Pub Date : 2018-11-01Epub Date: 2018-09-24DOI: 10.1177/1477878518801752
Michael S Merry, Richard Arum
Selection within the educational domain breeds a special kind of suspicion. Whether it is the absence of transparency in the selection procedure, the observable outcomes of the selection, or the criteria of selection itself, there is much to corroborate the suspicion many have that selection in practice is unfair. And certainly as it concerns primary and secondary education, the principle of educational equity requires that children not have their educational experiences or opportunities determined by their postcode, their ethnic status, first language, or family wealth. Indeed educational opportunities determined by unearned advantage or disadvantage offend against basic notions of fairness. But are public schools even permitted to select their students, and if so, how can selection procedures used by schools be best structured to achieve equitable ends? 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.
{"title":"Can schools fairly select their students?","authors":"Michael S Merry, Richard Arum","doi":"10.1177/1477878518801752","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1477878518801752","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Selection within the educational domain breeds a special kind of suspicion. Whether it is the absence of transparency in the selection procedure, the observable outcomes of the selection, or the criteria of selection itself, there is much to corroborate the suspicion many have that selection in practice is unfair. And certainly as it concerns primary and secondary education, the principle of educational equity requires that children not have their educational experiences or opportunities determined by their postcode, their ethnic status, first language, or family wealth. Indeed educational opportunities determined by unearned advantage or disadvantage offend against basic notions of fairness. But are public schools even permitted to select their students, and if so, how can selection procedures used by schools be best structured to achieve equitable ends? 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.</p>","PeriodicalId":92592,"journal":{"name":"Theory and research in education : TRE","volume":"16 3","pages":"330-350"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1477878518801752","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"36823136","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-07-01Epub Date: 2018-06-07DOI: 10.1177/1477878518779668
Michael S Merry
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.
{"title":"Indoctrination, Islamic schools, and the broader scope of harm.","authors":"Michael S Merry","doi":"10.1177/1477878518779668","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1477878518779668","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>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 <i>outside</i> 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 <i>pro tanto</i> reasons for Muslim parents to prefer an Islamic school over the alternatives, notwithstanding the potential indoctrinatory harm.</p>","PeriodicalId":92592,"journal":{"name":"Theory and research in education : TRE","volume":"16 2","pages":"162-178"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1477878518779668","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"36823135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-01Epub Date: 2018-03-20DOI: 10.1177/1477878518765017
Lynne S Wolbert, Doret J de Ruyter, Anders Schinkel
This article explores how parents should relate to a particular (ideal) aim of education, namely, their children's future flourishing lives. The article asks three (sub)questions: (1) What does 'aiming for flourishing' mean? (2) In what sense should parents have expectations? (3) Is hope an appropriate attitude for parents with regard to their children's flourishing lives? It is argued that although there is also a place for expectations, an attitude of hope best captures how parents should relate to the educational aim of flourishing. Hope not only refers to the commitment and desire of realizing the object of one's hope but also implies a recognition of the limitations of human powers and of the uncertainties inherent in striving for an ultimate aim.
{"title":"What attitude should parents have towards their children's future flourishing?","authors":"Lynne S Wolbert, Doret J de Ruyter, Anders Schinkel","doi":"10.1177/1477878518765017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1477878518765017","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article explores how parents should relate to a particular (ideal) aim of education, namely, their children's future flourishing lives. The article asks three (sub)questions: (1) What does 'aiming for flourishing' mean? (2) In what sense should parents have expectations? (3) Is hope an appropriate attitude for parents with regard to their children's flourishing lives? It is argued that although there is also a place for expectations, an attitude of hope best captures how parents should relate to the educational aim of flourishing. Hope not only refers to the commitment and desire of realizing the object of one's hope but also implies a recognition of the limitations of human powers and of the uncertainties inherent in striving for an ultimate aim.</p>","PeriodicalId":92592,"journal":{"name":"Theory and research in education : TRE","volume":"16 1","pages":"82-97"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1477878518765017","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"36823134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}