(Re)Meditating Systems Change: Disability, Language & Difference

This is a course about gaining a deep understanding of the levers of systems change in K-12 education focusing especially on (re)mediating systems in ways that center inclusion, equity, and justice. This course is concerned with systems change processes: why we need them; what they look like; and what theories can be called upon to guide them. We will examine the role of educational reform processes. We will examine various conceptions how reform efforts bear on systems change efforts at all levels of education: the classroom, the school, the district, and the state and federal levels of educational policy. In this course, we will examine contemporary theories of educational systems change that pay close attention to Disability, Language, and Difference. We will consider some examples of how these change processes interact to improve academic and social outcomes for all students, especially those who have been historically marginalized. We will consider urban, suburban, and rural applications of these processes, as major sources of evidence for what works and what fails. We will consider the "big picture" of our society, its values, and its economic position in a global economy to better understand why the need for systems change, which may seem obvious, is so difficult to achieve in practice.