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A Teachers Distinctive Role in Promoting Democratic Equality and Justice

In this paper a teachers role in a democracy will be explored. Teachers role in

education and in justice will also be explored according federal and state constitutional mandates

and according to John Rawls definition of social justice. I will argue that it is the role of a

teacher in a democracy to educate students well and to provide an equal education to all their

students regardless of policy constraints and regardless of variations in students skills, culture,

economic backgrounds, or any other differences that segregate people in a democratic society. I

show that this is possible through the case of Finland. Finally, I discuss how policy can

undermine teachers capacity to educate all students well and to provide an equal education.

Schools typically labeled as failing schools are urban schools that serve students who are

predominately minorities. Instead of providing these urban schools with greater financial

resources that would support more educational resources that would address the multitude of

students needs, and support minorities equal education, federal policy has reduced their

educational resources and in new ESSA policy undermined teacher education.

Teachers are to teach students how to serve and uphold democracy. In Michigan this is

explicitly required by the state constitution. The preamble to the education article of Michigans

Constitution states that morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the

happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged

(Michigan Constitution of 1963. Article VIII, Section 1). Despite challenges, teachers must

uphold equality and justice through equal and quality education to fulfill the needs of a

democracy.
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Education is privilege of all American citizens that must be provided to all citizens. As

stated in the 14th Amendment requires that of the United States Constitution, No state shall

make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the

United States, nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty without due process of

law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.. (Fourteenth

Amendment, http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv). Education is not

mentioned in the U.S. federal constitution and it is therefore a function that is delegated to the

states. All state constitutions delineate both the institutional structures for the provision of

education and the substantive focus of education. Education is a persons right in America and

the 14th amendment guarantees equal protection or the equal right for education law to be

implemented equitably. Laws may not benefit some more than others. It is the government and

the teachers responsibility to provide this equal, quality education. Although there are

significant barriers for educators to provide an equal and quality education, all students in a

democratic society are entitled to this democratic right.

Teachers must ensure equality of opportunity in order for justice to be realized.

Philosopher John Rawls has two principles of justice: 1) Everyone in a society has the same set

of equal basic liberties and 2) In order for social and economic inequalities to be permissible in

a society that embodies justice as fairness, they must satisfy two conditionsa) there is fair

access and equality of opportunity to attain any offices or positions of influence, and b) those

in these positions use them for the greatest benefit of those who are least advantaged. As Miller

(2003) states in regards to John Rawls theory of social justice, it must also be true that

applicants have had an equal opportunity to become qualified [positions of advantage]

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(Miller, p.89). According to Rawls, social positions carrying greater- higher paying jobs for

instance- must be open to on the basis of equality of opportunity. (Miller, p.89). Education

impacts justice because the level and quality of education a people are provided impacts their

ability to secure these positions in society. It is for this reason that equal education is so

important to upholding democratic liberties.

A teachers role in a democracy is to try to limit the levels of inequality that exist in a

democracy by equalizing their standard of education. Equality starts in the classroom and goes

beyond just helping students to see each other not as labels used in society to discriminate and

segregate individuals based on differences or acting and/or living in opposition to the status quo.

Students have many differences economically, socially, psychologically, and cognitively, and at

varying degrees. Other differences include cultural, religion, sexuality, and gender identity.

Students all have different individual needs. According to David Miller (2003), One good

reason for not treating people in the same way is that they have different needs. (p.81). A

teacher, therefore, must be able to take all these differences and provide the necessary support to

educate all students equally and have awareness of how each individual needs to be treated.

Equal education does not mean everything for each student is exactly the same. It means that

the teacher meets the individual students needs with equal effort and resources. Helping to

realize democratic begins when teachers address their individual students needs through

selecting proper methods, materials, and developing interpersonal relationship between teacher

and student. The teachers need to exercise their freedom to trust their instinct and pedagogical

knowledge to determine how best to serve all the students needs and to execute the act of

teaching accordingly.
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Though this can be challenging, justice in education is not impossible. Equity is

regularly realized by teachers in Finland. For example, according to the article, What

Americans Keep Ignoring about Finlands School Success by Aru Partanen (2011), the

number of foreign-born residents in Finland doubled during the decade leading up to 2010, and

the country didnt lose its edge in education. (para. 29). This demonstrates that the country

ranked number one in the world according to Newsweek, and has created an educational system

that meets its goals by creating equitable education for all students regardless of cultural

differences and maintains the highest level of education for all. (Partanen, 2011, para. 2). This is

what teachers, in all democratic societies, need to be able to provide. Equal education of their

students ensures an educated and highly functioning democracy. As stated in the Aru Partanen

(2011) article, Finlands experience suggests that to win at the game, a country has got to

prepare, not just some of the population well, but all of its population well, for the new

economy. (What Americans Keep Ignoring about Finlands School Success, para. 33). In

Finland, there is not competition amongst schools, teachers, or students but cooperation. not

choice but equality is the primary fundamental principle in Finlands model of education.

(Partanen, 2011, para. 36). This level of equal education provided by teachers promotes and

protects liberty and justice in a democracy.

Teachers must ensure equality of opportunity but there are significant barriers in

American education that affects teachers capacity to do so. Many barriers were created by No

Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation control of education, which prevent the resources,

flexibility, and teacher input that would allot such teaching and equality in education to take

place. As stated in the David Couch (2015) article Highly Trained, Respected and Free: Why
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Finlands Teachers are Different, The high-level training is the basis for giving young teachers

a great deal of autonomy to choose what methods they use in the classroom in contrast to

England, Krokfors says, where she feels teaching is somewhere between administration and

giving tests to students. (para. 8). Teachers in a democratic society should be given the

opportunity to make important decisions regarding their students needs and allowed the freedom

and support to address those needs. For example, if a student has immigrated to the United States

from Mexico and does not know how to write his/her name, the first step in teaching this student

is to teach them how to write his/her name. The teacher should be allowed to assess the

students writing skills in the way they perceive to be the most informative and use the tools they

know to be most effective in teaching a student how to write. The student should not be

expected to uphold a state standard that is based on native English speakers, and a white

middle/upper class life experiences. This is best stated by a Leena Krokfors, a professor at

Helsinki University, states, Teachers need to have this high-quality education so they really do

know how to use the freedom they are given, and learn to solve problems in a research-based

way The most important thing we teach them is to make pedagogical decisions and judgments

for themselves. (Couch, 2015, para. 9). The tests and standards as currently implemented in the

American educational system omit the premise of meeting students educational needs and

strengthening their knowledge. As stated in the Sleeter and Stillman (2005) article regarding

Californias standards, the dearth of instructional strategies for teachers of English Language

learnersdiscourage straying from or expanding upon the curriculum even in the interest of

meeting the needs of individual students. (Standardizing Knowledge in a Multicultural Society,

p.42). In California, state standards are so restrictive some districts teachers are only to teach
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concepts from state provided scripts. Teachers in these districts are not even allotted the freedom

to freely answer questions but defer back to the script re-reading information already presented

in the lesson. For example, it the students were reading Sadako by Eleanor Coerr and wanted

to know why the main character died the teacher would be limited to what the script dictates.

The teacher would not be able to describe the events of Pearl Harbor or the details of the Atomic

Bomb, beyond what was detailed in the script. This method of teaching is significantly different

from the autonomous methods, which promote educational equality of a democracy.

Those who have the most significant political power are those who were given the

opportunities to an education that provided resources to meet all students needs. This higher

educational standard creates a more well-rounded and educated individual that has the skills to

perform the tasks required at political positions and also professional jobs. This quality

education also instills traits in students required for these jobs, such as engineering, teaching, or a

job in the medical profession. The educational opportunity to acquire these skills and traits

should not be reserved solely for the elite at the highest end of the socioeconomic food-chain.

Political and power positions of social power should be made available to the all the democratic

citizens. This is justice in a democracy.

However, injustice in the education system is obvious. An example of this educational

injustice is demonstrated in the funding discrepancies between urban and suburban schools. In

Chicago Public Schools, which consists of an 87% black and Latino Population, it spends

approximately $8,482 annually per student. Highland Park, 90% white student population

spends approximately $17,291 per student. (Ladson-Billings, 2006). Students in urban areas are

getting less funding all over the country, providing them with an inequitable and low-grade
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quality education. This is inconsistent with the 14 th Amendment and fails to uphold equal and

quality education for all students. Funding should be equal for every student, in every district in

a democracy. Inadequate funding provides districts with less teaching tools and less qualified

educators because these require money. Removing funding from urban schools removes valuable

resources that would aid in properly and adequately educating mostly impoverished, minority

students. Extracting money from urban schools extracts opportunities for these students to

acquire the education necessary to gain professional employment in their futures, leaving them to

accept low wage positions securing them a position in poverty. This is what allows the jobs of

power and higher pay to remain opportunities for white, educated people.

Students, regardless of vast differences in culture, religions, and native tongue, are

entitled to a free and equal education in America, and it is the teachers job to provide this.

People are not created equally; therefore, their education cannot be equal in a one size fits all

situation. There has to be differentiation in instruction to address all these differences. Teachers

must have the capacity, through pedagogical training, to have the ability to act in accordance to

their students needs.

Although the No Child Left Behind Legislation has provided overbearing and oppressive

obstacles to discourage true democratic education, it is the role and purpose of a teacher in a

democracy to promote education. One obstacle caused by No Child Left behind is the way it

effects school funding. If a schools state standardized test scores are low, the school is

identified as a failing school. Yearly test score goals are established for every school to

identify a schools academic progress. This measurement of a schools academic progress is

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called Annual Yearly Progress. If a school does not achieve this test score goal they are

deemed a failing school. Failing schools, instead of getting more school funding, lose

funding. Linda Darling-Hammond (2004) states, schools that have been identified as not

meeting AYP [Annual Yearly Progress] standards stand to lose federal funding (p. 14).

Schools typically labeled as failing schools are urban schools that serve students who are

predominately minorities. Therefore, instead of providing these urban schools with greater

financial resources, which would support more educational resources that would address the

multitude of students needs and support minorities equal education, it reduces their educational

resources.

Some of the most significant flaws of No Child Left Behind have been addressed in the

newly passed Every Student Succeeds Act. Provisions made in the Every Child Succeeds

Act removes federal control over professional teaching standards, licensing, or certification, and

places this control solely in the states jurisdiction. (Strauss, 2015 December 5). Every Child

Succeeds Act, according to Kenneth Zeichner, a professor of teacher education at the University

of Washington at Seattle, permits teacher education to be achieved through non-traditional, non-

university programs funded by venture philanthropists. (Strauss, 2015 December 5). These

provisions impact urban districts quality of education in the following ways. It prohibits the

federal government from overseeing the quality of education a teacher receives, which allows

uneducated, ill-prepared people into teaching positions. These uneducated, ill-prepared teachers

will be employed at urban schools where students are already suffering due to lack of

educational funding, and resources which has resulted in educational deficiencies. Placing

teachers in these classroom settings will not serve to provide urban students with an equal and
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quality education, but aid in furthering their educational deficiencies. This is unjust in

democracy. Purposely, and actively providing inadequate tools, ill-educated teachers, and

methods that prohibit learning and furthering the education of students is the antithesis of justice

in a democracy.

By preventing the Federal government involvement if a state is employing grossly under-

educated, ill-prepared teachers to educate the students, there are no checks and balances in the

realm of education. States can hire anyone as long as the graduated from a teacher academy. If

these teachers fail to educate their students, and creates a deeply uneducated populous and

theres no external recourse. There is no external intervention. For states that historically fail to

provide minority students an equal and quality education, this provision is monumental. It

allows these states to purposely hire inadequate teachers to provide a poor education to

impoverished, minority students without recourse. This is unjust and anti-democratic. All

students in a democracy are required to receive an equal and quality education. This provision

not only works in direct opposition to these educational values, it effectively supports and

encourages the violation of these values. For example, if a student is an English Language

Learner from Mexico, and only speaks Spanish, and the teacher does not have the teaching

strategies to teach an English Language Learner student and meet their educational needs, this

student will learn little, if anything, throughout the course of the schoolyear. As a result of the

student not making progress, for an entire school year, in acquiring grade level skills ensures the

child will not acquire the necessary skills to achieve academic success the following school year

and so on. This is not educating all students. Allowing teachers to be educated through a fast-

track means is unjust. Teachers teach by acknowledging and addressing students educational
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needs. Failure to do this, equates to failure to educate students. Failure to educate, is a failure to

democracy. Placing unprepared teachers into classrooms sets students up for failure and

ultimately removes them from any opportunity to improve their quality of life as adults.

A teachers role in a democracy is to provide equal and quality education to each and

every student regardless of policy, and regardless of variations in students skills, culture,

economic backgrounds, or any other differences that segregate people in a democratic society.

Teachers must seek ways to counteract these elements and do everything they can to provide

justice to students through equal education. There are new barriers created by the Every Child

Succeeds Act in providing equal, quality education because it allows ill-prepared educators in

classrooms. Although this has the greatest negative impact on the minority students, because

their educational resources are so limited. It also impacts the democracy because it denies

citizens from adequate resources to acquire a quality education, leaving predominately

uneducated populous to make decisions. This impacts all members of the democracy, not just the

urban setting. Equal and quality education is critical to creating a just democracy. Finland has

provided the education world with an effective and applicable model for providing an equal and

quality education to all students. Proving the achievement of creating highly educated students

is obtainable, and it is the teachers responsibly to provide this quality education.

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References

Couch, David. (2015, June 17). Highly trained, Respected, and Free: Why Finlands Teachers

are different. The Guardian. Retrieved from

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/jun/17/highly-trained-respected-and-free-

why-finlands-teachers-are-different

Fourteenth Amendment. Retrieved April 17, 2016 from

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv

Ladson-Billings, Gloria. (2006, October). From the Achievement Gap to the Education Debt:

Understanding Achievement in U.S. Schools. American Educational Research

Association. 35. P. 3-12.

Meier, D., Kohn, A., Darling-Hammond, L., Sizer, T.R., & Wood, G., (2004). Many children left

behind: How the no child left behind act is damaging our children and our schools. D.

Meier (Ed.). G. Wood (Ed.). Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Michigan Constitution, 8,1 (1963).

Mill, John Stuart. (1869). On Liberty. Retrieved April 14, 2016 from

http://www.bartleby.com/130/1.html

Miller, David. (2003). Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University

Press. P.74-91
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Partanen, Anu. (2011, December 29). What Americans Keep Ignoring about Finlands School

Success. The Atlantic. Retrieved from

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-

about-finlands-school-success/250564/

Sleeter, Christine, & Jamy, Stillman. (2005, Spring). Standardizing Knowledge in a

Multicultural Society. Curriculum Inquiry. Vol. 35(1). p.27-46.

Strauss, Valerie. (2015, December 5). The Disturbing Provisions about No Child Left Behind

Rewrite. The Washington Post. Retrieved from

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/12/05/the-disturbing-

provisions-about-teacher-preparation-in-no-child-left-behind-rewrite/