Counternarratives of Educational Success: East Saint Louis Teachers and Students "Reauthoring" Kozol's Savage Inequalities

• In Event: 33.078 - Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: 33.078-13 - Telling Our Own Stories: Counternarratives in and About Families, Communities, and Schools

Abstract

In response to Kozol’s depiction of East St. Louis this paper offers an alternative exploration of educational success and college preparation for East St. Louis students, utilizing Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth Model (CCWM). The authors juxtapose their narratives with those of former and current teachers and administrators to examine the unnamed structures that influence the practices and philosophies’ of teachers and administrators. We also explore how they invested a wealth of capital that ushered us, former East St. Louis students, toward access and success in college and beyond. We include diverse perspectives and offer implications for strengths-based research on urban schooling and the need for stronger partnerships between urban colleges and universities and the surrounding communities and school districts.

Authors

• Ishwanzya D. Rivers, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Lori Patton Davis, Indiana University - IUPUI

• Raquel Farmer-Hinton, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

• Joi D. Lewis