For America's children, for students, growing up urban has become a tainted label. By acquiring one simple label, the urban student has become the other, illegitimate, different from the norm. The urban student has indeed been bastardized in America. The constructs of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and social capital combine to oppress the urban student. This text takes the suggestion that urban has become inextricably linked to race one step further and proposes that it has become a socially constructed category in its own right that serves to disempower all those who self-identify or are labeled as such. The structure of this book seeks to give the reader a series of rich contexts in which to understand how the American urban student and urban school came to fruition. Through the use of historical and quantitative data, interviews and observations, Fisher provides a comprehensive view of the many factors at play that merge to create the urban high school.
Urban education and its contexts have changed in powerful ways. Old paradigms are being eclipsed by global forces of privatization and markets and new articulations of race, class, and urban space. These factors and more set the stage for Pauline Lipman's insightful analysis of the relationship between education policy and the neoliberal economic, political, and ideological processes that are reshaping cities in the United States and around the globe. Using Chicago as a case study of the interconnectedness of neoliberal urban policies on housing, economic development, race, and education, Lipman explores larger implications for equity, justice, and "the right to the city". She draws on scholarship in critical geography, urban sociology and anthropology, education policy, and critical analyses of race. Her synthesis of these lenses gives added weight to her critical appraisal and hope for the future, offering a significant contribution to current arguments about urban schooling and how we think about relations between neoliberal education reforms and the transformation of cities. By examining the cultural politics of why and how these relationships resonate with people's lived experience, Lipman pushes the analysis one step further toward a new educational and social paradigm rooted in radical political and economic democracy.
In recent decades a growing number of middle-class parents have considered sending their children to—and often end up becoming active in—urban public schools. Their presence can bring long-needed material resources to such schools, but, as Linn Posey-Maddox shows in this study, it can also introduce new class and race tensions, and even exacerbate inequalities. Sensitively navigating the pros and cons of middle-class transformation, When Middle-Class Parents Choose Urban Schools asks whether it is possible for our urban public schools to have both financial security and equitable diversity. Drawing on in-depth research at an urban elementary school, Posey-Maddox examines parents’ efforts to support the school through their outreach, marketing, and volunteerism. She shows that when middle-class parents engage in urban school communities, they can bring a host of positive benefits, including new educational opportunities and greater diversity. But their involvement can also unintentionally marginalize less-affluent parents and diminish low-income students’ access to the improving schools. In response, Posey-Maddox argues that school reform efforts, which usually equate improvement with rising test scores and increased enrollment, need to have more equity-focused policies in place to ensure that low-income families also benefit from—and participate in—school change.
A New York Times Best Seller "Essential reading for all adults who work with black and brown young people...Filled with exceptional intellectual sophistication and necessary wisdom for the future of education."—Imani Perry, National Book Award Winner author of South To America An award-winning educator offers a much-needed antidote to traditional top-down pedagogy and promises to radically reframe the landscape of urban education for the better Drawing on his own experience of feeling undervalued and invisible in classrooms as a young man of color, Dr. Christopher Emdin has merged his experiences with more than a decade of teaching and researching in urban America. He takes to task the perception of urban youth of color as unteachable, and he challenges educators to embrace and respect each student’s culture and to reimagine the classroom as a site where roles are reversed and students become the experts in their own learning. Putting forth his theory of Reality Pedagogy, Emdin provides practical tools to unleash the brilliance and eagerness of youth and educators alike—both of whom have been typecast and stymied by outdated modes of thinking about urban education. With this fresh and engaging new pedagogical vision, Emdin demonstrates the importance of creating a family structure and building communities within the classroom, using culturally relevant strategies like hip-hop music and call-and-response, and connecting the experiences of urban youth to indigenous populations globally. Merging real stories with theory, research, and practice, Emdin demonstrates how by implementing the “Seven Cs” of reality pedagogy in their own classrooms, urban youth of color benefit from truly transformative education.
This volume brings together leading scholars in urban education to focus on inner city matters, specifically as they relate to educational research, theory, policy, and practice. Each chapter provides perspectives on the history and evolving nature of urban education, the current education landscape, and helps chart an all-important direction for future work and needs. The Handbook addresses seven areas that capture the breadth and depth of available knowledge in urban education: (1) Psychology, Health and Human Development, (2) Sociological Perspectives, (3) Families and Communities, (4) Teacher Education and Special Education, (5) Leadership, Administration and Leaders, (6) Curriculum & Instruction, and (7) Policy and Reform.
Racism is a sickness that permeates every aspect of Black life. But if the events of the past few years have taught us anything, it is that America has a hard time talking about issues that create disparity and inequality for Black people. This inequality extends not just into education but also into physical education. Blacks are stereotyped as physically superior and intellectually deficient. They are marginalized in PE just as they are in other aspects of their lives. Through a series of case studies, Critical Race Studies in Physical Education offers deep insights into the issues that Black students face. The text, geared to undergraduate and graduate PETE students and in-service teachers, does the following: Provides culturally aware teaching strategies that affirm the worth of Black students Amplifies the crucial issues that negatively affect Black students Addresses the litany of intentional and covert racist practices directed toward Black youth, thus broadening the book’s value beyond the sharing of teaching strategies The end goal is to elevate the perspectives of Black youths and teachers and to normalize positive experiences for Black students in physical education. To do so, Critical Race Studies in Physical Education provides the following: Eight case studies of situations that expose racism, disparities, and other issues affecting Black students’ well-being, self-worth, and healthy experiences in PE Critical race study discourse that stimulates discussion of relevant issues and enhances learning Reflective activities, resources, lesson considerations, and definitions to help students and in-service teachers use what they have learned through the case studies and discussions Each case study includes discussion and reflection prompts that are meant to lead the way to effective strategies and immediate implementation opportunities. Here is a partial list of the case studies: A white elementary student uses the N-word toward a Black teacher A Black female student endures gendered racism and racial disparities through her swimming experiences A white teacher is oblivious to why her Black students don’t want to be outside in the sunshine or get their hair moist A new PE teacher harbors toxic masculinity, white supremacy, and stereotypes of Black sexuality White student teachers grapple with accepting job offers in an urban area Black students need teachers to engage in anti-racist teaching practices that empower Black youth and aid in their success. For this to happen, teachers need to affirm students and make them feel safe, cared for, listened to, and recognized as worthy. Critical Race Studies in Physical Education will help teachers of all races adopt the teaching practices that create this supportive, empathetic, and nurturing environment—and, in doing so, validate Black students’ self-worth and swing the pendulum back toward a more equitable education in PE.
A volume in Urban Education Studies Series Series Editors Nicholas D. Hartlep, Illinois State University, Thandeka K. Chapman, University of California, San Diego and Kenny Varner, Louisiana State University In urban education, "urban" is a floating signifier that is imbued with meaning, positive or negative by its users. "Urban" can be used to refer to both the geographical context of a city and a sense of "less than," most often in relation to race and/ or socioeconomic status (Watson, 2011). For Noblit and Pink (2007), "Urban, rather, is a generalization as much about geography as it is about the idea that urban centers have problems: problems of too many people, too much poverty, too much crime and violence, and ultimately, too little hope" (p. xv). Recently, urban education scholars such as Anyon (2005), Pink and Noblit (2007), Blanchett, Klinger and Harry (2009), and Lipman (2013) have elucidated the social construction of oppression and privilege for urban students, teachers, schools, families, and communities using intersectionality theories. Building on their work, we see the need for an edited collection that would look across the different realms of urban education-theorizing identity markers in urban education, education in urban schools and communities, thinking intersectionally in teacher education & higher education, educational policies & urban spaces-seeking to better understand each topic using an intersectional lens. Such a collection might serve to conceptually frame or provide methodological tools, or act as a reference point for scholars and educators who are trying to address urban educational issues in light of identities and power. Secondly, we argue that education questions and/or problems beg to be conceptualized and analyzed through more than one identity axis. Policies and practices that do not take into account urban students' intertwining identity markers risk reproducing patterns of privilege and oppression, perpetuating stereotypes, and failing at the task we care most deeply about: supporting all students' learning across a holistic range of academic, personal, and justice-oriented outcomes. Can educational policies and practices address the social justice issues faced in urban schools and communities today? We argue that doing intersectional research and implementing educational policies and practices guided by these frameworks can help improve the "fit." Particular attention needs to be paid to intersectionality as a lens for educational theory, policy, and practice. As urban educators we would be wise to consider the intertwining of these identity axes in order to better analyze educational issues and engage in teaching, learning, research, and policymaking that are better-tuned to the needs of diverse students, families, and communities.
Why is it so difficult to design and implement fundamental educational reform in large city schools in spite of broad popular support for change? How does the politics of race complicate the challenge of building and sustaining coalitions for improving urban schools? These questions have provoked a great deal of theorizing, but this is the first book to explore the issues on the basis of extensive, solid evidence. Here a group of political scientists examines education reform in Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, and Washington, D.C., where local governmental authority has passed from white to black leaders. The authors show that black administrative control of big-city school systems has not translated into broad improvements in the quality of public education within black-led cities. Race can be crucial, however, in fostering the broad civic involvement perhaps most needed for school reform. In each city examined, reform efforts often arise but collapse, partly because leaders are unable to craft effective political coalitions that would commit community resources to a concrete policy agenda. What undermines the leadership, according to the authors, is the complex role of race in each city. First, public authority does not guarantee access to private resources, usually still controlled by white economic elites. Second, local authorities must interact with external actors, at the state and national levels, who remain predominantly white. Finally, issues of race divide the African American community itself and often place limits on what leaders can and cannot do. Filled with insightful explanations together with recommendations for policy change, this book is an important component of the debate now being waged among researchers, education activists, and the community as a whole.
