“I don’t think they know what real education is”: Alienation, Accountability, and Resistance among Florida Educators

Abstract:
This thesis investigates how public-school educators in Florida make sense of and shape their work through a lens of meaningfulness. Though constrained by both structural and felt alienation, educators do not passively accept their employer’s assertion of which elements of their work are meaningful, but instead actively shape this meaning. Using understandings of alienation from Marxist theory, I consider the strategies of everyday resistance–drawn from James C. Scott’s work–that educators use to protect the aspects of their work that they find meaningful while avoiding the meaningless as much as possible. Coupled with a consideration of educators’ collective discourses and organizing, a picture emerges of how educators advocate for their visions of meaningful education and autonomous decision making. This speaks to broader conversations on work and alienation, underlining the importance some workers place not just on skill, professionalism, or material conditions of work, but on the meaningfulness of the work itself.

Examining Committee:
Chair: Dr. Lindsey Freeman, Associate Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, SFU
Supervisor: Dr. Kathleen Millar, Associate Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, SFU
Committee Member: Dr. Cristina Moretti, Assistant Professor, Sociology & Anthropology , SFU
Examiner: Dr. John-Henry Harter, Lecturer, Labour Studies, SFU

Please note that the defence will be held in a Hybrid format in-person in RM 2020 Bennett Library and on Zoom. If you'd like to be added to the Zoom attendee list, please contact gradsecsa@sfu.ca no later than Tuesday October 1st, 2024.