A review by jenmangler
For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Y'all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education by Christopher Emdin

2.0

I'm torn on this book. There are elements I found thought-provoking, and there are elements I found problematic. The beginning of the book was the best part, as it helped me critically reflect on my experiences, and how the preconceptions I bring into the classroom have shaped what I do and why I do it. The later parts of the book reminded me very much of my student teaching experience, when I realized my cooperating teacher was trying to shape me into another him and I struggled to figure out who I was going to be as a teacher because I didn't feel like that was authentic to me. Many of the examples in the later parts of the book felt as prescriptive as the practices Emdin is encouraging people to critically examine.