Rouge Forum
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The Rouge Forum is an organization of educational activists, which focuses on issues of equality,
democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...
, and
social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...
.


Origins

The Rouge Forum emerged from a series of political controversies within the
National Council for the Social Studies The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) is a private, non-profit association based in Silver Spring, Maryland, that provides leadership, support, and advocacy for social studies education. The council is affiliated with various region ...
(NCSS) during the 1990s. In particular, two events at the 1994 annual meeting of NCSS in Phoenix galvanized a small group of activists who later founded the organization. First, a staff person from the
Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors The Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO) was a United States nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people avoid or resist military conscription or seek discharge after voluntary enlistment. It was active in supporting c ...
(CCCO) was arrested for leafleting at the NCSS conference; and secondly, the governing body of NCSS rejected a resolution condemning
California Proposition 187 California Proposition 187 (also known as the ''Save Our State'' (SOS) initiative) was a 1994 ballot initiative to establish a state-run citizenship screening system and prohibit illegal immigrants from using non-emergency health care, public ed ...
and calling for a boycott of California as a site for future meetings of the NCSS. These events fueled a level of political activism the NCSS had rarely experienced and identified the need for organized action in support of free speech and anti-racist pedagogy in the field of social studies education in general and within NCSS in particular. The Rouge Forum was formally organized and held its first meeting in
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
at
Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...
in 1998 with around 300 education activists present. Continued activism within NCSS remained a major topic of discussion at this meeting, however, the organization's concerns were broadened by the participation of teachers and teachers educators working in the areas of literacy and special education. Rouge Forum members have worked closely with, and played leadership roles within the
inclusive school Inclusion in education refers to including all students to equal access to equal opportunities of education and learning, and is distinct from educational equality or educational equity. It arose in the context of special education with an in ...
and
whole language Whole language is a philosophy of reading and a discredited educational method originally developed for teaching literacy in English to young children. The method became a major model for education in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and ...
literacy movements. For several years in early 2000s, The Rouge Forum
The Whole Schooling Consortium
and th
Whole Language Umbrella
of the
National Council of Teachers of English The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is a United States professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts English studies (or simply, English) is an academic discip ...
held joint meetings and co-sponsored the 2000 International Education Summit for a Democratic Society.


Activism

A key principle underlying the actions of the Rouge Forum is their belief that schools and educators play a critical role in the creation of a more democratic, egalitarian society (or a society that increases in inequality and authoritarianism). The Rouge Forum connects analysis of imperialism, war, and the regulation of schooling. The Rouge Forum has been active in efforts to resist curriculum standardization and
high-stakes testing A high-stakes test is a test with important consequences for the test taker. Passing has important benefits, such as a high school diploma, a scholarship, or a license to practice a profession. Failing has important disadvantages, such as being ...
in schools, particularly as a result of the
No Child Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a 2002 United States Act of Congress promoted by the presidential administration of George W. Bush. It reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and included Title I provisio ...
.


The Rouge Forum News

The Rouge Forum published a newspaper/
zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...
from 1999 to 2010
''The Rouge Forum News''
appeared twice a year in both print and online editions from 1999-2004. In 2009, ''The Rouge Forum News'' returned to a regular publication schedule as a digital zine. After five issues as a digital zine, ''The Rouge Forum News'' published its seventeenth and final issue in the fall of 2010.


Rouge Forum meetings and conferences

The Rouge Forum held meetings on a regular basis at both local and national levels from 1998-2017. The national conferences were held on a more or less annual basis; all meetings were action-oriented and the national conferences usually included workshops for teachers and students; panel discussions; community-building and cultural events; as well as academic presentations. National conferences were held in Detroit (1998, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2013), Rochester, NY (1999), Albany, NY (2000), Bethesda, MD (2002), Louisville, KY (2003, 2008), Syracuse, NY (2004), Ypsilanti, MI (2009), Williams Bay, WI (2010), Romeoville, IL (2011), Vancouver, Canada (2012), Oxford, OH (2012), Denver, CO (2014), Calgary, Canada (2016), and St. Louis, MO (2017). Many prominent voices for democracy and
critical pedagogy Critical pedagogy is a philosophy of education and social movement that developed and applied concepts from critical theory and related traditions to the field of education and the study of culture. It insists that issues of social justice and de ...
have participated in Rouge Forum meetings. From 2011-2017 the national conference featured the Adam Renner Education for Social Justice Memorial Lecture. Renner was a teacher, professor, and social activist, who was also a key leader in The Rouge Forum. Renner Lecturers included
Peter McLaren Peter McLaren (born 1948) is a Canadian-American scholar and is known as one of the leading architects of critical pedagogy. He is known for his writings on critical literacy, sociology of education, cultural studies, critical ethnography, and ...

Susan OhanianPatrick ShannonDavid BarsamianE. Wayne Ross
and
Sarah Kendzior Sarah Kendzior (born September 1, 1978) is an American author, anthropologist, researcher, and scholar. Kendzior is the author of ''The View from Flyover Country'' – a collection of essays first published by Al Jazeera – and is a former co-h ...
.


Related reading

Books *Agostinone Wilson, Faith. (2013). ''Dialectical research methods in the classical Marxist tradition.'' New York: Peter Lang *Brosio, Richard. (1994). ''A radical democratic critique of capitalist education''. New York: Peter Lang. *Carr, Paul R., & Porfilio, Brad J. (Eds.). (2011). ''The phenomenon of Obama and the agenda for education.'' Charlotte, NC: IAP. *Daniels, Emily, & Porfilio, Brad J. (Eds.). (2013). ''Dangerous counterstories in the corporate academy: Narrating for understanding, solidarity, resistance, and community in the age of neoliberalism.'' Charlotte, NC: IAP. *DeLeon, Abraham P., & Ross, E. Wayne. (2010). ''Critical theories, radical pedagogies, and social education.'' Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. *Emery, Kathy, & Ohanian, Susan. (2004). ''Why is corporate America bashing our public schools?'' Portsmouth, NH: Heinnemann. *Gabbard, David A., & Ross, E. Wayne. (2008). ''Education under the security state''. New York: Teachers College Press. *Gorlewski, Julie, & Porfilio, Brad J. (Eds.). (2013). ''Left behind in the race to the top: Realities of school reform.'' Charlotte, NC: IAP. *Hill, Dave. (Ed.). (2009). ''Contesting neoliberal education: Public resistance and collective advance''. London: New York: Routledge. *Hill, Dave. (Ed.). (2009). ''The rich world and the impoverishment of education: Diminishing democracy, equity and workers' rights''. New York: Routledge. *Hill, Dave, & Kumar, Ravi. (Eds.). (2009). ''Global neoliberalism and education and its consequences''. New York: Routledge. *Hursh, David W. (2008). ''High-stakes testing and the decline of teaching and learning: The real crisis in education.'' Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. *Mathison, Sandra, & Ross, E. Wayne. (Eds.). (2008). ''Battleground schools'' (Volumes 1-2). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. *Mathison, Sandra, & Ross, E. Wayne. (Eds.). (2008). ''The nature and limits of standards-based reform and assessment''. New York: Teachers College Press. *Malott, Curry S., Cole, Mike, & Elmore, John M. (Eds.). (2013). ''Teaching Marx: The socialist challenge.'' Charlotte, NC: IAP. *Malott, Curry S., & Porfilio, Brad J. (Eds.). (2011). ''Critical pedagogy in the Twenty-First Century: A new generation of scholars.'' Charlotte, NC: IAP. *McCrary, N. E., & Ross, E. W. (Eds.). (2016). ''Working for Social Justice Inside and Outside the Classroom: A Community of Students, Teachers, Researchers, and Activists''. New York: Peter Lang. *McLaren, Peter. (2006). ''An Introduction to Critical Pedagogy in the Foundations of Education'' (5th Edition). London: Pearson. *McLaren, Peter. (2005). ''Capitalists and conquerors : a critical pedagogy against empire.'' Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. *Paraskeva, João, Ross, E. Wayne, & Hursh, David. (Eds.).(2006). ''Marxismo e educação''. Porto, Portugal: ProfEdições. *Peterson, Michael, & Hittie, Mishael Marie . (2009). ''Inclusive teaching : The journey towards effective schools for all learners''. Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Merrill. *Porfilio, Brad, & Viola, M. J. (2013). ''Hip-hop(e): The cultural practice and critical pedagogy of international hip-hop.'' New York: Peter Lang. * Renner, Adam. (2002)
''Butterflies, boundaries, and breadfruit: The shared story of a service learning experience in Jamaica.''
PhD diss., University of Tennessee. *Ross, E. Wayne. (2017). "Rethinking social studies: Critical pedagogy in pursuit of dangerous citizenship." Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. *Ross, E. Wayne. (2024). ''The social studies curriculum: Purposes, problems, and possibilities'' (5th Ed.). Albany: SUNY Press.
Ross, E. Wayne., & Gibson, Rich. (Eds.). (2013). Education for revolution. ''Works & Days'', 61/62, ''31'' and ''Cultural Logic'', ''20''.
*Ross, E. Wayne, & Gibson, Rich. (Eds.). (2007). ''Neoliberalism and education reform''. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. *Selwyn, Doug. (2009). ''Following the threads: Bringing inquiry research into the classroom.'' New York: Peter Lang. *Shannon, Patrick. (2007). ''Reading against democracy: The broken promises of reading instruction''. Portsmouth, NH: Heinnemann. *Strauss, Steven L. (2005). ''The linguistics, neurology, and politics of phonics: Silent "E" speaks out''. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. *Vinson, Kevin D., & Ross, E. Wayne. (2003). ''Image and education: Teaching in the face of the new disciplinarity''. New York: Peter Lang. Journals
''Critical Education''Logic''''Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies''A Journal for Academic Labor''
Newspapers
''Substance News''

''The Rouge Forum News''


See also

* Anti-oppressive education *
Critical consciousness Critical consciousness, conscientization, or in Portuguese (), is a popular education and social concept developed by Brazilian pedagogue and educational theorist Paulo Freire, grounded in neo-Marxist critical theory. Critical consciousness foc ...
*
Critical pedagogy Critical pedagogy is a philosophy of education and social movement that developed and applied concepts from critical theory and related traditions to the field of education and the study of culture. It insists that issues of social justice and de ...
*
Democratic schools A democratic school refers to an alternative school that meets the following criteria: * Classes are voluntary. Learning is self-directed and takes place without a curriculum. * The school is run to the greatest possible extent by a direct democr ...
*
High-stakes testing A high-stakes test is a test with important consequences for the test taker. Passing has important benefits, such as a high school diploma, a scholarship, or a license to practice a profession. Failing has important disadvantages, such as being ...
*
Inclusive school Inclusion in education refers to including all students to equal access to equal opportunities of education and learning, and is distinct from educational equality or educational equity. It arose in the context of special education with an in ...
*
Social criticism Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general. Social criticism of the Enlightenment The origin of modern ...
*
Student voice Student voice is the individual and collective perspective and actions of students within the context of learning and education. It is identified in schools as both a metaphorical practice and as a pragmatic concern. Tech educator Dennis Harper ...
*
Teaching for social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has ofte ...


References


External links

* * {{official site, https://rougeforumconference.wordpress.com/ Critical pedagogy Social justice organizations Education policy organizations in the United States