Leaders of the Open School: The Racial Politics of Shaping Educational Space

• In Event: 68.061 - Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: 68.061-16 - Space and Place in Curriculum Studies

Abstract

During the 1960s and 1970s, open classrooms were all the rage, particularly in urban schools faced with persistent underachievement. Based in progressive pedagogical ideals, the creation of open classroom school buildings were designed to engender collaboration and student-centered learning environments. This paper examines this once popular trend and what its legacy means for developing learning spaces that contribute to greater educational equity. The research comes at a critical time and counters the now popular neoliberal restructuring of urban space that often disperses or controls communities of color (Lipman 2011), asserting instead that a diversity of educational spaces are needed to serve all learners.

Author

• Esa Syeed, California State University - Long Beach