Overview

This practical book provides teachers, teacher educators, and school leaders with concrete strategies for doing community-based work. By reframing the act of teaching to include working for social change, the author pushes readers to see school and community revitalization as reciprocal, not separate, projects. Drawing on the strategies and tactics of community organizers and activists, Charest describes an approach to schooling that addresses the social and economic concerns that students and families in under-resourced communities confront in their daily lives. He uses a decolonial framework to examine how schools can de-center Whiteness and reimagine curriculum and teaching. He also shows teacher educators how they can better prepare the next generation of civic-minded teachers to create a more just and democratic society. This model of intentional community engagement, when initiated by teachers and school leadership, is designed to re-position schools to take up questions of equity, racism, and the long-term health and well-being of individuals and communities. Book Features: Outlines useful strategies for teachers, teacher educators, and school leaders who want to enact community engagement. Explores how educators can center the voices and experiences of people of color to revitalize teaching and learning. Explains how to build curriculum around local history to address everyday concerns in communities. Provides community engagement strategies for middle and high school educators.

Full Product Details

Author:   Brian Charest ,  Kevin K. Kumashiro
Publisher:   Teachers' College Press
Imprint:   Teachers' College Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 1.60cm , Length: 23.00cm
Weight:   0.355kg
ISBN:  

9780807765258

ISBN 10:   0807765252
Pages:   160
Publication Date:   09 April 2021
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
The supplier advises that this item is temporarily unavailable. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out to you.

Table of Contents

Contents (Tentative) Foreword Kevin K. Kumashiro ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction xv 1. The Role of Teachers and the Purpose of Schools 1 What’s My Job, Again? 1 Teaching Matters: Embracing Different Ways of Knowing, Being, Seeing, and Doing 10 Centering Civic and Community Engagement: The Promise of Democratic Participation in Schools and Communities 12 Key Strategies and Ideas for Doing School Differently 17 2. Building a Relational Culture: The Power of Relational Pedagogy for Teacher Engagement in Schools and Communities 19 Life in Schools: Educating Teachers 19 Collective Possibilities: Envisioning Healthy and Sustainable Schools and Communities 22 Relating Is Relational: How to Rebuild Institutions and Communities by Building Better Relationships 26 A Short Guide to Working in Communities 37 3. Education and Inequality: Why Schools Haven’t Solved Our Social Problems 40 Marching Toward the Light: Working Across Social Boundaries 40 Making the Road by Walking: Accountability on Chicago’s South Side 47 Rebuilding the School: Community Approaches to School Improvement 52 Institutional Resistance: Different Views of Accountability 54 Accountability Reconsidered: Students and Teachers Acting Together 57 Community Power: A Look Back 58 Accountability to Community: Learning Through Action 62 Changing Social Conditions: Final Reflections 65 4. Models for Change: Community as Curriculum and the Promise of Democratic Schooling 69 Why We Need Grassroots School Reform 69 Grassroots Curriculum: The Power of Place 75 Indigenous Leaders: Community Organizing and Teacher Organizers 78 Community as Campus: Community Action Councils and the Shaping of a School 83 Democratic Schooling: The Nova Project 89 5. Making Citizen Teachers: Educational Leaders for Justice and Democracy 95 Rethinking Teacher Education 95 Citizen Teachers and the Democratic Potential of Schools 98 Surviving the War: What Will It Take to Change Our Schools and Communities? 104 Making Citizen Teachers and the Challenges to Teaching Differently 108 Teaching on the Boundary 112 Possible Futures: Democratic Practices and Community Engagement in Schools 114 The Limits of Alinsky and the Promise of Grassroots Organizing 120 References 125 Index 129 About the Author 137

Reviews

"""In Civic Literacy in Schools and Communities, Charest (Univ. of Redlands) provides a concise guide for changing how teachers approach their classrooms, emphasizing democratic principles. .... An excellent resource for both education students and practitioners."" --CHOICE"

In Civic Literacy in Schools and Communities, Charest (Univ. of Redlands) provides a concise guide for changing how teachers approach their classrooms, emphasizing democratic principles. .... An excellent resource for both education students and practitioners. --CHOICE

Author Information

Brian Charest is assistant professor in the School of Education at the University of Redlands and former public high school English teacher in both Chicago and Seattle.

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