CHAPTER 9 - Social Justice, Self-Systems, and Engagement in Learning - What Students Labeled as At-Risk Can Teach Us

Oct 15, 2026

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Chapter 9 examines how social injustice and labeling shape student engagement in learning. It defines engagement through students’ beliefs in academic success potential and argues oppression arises when marginalized students are excluded and negatively labeled within institutionalized education. The study builds on prior work by exploring ten students’ self-beliefs using Marzano’s learning model, focusing on the self-system categories. It also links low teacher expectations and high-stakes testing to discouragement, exclusion, and dropout patterns.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

9.2 Introduction

9.2.1

9.3 Overarching Research Question

9.4 Historical Antecedents and Perspectives

CHAPTER 9 . MIRCI, P., LOOMIS, C. , & HENSLEY, P. (SEPTEMBER 2011) . 58 SOCIAL JUSTICE, SELF-SYSTEMS, AND ENGAGEMENT IN LEARNING: WHAT STUDENTS LABELED AS ✏AT-RISK✑ CAN TEACH US 9.2 Introduction What should professors of educational leadership understand regarding the generation of student engagement in learning in order to assist aspiring administrators in promoting e✛ective teaching and learning? Engagement in learning is de✜ned as students believing they possess the potential to succeed academically (Cambourne, 1993) . It reveals the importance of relationships in the learning process (Hensley & Burmeister, 2009; Mirci & Hensley, 2011) . When students are marginalized, excluded, negatively labeled, and do not ✜t what is considered to be normative, they may experience social injustice because of the ways in which oppression have been institutionalized within the education system. For the purposes of this article social justice is de✜ned as the pursuit of equity and the creation of inclusive school cultures that are absent of overtor covert oppression. Oppression is a sense of powerlessness and exclusion. In schools, students face social injustice when they are oppressed based on racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, ableism, audism, sizeism, ageism, and religious intolerance (Mirci & Hensley, 2011) . 9.2.1 As a group they are stereotyped at the same time that their experience and situation are invisible in the society in general, and they have little opportunity and little audience for the expression of their experience and perspective of social events : : : group members su✛er random violence and harassment motivated by group hatred or fear. (Young, 1997, p. 262) A sometimes subtle and not so subtle form of social injustice is evidenced by teachers who have low expectations of students✬ intellectual, social, emotional, and ethical success in schooling. Low expectations are conveyed both verbally and nonverbally by acts of exclusion and are re✢ected in attitudes, beliefs, and practices by some (not all) educators and other stakeholders in education. These, in turn, in✢uence how students targeted for such treatment are in✢uenced to internalize this oppression and low expectations of oneself. Labels, such as ✏at-risk,✑ often in✢uence the perceptions of educators regarding students✬ abilities and in✢uence the relationships between teacher and student. We submit that educational leaders and especially teachers must be cognizant of the impact labels have on students especially in this age of accountability. The emphasis on improving high-stakes test scores has resulted in ✏discouraged students and overwhelmed schools [that] have produced higher dropout rates : : : leaving the society to contend with a greater number of young people placed into the growing school-to-prison pipeline✑ (Darling-Hammond, 2010, p. 67) . It is incumbent upon professors who guide and prepare individuals aspiring to leadership positions to recognize and understand the need to ensure equity and support for all students. Our study was prompted by and built upon the ✜ndings of Loomis,(2011) who is one of the authors of this article. He examined the perceptions of ten students at a comprehensive high school where they were labeled as ✏at-risk✑ students and were transferred to an alternative high school from which they graduated. As professors of educational leadership, we wanted to learn more from students regarding their self-beliefs. We used Marzano✬s model as a framework for this study. Marzano (1998) posited a model of learning consisting of the (a) cognitive system involving processes for utilizing knowledge,(b) metacognitive system for monitoring progress toward goal attainment, and (c) self-system consisting of one✬s beliefs about self. Of the three systems, the one most applicable to engagement or disengagement in learning was the self-system. This particular system is divided into the following ✜ve categories of beliefs: (a) self-at

FAQs

How does the chapter define engagement in learning?

Engagement in learning is defined as students believing they possess the potential to succeed academically. It also highlights the importance of relationships in the learning process.

What does the chapter say about how labeling students as “at-risk” affects education?

Labels influence educator perceptions of students’ abilities and affect relationships between teachers and students. The chapter argues that such treatment can contribute to internalizing oppression and low expectations.

What research approach and framework does the study use?

The chapter describes a study prompted by Loomis’s findings and uses Marzano’s learning model. It focuses particularly on the self-system and its five categories of beliefs to examine students’ perceptions and engagement.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by moss~