Becoming Teachers of Inner-city Students takes on the continuing challenges of White teachers in increasingly de facto re-segregated schools of the present. Drawing on the author’s eighteen years of experience as a classroom teacher and his research on White teachers of inner-city students, Becoming Teachers provides key discussions on professional identity for preservice teachers, professional educators, and researchers interested in diversity education or urban education. Driving at complex recognitions of race, class, culture, language, and gender as a basis for teaching and learning with diverse urban students, the author’s and other White teachers’ life and teaching stories move beyond prescriptive models of professional identity for preservice and professional teachers to “follow.” Instead, life and teaching stories in Becoming Teachers demonstrate again and again that in teaching the personal is political, professional knowledges are forged in practice, and – overall – that becoming a professional teacher is a process that draws on one’s experiences and inner-most convictions. Becoming Teachers, updating Vivian Paley’s White Teacher and reworking Christine Sleeter’s multicultural research on White teachers’ race-evasive identities, moves discussions on White teacher identity toward a second wave of race-visible professional identity for White teachers in the present. James Jupp’s book is an instruction on how to keep the democratic educational experiment on the workbench... – Roger Slee, Professor and Director of the Victoria Institute for Education, Diversity, and Life Long Learning at Victoria University, Melbourne James Jupp thoughtfully explicates the complexity of the social justice literature in education related to race, class, culture, language, gender and other differences in classrooms. Jupp is one of the leading scholars in education who challenges static notions of difference and opens up new curriculum spaces for a second wave of critical race work. Challenging the field to consider more nuanced possibilities that will advance social justice in the present, Jupp provides generous readings for new intercultural alliances. Jupp’s Becoming Teachers of Inner-city Students offers a fresh understanding for those who are looking for new ways to understand teachers’ lives and professional identities. – Patrick Slattery, Professor of Curriculum, Texas A&M University Jupp does the hard work, here, of understanding where we have been in conceptualizing the racial identities of White teachers. And then he does something harder. With abundant intelligence, courage, and generosity, Jupp opens up new pathways for our thinking and feeling and action. Read this book. – Timothy Lensmire, Associate Professor of Curriculum & Instruction, University of Minnesota

A New York Times Best Seller "Essential reading for all adults who work with black and brown young people...Filled with exceptional intellectual sophistication and necessary wisdom for the future of education."—Imani Perry, National Book Award Winner author of South To America An award-winning educator offers a much-needed antidote to traditional top-down pedagogy and promises to radically reframe the landscape of urban education for the better Drawing on his own experience of feeling undervalued and invisible in classrooms as a young man of color, Dr. Christopher Emdin has merged his experiences with more than a decade of teaching and researching in urban America. He takes to task the perception of urban youth of color as unteachable, and he challenges educators to embrace and respect each student’s culture and to reimagine the classroom as a site where roles are reversed and students become the experts in their own learning. Putting forth his theory of Reality Pedagogy, Emdin provides practical tools to unleash the brilliance and eagerness of youth and educators alike—both of whom have been typecast and stymied by outdated modes of thinking about urban education. With this fresh and engaging new pedagogical vision, Emdin demonstrates the importance of creating a family structure and building communities within the classroom, using culturally relevant strategies like hip-hop music and call-and-response, and connecting the experiences of urban youth to indigenous populations globally. Merging real stories with theory, research, and practice, Emdin demonstrates how by implementing the “Seven Cs” of reality pedagogy in their own classrooms, urban youth of color benefit from truly transformative education.

In this insightfully honest and moving memoir about the realities of teaching in an inner-city school, Ed Boland "smashes the dangerous myth of the hero-teacher [and] shows us how high the stakes are for our most vulnerable students" (Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black). In a fit of idealism, Ed Boland left a twenty-year career as a non-profit executive to teach in a tough New York City public high school. But his hopes quickly collided headlong with the appalling reality of his students' lives and a hobbled education system unable to help them. Freddy runs a drug ring for his incarcerated brother; Nee-cole is homeschooled on the subway by her brilliant homeless mother; Byron's Ivy League dream is dashed because he is undocumented. In the end, Boland isn't hoisted on his students' shoulders and no one passes AP anything. This is no urban fairy tale of at-risk kids saved by a Hollywood hero, but a searing indictment of schools that claim to be progressive but still fail their students. Told with compassion, humor, and a keen eye, Boland's story is sure to ignite debate about the future of American education and attempts to reform it.

This bestselling guide to urban teaching has been updated and revised to reflect today's challenges, including testing pressures, inclusive classrooms, and helping second language learners. Lois Weiner, a highly regarded teacher with years of experience supervising new teachers in urban and suburban schools, provides invaluable "insider" recommendations for thriving in culturally diverse classrooms and coping with school realities ranging from overcrowded classes and a lack of appropriate materials to frustrating bureaucracy and school violence. This guide is an invaluable resource for teacher educators and essential reading for teachers at all grade levels.

Discover the teaching practices that make the biggest difference in student performance! This practical, research-based book gives principals, teachers, and school administrators a direct, inside look at instructional practices from top award-winning urban schools. The authors provide detailed examples and analyses of these practices, and successfully demystify the achievement of these schools. They offer practical guides to help educators apply these successful practices in their own schools. Teaching Practices from America's Best Urban Schools will be a valuable tool for any educator in both urban and non-urban schools-schools that serve diverse student populations, including English language learners and children from low-income families.

This book is written primarily in an authentic dialogue style. It fearlessly describes the consequences of the failure to appropriately prepare a student to become an inner-city teacher. While doing so, the book also exposes a system that has been slammed to the ground by policies, practices, and court decisions that protect the rights of everyone except those who teach and those who desire to learn, but leave these dedicated individuals constantly vulnerable to the violence, anger, hostility, and hopelessness that seem to be a hallmark of so many of our inner-city schools. As this young teacher closes the classroom door and stands alone, a stark picture emerges, a picture that, for the reader, will provoke anger, occasional outrage, and most certainly controversy. At the heart of this story, the author reconstructs, sometimes minute-by-minute, the events and interactions that combine to compel him to leave this first teaching assignment abruptly with a profound sense of confusion, self-doubt, and betrayal. Not limited to the classroom, this tale includes interludes that are informative, occasionally humorous, and sometimes amazingly frank. But what becomes obvious is that the recounting of this experience reveals an open wound and is a plea to the reader to recognize deep pain and justifiable anger. In so doing, it reflects the same quandary and frustrations that continue to be felt by millions of teachers and other educators who are frequently and severely criticized by those who simply do not understand why students and educators trapped in this environment so frequently fail to thrive and succeed and finally choose to leave.

This significantly revised edition will help prospective and new city teachers navigate the realities of city teaching. Now the classic introduction to urban teaching, this book explains how global, national, state, and local reforms have impacted what teachers need to know to not only survive, but to do their jobs well. The Third Edition melds new insights and perspectives from Daniel Jerome—New York City teacher, social justice activist, and parent of color—with what Lois Weiner, a seasoned teacher educator, has learned from research and decades of experience working with city teachers and students in a variety of settings. Together, the authors explore how successful teachers deal with the complexity, difficulty, and rewarding challenges of teaching in today’s city schools. Book Features: A highly readable exploration of the moral, pedagogical, and political complexity of teaching in urban schools. Research-based advice combined with real-life examples of the problems city teachers face.Challenges associated with teaching in multi-ethnic and multi-racial settings.Critical examination of how the altered landscape of education has changed teachers’ professional obligations. “FINALLY, a book about urban teaching from two experienced professionals who intimately know and respect the art of educating in urban America!” —Keith Benson, teacher, New Jersey “Professor Weiner helps us understand how to teach in ways that show our concern and do not oppress our students.” —Jeanette Morris, teacher, East Orange New Jersey School District “Dr. Weiner offers an enlightening scope into the lives of urban educators. The author's honest and riveting perspectives on hot-button topics surrounding our profession will be appreciated by veteran educators and student teachers alike.” —Shanika Allen, 8th-grade math teacher, Trenton, NJ “Dr. Weiner skillfully blends experience and theory in this practical A–Z guide for novice and seasoned urban educators alike. A brilliantly captivating read for a new generation of urban-bound teachers navigating the uncertainty of urban public education policies and practices.” —Nevart Nay, veteran teacher, formerly of Union City School District, NJ. “As a teacher of color who has taught for 3 years, in charter and public school settings, I found the advice, anecdotes, and presentation of the realities of urban teaching to be candid and honest.” —Annie Tan, special education teacher, City of Chicago Public School District