Urban Schools

“There’s a reason no one comes to school; there’s got to be some interesting classes! The only interesting class at my old school was graphics, and that class was always full. So there was really nothing to do, ever. I have a friend who hates school, he leaves every day, but he makes sure he’s back for third period because he likes the class.” Mikaela, “Sent To The Principal” – Kathleen Cushman

The administrators, who lead urban schools, must become more responsive to the needs of the community they serve if we expect substantive change. Pedro A. Noguera posits, “schools where academic failure is high and where low achievement is accepted as the norm, and schools that isolate themselves from the neighborhoods they serve because they perceive the residents as “threatening”, tend to undermine the social capital of the community.” Therefore, administrators charged with leading under or low-performing schools must consider radical strategies if they expect systemic change. In many urban schools classrooms are not opportunities for young people to develop meaningful relationships instead the public school system is largely concerned with peripheral issues like classroom management, school climate, parental involvement and student expectation. While, these issues are relevant they are underlying effects of what happens in the classroom when students are not engaged. “My tenth-grade bio-science teacher had faith in me when all my other teachers thought I was just a lost cause. He told me, “I know you’re smart when you want to be. You just have to want to do it.” He prepared me for what it’s going to be like in college and in the eleventh-grade.” Andres, “Fires in the Bathroom”, Kathleen Cushman. In fact, the opening citation speaks to the issue succinctly and clearly, young people want to be engaged in the classroom and want school to be interesting.

However, parents are often excluded from the reformation process, which limits public schools from experiencing opportunities to explore building true collaborative relationship with parents and community stakeholders. Educators must provide the necessary leadership in developing rewarding academic experiences for students.To experience academic success in urban schools it is imperative that parental involvement be at the center of all discussions if one expect to collaboratively reconstruct the public school system. Collectively, we face challenging opportunities as we begin to design learning environments that foster creativity and individualism in our public school system. Educator James J. Palmer notes, “a learning space should not be filled with abstractions so bloated that no room remains for the small but soulful realities that grow in our students’ lives. In this space there must be ample rooms for the little stories of individuals stories of personal experience in which the students’ inner teacher is at work.” If one expects to deconstruct the current school design it will require vision and resolve which many urban school leaders lack. The sobering reality is that urban school leaders are besieged with administrative minutiae attributed largely to the school’s dysfunctional infrastructure.

Large comprehensive  high schools exacerbate the suppression of ideas and awareness of self and is the antithesis of what schools are supposed to do. Urban school leaders must invoke a sense of urgency which will serve as the impetus for educators to develop curricula that engages students’ interests. Through the collaboration of students, teachers, and community stakeholders we will cultivate a culture of learning, as well as, assist teachers with creating classrooms that allows students the opportunity to develop their voice.

“What is true is that we choose voices to hear and voices to silence.” – bell hooks.

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