Rethinking teachers’ production of social justice in rural schools

ABSTRACT

In this article I examine how teachers in a rural school in Australia produce social justice through their everyday teaching practices. Drawing on data from a qualitative study using focus groups and semi-structured interviews, I focus on teachers’ enactments of social justice pedagogies amidst social class divisions in the community. I draw on Iris Marion Young’s theory of justice to illustrate how a plural social justice education that includes teaching practices that create a relational process between teachers and students should be based on a politics of distribution, recognition and participation. In particular, I am concerned with Young’s formulation of plural social justice and democratic communication, and with her theorisation that issues of self-respect, self-determination and participation are not reducible to liberal theories of distributive justice that focus solely on the proper allocation of material goods. By rethinking the production of social justice in rural schools, I ultimately contribute to redressing the paucity of research on rural schooling in the field of education and to providing a better understanding of the relationship between a contested concept like justice and the everyday challenges faced by teachers endeavouring to deliver a quality education for all students in their school.

KEYWORDS:

• Social justice
• rural education
• teachers’ work
• social exclusion

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Hernan Cuervo is an Associate Professor at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, in the University of Melbourne, Australia. His research interests focus on theory of justice, youth studies, education, and rural studies.