ABSTRACT
In this book it is argued that educational systems are complicit in the abuse of children through ‘systemic violence’ and that this complicity, and the students’ reactions to it, contribute to other forms of violence. My colleagues will, in future chapters, focus on specific aspects of systemic violence-exclusionary practices, toleration of abuse, discriminatory policies and the like-but it is my job to set the canvas. Systemic violence has been defined as any institutional practice or procedure that adversely impacts on individuals or groups by burdening them psychologically, mentally, culturally, spiritually, economically or physically. Applied to education, it means practices and procedures that prevent students from learning, thus harming them (Epp and Watkinson, in press). ‘Harmful educational procedures’ should be a contradiction in terms. However, even successful participants in the education system recognize the potential for systemically inflicted damage. The term ‘systemic violence’ gathers together the fragments of doubts and suspicions that make us distrustful of the compulsory education system. It reminds us of the incidents that were ‘just not fair’ and the situations that seemed fair on the surface but failed the test of equity. It describes the taken-for-granted ‘common sense’ (Ng, 1993) pedagogical approaches and educational practices that lead to success for some but to failure for others.
