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A review by erica_s
For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Y'all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education by Christopher Emdin
4.0
Emdin's initial observations about the creation of camaraderie among students and the dramatic differences between the behavioral "norm" in public education and the scene in some various communities seem (in the opinion of this white librarian reader) to be accurate, significant, and useful.
He uses the term "neo-indigenous" to correlate the status, treatment, and power of students who are people of color with that of the Native Americans and indigenous people in other countries that were colonized by Europeans. "White folks" is used to identify members of the "group that is associated with power and the use of power to disempower others," but he clarifies that not all white people, and not all white teachers are the same, AND some people of color act just like white teachers.
The cultural norms he cites and the basis for his techniques are described as (1) the Pentecostal pedagogy in which the passionate, spontaneous, loud participation of the audience is welcomed and incorporated; (2) the well-respected barbers who use humor, question-&-answer, validation, and personal stories to make connections upon which content can be delivered; and (3) the rappers' cypher form of collaboration used to collaborate in a group.
At that point, the author begins describing each step of the technique he derived from his observations:
Establish "cogens" in order to incorporate students as co-teachers in order to accomplish the multilayered goals of teachers to get aligned with the students' culture, to know & exploit the students' own interests & skills, to build familiarity & camaraderie quickly, and to involve the students in their own education by making them responsible for both learning & teaching.
This sounds fantastic, and I believe it could be - but Emdin's book becomes prescriptive & limiting as if he doesn't actually trust anyone to use his insight & observations to come up with their own unique applications. Interestingly, most of his effective, successful examples start with describing a particular failure of his and the chance occurrences that resulted in his insight - a remarkable rhetorical device which somehow managed to undermine his authority while at the same time making him look smug and self-serving.
I didn't care for his emphasis on competitions - and the pedagogical point wasn't well-made, and his chapter on "curating & computing" might already be practically irrelevant in most schools, but his idea to overtly discuss and teach code-switching seemed like an excellent point.
The conclusion was a collection of "thoughts" that are a mix of wise comments and platitudes.
What I find here is material for a number of insightful articles for teachers combined with a complete description of a very personal pedagogical gimmick that apparently worked quite well for him.
He uses the term "neo-indigenous" to correlate the status, treatment, and power of students who are people of color with that of the Native Americans and indigenous people in other countries that were colonized by Europeans. "White folks" is used to identify members of the "group that is associated with power and the use of power to disempower others," but he clarifies that not all white people, and not all white teachers are the same, AND some people of color act just like white teachers.
The cultural norms he cites and the basis for his techniques are described as (1) the Pentecostal pedagogy in which the passionate, spontaneous, loud participation of the audience is welcomed and incorporated; (2) the well-respected barbers who use humor, question-&-answer, validation, and personal stories to make connections upon which content can be delivered; and (3) the rappers' cypher form of collaboration used to collaborate in a group.
At that point, the author begins describing each step of the technique he derived from his observations:
Establish "cogens" in order to incorporate students as co-teachers in order to accomplish the multilayered goals of teachers to get aligned with the students' culture, to know & exploit the students' own interests & skills, to build familiarity & camaraderie quickly, and to involve the students in their own education by making them responsible for both learning & teaching.
This sounds fantastic, and I believe it could be - but Emdin's book becomes prescriptive & limiting as if he doesn't actually trust anyone to use his insight & observations to come up with their own unique applications. Interestingly, most of his effective, successful examples start with describing a particular failure of his and the chance occurrences that resulted in his insight - a remarkable rhetorical device which somehow managed to undermine his authority while at the same time making him look smug and self-serving.
I didn't care for his emphasis on competitions - and the pedagogical point wasn't well-made, and his chapter on "curating & computing" might already be practically irrelevant in most schools, but his idea to overtly discuss and teach code-switching seemed like an excellent point.
The conclusion was a collection of "thoughts" that are a mix of wise comments and platitudes.
What I find here is material for a number of insightful articles for teachers combined with a complete description of a very personal pedagogical gimmick that apparently worked quite well for him.