Take a photo of a barcode or cover
202 reviews for:
For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Y'All Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education
Christopher Emdin
4.11 AVERAGE
202 reviews for:
For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Y'All Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education
Christopher Emdin
4.11 AVERAGE
Emdin's main idea is solid: White teachers need to understand and value their students' culture. What is not solid is the practical conclusions for instructional practice that he draws based on this idea. Emdin's suggestions fall into 3 groups: (1) intriguing but WAY too complicated to implement in real life, (2) insultingly simple, and (3) good ideas but nothing new that research hasn't been saying for YEARS.
The thing that most distressed me about the book was Emdin's oversimplification of the process of connecting with your students and their culture. For example: Emdin actually claims that buying and wearing "cool" sneakers like the ones your students are into will create connections with them. Setting aside the problematic assumption that there is a single kind of sneakers (or music, or food, or language, or religion) that all urban students are into, Emdin's recommendation is just insulting. Kids are smart. If a teacher (of any race, but especially a white teacher) suddenly flip-flops on style and starts dressing like them (or pairing Jordans with their work slacks instead of Oxfords), kids will see through the artificiality of the gesture. Does Emdin really think that urban kids are so simple-minded that putting on a pair of Jordans will win their affection and bridge all cultural divides? If so, then he has a greater deficit view of black kids than the teachers he's addressing the book to.
The thing that most distressed me about the book was Emdin's oversimplification of the process of connecting with your students and their culture. For example: Emdin actually claims that buying and wearing "cool" sneakers like the ones your students are into will create connections with them. Setting aside the problematic assumption that there is a single kind of sneakers (or music, or food, or language, or religion) that all urban students are into, Emdin's recommendation is just insulting. Kids are smart. If a teacher (of any race, but especially a white teacher) suddenly flip-flops on style and starts dressing like them (or pairing Jordans with their work slacks instead of Oxfords), kids will see through the artificiality of the gesture. Does Emdin really think that urban kids are so simple-minded that putting on a pair of Jordans will win their affection and bridge all cultural divides? If so, then he has a greater deficit view of black kids than the teachers he's addressing the book to.
This isn’t just a book for white teachers teaching in predominantly neighborhoods of color, but should be a book for any white person in any educational setting working with any students of color. The author gives practical applications for valuing the cultures and communities that urban students come from and gives steps for building a better classroom community and culture that shows students they are truly valued.
The answer to the question to what you're supposed to do if you find yourself as a middle class well-meaning white person teaching in non-middle class POC groups: approach the situation like an anthropologist, not a missionary. This means some degree of respectful observation and immersion while still imparting your knowledge on the subject matter, but not trying to convert people to the cultural norm of your race and class.
This book reminds us strongly that if you disrespect someone's culture, creating a good teaching relationship is impossible. This is especially important if the power relationship between teacher and student is scewed so that the teacher represents a force that is oppressing the students's culture outside the classroom, as is the case with disprivileged households from non-middle class backgrounds and the white, usually middle class teachers who seek to improve their lives, i.e., making them assimilate white middle class norms.
Nothing groundbreaking, but the points he raises on neo indigenous and parallels he draws between urban youths of colour and indigenous tribes suffering under colonialism was enlightening. I am not sure I instantly knew how to do this in a class room with multiple cultures and not one monolithic youth culture that expresses itself through e.g. graffitti and sneakers, but obviously got the overall message of treating people with respect, on eye level, and engaging with the entire student holistically without dismissing their culture.
His focus on formal standard dialect register vs youth sociolect was interesting, too, but is not easily transferable to my very multicultural backgrounds in which the language my students are speaking is not the one they speak in the classroom or with each other because that is an entirely different language. But encouraging multilingual approaches still works and has always enriched classes.
So. Respect your students and show a genuine interest in and love for them. Look at what from their culture and communication practices can be roped into your classroom to help your cause.
Always allow them to be their whole selves at least some of the time and engage in meaningful dialogue with them.
This book reminds us strongly that if you disrespect someone's culture, creating a good teaching relationship is impossible. This is especially important if the power relationship between teacher and student is scewed so that the teacher represents a force that is oppressing the students's culture outside the classroom, as is the case with disprivileged households from non-middle class backgrounds and the white, usually middle class teachers who seek to improve their lives, i.e., making them assimilate white middle class norms.
Nothing groundbreaking, but the points he raises on neo indigenous and parallels he draws between urban youths of colour and indigenous tribes suffering under colonialism was enlightening. I am not sure I instantly knew how to do this in a class room with multiple cultures and not one monolithic youth culture that expresses itself through e.g. graffitti and sneakers, but obviously got the overall message of treating people with respect, on eye level, and engaging with the entire student holistically without dismissing their culture.
His focus on formal standard dialect register vs youth sociolect was interesting, too, but is not easily transferable to my very multicultural backgrounds in which the language my students are speaking is not the one they speak in the classroom or with each other because that is an entirely different language. But encouraging multilingual approaches still works and has always enriched classes.
So. Respect your students and show a genuine interest in and love for them. Look at what from their culture and communication practices can be roped into your classroom to help your cause.
Always allow them to be their whole selves at least some of the time and engage in meaningful dialogue with them.
Even as a preservice teacher who hasn't taught yet, this book blew me away. Christopher Emdin identifies urban youth as "neoindigenous" and uses this term as a framework to build a classroom culture that celebrates nontraditional learning. His emphasis on community learning, student voice valuing, and family fostering really resonated with me. His strategies seem so pie-in-the-sky for me, but I know my fear of trying them out is rooted in not wanting to rock the boat. A must-read for anyone in education or who cares about children.
informative
medium-paced
I loved this. I've learned so much from it and I have already started incorporating the lessons Emdin includes. Working at an elementary school has its challenges, especially due to my lack of teaching experience coming in. I knew that my priority was to always make the students feel respected and loved, but I didn't know how to go about it. Every time I would get frustrated or yell, I always knew the students felt horrible and I did in return and it just felt so ineffective. While I am sure that I will still make mistakes, I've found myself so much more even-tempered in my strategies and I find myself becoming not only a better teacher, but a more compassionate person from this pedagogy.
I'll be going to get my Masters in Elementary Ed in the fall and I know that I don't want to have a traditional classroom. There are teachers that I've seen that I thought had bad classroom management and would get frustrated with, but I knew that the students loved. This book made me realize that I probably pre-judged and, as a teacher, the way the students feel/learn is far more important than how the co-teachers feel about what's happening.
I am so grateful that Emdin also included his own story of growth as a teacher. It made me feel better about my shortcomings and my attempts to improve myself. I feel hope that I can be a great teacher. I even try to use my journey to becoming a better teacher as a way to relate to the students that are frustrated with their failures and when they want to quit something, because it's "too hard."
All in all, this book was just what I wanted/needed and I will be returning to it in the future! If Emdin has any other literary pieces, I will be sure to check them out.
I'll be going to get my Masters in Elementary Ed in the fall and I know that I don't want to have a traditional classroom. There are teachers that I've seen that I thought had bad classroom management and would get frustrated with, but I knew that the students loved. This book made me realize that I probably pre-judged and, as a teacher, the way the students feel/learn is far more important than how the co-teachers feel about what's happening.
I am so grateful that Emdin also included his own story of growth as a teacher. It made me feel better about my shortcomings and my attempts to improve myself. I feel hope that I can be a great teacher. I even try to use my journey to becoming a better teacher as a way to relate to the students that are frustrated with their failures and when they want to quit something, because it's "too hard."
All in all, this book was just what I wanted/needed and I will be returning to it in the future! If Emdin has any other literary pieces, I will be sure to check them out.
A really good read. My only concern is that the people who really ought to read it, won't.
I waffled between 3 and 4 stars for this one. His main message was one of getting to know your students, providing them choice and agency within the classroom, and seeing them as individuals while appreciating the strengths their different backgrounds can bring to the classroom. This is not a novel idea, and indicative of of most modern pedagogical approaches. Additionally I disagree with him on an approach to grading, but since that’s not the main subject of his work, I didn’t want to concentrate on that for the ranking. There’s some good advice in here, and I’ll be following his hashtag on twitter.
Very eye opening. I've always said I don't use anything I learned in my college education in my classroom and this is a good reason why