Brighton Park is a predominantly Latino community on the southwest side of Chicago. It's a neighborhood threatened by poverty, gang violence, ICE raids, and isolation in a city where income, race, and zip code can determine access to jobs, schools, healthy food, and essential services. It is against this backdrop that the Chicago teacher Xian Franzinger Barrett arrived at the neighborhood's elementary school in 2014.
Recognizing the vast economic and racial inequalities his students faced, he chose what some might consider a radical approach for his writing and social-studies classes, weaving in concepts such as racism, classism, oppression, and prejudice. Barrett said it was vital to reject the oft-perpetuated narrative that society is fair and equal to address students questions and concerns about their current conditions. And Brighton Elementary's seventh- and eighth-graders quickly put the lessons to work confronting the school board over inequitable funding, fighting to install a playground, and creating a classroom library focused on black and Latino authors.
Barrett's personal observation is validated by a newly published studyin the peer-reviewed journal Child Developmentthat finds traditionally marginalized youth who grew up believing in the American ideal that hard work and perseverance naturally lead to success show a decline in self-esteem and an increase in risky behaviors during their middle-school years. The research is considered the first evidence linking preteens emotional and behavioral outcomes to their belief in meritocracy, the widely held assertionthat individual merit is always rewarded.
Mildred Boveda, an assistant education professor at Arizona State University, likewise said the findings hold important implications for both teachers and teacher education. This is of great consequence to teachers who may think they are protecting children by avoiding conversations about systems of oppressions, she said, emphasizing that the onus is also on teacher-prep programs to ensure aspiring educators know how to address these controversial topics.
To read more of Melinda D. Anderson's article, please click here.
Comments (0)