FOCUS ON POLICY: The Power of Words: Top-Down Mandates Masquerade as Social Justice Reforms

Abstract

The author explores the appropriation of social justice language and metaphors for top-down mandates that disenfranchise students and teachers. Arguing against ideas that equate “equity” with “standardization,” the author reflects on the ways that these top-down programs impede authentic writing instruction. She urges teachers to decode the rhetoric and talk back to school districts that speak of equity and social justice, but treat educators like robotic hands that deliver education programs designed and shipped from sites outside of classrooms.