Organized: an exploration of teachers' engagement in grassroots organizing
Date
2018
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This multi-method qualitative study explored why, how, and in what contexts a
group of Philadelphia teachers engaged in grassroots organizing (McAlevey, 2016). At
a time when educators across the country are increasingly participating in bottom-up,
grassroots movements seeking more democratic visions of education reform, this
critically bifocal (Weis & Fine, 2012) project situated the motivations and activities of
these teacher-organizers within the larger neoliberal context of the city and school
district of Philadelphia. Drawing on narrative inquiry (Chase, 2005; Connely &
Clandinin, 1990), critical place inquiry (Massey, 1993; Massey, 1994) and
ethnography (Vargas, 2008), this dissertation provides insight into the understandings
and experiences of the teachers as well as the tangible means by which they engaged
in grassroots organizing in the challenging environment of Philadelphia. ☐ More specifically, teachers of this inquiry were found to be embodying the two
key elements of Freire’s (1970) definition of praxis, “reflection and action upon the
world in order to transform it” (p. 70, emphasis added). Pairing activities centered on
learning and reflection (e.g. book groups) with activities centered on taking action and
seeking change (e.g. policy campaigns), the dual elements of praxis played an
essential role in actualizing McAlevey’s (2016) model of grassroots organizing within
the teachers’ work.