Description
Book SynopsisHalf an Inch from the Edge: Teacher Education, Teaching, and Student Learning for Social Transformation is a book about the tensions and opportunities reflected in today's public school classrooms in the U.S. Through detailed case studies of four classrooms, the authors explore socially transformative pedagogy in action. The result is a narrative that intertwines a critical social analysis of our educational system with real-life examples from K-12 classrooms. The four teachers highlighted in the book are new, urban, socially-conscious educators of Color who strive to make their classrooms something new and something differentspaces where youth can learn about and express their own cultural identities as a part of the curriculum.
These stories are told through the creation, implementation, analysis, and assessment of teachers' action research projects as they complete their Masters degrees and begin their first years as full-time teachers. Central to each of the case studie
Trade ReviewThis wonderfully readable, highly insightful, text gets at the heart of socially transformative pedagogy. Written with affectionate regard for both the lives of early-career teachers and their students, the key is a critical pedagogy of self-reflection and analysis that leads them to invest deeply in their students’ lives, and in so doing, re-define teaching as less a career and more a way of life where radical hope and possibility reside. -- Angela Valenzuela, professor, department of educational administration, University of Texas at Austin; director, University of Texas Center for Education Policy
Half an Inch from the Edge offers powerful insights of socially transformative approaches to data collection, assessment, classroom management, and pedagogy – a must read by all stakeholders concerned with treating teachers and students as critical and organic intellectuals. -- Tyrone C. Howard Ph.D, Director of UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families
This powerhouse team of authors has provided a tremendous gift to those of us concerned with preparing the next generation of social justice educators. By pulling back the curtains of their graduates’ k-12 classrooms, they have shown us the impact that liberatory urban teacher preparation has on young, dedicated teachers and the students who they stand beside on a daily basis. Providing vision, reflection, and action, this book clears a path to support, or to become, urban educators who build authentic relationships and transform injustice in their schools. -- Bree Picower, PhD, Associate Professor, Montclair State University; Co-Editor, Confronting Racism in Teacher Education: Counternarratives of Critical Practice
This book is a must read for teachers whose work is rooted in education for social change and justice. -- Herb Kohl, author, "I won't learn from you"
Table of ContentsForeword
Preface
Introduction: Socially transformative teaching: Disrupting White supremacy
Chapter One: Notes to Mr. G: Making an entirely new story
Chapter Two: Reflections on Mr. G: Humanizing connections through relevant data
Chapter Three: Autoethnographies with Esther: Building community and self-discipline
Chapter Four: Reflections on Esther: Assessment – authentic vs. repressive
Chapter Five: Reading the World and the Word with Sharim and Cam: The power of performance poetry
Chapter Six: Reflections on Sharim and Cam: Youth voice, student literacies
Chapter Seven: Routines for liberation with Ms. A: Classroom community in third grade
Chapter Eight: Reflections on Ms. A: Revisiting the purpose of schooling
Chapter Nine: Socially transformative pedagogy and the tasks for urban teachers
References
About the Authors
