Article

Maybe They Are Just Kinesthetic Learners? Student Walkouts and the Purposes of Education

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Abstract

Students have historically engaged in demonstrations, including walkouts, of schools for causes they are passionate about including the protest of federal immigration policy, teacher quality, civil rights, and most recently school violence. In this instances, students have decided that leaving the school, rather than remaining in it is more likely to bring about the social changes they desire. What does this say about how students value education as it has been presented in the United States? These acts of protest reflect the idea that perhaps students don’t see schools, as currently constructed, as part of the solution to societal ills. If that were the case, why would they walk out? This paper will consider local and federal guidance in anticipation of the walkouts which drew more than one million participants following the events at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and the larger question, of do schools have a role to play in reducing violence in society?

Keywords: educational policy, Discipline, Student Activism, critical pedagogy

How to Cite:

Dieter, M. & Haepp, T., (2019) “Maybe They Are Just Kinesthetic Learners? Student Walkouts and the Purposes of Education”, Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis 8(1), 67-76.