Abstracts
Abstract
This paper draws from a critical ethnographic case study of the Roses in Concrete Community School (RiC) in East Oakland, California to explore their approach to repurposing a traditional school into a community responsive learning institution by operationalizing a critical humanist vision of education in a marginalized, urban community. The educator activists who founded RiC envisioned a school that would not only meet the needs of students and families, but act as an intervention and a catalyst for healing and transformation. Historiographic methods are used to examine how the founders conceived and implemented the design of RiC and to demonstrate how they drew upon the history of social movements in the Bay Area to design a school that they believed could meet the needs of poor and working-class Black and Brown children, and in doing so contributed to a longer, intergenerational struggle for justice.
Keywords:
- Critical Pedagogy,
- Repurposing Schools,
- Urban Education,
- Community Responsive Education,
- Educational Leadership,
- Critical Humanism
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Appendices
Biographical note
Joaquín M. S. Noguera is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership & Administration at Loyola Marymount University’s School of Education. A former social worker, teacher, and school leader who continues to coach, mentor, consult, and lead educational change efforts, his research is situated at the intersections of race, culture, power, education, and social justice and engages three broad areas: the limits and possibilities for transformation and healing of education and schooling, particularly for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities in the U.S.; systems change that advances racial equity in organizational contexts; and critical analysis of society and culture and the impact of social and cultural patterns on the development and experiences of individuals and communities. Noguera's research and scholarship amplify anti/decolonizing, critical race, Indigenous, Black radical, and Ethnic Studies perspectives and draws from the knowledges produced by these traditions when responding to and remedying our individual and collective challenges. His work centers well-being and holistic engagement while prioritizing relational awareness and accountability to forward sustainable transformation and healing.