Is Teaching for Social Justice a Liberal Bias?

 

 

Is Teaching for Social Justice a �Liberal Bias�

by Barbara Applebaum � 2009

Background/Context: A charge heard repeatedly, especially in contemporary media by neo-conservatives such as David Horowitz and George Will, maintains that there is a �liberal bias� in North American academe. The primary grievance is that students in higher education are being indoctrinated into a left-wing ideology that discriminates against conservatives and that some professors are using their classrooms as a political podium at the expense of intellectual diversity. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The purpose of this project is to analytically assess the charge of �liberal bias� as it is specifically leveled at those who make social justice education a requirement of higher education, and especially teacher education.
Research Design: Using conceptual analysis, this project highlights two aspects of the charge: the charge of �bias� and the charge of �ideology/imposition.� It is argued that the charge of bias is grounded in an assumption about teacher neutrality. The concept of teacher neutrality is examined and shown to be primarily concerned with evenhandedness. It is concluded that under conditions of systemic injustice, social justice education is evenhanded. The charge of ideology/imposition is then explored, and it is argued that the underlying concern revolves around the development of critical reflection. Four different readings of �ideology� are delineated. It is argued that social justice education, although ideological in some sense, does not in principle involve imposition because it promotes rather than arrests criticality. The type of criticality that social justice education promotes is then elucidated.
Conclusions/Recommendations: Making social justice education a requirement of higher education is both evenhanded and, although a type of ideology, it promotes rather than impedes criticality. Educational researchers are exhorted to be less concerned about bias and ideology in regard to social justice education and to turn their attention to how privileged students can be educated without recentering their privilege in ways that sacrifice the education of the marginalized.

How can education recognize and repair not just the harm done by others but the harm that occurs under the name of education?¹

INTRODUCTION

The charge that there is a “liberal bias” in North American academe has been a prominent one both in the media and in academic scholarship. It is an umbrella accusation that involves many allegations, including issues of hiring, promotion, and teaching. In an oft-cited 1999 study of college faculty, Stanley Rothman et al.² found that 72 percent of the professors self-identified as left/liberal, in contrast to only 15 percent who self-identified as right/conservative. In addition, a study that surveyed the political affiliations of professors at the University of California at Berkeley and at Stanford found that democrats were overwhelmingly predominant.³ The primary grievances are that students in higher education are being indoctrinated into a left-wing ideology that discriminates against conservatives and that some professors are using their classrooms as a political podium at the expense of intellectual diversity. Whether these statistics are evidence for a “liberal bias” on North American campuses remains a hotly contested issue.⁴

This article engages the debate not at the point of contesting statistical imbalances. Rather, the focus is exclusively on the issues of pedagogical concern. A recent survey by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA)⁵ claims that nearly half of the students at 50 of the top universities and colleges in the United States complained that there was a “totally one-sided” approach in their courses around controversial issues. Yet many issues that fall under the ambiguous category of “controversial issues” are conflated in this survey. This article is not focused on complaints about professors who publicly critique those who voted for Bush in the 2004 election or professors who supported Ward Churchill’s comments about 9-11. It is not about those who teach “conspiracy theories 101.”⁶ Rather, this article is specifically concerned with an examination of the “liberal bias” critique as targeted against what is referred to as social justice education in higher education in general, and in schools of education and preservice teaching curriculum in particular.

Cite This Article as: Teachers College Record Volume 111 Number 2, 2009, p. 376-408
http://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 15200, Date Accessed: 10/19/2010 10:53:15 AM


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