There has been steady interest in the ideology of equity in schooling practices reflected in the written artifacts of the United States, especially in the last thirty years. However, equality-laden language is often used without definition or critical examination. The assumed meaning of equality terminology is problematic--especially for classroom teachers who are directly held accountable for the practice of equality policy. This inquiry critically evaluates the multiple implications of this common-sense usage of language related to issues of equality, equity, sameness, and even democracy. Using the combined methodologies of educational criticism, critical discourse analysis, and self-ethnography, this transdisciplinary investigation describes, interprets, and evaluates the way staff members in a Head Start/early childhood education organization conceive of, and act upon, conceptualizations of equality policy. A close examination of these conceptualizations can serve to assist educational researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in evaluating the implications equality policies have on the teaching practice as a whole, and by extension, the specific learning lives of students.
","abstract_html":"<p>There has been steady interest in the ideology of equity in schooling practices reflected in the written artifacts of the United States, especially in the last thirty years. However, equality-laden language is often used without definition or critical examination. The assumed meaning of equality terminology is problematic--especially for classroom teachers who are directly held accountable for the practice of equality policy. This inquiry critically evaluates the multiple implications of this common-sense usage of language related to issues of equality, equity, sameness, and even democracy. Using the combined methodologies of educational criticism, critical discourse analysis, and self-ethnography, this transdisciplinary investigation describes, interprets, and evaluates the way staff members in a Head Start/early childhood education organization conceive of, and act upon, conceptualizations of equality policy. A close examination of these conceptualizations can serve to assist educational researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in evaluating the implications equality policies have on the teaching practice as a whole, and by extension, the specific learning lives of students.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Gutiérrez, Jennifer"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["P. Bruce Uhrmacher, Ph.D.","Paul Michalec","Bin Ramke","Nicholas Cutforth"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-11-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-11-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:02:11Z","subjects":["Critical discourse analysis","Educational criticism","Head Start","Self-ethnography","Early Childhood Education","Education","Education Policy"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
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