Well.... [tentatively raises hand] That's what I've been up to recently, I
guess.
In a small community in Michigan, close to a large GM auto assembly plant
which the company closed down. I've been working in the schools with both
individual students and individual teachers.
The community is caught up in historical change-the plant closing a small
part of the general transformation from a fordist to post-fordist economy,
plus both flavors of school reform: "market-place" reform implemented by
Republican Governor John Engler, and NSF-funded "systemic reform," awarded
first to the state, then to the school district I was in.
The schools too, consequently, are in the midst of historical change, from
internal (local) and external (state and federal) initiatives. And the
reformers aim to direct history-by having schools graduate young people who
are "prepared for the 21st century."
I've been trying to grasp how the local educators are trying to use the
schools to break the cycle of poverty and under-employment in the
community, without at the same time destroying it. And how the larger
efforts at rationalization of schooling are helping or hindering this.
And, throughout, how the children are making sense of all that is going on.
'tentative' because it's pretty complicated! I'm slowly working out modes
of analysis that seem adequate to the task.
Martin
===========
Martin Packer
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, PA 15282
office: (412) 396-4852
department: (412) 396-6520
packer who-is-at duq3.cc.duq.edu
http://www.duq.edu/liberalarts/gradpsych/packer.html