NNoorrtthheerrnn MMiicchhiiggaann UUnniivveerrssiittyy NNMMUU CCoommmmoonnss All NMU Master's Theses Student Works 5-2015 PPEEDDAAGGOOGGIICCAALL PPRRAAXXIISS IINN AANN AAGGEE OOFF PPRRIIVVAATTIIZZAATTIIOONN:: TTHHEE CCOONNTTRRAADDIICCTTIIOONN OOFF CCHHAARRTTEERR SSCCHHOOOOLLSS Tracy D. Haack Northern Michigan University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.nmu.edu/theses Part of the Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, and the Educational Methods Commons RReeccoommmmeennddeedd CCiittaattiioonn Haack, Tracy D., "PEDAGOGICAL PRAXIS IN AN AGE OF PRIVATIZATION: THE CONTRADICTION OF CHARTER SCHOOLS" (2015). All NMU Master's Theses. 43. https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/43 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at NMU Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in All NMU Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of NMU Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. PEDAGOGICAL PRAXIS IN AN AGE OF PRIVATIZATION: THE CONTRADICTION OF CHARTER SCHOOLS By Tracy Haack THESIS Submitted to Northern Michigan University In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Office of Graduate Education and Research May 2015 SIGNATURE APPROVAL FORM Title of Thesis: Pedagogical Praxis in an Age of Privatization: the Contradiction of Charter Schools This thesis by Tracy Haack is recommended for approval by the student’s thesis committee in the Department of English and by the Dean of Graduate Studies. Committee Chair: Dr. Lisa Eckert Date First Reader: Dr. Elizabeth Monske Date Second Reader: N/A Date Faculty Chair: Dr. Robert Whalen Date Dr. Brian D. Cherry Date Assistant Provost of Graduate Education and Research ABSTRACT PEDAGOGICAL PRAXIS IN AN AGE OF PRIVATIZATION: THE CONTRADICTION OF CHARTER SCHOOLS By Tracy Haack This study investigates a perceived inconsistency between pedagogical theory and uncritical practice in education, specifically in charter schools. The researcher reflects on the historical creation of charter schools to fulfill the needs of struggling students in contrast to a perception of modern charter schools that are more rigorous or specialized. The study includes thematically coded interview data from five Midwestern charter school educators in conjunction with site visits including two unspecified charters and two Montessori charters. Educators are asked to describe their evolving teaching philosophies, views on the purposes of education, and identify differences between charter schools and traditional public schools. Three primary themes emerged in educator rhetoric including: 1. instruction of values, 2. language charged by the free-market metaphor, and 3. issues of access for ESL and disabled students. The conclusion posits that homogenous teaching theory can result in uncritical practice and education reforms that do not meet the needs of all students. Thus, not meeting the original vision of charter schools. Themes are analyzed using the critical theory of Louis Althusser who identifies ideological systems and Paulo Freire who discusses the goals of public education as a “democratizing” experience. i Copyright by TRACY DANIELLE HAACK 2015 ii DEDICATION For Joseph So many miles later. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank Dr. Lisa Eckert for her constant support and willingness to answer just one more question. I would also like to thank Dr. Elizabeth Monske for reminding me that I just need to articulate a question. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the dedication of the teachers interviewed. I am grateful for you. This thesis follows the format prescribed by the MLA Style Manual and the Department of English. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter One: Inventing the Modern Charter School ...........................................................4 Chapter Two: Visiting Midwestern Charters .....................................................................12 Chapter Three: Instruction of Values .................................................................................28 Chapter Four: Language Charged by the Free-Market Metaphor .....................................39 Chapter Five: Access ........................................................................................................46 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................50 Works Cited .......................................................................................................................55 Appendices .........................................................................................................................57 v INTRODUCTION I teach college composition to students who don’t particularly see themselves as college students and certainly not as writers. In many instances, the rigid classroom model does not work for my developmental students. For example, I taught a class composed of numerous first-generation college students with a multitude of self- proclaimed Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder diagnoses. My students were quick to ask for tips about staying focused on the readings, staying committed to their essays after the first page, and staying present during a mini-lesson on MLA formatting. These students struggled against the curriculum in ways I never experienced, always working harder to achieve the same results as their more focused peers. When I created my course schedule, I did not adequately anticipate the needs of these students. After the semester began, I was forced to throw out the schedule, but I did not see the adjustments made to the course as a teacher or a student failure. Rather, I saw the changes as confirmation that education is a human institution where teachers need to make decisions based on individuals. I also made changes in my content delivery. The same lesson on source inclusion was not working with this fidgety, sleepy, distracted class. It was important to push these students to move around the room, to teach each other, and to work with physical manipulatives. Making these changes, however, came at a cost. Having students teach each other about thesis statements takes longer than having the entire class listen to me talk about thesis statements. As a result, I had to omit some of the schedule to have time to learn fewer things at a greater depth. I knew what material my students needed to master in order to meet our performance objectives. If the time and 1 energy a teacher puts into planning always yielded the same outcomes, my students should have been learning at an unprecedented rate of intellectual and personal growth. In reality, I discovered an inconsistency between my pedagogical theory and practice. I could not anticipate my students’ particular interests and concerns. As I made these changes, I wondered what happens when a K-12 public school teacher discovers gaps in student knowledge. I questioned what happens when standardized testing and Common Core insist upon the same content in the most efficient timeline because human students need to translate into performance data when standardized testing results are evaluated. These approaches fail to recognize that education is subject to human responses such as theoretical questioning and constant revisions to our pedagogical practice. Testing and standards are attempts to be objective when education is fundamentally a subjective experience that requires criticality. At the same time, I was taking a Critical Theory course where I was introduced to the texts of Paulo Freire, and I began to see education in terms of “banking instruction” and ideology. Freire is a proponent of education as a democratizing experience. He taught laborers how to read. He believed the strength of our character is in our practice rather than just our theory. This thinking extended to his political and pedagogical position as well. He says, “It is truly difficult to make a democracy. Democracy, like any dream, is not made with spiritual words but with reflection and practice. It is not what I say that says I am democrat, that I am not racist or machista, but what I do. What I say must not be contradicted by what I do” (67). Freire specifically meant that his pedagogy could not 2