ERIC Number: EJ888971
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Jul
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1245
EISSN: N/A
Slogging and Stumbling toward Social Justice in a Private Elementary School: The Complicated Case of St. Malachy
Scanlan, Martin
Education and Urban Society, v42 n5 p572-598 Jul 2010
This case study examines St. Malachy, an urban Catholic elementary school primarily serving children traditionally marginalized by race, class, linguistic heritage, and disability. As a private school, St. Malachy serves the public good by recruiting and retaining such traditionally marginalized students. As empirical studies involving Catholic schools frequently juxtapose them with public schools, the author presents this examination from a different tack. Neither vilifying nor glorifying Catholic schooling, this study critically examines the pursuit of social justice in this school context. Data gathered through a 1-year study show that formal and informal leaders in St. Malachy adapted their governance, aggressively sought community resources, and focused their professional development to build the capacity to serve their increasingly pluralistic student population. The analysis confirms the deepening realization that striving toward social justice is a messy, contradictory, and complicated pursuit, and that schools in both public and private sectors are allies in this pursuit.
Descriptors: Social Justice, Catholic Schools, Private Schools, Community Resources, Elementary Schools, Urban Schools, Governance, Educational Administration, Professional Development, Student Diversity, Cultural Pluralism, Racial Factors, Trustees, Resource Allocation, Institutional Mission
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A