We are not “scared” of educators but do understand the fear that many may and do feel, and why some people may believe that “education” has a disproportionately negative effect on them and those close to them. With so much wealth, technological prowess, innovation, and economic development, why do we still have marginalization, social inequalities, conflict, mass incarceration and generational poverty?
The connection to democracy, Education for Democracy (EfD) and social justice is, for Carr and Thésée, clear, and this volume interweaves a narrative within these themes based on a Freirian theoretical backdrop. Aiming to deconstruct, re-imagine and plan for a more meaningful, vibrant, social-just-based democracy that problematizes the normative, representative, hegemonic democracy in place that holds sway over formal relations, institutions, processes and education is a central preoccupation for the authors. This book presents a vision for transformative education and EfD, seeking to cultivate, stimulate and support political and media literacy, critical engagement and a re-conceptualization of what education is, and, importantly, how it can address entrenched, systemic and institutional problems that plague society. Based on over a decade of empirical research in a range of contexts and jurisdictions, the authors strive to link teaching and learning with agency, solidarity, action and transformative change within the conceptual framework of a critically-engaged EfD.
Author Biography:
Paul R. Carr is a Full Professor in the Department of Education at the Université du Québec en Outaouais and the Chair-holder of the UNESCO Chair in Democracy, Global Citizenship and Transformative Education (DCMÉT). He is the co-editor of seventeen books, the author of the Does Your Vote Count?: Democracy and Critical Pedagogy (New York: Peter Lang), published in 2011, and a number of articles, book chapters and other publications in English, French and Spanish.
Gina Thésée is Full Professor in the Department of Teacher Education, Faculty of Education, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), and is Co-Chair of the UNESCO Chair in Democracy, Global Citizenship and Transformative Education (DCMÉT). She is the past Director of the Bachelor in Secondary Education program, and recently completed a six-year term as a member of the Committee for Accreditation of Teacher Education Programs (CAPFE), an advisory committee to the Quebec Ministry of Education in Quebec. She is also a researcher in the Research Center for Environmental and Eco-citizenship Education (Centr’ERE) as well as an associate member of the Institute of Sciences, Technologies and Advanced Studies in Haiti (ISTEAH).
