morally robust pragmatic strategy that is able to answer liberal challenges concerning involuntary stratification, ethnocentrism and democratic deliberation.
Research Interests: Sociology, Urban Geography, Black Studies Or African American Studies, Political Philosophy, Sociology of Education, and 48 moreEuropean integration, Political Theory, Equality Studies, Diversity, Working Classes, Segregation, Race and Racism, Stigma, Urban Education, Resistance (Social), Immigration And Integration In Europe, Social Stratification, Equality and Diversity, Equality, Ethnic minorities, Muslim Minorities, Urban Sociology, Liberty, Self-Respect, Citizenship, James Baldwin, Sociology of Education, Social Stratification and Inequality, Spatial segregation, Ethnocentrism, Iris Marion Young, Civic Virtue, Nancy Fraser, Institutional racism, Integration, Dissent, Counter Public, Social Integration, School Segregation, Religious Schools, Voluntary Separation, White Working Class/violent Extremism, Democracy and Citizenship Education, Political Integration, School Integration, European Muslims, Muslim migration, Residential and Educational Segregation, Equality of Educational Opportunity, Elizabeth Anderson, Educational Equality, Stigmatized Minorities, The Working Class Poor, Bernard Boxill, and Tommie Shelby
This volume represents a rich multi-disciplinary contribution to an expanding literature on citizenship, identity, and education in a variety of majority and minority Muslim communities. Each of these essays offer important insights into... more
This volume represents a rich multi-disciplinary contribution to an expanding literature on citizenship, identity, and education in a variety of majority and minority Muslim communities. Each of these essays offer important insights into the various ways one may identify with, and participate in, different societies to which Muslims belong. Contributions include Tariq Modood, Andrew March, Charlene Tan, Yedullah Kazmi, Lucas Swaine, Rosnani Hashim, Matthew Nelson, Ahmet Kuru and Robert Hefner.
Research Interests: Comparative Religion, Sociology of Religion, Education, Self and Identity, Democratic Theory, and 34 moreIdentity (Culture), Islamic Education, Islamic Education & Islamic Schooling, Malaysia, Public Deliberation, Pakistan, Indonesia, Singapore, Distributive Justice, Islamic Studies, Muslim Minorities, Democracy, Libertarianism, United Kingdom, Political Obligation, Citizenship, Pakistan Studies, Shariah, Political Liberalism, History and Philosophy of Islamic education, Education Policies in Singapore, Issues in Islamic Education, Islamic schools, parents, Democracy and Citizenship Education, Immigration Status & Nationality, Madrassa, Overlapping Consensus, Robert Hefner, Lucas Swaine, Tariq Modood, Matthew Nelson, Charlene Tan, Rosnani Hasheem, and Andrew March
In this book I offer a critical, comparative and empirically-informed defense of Islamic schools in the West. To do so I elaborate an idealized philosophy of Islamic education, against which I evaluate the very different empirical... more
In this book I offer a critical, comparative and empirically-informed defense of Islamic schools in the West. To do so I elaborate an idealized philosophy of Islamic education, against which I evaluate the very different empirical situation in the Netherlands, Belgium and the United States. I examine in detail notions of cultural identity and cultural coherence, the scope of parental authority v. a child's interests, as well as the state's hypothetical role in regulating religious schools.
Research Interests: Comparative Religion, Sociology of Religion, Legitimacy and Authority, Philosophy of Education, Parenting, and 24 moreComparative & International Education, Islamic Education, Muslim Minorities, Autonomy, Wellbeing, Belgium, Parental Involvement in Education, Ijtihad, United States, Islamic Identity, Paternalism, The Netherlands, Islamic schools, parents, Religious schools, ideals, philosophy, Muslim schools, Cultural Coherence, Cultural Coherence, Dawah, Children's Rights, the Family, Parents Rights, Education among Muslim children, Catholic Education, European Muslims, Muslim migration, Islamic Schools, and Dawah Methodology
In this article, I examine a case involving an equity-minded parent caught in a quandary about which school to select for her child, knowing that her decision may have consequences for others. To do so, I heuristically construct a... more
In this article, I examine a case involving an equity-minded parent caught in a quandary about which school to select for her child, knowing that her decision may have consequences for others. To do so, I heuristically construct a fictional portrait and explore the deliberative process a parent might have through a dialogue taking place among 'friends', where each friend personifies a different set of ethical considerations. I then briefly consider two competing philosophical assessments but argue that neither position helpfully assists in resolving the quandary. To conclude, I ask the provocative question whether parental motives-but also their school choices-actually matter if the inequitable outcomes seem to remain unchanged.
Research Interests: Education, Philosophy of Education, Parenting, Social Capital, Minority Studies, and 15 moreEthnic minorities, Cultural Capital, Educational Equity and Justice, Parent Involvement, Equity and Social Justice in Higher Education, Charter schools, Social and Political Philosophy, School Choice, Academies, Equity in Education, James Coleman, Social Stratification and Inequality, Annette Lareau, Concerted Cultivation, and Justice and Equity in School Systems
Strategies for tackling educational inequality take many forms, though perhaps the argument most often invoked is school integration. Yet whatever the promise of integration may be, its realization continues to be hobbled by numerous... more
Strategies for tackling educational inequality take many forms, though perhaps the argument most often invoked is school integration. Yet whatever the promise of integration may be, its realization continues to be hobbled by numerous difficulties. In this paper we examine what many of these difficulties are. Yet in contrast to how many empirical researchers frame these issues, we argue that while educational success in majority-minority schools will depend on a variety of material and non-material resources, the presence of these resources does not require school integration; indeed sometimes the most crucial resources are easier to foster in its absence. To that end, we briefly canvass the evidence from the United States on high performing majority-minority schools serving poor and minority students. Yet because these debates are so contentious in the American context, we pivot away from the U.S. to consider a different country, the Netherlands. We invite the reader to consider an analogous case where racial injustice and educational inequality are just as serious, yet where differences in the state school system might prove instructive concerning how some majority-minority schools choose to respond to existing segregation, but more importantly how educational success can occur in the absence of integration.
Research Interests: Black Studies Or African American Studies, Education, European integration, Race and Racism, Stigma, and 15 moreEthnic and Racial Studies, Muslim Minorities, Philosophy Of Race, Minorities, Racial discrimination, School Choice, Integration, Netherlands, School Desegregation and Integration, Minority Majority, School Integration, Racial Inequality, Successful School Leadership, Islamic Schools, and Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Public libraries are more than information providers; they increasingly serve as key social infrastructures. Financial pressures, decreasing membership and digitalisation require libraries to reinvent themselves as primarily spaces of an... more
Public libraries are more than information providers; they increasingly serve as key social infrastructures. Financial pressures, decreasing membership and digitalisation require libraries to reinvent themselves as primarily spaces of an encounter. This paper focuses on the retooling of small public libraries in the Netherlands as social infrastructure and the formal and informal library practices (‘infrastructuring’) that are required for the library to function as space of encounter. The paper reports on an in-depth, single-case study based on 15 years of volunteering, participant observations, repeated interviews with staff and informal conversations with patrons. By examining the multi-purposed features of a single site, we illustrate how the library, as an exemplary public space, is being retooled by both staff and patrons. While encounters mostly seem to occur within rather than between groups, there are many meaningful acts of kindness between different people. Though the library is undeniably a social infrastructure, the paper also shows how difficult it is to document, let alone practice this social function.
Research Interests:
There are many things that can be done to educate young people about controversial topics - including historical monuments - in schools. At the same time, however, we argue that there is little warrant for optimism concerning the... more
There are many things that can be done to educate young people about controversial topics - including historical monuments - in schools. At the same time, however, we argue that there is little warrant for optimism concerning the educational potential of classroom instruction given the interpretative frame of the state-approved history curriculum; the onerous institutional constraints under which school teachers must labour; the unusual constellation of talents history teachers must possess; the frequent absence of marginalized voices in these conversations; and finally, the not unlikely indifference - if not outright hostility - expressed by far too many members of the dominant group. For these reasons, we think it best to expand the scope of educational possibilities one is willing to consider.
Research Interests: History, Race and Racism, American Civil War, Parental Behavior, Teaching History, and 15 moreClassroom Interaction, Teaching Controversy, Moral Relativism, Revisionist History, Statues, Controversy, Spanish Colonialism, Dutch colonialism, Historical Injustices, British Colonialism, Historical and Cultural Monuments, Historical Monuments, Colonialism and Imperialism, Canadian Residential Schools, and controversial topics
In this chapter, I develop a pragmatic defense of critical patriotism, one that recognizes the many personal and social benefits of patriotic sentiment yet which is also infused with a passion for justice. Though the argument is pragmatic... more
In this chapter, I develop a pragmatic defense of critical patriotism, one that recognizes the many personal and social benefits of patriotic sentiment yet which is also infused with a passion for justice. Though the argument is pragmatic given the ubiquity of patriotic sentiment, I argue that critical patriotism
is able to reconcile a love of one’s country with an ardent determination to reform and improve it.
is able to reconcile a love of one’s country with an ardent determination to reform and improve it.
Research Interests: American History, Black Studies Or African American Studies, American Studies, Terrorism, Segregation, and 15 moreRace and Racism, Civic Education, Nationalism, Cosmopolitanism, Frederick Douglass, Patriotism, Howard Zinn, Civic Virtue, Morality, Jim Crow Segregation, Loyalty, Patriotic Education, Patriotic History, Partiality, and Colin Kaepernick
When are we morally obligated as a society to help the homeless, and is coercive interference justified when help is not asked for, even refused? To answer this question, we propose a comprehensive taxonomy of different types of... more
When are we morally obligated as a society to help the homeless, and is coercive interference justified when help is not asked for, even refused? To answer this question, we propose a comprehensive taxonomy of different types of homelessness and argue that different levels of autonomy allow for interventions with varying degrees of pressure to accept help. There are only two categories, however, where paternalism proper is allowed, be it heavily qualified. The first case is the homeless person with severely diminished autonomy as a result of mental illness, and the second case is the homeless person who runs a risk of serious and imminent harm to self. In the first case, namely, that of soft paternalism, we argue that coercive intervention in the case of a refusal to accept help should be focused on the provision of housing that meets basic needs—needs that we outline in the article. In the case of imminent and severe harm to self, the case of hard paternalism, we argue that forced intervention can only be allowed if it is temporary and local, namely focused on getting someone out of harm's way.
Research Interests: Ethics, Early Intervention, Privacy, Mental Health, Homelessness, and 20 moreCrisis Management, Urban Studies, Housing Policy, Best Interests, Personal and Moral Autonomy, Humanitarian Intervention, Autonomy, Public Health, Urban Sociology, Affordable Housing, Homelessness And Housing Exclusion, Urban Homeless, Competence, Needs Assessment, Medical Paternalism, Emotional Competence, Paternalism, Social Housing Policy, Best interests assessment, and Ethics of Humanitarian Intervention
In this paper we examine the role the Dutch gymnasium continues to play in the institutional maintenance of educational inequality. To that end we examine the relational and spatial features of state-sponsored elite education in the Dutch... more
In this paper we examine the role the Dutch gymnasium continues to play in the institutional maintenance of educational inequality. To that end we examine the relational and spatial features of state-sponsored elite education in the Dutch system: the unique identity the gymnasium seeks to cultivate; its value to its consumers; its geographic significance; and its market position amidst a growing array of other selective forms of schooling. We argue that there is a strong correlation between a higher social class background and the concern to transmit one’s cultural habitus. We further speculate on the moral implications of state-sponsored elite education, both as it concerns the specific role of the gymnasium in the reproduction of social inequality as well as the curious tendency among its supporters to rationalize the necessity of its existence.
Research Interests: Social Stratification, Educational Equity and Justice, Social Inequality, Educational Inequality, Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction. Knowledge, Power and Education, and 15 moreSociology of Education, Social Stratification and Inequality, Social reproduction, Parental Involvement in Education, Elites, Entitlement, School Choice, Sociology of elites, Inequality, The Netherlands, Privilege, School Segregation, Meritocracy, Cultural Capital and Habitus Theory, Social Stratification and Inequality, and Gymnasium
Taking equality seriously means that we ought to consider the ways in which persons are not only unfairly advantaged or disadvantaged from the start – e.g., through genetic inheritance, wealth, or a parent’s educational background – but... more
Taking equality seriously means that we ought to consider the ways in which persons are not only unfairly advantaged or disadvantaged from the start – e.g., through genetic inheritance, wealth, or a parent’s educational background – but also how opportunities and rewards that result from these basic inequalities are later exacerbated in the distribution of goods and opportunities. The basic point of equality as a normative principle is not that everyone have similar things or achieve similar outcomes, that would be undesirable both for reasons having to do with individual liberty as well as social need.
Research Interests: Egalitarianism, Equality, Educational Equity and Justice, Egalitarian distributive justice, Liberal Egalitarianism, and 10 moreSufficientarianism, Educational Equity, Equality and Non Discrimination, School Desegregation and Integration, Luck Egalitarianism, Fair Equality of Opportunity, Equality of Opportunity and Fair Competition, Parental Partiality, Educational Equality, and Weighted Pupil Funding
In this paper I argue that self-respect constitutes an important value, and further, serves as an important basis for equality. I also argue that under conditions of inequality-producing segregation, voluntary separation in schooling may... more
In this paper I argue that self-respect constitutes an important value, and further, serves as an important basis for equality. I also argue that under conditions of inequality-producing segregation, voluntary separation in schooling may be more likely to provide the resources necessary for self respect. Accordingly, I defend a prima facie case of voluntary separation for stigmatized minorities when equality – as equal status and treatment – is not an option under either the terms of integration or involuntary segregation.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Political Philosophy, Sociology of Education, Equality Studies, Diversity, and 23 moreSegregation, Race and Racism, Critical Pedagogy, Critical Race Theory, Stigmatization, Politics of Recognition, Minority Studies, Equality and Diversity, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Whiteness Studies, Social Justice in Education, Educational Equity and Justice, Critical Race Theory and Whiteness theory, Equity and Social Justice in Higher Education, Social and Political Philosophy, Critical Whiteness Studies, Self-Respect, Ethnic and Racial Integration, Spatial segregation, W. E. B. Du Bois, Integration, Critical Race Theory, Anti-Racist Education, Social Justice Education, and Voluntary Separation
In this article I examine two basic questions: first, what constitutes a gifted person, and secondly, is there justification in making special educational provision for gifted children, where special provision involves spending more on... more
In this article I examine two basic questions: first, what constitutes a gifted person, and secondly, is there justification in making special educational provision for gifted children, where special provision involves spending more on their education than on the education of ‘normal’ children? I consider a hypothetical case for allocating extra resources for the gifted, and argue that gifted children are generally denied
educational justice if they fail to receive an education that adequately challenges
them. I further argue that an adequately challenging education is essential to human
flourishing, but that most children can be adequately challenged in schools in ways
that promote flourishing without doing so at the expense of other children.
educational justice if they fail to receive an education that adequately challenges
them. I further argue that an adequately challenging education is essential to human
flourishing, but that most children can be adequately challenged in schools in ways
that promote flourishing without doing so at the expense of other children.
Research Interests: Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Education, Social Justice, Education Policy, Social Justice in Education, and 15 moreEducational Equity and Justice, Social Justice Issues, Gifted Education, Giftedness, Happiness and Well Being, Talent Identification and Development, Gifted and Talented Education, Fairness, Ability Grouping, Fair Equality of Opportunity, Difference Principle, Educational Justice, Educational Tracking, Adequate Challenge, and Equality of Distribution
In this essay I ask what educational justice might require for children with autism in educational settings where “inclusion” entails not only meaningful access, but also where the educational setting is able to facilitate a sense of... more
In this essay I ask what educational justice might require for children with autism in educational settings where “inclusion” entails not only meaningful access, but also where the educational setting is able to facilitate a sense of belonging and further is conducive to well-being. I argue when we attempt to answer the question “do inclusion policies deliver educational justice?” that we pay close attention to the specific dimensions of well-being for children with autism. Whatever the specifics of individual cases, both an attitude and policy of inclusion must permit parents to choose pragmatic alternatives, i.e., different learning environments, if educational justice is to remain the overriding goal.
Research Interests: Autism, Disability Studies, Education and Youth Exclusion, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Inclusion, and 13 moreThe Disabled Body, Well-Being, Justice, School Bullying, Educational Equity and Justice, Diversity & Inclusion, Inclusive Education, Disability Studies in Education, Educational Inequality, School, Special Education Needs and Inclusive Practice, Learning Disabled, and Quality of Life and Well being
In this article we delineate, describe, and defend what we believe are the essential features of selection and also why we need to pay equal attention to both the outcomes and the processes leading to those outcomes. Provided the... more
In this article we delineate, describe, and defend what we believe are the essential features of selection and also why we need to pay equal attention to both the outcomes and the processes leading to those outcomes. Provided the selection is motivated and guided by the right reasons, as well as appropriately monitored, we argue that selection can be equity promoting.
Research Interests: Sociology of Education, Accountability, Equality, Educational Equity and Justice, Deaf Education, and 15 moreCharter schools, Stratification, Candidate Selection, School Choice, Recruitment and Selection, Fairness, Hiring Decisions, Educational Aims, Magnet Schools, Organizational Processes, Educational Equality, Ethics and Educational Justice, Selection in Schools, family inequality, and Equitable Selection
Whilst media and political rhetoric in Britain is sceptical and often outright damning of the (presumed) morals and behaviours of the White marginalized poor, our aim is to explore the conditions under which successful communities are... more
Whilst media and political rhetoric in Britain is sceptical and often outright damning of the (presumed) morals and behaviours of the White marginalized poor, our aim is to explore the conditions under which successful communities are nevertheless built. Specifically, we examine the features of community and stress its importance both for belonging and bonding around shared norms and practices and for fostering the necessary bridging essential for interacting and cooperating with others. In considering what it means to foster a community that acts as a breakwater against the tides of stigma or disadvantage, we pay special attention to what we will call enabling conditions – essential features that communities either can or should be able to provide or that exist independent of communities and are indispensable for accessing opportunities in the wider society. We detail the dynamics of White poverty and exclusion before turning our attention to possible responses to these challenges.
Research Interests: Urban Geography, Poverty, Stigma, Community Ecology, Resistance (Social), and 15 moreCritical Geography, Social Exclusion, Marginalized Identities, Community, Social Class, Social Inequality, Trade unions, Virtue theory, Virtue, Poverty and Inequality, Poverty Studies, Marginalization, Great Britain, Social Exclusion and Social Inequalities, and White Poverty
Research Interests:
The history of Roma participation in European education is dismal, a history of violence and erasure. As the European Union (EU) expands, garnering to itself Europe’s 8–10 million Roma, the “Gypsy problem” becomes increasingly important,... more
The history of Roma participation in European education is dismal, a history of violence and erasure. As the European Union (EU) expands, garnering to itself Europe’s 8–10 million Roma, the “Gypsy problem” becomes increasingly important, bearing symbolically, and in real social and economic terms, on EU promises of democratic governance and equal opportunity. Until the Soviet period, the formal schooling of Roma children was rarely part of anyone’s conversation, but in the “New Europe,” bound by a commitment to inclusion, this historical state of affairs is ending, however slowly and however unwelcome. This article examines how the “discourse moment” constituted by the Czech court decision 'D.H. and Others' might affect the future of schooling for Roma youth.
Research Interests:
With the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU in 2007, the total population of Roma living in the EU rose to above 7 million, making the Rom in many respects the 28th member nation, albeit a dispersed, territoryless nation with... more
With the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU in 2007, the total population of Roma living in the EU rose to above 7 million, making the Rom in many respects the 28th member nation, albeit a dispersed, territoryless nation with glaring deficits of self-governance and sovereignty. The purpose of this chapter will be to explore the opportunities for learning available to Romani youth in a specific national context. With Greece as our case study, we address the question of learning for Greek Romani youth through the psychosocial construct of stigmatization.
Research Interests: Stigma, Race and Ethnicity, Stigmatization, Minority Studies, Social Exclusion, and 8 moreGreece, Educational Inequality, Sociology of Education, Social Stratification and Inequality, Roma People, Gypsies, Education of Romany (Gypsy) children, Culture and Education of Roma (Gypsy), and Educational Disadvantage
In this article I examine how Belgian “concentration” schools, schools with heavy concentrations of non–European Union, typically Muslim, immigrants, challenge educators and policy makers. To situate this challenge properly, I will... more
In this article I examine how Belgian “concentration” schools, schools with heavy concentrations of non–European Union, typically Muslim, immigrants, challenge educators and policy makers. To situate this challenge properly, I will consider the broader Belgian social and political context, including regional governmental responses to the perceived “problem” of concentration schools, the role of parental involvement, and the expectations of teachers. These considerations will clarify the structural arrangements that exist prior to any assessment of Muslim children per se.
Research Interests: Segregation, Comparative & International Education, The Low Countries, Islam and Human Rights, Social Justice, and 35 morePolitical Extremism/Radicalism/Populism, Discrimination, Radicalization, Muslim Minorities, Social Exclusion, Marginalized Identities, Muslims in Europe, Educational Equity and Justice, Islam, Comparative Education, Belgium, Belgian politics, Flemish-nationalism, Social reproduction, Muslims, Brussels, Flanders, Extreme and Far Right, Disenfranchisement, Belgium internal politics, Marginalization, John Ogbu, Wallonia, Educational Disadvantage, Molenbeek, School Segregatie, Anderlecht, Islam in Belgium, Muslims in Belgium, moslims in Belgie, Schaarbeek, Concentratie Scholen, Moslim in Vlaanderen, Disenfrachisement, and Belgian Muslims
African-centered pedagogy aims to cultivate a positive and productive culturally based identity for Black children, and African-centered schools endeavor to supply that cultural base, placing the history, culture, and life experiences of... more
African-centered pedagogy aims to cultivate a positive and productive culturally based identity for Black children, and African-centered schools endeavor to supply that cultural base, placing the history, culture, and life experiences of individuals of African descent at the center of everything that they do. Our study examines the historical contexts in which African-centered education has emerged and the justification for racially separate schooling. The article’s major contribution is its examination of whether African-centered schools prepare Black children to participate in a democratic society and whether the construction of an essentialist racial identity might compromise their mission and success. We conclude that African-centered schools provide many of the same strengths found in other forms of community-based education but that they must continue to wrestle with essentialist notions of Black identity on which its discourse is built.
Research Interests: Black Studies Or African American Studies, Black/African Diaspora, Segregation, Identity (Culture), Social Justice, and 13 moreAfrican American Studies, Educational Equity and Justice, African-Centered Paradigm, Afrocentricity, Urban Sociology, Black Nationalism, Marcus Garvey, Black Identity, Malcolm X, Urban social segregation, Urban sociology, School Segregation, African American education, African-centred education, philosophy, Urban schools, and Martin Delany
In this essay I question the liberal faith in the efficacy and morality of citizenship education (CE) as it has been traditionally (and is still)practiced in most public state schools. In challenging institutionalized faith in CE, I also... more
In this essay I question the liberal faith in the efficacy and morality of citizenship education (CE) as it has been traditionally (and is still)practiced in most public state schools. In challenging institutionalized faith in CE, I also challenge liberal understandings of what it means to be a citizen, and how the social and political world of citizens is constituted. I interrogate CE as defended in the liberal tradition, with particular attention to Gutmann’s ‘conscious social reproduction’. I argue that CE in practice does not operate on the bases of non-repression or non-discrimination, and has weak claims for legitimacy. In fact, CE in many forms reproduces social inequalities, and contributes to the expulsion of disadvantaged students from schools and from the ranks of recognized citizens.
Research Interests: Legitimacy and Authority, Democratic Education, Democratic Theory, Civic Education, Liberalism, and 23 moreLegitimacy, Political Legitimacy, Education for Citizenship, Personal and Moral Autonomy, Deliberative Democracy, Autonomy, Educational Equity and Justice, Citizenship Theory, Democracy, Participatory Democracy, Citizenship, Schools, Citizenship Education, Dissent, Citizenship & democratic education, critical reflection & transformative learning, research methodology, Conformity, Obedience to authority, Democracy and Citizenship Education, Political Stability, Social Justice and democratic citizenship, Stephen Macedo, Democratic Citizenship Rights, and Amy Gutmann
In order for democratic deliberative interactions in educational settings to fruitfully occur, certain favorable conditions must obtain. In this chapter I chiefly concern myself with one of these putative conditions, namely that of school... more
In order for democratic deliberative interactions in educational settings to fruitfully occur, certain favorable conditions must obtain. In this chapter I chiefly concern myself with one of these putative conditions, namely that of school integration, believed by many liberal scholars to be necessary for consensus-building and legitimate decision-making. I provide a critical assessment of the belief that integration is a necessary facilitative condition for democratic deliberation in the classroom. I demonstrate that liberal versions of democratic deliberation predicated on this condition are puzzlingly inattentive both to the inevitability of segregation, as well as the inequities occasioned by 'school integration'. I then move to probe the possibilities for democratic education in the absence of integration. I argue that neither the possibilities for deliberation nor the cultivation of civic virtue turn on an environment being 'integrated'. Indeed some kinds of segregation may be more conducive to fostering both deliberation and civic virtue.
Research Interests: Democratic Education, Voluntary Associations, Social Stratification, Deliberative Democracy, Tolerance, and 15 moreDeliberation, Spatial segregation, Liberal Democracy, Civic Virtue, Respect, Integration, Toleration, Publics and Counterpublics, Social Stratification and Inequality, Racial Segregation, School Integration, Classroom discussion, Homogeneity, Spatial and Social Segregation, and classroom controversy
The issue of voting rights for older children has been high on the political and philosophical agenda for quite some time now, and not without reason. Aside from principled moral and philosophical reasons why it is an important matter,... more
The issue of voting rights for older children has been high on the political
and philosophical agenda for quite some time now, and not without reason.
Aside from principled moral and philosophical reasons why it is an important
matter, many economic, environmental, and political issues are currently being
decided—sometimes through indecision—that greatly impact the future of today’s
children. Past and current generations of adults have, arguably, mortgaged their
children’s future, and this makes the question whether (some) children should be
granted the right to vote all the more pressing. Should (some) children be given
the right to vote? Moreover, does the answer to this question depend on civic
education, on whether children have been deliberately prepared for the exercise of
that right? These are the questions that will occupy us in this article. Our answer
to the first will be that older children—children roughly between 14 and 16 years
of age—ought to be given the right to vote.
and philosophical agenda for quite some time now, and not without reason.
Aside from principled moral and philosophical reasons why it is an important
matter, many economic, environmental, and political issues are currently being
decided—sometimes through indecision—that greatly impact the future of today’s
children. Past and current generations of adults have, arguably, mortgaged their
children’s future, and this makes the question whether (some) children should be
granted the right to vote all the more pressing. Should (some) children be given
the right to vote? Moreover, does the answer to this question depend on civic
education, on whether children have been deliberately prepared for the exercise of
that right? These are the questions that will occupy us in this article. Our answer
to the first will be that older children—children roughly between 14 and 16 years
of age—ought to be given the right to vote.
Research Interests: Comparative Politics, Political Philosophy, Education, Voting Behavior, Political Theory, and 24 moreEquality Studies, Political Science, Civic Education, Politics, Education for Citizenship, Equality, Citizenship Theory, Youth Civic Engagement, Children's Rights, Civic Engagement, Voting, Minority Rights, Voter Turnout (Electoral Behavior), Citizenship, Competence, Children, Civic Virtue, Citizenship Education, Civics Education, Civics, Democracy and Citizenship Education, Civic and Moral Education, Voting Age, and Democratic Equality
For a long time now, liberal theorists have championed the idea that citizenship is the task of the school. Notwithstanding substantive disagreement among these theorists, all liberal accounts share the same basic faith concerning both... more
For a long time now, liberal theorists have championed the idea that citizenship is the task of the school. Notwithstanding substantive disagreement among these theorists, all liberal accounts share the same basic faith concerning both the duty and the ability of schools to do what their theories require. I fully appreciate the motivation behind these theories; they mean to express ideals towards which we ought to aspire. They describe not the schools we have, but the schools its authors believe we need. Yet, whatever the merits idealized liberal accounts of citizenship education may have in the seminar room, in this essay I argue that they are both unpersuasive and ineffectual.
Research Interests: European Studies, Education, Educational Research, Stigma, Civic Education, and 19 moreLiberalism, Nationalism, Populism, National Identity, Elites (Political Science), Political Elites, Social Exclusion, Citizenship Theory, European Union Politics, Citizenship, Educational Inequality, Elites, Inequality, Xenophobia, Netherlands, Democracy and Citizenship Education, Civic and Moral Education, Social Exclusion and Social Inequalities, and Civics & Citizenship
מורים רבים מעדיפים להימנע לחלוטין מדיון בנושאים שנויים במחלוקת ו"להיצמד לטקסט", אבל תוכנית הלימודים עצמה מבוססת על הימנעות והכחשה שגרתית של מחלוקות, מהעבר כמו מההווה. המחלוקות אינן נלמדות, אלא נדחקות לפינה ומכוננות בוּרוּת בית ספרית
Research Interests:
Po svoji uèinkovitosti pri spodbujanju éustev glede pripadnosti oz. nepripadnosti je morda edino religija sposobna tekmovati z domoljubjem. Morda tudi samo religija lahko tekmuje z domoljubjem v svoji sposobnosti, da spodbuja in neguje... more
Po svoji uèinkovitosti pri spodbujanju éustev glede pripadnosti oz. nepripadnosti je morda edino religija sposobna tekmovati z domoljubjem. Morda tudi samo religija lahko tekmuje z domoljubjem v svoji sposobnosti, da spodbuja in neguje pripadnost milijonov, da bi dosegla niz ciljev povezanih z zvestobo. Vendar paje, kotje opazil John Kleinig (2014: 5), 'domoljubna in verska zvestoba, kljub vsem svojim vznemirjujoèim lastnostim, pogosto pristranska, izkljuóujoéa in celo teroristiéna'. Ince se posamezniki nekritiéno identificirajo z narodom, njegovimi ideali, zgodovino, institucijami in voditelji, ima domoljub nagnjenost delovati,
braniti, napadati in celo imeti tujce za manjvredne.
braniti, napadati in celo imeti tujce za manjvredne.
Research Interests:
As we push headlong into the twenty-first century, increasingly stringent demands for citizenship issue forth from governments around the world faced with a formidable assortment of challenges. Shrinking budgets, weakening currencies,... more
As we push headlong into the twenty-first century, increasingly stringent
demands for citizenship issue forth from governments around the world faced with
a formidable assortment of challenges. Shrinking budgets, weakening currencies,
and worsening unemployment top the list. Migration and population mobility also
continue to reshape and redefine how governments and their citizens understand
and respond to the demands of citizenship. Long-established markers of national
identity seem anachronistic, as do attempts to restore time-honored ‘‘norms and
values’’ with a view to promoting social cohesion.
demands for citizenship issue forth from governments around the world faced with
a formidable assortment of challenges. Shrinking budgets, weakening currencies,
and worsening unemployment top the list. Migration and population mobility also
continue to reshape and redefine how governments and their citizens understand
and respond to the demands of citizenship. Long-established markers of national
identity seem anachronistic, as do attempts to restore time-honored ‘‘norms and
values’’ with a view to promoting social cohesion.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
As I respond to several critical geographers, I defend a principled, empirically informed, and contextually sensitive pragmatic justification for separation under existing conditions of segregation for members of stigmatized and... more
As I respond to several critical geographers, I defend a principled, empirically informed, and contextually sensitive pragmatic justification for separation under existing conditions of segregation for members of stigmatized and disadvantaged groups — a justification that is attentive to both involuntary as well as voluntary factors.
Research Interests:
In this essay I respond to a review of my book.
Research Interests: Education, Segregation, Stigma, Separation, Equality, and 3 moreSelf-Respect, Citizenship, and Disadvantage
In this article we challenge the notion that diversity serves as a good proxy for educational justice. First, we maintain that the story about how diversity might be accomplished and what it might do for students and society is internally... more
In this article we challenge the notion that diversity serves as a good proxy for educational justice. First, we maintain that the story about how diversity might be accomplished and what it might do for students and society is internally inconsistent. Second, we argue that a disproportionate share of the benefits that might result from greater diversity often accrues to those already advantaged. Finally, we propose that many of the most promising and pragmatic remedies for educational injustice are often rejected by liberal proponents of “diversity first” in favor of remedies that in most cases are practically impossible, and often problematic on their own terms.
Research Interests: Education, Diversity, Higher Education, Segregation, Critical Pedagogy, and 45 moreRace and Ethnicity, Social Justice, Prejudice, Stereotypes and Prejudice, Equality and Diversity, Brazil, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Workforce Diversity, Diversity Management, Supreme Court, Educational Equity and Justice, Diversity & Inclusion, Higher Education Management, Charter schools, School effectiveness and school improvement, Cultural Diversity, Higher Education Policy, Classroom Interaction, Minority Rights, Diversity and Inclusion, White Privilege, Admissions, Diversity in Higher Education, Nancy Fraser, Managing Diversity, Institutional racism, Integration, Counter Public, Ethnic Diversity in Recruitment & Hiring in Higher Education, Diversity in the Classroom, School Desegregation and Integration, Contact Hypothesis, School Segregation, College Admissions, Campus Climate, Faculty Diversity, Gordon W. Allport, Equality of Educational Opportunity, Prejudice Reduction, Minority Education, Educational Equality, Diverse Schools, Pragmatic Alternatives In Education, Black Lives Matter, and Diversiteit in Het Onderwijs
In this essay I defend the following prima facie argument: that civic virtue is not dependent on integration and in fact may be best fostered under conditions of segregation. I demonstrate that civic virtue can and does take place under... more
In this essay I defend the following prima facie argument: that civic virtue is not dependent on integration and in fact may be best fostered under conditions of segregation. I demonstrate that civic virtue can and does take place under conditions of involuntary segregation, but that voluntary separation — as a response to segregation — is a more effective way to facilitate it. While segregation and disadvantage commonly coexist, spatial concentrations, particularly when there is a strong voluntary aspect present, often aid in fostering civic virtue. Accordingly, so long as separation provides the conditions necessary for the promotion of civic virtue, integration is not an irreducible good.
Research Interests: Political Philosophy, Sociology of Education, Equality Studies, Diversity, Segregation, and 28 moreGlobal Citizenship, Public Deliberation, Social Stratification, Education for Citizenship, Equality and Diversity, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Whiteness Studies, Ethnic minorities, Critical Race Theory and Whiteness theory, Citizenship Theory, Citizenship, Ethnic and Racial Integration, Spatial segregation, Ethnocentrism, Civic Virtue, Nancy Fraser, Citizenship Education, Robert Putnam, Bonding Social Capital, Integration, Counter Public, Voluntary Separation, Democracy and Citizenship Education, Citizenship identities, Spatial Concentrations, Elizabeth Anderson, Bridging Social Capital, and Nancy Fraser Counter Public
In this chapter I argue that school desegregation efforts face difficult challenges given the sorts of tensions that arise between the exercise of individual liberty and the social aims of equality. I challenge the idea that educational... more
In this chapter I argue that school desegregation efforts face difficult challenges given the sorts of tensions that arise between the exercise of individual liberty and the social aims of equality. I challenge the idea that educational integration is necessarily the best way to improve equality by considering the case for voluntary separation.
Research Interests: Diversity, Segregation, Equality and Diversity, Integrated Schools, Educational Equity and Justice, and 24 moreParental Behavior, Parent Child Relationships, Neighborhood Effects, Liberty, Spatial segregation, Parental Involvement in Education, School Choice, Jim Crow Segregation, Integration, Parental Choice, Netherlands, School Desegregation and Integration, School Segregation, Brown vs. Board of Education, Educational Resources, Residential segregation, Residential and Educational Segregation, Parental Partiality, Plessy V. Ferguson, Partiality, Educational Equality, Ethics and Educational Justice, Neighborhood Segregation, and Segregated Housing
In this article we describe the plural nature of the Dutch education system and discuss how the many options combine with constitutional rights to facilitate and maintain a highly segregated school system. We express caution about... more
In this article we describe the plural nature of the Dutch education system and discuss how the many options combine with constitutional rights to facilitate and maintain a highly segregated school system. We express caution about expecting segregation to wane when choice and parental freedom remain carefully guarded values.
Research Interests: European integration, Segregation, Dutch History, Ethnic and Racial Integration, Spatial segregation, and 23 moreOnderzoek en onderwijs, School Choice, The Netherlands, School Education, School Choice, Education Policy, School Segregation, Sociale Ongelijkheid, Studiekeuze, Overgang Basis Secundair, Onderwijskunde, Pillarisation (Verzuiling), Segregatie, Weighted Pupil Funding, School Segregatie, Dutch education, Schoolkeuze, Vrijheid Van Het Onderwijs, Onderwijssegregatie, Ongelijkheid, Diversiteit in Het Onderwijs, Integratie Beleid, Segregatie Beleid, zijn Nederlandse scholen gesegregeerd, Segregatie in het onderwijs, Dutch segregation, and Restricted Parental Choice
Across the world, most societies remain deeply segregated by ethnicity, language, class, religion and political creed. Given the ignominious historical associations that attach to segregation in certain times and places, its continued... more
Across the world, most societies remain deeply segregated by ethnicity, language, class, religion and political creed. Given the ignominious historical associations that attach to segregation in certain times and places, its continued persistence for many is alarming, an affliction crying out for a remedy. Indeed, with good reason, many will see segregation in itself as evidence of injustice. From this conviction it follows that any social inequities occasioned by segregation can only be mitigated through policies more carefully fine-tuned to achieve ethnic, racial or social class ‘integration’. Noteworthy in most discussions is how imprecise the concept of integration is.
Research Interests: European integration, Segregation, Race and Racism, Stigma, Voluntary Associations, and 16 moreEquality and Diversity, Equality, Inequality (Economics), United Kingdom, Citizenship, Social Inequality, Collective Efficacy, Integration, Social Integration, School Segregation, Voluntary Separation, Demos, Political Integration, David Goodhart, Trevor Phillips, and Mapping Integration
Even when a black public charter school's core mission includes combatting racism and structural oppression – core progressive values – charter publics that serve minority pupils at best elicit ambivalence from white liberals. So what is... more
Even when a black public charter school's core mission includes combatting racism and structural oppression – core progressive values – charter publics that serve minority pupils at best elicit ambivalence from white liberals. So what is going on here?
Research Interests: Segregation, Race and Racism, Stigma, Gentrification, Cognitive Dissonance, and 15 moreEducational Equity and Justice, Charter schools, Somali Diaspora, Educational Inequality, Schools and Poverty, School Choice, Poverty and Inequality, Integration, Minneapolis, Charters, Democratic Citizenship Rights, Educational Equality, American Charter Schools, Segregated Schools, and White Liberals
Many profess a belief in the importance of school integration. In this essay I argue that the evidence tells against the sincerity of this belief.
Research Interests: Demography, European integration, Segregation, Collective Action, Equality and Diversity, and 15 moreUrban Sociology, Spatial segregation, School Choice, Jim Crow Segregation, Integration, Social Integration, National Integration, School Education, School Choice, Education Policy, Immigrant integration, School Segregation, White Privilege & Inequalities, Residential segregation, Tracking in High Schools, Urban Segregation, and European Integration Policies
I am broadly sympathetic to Dale Matthew's analysis. However, in what follows, I restrict my remarks to a few areas where I think he either lacks empirical precision, or overstates his case.
Research Interests: Black Studies Or African American Studies, Race and Racism, Resilience, Colorism, Stigma, and 15 moreRace and Ethnicity, Stigmatization, Victimology, Black Europe, Philosophy Of Race, Black Women's Studies, Harm Reduction, Subordination, Black Identity, Integration, Phenotype, Spatial Concentrations, Self worth, Devaluation, and Black Community
In this paper, we offer a Leftist critique of standard liberal defenses of the public school. We suggest that the standard arguments employed by mainstream liberal defenders of the public school are generally inadequate because they... more
In this paper, we offer a Leftist critique of standard liberal defenses
of the public school. We suggest that the standard arguments
employed by mainstream liberal defenders of the public school
are generally inadequate because they fail to provide a credible
representation of their historical object, let alone effective remedies
to our current problems. Indeed, many of these narratives, in
our view, are grounded in fantasies about what public schools, or
teaching and learning, are or could be, as much as they are
grounded in the historical realities of public schools or the realities
of so-called privatization. We speculate whether the self identification
of the proponents of this cause as ‘progressive’ is
not part of this ideological construction and if the underlying
political agenda is not in fact more conservative.
of the public school. We suggest that the standard arguments
employed by mainstream liberal defenders of the public school
are generally inadequate because they fail to provide a credible
representation of their historical object, let alone effective remedies
to our current problems. Indeed, many of these narratives, in
our view, are grounded in fantasies about what public schools, or
teaching and learning, are or could be, as much as they are
grounded in the historical realities of public schools or the realities
of so-called privatization. We speculate whether the self identification
of the proponents of this cause as ‘progressive’ is
not part of this ideological construction and if the underlying
political agenda is not in fact more conservative.
Research Interests: Education, Educational Research, Liberalism, Education and Public Policy, Castoriadis, and 37 moreSocial Capital, Walter Benjamin, Ivan Illich, Pierre Bourdieu, Charter schools, Teachers Practices, Public Space, Urban Imaginary, Cornelius Castoriadis, Anti-Racism, Social Inequality, Schools, Educational Inequality, Social reproduction, Education Funding, Privatization, Poverty and Inequality, Academies, Public policies and higher education, Teachers, Public Education, Imaginary, Social imaginary, Public vs Private Schools, Public Schools, School Finance, Teacher Unions and Education Politics, School Funding in the United States, K 12 Public Education Reform, Privatization of Public Spaces, Linda Darling-Hammond, John Taylor Gatto, Public Policy, Phillip Jackson, Equitable Funding for Schools, Defenses of the Public School, and Privatization in Education
In this article, I make a philosophical case for the state to fund religious schools. Ultimately, I shall argue that the state has an obligation to fund and provide oversight of all schools irrespective of their religious or non-religious... more
In this article, I make a philosophical case for the state to fund religious schools. Ultimately, I shall argue that the state has an obligation to fund and provide oversight of all schools irrespective of their religious or non-religious character. The education of children is in the public interest and therefore the state must assume its responsibility to its future citizens to ensure that they receive a quality education. Still, while both religious schools and the polity have much to be gained from direct funding, I will show that parents and administrators of these schools may have reasons to be diffident toward the state and its hypothetical interference. While the focus of the paper is primarily on the American educational context, the philosophical questions related to state funding and oversight of religious schools transcend any one national context.
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Research Interests:
This paper is a critique of certain moral perspectives that are found in the second edition of Engelhardt’s Foundation of Bioethics. These views are spelled out in explicit detail in his second edition, and follow on the heels of a... more
This paper is a critique of certain moral perspectives that are found in the
second edition of Engelhardt’s Foundation of Bioethics. These views are
spelled out in explicit detail in his second edition, and follow on the heels
of a profound religious conversion. Engelhardt is an eminent bioethicist
with strong religious convictions that overlay much of his writing. The
author wishes to question some of the conclusions that Engelhardt reaches
as they touch upon moral frameworks, pluralism, and a ‘secular’ bioethics.
second edition of Engelhardt’s Foundation of Bioethics. These views are
spelled out in explicit detail in his second edition, and follow on the heels
of a profound religious conversion. Engelhardt is an eminent bioethicist
with strong religious convictions that overlay much of his writing. The
author wishes to question some of the conclusions that Engelhardt reaches
as they touch upon moral frameworks, pluralism, and a ‘secular’ bioethics.
Research Interests:
Religious schools, in one form or another, have been around for centuries, long before education for the masses was deemed the responsibility of the state. Organized education generally was religious in nature, and this extended even... more
Religious schools, in one form or another, have
been around for centuries, long before education
for the masses was deemed the responsibility
of the state. Organized education generally was
religious in nature, and this extended even to
higher education; indeed, even medicine and
law were subordinate to theology in many of
the world’s leading universities for more than a
century. So late was the arrival of state-sponsored
education that national governments in many
places incorporated what religious schools had
long been doing.
been around for centuries, long before education
for the masses was deemed the responsibility
of the state. Organized education generally was
religious in nature, and this extended even to
higher education; indeed, even medicine and
law were subordinate to theology in many of
the world’s leading universities for more than a
century. So late was the arrival of state-sponsored
education that national governments in many
places incorporated what religious schools had
long been doing.
Research Interests: Education, Segregation, Islamic Education, Islamic Education & Islamic Schooling, Autonomy, and 15 moreImmigrant children, School effectiveness and school improvement, School, Indoctrination, Religious Schools, Faith schools, Parents, State and Education, Private education, denominational schools, minorities in Education, Catholic Schools, Catholic Education, Educational Inspection, Minority Education, Islamic Schools, and Quality and school management
The manner in which individuals hold various nonevidentiary beliefs is critical to making any evaluative claim on an individual’s autonomy. I will argue that one may be both justified in holding nonrational beliefs of a nonevidentiary... more
The manner in which individuals hold various nonevidentiary beliefs is critical
to making any evaluative claim on an individual’s autonomy. I will argue
that one may be both justified in holding nonrational beliefs of a nonevidentiary
sort while being capable of leading an autonomous life. I will defend the idea that
moral instruction, including explicitly religious content, may justifiably constitute
a set of commitments upon which rationality and autonomy are dependent.
Moral instruction, I will argue, does not have to conflict with the autonomy
of persons provided that the process of instruction and learning conduces to some
degree of reflection and critical thinking. I will not deny that some individuals
never truly possess the capacity to flourish; that is, some will not manage to
escape the psychological effects of fear and a crippled identity instilled in early
childhood. Nevertheless, I will argue that individual psychology is central to our ability
to assess the outcome of an upbringing purported to be indoctrinatory,
particularly the role that experience and agency play in enabling us to evaluate
our beliefs.
to making any evaluative claim on an individual’s autonomy. I will argue
that one may be both justified in holding nonrational beliefs of a nonevidentiary
sort while being capable of leading an autonomous life. I will defend the idea that
moral instruction, including explicitly religious content, may justifiably constitute
a set of commitments upon which rationality and autonomy are dependent.
Moral instruction, I will argue, does not have to conflict with the autonomy
of persons provided that the process of instruction and learning conduces to some
degree of reflection and critical thinking. I will not deny that some individuals
never truly possess the capacity to flourish; that is, some will not manage to
escape the psychological effects of fear and a crippled identity instilled in early
childhood. Nevertheless, I will argue that individual psychology is central to our ability
to assess the outcome of an upbringing purported to be indoctrinatory,
particularly the role that experience and agency play in enabling us to evaluate
our beliefs.
Research Interests:
Many philosophers argue that religious schools are guilty of indoctrinatory harm. I think they are right to be worried about that. But in this article, I will postulate that there are other harms for many individuals that are more severe... more
Many philosophers argue that religious schools are guilty of indoctrinatory harm. I think they are right to be worried about that. But in this article, I will postulate that there are other harms for many individuals that are more severe outside the religious school. Accordingly the full scope of harm should be taken into account when evaluating the harm that some religious schools may do. Once we do that, I suggest, justice may require that we choose the lesser harm. To simplify matters, I focus my attention on the stigmatic harm done to Muslims, and the role that Islamic schools might be expected to play in mitigating that harm. If the full weight of stigmatic harm is factored into the ethical analysis concerning Islamic schools, then I suggest that there are sufficiently weighty pro tanto reasons for Muslim parents to prefer an Islamic school over the alternatives, notwithstanding the potential indoctrinatory harm.
Research Interests: European Studies, European integration, Religious Education, Segregation, Race and Racism, and 26 moreStigma, Social Justice, Stigmatization, Justice, Muslim Minorities, Social Justice in Education, Social Exclusion, Muslims in Europe, Educational Equity and Justice, Social Inequality, Spatial segregation, Inequality, Poverty and Inequality, Indoctrination, School Segregation, Islamic schools, parents, Religious Schools, Social Suffering and Structural Injustice, Epistemic Injustice, Harm, Educational Justice, Stigmatic Effect, Islamic Schools, Religious Indoctrination, Racial Injustice, and Segregated Schools
This article aims to open a new line of debate about religion in public schools by focusing on religious ideals. The article begins with an elucidation of the concept ‘religious ideals’ and an explanation of the notion of reasonable... more
This article aims to open a new line of debate about religion in public schools
by focusing on religious ideals. The article begins with an elucidation of the concept
‘religious ideals’ and an explanation of the notion of reasonable pluralism, in order to be able to explore the dangers and positive contributions of religious ideals and their pursuit on a liberal democratic society. We draw our examples of religious ideals from Christianity and Islam, because these religions have most adherents in Western liberal democracies that are the focus of this article. The fifth and most important section ‘‘Reasonable pluralism and the inclusion of religious ideals in public secondary schools’’ provides three arguments for our claim that public schools should include religious ideals, namely that they are important to religious people, that they are conducive for the development of pupils into citizens of a liberal democracy, and that the flourishing of pupils as adults is advanced by encountering religious ideals. We also offer a more practical reason: religious ideals can more easily be included within public education than religious dogmas and rules.
by focusing on religious ideals. The article begins with an elucidation of the concept
‘religious ideals’ and an explanation of the notion of reasonable pluralism, in order to be able to explore the dangers and positive contributions of religious ideals and their pursuit on a liberal democratic society. We draw our examples of religious ideals from Christianity and Islam, because these religions have most adherents in Western liberal democracies that are the focus of this article. The fifth and most important section ‘‘Reasonable pluralism and the inclusion of religious ideals in public secondary schools’’ provides three arguments for our claim that public schools should include religious ideals, namely that they are important to religious people, that they are conducive for the development of pupils into citizens of a liberal democracy, and that the flourishing of pupils as adults is advanced by encountering religious ideals. We also offer a more practical reason: religious ideals can more easily be included within public education than religious dogmas and rules.
Research Interests: Religion, Religious Education, Philosophy of Education, Islamic Education, Educational Philosophy, and 13 moreRawls, Religiosity, Public Education, Ideals, Religious schools, ideals, philosophy, Religious Schools, Religious Instruction, Public vs Private Schools, Teaching religion in school, Overlapping Consensus, Agreement In Judgment, Strict Consensus, and Strictly Partitioned Consensus
This study aimed to validate a Religious Collective Self-Esteem Scale (RCSES) that assesses children’s evaluations and judgments about their belonging to a religious group. The RCSES includes 3 subscales: Private Religious Self-Esteem... more
This study aimed to validate a Religious Collective Self-Esteem Scale (RCSES) that assesses children’s evaluations and judgments about their belonging to a religious group. The RCSES includes 3 subscales: Private Religious Self-Esteem (PrRSE), Public Religious Self-Esteem (PuRSE), and Importance to Religious Identity (RI). Data were gathered from students in 39 primary schools (9 Reformed Protestant, 9 Islamic, 3 Hindu and 18 public schools) across five regions in the Netherlands.
Research Interests:
À travers le continent européen, des différences considérables se rencontrent, s’agissant des aspects suivants : le christianisme, une dénomination historiquement dominante ; la liberté d’opérer accordée aux écoles confessionnelles,... more
À travers le continent européen, des différences considérables
se rencontrent, s’agissant des aspects suivants : le christianisme, une
dénomination historiquement dominante ; la liberté d’opérer accordée aux écoles
confessionnelles, sur le plan institutionnel mais également associatif, pédagogique
et organisationnel ; les systèmes de reddition de comptes mis en place ; les
tendances conservatrices ou progressistes de chaque école prise individuellement ;
les significations différentes revêtues par les termes « public » et « privé » dans
le domaine éducatif ; le pourcentage d’enfants fréquentant des écoles confessionnelles
; le choix de privilégier ou non, à l’embauche, des membres d’une confession
donnée ; le degré de concurrence créé par la « loi du marché » entre les écoles
confessionnelles et leurs équivalents laïcs, etc. Ces facteurs, et de nombreux
autres, influencent la façon dont les écoles confessionnelles continuent de fonctionner
en Europe au vingt-et-unième siècle.
se rencontrent, s’agissant des aspects suivants : le christianisme, une
dénomination historiquement dominante ; la liberté d’opérer accordée aux écoles
confessionnelles, sur le plan institutionnel mais également associatif, pédagogique
et organisationnel ; les systèmes de reddition de comptes mis en place ; les
tendances conservatrices ou progressistes de chaque école prise individuellement ;
les significations différentes revêtues par les termes « public » et « privé » dans
le domaine éducatif ; le pourcentage d’enfants fréquentant des écoles confessionnelles
; le choix de privilégier ou non, à l’embauche, des membres d’une confession
donnée ; le degré de concurrence créé par la « loi du marché » entre les écoles
confessionnelles et leurs équivalents laïcs, etc. Ces facteurs, et de nombreux
autres, influencent la façon dont les écoles confessionnelles continuent de fonctionner
en Europe au vingt-et-unième siècle.
Research Interests: Religion, European Studies, Segregation, School Choice, Religious Schools, and 11 moreFaith schools, Sociologie de l'éducation, Philosophie de l'éducation, Histoire de l'Europe, Diversité religieuse, Histoire De L'éducation, Sociologie De L'Education, Ecoles Primaires, Confessional Education, Libre choix des individus, and écoles confessionnelles
In this paper I examine in detail the continued – and curious – popularity of religious schools in an otherwise ‘secular’ twenty-first century Europe. To do this I consider a number of motivations underwriting the decision to place... more
In this paper I examine in detail the continued – and curious – popularity of
religious schools in an otherwise ‘secular’ twenty-first century Europe. To do this
I consider a number of motivations underwriting the decision to place one’s
child in a religious school and delineate what are likely the best empirically
supported explanations for the continued dominant position of Protestant and
Catholic schools. I then argue that institutional racism is an explanatory
variable that empirical researchers typically avoid, though it informs both
parental assessments of school quality as well as selective mechanisms many
mainstream religious schools use to function as domains of exclusion. I then
distinguish between religious schools in a dominant position from those
serving disadvantaged minorities and argue that the latter are able to play a
crucially important function other schools only rarely provide and hence that
vulnerable minorities may have reason to value.
religious schools in an otherwise ‘secular’ twenty-first century Europe. To do this
I consider a number of motivations underwriting the decision to place one’s
child in a religious school and delineate what are likely the best empirically
supported explanations for the continued dominant position of Protestant and
Catholic schools. I then argue that institutional racism is an explanatory
variable that empirical researchers typically avoid, though it informs both
parental assessments of school quality as well as selective mechanisms many
mainstream religious schools use to function as domains of exclusion. I then
distinguish between religious schools in a dominant position from those
serving disadvantaged minorities and argue that the latter are able to play a
crucially important function other schools only rarely provide and hence that
vulnerable minorities may have reason to value.
Research Interests: Comparative Religion, Sociology of Religion, History of Religion, Religion and Politics, Segregation, and 24 moreRace and Racism, Islamic Education, Michel Houellebecq, Freedom of Religion, Secularization, Muslim Minorities, Secularisms and Secularities, Religious Extremism, Comparative Education, Nostalgia, School Choice, Institutional racism, Religious Minorities, Parental Choice, Religion in Europe, Religious Schools, Voluntary Separation, Secularisation in Europe, Faith schools, Freedom of Conscience, Private education, denominational schools, minorities in Education, Parochial Schools, Islamic Schools, and Religious Indoctrination
In this study we investigate the impact of Catholic schooling on academic achievement of native Belgian and Muslim immigrant pupils. The distinctive characteristics of Catholic schools in Belgium (Flanders) form an exceptionally... more
In this study we investigate the impact of Catholic schooling on academic
achievement of native Belgian and Muslim immigrant pupils. The distinctive
characteristics of Catholic schools in Belgium (Flanders) form an
exceptionally suitable context to study this. Multilevel latent growth
curve analyses are conducted with data from approximately 5,000 pupils
across 200 primary schools. We find no support for the Catholic school
advantage hypothesis as the overall achievement growth for math and
reading was not significantly better in Catholic schools than in public
schools. Likewise, we find no evidence for the so-called “common
school effect” hypothesis: to wit, the learning growth of Muslim pupils was not
significantly better in Catholic schools. In fact, the initial achievement
gap was found to be higher in Catholic schools than in public schools.
Implications of these findings are discussed.
achievement of native Belgian and Muslim immigrant pupils. The distinctive
characteristics of Catholic schools in Belgium (Flanders) form an
exceptionally suitable context to study this. Multilevel latent growth
curve analyses are conducted with data from approximately 5,000 pupils
across 200 primary schools. We find no support for the Catholic school
advantage hypothesis as the overall achievement growth for math and
reading was not significantly better in Catholic schools than in public
schools. Likewise, we find no evidence for the so-called “common
school effect” hypothesis: to wit, the learning growth of Muslim pupils was not
significantly better in Catholic schools. In fact, the initial achievement
gap was found to be higher in Catholic schools than in public schools.
Implications of these findings are discussed.
Research Interests: Social Capital, Muslim Minorities, Belgium, Flanders, Catholic Religious Education, and 15 moreReligious Schools, Catholic schools as learning organizations and teacher commitment, Faith schools, Public vs Private Schools, James Coleman, Catholic Schools, Public Schools, Catholic Education, Muslim Students, Algemeen Reglement voor het Katholiek Onderwijs, Katholieke identiteit, Catholic school advantage, common school effect, Katholiek Onderwijs, and Prestaties van Katholieke scholen
In this article we examine the reasons for the establishment of Hindu schools in the Netherlands and how the Dutch system of education facilitates these and other voluntarily separate schools. In particular, we explore the manner in... more
In this article we examine the reasons for the establishment of Hindu
schools in the Netherlands and how the Dutch system of education facilitates
these and other voluntarily separate schools. In particular, we explore
the manner in which Hindu schools aim to cultivate and sustain attachments
to their own group through a culturally specific approach to learning and
belonging that promises greater educational equality. We argue that
the special features of Dutch Hindu schools, as a form of voluntary separation,
may better facilitate and promote equality of educational opportunity than
other options available to the Dutch Hindu community.
schools in the Netherlands and how the Dutch system of education facilitates
these and other voluntarily separate schools. In particular, we explore
the manner in which Hindu schools aim to cultivate and sustain attachments
to their own group through a culturally specific approach to learning and
belonging that promises greater educational equality. We argue that
the special features of Dutch Hindu schools, as a form of voluntary separation,
may better facilitate and promote equality of educational opportunity than
other options available to the Dutch Hindu community.
Research Interests: Christianity, Hinduism, Sociology of Religion, Sociology of Education, Equality Studies, and 20 morePhilosophy of Education, Segregation, Race and Ethnicity, Minority Studies, Equality, Ethnic minorities, Educational Equity and Justice, Islam, Judaism, Hindu Studies, Netherlands, Religious schools, ideals, philosophy, Religious Schools, Voluntary Separation, Faith schools, Hindu Education, Hindu Schools, School Segregration, Minderheden, and Religieuze Scholen
The primary aim of this chapter is to assess how well, and by what means, Hindu schools try to accomplish the aims of integration in a vernacular that is predicated on voluntary separation. Though Hindu schools are open to non-Hindu... more
The primary aim of this chapter is to assess how well, and by what means, Hindu
schools try to accomplish the aims of integration in a vernacular that is predicated
on voluntary separation. Though Hindu schools are open to non-Hindu children,
their primary aim is to educate children of like cultural and religious background.
And, like other schools whose instructional design is religiously specific, Hindu
schools have faith-building, identity formation and emancipation among their central
aims. We will explore the specific cultural and religious components that are
used to form the identities of children, and how these are operationalized as emancipatory
practices. In particular, we will examine how these features are conceptualized,
developed and connected to learning, and how Hindu schools concretely prepare
pupils to negotiate their place in a society in which they are visible minorities.
Further, to the extent possible, we will investigate whether the academic outcomes
Hindu schools strive for are bearing fruit.
schools try to accomplish the aims of integration in a vernacular that is predicated
on voluntary separation. Though Hindu schools are open to non-Hindu children,
their primary aim is to educate children of like cultural and religious background.
And, like other schools whose instructional design is religiously specific, Hindu
schools have faith-building, identity formation and emancipation among their central
aims. We will explore the specific cultural and religious components that are
used to form the identities of children, and how these are operationalized as emancipatory
practices. In particular, we will examine how these features are conceptualized,
developed and connected to learning, and how Hindu schools concretely prepare
pupils to negotiate their place in a society in which they are visible minorities.
Further, to the extent possible, we will investigate whether the academic outcomes
Hindu schools strive for are bearing fruit.
Research Interests:
Ours is a world of massive inequality, in terms of both opportunity and the outcomes that shape well-being. We focus in this White Paper on the kinds of inequalities of opportunity (and in some instances, outcomes) that matter within the... more
Ours is a world of massive inequality, in terms of both opportunity and the outcomes that shape well-being. We focus in this White Paper on the kinds of inequalities of opportunity (and in some instances, outcomes) that matter within the educational domain. As we proceed, we focus primarily on synthesizing research concerning inequalities of race, ethnicity, class, and to a lesser extent gender and ability, in education and schools.