Verbatim Mac

Plan

 Plan: The United States Federal Government should significantly increase its regulation of the militarized practices and militarization of elementary and secondary education in the United States.
  

6. Militarism plagues high schools through military practices and services that are being praised

Abajian 13 (Suzie Marie Abajian- Suzie Moses Abajian- Doctor of Philosophy in Education UCLA, FELLOWSHIPS: Project ADVANCE Fellowship, Graduate School of Education UCLA, Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship in Arabic, Center for Near Eastern Studies UCLA, University Fellowship, Graduate School of Education UCLA, American Education Research Association- Reviewer Division G- Social Context of Education, “Drill and Ceremony: A Case Study of Militarism, Military Recruitment and the Pedagogy of Enforcement in an Urban School in Southern California “, http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3vg767qx#page-15//TB) 

Washington High School was characterized with the typical challenges that many urban schools serving predominantly low-income, non-white students face such as the lack of resources (including extracurricular and enrichment programs), overcrowding of classrooms and the threat of high stakes accountability measures. The preoccupation of the school leadership with “safety” issues in conjunction with the high stakes accountability pressures, contributed to a culture of control, enforcement and disciplining within the school.  

The few “fun” programs that were adequately funded and resourced were institutionalized programs that were characterized by militarism. These programs included the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and the Police Academy Magnet programs. Students within these programs were socialized through militarized practices such as drill and ceremony exercises, the wearing of military style uniforms (with markings of different ranks and accomplishments), marksmanship training, handcuffing techniques and other such practices. Also, students assumed hierarchical positions mirroring roles within the military and the police force and they were engaged in role-playing as soldiers and police officers.  

Also, within these programs, militarized practices and military service were promoted through the occupation of visual and physical spaces by military posters, displays and drill and ceremony competition trophies. Furthermore, militarized values were celebrated and legitimized through campus-wide spectacles such as the JROTC banquet and other school events where JROTC and Police Academy Magnet students were given special positions, responsibilities and honors.  

The JROTC as well as the Police Academy Magnet were perceived as programs where “low performing,” “unruly,” “undisciplined,” and “problem” students were sent to gain “discipline” and “purpose.” The practices and performances within these programs reified militarized notions of discipline and leadership where students were taught to conform, follow orders and not question authority. In summary, these programs promoted a pedagogy of enforcement which was justified through civilizing discourses regarding what students (specifically low-income, Latin@ and African American students) “needed” and deficit notions of what they were capable of accomplishing.  

7. Military recruitment in high schools inculcates students with militaristic values justified by racial discourses  

Abajian 13 (Suzie Marie Abajian- Suzie Moses Abajian- Doctor of Philosophy in Education UCLA, FELLOWSHIPS: Project ADVANCE Fellowship, Graduate School of Education UCLA, Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship in Arabic, Center for Near Eastern Studies UCLA, University Fellowship, Graduate School of Education UCLA, American Education Research Association- Reviewer Division G- Social Context of Education, “Drill and Ceremony: A Case Study of Militarism, Military Recruitment and the Pedagogy of Enforcement in an Urban School in Southern California “, http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3vg767qx#page-15//TB) 

The increased militarization of schools serving predominantly low-income, non-white students, post 9/11 and the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, has had significant implications for issues of educational access, equity and democracy. This dissertation is a yearlong qualitative case study of militarism and military recruitment within an urban school in Southern California, serving predominantly low-income, Latin@ students. Specifically, the study focuses on schooling policies and practices promoting military service, privileging military values and shaping the school-to-military pipeline. Also, the study is concerned with understanding the ways in which the meaning perspectives of the actors within this context inform their actions. 

The methods employ approaches from grounded theory research, documentary research and critical research. Data sources used in the study include 112 formal and informal interviews, 17 qualitative fieldnotes and multiple artifacts including pamphlets, photographs, posters and newspaper articles. The analysis is situated within the larger socio-political and historical context of militarization in the United States and grounded in neo-Marxist and postcolonial theories. 

Findings of the study posit that certain well-resourced institutionalized programs within the school, such as the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC), the Police Academy Magnet and to some extent the Law Magnet were intended to shape and socialize students through militarized practices. These practices were justified through classed, raced and gendered discourses about what students needed and were capable of achieving. The aforementioned programs not only reified a pedagogy of enforcement but also promoted military service as a postsecondary path and a stepping stone to careers in "security" and law enforcement. 

In addition to these institutionalized programs, military recruiters frequented the school campus and were given increased access to students through the actions of certain "gate-openers." Recruiters used their access to propagate half-truths and inaccurate narratives about military service to gain students' interest. Furthermore, the heightened focus on "discipline" and "safety" issues, high stakes accountability measures and the constant militarized spectacles within the school contributed to the normalization of "military values as collective common sense" (Mariscal, 2003, p.48). 

All of these factors formed a web of militarism, giving military service unparalleled promotion in comparison to other postsecondary paths within this school. In this context students internalized, challenged and appropriated militarized values and practices as they negotiated their interests within the militarized terrain of their schooling.