Privileged Thinking in Today's Schools: The Implications for Social Justice

Privileged thinking in today's schools is alive and well and shows its ugly head in a variety of ways that often go undetected (or are not addressed) by the educators down in the trenches. In this collection of scenarios and episodes, many of which were experienced by the authors in their years as school administrators, you will find an array of provocative examples of social injustice in the classroom, and what you can do to prevent it in your own school community. As the authors candidly and vulnerablyreveal their own "blind spots" and biases that occurred "on their watch," readers will be able to take a look in the mirror as well, thus taking a critical step in better advocating for those students "left on the fringe" in classrooms and schools.

David Barnett is chair of the Department of Foundations and Graduate Studies in Education at Morehead State University (MSU). He joined the faculty at MSU in 2002 after serving for more than 27 years in four school districts including middle school teacher, instructional supervisor, federal programs coordinator, finance officer, assistant superintendent, and superintendent.

Carol Christian is a district achievement gap coordinator with the Kentucky Department of Education. She is an adjunct professor, completing her doctorate with the University of Louisville. Her educational journey has taken her from the classroom as a K-12 Physical Education teacher, to a middle school principal and author.

Richard Hughes, whose career in public education began in 1968, retired in 2006 after having served as a principal in three large Kentucky high schools and superintendent in two school districts. Since that time, he has been a full-time instructor, teaching school leadership courses for Morehead State University.

Rocky Wallace is a full-time instructor at Morehead State, and a former principal of a U.S. Blue Ribbon School in Kentucky. He has served at the Kentucky Department of Education as a leadership consultant to principals, and at the Kentucky Educational Development Corporation as the Director of Instructional Support.