Volume 9, Number 1

Justice Oriented Transformative Collaboration in Schools as a Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic

  Authors

Noah Borrero and Christine J. Yeh, University of San Francisco, USA

  Abstract

The authors propose a justice-oriented model of transformative collaboration in schools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, school closures, and forced distance learning efforts. The inequities and injustices highlighted by this global crisis have spurred new insights into the deep need to collectivize within public schools, communities, and institutions of higher education. These new complex and overwhelming challenges in education offer a catalyst for innovation, movement building and ways to foster humanizing education. And with this vision in mind, the authors introduce the concept of transformative collaboration which is grounded in three principles that set the stage for attendant interventions, strategies, and priorities. These include: (1) fostering collectivistic identities; (2) harnessing cultural assets; and (3) collectivizing for liberation. Using examples from K-12 and university contexts in the United States, the authors present guiding questions and considerations for future collective work among educational stakeholders.

  Keywords

COVID-19 pandemic, social justice in education, cultural assets, pedagogical strategies.