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By: Rahni Davis
For many public schools that are set around urban environments, education is a matter of the utmost importance, in regulating the curriculum that each student has to maintain so that their progress can produce adequate results under common assessment. It goes without saying that educators are responsible for encouraging students to take advantage of the resources and begin to assess themselves, collectively, in light of new developments that can be applied throughout their schools. However, it is becoming ever so challenging in breaking the conditions that are negatively affecting the youth and their academics. Poverty, family instability, poor health, and lack of economic and financial security are all factors that contribute to the overall performance that many reports have fed the perception that these areas are prone to such circumstances.
For many public schools that are set around urban environments, education is a matter of the utmost importance, in regulating the curriculum that each student has to maintain so that their progress can produce adequate results under common assessment. It goes without saying that educators are responsible for encouraging students to take advantage of the resources and begin to assess themselves, collectively, in light of new developments that can be applied throughout their schools. However, it is becoming ever so challenging in breaking the conditions that are negatively affecting the youth and their academics. Poverty, family instability, poor health, and lack of economic and financial security are all factors that contribute to the overall performance that many reports have fed the perception that these areas are prone to such circumstances.
These perceptions that urban schools - along with the students who make up their roster - are always worse off than their counterparts, can be seen as inaccurate. Educators are at the forefront in learning to accommodate for the opportunities given to students, with much of our significance playing a major role in creating a reasonable outlook, not just in their education, but for their communities as well. Together, we must reevaluate what it means for an "urban" school to have "urban" students, and challenge those differences that are often perceived as unfavorable in our conditions.
These perceptions that urban schools - along with the students who make up their roster - are always worse off than their counterparts, can be seen as inaccurate. Educators are at the forefront in learning to accommodate for the opportunities given to students, with much of our significance playing a major role in creating a reasonable outlook, not just in their education, but for their communities as well. Together, we must reevaluate what it means for an "urban" school to have "urban" students, and challenge those differences that are often perceived as unfavorable in our conditions.
Learning Targets
Learning Targets
Define what classifies as "urban youth".
Describe the differences between urban youth across the world.
Identify ways to build a successful connection to urban youth through education.
Defining Urban Youth
Defining Urban Youth
“Urban youth” is classified as an ambiguous term, in defining young children and adults alike, who hail from environments that are notably considered as middle-class to low-income communities near city schools. Generally, as the population rises, the census drastically rises for suburban and urban areas, in particular. For reference, most of the urban communities are densely populated; offering most of the large numbers to reside in smaller spaces in neighborhoods, in which they can be racially and ethnically diverse, according to their socioeconomic status (Rubel & Chu, 2012). Typically, the youth in America, today, happens to go according to distinctive representations of the various cultures that inhabit those communities in acknowledgement.
Photo of me at Jackson Street Bridge in downtown Atlanta, GA (which is a large metropolitan area). -November 2015
Schools are factors that indicate the degree in which most cultures influence the numbers in urban communities, as well as their suburban and rural counterparts. According to Schneider (2017), through looking at the general student make-up for city schools in urban environments, about “two-thirds” of the students who are a part of their youth are non-white, with most of them brought up through poverty.
Urban Youth Across the World
Urban Youth Across the World
"So, how are urban youth here, perceived differently in other areas around the world?"
Every region of the world has some establishment of a social class hierarchy, in which many of those groups have both benefitted and been disadvantaged by a multitude of factors, socioeconomically. Given the populations, the job market can be reflective of the many classes and their resources, often picturing urban communities to fall more into the less fortunate of the general census. Schleicher (2013) explains that in many of the active countries of OECD – the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, the level of disparity between attending students’ performance in school, would directly reflect family decisions that later influences the students’ ongoing socioeconomic status among society. There is often a common trend for most urban communities, and it’s that most of the youth would have to experience poverty, either through one form or another. From other countries, schooling has often led to further deficits, due to their limited resources, or would often be the opposite, by thriving under the standards held for education that vary from America. For example, many of the populations in South America, such as Brazil, and others like South Africa, share a commonality with what factors into poverty under America’s standards. Whether being brought up through dysfunctional families, lack of nutrition, and inaccessibility of resources for their education are some of the disadvantages that are, in essence, comparable (Tienda & Wilson, 2002).
How Educators Can Leave an Impact
How Educators Can Leave an Impact
"What can educators do for the youth in these urban communities?"
Though urban communities are often viewed, from certain aspects, as leaving their youth further disadvantaged in contrast to their middle-to-upper class counterparts, there exist many positive contributions that assists in accommodating for the resources and performances that are supposedly deficient and inadequate for the developing youth. The main driving force comes in the form of the educators of the school districts, themselves. As referenced earlier, the perspective and actions of communities are often reflected in the people themselves, and vice versa. The educational system is one that prioritizes having an active body of groups who can facilitate accommodating for not only the resources, but also the connections that are made, for bringing about an effective and long-lasting relationship between the educators and the community that the students take part in. This analysis can be part of an active representation for any educational outlook around the world, no matter how dire the straits are for the communities that are involved.
Looking back into the U.S., one such example of an educator is STEM professor and author, Dr. Christopher Emdin, who establishes his approach to “reality pedagogy” (Lynn, 2017). In his case, he prioritizes the focus for teachers to learn from the realities that involve the residing youth, as their experiences build insight into what can further be established as a plan for improvement, with the students acting as the medium for said improvement. This can be further elaborated with urban communities providing the space for teachers to immerse themselves as an integral and significant part in aiding the youth, as well as establishing their identity as educators within those communities (Waddell, 2013).
Dr. Christopher Emdin, delivering a lecture during a TEDxTalks, about the benefits of urban education and the significance it has on children.
Reflection and Conclusion
Reflection and Conclusion
With the amount of emphasis placed on the improvement of urban schools and to mitigate the drastic influence that factors of poverty have in place for their disadvantages, it comes down to those communities fostering the youth in such a way that leaves an impact through their relative connections in their society. What we consider to be the development of urban education, people must understand the context behind the areas that structurally envelop the youth to be "urban", recognize the level of disparity that youth in other countries have to face - often to due to their circumstances, and to finally determine how we can immerse ourselves, into that environment, to purposefully gain insight into their active communities which would then play into their schools. Personally, many of my views as a developing educator happen to lie in accordance with the experiences that are hereby indicated as reference to what it means to acknowledge the facets of urban youth, not just in the U.S., but as an approach to every area across the world. Culturally relevant teaching is one such demonstration, as it emphasizes the students’ academic success, while managing their competence of other cultures and facilitating their development in the critical consciousness (Rubel & Chu, 2012). To better understand the youth from these areas are what open both their perceptions to their own culture, as well as their own perceptions – as educators, in order to let the students dictate how we can teach and build a connection to their surroundings (Lynn, 2017). To make for an equitable education for urban students, educators can learn to undermine both the connotations, and the placed limitations, that are often represented as such.
Review Questions
Review Questions
What makes up the disadvantages that poverty often reflect on urban youth?
A. Dysfunctional relationships with family.
B. Malnutrition.
C. Lack of access to tangible resources and equipment.
D. All of the above.
From Dr. Emdin's case, what is the name of his teaching approach that focuses on the teacher's understanding of their students?
A. Social Constructivism
B. Reality Pedagogy
C. Self-Determination Theory
D. Initiative for Alleviating Student Poverty
References
References
Lynn, J. (2017). What teachers need to know about connecting with students in urban schools. Whyy. https://whyy.org/articles/teachers-need-know-connecting-students-urban-schools/
Rubel, L.H., and Chu, H. (2012). Reinscribing urban: teaching high school mathematics in low income, communities of color. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 15, 39-52.
Schneider, J. (2017). The Urban School Stigma. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/the-urban-school-stigma/537966/
Schleicher, A. (2013). The Urban Advantage in Education. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-urban-advantage-in-ed_b_3223564
Tedx Talks. (2013, Mar. 8). TEDxColumbiaSIPA - Christopher Emdin- Empowering children through urban education [Video]. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouudXr-csZg
Tienda, M. and Wilson, J.W. (2002). Comparative perspectives of urban youth: Challenges for normative development. Youth in Cities: A Cross-National Perspective, 3-18.
Waddell, J. (2013). Communities as critical partners in teacher education: The impact of community immersion on teacher candidates’ understanding of self and teaching in urban schools. Current Issues in Education, 16(2), 1-15. https://web-a-ebscohost-com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=f1a5c8f3-0af5-499e-8dac-01756d2327c1%40sdc-v-sessmgr02
ANSWERS: 1. D 2. B
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