Joni Schwartz

Classrooms of Spatial Justice: Counter-Spaces and Young Men of Color in a GED Program

This article, based on an ethnographic study of an urban General Education Development (GED) program, suggests that for some marginalized young men of color, Adult education programs are counter-spaces of spatial justice in opposition to previous negative school spaces. Framed by critical race theory (CRT) and drawing on critical geography and adult education literature on space and place, the author defines these counter-spaces through four dimensions: place, temporal, intrapersonal, and interpersonal, maintaining that they are not equivalent to activities or experiences although they may inhabit them. The article concludes with implications for the use of CRT in understanding GED as potential counter-space.

Disconnect to Connect: Emotional Responses to Loss of Technology During Hurricane Sandy

A fair amount has been written about the use of social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube) before, during, and after Hurricane Sandy by government agencies, corporations, nonprofit organizations, volunteer groups, and individuals to provide ongoing communication to response partners and to share much needed information to the community affected. However, little has been written about the loss of media technology and its impact on emotions and intra- and interpersonal communication on those affected but not directly devastated by the storm. This practitioner’s phenomenological study examined the loss and change of media communication during and after Hurricane Sandy through the “lived experiences” of 49 east coast community college students. The findings suggest that limited or loss of media technology had impact on family, community, inter-, and intrapersonal communication dynamics which manifested in competing feelings of mindfulness and powerlessness.Abstract A fair amount has been written about the use of social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube) before, during, and after Hurricane Sandy by government agencies, corporations, nonprofit organizations, volunteer groups, and individuals to provide ongoing communication to response partners and to share much needed information to the community affected. However, little has been written about the loss of media technology and its impact on emotions and intra- and interpersonal communication on those affected but not directly devastated by the storm. This practitioner’s phenomenological study examined the loss and change of media communication during and after Hurricane Sandy through the “lived experiences” of 49 east coast community college students. The findings suggest that limited or loss of media technology had impact on family, community, inter-, and intrapersonal communication dynamics which manifested in competing feelings of mindfulness and powerlessness.

Conscientization and Third Space A Case Study of Tunisian Activism

This case study examines, Al Bawsala, a nongovernmental organization and a female cyber social activist, Amira Yahyaoui, in the aftermath of Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution through the lens of adult education. The theoretical frameworks of conscientization and third space are employed to describe Yahyaoui’s development of the watchdog political organization, Al Bawsala, for the purpose of democratic learning and popular education in Tunisia. Through interviews with Yahyaoui as well as content analysis of social media platforms used by Al Bawsala, the findings suggest popular education praxis of conscientization and third space are operative and central to Tunisia’s relatively nonviolent path toward democratization after the Arab Spring. The authors further suggest that Al Bawsala’s work is one approach for moving forward in a postrevolution context, and that adult education is central to that process.

After Incarceration and Adult Learning A Collaborative Inquiry and Writing Project

Mass incarceration in America is a moral, economic, and societal crisis with serious implications for many men of color and high school non-completers who are incarcerated at proportionally higher rates than Whites or college graduates. For the formerly incarcerated, engagement in adult learning, whether high school equivalency (HSE) or college, decreases the likelihood that they will return to prison, increases opportunities for employment, and serves as a powerful re-integration tool in society. This article describes one community college’s collaborative inquiry and writing project that uses archival, auto-ethnographic, and interview data to explore how formerly incarcerated students might be effectively engaged in adult education and offers this inquiry project as a potential model for this engagement. Through the voice of the faculty/instructor, this article conceptualizes the inquiry writing project process using a two-part framework: Chevalier and Buckles’ five stages of collaborative inquiry and critical race theory (CRT).